Basch was wearing his normal trench coat-it reminded him of his times wearing it during World War I and II-and underneath he wore a shirt with a Templar cross on it. Along with that he had jeans and then running shoes on, his hair was a sloppy mess as always and he grumbled angrily as he walked through Roderich's house, he had was told to come at ten o' clock and he got here at ten o' clock, but Roderich was nowhere to be seen and he twitched angrily. He had been trying to make peace between their bitter dislike of each other, but of course that damn Austrian probably saw a sale on piano's and couldn't pass up a chance.
Now Basch paced the man's hallways, eating some of the Swiss Chocolate he'd brought with him. His chocolate calmed him at times, and as he popped another piece into his mouth he heard something strange in the outskirts of his hearing. He heard someone crying, who was that in Roderich's house? His thoughts immediately flashed to the day he'd found Lili after World War I and he walked toward the noise.
He stopped at an open door and just as he was about to walk inside he could make out who it was inside. It was Elizaveta, she was in her room crying her eyes out, she wasn't in Roderich's room of course, they slept in different rooms now, that's why he hadn't seen or heard her beforehand. He was tempted to walk away, it wasn't his business to speak with her, and he'd heard about her fierce temper, especially when she was horribly upset like she was. He turned around and tried to walk away, but immediately heard a loud BANG on her door.
"Show yourself!" she shouted through her tears. "Who's there?!" Basch sighed, figuring he had no other option than be hunted down and sentenced to death by frying pan. Basch walked forward and then to the right up to her door, hands behind his head to show that he had no intention to harm her. He had no intentions to start a fight, nor did he want to go M14 vs Frying Pan with this woman.
"It's me, Basch," he said. "I came here for a meeting with Roderich, but he's out." There was no point in lying to her, and when he looked into her room he saw that it was in complete disarray. The loud bang had come from a frying pan thrown at the door, and had landed on the floor, which was scatted with papers, pens, random drawers that had been torn out of their cubbies, torn, dresses, and even a smashed violin of Roderich's.
The woman who'd supposedly caused all this damage-presumably with the same frying pan she'd thrown-wasn't looking too good herself. She lay on her bed while tears streamed down her face, and the dress she was wearing was torn up around the base so that all the fluff that would normally be inside it was gone. Now it was just the cloth hanging down to her ankles. Her eyes were horribly red and she seemed to have been crying for quite a while-possibly the entire time Roderich had been gone.
When Basch saw all this he couldn't help, but wonder what had caused it all, he knew she had a temper, but what could have set it off. She looked at him angrily, a hint of death in her eyes. "Why would you want to see him?! You hate him!" Basch could tell it was her rage talking, and tried to remain calm, his warrior instincts fighting him the entire time.
"We were going to attempt to put our petty differences behind us and stop fighting like crotchety old men," he said. "But apparently he's forgotten our meeting, I assume for a grand piano that happened to be on sale, that he just couldn't miss up." The attempted humor had a reverse effect and the woman opened her drawer, taking out another frying pan and throwing it with deadly accuracy, imbedding itself in the wall straight to the left of Basch's head.
More pans came out of the drawer as well, flying into the air and one making it's presence somehow perfectly level on the nightstand with it's handle sticking out. Basch eyed it carefully, knowing she could easily use that frying pan on him without taking the time to reach inside the drawer. It didn't even occur to him to ask himself why she had an entire nightstand with frying pans.
"Yes, of course!" she shouted at him, new tears going down her face as she looked at him. Basch expected her to get up and try to murder him, but instead she broke down, putting her face into her hands and crying ecstatically. She fell face-first into her pillow as though Basch wasn't there, and risking a face-first impact with more frying pans she presumably kept somewhere around here, he walked up to her cautiously.
"Elizaveta…." He said. "Are you alright…?" He couldn't help his instincts, back right after World War I he took Lili in with him, and he never questioned himself for that. Now he walked forward toward the Hungarian woman who could snap on him at any moment. When he asked her that she got a murderous glint on her eye, reached for a frying pan at her nightstand, but she wouldn't be able to reach it without getting off her bed.
