A/N: I honestly didn't plan the Irisviel-Kariya relationship, but I though it made sense while writing... although most of it will happen off-screen, so don't worry ;)


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The evening went by without problems.

Neither of them had to speak much, their mere – very regal – presence was sufficient. Luckily the event was meant to promote something as important as renewable energy, so there were several speeches from people involved in the construction of the hotel, most of whom worked for Uruk Enterprises, which had played a major role in bringing the project into fruition.

While there was no direct request for them to speak publicly, all the stares at them truly began to make Arturia uncomfortable. She could usually shake them off or ignore them, but she was slightly on edge this evening.

Gilgamesh seemed unsurprisingly able to read her mind but, surprisingly, neither mocked nor scoffed at her.

Instead, he grasped her hand. He did it in public, but discreetly.

It was only a small gesture to show affection, one that was not too uncommon for married couples; the stares only increased at that, but Arturia found herself suddenly impervious to them.

He had probably done that just for show, but it had still been unusually considerate of him to do something when he had noticed her feeling ill at ease in such an unknown and public place.

Arturia did not love her husband, but that did not mean that she couldn't appreciate this gesture of his, regardless of whether it had been earnest or not.

Her hand enveloped in his, she squeezed it lightly, briefly, knowing that he would receive – and understand – her silent message of thanks. When he squeezed back a moment later, she received the unneeded, but still considerate, confirmation of it.

She had completely forgotten to remain upset at him for unexpectedly kissing her in public earlier.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

Later that night, she retired to their room first. Gilgamesh received a phone call from Enkidu about work and went out on the terrace to speak with him while she got changed for sleep.

As she unbound her braided chignon and brushed her golden locks with expert ease, her eyes swept over the hotel room. It was a very elegant place, with modern furnishing and strategically placed lights – all rigorously fuelled by renewable energy – to make it a dream-like room, 'especially for young couples', they had said at the inauguration, and Arturia had only barely managed to keep her expression politely composed.

She was there, on this specific evening and in this specific room, surrounded by media, solely because of the media in the first place. If they had not published the false story of the cheating, making her become suspicious of Gilgamesh's behaviour, they probably wouldn't have decided to participate as a couple only to worthy events.

The press's articles had been the ones that had led to everything that was decided next; but it had also been because she had actually believed that there was truth to the statements they had reported, the statements about her husband cheating on her.

To be honest, it had been a bit unfair on her part, to think him capable of breaking his word to her in such a manner.

But she could not find a logical explanation in herself about a different matter: when she had thought about him betraying her – the man who was giving her money for her sister, whom she generally disliked and with whom she shared a bedroom – why, why had she felt a stab of a feeling she could now unmistakably identify as hurt?

Such considerations were absolutely ridiculous and foolish. With a firm gesture, she braided her hair in a more relaxed hairstyle, comfortable for sleeping, and resolved to push those thoughts out of her mind. Satisfied with her decision, she turned towards the bed, only to stop dead in her tracks.

Oh. She could now see that there was going to be a problem regarding that arrangement.

In that same moment, Gilgamesh came in from the terrace, his phone call concluded, and raised an eyebrow at her, since she was standing still and staring at the bed quite intensely.

Turning her head towards him, she detachedly informed him, "This bed is not separable into two. It's a single one."

Even as her expression was composed, she was inwardly screaming. There wasn't a second bed, nor was there a couch. There was only one bed for both of them.

It was a thankfully king-size one, but she was not going to share a bed with Gilgamesh. She would not do such a thing.

It was one thing to be on better terms with him than usual, it was another to sleep next to him.

He rolled his eyes at her, clearly of the opinion that she was overreacting. He had already changed into nightwear earlier; therefore, he went over to the bed and slipped under the covers with his usual classiness undeterred.

With a motion of his hand, he beckoned her closer. She did not move a step.

He only seemed amused by her behaviour, and gave a teasing pat to the spot next to him on the bed, even as he did not invade her 'side' of it.

