APH: Put On Your Masquerade (1/?)
Title: Put On Your Masquerade (1/?)
Author: grosse_averse
Characters: ...a lot D: - for now, England, Canada, America, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Prussia, Germany, Germania
Rating: Probably PG-13, for some make outs
Summary: The All Hallow's Eve dance is a great way to meet up, break up, make out. Based on a prompt from 52_flavours, and in the Le Lys & La Rose universe.
Notes: Ahaha, just when you thought it couldn't get more cliched - a wild "high school dance cliche" appears! (Use Leer. Do it.)
Prompt:"For one crowded hour you were the only one in the room"
Matthew walked into Le Lys & La Rose to find his brother and his father in a heated argument. He tried edging around them but it was just too priceless to hear his older brother getting chewed out. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the other way around.
"Dad." Alfred declared with utter seriousness. "Dad, if you do this, I swear I'll disown you."
Arthur's massive eyebrows were dangerously low on his face. "You'll disown me." he repeated blandly. "Might I remind you who paid for your X-Box?"
Alfred's face paled. "Still though!" he whined.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked. His brother turned to face him.
"Dad's gone and volunteered him and Papa as chaperones for the school dance!" Alfred exclaimed, and Matthew felt all the colour drain from his face.
"Oh, er, Dad, no." he said pleadingly. "It - that's lame."
"The headmaster phoned me and asked me specifically." Arthur pointed out with a stern look. "Seems they run short on chaperones every year. The teachers always make a break for their cars."
The brothers exchanged worried glances. Everyone at school had been talking about the All Hallow's Eve dance - about the costumes, the decorated gymnasium, about all the stupid stuff Antonio and Gilbert did, about the alcohol that almost always managed to get passed around to at least a fourth of the student population, and about how the teachers never did anything about it.
If their dad was there, they thought, they would never be able to show their faces in school again. They would be the kids whose parent effectively ruined the All Hallow's Eve dance.
"Really, Dad, it's fine." Matthew insisted. "They manage every year, they always find teacher chaperones, you and Papa can have a night out while we're away..."
"Matthew." Arthur was looking him over sternly. "As much as I trust you and Alfred with my life, it's the other students at that school I don't trust."
Which to Matthew basically meant, I know the sorts of things Gilbert does and if you even think of doing any of that I will string you up outside.
"You always say that." Alfred complained. Matthew frowned.
"You'd better not dress up." he added. Arthur chuckled.
"Why not?" their father asked. "I could find those leather pants I used to wear when I was a kid, spike my hair up..."
"Ew, don't!" the boys cried out, clamping their hands over their ears and rushing towards the stairs. Arthur was left to chuckled to himself behind the bar.
Kids these days...
--
Katya examined herself seriously in the mirror, tilting her chin left, and right, plumping up her hair, wiping worriedly at a patch of acne that had decided to show itself on her chin.
"Sister?" Katya jumped as Ivan appeared behind her, eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"
"Ah - nothing!" Katya laughed weakly. "Nothing at all! How was your day at school today, Vanya?"
Ivan narrowed his eyes. "Are you wearing lipstick?" he asked. "You never wear lipstick."
Under her little brother's scrutinizing stare, Katya edged away from him and moved quickly into her bedroom.
"Well!" she laughed. "I've got lots of homework to do! If Nataliya wants to eat, give her some carrot sticks, okay?"
"Are you avoiding me?" Ivan demanded following his sister. "I promise, if you're dating someone I won't be mad! I just want to know who it is so I can talk to them..."
Katya knew what her brother's idea of talking was and she gave another nervous laugh.
"Don't be silly!" she called. "Well, homework time!"
"Katya." Ivan's voice was dangerously low as she closed her bedroom door quickly. "Katya, I'm only looking out for you! Family has to stick together!" a pause. "I won't actually hurt him!"
Katya winced and pulled out her last resort. "Natasha!" she called through the door. "Brother wants to get married!"
She could practically see Ivan's horrified face as the sound of little feet pattered down the hallway.
"Traitor." he hissed pleadingly at her bedroom door, then turned to prepare himself for the inevitable onslaught that comes with a small girl's hugs.
"Mawied!"
Katya put her hands on her hips and huffed. Served Ivan right for trying to butt in on her personal life. Besides, she reasoned as she moved into the centre of her room, it's not like she was lying to him. She wasn't dating anyone, but she did have a crush on a guy in her English class.
Still, Ivan didn't need to know that. Her brother tended to get very protective when it came to his family and friends, and though to him his methods of "reasoning" and "discussing" were normal, he made other people nervous.
Downright terrified, actually.
It's not like Ivan could help it - he was a sweet boy but he tended to get over-exuberant. Katya sighed again and absently ran a hand through her hair.
