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Roderich Edelstein had always thought that Maria Beilschmidt would’ve been better off born as a man. With her stubborn and proud attitude, she was always either causing or fighting her way out of trouble. Most of the time, she was up against people bigger, stronger and meaner than her, but somehow, she managed to crawl out victorious. Roderich wasn’t sure if it was her enormous ego or something else that prevented her from losing, but he was glad there was something keeping her afloat.
Roderich could remember the exact moment when he’d realized that it wasn’t hate he felt for the silverette. Years had passed since that night, but he still remembered it like it was yesterday.
It was the annual formal ball for diplomats, a strictly non-violent event. Roderich had been more than a little concerned when he’d heard that Maria would be in charge of organizing the festivities this year, but looking around, he was surprised. In a good way.
The decorations of the grand hall were extravagant but tactful, something he’d never imagined Maria to be capable of. The elegant shades of dark blues and the fine golden linings of the drapes and tablecloths made a perfect contrast with the white marble floor and the many portraits decorating the walls. Everything was top notch. Even the almost ridiculously large crystal chandelier had been polished for the night, along with the hundreds of pieces of silver cutlery and wine glasses, which he suspected to be genuine Bohemian crystal. Maria had done a wonderful job, and it was time to congratulate her for it.
His eyes scanned the faces in the crowd, trying to locate familiar red irises and the tell-tale silver hair. When he couldn’t see her, he stopped a waiter serving starters from a silver platter. Polished to the top, like everything else he could see.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for tonight’s hostess. Do you know where she is?”
The waiter shook his head.
“I’m sorry sir, but I haven’t seen her since earlier today. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”
The brunet nodded and let the waiter continue his work. He himself went back to scanning the crowds. Everyone was dressed to their best. It wasn’t an unusual sight for an event like this, it was the gathering of the highest diplomats of the world, after all. No one wanted to look worse than the others.
A gasp from an elder woman next to him snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned to look at her, only to find that her mouth was hanging open in amazement as she was staring at something at the top of the staircase. Turning his violet eyes to the direction she was looking, he was met with a delightful sight. Maria had arrived, late as usual. But it wasn’t her tardiness that had the women gasping and the men forgetting to breath for a moment. It was her appearance.
If Roderich would’ve been told to guess what Maria would be wearing, he would’ve opted for the formal uniform of the Prussian military. She wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a dress. Or that’s what he’d thought. She managed to prove him wrong by showing up in a full-length, halterneck evening gown. The way the impossibly long hem seemed to float as she descended the stairs revealed the fact that the fabric was probably chiffon. The back of the dress was very low cut, giving out a perfect view from her shoulder blades to the small of her back. If it weren’t for the long black strips of chiffon that were tied up behind her neck, Roderich would’ve suspected the dress to fall from her thin frame any given moment.
When he finally managed to tear his eyes from the dress, he got a quick peek at her shoes (at least 6 inch stilettos! How the hell was she even walking with those?) before looking up at her face. She was never one much for makeup and other ‘girly’ things, but when she put some effort to it… The bright red lipstick and the dark, shadow-y eye makeup really brought out her eyes. The silvery locks of hair were done up in a loose bundle, some of them escaping and framing her face. Her eyes locked into his, and for the tiniest fractions of a moment, he could’ve sworn he saw a blush on those ivory cheeks. She’d never looked more gorgeous than at that exact moment.
She was stopped by a few of her countrymen, all congratulating her for the party and complimenting the house and the food, not forgetting her appearance either. Maria seemed annoyed by them, but gave them a smile and a few polite words anyway. It was all for the sake of diplomacy.
“She looks quite stunning, doesn’t she?”
Roderich turned towards the familiar voice of Endré Hedérvary, his best friend since forever. Being the embodiment of Hungary, the two of them had a lot of history between them, not all of it friendly. They had remained close friends despite all their conflicts. He smiled.
“I’d be lying if I said otherwise. A few hours ago, I saw her yelling some very un-ladylike profanities to a few guards. The difference is remarkable.”
Endré smirked in his usual, carefree way and looked at Maria, who was slowly making the compulsory rounds among the important guests, just like the perfect hostess she pretended to be. “For someone who hates these events, she's better at hosting them than her brother.”
Their British counterpart joined them in their little conversation a few moments later. “I think it's safe to say that she's noticed you two ogling her all night.”
Roderich frowned. “I do not 'ogle', Arthur.”
