Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers. All rights belong to its creators.
Part 1: Chapter 4: Acquaintances
Elise had been trying to introduce herself to her neighbor across the hall for an entire week now. She looked through her peephole this evening, hoping to maybe catch the man on his way to work.
But what she saw was even better. It was Natalia. I can give her the fudge popsicles!
Elise hurried to the fridge and pulled out the box of frozen treats. She opened the door and both blonds looked in her direction.
"Natalia! Your fudge popsicles!" Elise held out the box to the woman.
Natalia raised her eyebrow, "Elise?"
"Had you been waiting behind the door all this time just to give her popsicles?" Her neighbor asked, eyebrow also raised.
"No. I was actually waiting for you, sir." Natalia took the box from her, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Me?"
"Yes I wanted to introduce myself because we are now neighbors but you always come back so late or are out in the morning. I'm new here, my name is Elise Vogel, but my brother calls me Lili. You could call me that too if you want." She stuck out her hand and the man took it to shake.
"Arthur Kirkland charmed I'm sure."
"Oh! You're Madame Bonnefoy's friend! She came to visit you after she and Feliciano were finished taking me around town. She said you were a bit grumpy, but you seem nice to me." Elise gave him a smile, but she noticed Natalia was looking between the two of them curiously.
"Figures she would say that about me." Mr. Kirkland rolled his eyes. "You seem nice enough, don't spend too much time with Marianne. She is a terrible influence with her holier than thou attitude; I've gotten kicked out of too many restaurants because they didn't cater to her needs."
Elise did think that Mme. Bonnefoy was sophisticated and that she liked high class things but she didn't seem arrogant. But what did she know? They had known eachother since childhood.
So Elise nodded, "I will keep that in mind."
But it didn't mean Elise would stop spending time with her, she was very pretty, and was really nice to her so far.
"So that's it huh? She's your fucking girlfriend?" Natalia spoke up then.
Elise snapped her head to the other blonde who looked livid. She was gripping the box of popsicles so tight that the box was starting to become crushed. Her mouth was twisted into an almost feral snarl. Elise jumped in her own skin at how terrifying the other woman looked.
"Why are you upset? Marianne and I are barely acquaintances! And we aren't even dating!" He motioned between himself and Natalia.
She stalked over to him, "Look here you bastard! I don't know what kind of fucking game you're playing, but if I find out you and this Marianne woman are dating, I will not hesitate to-" By then Natalia had the other man shoved against the wall, a knife to his throat.
Where did that come from?
Elise dropped the popsicles and gripped the other woman's wrist.
"Natalia." Elise pleaded to the other woman with her eyes.
Natalia looked back at her, eyes widened in realization. She dropped the knife, and Elise noticed her hands started to shake. Natalia's face was blank as she stepped back from Mr. Kirkland.
Elise could not gage the man's expression, but he did not look angry. He even managed to pick up the knife Natalia dropped.
"Were you going to kill me?" He asked Natalia who now looked terrified beyond words.
"N-no. I could never do that." She said rapidly, shaking her head. For a moment it did seem like she was threatening to kill him, with a slash across his neck. That reaction was quite extreme, and Elise was worried.
"Natalia, do you want to come inside for some tea?" Elise asked her.
"No, I want to be alone. Excuse me." And with that the other woman wormed her way out of her grip and ran down the hallway towards the stairs.
"But your popsicles!" Elise said but she soon heard the thumps of descending footsteps before hearing the door to the building slam shut. She sighed, crouching to pick up the box.
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to her after returning her knife." Mr. Kirkland said, oddly calm about the whole ordeal.
"Has something like this happened to you before?"
"I'm afraid so, women are vengeful creatures." He said, shaking his head.
What kind of women would threaten to kill you?
Elise did not want to pry so she gave him a nod. "I will see you around. Sorry to have met under these circumstances."
"Oh yes. Take care Elise."
With that Elise took the popsicles back inside her apartment.
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Elise was now with Mme. Bonnefoy, the woman had contacted her earlier in the week and wanted to know how to start up her computer.
Elise had to take the bus into Srafbridge, to a high scale apartment. Mme. Bonnefoy met up with her in the lobby. The woman had on a royal blue form fitting dress that showed her shoulders, with heels that matched. Her hair was in loose curls, framing her face, and her lips were cherry red.
"Lili!" The woman waved at her, giving her a smile.
