Hey everyone! Thanks for all the alerts/faves/reviews! I was totally not expecting this many, it was such a nice surprise to come home to :) Here's the next chapter! This will be about the average length of the rest of them.

OOO

The walk to the coffee shop a few blocks away was mostly in silence, the way Roderich preferred most of his conversations to be. There was a surprising amount of people there for so late at night, but after getting their coffees (for which Matthew had insisted on paying for) they found a small table easily enough.

"Are you ok?" Matthew said after a moment.

"I- what?" was Roderich's intelligent reply. But really, who starts a conversation like that? Especially after inviting you out for coffee.

Matthew looked back down at his coffee cup he had clutched between both hands, slightly dwarfing the steaming vessel. Roderich found himself staring at Matthew's fingers. They were long, pale, slender, a bit calloused, but nice. He'd definitely have the span to play some of Liszt's more difficult pieces, a trait which Roderich was slightly envious of. It took him ages to get the spacing right.

"Y-you just...um..." the Canadian began, drawing Roderich's attention back up, "you seemed sad before. When you said I was the only one that came."

He seemed sad? Really? He usually kept such a tight reign on his emotions, carefully masking them into indifferent expressions, only truly expressing his feelings through music. Was his facade slipping?

"And so you asked me to get coffee with you." It wasn't exactly a question, but it still required an answer, and it wasn't admitting that he had, in fact, felt sad earlier that evening. Well, not sad precisely. More...disappointed. Forgotten. Again.

"Yes. I-well...yes." Matthew didn't seem to be able to come up with an appropriate explanation for his actions. Roderich was trying to figure him out, he really was, but there was just something different about the Canadian that he didn't see in most people.

"Why?" he asked after a moment.

Matthew's eyes met his again and he was a bit taken aback at the innocence he saw in the violet orbs. "You looked like you could use the company and...and I like talking to you." He paused, probably looking for a reaction, which Roderich did not give. "Were you? Sad, earlier I mean? I think I would be...if I had invited everyone and no one came. But they probably wouldn't."

"You came." Roderich replied, still choosing not to answer the question or comment on Matthew's assumed absence of friends.

Matthew just smiled faintly and took another sip of his coffee. "You're still avoiding the question."

"Well I..." Damn. He caught him. "I suppose I was more disappointed, really."

"Was?"

"Then I saw you and then you bought me coffee. I can't be sad about that." That was a decent enough reason, was it not? How could he possibly begin to explain the sudden emotional change of sadness to happiness that he felt when he saw someone had finally come to one of his performances? He had always made sure seem aloof enough to avoid questions, and the praise he got while practicing was nice, but the feeling he got when someone actually came to his recital for the sole purpose of seeing him play was an indescribably happy one. He wasn't used to this.

Matthew's gaze was on him again and unmoving. This time Roderich felt himself getting slightly nervous. Not that it showed, of course. It just seemed like the Canadian was looking right past his carefully composed facade.

"Why did you come? It's not that I don't appreciate it, you have no idea how much I do, I just don't understand why. Why now?"

Matthew shrugged, able to make the usually sloppy gesture look like an almost elegant movement. "I've always wanted to see you perform. Hear you play. This was the first time you invited me."

So he was keeping his answers just as vague, was he? Roderich was intrigued. He stared at Matthew carefully; the Canadian was turning pinker and pinker the longer he stared. He had thought he was getting less nervous, but maybe not. Somehow he couldn't figure him out nearly as completely as Matthew seemed to understand him.

"Alright, fine," he began. "Yes, I was disappointed earlier. I don't like being forgotten, but no one has come to my recitals before when I've invited them, and you think I'd be used to it, but I'm not. And then tonight you were there and it made me happy, I suppose, and well, it's different, and I liked it. And then you asked me to coffee, also different, and I also think I like it." Roderich explained quickly and quietly, not used to giving so much of his in-depth personal feelings, but he was becoming desperate to find out more behind Matthew's reasoning.

