House of Jones - M - USUK - Chapter 2: Interview
Title: House of Jones/Chapter 2: Interview
Category: Axis Powers Hetalia
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Drama
Character/Pairing: USUK, others to be decided
Word Count: 2,547
Warnings: Cross-dressing, theme, mistakes
A/N: At the bottom. :)
Summary: Maid!AU Arthur is a high end maid looking for a new patron. What he finds instead is an obnoxious and infuriatingly handsome idiot who is hot one minute and cold the next. Arthur doesn't care until he begins to fall for him. What's a maid to do?
Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
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Arthur wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into the room. Interviews before had usually been conducted in an entirely different part of the place, however as the places themselves seemed to change from time to time it made sense that so would the rooms. He walked in calmly and assuredly putting away the card he had used to enter the room. He found that Alfred was already there. He was sitting languidly in a chair one foot resting on his thigh and a book in his lap. When Arthur walked in he looked up pushing his glasses up also and grinned at him. Arthur repressed the flush he felt coming up. No need to be ridiculous after all. He merely gave a small nod in return and walked over to his chair that was a couple of feet away from Alfred's.
"Hey I was beginning to think you weren't going to come!" He put his book on the floor and Arthur found that the letters were in Chinese.
"Yes well I wasn't sure myself." Arthur sat with perfect posture his right leg over the other, the picture of elegance. "You read Chinese?" He looked at Alfred with a surprised expression. He watched as his cheeks filled lightly with pink, not nearly the cripplingly embarrassing shade that Arthur's would turn when embarrassed but enough to take note.
"Well I'm learning it currently, but I know enough to get an idea as to what's going on." He laughed lightly at himself and Arthur found that this was very different from his previous patrons. All of them before had seemed much more interested in probing Arthur about what he could do and what he wouldn't do some adding in salary as well. Always just laying everything flat on the table which had been fine for Arthur since that was what he liked to do, but Alfred was actually talking to him. Granted Francis had talked to him even if Arthur wished that he had stuck to procedure instead, but it was different. He found that he didn't hate it.
"That's rather interesting." His tone was slightly surprised.
"What do I look stupid to you?" The question may have seemed irritated from someone else, but from Alfred it flowed in an amused and gentle voice. Arthur assumed Alfred was not the type to be insulted easily.
"No, not exactly. It's just from what I've seen most prefer to have interpreters for foreign languages." Alfred picked up and pocketed the book before he replied.
"Yeah well I'm not most people." He shrugged as if that explained everything.
"I can see that." His tone was just a bit teasing and Alfred smiled at this. Arthur found that he was beginning to distinguish between them. He seemed to have different smiles for just about everything, Arthur found it fascinating, probably because he rarely smiled himself.
"Hmm so what kinds of things do you like Arthur?" Alfred looked somewhat serious now, but still smiling as if they were long time friends.
"Well I like books, culture, intelligent conversations, things like that." Arthur found his own answer to be a satisfying one. Alfred on the other hand merely looked at him as if he were an unappetizing meal.
"No seriously."
"I'm being perfectly serious." He responded slightly insulted.
"Okay if you say so." He grinned now, his former expression gone. "Do you like hamburgers?" He seemed slightly excited by this question and Arthur found it odd, but was beginning to see a pattern.
"Uhh I suppose I could be persuaded to eat a gourmet one, to be honest I haven't eaten one in a long while." Alfred's face changed to one of slight horror.
"Oh you are missing out! Hamburgers are like the best food in the world!" He was excited now and Arthur decided this was definitely the oddest conversation he had ever had in this place.
"I suppose so…" He wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"I don't mean to boast but I make a damn good one myself." Arthur was amused finding it hard to believe there was a time when he didn't mean to boast; still he was more surprised by what he said.
"You cook?"
"Yeah when I can. I mean Matt is awesome and I still can't make pancakes like him, but everyone loves my hamburgers! I've gotten tons of compliments!" Alfred seemed incredibly proud of this as if he was showing Arthur a Nobel Prize instead of just declaring he could cook meat well.