Instead she just collapsed on the mattress, crying heavily and leaving Basch speechless. He heard a few muffled words come from her and he raised an eyebrow, inching slightly closer. "What?" he asked, once again in the hope she wouldn't jump up and use that frying pan to her advantage, he was leaving himself completely open because he trusted her not to at the moment.
She didn't grab the pan, instead she looked at him again, wiping her tears off from her sleeve. She was trying to calm down before she spoke, as though she felt bad for snapping at him before. She sat up in a cross-legged position, her pillow in her arms in case she needed to quiet the sounds of her cries again. He watched her chest heave in and out as she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.
"I don't see why I should tell you…" she said, apparently that was the kindest thing she could manage at that point, but Basch could tell she wanted to spill her heart, and tell him everything. He wasn't surprised at that, Roderich probably listened like a pet rock. He looked like he was listening, but he was really focusing on something else. She wanted to talk though, he just had to push a little more.
Basch walked toward her bed and took out his chocolate again, breaking off a piece and offering it to her. "Because I'll listen," he said, with an honest face about him. He picked up a half-broken chair that would still allow him to sit and sat it by the bed, looking to her with chocolate still in hand. He would have no problem listening, but Elizaveta still looked at him curiously, as though trying to decide whether or not to take the chocolate or not. Then, it almost a cute way, she took the chocolate in her teeth and took it out of his hands, hiding her face behind the pillow and eating it.
She took another deep breath, preparing to tell him her story. "It's Roderich…" she said, wiping another tear away. "He… he cares about everything else more than he does for me. Everything I do for him, no matter how much time I spend with him, or offer to spend, it all means nothing to him. All he cares about is that music of his! When I we go on a picnic he brings the violin, when we go for a walk he brings a flute, even in the house when I offer to talk to him he's more obsessed with his sheet music or his piano! Everything is more important than I am!"
She started to cry again, just the simply thought of Roderich sending her into tears. Basch didn't know what to do, he had never had to deal with any woman like this before, other than Lili, but he was her older brother, he knew how to deal with her. He didn't know what to do here, so he leaned forward and with one finger wiped the tears off both of her cheeks. "I know Roderich is a moron," he said. "You deserve better than him, a lot better."
Elizaveta looked at this man-a man she barely knew-with wondrous awe that he could say something like that. Sure, he hated the man he was saying such things about, but she could sense something a bit more lay under those words. They weren't simply words of hate toward that man, they were words of comfort that were meant for her. This surprised her, she had never had anything more than mere words of listening from Roderich, or her brother's taunts of her problems.
This new experience, she almost couldn't handle something like that. She gazed at him in a combination of confusion and awe, as she tried to work out why he would say that in her mind. She was in error mode, and couldn't manage to say anything in return, instead she just took another piece of his chocolate he was holding out, popping it in her mouth and averting her gaze. Little did she know a slight blush had crept up on her cheeks within the few seconds he'd said that to her.
Basch on the other hand noticed the blush and only the slightest of smiles could be seen if you look at him, not even enough to be considering a smile, unless you were Basch Zwingli of Switzerland. Then Elizaveta responded to him a few seconds after he'd finished. "What makes you say that?" she asked this looking at him hopefully, she'd never been complimented like that before, even if only in the slightest as he did. She was almost craving more, like she couldn't stand it if he just left it at that.
Basch looked at her, wondering himself why he was comforting her, after a few seconds of thinking he came up with an answer. "Roderich doesn't deserve you," he said. "Someone like that, who doesn't appreciate what you do for him and only focuses on his music shouldn't have someone like you." He took another bit of chocolate and popped it into his mouth, while Elizaveta was speechless on her bed.
Basch knew quite a bit about Elizaveta through Gilbert, his annoying brother. Gilbert went on and on about her when he was younger, and would complain about how Roderich didn't appreciate her at all. At first it had annoyed Basch, but then he looked forward to the talks, hearing about the ways Roderich screwed up. Basch would laugh at Roderich's stupidity and the Gilbert continued coming to him with his stories, and for a time he was actually allowed on Basch's lawn without being shot.
