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salmonandsoup · 2 years ago

Note

Could we get summaries of the member of the vampire mafia?

oh you ABSOLUTELY can! hell yeah

i’mma try to keep these relatively brief but there are like. a dozen members and i love all of them so much and i’m trying to make them all complex people who have lived interesting lives (even if i do have my favorites). i’m gonna put them in order of appearance! and of course, this is under a GIANT READ MORE. because this is LONG. also each person is color coded just for convenience though the colors will repeat (it's just to like, separate each section). heed the content warnings where they appear!

GOD this took a while but i'm proud. if you wanna know more about the overaching plot lemme know. i'm just gonna tag this as "the vampire mafia" for overall stuff

reuben james kent - the one and only english himbo; a giant flirt, a whimsical little shit, and someone who never wants to become manipulative and selfish (he punishes himself harshly for his wrongdoings and is more than a bit of a perfectionist). he’s AMAB, bisexual, and genderqueer, though he usually presents masc and uses solely he/his pronouns unless in drag (in which he calls himself “reuby fangz�� because he thinks he’s funny). born in 1853 in london, he was a tailor barely making ends meet until one night in 1889, after stumbling home drunk off his ass, he got turned into a vampire—so he decided to fuck around with the rich and steal some cash to bring back to his poorer roots, while also becoming quite a bit more cultured in the process (learning how to dance ballet and play the cello). he made some friends in higher places who were also struggling under the hegemonic ideals of the rich and powerful, and so he turned them into vampires too so they could all get their revenge and escape, traipsing around europe and eventually fleeing to america in the late 1900s (of course dodging the WWI draft and fucking around with the rich in america, too). he can’t remember what the hell happened that fateful night he got turned and he doesn’t want to. he’d much rather devote his time to making the world a little more beautiful and a little more fun for everyone—so long as he can keep his impulse control in check. (that causes a lot of problems later down the line… just see what happens with feliks.) everyone in the vampire mafia’s got superhuman abilities, but where reuben’s unique power shines is in flight! mans can fly and he loves to do so. he’s a sweetheart who tries to make everyone smile, but he has problems admitting when he’s done something wrong, which is where one of the big conflicts of the story comes in.

peter gibson - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) peter’s a soft-spoken but no-nonsense librarian who reuben meets and befriends when he’s caught outside as the sun rises (while in this world, vampires won’t die if they stand out in the sun, it does wound them and leave them vulnerable to attacks that will kill them). born in the black dockside community of liverpool, he eventually moved to london to pursue whatever higher education he could squeeze his way into and eventually became a librarian at the guildhall public library. he got roped into all of this bullshit completely on accident, though because of his and nicholas’ love of bookbinding and bookkeeping, he ends up connecting reuben with the people who become his closest friends (and becoming one of those closest friends himself). he’s always wanted to travel the world and never had the funds nor freedom to do so (cog in the machine and whatnot), so he’s happy to help reuben cover his tracks and then travel with the gang when they decide to hightail it outta england permanently. he doesn’t become a vampire immediately, wanting to experience life as an older man first so he can fully appreciate his new abilities. his vampiric power comes in the form of both a photographic and eidetic memory, and though it taxes his body a lot, he can see and hear through other people! (his powers work in tandem with the info broker of this team, riki, and those two get along like a house on fire.)

nicholas sturge - (originally created by @kotilae!) a young trans man from an upper-middle class family who prefers bookbinding to embroidery (though he won’t say no to either). since he sucks at math (regardless of how many tutors he has), he does freelance work with making handkerchiefs and doilies, and he’s a friend of louisa’s (their families often talk together and nicholas’ dad is trying to get in good with louisa’s father and brother, who are much richer). they’re both trying their best to escape their families and the lives their families force them into (though, thankfully, nicholas’ mother supports him living his life as a man, even if he can’t truly do so until he settles somewhere on his own). he’s very anxious and sweet, but also extremely perceptive and Will hold a grudge or a smoking gun against you at the right moment for you to squirm. he holds grudges for quite some time unless that grudge makes him look foolish, and then he’s apologizing for weeks if he cares about you. he’s a phenomenal horseback rider, as that was his greatest passion as a child, and he becomes the getaway driver and transportation expert of the vampire mafia when the brit squad is absorbed into it in 1933. his vampiric power lets him speak to animals and “control” them to a minor degree! (it’s mostly just persuading them, but if he must, he must—they forgive him, anyways.)