"I-I like to cook." He responded voice soft for once. He wasn't sure what made him say it; it was something he usually kept to himself because of prior incidents. Certain individuals just could not appreciate fine cooking and had banned Arthur from the kitchen. It was even humiliatingly written in his file that he was not allowed to cook. It always saddened Arthur because it was the thing he missed most about his former life. Since this was a mostly time-consuming job he didn't get the chance to cook for others often or at all really. No one let him so it was a sensitive subject for him.
"Oh yeah? That's cool like british food or something?" Alfred either didn't notice his voice change or didn't comment on it.
"Yes. I like to cook everything though. My specialty is scones." He responded as a slight smile found its way on his face, just for a moment. Alfred noticed this right away.
"You don't smile a lot do you?" It was more a statement then a question and Arthur hoped he hadn't blushed at it. He knew he wasn't the bubbly type and it had always held him back, he hoped it didn't now.
"Well I-I-y-w-ell you're awfully blunt aren't you?" Arthur tried to deflect and luckily for him it worked. Alfred's eyes widened slightly and then he scratched the back of his head.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that people say I do that a lot heh." He grinned sheepishly at him and this time Arthur knew he himself was blushing.
"T-that's alright."
"Well in light of this skill of mine I'm dying of curiosity over here. How did you get into this I don't mean to insult you, but you don't seem the type?" Alfred's voice was soft again but with a commanding air.
"That is actually really simple for me to answer. I wanted the money." Arthur was aware this answer was uncommon not because of the reason itself, but because it was crass said in this way. However for some reason he didn't want to lie to Alfred. "At nineteen I asked myself what I wanted and what I had and this sort of just stumbled into my lap. I haven't looked back." He flattened out his skirt in a nervous gesture wondering how Alfred would take his answer. He hoped he would get points for honesty at least. Alfred gave no indication as to what he thought of it one way or another.
"But do you enjoy it?"
"Umm well that is subjective now isn't it?" Arthur fumbled a bit with his words not quite sure what Alfred had meant by the question. "I-I find that I like taking care of people. I was never good at it before, but I like it. I also like keeping things organized and in order. To be honest part of it is that it's just such an easy job for me personally. I don't have any stress at the moment and my bank account is more than adequate for someone like me. I like luxury, it's really a simple choice."
Alfred was watching him now. It felt a bit strange as if he was sizing him up.
"Well while we are on this, is there anything you'd like to know about the terms?" Arthur figured that this was a good a time as any to get this part over with. His patron's before had delved right into the reasons why Arthur never performed any acts as it was unusual not to in his line of work. Plus he wouldn't admit it, but he didn't like Alfred staring at him so much without saying anything, it made him more nervous than he already was.
"Hmm. I don't think so I just like chatting with you Arthur. I can look at your file later for everything else."
"Okay." was his only response. He wasn't quite sure what to say and he found himself to be a bundle of nerves as Alfred continued to stare at him. He was about to say something again when Alfred stood up and walked towards him. It startled him a bit even if he didn't show it.
"Well, there is something that I'm curious about." Alfred was now right in front of him a devious grin on his face. Arthur felt himself flush at the sight. Before he could move away however Alfred had laid both hands on the arm rests boxing Arthur in. He began to feel a bit claustrophobic. Alfred then proceeded to lean in until their faces were mere inches apart, the expression never leaving his face, causing Arthur to flush further. He could clearly see his brilliant blue eyes tint with amusement behind his spectacles. It was hard to look away, his heart hammered in his chest making Arthur aware of the position he was in. So he was expecting that. Before he could think on it any further he flailed his arms in a completely undignified way pushing him away with his hands. He had shut his eyes as well so his hands met with odd angles on Alfred's form. One pushing against his chest while the other pushed away his face.
"Noo!" As the shout, definitely not a squeak, left his mouth he opened his eyes finding a sight that confused him. Alfred was backing away and laughing unabashedly at him.
"Oh my god, your face!" You should see your face right now!" Confusion quickly gave way to anger.
