more cracktastic stuff: hungary/new zealand
CP04: Hungary/New Zealand: Ambiguity
Summary: The new nation's ambiguity is frustrating Elizaveta, to say the least.
Elizaveta's interest was piqued.
"G'day, mates," Jack had said at the last World Meeting from hell, pointing to an unknown nation beside him, Ludwig looking on approvingly, "This is New Zealand, my sibling. Ya know, the country neighborin' me? Yeah."
He'd said no more, and Elizaveta had noticed the new nation's androgynous features: short brownish-blond hair cut in a bob style, a long haircurl protruding from the side that bob style, and a very loose sweater. Again, she noticed that nobody made a comment about this or ask about New Zealand's gender: probably because nobody was paying attention. Or did they know already? Frowning, she wondered more about the new nation's relationship with Australia, and again wondered in frustration whether New Zealand was male or female.
New Zealand smiled slightly, and Ludwig gestured for the new nation to sit on the currently last remaining empty seat at the long table ("This is temporary," he'd said): next to Elizaveta. She bit her lip excitedly and on her other side, Roderich sighed in exasperation.
Australia's sibling slid into the seat next to her, and she turned towards him. "My name is Elizaveta Hedervary," she greeted smilingly. "Hungary, if you prefer."
"Austria," Roderich piped up, not wanting to be left out or not wanting Hungary to do anything drastic. "Roderich Edelstein. I do request that you do not call me Roddy, Dick, or Australia," he added hotly.
"Don't mind him," Elizaveta told the new nation soothingly, noticing the shocked, scared expression. "Roderich can be a little…stiff sometimes." She smiled sweetly, taking in New Zealand's terribly gender-neutral features: the face was not distinctly female, like Natalia's, nor was it incredibly manly like Ludwig's. It was more of something like Norway's, but even somebody with half a brain could tell Norway was male. And despite the female, er, characteristics, one could tell her friend Feliks' masculinity by his obvious booblessness. This, on the other hand, was another case altogether. She sighed inwardly, wanting to know the details of New Zealand and Australia's relationship (Siblings only? Pshaw! If he was a guy it would be sooooo droolworthy…), but it would be so rude to ask.
"New Zealand," said androgynous nation replied. God, even the voice was androgynous! "You could call me Sam."
"Sam…" she prodded.
"Just Sam. Sam Kirkland, if you prefer."
Hungary frowned as Roderich's attention turned back to his classical music playlist on the iPod. How could this new nation be so totally gender-neutral, body, voice, name, and all that one couldn't tell at all? She looked around her. Everybody looked too immersed in their own business to care.
"Elizaveta," Ludwig called from the front of the room. "Please come up here and discuss your country's financial situation."
Relieved to get a break from the perplexing androgyny of the Oceanic country, Elizaveta stood up.
--
"No, Gilbert, I told you. I'm busy tonight." Elizaveta walked out of the meeting room, a pleading Gilbert not too far behind.
"But El'zaaaaaa. You're always busy - Ow!" Gilbert's cheek throbbed as a frying pan hit him in the cheek. "Veta!"
Elizaveta sighed. "Gilbert, I'm sorry, Roderich and I are going somewhere tonight. Maybe tomorrow." She put her hands on her hips, showing her decision was final.
"Agh." Gilbert made a defeated noise. "I really don't see what you see in him, El'za."
"He's your cousin. You should know him well enough." Elizaveta smiled lightly. "Maybe tomorrow~" she sang out, walking towards the restrooms. Gilbert groaned and muttered something about needing maple syrup before he walked away.
Sure, Gilbert was nice enough. Loud, rude, and obnoxious, yes, but nice. But still he could be pretty annoying, especially when it came to needing a date. And Elizaveta was tired.
All tiredness disappeared, however, disappeared when she saw Sam walking towards the restroom area, and she perked up, wondering if she would finally find out the new country's gender. She darted behind a column and watched.
Fail. Sam took out his (her) phone (It was black! Everybody had a black phone nowadays!) and started talking into it. "Jack, hi. Yeah. Arthur told me as well. His house? All right."
Ugh. So it was about some stupid Kirkland Family British Empire reunion. Great. Elizaveta wanted to smash something, but this was an expensive building. She'd have to find Gilbert's face later.
--
"Where are you going?" Roderich looked at her with a neutral expression, hanging up his coat.
"To Vash and Lily's," she replied, readying her camera. "I promised to help Lily out with something." Lie. Oh, Kiku would be so proud of her.
Roderich shrugged and turned up some classical music station on the radio. "Don't come back too late."
"I won't," she promised, already halfway out the door.
--
"Arthur's house. Right." Elizaveta followed the usual route: hadn't she stalked Arthur and Francis more than once down this road? She arrived at the brightly lit Victorian household, and peeked in the window. She was going to find out Sam's gender if it killed her.
