That's How You Know (A Collection of Fics) - Part Three of Seven
Natalia backed away from Alfred, knife poised in front of her body. Despite waving the weapon threateningly in front of her, he did not seem deterred. One jab to the arm might make him move, but with relations not going so well at the moment, doing so would only sour them further. As much as Natalia wouldn’t mind giving the advancing American a nice cut to remind him just exactly what a knife was and why you shouldn’t corner someone who had one, she had to keep her priorities straight.
Alfred continued forward, arms open when Natalia’s back finally hit a wall. He smiled at her glare, “Come on, it won’t hurt you.”
“Back off,” she bit out, “I’m not dancing with you. Brother will get the wrong idea. Now tell me, where is he?”
“What is it with you and your brother?” Alfred kept his smile in place, though it strained when Natalia stepped on his toe.
“None of your business. Where is he?”
“I’ll tell you where he is if you just dance with me.”
Natalia raised her knife dangerously close to Alfred’s neck and he stopped. “No.”
Alfred grabbed her wrist, twisting it behind her back so the knife was trapped between the wall and her back. Though he was being forceful, he was careful not to stab her or hurt her wrist. Like Natalia, he too had politics on the brain, but he couldn’t deny there were some underlying affections for the somewhat violent, though beautiful woman.
She snarled at him, “Let go.”
“No,’ said Alfred simply. He walked backwards until there was space between Natalia’s back and the wall. He gripped her wrist a little tighter and shook the knife out of her hand, having to try several times before she let go and it clattered to the floor. He kicked it away quickly when she attempted to bend and pick it up with her other hand.
“Come on, everyone else is dancing.”
“Then go dance with them and leave me alone,” she snapped, but didn’t resist when Alfred moved his grip from her wrist to her hand and swept her into dance.
Alfred slid an arm around Natalia’s waist, despite her obvious attempts to stomp on his feet. “Come on, just relax. Ivan already left anyway.”
Natalia’s eyes widened. She frowned, sniffing and sticking her nose in the air and with mighty strength, stilled Alfred from moving. She grabbed the hand on her waist and put it on her shoulder, resting her own hand on Alfred’s hip.
“Fine, but if we’re dancing, I’m leading.”
Alfred couldn’t argue with that. Frankly, he didn’t really want to.
I do not know why I like America/Belarus. Maybe I like the fact that it's a hetero pairing with America, maybe it's visually appealing, maybe I really like torturing Lithuania, who knows.
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Title: Waltz
Pairing: Roderich/Elizaveta (Austria/Hungary)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
Elizaveta watched Roderich play his piano with a fond expression. Next to him, Ludwig was playing the cello, Gilbert was playing the flute and Feliciano was playing the violin. Together, their song sounded wonderful, but Elizaveta just couldn’t take her eyes off Roderich.
She examined the way his fingers flew across the keys, how they gracefully arched when playing the black keys.
A lovely image, but she was just so tired. Hours of endless cooking and cleaning, and while the boys had helped, they still had more energy than she did.
She slid out the door, glad Francis and Sadiq were blocking the view so she didn’t interrupt anything.
Trudging down the halls, she didn’t think she could make it to a bedroom and settled for the next door she came across to find a nice place to sit.
She opened the thick wooden doors and smiled with nostalgia. It was Roderich’s practice room, the one with one of his favourite pianos. She left the door open and stepped inside, relishing in the echo her foot steps made. The melody from the room she just left could still be heard clearly, through the door and through the walls. She didn’t notice the absence of the piano.
Elizaveta sat down on the piano stool and ran her fingers over the lid covering the keys. The whole room just smelt like-
“Elizaveta.”
She sat up straight, startled. Casually she turned around, recognising the voice as Roderich’s.
“Sorry I was just-”
He was next to her in an instant, holding out a hand palm up to her.
“May I?”
She smiled, curtsying when Roderich bowed and placed her hand elegantly in his. Roderich cleared his throat, the music coming through the hallways stopping and starting again, a minuet floating into the room.
Twelve beats and they were waltzing, away from the piano and around the room. Elizaveta felt comfortable with the hand on her hip, and smiled cheekily at Roderich when he gripped a little harder.