eireann louisa lovelace - (originally created by @oops-i-accidentally! also, cw for familial abuse) first, she goes by louisa, not eireann; you’ve gotta be a very good friend of hers to call her that. louisa's an upper class lady with a shitty older brother named lewis who wants nothing to do with their mixed english and irish heritage (their mother is irish), instead vying to find a way to gain the most power from the industrial hegemony possible and using louisa as a pawn and a punching bag. both nicholas and louisa have been trying desperately to find some way out for the both of them; lewis is trying to marry louisa off to the son of a family of bankers so he can gain monetary and political power, and louisa had nearly lost all hope because lewis is the most wretched piece of shit alive. thankfully reuben, peter, and tomasso step in, ready to stir up some shit to create a diversion for both louisa and nicholas—and so, on her wedding day, she escapes and they start running around europe and eventually america. unfortunately, her ex-fiancé starts following her, devastated by her running off, though his intentions aren’t what they may seem. louisa can use various bits of magic as her special vampiric power (with telekinesis as her strong suit), she's a chemist by nature, and she's 100%, hands down, the braincells of the brit squad (and a good chunk of the braincells of the mafia in general). so long as she doesn’t have to answer for some conflict (because she Will just up and run from it, reuben and her get along in that regard), she’s a powerhouse. nothing would fucking function without her. she loves the punk aesthetic when the 70s and 80s roll around, and she’s a huge fuckin’ lesbian. futch supreme

tomasso “tommy” scarlatti - (originally created by @darkysan17! cw for familial abuse) tomasso is an artistic and crass triple threat: a hooligan, a thief, and a dancer. he’s the runt of the family and the youngest of several sons, the scarlattis being early adopters and pioneers of industrialization in northern italy. where his brothers wanted to continue the family trade and learned in their mansion in varenna, tommy found a love for performative theatre, especially ballet. his family constantly brought up the challenges he’d have to face due to his awful stutter and his tics (not to mention his complete disinterest in running the factories and his sympathy for the workers). tomasso’s father beat him ruthlessly when he found him sneaking food to some of the workers, claiming he “stole what his family earned” and what was “rightfully theirs”—but that didn’t stop tomasso, and his resentment for the entire rigmarole only grew. he eventually ran away with ninety-thousand lira (about $50 USD in 1890, and the equivalent of about $1,650 USD today) to join a troupe of dancers that travelled europe, and his father is still looking for him even when he should be long in the grave. he’s the one who teaches reuben both ballet and lockpicking when they meet each other at a festival, and the two devise a plan to get nicholas and louisa to america and safety when all of their families rear their ugly heads. tomasso is kind of childish in his sense of humor and constant grandstanding, but at heart, he’s a true artist and explorer. while most of the dances he knows are western european or american, he has a great interest in historical dancing techniques and theatre from other cultures (like kabuki and chinese opera). he’s still self-conscious about his stutter and tics, to the point of being MEGA defensive over it, even when it gets him into trouble. he tends to play it off afterward, trying to use a tough guy persona to cover up his true feelings. his vampiric power can best be described as “impossible to pin down”: he can walk through solid surfaces and phase in and out of objects at will. eventually he learns to use paintings and photographs as portals, so long as they share the same subject!

finley v. a. seabrooke - (cw parental abuse) louisa’s ex-fiancé, and a man who was raised to basically be a tool. his parents allowed him no privacy and invaded almost every single boundary one can have, all to make him into the perfect asset. the only reason they supported his transition at all was because they could get more use and money out of him as a man than as a woman. the lovelaces and seabrookes were close by the time finley and louisa were in their twenties, and lewis set the two of them up to be married so he could access the wealth and power the seabrookes held. finley was overjoyed to have someone be his wife, especially someone as wonderful as louisa (even though they’d rarely seen each other, just the idea of someone loving him in that way was enough for him), but of course, louisa runs away, leaving finley heartbroken and terrified. lewis stokes the fire and sends finley off to find louisa and bring her back, and perhaps to get revenge on the brutes who took her. but the more that finley looks at everything that’s gone on, especially with how lewis seems to have some uncanny knowledge of events that haven’t even happened yet… the more he starts to try and unravel the pieces of this puzzle. eventually, he too becomes a vampire and after rebuking lewis fully, he joins the mafia as a financial resource and one of the faces of the group, since he’s very good at talking to those in high places. his vampiric power ends up being flesh-crafting (think vicissitude from vampire: the masquerade).