Matthew blinked at him knowingly and it was almost unnerving. "And," Roderich continued, "then you somehow seem to just understand everything. How?"

"I-I like classical music." Matthew offered in explanation. Roderich was getting exasperated. That wasn't nearly good enough reasoning, and it wasn't fair; he'd just explained his feelings. Matthew bit at his lip nervously. "You're your music, and it...it just makes sense, you know? Maybe I'll be able to explain it better someday. Like do you ever find a piece that's absolutely perfect right when you need it?"

Now that was something Roderich could understand better. "Every day," he replied honestly. "Why haven't we really talked before?"

Matthew just gave a smile in response, blush returning to his cheeks.

"I'm practicing in the concert hall tomorrow for most of the day and...and I'd be delighted if you'd stop by."

Matthew's smile grew and his cheeks darkened a bit as he looked down at his empty coffee cup. He felt his heart rate increase. That request had just slipped out. What if he was being too presumptuous or assuming things or-

"I'd like that," he whispered.

OOO

When Matthew arrived the next day at the concert hall, Roderich had already been playing for a couple of hours. He didn't notice the quiet Canadian enter the hall almost silently and stand by the stage until he got to the end of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and an almost silent "hi" made him look up.

Matthew was standing by the first row looking a bit nervous. "Oh! Matthew! When did you get here?"

"About halfway through the Tuileries, but I didn't want to stop you. The Bydlo was beautiful, but the Bogatyr Gates is always my favorite. It's just so powerful, you know? Especially the quieter parts, and how it keeps building."

Roderich was shocked, to say the least, but none of it showed of course, he was careful of that. Not only did Matthew have an appreciation for classical music, but he seemed to identify it and actually know things about many pieces as well. It was a nice change from his normal conversations with the other personified nations.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come."

"Well...you invited me." Matthew was beginning to look nervous again. He had been so excited a moment ago.

"Yes, but that doesn't always mean anything. But I'm very pleased you're here, it's...very polite of you."

"As much as I like to fulfill the Canadian stereotype, I really just wanted to hear you play again."

Roderich's lip twitched up into an almost smile, the expression feeling foreign on his face. "Well, that can be arranged." Matthew laughed quietly and it was like a beautiful musically unattainable melody. "Come up here?" the Austrian asked.

Matthew froze. "A-am I allowed?" he looked at the stage anxiously.

"Certainly." The Canadian walked over to the small set of stairs on the far left, making his way onto the ornate stage with nearly silent footsteps.

"Sit." he said, scooting over a bit on the piano bench.

"I won't be in the way?"

"No."

Matthew hesitated, then sat where Roderich requested. Roderich's fingers stretched over the keys and he began to play, working through the melodies and harmonies with a flawless movement of fingers flowing over keys and notes soaring through bars.

He managed to play through an entire suite with the Canadian sitting silently beside him. No one really seemed to give his music that much of a thought before. Usually most people would interrupt or not give him that much of their time. But Matthew wasn't most people, Roderich was coming to realize. He picked up the next bundle of sheet music and turned to Matthew in silent question. He received a smile and slight nod in response.

Roderich played through the first few movements as he had the suite earlier, but as he was approaching the end, he felt his thoughts become more and more directed at Matthew. His eyes shifted over to the Canadian in his peripheral vision as he continued to play, looking for a reaction and observing his silent guest.

After a moment, he noticed that Matthew's eyes seemed to be following along with the sheet music spread across the staff of the piano.

He stopped suddenly. "Do you play?" He found himself hopeful; it was odd.

"Um..." Matthew looked startled at the question and abrupt stopping of music. "Well, I used to. Not piano much, but a couple of instruments. Back in school. French horn mostly. But I wasn't that good. My dynamics were awful, I couldn't get much louder than a mezzopiano."

"Do you want to try?" Roderich motioned at the keys. This spontaneity was new to him.