"What the hell? You bloody git! What do you think you're doing, d-doing that sort of thing all of a sudden and-and stop laughing!" Arthur had stood up now, his hands curled into fists, his face beet red from embarrassment and anger, never a good combination. He wanted to kick him where it hurt because he was still laughing.
As Arthur moved towards him Alfred finally took heed to his counterpart. He couldn't help it though. He had the suspicion that Arthur was fun to tease all along, especially since he acted so uptight, but this, this had been beyond what he had imagined. Not only that, but Alfred had to admit that Arthur was pretty darn cute when he flailed like that. He had found Arthur attractive from the get go but now he was cute and oh how that got to him. He quickly lifted his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry, really it's just, it was too good to pass up you'll have to forgive me." and then he was grinning brilliantly at him. Arthur stopped his blush never leaving his face, even though the reason for it changed. He found that even though he wanted to storm out of there to retain some form of dignity, he couldn't. There was something about the stupid git's smile that made him stay right where he was and merely glare. If it had been anyone else it would have burned holes through them, as it was Alfred shrugged it off still high off his discovery.
"Well I've seen all I need to see, when can I see you again Arthur?"
The question was so from left field that it threw Arthur off his anger for the moment.
"What? But you haven't even seen my file yet?" he asked quizzically. Alfred only let out another smile stepping closer.
"Don't have to. I like you Arthur, you're cute." The comment was so blunt it only served to throw him further out of sorts, the brilliant red beaming away again.
"Well t-that-that's all well and-I mean-that is to say-I-"
"Heh you are so adorable." With these words Alfred grabbed Arthur from the waist and pulled him until there was only a breath of space between them. He smiled at the squeak he let out and quickly gave him a peck on the forehead before releasing him. He began walking to the door, his grin wide. "Well I have to go now I'm already late to the board meeting as it is. I'll be seeing you Arthur." At this Arthur regained his sense of self and turned to the other.
"And what makes you so bloody confident that I'll choose to go with you?" Alfred looked at him blankly as if the thought had never occurred to him. The arrogance! It made sense though; he was probably not used to the word no. No one in this world was.
"Won't you?" He asked an eyebrow quirked, which Arthur definitely did not find attractive. His pride would not let him relent. He crossed his arms over his chest before replying.
"Hmph, it's not like you're my only offer. I'm sure other patrons wouldn't choose to ridicule me as such." At this Alfred's expression darkened just a bit. Arthur was surprised he could have an expression like that and even more that for some inexplicable reason it sent a slight shiver of pleasure down his spine. Then it was gone and Alfred was smiling again.
"Well you could do that but why would you want anyone else? I don't know if you read, but I'm a hero! Who wouldn't want a hero?" He smiled one last time before exiting. Bloody idiot was what Arthur was thinking. He was not going to pick him. He was definitely not going to pick him.
Bloody hell he was going to pick him. Arthur kicked the chair. This was complete bollocks.
He made it out of the room, grumbling all the way until he reached his quarters throwing the card on the table. Arthur sat in his chair again lifting Alfred's file and slipping out his picture.
"Bloody git." he mumbled one last time before sighing heavily and taking out the last sheet labeled 'Maid Information: fill out to be read by patron only'. This was the last step. He found himself racing through it in slight annoyance muttering curses all the while.
He got to the end and his annoyance subsided replaced by embarrassment again. He flushed reading it over. 'Sexual Activity' Arthur had always found it an odd title but he had never spent much time on this section anyway, before he had usually marked kissing or pecks and moved on. He ran his eyes down the form blushing all the while as stunning blue eyes flashed in his mind with every word he read. He shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath.
Arthur hesitated for a moment and he couldn't help turning deep red as he checked the 'all' box. Then he quickly turned the paper over feeling terribly embarrassed. It's not like Arthur hadn't done a lot of things before, but he had never truly acquiesced to everything before.
Oh this was going to be interesting.
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I want to take a moment to say that if/when there is smut it will be locked for personal reasons. >//<;; However you do not have to friend me as I will have an edited version of that chapter that has most of the details(and of course anything important to the story included) made that will be public so you can read that, just the explicit version will be locked, just a precaution sorry.
