I trudged down the hallway, struggling to simply keep my eyes open. I hated getting up early to travel to the world meetings. The actual content of them was always boring, and though the nations themselves were fairly entertaining I always ended up feeling like my time would have been better spent at home on the couch.
I vaguely noted Francis saying bonjour as I entered the conference room and I muttered a salut back, but otherwise ignored him. I plopped my notes down, took my glasses off, and put my head down on my arms. I could probably get another twenty minutes of sleep in before the meeting started.
Just as my mind was slipping into the welcome darkness unique to the land of Nod, I heard someone pick up the pencil by my hand. Foggy with tiredness, it took me a while to look up. When I finally did, I saw Austria walking out the door.
"Roderich…" I tried to call, but it came out as a hoarse whisper. I internally cursed myself for using his human name before he stopped and turned back to at me with a smile. I just looked at him helplessly and he walked back to my seat and placed my pencil back on the table.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I noticed that my heartbeat had slightly accelerated, but I didn't give it a second thought. Roderich's lips quirked slightly and he whispered, hot breath fanning across my face,
"You're not wearing your glasses."
I didn't reply to that. What was there to say? How could I have anything to say when his gorgeous violet eyes were so close to my own? I simply couldn't. That's all there was to it.
It was still morning- I hadn't had time to truly wake up yet. Or at least, that's what I told myself. That was my excuse. That, I repeated fervently in my mind, is the reason why I couldn't seem to form a coherent thought when Austria's lips pressed lightly against mine just for a second before he pulled away.
And by the time I had finally caught up with the rest of the world, Roderich was gone and I was alone again. Francis was hovering by my side, wanting story. And for once, I was the one ignoring him.
The meeting went by like usual with loud arguments and wasted time until Germany called a break for lunch. I left the conference room rather slowly, and I'm sure that somewhere in the back of my mind it was intentional, because it was only about half a minute before Austria was walking beside me.
We didn't talk, but when we had to part ways, Roderich reached up to brush my cheek. A soft light had entered his eyes and I could do nothing to stop myself from smiling, and less to prevent the blush that enveloped my face even after he had walked away again without a single word between us.
Words were messy things, I decided as Austria pulled me into his arms after the meeting had adjourned that evening. Words meant putting definitions to things that didn't need definitions. No, I decided. These simple touches between us said more than any dictionary ever could.
And so we were silent.