Work Text:
Hetalia © Hidekazu Himaruya
no profit is gained in the making.
.
One thing Hungary noticed later was an old book in Prussia’s hand. He didn’t let it go since their first step off the hotel. Sometimes he hid it behind his back but sometimes he clutched it with strenght until his knuckles became stern when they crossed the road or stopped at the junction.
The book was old, she squinted thoroughly whenever she could in a moment in order to find out any clue of what kind that book was. Some edges of papers inside were rumpled. They turned yellow, too, and the hard cover it had on the back had gone already, leaving the front one that was awful to be seen. She wondered if the book was older than Prussia’s brother. Or even as old as he was?
She wanted to propound a question, but she waited for the apropos time, for he was busy talking about the history through centuries of the place they were currently walking around.
“I found difficulties when the first time I learnt Old Prussian language, but I was already an awesome guy back then so—yeah, it was wonderful and fun to learn new things,” he told, eyes not at her—instead, they laid on a writing in Cyrillic of a street name.
“Awesome guy?” Hungary guffawed, “When Teutonic Knight invaded the pagan Old Prussia, as far as I know you were still a little silly boy.”
“’Silly’, you say?” Prussia mocked, “I think you should learn how to differentiate ‘silly’ and ‘amazing’. Wanna learn some from me?”
“Nah,” she rolled her eyes. She wanted to continue but she was halted as they came accross Rossgarten Gate, located at the intersection of Chernyakhovskogo street and Alexander Nevsky street. The gate was consisted of only one passage of approximately four meters wide. At first she thought it was a museum or a culture site, but an online travel guide she had saved in her tablet proved her assumption wrong. It was a restaurant!
“Wanna eat?” he offered, reading her eyes and glint of curiousity inside.
Yet she shook her head. “I’m not hungry. Let’s go forward.”
“You sure?”
Hungary ensured, she walked past him and locked her tablet’s screen. “One hundred percent.”
He didn’t feel like eating as well, then he followed her and took back the position beside her like before. There was a hesitation of grabbing her hand, but at the second thought when he looked at both of their fingers that were bruising each other too often unintentionally at the time, he decided to take hers in his. Physical contact was not that common between them, but he was sure that she would not slap him if he did this, as they had done something similar several times on this vacation alone. One when they passed the aisle in the plane, when they walked towards the hotel’s restaurant, and another moments he could not clearly remember anymore.
She didn’t react nor claim any objection either. He was a little bit glad.
“Can you talk a little in Old Prussian? Do you still memorize the words?” she turned to look at him after glancing at some ladies passing them, talking probably in Russian or mixed with Lithuanian. She knew that Old Prussian was not very similar to language she had just heard, but their talking reminded her of the theme he had brought up moments ago.
“Mmm,” Prussia scratched the back of his head. “Wait. The memory is a bit rusty,” he brushed his chin with his fingers.
While waiting, she watched the surrounding and examined the people’s activities. Had she crossed many countries from the reason of bilateral relationship issue to just having fun visiting her country friends, and she thought that seeing human doing their occassion around their own cities in peace was heartwarming. Who did not love tranquility, actually?
“Ah, the building was initally my Teutonic castle!” he blew out unrelated topic, his index finger pointed at the antique edifice near them.
She immediately checked her saved page in the tablet, and she concluded, “Kaliningrad Amber Museum.”
“That’s the name? I prefer to call it ‘Königsberg Amber Museum, then.”
“Russia would bang your head with his pipe if he heard you.”
“Oh, man, it would be the worst news of this winter,” he grunted. “Now I remember a bit of what you asked. Ahem, kayle rekyse, eg koyte poyte! It was written in something called ... mmm ... Basel Epigram! Ja, ja, Basel Epigram, the oldest written Prussian sentence has ever found!”
“The meaning?”
“Cheers, sir, if you want to drink!” he raised his fist, voicing the sentence in high shouting she abruptly felt ashamed of as the people near them started to take notice of the crazy man beside her.
She chuckled in the end, seeing his shameless smug face when he looked back at the ones who just judged him. “Now you mention drink, I think I need one,” she shrugged. “Any suggestion?”
“Like I know lot of stuffs here. This town has changed a lot since the last time I stomped on its dirt. A looot. Didn’t have any idea of how Russia doing my beloved city, though. And I don’t want to. It hurts,” he wrinkled his nose. “And it is disgusting to think about it.”
“Street milkshake to cool down your brain, man?” Hungary pointed her thumb towards the crowded area opposite the road.
“Mmm.”
“Is it a yes?” Hungary stopped on the border of sidewalk.
“As long as it’s your treat,” Prussia laughed.
“For a half, it will be my treat, and the remaining is yours!” she giggled and pulled him to across the traffic with running, hand-in-hand.
“Heeey, that’s stupid!” What’s the difference with paying on our own?!”