He hadn't noticed her again, even though she'd gotten dressed up, even wore those heels that made her legs look lovely, but she hated them because they chafed her ankles. Nothing. His eyes had remained studiously fixed on the blackboard.
Maybe she just wasn't his type? Maybe he liked the smart girls - maybe she could borrow some glasses from someone, wear a nice blouse tomorrow? Katya brightened and headed towards her closet.
That just might work.
--
When Ludwig walked into his living room and saw his older brother holding a sword in his hands, the first thing he thought to do was throw his Physics textbook at him. Gilbert dodged it with a yowl.
"What the fuck are you doing, Ludwig?" he demanded. Ludwig surveyed him.
"It should be my natural reaction when you are holding a weapon." he informed him. Gilbert scoffed.
"It's not even real! 'Sides, don't you trust me?"
"No." Ludwig answered. "Why do you have that?"
"It's part of my costume!" Gilbert proclaimed, giving it another wide swing - Ludwig purposely continued to hover near the door. "I'm being a Teutonic Knight! Isn't it awesome?"
"Not really."
"Shut up, Luddy." Gilbert paused. "I wonder if Mattie would want to dress up like a damsel in distress."
Ludwig did not want to hear this. "I'm going up to my room," he grunted. "If Dad asks, I put the groceries in the fridge."
"Cool." Gilbert started swinging the weapon around - Ludwig hastened to leave, shaking his head.
After a few minutes of feeling cool, Gilbert put down the sword and wandered into the kitchen to eat some leftovers and call Matthew. His boyfriend picked up, a little out of breath.
"Matt, what are you dressing up as for Halloween?" Gilbert asked. "Because I was thinking, we buy you a little dress, some stockings..."
"My father is chaperoning the dance." came Matthew's unenthusiastic reply. Gilbert choked on a piece of chicken.
"What?!" he spluttered. "Y - that's not fair! We were gonna sneak alcohol in, and then I was going to show you that spot in the back of the gymnasium equipment closet and then I was going to ravish you a bit..."
"Hn."
Gilbert turned around with a sunny smile. "Oh hey, Dad! I'm just going to take this call up to my room!" he told his father. Gilbert's father eyed him, unimpressed. His long blond hair was braided down his back, and he was dressed in his usual workout clothes - a wife beater and sweatpants with clogs.
Gilbert swore to God, he didn't know why he and Ludwig let their father outside sometimes.
"You had better be kidding." Gilbert's father told him, and Gilbert laughed loudly.
"That's me!" he joked, edging out of the kitchen. "Always making people laugh with my awesome jokes! Well, see you later!"
"I will be talking to your brother." Gilbert heard his father say before he was taking the stairs two at a time.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked over the phone as Gilbert made a break for his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
"Nothing." Gilbert assured him. "Is there any way you could talk your dad out of chaperoning?"
Matthew sighed. "Tried to." he lamented. "For some reason he thinks if he doesn't go something's going to happen."
Gilbert groaned. "Well, we'll have to distract him." he declared. "I mean, there's tons of people at our school, your dad can't be watching you every minute, right?"
"I guess." Matthew agreed reluctantly. "But...uh, what are you dressing up as for the dance?"
"A Teutonic Knight." came Gilbert's proud reply. There was a sound over the line that sounded like a snort.
"Are you laughing?" the pale haired boy demanded, dropping himself down onto the bed.
Matthew choked out through a giggle, "No, no...i-it suits you Gil, it really does!"
Gilbert couldn't help a fond smile spreading over his face. "All right, so what are you being?" he asked.
"Mm, I haven't decided yet," Matthew answered. "I think I have my vampire costume from a few years ago..."
"Vampire?" Gilbert tried to picture a sexy Matthew hovering over someone's neck, but found the image too bewildering. "Okay, I like that! I approve!"
"Thanks." came Matthew's dry reply. "Oh, hey, I gotta go help out downstairs, but I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. See you later Liebling."
There was another giggle. "Yeah, Gil, bye!"
Gilbert hung up the phone and tossed it carelessly onto his dresser. The rest of his costume had been thrown over his desk chair, cheap tunic already wrinkled.
Then his father poked his head in the door. "I thought you should know," the impassive blond stated, "I volunteered to chaperone your school dance."
There was a beat. Then:
"What?!" Gilbert yelped. "Dad, whoa, no, that is so not cool!"
His father shrugged. "I figure, instead of getting a phone call about you the day after, I should just be there to stop anything from happening." Gilbert flinched at his father's stern look. "And nothing will happen, am I correct?"
"No." Gilbert grumbled, crossing his arms defensively.
His father appraised him, before saying, "Dinner's in an hour," and withdrawing.
Gilbert frowned. This was going to take some planning.
--
to be continued
--
Note: I've been having some real life issues lately, so my "serious business" stuff I'm supposed to be working on hasn't...really been worked on. However, this stuff seems to come easily. I'm not really sure why.
