A/N: Just a little filler/interlude, just to give some background to our main characters.

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia, or its characters.

Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of…

Like lots of normal people, Alfred F. Jones, a relatively young male prostitute of twenty years old, had many complaints about his job.

One of these complaints is coming home from work at, like, seven o'clock in the morning.

"So, yeah, I totally didn't finish that project…"

"No good, man, you're gonna fail…"

"Hey, don't push…!"

"God, I need coffee…"

"Hello, ladies and gentleman. I'd hate to interrupt your ride for the day, but I was laid off a few months ago, and I just ran out of money from unemployment…"

…Coming home via crowded subway train at, like, seven o'clock in the morning.

Needless to say, by the time his stop came around, Alfred's left eye had developed one hell of an irritated twitch, which was close to going away as he walked closer to his six-floor apartment building. In fact, the minute he stepped inside and began sneaking up to his three-room apartment as quickly as possible, his twitch was almost nonexistent.

"Oye, Jones!"

…And then the superintendant caught him.

"Don't think I don't see you, you ungrateful pendejo!"

…One day, one fucking day…is that too much to ask for? Alfred rolled his eyes to the white ceiling, which was slightly cracked and had chipped paint. Then he turned on his heel to face the man with a wide, plastic smile as he sheepishly scratched his head.

"Mr. Estevez," he greeted. "How are you this morning?"

One of the Cuban man's thick eyebrows twitched. "Don't you play games with me, asshole! Where's my money?"

Alfred sighed, deciding to drop the nice act. "Look, Estevez, I can't give you the money right now—but I swear to you, it's coming soon."

"That's what you said last week!"

"Well, I'm telling you again. Sorry."

"Don't you crack wise with me, tu gringo estupido!" (You stupid white boy! basically)

"Hey! I know what that means, you no-good, illegal cigar smoking, Com—"

"Enough!"

Both men cringed at the shrill, thick accented voice. Trembling slightly, they both turned to look up the stairs, where, from the second floor, a dark skinned woman glared down at them with fierce almond eyes. She wore a long red dress with a black sash wrapped around the middle, and her black hair (which had a few stands of silver, but if you wanted to live with your cajones intact, you wouldn't mention them) was tied up into a bun.

"I know you two little sons of bitches aren't starting este mieda (this shit) this early in the morning," she said, placing her hands on her hips.

Alfred smiled sheepishly and waved timidly. "Morning, Maria!"

Though the heat in her eyes softened somewhat, Maria Colon scowled and pointed upwards with her thumb.

"Just get home already, Jones," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am." He gave her a mock salute, and then he started towards his apartment, leaving behind an argument spoken in quick Spanish.

"¿Oye, cuál es la idea grande, mujer?"

"¡Tú bastardo, tú sabes mejor que exprimir el dinero fuera de él después de una noche del trabajo, especialmente en vista de su situación!"

"¡Sí, pero él debe también aprender pasar su dinero mejor!"

"¡Él tiene que ayudar a alimentar tres bocas, incluyendo se…!"

Alfred quickly opened and closed his door, immediately blocking his ears from the continuing argument. He turned around and leaned against the door, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. God, he needed sleep, almost more than he needed a good hamburger in his hand.

Hamburgers! He cried mentally, as his empty stomach groaned with longing. How long has it been since I had a good, decent burger? Three years? Four, at least…

After all, ever since the baby had been born, Maddie had practically banned anything fast food related in the Jones-Williams household—which, obviously, broke Alfred's heart into millions of tiny pieces.

I mean, really, a child growing up without McDonald's? The very thought just screams blasphemy!

But, hey, whatever mommy says goes. I guess…

Alfred sighed and pushed off of the door to walk towards the living room couch. He almost expected a "welcome home", but then he reminded himself that it was almost eight, which meant that the other occupants of the place had already gone off to start their day. For a moment, but not for the first time, Alfred couldn't help but feel some semblance of resentment for his job. It would be nice to come home to someone waiting for you. Granted, being a prostitute often prevented such a thing from happening, for many reasons, but it would still be nice to have that one thing, at least once.

