A/N: No disrespect is intended towards real journalists, nor towards the books (and paintings) I mention in this fic. As usual, thank you to Jolanikati for editing!
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Before making the official announcement to the press, Gilgamesh and Enkidu had talked at length.
At first, his best friend was shocked in hearing about the contract he had made with Arturia, but when he concisely explained the reasons for it, Enkidu did not have many comments to offer. Keeping his silence over the arrangements that had been made, he worked with Gilgamesh over the best way to announce the engagement to the media; afterwards, he went back to the office, ready to deal with the extra workload they expected to have once the news became public the following day.
Before leaving, however, Enkidu gave his best friend a wry grin.
"Ria has been quite brave in making such a choice, Gil… she still doesn't know how complicated this world is, with the constant presence of the press."
After he left, Gilgamesh found himself giving those words some thought. Enkidu had of course been talking about the fact that the blonde woman had decided to marry him, but assessing the reasons for her decisions made the blond man bring forth another unexpected consideration.
When she had been told of sister's desperate conditions, Arturia had made a choice: she had chosen to save her sister's life.
After all, for Gilgamesh himself, thanks to that event, everything was going quite smoothly. He had known for a while that he needed to get a wife, and the woman he had selected had accepted, albeit not quite in the way he had expected her to. There were several things to be done for the engagement first and the wedding later, but they were all perfectly manageable, and the feat itself of getting a wife had in the end not been too complicated.
Uruk Enterprises was going to have a great increase in popularity once he made the official announcement for his marriage. Moving to Japan right after the wedding was also going to be a smart change; it would make sure that the benefits obtained with the publicity were used well, and Gilgamesh knew his business would expand nicely, after having been mainly centred in the US until then. There were new offices that were about to be opened in Hong Kong, and several others were already active in Europe. While those would need his presence during the following weeks, later on he was going to have to travel less and remain firmly located in Tokyo, having the excuse of being married and therefore of intending to spend most of his time with his wife.
Everything was going to be to his advantage and benefit, in more than one way. And the main reason for it all was the choice that she had made.
Arturia could have chosen differently: since she couldn't pay for the cure, she could have let her sister die.
She was about to graduate and already had a job, and the boy – her sister's son – was emotionally attached to her. From a cold and logical point of view, forgetting the human feelings, she could have made that choice: let her sister die, and take care of the boy herself. Which meant that she would never have come to him and made a contract with him. In the end, it was only her need of money that had made her accept his proposal…
He shook those thoughts away. He was being ridiculous.
After all – would he have left his best friend Enkidu to die, if the situation had been reversed…? Of course not, that was never going to happen. Therefore–
It was irrational to consider such things.
It was quite true that his premise was inaccurate: from the little he knew about her, Arturia had probably never made such a choice. She would never have even considered the fact that there was the possibility of cold-heartedly letting her sister die. She cared too much about her family to do such a cruel and heartless thing.
He was having an inordinate amount of useless, pointless, foolish thoughts, Gilgamesh decided. That woman was making the strangest things go through his mind.
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With some dexterity and making sure not to come with the limousine, Gilgamesh managed to escort her out of the building with him the day after meeting her nephew. Shortly afterwards, they were taking their seats in a quiet café nearby.
Arturia had been a little concerned about the safety of being in a public place like that, especially because she had seen the headlines that morning, which brought quite blurred pictures of her and Gilgamesh with comments on the 'luckiest and yet most elusive woman of the moment'. He had dismissed her worries by simply stating that, as long as no copies of the contract were visible, actually being seen outside would only be beneficial.
As a waitress came to take their orders, to her slight confusion, he ordered for her as well. As soon as the woman was gone, he took notice of her staring and took the trouble to explain himself.
"Last time, you had coffee as your first drink. I ordered the same for you today."
She seemed about to say something, but then appeared to think better of it and closed her mouth again.
He narrowed his eyes. If she had thought he would not notice, she was mistaken.
"Arturia. What are you trying to conceal?"
She narrowed her eyes at him as well.
"I'm not trying to conceal anything. But," she continued, seeing that he was about to speak, "I have to admit that I am not fond of coffee. Last time I had some only because… I was severely sleep-deprived."
She detested the hesitation in her tone as she admitted it, but he did not comment on it, instead asking, in a strangely neutral tone, "What do you prefer then? Tea?"
Perplexed about his reason for asking, she nodded and, within seconds, the waitress was next to her again, politely listing the varieties of tea they had. Mechanically, she chose her favourite orange flavoured one, and then stared at the blond man.
He leaned forward a little, so that no one else could overhear his words.
"You should get used to being my fiancée a little more quickly, Arturia."
She gave him a flat stare, but did not reply; after all, he was right. His being considerate of her preferences was something that was probably expected as her fiancée, wasn't it?