feliks kaufmann - my son, my socially anxious, depressed son who can punch through over 13” (33cm) of solid steel (his vampiric power is super strength and bloodbending on occasion). i love him so much. i try not to play favorites; he is my favorite. he’s 6’10” (208cm), 265 pounds (120kg) of pure kosher BEEF. just… a pure wall of a man. long story short, he’s a 2nd-gen russian-american jew (so his grandparents fled russia and the pogroms), and because he and his family in little odessa have like, ten mouths to feed and a tiny apartment, he gets sucked into the world of organized crime to try and pay the bills. one night when he’s walking home, reuben starts to flirt with him, and while feliks is receptive, he’s got places to be. reuben convinces him to stay still for just a second, putting him in a trance and feeding from him (though not to kill him; reuben refuses to kill unless in self-defense, and not only that, but he also refuses to become adept at truly hypnotizing anyone because the idea of holding someone’s mind hostage disgusts him). unfortunately for them both, feliks, the eternally-anxious motherfucker that he is, breaks out of the trance and fights back, leading to a huge scuffle with him dying and reanimating as a vampire while reuben flees the scene. now, feliks being jewish plays a big part here: because vampires can unfortunately be taken as an amalgamation of antisemitic conspiracies and canards (check here for more on that), and this happens in 1927, feliks thinks he just got hate-crimed. he loves his family more than anything in the world and now feels like he can never face them again because he’s been turned into an undead monster who, if he’s found out, would Literally be proving the white supremacists right and that means there’s a serious chance of violence against his family and community, so he’s FURIOUS. he hunts reuben and his friends down for six years, accruing more and more power in the criminal world in order to do so (he gets more members in his crew, starts doing vigilante work to gain the respect of the communities he resides in, etc.). thankfully, in 1933, he takes a moment to think about what they’re even doing anymore and asks reuben what the fuck was up with all of that. reuben genuinely was just hungry, and he had no idea that his actions would have those… unfortunate implications. (like i said, himbo.) while it’s not all hunky-dory, reuben actually apologizes and vows to help feliks reconnect with his family, and the two of them team up to fuck up the KKK and the nazis, so things smooth over relatively quickly. sue me, i’m a sucker for enemies to lovers, and feliks is also bisexual (though cisgender).

gaspare “loupe eye” paviano - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) gaspare is feliks’ underboss and right-hand man, going from a thrall underneath him into an equal and a powerful, flirtatious vampire in his own right. he’s a charmer, and loyal to the end, but he’s more than a little indecisive and impulsive at the worst times. he was born to a lower middle class italian- and greek-american family in chicago, and much like feliks, in order to provide for his family, he fell into a life of organized crime at a young age and couldn’t get out. one fateful day, he manages to save his boss from getting stiffed on a jewelry deal by pointing out a fake sapphire, and he’s able to get legitimate tutelage and claim to his parents that he was a “jeweler’s apprentice”. he earns the nickname “loupe eye” paviano through these endeavors. eventually, in 1929, he gets orders to go to new york and deal with an upstart there who’s been causing trouble… which ends up being feliks. sensing potential in the young man, feliks slaughters the rest of the group, but leaves gaspare alive and turns him into a thrall. however, towards the end of their first year working together, gaspare continually breaks out of the trance and resists some of feliks’ more grisly orders, his first real means of standing up for himself and what HE wants (which is big, because he’s been pretty aimless and just kind of followed orders up until this point—he has few motivations in life and was kinda depressed and picked fights a lot). in response to that, feliks actually establishes a genuine partnership, turning gaspare into a vampire so that they can both work to achieve their goals. gaspare’s vampiric power is shadow manipulation and teleportation!

retha “riki” harris - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) feliks’ childhood best friend and resident spy/info-broker of the vampire mafia! she’s a bit of a clown, but she just likes making people happy and watching them go about their days when they’re happiest. she also has a little guilty pleasure in reading a ton of romance novels. she’s african- and japanese-american (and she’s also got vitiligo), but because interracial marriage was banned, she’s technically a child born out of wedlock. however, there’s no drama here because her dad knew about it and wholly loves riki as her daughter (as he’s also in love with the man who fathered her—they’re both bisexual and we stan healthy communication and open relationships!). riki grew up in the same neighborhood as feliks, and she’s a self-taught nurse who’s hustling her way up in the world the same way feliks did with the criminal underground. when feliks goes missing, she looks for him doggedly because That’s Her Best Fucking Friend And She Needs To Know What Happened, and when she finally pins him down and pries the info from him, she decides to investigate the circumstances because there’s a lot that isn’t adding up. throughout 1929 to 1933, she gives feliks the location of the brits for most of the time that he chases them. however, she’s also the one to actually get feliks to sit down with reuben and talk things out. her vampiric power is the ability to shape-shift into animals, which helps a lot when gathering information—and it’s the reason why she’s got the nickname “baby bat” with the group! she likes to be a vampire bat the most.