“No need to be nervous. You did offer.”
Roderich swallowed, “Yes, it’s just I haven’t-”
“-In a while, I know.”
She smiled up at him, all further conversation was drowned at by the soft music and the sounds of their shoes clacking against the floor to the beat.
Someone please point out any spelling mistakes lol
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Title: Vineyard
Pairing: Francis/Antonio (France/Spain)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
Francis laughed, long and loud at what Antonio had just said, the Spaniard echoing the Frenchman’s joy with his own.
The pair had agreed on a walk, finally having some time to spare in between stressful meetings and giving speeches. Life for both men seemed to be in one of those slumps. While Francis was a little irritable now and then, Antonio stayed positive, smile plastered across his face whenever his blond haired friend saw him. If Antonio wanted to sock the next person to walk by in the face, Francis wouldn’t have known.
Francis found comfort in that. To know that when everything didn’t seem right and nothing would go the way he wanted, there would be Antonio with his big smile and warm aura and equally warm body. It didn’t matter if it was a lie, just Antonio himself could give him a little peace.
He grabbed Antonio’s hand as they walked down a dirt road towards one of his vineyards.
Antonio didn’t pull away, his lips stretching even tighter against his teeth. He began telling another story, one he knew would surely make Francis laugh, about some Italian friends of theirs.
Of course, Antonio was right, and Francis was once again thrown into a fit of laughter. This time however, the sound was tinged with something deeper. Laughing all the while, Francis casually slipped an arm around Antonio’s waist as they began walking through the rows of vines. As usual, no protest came.
Antonio became caught up with the rich smell of the earth and leaves brushing against his legs as he tried to walk beside Francis. He chuckled, trying to think of another story while the hand connected to the arm around his waist slowly slipped under his shirt and rested there.
Before Antonio could spit out his next string of words, Francis had stopped them, his hand gripping Antonio’s hip tightly. He turned to his Spanish friend and smiled brightly. Antonio smiled right back.
They looked at each other for a while. In Antonio’s deep green eyes, Francis could see a sparkle, a twinkle of something childishly mischievous behind the maturity of the man he knew Antonio to be. In Francis’ cool blue eyes, Antonio could see the frivolous, flirty Frenchman everyone else saw, but also the tiredness he knew Francis carried around with him.
Francis blinked himself out of the moment, a little concerned when Antonio kept staring at him.
“Antonio…?” he queried softly, satisfied when Antonio shook his head slightly and smiled back at him.
He coaxed Antonio forward with the hand on the Spaniard’s hip, only to be brought into a hug, his face suddenly in Antonio’s neck.
Hesitantly, his own arms came to wrap around his partner, still not sure of the other’s intentions. Antonio began rocking slightly from side to side, slowly nuzzling Francis’ hair.
“Just relax,” cooed Antonio, delighted as he felt Francis’ grip on him become firmer and their rocking became more fluid.
Francis let himself relax. He’d planned to whisk Antonio into a barn and have a little ‘roll in the hay’, for old time’s sake he had told himself. He couldn’t help but feel that this was much better.
The two stayed amongst the vines, swaying; both content and happy to hold each other close.
Somehow this one seems weird, I dunno.
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Title: Coax
Pairing: Yong Soo/Yao (SKorea/China)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
“Yao! Yao! Let’s go dancing!” cried Yong Soo happily as he mock waltzed into the break room Yao had turned into his temporary study during their stay in The United States. “Yao!” he tried again when Yao didn’t answer, “Yao let’s go dancing!”
“No,” replied Yao, not once looking up from the scrawl he had thrown down during their last meeting, “I’ve got too much work to do, aru. Go dance by yourself.”
“You’re too worked up Yao!” Yong Soo danced into the room, twirling in circles, his strange curl of hair bouncing with each step. He spun until he was right behind Yao when he suddenly clamped his hands down on Yao’s chair, scaring the poor man. He leaned down next to a pale ear and whispered, “You’ve got to loosen up.”
Yao flinched and ducked his head, turning it to fix a glare on Yong Soo, “You’re just trying to get to my chest, aru! Now move along, I have this paperwork to do. You do too if I remember. There is obviously no time for dancing.” Yao ‘hmphed’.
