As he stacked boxes in the store room, Roderich couldn't help but sneak the occasional glance out the window. The delivery truck usually arrived around this time on the weekend, and he was really hoping he could see Eliza. It had been three days since she had asked him to lunch, and while they had already agreed upon a day and time via text messages, he wanted to verify with her in person.

He felt his cheeks warm just thinking about the walk that had prompted such an amazing series of events. His shyness had always made the thought of asking her to coffee something that inspired the urge to hyperventilate, yet thanks to her directness in broaching the subject, he now not only had a date with her, but her personal phone number even. (He knew that according to social custom he should have asked her for it, but he thought that if both parties were happy, it didn't matter who asked what.) Roderich looked up again, knowing he simply wanted to see her, regardless of if he had the chance to talk to her about their plans or not.

Catching sight of the familiar black vehicle pulling up to the curb, he placed the last of the boxes down with great deliberateness, purposely avoiding watching the door. He didn't want Eliza to think he had been waiting for her. She might take it the wrong way; think he was stalking her or some such nonsense. When the door opened, he immediately gave an affected start of surprise, and turned to greet her, smiling warmly.

"Eliz-aaaugh!"

There was nothing affected about his reaction to finding himself face to face with Gilbert.

"Nice to see you too, mister pretty boy," Gilbert replied smoothly, the sickeningly-sweet-and-friendly tone making Roderich's skin crawl. "We're gonna have us a nice little talk, me and you."

The auburn-haired young man couldn't fully restrain a nervous gulp, but had enough gumption to stand his ground. He was shy and often withdrawn, but he wasn't a coward. Or rather, he wasn't a complete coward when he could clearly imagine Eliza's disappointment in him if he let Gilbert push him around with resistance. If she stood up to him, he would manage too.

So he steeled his nerve, and managed to look the larger man casually in the eye. "A talk? What could two people such as us have to talk about?"

"Like you don't know, you damn player. I don't know what game you're playing at, but we have to get something very f*cking clear: no one is allowed to yank 'Liz's chain in any way but me. You got that? If you hurt her, make her cry or quit her job, I swear to god I will serve you your own ass on a platter."

He had advanced slowly as he spoke, and the last threat was growled with alarming vehemence, his nose inches from the younger man's. To his credit, Roderich tried to not visibly shake with fear.

Considering the amount of pure terror he felt, Roderich actually felt quite accomplished just for still being conscious. Gilbert at his best was disturbing; up close and angry he was downright sinister! Struggling to retain his calm, he held up a hand in a conciliatory gesture and was privately pleased to note he had gained enough control where he barely trembled.

"Your…suggestion is unnecessary. I have no intention of ever causing Eliza pain of any kind. I see no need to divulge matters of my private life or emotions to you, but you may be assured that I care for her most sincerely. I am also… surprised at your level of emotional investment. I was not aware you were so fond of her."

"Tch!" Gilbert made a noise of derision, and slouched casually on a box. "I'm not "fond" of 'Liz, I can barely stand her. She's manly as hell and packs one f*ck of a punch. But I respect her, and I like having a co-worker I can respect. It's hard to find anyone even near worthy of me, and if I lose that because of you, you're gonna regret for as long as live."

"You said something to that effect already," Roderich sighed, purposeful acting bored and arrogant to disguise his fear, "if you have nothing new to divulge, I would prefer that you left me to complete my work."

After a long pause, where he seemed to be considering if it would be worth it to take the matter further, Gilbert shrugged, and strolled out of the storeroom, seemingly content to let the other man get the last word.

Roderich watched him leave, and almost collapsed with relief, leaning against a shelf to steady himself. The entire encounter had left him with the distinct impression that Gilbert was much, much more dangerous than he let on.

But hopefully that side of him would never manifest in a way that could cause any harm to his co-worker; though, if his threats were to be taken seriously, he did care for Eliza, in a strange, selfish way. This really was not a bad thing at all. Because, in Roderich's opinion, there could be nothing wrong with making sure Eliza had as many people to look out for her as possible. Strength like hers often came from having no one to rely on, and though he wasn't exactly a pillar to cling to, Roderich planned to be there for her from now on. He planned to look after her as much as he could, even if it all that entailed was being there to hold her when no one else would.

He took off his glasses, and rubbed at his violet eyes. He hadn't even gone on a single date with the young woman, and yet he was already thinking about a future with her as his girlfriend. It wasn't natural to like someone so much, he thought aggrievedly. You were supposed to start having feelings of such a high calibre after months of exclusive romantic relations, weren't you? This was terrible. If Eliza could tell what he was thinking, she would probably think him the greatest of oddities. A vision of her when had she blushed and snuggled into his arm came to mind, and he smiled, remembering how happy she had been just from his offer to keep her steady.

