In which quite a few people go to a party and don't party, and people who aren't Herakles have a complicated relationship.
31st October
"Hey! Egypt! Welcome to my party bro!" America yelled as Gupta and Sadik entered the school hall that Halloween.
"How did you get permission for this again?" Gupta deadpanned, while Sadik laughed a little.
"Well, this decoration is fun… So long as you didn't leave the Brit in charge of the food, this party should be fine," he grinned. America didn't totally get the joke.
"Uh… Like I would?" He replied, looking totally confused. He looked like he was about to make some comment on England's cooking, when the man himself walked in front of his line of sight, looking over Egypt's shoulder to make eye contact with the American. Amazingly, Alfred realised that it would be a bad move.
"Ah, hey Artie!" He shouted in greeting instead.
"How many times have I told you I don't like you calling me that…?" The Englishman mused, walking a little closer, and clearly not really mad.
Gupta stiffened a little, not really liking the Brit much.
"Anyway, guys, hope you enjoy the party, gotta dash, see ya later!" Alfred laughed, dragging Arthur off with him as he moved in the direction of some other partygoers.
"He probably pulled some strings with the school council… Since they are all basically in league…" Gupta rolled his eyes. "Shows how ineffective our headmaster is when those 5 idiots get away with just about everything, fight all the time and lead such a corrupt establishment without anyone batting an eyelid."
"Ah, come on, lighten up a bit will ya? This party ain't bad." Sadik tried to lighten the mood, thinking that Gupta was being a little too cynical.
"I suppose at the very least people are enjoying themselves… Dancing isn't really my thing though," he replied.
"Yeah yeah Guppie, I know. We don't have ta stay all night." Sadik took his boyfriend by the hand, dragging him over towards some seating at the side of the room. "And we can just sit here for now and chat with some people and just relax. We don't have ta dance." He assured, pushing Gupta into a sitting position.
Gupta nodded, liking the sound of that. "I'd like to relax." He admitted, smiling over at Sadik as the Turk sat next to him, grinning still.
Somewhere out on the dance floor, Herakles was standing around awkwardly, feeling a little out of place without someone to dance with. Not that the Greek really felt like he had the energy to dance at the moment. He hadn't really slept that much that day anyway. Sighing, he walked over to the refreshments table, not really caring if there was a high chance the drinks were spiked; he was too thirsty to think about it. And there, he saw her.
She had been reaching over for a drink of her own, cobalt nail polish contrasting against her coffee skin. Without thinking, he reached out and took that hand. Eyes the colour of raw umber looked up at him in surprise. Herakles took her in fully. Her long chestnut hair was tied in its regular pigtails; the bows decorating them were this time turquoise instead of their usual red. To the party she had worn a plain emerald dress that came down to her knees. She was beautiful in his eyes. Suddenly, his energy returned.
"Hey," he greeted, breaking the ice. "Your name was… Michelle, wasn't it?"
She nodded. "Yeah, that's right." She smiled, seemingly trying to remember his name in return. Herakles didn't mind that she was struggling. They barely knew each other.
"I'm Herakles. You go to class with my friend." He explained. Sure, it was lame, but it worked at least.
"Oh! Right," she nodded, remembering vaguely seeing this man hanging out with Egypt before. "It's nice to meet you." She continued.
"As it is you… You look beautiful tonight…" He flirted, smile lazy as it often was. "Did you come here with anyone?"
"Oh…" She blushed at the compliment. "No, I didn't… I just wanted to enjoy the party," she admitted.
"I see…" He took a drink from the table and sipped at it slowly. "…Would you like to dance?"
"I'd love to."
Hungary walked through one of the halls surrounding the school hall, trying to get some air from the stuffy atmosphere of the party. She wasn't really paying any attention to where she was going as she ambled aimlessly around campus. As she passed the music room she heard the sound of a piano. Instantly she stilled, closed her eyes, and listened to the music. The song was one she knew well. An old classical piece, something she had always had played for her by Roderich back…
Back when they were married. In fact, she hadn't heard it since 1914. Feeling suddenly and strangely excited, she crept over to the door and opened it just a little, content to stare at his face as he busied himself with the melody. Just like old times. She sighed, and couldn't stop herself from walking further. The music stopped.
