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It would have been much better if the flight had been spent in silence. Much, much better.
However, Arturia should have realized sooner that, with Gilgamesh, it wasn't going to be that easy. After all, she had just gotten married to the man; she really should have known how exasperating he could be.
She still had trouble believing it: she was his wife. She was Gilgamesh's wife. Gilgamesh's wife. Yet it was reality.
Her plan had been to sleep through the long flight, especially considering the fact that they were on a private plane and little Shirou was present too. He had already been sleeping by the time the plane departed and she had brought him to his bed, before going back to the seats she and Gilgamesh were supposed to occupy.
She had had every intention of drifting off to sleep as well and spending that time in peaceful silence. She had not had the intention of ending up scowling at her husband.
He commented on the lack of quality champagne on the flight, and she kept quiet. He then disdainfully pointed out that the décor of the plane was not suitable for his tastes; Arturia would have had a reply ready, but once again, she kept her mouth closed.
But after another ten remarks in that same tone of his, she lost her patience because of the overwhelming irritation he was provoking in her.
"Gilgamesh, please enlighten me. What would it take for you to shut up?"
His expression held some not-so-subtle triumph, and she realized too late that her addressing him was exactly what he had wanted. She almost groaned. He was impossible!
In truth, Gilgamesh was bored. The flight was long, and he did not feel like sleeping in that moment. The small crew was being smart and giving the newlyweds some privacy, but that also meant that he had nothing to do – nor anyone to torment – to entertain himself.
After all, while observing people could occasionally be amusing, they were so easy to read and within a short while, they reverted to being inexpressibly boring. The only person around right now was his brand-new wife.
Admittedly, she had been more difficult to read, but he was beginning to see and understand more of her: what characterized her the most was her loyalty to her family. Not particularly original, he mused.
But she had not bored him yet – that was true, and it was a point in her favour. Therefore, since they were trapped in a flight for several hours, the task of entertaining him fell on her shoulders.
It was actually working splendidly. After finally addressing him, she had immediately realized that he had been aiming for a reaction from her, and she was most likely cursing herself mentally. He gave her one of his usual arrogant smirks.
She scowled at him. She was irritated and she was tired, and she did not really contemplate the implications of her words as she spoke.
"You are always the quintessence of arrogance, Gilgamesh. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to marry you."
His reply was, unsurprisingly, blunt – but the contents of the reply were surprising.
"You were thinking of your sister instead of yourself, Arturia, and while that can be admirable to a certain degree, you have willingly put yourself in this situation you dislike."
She stared at him, before tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes.
"You know the reason I married you."
It sounded like a question, and he looked at her in mild curiosity before giving her a reply.
"Of course I do."
"Then you are a fool, Gilgamesh."
He raised an eyebrow. The insult was not like her – it was uttered too unemotionally.
She continued, calmly, "You enjoy having me around because you consider me someone you can make fun of constantly. But you'll wake up soon." Her voice was astonishingly gentle. "I can almost feel bad for you, Gilgamesh. It won't be pretty to realize that, aside from making remarks on me and observing my reactions to them, there is nothing else you can get from someone like me. After all… all I want is the money for my sister and nephew. Anything else about you doesn't matter to me."
His eyes widened only for a fraction of a second before he managed to get his usual expression back in place, therefore she was not able to see the effect of her words. She simply turned away from him, found a comfortable position in her seat and closed her eyes, preparing to spend the following hours finally with some peace and quiet, and possibly with some sleep.
Gilgamesh's gaze lingered on her for quite some time.
She had taken him by surprise by correctly guessing what his objective was, and had broken him off immediately by throwing the truth of their situation right in his face. He could not chase away the unpleasant sensation that he had brought this upon himself.
He had – once again – underestimated her.
Only a few hours before, when it had been time to begin the wedding ceremony, he had taken the resolution of making an effort to be considerate towards his future wife; and there he was, already going against what he had decided simply because he thought it amused him.
Yet she had torn his purposes to shreds, probably without even realizing it.
She was something else, he had to admit it.
He suppressed a sigh. This meant that he had now no choice but to take a nap as well, since the only other option was either be bored or get lost in his thoughts, and neither sounded particularly appealing at the moment.
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When they landed in Japan, Arturia woke up Shirou and left the airport with him and Gilgamesh. She did not spare the large house she was going to live in a glance, and asked her husband to indicate her a place where her nephew could sleep. Without a word, he indicated a guest room where she put the little boy to bed, and then he escorted her to his – their – bedroom.
She had not looked at the house, or rather, mansion, when they had landed, mostly because she did not care in that moment. He had already informed her of the fact that the staff was going to arrive only on the following day, bringing them their entire luggage, and she would then have leisure to explore the place.
As soon as she was in her new bedroom – the bedroom she was going to share with him from now on – Arturia made sure a specific part of the contract was respected. The bed in the middle of the room was not an actual double bed, but it could in fact be separated, and she immediately pushed the beds apart.
Politely, she looked at him to determine which one of the two beds he preferred, but he only smirked at her.