The Brit chuckled and took a sip of his whiskey. He was already getting ahead, drinking-wise. “And I suppose you wouldn't be able to tell me what kind of fabric her dress is made of, then?”
“Black chiffon, obviously. Why would you ask...” Roderich's sentence died out as the matching grins on Arthur and Endré's faces widened. He sighed in annoyance.
“Fine. I have noticed her appearance, and do find her to be exceptionally aesthetically pleasing. Would you wipe those grins off your faces?”
Arthur made a show of doing just that as he glanced over his shoulder to see that the woman in question was hastily making her way to them. He smiled to her and raised his glass in mock salute.
“Here she comes, boys. Keep your knickers on and you just might survive.”
With that, he left Roderich and Endré to deal with Maria’s obvious annoyance. She walked up to them, surprisingly gracefully for someone not used to wearing high heeled shoes.
“What the hell are you two staring at? Haven’t you seen a dress before?”
Endré smirked smugly. “You probably haven’t. Are you sure you can walk with those heels?”
His comment almost made the red eyed female attack him. Fortunately, she seemed to be conscious enough of her surroundings that she didn’t. “Of course I can, you stupid bastard. I’m awesome, unlike you.”
Roderich sighed in annoyance. “Could you two stop the bickering for one night? This is supposed to be a diplomatic, peaceful event, not a warzone.”
Both grumbled nasty things before nodding. The Austrian man smiled politely. “Good. Congratulations, Maria, you did a wonderful job on this. What shade of blue is that?”
He was pretty sure he’d receive a mocking answer. She’d probably call him a pansy for complimenting the drapes or something…
“Well duh. It’s Prussian Blue, because it’s the most awesome colour there is.”
…Which is why he would’ve fallen flat on his ass after hearing her reply, if he weren’t aristocratic. Even Endré was shocked. The Hungarian even went as far as feeling her forehead for fever.
“Maria? How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down or something?”
His hand was harshly slapped away by a very vicious-looking Maria. “You stupid idiot!”
When an elderly gentleman turned to look at her disapprovingly, she subdued her anger and shook her head. She spoke to them with a chilly voice. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a party to host.”
She turned on her impressive heels and walked away, greeting and conversing with people while going forward. She had the outer appearance of an experienced hostess, always making sure her guests were entertained and kept satisfied, but Roderich could see that she was itching to destroy something inwardly.
Much, much later, quite a few of the guests had already left when Roderich managed to spot Maria again. This time, she was sitting at one of the tables with a tumbler full of what he suspected to be whiskey in her hand and her younger brother, Ludwig, was sitting next to her. They seemed to be in the middle of a heated conversation, if Maria’s expression and Ludwig’s hand gestures were anything to go by. A random politician walked over to them and they both jumped up from their seats. Upon closer inspection, Roderich recognized the man as a German chancellor. Judging by the delighted expression on Maria’s face and the relieved one on Ludwig’s, the politician appeared to have liked the event.
An hour went by, the rest of the nations and diplomats attending the party had gone home, leaving only Maria, Ludwig and Roderich in the grand hall. Maria was sending off the last of the guests, thanking them and accepting invitations. The blond man sighed as he watched a French diplomat kiss her hand as a goodbye before bowing and finally leaving.
“She hates it when people do that. In her words, it’s ‘girly and unawesome’.”
Roderich chuckled. “That sounds like something she’d say.”
“What was that about me?”
Maria walked towards them, her heels clicking audibly with each step. She stormed past the two men and sat on the first chair she saw, promptly pulled the hem of her dress over her knees and began taking off her shoes.
“I swear, I have no idea how someone can actually like these fucking parties! It’s so goddamn annoying, having people come over to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ about your furniture and your ‘oh-so-fantastic’ sense of style!”
She kicked off the leather shoes after unclasping the small buckles and began rubbing her feet. “And what the hell is up with the shoe policy?! Can’t a girl wear whatever shoes she wants to? I wanted to wear my boots, but oh no, I have to wear some pansy heels, for crying out loud.”
Roderich gave Ludwig an exasperated glance, which the blond returned sympathetically. “You could’ve worn your boots if you’d worn your uniform.”
The look on Maria’s face was best described as something between astonished and outraged. “Are you insane?! Did you fall and hit your head on the floor?!?! There’s no way I could’ve worn my uniform to this thing!”
Roderich raised an eyebrow. “And why not?”
