Cross-posted from DA
Mar. 26th, 2013 01:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiramaru7Title: The Footrace
Characters: Prussia, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Roma, Ukraine, Greece
Challenge: This was done for a challenge/contest over at DA. Details can be found here: http://my.deviantart.com/art/Hetalia-Contest-Time-359493290
Rating: PG 13 for gratuitous nudity & language
Summary: Prussia challenges mega-track star Hungary to a race in the hopes of winning a date with her…
Author’s note: This is a modern retelling of the myth of Atalanta and her famous footrace. Please note it’s set in the Gakuen’verse, which I believe is set in NYC, although, I’m not sure if it’s been stated exactly that it is. For the purpose of this story, it is and they have enough room for a track as well as a field for the students to play other sports on, like football and soccer.
Author’s note 2: I also want to thank my beta, Jen for looking this over for me.
Word count: 4512
Prussia sat in the bleachers, watching the track team go through their warm-ups. None of his fellow countries on the team really held his interest except one. She stood in the outer lane, closest to him and bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to loosen up and warm her muscles at the same time. Prussia sighed, Hungary, the girl of his dreams, was World Academy’s greatest track star. No one was able to beat her. She was so good, she often ran against boys from the other schools, which was amazing to begin with; that she actually beat them was phenomenal.
So he came every day and sat in the bleachers, cheering the team on, even though he only had eyes for its star athlete. Prussia watched as she took her mark for a practice run, trying hard not to drool as she fitted her feet into the starter’s block, bending her deliciously long legs in a crouch, before the crack of the starter’s gun. Hungary seemed to explode without effort, easily outdistancing the girls; she was running against, without breaking a sweat. She was as fleet-footed as the legendary messenger of the gods, Mercury, so much so, that after her last race, she was given a pair of gold sneakers, which Italy had painted white wings on the heels, from her fellow teammates. Hungary wore them at every race her senior year too, just like she wore them in practice. And just like the goddesses from the myths they were reading about in English Lit, she seemed oblivious to the “mere mortals” that surrounded her. Unfortunately for Prussia, he was just another mortal in her eyes. No matter how hard he tried to get her to notice him, using every awesome trick in his arsenal, she either completely ignored him, or threatened him with bodily harm, which left him completely baffled. None of the other girls were able to resist his charms, or guys too for that matter, but Hungary. The more she spurned his affections, the more determined he was to win her heart.
Prussia sat there, cheering her on with the others, while trying to desperately come up with a good way to get her to notice him that didn’t involve bodily harm to his person. He was so wrapped up in watching Hungary fly around the track that he failed to notice his brother and his friend had come over to join him. “I wish she’d notice me…” He sighed softly.
“Hey, Prussia!” Italy said as he sat down.
“Brüder,” Germany said as he also sat down.
“Oh, hi!” Prussia grinned. “What brings you here?”
“You were supposed to help us set up for the student art show,” Germany said.
“I was?”
“Yeah! I told Germany, you probably forgot and I was right!” Italy laughed. “Ciao, Bella!” He waved at Hungary, who waved back. “Good luck at next week’s meet!” he called out.
“Thanks, Italy!” Hungary said as she walked past with her teammates.
Italy beamed at her. “Don’t forget to come to the art show!”
“I won’t! Catch you later!” Hungary said before disappearing past the bleachers.
“Ciao!”
“She actually talks to you?” Prussia blinked.
“Yeah…” Italy gave him a strange look.
“Italy, you’ve gotta help me!” Prussia said as he grabbed Italy’s shoulders. “I’d do anything for a date with her!”
“Have you asked her out?”
“Yeah, but she always says ‘no.’” Prussia sighed.
“Oh…”
“Brüder, he doesn’t have to help you with anything,” Germany said.
“But?”
“But nothing! Let’s go, Italy.” Germany stood up to leave.
“But I want to help him, Germany.”
“See?” Prussia beamed.
Germany sighed. He had a bad feeling about this, especially the way his brother and best friend sat there, whispering amongst themselves like a bunch of co-conspirators. Although, he hoped it would turn out okay for his brother’s sake. Folding his arms across his chest, he waited patiently for them to formulate a plan. He looked at his watch. “I hate to break this up, but you need to get ready for the art show, Italy.”
“Oh yeah! See you later, Prussia.” He started to make his way down the bleachers with Germany.
“Yeah… oh wait!” Prussia stood and hurried after them.
“What?” Germany replied.
“What time’s the art show?”
“Seven, why?”
“I’ll see you both there!” Feeling happier, Prussia picked up his backpack and hurried off to his afternoon class, which just happened to be English Lit. The building, his class was in, was not far from the gymnasium and track and Prussia made it with minutes to spare. He took a seat in the back as usual. Rummaging through his backpack, he took out his notebook and a pen. They were studying mythology, which he found interesting and they were supposed to have a guest lecturer. When he walked in, Prussia was glad to see it was Italy’s grandfather instead of his own. Pen poised over his notebook, he began taking notes as Roma Vargas droned on about various gods and goddesses. He also spent some time talking about various heroes, like Heracles and Achilles as well as several mortals; mostly the women who Zeus fooled around with. Prussia scribbled everything down, giving it all a half an ear. Interesting as it was, this was all covered in his textbook, even the parts where various heroes and heroines were placed in the night sky as stars so that they would always be remembered. Prussia sighed softly. He was hoping to learn something new or if not, he wanted to move onto The Iliad as it dealt with the Trojan War.
“Before we move onto The Iliad, I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite myths,” Roma said.
Prussia perked up at that. He learned forward in his seat, his chin resting on his upturned palm while he played with the pen in his left hand.