"I...I'll be absolutely terrible at it, but sure. Why not, eh?" Matthew hesitantly set his hands on the right keys for the opening chords of the last movement and softly began to play. It was well under tempo and had almost no range in dynamics, but it seemed the Canadian was actually a decent musician. He either knew the piece, or was quite able in his sight reading abilities.

"Not bad." Roderich murmured when Matthew carefully made his way through some accidentals. "It'd be a bit easier if...may I?" he held his hand over Matthew's.

Matthew nodded and Roderich lightly put his hand atop the Canadian's, ignoring the twitch from the other man and the tingly feeling he got in his own and gently played the notes by pushing Matthew's fingers below his, even though it was for the opposite hand.

"See?" Matthew nodded again, and Roderich took note of the blush forming on the Canadian's cheeks. "And you really haven't been playing in a while?"

"No. I...I'm decent enough at reading the music, I guess, but I can never seem to get it out well enough," he shook his head slightly. Roderich knew the feeling, but he always managed to work through it, no matter how many sleepless nights it required. "And I was never really that fond of bass clef."

Without intending to, Roderich let out a small laugh, shocking himself. "Pity, you have nice hands. I-I mean for piano." What was this fumbling over words nonsense? He decided to just be quiet in fear of doing it again, and ran a thumb across the back of Matthew's knuckles. There was a slight intake of breath from the man next to him, but neither pulled away. He felt Matthew's gaze on him, burning into him, but he kept his own on their hands. He wasn't thinking as much as normal, analyzing everything, or keeping his mask in check, he realized as he slowly slid his fingers under Matthew's palm and his thumb repeated it's movement.

"Matthew, my boss gave me tickets to a gala opening at the art museum on Saturday, and I'd be honored if you'd accompany me. And maybe for dinner beforehand as well?" he asked quietly.

Manners, Roderich he reminded himself, and carefully changed the position of their hands to hold Matthew's fingers in his, lifting the Canadian's hand to ghost a kiss over his knuckles. Thank God he had remembered to be a gentleman. It wouldn't do to act unaccordingly, especially with delicate matters such as this.

He let his eyes move up to meet Matthew's, which were staring back searchingly. He saw Matthew's cheeks darken more, bringing out the Canadian's violet eyes in a beautiful way. "I'd love to," he replied finally and Roderich let a small smile grace his lips, which was returned readily.

He stood up and helped Matthew to his feet, keeping their hands together. It wasn't quite proper, but Roderich couldn't bring himself to care. Reaching the doors, he held one open allowing Matthew to step first into the night.

"I'll see you Saturday then?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Saturday." Roderich confirmed, equally as quiet. "Until then," he brought Matthew's hand back up, letting his lips linger a bit longer than the fist time as the brush of them across Matthew's knuckles also held a bit more pressure. "Auf Weidersehen."

He smiled again as the Canadian replied with his goodbye, turning to return home. What was getting into him today? His lips refused to return to their stoic line and he didn't see, but Matthew couldn't keep the almost giddy smile off his face.

OOO

By the time Matthew was fumbling with the keys to his apartment, he still had a smile on his face. Roderich had asked him out. If he was unsure before, now he was certain. And the Austrian had kissed his hand. Twice. Yeah, he wasn't a girl, but it was so unexpectedly nice and so...Roderich that Matthew loved it. He was sure his face could have melted all the glaciers in Canada at the time. He pushed open the heavy door to be greeted with bright lights and loud noises coming from his TV. Alfred must be home.

"Hey, Alfred! You're back early." Alfred had been away from their shared apartment for a conference and wasn't supposed to be getting back until the next day. Matthew sighed as his brother didn't look up from his video games. "Alfred!" he tried again and the American's eyes were peeled away from his game.

"Mattie! Wassup, bro?" Alfred asked, eyes flicking back to his game every few seconds.

"You're back early," he said again. It's not that he didn't want Alfred to be back home, he loved it when his brother was around. It's just that the American's stuff had already taken over the shared living room in the few hours he'd been home.

