Do It Like A Lady - Austria x Reader (3)

                                                                

Tuesday – Out on the Town

Standing at the entrance to the park, you glanced around at the people with disinterest.

“Why did Austria want me to come to the park all of a sudden?” you asked yourself.  “What does this place have to do with me learning how to be a lady?”

A sigh left your lips as you watched a familiar Austrian’s black car pull up to the parking lot.  Another day, another lesson.  Curiosity made your mind wander as the brunette male walked over to you, locking his car as he did so.

“Good day Miss ___.”

“Uh, yeah.  Hi,” you stated awkwardly.  Austria appeared a bit annoyed by your choice of words, or rather lack thereof.

“Should I write out a script for you?” he inquired jokingly.

“Only if ya think it’s necessary.”  You grinned as the man sighed and began making his way into the park.  Following behind like a child with their parent, you began questioning him.  “So why did you want me to meet you here instead of at your place?”

“Because I decided that today’s lesson will be how you react to strangers.”  Strangers?  Did tea parties involve more than one person being invited over to another’s?  You didn't know.  Those kinds of things were for prissy people.  People like England.  Therefore, you couldn't be bothered to care about what all a tea party entailed.  Still, you were curious.

“What does that have to do with England’s tea party?”

“This is all more for sating my curiosity.”  You raised a brow.

“So I’m learning nothing useful today?”

“Oh nonsense.  Every day is a learning experience,” Austria stated like a teacher to their elementary student.  His tone of voice kind of peeved you off a bit, but you held back your annoyance as best as you could.  “I’m merely giving you extra practice.”

“Or extra suffering,” you muttered under your breath as you let the man walk a bit further in front of you.  When the Austrian stopped in the middle of the path, he turned back toward you, chin upraised, back straight as a rod.  Heh, Roderich the rod.  Funny.

“What are you laughing about?” he questioned after hearing you chuckle.  Stopping, you glared up at him.

“Don’t worry about it.”  You then strutted off, attempting to copy his posh posture by keeping your own back straight, head raised toward the sky, and walking as if a stick were up your ass.

“Nein!  That is all wrong!” he shouted from behind, making you pause in your place.  As soon as he had caught up to you, he grabbed your chin – not too roughly – and lowered it so that your head was facing straight rather than up.

“Lesson 4: Hold your head high, but never your nose,” Austria stated, his face now leveled with yours.  “Keeping your head straight like this,” he tapped your nose, “speaks confidence.  Not arrogance.”  Odd.  Of all the things to correct you on, you thought it would've been the ‘walking-with-a-stick-up-your-ass’ part of it.  Whatever.  You blew a puff of air out of your mouth as a response.  You then relaxed yourself out of his hold and continued walking forward, toward a bench that had an old couple sitting there, feeding pigeons with bread crumbs.  Oh barf.  The spectacle was so cute it was making you sick.

“Could you two move?”  The elderly couple, at first enjoying their moment of peace, glanced up at you with blank, innocent-like expressions.  “I’d like to sit down,” you further stated snootily.  The old woman seemed angered by what you had to say, but before she could start lecturing you on how to treat the elderly properly and with respect, her husband gently looped her arm with his and stood up.  The two then left, opening up the seat for you.  Frankly you couldn't have been happier as you plopped down on the wooden bench.

As you sat down, your Austrian friend came storming over, eyebrows furrowed and jaw clenched.  Ah, so he was mad at your little action.  Why exactly?

“Lesson 5: Be humble.  You need to stop being such a prude and let people enjoy themselves!”  Okay, that’s why.  Wait, prude?  What the fuck is a prude?  Sounds like prune…was he calling you old?  Nah, that didn't make sense.  You shook your head and shrugged it off.

“What?  I was just messing with them.”

“You cannot just run up to a lovely couple and 'mess with them'.”  Funny, since that statement contradicted what you just did to said ‘lovely’ couple.  Obviously you were capable of doing such a deed.  Your nose scrunched up in repulsion.

“But they were being lovey-dovey.  That’s disgusting.”  Austria’s right palm met his face.