Author: grosse_averse
Characters: ...a lot D: - for now, England, Canada, America, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Prussia, Germany, Germania
Rating: Probably PG-13, for some make outs
Summary: The All Hallow's Eve dance is a great way to meet up, break up, make out. Based on a prompt from 52_flavours, and in the Le Lys & La Rose universe.
Notes: Ahaha, just when you thought it couldn't get more cliched - a wild "high school dance cliche" appears! (Use Leer. Do it.)
Prompt:"For one crowded hour you were the only one in the room"
Matthew walked into Le Lys & La Rose to find his brother and his father in a heated argument. He tried edging around them but it was just too priceless to hear his older brother getting chewed out. Unfortunately, it seemed to be the other way around.
"Dad." Alfred declared with utter seriousness. "Dad, if you do this, I swear I'll disown you."
Arthur's massive eyebrows were dangerously low on his face. "You'll disown me." he repeated blandly. "Might I remind you who paid for your X-Box?"
Alfred's face paled. "Still though!" he whined.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked. His brother turned to face him.
"Dad's gone and volunteered him and Papa as chaperones for the school dance!" Alfred exclaimed, and Matthew felt all the colour drain from his face.
"Oh, er, Dad, no." he said pleadingly. "It - that's lame."
"The headmaster phoned me and asked me specifically." Arthur pointed out with a stern look. "Seems they run short on chaperones every year. The teachers always make a break for their cars."
The brothers exchanged worried glances. Everyone at school had been talking about the All Hallow's Eve dance - about the costumes, the decorated gymnasium, about all the stupid stuff Antonio and Gilbert did, about the alcohol that almost always managed to get passed around to at least a fourth of the student population, and about how the teachers never did anything about it.
If their dad was there, they thought, they would never be able to show their faces in school again. They would be the kids whose parent effectively ruined the All Hallow's Eve dance.
"Really, Dad, it's fine." Matthew insisted. "They manage every year, they always find teacher chaperones, you and Papa can have a night out while we're away..."
"Matthew." Arthur was looking him over sternly. "As much as I trust you and Alfred with my life, it's the other students at that school I don't trust."
Which to Matthew basically meant, I know the sorts of things Gilbert does and if you even think of doing any of that I will string you up outside.
"You always say that." Alfred complained. Matthew frowned.
"You'd better not dress up." he added. Arthur chuckled.
"Why not?" their father asked. "I could find those leather pants I used to wear when I was a kid, spike my hair up..."
"Ew, don't!" the boys cried out, clamping their hands over their ears and rushing towards the stairs. Arthur was left to chuckled to himself behind the bar.
Kids these days...
--
Katya examined herself seriously in the mirror, tilting her chin left, and right, plumping up her hair, wiping worriedly at a patch of acne that had decided to show itself on her chin.
"Sister?" Katya jumped as Ivan appeared behind her, eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"
"Ah - nothing!" Katya laughed weakly. "Nothing at all! How was your day at school today, Vanya?"
Ivan narrowed his eyes. "Are you wearing lipstick?" he asked. "You never wear lipstick."
Under her little brother's scrutinizing stare, Katya edged away from him and moved quickly into her bedroom.
"Well!" she laughed. "I've got lots of homework to do! If Nataliya wants to eat, give her some carrot sticks, okay?"
"Are you avoiding me?" Ivan demanded following his sister. "I promise, if you're dating someone I won't be mad! I just want to know who it is so I can talk to them..."
Katya knew what her brother's idea of talking was and she gave another nervous laugh.
"Don't be silly!" she called. "Well, homework time!"
"Katya." Ivan's voice was dangerously low as she closed her bedroom door quickly. "Katya, I'm only looking out for you! Family has to stick together!" a pause. "I won't actually hurt him!"
Katya winced and pulled out her last resort. "Natasha!" she called through the door. "Brother wants to get married!"
She could practically see Ivan's horrified face as the sound of little feet pattered down the hallway.
"Traitor." he hissed pleadingly at her bedroom door, then turned to prepare himself for the inevitable onslaught that comes with a small girl's hugs.
"Mawied!"
Katya put her hands on her hips and huffed. Served Ivan right for trying to butt in on her personal life. Besides, she reasoned as she moved into the centre of her room, it's not like she was lying to him. She wasn't dating anyone, but she did have a crush on a guy in her English class.
Still, Ivan didn't need to know that. Her brother tended to get very protective when it came to his family and friends, and though to him his methods of "reasoning" and "discussing" were normal, he made other people nervous.
Downright terrified, actually.
It's not like Ivan could help it - he was a sweet boy but he tended to get over-exuberant. Katya sighed again and absently ran a hand through her hair.
He hadn't noticed her again, even though she'd gotten dressed up, even wore those heels that made her legs look lovely, but she hated them because they chafed her ankles. Nothing. His eyes had remained studiously fixed on the blackboard.