"Yeah. Conference ended early. Shit!" Alfred sighed and set down his controller as his game avatar blew up and started to get devoured by alien zombies.

"What were you doing out so late?" A smile quirked at Matthew's lips before he could stop it and Alfred got an annoyingly smug look on his face. "You look happy. Was my little bro actually out having fun? It must be a sign of the apocalypse!" Alfred mocked dramatically.

"None of your business, you hoser!" But Matthew couldn't keep any convincing venom in his voice.

"Whatever, dude. You know I'll get it out of you eventually. Make me a sandwich?" Alfred demanded more than asked as he restarted his game. Matthew rolled his eyes but walked into their kitchen nonetheless. He was going to make one for himself anyways.

"Check it out, yo!" Alfred announced as Matthew came back into the living room with two plates of their food. "I just blew up like twenty zombies at once!"

"Mhmm." Matthew sat on the couch next to him. "Here," he held out the plate with the larger sandwich in front of Alfred, who paused the game.

"Thanks, bro!" He took an incredibly large bite. "You're still suspiciously happy," he mumbled through his chewing. "Oh my god, Mattie, did you go out out while I was gone? Did you finally take my advice and get laid?"

"I-"

"Oh my god you did! Matthew. Man. I never would have expected that from you! Awesome! Who was it, where'd you go, who topped, details," Alfred prompted excitedly.

"No! I didn't- J-just because you're always going off to do God knows what with Arthur all the time doesn't mean that I- Maple, Alfred! I just kind of...maybe...went out...with someone..." Matthew trailed off, getting quieter and quieter as he went on, feeling the hole he was digging himself into slowly getting deeper as his face was turning redder and redder.

"Chillax, bro, that's totally cool." Alfred shoved the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth and reached for the other half of Matthew's. "So, you got a boyfriend now or what?"

"Well, I..." Matthew paused, unsure of what to say exactly, and pushed his plate a few inches towards his brother. Alfred never seemed to like Roderich much; Matthew wasn't sure how he felt about telling him so soon.

"Aww, dude, you're blushing!" Alfred cooed and nudged Matthew's shoulder with his own. "You're so adorably innocent."

Matthew made a sort of noncommittal noise.

"Who's the lucky guy making you this happy? I should send him a cake. It's a nice change from your usual silent moping around the apartment." Alfred grinned at him.

"I don't mope!" Matthew said indignantly and shoved Alfred's shoulder. "And I don't think Roderich would like your cakes much, they're too ridiculous."

"Roderich?" His brother's face turned serious for a moment before bursting into laughter. Maple. He hadn't meant to let him know that way. "Oh my god Mattie, you almost had me fooled for a second there! You and the prissy aristocratic Austrian? Ha! No one would go out with him. I don't think anyone'd measure up to his standards! That's hilar-" he stopped short at the upset look on Matthew's face. "Oh my god you're serious," his voice dropped to a normal decibel level as he spoke in awe.

"Apparently I'm no one then." Matthew said quietly, trying to keep his composure and not show how much the teasing hurt.

"Shit, dude, I didn't mean-"

"I knew you'd make fun of me. Just like you always make fun of Roderich whenever you have meetings with him," Matthew's voice wavered as he took their plates to the kitchen and made his way to his bedroom, not wanting to sit with Alfred anymore. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell you; you just think he's stuck up a-and-"

"Mattie. Matthew. I'm sorry."

"Just finish your game, Alfred. I'll see you in the morning," he whispered.

"No, I'm sorry, if you wanted to talk about-"

"Goodnight, Alfred." Matthew shut his door.

The Canadian sighed as he turned from his door to get ready for bed. It wasn't as if he didn't want Alfred to know, he didn't want to keep all sorts of secrets from his brother, but he knew Al wouldn't be as accepting as he wanted. He loved his brother, but sometimes he wished the American wasn't so quick to judge people.