She was still laughing instead of giving any response. She infiltrated the crowd rather stubbornly, and when she arrived on the front line she immediately shouted for two vanilla milkshakes without asking him first—it was fine for both since they knew each other’s likings based on silent observation throughout the years. The perks of being childhood friends and country personifications, anyway.
Prussia chose to sit on the bench far away from the crowd. She had suggested sitting on the ice cream parlor because she suddenly wanted to eat the parfait displayed on its window too, but he had insisted that the milkshake was enough. Hungary firstly could not resist the urge to argue when they arrived, nevertheless, him opening the distracting old book made her forget every sentences of dispute in her head.
He only drank a bit when he opened the book.
“What is that?”
“A book, stupid.”
“... Dammit. I mean what kind of book is it?!” she didn’t raise her voice, but judging from her visage, everyone knew that she felt utterly annoyed.
“Little Boy’s Awesome Diary,” he lifted the book and inched it closer to her face, for her to note the title written on the first page. “One I picked on my awesome library in my old house I no longer live in. I don’t know why but there is a part of me saying that I should bring this,” he patted the book onto his palm, smiling faintly while his eyes were blank. “This is the diary I wrote before I wholefully conquered this town.”
Hungary, without permission, seized the diary and randomly flipped it open. A page full of scribbling was revealed, and she observed it carefully. It didn’t take her long to finally find conclusion of what the excerpt told. She couldn’t help but smile. Hungary put back the book on his lap, “Didn’t expect you to have a girly side of imagination ... what term does Japan call it with? Shoujo? Ah, yes, shoujo dream.”
There was a tiny spot of red on both of his cheeks. Prussia snapped his head, felt somehow ashamed, “Blame the dream I had had on the night before I wrote this part. Fuck that girly dream of having a nightfall dance with a princess. Ugh, dammit, I should have thrown this page off or burnt it away.”
She chuckled loud, then grabbing one side of his face to turn his face towards her direction. “You said that you avoid marriage and want to stand on your own feet without bounding yourself to any ally. But truthfully you have this kind of dream?”
He gazed at her eyes, his facade was a mixture of confusion and melancholic feeling, “Sometimes, it is right to have an opposite side within yourself. Because we are just like human, who have right and false part equally inside us.”
They forgot the beverages they had just had, leaving them on the bench when she slowly closed the gap between their lips. Her fingers caressed his cheek initially, but slowly but sure they snaked on his neck to pull him down closer to her figure. She invented an inviting gesture in their kissing with deliberately parted her lips, which he responded by following his instinct to involve his tongue in the action.
It was sweeter than his dream, it was deeper and more passionate. And hotter. He held her head to keep it in the suited oblique position he liked.
Had he forgot where they were, he would have put her on her back on the bench and continued further.
Once they parted, she smirked, “Some dreams need a long time to be real. Some would not be. You are lucky to have the first choice.”
“Some dreams are worthy enough to be a reality, heh?”
“And yours is one.”
The book lied unforgotten. The wind accidentally flipped open the page before. Both Prussia and Hungary barely pay attention, as he continued to tell stories about his past in Kaliningrad—or Königsberg, he addressed it—and she listened it like an obedient enthusastic listener, sometimes adding sacarstic jokes.
Maybe the sky could read Prussia’s old writing there,
My awesome diary, today I worked hard in practicing sword play. My people also taught me archery. Everything was awesomely awesome like usual! But there is something bothering me even until now. It makes me daydreaming, but, oh damn, the dream is utterly stupid!
My dream last night was a meeting with a princess—I didn’t recognize who she was, all I remember that she had a long, wavy, beautiful brown hair. The princess asked me to dance, I refused because I wanted to practice only, but she insisted me to! Finally I agreed, and we talked, then I didn’t remember anything of it anymore.
When I remembered the dream in the morning, I started to have a silly wish. Later, if I can wholefully conquer this area, I will build a huge, special castle here and bring the princess back to dance with her, and ... ugh, this is shameful, actually ... I want to ask her for a kiss! Damn, damn, damn don’t laugh at me, my Awesome Diary!!! Don’t! This is because the princess told me that kissing is a sweet and makes you addicted to it! I want to try it honestly ....
Oh, I remember one thing! The unknown princess told me about a nonsense fairy tale, and she wanted to have a life resembling that tale. She said that for a girl like her, being kissed in a castle or in front of it, would make girls feel like a true princess and their world would be wholefully perfect.
I want to have a perfect world too! It sounds awesome!
So ... should I kiss a woman after I build a castle I have been dreaming of?
Maybe, one time!
The former castle of Teutonic, now called as Kaliningrad Amber Museum, witnessed everything. And it smiled. A castle, a princess, himself. Their world was perfect.
Some dreams required one to overcome centuries and obstacles, maybe.