Unpacking was hell; most of it was rubbish anyway. Old magazines of various genre, unwashed clothes with a near-cardboard consistency, crushed beer cans- amongst other things. Gilbert's roommates stared in disgust, mainly, as they helped him move the boxes. Most of it was being moved into the bin anyway.
"Mon Cher, this is disgusting. Please burn it and start again." Francis scoffed. He picked up a pair of dirty boxers, from inside of an opened box, with one finger. "For the love of god, bin these"
"You know you've fucked up when you disgust the Frenchman. I thought that the depraved bastard had no limits but I stand corrected. Then again, not even a hobo would take anything from these boxes." Antonio added with a smirk. He was already making himself well aquainted with Gilbert's sofa and mini-fridge
"Yeah and you do realise that I only brought you along so that you can pay my rent. I can kick you two shitheads out whenever I want." Gilbert tried to defend himself whilst tipping the contents of another box into a bin bag. He clearly didn't realise the fatal flaw in his "logic".
"But who would pay your rent? You haven't really thought your argument through, have you?" Francis almost laughed. He takes delight in playfully arguing with his friends but, trying to do so with Gilbert only leads to severe second-hand embarrassment. "Staying here to criticize you is worth the money though, my friend"
"Antonio! Pass a beer before the frog gets a beating." Gilbert called, holding out his hands. One of the unfamiliar beers was then launched at the white haired man's head- this was soon followed by a wild eruption of laughter. Gilbert swore to himself, allowing the cold can to bounce off his temple and roll along the floor. Francis cleared his throat, purely for dramatic purposes, before speaking.
"This just in- the Spaniard has finally cracked. More on the story as it develops." Gilbert caught up with his can, opened it with one hand, and then clapped Francis on the back with the other hand.
"Nice one mate. Now shift madman, I'm not sitting on the floor in my own house."
"So, what are we watching then?" Gilbert questioned, idly flicking through Netflix. Antonio lay, asleep, on his lap and Francis was searching for something in the kitchen. "Guess no one's gonna answer then. Horror marathon it is!" He muttered at himself, simply considering what film to start the gore-night with.
"Did you even buy any food?" Francis spoke suddenly, emerging from the open plan kitchen. Gilbert shook his head with a wild laugh. How could his friends be so stupid?
"Who needs food when you have a credit card and a phone? Might as well christen this place with the greasiest food this city has to offer." Francis rolled his eyes- he knew that this was just laziness on Gilbert's part.
"Just this once, and then I am going shopping for us all. You two are free to join me but only myself and Antonio can pick food." Francis groaned, taking his seat on the arm of the 3-seater. Only because Antonio took up the third seat with his unusually long legs.
"But?!"
"For the last time, pickled herring is not an acceptable food source- especially when it is practically raw and coating other abominations."
"You're gonna have to take that argument up with Hedvika- 'kay?" Gilbert didn't care for protesting at the moment. All he wanted was the most greasy pizza and the scariest film Netflix had to offer. "Says the one who eats garden snails anyway"
"One, they aren't Garden snails- I do not know who told you that lie. Second, I don't need to argue with anyone- most sane people with tastebuds can agree with me. Even Antonio, when he is awake, can and I swear 3/4 of his tastebuds have been burnt off by that rot his people call wine." Francis turned to face his friends, a level of self-righteousness surrounded him.
"I watched a cooking show once, that Ramsey bloke said it." Gilbert couldn't care about this debate but carried it on, just to amuse Francis.
"He's English. They don't know decent food or how to cook it, even if it came and bit them on the arse! And clearly the Germans are the same" Francis' tone grew with annoyance. "Anyway, I'm guessing by 'greasy food' you mean Pizza?"
"Fuck yeah!" Gilbert exclaimed, making the man on his lap jump awake. He promptly sat up and punched Gilbert in the arm.
"Do you have to be that enthusiastic when I'm trying to sleep?" Antonio grumbled, with no threat behind his voice, before trying to re-style his ridiculously messy hair "What are you screaming about anyway?"
"Pizza, Antonio, you know how he gets." Francis grimaced "His culinary tastes are so deprived, he believes that this poor imitation of an Italian classic is edible."
"Shut up Francis, you were the one who suggested pizza in the first place"
"It doesn't even have real cheese on it!" Francis continued, ignoring Gilbert's rare voice of reason.
"As if you French know what real cheese looks like" Gilbert muttered, finally deciding on a 'Saw' marathon. Antonio couldn't help but take Gilbert's side on this one, it was far too funny to go the other way.
"Just because my country has produced the most repulsive cheese on the planet- minus that maggot crap they love in Italy- doesn't mean I lack taste" Francis grudgingly agreed with his friend on this- brie is utterly revolting.
"Good call, now shut up and order the pizza" Gilbert swatted Francis away and tried to watch the film. Not that there was any point in trying to focus in this household. Francis then walked out of the room and began calling the nearest pizza shop- according to Google anyway.
Gilbert's mind tried to focus on the film but his heart had other plans. He was far too caught up with the Austrian he met at university. He was an unusual character- mainly a layer of pretentiousness and a reel of sneering comments- but this was a facade, and Gilbert could see straight through it.
"Hey, I haven't seen you around before" Gilbert spoke, tapping the dark haired man on the shoulder. He turned around and pushed his glasses up, only speaking when he realised that Gilbert was not going to leave.
"What do you want? And I am always in the library, it's a shame you look as though you never come in here- otherwise, we could have had this exchange earlier." His thick accent caused a few unwanted pauses within this but his message was delivered.
"Calm down mate, I was only trying to strike a conversation" Clearly, the message was delivered to everyone except Gilbert. "Why are you so hostile?"
