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Laments of Cinderella	By : GrandDutchyLiet Category: +G to L > Hetalia: Axis Powers Views: 1461 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or make any money from this story. This work contains Cross-dressing, Yaoi lemons in future chapters, Male x Male relationships, Alternative Universe , Human names used.

Chapter List
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Upon entering the Braginski kitchen for the first time, Toris was struck by its noticeable lack of size. The room where he now stood was not much larger than an average kitchen; its walls and workspace compact but more than adequate for daily usage. The room's overall color scheme was dominated by a beautiful sage green, accented here and there with lush browns and muted satin creams while the low lighting from the brass chandelier emanated a calm, inviting glow. Classic style cabinets lined the side and back wall of the room, some inlaid with glass doors that made the cupboard contents readily visible. Russian style amenities like vodka, borsch, and pickled eggs were present in abundance; some cured meat tenders hung from a hook dangling near the kitchen window. Fresh herbs were dried and kept upright in glass jars and the preparatory island was clean and well stocked with knives and other utensils.

Kataya looked up from her seat at the table where she was intently studying a brown container of maple syrup bearing a red leaf. She seemed lost in thought, only just now finally taking note of Toris' presence. "Oh you're here," she marveled in a surprised tone, "If I knew you were coming down so soon, I would have sent the dogs away."

"I'm sorry. I thought you were expecting me," Toris apologized quickly, smoothing his fresh white apron as he drew closer to her.

"Silly me. I completely forgot. I get so absent minded sometimes," she explained in a flustered tone, her face pinking a bit as she did so.

Toris responded with a weak smile. "Um… If you like, I can start cooking immediately, " he offered as he washed his hands in the sink.

He fetched a large white bowl from the rack of dishes located on the open shelf above him. "Would you prefer a traditional Russian dinner?" he asked in a hospitable tone, "Or I could prepare something from a Lithuanian menu since it's my specialty."

"Actually, I had something different in mind, " Kataya stated, her fingers gliding over the syrup container's cap, "You're familiar with American food, yes?" she asked.

"Not really," Toris responded but quickly caught himself as he recalled that such a thing was part of his fake resume, "What I mean to say is that I can only cook ordinary every day American things, like prepackaged food or cheeseburgers."

Kataya leaned forward a bit, resting heavily on her elbows. "What about pancakes?" she inquired.

Toris raised an eyebrow. It was such an odd request. "I could do that for you, but are you certain? It's more of a breakfast food," he remarked.

The blonde woman smiled. "I know. But I can't get the taste of a certain maple syrup out of my head. I was hoping you might know a recipe closer to Canadian style pancakes*."

Toris blinked. He wasn't certain such a style actually existed but he'd try to manage it anyway. He'd made western style pancakes* a few times before for his youngest brother Raivis but never from scratch; the prepackaged mixture was so much more convenient.

Toris headed towards the refrigerator and opened it. Fresh butter cream and bottled milk adorned the top rack, tidily grouped together for easy access. He collected them and the eggs he needed and placed them in the preparation area.

Kataya began to hum softly to herself as he did so. Her bright eyes followed his every move intently, readily drinking in the details of his efforts. Toris felt a little unnerved by her constant attentiveness. He wasn't use to being watched and couldn't help feeling a bit self-conscious as a result.

The Lithuanian brunette tugged at his dress collar, brushing the lace edging uncomfortably against his neck as he did so. The collar was starting to feel somewhat restrictive, its high grip on his throat almost suffocating as apprehensive thoughts began to seep into his mind. Toris momentarily closed his eyes, trying his hardest to still his heart as it began beating faster. He could feel an acute dryness welling at the back of his throat and the discomforting knot that was already starting to form there as he added the last bit of milk and butter to the bowl.

Kataya was staring at his hands much too closely, he noted. The brunette met her focused gaze meekly, half expecting the blonde to make a comment. He wrung his hands together nervously as she smiled at him and continued to hum.

Toris sighed as his mind drew its first blank regarding the recipe; he hated how his anxiety was cropping up and rattling him with its paranoia. He stubbornly willed his mind to clear.

"Where do you keep the dry goods?" Toris asked, his voice coming across a bit hoarsely. Kataya pointed at the row behind him.

The brunette readily turned away from her and studied the cabinets she had indicated. The one directly to his left was solely dedicated to vodka. Through the glass, Toris marveled at the fully stocked flavored spirit shelf, impressed by how complete the family's collection appeared to be. Clearly it was the preferred drink of the household, with its overwhelming presence and particular sense of brand loyalty.

