That's How You Know (A Collection of Fics) - Part One of Seven
Title: That's How You Know (A Collection of Fics) Part One of Seven
Pairings: Various. They're surprises. (This part contains America/England, France/Canada, Russia/Lithuania, Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Japan)
Rating: All stories range from G-PG.
Warnings: Fluff and potential OOCness, but I tried my best to keep them relatively in character. Human names used.
Summary: A collection of fics based on specific lines from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams. There are seven parts of this collection.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the song these stories are based off, nor do I own the characters used in these stories. I make no profit and this is only to be used as entertainment.
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Title: Screen Saver
Pairing: Alfred/Arthur (America/England)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Groaning, Arthur walked out of the bathroom, down the hall and back into the meeting room. Work was stressful, and with everyone not being able to agree on a single plan of action just made it worse.
Chaos befell his eyes when he opened the meeting door. Papers were flying everywhere, folders and files littered the floor and the windows weren’t even open. Francis and Antonio were currently engaged in a pen fight. Gilbert, and Arthur wondered why he was even in this meeting, was talking to a floating polar bear and Alfred was on… his… computer…
“Alfred, you git, get off!”
Arthur lunged at the offending American, narrowly missing the bright blond haired man and landed in his seat.
Alfred laughed. Arthur scowled.
“Come on you limey!” said Alfred all too happily, “Loosen up!”
“I’ll loosen your eye sockets up if I find out you’ve been fucking around with my documents!”
“No worries! No worries!” Alfred wisely backed off when Arthur attempted to stab him with a pencil, “I didn’t do anything!”
Arthur looked at Alfred’s retreating back suspiciously when he heard a giggled ‘to your documents…’ but decided not to pay attention to it, lest his blood pressure go up.
Ludwig managed to bring some sort of order to the mess, scolding a few nations into tidying up and quieting down the others. He stepped down to let- oh, it was Matthew Gilbert was talking to. Ludwig stepped down to let Matthew make his speech, and although nobody began shouting over the top of each other again, it was obvious no one was paying attention.
Arthur decided to give it a go, to try and listen to Matthew’s speech. But try as he might, he just couldn’t hear the poor lad over the conversation between Lars and his sister. He did find out that they thought the Canadian had a nice ass though.
He tried making sure the slides for his slideshows were in order on his laptop and then settled for reading over his speech to pass time. Staring at the screen for a while made it apparent he just couldn’t concentrate.
Sighing in his seat, Arthur tried to get comfortable. He’d probably nod off soon and he decided a nap would do him good before the room erupted again.
Before his eyes slid shut, he noticed his laptop screen had turned black. Text was bouncing off the ‘walls’ of the screen, obnoxiously changing colour as it did so.
Alfred had changed his screensaver settings.
Growling he moved to rub his finger against the mouse touchpad before pausing. He managed the read the text -barely- as it continued moving.
“mickey d’s at 7 :D’
He furrowed his arguably trimmed eyebrows and looked over the top of his laptop, flicking his eyes slightly to the right and settling his gaze on Alfred. As expected, blue eyes hidden behind glasses were looking straight at him. He could see the corners of those eyes crinkle, and he knew the bloody idiot was grinning at him.
Arthur harrumphed, and sank back into his seat, face now safely behind his laptop and smile hidden from view.
NOTES: mickey d's at 7 :D - fits into the lettering limit on the text screen saver. It took me a while to decide on a message, because I wanted it to actually fit D: The original message was two lines :c
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Title: Header
Pairing: Ludwig/Feliciano (Germany/North Italy)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Feliciano moaned contently, stretching his bones and muscles like a cat. He rolled his shoulders before settling down into bed again, twisting in the sheets so half his body was covered, the other half exposed to the slight chill in the air.
He really did have to get up. He’d promised Ludwig he’d combine his infamously delicious home-made pasta with slices of wurst as a substitute for meatballs, just to make the other happy. He’d also promised to be awake before noon so they could actually make the lunch date.
Huffing and puffing, Feliciano willed himself out of bed, shivering slightly as he stood.
First, he needed clothes.
He slipped on a pyjama shirt quickly, the one he had worn the previous evening before taking it off for sleep. Opening his cupboard, he picked out a nice, decent shirt, perfect for lunch with Ludwig. He also brought out a warm jacket and hooked it both on the bedroom door to change into later.