amélie “ami” boulanger and gadreau boulanger – (gadreau was made by @neogeoandcompany! he’s the lavellan of neo’s da:i playthrough) a pair of fraternal twins from bordeaux, france who become a pair of master assassins and traceurs (parkour artists). cast out from their home for being “devil’s children”, also known as albinism mixed with severe melanosis in solely their sclera and irises (making the sclera nearly black and their eyes a deep reddish color—their bodies really went “okay, we’re sending all the melanin there and nowhere else”), they relied on each other to try and eke their way through the world, taking odd jobs wherever they could and evading the trouble that came with some of the more unsavory tasks. (gadreau’s scar is from when he pointed out a few holes in the plan of a leader of thieves, and his tone did not sit well with the man, so he “gave him something to smirk about”. ami made short work of the bastard after that slight to her brother.) they turned to petty thievery as they grew older and snatched up whatever bits and pieces of education they could, until they eventually saved up enough money to make the trek to america. ami stole away on a boat first, and decided to turn to thievery once again to make ends meet, knowing that far too many people would love to take advantage of a young woman who spoke little english. she ended up encountering feliks when trying to steal from him, and he decided that he quite liked her gall and willingness to put up a fight, and so she became a member of the mafia and honed her skills with a pistol. when gadreau crosses over, he’s very cross when he learns that ami has joined a mafia family, but cannot deny that the family she’s made might help them both settle their scores—and what the twins do, they do together, no matter what. ami’s vampiric power is technomancy (where she can make machinery do what she wants it to, as in immediately picking locks and disabling security cameras with a touch), and gadreau can turn invisible! both of them can also walk on walls and ceilings. gravity means nothing to the double spiderman menace.

liesl “liza” kaplan - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) originally introduced as one of the first recurring Genuine Antagonists of the story (like finley), liesl eventually joins the mafia as the mechanic for all artillery and vehicles. she’s a take-charge kind of woman who thinks she always knows best, and she refuses to put up with any bullshit (she has lived FAR TOO LONG for tomfoolery to get in the way of her goals and dreams, and if you dare try and hurt those she cares about, you will not live to tell the tale). she is a very nurturing figure at heart, though, and loves to spoil people. like feliks, she’s jewish (and also born to a reform family like feliks), but she grew up in heilbronn, germany until her family immigrated to the united states when she was in her twenties. she studied as much biology (specifically botany) as she could, and her impeccable grades and performance actually landed her in the university of pennsylvania. while she traveled to various farms to learn more about soil temperature and yield, she met a young farmer and fell in love, eventually marrying him and creating a life with him. unfortunately, he died young and her children moved away, so her loneliness makes her a perfect target for a supernatural hunters’ guild to scoop her up and convince her of the threat of all kinds of undesirables, especially vampires. she encounters the vampire mafia and swears to take them down, along with her compatriot ibán, and her being in her sixties does nothing to snuff out her fervor. thankfully, for the three of them, a look at the parallels between their (literal) witch hunts and the rising tensions in europe is enough for them to reject the hunters’ guild. unfortunately, the guild doesn’t take well to defectors, and after an ambush, liesl sustains mortal injuries and decides to become a vampire in order to keep doing her work. her vampiric power ends up being the ability to control plants! (she usually uses it to keep in touch with her garden and make it the best damn rooftop garden in all of new york.)

