Title: Lili's Day Out
Pairing: Switzerland x Austria
Rating: K plus to T-ish
"Bruder?" I say, peering through the doorway into mein bruder's office. "Bruder, um... will you take me shopping?"
He's quiet for a moment, like he's pretending he's doing his work, and then he suddenly hops up from his chair and whirls around and glares at me.
"Shopping?" he asks disbelievingly. "Whatever for?"
"W-we don't have to go," I instantly say, backing out of the room. "I-I was just asking, I just wanted to look for something, but don't worry we don't have to go I don't want to go anyway it's totally okay if we don't go I'll just go sit in my room and... and... draw."
"What will you be drawing?"
"...Clothes."
His shoulders slump and he rubs his face as if he can't believe he's about to do something, and then he looks back up at me and says, "Okay, fine. I'll... I'll take you shopping."
I clap my hands together happily, then run toward him and throw my arms around him."Oh, thank you, thank you, grosser bruder, I swear I won't ask for anything expensive, thank you!"
He sighs at me, awkwardly returning the hug and then pulling away from me. Even though he seems like he's sort of sick of me, I can see his mouth twitching, almost as if he's trying not to smile... He really is such a sweetie, which is why I don't feel at all bad tricking him into going out with me today.
"Come on, bruder, we must go straight away if we want to be there on time!" I grab him by the hand and begin dragging him toward the door, unable to keep the smile off of my face.
"Be there on time for what?" he asks in confusion as I pull on my worn-out snowboots.
"The sale, of course! I would never go shopping if there wasn't a sale!"
"Oh, there's a sale? Good. I have some coupons, too, wait here while I go and get them." I watch him as he runs up the stairs, two at a time, to get his coupons, then giggle to myself. I pull my cell phone- the one grosser bruder got me a while ago to make sure I could still reach him if I ever got lost -and dial Miss Eliza.
"Hello?" she answers.
"It's Lili. Is everything ready?" I whisper back. She giggles.
"Yes, everything's in place! We're meeting at that one clothing store, correct?"
"Yep! Oh, bruder's coming, I have to go! Love you, bye!" I quickly hang up the phone and stuff it into the inner pocket of my pink, lacy dress, then run my fingers through my hair to straighten it out.
"Are you ready, Lili?" he asks distractedly, stuffing a couple (hundred, it seems) coupons into his pocket.
"Yes, I'm ready, grosser bruder."
"You know where you want to go?"
"I want to go to to H&M, please. I saw some really good clothes there! They had this dress, green with ruffles and little yellow and pink flowers, oh, and there was this shirt, I saw it in a magazine, it's black with a sort of lacy thing- oh, I can't describe it, you'll just have to see it when we get there! Oh, and there were these stockings-" I chatter on and on about all the clothes I want to buy to lull him into a false sense of security as we get into the car and drive to the store. When we walk in I'm still chattering- that is, until I see all the clothes. Then I run off almost immediately, giggling to myself as I think about what Miss Eliza and I have planned for today.
"Hey, Lili, wait for me-"
I duck behind a rack of clothing, fall to the floor, then slide under a rack of clothing. I hide there for a moment, waiting until my bruder has walked past before sliding back out and crawling towards the changing rooms. I open the door to stall number three, then step inside. Miss Eliza is waiting for me in there, a wicked grin on her face.
"Where is he?" I ask her.
"He's where he's supposed to be," she says with a grin.
"You sure this is going to work?" I ask doubtfully, wringing my hands. "I don't want bruder to be mad at me."
"He won't be mad at you, trust me," she tells me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "He loves you, and he'll probably love what you're doing for him. Trust me; I've been sensing sexual tension between those two since Roddy and I were married."
"Weird..." I mumble to myself. I glance at the mirror hanging from the back wall, examining myself shrewdly.
"You need to get a new wardrobe, dear," Miss Eliza says, looking at me critically. "You've totally grown out of that frilly, cutesy dress stage." She wrinkles her nose distastefully. "You should try just a regular pair of jeans and some t-shirts, you know? You'll look smokin'." She winks at me, and I feel my face heat up for some reason.
"D-do you really think so?" I ask, staring down at myself.
"Yep, I totally do-"
"Vash? What are you doing here?" comes a quiet, refined, Austrian-accented voice from what seems to be right outside the changing room we're in. I quickly cover my mouth with my hands, staring gleefully at Miss Eliza as I try not to laugh. Her eyes are twinkling with laughter, but she stays quiet as well.
"I'm here with Lili," mein bruder says quietly. "Why are you here?"
"I'm here with Eliza. There's a sale and she said she wanted to get some things here."
"Oh."
"'Oh,' indeed."
There's a small bit of silence before bruder speaks again: "Will you take me up on my previous offer now?" he asks quietly.
"Say yes, say yes!" Miss Eliza hisses quietly.
"I... I don't know about this, Vash..."
A hand slams into the wall of our changing room, making me jump and causing a furious giggle to bubble up in my throat. "Please, Roderich, I'm begging you... just one date... Lunch, or- or luncheon, whatever you fancy people call it-"
"Fancy people? See, this is why I don't want to do anything with- ymph." Roderich suddenly goes quiet, and so does mein bruder. I turn to stare quizzically at Eliza, who grins and holds a finger against her lips, signaling me to be silent.
I hear a faint sound that I can't quite identify and then hear bruder say, "There, was that fancy enough for you?"
"Vash, I don't know what you want from me," says Roderich. I stifle a giggle as I realize how dramatic this whole thing sounds. Honestly, I thought guys were supposed to be down to earth or something.
"I just want... I just... I sort of, um... like you?" It comes out like a question, and I feel embarrassed for mein bruder. He's so awkward and embarrassing. He's pretty attractive, I think, and he could totally be a smooth talker, but he's so... strange. And weird. Poor bruder.
"You... sort of... like me?" Austria asks, sounding confused. I meet Miss Eliza's eyes and then facepalm. She rolls her eyes, then smiles knowingly. It'll all work out, she mouths.
"Well... just a little." bruder says. I shake my head sadly. "Okay, maybe more than a little. Maybe more like... a lot." I shrug my shoulders. That was a bit better.
"You like me a lot?" I hear a faint, musical (everything is musical with Roderich) note of amusement in his voice, and I smile. "Well, that's reassuring, I suppose."
"Roderich... please..." There's a note of anguish in bruder's voice now, which makes me grin. Like lovesick puppies, that's what they are.
Roderich sighs. "Oh, all right. I'll go out with you. When? And where?"
"How about right now? There's a cafe across the street."
I can hear a smile in Roderich's voice when he replies. "Such a romantic. Fine, let's go then."
Aaaaand exeunt Austria and Switzerland. I shoot Miss Eliza an appreciative glance. "You sure do know your stuff, don't you? Matchmaker extraordinaire."
She grins. "Exactly."
A/N MWAHAHAHA! More original stuff, and I'm working on requests and also trying not to kill my sisters, who are assholes. ANYWAYS!