“It’s a story about a footrace, which I think everyone would like, seeing as we’re going to the nationals, eh?” Roma grinned at the soft murmur of assent. “Well, this was a special footrace. There was this girl named Atalanta, who could run like the wind and she was rather famous not only for that ability but for also being a good huntress. Anyway, when she came of age, all the young men wanted her hand in marriage, but Atalanta was warned never to get married or sleep with a man or something bad would happen to her. So she being the clever girl that she was, she devised a plan to keep her a single woman for the rest of her life. You see,” he paused briefly, “she let it be known that she would marry whoever could beat her in a simple footrace. Well, many had tried and none, sadly succeeded, until, and here the name changes as they often do here, let’s just say his name is Hippomenes, he also goes by another name which escapes me, but anyway, our hero asks the mighty Aphrodite for help in winning this maiden’s hand.”
Roma paused in his narrative to answer a question, “Yes, I think it’s great the ancients had women who were just as strong as men. Now back to our story. You see, Hippomenes had met the fair Atalanta and while she was quite taken with the boy,” he smirked, “the desire to maintain her freedom as well as the prophesy about her coming to a bad end if she lost her virginity made her resist his charms.” Roma winked and the class laughed. “So Aphrodite agrees to help him and-” Before Roma could finish his tale, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. “You can find the myth on page three hundred seventy three of your textbooks. I want you to read it and we’ll discuss it tomorrow. Bye!” He waved as the class got up and filed out.
Prussia filed out with the rest of them. He headed over to the cafeteria for dinner. After getting the blue plate special, he sat down at a table and dug out his textbook for English Lit. Opening to the page Professor Vargas had specified, Prussia began to read the tale of Atalanta. By the he had finished eating; he had finished reading the myth. Packing everything up, he dumped his tray in the garbage on the way out and hurried to the dorm to get ready for the art show.
He found them at the student center, which had been set up like an art gallery, standing by Italy’s display. Everyone in the art club had their own mini exhibit, showing off their best work in various mediums and the rest of student body walked amongst them admiring the work. A few students stopped here and there to discuss the art with the artist and it was one of the highlights of the semester due to the party-like atmosphere. “Hey Brüder, Italy!” Prussia called out as he walked over to them.
“Hey, Prussia! Come see my exhibit!” Italy cried. Taking his best friend’s brother by the arm he ushered him over to his work.
Prussia stood there, admiring the portrait of his brother in oils. He knew Italy was good, but he was completely blown away by the painting. Italy also had a charcoal still life of a bowl of fruit and a pastel landscape of the quad outside their dorms. On a pedestal in the middle sat three golden apples. Prussia picked one up. “What’s this?”
“Put that down, Brüder!” Germany reached for the apple.
“It’s okay, Germany, they’re meant to be picked up and looked at.” Italy smiled. “It’s supposed to be an attempt at sculpture.” He shrugged. “And I thought it would be nice if it was something that people could pick up and handle and really feel the art, you know? Like those funky decorated cows you find all over the city, or those bronze sculptures of people that sit on park benches… You know, art for the people.”
Prussia nodded. “I like that. It’s not weird or pretentious, like those pieces of material they had hanging all over Central Park two years ago.”
“You mean The Gates by Christo/Jeanne-Claude? I don’t think my art is anywhere near that level, Prussia!” Italy blushed. “But thanks!”
Prussia snorted. “I think your work is way better than that!” He was about to say more, but Hungary had walked over to them. Confronted by the object of his desire, Prussia felt a momentary loss for words.
“I agree with Prussia, you’re much better that they are.”
Italy blushed and sputtered in Italian. “Grazie!”
“You’re welcome.” Hungary smiled at him.
It was all Prussia could do not to sigh. He wished Hungary would smile at him like that too. Unfortunately, she never did. As long as he had known her, she always looked at him with contempt. He held the apple in his hand, wondering if he should offer it to Hungary, when she snatched it from him and handed it back to Italy.
“I think this is yours.” Hungary held the apple out to him.
“Grazie…” Italy replied as he took the proffered art piece, setting it down next to the other two apples.
“You’re welcome.”
“Hey, Hungary!” Taiwan called out. “Come’re, you’ve gotta see this!”
Ukraine came over with her. “Greece’s got a naked guy!”
“What?” Hungary’s eyes went wide.
“Oh that, he did a sculpture of some guy’s torso,” Italy added. “He was very secretive about it, but the art teacher knew about it, so he was allowed to enter it.”
Prussia blushed. He agreed to do it on a dare from his friends, but only on the condition Greece would create something without a head, and he agreed, sculpting something that looked like part of an ancient stature. He hoped Hungary liked it as he watched her being dragged away by her friends.
Ukraine and Hungary tried to get close enough to see the sculpture, but it was hard with the small crowd that had formed around it. Granted it consisted of mostly girls, but there were a few guys milling about and the big question on everyone’s mind was who the model was.
“Wow! Is that not perfection or what?”
“I know, right?! It’s like some kind of Adonis!!”
“Hey, Greece, who’s the model?”
“Ummm… my cat?” Greece said his eyes twinkling with amusement at the groans that answer garnered from his admirers. “Seriously, he asked me not to say.” He shrugged and leaned back in the chair he was sitting on.
“I wonder if he’s a student here,” Ukraine said when she and Hungary got close enough to look at the statue properly.
“Who knows?” Hungary shrugged. “It could be anybody, maybe even Greece himself.”
“Nah…” Ukraine said. “It’s too skinny to be him, not that he’s fat or anything.” She giggled. “No, this guy is lean and wiry, like Italy and Romano. Maybe it’s Romano!”
Hungary snorted. “I doubt it, but it could be Spain though…” They walked around behind it, and stared at its butt. The two of them turned to each other and chorused, “Where’s dat ass!” before collapsing against each other in a giggle fit. Whoever this unknown Adonis was, it certainly was not Spain and while France would get naked at the drop of a hat, the torso was too slender to be his as well as too smooth. “You don’t think it’s…” she trailed off as she looked back over at Italy and his friends, and saw Prussia staring at them.
