Total Words: 1,091.

Ten Seconds
By Melody Syper Carston

Gilbert Beilschmidt gave a Cheshire Cat grin from his post, crimson eyes locked on their target just below and to the right. Slowly, he moved forward, fingers gripping the branch he was balanced on as he ventured closer to the edge. He watched with mild interest as his victim—completely unaware of Gilbert's presence—paced the length of the room he was in, shoes clacking against polished tiles.

The oblivious brunette's eyebrows were furrowed in a mix of frustration and concentration, finger's brushing his lips as if tempted to bite his nails. Of course, he would never dream of biting his nails, for that was much to "Improper" of him to do so.

The man was nervous—that much Gilbert could see. About what, though, the albino had no clue. He wasn't one to keep up with others' social lives. He merely liked stalking them from time to time. And no, he was not a creeper. He just had nothing to do with his long and immortal life as the ex-Nation; Gilbert needed some sort of hobby seeing as he didn't find "Reinstating his Position as Prussia" on his To-do list any time soon. But enough about Gilbert's laments! Back to the nervous brunette who was currently stooped over a sheet of paper, studying it with utmost carefulness.

Gilbert carefully readjusted his weight so that he was balanced in a crouched position on the balls of his feet, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

Now!

Just as the brunette turned back to his pacing, Gilbert leap from the branch and deftly landed on the second story windowsill of the Edelstein estate. His legs bent into a crouch, fingers curling over the ledge of the brick windowsill to keep himself from falling. After reassuring himself that the brunette was still completely oblivious to his existence, Gilbert carefully slid the glass panel open and crawled into the room. He carefully perched himself on the bench sitting in front of the piano across from the brunette.

"Ya know, Roddy, I've been here for almost five minutes and you still haven't felt my awesome presence? Wow, you really are thick!" A loud hissing laugh followed this statement.

Roderich jumped in surprise and whipped around to send the albino ex-Nation a lethal glare. "I don't need your presence here anymore than anyone else needs you at the meetings. I'd appreciate it if you left me in peace, Gilbert. And don't call me Roddy,"

Gilbert's lip curled in a mocking smirk. "That was a bit harsh, Specs. Of course I'm needed there! The meetings would bore people to the point of insanity if I wasn't there to make the World more awesome!"

"Roderich."

"Well, damn, Roderich. What crawled up in your butt and died? Stressed much?"

A growl of annoyance left the Austrians throat as he stormed over to the albino man casually draped across his piano. "Yes, Gilbert. If you must know, I am beyond stressed right now, okay? I have a concert in a week and I'm not prepared at all! Is that what you want to hear?"

Gilbert held up his hands in surrender. "Woah, calm down, Roddy. I only asked a question—" A sharp glare from the other cut him off effectively.

"Now, if you would please leave, I'd more than appreciate some peace and quiet around here so I can organize my thoughts and prepare myself for next week," he gestured vaguely towards the window, stooping over the papers—which Gilbert could now see were unfinished sheets of music—once more.

"Aw, that'd be no fun! Then what would I do if I couldn't bother you? Let my awesomeness influence your work! Bask in it and let it inspire you!

Another violet eyed glare. "Gilbert if you don't leave in the next ten seconds, I will call for Elizaveta and let her handle you."

A wince, "But I'm only trying to—"

"9…8…5…4…"

Gilbert groaned, "That's no fair, Roddy! You totally skipped some numbers! That doesn't give me enough time to escape unhar—!"

"2…1 and a half…"

A panicked look crossed the albino's face as he attempted to get to the window before Roderich got to one but his foot caught on the piano bench and he tripped, splaying across the floor in an ungraceful heap, giving Roderich enough time to close and body-block the window, smirking victoriously at the other.

"Elizaveta! Gilbert's attempting to seize my Vital Regions!"

"I am not! I just came for a visit, arsgesicht!"

Not ten seconds later, a dark aura—scary enough to compete with Russia and Belarus and an angry Canada combined—could be felt travelling closer to the room and Gilbert desperately tried to escape, searching for any exit that wasn't too close to the aura or already blocked by Roderich, but he could find none.

"Gilbert! How very nice of you to join us~!" A rather feminine voice called as a shorter girl entered the room, face drawn into an innocent façade. The act was dropped almost immediately as she stepped forward, a frying pan from behind her back appearing in one hand. "What have I told you about interrupting Roderich in his work, hmm? Wasn't it something like… oh I don't know… 'If I ever catch you harassing him while I'm anywhere around—or if I ever hear about you harassing him, I will personally hunt you down and dispose of you myself?' Ooh! I do believe that was it wasn't it?"

Trying to create some distance between him and the she-devil, Gilbert scrambled backwards, "Aw, come one Er'zavet! I only came to visit! He totally made up the part about—" He cut himself off, squeaking quietly as a steel-toed boot came a bit too close to his beloved five meters.

"Oh what's the matter, Gilly? Scared of a girl?"

He didn't reply, too focused on creating distance… until his back smashed into the corner. "Fuck…"

"Great job! Backed yourself into a corner! Makes my life easier." She chuckled to herself and brought her frying pan up, bashing it across the albino's scull. "Stay away from Roddy while he's working! You know better! Come anywhere close to him in the next week and I'll be sure to make your life a living hell. You'll wish you were back with Ivan." With a couple more smashes of iron-to-skull, the Hungarian she-devil let a satisfied smirk pull at her lips. "My work here is done."

Roderich smiled gratefully at the girl. "I'm sure Ludwig will love to hear what's happened to him this time."

X~*~X

A/N: Request from Naomi-dearest. Can you tell this is my first time writing Austria? He's a suckish character to write because of his haughty attitude but short-temperedness. I'm jealous of those of you who make writing Austria or Hungary for that matter look so easy. How can I improve?

"I don't see why people add disclaimers to their stories. I mean obviously they don't own it, or they would be multimillionaires that actually did something with their lives instead of writing things for fanfiction. If they actually owned all of this shit, then it would have actually happened, and they wouldn't even bother to think about this dumbass website." -One of my friends on disclaimers

~Melody Syper Carston