Then he looked forward to them for another reason, he started to love hearing about this girl whom his brother was obsessed with for a time. Then when the talking stopped, he couldn't help, but think about her, a girl who didn't deserve Roderich in a hopeless relationship while trying to get him to notice her. Almost poetic in a sense, and Basch had lived with the Frenchmen much too long to not enjoy that kind of poetry.
Her blush had deepened and her eyes widened hearing these compliments, although Basch himself didn't realize that they were compliments. "I…" she looked at him in shock, but then her surprise faded, turning to her usual smile on her face. "Thank you Basch, that means a lot," she reached forward, dropping her pillow as she broke another piece of his chocolate off. She took a small bite out of it as she looked at this man; he'd always seemed so cold and distant, but here he was showing a hint of his true side.
When she thought about it, he showed this side often. He'd shown it when he took Lili into his home, he showed it when he declared his neutrality, and when he tried to reach out to Roderich and end their petty feud. He'd done all those for one kind of kindness or another, and now she was seeing this side straight out. Now she could see what Lili meant when she told her that Basch was the sweetest guy she'd ever seen, because it was true.
Basch just sat there though, eating his chocolate and raising an eyebrow at her curiously. He was wondering what she was thinking of right now after his little motivation speech he'd given her. He'd managed to get her out of her crying state all the way to a small smile behind that pillow. He was pretty dense at times like this, not seeing how she was looking at him or thinking about him.
Once Elizaveta took a moment to each her chocolate, she leaned forward, kissing Basch lightly on the cheek with a slight-and completely unlike Elizaveta-giggle. "I really mean it Basch, thank you," he said. "Nobody has ever said things like that, or even tried to comfort me. It means a lot that you did, thank you." She smiled warmly, she just realized she hadn't honestly smiled in a long time. It was usually a forced smile, she hadn't been truly happy in a long while, and this man, he's managed to make her happy.
Basch was stunned, his eyes widened to the size of coins and his skin turned the color of a tomato. Did she really just kiss him? He'd never had someone do that before, and the fact that she just did had surprised him. He didn't know her all that well, and even if he had, he still wouldn't know why, Basch spent much too time in his homeland to really understand women like Elizaveta, and he wasn't going to start understanding any time soon. "You just… kissed me…" he said.
Elizaveta grinned mischievously. "Yes I did~" she said, then she leaned forward, kissing his lips gently. She didn't pull away for a few seconds, even though she lived with Roderich for quite some time-and was even married to him-they hadn't had much romance, nor had they ever lived in the same room together. She didn't know much of intimacy, but she did what she could.
When she pulled away her hand rested on his cheek and Basch was left completely speechless at her actions. He had experienced even less intimacy in his life and didn't know how to respond to something like this, he just sat there like an idiot gazing into her gaze with his own wide surprised ones. He simply could not comprehend what had pushed her to kiss him like she just did.
"And I just kissed you again," she smiled, still gazing into his eyes. She had never really looked at them before, but she just realized that they were forest green-just like her own. They sat there for a few seconds before Elizaveta whispered. "I…. I think you're right…." She said, all her thoughts of Basch swirling around in her head. How he tried to comfort her, the things Lili said about him, and she saw the look in his eyes, the look that said he cared, but was afraid to show it. "I do need someone better than Roderich….."
Basch's mind was going haywire and he couldn't process what she was saying to him. All he understood was that she'd just kissed him, Basch Zwingli, in Roderich's house. They weren't together anymore, but Elizaveta was still in his house and Roderich was extremely protective. Knowing Basch's luck he had to resist the urge to look behind him to see if Roderich was there, fuming at the scene.
Elizaveta looked at him, the smile still on her face with two eyes that sparkled with the same stars Basch loved to gaze at during the night. He'd started the habit when he was younger during his days as a Templar, something he'd kept hidden for a long time, but now he remembered it. His days of gazing at the stars, trying to learn what secret magic they held in their sparkles; he remembered every bit of it all from looking into her eyes, and seeing those stars all over again.