ibán lucero garcia abascal - (cw for exorcisms, familial abuse, and suicide) another Recurring Antagonist-At-First, ibán works with liesl to try and destroy the vampire mafia, but becomes the religious expert for the vampire mafia. when we meet him, he’s a priest and exorcist, though his methods kind of put the vatican at arm’s length (insert “i don’t know… that’s scary!” comic here). he was born in ciudad juarez in northern mexico, but his family moved to what would become white sands, new mexico before he was three, so he’s got dual citizenship. his family was deeply religious, and so he became a devout catholic, though that didn’t stop his family from worrying about his eccentricities, his grandfather especially. ibán didn’t care to partake in the usual communal activities, and hated to be touched unless he sought out comfort. he often played alone and had trouble keeping eye contact, and while he knew quite a lot for his age, he could not understand other people and spoke bluntly and callously. all of this led to his grandfather trying to exorcize him when he was eight, which didn’t exactly stop the problems, but it taught ibán to repress like nobody’s business and gave him a serious fear of vulnerability and hatred for his own mind. (turns out, ibán is autistic and not, in fact, possessed by a demon. but mental health solutions are not exactly amazing in the 1910s, so we get the lovechild of john ward from the FAITH horror game series and inspector javert from les miserables.) eventually in his twenties, ibán moves further east to alexandria, virginia, and becomes an exorcist for hire, fervently hunting down demons. some of them were genuine threats, but unfortunately, others were either supernatural creatures just kind of living their lives or were other mentally ill people. the same supernatural hunter’s guild that picked up liesl lures in ibán, and the two get along well. for how devout ibán is, differing religions don’t bother him and even become a point of interest (if it means he gets better at banishing demons from all walks of life). they both agree that vampires, especially, are unnatural monsters that must be purged. and that’s how the vampire mafia finds these two, and through repeated interactions, ibán and gadreau find themselves constantly in each other’s sights (sue me, another enemies to lovers story, but blame neo for it too because he enabled me). when the guild shows its true colors and it turns out they work for lewis, liesl actively desists and stands alongside the mafia, but ibán has a much trickier time reconciling with his own actions because the moral rigidity that got him through so much hardship is now coming back to bite him in the ass. he very nearly jumps off a building before gadreau finds him and convinces him to move forward instead. and so, with liesl, ibán officially joins the mafia and decides to deal with spirits in a more peaceful way (though demons still get their ass beat). ibán’s vampiric power is a little hard to give a name to, but he can pull people’s emotions out through their blood and turn said blood into weaponry or tools based on the emotions in them. so if someone was angry with him, he could turn that anger into a literal sword to use against them, but unfortunately, ibán takes on those emotions—so if he removes someone’s fear, he feels that fear, and they don’t, whatever the cost of that may be.

jenab bin tan zakaria (alias miles cintaku) - (originally created by @maxusthemad! cw for family murder) the last member of the team! max describes him as kind of like if dexter morgan and patrick jane had a vigilante-justice fueled murder fusion—while he is incredibly empathetic to those who are struggling, he has nothing but rage for those who prey on the inequalities of a system that forces such. he’s unfortunately condescending and myopic, refusing to take help unless he absolutely needs it and things are his way or the highway more times than not, but his wit and his sense of justice and family bring him through. he comes to the mafia in the late 1950s, early 1960s, so there’s a bit of a jump (though perhaps he’ll be in the background for keen eyes to spot). he’s the “therapist” and interrogator of the group when he officially joins (yes, yes, conflict of interest, but none of these guys can like. go to any old therapist and jenab does know what he’s doing). he was born in perak, malaya in 1921 to an english father and a malay mother. he grew up to become fascinated with the workings of the mind, especially with morbid disgust in what causes people to commit horrible acts against each other. he graduated from universiti pendidikan sultan idris with a doctorate of psychology focusing on behavioral health, and a minor in anatomy. the mask of the studious and quiet young man hid a growing rage and antipathy, and soon he held the corpse of a sex pest stalker in his own hands. the rush and satisfaction of removing such a disgusting person from the world led him to becoming more than a bit of a vigilante killer, finding those who committed terrible deeds and giving them some extrajudicial justice. he moved around during his youth, but eventually became a school counselor in kuala lumpur and met a young woman named fariza, who captured his heart. he eventually decided to settle down with her and marry her in 1948, giving up his vigilante work in order to focus on making things safe for fariza and their coming daughter, khatijah. unfortunately, tragedy struck soon after, and another serial killer who went by the moniker of navy james killed fariza before khatijah was born and left malaysia before jenab could bring him to justice. this sends him spiraling into a deep depression, but it also fuels the flame to go back to his vigilante ways. he taunts navy james by killing another scumbag and using the killer’s tag, and then starts to hunt him down across the globe. when he comes across the vampire mafia, he offers his services and expertise in exchange for their resources, but found family strikes again! shit! he kind of loves all of them now. his vampiric power is possession and the ability to have his spirit leave his body temporarily.

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doueverwonder · 10 months ago

Text

May 16th, 1900

Notes: technically a repost but the original is part of a chapter fic that i don't want to advertise right now because i don't have the energy to edit the whole thing

Warnings: None

Names bc i confuse folks sometimes

Liesl - Liechtenstein

Edith - Austria-Hungary (oc)

Evžen - Slovakia

Marika - Czechia (bohemia in this fic)

no ao3 link sorry :(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Roderich, can you get Liesl and Edith?" Erzsébet yelled to her husband from the kitchen.

