I don't own Hetalia okay? I don't have much to say here on this opening. Anyway, enough of this A/N, on with the fic!
September 1st 1919
(from the diary of Roderich Edelstein)
I found a job today. It's not much but it is something. Elizabeta's friend Katyusha has a sister who wanted to teach her son piano. Now I was expecting the child to be a little older than 4 years old but it seemed like his mother taught him to respect his teachers. Actually I see why. Natalya Jones is not a woman I want to get on the wrong side of. But his father is someone who lacks a musical ear. You see he wanted to know my skill, especially if they were paying me seven dollars a week to teach their son. I had expected this, so after inspecting their piano, which to Alfred's dismay was not out of tune, but a tin piano. Apparently he had told his wife that their son Nikolai would not learn on an out of tune piano. So I played a sample from Fredrick Chopin, Nocturne Number 19 in E minor. Op 71 Number 1. Well Alfred then asks me if it's Old Dog Tre by Steven Foster! Or as he said it, 'Steven Stinking Foster'. The nerve. I then said "No. This is a Nocturne from Chopin or as I wanted to say 'Fredrick Fucking Chopin' but I know that his wife would break my hands for swearing in front of her son.
Well after Alfred's embarrassment at knowing nothing better than Steven 'Stinking' Foster, which I think he had just said for emphasis as to not swear in front of Natalya and Nikolai, I agree with the stinking sentiment. But Natalya said I was good enough and I met Nikolai. He seems like a smart kid. He will only be able to learn simple things right now, he is too small to reach the full spans but by the time he is a little bigger he can play some really good classical. She had also mentioned that she would want me to teach her younger two children, Ivan and Anya who had just woken up from a nap. I told her no promises as I do hope to have a better job in an orchestra or symphony by then, as they are not even 2 yet but if I still needed the extra money, I would certainly teach them.
I was actually surprised at Alfred's statement after I finished my Nocturne. I could tell he found me too "froo froo snooty" or something like that he said. I did mention that I wasn't too "froo froo snooty" to snipe from the trenches for Austria. Natalya looked rather murderous but Alfred whispered something in her ear and she calmed down. Turns out her brother was an ambulance driver killed by an artillery barrage while on duty. Alfred informed me of this in private but he saw me over here as someone wanting to start over fresh, the classic American tale, much like Natalya, her sister and her brother did and her brother was his best friend. Said he
"checked the grudges from the war at the door" although he did add if Kaiser Wilhelm were to show his "ugly mug" he'd beat the snot out of him. I don't blame Alfred for that sentiment. The ruins that Austria was left in was why I left my home in Vienna. Trust me, I did not want to do so.
But Alfred had promised to try and talk to his boss, a Mr. Seward about any openings he would know of. You see he is quite the patron of the arts himself so he would know before I would and put in a "good word" for me. Which I thanked him for being willing to do so for someone he didn't know well and who insulted his tastes. He apparently cannot be insulted badly and can be quite kind to people. So maybe this job won't be so bad. At least it is doing something I like to do.
So how was that? Good? Bad? Short? Long? Let me know in a review. I referenced the scene in the movie Tombstone where Doc Holliday was playing piano in a bar and a cowboy asked if it was Steve Foster (and obviously it was not) so the 'Steven Stinking Foster', 'Nocturne' and 'Fredrick Fucking Chopin' came from that. Another kind of historical fun fact, IRL Doc Holliday's girlfriend Big Nose Kate was Hungarian. I had toyed with a Hetalia fic kind of inspired by that movie with Hungary as Kate but that would mean if I kept the musical thing going, Austria isn't very Doc Holliday-esque. So that idea stayed on the drawing board of bad ideas…. Anyway, remember to read (well you just did) and to review. Ciao for now,
Otherrealmwriter
Aka
Realm.