Yong Soo pouted. “Come on,” he drawled as he heaved a squawking Yao out of his seat, “it’ll be fun!” He swung Yao into a twirl, spinning three times before dipping the older man.
Yao gripped Yong Soo’s sleeve tightly and grit his teeth, “Bring me up! I’m going to fall, aru!”
“Not until you agree to go dancing with me,” Yong Soo put simply with a grin.
Seeming to debate with himself, Yao was quiet for a while, his grip growing even tighter with each passing second. Finally, he relented with a huffed ‘fine’ and resisted another squawk when Yong Soo brought him up quickly. Before Yao could even think of inching his way back to his paperwork, Yong Soo had intertwined their fingers and was dragging him out the door.
“This is going to be so much more fun than paperwork!” cried Yong Soo happily as he tugged Yao along.
Yao agreed in his head. It’d be much more fun, but the paperwork would still be there.
Yong Soo tugged him closer. Yao looked up at the younger man’s eyes, turning away quickly when he saw something sparkle in those dark orbs.
He was wary of Yong Soo’s intentions, but with the young man insistently pulling him along, Yao found the tension leave his body and soon, all thoughts of paperwork were forgotten.
ARGH rushed
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Title: Mine
Pairing: Ivan/Yekaterina(Russia/Ukraine)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
Ivan didn’t like the way people were staring at Yekaterina; the way they’d glance her way then double take when they saw her breasts. He didn’t like it one bit, Yekaterina was so much more than her breasts. One of his fists tightened around the glass he had emptied down his throat, then other twisting in the pink scarf -a stark contrast to the black suit he was wearing- that was wrapped around his neck.
Currently a stranger was dancing with her. He was the eleventh man to dance with her; he had been count- now a twelfth man was trying to intervene, but Eleven didn’t like it.
Eleven was still gripping her tightly as twelve insisted on a dance. The two were arguing when suddenly Three decided to take the chance and sweep Yekaterina away. Eleven and Twelve weren’t happy, getting even more aggravated when Six and Nine decided to join in and a thirteenth was beginning to become interested.
When three more nameless men began following them, Ivan put his foot down. He walked over, though the surrounding people would probably tell you he stormed his way over. With great restraint, he grabbed Three’s hand which was still attached to Yekaterina’s waist. He supposed he shouldn’t crush the man’s wrist, but it was tempting.
“Perhaps I may cut in, da?” he asked through gritted teeth. Three tried to yank his hand away with little success before whipping his head around to complain. Ivan watched with delight as the man’s beady eyes widened, his stiff gaze traveling up from Ivan’s chest to his face. Three suddenly looked around to find Eleven, Twelve and the other men had disappeared.
Watching Three scramble away and melt into the crowd almost pleased Ivan enough to forget why he was standing there in the first place. He turned to Yekaterina, surprised and confused by her trembling lip, tightly wound hands and the specks of tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
He took one of her hands and wrapped his own around it. “Katya,” he said suddenly, Yekaterina flinching slightly, “would you like to dance… with me?”
Yekaterina paused, her incessant shivering ceasing at the almost shy tone in Ivan’s voice. She looked up at him, the man looking away after her eyes briefly caught his. A sweet pink colour spread from Ivan’s reddened nose (most likely from alcohol) to his cheeks. For a moment, Yekaterina could see the small boy that had been swimming in the scarf the man before her was wearing quite comfortably.
Ivan’s eyes flicked back to Yekaterina’s quickly, wondering why she was so quiet when he accidentally caught her gaze. He could feel her looking straight into him, observing him.
Quietly, she slipped her arms around Ivan’s neck, not once breaking eye contact. She smiled up at him, the tears that still lingered at the edge of her eyes squeezing out and dripping down her cheeks as her face muscles tensed.
Ivan returned her smile hesitantly, swallowing as she pressed closer to him. It wasn’t like he was focusing at that particular area, but with the two of them pushing against his chest, he couldn’t exactly ignore them.
