Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or the play Eurydice.

As he looked in the mirror at his face full of makeup, Alexander Albany Jones thought that maybe he had made a bad decision. This was the third espresso he'd had in the last hour. Before that he'd had four cups of coffee. Usually, coffee helped him to be more awake, alert, and calm. He had to say, he had two of the three. He was extraordinarily awake and more alert than a cat on the prowl. But calm? He'd forgotten the meaning of calm.

This might also have something to do with the fact that it was opening night of the first play he'd ever actually done. It might have also had something to do with the drink that the more experienced actors had given him earlier in the day. He didn't know what was in it, and when he'd asked, Mario had said "Ogre urine, fairy dust and unicorn spit." It had tasted like cherries and carbonation.

The intercom on the wall crackled, and the whisper of the stage manager came out. "Five minutes to show time. Orpheus and Eurydice to the stage. Break a leg everyone."

That meant he had about ten minutes before he had to be onstage himself. Quietly, he finished his espresso while repeating his lines over and over again. He knew them by heart, of course, but practice made perfect.

"Creepy Man to the stage." Had ten minutes passed already? Silently, he went to the stage, his nerves becoming more and more excited each step he took, until his heart was about ready to burst out of his chest and hop away to perform by itself. He hid himself behind the curtain just as he heard Father say, "I write you letters. I don't know how to get them to you. Love, your father." He could see just enough to watch Mario walk his imaginary daughter up to her imaginary groom, and then dash out, right past him, clapping him silently on the shoulder to wish him luck. There was a blackout, the techies went onstage, moving the set, and disappearing. All of this was happening so slowly, and yet, impossibly quick. And then there was light. A girl sitting on a bench next to a water pump. The noise of a party.

"I hate parties," the girl said. "And a wedding party is the biggest party of all." It was almost his turn. Almost his cue.

"I always thought there would be more interesting people at my wedding." There. He came out from behind the curtain, trench coat flaring out fabulously behind him. He studied Eurydice drinking from the water pump for a moment, and then sat down far too close to her, invading her personal space.

"Aw you a homeless person?" he asked. Someone giggled in the audience. Eurydice jumped and immediately scooted as far away from him as the bench allowed. More laughter.

"No."

"Oh," he said, and leaned back. "I'm on my way to a party where dayah are really very interesting people. Would you like to join me?" He stood up and held a hand out to her.

She shook her head. "No. I just left my own party."

He raised his eyebrows, and said dramatically, "You were giving a party and you just left?"

"I was thirsty."

He sat down next to her again, very close, and again she tried to scoot away. "You must be a vewy interesting person, to leave your own party like dat."

"…thank you?"

"You mustn't care at all what other people tink of you. I always say dat's the mark of a really interesting person, don't you?"

"I…guess."

He gave Eurydice a creepy grin. "So would you like to accompany me to dis interesting affair?"

"Nothankyou," Eurydice said, very quickly. There was a loud burst of laughter. "I just got married, you see."

"Oh," he said, disappointed. "Lots of people do dat."

"That's true. Lot's of people do."

"What's yah name?"

"Eurydice."

He looked at her hungrily. "Eurydice."

She stood up quickly. "Good bye then!" and ran off.

"Good bye," he said with a smile and a wave. A white piece of paper caught his attention, and he picked it up. He unfolded it and read the first line aloud. "Dear Eurydice." The rest of the letter was written by the techies, and he read it as the lights flickered and dimmed. Dear Eurydice, this dude is a creeper and also Lord of the Underworld. I bet you're pretty nervous, yeah? Don't be: the worst night is tomorrow. Love, the Props Techs. :D

After that beginning, everything else went without a hitch, at least for him. He had plenty of time to change from one costume to the next, unlike Eurydice, who had to go from the wedding dress to her dead dress in under a minute. Even riding the tiny red tricycle wasn't too hard for him, and the audience laughed so much when he came on, ringing the little bell. When he finally came out for curtain call, he saw that several of the front audience members were in tears, and he knew that he and his fellow cast and crew had done a good job. The techies bowed, and they all ran offstage and out into the lobby to meet the audience as they came out.

The first one out was Alex's sister Cali, who practically tackled him in a flying ninja jump hug. "I TOLD YOU!" she shouted. "I told you you would be a brilliant actor! And what did you say? You said no! You said that all you'd ever be was a fail with stage fright! Ha!" And then just as quickly as she'd come, she was off telling the other actors and techies how brilliant they'd all been. Jeffery and Salem came out next, muttered something about how he'd sucked less than usual, and then left. Coming from those two, it was high praise. Finally, Arkady, Lilo, and the hero himself, Mr. Alfred F. Jones, came out. Alfred began by shaking the hands of and congratulating all the other actors, and then, grinning, came over to Alex. The two youngest siblings trailed along behind him. Lilo was slightly too young to understand the ending of the play, but Arkady was just old enough, and he was sniffling slightly.

"Did da ending sadden you?" Alex asked Arkady.

"Of course not," Arkady said. "Russian heroes don't cry. I'm just allergic to tragedies."

"Of course," Alex said, grinning.

"Your performance was awesome!" Alfred said, grinning wider than Alex. He ruffled his hair. "Although I gotta say, you're wearing more makeup than I've ever seen any of your sisters wearing, ever."

Alex snorted. "Yeah, it's a pain to get off, too. No one told me dat it took more den soap and water until twee days after we all started wearing it." The two of them laughed. Lilo yawned, and Arkady tried not to.

Alfred smiled gently. "I think it's time that the kids go to bed, how about you?"

"Oh, I'm not tired," Alex said. "I had a ridiculous amount of cawfee today. I'll be up for da rest of the night and probably most of the morning."

"Well, I'll drive you home anyway."

"Okay, just let me wash off da makeup and change into street clothes." Seeing as how the great majority of people were gone, and those who weren't were parents of cast and crew, Alex deemed it safe to change out. He did so, putting his final costume on the bottom of the stack for tomorrow. He washed off the makeup and tried to smooth his hair down. Long Island popped up again, as usual, but Alex ignored it, having deemed that part of his blond hair a lost cause long ago.

Cali had called shotgun a split second before Alex had, so he, Arkady, and Lilo were all in the back seat of Alfred's car. The ride started out loud and rambunctious, as everyone was talking, but it slowly became quieter, as everyone drifted off into their own thoughts.

"Da-ad."

"Yes, Arkady?"

"Lilo and Alex are sleeping on me!"