Hmm. Maybe she wouldn't think he was strange after all.

Roderich went back to the front of the store to help customers with a sigh, willing his shift to be over as fast and painlessly as possible. It was hard enough to concentrate on serving people without the addition of remembering little things about her. It was distracting in the worst, and best, ways possible. It made it far easier to ignore the plethora of ignorant pastry-buyers, but it also made it far easier to cut himself by accident. He had several close calls with their long cake knife before his manager moved him to the till for his own safety.

The latest rush over, he wearily wiped the counter, clearing it of dust and smudges. He wondered if he ought to buy her flowers, or some other token for their outing tomorrow. Would she like a gesture like that, or would she find it too old-fashioned? Perhaps just paying for lunch would suffice. He was going to bring her that disk of classical music too, so it wasn't like he would be coming empty handed. Did it even matter on the first date? Roderich groaned silently. Why did starting relationships have to be so complicated?

The rest of his shift passed without incident, and Roderich was relived beyond belief to finally be able to leave. Or, at least he was until he saw someone outside the door.

"Good grief!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation, "Don't tell me that you're here to lecture me about the appropriate way to act toward Eliza as well, West! One would think that I've spent my twenty-odd years leaving behind a trail of broken hearted, sobbing women the way you are all treating me!"

West, to his credit, at least had the decency to look embarrassed at Roderich's comment. He straightened the black tie of his gray-pinstriped suit, and smiled slightly, his unease apparent in his movements.

"Gilbert…demanded I talk to you." The taller man lapsed into silence briefly, once again adjusting his suit. "I know that you are a gentleman, Edelstein. I just thought to remind you that your shyness could be taken as disinterest. If you say the wrong thing, you could inadvertently hurt her, quite badly."

Roderich pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes and counted to ten silently. It was getting harder to treat these interferences with patience and dignity.

"I won't say the wrong thing." He finally said, "I will make sure that she understands how important she is to me. I've put a lot of thought into this, and I feel confident that I can do it. And beside that, oh dear lord! Is that a hickey?"

Roderich's gaze had drifted to West's collar as he had spoken, and without meaning to he had blurted out his question when he had seen the red mark just above the other man's tie. He recoiled in horror, his brain supplying him with unwanted mental images. No no no! He didn't need to know about what had happened to cause that! He didn't need to even think about what had happened to cause it!

Turning what could only be considered an unhealthy shade of red, West clapped a hand to his neck, covering the offending mark. "Ah…Well, I… stayed over at Gilbert's house the other night, and-"

"Please no! For the love of all things do not continue!" Roderich interrupted swiftly, hoping to stop the conversation before something irreversible happened. "I don't think I could handle the emotional scarring that would accompany the explanation for how you received that. It is bad enough that I already have an idea."

Both men looked at the ground, equally mortified. Neither of them really knew how to deal with such an embarrassing situation. They were both shyer than most men, and were only friends in a vague, customer-and-clerk way. West managed to recover first though, and tugged his collar over so that it kept most of his neck safely hidden. He had the idea that the best way to resolve the issue was to move past it as quickly as possible. Clearing his throat, he held out his hand, and when Roderich held out his, briskly shook it.

"My sincerest apologies for bothering you. Best of luck with Miss Hedervary."

"Don't worry about it. And thank you."

Roderich watched the other man walk away with a mixture of relief and trepidation. Hopefully no one else would see the need to warn him about hurting the girl's feelings. If he planned to cause her emotional discomfort, he would hardly have gone out of his way to walk her to a bus stop in the freezing cold. Nor would he regularly make himself available to help her carrying the supplies into the storeroom. Was it asking too much to want the other men in her life to see that?

He sniffed in contempt of their intelligence. He'd even bought a brand new shirt for their outing, but no one asked about that. And they should, because apart from that shirt, there were only two types of clothing in his closet: work clothes, and old, patched, around-the-house clothes. Buying something new was a good indication that he cared about how their romantically-inclined lunch would go.

But there was no point in fretting about it any further. He had to get home and get a decent sleep so he would be fresh and ready for tomorrow. Being late because he slept in would be a truly disastrous start to their relationship. Roderich began to relax, the trials of the day fading as his mind became occupied with positive thoughts regarding Eliza. And quietly humming Papageno and Papagena's duet from Mozart's Magic Flute, he walked back to his apartment.