Toris glanced over at the other cupboard, finally taking note of the items he needed. He hastily removed them and placed them on the counter.

Kataya peered down into the bowl as he added the baking powder, salt, sugar, and flour to the milk and butter, intently taking in each of the measurements he had carefully doled out. Her fascination was almost childlike as she thoughtful pressed a finger against her bottom lip.

Toris' hands started to shake as her humming ceased. He couldn't help but attribute a certain strangeness to her behavior. Kataya's wonderment evoked a sense of curiosity within him. Was she really so isolated that she'd never seen someone else prepare a meal before? No, that couldn't be right. It must have been something about this dish that was so important to her. He took note of her furrowed brow, an indication that she was concentrating deeply, perhaps engraving his recipe concretely in her mind.

Toris stirred the batter slowly, his fingers gripping the spoon tightly as he did so. Kataya eventually looked away, turning her attention back to the maple syrup container that sat beside her.

"I- I can bring you the food when it's finished if you'd prefer to watch TV while you wait." Toris offered politely.

Kataya shook her head reluctantly. "No, I don't mind. I enjoy watching how others cook. If you need any help, I can do that too." she told him.

The brunette blushed a bit at her kindness. "Do you and your siblings cook a lot together?" he asked her.

Kataya laughed gently at his question. "No. Natalia is talented in other areas besides cooking," she stated.

Toris cocked his head gently in her direction. "Oh? Like what?" he responded, a bit curious to learn more about the pretty girl's hobbies.

"Mostly arts and I guess crafts, if one could call it that." Kataya responded lightly, "And my little Vanya prefers to drink his dinner, so he doesn't bother with cooking skills."

Toris set the bowl back onto the counter. "Ah, so you must do all the cooking?" he concluded.

Kataya nodded. "Yah. Ever since I was little. Well, not so much cooking as baking," she informed him proudly, "When Ivan was still in high school, I used to make lunch for him to bring every day and he would share it with his 'friends' "

The blonde smoothed a hand thoughtfully along the edge of the counter as she recalled a moment in her past. "My brother knows an American, Alfred, and I would ask Vanya to bring him over to teach me how to bake foreign dishes, just like an American," she said, "But Vanya would never bring him to the house, always stating there was a difference of opinion between them both. So I am beyond happy to know that you can finally teach me how to cook all the American foods that I never learned how to!"

Toris couldn't help but tremble in response to her enthusiasm. She really was expecting a lot out of him. It seemed he would need to do some studying pretty quickly.

The brunette turned his attention back to the eggs that were still waiting to be added to the batter. It was now time to break them; a part his worrisome state caused him to dread. Toris drew a deep breath and then slowly started to tapping one of them against the side of the bowl, his hand shaking noticeably as he did so.

"You're nervous because of your new surroundings, aren't you?" Kataya observed as she pushed her chair out and walked around the counter towards him.

"Um… just a little," he admitted, an embarrassed blush sweeping across his face.

Kataya leaned down to one of the lower drawers by the sink and pulled out an apron. It was light blue with a cartoon art style liquor bottle design on the middle of it. Above, it had in colorful white, blue and red letters stating "IN RUSSIA, VODKA DRINK YOU".

"You shouldn't be," she said reassuringly as she patted his shoulder, "The food will taste delicious."

Toris jumped in response to her unexpected touch, unintentionally cracking the second egg awkwardly in his hand. He panicked as a few pieces of eggshell dropped into the batter.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he apologized fiercely as Kataya's eyes widened. The brunette bit his lip. It was all over now! A professional servant would never have done something so careless!

To his surprise, Kataya started to chuckle a bit. She didn't seem troubled at all by this turn of events. She merely put her fingers into the bowl and scooped the broken pieces out of the batter, "I do it all the time," she confessed, a bit of mirth seeping into her tone as she broke the final egg for him, "But Vanya still eats the bread I cook, he just spits out the excess shells that are baked into it."

Toris laughed nervously as he started to stir the batter again.

"Toriska," Kataya said softly but then paused, correcting herself, "Oh, that's right. You prefer being called Toris, don't you? I was wondering… Since you worked in America, will you tell me a little of what its like?"

Toris reluctantly nodded. He was expecting a question like this to come up eventually but he really hoped that she wouldn't ask for too many specific details. All he knew about that country was what he had learned from books or television.