“Who?”
“Never mind. Come on, I hear they’re serving gelato as part of the refreshments.”
“Yeah? I’ve always wanted to try some!” Ukraine enthused as the two of walked over to the refreshment stand.
Prussia let out a small sigh of relief when the girls headed in the opposite direction.
Italy smiled as he picked up one of the golden apples. Turning towards Prussia, he said, “You know, when the exhibit is done, I won’t need these anymore.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “You can have them if you want.” Italy tossed it at him and Prussia easily caught it. “Maybe they’ll help you win her heart.”
“Thanks!”
“Prego,” Italy said with a smile.
Germany frowned. “You shouldn’t give your art away, Italy.”
“Don’t worry. This time, it’s important I do so,” Italy said as he grabbed his friend’s arm and pulled him aside. “I’ll explain later,” he said softly.
“I’d better go, uh, thanks for the art, Italy. I guess I’ll pick it up tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s good.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” Prussia started to walk away.
“Where you going?” Germany asked.
“I’ve got a race to plan.” He smirked at his brother’s frown. “You’d better explain it to him, Itachen before his face gets stuck like that.” Prussia winked.
“Will do.”
As he walked away, Prussia heard Italy telling his brother the story of Atalanta and the race. He blended into the crowd, moving around the group exhibition until he caught up with Hungary again.
“What are you doing, following me?” she asked as they stood there, admiring an abstract painting.
“Not really,” Prussia said. “It’s more like I was trying to find you.”
“Oh really?” Hungary crossed her arms and looked at him, as if daring him to say something stupid or obnoxious.
“Yeah… I know I’ve been a pain in the ass,” he said as she snorted, “and I know you said you’d rather die than go out on a date with me, but, I thought, well…”
“You can actually think?”
“Yeah… and umm, well, I want to challenge you to a race.”
Hungary looked at him like he had three heads. “A race?” She frowned as several people gathered around to see her spurn Prussia’s affections again.
“Yeah, like a footrace, you know, the stuff you’re so good at.”
She laughed.
“I’m serious, Hungary, and I feel there should be some real stakes here too. Like if I win,” everyone laughed when he said that, “you agreed to go on a date with me, but if I lose…” Prussia paused for dramatic effect, “I promise to stop bugging you for any more dates.”
“Sounds fair to me as far as sucker bets go. You do know I’m going to beat the pants off you.”
“Yeah, well I was hoping something like that would happen on our date.”
“Dream on, Bunny-boy, cuz that’s the only place we’ll be dating… in your dreams.”
“So I take it it’s a race?” Prussia smirked.
“Yeah!”
“Great! See you tomorrow at three.”
Hungary rolled her eyes at him. “Three it is!” She turned and walked away, leaving him there.
Prussia’s two friends happened to catch the exchange. Spain laughed as he patted Prussia on the back. “She’s going to kick your ass.”
France nodded. “Unless you’ve decided to give up on her and this is your way of gracefully accepting defeat?”
“No, I fully intend to win.” Prussia slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders.
“Dude, you can’t possibly win. Running a race is not the same as running up and down a football field.”
“Boys, say what you will, I’m gonna score a goal to end all goals. You should come watch and when I win, I want you to yell, ‘goooooooooooooooooooaaaal,’ Spain, like that guy does on the Spanish channel when we watch the games.”
“Sure thing!”
“So how are you going to beat her?” France asked the question that was on everyone’s mind, who had heard about the challenge.
“That’s my lil secret…” Prussia said mysteriously and it was all he would say on the subject, which had spread like wildfire around campus. No one could believe he actually had the nerve the challenge Hungary to footrace.
The next day, three o’clock could not get there fast enough. Prussia was surprised at the number of students that had turned out to see the “race of the century.” He stood there on the track in his running clothes, a baggy old warm-up suit and pants. His pockets bulged from the apples he had stuffed in there. While he stretched and warmed up his muscles, his thoughts drifted back to what Italy had told him…
“Prussia, you’ll only have three tries to distract her enough to pull ahead of her. I think, and your brother agrees with me, that if you can get enough of a lead, you’ll beat her.”
Prussia nodded. “I know she’s overconfident about winning, which’ll make this win so freaking awesome too!”
“Try not to be overconfident yourself, Brüder,” Germany added.
“Anyway,” Italy started again, “Just toss the first apple off to the side, when she’s just a bit ahead of you, so she’ll see it. Hungary’ll probably wonder where it came from and will go get it, so when she does-”
“Run like hell, Brüder!” Germany finished for him.
Prussia nodded. “I know what to do.” He grinned. “And when she pulls ahead again, I toss the second one, right?”
“Yup! But throw it a bit farther that time, cuz she’ll probably be mad and that always makes her run faster.”
“Will do!”
Since he had no idea how to use a starting block, it was agreed they would start from a standing position. Plus Hungary also gave him a bit of a head start, which Prussia gladly accepted. He stood at the ready, listening to the traditional start of the race.
“On your marks, get set, go!” the coach cried as he fired the starting pistol into the air.
Prussia didn’t need to be told twice. He took off at a comfortable pace, hugging the inner track like his life depended on it. Prussia had just rounded the first turn when Hungary shot past him. Damn it!! he thought, when he remembered the apples in his pocket. Carefully pulling one out, without losing his stride, he waited until she had made it onto the straight when he tossed it.
Hungary frowned as a bright golden object sailed past in her peripheral vision. Slowing slightly, she was surprised to see one of Italy’s golden apples lying on the inner field. Leaving the track, Hungary bent down to retrieve it to the astonished cry from the crowd. Prussia, completely ignoring her, ran on past. He managed to get several lengths ahead of her, before Hungary, in a burst of angry speed, pulled ahead of him again as they rounded the second turn.
