Title: Music of the Night
Author: sithmarauder
Pairing(s): Switzerland/Austria
Disclaimer: I own neither the songs nor APH.
Rules: 1) Pick a fandom or pairing
2) Set your iPod to shuffle
3) Listen to ten songs, and write mini-fics within the time frame of the song.
So I saw this challenge in multiple fandoms, and decided to give it a try. I may do it more than once, and for a different pairing each time.
I have too many songs by Nightwish on my iPod. Holy mother of all things Rome and Legolas-Germania. Anyway, the title is what it is simply because I wrote this. At night. With my music. Make of that what you will.
Okay, so I cheated a little bit. Bite me. Also, toppy!Austria at one point, so yay~
-x-
Dead to the World – Nightwish
"I studied science to learn the music. I joined the sinful to regain innocence."
The music played in the background, a strange and large contrast to the usual piano music that filled the vast expanse of space, the melody lilting and calm. This was not like that: this was like a tumultuous storm, filling every single cavity until the outside world didn't matter, and they were left here, alone, the exact opposite of dead.
"Oh, God…" A harsh bite followed by a low moan perforates the spell of the heavy music. Two bodies move against each other, one slightly shorter than the other as he looks down and green meets violet and oh God everything feels so good.
Reaching out, Switzerland smooths a strand of hair from Austria's sweaty brow, his eyes intense as he stares at his partner.
I don't want to die a scarless man. A lonely soul.
And Austria looks up at him, eyes reflecting an unknown edge as he suddenly arches up, calling the name of the man above him.
And the world didn't have to matter.
Ever Dream – Nightwish
"Entwined in finding you one day."
Switzerland wakes to a ray of sunlight passing through the window, giving life to the smoky-white room. He can see the dust floating in the air, faint but undeniably there as it drifts to and from the maroon drapes on the tall windows.
To his left, he feels a warm body stir, and turns his still sleep-glazed head to look down at the form of Austria sleeping peacefully beside him, glasses on the nightstand and eyelashes lightly brushing his cheek. He seems to be dreaming, murmuring low things that the Swiss man beside him cannot hear.
"Vash…" The sleeping man mumbles, and Switzerland feels himself scowl in an embarrassed fashion as he hears the tenderness in the aristocrat's voice, even as he sleeps. He turns his head away, idly reaching out to smooth Austria's unruly hair.
Sneaking a chance look at his lover, Switzerland almost jumps out of his skin. The blush returns full-force as he stammers something angry sounding.
Austria just chuckles, moves closer, kisses him, and goes to sleep once more.
I Will Remember You – Ryan Cabrera
"You were there when I needed a friend."
Time was something Austria had pondered many times before, more specifically how it could continue when the world fell apart.
Of course, he could never come up with an answer; it was more of a rhetorical thought than something serious. After all, why waste time on things one could not change?
"God, what is this, the sixty-second time?"
A harsh (but Austria knew he didn't mean it) voice rang in his ear, and a familiar form picked him up, always gentle, always caring.
"Hey, that's unseemly!"
An annoyed-looking child with green eyes wiped away a smudge of food, sighing in exasperation.
Austria smiled to himself and took another sip of tea, still staring out the window.
Even after all these years, he did not forget. He always remembered.
Perhaps that was the best way to preserve memories, after all.
Sing for Me – Tarja Turunen
"Sing the right from the wrong."
"Can you still sing?"
"Pardon me?"
"Idiot. I asked if you could still sing."
Austria removed his hands from the piano, eyes looking with wary shock at the other nation. He hadn't expected Switzerland's impromptu visit, but he was an aristocrat and, by extension, a gentleman; he would not rudely turn a visitor away. Well, unless it was Prussia, but that was irrelevant right now.
"I suppose I can; it's been so long," he said carefully, finally noticing how tired his ex-friend looked. Switzerland was sagging slightly, his normally immaculate posture forsaken.
"Then sing."
"W-what? Excuse me?" Austria demanded sharply, rising from his piano bench.
"Sing for me. Please, Roderich… Just once."
It was the name that did it. Closing his eyes, Austria turned towards the Swiss man, a soft and slightly hesitant melody pouring from his mouth as he watched the neutral country exhale.
Sing for me, my love. Sing the right from the wrong. Here inside my mind, truth is hard to find.
He continued for a little while before letting the song slowly die away. It had been years since he last attempted this. His voice was no longer as high as it used to be, and had gotten softer as he left his more… wild childhood ways behind him, but it still worked. And as he watched Switzerland across from him, his eyes closed as he remembered something, Austria thought that it was enough for this one moment.
Masquerade – The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)
"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade! Masquerade! Hide your face so the world can never find you!"
France's parties were always extravagant, and this year was no different. Brightly coloured banners and tapestries hung from every visible wall of the palace in an effort to recreate what had once been, hundreds of years ago. All around him couples danced gaily, their dresses shimmering and coats flapping in the golden palace of Versailles.