Chapter 3: Household
Category: Axis Powers Hetalia
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Drama
Character/Pairing: USUK, others to be decided
Word Count: 2,547
Warnings: Cross-dressing, theme, mistakes
A/N: At the bottom. :)
Summary: Maid!AU Arthur is a high end maid looking for a new patron. What he finds instead is an obnoxious and infuriatingly handsome idiot who is hot one minute and cold the next. Arthur doesn't care until he begins to fall for him. What's a maid to do?
Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
----------
Arthur wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into the room. Interviews before had usually been conducted in an entirely different part of the place, however as the places themselves seemed to change from time to time it made sense that so would the rooms. He walked in calmly and assuredly putting away the card he had used to enter the room. He found that Alfred was already there. He was sitting languidly in a chair one foot resting on his thigh and a book in his lap. When Arthur walked in he looked up pushing his glasses up also and grinned at him. Arthur repressed the flush he felt coming up. No need to be ridiculous after all. He merely gave a small nod in return and walked over to his chair that was a couple of feet away from Alfred's.
"Hey I was beginning to think you weren't going to come!" He put his book on the floor and Arthur found that the letters were in Chinese.
"Yes well I wasn't sure myself." Arthur sat with perfect posture his right leg over the other, the picture of elegance. "You read Chinese?" He looked at Alfred with a surprised expression. He watched as his cheeks filled lightly with pink, not nearly the cripplingly embarrassing shade that Arthur's would turn when embarrassed but enough to take note.
"Well I'm learning it currently, but I know enough to get an idea as to what's going on." He laughed lightly at himself and Arthur found that this was very different from his previous patrons. All of them before had seemed much more interested in probing Arthur about what he could do and what he wouldn't do some adding in salary as well. Always just laying everything flat on the table which had been fine for Arthur since that was what he liked to do, but Alfred was actually talking to him. Granted Francis had talked to him even if Arthur wished that he had stuck to procedure instead, but it was different. He found that he didn't hate it.
"That's rather interesting." His tone was slightly surprised.
"What do I look stupid to you?" The question may have seemed irritated from someone else, but from Alfred it flowed in an amused and gentle voice. Arthur assumed Alfred was not the type to be insulted easily.
"No, not exactly. It's just from what I've seen most prefer to have interpreters for foreign languages." Alfred picked up and pocketed the book before he replied.
"Yeah well I'm not most people." He shrugged as if that explained everything.
"I can see that." His tone was just a bit teasing and Alfred smiled at this. Arthur found that he was beginning to distinguish between them. He seemed to have different smiles for just about everything, Arthur found it fascinating, probably because he rarely smiled himself.
"Hmm so what kinds of things do you like Arthur?" Alfred looked somewhat serious now, but still smiling as if they were long time friends.
"Well I like books, culture, intelligent conversations, things like that." Arthur found his own answer to be a satisfying one. Alfred on the other hand merely looked at him as if he were an unappetizing meal.
"No seriously."
"I'm being perfectly serious." He responded slightly insulted.
"Okay if you say so." He grinned now, his former expression gone. "Do you like hamburgers?" He seemed slightly excited by this question and Arthur found it odd, but was beginning to see a pattern.
"Uhh I suppose I could be persuaded to eat a gourmet one, to be honest I haven't eaten one in a long while." Alfred's face changed to one of slight horror.
"Oh you are missing out! Hamburgers are like the best food in the world!" He was excited now and Arthur decided this was definitely the oddest conversation he had ever had in this place.
"I suppose so…" He wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"I don't mean to boast but I make a damn good one myself." Arthur was amused finding it hard to believe there was a time when he didn't mean to boast; still he was more surprised by what he said.
"You cook?"
"Yeah when I can. I mean Matt is awesome and I still can't make pancakes like him, but everyone loves my hamburgers! I've gotten tons of compliments!" Alfred seemed incredibly proud of this as if he was showing Arthur a Nobel Prize instead of just declaring he could cook meat well.