Prussia hurried to catch up, but she easily pulled away on the second straight. As the third turn loomed ahead, he took out the second apple and tossed it farther off to the side. This time Hungary looked like she was going to ignore it and Prussia felt a moment of panic as there was no way he could catch her, when she veered off course again onto the infield. Finding a sudden burst of speed, he didn’t know he had, Prussia rounded the third corner. He made it all the way through the fourth and final turn of their one-lap race, when Hungary sped past him.
Lungs burning and legs pumping, Prussia kicked it up into high gear. He had to catch her before it was too late. The final apple was bouncing around in his pocket and Prussia had just about given up hope of winning, when he pulled the apple out of his pocket and threw it as hard as he could. It sailed pasted an annoyed Hungary, who had finally figured out what was going on. She was sorely tempted to just leave it there, when she spotted Italy in the bleachers with his grandfather and Germany, cheering loudly. Figuring Prussia must be really desperate if he was resorting to trickery, she thought she could easily win if she went and picked up the final apple.
Prussia watched her head off into the infield. With his last ounce of strength, he put on a burst of speed; he didn’t know he had in him. Running like the wind, the end was in sight as he gave it his all. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hungary trying to pull ahead of him, but it turned out it was all in vain. In a close finish that had the crowd on its feet, Prussia pulled off the impossible. Collapsing onto the track he was astounded to hear himself being declared the winner in a miracle upset.
He rolled over onto his back, panting as a dopey grin split his face from ear to ear. I did it!! Prussia laughed as Hungary came over to him. He was surrounded by his friends and brother as well as the worried coach, but he could care less, he had won and that was all that counted.
“You cheated!” Hungary said as she leaned over and glared at his supine form.
“All’s fair in love and war, baby,” he rasped with a cocky grin.
“The hell it is!”
Prussia just grinned as his breathing slowed and the burning in lungs and calves subsided. “Look, you agreed to the race and if you were that worried about me ‘cheating’ as you so nicely put it, then you should have said something before the race, not afterwards. Besides, it’s not like this was some official track meet. Admit it, you’ve won so many times, you don’t know how to accept defeat graciously!” He sat up and glared at her.
“Excuse me?!” Hungary tossed the apples at him.
The coach coughed, getting their attention. “It seems you’re both right, but you should have known better than to get distracted during a race, Hungary. I’m upholding my decision to have declared Prussia the winner. However, I will speak to your soccer coach about this. Good sportsmanship goes both ways.” The coach shook his head and walked away.
“So, uh… when do you want to go out on that date?” Prussia asked.
“About the twelfth of never at three?” Hungary replied.
“Hungary, that’s not nice!” Italy said. “Prussia’s my friend too.”
She sighed.
“You never know, you might have a good time on your date. “ Italy smiled as he looked over at Prussia, who was celebrating his victory with his brother. “It’s not like you’re getting married to him. It’s just one date.”
“Yeah… Okay. I’ll go, but I’m not doing it for him.” She smiled as she hugged her friend. “I’m doing it for you.”
Italy frowned. “But why?”
“Because I don’t want him whining at his brother and spoiling your fun, Italy,” she said as they walked over to the German brothers. “Hey, Prussia?”
“Yeah?”
“How about you come get me at seven?” Hungary smiled, although she was sure it looked more like a grimace than anything else.
“Uh, sure… and dress nicely, I thought we’d go get something to eat and then go to the movies.”
Hungary snorted. “Don’t worry, unlike you, I’ll take this seriously.”
“Oaky, then I’ll see you then,” Prussia said before walking off with his friends.
She watched him go, wondering what she had just gotten herself into. Hungary turned and was about to go head to the locker room when Italy hurried over to her.
“Hey, Hungary! Wait up!!”
She turned and waited.
“Here, Prussia said you can have them now.” Italy handed her the golden apples. “When I told him how you liked them…”
Hungary took them and laughed. “Say no more, Italy. I guess I deserve them, hunh?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, if I wasn’t so into them I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Oh, Hungary…”
“It’s okay, Italy. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he won’t be an ass.”
“I hope so! You deserve a bit of happiness,” Italy said as he hugged her.
“Thanks. Well, I’d better get going, eh?” She stepped back from him.
“Yeah, me too. See you around!” Italy waved as he hurried off after his friends while she headed off to the locker room. He loved playing matchmaker and he hoped this was one match that would work out for both their sakes.
“Well, did she like them?” Prussia asked Italy.
“Yeah. And I think you’ll have fun on your date too.”
“Oh good.” Prussia looked as relieved as he felt.
“Just don’t act like an ass and you’ll be fine, Brüder,” Germany added. “Anyways, I’ve got a test in chemistry to study for. Hey, Italy, you want to go to the library with me, maybe we can study together?”
“Sure…”
The two walked off, leaving Prussia alone with his thoughts. Walking back to his dorm room, he recalled the old saying about being careful what one wished for and he hoped his date with Hungary would go well enough to ask her out again. Sighing softly, he pushed those thoughts away, until he realized their date was tomorrow night and not only that, but things eventually ended badly for Atalanta and Hippomenes. “Maybe the gods’ll take pity on me…” he said softly. “Oh hell! Who am I kidding? Those gods would have a field day with this!” He ran the palm of his hand down his face. “Well, it is what it is.” Shrugging, he entered his dorm to wait for whatever the Fates had in store for him.
Characters: Prussia, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Roma, Ukraine, Greece
Challenge: This was done for a challenge/contest over at DA. Details can be found here: http://my.deviantart.com/art/Hetalia-Contest-Time-359493290
Rating: PG 13 for gratuitous nudity & language
Summary: Prussia challenges mega-track star Hungary to a race in the hopes of winning a date with her…
Author’s note: This is a modern retelling of the myth of Atalanta and her famous footrace. Please note it’s set in the Gakuen’verse, which I believe is set in NYC, although, I’m not sure if it’s been stated exactly that it is. For the purpose of this story, it is and they have enough room for a track as well as a field for the students to play other sports on, like football and soccer.