Sam was excitedly talking to Alfred - wait, she meant his brother…what was his name? Matthew, right. And Sam was wearing another stupid baggy sweater and loose jeans: only this time it was khaki. Antonio wore khaki, Lovino sometimes wore khaki, but then again so did Bella and Katyusha on occasion. Dangit.
Then Sam moved to the refreshment table and got a punch and sat in a corner until Jack swung by and the siblings started talking. Still nothing. Nothing could be drawn from the body language at all.
Sam gave no hints to their gender for the next two hours, and Elizaveta was frustrated. She wanted to scream, she wanted to punch something, she wanted to look for Gilbert or Matthias and maul them, she-
"Elizaveta? Mate?"
She froze up as the familiar accent reached her ears. "Jack!" she greeted stiffly, slowly turning around. "Good evening?"
"What're you doing here?" Jack asked curiously, standing in the gigantic doorway. She must have made a strange sight, peeking into the window like some outsider.
"E-er, S-Sam, he-" she began, but Jack cut her off.
"My sister wanted you here, actually," he said thoughtfully.
"Sister?" Elizaveta asked sharply. Was it…
"Yeah. Wy. She's cute, isn't she?" he boasted proudly, reminding Elizaveta just the tiniest bit of Antonio. "Wanted her Eliza-nee-san at the party. Told her you couldn't come. And here you are!" he exclaimed. "She's going to be overjoyed, I tell ya."
"What about Sam?" she asked warily, taking a chance. "Isn't she…"
"Sam's my brother." Jack shrugged and looked at her strangely. "I thought it was obvious." He laughed. "Boy, Sammy's never going to live this down. Somebody actually thought he was a chick!" Jack sobered up, touched the Band-Aid on his nose, and turned to her. "He's there inside somewhere. If you still want to come…"
"No. Thank. You." Elizaveta was seething. "Tell them hi for me." She couldn't believe it! It was that easy? Maybe she just adjusted her mindset so that everybody was more feminine. In fact, she vaguely remembered Kiku muttering something about her "thinking everybody was a bishounen," whatever the hell that meant. She groaned inwardly. Where was Gilbert? Her frying pan needed an exercise.
"All right, mate," Jack replied, walking back inside. "If you say so. Sammy says hi, too, by the way. He's been asking about you a lot lately. Pretty disappointed when I told him you were taken." With that, Jack smiled at her and closed the door behind him, leaving Elizaveta alone in the night with a shocked expression on her face; thinking.
Summary: The new nation's ambiguity is frustrating Elizaveta, to say the least.
Elizaveta's interest was piqued.
"G'day, mates," Jack had said at the last World Meeting from hell, pointing to an unknown nation beside him, Ludwig looking on approvingly, "This is New Zealand, my sibling. Ya know, the country neighborin' me? Yeah."
He'd said no more, and Elizaveta had noticed the new nation's androgynous features: short brownish-blond hair cut in a bob style, a long haircurl protruding from the side that bob style, and a very loose sweater. Again, she noticed that nobody made a comment about this or ask about New Zealand's gender: probably because nobody was paying attention. Or did they know already? Frowning, she wondered more about the new nation's relationship with Australia, and again wondered in frustration whether New Zealand was male or female.
New Zealand smiled slightly, and Ludwig gestured for the new nation to sit on the currently last remaining empty seat at the long table ("This is temporary," he'd said): next to Elizaveta. She bit her lip excitedly and on her other side, Roderich sighed in exasperation.
Australia's sibling slid into the seat next to her, and she turned towards him. "My name is Elizaveta Hedervary," she greeted smilingly. "Hungary, if you prefer."
"Austria," Roderich piped up, not wanting to be left out or not wanting Hungary to do anything drastic. "Roderich Edelstein. I do request that you do not call me Roddy, Dick, or Australia," he added hotly.
"Don't mind him," Elizaveta told the new nation soothingly, noticing the shocked, scared expression. "Roderich can be a little…stiff sometimes." She smiled sweetly, taking in New Zealand's terribly gender-neutral features: the face was not distinctly female, like Natalia's, nor was it incredibly manly like Ludwig's. It was more of something like Norway's, but even somebody with half a brain could tell Norway was male. And despite the female, er, characteristics, one could tell her friend Feliks' masculinity by his obvious booblessness. This, on the other hand, was another case altogether. She sighed inwardly, wanting to know the details of New Zealand and Australia's relationship (Siblings only? Pshaw! If he was a guy it would be sooooo droolworthy…), but it would be so rude to ask.
"New Zealand," said androgynous nation replied. God, even the voice was androgynous! "You could call me Sam."
"Sam…" she prodded.
"Just Sam. Sam Kirkland, if you prefer."