"And I think I've found someone…." She hadn't taken her hand off his cheek and she now leaned forward, closing her eyes again. "No matter how unlucky I am, I've finally found someone…. Who will care for me…. and about me…." Her lips made contact with his and she tilted her head, deepening the kiss. Basch didn't pull away, he pressed his lips against hers, laying a hand on her hip, as she moved toward him in that chair, on her hands and knees as she did so.
He had never kissed someone like they were kissing now; this was passionate, caring, needful, and loving. She positioned her body in a standing position, making sure not to break the connection between their lips. Basch stood with her, laying both his hands on her waist and pulling her hips close to his, holding her close to him. He was taller than her, and he had to face downward to kiss her, this close. He could feel her dress pushing against their legs, with all the fluff removed it was a sign at how close they were.
He melted into the kiss, breathing through his nose so he wouldn't have to pull away for air. He could feel her doing the same thing, her little puffs of hot breath rolling off his skin. He didn't know why she was kissing him, or how long it would last, but he knew that he loved every second of it. He could taste her lips too; they were so sweet, so soft, so gentle. He listened as she released a slight moan into their kiss, and he wanted to press forward, but he kept kissing her, staying in the sweet moment.
He hadn't had anything like this in a long time, but as soon as he was given this moment, it was stripped away from him as he felt a blunt pain in the back of his head. It pushed him away from the kiss and sent him headfirst into Elizaveta's bed, having no wonderings about who had cause him this pain. He looked behind him and saw Roderich, red with anger and breathing heavy, fuming at the two of them.
Elizaveta herself was suddenly filled with fear, not that Roderich and Basch would fight-Basch would tear Roderich's arms off and beat the crap out of him with them-she was afraid that Roderich would force Basch out of the house and then she would be alone again. She watched as Basch turned around and the Roderich's and Basch's eyes met. They were both filled with hate for each other.
Roderich himself wasn't that much better, he'd left a voice message to Hungary that he was buying a new Grand Piano and after an hour of loading it onto the truck, and it almost falling into the street, he comes home to Hungary kissing Basch in his own house. Sure, Elizaveta was his ex-wife, but she was still in his household and she still relied on him for a lot. Then there was Basch, he'd come here to bury the hatchet, and just because he'd left him waiting he decided to make out with Elizaveta.
"This. Is. Unacceptable!" he shouted, the object he'd thrown was an old violin of his that he didn't play anymore, and it had gone to splinters when it impacted with Basch's head. That spoke more for the thickness of Basch's skull than how hard Roderich had thrown it, because Basch wasn't even dazed by the blow. It had just caught him off guard and now he was on his feet, furious.
"What the hell was that you piano bastard?!" Basch shouted, his intolerable side easily coming back, even after all that happened just now. He was easily irritated, especially by a dick move like that, the two of them locked eyes and glared at each other. The two of them had hated each other for so long, and now that hatred had just multiplied by quite a bit in this scenario.
Hungary watched the two, unable to move or speak after the shock of seeing Basch fly away from the kiss because of a strike from Roderich's violin. She was honestly surprised that Roderich had come in like that, but after a second she shook her head and looked at Roderich. "What the hell Roderich?!" she shouted, twitching angrily at the man she used to call her husband.
Roderich looked to the both of them, still huffing with rage. "You will not be with that man in my house!" he shouted, like she was still his to own and command. Just the very thought made Elizaveta even angrier, and it was easily seen on her face. Basch and Elizaveta both looked at Roderich murderously, but Elizaveta even more so than she ever had.
"You went out for a goddamn piano right in the middle of our conversation!" she shouted. "I was asking you that we could communicate more, and you were blocking me out the whole time! I came in here and cried my eyes out, then Basch came here and comforted me. He's the one that listened, not you, because you never listened to me, ever!" She wrapped her arms around Basch and stuffed her face in his chest affectionately, showing she was with him, but still looked at Roderich.
Roderich turned his attention away from Basch and directed straight toward Elizaveta, who glanced to her right toward a frying pan that she had left on her nightstand before. It was the same one that he himself had been afraid of being used on him, so either Roderich was stupid, or didn't see it when he said what he did next. "Stop being a drama queen Elizaveta, and go cook dinner like I asked of you before I left."
