Title: Strawberries

Pairing: Belgium x Vietnam

Rating: Um... K+ to T I guess

"Strawberries taste how lips do."

"Isn't it cold?" asked Belgium as she walked outside the World Meeting room in Germany. She wrapped her coat more tightly around herself and tied the built-in belt around her waist.

Vietnam- the person her question had been directed at -whirled around suddenly. She examined Belgium for a moment, which was kind of uncomfortable, then said, "I am fine." She began to turn back around but Belgium, on a whim, raced forward, unwrapping her scarf from her neck as she went.

"Wait a sec!" she said. Vietnam turned around just as Belgium reached forward to wrap the scarf around her neck.

They ended up crashing into each other, Belgium falling into Vietnam, who somehow managed not to fall flat on her back and only flat on her ass. Their foreheads crashed together, causing Belgium to yell "ow" and a bunch of Italian words she had heard Spain say one time.

"Uuurgh… What was that for?" Vietnam asked. Belgium instantly pulled away from her and was surprised to see that she was… smiling. Thailand had told Belgium that Vietnam didn't know how to smile. She guessed that he had been wrong.

"I'm sorry!" Belgium said. She scrambled away from Vietnam, then reached down and pulled the other nation to her feet. "Is there any way that I can make it up to you?" she wheedled.

Vietnam thought for a moment. "I… am rather cold," she finally said, looking away from Belgium. The blonde woman wasn't sure, but she thought that maybe there was a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"So… could you make it up to me by buying me a hot chocolate?"

Belgium grinned, then doubled over laughing. When she came back up, Vietnam was staring at her in confusion. "Allow me to go one step farther than that," she said with a grin. "Hot chocolate, Belgian waffles… My place isn't too far from here, you know."

Vietnam blinked in surprise, ducking her head so that her mouth was covered by the collar of her sweater. "Would you really do that?" she asked softly.

Belgium rolled her eyes, then reached out and grabbed Vietnam's hand, pulling her forward. "It's nothing I wouldn't do for any other friend," said Belgium. "Not to mention the fact that you're like one of three girls."

Vietnam rolled her eyes. "There really are no girls in the world, it seems," she said. "Which is kind of hard when one is looking for a date."

Belgium stared at her. "You… like girls?"

Vietnam shrugged. "There's not much else to like, is there? They're all either gay guys or gay girls, so I figured I might as well go along with it."

Belgium shrugged off-handedly and continued walking, pulling Vietnam along behind her. She had a point. Vietnam always did. Vietnam was sensible. Vietnam was logical. Vietnam was also very pretty, with long black hair that Belgium had always wanted to run her fingers through.

The train ride to Belgium's place was short. She and Vietnam stayed mostly quiet; the only time they really spoke was when Belgium suddenly realized that she was still hold Vietnam's hand. They had both let go at almost the same moment, and Belgium had smiled awkwardly at the Asian nation, blushing slightly.

Once outside, they walked together in silence. It was snowing here as well, causing Belgium to complain about it getting her hair wet. Vietnam's mouth jerked in a slight smile as she said that she didn't really have the problem with frizziness, not like Belgium did, at least.

"Call me Bella," Belgium said as they walked up the stairs to her apartment. "It's what my friends call me."

Vietnam looked shy. "Of course… Bella." They both blushed. "You may call me Lien… It's my human name."

Bella grinned at her. "Cool," she said. "It's nice talking to you, Lien."

"It's nice talking to you as well, Bella."

Once inside, Bella was all business. Though making waffles was, at this point, second nature to her, she still put all her heart and soul into it.

When they were done, the waffles were a light caramel brown and steamed slightly. They looked soft and moist and Lien felt her mouth water, especially once Bella topped them with fresh sliced strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

The blonde country sat across from the brunette country and stared at her. She had her own plate of waffles in front of her, but seemed more intent on Lien than her food.

"Try them," said Bella. "Tell me if they're any good!"

Feeling awkward because Bella was staring at her so intensely, Lien hesitantly picked up her fork and took a bite, making sure to get plenty of strawberries and whipped cream.

...It was delicious.

No, really, it was delicious. Lien felt like she had never tasted anything more perfect in her life.