"If it puts you more at ease, I give you my solemn word, Arturia, that I will not do anything to you. Now stop being so wary, come here and have some sleep."

Her eyes examined him carefully, weighing him, before she slowly approached the bed. He had given her his word, and could it be that he had truly done it to make her feel more at ease…?

All she had to do was share a bed with her husband for one night, after all, and he had even made a promise not to do anything to her.

She could do this.

She sat on the edge of the bed, cautiously leaning down, making sure she stayed as far from him as possible. Even though he had just promised to be respectful, she could not deny that she was still uncomfortable. While he wasn't a stranger to her anymore, he certainly wasn't a person she trusted to have so close to her, in her personal space, and even less so during her sleep.

There was very little she could do about it though, unless one of them agreed to sleep on the floor, and that would have been a shame, considering that the bed was extremely soft and comfortable.

Making sure she remained on the edge of the mattress with the silky sheets surrounding her and working as a barrier, very slowly, Arturia allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

Arturia felt her consciousness slowly coming back to her, and she blinked sleepily. Her bed had always been very comfortable, but this morning it appeared to be even more so. Warm, soft, pleasant, heavy…

…heavy?

The rest of her body remained painfully still, but her eyes snapped open in speechless shock as she remembered where she was.

She was however no longer on the edge of the bed. She was comfortably lying on her side in the middle of the mattress, facing away from Gilgamesh, and her husband's arm was thrown around her waist, pressing her form close to his. The particular warmth and heaviness – and comfort, as much as she dreaded the implications of that line of thought – she had felt was his body.

Even as her heartbeat increased a little, Arturia quickly thought about what the best course of action was. She could feel his slow and deep breathing next to her ear, which told her that he was still asleep. All her nightclothes were still in place, and so were his, as she could discern from feeling him so close to her.

While it was certainly nota position she had ever wanted to be in, much less wake up in, she could make a consideration: Gilgamesh had not broken his promise to her, because he had not done anything. She couldn't roughly shake him off and start the morning with a quarrel.

Well, to be fair, she could, but she did not want to.

For one, they were not in their home; they were in a hotel, and it was never a good idea to start a discussion in an unfamiliar place. She was also well aware of the fact that no one could control the position they were in in the morning when waking up, so it was neither useful nor fair to accuse Gilgamesh of trying anything, when he was obviously not at fault.

It had been something accidental; she should not attack him right away because of it.

Very slowly and carefully, she took his arm and lifted it off her, sliding away from underneath it and then putting it on the covers. She stopped for a moment, listening. His breathing continued to be even, reassuring her about the fact that he was still asleep.

Making sure not to make any noise, she took her clothes and went to the bathroom to dress for the day. He may be asleep, but she would not risk getting changed in the same room as him.

As soon as the bathroom door closed behind her, Gilgamesh's eyes snapped open and stared at the place she had just vacated.

Contrary to what she had thought, he had not been sleeping at all; he had been awake for a while already.

In fact, he had woken up and found himself in that position, with his arm around his wife's smaller body, cradling her close to him. He had not felt the need to move nor to get up, and had simply waited for her to wake up as well, quite comfortable in his current location. Never having felt her body so close to his – as he usually just had an arm around her waist when in public, but nothing more – he did not find the sensation unpleasant at all.

Once he felt her stir, he had expected her to shove him away or kick him or react in some other violent way, and he had been ready to be amused and chuckle at her antics.

She had however taken him by surprise by being unexpectedly gentle; she had of course moved him away from her, but not roughly, nor had she yelled at him in an unreasonable manner.

That was… confusing. And it was giving him a strange, unknown feeling, because he knew that Arturia had probably resolved to behave like that in order not to disturb him and let him sleep some more. Instead of being indignant about the awkward position in which she had found herself, she had likely stifled her unease and had been considerate of his comfort.