As he got closer, though, a familiar sweet smell wafted through his nostrils, immediately making his mouth water and his spirits lift. Smiling widely, he looked across the room to see the kitchen slash dining room, and his eyes glowed happily as they drank in what was on the table.

But at least I can count on Maddie's pancakes!

Bouncing with the giddiness of a child on his birthday, Alfred went over to the table and sat down to consume the plate of two pancakes, doused liberally in maple syrup, which had been laid out for him. There wasn't a note, or a yell of surprise from the two people he loved the most, but the pancakes were still warm and tasted fresh.

And as he lay himself down on the sofa to sleep, for at least six hours, Alfred assured himself (not for the first time) that it was enough.

Later that Thursday, Elizabeth found herself staring up at the clock hanging on the wall, constantly tapping her pen on her desk. Her green eyes were narrowed and her mouth was twitching. Yet, no matter how much she mentally cursed the infernal thing, time refused to accelerate to five-thirty, when she'd finally be allowed to leave this fucking building.

Someone in the other cubicle laughed. "Well, you're certainly getting antsy."

Elizabeth looked up at the speaker and managed a small smile. "Hey, Gabriel. What's going on?"

The blond man raised an eyebrow, his warm brown eyes twinkling mischievously. "I think that should be my question for you, Liz. You've been fidgeting since we came back from lunch."

For a moment, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and scowled with a playful wariness. "You arse, have you been bloody spying on me?"

"Honey, your cubicle is right next to mine. It's a little difficult for me not to notice you glaring up at the clock—with a rather blatant hostility, might I add—whenever I get up to use the men's room, or talk to the boss."

"Oh." Embarrassed, Elizabeth shrunk back against her office chair and shifted her eyes to gaze at a spot on her wall.

Then, as if on instinct, her eyes darted to the clock—which still refused to move faster.

She twitched. Bloody hell!

The Portuguese man smiled widely and leaned down so he could speak softly enough for no one else in the office to hear.

"So…who is he?"

Her face burned a light shade of red as Elizabeth sputtered.

Gabriel blinked in mock bemusement. "A she, then?"

That just made the reaction worse.

"I-what?-There's…." She shook her head to clear her mind, enough to hiss out, "He's nobody!"

"So you admit that there's a man in your life? Heh."

Just as Elizabeth was about to rant, she paused. "…What do you mean, I 'admit'? What's there to admit?"

Gabriel leaned on top of her cubicle with his elbows, and he smirked. "Hon, you've had that look on your face this entire week."

"What look?"

"That 'I'm-totally-having-a-secret-steamy-affair' look."

"W-w-what?" Elizabeth's eye twitched. "I most certainly am not!"

Like I'd ever want to have an affair with someone like that idiotic, perverted, American git face—especially one who sells his body for a living!

Elizabeth nodded firmly. He's just a subject for my research.

For some reason, though, her mind couldn't help but conjure up an image of Alfred, where was on her bed, lying on his side, wearing nothing but a white sheet that only covered his lower half. In her mind's eye, he was smiling and beckoning her over a crooked finger, his smoky blue eyes twinkling….

…A very attractive subject for my research. She conceded with a blush.

But that doesn't mean anything!

"I need a break." Elizabeth stood up from her chair and walked out of her cubicle, not looking back at her friend. "I'll be right back, alright."

"Okay." Gabriel stared after her and waited until she was halfway across the office room to shake his head with a knowing smile.

Just as Elizabeth was about to press the down button for the elevator, a thick German accent spoke up, stopping her.

"Going on break, Miss Kirkland?"