He curled his arms around her, pointedly not looking down and making sure his limbs didn’t brush her breasts. His attempts went in vain when she held him closer. She smiled at him sweetly, coaxing him to move as the song changed.
They swayed to and fro, slowly gaining momentum that propelled them in circles around the room. People danced around them, twirling amongst themselves and Ivan could still feel the stares of the numerous men that had danced with Yekaterina, but they always turned away when he looked in their direction.
Yekaterina shifted in his arms, catching his attention. He watched with wide eyes when she stilled, stood on tip toes and pressed a kiss on the side of his jaw.
Ivan spent the rest of the night with Yekaterina attempting to get around her breasts so she could lean her head on his shoulder and being stared at by jealous (but scared) men with an interesting shade of red colouring his cheeks.
Ok... can Katyusha be shortened to Katya? Or is that something fandom just decided to do regardless of it being incorrect? halp please
Thank you to taure for pointing this out
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Title: Too Alike
Pairing: Arthur/Angelique (England/Seychelles)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
Arthur leisurely strolled along the beach, Angelique enthusiastically chasing waves a little ways ahead of him. The setting sun cast an orangey glow across the sky, the sea reflecting it back within its ripples.
Angelique laughed as she lifted her dress and let the sea tickle her bare feet, her shoes safely on the dry sand closer to the ttrees. The feeling of water churning up the sand and leaving it on her toes made her smile. She closed her eyes, head tilted upwards while she focused on the touch of the ocean, the smell of the sea breeze and the warmth of the disappearing sun. She opened her eyes slowly, appreciating the golden lines the sun painted on the clouds.
Arthur stopped by Angelique’s shoes, his eyes following the footprints leading from the discarded footwear to the ocean where the woman stood. Her hair glowed from the last remaining rays of sunlight, the breeze whippings the strands about, causing an almost ‘halo’ effect.
He toed off his own shoes, taking off his sand filled socks as well. He rolled up his trousers, wriggling his toes in the sand as he did so.
Quietly he tiptoed behind Angelique, the sand doing well to mute his steps. Despite his attempt at being sneaky, Angelique turned around and smirked at him, “There’s a rowdy English tourist on this beach.”
Arthur held up his hands and frowned, “I was trying to be romantic. Sorry I’m not French."
Angelique rolled her eyes, grabbing Arthur’s arms and wrapping them around herself from the back as she turned back to the sunset.
“The sunset is romantic enough without you trying and failing.”
Arthur harrumphed. “I resent that,” he said and whisked Angelique around, startling her. One of his hands went to her hips and the other intertwined itself with one of hers. He brought her closer, his head tilting down to touch her nose, “I can be romantic.”
Angelique glared at him slightly, not happy when he tried moving around with her. Arthur didn’t seem happy that his partner wasn’t complying and spun her quickly.
After five rotations, both equally dizzy, they stared at each other, heads against each other in an attempt to make the world stop turning.
“That was stupid,” said Angelique bluntly.
“You weren’t co-operating.”
“Just shut up, you’re giving me a headache, Arthur.”
Arthur breathed deeply and tried again, coaxing Angelique to move with him. It started with steps from side to side and progressed into small circles until Arthur was finally twirling Angelique with his hand.
“I’m glad I met you,” said Arthur suddenly, spinning Angelique into a near embrace, “even if you can be a horrid bitch.”
“And you can be a stubborn mole,” replied Angelique, hands going up to Arthur’s shoulders, “but I’m glad I met you too.”
To the other tourists ambling along the beach, they thought it strange to see a man and a woman, both looking at each other guardedly but holding each other close.
To Arthur and Angelique, it didn’t seem that odd.
I can’t write Seychelles… in fact, I can’t write Arthur. At least for Seychelles I have an excuse, she doesn’t have any info besides being a tsundere… I think. Why am I even doing this anymore? lol
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Title: Voulez Vous
Pairing: Berwald/Tino (Sweden/Finland)
Summary: Based on a specific line from "That's How You Know" from Enchanted as performed by Amy Adams.
Well does he take you out dancing just so he can hold you close?
Berwald looked at Tino across the table from over the top of his glasses. The Finn was eating slowly, seemingly paying absolutely no attention to Berwald.