Alfred would come around though. He always did when Matthew was concerned. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long, though, since Roderich was coming by for their date on Saturday. A smile crept it's way back onto Matthew's lips at the thought. A date. With Roderich. How long had he been waiting for this? Sure, it was terrifying getting up the nerve to ask him for coffee, but it was completely worth it. But friends could do that. It was Roderich who let him sit by him and play his piano, Roderich who asked him to go to the museum, Roderich who kissed his hand. Twice.

Matthew buried his face in his pillow. If that hadn't been showing, well, romantic interests, what was? They were going on a real date on Saturday, and Alfred would accept it soon. Everything would be perfect right?

A knock on his door awakened the sleeping Canadian. That was one benefit of working from home: no alarm clock. He only had to leave for meetings with other countries and his boss. He usually woke up pretty early naturally though. A groggy glance at his clock told him it was approaching eight. Alfred must be on his way to work. He worked more closely with his boss than Matthew did, and his office was downtown. He'd been spending a lot of time there because of the economy.

Matthew shuffled towards his door in his sleepy state and opened it to find no one there. Frowning, he looked around for Alfred and heard the keys locking their front door. He was confused until the warm smell of pancakes slowly wafted up to his nose. He looked down and say a plate of them in his doorway. They weren't exactly round, but they looked tasty enough. 'Sorry' was sloppily spelled out in maple syrup across the top cake.

He smiled and picked them up, taking the plate back into his room to sit on his bed. He grabbed his phone off his nightstand and texted a quick 'Thanks, Al' to his brother. A few seconds later he received a ':)' in reply.

When he was finished, he got up to put his plate and fork in the kitchen, then he made his way into his bathroom to get ready for the day. Though he worked from home in the apartment's third bedroom he'd turned into an office, he still wanted to get dressed and everything. He knew if Alfred was given the chance, he'd work in his pajamas. But the Canadian didn't mind dressing decently. What if his boss called or someone came by? It wouldn't do to be in sweatpants. And he just felt more professional and responsible this way, even if he was just wearing a nice shirt and jeans.

He managed to finish everything he had to do by early afternoon, and he shut his laptop with a sense of accomplishment. Looking around his organized office to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, his eyes fell on the living room just outside his door. It was still a mess. With a sigh, he walked into it and began straightening up. Roderich would be there tomorrow night, after all. He cleaned every time someone was coming by to meet with him or Alfred whenever they weren't meeting at the other nation's residence or with their bosses, and sure, Roderich had been over a few times, but it was different now.

He started with Alfred's suitcase which had practically exploded next to the couch. Throwing most of the contents into the washing machine, he wheeled the remainder of the luggage into the American's room and shut the door. Maybe he could get Alfred to tidy up a bit, but it was a safer bet to just confine the mess to his room and close it off.

He spent the next couple hours organizing games and movies. Once he'd made sure they were all in the right cases, he started to put them in alphabetical order, a task which took longer than he'd thought. Good thing he had started early then. He started folding Alfred's laundry and threw the blankets from the couches into the wash.

By the time Alfred came home, bringing take out (much to Matthew's delight), he'd made the living room and kitchen almost spotless.

"Wow, Mattie. Busy day?" Alfred joked, setting the boxes of food on their small table.

"Well, Roderich's coming by tomorrow night. We're going to dinner and the museum. I wanted things to be clean." Matthew explained, carefully watching his brother's face for a reaction.

"Cool. He's been here before though."

"Yeah, but it's different now." Matthew mumbled.

" 'course it is, bro. And really, dude. Sorry about before. If you wanna date him, that's your business. I don't get it, but hey, if he makes you happy, great. I'm happy for you."

Matthew smiled. "Thanks, Al. And try not to destroy the apartment by tomorrow."

"Scout's honor." Alfred held up the appropriate fingers and looked at the Canadian seriously. "The museum though? That's so...tame. When we started dating, I took Artie out to a club and then we got a hotel and-"

"Don't want to hear it!"