"Eliza…" He looked up at her, shocked and a little embarrassed.
"Ah… It's been so long." She mused, still a little in her own thoughts.
"Could you not stand the stuffiness of that room either?" He questioned her, once the two were sat on stools within the music room.
"It was very crowded in there. I wanted to get some air," she explained.
"Of course. I understand entirely, it's why I left too," he continued.
"I heard you play," she admitted. "It… Was a lovely tune. I wish you played it more often."
"I… Only ever play it when I think of you Eliza. It's your song."
"Oh… I don't know what to say…" She looked down, blushing.
"Then don't." He shrugged, moving to close the space between them.
"Good evening Sadik," Kiku greeted, walking over to where Sadik and Gupta were still sat at the edge of the room.
"Hey Kiku! How're ya doin'?" Sadik answered back, smiling happily at his friend.
"I've been well." Kiku answered, taking a seat next to Sadik.
"Really? Great to hear!" The Turk grinned easily. "Are ya enjoyin' the party?"
"I… Do not really like parties. I just came to talk to a few of my friends. I might go soon." Kiku admitted, looking down. Everyone was just so loud at things like this…
"I understand that." Gupta interjected, looking over at Kiku. He could see why the reserved Japanese man would have trouble at events like this. He wasn't completely comfortable himself.
"Yeah, this kinda thing isn't for everyone. It's understandable." Sadik agreed. Kiku nodded and looked out towards the dance floor, where Herakles still was.
"Herakles does seem to be enjoying himself though," he stated.
"Yeah… Brat seems to have picked up a new girl…" Sadik commented.
"She's in my class… She does seem like a nice girl, if a little… Disorganised." Gupta added.
"He seems to have dated a lot of people in the last month though." Kiku continued, face unreadable.
"He's been unlucky in love." Gupta shrugged.
"Heh, that's not even the half of it. Brat's had terrible luck. Can't seem to hold down a girl for more than a few days. Swear he's cursed or somethin'." Sadik elaborated.
"Maybe he just hasn't found the right person yet." Kiku suggested.
"Well, he'd better find 'em soon… He's running out of single ladies in this school." Sadik joked. Nobody replied to him for a few minutes.
"...You're worried about him really." Gupta finally claimed.
"What? I am not!" the Turk protested. Kiku smiled a little before speaking.
"So, did the two of you come here together?" He asked, completely innocently.
"…We just came to talk to people." Gupta cut in immediately.
"Ah, of course…" instantly, the Japanese had read the atmosphere and knew it was a bad idea to press further. Something was definitely going on and it was wrong to pry. Sadik looked down but didn't press anything further. He still didn't understand Egypt's thinking, but he could only respect his wishes.
"I guess ya could say Guppie hates parties nearly as much as you do." Sadik shrugged.
"…I wouldn't say I hate them. I'd just prefer to be at home," Gupta countered.
"Right. Either way, we didn't wanna dance," Sadik continued.
"I didn't either. I wouldn't think of doing something like that in public." Kiku made a strange face at the thought.
"It's embarrassing." Gupta agreed. Sadik looked from one to the other unsure of what to think.
In the end, Kiku decided to leave for home after only a few more minutes, and Gupta and Sadik didn't stay more than half an hour after that. Feeling tired from the party, Gupta ended up going to sleep early and Sadik ended up sat on the sofa watching TV idly. A couple of hours later, Herakles came through the door, looking love-struck yet again.
"New girl of the week brat?" Sadik asked as soon as he appeared.
"Shut up jerk." Herakles shot back, heading straight to his room.
Sadik laughed a little to himself. Looked like Herakles was back to normal.
Sadik wasn't really sure what Poland was going on about the next morning. As soon as he appeared in the Europe class, he made a beeline for Lithuania, and loudly expressed his surprise at the latest piece of gossip he had heard.
"You'd never have guessed it, but like, I heard some of the teachers totally caught Austria and Hungary making out in the music room last night!"