"Um," he began, before saying, "You don't go into a New York alley after dark*."

Kataya's nodded agreeing with him and her eyes lit up. "Ah, so you lived there in New York, didn't you? That means you can read American." she concluded.

No, it didn't. But Toris wasn't about to tell her that.

"I-I was wondering if you could translate something for me?" she asked as she reached into the back of a cabinet and pulled out a box that had English lettering on it. "Can you tell me what it says? I think it's waffle or pancake mix but it tastes different than when I had it the first time."

Toris' heart pounded rapidly against his rib cage as she presented the box to him. Hell, he knew he couldn't translate that! 'Jiffy?' What the hell was that? The outcome of this situation wasn't looking promising at all.

Perhaps, Toris thought, he could use visual cues to figure it out. The brunette studied the box he had been given and took note of the picture of bakery items that were prominently featured on the front. He put his finger experimentally into the open package and tasted its contents. The taste was stale and it's texture was like semolina but it most definitely was not semolina or whatever type of mix Kataya thought it could be.

"Maybe it's British?" she queried uncertainly in response to the displeased face he had made upon tasting it. Toris flipped to the back of the box in an effort to figure out what it actually was. It was during this time that the brunette noticed something critical. "This food is past its expiration date, for almost more than a year now." he pointed out.

"Is it? Has it been that long already?," Kataya replied in a defeated tone as she looked at the date on the box. She took it back from him and turned it over in her hands, pondering deeply for a moment before continuing, "Perhaps-Do you think it's still good?"

With a bit of regret, Toris shook his head 'no'. If he used that mix to make anything, it wouldn't taste very appealing.

"Oh." Kataya replied, her lips forming a pout. "I see," she sighed and then returned the box to its place in the cabinet, hiding it carefully behind some of the other containers of food.

Toris thought it was odd that she didn't discard it. Most people upon learning something was no longer suitable for eating usually threw it out or used it for compost. He wondered why Kataya seemed to have such sentimentality for a food item?

Toris finished mixing his batter and set about greasing the skillet. "If your fond of American food, you could look to see if there is an import grocery store nearby," he suggested, "I'm sure they'd carry most of the things you might like."

Kataya turned around to face him. "Really? You'd take me there sometime?" she asked in an excited tone.

Toris hesitated with his reply. He knew it would mean he'd have to leave the mansion wearing a dress in public if he agreed. Kataya overlooked his reluctance and in her enthusiasm, responded as though he had already consented. She clasped a hand over his and eagerly stated, "We'll go together, okay?"

Toris realized protesting any further would do him no good. The blonde Braginski woman was much too excited to deter now so he'd just have to put it off for as long as he was able. He sighed as he drew a match and lit the gas stove.

Kataya opened a drawer near him and removed a pad of paper. Thoughtfully, she began scrolling a list of what he could only assume was American foodstuffs.

He watched quietly as the batter bubbled as it browned on the face-down side. When Toris was nearly finished cooking, Kataya instructed him to bring the food into the dining room while she fetched her younger sister.

Toris obeyed her request and placed the stack of pancakes he had made near the middle of the table along with a serving fork. He then headed back into the kitchen and removed the milk and cream from the refrigerator and placed them on the serving tray. As he was passing by, he stopped at the table and picked up the brown container of maple syrup Kataya had been looking at earlier. He noticed it bore a Christmas tag on the top with a message written in cursive English. Though he couldn't read the message itself, he could clearly distinguish the names of Matthew and Yekaterina.

Toris went into the dining room and started boiling water on the samovar in preparation for tea. After a few moments, Kataya rejoined him. Her face was framed by disappoint. "Natalia won't be coming down for dinner. She wants to eat later." the blonde explained.

Toris nodded and finished making the tea as Kataya started to eat quietly. He took note of how genuinely pleased she seemed as she added an ample dose of maple syrup to the top of her pancakes. Readily, she ate the ones on her plate as he waited in the corner for her to finish. Contentedly, she concluded the meal by thanking him for the tea and the food he made.

"I'm glad Eduard brought you here as a maid," Kataya reflected as she delivered her final words to him for the evening.

Toris felt the same way too. He was thankful he came, even if things had begun a bit strangely.

The Lithuanian brunette waited until Kataya had gone upstairs for the evening before clearing the table and starting the dishes.

As he finished his duties, his thoughts drifted back to the other lady of the house. Natalia was probably hungry by now. Before he retired to his own room for the evening, he would be certain to bring her something.