Author’s note 2: I also want to thank my beta, Jen for looking this over for me.
Word count: 4512
Prussia sat in the bleachers, watching the track team go through their warm-ups. None of his fellow countries on the team really held his interest except one. She stood in the outer lane, closest to him and bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to loosen up and warm her muscles at the same time. Prussia sighed, Hungary, the girl of his dreams, was World Academy’s greatest track star. No one was able to beat her. She was so good, she often ran against boys from the other schools, which was amazing to begin with; that she actually beat them was phenomenal.
So he came every day and sat in the bleachers, cheering the team on, even though he only had eyes for its star athlete. Prussia watched as she took her mark for a practice run, trying hard not to drool as she fitted her feet into the starter’s block, bending her deliciously long legs in a crouch, before the crack of the starter’s gun. Hungary seemed to explode without effort, easily outdistancing the girls; she was running against, without breaking a sweat. She was as fleet-footed as the legendary messenger of the gods, Mercury, so much so, that after her last race, she was given a pair of gold sneakers, which Italy had painted white wings on the heels, from her fellow teammates. Hungary wore them at every race her senior year too, just like she wore them in practice. And just like the goddesses from the myths they were reading about in English Lit, she seemed oblivious to the “mere mortals” that surrounded her. Unfortunately for Prussia, he was just another mortal in her eyes. No matter how hard he tried to get her to notice him, using every awesome trick in his arsenal, she either completely ignored him, or threatened him with bodily harm, which left him completely baffled. None of the other girls were able to resist his charms, or guys too for that matter, but Hungary. The more she spurned his affections, the more determined he was to win her heart.
Prussia sat there, cheering her on with the others, while trying to desperately come up with a good way to get her to notice him that didn’t involve bodily harm to his person. He was so wrapped up in watching Hungary fly around the track that he failed to notice his brother and his friend had come over to join him. “I wish she’d notice me…” He sighed softly.
“Hey, Prussia!” Italy said as he sat down.
“Brüder,” Germany said as he also sat down.
“Oh, hi!” Prussia grinned. “What brings you here?”
“You were supposed to help us set up for the student art show,” Germany said.
“I was?”
“Yeah! I told Germany, you probably forgot and I was right!” Italy laughed. “Ciao, Bella!” He waved at Hungary, who waved back. “Good luck at next week’s meet!” he called out.
“Thanks, Italy!” Hungary said as she walked past with her teammates.
Italy beamed at her. “Don’t forget to come to the art show!”
“I won’t! Catch you later!” Hungary said before disappearing past the bleachers.
“Ciao!”
“She actually talks to you?” Prussia blinked.
“Yeah…” Italy gave him a strange look.
“Italy, you’ve gotta help me!” Prussia said as he grabbed Italy’s shoulders. “I’d do anything for a date with her!”
“Have you asked her out?”
“Yeah, but she always says ‘no.’” Prussia sighed.
“Oh…”
“Brüder, he doesn’t have to help you with anything,” Germany said.
“But?”
“But nothing! Let’s go, Italy.” Germany stood up to leave.
“But I want to help him, Germany.”
“See?” Prussia beamed.
Germany sighed. He had a bad feeling about this, especially the way his brother and best friend sat there, whispering amongst themselves like a bunch of co-conspirators. Although, he hoped it would turn out okay for his brother’s sake. Folding his arms across his chest, he waited patiently for them to formulate a plan. He looked at his watch. “I hate to break this up, but you need to get ready for the art show, Italy.”
“Oh yeah! See you later, Prussia.” He started to make his way down the bleachers with Germany.
“Yeah… oh wait!” Prussia stood and hurried after them.
“What?” Germany replied.
“What time’s the art show?”
“Seven, why?”
“I’ll see you both there!” Feeling happier, Prussia picked up his backpack and hurried off to his afternoon class, which just happened to be English Lit. The building, his class was in, was not far from the gymnasium and track and Prussia made it with minutes to spare. He took a seat in the back as usual. Rummaging through his backpack, he took out his notebook and a pen. They were studying mythology, which he found interesting and they were supposed to have a guest lecturer. When he walked in, Prussia was glad to see it was Italy’s grandfather instead of his own. Pen poised over his notebook, he began taking notes as Roma Vargas droned on about various gods and goddesses. He also spent some time talking about various heroes, like Heracles and Achilles as well as several mortals; mostly the women who Zeus fooled around with. Prussia scribbled everything down, giving it all a half an ear. Interesting as it was, this was all covered in his textbook, even the parts where various heroes and heroines were placed in the night sky as stars so that they would always be remembered. Prussia sighed softly. He was hoping to learn something new or if not, he wanted to move onto The Iliad as it dealt with the Trojan War.
“Before we move onto The Iliad, I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite myths,” Roma said.
Prussia perked up at that. He learned forward in his seat, his chin resting on his upturned palm while he played with the pen in his left hand.
“It’s a story about a footrace, which I think everyone would like, seeing as we’re going to the nationals, eh?” Roma grinned at the soft murmur of assent. “Well, this was a special footrace. There was this girl named Atalanta, who could run like the wind and she was rather famous not only for that ability but for also being a good huntress. Anyway, when she came of age, all the young men wanted her hand in marriage, but Atalanta was warned never to get married or sleep with a man or something bad would happen to her. So she being the clever girl that she was, she devised a plan to keep her a single woman for the rest of her life. You see,” he paused briefly, “she let it be known that she would marry whoever could beat her in a simple footrace. Well, many had tried and none, sadly succeeded, until, and here the name changes as they often do here, let’s just say his name is Hippomenes, he also goes by another name which escapes me, but anyway, our hero asks the mighty Aphrodite for help in winning this maiden’s hand.”