"Um…" Lithuania looked down at the desk in front of him, not wanting to comment for one very important reason…
"What? Where did you hear a rumour like that? It isn't true in the slightest!" Austria huffed, face offended. Sadik noted to himself that if the disappointed growl from Hungary was anything to go by- he knew Eliza almost as well as prissy-pants did after all- there was more truth to the rumour than anyone else in the room knew.
Gupta couldn't really understand why Seychelles came to talk to him the next morning. He knew the girl from around, sure, but they had never really talked at length before, and Gupta was no conversationalist.
"Hey," she smiled, sitting down right next to him, something she usually didn't do.
"Hello," he greeted formally.
"So…" She looked down at her bag as she spoke, getting some things out. "I'm going on a date with Herakles tonight."
"Ah." He nodded, giving no other indication that he was listening or that he wanted her to continue.
"He is your friend right…?" She looked back to Gupta and waited for the nod from him before she continued. "Okay, so… Can you tell me more about him?" She asked. Gupta looked towards the middle of the room. His mother wasn't there yet (she'd unlocked the classroom to let them in but had then gone off somewhere), so he knew he had a little time to talk to the girl. And he wanted things to go smoothly for Herakles's sake, so…
"Alright." He agreed. "First thing you ought to know, is that he loves cats. And I mean loves. And he can philosophise on things sometimes. If he starts doing that, break him out of it with sweets. And…"
As he walked out of his class at the end of the school day, waving at Seychelles as he went, Gupta couldn't help but feel like that was a very long conversation. He hoped Herakles had a good time with the girl.
"Hey."
"Hey!" Seychelles smiled as she saw Herakles walking towards her. She ran up to hug him as he approached.
"It's good to see you… You look beautiful tonight." He smiled lazily, returning the embrace slowly. "You said you wanted to go for a walk… Right?"
She nodded still smiling. "Yeah. It's a nice night for a walk. Maybe we could visit the beach sometime?"
His face seemed to light up. "That sounds good… I like the sea."
"Really? I love the sea!" She replied, suddenly excited. As he released her and began to walk, she skipped alongside him, unable to contain her enthusiasm.
"Hmm… For the longest time… I have been sailing the sea. I have a lot of islands… I have to be able to get to them all." He explained as they walked.
"Yeah. I love fishing. And my whole land is made of islands. So I can understand needing to sail to get around." She continued, bouncing on her heels as they carried on walking together.
"Do ya think the brat's doin' well?" Sadik asked as he lazed around in the flat that evening, cuddling his boyfriend comfortably.
"I should hope so… I made sure to give Seychelles as much advice as I thought was necessary." Gupta commented.
"Really? Ya just went up to her and told her a bunch of stuff?" Sadik asked, incredulously.
"Of course not… She asked first. And I wanted to make sure this worked." The Egyptian answered.
"Heh… Fair enough. Makes sense; I'd never see ya as the talkative type unless you were asked." Sadik commented.
"I suppose I just wish Herakles would stop being so unlucky… I want him to be happy."
"Yeah. I get that."
"…And then, there was this one kitty… And it was so cute. So I had to pet it. And then… In that moment, I realised focusing on that one cat had made me late for class…" Herakles told towards the end of his walk, as he was nearing his flat.
"Really? It sounds so cute! …But then, weren't you in trouble for not being in class?" Michelle queried.
"…No. My mother teaches me… She understands me… So I wasn't in that much trouble…" He explained.
"Oh. That's lucky." She remarked.
"Yeah…" He mused as he looked up at the buildings in front of him. "Ah… We're back. It seems like the time flew by."
She nodded enthusiastically. "It really did. It was nice to spend time with you Herakles."
"Yeah." He continued, moving in to hug her goodnight. "I'll see you later…"
She returned the hug eagerly. "I'll see you around. Thank you for tonight."
Herakles waved at her as he entered the building.
"Well? How did it go?" Gupta asked from his spot on the sofa as soon as he got in the door.
"I think… It went well." Herakles smiled as he spoke.