Maria pursed her lips in annoyance as she leaned back on the chair, lifting her feet over to the chair next to her. She reached over the table for an abandoned glass of wine and took a hearty sip. “First of all, the Chancellor would’ve killed me if I’d worn the uniform. He’s got a fucked up idea that women should look like women instead of men. Secondly, I’m pretty sure I showed enough cleavage to last a few months, so I don’t have to worry about party favors for a long time now.”
Roderich deadpanned. “Right. I should've known there was something like that hindering you.”
The silverette shrugged, flipping back some stray strands of hair. “A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. If showing a little something-something gets me out of these events for a while then so be it. West, give me a foot rub!”
Ludwig's eyebrows jumped. “Why would I do that? I am not your servant, sister.”
Maria glared at him and jiggled her feet, the hem of her dress riding up her thighs. “Come on, West! My feet are killing me...”
Ludwig shook his head and stood up, reaching over and pulling Maria's dress back over her knees while doing so. “I'm sorry, but I don't have the time. I promised I'd take Feliciano home, and I should've gone ages ago. I'll see you later, sister. Bye, Roderich.”
With the parting words, the blond man walked off. Maria huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms over her chest. Roderich took a sip of his wine. After a moment of silence, Maria turned her ruby eyes on him.
“Would you give me a foot rub, Specs?”
Roderich nearly dropped his glass. He stared at the woman increduously. “What?”
To his surprise (tonight was full of surprises, it seemed), she looked slightly abashed. “I'm not used to wearing heels, so my feet are really hurting.”
Sighing, Roderich rose from his seat from across the table and motioned for Maria to get her feet off the seat next to her. She did, and he sat down, leaning down to collect her feet onto his lap.
“Just so you know, you owe me for this.”
Maria grinned and let Roderich 'manhandle' her legs. “For this, Specs, I will not break into your house for the next two weeks!”
The brunet rolled his eyes, beginning to massage a pale foot gently. “Make it a month. And no breaking furniture, either.”
She snorted. “Your house could use a renovation and you know it. But I accept your terms, piano man.”
They were quiet again for a few moments, Roderich massaging Maria's feet while the Prussian twirled wine around in her glass. She set the glass down on the table and reached up to undo her hair. Silver strands of hair fell from the loose bundle, cascading around her shoulders as she shook her head to untangle them. Roderich glanced up, noticing for the umpteenth time just how attractive she was when she wasn't even trying to be.
She caught his eyes. “What? I got something on my face?”
He shook his head with a small smile. “No, nothing.”
She nodded, clearly pondering something. He knew from past experience that never anything good came of her contemplations. The First and Second Schleswig Wars being just one example.
“What's on your mind that makes you so quiet?” He asked, switching feet. He found he really didn't mind giving her a massage.
“Oh, just something Arthur said earlier.”
Now didn't that just sound ominous.
“Hmm? What did he say?”
“He said that you told him that I looked 'exceptionally aesthetically pleasing'.”
Roderich stopped and looked up slowly, finding two ruby red eyes staring straight at him mischievously. He could feel the blush that just had to be getting to his cheeks. “Did he?”
Maria nodded, a grin spreading on her lips. “Yup. Did you really say that or was he just fucking around?”
Roderich thought about his answer. He could deny, which would no doubt lead into having words with the Brit. There was something in Maria's voice which made him consider owning up, something underlying that was usually very well masked.
“I did.”
Clearly she had not expected that, judging from the sudden tensing of her shoulders. “...Why?”
And there it was. Roderich smiled, setting her feet softly to the floor. “Because I think you do look beautiful, and exceptionally so tonight.”
He stood from his seat and leaned down to give her a gentlemanly kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for tonight, Maria. The dinner was fantastic and you were a wonderful hostess. Goodnight.”
He let his hand linger on the junction of her neck and shoulder for a fraction of a moment before walking away.
Maria remained on her seat, too stunned to react. She'd thought Roderich would be his usual pansy self and vehemently deny ever uttering a word, so she was thoroughly shocked that he'd owned up to the claim. She had been hoping he would, but hadn't expected it.
She grinned and downed the rest of her wine in one go.
“Damn, Specs, just when I think I have you figured out...” She muttered to herself as she leaned to pick up her shoes and walked away barefoot.
**
Hours later, when Ludwig returned, he found his sister asleep on the living room floor, holding a game console controller. She'd changed her dress into loose pajama pants and a tank top. Unable to resist temptation, he took a picture with his camera phone and sent the picture to Roderich with a caption.
I prefer this look on my sister.
Roderich opened the message he received from Ludwig with mild apprehension. When he saw the picture, he smiled as he replied.
So do I.