“That’s not disgusting.  That’s life.”

“Well then life is disgusting,” you stated as if it were obvious.  Everything was silent for a moment, causing you to wonder what the Austrian was thinking.  Looking over at him, you caught him staring at you with mixed emotions.

“Have you truly never been in love?” he questioned in a whispered tone.  He almost sounded wary of asking you such a thing…as he should since that question made you feel a bit uncomfortable.  You flashed the man a cheery smile.

“Nope.”

“Not even a crush?”

“Pfft, of course not!  What!  Me?!  Having a crush on a guy?  What a joke!”  You noticed how Austria seemed to press his lips into a thin line.  Not knowing where he was trying to take this conversation, you started to curl in on yourself, arms crossed and gaze aimed at the grass.

“I have a hard time believing that.”  You leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees and your face in your hands, causing a strand of hair to suddenly droop into your line of vision.  You glared past the hair and at the Austrian who seemed to think you had some form of love life.

“Why?”

“No reason.  You know, a simple ‘excuse me’ would have sufficed with that couple.”  Ah, thank God!  An opening!  He [finally] diverted the conversation.  Blowing the hair strand out of your way, you gave the Austrian a sidelong glance.  Clearly the guy wasn't going to let up until you learned how to converse with people in a more ‘personable’ manner.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”  Austria, sighing at your answer, brought his wrist up to his face and read his watch.

“Not ten minutes into today, and already we've learned so much.  I hope you’re retaining everything I’m teaching you.”  You raised a brow.

“And if I’m not?” you asked cleverly, trying not to smile.

“Then I hope you thoroughly enjoy that tea party on Friday when you come to realize that England will be taking over with your teachings.”  You scoffed.  Letting that stuffy Brit takeover would be absolute Hell.  Like crap you were going to let him do such a thing!

“Hey, I was just joking.  Of course I’m retaining it all.  I would just prefer to use this stuff only when I’m with England on Friday.”

“You should practice using it in your everyday life as well though.  It would help to make your act a little more believable at the tea party.”  You started to consider his words.  Practicing your ‘lady skillz’ out on the unsuspecting public would be a travesty on your image that you worked so hard to build up.  Then again, you were sick of everyone looking down on you as well.  Perhaps you could try and use them now and then.  Give people a wonderful surprise.

“Fine.  I shall,” you said, mimicking England’s way of speaking.  Austria nodded to himself at that.

“Good.  Then you can start with sitting up straight.  Normally I’m not the type to rudely point out such things, but your posture is rather repulsive.”  Annoyance flashed over your features as you slowly sat yourself up into a straighter position.

“Gee, thanks.”

“Just speaking the truth.”

Silence fell as you both continued to stare blankly ahead at absolutely nothing for a solid minute or two.  Nothing was happening.  And why was nothing happening?  Because there was now nobody at the park.  Just you…and Mr. Honesty to your left.

“Austria?”

“Ja?”

“What exactly are we doing?”

“Nothing.  We are doing nothing.”

“Would you be so kind as to explain to me why we are just sitting here…doing nothing?”  Austria seemed to mull over that one for a while.

“Because I am testing your patience.”  Obviously the man was joking with you…if the tiny smirk on the corner of his mouth said anything about it.

“I see.”  Sighing, you stood yourself up and began walking toward the exit of the park. 

“And where do you think you are going?!”  You whirled around and faced the Austrian in frustration.

“My patience is wearing thin.  Teach me something or I’m just gonna head home.”

“Actually, that’s a rather nice idea.”

“Uh…what?”

“We shall walk to the parking lot.  If nothing happens between now and then, then you are free to go without learning anything else for today.”

“And if something does happen?”

“Then obviously you will learn something.”  With that, the aristocrat walked away, taking the lead.  Gee, was he suddenly eager to be done for today too?  Perhaps more than you?  Wow.  What a change of pace.  Not like you were gonna complain.  Shrugging your shoulders you quickly caught up to him and began walking side-by-side with the man.