Next, he needed to start cooking.
He went into the kitchen, examining the wurst Ludwig must have taken out to thaw. Feliciano thanked him in his head. He put on a pot of boiling water, deciding to forgo making his own pasta because it was too late and he was just too tired. He selected a box of piccolini instead of spaghetti, just for a change.
While the water boiled and the wurst thawed some more, he supposed he should brush his teeth.
Yawning, the Italian strolled into the bathroom, eyes closed tiredly as he blindly wet his toothbrush and squeezed out his toothpaste. Glad he hadn’t missed his brush when he felt the paste on his lips, he began to move his hand up and down, slowly opening his eyes as he did so.
He took in his appearance in the mirror. His stubble was getting a little prickly and needed shaving. The bags under his eyes were at least better than yesterday. His hair was a mess and needed brushing. There was a sticky note stuck on his forehead.
‘.isuaM, stnap tegrof t’noD’ it said.
Feliciano stopped brushing, leaving the toothbrush in his mouth and grabbed the note with his previously occupied hand.
He turned it around to read it properly.
‘Don’t forget pants, Mausi.’
Feliciano giggled; glad he hadn’t choked on the foam in his mouth. He stuck the note to the mirror, reading it over and over as he finished brushing his teeth, grinning all the while.
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Title: Grocery List
Pairing: Francis/Matthew (France/Canada)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Matthew closed his front door with a relieved sigh and chucked his keys onto the table next to him. He took off his scarf and coat and hung them on his coat rack. He plucked off his gloves and tossed them carelessly onto the end table to join his keys.
Walking into his house, he was instantly warmed. He knew Francis wasn’t in, he’d left for a meeting a while ago but he’d definitely at least been at home for a while. The house was warm, he could still smell his particular cologne and Kumakiko’s hair had been ruffled.
Matthew chuckled at the polar bear staring up at him. “And I suppose Francis attempted to brush your hair again?” he asked.
“Yes he did. Who are you again?” responded the bear.
Matthew sighed, deciding to brush it off for now. If it hadn’t gotten through to the animal the past few years he might as well quit while he was ahead. He knew that wouldn’t stop him from trying in the future though.
He fished out his wallet and placed it on the kitchen counter as he entered the room, a little disappointed it didn’t smell like wonderful French cooking. Francis always said the kitchen was one of his favourite rooms of the house. Another favourite was the bedroom, Matthew guessed.
He was just about to open the fridge, his only purpose to stare into it and wish for dinner to appear when he noticed a list stuck to the door with a plain magnet.
A grocery list. Matthew groaned. He was sure Francis wanted him to go and buy them before he got home, but Matthew really didn’t want to go back into the cold.
He skimmed through the list.
‘Butter
Flour
Sugar’
He was sure there was at least a little of each in the fridge and pantry. Francis would survive.
‘Eggs
Milk
Honey’
Kumariro could do some magical things if Matthew hoped hard enough.
‘Cocoa powder
Strawberries
Blueberries
Other berries’
Obviously Francis was thinking of making dessert pastries again. As much as Matthew enjoyed -nay, loved them, he really didn’t think it was necessary for him to go out and buy anything in the horrible weather.
Matthew was just about to stick the list back onto the fridge and disregard it when he noticed the elegantly scrawled message at the end of the elegantly scrawled list.
‘Mon chéri, you are the light at this long and tedious tunnel they call a ‘meeting’. Please don’t stress over the list, it’s for tomorrow. Perhaps we can go out shopping together?
Je t'aime,
Francis’
Matthew smiled and stuck the list back onto the fridge, replacing the plain magnet with a nearby maple leaf one.
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Title: Cat's Tongue
Pairing: Herakles/Kiku (Greece/Japan)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Contently seated on the wooden floor outside, just beyond the screen doors of his house, Kiku smiled softly at the guinea pig he was stroking. The little fluffy ball shifted in his lap and once comfortable began to doze off.
Sakura petals fell silently. The only sound in the garden came from the wind that coaxed the flowers off their tree.
Kiku heaved a pleased sigh, his hand stilling on the guinea pig to softly cup its hind.
