Different
In one very coincidental morning, Prussia was out on the streets from where Maria lived. He groaned at the heat of the sun, pulling back his sleeves to lessen it. He just learned recently from Germany how she was quite a gambler in her nature. So he decided to take a visit and see it for himself…and the fact that Austria ordered him to give her this stupid letter…which he would have immediately declined, but still piqued his curiosity greatly.
He wanted to open it but Austria warned him of great consequences if he did. He shrugged and blew off the idea in the end. It wasn't because of what Austria could do to torture him, but the fact that he hardly knew this Maria; it would seem distasteful of him to pry into her personal matters.
"Oh!" A female voice reached his ears, as he turned to claim its attention. "Are you Gilbert? The one Kuya Austria sent…?" she decreased her tone as she approached him, her dress flowing by her pace of walking.
He turned and was surprised at her small height. She almost looked like a child, but she seemed to have the eyes of an adult. He grinned maliciously. She didn't look the least intimidating. He couldn't help but tease her for a while. How he enjoyed picking on people like her.
"U-um…the letter, if you please," she stammered the moment she saw the malice in his eyes and smile. He stood like a tree next to her, but she had to keep stern of her character.
As she reached out for it in his hand, he pulled it away and almost couldn't help but laugh at her naïve actions. "No way. You and I are going have several bets, little girl." He messed up her hair a bit, remembering the times he used to bully Germany when they were kids.
Her eyes widened. Austria didn't mention about this…but it still sounded like fun for Maria. She looked up to him and stared at his crimson eyes, glaring them with her black ones. "I will get my letter if I win, right?"
He hung the letter in front of her face in an attempt to annoy her. "Sure, but don't think you'll win easily." He replied proudly, placing the letter back in his pocket.
"You're on."
He grinned. "Alright. Let's go with something easy…" he thought for a moment and seized the first idea on his mind. "I bet you can't get Gilbird…" he pointed at the yellow chick perched on his head "…out from my head without having to tip-toe or jump to get him."
At first thought Maria found it virtually impossible because of her height. She frowned, "Di naman ito madali eh!" then she remembered about the animals she took care in her farm. She pondered a bit and found the perfect solution.
She brought out a piece of cornbread from her basket and stretched her hand as far as she can without pushing her toes up. Prussia reflexively blushed at her closeness. "Hereee, little bird…" she made soft noises to catch his attention. Gilbird turned to her and chirped happily, flying down to her palm, taking small bites off her cornbread. She petted his head and received a chirp of approval as a warm smile emerged from her face.
…then she looked Prussia, her innocent smile changing to the "I-told-you-so," smile.
Prussia pouted, trying to hide his awe at how quick Gilbird grew to her. "W-well, I told you it was easy!" he growled, remembering the failed attempts of other countries when they tried to do the same.
He almost wanted to ask how she did it, but she answered as though she read his mind. "I have learned to take care of many animals like Gilbird when I was young," she looked at the small chick, who was almost finished with her bread. "Some of them end up stuck in the roof, or a tree," she laughed remembering those moments in her life, "I always use cornbread to get to them to fly down, since it's always their favourite." She let Gilbird fly back to Prussia's head, closing his eyes to sleep after his meal.
He didn't expect that, but she took the bet as though it wasn't anything. "T-then, I bet you can't control the heat in your country!" he pouted, knowing full well she, nor anyone could do that.
She blinked and almost laughed at how hot he was beginning to feel as she noticed his folded sleeves. The heat was nothing for Maria, but it was a burden to Prussia. "Alright, alright, fine." She took his hand and led him to what she called, "The barangay's family restaurant just installed new air conditioners and I was about to try them out." she finally suppressed her laughter after seeing his wide-eyed expression. "You can have lunch there too, if you like."
He almost smiled. Why was she being so nice after how mean he treated her when they first spoke to each other? This must be their undying hospitality to people. He shrugged. This wasn't so bad..
When they arrived, Prussia could almost taste the coldness of the familiar air conditioning units. He sat down on one of the chairs, satisfied that the heat was long gone.
