So. More fluff! Yea!
Gilbert sat on the couch in his brother's house with a beer in his hands. Neither he or Elizabeta had wanted to return to their own home. Elizabeta because Roderich would be there, and both Gilbert and she knew he would never endorse what they were trying to do to save the youngest Germanic nation. That and she wasn't entirely fond of her ex-husband. The good thing about staying with Gilbert for the month that she had, was they had both come to realize that they held affection for each other, though they hadn't had the conversation yet. It was more of an unspoken connection. Gilbert had suffered nightmares since he had been home, and Elizabeta had after the first few nights of his screams, had taken to sleeping in the same bed as him. They took care of each other's injuries. It was a comfortable, functional relationship.
Gilbert stayed in the house because, well, he had never liked being alone in the first place and the majority of his things were already at his brother's house. That, and the sight of his OCD brother's house with his things in their precise places was comforting, leaving a bittersweet feeling in the space of his chest where he figured a heart had been at one point.
He drank his beer slowly and just stared off into space. The albino man still wore a bandage around his head from when Ivan had shattered the bones in the upper right side of his face, as well as a rib brace. From all of the damage he had taken, most of his bruises and minor lacerations had healed, but his body had focused on mainly the surface damage and, even as a nation, he was still weak and banged up. He took a long swig of beer, wanting to be able to see into the future.
Tomorrow was the meeting. The others would either listen to what Antonio and Feliciano and the others had to say, or they wouldn't, in which case they would all be punished. Them for helping him escape, and him for escaping. Not to mention his kleiner bruderchen would be stuck with the friking communist pig of a Russian Ivan had turned into.
Gilbert was so lost in thought he didn't realize someone had come up behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He let out a furious snarl and was up off the couch, knife drawn and facing his intruder within a few heart beats, only to fall to his knees, gasping for breath and clutching at his ribs, both beer and knife clattering to the floor beside him. "Mein Gott." He rasped through gritted teeth.
Elizabeta was on her knees beside him almost as soon as he had fallen, a similar bandage wrapped around her head. "Gilbert! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! Dear are you alright?" She asked rapidly. "I should know not to sneak up on you... I'm so sorry!"
A soft rattle could be heard deep in Gilbert's chest as he breathed, the pain slowly fading to a more tolerable level. "Not your fault liebling." He rasped quietly, leaning, against her to rest for a couple of minutes. "I over reacted again. I know you're here... I shouldn't be so jumpy! It's totally not awesome..."
A ghost of a smile appeared on Elizabeta's face at his words and she gently wrapped an arm around him. "May I help you up, or are you going to to flay me with your knife, dear" She teased, securing her arm around him a bit more firmly and draping one of his arms around her shoulders, helping him to his feet. "You want me to get you another beer, dear" She asked as she set him down gently on the couch.
Gilbert grinned despite the sharp spikes of pain that shot through his ribs. "Ja. That would be awesome of you Liz." He said, mischievously raising an eyebrow, knowing that she hated the nick name. It was what Roderich called her. In all honesty, he hated the nick name almost as much as she did.
"You want me to break the other side of your face with my frying pan? It'd make you more attractive. You might actually manage o not make me sick then." Elizabeta shot back, rolling her eyes.
Gilbert laughed softly, wincing as the pain flared up again when the movement jostled his battered frame. "You're just jealous of mein awesome! I'm so attractive with my broken face and ribs you can't handle it. Just like you can't handle my five meters!" He called in a harsh, rattling voice after her as she disappeared into the kitchen. His grin widened further as she reappeared with two beers in one hand and her favorite frying pan and the Hungarian's ultimate weapon of choice, in the other. An irate scowl was etched onto her beautiful face.
"Five meters? More like five centimeters. I can't handle your small, almost nonexistent "awesome"" She retorted, walking to the couch, and coming up to stand behind him. She lightly tapped the top of his hand with her frying pan, stay well away from the right side of his face.
"You just wish it was small enough for you to deal with. Tell me, is that why you put up with that stuck up, pompous ass so long?" Gilbert asked teasingly, resting his head back on the couch so he could look up at Elizabeta.
He was rewarded when the Hungarian laughed despite her slight irritation and lightly kissed the top of his head. "Would you just take your damn beer and shut up" She asked, dropping the unopened beer in his lap and walking to the front of the couch, flopping down next to him with a long sigh. She pulled her legs up underneath her and rested against him.
"Kesesese. I must be right." Gilbert teased, picking up the bottle opener on the side table beside the couch. He took Elizabeta's beverage from her hand and opened it before giving it back to her. "Is Roddy coming to the meeting tomorrow?" He asked conversationally, though his nose was wrinkled up at the thought as he opened his own.
Elizabeta shrugged, taking a long swig from her beer. "He might. I'm not his keeper though so... Really I don't know, nor do I particularly care." As she said this, her eyes fixated on the spilt beer on the floor as she spaced, losing herself in thought with a small frown on her rosy lips. The meeting is tomorrow already? I don't want to leave here though! Gil... Gilbert may be irritating sometimes, but he isn't nearly as bad as Roderich. She thought, feeling grief pull at her heart. With a start she shook her head, realizing that she actually wanted to post pone the meeting just to stay with Gilbert. The thought sickened her and she quickly took another swig of her beer to hold down the bile rising in her throat.