Roma paused in his narrative to answer a question, “Yes, I think it’s great the ancients had women who were just as strong as men. Now back to our story. You see, Hippomenes had met the fair Atalanta and while she was quite taken with the boy,” he smirked, “the desire to maintain her freedom as well as the prophesy about her coming to a bad end if she lost her virginity made her resist his charms.” Roma winked and the class laughed. “So Aphrodite agrees to help him and-” Before Roma could finish his tale, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. “You can find the myth on page three hundred seventy three of your textbooks. I want you to read it and we’ll discuss it tomorrow. Bye!” He waved as the class got up and filed out.
Prussia filed out with the rest of them. He headed over to the cafeteria for dinner. After getting the blue plate special, he sat down at a table and dug out his textbook for English Lit. Opening to the page Professor Vargas had specified, Prussia began to read the tale of Atalanta. By the he had finished eating; he had finished reading the myth. Packing everything up, he dumped his tray in the garbage on the way out and hurried to the dorm to get ready for the art show.
He found them at the student center, which had been set up like an art gallery, standing by Italy’s display. Everyone in the art club had their own mini exhibit, showing off their best work in various mediums and the rest of student body walked amongst them admiring the work. A few students stopped here and there to discuss the art with the artist and it was one of the highlights of the semester due to the party-like atmosphere. “Hey Brüder, Italy!” Prussia called out as he walked over to them.
“Hey, Prussia! Come see my exhibit!” Italy cried. Taking his best friend’s brother by the arm he ushered him over to his work.
Prussia stood there, admiring the portrait of his brother in oils. He knew Italy was good, but he was completely blown away by the painting. Italy also had a charcoal still life of a bowl of fruit and a pastel landscape of the quad outside their dorms. On a pedestal in the middle sat three golden apples. Prussia picked one up. “What’s this?”
“Put that down, Brüder!” Germany reached for the apple.
“It’s okay, Germany, they’re meant to be picked up and looked at.” Italy smiled. “It’s supposed to be an attempt at sculpture.” He shrugged. “And I thought it would be nice if it was something that people could pick up and handle and really feel the art, you know? Like those funky decorated cows you find all over the city, or those bronze sculptures of people that sit on park benches… You know, art for the people.”
Prussia nodded. “I like that. It’s not weird or pretentious, like those pieces of material they had hanging all over Central Park two years ago.”
“You mean The Gates by Christo/Jeanne-Claude? I don’t think my art is anywhere near that level, Prussia!” Italy blushed. “But thanks!”
Prussia snorted. “I think your work is way better than that!” He was about to say more, but Hungary had walked over to them. Confronted by the object of his desire, Prussia felt a momentary loss for words.
“I agree with Prussia, you’re much better that they are.”
Italy blushed and sputtered in Italian. “Grazie!”
“You’re welcome.” Hungary smiled at him.
It was all Prussia could do not to sigh. He wished Hungary would smile at him like that too. Unfortunately, she never did. As long as he had known her, she always looked at him with contempt. He held the apple in his hand, wondering if he should offer it to Hungary, when she snatched it from him and handed it back to Italy.
“I think this is yours.” Hungary held the apple out to him.
“Grazie…” Italy replied as he took the proffered art piece, setting it down next to the other two apples.
“You’re welcome.”
“Hey, Hungary!” Taiwan called out. “Come’re, you’ve gotta see this!”
Ukraine came over with her. “Greece’s got a naked guy!”
“What?” Hungary’s eyes went wide.
“Oh that, he did a sculpture of some guy’s torso,” Italy added. “He was very secretive about it, but the art teacher knew about it, so he was allowed to enter it.”
Prussia blushed. He agreed to do it on a dare from his friends, but only on the condition Greece would create something without a head, and he agreed, sculpting something that looked like part of an ancient stature. He hoped Hungary liked it as he watched her being dragged away by her friends.
Ukraine and Hungary tried to get close enough to see the sculpture, but it was hard with the small crowd that had formed around it. Granted it consisted of mostly girls, but there were a few guys milling about and the big question on everyone’s mind was who the model was.
“Wow! Is that not perfection or what?”
“I know, right?! It’s like some kind of Adonis!!”
“Hey, Greece, who’s the model?”
“Ummm… my cat?” Greece said his eyes twinkling with amusement at the groans that answer garnered from his admirers. “Seriously, he asked me not to say.” He shrugged and leaned back in the chair he was sitting on.
“I wonder if he’s a student here,” Ukraine said when she and Hungary got close enough to look at the statue properly.
“Who knows?” Hungary shrugged. “It could be anybody, maybe even Greece himself.”
“Nah…” Ukraine said. “It’s too skinny to be him, not that he’s fat or anything.” She giggled. “No, this guy is lean and wiry, like Italy and Romano. Maybe it’s Romano!”
Hungary snorted. “I doubt it, but it could be Spain though…” They walked around behind it, and stared at its butt. The two of them turned to each other and chorused, “Where’s dat ass!” before collapsing against each other in a giggle fit. Whoever this unknown Adonis was, it certainly was not Spain and while France would get naked at the drop of a hat, the torso was too slender to be his as well as too smooth. “You don’t think it’s…” she trailed off as she looked back over at Italy and his friends, and saw Prussia staring at them.
“Who?”
“Never mind. Come on, I hear they’re serving gelato as part of the refreshments.”
“Yeah? I’ve always wanted to try some!” Ukraine enthused as the two of walked over to the refreshment stand.
Prussia let out a small sigh of relief when the girls headed in the opposite direction.