The sky was blue, the petals were pink and the pebbles in his garden were a stark white. Everything complimented each other, just the way Kiku liked it.
Busy admiring his garden, the small Japanese didn’t notice the beautiful brown cat that had walked up next to him until it softly meowed.
His back went frigid before relaxing. He was amazed the guinea pig in his lap didn’t die of fright and that Pochi hadn’t come running at the smell of a feline.
Kiku cocked his head when the cat dropped something he had been holding in its mouth next to him.
“What’s this?” he asked the cat, who only purred in response. He picked up the note, his other hand still cupping the guinea pig.
'Kiku,
I look forward to this evening. Hope you are doing well. I’m bringing moussaka and my cats are sure to follow, so I hope we don’t disturb Pochi too much.
Σ'αγαπώ,
Herakles’
Kiku blushed at the sign off, covering his face with the sleeve of his kimono and then shaking his head when he realised he was hiding it from a cat. The cat only mewed at his antics.
Slipping the note into his sleeve, he scratched the chin of the messenger cat and slowly stood up, carefully carrying the still drowsy guinea pig. He walked back into his house, watching the cat stroll away.
He paused as he observed the feline round a corner and disappear into the shrub, fingering the note in his sleeve while watching.
Continuing into the house, Kiku felt considerably warmer than he had outside, whether it was from the lack of breeze or the warm message, he didn’t know.
Notes: Σ'αγαπώ - pronounced 'S' agapo' means 'I love you' in Greek.
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Title: Music Note
Pairing: Roderich/Vash (Austria/Switzerland)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Roderich groaned in exasperation to no one in particular. He’d spent a good portion of the morning looking for his glasses, only to find them in the kitchen covered in bits of Sachertorte. He’d gone a bit wild last night with the cake and he definitely regretted it later when he was scrubbing the crumbs and chocolate off his spectacles.
He flexed his fingers as he entered one of his practice rooms, the one with his favourite piano. A good session of Chopin would help vent out his frustration.
Sliding onto the stool, he ran his fingers over the wooden lid, breathing deeply with his eyes closed. He could fill the keys beneath the lid and he could picture and find exactly where middle C was, just from memory.
He opened the lid with a flourish, hands quickly poised above the notes to start playing. Just as he was about to lower his hands, he opened his eyes.
A pink note was stuck to the underneath of his piano lid. His hands hovered over the keys while he debated whether to read it and risk angering himself further or to just let all the energy out right away.
Roderich pursed his lips. He quickly snatched the off the wood, ‘tsking’ when he noticed a spot of glue still stuck to the lid. He’d have to clean that. He’d have to play another hour of Chopin for that.
He flicked out the note so it was slightly curved and readable. Adjusting his glasses, he read aloud:
“Roderich, thank you for lunch. It’s nice to know your frugality is still in tact. Don’t think anything of it, but we should have lunch again, maybe dinner, to save money of course.”
Roderich noted with amusement that the ‘save money’ part was a lot messier than the rest of the message.
“It’s to save money. Think nothing more of it. Only that it is saving money. Vash. PS, if you’re wondering why this note is pink, it’s because it’s Sophie’s stationary. Also, I know you’re reading this out loud.”
With a ‘hmph’ of mirth, Roderich placed the note next to him on the piano stool. He paused, glancing at the note one last time before readying himself for music making.
He pulled back his sleeves with a small smile and decided to play Mozart’s ‘Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”’ instead of Chopin.
Notes: “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” = French folk song. The tune has been used in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Alphabet Song and Baa Baa Black Sheep. I know you're singing it.
Sophie = Liechtenstein
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Title: Letter
Pairing: Ivan/Toris (Russia/Lithuania)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Ivan snuggled his nose into his scarf. His house was empty at the moment. Everybody had gone out for a party that he just didn’t feel like going to.
Any other time he’d have gladly gone, happy to see everyone together in one place. It made him feel part of a family, and it was very exciting to see the boys get rowdy now and again.
But today, today Ivan just felt a little down. You wouldn’t know by looking at him. In fact, people would probably tell you he was perfectly all right, or as all right as Ivan could be.
Ivan wasn’t alright. In fact, he was quite sad. Everybody in his house was starting to move away, starting to leave him. Even Natalia who seemed like she’d never leave was drifting a little further.