"I-I like to cook." He responded voice soft for once. He wasn't sure what made him say it; it was something he usually kept to himself because of prior incidents. Certain individuals just could not appreciate fine cooking and had banned Arthur from the kitchen. It was even humiliatingly written in his file that he was not allowed to cook. It always saddened Arthur because it was the thing he missed most about his former life. Since this was a mostly time-consuming job he didn't get the chance to cook for others often or at all really. No one let him so it was a sensitive subject for him.
"Oh yeah? That's cool like british food or something?" Alfred either didn't notice his voice change or didn't comment on it.
"Yes. I like to cook everything though. My specialty is scones." He responded as a slight smile found its way on his face, just for a moment. Alfred noticed this right away.
"You don't smile a lot do you?" It was more a statement then a question and Arthur hoped he hadn't blushed at it. He knew he wasn't the bubbly type and it had always held him back, he hoped it didn't now.
"Well I-I-y-w-ell you're awfully blunt aren't you?" Arthur tried to deflect and luckily for him it worked. Alfred's eyes widened slightly and then he scratched the back of his head.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that people say I do that a lot heh." He grinned sheepishly at him and this time Arthur knew he himself was blushing.
"T-that's alright."
"Well in light of this skill of mine I'm dying of curiosity over here. How did you get into this I don't mean to insult you, but you don't seem the type?" Alfred's voice was soft again but with a commanding air.
"That is actually really simple for me to answer. I wanted the money." Arthur was aware this answer was uncommon not because of the reason itself, but because it was crass said in this way. However for some reason he didn't want to lie to Alfred. "At nineteen I asked myself what I wanted and what I had and this sort of just stumbled into my lap. I haven't looked back." He flattened out his skirt in a nervous gesture wondering how Alfred would take his answer. He hoped he would get points for honesty at least. Alfred gave no indication as to what he thought of it one way or another.
"But do you enjoy it?"
"Umm well that is subjective now isn't it?" Arthur fumbled a bit with his words not quite sure what Alfred had meant by the question. "I-I find that I like taking care of people. I was never good at it before, but I like it. I also like keeping things organized and in order. To be honest part of it is that it's just such an easy job for me personally. I don't have any stress at the moment and my bank account is more than adequate for someone like me. I like luxury, it's really a simple choice."
Alfred was watching him now. It felt a bit strange as if he was sizing him up.
"Well while we are on this, is there anything you'd like to know about the terms?" Arthur figured that this was a good a time as any to get this part over with. His patron's before had delved right into the reasons why Arthur never performed any acts as it was unusual not to in his line of work. Plus he wouldn't admit it, but he didn't like Alfred staring at him so much without saying anything, it made him more nervous than he already was.
"Hmm. I don't think so I just like chatting with you Arthur. I can look at your file later for everything else."
"Okay." was his only response. He wasn't quite sure what to say and he found himself to be a bundle of nerves as Alfred continued to stare at him. He was about to say something again when Alfred stood up and walked towards him. It startled him a bit even if he didn't show it.
"Well, there is something that I'm curious about." Alfred was now right in front of him a devious grin on his face. Arthur felt himself flush at the sight. Before he could move away however Alfred had laid both hands on the arm rests boxing Arthur in. He began to feel a bit claustrophobic. Alfred then proceeded to lean in until their faces were mere inches apart, the expression never leaving his face, causing Arthur to flush further. He could clearly see his brilliant blue eyes tint with amusement behind his spectacles. It was hard to look away, his heart hammered in his chest making Arthur aware of the position he was in. So he was expecting that. Before he could think on it any further he flailed his arms in a completely undignified way pushing him away with his hands. He had shut his eyes as well so his hands met with odd angles on Alfred's form. One pushing against his chest while the other pushed away his face.
"Noo!" As the shout, definitely not a squeak, left his mouth he opened his eyes finding a sight that confused him. Alfred was backing away and laughing unabashedly at him.
"Oh my god, your face!" You should see your face right now!" Confusion quickly gave way to anger.
"What the hell? You bloody git! What do you think you're doing, d-doing that sort of thing all of a sudden and-and stop laughing!" Arthur had stood up now, his hands curled into fists, his face beet red from embarrassment and anger, never a good combination. He wanted to kick him where it hurt because he was still laughing.