"Be my guest, Arturia."
She rolled her eyes and chose one of the beds, on which she put her travel bag. She looked around, taking everything in.
It was quite the spacious room. There were two bedside tables, two cupboards, two large closets – and between them there was a safe built in the wall – a few chairs, a full-size mirror and a long table next to the entrance. There was also a fridge in one corner, next to a door that presumably led to the bathroom.
Again, she looked at Gilgamesh, and it was his turn to roll his eyes.
"Stop being so formal. Just use the bathroom if you so desire and, if you're so worried, lock the door – there's a key for a reason."
She did not give him an annoyed glare, but she was tempted. Very much tempted.
She did indeed lock the door behind her after setting foot in the shining bathroom, and then she leaned against it. She took a deep breath.
It was not going to be easy, sharing such close quarters with Gilgamesh. But she had thought about it, and had surmised that, if she was careful, she was going to manage this particularly uncomfortable part of the marriage contract.
During the day, they were both going to be busy with other matters; between work and the time she wanted to dedicate to her family, it was very unlikely they would share more than a few minutes in each other's company. She imagined that, with their full schedules, in the evenings they were going to be tired – or at least, she was certainly going to be – and therefore would just want to sleep, not giving too much thought to the fact that they shared a bedroom with someone else.
It was of course entirely possible that she was being too optimistic. As she leaned away from the door to look around the large and luxurious bathroom, she considered that perhaps she needed something more drastic to keep some peace of mind.
Taking one of the towels ready to be used and turning on the hot water of the shower, she decided on something else: she was going to sleep with her head turned away from him. It was probably a childish decision on her part, but she did not care; as long as it helped her deal with her almost surreal situation, anything would do.
When she came out of the bathroom, she went to put away the few things she had in her cupboard and closet. Most of her clothes were going to arrive on the following day, therefore she did not have too many things aside from her travelling outfit, which she carefully folded and put on a chair. She was going to have to speak with the staff, to understand how the managing of the house worked, because she wasn't too keen on having strangers handling her personal belongings.
As she was finishing her tasks, Gilgamesh came out of the bathroom as well, with only a towel tied around his waist and wearing nothing else.
Instinctively, she stiffened. Unpleasant, suspicious thoughts swirled through her mind, even as her eyes were tempted to linger on him – or rather, on his exposed chest.
She was alone in an unfamiliar house with a man she barely knew and who was not dressed. Anyone in their right state of mind would have felt uneasy in such a situation.
She didn't even realize that she had taken a few immediate steps away from him – but he did.
He scoffed at her edginess.
"Arturia, this is ridiculous. I expected you to get used to these things more quickly." She was staying as far away from him as possible and, rigidly, was about to take another step back. "Don't behave like a scared child. I won't do anything to you, and as nothing has seemed to be able to scare you until now, I doubt there's anything in this situation you could fear."
She was not very reassured and he noticed that, because he visibly held back a sigh. Taking up some of his garments, he disappeared inside the bathroom again, soon to come out clothed.
Arturia made sure she did not exhale, but she was not really able to conceal her relief. He would have probably made remarks on it, if he hadn't seen her expression change in a quite curious way. She was staring at his attire and the emotions that were flickering across her face were not of the kind he had seen before.
In truth, she was very much taken aback by his pyjamas. He was wearing quite simple dark pants and a casual sweater of the same colour.
She could not stop herself from asking, "Is that what you wear for night time?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. He had not missed the slight incredulity in her tone.
"Are there any objections?"
She only smirked a little, amused by the way he was getting irritated.
"Isn't that attire a little too simple and… plebeian for your usual expensive tastes, Gilgamesh?"
He narrowed his eyes even more at the mirth in her voice, before suddenly smirking as well.
"Well, I have deigned to wear this lowly kind of garments out of consideration for the fact that you sleep in the same room, Arturia."
By his tone, she knew she was walking into a trap; she knew, but she asked anyway.
"Oh? What do you usually wear for sleeping?"
He grinned widely, his blood red eyes holding satisfaction as they glinted deviously.
"Nothing."
She was glad that she narrowly managed not to blush, and sent a glare in his general direction.
"Good night, Gilgamesh."
Arturia pulled her bedcovers and finally lay down underneath them, turning her head away from him as she had decided earlier. The mattress was much softer and more comfortable than she had expected, as were the sheets, and she felt the heaviness of the events of the past hours beginning to weigh down on her – the wedding, the flight, the exhausting conversations with the man who was now her husband…
She was asleep before she even realized it, and therefore did not notice how Gilgamesh turned off the lights, and did not hear him mutter something in her direction that sounded suspiciously like 'good night'.
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In the morning, when she woke up after a dreamless night of sleep, Arturia's neck already hurt because of the unfamiliar position her head had been in, but she refused to pay it any heed; she was stubborn enough to endure the discomfort.
Looking at her husband's side of the room, she saw that his bed was empty. She heard the water running in the bathroom, which meant that he was likely taking a shower. Feeling rested and strangely full of energy, she got up and, immediately feeling cold, pulled a robe out of the cupboard, where she had put it away the evening before. It was quite chilly for being July, Arturia thought, at least until her eyes fell on the clock on her bedside table.
