[Fanfiction] for conjure_lass
Title: Butterfly Cakes
Author: seatalia
Recipient: conjure_lass
Characters/Pairing: France/England
Rating: G
Summary: France and England go to an English bakery.
Notes: I'm sorry it's so late, college overwhelmed me this semester /buries head Betaed by strawberrylaugh, digitalhopper and mojoflojo!
Warnings: None
“I still can’t believe you’re taking me to this…eatery, if you can even call it that.” Francis raised his nose in the air haughtily.
“It’s more than an eatery!” Arthur protested as they walked down a backstreet of London, Francis following close behind. “The cakes here are delightful. That’s beside the point, though. You need something in your stomach to soak up all that beer.”
Francis scoffed, for what had seemed like the millionth time that day. “I don’t know how anything made by the Anglais could be delightful. Disgusting, maybe, but never delightful. And I don’t need anything to ‘soak up’ anything. I’m not a lightweight like you.”
“Just shut up and take my word for it, you old git.” Ignoring the ‘lightweight’ comment, the Englishman opened the old door to the bakery; it emitted a squeak. He sat down at a familiar table and pulled out a chair for his guest.
“Gentlemanly as always, Angleterre.” Francis smiled his first genuine smile of the day and took his seat.
“I try to uphold my reputation.” Arthur took off his coat and draped it over the back of his seat, taking his own with grace.
The two nations sat in a silence for a few minutes, taking in the surroundings. The air smelled of berries and warm bread. A blonde, bespectacled girl came over to the table where the two were sitting. She looked nervous - they both assumed it was her first day on the job. She spoke in an accent that sounded English to Francis, but definitely wasn’t - it was more lilting, almost musical. “Can I get the two of you anything to drink?” It was odd that the girl was serving them - Francis was used to ordering his food at a counter and then going to sit down - and it was almost a pleasurable relief for him.
Arthur looked at her and gave the waitress a little wave - he was obviously familiar with her. “Just an Earl Grey for me, please. Get one for him too.”
Francis scoffed. Tea? That was it? In one of his bakeries, the drinks would be specialties. An array of coffees, cappuccinos and espresso drinks would be served - he had to admit, those Italy brothers knew what they were doing with their coffee - it wouldn’t just be plain Earl Grey. Arthur’s sense of good taste was just so…bland.
“Do you have any idea what you want to eat?” Arthur snapped him out of his thoughts, but almost as soon as it had happened he had wrapped himself up in his own mental affairs again. He was staring at the glass case that the bakery used to hold their samples. Everything looked messy. It was all so sloppy, like someone put the food together hastily just to stick it in the case so they could show they actually sold things there. Back in France, desserts and pastries were treated like a work of art. They were delicate and small with elegantly diced pieces of fruit added in for artistry. Occasionally, he felt bad for eating them, but why else would he have bought them? Here, the treats looked like the bakers put no love, no care into them.
Arthur was all but waving a hand in his face when Francis finally realized he had dazed off again. “No. Pick whatever you think is least revolting.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it.” Arthur looked back to the waitress and ordered butterfly cakes - then, she walked away to go get their desserts. A butterfly cake? Well, at least the name sounded nice.
It wasn’t even five minutes later that the waitress came back with an elaborate stand, set it on their table, and wished them a good meal. Francis was impressed; somehow, they got the presentation right. The stand had three tiers. On the highest, the waitress balanced two steaming cups of Earl Grey. The middle tier held cream in a tiny pitcher and an ornate sugar bowl. The bottom tier held, to Francis’ surprise, four cupcakes.
The cupcakes were, from what he could see, the only things in the bakery that looked like some care was actually put into their creation. It looked like the crust of the cake had been peeled off (revealing the moist inside), and butter cream was placed in between the crust, which had been folded up and decorated with orange and black to look like a Monarch butterfly. A tiny smile spread across his lips.
Arthur smirked. “Take one bite and you’ll understand why I brought you here.”
“Don’t get so full of yourself yet. The presentation is nice, but the important thing is the taste.” Francis scoffed and took a bite as Arthur watched his every move. The taste was even better than he expected. The butter cream was light and airy and the cake was moist, but that wasn’t the best part. A pleasant surprise hit him as he began to taste a filling of strawberry jam. His smile widened as he continued to eat the cupcake, savoring every bite he took. “This is amazing. I’m pleasantly surprised, Arthur.”
A self-satisfied smirk spread across Arthur’s face as France finished the last bite of the second cake. “Told you we had good food.” Both nations got up and pushed their chairs in - Arthur left exact change for the waitress on the table, giving her a little wave again.
As they walked out the door, heading towards the pub, it started up again, as it always did. “I bet your beer is disgusting, though.”
“How would you know what good beer is?! You only drink wine!”
“I’m French! Do I really need any other reason?”