Italy smiled as he picked up one of the golden apples. Turning towards Prussia, he said, “You know, when the exhibit is done, I won’t need these anymore.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “You can have them if you want.” Italy tossed it at him and Prussia easily caught it. “Maybe they’ll help you win her heart.”
“Thanks!”
“Prego,” Italy said with a smile.
Germany frowned. “You shouldn’t give your art away, Italy.”
“Don’t worry. This time, it’s important I do so,” Italy said as he grabbed his friend’s arm and pulled him aside. “I’ll explain later,” he said softly.
“I’d better go, uh, thanks for the art, Italy. I guess I’ll pick it up tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s good.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, bye!” Prussia started to walk away.
“Where you going?” Germany asked.
“I’ve got a race to plan.” He smirked at his brother’s frown. “You’d better explain it to him, Itachen before his face gets stuck like that.” Prussia winked.
“Will do.”
As he walked away, Prussia heard Italy telling his brother the story of Atalanta and the race. He blended into the crowd, moving around the group exhibition until he caught up with Hungary again.
“What are you doing, following me?” she asked as they stood there, admiring an abstract painting.
“Not really,” Prussia said. “It’s more like I was trying to find you.”
“Oh really?” Hungary crossed her arms and looked at him, as if daring him to say something stupid or obnoxious.
“Yeah… I know I’ve been a pain in the ass,” he said as she snorted, “and I know you said you’d rather die than go out on a date with me, but, I thought, well…”
“You can actually think?”
“Yeah… and umm, well, I want to challenge you to a race.”
Hungary looked at him like he had three heads. “A race?” She frowned as several people gathered around to see her spurn Prussia’s affections again.
“Yeah, like a footrace, you know, the stuff you’re so good at.”
She laughed.
“I’m serious, Hungary, and I feel there should be some real stakes here too. Like if I win,” everyone laughed when he said that, “you agreed to go on a date with me, but if I lose…” Prussia paused for dramatic effect, “I promise to stop bugging you for any more dates.”
“Sounds fair to me as far as sucker bets go. You do know I’m going to beat the pants off you.”
“Yeah, well I was hoping something like that would happen on our date.”
“Dream on, Bunny-boy, cuz that’s the only place we’ll be dating… in your dreams.”
“So I take it it’s a race?” Prussia smirked.
“Yeah!”
“Great! See you tomorrow at three.”
Hungary rolled her eyes at him. “Three it is!” She turned and walked away, leaving him there.
Prussia’s two friends happened to catch the exchange. Spain laughed as he patted Prussia on the back. “She’s going to kick your ass.”
France nodded. “Unless you’ve decided to give up on her and this is your way of gracefully accepting defeat?”
“No, I fully intend to win.” Prussia slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders.
“Dude, you can’t possibly win. Running a race is not the same as running up and down a football field.”
“Boys, say what you will, I’m gonna score a goal to end all goals. You should come watch and when I win, I want you to yell, ‘goooooooooooooooooooaaaal,’ Spain, like that guy does on the Spanish channel when we watch the games.”
“Sure thing!”
“So how are you going to beat her?” France asked the question that was on everyone’s mind, who had heard about the challenge.
“That’s my lil secret…” Prussia said mysteriously and it was all he would say on the subject, which had spread like wildfire around campus. No one could believe he actually had the nerve the challenge Hungary to footrace.
The next day, three o’clock could not get there fast enough. Prussia was surprised at the number of students that had turned out to see the “race of the century.” He stood there on the track in his running clothes, a baggy old warm-up suit and pants. His pockets bulged from the apples he had stuffed in there. While he stretched and warmed up his muscles, his thoughts drifted back to what Italy had told him…
“Prussia, you’ll only have three tries to distract her enough to pull ahead of her. I think, and your brother agrees with me, that if you can get enough of a lead, you’ll beat her.”
Prussia nodded. “I know she’s overconfident about winning, which’ll make this win so freaking awesome too!”
“Try not to be overconfident yourself, Brüder,” Germany added.
“Anyway,” Italy started again, “Just toss the first apple off to the side, when she’s just a bit ahead of you, so she’ll see it. Hungary’ll probably wonder where it came from and will go get it, so when she does-”
“Run like hell, Brüder!” Germany finished for him.
Prussia nodded. “I know what to do.” He grinned. “And when she pulls ahead again, I toss the second one, right?”
“Yup! But throw it a bit farther that time, cuz she’ll probably be mad and that always makes her run faster.”
“Will do!”
Since he had no idea how to use a starting block, it was agreed they would start from a standing position. Plus Hungary also gave him a bit of a head start, which Prussia gladly accepted. He stood at the ready, listening to the traditional start of the race.
“On your marks, get set, go!” the coach cried as he fired the starting pistol into the air.
Prussia didn’t need to be told twice. He took off at a comfortable pace, hugging the inner track like his life depended on it. Prussia had just rounded the first turn when Hungary shot past him. Damn it!! he thought, when he remembered the apples in his pocket. Carefully pulling one out, without losing his stride, he waited until she had made it onto the straight when he tossed it.
Hungary frowned as a bright golden object sailed past in her peripheral vision. Slowing slightly, she was surprised to see one of Italy’s golden apples lying on the inner field. Leaving the track, Hungary bent down to retrieve it to the astonished cry from the crowd. Prussia, completely ignoring her, ran on past. He managed to get several lengths ahead of her, before Hungary, in a burst of angry speed, pulled ahead of him again as they rounded the second turn.
Prussia hurried to catch up, but she easily pulled away on the second straight. As the third turn loomed ahead, he took out the second apple and tossed it farther off to the side. This time Hungary looked like she was going to ignore it and Prussia felt a moment of panic as there was no way he could catch her, when she veered off course again onto the infield. Finding a sudden burst of speed, he didn’t know he had, Prussia rounded the third corner. He made it all the way through the fourth and final turn of their one-lap race, when Hungary sped past him.