It tasted like rainbows and sunshine and also sweet whipped cream, strawberries, and the most perfect waffles she had ever tasted.

"How are they?" Bella asked, leaning practically all the way across the table.

Lien just looked at her for a moment, then said, "Can you make me waffles everyday?"

Bella grinned. "Only if you stay the night."

Lien's mouth twitched. "You've got yourself a deal."

They both went back to eating their waffles, and only now did Bella realize how utterly creepy that must have sounded. She blushed, then stuffed her mouth full of waffle because you can't blush while eating waffles. Even Romano couldn't. No one knew why.

Once they were done with the waffles, Bella had no idea what else to do. Lien had basically just said that she would spend the night, but Bella hadn't had someone sleep over since… well… ever. She didn't really have any boardgames, though she had a deck of cards. They could play poker… strip poker- No. Not strip poker. Never strip poker. Never again.

"So… what do you want to do?" Bella asked, fidgeting awkwardly. Lien looked around, then got to her feet and took both of their plates to the sink.

Bella instantly shot up from her seat. "Oh no, don't worry about those, I can do the dishes later-"

"It's only right for me to do the dishes, since I was the one who caused the mess-"

"But I caused it! Here, just leave them, really-" Bella reached out and shut off the water from the tap, then wrestled the plates out of Lien's hands. Afterward, they stood there for a moment, and Bella awkwardly realized how close they were standing.

"Why don't we go into the other room and… I can show you my comics!"

"Comics?" Lien asked, intrigued.

"Yeah! They're called The Adventures of Tintin. They were turned into a movie by America, which was pretty cool."

"Oh, I might have heard of that," Lien said softly. She reached out and dried her hands on the towel piled next to the sink, then grabbed Bella's hands and dried them off too, which made the blonde country blush.

"I have a whole collection in my room," Bella said, She reached out and grabbed Lien's hand, leading her down the hall from the kitchen to her smallish bedroom. Because Bella was a touchy-feely, affectionate sort of person, grabbing a person's hand was totally the norm for her. She didn't even think about the fact that this was basically the most human contact Lien had had in like ever. She didn't really think about the fact that holding Lien's hand and leading her to her room was basically Lien's version of confessing her romantic interest.

Which is why it was a bit confusing for her when Bella actually got her comics once they were in her room, but Lien didn't mind. They laid down on Bella's bed and she flipped through the pages, translating to English for Lien's benefit. They're shoulders were pressed together as they bent over to see what was happening, and Bella's hand would brush Lien's arm whenever she turned the pages.

Once they were done flipping through the comics, Bella frantically decided that they should play Assassin's Creed III, not realizing that they would both get super into it.

Finally, Bella had to turn it off, but once she had done that they just sat awkwardly on Bella's bed. Bella figured they should be getting ready to go to sleep, but she realized that Lien didn't have any of the necessary supplies for that, such as pajamas or a toothbrush. She was just about to suggest lending Lien some clothes when the Asian nation leaned forward and kissed her. On the mouth.

Instantly Bella leaned forward, cupping Lien's face in her hands and pressed into the kiss. Lien kind of tasted like strawberries and, though she wanted this to be serious, she started laughing.

Lien's eyes blinked open. "What is it?" Was it something she had done?

"Sorry," Bella said, leaning away and covering her mouth with her hands as she laughed. "It's just, you taste like strawberries. It's just so cliche, you know?"

Lien grinned suddenly, the large smile looking almost out of place on her usually somber face. "You taste like strawberries as well." She leaned forward again, gently pressing a kiss to Bella's lips. "I really like the taste of strawberries, though."

Bella blushed light pink. "Then kiss me again."

Vietnam smiled, then did.

A/N WHELP. YOU GUYS BEST BE HAPPY INSTEAD OF DOING NANOWRIMO I AM WRITING FANFICS. *cries* I'm so bored with NaNo though I'd much rather do this stuff.

Also, the quote at the top is from my favorite singer/person ever, Ed Sheeran. It's from his song "Little Bird." Btw he sings "The A Team," which you've probably heard. Yes... it's the one about the drugs.

This was requested by Greeb eyes.