Given that it was very late in the day and that Arthur had been so very busy these last few days, Peter considered this pushing his luck. While his older brother had a certain caring capacity, he was not one to nap in the early evening. He would not taking waking lightly. So Peter crept past the elder's room with feather-footsteps, cotton socks padding the carpet.

Peter loved his brother very much. What he did not love was the ever present furrow between his brows. Even in such troubled times, Peter reasoned, a smile should reach the eyes, not splutter into nothing after barely clearing one's lips.

He'd been considering how to make his brother better for a while. Peter was always happiest when alone with Arthur, when they snuggled beneath a heavy blanket and read stories together - azure and emerald both pouring over the same illustrations and words. Yet Arthur didn't share in that happiness: he just looked weary. A clash between happiness and regret when he didn't think Peter could see. But see he did.

Whenever other's had visited him, he'd asked them what made them smile. Some named specific people, others flushed in indigence and insisted it was cooking or the sea or a simple hot chocolate on a cool night. Yet for all of them, what they liked most was being surprised. A simple gesture from nowhere could leave them beaming for hours, they said.

So Peter would surprise Arthur.

Unbeknownst to the elder, Peter had saved up eight weeks worth of sweet rations and bought with it a large bar of plain chocolate, which he had hidden in a box beneath the stairs as it was cool and dark in there. Despite how Arthur scoffed at Peter's sweet tooth, the older Kirkland had a profound on of his own - even if he hid it.

Peter thought this would be the bestest surprise ever, what with chocolate so hard to come by. But in the last few hours, when Arthur'd been snoozing and Peter lounging in tedium, he'd been struck with a finishing touch he'd be damned not to add.

His colouring pencils were neatly stashed in a drawer in Arthur's bureau. He relinquished them carefully, also taking a piece of paper from the drawer above and laying it on the polished-wood floor.

And he drew.

Arthur woke in the morning, feeling refreshed. Those extra hours of sleep had been worth the extra paperwork he'd have to do today.

Slippers deadening the sound of his feet, he made his way to the kitchen to boil water and make toast for he and his younger brother. It was pleasant to have the young presence in his house - he lightened the mood and was happy to distract Arthur from the most taxing and troubling thoughts.

Speaking of the child-

The was a clatter from his study, accompanied by a startled yelp. Arthur's head snapped up at the sudden noise and he stood, like a statue, listening further. Hearing a familiar voice groan, "Owwwowow," he loosened, smile tugging at his lips.

Ah, Peter. What have you got up to this time?

Looking into the room, he found a groggy-looking Peter sprawled, face down, on the floor by his desk, clutching something to his chest and rubbing his head.

"Are you quite all right there?"

"Ah! Arthur, sir!" the child piped up, beaming at the sight of his older brother. He scrambled to his feet, hiding whatever he'd been holding behind his back. "I'm all right, I just fell of the chair. I must have fallen asleep in it."

The nation raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And what, exactly, were you doing in my study all night then?"

The boy fidgeted. "I urm...I got you something. For letting me stay over here, I-" he petered off, and pulled a small, rectangular package from behind his back. From the door, Arthur couldn't see much more than a floppy item covered in coloured squiggles.

"For me? Peter, you didn't need t-"

"Oh!" the child exclaimed, expression aghast, "Oh no, I broke it when I fell off the chair! No- No no."

The elder brother drew closer to the boy, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and another lightly on the package. Peter was teary, and he couldn't have that this early in the morning. Poor lad.

"Pete, I'm sure it's still lovely, okay?" he tried to reassure his, inspecting the present at a closer vantage point. What had appeared to be squiggles from the doorway now revealed themselves to be messy drawings of houses and clouds and smiling people, all holding hands. A few of them looked suspiciously like-

"Did you draw these?" Arthur gestured at the wrapping paper.

The boy sniffed. "Uh-huh. I wanted to make it special, so I coloured the paper. I drew us too, and Francis and Alfred and everyone, look." He pointed to a number of figures. They were indeed fair likenesses, though Arthur noted with a twinge of dark amusement that poor Matthew's stick figure was hidden where the paper folded.

How...

How lovely.

Arthur smiled warmly, brows creasing inwards with the action "My, I almost don't want to open it in case I ruin the drawing."

"You will though, won't you?"

"Of course, Pete! Don't fret."

And he did - though cautiously. He pealed the paper apart with the most care he could, though stick-Matthew was unfortunately lost - Arthur would ask Peter to re-draw him later.

Arthur almost lost it at the sight of the packaging below.

"You- You bought me chocolate?"

"Y-yes, sir. Do you like it?"

He was speechless. Peter must have saved up for so long for the bar, despite Arthur never indicating he need payment for simply sheltering the boy on occasion.

"Y-...Yes I do but-" he shook his head. Lord, he was tearing up. "You really didn't have to; how long were you saving-?"

"I did, I did! I wanted to make you happy, Arthur." The boy was grabbing his dressing gown, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "You're never happy anymore, brother."

He spluttered. "But I am happy! Peter, why wouldn't-"

"Why do you never smile then?" the lad muttered, so quiet that Arthur always missed it.

"I'm smiling now, aren't I?"

"Not proper smiling, though. You're frowning at the same time, like always. And you look really sad at the same time. You don't have to force yourself to smile for me, you know, I just really like being with you and I don't mind if you're upset so long as you let me make you happy again."

Arthur's smile did drop at that. "P-Peter, what-"

"I'm really sorry Arthur, I-I didn't mean to upset you."

The nation raised a hand, shaking his head and his smile returning - watery and wide.

"Peter, if you must learn one thing, it's that everyone had their own smile. Not everyone smiles all the time, not everyone's smile is genuine. But just because it isn't all teeth and beaming, doesn't mean it's not real. A smile that appears sad can be just as happy as one that makes the eyes twinkle. And a crinkled brow can be just as sweet and the gift that caused it."

That afternoon, Arthur did not catch up on his paperwork. But as he climbed the stairs that night with a treat-filled, slumbering boy in his arms and a sleepy head, he caught his face relax into a small grin. And he thought it all worth it.

If only the child had been awake to see that.

[A/N] I hope you enjoyed that fluffy one-shot! I was prompted to by a good friend and I figured I needed to try something small for a change (but considering how it was meant to be a drabble, even this got out of hand). Still, I think I'll make a habit of it in future! Thank you for reading.