The atmosphere had been tense since they had entered the restaurant. Relations were stable but there was still something in the backs of their heads, nipping insistently at their minds.
Berwald cleared his throat, trying not to put his elbow on the table to rest his head on his hand. He picked at his food, moving it around his plate without eating it. It wasn’t that his meal wasn’t appetetising, he just wasn’t really in the mood to, well, eat. There was a strange cold and heavy weight in the pit of his stomach and he couldn’t come up with a suitable enough reason as to why it was there.
The clatter of cutlery on plates and the loud chatter of the other patrons in the restaurant made it almost impossible to hold a decent conversation, and even if they all dropped dead, Berwald still wouldn’t know what to say.
It didn’t help that a song by ABBA (Voulez Vous, if Berwald wasn’t mistaken and there was no way he could be, especially because he swore he could hear Francis cackling somewhere in the distance) started pumping through the speakers littering the vicinity. People quickly finished their meals and filled the small dance floor in front of the restaurant’s bar and any place between the tables. They were are laughing, smiling, enjoying themselves, doing things that Berwald wasn’t.
“Berwald?”
Berwald shook his head subtly, not realising he had been staring a rather adorable couple nearly falling over themselves with laughter. “Hn?” he asked Tino, eyes wider than normal.
Tino stared at Berwald for a moment, He noted that the Swede didn’t look anywhere near as intimidating as he usually did. Chuckling in his head, he tried to brush any thoughts that went along the lines of ‘it’s probably because there’s an ABBA song on’.
“Do you want to dance, Berwald?”
Dancing wasn’t really Berwald’s thing. Of course he could get down and boogie when he really wanted to, but he wasn’t really sure he wanted to right now.
But while having an internal debate with himself (he really did love arguing) Tino had already started pulling him out of his chair. By this time, the song had changed to I Have A Dream (again, Berwald could confirm this) and everyone’s pace had become considerably slower.
Gulping (Tino watched in fascination as his Adam’s Apple bobbed), Berwald stood stock still as Tino placed his own hands as low as they could go on the shorter Finn, which was really only about the shoulder blades.
Tino pouted -Berwald thinking to himself it was most unfair that such a feisty man could make that kind of face- and paused, seemingly trying to think of a solution to the ever present issue of height. Berwald watched from behind his glasses as Tino toed one of his black shoes, and Berwald thought it adorable his feet were more than half the size of the Finn’s.
Tino looked up at him and suddenly Berwald got the idea. He nodded and planted his feet firmly on the ground as Tino stepped onto his shoes carefully. With the added aid of Berwald’s feet, Tino was able to tickle his partner’s nose with his hair.
After a moment of somewhat awkward standing-there-doing-nothing-but-trying-to-breathe-ness, Berwald attempted moving. He lifted his feet with ease, despite the added weight of Tino. His hands were now grasping Tino’s hips tightly, the man too afraid his partner would slip to relax. Tino’s own hands went around to grab onto Berwald’s shirt, just beneath his shoulder blades.
Despite now being able to move, the atmosphere was still a little tense, a little awkward and a little too uncomfortable for Berwald. He was somewhat surprised though when Tino looked up at him suddenly. For a moment, he saw something almost sly, almost evil flicker in those eyes before Tino wrapped his arms tightly around him. Berwald flushed as his partner buried his face in his shirt, struggling to swallow at the firm command of “Start dancing.”
Berwald started by awkwardly swaying from side to side to the beat of the song, trying hard to hold Tino gently with the fear of letting his nerves snap the man’s hips in half in the back of his head. Soon enough though, Berwald relaxed, lifting his feet each time and slowly spinning around in a large oval around the room between the tables and chairs.
Tino squeezed Berwald a little harder and the taller man could hear his partner murmuring along each time the song came to its ‘I do’s’. For days after, Berwald would remember the feel of Tino’s lips through his shirt, always with a tinge of pink on his face.
I couldn’t decide between Tino or Timo for obvious reasons. Tino for Hetalia ‘canon’ or Timo for common use of fans… I still can’t decide… OWEQIHVOIWHVB
MY GOODNESS PLEASE WORK