Lungs burning and legs pumping, Prussia kicked it up into high gear. He had to catch her before it was too late. The final apple was bouncing around in his pocket and Prussia had just about given up hope of winning, when he pulled the apple out of his pocket and threw it as hard as he could. It sailed pasted an annoyed Hungary, who had finally figured out what was going on. She was sorely tempted to just leave it there, when she spotted Italy in the bleachers with his grandfather and Germany, cheering loudly. Figuring Prussia must be really desperate if he was resorting to trickery, she thought she could easily win if she went and picked up the final apple.
Prussia watched her head off into the infield. With his last ounce of strength, he put on a burst of speed; he didn’t know he had in him. Running like the wind, the end was in sight as he gave it his all. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hungary trying to pull ahead of him, but it turned out it was all in vain. In a close finish that had the crowd on its feet, Prussia pulled off the impossible. Collapsing onto the track he was astounded to hear himself being declared the winner in a miracle upset.
He rolled over onto his back, panting as a dopey grin split his face from ear to ear. I did it!! Prussia laughed as Hungary came over to him. He was surrounded by his friends and brother as well as the worried coach, but he could care less, he had won and that was all that counted.
“You cheated!” Hungary said as she leaned over and glared at his supine form.
“All’s fair in love and war, baby,” he rasped with a cocky grin.
“The hell it is!”
Prussia just grinned as his breathing slowed and the burning in lungs and calves subsided. “Look, you agreed to the race and if you were that worried about me ‘cheating’ as you so nicely put it, then you should have said something before the race, not afterwards. Besides, it’s not like this was some official track meet. Admit it, you’ve won so many times, you don’t know how to accept defeat graciously!” He sat up and glared at her.
“Excuse me?!” Hungary tossed the apples at him.
The coach coughed, getting their attention. “It seems you’re both right, but you should have known better than to get distracted during a race, Hungary. I’m upholding my decision to have declared Prussia the winner. However, I will speak to your soccer coach about this. Good sportsmanship goes both ways.” The coach shook his head and walked away.
“So, uh… when do you want to go out on that date?” Prussia asked.
“About the twelfth of never at three?” Hungary replied.
“Hungary, that’s not nice!” Italy said. “Prussia’s my friend too.”
She sighed.
“You never know, you might have a good time on your date. “ Italy smiled as he looked over at Prussia, who was celebrating his victory with his brother. “It’s not like you’re getting married to him. It’s just one date.”
“Yeah… Okay. I’ll go, but I’m not doing it for him.” She smiled as she hugged her friend. “I’m doing it for you.”
Italy frowned. “But why?”
“Because I don’t want him whining at his brother and spoiling your fun, Italy,” she said as they walked over to the German brothers. “Hey, Prussia?”
“Yeah?”
“How about you come get me at seven?” Hungary smiled, although she was sure it looked more like a grimace than anything else.
“Uh, sure… and dress nicely, I thought we’d go get something to eat and then go to the movies.”
Hungary snorted. “Don’t worry, unlike you, I’ll take this seriously.”
“Oaky, then I’ll see you then,” Prussia said before walking off with his friends.
She watched him go, wondering what she had just gotten herself into. Hungary turned and was about to go head to the locker room when Italy hurried over to her.
“Hey, Hungary! Wait up!!”
She turned and waited.
“Here, Prussia said you can have them now.” Italy handed her the golden apples. “When I told him how you liked them…”
Hungary took them and laughed. “Say no more, Italy. I guess I deserve them, hunh?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, if I wasn’t so into them I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Oh, Hungary…”
“It’s okay, Italy. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he won’t be an ass.”
“I hope so! You deserve a bit of happiness,” Italy said as he hugged her.
“Thanks. Well, I’d better get going, eh?” She stepped back from him.
“Yeah, me too. See you around!” Italy waved as he hurried off after his friends while she headed off to the locker room. He loved playing matchmaker and he hoped this was one match that would work out for both their sakes.
“Well, did she like them?” Prussia asked Italy.
“Yeah. And I think you’ll have fun on your date too.”
“Oh good.” Prussia looked as relieved as he felt.
“Just don’t act like an ass and you’ll be fine, Brüder,” Germany added. “Anyways, I’ve got a test in chemistry to study for. Hey, Italy, you want to go to the library with me, maybe we can study together?”
“Sure…”
The two walked off, leaving Prussia alone with his thoughts. Walking back to his dorm room, he recalled the old saying about being careful what one wished for and he hoped his date with Hungary would go well enough to ask her out again. Sighing softly, he pushed those thoughts away, until he realized their date was tomorrow night and not only that, but things eventually ended badly for Atalanta and Hippomenes. “Maybe the gods’ll take pity on me…” he said softly. “Oh hell! Who am I kidding? Those gods would have a field day with this!” He ran the palm of his hand down his face. “Well, it is what it is.” Shrugging, he entered his dorm to wait for whatever the Fates had in store for him.
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Date: 2013-03-26 07:00 pm (UTC)Let's hope they don't decide to have too much fun in a pizza shop somewhere and get turned into lions... lol
I'd like to see how you'd end this, if you're keen on continuing? :D
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Date: 2013-03-26 07:24 pm (UTC)*laughs* Yeah! "And that, kids, is why there are those great big stone lions in from of the library..." ;p
Maybe I'll eventually write a part two, but for now it feels finished to me. XD
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Date: 2013-03-26 07:55 pm (UTC)Finished is great too! :D
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Date: 2013-03-26 08:30 pm (UTC)Yeah... XD
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Date: 2013-03-26 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-26 08:33 pm (UTC)Really? Thanks! It's good to hear that! :D
*giggles* I think that might just wind up as a bit of omake. ;p I have a friend that took a sculpting class, she was an art major, & she told me stories about the male torso she had done. ;p