Elise decided to wear a black pleated skirt, Mary Jane shoes, and her forest green turtleneck tucked in. She would have felt underdressed in jeans compared to how fabulous Mme. Bonnefoy looked every time she saw her.
"Hallo, Madame Bonnefoy!" Elise said walking over to the woman, who pulled her into a hug. Elise felt her cheeks warm with blush and she hesitantly returned the gesture.
Mme. Bonnefoy then kissed both of her cheeks in greeting.
"Bonjour! How are you today?"
Elise lightly fanned herself, suddenly feeling too hot in her clothes. "I-I'm good. Just a little tired from the train ride over." She hoped the woman wouldn't notice.
"Oh! Come on, we'll have some wine and then you can attempt to show me how to start up that devil machine."
Mme. Bonnefoy led the way to the elevator and they took it all the way up to the 7th floor. Mme. Bonnefoy's apartment was almost double the size of hers and had a glass screen door that led to a balcony. Her wooden floors looked freshly polished, and her pure white couch looked spotless along with her bearskin rug.
She led the way to her island where she pulled down some wine glasses that were hanging above.
"White or red?" She asked.
Elise sat at one of the bar stools, "White."
Mme. Bonnefoy poured her a cup of what was no doubt an expensive French wine. She poured herself some red wine. "I do love "Chateu." Do you have a favorite brand of wine?" Elise shook her head.
"Maybe this one becomes your favorite, non?" She said as Elise took a sip.
It was really good but she didn't think she'd be able to afford it in order to have it again.
"So how do you like the town now that you've started working?"
"I like it alot. Everyone here is really nice, although Mister Beilschimidt was a bit weary of me at first. But I showed him that I knew what I was talking about. When I got his computer to easily accept the inputs of what parts needed to be replaced so he could quickly calculate their totals, he stopped scrutinizing me."
Mme. Bonnefoy sipped her wine. "That is fantastique! I do not know who that is but I am glad you put him in his place."
"He owns the auto repair shop in Cliffdover, he is one of my clients."
"Oh, I don't think Feli has mentioned him before. Do let me know if he gives you any more trouble."
Elise nodded and thought that maybe she could help sooth Natalia's fears if she found out what was going on between the two blonds. If she was lucky, they were actually dating and Natalia could move on.
"Oh and I met your friend Mister Kirkland!"
"Ah the stubborn mule. He wasn't too terrible I hope."
"No, not at all. It was brief. I just introduced myself and so did he." Elise paused for a moment, looking down at her fidgeting hands, "Um...are you two in a relationship? Because my friend-"
Mme. Bonnefoy let out an almost choked cough before swallowing the gulp of wine she had in her mouth. She let out a loud laugh. "Oh Lili, you are hilarious! I wouldn't be caught dead dating that man. What a silly thing for you to ask." She waved her away, as though the question offended her.
Then she raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to pursue-"
"No! I was just asking for a friend of mine." Elise waved her hands in dismissal.
"Pauvre de moi! Your poor friend, the depths of hell await her poor soul." She said before letting out a giggle. "I am sure Arthur will find a way to screw it up, like always." She looked saddened again, "I wish I could see the catastrophe myself, but you'll tell me if it crashes and burns won't you Lili?"
Elise was confused. They were so mean spirited towards one another but claimed to be friends. But she decided to agree anyway, a selfish part of her hoping that she was right. Elise nodded in response.
Elise took a look at the mess of cords by Mme. Bonnefoy's outlet and managed to move them around in order to make it look cleaner. Then she managed to connect the phone line to the computer.
Mme. Bonnefoy's eyes widened upon seeing the logo appear on the screen as she booted up the computer. "You know you can't use the phone while you are on the computer." Elise said.
"I didn't know that!" She put her hands delicately onto the keyboard.
"What did you want to do first?"
"Get on the internet. They say I can use it instead of those heavy encyclopedias."
Elise leaned over her and typed in the domain name to get on the encyclopedia website, making sure to get all of the letters and symbols correct.
"What do you want to look up?"
"Fashion from the 1920s." Elise typed in "feather boas" and Mme. Bonnefoy let out a gasp at seeing the digitized encyclopedia. A few images accompanied the text.
"This is amazing!"
So she spent the next few hours searching things for Mme. Bonnefoy and letting her do a few searches herself. She wrote down the link for the encyclopedia so Mme. Bonnefoy could look up things on her own.
Then it was already evening; She paid her but Elise only let her pay for half. Mme. Bonnefoy sent her home with a few cherry and rose eclairs she had made. "Call me when you arrive home. It is quite late and I will worry that something bad has happened."