One of her eyebrow's twitched, and Elizabeth sighed, turning around to face the tall blonde man with cold blue eyes, which narrowed down at her. Ludwig was the main supervisor of her unit, and with that said, he ran their floor like a captain to a ship—a very strict captain to a ship. Seriously, he had rules for everything, and if you broke one, he would always find out. And when he found out…well, just pray that your limbs and hearing will remain intact. He wasn't the worst of Elizabeth's co-workers, but she couldn't say that they were best friends either. If there was anything between them, it was probably a mutual, albeit begrudging respect.

"Look, Ludwig," Elizabeth said. "I'm only going out for a few minutes, and then I'll come straight back, alright?"

Ludwig stared at her for a few moments and nodded. Then he lifted his arm to show her his watch, tapping on its face.

"Ten minutes," he said. "No more, no less. Understand?"

Sir, yes, sir! It took all she had to just nod, instead of salute. Then, when she heard a ring behind her, Elizabeth turned around and went inside the elevator. The doors closed, allowing her to close her eyes and lean her head against the wall.

Normally, she wasn't like this at her part-time job. Granted, it wasn't the best she could have done—Elizabeth had actually wanted to work as a teacher when she was in college—but working at this financial company turned out to be more monetarily secure. This was good for both Elizabeth and Kiku, especially when their real work wasn't going so well.

Yes, it's true. As much as Elizabeth would love to live her entire life writing (even if it was gay porn), the very aspect was close to impossible in the real world. After all, ERIKU's books and stories might make money, a lot of it, even, but those earnings can only get one so far, especially considering how fickle the publishing world was, or how sporadic the dreaded writer's block can appear (shudder). So, knowing all this, both Kiku and Elizabeth had agreed to take on part time jobs, just in case.

Elizabeth just wished that this bloody day would be over already, so she could just go and meet up with Alfred.

…Not because I'm looking forward to seeing him again, or anything like that! She shook her head furiously as she walked out of the building. I just want to get as much work done as possible. What other reason could I have to meet up with someone like him? God, just thinking about it is ridiculous!

With a slightly snobbish snort, Elizabeth nodded to herself resolutely and walked toward the corner of the street, where she leaned against the building. She took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and put one in her mouth before lighting it. She closed her eyes and took in a relaxing drag from her cigarette; almost immediately feeling her nerves relax as she ignored the rest of the people bustling passed her…

"What are you doing, lady?"

Elizabeth blinked and hummed questioningly. Then she looked down to see a little girl, standing not even as tall as her hips, with short curly brown hair and big dark blue eyes. Her clothes consisted of a white short sleeved shirt, a red dress over it, a pair of lace socks, and a pair of black shoes. In her arms, she held a brown teddy bear, which she squeezed to her chest as she stared up at the blond woman.

"Um, hello there?" Elizabeth greeted tentatively.

"Hi!" The little girl beamed, lifting one of her small arms to wave.

With a small, amused smile, Elizabeth waved back, and then paused to snuff out and dispose her cigarette. She crouched down and looked at the little girl with a friendly smile.

"Is everything alright, dear?" she asked, concerned that there wasn't any other adult with the child.

The little girl nodded. "Me and my class are going to the libwa-" Her brows knitted in frustration. "Libwa—"

"The library?" Elizabeth prompted gently.

"Yeah!" She nodded enthusiastically, before her smile slowly morphed into a confused frown. "But I don't know where it is…"

Oh, bollocks. "Did you get lost from your group?"

She puffed her cheeks indignantly. "No! They're lost. I just wanna get there before they do!"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow wryly. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

Somehow, I just know I'm going to regret this. Ludwig only gave me ten minutes, after all. Still…

"I have an idea," Elizabeth smiled. "How about I take you to the library myself? I know where it is."

At that, the little girl beamed, her eyes shining—but then she frowned and hugged her bear to herself.

"Mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to stwangers…"

"And she's very correct, your mother." Elizabeth nodded her approval. "However, if you keep walking around without any adult supervision, you'll come across strangers who are even…stranger, I suppose is the word."

Well, not really, but I don't think you're old enough to know the millions of words I can come up with for those sorts of people.

"Adult…what?" The little girl tilted her head in bemusement.