Gilbert glanced down at her curiously, hand half extended to brush the hair from her face, though he let it drop awkwardly in his lap. He didn't know that the rather intimate gesture would be looked upon kindly by the rather unpredictable woman. "What are you thinking about Eliza?" He asked after a moment, playing with the bottle of his alcohol in an almost nervous way.
Face burning with shame and a dark blush, Elizabeta glanced up at Gilbert, looking almost as nervous and awkward as the albino man she leaned against did. "It's nothing lo- dear." Her blush darkened as she realized she almost called him "love". "I... I was just thinking how comfortable I've gotten here is all." She continued, biting the inside of her lip and looking back down to the alcohol spilled on the floor.
"Here? Or... Or with someone?" Gilbert asked, heart thundering in his chest. There was a reason they hadn't had the conversation for the entire month. He wasn't good a expressing his emotions, and Elizabeta wasn't good at giving up her rather feminist pride. Expressing how they felt about each other was a difficult feat for both of them, made both of the squirm.
"W-Well... Um. It could have something to do with... With the person I've been staying with..." Elizabeta whispered, her hands trembling as she held her beer and laid against Gilbert. She laughed nervously, breathlessly when Gilbert gently pried the glass bottle from her hands and set it on the table. "You see... Th-There was this guy I hung out with when we were little... He was a bit strange. Annoying really. Completely different from anyone, anywhere. He liked picking on me, and we argued and fought all the time... But we had some good times. Well... He swore to me back then that I was a girl and he helped me find who I really am back then... And I have had quite the infatuation with him ever since... But you know I was never too sure how he felt about me..." She said, quite and shy.
Gilbert looked startled and very slowly, to give her plenty of time to move from him, he wrapped a cold, translucent arm around her waist. His heart had to have been loud enough for her to hear, and nervous jitters ran through him. This wasn't something he was good at, speaking to women. Sure he joked, but he joked because there had really only ever been one woman he had ever paid attention to. Only one woman had been in control of his heart, and she had gone off to marry some whiney musician who couldn't fight his own battles. The whole hypothetical element the conversation had taken made it quite a bit easier to confess, though his face was bright red, nearly the same shade as his crimson irises. "Well... I hate to tell you this, but a beautiful girl stole his heart. He loves everything about her you know. Her soft chestnut hair, her porcelain skin. He loves her rosy lips and her pale green eyes. He loves her fiery spirit, even if it has resulted in a concussion or two. He loves her determination to help even the most stubborn people, loves her voice, loves her... He just loves her..." He whispered, smiling down at her shyly.
"Really? You... I-I mean he loves her? Mmm... I think... Now these are just my words, but... I think she loves him back." Elizabeta said with a soft, adoring smile. Slowly she stretched up and placed her lips against his, kissing him softly, questioningly, almost as if she was afraid to offend him.
Gilbert responded to her kiss with one just as soft and questioning before pulling away with a shy smile, very un-Gilbert like. "You think... Tou think this will work?" He asked hopefully, before coughing and looking away, blushing again. "Tomorrow I mean... You think... You think Alfred will listen and "let" everyone try to get Ivan to let go of Ludwig?" He asked, taking a long drink of his beer, finishing it off with a sigh.
With a frown, Elizabeta looked up at Gilbert and sighed, the teasing, loving light having dimmed with his on coming seriousness. "I think he will, yes. In all honesty I am more worried about what our Russian "friend" will do when half the worlds' nations show up at his house to talk. So the other nations don't try to fight with Ivan if he reacts badly, who's to say Ivan doesn't start the attack instead? You know as well as I do that he won't see this as just talking..." She sighed with a shrug and reached for her beer again, mumbling a soft "sorry" when she accidentally brushed against Gilbert's damaged ribs.
Gilbert coughed softly, trying to hide the sudden pain, and nodded in understanding. "You never know. Maybe he'll listen if enough of us tell him what he is doing is wrong.. I don't even know." He said, trying to be optimistic, though he didn't believe his own words.
Elizabeta apparently agreed. She let out a snort of humorless laughter and gave Gilbert an exasperated look. "You're kidding me right? You don't honestly believe that. I know you." She took a swig of her beer before handing the half finished alcohol to Gilbert, not wanting it anymore. "We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow... I'm going to go take a shower. Be right back, love." She said, letting the pet name slip this time with a small smile, the word tingling on her lips. She got up from the couch and turned towards the stairs.
"Mmm... Liebe dich." He called after her, trying to make it sound casual though it sent butterflies stirring in his stomach.
Green eyes flickered back to him, fixing on his face and pale pink lips curled up in a coy smile. "En is szeretlek. You could... always join me. I'll leave the door unlocked." She called to him, sending a wink over her shoulder before disappearing from sight.
Gilbert laughed softly and shook his head, though his amusement quickly died as he remembered her words. "Just have to wait until tomorrow..." He echoed with a frown, finishing off her beer and absently playing with the iron cross around his neck. Just until tomorrow...
Fluff! I forgot about this chapter honestly... I promised the meeting though, so I will update the next chapter immediately! Review?