Down hearted, Ivan went to his study and flicked on the light. As soon as the room was lit up, he noticed it was completely clean and organised, just like he had asked for it to be before everyone left.
He didn’t know whether to be pleased or disappointed.
With a ‘fump’ of his cushy office chair, he rolled forwards, intent on getting some work down before anyone got back. Then everyone could spend time with him.
That was when he noticed the note.
A note was odd. Everyone knew he didn’t really like things out of place, so to see a hand written note -rather a hand written letter, on a sheet of white paper was quite strange.
Hesitantly, he picked it up. Judging by the hand writing, the letter was from a specific Lithuanian man. A Lithuania man Ivan had hurt countless times.
‘Mr. Braginski,
All your notes from the last meeting are filed with the rest of your notes in the top left drawer. Your files are in the middle left drawer and your folders are in the cabinet to the right.’
Ivan smiled, albeit a bit grimly at Lithuania’s message. It wasn’t like he didn’t know where everything was. It was his house after all. The man, Toris, always seemed to be particular about these things. It may have had something to do with Ivan's nature. Nevertheless, he continued reading.
‘Everything else is in their usual spots. I hope your work goes well. Please do not stress.’
Ivan paused at the last sentence, intrigued.
‘When you stress, we stress, I stress. Please take some time to relax. I know you want to grow sunflowers, so I’ve taken the liberty of ordering an artificial one especially for your office with my own money. You will receive it by Monday. I hope it will cheer you up whenever you feel down. Please cheer up, because when you are down, we are down, I am down.
Sincerely,
Toris’
Ivan touched a finger to his trembling lips and was surprised to find a curve to them. A true upwards curve. A true smile.
The message wasn’t really that out of the ordinary, Toris always wanted to make sure things went right. The message even seemed to say ‘please don’t hurt me’, but Ivan felt warmth in his chest. Warmth that could only have sparked from an act of kindness.
Note: I had already written a version with Russia for 'yellow flowers' with another character, and I was already half way through writing this when I thought 'crap, it would've worked better with Lithuania'. I still like the idea of Lithuania keeping Russia relatively sane by leaving notes though.
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Pairings: Various. They're surprises. (This part contains America/England, France/Canada, Russia/Lithuania, Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Japan)
Rating: All stories range from G-PG.
Warnings: Fluff and potential OOCness, but I tried my best to keep them relatively in character. Human names used.
Summary: A collection of fics based on specific lines from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams. There are seven parts of this collection.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the song these stories are based off, nor do I own the characters used in these stories. I make no profit and this is only to be used as entertainment.
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Title: Screen Saver
Pairing: Alfred/Arthur (America/England)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Groaning, Arthur walked out of the bathroom, down the hall and back into the meeting room. Work was stressful, and with everyone not being able to agree on a single plan of action just made it worse.
Chaos befell his eyes when he opened the meeting door. Papers were flying everywhere, folders and files littered the floor and the windows weren’t even open. Francis and Antonio were currently engaged in a pen fight. Gilbert, and Arthur wondered why he was even in this meeting, was talking to a floating polar bear and Alfred was on… his… computer…
“Alfred, you git, get off!”
Arthur lunged at the offending American, narrowly missing the bright blond haired man and landed in his seat.
Alfred laughed. Arthur scowled.
“Come on you limey!” said Alfred all too happily, “Loosen up!”
“I’ll loosen your eye sockets up if I find out you’ve been fucking around with my documents!”
“No worries! No worries!” Alfred wisely backed off when Arthur attempted to stab him with a pencil, “I didn’t do anything!”
Arthur looked at Alfred’s retreating back suspiciously when he heard a giggled ‘to your documents…’ but decided not to pay attention to it, lest his blood pressure go up.
Ludwig managed to bring some sort of order to the mess, scolding a few nations into tidying up and quieting down the others. He stepped down to let- oh, it was Matthew Gilbert was talking to. Ludwig stepped down to let Matthew make his speech, and although nobody began shouting over the top of each other again, it was obvious no one was paying attention.
Arthur decided to give it a go, to try and listen to Matthew’s speech. But try as he might, he just couldn’t hear the poor lad over the conversation between Lars and his sister. He did find out that they thought the Canadian had a nice ass though.
