Cherry Stones (Czechia, Hungary, Austria)
"I'm sure that little jacket you're sewing will be lovely when it's finished!" Hungary said with an appreciative glance at Czechia's needlework. They were sitting on a picnic blanket in front of Hungary's house, enjoying the final rays of this day's late summer sun. There was a bowl full of cherries between the two of them. Every now and then, Hungary took a pair of fruit from the bowl, ate them and casually spit the stones at a knot her cherry tree had formed.
"I guess so. Still, it's more work than I thought it would be." Czechia sighed, casting a longing look at the cherries. When Hungary had invited her to spend the weekend at Budapest, she had taken along her needlework. She wanted to complete her new traditional costume before the end of September, when St Wenceslas Day was celebrated at her place. Of course, she was unable to eat any of the cherries while she needed both of her hands to sew…
"Want some, too?" Hungary suddenly asked.
"Well, actually…" Czechia glanced from the cherries to her host and blinked.
"You should have said so earlier," Hungary said in a slightly reproachful tone. She picked another pair of fruit, plucked one of them in order to eat it herself and held the other cherry close to Czechia's face, so that she could eat it with her mouth. She then followed Hungary's example, trying to spit the stone at the knot. She didn't even hit the tree. Czechia frowned.
"Come on, show me you can do better than that!" Hungary encouraged her. She took another pair of cherries, taking one herself and holding the other so that Czechia was able to eat it with her mouth. This time, Czechia at least hit the tree with her cherry stone, even if she still missed the knot.
"See?" Hungary said, lightly touching her shoulder to Czechia's, careful not to accidentally make her sting her hand with a needle. "With a bit of practice, you can do it."
"Yup. Course I can." Czechia looked her straight in the face and grinned.
Behind them, someone cleared his throat. They turned simultaneously, finding Austria standing behind them. He looked a little flustered.
"Um … sorry, Eliza, I didn't know you already had a visitor." He nodded to Czechia. "Hello, Hedvika." Blinking, he added: "Eliza, I … just need to talk to you about some … uh, political thing. I'm going to wait in the house. Take your time, you two." With these words, he turned round on his heel and walked to Hungary's house.
"Sorry, he wanted to spend the evening with you and I got in the way," Czechia said apologetically. After a pause for reflection, she added: "But what the hell was he just thinking?"
"'Bout the irks and quirks of being in an open relationship, I guess." Hungary chuckled.
"Wait a minute." Czechia blinked. "He wasn't just thinking I … you and I … I mean…?"
"Yup." Hungary laughed. "I bet he was thinking just that."
"Hm." Czechia thought. "Open relationship, you said? That is to say … you wouldn't mind sharing, would you? I mean, you wouldn't get mad at me if I tried…?"
"Nope." Hungary grinned. "I know, he may be annoying at times, but he's quite the eye candy. If he likes you and you like him, that's fine by me. I wouldn't even mind sharing him in a more literal way."
"Pardon?" Czechia blurted out, blushing. "He'd never agree to that!" Neither would I, she added privately.
"Oh, you know, there were many things he thought he'd never agree to," Hungary said in a deliberately casual way. "Like wearing that dress for Halloween, if you remember." Her grin became predatory.
Czechia made a mental note to reconsider the positions on her list of scariest people she knew.
Notes:
Run, Austria, run…
Written for Betelgeuze from Czechia who writes for the German-language fandom. Don't take this too seriously, guys. :D
St Wenceslas Day on 28 September is a public holiday in Czechia. This day commemorates the death of St Wenceslas, the patron saint and first Christian king of Bohemia who was killed by his brother Boleslav in 935 AD.