"-he was fucking insatiable! It was awesome. Though I think we got a couple of noise complaints from the neighbors when I made him-"

"Maple! Stop!" Matthew interrupted, covering his ears, and Alfred just laughed.

"So innocent, dude." Alfred shook his head and stole a bite of Matthew's chicken. "But seriously, I hope y'all have a good time and all that. Even if you're just going to a museum."

Matthew smiled warily and snuck a noodle off Alfred's plate. They would have a good time. Even if nothing more happened than Roderich kissing his hand.

OOO

A date. A real date. He had asked Matthew on an actual date. Verdammt, he wasn't ready for this. The last time he'd been out on a date, if it could be called that, was years ago. And that had been with Elizaveta. But this time he would have to initiate things. After all, he did ask Matthew to accompany him, not the other way around. And that was how dates worked, right? Roderich sighed. What was the proper protocol for this? He only had a couple more hours to figure it out.

He knew he had to be a proper gentleman though. He shouldn't have trouble with that, but he had been way too forward in asking him out. A nice dinner with Matthew at a nice restaurant, and then arriving at the gala fashionably late around the time most of the guests would be getting there. He could handle that; he had been an aristocrat after all. And, as the perfect gentleman, he would pick Matthew up right on time and walk him home afterwards of course.

But maybe he wasn't ready yet. Maybe he had tried to be social too soon. Maybe he would just be better off alone again, with only his music to keep him company. Did he have enough time to convince his boss not to make him go? Could he make up an excuse to stay home with his music? Matthew wouldn't mind, right?

But no. He had asked. It would be rude. He would have to follow through with it. He actually wanted to follow through with it, and it shocked him. Was he just afraid? Did Matthew really want this? The look on his face had been so hopeful and happy. But were those real emotions? Did most people show their real emotions so blatantly? Maybe he could get Matthew to play for him, then he could try to understand. The stress of this was not something he was prepared for. If only he had a few more hours to play out his feelings on his beloved piano.

Nonsense. He could do this.

Roderich willed all of the anxious thoughts to leave his head as he picked out a nicely cut black suit from his extensive collection and headed to his bathroom to take a shower.

By the time he was ready and knocking on the Canadian and American's door, he'd had two mild panic attacks and almost reconsidered once.

"Alfred! Turn it down! Get your feet off the table!" he heard a quiet muffled voice command from somewhere near the apartment door after he knocked.

"Chillax, bro!" came the American's louder reply.

"Alfred!" he heard, somewhere further from the door.

"...hi!" the door opened to reveal a slightly flustered and breathless Matthew.

He had expected Matthew to be ready when he answered the door. He had been sure Alfred would be there. He assumed the American would be annoying and Matthew would get a bit flustered and embarrassed. He was correct on all three assumptions. What he hadn't counted on was Matthew looking so devastatingly handsome in his suit. Maybe this was going to be harder than he thought.

He had done something with his hair that tamed the waves a bit, and the dark eggplant color of his shirt along with the charcoal vest brightened his amethyst eyes. Eyes that were staring at him expectantly. Verdammt he was supposed to say something, wasn't he? What had Matthew said? Oh-

"Hello," he cleared his throat nervously. "You look very nice tonight, Matthew."

He received a light blush in reply. Well, that was good, right? "Thank you," the Canadian said quietly. "You look...amazing." It was Roderich's turn to blush, as Matthew's hesitation in finding the correct words gave them more conviction.

"Thank you. Um..." he trailed off. Oh, well that was dignified. Great. And his mind was becoming sarcastic. Even better.

"Hey, Roddy!" Alfred said loudly as he bounded over and Roderich winced at the nickname.

"Hello, Alfred. How are you?"

"Awesome!"

"Right."

Matthew stared at his brother almost in fear of what he might say or do. "Um..."

"You think he's hot," Alfred nodded in Matthew's general direction while maintaining eye contact with Roderich, "you think he's sexy," he repeated the motion, but in reverse. "Now go to dinner and your boring museum and try to have fun."