"Yes liebling," He responded back, getting up from his piano bench. Roderich made his way to the second floor where all the bedrooms were, last he had checked both his daughters were in Liesl's room playing. Before Edith was born Liesl had already started claiming she was too old to play–Ludwig had started to as well–but by the time Edith had grown to three years neither had any problems with the most trivial childhood games anymore.

He opened the bedroom door not expecting... "Papa! You can't move that it is holding the castle up!" Edith, five-years-old now, had immediately popped out from under a makeshift tent of blankets; held together by an array of chairs, the bedposts, and formerly the door handle.

"I'm sorry Mäuschen," he tried to sound as sincere as possible, "can I be forgiven?"

She pursed her lips, looking over her father intensively as if she were considering, "You will have to ask the queen for a pardon" she said the last word as if it were something she had just learned, and had been waiting to use.

"A pardon?" Now the amusement was hard to keep away from, "And where is the queen?"

"In the castle, where else would the queen be?"

"Preparing for the visit of her brother perhaps?" He said it as a reminder that Ludwig was coming today, both girls had been excited as their brother came around less and less as time went on. He was quickly becoming one of the most powerful nations in Europe and that was leaving him with less leisurely time. "Now come, we have things to do"

"No." Edith was extremely stubborn, took after her mother Roderich always said "You have to come in and get Liesl"

He looked over the blankets that took up most of the standing room in the bedroom, there was never a time when he would have done anything close to climbing across the floor to get a child out. Roderich remembered when Feliciano had first come to live with him, the Italian had only been twelve at the time and still had some of his childhood left; games were not a thing Roderich participated in.

He looked down at his second daughter, and sighed. "And where pray tell is the entrance?"

Edith smiled, quickly getting down on her hands and knees and crawling through a small opening; obviously expecting her father to follow after her. Roderich sighed, mumbling to himself about how he was getting too old to do things like this. The girls either didn't think about it, or obviously weren't expecting anyone bigger than a nineteen-year-old girl–and a petite one at that–to come through.

Once getting to what appeared to be the main part of their tent he found Liesl sitting cross legged, a paper crown, that he now recalled seeing the girls making earlier that morning, sitting on her head. "Hallo Papa"

"Hallo Schatzi" Roderich smiled, "I was told I had to come ask for a pardon for knocking over part of the castle"

She tried not to laugh "Is that what Edith said?"

Roderich nodded as Edith reappeared, now sporting her own paper crown. She sat down on a pile of pillows that he could only assume was serving as a makeshift 'throne' in their castle. Edith crossed her arms, looking as serious as a five year old is able to be; "What do you need from us?"

"Well" Roderich sat up a little straighter, which wasn't much considering he was trying to not knock his head into the roof of the tent. "I was sent by your mo-" He stopped deciding the best way to go about this would be to play along with their game, "I was sent by the queen Erzí of the neighboring kingdom, she invites you both to an outdoor banquet in honor of the visiting..." he trailed off trying to think of a title for Ludwig, "of Duke Lutz Von Beilschmidt"</p>

Edith turned to her older sister, "Do we have ties to Von Beilschmidt?" She asked, still acting very serious.

Liesl knowing what her father was doing nodded, "Yes very serious ties" the younger of the girls pursed her lips, thinking it over very seriously.

Roderich not wanting to have to drag this out any longer tacked on, "The viscountess, Marika of Bohemia and her Lover Evžen of Slovak with also be attending"

She considered this, then nodded, "We will come" She stood up, small enough to stand in the tent without knocking it over completely. While Liesl and Roderich still had to crawl to get out of the tent, Edith kept her crown on, but no longer bothered with keeping the tent up and she opened the door rushing downstairs to check for what must have been the seventh time to see if Ludwig had arrived yet.

"Are Marika and Evžen really coming?" Liesl asked, looking back to the mess that was her room with all the blankets and pillows dragged off her bed.

"They are, don't worry you will still spend plenty of time with Ludwig" she nodded, setting her own paper crown on her dressing before going downstairs; Roderich followed not far behind while dusting at his pant legs and muttering about how he might have to change now.

Roderich stopped in the hall listening for a moment, he could hear the creaking of floor boards, that he knew was caused by Edith jumping up and down to be able to see over the top of the counter at whatever her mother was making. He heard his wife scolding the small girl, telling her she had just had breakfast, and 'these sandwiches are for lunch you can have one later'. Liesl, quiet as ever, was asking if there was anything she could help with; it was a normal routine for him to hear from his family. But it never became less endearing.

