A/N: Hello, everyone! This is my very first fanfiction. I do hope you enjoy it!
Title: Lithe Feet and Bleak Smiles
Warnings: None
Pairings: Austria/Belarus, past Austria/Hungary
Roderich Edelstein promised Vash Zwingli to chaperone his sister, Lilli, at the ballet. Due to Roderich's worries that Lilli, being as young as she was, would be bored quite easily with something so long, Vash promised that Lilli, if nothing else, would enjoy the spectacle. Roderich wished desperately that he could stay at home and compose tonight, but he promised Lilli he would take her.
The horse-drawn carriage traveled down the neat roads. Roderich sat uncomfortably as Lilli babbled something during the journey that he paid no attention to. Instead, he focused on the world outside of the carriage window and nodding to acknowledge that he heard her.
As he exited the carriage, dressed in his deep purple formal clothing, he assisted little Lilli - in her red cloak dress - in exiting gracefully.
"Do I look nice, Mister Edelstein?" she asked, a hopeful gaze boring into Roderich's eyes.
"You look princess-like, Lilli," he said, his normally harsh tone overpowering the attempt to be affectionate to the child, making the words come out forced and angry instead of kind.
Lilli tilted her head and stared at him, "Should I take that as a compliment or an insult? It sounded harsh." She looked visibly hurt by his comment.
"Take it however you want to," Roderich replied, still in a cold and condescending tone. The child did look precious, but he, a disciplined and bleak individual, would never admit in finding a child adorable. He took her small hand and guided her to their destination. Little Lilli walked after him as they walked into the magnificent and huge building.
"Thank you for taking me here," she said politely, having been well-trained in manners by her elder brother.
"You're welcome," Roderich said in a flat voice. She was more of a burden to him than a gift, but she didn't need to know that. She skipped in her merry childish manner alongside him.
"Can we talk to people?" she asked innocently.
"No, we can't." Roderich snapped.
He did not like to converse, and he certainly did not want to talk to anyone here. He couldn't just leave the little girl to talk to people on her own, despite how much he wanted to. Somehow, Lilli managed to catch someone's attention, and somehow she managed to start a conversation with this person, and somehow Roderich was stuck alongside her as he desperately waited for the sound of the bell to venture inside of the theatre. As Lilli conversed with a friendly Italian man, Roderich admired the beautiful architecture of the theatre. Sculptures lay every direction you looked. He had seen this place before, as he had performed in the orchestra of musicals and ballets, but he never had the time to stop and admire everything.
Suddenly, the bell tone to enter the theatre was finally sounded. Roderich guided Lilli to their seats in the mezzanine. He saw the title of the ballet; Giselle. He groaned a bit inside. He had heard the score so many times when his ex-wife Elizaveta was involved in ballet. He would much rather be at his own piano, creating his own legendary music. He looked over at Lilli, who was overjoyed. She turned her head to him and grinned. This earned a halfhearted curve of the mouth from the Austrian aristocrat.
Soon, the ballet began. The first thing that Roderich noticed was the woman playing Giselle. She had such lithe, such ethereal grace. She moved so effortlessly and looked as if she were having the time of her life. She made the audience feel what she felt. When she was gleefully dancing, Roderich wanted to dance with her. When she was sad, Roderich felt her pain. When she fell in love, Roderich fell in love with her. When she died, he felt his heart break. He turned momentarily to Lilli at intermission and saw that she was in tears.
He needed to find out the name of the astonishing dancer. He searched through the program and finally found her name, Natalya Arlovskaya. Natalya Arloskaya, what a lovely name. He located her picture in the program and was stunned. Since they were in the upper levels of the mezzanine, he was unable to see her face very clearly. She was breathtaking. Her expression was serious, but it made her look nothing short of gorgeous.
As the curtain rose, Roderich continued to watch the ballerina. She was the best actress he had ever seen, creating emotion within every soul in the theatre without speaking a word. The way her arched feet stood on their toes, the way her body moved, the way she danced with her partner, everything was so expressive, so animated. He was certain he wanted to see her in person and congratulate her on being simply sensational.
At the very end of the ballet, when Natalya/Giselle returned for her bow, Roderich, along with Lilli and nearly everyone in the crowd, stood and cheered for the ballerina. After the curtains closed, he took Lilli's hand once again and went to exit the theatre. The poor girl looked amazed, but so very tired.
Roderich decided that this newfound elation at the ballet was an excellent way to cheer the child up and make her like him a bit.
"Would you like to meet Giselle?" he asked her, attempting to sound kind. Her eyes lit up when this offer came.
"Yes! Yes, please, Mr. Edelstein!" Roderich smiled slightly and led Lilli to the stage door. His memory served him well; it was exactly where it had been when he worked in the theatre.