"I will Madame Bonnefoy. Thank you for the deserts."
"No problem mon cheri. And feel free to stop by anytime. It does not have to be for just business."
Elise nodded, giving her a smile.
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Elise was able to invite Natalia over for a cup of tea a week later.
"Elise, I'm sorry you had to witness that."
Elise gave the woman a reassuring smile, "It is fine. I'm glad you didn't do anything...you might have regret." She held the kettle and poured Natalia's tea into a mug. Then she did the same for herself, feeling the stream lightly hit her nose. She put the kettle back onto the stove.
"I don't usually let things upset me like that." Natalia said, bringing the cup to her lips as Elise took a seat beside her on the couch. Natalia blew on it, eyes trained on something beyond her walls.
"Jealousy is the green eyed monster. Sometimes it makes us a little crazy." Elise said. Natalia looked at her with her midnight blue eyes.
"I remember my brother threatening to shoot a boy I was friends with just because I was spending all my time with him. My brother and I talked about it, and then I made sure to carve out time for them both."
Natalia nodded now taking a sip.
"But lucky for you, I talked to Madame Bonnefoy and she said they weren't dating. So you have nothing to worry about!" Elise noticed that Natalia's eyes widened.
"Elise, you didn't have to do that." Natalia shook her head.
"But I wanted to! I don't want you to worry."
Natalia set her mug down and pulled Elise into a hug, "Thank you." She said, and Elise returned the hug, being warmed by the other woman. Elise felt her cheeks warm with blush, and hoped the other woman wouldn't notice.
"Did you happen to catch the news?" Natalia asked her.
Elise shook her head.
"I usually don't either because there isn't any crime usually but apparently a blonde haired woman was found dead in her apartment from being strangled."
"Oh no! Was she found around here?" Elise gripped her cup tightly, feeling her heart thump in her chest, eyes widened.
"She lived on the outskirts of town, so no." Natalia said. She looked down at her cup, seemingly a bit downtrodden.
'Well that's good in a way. But I do hope that they catch whoever did it." Elise furrowed her eyebrows. "I just don't understand why someone would do such a thing. All life is precious."
"Maybe they aren't even aware that it's happening and it's something they have no control over. Some people are sick."
Elise met Natalia's eyes, and saw that she looked troubled, she was now biting her lip. "Natalia what's-"
"Nothing, I am just being paranoid." Natalia said, bringing the cup to her lips again.
Elise suggested that they watch a movie. Elise wanted to watch a romantic comedy to brighten the mood a little but Natalia wanted to watch a horror movie. She was actually frightened of horror movies but would watch them with her brother. Being with him comforted her.
"Alright, I'm just going to tell you now that these movies scare me easily."
"You have nothing to worry about. Demons and ghosts don't exist."
They ended up watching Night of The Living Dead, although she mostly watched it through the tiny spaces between her fingers. That was until Natalia grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands down.
"You will not be able to enjoy the movie like that." She said, voice stern.
Elise noticed that Natalia was now sitting right next to her. Her stocking covered leg touching hers, her warm, calloused hands enclosing on her petite wrists, and her face mere centimeters away. She had never been this close to Natalia before, and felt herself getting lost in her midnight blue eyes.
"You're right." Elise said, feeling her previously tense posture relax. "I was just so scared." She continued, feeling blush warm her cheeks.
"I told you not to worry. If it makes you feel better, I'm here and I won't let the zombies eat you." Natalia then pulled away from her, her hands releasing Elise's wrists, but she did not move over. They stayed on the couch, knees touching, and finished the popcorn.
Natalia finally was able to take her popsicles home. Elise was happy to give them to her.
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Elise opened up her door the next day to be greeted with a basket full of lilies, dyed with various coloring, blue, red, green, and purple. Attached was a note. "A little housewarming gift for you. I felt a bit bad I hadn't welcomed you first. I know our schedules wouldn't really allow me to give you them in person." -Arthur K.
Elise smiled and picked up the flowers before she got a great idea. As a thank you for the delicious eclairs, Elise would make a flower crown for Mme. Bonnefoy. She would keep some of the flowers but she really wanted to make something pretty for the other woman to wear.
Elise moved to put the flowers in a vase, a bit taken aback back to sniff the lilies and notice that they smelled strange.
Elise brushed it off as the dye, or maybe it was actually paint.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Criticism Welcome.
Translation:
Pauvre de moi-woe is me!