"I'm hostile in the hopes that the likes of you will leave me alone" he spoke through gritted teeth. He refused to look Gilbert in the eyes because that would mean looking up at him. Instead, he pretended to edit his music theory notes.
"The likes of me? What is that supposed to mean?" Gilbert looked almost amused, within the annoyance, before sitting next to the man.
Roderich looked Gilbert in the eyes due to the height decrease, his breath caught in his throat. His lilac eyes fluttered around Gilbert's face, his cheeks growing redder by the moment. It was as though his argument had dried up
"Well..I.. Your kind, those who don't take a hint to leave me alone" Roderich added, embarrassment breaking through his guise of anger. He seemingly couldn't tear his gaze away from Gilbert's eyes.
"Well, by the looks of it, you don't want me to leave do you?" Gilbert spoke with a smirk, a devilish gleam flashes before his eyes. "What's your name prissy?"
"First of all, do not call me prissy. Second of all, why is my name a concern of yours?" The man in the tailcoat, cravat, and ruffled shirt just told me to not call him prissy? Would little prince suit him better?
"Well, little prince, I would like to know your name so we can keep this conversation going? How about that?"
"Roderich" he spoke immediately, almost catching Gilbert off guard. "Roderich Edelstien"
"Even your name screams money, damn" Gilbert laughed, trying to conceal his emotions. Roderich.. what a beautiful name. "If you wanna know, my name is Gilbert Beilschmidt"
"Do you have a brother?" Roderich questioned, looking back to his papers with a defeated sigh. He put the main books back into his bag- it was evident that no more progress was going to be made here. Gilbert didn't know if the sigh was for him or for the work- all he wanted was to hear the man's voice again.
"Yeah, he's still in college.Ludwig. You couldn't miss him if you've met him" Gilbert nodded, thinking of the times back home. How they would walk around the fields and farms, how they would go to the market for their grandfather. How he berated Ludwig for having a boyfriend- mainly because of his age- even though he had one too. Whenever Ludwig needed any help with his model planes or school work, he would call in him to help. The model big brother.
"Yes, I have met him before. He was in the same music classes as my e-... friend" Roderich shook off his previous comment, an odd action to anyone. Even those who aren't paying much attention.
"What was that? You know you can say the word ex?" Gilbert was guessing but it really struck a nerve with the young man. Probably cause Ludwig's music class was an all male one...
"No, it's fine! Drop it please." he spoke in a low tone "You know why I can't say that word here, I'm sure of it" Gilbert laughed at this comment- if any one knew that Roderich was gay, it would be literally anyone with eyes. He screams camp without even doing anything, then he lets his eyes wander. Not that I mind, of course...
"Yeah yeah, Rod. I have to go to a lecture now but I'll be back soon ok?" Gilbert stood up, winking before patting him on the back. Roderich's face turned a brilliant shade of scarlet as Gilbert left- he let his eyes wander once more.
"So, you alright there? Earth to Gilbert?" Francis called, waving his hand in front of the other's face. "You're grinning like an idiot and I want to know why. Clearly it's not the film." He looked back at the tv, the screen was characteristically covered in blood and body parts. "Definitely not the film"
"Well, I met someone.." Gilbert spoke, patting the now vacant seat next to him. It appears that Antonio had already gone to bed. Of all the people he could talk to about love- it was Francis.
"Oh, do tell! Is our little Marius in love at last?" Francis chuckled, knowing that it would make Gilbert more eager to tell him if he spoke in purely musical references. Gilbert's eyes lit up at this.
"And if I'm Marius, who are you?"
"Enjolras, obviously" Francis laughed "Now, speak of your new-found love"
"Nah, you're more like Grantaire, all you do is drink and sleep" Gilbert smirked, resting his head on Francis' shoulder. "And I don't know what to think about him"
"Him? Oh mon cher, you have finally seen the light!" Francis almost giggled "What do you mean 'you don't know'?"
"Well, he is really stuck up, but the way he looks at me. Oh man. Those eyes as well, they are framed by the angriest eyebrows I have seen, but they are amazing. Oh shit, I need to stop. I'm turning into you!"
"There's nothing wrong with letting love into your life once in a while- actually, it's quite healthy." Francis smiled gently, tracing his eyes across the features of his friend's face. The flickering light of the television danced along every crease and structure- casting an ethereal glow that Francis could have sworn took his heart.
"I've practically lived without it for the majority of my life- why should i start now?"
"Because you are in love my friend!" Francis exclaimed, smiling almost sadly. Gilbert had never seen such sadness in his friend's eyes before, especially when he was smiling. "And love is the most beautiful thing we have on this planet."
"You sure of that, bud? I've seen it ruin a tonne of people" Gilbert spoke seriously, for the first time in his life. But that always comes to an end quickly "Besides, all you care about is getting into their pants."
"You wound me Gilbert dear. I do have the capability to love without 'getting into their pants'- as you so eloquently put it" Francis sighed "Yes it does hurt many people, but it also makes even more people whole again."
"Ah touché Francis. I hope that love can come to you and me- I mean, you deserve it more but yeah" Gilbert let out a light chuckle and then rested his head on his friends shoulder. "Why is life so cruel at times?"
"Darling, life isn't cruel. It only deals us what it thinks we can handle- and you are strong. What you have in here" he paused to tap Gilbert's chest. Francis pulse quickened; it first attacked his chest, then ran down his arm and extended into his fingertips. "is the strongest thing I have ever met." A knock at the door halted their heart-to-heart.
"Enough of this soppy crap and answer the door, pizza's
here!" Gilbert exclaimed, standing up to go to Antonio's room.
"You always know how to ruin the moment my friend. Always." Francis sighed, dismayed at the abrupt ending of his conversation. Guess I couldn't really make a move now eh? Francis thought bitterly to himself.