When she came out showered and dressed, he concluded that it was time for him to get up, too. Since she did not mention the morning incident at all, he decided that he would leave it be as well, especially because he still couldn't quite place the emotions he had felt earlier.

And Gilgamesh Uruk did not like the very few things he did not know how to deal with.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

They were offered a very sumptuous breakfast in the dining hall, and one look from Gilgamesh was enough to grant them a private table.

The evening before, they had met several people mainly involved in charities, and Arturia had been swift in expressing her support to their causes – when she deemed them reasonable and worthy – and allowed them to announce her name publicly among their official supporters. She had already spoken with her husband about it after the 'cheating' incident, and even though he had not given her a direct answer, it was clear that he approved of her actions.

He was not used to dealing with charitable organizations and was not looking forward to having to be involved in them any time soon, but if she took care of everything and did it in his – their – name, then it could only be considered a huge benefit to their position as a power couple.

An obsequious waiter brought them each a newspaper, and they both took a glance at the front pages. The hint of a frown in Arturia's brow indicated that she was holding back a small scoff.

Mr. & Mrs. Uruk closer than ever: first kiss in public since the wedding!

On one hand, it was extremely positive that the press was fully enthusiastic and supportive of them; on the other, were there seriously people who counted the number of times they kissed in public? Perhaps she had truly underestimated the reporters' eagerness.

Her eyes quickly scanning the article, she found little that could interest her, and she went back to focusing on her breakfast. She intended to have Sakura come over to the hospital later in the day, to make sure she and Iri became better acquainted while Shirou and Rin played together.

Sakura was very good at taking care of children and she liked it as well; Iri's conditions were improving wonderfully and she had been told that she was going to be able to leave the hospital after giving birth. However, she was not going to be able to manage two small children on her own while still being quite weakened; Arturia would of course make sure she helped her herself, but she also planned on offering Sakura a job as a part-time babysitter. To do that though, she first meant to make sure Iri and the purple-haired woman found an increased degree of friendship with each other.

She was brought out of her plans for the day when Gilgamesh cleared his throat, getting her attention, and asked her an indirect question. She stared at him, as he sipped on his boiling coffee calmly and addressed her.

"I believe we had started a conversation yesterday, about the nurse and your sister."

Her hand, holding her teacup, froze in mid-air, and he chuckled. His blood red eyes stared at her over his own teacup, a teasing glint appearing in them.

"From what I understood, you didn't get along with your brother-in-law that much. That means that you should not find it bad in the least to see the nurse with–"

"It's true that I did not like Kiritsugu," she interrupted him in a low voice.

He did not conclude his sentence, allowing her the time she needed to speak again.

Ever since he had unintentionally overheard her sister speak at the hospital the day before – and he was fairly certain that the white-haired woman had intended for him to listen – he had wanted to know a little more about her past, and his wife had just willingly told him something.

He knew that, if he pressed and teased Arturia, she was going to snap and then close herself even more. Since he wanted the opposite, he simply waited, letting her take her time.

"Kiritsugu was not a… cruel man, I think. I disliked him because he was cold and ruthless, and a much rougher person compared to Irisviel. Iri is far from being an innocent, helpless person, but she is gentler. Kiritsugu knew much more about the world's horrors – and he welcomed it, in some ways, in his mind and soul. I… respected his knowledge and capability of handling all that darkness, but I could not approve of it." She paused briefly. "He also wasn't supportive in my opinion; Iri was very supportive of him, but he never cared much for what she wished to do with her own life."

She stood a little straighter, and added some sugar to her tea. It was getting easier to talk about her sister's husband. "Personally, I did not like him. But it was not me who had to like him – it was Iri. And she loved him dearly, he truly loved her back and he made her happy. That was more than enough."

She took a sip from her tea, finding its warmth soothing and making her feel more comfortable around such a delicate subject.

His eyes had not left her the entire time, contemplating her.

He slowly said, "Therefore, you being you, Arturia, you made an effort to get along with him."

She did not nod, nor did she shake her head.

"I tried."