They waited in silence until their orders arrived and, as she sipped on the hot, soothing tea, he spoke again, his tone more serious.
"The last time we talked about our arrangements, we had agreed to see more of each other – but it won't be entirely possible. While you have to finish college, I have to settle many business matters in preparation for the move to Japan. Therefore, I will be travelling throughout the following months, mostly overseas."
She put her cup back on the table to frown at him. This was not what they had agreed on. In what way was it going to affect things?
In reply to her silent question, he continued, a little annoyed, "I will send you Enkidu's number, if you don't have it already – he will be around, should any problems arise with the media. The most important thing you have to do while I'm absent is avoid releasing any statements to the press, not even to ask them to leave you alone. You can go as far as to say 'excuse me' if they don't let you pass, but don't say a word more to them. And when in doubt, ask Enkidu – he is used to those sharks."
While what he was saying was quite important in order to lead a reasonably peaceful life during the upcoming months, it wasn't what Arturia was mostly interested in; before she could bring up the topic that concerned her, he raised it himself, giving her a knowing look as he did so.
"For any other sum of money you need, you merely have to text me. I will send it to your bank account the same way I send your pay-checks."
He then gave her a grin. "While it's true that I will be away most of the time, I will come back on a few occasions – and exactly one month from today, we will fulfil one specific part of the contract."
Arturia chose not to say anything. She had a sneaking suspicion and an – accurate – dread about what he was talking about.
He confirmed her fears by widening his grin.
"You are going to come shopping with me."
She rewarded his words with a glare, but he only seemed entertained as he observed her expression.
"What is the matter, dear wife-to-be? Don't tell me you forgot? Hmmm…" He leaned forward to examine her face better, his eyes keen on her features. "No, you didn't… You thought – or rather hoped – that I would forget."
He had such an annoying smirk, and the fact that he hadn't let her speak much that day certainly was not helping. However, he unexpectedly asked her a question next.
After witnessing the moment with her nephew at the hospital the day before, Gilgamesh had decided to ask. He was not curious, nor was he interested, but he simply thought it would make for a good conversation subject that wasn't going to be boring.
He would not see her for a while, after all; while it was of little consequence to him, it was best if they did not get too hostile, especially since they were in public.
"Arturia, I must admit my mild puzzlement about your nephew. Your family is not wealthy and, from what you have said, it appears that your sister's pregnancy was not planned, nor was it expected. This makes it quite strange when confronted with the fact that she adopted a boy. Was there any specific reason for it?"
She was silent for several seconds, as if deciding on what to tell him.
Careful with every word, she slowly replied, "My brother-in-law, Kiritsugu, was a firefighter. There was a huge arson about two years ago, and the only person who was saved was Shirou. However, he lost everything that night, his family and his future. Iri– that is, my sister, couldn't bear the thought of the young child facing an unknown destiny on his own, therefore she and Kiritsugu adopted him."
He gave her a searching look, strangely sombre for once. He made the connection between what she had just said with what he already knew about her.
"But you said yourself that your sister is of sickly constitution, and that her husband was bedridden for a long time. I am going to assume that they didn't have the time to be actual parents to your nephew." His gaze was penetrant, and made her a little uncomfortable. "No wonder the boy is so attached to you. You have most likely been his true caretaker."
He was taken aback by her sudden vehemence.
"That is not true! Iri has often sacrificed her health to always be there for Shirou!"
Her outburst was so passionate that it shocked even herself, and she looked away. She had not even realized that she had leaned forward in her seat and had almost knocked her teacup over. She should not have lost control over herself in such a manner just to defend her sister, especially not in front of a man who had no idea what she was actually talking about.
He didn't know anything about her family, and he had no right to know anything either, therefore any comment he made should not have the power to unsettle her like that.
To avoid meeting Gilgamesh's gaze and to hide the fact that she was a little ashamed of her reaction, she brought the cup to her lips, took a sip and looked around the room, and since it was almost empty, turned her eyes towards the windows.
It was then that she noticed a strange glint in the bushes on the other side of the café's street. It took her a brief while, but then she realized that they were most likely the lens of a camera.
"Gilgamesh, I believe there might be someone with a camera outside the café."
Her voice was low and controlled, a stark contrast to her previous exclamation. He, on the other hand, did not seem concerned at all and took a sip from his coffee, quite at ease.
"That's fine. This is the right time to start making our contract effective. We are in public – we have to have an innocuous conversation."
She looked at him scornfully. He certainly was a little too relaxed, considering the situation, but once again, he had a point: it was indeed the right time to respect their contract.
She huffed.
"Fine. You said that we could comment works of literature. Allow me to wonder about what exactly you meant by that."
He gave her one of his flattest look.
