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Katze Schwatzen
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West had asked him to take some paperwork to Austria.
Well, that wasn't entirely true.
Ludwig had told him to fax the papers to Austria, but Gilbert figured that if he was going to fax something, then he might as well go even more old-fashioned and deliver the papers in person.
It wasn't the most solid excuse he could come up with to visit the pianist, to be sure. However, it was an awesome idea since it was Prussia's idea. It was a nice summer day and if he wanted to hop on the next train to Vienna and go check out what the Little Master was up to, he would!
Such was how he'd found himself standing on the doorstep of Roderich's main residence, a stately piece of property strategically located between Schönbrunn and Hofburg. Letting himself was no trouble – it never really had been.
Austria's house never changed much. Gone were a great deal of old portraits and artwork, and a few modern touches occasionally popped up now and then, but the air of quiet elegance remained. The snowy-haired man recognized the faint sounds which greeted him as being of Roderich's Merry Mozart CD. It was a favorite that he played during favorable moods, when he was too occupied to practice his own music.
Over the piano and violin notes, he could hear the smooth tenor of the aristocrat's voice. In fact it sounded as though Austria was all but crooning in German.
"Oh, my little darling...you are so pretty."
Prussia raised an eyebrow. Who was the Priss with?
"So, so soft and sweet, aren't you just miraculous?"
Seeing as how his presence apparently hadn't been detected, Gilbert began taking care not to make any additional sounds. The hallway was slightly dim with shadows – that cheap guy wouldn't pay to light parts of the house he wasn't presently occupying. It was of no concern, as Prussia knew his way around well enough. He closed the door with a soft click behind him and crept forward, past the coat rack and grandfather clock, until he had reached the doorway of the sitting room, where all the noise and light seemed to be drifting from.
"My lovely dear, oh be gentle now, be good."
What the hell...?
Gilbert leaned against the wall, his hand gripping the doorway in tight anticipation. Oh, he was surely going to catch Austria in the act of something, wasn't he?
"Ouch," Roderich complained, switching to English. "That wasn't polite at all, my friend. Give those back."
With a quiet intake of breath, the unknown house guest turned his head and peered subtly into the room.
Austria was upon the sofa, clad in a plain white dress shirt with the first few buttons undone and black, tight-knit shorts – casual wear, in his case. He was lying on his back, with one knee bent.
And perched upon his chest, being gazed at with pure affection, was...
His cat.
His cat, who had batted Roderich's glasses right off his face and was now playfully holding them in a vice kitty grip, while his owner smiled beseechingly and murmured endearing chastisements. The pianist's amethyst eyes were bright, and Gilbert was almost grateful to that cat for taking his glasses away. It was rare to see Austria in this state, more relaxed and peaceful than Prussia could remember witnessing in a long time, with the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window and softly kissing his face.
As Roderich gently attempted to tug the spectacles away, Gilbert had to wonder which of the two was more adorable – not that he would ever admit such a thing to Austria.
He watched as the cat – what was its name, Caustria? - surrendered the glasses, only to curl its front leg over the musician's hand and attempt to groom his slender fingers. A bemused chuckle rumbled softly from Austria's chest.
"You are a silly kitty. Silly, silly kitty." Roderich stated in German, lightly tapping the cat's nose with his free hand. The feline only purred in that self-assured way he had, somewhat eerily similar to his owner.
Geez, Gilbert expected him to break into a rendition of 'Soft Kitty' at any given moment. Who was this guy and what had they done with Austria? Was this really the same prissy person he'd lived with for years at his bruder's house? Gilbert hadn't known that Roderich even let his cat on the furniture, much less baby-talked to him. He hadn't been aware Austria knew how to baby-talk to anything.
Yet here he was now, apparently wasting the afternoon away by spending time with his cat, stroking elegant fingers through the soft fur and gently murmuring nonsense. It seemed like such a foolish thing to do.
The evidence was right here before him - despite the dignified front Roderich tried so hard to present to others, he was really just a guy who lived alone and talked to his cat.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Gilbert snickered at the sight.
Instantly, the dark-haired musician and his companion both froze, turning to look at the intruder as he sauntered into the room.
Standing up, the brown and white feline leisurely stretched his front paws toward the ground and abandoned his master, pacing over to sniff at Gilbert's boot. It seemed to be more out of obligation than any actual need to investigate the albino, for Caustria soon turned tail and headed for the warm spot beneath the window to lay there.
With a put-out sigh, Roderich hurriedly slipped his spectacles back on – those entrancing eyes unfortunately hidden behind useless lenses once more – and sat up. He tried in vain to straighten his rumpled shirt and rearrange his unsettled hair – all those things he usually spent hours taking care of before people saw him.
Prussia personally thought it was a waste of time and energy, but then again, he also thought he looked awesome the moment he got up to greet the day.
"Gilbert, just because you have a key to my house doesn't mean you are exempt from calling ahead every once in a while."
"Oh, was I interrupting something?" He grinned.
"Only a perfectly peaceful Saturday afternoon." With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Roderich stood. "Is there something you need?" He asked, noticing the manilla envelope tucked under Gilbert's arm.
"Ja." Gilbert handed the envelope over." West sent these papers for you."
"Ah..." Opening the package, Roderich thumbed briefly through the pages. Finally, he arched a perfectly-sculpted eyebrow. "There's nothing of overly sensitive nature here. I presume you simply forgot that you could have faxed or emailed these documents instead of coming all the way here?"
"Don't get all proper on me when I just watched you petting and talking to your cat like an idiot for several minutes, Specs." Gilbert folded his arms. "I came because I was bored."
A sheepish red flush was beginning to bloom across Roderich's cheeks. "Ja, well, that...this is my house, I can do whatever I please. What do you expect me to do about your boredom, anyhow?"
"I don't know, but you've already been pretty entertaining." Prussia smirked, reaching across the space between them to mess the aristocrat's hair up once more. "Maybe you could talk to me like that sometime, huh?"
Austria snorted. "Certainly," He promised wryly, grabbing the slightly taller man's wrist and proceeding to steer him out of the room. "Come back to me when you've sprouted feline ears and a tail."
Prussia reluctantly left, musing that it felt very odd to be jealous of a cat, of all things.
Leaning against the front door after it had closed behind the crimson-eyed man, Austria sighed and wondered what he'd set himself up for.
"I should bribe England well before Preußen has a chance to ask..." He announced to an unconcerned Caustria as he returned to the sofa.
"I should..."
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End
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AN: Katze Schwatzen – Cat Chatter.
This may warrant an eventual sequel...