I AM awesome, aren't I?
Annemarie died today. She was old, eighty-four. We'd lost contact since she was young. I wonder. If she knew what I was, would she have been afraid? Awed? Would our relationship have changed? It's a risk I couldn't take. So Annemarie died without knowing just who she had been friends with all those years ago.
On the way out of his apartment building, Gilbert called Else. Unfortunately, she didn't pick up.
"Scheiße," Gilbert hissed. A woman covered her young daughter's ears, glaring at Gilbert.
"Entschuldigung," Gilbert muttered quickly.
"Mama, what's the matter? What does scheiße mean?"
"It's a bad word, Süße. Don't say it."
"Why did he say it, then?"
The mother glared at Gilbert again, who was once again calling Else. Receiving no answer, he groaned.
"Do you know Else Müller?" he asked.
"Why would we know her?" the mother said sourly. "There is a tiny, tiny chance we would know her."
"Well, there's a chance," Gilbert muttered, half to himself.
"Else Müller?" A woman walking into the building stopped and looked at him. "I know someone by that name. We went to college together. Hey, aren't you Gilbert Beilschmidt?"
"I am," he said.
"Well, why do you need to know where Else is? Doesn't she work with you?"
There are three and a half million people living in Berlin. That's not counting the tourists. And yet, somehow, Gilbert had run into the exact person he needed.
"How close are you?" he asked.
She shrugged. "We were friends in college, but we run in different circles now. Why?"
"Do you think she would pick up if you called her?"
The woman looked suspicious. "Yeah. Why do you want to know?"
"Call her," Gilbert begged. "Please."
"What are you going to do?" the woman asked. "I don't know you. If she's not picking up your calls, why should I call her for you?"
"I just need to apologize to her for something," Gilbert said. "Please. Just call her and ask her where she is."
Still staring at Gilbert, the woman took out her cell phone and called Else. They spoke for a moment, and then the woman hung up and said, "She's at Nina's."
"Nina's? The bar?"
The woman shrugged again. "She just said Nina's. I don't know."
Calling a 'thank you' over his shoulder, Gilbert rushed out of the building.
Nina's was a nice bar. It had decent food, and the crappiest beer. The bartenders would listen to you for all hours. Gilbert didn't know if they cared about what you said, but in the end, it didn't matter. Best of all, the staff at Nina's were extremely protective of their regulars. And Gilbert was a regular.
Gilbert walked in. The bartender, Daniel, opened his mouth, presumably to shout, "Hey Gilbert!" but closed it when Gilbert shook his head at him.
Gilbert slid onto the stool next to Else's. Daniel slid him a glass full to the brim of amber liquid, and Gilbert chugged it with the ferocity of Italy eating pasta.
"What do you want?" Else mumbled.
"I just wanted to tell you what a coincidence it is that you chose this bar," Gilbert said, "because I love this bar."
"I know," Else said. "I was hoping me coming here would ruin it for you."
"Good try," Gilbert said, "but I've been coming here too long to abandon this place now."
Daniel looked up knowingly. Daniel had been practically living here since he was very young, since his father was the first owner of the bar, so he'd seen Gilbert not age for years. Eventually Gilbert told him he was a vampire and let him think what he wanted.
About that. Due to a conspiracy theory coming to light recently, he'd have to have a discussion with Daniel about that. Prussia was certain that he could trust Daniel not to talk, but he still felt like Daniel deserved the truth after so many years.
"What are you drinking?" Gilbert asked.
"Vodka," Else answered hoarsely.
"Vodka? Disgusting Russian stuff."
"What do you want, Gilbert?"
"I didn't send you that text, Else. I'm sorry for leaving your broadcast, but my Canadian friend showed up and I went home with him. He's a little jealous of you, so he sent the text."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because it's the truth."
"Yeah, okay."
Gilbert sighed for a long time. "Else, I know you like me as…more than a friend. But I don't feel that way about you, and I will never feel that way about you. I'm sorry." Gilbert stood and walked out of the bar.