As Arthur moved towards him Alfred finally took heed to his counterpart. He couldn't help it though. He had the suspicion that Arthur was fun to tease all along, especially since he acted so uptight, but this, this had been beyond what he had imagined. Not only that, but Alfred had to admit that Arthur was pretty darn cute when he flailed like that. He had found Arthur attractive from the get go but now he was cute and oh how that got to him. He quickly lifted his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry, really it's just, it was too good to pass up you'll have to forgive me." and then he was grinning brilliantly at him. Arthur stopped his blush never leaving his face, even though the reason for it changed. He found that even though he wanted to storm out of there to retain some form of dignity, he couldn't. There was something about the stupid git's smile that made him stay right where he was and merely glare. If it had been anyone else it would have burned holes through them, as it was Alfred shrugged it off still high off his discovery.
"Well I've seen all I need to see, when can I see you again Arthur?"
The question was so from left field that it threw Arthur off his anger for the moment.
"What? But you haven't even seen my file yet?" he asked quizzically. Alfred only let out another smile stepping closer.
"Don't have to. I like you Arthur, you're cute." The comment was so blunt it only served to throw him further out of sorts, the brilliant red beaming away again.
"Well t-that-that's all well and-I mean-that is to say-I-"
"Heh you are so adorable." With these words Alfred grabbed Arthur from the waist and pulled him until there was only a breath of space between them. He smiled at the squeak he let out and quickly gave him a peck on the forehead before releasing him. He began walking to the door, his grin wide. "Well I have to go now I'm already late to the board meeting as it is. I'll be seeing you Arthur." At this Arthur regained his sense of self and turned to the other.
"And what makes you so bloody confident that I'll choose to go with you?" Alfred looked at him blankly as if the thought had never occurred to him. The arrogance! It made sense though; he was probably not used to the word no. No one in this world was.
"Won't you?" He asked an eyebrow quirked, which Arthur definitely did not find attractive. His pride would not let him relent. He crossed his arms over his chest before replying.
"Hmph, it's not like you're my only offer. I'm sure other patrons wouldn't choose to ridicule me as such." At this Alfred's expression darkened just a bit. Arthur was surprised he could have an expression like that and even more that for some inexplicable reason it sent a slight shiver of pleasure down his spine. Then it was gone and Alfred was smiling again.
"Well you could do that but why would you want anyone else? I don't know if you read, but I'm a hero! Who wouldn't want a hero?" He smiled one last time before exiting. Bloody idiot was what Arthur was thinking. He was not going to pick him. He was definitely not going to pick him.
Bloody hell he was going to pick him. Arthur kicked the chair. This was complete bollocks.
He made it out of the room, grumbling all the way until he reached his quarters throwing the card on the table. Arthur sat in his chair again lifting Alfred's file and slipping out his picture.
"Bloody git." he mumbled one last time before sighing heavily and taking out the last sheet labeled 'Maid Information: fill out to be read by patron only'. This was the last step. He found himself racing through it in slight annoyance muttering curses all the while.
He got to the end and his annoyance subsided replaced by embarrassment again. He flushed reading it over. 'Sexual Activity' Arthur had always found it an odd title but he had never spent much time on this section anyway, before he had usually marked kissing or pecks and moved on. He ran his eyes down the form blushing all the while as stunning blue eyes flashed in his mind with every word he read. He shook his head to clear it and took a deep breath.
Arthur hesitated for a moment and he couldn't help turning deep red as he checked the 'all' box. Then he quickly turned the paper over feeling terribly embarrassed. It's not like Arthur hadn't done a lot of things before, but he had never truly acquiesced to everything before.
Oh this was going to be interesting.
----------
I want to take a moment to say that if/when there is smut it will be locked for personal reasons. >//<;; However you do not have to friend me as I will have an edited version of that chapter that has most of the details(and of course anything important to the story included) made that will be public so you can read that, just the explicit version will be locked, just a precaution sorry.
Chapter 3: Household