It wasn't even six in the morning. Of course it was going to be quite cool, and they must have woken up so early because of the jet lag. The next thought that went through her mind was that Shirou must have woken up as well, and in a few hours Iri's plane was going to land.
She was about to go check on her nephew, but then she recalled a part of the agreement and, sighing, pushed the two separated beds back together. She could not say she was happy about it, but she had to respect the contract. She left the room with a displeased frown on her face.
It was a bit difficult for her to remember the location of his bedroom, having never lived – or just been – in this mansion before, but she forced her mind to go back to the previous evening, doing her best to recall the number of rooms and corridors she had passed. She was rewarded when she managed to locate the place correctly.
To her relief, Shirou was still deep asleep. He had moved under the covers, and half his side was exposed to the cool air of the morning. With a small smile, she went to tuck him back in, taking her time to make sure he was warm and comfortable. Going around the room, she found a desk with chancellery on it; she decided to write Shirou a message, because she did not want him to go wander around the mansion and get lost. She briefly sketched the corridor he had to take to go to the main hall at the entrance of the house, which she recalled quite vividly. Then, with one last glance at the peacefully sleeping face of the young boy, next to which she put her note, she quietly left the room.
As she turned around after closing the door, she almost startled at finding Gilgamesh behind her, his usual arrogant expression in place. Obviously, not having found her in their room, he had guessed where she had gone and had followed her.
He was staring at her quite intently, his eyes promising her that, in spite of the early hour, he was fully ready to start teasing her right away.
She did not shift from her position, but simply directed her husband a civil nod.
"Good morning, Gilgamesh."
He was already dressed, she noticed, and he returned her nod, before informing her of the fact that all their belongings were already there, while the staff was going to arrive at eight o'clock. He told her that breakfast hours, lunch hours and dinner hours were all going to be decided on this day, together with the division of house duties. Afterwards, as the servants unpacked their things, she could go to the hospital, since her sister was going to be brought there directly.
Arturia wasn't overly fond of some of the arrangements that were being made, but she was reasonable enough, at least at such an early hour in the morning, to not start an argument with him over things that they could maybe discuss later. He took her by surprise when he then invited her – actually invited, not ordered, even if it was obvious that it was something he was not accustomed to do – to have breakfast.
Gilgamesh guided her to the kitchen, which was one of the largest rooms Arturia had ever seen. There was more than enough food in the three-door fridge to feed an army, and since the choice was vast, with both typical Japanese and typical American food, they could have whatever they wanted.
Admittedly, it was quite strange to see a person so conscious of his own importance like Gilgamesh fill his plate on his own, but again, Arturia chose to keep silent. Well, she kept silent on that specific matter; she was already engaged in a conversation with him about other things.
As for the present week, no clear rules were to be decided about their living arrangements, since they were supposed to have just married and therefore adjust to the time zone and the new place; but from Monday onwards, they had to work out a schedule. After agreeing on the fact that the one who woke up first would have the use of the bathroom first as well, she asked for her working hours to be determined only once her sister's conditions were better known, and he consented.
They sat down to eat, and suddenly, as she focused on her meal, he looked up at her, his eyes searching. He then asked her – he did not demand, even though it was plain to see that he was making an effort not to do so, as had just happened earlier – to elaborate on a specific subject.
"When you were still in Japan, did you live here in Tokyo?"
Arturia almost did a double take. It was very strange for him to ask about her past, and she was not sure she wanted to give him an answer.
However, it was also true that the question was rather bland and harmless. He certainly never asked anything without purpose, but he seemed intent on just keeping the conversation going, and if that was indeed his objective, she was not against it.
With some hesitation, she finally replied, "No, we didn't. We lived in a small town by the sea, very peaceful and quiet. We were happy there, as a family." A very tiny smile managed to curve her lips as she then named the place, before she got control back over her features once more. "Iri often says she wants to go there again one day. She has always loved the sea."
"Do you hold fondness for the sea as well?"
Lost in her memories, she did not register the strangeness of him actually asking her such a thing, which betrayed an odd interest in her reply, and said, "I'm not entirely sure. I liked that place by the sea very much and I would love to go back there with my sister, but I prefer mountains and lakes. I wish I had had the time to make the tour of the five lakes of Mount Fuji back when I lived here. It's something I would really like to–"
She interrupted herself abruptly. What was she doing? Why was she telling him such things?
She looked down at her plate and, without another word, resumed eating her breakfast. She did not want to think about what she had allowed herself to let slip.
Gilgamesh did not insist on the subject, calmly eating his food while his mind analyzed what his wife had said.
His wife.
His blood red eyes left his plate to go back to lingering her. She was his wife now.
His wife.
Oddly enough, he felt like tilting his lips up in a smile.
Not a grin, not a smirk, but a smile.
Such a thing was ridiculous. He was not going to give in to this inexplicable whim.
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