He tried making sure the slides for his slideshows were in order on his laptop and then settled for reading over his speech to pass time. Staring at the screen for a while made it apparent he just couldn’t concentrate.
Sighing in his seat, Arthur tried to get comfortable. He’d probably nod off soon and he decided a nap would do him good before the room erupted again.
Before his eyes slid shut, he noticed his laptop screen had turned black. Text was bouncing off the ‘walls’ of the screen, obnoxiously changing colour as it did so.
Alfred had changed his screensaver settings.
Growling he moved to rub his finger against the mouse touchpad before pausing. He managed the read the text -barely- as it continued moving.
“mickey d’s at 7 :D’
He furrowed his arguably trimmed eyebrows and looked over the top of his laptop, flicking his eyes slightly to the right and settling his gaze on Alfred. As expected, blue eyes hidden behind glasses were looking straight at him. He could see the corners of those eyes crinkle, and he knew the bloody idiot was grinning at him.
Arthur harrumphed, and sank back into his seat, face now safely behind his laptop and smile hidden from view.
NOTES: mickey d's at 7 :D - fits into the lettering limit on the text screen saver. It took me a while to decide on a message, because I wanted it to actually fit D: The original message was two lines :c
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Title: Header
Pairing: Ludwig/Feliciano (Germany/North Italy)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Feliciano moaned contently, stretching his bones and muscles like a cat. He rolled his shoulders before settling down into bed again, twisting in the sheets so half his body was covered, the other half exposed to the slight chill in the air.
He really did have to get up. He’d promised Ludwig he’d combine his infamously delicious home-made pasta with slices of wurst as a substitute for meatballs, just to make the other happy. He’d also promised to be awake before noon so they could actually make the lunch date.
Huffing and puffing, Feliciano willed himself out of bed, shivering slightly as he stood.
First, he needed clothes.
He slipped on a pyjama shirt quickly, the one he had worn the previous evening before taking it off for sleep. Opening his cupboard, he picked out a nice, decent shirt, perfect for lunch with Ludwig. He also brought out a warm jacket and hooked it both on the bedroom door to change into later.
Next, he needed to start cooking.
He went into the kitchen, examining the wurst Ludwig must have taken out to thaw. Feliciano thanked him in his head. He put on a pot of boiling water, deciding to forgo making his own pasta because it was too late and he was just too tired. He selected a box of piccolini instead of spaghetti, just for a change.
While the water boiled and the wurst thawed some more, he supposed he should brush his teeth.
Yawning, the Italian strolled into the bathroom, eyes closed tiredly as he blindly wet his toothbrush and squeezed out his toothpaste. Glad he hadn’t missed his brush when he felt the paste on his lips, he began to move his hand up and down, slowly opening his eyes as he did so.
He took in his appearance in the mirror. His stubble was getting a little prickly and needed shaving. The bags under his eyes were at least better than yesterday. His hair was a mess and needed brushing. There was a sticky note stuck on his forehead.
‘.isuaM, stnap tegrof t’noD’ it said.
Feliciano stopped brushing, leaving the toothbrush in his mouth and grabbed the note with his previously occupied hand.
He turned it around to read it properly.
‘Don’t forget pants, Mausi.’
Feliciano giggled; glad he hadn’t choked on the foam in his mouth. He stuck the note to the mirror, reading it over and over as he finished brushing his teeth, grinning all the while.
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Title: Grocery List
Pairing: Francis/Matthew (France/Canada)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Matthew closed his front door with a relieved sigh and chucked his keys onto the table next to him. He took off his scarf and coat and hung them on his coat rack. He plucked off his gloves and tossed them carelessly onto the end table to join his keys.
Walking into his house, he was instantly warmed. He knew Francis wasn’t in, he’d left for a meeting a while ago but he’d definitely at least been at home for a while. The house was warm, he could still smell his particular cologne and Kumakiko’s hair had been ruffled.
Matthew chuckled at the polar bear staring up at him. “And I suppose Francis attempted to brush your hair again?” he asked.
“Yes he did. Who are you again?” responded the bear.
Matthew sighed, deciding to brush it off for now. If it hadn’t gotten through to the animal the past few years he might as well quit while he was ahead. He knew that wouldn’t stop him from trying in the future though.