To his luck, he saw a blonde woman in a heavy fur coat standing outside of the stage door. Her face was identical to the picture in the program, and she was even more ravishing in person. As her eyes made contact with his, he stepped closer, a little tentative to speak to her, and secretly flustered.
"Good Evening, Miss Arlovskaya. I am Roderich Edelstein, and I would like to congratulate you. Your performance as Giselle was simply flawless," Roderich complimented her, bowing slightly. Lilli looked more excited than he had seen her before.
"Thank you, sir. I try my very best," Natalya spoke much like Roderich, very politely and with a harsh tone.
"Hi!" piped a small voice from a couple of feet below the two adults. Lilli peered up at the ballerina with smiling eyes. "You were amazing, Miss! When I grow up, I want to dance just like you!"
Natalya let a slight angle of the mouth pass as a smile. She kneeled down to the level of the little girl and said, "Thank you. If you want to be a ballerina, you must work very hard each and every day. Never stop dancing and training," She advised.
"I will! Thank you very much!" Lilli simply beamed. She had just gotten advice from a real Prima Ballerina! She turned around and began to converse with another person, as Roderich was too preoccupied with the dancer.
"Thank you. She will feel very nice because you said that," Roderich said.
"It was all true. In all honesty, I see a little of myself in her - a little girl who wants to dance," Natalya looked behind Roderich at the little girl, now chatting away with yet another stranger.
"I must say again, that your performance was remarkable. You were simply amazing, and the entire audience was stunned by your fluidity and emotional acting," he gawked at the beauty as he addressed her, Natalya's serious and yet resplendent expression never faltered. Roderich felt inexplicably awkward, mentally abusing himself with insults regarding his exceedingly formal manner of conversation.
A slight blush powdered her cheeks, partially from the bitter freeze and from her new admirer's charm. Roderich's own paled complexion dusted itself with pink.
"Oh, privyet!" a voice resonated from behind and above. A very tall and sweet-faced man, the one whom Lilli was speaking with, smiled at Roderich. Though it appeared his intentions were friendly, his smile was a tad grim. Shaking hands with the intimidating man, he introduced himself. "Hello, I am Roderich Edelstein, this is a...friend, Lilli Zwingli."
"I met Lilli. She was a very nice girl. I am Ivan Braginsky, this is my little sister, Natalya," he referred in a slight nervous tone to the lady in front of Roderich.
"Mister Braginski, Natalya is very, very beautiful...uh...on stage and in person," Yet again, Roderich internally mocked himself for the blunder.
"Thank you," Ivan maintained his unsettling smile. He leaned towards Roderich slightly, whispering in a dark tone, "Though she is a little...disturbed in the head." He backed away.
Roderich looked for a joking expression, but Ivan seemed to be completely serious. This unnerved Roderich. How could Natalya, the lovely ballerina who seemed like a decent enough human being, be disturbed?
"Big Brother, it is time to leave, I'm afraid," Natalya advanced towards Ivan, getting unusually close to him.
"Uh, yes. Yes, I'm sorry, we must be going now. It was nice to meet you!" Ivan pleasantly smiled at Lilli, who was visually worn out because of the late hour.
"Goodbye! I hope I'll see you in the ballet again!" Lilli grinned as cheerfully as possible, forcing herself to stay awake.
"Goodnight," Natalya answered solemnly, nodding with a slight smile towards Roderich and young Lilli. She then turned and took her brother's hand. It resembled an almost...romantic gesture.
As if he had heard Roderich's thoughts, Ivan turned his head back and gave a nod to Roderich.
Oh.
Roderich finally understood what he meant by "disturbed." Still, he gazed wistfully at the captivating woman, whose stride gave the impression of a graceful float, as she walked away.
"Come, Lilli. It's time to go home now," Roderich once again took her hand and lead the exhausted child to the waiting carriage.
Somehow, Lilli's head made its way onto Roderich's lap. She used her red cloak as a blanket and drifted off. He let her lay there, a little red bundle inside of the carriage. Looking down on the sleeping child, he realized that he was pleased to have chosen to chaperone her. For once, he actually smiled down at Lilli, the innocence and naivete she possessed was slowly growing on him.
"The ballerina was very pretty...thank you for taking me to see her...Mr. Edelstein," came Lilli's voice, breaking the peace for a moment.
Roderich jumped a bit at the sudden break in silence, but he finally registered her reply and gave an answer, "She was very beautiful...and you're welcome, Lilli."
Lilli slept through the ride home, and Roderich somehow allowed his thoughts to wander again to the elegant ballerina who had charmed him.