Switzerland muttered angrily under his breath. "What a waste of money," he sniffed disdainfully. "No wonder he's no longer the superpower he once was, if this is what he did instead of looking after his people."
The man in his arms just looked at him levelly, giving him another Look. Still, when Austria's face curved into a small smile, Switzerland grudgingly found himself relaxing as his secret lover's violet eyes stared out from behind the sapphire-blue and diamond-encrusted mask he had adorned. Resisting the urge to shift his own dark green 'façade', Switzerland gave an imperious huff.
"You haven't changed a bit," Austria murmured as they moved, lost in the sea of dancers.
"I think that's why you love me so much, Roderich."
Austria kissed his nose, making Switzerland say something about "certain displays of affection in public."
But still they danced, the masks keeping their secret once more.
Whoever Brings The Night – Nightwish
"Like two ships that pass in the night."
The heavy cloak of darkness had fallen, leaving only the perpetual light of the moon. In the streets of England, a man slipped out of a bar, his face shrouded by a dark cloak.
This hadn't been the first time he had been inappropriately compromised on these clandestine rendezvous, but it had been the closest call. If it hadn't been for the knife he now carried under his sleeve, he would have lost far more than his life this night.
A hand shot out of one of the dark alleys, pulling him in as a slightly shorter figure pushed him up against the wall, green eyes glowing slightly even in the dark.
Roderich Edelstein, visiting Austrian nobleman, looked at the man across him, relaxing.
"Vash," he murmured to the Swiss merchant, before his world was lost in a single breathtaking kiss.
FantasMic – Nightwish
"The master of the tale-like lore."
"—If I see any of you on my property again I swear I'll kill you!" Switzerland shouted from the edge of his territory, expression livid as he watched not Italy, but England run across into France's lands.
The French-speaking idiot could have him as punishment for daring…
Only last week he had chased Prussia away, but that was more for creeping where he was not wanted than anything else. England… he hadn't known what the blonde had been doing here, but judging from the black cloak and sinister book in his hands, it hadn't been good.
Growling out another warning, the neutral nation turned and stomped back to his house, throwing his pistols to the ground.
The man sitting on the couch didn't even look fazed. He just raised an eyebrow, lifted the teacup to his lips, and took a sip before placing the cup and saucer on the wooden table in front of him.
"All finished?"
"Don't look at me like I'm a child," Switzerland snapped, "or next time I'll let France have you, too, husband or no husband!"
"No you wouldn't, Vash."
And deep down, Switzerland knew he was right.
Harem – Sarah Brightman
"Deep desires, sleep untold."
It made him shiver, both inside and out. The man above him was silent, hardly saying anything, but when he leaned back and whispered that into his ear, the bottom partner felt the last of his humiliation melt away.
He knew that he would later pay (mentally, of course) for the way he growled like an animal and thrust his hips up into the other on top of him, but right now, he couldn't care less.
A hand traced patterns across his body as more movements came, making it almost impossible to see his partner through the haze of lust that clouded the air.
"Say my name…" Came the whisper again, and the one below threw his head back with an almost guttural cry as his felt his body lose control, plunging him into the very definition of pleasure, as his partner did the same.
Panting, Switzerland moaned and lifted his head as Austria claimed his lips in a tender kiss, violet eyes soft and clear. Both were tired, but neither of them were willing to succumb to exhaustion first. Switzerland's eyes burned fire, embraced by Austria's cool ones, forever enrapturing two souls, and two hearts.
Beauty and the Beast – Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
"Ever just the same, ever a surprise."
It had been a surprise for almost everyone when Austria had stood up at the World Conference meeting, Switzerland stoic at his side, and announced their mutual alliance, and upcoming wedding.
But to Canada, it had been about time. The two had been friends once, then barely that, and now they were… well, he could see the love in their eyes when they thought no one was looking.
It was the perk of being invisible.
Cats in the Cradle – Harry Chapin (performed by Ugly Kid Joe)
"You know we'll have a good time then."
"PRUSSIA!"
"Can't catch me, Specs! Ahahah—OWW. Oh. Hey, Switzerland—hey! Point that thing somewhere else! Speeeeecs, your bodyguard is pointing a gun at me—oww!"
"Back, vagrant!"
"Ah, thank you, Switzerland."
"Eww, Specs—I really didn't need to see that."
"You get no say, Prussia. What I do with my husband is my own business."
"What did the idiot do this time?"
"He put kittens inside my piano!"
"But Gilbird said they would like it and—"
"Shut up, or I'll shoot you before you can say any synonym or antonym of the word 'awesome'! Austria?"
"Hn. By the time I discovered it, they had been chewing on the wires. That is an antique, you imbecile!"
"Aww, Roddy, they were only kittens—"
"Do not call me that. Ever."
"Rodd—fuck! Ouch!"
"Now get out. Don't let me catch you again!"
"Jesus, Specs, you just had to marry the trigger-happy… all right, I'm going!"
"Thank God he's go—nngh. Vash…"
"Hmm?"
"Aah…"
"Hey, check it out! Specs is getting some action!"
"GILBERT!"