There went Gilbert's chance to use her infatuation with him to his advantage.
At four in the afternoon, Gilbert went back to the bar. Daniel gave him his beer, and he sat in silence. The bar was vacant other than Daniel, Gilbert, and a young couple sitting at a table in the corner.
"What was that about, before?"
Gilbert shook his head. "Daniel, I have to tell you something."
Daniel didn't respond. Bartenders were trained to just let the drinker talk, not push them to talking.
"I'm not even slightly buzzed yet, Daniel, and I'm not going to get drunk at all right now, or that'll just make my light-headache worse later. You can say something."
"What do you want to tell me?"
Gilbert dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm not really a vampire."
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Noo."
"Aren't you even mildly curious as to how I don't age?"
"Yes," Daniel admitted.
"But you haven't…told anyone?"
"I figured immortality was something I shouldn't talk about."
Gilbert finished his drink. Daniel refilled the glass.
Despite what he'd said, before long Gilbert was plastered. It was a sad day when Gilbert got drunk off of a couple pints of beer. Before long, he started spilling his guts to Daniel.
"You really really can't tell anyone what I'm gonna tell you," he slurred. "I always got beat up by Hungary…it's not fair! I'm awesomer than Hungary, and especially that Austria. Why does she like him so much?" Gilbert paused as if waiting for an answer from Daniel. Receiving none, he continued, "I was dissolved in 1947, but I lost political power years before that. I don't understand! I'm so awesome; how come no one ever listens to me? M-my little brother…he's very strong. He's very strong. I'm super duper proud but…" His voice trailed off. "I'm super duper proud, but I was made to fight wars, not to listen to the country I raised, yanno?"
"Mm-hmm," Daniel said, wiping the bar with a rag, something bartenders seemed to do often.
"Anyway, anyway, what I was gonna tell you is that I'm not a vampire. I'm a country, yanno? I am the Teutonic Knights, East Germany, and the Kingdom of Prussia!"
He didn't slur the last line. Daniel looked at his longtime friend. Gilbert's hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, he had a crooked grin on his face, and his eyes were slightly unfocused, but Daniel had never seen Gilbert more glorious. The bartender realized that for the first time in his life, he was seeing the real Gilbert.
Daniel didn't know it, but the way Gilbert looked then was also how he looked on the battlefield.
Gilbert woke up behind the bar, Daniel's boots digging painfully into his side. The sound of talking and laughing could be heard.
He stood, stumbling a bit, head spinning. The people sitting at the bar looked confused at the sight of a guy coming up from underneath the bar, but just laughed it off and went back to what they were doing.
"What time is it," Gilbert mumbled, words mushing together with exhaustion.
"Six forty-five," Daniel answered promptly. "It's good that you're awake. I was just about to wake you up, actually. I figured it was about time for you to go to work."
"I'm kinda late, actually," Gilbert said. "Thanks. Wish me luck."
"Thought you were too awesome to need luck," Daniel teased.
"I usually am, but my day has been crap so far, so I figure I could use some extra."
"Well, good luck, then."
Gilbert's face suddenly flushed. His head spun, and his vision grew dark. He leaned against the bar to steady himself. Whispering, he said, "You…won't tell anything what I told you last night, will you?"
"Of course not, Gilbert," Daniel assured the albino. "Now get going. We put AGB on the television every night, and the customers would be irate if they lost their drinking game because you decided to be a lightweight."
And you guys finally get to meet Daniel! I love that guy. Next chapter is all about his relationship with Gilbert, but it's not super important so if you don't like Daniel or OCs you can skip it. Happy Mothers' Day, everybody.
Also, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who's reviewed and favorited and followed. You're all the best. You would be even best-er if you reviewed for this chapter.
Oh, and this is the last chapter with a lot of Else for a while. Yay! She'll be coming back, probably, but for the next several chapters she'll just have cameo appearances, if she's there at all.