Gently, he turned on the stove and reheated three of the pancakes he had made. He arranged them neatly on the plate and wrapped the silverware in a cloth napkin. He then added butter and maple syrup on the side and completed the tray by placing a warm cup of tea sweetened with sugar and milk at its corner.

After heading upstairs, Toris knocked patiently at Natalia's door. Initially, his attempt received no response and he thought she might have fallen asleep. Quietly, he listened until he could hear what reminded him of a low chant coming from behind the door. The sound itself was something eerie and unsettlingly repetitive in nature, almost like someone was saying the words "Marry me" over and over. He knocked again, this time a bit more firmly. "Excuse me," he called, hoping this time she might hear him better.

The chanting stopped abruptly and gradually he began to hear a set of footsteps trudging towards him. The door opened much more slowly than he was expecting and the unfriendly creaking sound of its hinge caused him to shiver. The younger Braginski girl peered out at him, her face forming a bit of a scowl as she realized it had been him who was knocking at her door.

"M-may I come in?" Toris asked, his voice wavering a bit as she continued to regard him with a pensive glare.

Natalia reluctantly relented and backed away from the door, leaving it to creak open the rest of the way. As Toris entered her dark room for the first time, he couldn't help but gawk at the oddity that comprised it. It was so strikingly unusual that he couldn't readily define it in words. The floor was carpeted with a fancy paisley print that contrasted sharply with the tone of the room. It was lined with low burning votive candles that flickered ominously as Natalia passed them. The lighting was low, supplied mainly through candles and a strangely designed decorative lamp that was perched on a dresser near her closed window. At the foot of her four poster bed sat a large wooden trunk that had a wedding dress neatly draped over it.

Toris took note of the wallpaper which was repainted black and plastered haphazardly with an immense amount of photographs, all of the same two people. Toris recognized the one person as Natalia. The second image was of a man, appearing close in age to himself, with short blonde hair and wearing a scarf.

As the brunette studied them, it became clear that some of the photos had been altered, most commonly in such a way that there were people who were deliberately cut out in favor of the young man being added in. In others, Natalia's image was glued on top to appear as though she were standing beside him.

"What did you want?" she asked him in a slightly annoyed tone in response to his staring.

"I..I thought you might be hungry," he said warmly as he held the tray out to her. Natalia stared at his offering with unpleasant disdain. She pointed dismissively to a small writing table in the right hand corner of her room. "Put it over there,' she told him as she headed back to a shrine on the floor.

Toris nodded and did as he was told. As he approached her desk, he took note of the numerous crumpled letters that were discarded on the carpet and tossed in the trash can. Many of them had words like "love" and "marriage" scrolled daintily upon them. He wondered in passing if they were meant for the man featured so prominently in all of her photos.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Toris asked as he took note of a nicely framed picture on her desk that showed the two of them holding hands in the snow.

"We're going to be married," she answered, "Soon or not, one day."

Natalia then proceeded to ignore his presence and continued to kneel in front of a shrine plastered with pictures of the scarf wearing young man, her hands clasped together as she chanted, "MarryMeMarryMeMarryMeMarryMe" over and over again.

Toris couldn't avoid thinking how pretty she looked, almost like a doll as she focused all her energy into willing the unknown man into marriage. After about a moment or so, he decided not to disturb her any further and departed quietly, closing the door behind him as he exited.

In the hallway, he paused to wash the make-up from his face. As he removed his apron and dress in his bedroom, he couldn't help but sigh with relief that the day was finally ending.

Calmly, he opened his suitcase and removed the pale nightgown his brother had packed for him. It was surprising fashionable with its cute embroidery and welcome length that was long enough to flow downward towards his ankles. He liked how it was loose too and easy to wear, much more comfortable than the bra he was starting to remove.

Toris made the decision to leave his tights on, preferring to retain all the warmth he could manage on the cold winter night. He climbed beneath the heavy quilt and settled into his bed but found sleep to be less than forthcoming.

He stared at the ceiling blankly and thought about what he had left behind. He wondered how Raivis was managing on his first night in Eduard's flat. Was his youngest sibling having trouble falling to sleep in an unfamiliar bed too?

The brunette closed his eyes. Eventually, with a little bit of patience, he'd come to call this place home.

To be continued~!

A/N: Thank you all for reading~! Your reviews and comments are deeply appreciated! I'm looking forward to introducing Ivan into the story very soon. Hopefully you'll return again for the next chapter update~!
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Laments of Cinderella