He went into the kitchen, walking quietly up behind Edith. He knew Erzsébet saw him, it was close to impossible to sneak up on her. Roderich winked at his wife, using the fact that their daughter was still distracted begging to have a sandwich right now instead of waiting.

Just as he went to grab Edith, Erzí flipped around, "Roderich Edelstein, what are you doing?"

He feigned ignorance, holding his one hand to his chest, setting the other on Edith's head "I wasn't doing anything. I was just going to note that her braids are falling out"

The Hungarian woman rolled her eyes at her husband, knowing that is absolutely not all he had planned, "I think I left a brush in the sitting room, if you want to redo them"

"Oh I don't think I need it" Roderich picked Edith up, taking her over and setting her in a chair at the kitchen table, he took the now slightly crumpled crown of her head, and undid the ribbons on her braids, running his fingers through her hair to get the braids completely undone. Erszébet had never learned how to braid, and when Liesl was little she had tried to learn but always got them mixed up, and if they were done they fell out quite quickly. Roderich however took to doing it quite easily, and therefore almost always did the girls hair.

"Why doesn't Lutz come as much anymore?" Edith asked as she winced from the pulling on her hair.

"We've told you Mäuschen," Roderich answered "He is a big country, and is very busy"

"And uncle Gilbert doesn't like us anymore"

"Liesl!" Erzí responded quickly to her daughters statement, "That isn't true, your uncle likes you and your sister plenty" she stopped momentarily, a small smirk on her lips "He just doesn't like your father"

Roderich tried not to act too offended at his wife's amusement on the subject, "When you get older you'll be just as busy, then you will understand"

"I don't want to be busy" she crossed her arms, "Mama can I not do work when I get big?"

Erzsébet hummed in thought for a moment, turning to look Edith up and down, "Hmmm, I don't know, ask your Father.

"Papa?"

Roderich shook his head, "You won't have a choice, Mäuschen. You are Austria-Hungary, meaning many people will depend on you in the future just as they depend on your mother and I now"

"I don't want to be Austria-Hungary," the five-year-old stated it very seriously, her arms still crossed a determined look on her face, "I'll be somewhere else"

"Like where?" Liesl asked, from her spot where she sat on the counter across the kitchen,

Edith's face lit up, "I'll be Liechtenstein! And then you can be Austria-Hungary!”

There was a decision to be made now, Edith was stubborn and if she was insistent they could switch lands; they would switch lands. "Bébi," Erzí ventured carefully, "That has never been done before"

"Then we'll be first to do it!"

Roderich, Erzsébet, and Liesl gave each other a look, the tone said she wasn't going to be convinced otherwise. Two options, let Erzí argue with her over it–she is the only one capable of doing so–or let it go, and let her eventually figure it out herself. If they weren't going out as soon as Ludwig arrived, the first option would have been the usual, but since they were and wanted her to be at the very least cooperative, for now they would let it go.

“When will Ludwig get here?" Liesl asked, she hopped off the counter, now just realizing there was something that had now gotten on her skirt. Before anyone could answer, the front door was heard opening; Roderich thanked God he had already finished her hair as the moment Edith heard it, she jumped down and ran to the front hall. Ludwig never knocked as he had spent half of his childhood in Vienna; you don't knock at your parents house.

Edith came back in looking upset, "It's just Dražen"

"I thought he already left for the day?"

"He forgot his jacket" she slinked over to Erzsébet, burying her head in her mothers skirts.

Erzí tried not to roll her eyes, "You're going to pout now?" she looked up at Roderich and mouthed 'this comes from you'; he tried not to be offended by it. He knew she was right though, even he could admit he was more... prone to being upset when something small didn't happen like he wanted it to. Meanwhile, his wife was much better at adjusting, or making things go as she wanted them to, and thankfully Liesl had inherited that.

The door opened and closed again, and footsteps quickly started nearing the kitchen. "Edith, why don't you go check if that's your brother?" Erzsébet asked, trying to get her daughter to let go of her.

"It's not, it's probably Evžen, or Dražen forgetting his watch or something" she mumbled, not moving from her spot.

Erzsébet tried not to sigh too heavily, it was true they had so many people living in this house it could be any number of people. Not to mention Dražen was known for forgetting things and coming back to the house four times before he finally had everything.