He fished out his wallet and placed it on the kitchen counter as he entered the room, a little disappointed it didn’t smell like wonderful French cooking. Francis always said the kitchen was one of his favourite rooms of the house. Another favourite was the bedroom, Matthew guessed.
He was just about to open the fridge, his only purpose to stare into it and wish for dinner to appear when he noticed a list stuck to the door with a plain magnet.
A grocery list. Matthew groaned. He was sure Francis wanted him to go and buy them before he got home, but Matthew really didn’t want to go back into the cold.
He skimmed through the list.
‘Butter
Flour
Sugar’
He was sure there was at least a little of each in the fridge and pantry. Francis would survive.
‘Eggs
Milk
Honey’
Kumariro could do some magical things if Matthew hoped hard enough.
‘Cocoa powder
Strawberries
Blueberries
Other berries’
Obviously Francis was thinking of making dessert pastries again. As much as Matthew enjoyed -nay, loved them, he really didn’t think it was necessary for him to go out and buy anything in the horrible weather.
Matthew was just about to stick the list back onto the fridge and disregard it when he noticed the elegantly scrawled message at the end of the elegantly scrawled list.
‘Mon chéri, you are the light at this long and tedious tunnel they call a ‘meeting’. Please don’t stress over the list, it’s for tomorrow. Perhaps we can go out shopping together?
Je t'aime,
Francis’
Matthew smiled and stuck the list back onto the fridge, replacing the plain magnet with a nearby maple leaf one.
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Title: Cat's Tongue
Pairing: Herakles/Kiku (Greece/Japan)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Contently seated on the wooden floor outside, just beyond the screen doors of his house, Kiku smiled softly at the guinea pig he was stroking. The little fluffy ball shifted in his lap and once comfortable began to doze off.
Sakura petals fell silently. The only sound in the garden came from the wind that coaxed the flowers off their tree.
Kiku heaved a pleased sigh, his hand stilling on the guinea pig to softly cup its hind.
The sky was blue, the petals were pink and the pebbles in his garden were a stark white. Everything complimented each other, just the way Kiku liked it.
Busy admiring his garden, the small Japanese didn’t notice the beautiful brown cat that had walked up next to him until it softly meowed.
His back went frigid before relaxing. He was amazed the guinea pig in his lap didn’t die of fright and that Pochi hadn’t come running at the smell of a feline.
Kiku cocked his head when the cat dropped something he had been holding in its mouth next to him.
“What’s this?” he asked the cat, who only purred in response. He picked up the note, his other hand still cupping the guinea pig.
'Kiku,
I look forward to this evening. Hope you are doing well. I’m bringing moussaka and my cats are sure to follow, so I hope we don’t disturb Pochi too much.
Σ'αγαπώ,
Herakles’
Kiku blushed at the sign off, covering his face with the sleeve of his kimono and then shaking his head when he realised he was hiding it from a cat. The cat only mewed at his antics.
Slipping the note into his sleeve, he scratched the chin of the messenger cat and slowly stood up, carefully carrying the still drowsy guinea pig. He walked back into his house, watching the cat stroll away.
He paused as he observed the feline round a corner and disappear into the shrub, fingering the note in his sleeve while watching.
Continuing into the house, Kiku felt considerably warmer than he had outside, whether it was from the lack of breeze or the warm message, he didn’t know.
Notes: Σ'αγαπώ - pronounced 'S' agapo' means 'I love you' in Greek.
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Title: Music Note
Pairing: Roderich/Vash (Austria/Switzerland)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Roderich groaned in exasperation to no one in particular. He’d spent a good portion of the morning looking for his glasses, only to find them in the kitchen covered in bits of Sachertorte. He’d gone a bit wild last night with the cake and he definitely regretted it later when he was scrubbing the crumbs and chocolate off his spectacles.
He flexed his fingers as he entered one of his practice rooms, the one with his favourite piano. A good session of Chopin would help vent out his frustration.
Sliding onto the stool, he ran his fingers over the wooden lid, breathing deeply with his eyes closed. He could fill the keys beneath the lid and he could picture and find exactly where middle C was, just from memory.
He opened the lid with a flourish, hands quickly poised above the notes to start playing. Just as he was about to lower his hands, he opened his eyes.
