(Disclaimer: The movies and corporations I allude to do not belong to me. Nor does Hetalia.)
Alfred and Natalya were sitting on the loveseat together, Beauty and the Beast playing on the TV in front of them. Natalya had originally tried to inch away from Alfred, but by the middle of the movie, she found herself reluctantly being held by him. She tolerated it, barely, and Alfred could sense that at any wrong movement, she would be ready to scramble away, so he moved no closer.
Natalya couldn't help but let out a grumpy sigh when she heard Alfred sniffle and felt the hand on her shoulder start to tremble slightly. This was the fifth or sixth D*sney movie of the day, and surely he had not only seen this one before, but he had realized by now that all of the movies tended to end in sappy, happy moments?
"That was an awesome movie!" Alfred exclaimed, and used his free hand to wipe a tear away. His hand on Natalya' shoulder tightened a bit, bringing her closer in an imitation of a hug, though she got the impression that he was afraid she was going to disappear if he didn't hold on tight. "What did you think?"
Natalya gave a shrug, more or less trying to get his hand off her shoulder than answer him.
Alfred's smile didn't fade one bit, though he did look at her with what appeared to be concern in his eyes. "Have you enjoyed any of the movies? Have any of them made you smile?"
Natalya merely stared at him before pointedly looking at the hand still on her shoulder.
"But… they're D*sney. D*sney makes everyone smile!" Alfred protested, not getting her silent threat. "In fact…" he trailed off and gave Natalya a measured look. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile." Alfred frowned. "Other than at Russia. And that's just creepy." He gave her a poke and she glared. "What makes you happy aside from Russia?"
Natalya continued glaring and used her hand to forcibly move Alfred's off her shoulder.
Alfred didn't notice her removing his hand because the next instant he'd jumped up from the loveseat, his left fist pumped into the air and his right hand pointing right at Natalya. "I, Alfred, your hero," he shouted dramatically, "will find something to make you smile! I swear it!"
Natalya raised an eyebrow, wholly unconvinced.
"First plan… more D*sney movies!" Alfred exclaimed, laughing as he walked over to the DVD shelf.
Natalya groaned and looked for a speedy exit, but Alfred was right back on the seat, his hand over her shoulder, before she knew it.
ooOOoo
Day one, D*sney movie marathon, did not succeed.
Day two, spend the day at a planetarium, was met with a goofy smile from Alfred but a bored, unimpressed look from Natalya.
Day three, candlelit dinner and planned walk on the beach, saw Natalya leaving the restaurant before the first course, claiming that Alfred was being extravagantly idiotic.
Day four, Alfred tried a new tactic. Instead of something traditionally romantic, he took Natalya paintballing. While she did appear to get into it, as Alfred's backside could attest, she smiled not once.
Day five was day do or die to Alfred since Natalya would be flying home the next day, and he was determined to get her to smile before she left.
"The county fair!" he exclaimed over breakfast, smacking a flier onto the table. "I'll be fun, don't you think?"
"No," Natalya said simply, taking a bite of toast and completely ignoring Alfred.
"Well, it will be fun," Alfred declared with a nod.
And so, Natalya found herself following an excited Alfred who seemed set on pointing any-and-everything out to her.
"Over there is the petting zoo! And over there are the rides and over here—"
"Alfred," Natalya interrupted disdainfully. "That is enough. I can see."
Alfred nodded before grabbing her hand, firmly holding on when she seemed ready to yank it away, and pulling her over to a game booth. When they reached the counter, he dropped her hand in order to talk price with the attendance, while Natalya raised an eyebrow at the set up of the game. A pyramid made of milk bottles sat on a platform, and it seemed that the point of the game was to knock all the bottles down with a single ball. She sniffed. The game was most likely rigged.
"I'm going to win a prize for you," Alfred told her and held up three baseballs.
Natalya was completely unconvinced.
Alfred took her silence as a vote of confidence and held a ball firmly in hand before taking careful aim. He let it go and it hit the middle of the pyramid. It was a perfect hit and the bottles wobbled, but not one fell, confirming Natalya's suspicions.
"That's a crying shame, boy." The attendant smirked. "Try again."
Alfred frowned and nodded, then wound up his second pitch. More strength was behind it, but still, no bottles fell.
"Shame," the attendant repeated.
"Alfred, there is no point. The game is obviously set up so that you cannot win," Natalya muttered.
Alfred looked momentarily disheartened before brightening. "No. I said I was going to win, and I am!"
Natalya rolled her eyes, but didn't turn away as Alfred carefully aimed his third and final pitch. He let the ball fly and it crashed into the bottles, shattering one and sending the rest to the ground.
"Yeah!" Alfred shouted while the attendant looked on in shock. "I'll take that, please." He pointed to a giant plush pink rabbit.
"But… how…?" The attendant muttered to himself, reluctantly handing Alfred the prize.
Alfred laughed and shrugged, taking the giant rabbit. "Had to win for my girl!"
Natalya snarled but then the rabbit was shoved into her arms.
"For you, Natalya," he said softly, giving her one of his rarer, calmer smiles.
Natalya stared at him for a minute before turning away, holding the rabbit in front of her protectively.
Alfred frowned again but followed her gaze. "You want to get some funnel cake?"
"No," Natalya told him, shaking her head. He ignored her, running over and buying a plate anyway.
"Take some," Alfred offered her the plate. She stared at the powdered sugar in disgust as it sprinkled off the plate.
"I do not wish to." Natalya tried to walk away, but Alfred simply followed her like a puppy. "Alfred," she said warningly.
"I know, I know," he sighed and ripped off a piece of funnel cake. "You don't want any. Can't I just walk with you, anyway?" He popped it into his mouth, some of the sugar sticking to his lip.
"Wipe your mouth. You look like a slob."
"Huh?" Alfred rubbed at his mouth with his hand. "That better?"
Natalya nodded before continuing to look around the fair, absolutely disinterested in everything she saw. Alfred stared at the back of her head, frowning. How in the world was he going to get her to smile when she seemed to be set on not having fun? He dropped the now empty plate into a trash can, hastily brushing his hands off on his pants. He heard a derisive snort and winced. That wasn't going to help in his favor.
"Let's go on a few rides," he suggested and led her off to the carousel.
A couple hours and a few nausea-inducing rides later, Natalya was still no closer to smiling, and Alfred wasn't sure what else to do.
"Do you want to go to the petting zoo?" He asked, adjusting the plush rabbit that he was holding for her.
"Not particularly." Natalya sounded painfully bored.
"Wanna go home?" Alfred suggested.
Natalya's eyes brightened and Alfred thought that maybe, just maybe, she would smile. But her mouth didn't even twitch as she nodded.
"Let's go, then," Alfred nodded, smiling. "We can pick up dinner on the way home, k?"
Natalya didn't respond, but she did turn and began to head for the exit.
They stopped at Mc*onald's on the way back to Alfred's house. Natalya ate her food in a tense silence, ignoring any and all of Alfred's attempts at conversation.
"I'm going to bed," she announced after finishing.
"Alright." Alfred smiled. "Good night, sleep tight, Natalya."
She nodded and entered his bedroom, rolling her eyes when she saw that the pink rabbit had found its way onto the bed she was borrowing, a piece of paper emblazoned with a heart held in its arms. "Idiot," she muttered, unable to hide her smile. It was such a silly thing for Alfred to do, but it was so him and rather endearing. Her smile faded a second later as she got into bed.
In the living room, as Alfred prepared for his night on the couch, he felt a sense of success. He iknew/i he could get her to smile. Next step would be getting her to smile in front of him. Until then, however, he was content to fall asleep settled on the couch, a smile still on his face.