"It's exactly as it sounds – I suggested talking about famous books."
She raised an eyebrow and looked at him with polite incredulity.
"So… you actually read. I thought you had just been exaggerating."
His eyes were glaring at her, and she somewhat understood his irritation this time. He was an arrogant person, that was for sure, but he would not brag about things that were untrue, as he was too arrogant to do that. He was haughty and proud, but he wasn't a boaster.
Yet she was certain that he had been overestimating himself nonetheless.
"What do you think, say, of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'?"
He actually rolled his eyes.
"Hamlet is a fool."
She narrowed her eyes, and he deigned to explain himself. "Indecisive and yet impulsive fool, that is what he is. Although, I do appreciate some of his wit."
Arturia looked at him skeptically.
"You did read the play, didn't you?"
His renewed glare was confirmation enough, and she sighed. "Then, what about Ophelia?"
Something in the way he was obviously refraining from furrowing his brow told her that he was getting bored.
"Her relevance in the story is much smaller than what critics make it out to be."
While she actually agreed with him, she felt compelled to be fair.
"And yet, her tragedy inspired many artists, for example Millais's–"
"–'Ophelia Portrait', yes. Probably managed to capture the only mildly interesting moment in the character's life – her death."
Arturia wasn't entirely sure about how to reply to that. She had always thought the same about that beautiful painting, even though she would have phrased it with a little more respect.
Nevertheless, it was Gilgamesh speaking; what could she expect? What had she expected? It was probably better if she found something else to talk about, since she had noticed with the corner of her eye that the glinting objects in the bushes were still very much present.
She thought briefly, before suppressing a satisfied smile.
"What are your thoughts on Dante Alighieri?"
She expected him not to even know whom she was talking about, but he replied instead, "I did not have the patience to read more than some sonnets and the endlessly long Divine Comedy by him."
She was mute for a second, her eyes wide, before uttering, controlled disbelief in her voice, "You have actually read his work."
Gilgamesh seemed to hold himself back from rolling his eyes.
"Arturia, in spite of your firm prejudices, I will have you know that I own a large library and did in fact spend quite some years of young adolescence in reading. I can't say I have enjoyed much of that experience, but what's done is done. It's not my custom to hold regrets. It is my custom to make the most of the situation, and since I had to read a vast amount of material, material that you presumably know as well, it can make for conversations, especially in public – like now."
Right then, Arturia's brand-new phone buzzed, since she had set an alarm clock for the time in which she intended to go back to the hospital. After talking about her nephew and literary works with her future husband, getting the most unexpected replies from him, she welcomed the sound with relief.
She turned the alarm off and put the phone back in her bag before making a motion of standing up.
However, his hand on her arm stopped her in the middle of her movements. She looked up at him.
He was much closer than she remembered him to be, and his blood red eyes were studying her face carefully. They were both still seated, but he leaned even closer – and she, mindful of the cameras, did not pull back.
He smirked, just a little.
"We are in public, and are also pretending to be unaware of the reporters outside. It would be quite becoming for us to kiss in the occasion at present."
She had expected him to say something along those lines the moment he had leaned towards her, and she knew that she could not refuse. It was probably for the best in any case since, at the very least, it would give something to the press.
Therefore, she nodded almost imperceptibly and murmured, through gritted teeth, "If you try anything inappropriate, however, I will not hesitate to push you back."
His annoying – and usual – smirk was enough to tell her that he was very much enjoying her discomfort, but was probably going to respect the terms of the contract at the same time. That deliberation was not enough to prepare her for his following actions though.
He stood up, taking her with him – and the next instant, his arms invaded her personal space, pulled her to him and he firmly pressed his lips to hers.
Shocked, it took her all her willpower not to react instinctively and not actually push him away. She forced herself to concentrate: she had agreed to this close physical contact, she had to play along, she had to–
On one of her sides, she was vaguely aware of the fact that multiple flashes were going off outside the café, and that made her lucidity come back to her.
All she was doing with Gilgamesh was merely to give a small show to the hiding photographers.
Well, then…
Tentatively, she pressed herself a little closer to him and brought her arms up, so that they would not remain stiff on her sides but make her seem an active participant in the kissing. She wasn't entirely sure what to do with them to offer a more convincing display though, so she opted for making them simply go rest on his shoulders.
It seemed to be the right thing to do, because his hold on her became suddenly securer and his touch more insistent…
Before she could begin to wonder about what exactly he was doing, it was over. He released her, his smirk in place, and turned around to go pay the bill.
Without exchanging another word, they left the café and walked back to the hospital, the reporters luckily not following them.
By the entrance of the building, he took his leave from her.
"I will see you in a month, Arturia."
Another of his best, infamous smirks, and he was gone.
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