A pink note was stuck to the underneath of his piano lid. His hands hovered over the keys while he debated whether to read it and risk angering himself further or to just let all the energy out right away.
Roderich pursed his lips. He quickly snatched the off the wood, ‘tsking’ when he noticed a spot of glue still stuck to the lid. He’d have to clean that. He’d have to play another hour of Chopin for that.
He flicked out the note so it was slightly curved and readable. Adjusting his glasses, he read aloud:
“Roderich, thank you for lunch. It’s nice to know your frugality is still in tact. Don’t think anything of it, but we should have lunch again, maybe dinner, to save money of course.”
Roderich noted with amusement that the ‘save money’ part was a lot messier than the rest of the message.
“It’s to save money. Think nothing more of it. Only that it is saving money. Vash. PS, if you’re wondering why this note is pink, it’s because it’s Sophie’s stationary. Also, I know you’re reading this out loud.”
With a ‘hmph’ of mirth, Roderich placed the note next to him on the piano stool. He paused, glancing at the note one last time before readying himself for music making.
He pulled back his sleeves with a small smile and decided to play Mozart’s ‘Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman”’ instead of Chopin.
Notes: “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” = French folk song. The tune has been used in Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Alphabet Song and Baa Baa Black Sheep. I know you're singing it.
Sophie = Liechtenstein
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Title: Letter
Pairing: Ivan/Toris (Russia/Lithuania)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he leave a little note to tell you you are on his mind?
Ivan snuggled his nose into his scarf. His house was empty at the moment. Everybody had gone out for a party that he just didn’t feel like going to.
Any other time he’d have gladly gone, happy to see everyone together in one place. It made him feel part of a family, and it was very exciting to see the boys get rowdy now and again.
But today, today Ivan just felt a little down. You wouldn’t know by looking at him. In fact, people would probably tell you he was perfectly all right, or as all right as Ivan could be.
Ivan wasn’t alright. In fact, he was quite sad. Everybody in his house was starting to move away, starting to leave him. Even Natalia who seemed like she’d never leave was drifting a little further.
Down hearted, Ivan went to his study and flicked on the light. As soon as the room was lit up, he noticed it was completely clean and organised, just like he had asked for it to be before everyone left.
He didn’t know whether to be pleased or disappointed.
With a ‘fump’ of his cushy office chair, he rolled forwards, intent on getting some work down before anyone got back. Then everyone could spend time with him.
That was when he noticed the note.
A note was odd. Everyone knew he didn’t really like things out of place, so to see a hand written note -rather a hand written letter, on a sheet of white paper was quite strange.
Hesitantly, he picked it up. Judging by the hand writing, the letter was from a specific Lithuanian man. A Lithuania man Ivan had hurt countless times.
‘Mr. Braginski,
All your notes from the last meeting are filed with the rest of your notes in the top left drawer. Your files are in the middle left drawer and your folders are in the cabinet to the right.’
Ivan smiled, albeit a bit grimly at Lithuania’s message. It wasn’t like he didn’t know where everything was. It was his house after all. The man, Toris, always seemed to be particular about these things. It may have had something to do with Ivan's nature. Nevertheless, he continued reading.
‘Everything else is in their usual spots. I hope your work goes well. Please do not stress.’
Ivan paused at the last sentence, intrigued.
‘When you stress, we stress, I stress. Please take some time to relax. I know you want to grow sunflowers, so I’ve taken the liberty of ordering an artificial one especially for your office with my own money. You will receive it by Monday. I hope it will cheer you up whenever you feel down. Please cheer up, because when you are down, we are down, I am down.
Sincerely,
Toris’
Ivan touched a finger to his trembling lips and was surprised to find a curve to them. A true upwards curve. A true smile.
The message wasn’t really that out of the ordinary, Toris always wanted to make sure things went right. The message even seemed to say ‘please don’t hurt me’, but Ivan felt warmth in his chest. Warmth that could only have sparked from an act of kindness.
Note: I had already written a version with Russia for 'yellow flowers' with another character, and I was already half way through writing this when I thought 'crap, it would've worked better with Lithuania'. I still like the idea of Lithuania keeping Russia relatively sane by leaving notes though.
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