"Alfred!"

"Whaaat? It's true! Oh, and Mattie, you might want to stay out for a while. Artie's coming over later and, well, I don't want to scar either of your virgin ears, but we haven't seen each other since before the conference if you know what I mean."

The shyer pair both turned a bit red and Matthew looked slightly disgusted.

Virgin ears. Roderich scoffed mentally. He wasn't a prude! It's not like he was inexperienced, he had been with Gilbert, after all. But it had been a while since, well, anything...and then again, he really didn't want to hear any of what Alfred could tell them.

Roderich cleared his throat again. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Bye Alfred. See you...later..." Matthew shuddered.

"Bye!"

Roderich nodded his goodbye at Alfred.

As they walked to the restaurant, his knuckles brushed against the Canadian's and he felt Matthew's fingers twitch slightly.

It was so different than when he had been with Gilbert, or Elizaveta for that matter. Matthew was much meeker. Everything about this was so...innocent. And it's what Roderich wanted. With Gilbert it had been much too fast for his inexperience. It was barely even dating. And it had been so long ago. He was afraid to fall again, to love or trust again. Because it had only ever ended in heartbreak. But maybe things could be different with Matthew. They already were, weren't they? Maybe he could learn to love again. But he had to make sure things didn't go wrong or too fast or anything.

He glanced over out of the corner of his eye but it seemed Matthew was deliberately not looking at him. Sure he had held Matthew's hand in the concert hall. Kissed it even. But this was different, was it not?

Hesitantly, he laced their fingers together and was relieved when he saw a smile playing at Matthew's lips.

Dinner went well enough and Roderich had made sure to pay for both of their meals like a proper gentleman. It was nice learning more about each other besides what they had learned from business conversations and small talk.

The museum was only across the street, but Roderich was pleased when Matthew took his hand again.

He held open the door for Matthew and they stepped into the gala. He looked around in horror. Modern art. His boss hadn't told him it would be modern art. Oh how he despised the lack of creativity and the sheer randomness of the so-called art. He never could quite appreciate it. And to make things worse, there was horrid soft jazz music being played through mediocre speakers.

"Roderich? Are you ok?" Matthew looked concerned. Apparently he'd stopped walking after he'd given the tickets to the doorman and was just standing in the entrance way.

"What? Yes I'm fine." It would take most of his willpower to keep himself calm and not become snippy. But he needed to; none of this was Matthew's fault.

Matthew looked at him a moment. "Alright."

They walked around the perimeter looking at the paintings, if they could be called that, just a blob on a blank canvas really. Oh how he missed art that actually took time. Like Italy's Renaissance. That had been a beautiful time. What happened to that kind of art?

After they had finished with the paintings, they moved on to the sculptures. The first looked like someone had taken a chunk out of a block of marble. According to the artist's description it was supposed to represent internal anguish and freedom from your fears. Roderich didn't see it. Then there was one that was either a small dinosaur or a demonic fish, he couldn't tell. Though it looked a bit like a cabbage from one side. They paused by a sculpture that looked like the entirety of someone's kitchen utensils melted together. There was no description.

Matthew's expression was one of amused confusion.

"Well?" Roderich prompted.

"Well." his tone had an air of confirmation.

"What do you think?"

"It's...interesting."

"Interesting as in you actually like it, or interesting as in you're just saying that to be polite and you actually would rather be anywhere else?" Roderich hoped it was the latter.

"...would you be upset if I said the second one? I'm sorry. It's not you, I swear, I just don't really get it." He gestured at the art.

"Oh thank god, I thought it was just me."

Matthew smiled. "It kind of looks like a kitchen experiment gone wrong, eh?"

Roderich laughed. Again. What was this laughing business and why was it happening so often with Matthew? "Do you want to get out of here...o-or something? I don't mean to be presumptuous. But since we're both bored with this we could do something else. Unless you'd rather go home."

