Hetalia, "Belgium Waffles and Pocket Watches" (Belgium/Liechtenstein)

[melodytree]

Title: Belgium Waffles and Pocket Watches
Fandom: Hetalia
Pairing/characters: Belgium/Liechtenstein, Switzerland
Rating: PG
Summary: Belgium nurses her crush on Liechtenstein by making her waffles. Five snapshots of their relationship.
Warnings: None
Notes: Written for dustbunny105 for Fandom Stocking 2013. Concrit is welcome.

Belgium heard a sleepy mumble from behind her: “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she replied, pulling her attention away from the waffles for a moment to smile at Liechtenstein, who was standing in the doorway. She hadn’t gotten dressed yet, still wearing her cute nightgown.

Liechtenstein rubbed at her eyes for a moment before drifting over to her. She brightened up a bit at seeing the pile of finished waffles. “They look delicious!”

Belgium grinned as she pulled out another waffle. “I’ll be done in about ten minutes - why don’t you go get dressed?”

The other girl nodded and left her room, humming quietly. Belgium’s smile softened slightly as she listened to the footsteps, the soft opening and closing of the door. For a few moments, she let herself feel as if it were one of those dream-fantasies she had when she woke too early and drifted in her bed before her alarm went off. As if they had done things in Liechtenstein’s bed last night other than talk themselves to sleep, as if Belgium could run her fingers through Liechtenstein’s hair and kiss her good-morning.

With a sigh, she let the image go and finished up with the waffles. No use clinging to dreams. By now she might have worked up the courage to ask Liechtenstein out, were it not for a certain outside factor named Switzerland. She had seen how he glared at South Italy at their last UN meeting, when he had sat a few centimeters closer to Liechtenstein than strictly necessary and leaned over to see when she showed him something on her laptop. She had felt the tension from him last year when a giggly Seychelles had dropped herself onto Liechtenstein's lap a little too suggestively and clung to her in the course of some game.

She didn’t have the courage to tell him she was dating Liechtenstein, not quite yet. Even if Liechtenstein said yes.

By the time Liechtenstein returned - her petticoats perfect, her hair ribbon neatly tied - Belgium had set the table and the waffles were dusted with fine sugar and ready to eat. As expected, they were perfectly crispy on the outside, light and not too sweet. “These are so good,” Liechtenstein said with a smile. “It’s too bad you can’t cook for me every day!”

Belgium laughed and didn’t let herself think about it more deeply.

~!~

Whenever they all agonized on passing or denying motions like this, there was only one thing to do afterward: have a party with copious amounts of food and alcohol.

Germany's frown had seemed etched into his face earlier; very gradually it had relaxed marginally, especially after Prussia had given up on the beer to go chase after France. A little while later Netherlands had come over, and now it was the three of them at their table, complaining about the quality of the beer.

America was making a big fuss with whatwashisnameagain, North Italy was chattering loudly to his brother and Spain about the pasta and the music and wasn't it so good that they had finally passed it?, while Ukraine braided Taiwan's hair at the next table over. Just watching everyone was giving Belgium some of her energy back from the weeks of arguments, counter-arguments, PowerPoints, fist-fights, and everything else.

She was just about to turn back to her brother to ask him something when she saw Liechtenstein out of the corner of her eye. She was by herself, occasionally stopping to peer around the room. "Manage to lose your bodyguard?" Belgium asked as Liechtenstein started to skirt by their table.

Liechtenstein looked at her and giggled. Belgium gestured to the empty seat beside her; she promptly sat down, smoothing down her dress. It was slightly more revealing and less doll-like than her usual style, but it still suited her very well. "Actually, brother managed to lose me. I just stopped to say something to Austria, and when I looked up he was gone."

"Do you want help looking-?"

"No, I'm fine by myself. And I'm sure brother isn't in any trouble."

She struck up a conversation with Germany that Belgium really had nothing to say in, so she turned to her own brother, trying to remember what she had wanted to ask him.

They chatted through a large dinner, more beer, and quite late into the night. When Liechtenstein checked her honest-to-God pocket watch, she expressed some dismay at the time and stood to say good-night. "I'll walk you back," Belgium offered, standing up as well.

"I'm fine-"

"I know, but honestly I should probably be getting to sleep too..."

It felt cold when they got into the hotel's corridors, after being in a warm room packed with other nations. Liechtenstein wrapped her arm around Belgium's and pressed close. Belgium could feel the goosebumps running down her bare arms.

It was a quiet walk back. "Thank you for walking me," Liechtenstein said sweetly, standing outside the door to her room. She stood on tip-toe and hugged her. "Good night."

Belgium hugged her back. "'Night."

Liechtenstein gave her one more smile before ducking into her room. Belgium grinned like a loon most of the way to her own room, a warm blush on her cheeks.

~!~

Saint Valentine's Day was coming up, and that meant chocolate, and that meant that Belgium was in heaven. It'd be good for her economy, and, well, chocolate was almost the best thing ever. So when Liechtenstein called her and asked it she would mind coming over and helping her make some chocolates, there was really no question about her answer.

Which was how she had ended up in Liechtenstein's kitchen, teaching her how to make chocolates to rival Switzerland's.

She watched Liechtenstein lick some of the still-gooey chocolate off her finger, looking as adorable as ever in her lacy embroidered apron. She couldn't help but grin. "Good?"

"Mm!"