Maybe she just wasn't his type? Maybe he liked the smart girls - maybe she could borrow some glasses from someone, wear a nice blouse tomorrow? Katya brightened and headed towards her closet.
That just might work.
--
When Ludwig walked into his living room and saw his older brother holding a sword in his hands, the first thing he thought to do was throw his Physics textbook at him. Gilbert dodged it with a yowl.
"What the fuck are you doing, Ludwig?" he demanded. Ludwig surveyed him.
"It should be my natural reaction when you are holding a weapon." he informed him. Gilbert scoffed.
"It's not even real! 'Sides, don't you trust me?"
"No." Ludwig answered. "Why do you have that?"
"It's part of my costume!" Gilbert proclaimed, giving it another wide swing - Ludwig purposely continued to hover near the door. "I'm being a Teutonic Knight! Isn't it awesome?"
"Not really."
"Shut up, Luddy." Gilbert paused. "I wonder if Mattie would want to dress up like a damsel in distress."
Ludwig did not want to hear this. "I'm going up to my room," he grunted. "If Dad asks, I put the groceries in the fridge."
"Cool." Gilbert started swinging the weapon around - Ludwig hastened to leave, shaking his head.
After a few minutes of feeling cool, Gilbert put down the sword and wandered into the kitchen to eat some leftovers and call Matthew. His boyfriend picked up, a little out of breath.
"Matt, what are you dressing up as for Halloween?" Gilbert asked. "Because I was thinking, we buy you a little dress, some stockings..."
"My father is chaperoning the dance." came Matthew's unenthusiastic reply. Gilbert choked on a piece of chicken.
"What?!" he spluttered. "Y - that's not fair! We were gonna sneak alcohol in, and then I was going to show you that spot in the back of the gymnasium equipment closet and then I was going to ravish you a bit..."
"Hn."
Gilbert turned around with a sunny smile. "Oh hey, Dad! I'm just going to take this call up to my room!" he told his father. Gilbert's father eyed him, unimpressed. His long blond hair was braided down his back, and he was dressed in his usual workout clothes - a wife beater and sweatpants with clogs.
Gilbert swore to God, he didn't know why he and Ludwig let their father outside sometimes.
"You had better be kidding." Gilbert's father told him, and Gilbert laughed loudly.
"That's me!" he joked, edging out of the kitchen. "Always making people laugh with my awesome jokes! Well, see you later!"
"I will be talking to your brother." Gilbert heard his father say before he was taking the stairs two at a time.
"What's going on?" Matthew asked over the phone as Gilbert made a break for his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.
"Nothing." Gilbert assured him. "Is there any way you could talk your dad out of chaperoning?"
Matthew sighed. "Tried to." he lamented. "For some reason he thinks if he doesn't go something's going to happen."
Gilbert groaned. "Well, we'll have to distract him." he declared. "I mean, there's tons of people at our school, your dad can't be watching you every minute, right?"
"I guess." Matthew agreed reluctantly. "But...uh, what are you dressing up as for the dance?"
"A Teutonic Knight." came Gilbert's proud reply. There was a sound over the line that sounded like a snort.
"Are you laughing?" the pale haired boy demanded, dropping himself down onto the bed.
Matthew choked out through a giggle, "No, no...i-it suits you Gil, it really does!"
Gilbert couldn't help a fond smile spreading over his face. "All right, so what are you being?" he asked.
"Mm, I haven't decided yet," Matthew answered. "I think I have my vampire costume from a few years ago..."
"Vampire?" Gilbert tried to picture a sexy Matthew hovering over someone's neck, but found the image too bewildering. "Okay, I like that! I approve!"
"Thanks." came Matthew's dry reply. "Oh, hey, I gotta go help out downstairs, but I'll talk to you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. See you later Liebling."
There was another giggle. "Yeah, Gil, bye!"
Gilbert hung up the phone and tossed it carelessly onto his dresser. The rest of his costume had been thrown over his desk chair, cheap tunic already wrinkled.
Then his father poked his head in the door. "I thought you should know," the impassive blond stated, "I volunteered to chaperone your school dance."
There was a beat. Then:
"What?!" Gilbert yelped. "Dad, whoa, no, that is so not cool!"
His father shrugged. "I figure, instead of getting a phone call about you the day after, I should just be there to stop anything from happening." Gilbert flinched at his father's stern look. "And nothing will happen, am I correct?"
"No." Gilbert grumbled, crossing his arms defensively.
His father appraised him, before saying, "Dinner's in an hour," and withdrawing.
Gilbert frowned. This was going to take some planning.
--
to be continued
--
Note: I've been having some real life issues lately, so my "serious business" stuff I'm supposed to be working on hasn't...really been worked on. However, this stuff seems to come easily. I'm not really sure why.