The boy gave her a startled glance and stepped into the kitchen. Perhaps he hadn't suspected a response like that from a woman who looked so quiet and small. Or perhaps it was because she was a Nazi's wife. Elsa folded her arms and stared straight back at him. She would show him that she wasn't going to put up with any nonsense. She had braced herself, from the moment she had left Berlin, that the move was going to change her. Made her stronger, less likely to lay down and let everyone walk all over her. And she wasn't ready to give up yet. Although they had only been here for three weeks, it seemed like a decade. All the more reason to try to become a better person.
Elsa knew that the soldier was resisting the urge to shake the water off himself like a dog. Her eyes went to the steadily growing puddle of water under his boots. She pursed her lips and said nothing. Cleanliness was one of Elsa's favorite ideals. But not today. He made a strange face at her, as if he had expected her to offer him something by now. Else shook her head the tiniest bit, something like butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She never, ever denied anyone. What a strange feeling!
He took off his cap and turned it over. Rainwater streamed out and splashed on the floor. He grimaced, not at the state of Elsa's kitchen, but at the state of his uniform. Securing it back on his head, he began openly watching her again. She felt a dull flush bloom over her face. She couldn't stand it anymore. "Wait here," she hissed from the corner of her mouth. Elsa turned her back to him and walked with measured steps to the stairs, careful to keep her head held high. That soldier. He made her feel so...unnerved. Like he knew everything about her, but didn't want to offend her by saying it. And he hadn't even spoken a word to her.