It wasn't until this moment when you realized how much shorter you were than him.  Your eyes grazed over his figure as you both continued to walk, he seemingly being unaware of your roaming eyes.

“Seriously, Aristocrats don’t just grow overnight.  Maybe I’m just that oblivious of others.  Or maybe…the dude is wearing HEELS!” you pondered, your gaze quickly shifting from his shoulders down to his feet.

“Lesson 6: Shy away from gossip.”  Wait, what?  Blinking your eyes to snap yourself out of your reverie, you gave Austria a quizzical look.

“Why are you suddenly telling me that one?”  Austria seemed to snap out of his own world as he turned his gaze down to you and widened his eyes in surprise.

“Oh, my apologies.  I thought you might have been listening in on those two women that we just passed by.”

“Listening to them?  Why.  What were they talking about?”

“LESSON 6: SHY AWAY FROM GOSSIP,” the Austrian repeated, this time emphasizing every last word as his face turned more and more red.  Obviously the guy thought you were stupid and couldn't hear him the first time.  Obviously.

You chuckled as you connected two and two together.

“That bad, huh?”  The Austrian didn't react.  Instead, he merely ignored your question and continued to make his way toward the park exit.  “Hey, no need to worry man!  Gossip is for the weak!” you shouted toward his retreating figure.  He was still ignoring you.  Hmm…not for long.  When you finally caught up to him, you stated, “You know, people gossip about me all the time.  I've just gotten to the point where I brush it all off!  Kinda like my [cat/dog]’s hair when I use a lint roller!”  That earned you a confused look…and it couldn't have made you feel any more entertained.

“I fail to understand how that relates to our conversation.”

“It was funny, so it doesn't matter.”

“I’m not laughing,” he stated monotonously.

“Which reminds me, I need to find your sense of humor before the end of this week.”  With a grin, you made your way ahead of him, taking note of how close you were to the park’s exit.  You weren't sure if you were feeling excited to be done so early for the day [leaving you with more time to fart around your house and do the things you love], or saddened because you wouldn't be spending more time with the Austrian.  You presumed the sadness was caused by how entertaining he was for you…because, ya know, it certainly couldn't have been caused by your growing affection for the man.

Definitely not.

“It appears we have found our end for today,” Austria stated as he abruptly turned to face you at the park's exit, almost business-like.  “One last thing before we part, though.”  You brought your gaze up to meet his.  “Lesson 7: Smile at strangers.”  Oh God, another lesson?  And here you thought he was going to say something meaningful.  You were positive the man was enjoying all of this nonsense.  “All morning, I've watched your reactions to those around you and never once did I see you smile at a stranger genuinely.”

“Maybe that’s because I don’t know them?”

“Perhaps.  But you’d be surprised how far a smile can go.  Not only would it make you come across as kinder,” you scoffed as he continued on with his delegation, “but it could also serve to make you feel happier.  When you smile, your brain thinks you’re happy and, in return, makes you feel happy.  It’s a trick of the mind, you see.”  You contemplated over his words.  The way he described it all, your brain basically has a mind of its own?  Well that ain't weird at all.  “In addition, if you were to give England a smile on Friday, I am almost certain that he would think you’re a whole different person.”  Hmm, that did sound promising.  England standing before you, lips imitating that of a fish’s as he flounders over your blinding smile.  Watching England appear dumbfounded suddenly found its way onto your bucket list.

As you looked at Austria’s serious face in contemplation, you quickly realized that he hardly ever smiles himself.

“Maybe you should follow what you preach,” you stated with a smirk.  “I don’t exactly ever get to see you smile.”  Suddenly the man did what you weren't expecting.  He smiled.  A gentle, caring smile.  Holy shit balls.  In that moment, he looked so pleasant.  So elegant, charming…

Oh God, you were blushing.  You tried covering your face as your Austrian companion chuckled.

Still smiling at you, he slowly, deeply uttered, “Have a nice rest of your day, Miss ____.”  And on that note, he gracefully turned and waltzed away, back to his sleek black car, leaving you to stare in his wake.

Certainly you weren't falling for the man.