Please note, for the purposes of this story Lili = Liechtenstein, think of it as a nickname since she has no official human name and let's face it Liechtenstein is awkward to type over and over again.

All characters are copyright Hidekaz Himuraya and do not belong to me.

Raivis stood in front of the large door and hesitated. Nothing to worry about, Feliks had said, but Raivis wasn't so sure. He was never sure about much of anything . Finally he gathered up his courage enough to give two hesitant knocks on the wooden door.

A moment later the door opened and Raivis had to catch his breath. The girl before him was beautiful, with short blonde hair and brilliant green eyes, like fresh spring leaves. And her smile made Latvia's heart catch, it was so sweet and full of light. The angel at the door smiled again, "You must be Raivis, please come in, I just have to get my purse and we can leave."

Raivis was entranced as he stepped inside, watching as she stepped into the other room and emerged with a purse that matched the green shades of her dress perfectly. She took his hand and went to open the door when a voice called from upstairs. "Lili? Are you going somewhere?" Raivis saw Lili open her mouth to reply as the owner of the voice came down the stairs. The similarity between the two was striking, but there was none of the softness of Liechtenstein in Vash. Raivis had to fight the sudden urge to run out the door, and he might have if Lili's hand hadn't kept him tethered where he was.

Switzerland's eyes narrowed as he saw the interloper in his house. Holding his sister's hand no less. Vash fought the urge to choke the little brat, ignoring him for the moment and turning to his sister. "Lili? Who is this?"

"This is Raivis, we were going to go hang out for a bit." Lili said, her chin tilting up a bit, showing the stubbornness she shared with her brother.

"Oh you are?" Vash said, his voice dropping low. "I don't remember you telling me anything about going out anywhere, especially with this boy." Vash practically spit out the last word as he reached the bottom of the steps.

"Really Vash," she said, one small black boot tapping impatiently on the floor "we're just going to hang out, nothing horrible. He's just a friend."

"Just a friend? Is that right?" Vash glanced down at the two hands and looked back up, his thumb moving down to rub impatiently on the hammer of the gun holstered to his side. "Well, I would hate to be rude to your friend. Please, bring him along to the den so I can get to know your friend better." And he gave a little bow (though Raivis had a feeling that none of that was for him, it was all for his sister, everything was) indicating that they should go ahead of him down the hall.

Lili hesitated "Vash is this really necessary? Please, just let us go, it's no big deal this once. Please?" she smiled at him with a sweetness to make Raivis's heart jump but it did nothing to change the look on her brother's face. After a moment she walked down the hall and Raivis did the only thing he could do. He followed.

The den was small and quiet, one large window allowed a magnificent view of rolling hills and illuminated the room enough that Raivis could see the paintings hanging on the walls, mostly landscapes of the Alps. Lili was already seated when Raivis came in and soon after Vash followed them both in, sitting down with his gun laid in his lap.

It was then that Raivis realized that there were only two chairs in the room. He looked around for a moment, finally looking at Vash. "Please," the blonde said, smiling "have a seat." And he indicated the floor next to Lili's chair.

Raivis bristled for a moment, but quickly calmed down. This was no different from his years with Ivan, just another test. He seated himself on the floor, smoothing out his brown jacket with hands that shook and hoping he looked more composed than he felt. He risked a glance over at Liechtenstein, but she was staring fixedly at her hands folded delicately in her lap.

"Oh good, it seems it takes orders well at least." Vash said, smiling, but the smile was as cold as the Alps and, Raivis realized with a start, just as beautiful. "Now Raivis, what is your opinion of my dear sister?"

"I, I think that she's very beautiful." Raivis answered, looking somewhere in the vicinity of Vash's knee.

"Hm, yes she is, isn't she? And do you plan on treating my sister with respect?" Raivis nodded. "Good. And do you realize that she is your superior in every respect?" Raivis nodded again. "Good. Now I want you to prove it. My sister's boots seem to be dirty," He indicated the perfectly polished boots with a wave of his hand. "I want you to clean them. With your tongue." Raivis looked up into Vash's eyes, certain he must be joking, but there was no hint of it in the young man's face. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He pushed Raivis in the direction of his sister's boots with a well-placed nudge from his own, causing Raivis to go down on all fours in front of the tiny boots. He hesitated again, sitting on the floor was one thing but, but this?

Then suddenly there is pressure on his back, the feel of a boot pushing him down and while the difference in size is negligible, Latvia realizes that Vash is just that much stronger. "What's the matter you little punk?" the voice hisses, satisfied at the young man's humiliation, if not his obedience. "Suddenly you're too good for my sister? Tell you what, you can start on hers, or you can do mine." Another boot moved into Raivis's view, rather larger but just as freshly polished. Raivis felt tears threaten to spill down his cheeks as the pressure on his back increased and he made his choice, bending the last few inches to lick Liechtenstein's boot. The taste of the fresh blacking was harsh on his tongue, his cheeks burned from the embarrassment, and tears flowed down his face to mix with his saliva as he licked, pausing to buff the boot with his jacket sleeve, just wishing that it was over as Vash's laughter rang in his ears.