Basch himself flinched, knowing the pain that was about to befall the man after a statement like that. Elizaveta's vein in her forehead throbbed as she immediately pulled away from her hold on Basch and reached to her right, grabbing her frying pan, Roderich now realized his screw he was at this moment. Without giving him any time to dodge she threw the frying pan directly at his forehead and shouted. "Cook this!" she shouted, breathing heavy.
The pan slammed into Roderich's forehead with all the strength that was Elizaveta Héderváry, the force knocked the man back into the hallway and the Frying Pan the rebounded into the ceiling as he fell. Just to add insult to injury the frying pan then fell down on Roderich's vital regions, Basch once again flinched at the pain, and turned back to Elizaveta. She was breathing quite heavy, and the vein on her forehead was still throbbing from anger.
"The piano bastard deserved it," Basch said, rubbing his head and trying to make her feel better about what she did. Instead of being angry, she latched onto Basch once again, and Basch wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. He honestly didn't want to leave her, he didn't know why, he just didn't.
Elizaveta seemed to sense what he was thinking, and looked up at him. "Don't leave me," she said. "I can't stand another day alone with him, please." Her eyes were full of those stars that had enticed him so much before, but now they made him want to look away, he didn't want to disappoint her, but he couldn't be with her, not yet. He looked back at Roderich and sighed.
"He…. He won't remember anything…." He said. "At least, up until when he saw up, hopefully. I'll have my meeting with him, and after that I can't stay with you now…." He looked away guiltily, hiding a slight tear in his eye. He couldn't trust himself with her, he wasn't good enough. He was a cheap ass, trigger-happy, recluse, just as the rest of the world always called him. He couldn't bring her into his life with the hopes of her being happy, he didn't want to make things worse.
Elizaveta looked heartbroken, here was this man who cared for her, who had been there for her where no other man had been, and he was just leaving like that. Was life truly that cruel to her that even this would happen? She grabbed his face, forcing her to face him, not yet seeing the tears in his eyes. "You can't leave me here!" she shouted, loud enough so that the words were forceful, but kind enough that they weren't angry. "You can't say all those things and then just leave me with him!"
Basch saw the tears in her eyes as well, and blinked to remove his own, but they just kept forming. He hadn't cried for a long time now, he realized crying got you nowhere, but here he couldn't hold back his tears. "That's why I have to leave you here…." He said. "I'm not better than Roderich, I'm worse, I'm exactly what everyone says I am. I'm a cheap ass, trigger-happy, recluse, I couldn't bring you with me to live with someone like that."
Elizaveta saw the tears in his own eyes, she saw him, he truly didn't think he was good enough for her, she tried to stop herself from crying without wiping at her eyes. She looked at him, about to argue when she heard Roderich groan, and looked back at him, worried he might wake up to this and remember what happened. She turned to Basch, a quickened expression and said. "Basch, please, I-"
Basch cut her off with a swift kiss, at first keeping his eyes open as to remember the moment, then closing them softly to enjoy it. He could hear Roderich stirring behind them, he didn't have much time. He pulled away from the kiss, gazing into her eyes one last time. "I promise, I'll always be here when you need me," he said, then he pulled away, running straight to her window. It was luckily open with torn curtains so he climbed onto the edge, looking back at her. "I…. I'll miss you Elizaveta…." He said.
Elizaveta watched him pull away, taking these possibly last words to heart. She watched him head toward the window and when he looked back at her, stuttering she couldn't hold it back anymore. She began to cry again, wiping away her tears and grabbing her favorite pan, a heavy sturdy one that she'd used to beat up Gilbert many times and threw it at him, shouting. "Just go!" she let it fly, hitting him square in his chest and sending him to the ground from the second story.
Elizaveta was in tears, she'd just had to let go of the one man who looked at her like that. She didn't have any time to fight for him, or with him, it wasn't like the other times. She'd just lost. Right as she was about to go back to her bed and cry, she turned back to Roderich, and sniffed. He was beginning to come to, she wiped away her sad eyes and put on her natural faked smile, she'd used the same one for many years, but he didn't know the difference, never smiling himself.
