Let's Slow Down

Roderich had just been about to begin making his next cake when the bowl he was about to put his first ingredients in was snatched from the counter. Staring for a few odd moments at the counter, he turned to see Elizaveta. "My dear, what are you–"

"You are taking a break from this." There was no request in her voice. It was a complete and utter demand. A part of Roderich wanted to resist, but the rest of him was sensible and told him to comply with the Hungarian before she decided to annihilate him in some way. He had no doubts that she would manage to make it very unpleasant.

"If you insist," he said blankly. With a wry smile, she began to put everything away. Roderich did not wait too long to begin assisting her.

"Did you have a bad day?" he asked, wondering at her mood. A slight snort of laughter escaped her and Roderich was rather taken to believe that yes, she did have a bad day, and his asking was rather idiotic in some way. Not that he understood why. He assumed it was because she was a woman that he did not understand.

He and every other man.

"...it's just been a long few weeks," she said finally, voice taut. Roderich, the relaxed and survival focused person he was, figured that he would probably be spending tonight up in his room. Oh well.

"It was very kind of you to agree to helping Antonio and Lovino with their wedding," he commented carefully. Elizaveta leaned forward against the counter, staring at the wall.

"It's also been a while since I have done any wedding planning. I suppose it isn't something I can easily jump back into. I should have known that."

Roderich suddenly knew what to say, though he hoped that he would not regret saying it at a later date. "If you need me to help with anything else... All of my time is not devoted to making cakes, you know."

She started laughing. Roderich could not fathom why. A slight frown touched upon his lips, but she walked over and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his chest. "Oh! You are the most darling man... there is no possible way I could love you any more than I do now. Thank you."

He blinked. That... was not what he had expected. He cleared his throat. "I would not have said it if I did not mean it..."

"I know! And I adore you for it." She pulled her head back up and kissed him gently on the lips. "Even if you do spend too much time making too many cakes."

"Excuse me?" Roderich hesitated for an answer as Elizaveta kissed him again.

"They are delicious, Roderich, but I can only eat so much cake before I grow tired of it. And fat."

Both of those situations were inconceivable. He would have told her that too, but the thought flew from his head as she continued to kiss him. All in all, Roderich was certain that this evening was not going to turn out like he had previously thought.

Until the bell sounded, which meant someone was at the bar. They extricated their limbs from around each other and after a quick pat down Elizaveta went to serve whoever had come in. With a sigh, Roderich poured himself a glass of schnapps.

"Oh, what's wrong Heracles?"

"...can I just get a drink?"

Roderich stopped listening in and downed his glass.


Notes:

Oh look, it is a relatively calm moment. In Hearth. See, we knew it could happen.