Ludwig walked in the kitchen though Edith didn't see him due to her continued pouting streak. Roderich smiled at him and said quite loudly "Mäuschen, would you look who is here?"

"It's a trick" she said, still not moving. "I don't believe that Lutz is here yet, you're just being mean"

Liesl meanwhile rolled her eyes at her little sister, wiping her hands on her dress and going over to hug her brother; "Hallo Lutz"

"It's nice to see you, Lise," he said, hugging her back tightly. Edith hearing his voice pulled her face away looking over, "Hallo Ditte"

She stood there for a moment, looking up to her mother with a sheepish expression, and it took everything in Erzí's power to not give her daughter a 'I told you so' look. Edith let go of her mother and quickly went over to her brother, Ludwig let go of Liesl to be able to pick her up. "No hello?" he asked jokingly, when she didn't respond instead holding on to him continuing to pout, he shook his head "Okay, I missed you too"

"How are you doing Lutz?" Roderich asked after his nephew,

"I've been well, I-"

"Well? My goodness you look more than well!" Erzsébet came over, her usual motherly ramblings already starting, "Have you gotten taller since we last saw you? You're definitely older; you must have passed Liesl by now."

Liesl huffed from where she had sat next to her father at the kitchen table, nations and people didn't age the same and sometimes younger could pass the elders in age: Liesl hadn't taken kindly to her baby cousin getting older than her. "He's still younger than me"

"Of course I am," Ludwig added, he had found that he preferred being Liesl's younger. Being older than her just made him feel odd, and odd was the last thing he wanted right now.

"How are Gilbert and Reiner?" Erzsébet asked about the two men now in charge of Ludwig after her husband had been removed from the union.

"Papa is well, and uncle Reiner is..." he laughed a bit and shrugged, "he’s in a mood about something though no one will tell me what.”

"Good good,” Roderich clearly had not listened to the second part, or maybe any of it “now can we not bring them up again? The last things I want to speak of on such a lovely day are Prussia and Brandenburg" Roderich butt back into the conversation at the mention of the two men.

"Of course Vati, sorry" Ludwig said, trying to set Edith back down but she was refusing to let go.

Roderich waved his hand in a dismissive motion, "No need to apologize, Edith Stefania let go of your cousin”

Edith finally let go, just as from the hall came, "Evžen, I am aware you're 'trying' but I need better than 'trying'!"

The room shared a curious look, Marika and Evžen fought a lot so it was no surprise, just curiosity at what he did wrong this time to earn another scolding from her. It was only eleven thirty, and hard to think of an offense that could have been made already. The bickering continued as the came into the kitchen, "Would both of you please shut it"

"He didn't wake me up in time this morning!" Marika quickly responded,

You looked so peaceful láska–"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that!"

"You didn't mind so much last night-"

"Children!" Erzsébet snapped at them, gesturing particularly to Edith. The two had an absolutely horrid reputation of forgetting where they were and whose company they were in when in the middle of their arguments; and more often than not needed someone to remind them where they were before it got too heated.

Marika finally looked around the room noticing who all was there, she stopped at Ludwig, "You."

"Me?" he questioned, obviously confused at what he had done to upset her this time.

She groaned, "That's not how you're supposed to... I miss Adelheid"

"We all do, but now is not the day to reminisce over what's gone. It is a day to make new memories for the future" Roderich stated getting up from his chair, "Marika would you mind?" he half gestured to Edith.

She sighed, "No I wouldn't" and held her hand out to Edith "Come, lets go get your jacket and shoes on"

"I'll show Lutz where he's staying" Liesl quickly volunteered, getting up from her chair.

"I know where the room is" Ludwig always stayed in the same room, there would be no reason for anyone to show him where it was.

"No, something happened there, so you're staying somewhere else." Erzsébet and Roderich looked just as, if not more, confused by that statement than Ludwig was. Liesl must have noticed her parents' confusion and not wanting to answer questions pulled him out before any could be asked.

"Do we want to know what Liesl and Edith did?" Roderich asked his wife, as they were the only two left in the kitchen.

Erzí shook her head, "No I don't think we do, at least not right now"

"Then shall we go Frau Edelstein?"

She tried not to roll her eyes at him, but still had a smirk on her lips, "You know I don't like it when you call me that"

"I waited for centuries to, I'm going to do so as much as possible. Unless you divorce me for it"

#hws austria #hws hungary #hws liechtenstein #hws germany #hws czechia #hws slovakia #hws austria-hungary #hetalia #apersonwhowrites #aushun

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