When Roderich opened his eyes he was in a room of mass chaos, looking around it looked like a hurricane went off in this room. Elizaveta sucked up her pride and ran over to the man, trying to help him up. "Oh, good, you're awake again," she lied. " I finally got them out of the room, are you alright Roddy?" She used the name she'd used for so long, but now distained. She couldn't act any different though, she had to be the same.
"W-what happened" he asked, looking around and rubbing his forehead. "Everything's a wreck and-ow my head!" He doubled over and Elizaveta helped him back up again, hoping standing up made it hurt more. He didn't seem to remember what happened-good. Now it was just a question of if he believing the lie or not.
"The birds," she said. "Don't you remember? I opened my window and a flock of birds came in, they tore at everything, and you know me, I was running around with my frying pan trying to knock them out of the air. Then one of them knocked the pans off my shelf when you were under it, and it landed on your head, you must have had a bad knock, huh?" she mocked concern for him, feeling the bump on his head, but putting a little too much pressure down on it.
Roderich pulled away from her, waving her off as he usually did. "I-I see…" he acted like he remembered of course, just so he didn't look the fool. "Of course, I remember now…. I was just getting home and… and I came to tell you how great the piano was…" he stopped, this being the part where his memory cut off. "And I came in to see you open the window?" He said this last part questioningly, and Elizaveta nodded.
"That's right," she said. "Now you go lay down, I'll bring you the first-aid kit in a minute." She shooed him off, the sadness in her eyes obviously still there, but still going unnoticed by this man. After all this, she was back where she had been…. No, she wasn't back there, Basch had told her any time she needed him he would be there. Things wouldn't change much, but they'd definitely be better.
Roderich nodded, waving her off without a simple thank you. As he walked out the door and down the hallway, Elizaveta debated packing up what little clothes and the items-mostly frying pans-she had and jumping out after him, but decided against it. Basch wouldn't approve of that, he had promised her what he could, she'd honor it for now, but later she'd insist on having more.
When Roderich apparently thought he was out of her earshot he sat. "Why do my balls hurt…?" at which Elizaveta widened her eyes and laughed at the thought, she'd hit him where it counted at least. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all, he'd be in bet like a wimp for the next few days, and she'd have a little more freedom for a bit, able to do her own thing perhaps. Maybe she could do some horseback riding, or some archery like she used to do during her free time. She'd at least try to make the best of what she had, no matter how little it was.
Basch fell to the ground with a loud THUD and the frying pan imbedded itself into the ground right next to him. The strike hadn't itself hurt somehow, but his impact with the ground had. He groaned in pain from his back, looking back at the frying pan, had he truly angered her with what he said? No, there was another reason she'd thrown it at him. He saw the dents in it and the old look to it, and recognized it as her favorite one, and she'd thrown it out the window with him. That's why it hadn't hurt, she wasn't pushing him out the window, she was giving him something from her, it was her gift to him.
He sat up, his back groaning in pain, but he ignored it. Basch crawled over to the frying pan that was half inside the ground and somehow undented, and pulled it out. He hadn't brought anything with him, but now he had something to take home with him. He stood up, first coming to a kneeling position and finding a deep pain in his back where he'd landed, but he stood up anyway. He'd felt worse before.
Frying pan in hand Basch walked away from Roderich's house, forcing himself not to limp on the uneven ground. He looked at the simple kitchen utensil one more time and tightened his grip on it. After a few minutes of walking her looked back at the house, now a small speck in the distance as he entered town. "I'm leaving… after all that…" he said, then sighed. "Well, at least I was-"
"-There for me," Elizaveta continued, back at the house as she walked through the hallways. They had no knowledge of what each other was saying, but they both said the exact same thing at the exact same time, in their own perspective ways of course.
"And he always will be." As she carried a soup she'd just made for Roderich into his room, Elizaveta put on a real smile this time. She was thinking of the man's eyes, his smile, the way his lips tasted. Those thoughts would keep her going through the next few days. Then as she walked into his room she 'tripped' on his shoes, the boiling hot soup then went flying through the air and landed straight on Roderich's head, resulting in a girlish scream from him.
Ok, the random tortures she'd be giving to Roderich would too.