Elizabeth chuckled. "In other words, I'll just take you to the library so you could find your teacher. That's all, I promise."

The girl pursed her lips and stared up at the woman with suspicion. Then she held out her bear's paw, her eyes steely with determination.

"You have to do a pinky swear with Kurojiro." At the look Elizabeth gave her, the girl smirked cheekily. "He's my guard. He'll eat you all up if you're lying."

Though amused, Elizabeth rolled her eyes and linked her pinky with the stuffed bear's smallest claw.

"I promise to make sure your mistress gets to the library, as well as her class, safely," she swore to the bear, making sure to sound as dramatic as the chivalrous knights of old.

The little girl giggled, and hugged her bear close to her, tilting her head as if to hear him whisper in her ear. She smiled.

"Okay, you pass!"

Fortunately, for Elizabeth, the trip to the local library didn't take long, not that she expected it to. It was only across the street from her building. She knew about it because she often went there whenever she got the chance and/or grew bored with answering phone calls all day. It was waiting for the girl's class that Elizabeth worried about.

"Do you see them?" she asked the girl as they stood inside, in the children's section.

The girl looked around worriedly, then shook her head. "Uh-uh."

Feeling her chest pinch slightly, Elizabeth smiled gently. "It's all right, love, I'm sure we'll find them soon. And in the mean time, I'll keep you company until they come." She pulled out a chair and sat down on it, crossing her ankles.

The girl paused in her searching to tilt her head and stare up at Elizabeth for a few moments—and then she giggled.

"You sound funny."

Elizabeth's smile twitched, as did one of her eyebrows. Well, I never…!

"Are you a pincess?"

This made the woman blink. What…?

"Oh! You mean 'princess'," she chuckled indulgently and shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Ya sure?" The girl rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Because my uncle says that only fancy people talk like you do, like Kings and Keens."

Okay, I'm pretty sure she meant to say "Queens"…

Elizabeth smirked slightly. "Your uncle?"

"Uh-huh." The brown ringlets in her hair bounced as she nodded. "And he knows everything!"

"And why's that?"

"'Cause he's a hero!"

A few minutes later, Elizabeth returned to her cubicle to see that Ludwig was already there, waiting for her in the doorway. His arms were crossed over his broad chest and his blue eyes were hard and steely.

"You're a minute late, Miss Kirkland," he told her.

"I know, I know." Elizabeth sighed and then walked to sit down in her chair. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time."

Helping a little girl find her teacher, she added in her mind as she recalled what just happened a few minutes prior. Thank God that woman showed up, too. I was starting to think the poor girl had been abandoned, or worse…I hope she'll be all right now.

Ludwig frowned, rather darkly. "Don't let it happen again." Then he walked away.

Elizabeth sent a dirty look at his back, but said nothing. Despite her annoyance, she was happy that the German hadn't started a scene in the office. The last thing she wanted was attention. She turned to look at her computer, her eye catching the time on the bottom left of the screen. She then glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall to double check and groaned in exasperation. It felt as if time hadn't moved at all for her.

Yeah, bet you didn't see that coming!...

Or you totally did, because it was sort of obvious. ^^; This chapter isn't as good or long as the others, but the next one will be better, I swear. This was really just a little foreground for the next chapter.

Edit!: I had to add a little extra part at the end of this, because it just felt too incomplete for me. It doesn't really make this chapter any better, but like I said, the next one will be.

Translations:

"¿Oye, cuál es la idea grande, mujer?": Hey, what's the big idea, woman?

"¡Tú bastardo, tú sabes mejor que exprimir el dinero fuera de él después de una noche del trabajo especialmente en vista de su situación!": You bastard, you know better than to squeeze money out of him after a night of work, especially in his sort of situation!

"¡Sí, pero él debe también aprender pasar su dinero mejor!": Yeah, but he should also know how to spend his money better!

"¡Él tiene que ayudar a alimentar tres bocas, incluyendo se…!": He has to help feed three mouths, including himself...!