They continued adding the chocolate to the molds and putting them away to harden. Finally, Liechtenstein put away the final tray – little hearts – and brushed her hands off on her apron. "Now we just need to wait for them to finish hardening, right?"

Belgium nodded. They both turned and took in the kitchen: the counters were covered with chocolate, there were bowls and spoons stacked here and there, and several items had been displaced from their proper spots while they had cooked. "Although... I suppose we should use the time to clean up first."

Liechtenstein started collecting the dishes to put in the sink, while Belgium started scrubbing at the counter. There wasn't a ton of space; they had to keep dodging around each other as they cleaned. So it wasn't really a surprise that when Liechtenstein tripped, she fell straight into Belgium.

Belgium cursed loudly as her head slammed back into a cupboard. Her hipbone ached, too, where the bowl Liechtenstein had been carrying had jammed into it. Rubbing at her head, she looked down at the other girl. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes."

Liechtenstein, somewhat flushed, glanced down, and then back up to meet Belgium's eyes again. At that moment she realized that they were still pressed together, that Liechtenstein hadn't moved away yet. She was steadily getting redder in the face, but the bowl was still pressed again Belgium's stomach.

Well, no use dragging this out – Belgium moved a hand to Liechtenstein's hair and kissed her.

They broke apart, slowly, a few moments later, before Liechtenstein leaned in and pressed their lips together again. The third kiss was deeper, and Belgium tasted the chocolate Liechtenstein had been sneaking from every bowl as she brought her other hand up to her cheek and stroked the soft, warm skin there. Liechtenstein turned her head into it and let out a soft breath.

CLANG

They jumped apart at the loud sound – Liechtenstein had dropped her bowl, which now rattled on the floor as it settled. They looked at each other again and burst into breathless laughter. Belgium stepped over the bowl to pull Liechtenstein fully against her, to kiss her again.

It took a rather long time to clean up the kitchen, but they did enjoy the chocolates.

~!~

"Don't worry," Liechtenstein said as they walked up the path to Switzerland's house. "Brother acts scary sometimes, but he's actually very soft and nice."

"If you say so."

In her white dress and headband (stolen from a box on Belgium's dresser) Liechtenstein looked practically angelic as she rung the doorbell. "It will be fine, you'll see."

Switzerland opened the door looking very serious, but he did soften slightly on seeing Liechtenstein. They all settled around his table, Liechtenstein putting down the half of lunch she had made while Belgium set dessert to the side. The conversation went pretty well; the three of them could have talked economics until the sun set.

Liechtenstein bounced up to clear off the dishes before they started on desert, and Switzerland watched her bound into the kitchen, sipping on his coffee. "You've become pretty good friends," he observed.

"Well, she is my girlfriend."

Switzerland choked on his coffee just as Liechtenstein re-entered the room. "Brother! Are you alright?"

He coughed roughly as Liechtenstein hovered over him and Belgium held back her laughter. Finally he drew in enough breath to speak. "You... her... girlfriend?"

"We've been dating for two weeks now," Liechtenstein said. Apparently satisfied that Switzerland wasn't about to die, she sat herself down again and pulled the cake closer so she could start cutting it.

"I... I see."

He didn't quite glare at her as they ate, but Belgium could feel his eyes drilling into her for the entirety of dessert. After they finished, Liechtenstein suggested that they take advantage of the weather and go for a walk. She happily skipped ahead, commenting on the scenery. When she stopped to kneel by some wildflowers, Switzerland stopped Belgium.

"I don't think you have any intention of hurting her," he said quietly. "But if you ever make her cry-"

Real-Switzerland, it turned out, was less scary than imagined-Switzerland.

"-I'll have to dig myself out of a glacier, right?"

He nodded solemnly and they stared each other in the eye for a moment.

"What are you two doing? Brother, you're not threatening to shoot her, are you?"

"No, no," Belgium said, laughing. "Just talking." She moved around Switzerland and took Liechtenstein's hand. "What were you saying about the flowers, again?"

"Hm? Oh, these are called bellflowers, aren't they pretty?"

~!~

"Good morning."

Belgium poured more batter into the waffle iron and went to kiss Liechtenstein good-morning. "Waffles again?" she asked, peering over Belgium's shoulder.

"Something wrong with waffles?"

Liechtenstein shook her head and sat at the table, poking at the flowers sitting in their vase. "I was simply thinking that perhaps I should make breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Well, if you really want to..." Belgium returned to the waffle iron, making sure nothing was about to burn.

In a few minutes the waffles were done and Liechtenstein put aside her phone to start eating them right away. They ate quietly, and it seemed like hardly any time had passed before Liechtenstein was frowning up at the clock. "I need to get going to a meeting," she sighed. There was just one more bite of waffle left on her plate; she delicately placed it in her mouth and chewed it slowly.

"I guess I need to get going if I'm going to meet my boss in time, too," said Belgium.

They put the dishes in the sink and went to go get ready for the day. Just as they were leaving, Liechtenstein stopped her for a good-bye on the doorstep. "My meeting is probably going to be terribly boring," she said, resting her hand on Belgium's cheek. "At least I can think of your pretty face when I can't bear it any longer."

Belgium felt her face heat. "I'm not-"

"I think you're pretty," Liechtenstein said, and faced with that smile there was nothing that Belgium could do but give her a final kiss before they had to go on their different ways.