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_cake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_shop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Café
Author: seatalia
Recipient: conjure_lass
Characters/Pairing: France/England
Rating: G
Summary: France and England go to an English bakery.
Notes: I'm sorry it's so late, college overwhelmed me this semester /buries head Betaed by strawberrylaugh, digitalhopper and mojoflojo!
Warnings: None
“I still can’t believe you’re taking me to this…eatery, if you can even call it that.” Francis raised his nose in the air haughtily.
“It’s more than an eatery!” Arthur protested as they walked down a backstreet of London, Francis following close behind. “The cakes here are delightful. That’s beside the point, though. You need something in your stomach to soak up all that beer.”
Francis scoffed, for what had seemed like the millionth time that day. “I don’t know how anything made by the Anglais could be delightful. Disgusting, maybe, but never delightful. And I don’t need anything to ‘soak up’ anything. I’m not a lightweight like you.”
“Just shut up and take my word for it, you old git.” Ignoring the ‘lightweight’ comment, the Englishman opened the old door to the bakery; it emitted a squeak. He sat down at a familiar table and pulled out a chair for his guest.
“Gentlemanly as always, Angleterre.” Francis smiled his first genuine smile of the day and took his seat.
“I try to uphold my reputation.” Arthur took off his coat and draped it over the back of his seat, taking his own with grace.
The two nations sat in a silence for a few minutes, taking in the surroundings. The air smelled of berries and warm bread. A blonde, bespectacled girl came over to the table where the two were sitting. She looked nervous - they both assumed it was her first day on the job. She spoke in an accent that sounded English to Francis, but definitely wasn’t - it was more lilting, almost musical. “Can I get the two of you anything to drink?” It was odd that the girl was serving them - Francis was used to ordering his food at a counter and then going to sit down - and it was almost a pleasurable relief for him.
Arthur looked at her and gave the waitress a little wave - he was obviously familiar with her. “Just an Earl Grey for me, please. Get one for him too.”
Francis scoffed. Tea? That was it? In one of his bakeries, the drinks would be specialties. An array of coffees, cappuccinos and espresso drinks would be served - he had to admit, those Italy brothers knew what they were doing with their coffee - it wouldn’t just be plain Earl Grey. Arthur’s sense of good taste was just so…bland.
“Do you have any idea what you want to eat?” Arthur snapped him out of his thoughts, but almost as soon as it had happened he had wrapped himself up in his own mental affairs again. He was staring at the glass case that the bakery used to hold their samples. Everything looked messy. It was all so sloppy, like someone put the food together hastily just to stick it in the case so they could show they actually sold things there. Back in France, desserts and pastries were treated like a work of art. They were delicate and small with elegantly diced pieces of fruit added in for artistry. Occasionally, he felt bad for eating them, but why else would he have bought them? Here, the treats looked like the bakers put no love, no care into them.
Arthur was all but waving a hand in his face when Francis finally realized he had dazed off again. “No. Pick whatever you think is least revolting.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it.” Arthur looked back to the waitress and ordered butterfly cakes - then, she walked away to go get their desserts. A butterfly cake? Well, at least the name sounded nice.
It wasn’t even five minutes later that the waitress came back with an elaborate stand, set it on their table, and wished them a good meal. Francis was impressed; somehow, they got the presentation right. The stand had three tiers. On the highest, the waitress balanced two steaming cups of Earl Grey. The middle tier held cream in a tiny pitcher and an ornate sugar bowl. The bottom tier held, to Francis’ surprise, four cupcakes.
The cupcakes were, from what he could see, the only things in the bakery that looked like some care was actually put into their creation. It looked like the crust of the cake had been peeled off (revealing the moist inside), and butter cream was placed in between the crust, which had been folded up and decorated with orange and black to look like a Monarch butterfly. A tiny smile spread across his lips.
Arthur smirked. “Take one bite and you’ll understand why I brought you here.”
“Don’t get so full of yourself yet. The presentation is nice, but the important thing is the taste.” Francis scoffed and took a bite as Arthur watched his every move. The taste was even better than he expected. The butter cream was light and airy and the cake was moist, but that wasn’t the best part. A pleasant surprise hit him as he began to taste a filling of strawberry jam. His smile widened as he continued to eat the cupcake, savoring every bite he took. “This is amazing. I’m pleasantly surprised, Arthur.”
A self-satisfied smirk spread across Arthur’s face as France finished the last bite of the second cake. “Told you we had good food.” Both nations got up and pushed their chairs in - Arthur left exact change for the waitress on the table, giving her a little wave again.
As they walked out the door, heading towards the pub, it started up again, as it always did. “I bet your beer is disgusting, though.”
“How would you know what good beer is?! You only drink wine!”
“I’m French! Do I really need any other reason?”
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_cake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_shop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Café