"No I'd much rather do something else. Maybe I wouldn't rather be anywhere else after all," he grimaced.

They successfully snuck out the side door and decided to just walk around together for a bit, continuing the easy conversation pattern they'd started at dinner.

"Hey, do you want some ice cream?" Matthew said suddenly as they walked by a small ice cream parlor. "My treat since you wouldn't let me pay for dinner."

"Well...I suppose. Maybe a small scoop of vanilla." He didn't want to overstep or anything.

"Mhmm. Vanilla. I'll be right back."

After a few moments, Matthew emerged from the shop with two cones of ice cream, neither of which were exactly small. "Spontaneity!" he said, holding out a cone. It was dark out and he couldn't really see the color of the ice cream, but he could tell that it obviously wasn't vanilla.

"...I'm not spontaneous." he replied, but he took the proffered cone anyway.

"Neither am I, really. But it can be good sometimes I guess."

Roderich warily stuck out his tongue and licked the edge of the ice cream. Triple chocolate fudge. His favorite, if he ever bought himself ice cream. "You know I like chocolate?"

"Please. Everyone likes chocolate. You love it. It's obvious."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. You're definitely an intense chocolate person."

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

"If there's ever dessert at the world meetings, you get something with chocolate. And it would suit you."

"Hmm..." Roderich replied. Matthew was certainly observant. He didn't really know what he meant by 'it would suit you' though. "And so what kind of ice cream did you get?"

"Vanilla," he replied and licked the cone for emphasis.

"What?"

"It's my favorite," he explained. "Also so we could trade if I was wrong and you didn't like yours."

"...and you like chocolate too?"

"Mmm. Sometimes. I usually get a different flavor of ice cream whenever I buy some."

"I thought you weren't spontaneous."

"Ice cream is the exception." Matthew said seriously.

"I see."

Matthew was certainly a lot more interesting than Roderich had thought. And he really liked that the Canadian was able to seemingly understand him well enough without him having to spell it out. Matthew was just the right mix of niceness and...well, he couldn't quite think of words to describe his feelings. But it had been one of the best nights he'd had in a long time, and there'd been no pianos involved whatsoever.

After they were beginning to grow tired, Roderich walked Matthew back to his apartment.

"I had a great time tonight." Matthew almost whispered when they reached his door. It seemed his shyness had returned full force.

"As did I," Roderich replied truthfully. He was already looking forward to spending more time with Matthew. He suddenly felt silly for worrying so much earlier. Everything had gone so perfectly, even the imperfect things. And this was the happiest he'd felt in a long time.

He wanted to kiss him. Oh god how he wanted to kiss him. The way Matthew was looking up at him with those beautiful dark violet eyes framed with long lashes...no. He needed to stop. It would be too much too fast, wouldn't it? But if he didn't initiate things, would Matthew? The Canadian was certainly not Elizaveta or Gilbert. He was so unsure about leading these things. Better wait until he was absolutely sure Matthew reciprocated the feelings.

But his slightly chapped, soft looking pink lips were right there and just barely parted so invitingly, and there was an endearing dusting of blush crossing over his cheeks, and- stop it, Roderich! Be a gentleman. Be a gentleman. Be a gentlem- Oh screw it. He cupped Matthew's cheek with his hand that wasn't holding the Canadian's own and pulled him slightly closer, kissing him firmly and gently on the lips. He felt Matthew freeze for a moment before melting into the kiss.

"Goodnight, Matthew," he said quietly and ghosted another kiss across the back of Matthew's hand.

OOO

Matthew shut the door behind him and could do nothing but lean against it. He brought his hand up to his smiling lips and gently brushed his fingertips against them. Roderich kissed him. He kissed him. It was the singularly most fantastic and beautiful moment in Matthew's entire life.

OOO

Thanks for reading! Reviews make me happy!

Also would anyone be highly opposed to me changing the rating to M? -blushes- I have insistent plot bunnies nibbling at my brain...