Random Encounter [Austria, Poland]

Roderich walked down the long alleys of the Grocery store. He never liked grocery shopping. Things were much easier back in the days. Sadly, his days as a Great Power were long over and he couldn’t afford the dozens of servants he used to have in service back in the days. Thus, he had to do it himself. He didn’t like the fact that he had to go out there alone. Then again, he couldn’t have his wi- lover to accompany him every time.

Another thing he disliked is that he would usually meet with his other fellow nations. Of course, it wasn’t always a bad thing. Feliciano would give him great cooking tips and it was always pleasant to talk to the little nation. Then again, he would sometimes see Gilbert, who was an incredible pain to deal with when Elizaveta was absent and the Prussian seemed to take advantage of such situation.

He stopped in front of the meat section. He realized that he had not encountered any familiar nation ever since he had entered the store. Although he found this troubling, he thought that it was bound to happen anytime soon. For now, he was looking through the huge selection of different meat product, which seemed to be more of a battle between Quantity vs. Quality and Frugality vs. Nobless Oblige. While he was still pondering about it, he failed to notice that a fellow nation was nearby…

He hated grocery shopping. It was the bane of his entire existence, the one thing he never looked forward to... shopping for clothes was one thing, he always liked new clothes and shoes, but... food? When they had been together way back when, it was always Lithuania that went food shopping. He knew what to get, when to get it, how much to get of it, and how to cook it... Poland wasn't a bad cook, but Lithuania had always been better.

The other reason he hated going grocery shopping was because of the dirty looks he'd always get. People glaring at him as he walked by, people rolling their eyes when they heard the click of his designer heels, people turning to avoid looking at him. He had always dressed and acted differently... people should just get over it. They should be used to it by now.

His mindset changed when he got to the meats section. He had really been craving some kielbasa; it was one of the few things he could always make perfectly, and it lasted for a while. He wasn't expecting to see any fellow nations, but sure enough, there was that little curly brown plume of hair that he had come to recognize as a sign of the devil.

Austria.

He decided to ignore him.

The Austrian quickly peeked to his side. Apparently, today’s familiar face had green eyes, neatly split blond hair and a slender face that could be easily mistaken for a woman’s. His clothes didn’t help that fact, but Roderich knew very well who it was.

It was Poland, also known as Feliks.

Even though everyone was staring at the Pole, Roderich seemed unhinged by his appearance. In fact, he was far from a good position to complain about other people’s choices of clothing. Nobody wears frills or cravats nowadays, after all. To be honest, he had grown used to Poland’s appearance a long time ago.

Roderich noticed that the Polish man was ignoring him. Although he didn’t find that surprising, he sighed. “Good day, Feliks,” he said, “I see that you are still ignoring me, even after so long…”

The seemingly young blonde bristled slightly, then forced a very, very fake smile onto his face.

"Oh! Austria! I totally didn't see you there, you know? I'm gonna make keilbasa tonight, so I was way too busy trying to decide on all the different brands of shit that I need. How are you? I heard they're having a sale on the generic beef today... that might totally suit your fancy, you know?"

The smile never left his lips, but it was rather obvious that he was being catty in the most subtle way he could. Even his stance shifted... one hip cocked to the side, legs spread apart in a stable position, head held just a little higher. He was always guarded around new people, and old enemies... and Austria had been an old enemy, way back when. The partitions had been rough, and he still had nightmares sometimes...

Roderich crossed his arms as he listened to the blonde spoke. The Austrian closed his eyes and sighed, trying to look unbothered by Feliks' subtle remarks and because he couldn't stare at his obviously-faked smile. Truthfully, Roderich was used to this, as a certain Prussian was certainly much worse than him. Nonetheless, it would always hit him when others commented about his frugal lifestyle. He decided to ignore it, even if he could easily comment on the pole's own lifestyle. He already wasn't on good terms with the nation and there was no need to make it worse. Feliks would probably never forgive him for the partitions, even if it was over 200 years ago and that he would never have been able to gain his independence without his help.

He sighed. "I always find it amusing that everyone thinks I would buy the cheapest meat regardless if I have someone over for dinner or not." he replied, trying to sound as calm as possible while truthfully, he was annoyed. Was he supposed to be on the same level as Vash? The brunette sighed. At least he wasn't as bad as the Swiss when it came to that.

"Look, I'm not saying that you're cheap or anything... I'm just saying that you might want to check out the sale! I really don't see what's so wrong with that." Feliks crossed his arms, his hip cocked in his stereotypical diva pose. "If I had people helping me with my shopping, it'd go a lot faster... not that I, like, need help with that or anything. I'm a PRO shopper, you know! I get the best deals for the most absolutely fabulous stuff!" He smiled and batted his eyelashes.

The partitions had so long ago, but he still dreamt about them...about how it felt when Roderich had just stood there, waiting for the sloppy lions to be done with the lamb before taking their left-overs. It was a hard thing to get over... especially when everyone was always out to get you, in one way or the other.

"Ah," Austria began, "Forgive me, I must have misunderstood what you meant." The Pole wasn't lying, he had gained some sort of notoriety with the other nations when it came to shopping.

Roderich doesn't have good memories of the partitions either. Even if he was one of the nations that tore him to pieces, he was scarred as well. He had seen a cruel side of Prussia that he would never had expected before and it was the same for Russia, even if he had already witnessed Ivan's... behavior. Even with what he had seen, it was probably not even close to anything Feliks suffered during those times. It was shameful, to say the least. He sighed.

"Look, Feliks, I know you still hate me and I can perfectly understand that," the Austrian said, "I know you probably will never forgive me, but I'd like for you to know that I'm truly sorry and..." he sighed, "I know they are merely words, but the Friend of a Friend should be a friend, no?" he asked. Truthfully, he didn't expect any forgiveness, but he was clearly tired of the hostility that was present between the two.