Liechtenstein x Prussia: Maiden and Unicorn

by DrivebyReader

It started as a response to the Hetalia 100 day fiction challenge and then it just grew. What happens when the most sheltered and lucky of nations falls in love with the awesomely troubled and unlucky ex-nation Prussia? Fluff, angst, and smut as these two struggle to find a place for themselves in the world and heal the past through the power of love.

10. Chapter 10 Man's Best Friend

PruLiech challenge: Man's Best Friend

It is not uncommon for visitors to the Städtle1 in Vaduz2 to see a petite blonde woman walking a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog whose back is practically even with her waist. What is surprising (especially to American tourists) is how well-behaved the dog is. There is no pulling at the leash or yanking the pocket-sized woman about. Instead the dog walks calmly by her side, sitting when she stops. At the cafes, the dog dozes near her feet, or calmly watches the passersby. Sometimes he sits and rests his large head in her lap, lost in doggy bliss as she rubs his ears. Since Vaduz is tiny by capitol-city standards, many locals recognize the dog and greet him and his mistress warmly. Small children can handle his ears and jowls with great familiarity, but the dog's eyes are always on his mistress. After the young lady has finished her tea and pastry, the dog gets up, shakes himself and ambles by her side, watchful without worry.

It is not uncommon for visitors to the Prenzlauerberg3 neighborhood of Berlin to see a slender young man with shocking white-blond hair stride along the street with a small yellow bird on his head. What is surprising (especially to American tourists) is how calm the bird is. There is no alarmed fluttering or flight from the young man's head. Instead, the bird sits in his unruly hair, as if it were its nest. At the cafes, the bird hops onto the table, picking at crumbs from the man's plate or studying the passersby from his shoulder. Small children stare and the bird stares back, occasionally chirping. After the young man has finished his beer and wurst, the bird takes a quick bath in a saucer of water specially requested by his person, puffs himself up and places himself in the man's palm. And the young man, who has been rather loud and abrasive to curiosity seekers, handles the bird as tenderly as a puff of down, chirping to it, before he places it on his head and walks off. The bird nestles in for the ride, studying the human sea, watchful without worry.

1 The main street in Valduz

2 Capitol of Liechtenstein

3 A neighborhood that was part of East Berlin during the Cold War. A former working-class neighborhood that housed punks during the Cold War, and now has a more gentrified, but still artsy feel.