"Hey, Papa Spain!" she called out, and Prussia's eyes widened in surprise. "May bisita tayo uli!" she smiled, "Magluto tayo ng masarap para sa kanya; bago lang ata siya dito eh," her voice died away as she entered what looked like the kitchen.
"Ehh? Who did you invite, Maria?" he heard Spain's voice, regardless of how soft it was. He crawled quietly and listened behind the kitchen doors.
"Kuya Prussia and his pet chick, Gilbird!"
He heard a plate break in pieces, and Prussia gulped in fear.
"A-ah! Pasensya na, Maria," he heard him speak, as he heard sweeping as well. "I-I was just really surprised, that's all," Spain suppressed his anger, but he tried to keep a smile on his face from the clueless Maria.
"Okay lang, itay...ako na lang maglilinis dito."
"D-di na! Gumawa ka na ng pangtanghalian para sa kanila, di dapat sila maghintay." He handed her a plate of duck eggs. He smiled evilly, "Give this to Prussia. Surprise him a bit." He laid the plate on her hands. "He has a thing for these sort of stuff."
Maria immediately thought of Gilbird. This would be strange dish, but she saw no harm in doing so. She smiled, "S-sige, salamat, 'tay!" Prussia heard approaching footsteps from the kitchen, so he ran as quick as he can back to his seat in time to see Maria exit.
"Okay, now it's my turn to give you a dare." She smiled innocently and laid a plate of freshly cooked duck eggs, but to Prussia, it looked like death in first sight. "W-what are these…?" Gilbird, who was still sleeping, was lucky enough not to encounter this.
"They're baluts, it's a native delicacy in our country," she grinned as she pushed the plates near him. "Kuya America particularly despises them, but I don't understand why…" she frowned, as she cracked an egg herself. "They're really good with salt and vinegar," she laid the said seasonings on the table and used some herself. "Cheers," she said, first learning this from Kuya England whenever he proposed a toast. She ate the balut and grinned at him after she swallowed it. "Pretty good, huh?"
"You...chicken killer!" He gasped between words, his eyes squinting in nausea. He could never imagine eating another that! It almost looked like eating Gilbird! He shivered at the thought.
"…It's duck."
"Duck…killer, then." He twitched as his hands trembled. It still would have been the same.
She ignored his remark and went on to a greater subject.
"Hey, since you gave me two dares," she grinned, "It means I get another dare, right?"
"T-the second one didn't count!" he tried to tear his eyes off away the eggs.
"But I still accomplished it!"
He groaned. "Okay, okay…fine." Anything to get this over with…
She took up a large handkerchief that was folded into a triangle. "Eat it blindfolded."
"W-what! Are you crazy! Why!"
"I'm trying to make this easier for you," she replied, handing him over the cloth. "It will taste good, I promise!" she pleaded. Just once would she like to see someone not of her own race to share the joy of tasting her food…
It seemed to make sense to Prussia, he didn't have to look at it all the while; his eyes narrowed.
…while he was going to eat that…that abomination called a balut.
"C'mon, I'll tie it for you, just one egg, that's all," she tried her best to calm him down as she walked behind his seat and wrapped the cloth around his eyes. She felt him trembling. For a second, she didn't want to make him go through this, but she's already gone this far…she didn't want to turn back.
"Okay…is it tied well?"
He nodded, too fearful to speak.
"I promise, I'll let you do anything you want after this,"
He stood quiet for a moment, "Promise? Anything, okay?"
She tapped his shoulder. "Yes, Prussia. I promise." She reassured him without thinking about it. So long as it sounded like it would calm him down, Maria would say it.
She sighed and continued on. "So…I have three eggs left on the plate." She touched his hand and his nerves moved reflexively. "I want you to pick one blindfolded,"
"B-but why?" Prussia tried to sound brave, though merely touching it brought revulsion to his system.
"…just for fun,"
He didn't reply but he reached out for an egg on the plate, "Oh god, oh god, I'm h-holding one of them."