Leaning forward slightly, he gave her a smirk.

"The amount of things you do for your sister's sake is quite astounding, Arturia."

Instead of gaping at him, she frowned.

"It's instead quite normal. Would you do any less for Enkidu?"

That silenced him. She had probably made the best point ever, and her emerald green eyes told him that she was well aware of it.

"Gilgamesh, it seems that you only understand things once they are put into perspective in your world." She inclined her head. "Iri is my sister. My best friend. My family. Same as Enkidu is your best friend… your brother. Your family."

When the waiters came to clean up the table several minutes later, husband and wife had still not exchanged another word after Arturia had so disarmingly outmanoeuvred Gilgamesh.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

Back to the mansion they lived in, Gilgamesh had a request for his wife. It was not unexpected, since he had already asked her to do such a thing before, but it was still quite a surprise when he decided to make her attend the meetings with his work associates.

When she inquired about the reason for it, he simply told her that since her sister was getting better, she had now more time to fully concentrate on work; that meant that he wanted her to be present at the debriefings. He curtly said that she was good at her job, but there was still room for improvement, and attending those meetings was therefore going to be constructive for her, as his employee.

The first few times, she sat at the table with everyone else, and simply listened. Enkidu was always present – when he wasn't abroad – Iskandar most of the time too, and the various directors of the offices were part of the meetings as well.

Arturia had very little to say; she always went through the day's agenda, therefore she was aware of what the object of discussion was, but she was more interested in hearing what the others came up with.

After the first meeting, Gilgamesh had to speak with one of his American subordinates and therefore left the room, but after the second meeting, once everyone else had left, he closed the door and sat down in front of her.

They were in one of the large offices on the first floor of the main building of Uruk Enterprises. It had been furnished by one of Gilgamesh's smaller projects, Mana Corporations, and she had to admit that they had done a marvellous job. Everything was designed in order to give a soothing and comfortable aura – yet still appropriate for a working environment – for the people sitting in the room.

She brought her eyes back on him when he addressed her.

"Speak what's on your mind, Arturia. You are rarely quiet for so long, and during both meetings you hardly intervened at all."

She looked at him pensively. There had been two new associates present that day.

"I hold some curiosity towards Mr. Ryuudou," she eventually said.

Gilgamesh's eyes began to show some traces of boredom.

"He's an ambitious person and his work has been satisfactory so far. There is little else about him that would elevate him from being average."

She bit her lip briefly. Would it be wise to say what she thought? No one would hear their conversation, and she had never held back from speaking her mind clearly in front of her husband.

Even if it was about work, this was still Gilgamesh, the man she had married, and she had never been particularly shy in telling him what she thought.

Deciding to overcome her slow hesitation, she went into more detail.

"Today you made your instructions clear to him. But, if I may say it, I would advise you to be careful. He will do what you ask him to do, but he will not tell you how he manages it. He will care more about showing you the completed results rather than taking proper care of all the steps needed to get there. As you said, he's ambitious. But he's also imprudent and even slightly rash… he is underestimating you and your control over him, and therefore will try to put himself in the best possible light to win your favour. From the way he speaks, it seems as if he wants that more than the actual good results in his work. He just needs the results to have your approval… nothing more."

She waited a few seconds after saying that. She was quite certain that he was going to dismiss her with a scoff, but he continued to stare at her, his expression suddenly unreadable.

Therefore, she decided to continue.

"There was also another person today, Mr. Tachibana from your new branch in Australia. I don't believe you briefed him – you only introduced him."

At that, Gilgamesh did scoff lightly.

"If he had trouble in following the discussion, it means he should have prepared himself better."

"But he has been making your business flourish, and he is not the deceitful kind at all. Why are you antagonizing him by being so dismissive towards him? You could be kinder to him, and you would get a truly trustable associate in the field of Australia, where you have still limited influence as for now. And since you are in Japan at the moment, closer contact with the entire continent in the Pacific would be beneficial."