Hungary frowned as Roderich's attention turned back to his classical music playlist on the iPod. How could this new nation be so totally gender-neutral, body, voice, name, and all that one couldn't tell at all? She looked around her. Everybody looked too immersed in their own business to care.
"Elizaveta," Ludwig called from the front of the room. "Please come up here and discuss your country's financial situation."
Relieved to get a break from the perplexing androgyny of the Oceanic country, Elizaveta stood up.
--
"No, Gilbert, I told you. I'm busy tonight." Elizaveta walked out of the meeting room, a pleading Gilbert not too far behind.
"But El'zaaaaaa. You're always busy - Ow!" Gilbert's cheek throbbed as a frying pan hit him in the cheek. "Veta!"
Elizaveta sighed. "Gilbert, I'm sorry, Roderich and I are going somewhere tonight. Maybe tomorrow." She put her hands on her hips, showing her decision was final.
"Agh." Gilbert made a defeated noise. "I really don't see what you see in him, El'za."
"He's your cousin. You should know him well enough." Elizaveta smiled lightly. "Maybe tomorrow~" she sang out, walking towards the restrooms. Gilbert groaned and muttered something about needing maple syrup before he walked away.
Sure, Gilbert was nice enough. Loud, rude, and obnoxious, yes, but nice. But still he could be pretty annoying, especially when it came to needing a date. And Elizaveta was tired.
All tiredness disappeared, however, disappeared when she saw Sam walking towards the restroom area, and she perked up, wondering if she would finally find out the new country's gender. She darted behind a column and watched.
Fail. Sam took out his (her) phone (It was black! Everybody had a black phone nowadays!) and started talking into it. "Jack, hi. Yeah. Arthur told me as well. His house? All right."
Ugh. So it was about some stupid Kirkland Family British Empire reunion. Great. Elizaveta wanted to smash something, but this was an expensive building. She'd have to find Gilbert's face later.
--
"Where are you going?" Roderich looked at her with a neutral expression, hanging up his coat.
"To Vash and Lily's," she replied, readying her camera. "I promised to help Lily out with something." Lie. Oh, Kiku would be so proud of her.
Roderich shrugged and turned up some classical music station on the radio. "Don't come back too late."
"I won't," she promised, already halfway out the door.
--
"Arthur's house. Right." Elizaveta followed the usual route: hadn't she stalked Arthur and Francis more than once down this road? She arrived at the brightly lit Victorian household, and peeked in the window. She was going to find out Sam's gender if it killed her.
Sam was excitedly talking to Alfred - wait, she meant his brother…what was his name? Matthew, right. And Sam was wearing another stupid baggy sweater and loose jeans: only this time it was khaki. Antonio wore khaki, Lovino sometimes wore khaki, but then again so did Bella and Katyusha on occasion. Dangit.
Then Sam moved to the refreshment table and got a punch and sat in a corner until Jack swung by and the siblings started talking. Still nothing. Nothing could be drawn from the body language at all.
Sam gave no hints to their gender for the next two hours, and Elizaveta was frustrated. She wanted to scream, she wanted to punch something, she wanted to look for Gilbert or Matthias and maul them, she-
"Elizaveta? Mate?"
She froze up as the familiar accent reached her ears. "Jack!" she greeted stiffly, slowly turning around. "Good evening?"
"What're you doing here?" Jack asked curiously, standing in the gigantic doorway. She must have made a strange sight, peeking into the window like some outsider.
"E-er, S-Sam, he-" she began, but Jack cut her off.
"My sister wanted you here, actually," he said thoughtfully.
"Sister?" Elizaveta asked sharply. Was it…
"Yeah. Wy. She's cute, isn't she?" he boasted proudly, reminding Elizaveta just the tiniest bit of Antonio. "Wanted her Eliza-nee-san at the party. Told her you couldn't come. And here you are!" he exclaimed. "She's going to be overjoyed, I tell ya."
"What about Sam?" she asked warily, taking a chance. "Isn't she…"
"Sam's my brother." Jack shrugged and looked at her strangely. "I thought it was obvious." He laughed. "Boy, Sammy's never going to live this down. Somebody actually thought he was a chick!" Jack sobered up, touched the Band-Aid on his nose, and turned to her. "He's there inside somewhere. If you still want to come…"
"No. Thank. You." Elizaveta was seething. "Tell them hi for me." She couldn't believe it! It was that easy? Maybe she just adjusted her mindset so that everybody was more feminine. In fact, she vaguely remembered Kiku muttering something about her "thinking everybody was a bishounen," whatever the hell that meant. She groaned inwardly. Where was Gilbert? Her frying pan needed an exercise.
"All right, mate," Jack replied, walking back inside. "If you say so. Sammy says hi, too, by the way. He's been asking about you a lot lately. Pretty disappointed when I told him you were taken." With that, Jack smiled at her and closed the door behind him, leaving Elizaveta alone in the night with a shocked expression on her face; thinking.