She face-palmed and took it immediately from his hands. "G-geez, Prussia. You're more of a wuss than Kuya America when he tasted this."
His nerves shot up. "He tasted them?"
"Of course he did!" she replied, "…but with the help of Papa Spain though." She remembered. "Do you want me to call him?"
"NO!" he immediately cried out, noticing only now that Spain hasn't shown up yet. "Can we get this over with?" he complained, imagining the moment when he had to taste the egg. He blamed himself for starting this whole "I bet," game. This must be the true consequence of his actions. His heart began to beat quickly. How he hated acting like a coward in front of a woman, nonetheless. It didn't seem to bother him as much as he thought he would. She didn't seem to mind his behaviour.
That was something new.
"Alright, please say, aah…" she whispered in a sing-song voice as though she was conversing with a child. Prussia opened his mouth slightly, feeling the insides of the egg enter his mouth.
As soon as it was over, he felt everything that was in the egg still inside his mouth. His nightmare was coming true.
He was panicking as his eyes shot open; his hands slamming the table as though he was choking.
He couldn't swallow it.
It was too disgusting for his tastes, regardless of the many seasonings Maria added so that he wouldn't complain about it.
"Mmmft! Mmff!" His cheeks were all puffed, and he was freaking out.
"Prussia! Don't you dare throw that up!" she cried out, hating the universal habit of wasting good food. "I-If you do I—!"
He didn't seem to stop squirming in his seat.
"I-I'm going to kiss you!" she cried out the first thing that came into her mind.
She blushed, surprised at her own words. "T-tangina! Bakit ko sinabi yun?" She covered her mouth, her whole body trembling in embarrassment.
Prussia looked up at her with wide eyes and calmed down almost immediately as he stopped slamming the table and moving around his seat.
After a few seconds, he smirked and swallowed the food almost…too easily.
"W-what?" she stared at him in disbelief. Did he just…swallow it? She led out a sigh of relief but a small part of her heart tugged lightly, insisting that for a second she wanted him to kiss her. Now that he didn't throw it up, maybe then he…
"Fine, you got me. I swallowed it,"
She led out a small huff, thinking that he swallowed it so easily because he feared more of kissing her than throwing up the balut. She sighed inwardly. "That was the plan, okay Maria?" she told herself. She knew it was going to happen…but why did she feel this slight hint of sadness within her? She should have been proud that he was able to consume the balut so easily.
"…I'm happy for you, Prussia!" she returned back to her old self, smiling till her cheeks hurt. She didn't need to think of that any longer. This moment of seeing Prussia consume the balut sprung pride into her heart. "You did it,"
He ignored her praises and immediately said,
"Okay, now you have to kiss me," he said calmly, as he licked the remaining bits of the egg from his lips. This was too easy.
"W-w-what are you talking about?" she cried out as her cheeks finally reddened like tomatoes. "You didn't throw up the balut, so you don't have to," she tried to explain it to him as calmly as possible. "B-besides, I-I didn't mean it anyway, so—!"
"You said I could do whatever I want right?" he smirked as his eyes gazed on her lips. "That delicacy of yours didn't turn out to be so bad in the end." He stood up from his seat as the contradicting ideas screamed in his head.
"What the hell are you doing?" the Prussia from his mind growled.
I want to kiss her, that's all.
"Since when!" he spat.
…When she got Gilbird down from my head.
"That's all?"
His eyes narrowed. No. That wasn't all. He remembered her glowing face when she talked about how she raised animals in her farm. That time when she touched his chest for a second to get to Gilbird sent electric impulses from his spine, and when she tied the cloth onto his eyes, his heart almost skipped a beat. Also when she made that sing-song tone as she fed him the balut…he gasped softly. How could have not noticed it before?
He seemed to have loved…every single moment he spent with her that very day.
It was because it was different. She was different
…and he loved every bit of it.
He was going to have to tear Austria's letter into pieces soon...
-FIN-