She had perhaps crossed the line with those last comments, but since she had already crossed it, she might as well take the full step over it.

"You are a very good judge of character, Gilgamesh. You see things about people that I don't. You read through them easily, and with admittedly quite frightening accuracy… but that doesn't mean that you analyse all you find out about them." She held his gaze steadfastly. "You read them effortlessly; sometimes you need just one look to gather a tremendous amount of information on them. But you underestimate them… just like you underestimated the press with the scandal of the cheating affair."

Their clash of green and crimson seemed very unlikely to be over any time soon; instead, to her astonishment, he smirked widely after only a few seconds and inclined his head in her direction briefly.

"If what you're saying is true, it may be likely that I have underestimated my wife as well." He leaned back against his chair again. "It was a good idea to have you attend the meetings. You'll take part in the next ones too."

Her eyebrows rose quite a bit at that statement. What exactly had happened to him? And how had he managed to turn their talk into a compliment to himself…?

His smirk only widened at her expression. "Did you honestly think I requested your presence at these meetings for no reason, Arturia?"

She furrowed her brow in mild confusion. Had he actually wanted her to speak her mind? To tell him exactly what she thought of the people he was working with? Only because… she was a person who would not be afraid of basically insulting him to his face and questioning his actions directly?

His smirk widened even more as he casually teased, "I only said that I might have underestimated you, Arturia, not that I did."

She shook her head slightly, feeling her bewilderment grow. What exactly was Gilgamesh's play?

"No play – this is work. A good use of the capabilities of my employees."

She hadn't even realized she had asked her question aloud, and he had smoothly answered her. He stood up and took both their coats, handing over hers in a very uncharacteristic display of gentlemanly behaviour.

He smirked at her again when she accepted it after a moment of hesitation.

"The limousine is waiting to take us home. The Tohsaka girl should have cooked dinner by now."

His eyes gleamed strangely as he escorted her out to the car.

While Gilgamesh ran Uruk Enterprises on his own and did not tolerate any interference – Shinji Matou, who had attempted to do such a thing, was suffering the bitter consequences for it – he wasn't arrogant enough not to value the thoughts of people who showed insight. Enkidu was one such person; some of the people he had put in charge of his offices as well; Iskandar would occasionally be another (unrequested though); and his wife Arturia had recently been added to the short list.

Uruk Enterprises was his kingdom, and to make it prosper, he would go to almost any kind of length. He was running it expertly, but it was now so vast – and continuously expanding as well, he thought with pride – that he could not take care of everything on his own. He could only accept the assistance from people he knew would not attempt to flatter him or lie just in order to gain his favour.

Enkidu had grown up with him, and he had no problems in being blunt and addressing any kind of issues. He was sharp and had more contact with the staff, his friendly ways allowing him a different kind of relationship with the employees, and therefore a different insight on them. He would also tell Gilgamesh the exact truth, without concealing anything.

Arturia was an employee as well, and she was his wife. Her nature of being rather reserved and detached from others yet not being lacking in empathy in the least had given her the capability of having yet again a different kind of insight. When in meetings, she formed her own opinions and drew her conclusions about matters. He did not find himself agreeing with her all that often, but that did not mean that her words were to be discarded only because she saw things in a different light.

In fact, it was precisely her point of view that could add a new level of perception to what happened at the offices, because of how dissimilar it was compared to his. A new viewpoint, especially hers, was not automatically unwelcome.

Moreover, she would not back down from telling him anything; she would not change her views to appease him, nor would she give up on her thoughts only because they contrasted with his or, heaven forbid, could offend him. She would straight up tell him what she thought, as long as he prompted her to talk to him.

She had her own opinions on his employees and work associates, and they could prove to be important for the prosperity of his company, especially after what had happened previously with the press.

For the good of Uruk Enterprises, listening to her unbiased and frank thoughts about what transpired during the meetings was going to be beneficial.

It did not hurt that her thoughts were usually oddly amusing to listen to as well, of course.

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