Snap Shots
II: Cleaning
"You know, Eliza…" Roderich takes a sip from an eggshell coffee cup, lips pursed and eyebrows raised in a thoughtful expression. On her knees with a sponge in one hand, forearms clad in neon green rubber, and hair drawn back into a severe ponytail, Elizaveta pauses in her scrubbing to look up at him.
"Yes?" She resumes scrubbing, furrowing her brow as she tackles a stubborn spot of grime on the faux-granite tiles.
"You don't have to do this for me," he says, setting the cup down on its plate. Elizaveta snorts, shoulders shaking, and gives the man a vigorous shake of her head.
"And leave you to die of black mold poisoning and god only knows what else? I think not." She dunks the sponge into the mop bucket before wringing it, dying the water a sickly beige. "Would you just look at that?" She shoves the bucket towards Roderich, who pales at the sight of it.
"No… Just no. Please, Eliza. No." He tilts his head back, adjusting the ebon-rimmed glasses that framed his violet eyes.
"Well, seriously." Eliza lets out a sigh and stands up, placing a hand on her hip. "Why don't you just hire a cleaning service?"
A look of sheer horror comes as an answer to her question.
"And waste all that money on people who may, or may not do a good job? Who may or may not steal from me?" He clucks his tongue.
"Well then, that answers your question." She gets down to her knees and resumes scrubbing.
"Then, surely, there must be something I can do to help."
She cocks an eyebrow, shooting him an amused look. "Are you sure you want to?"
He nods and raises the coffee cup to his lips. "Yes."
"Well," she muses in a thinker's pose. "There are some dishes in the kitchen that need to be washed." She stares at him with an enquiring expression. "Do you think you can handle that?"
Roderich dips his head and stands up, brushing the dust off his plum tailcoat. "Of course I can," he says, sounding a bit miffed.
Her mouth twists upwards in a wry smile. "If you say so."
"Trust me, Eliza dear; I have this." He leaves the room, chin raised and coattails fluttering behind him in an almost ridiculous display of pomp for someone about to wash dishes. She watches him disappear from sight, then resumes scrubbing, humming a jaunty folk song as she continues her work.
Twenty minutes later…
"Uhm… Eliza?"
She hears Roderich's cautious footsteps.
"What is it-Oh my-!" Her jaw drops and her jade eyes go wide as she takes in the sight of Roderich-arms held up and swollen with an angry, red rash.
"I don't think the dish soap agreed with me," he mumbles, head lowered.
"Huh?" Eliza angles her head. "You just needed to stick them in the dishwasher."
He lifts his head, a faint blush visible on his cheeks. "Dishwasher?" he says. "Where?"
She groans and performs a facepalm.
"Oh, Roderich."
Because let's face it.
Austria sucks at cleaning.
Anyways, thanks to all the people who read my story! (Reviews are welcome anytime as well) I'll probably start taking pairing requests for this story once I get through all my OTPs. In the meantime, I'm probably going to be taking down my other story and making some heavy changes, and post another-GerIta this time-sometime within the very near future.
So yeah. Thanks and lots of love!
