A/N: What's that, an update?
Well, I've been hard at work with my Literary Guidance Counselor, Melon, and we've managed to plot out the entire story! It's going to be 25 chapters plus an epilogue, and will hopefully be finished at the end of September/beginning of October. To get this done, I should be updating every Monday and Friday from now on. Whether or not that will happen, I'm not entirely sure, but I've got two other long fics in the works that I'm eager to get started on (and refuse to do so until I finish this).
With that in mind, I'm putting up some information on my profile about both projects as well as a poll. I'll be writing both eventually, I just want to know which one to write first~
So if any of you guys are interested, please vote.
That is all.
4 Months Later (May)
It had taken four months of hard work, but Elizaveta had finally done it.
She hardly had time to be proud, however, since her mouth was otherwise occupied and Roddy really could be distracting if he set his mind to it. Who knew?
She had one hand working on unbuttoning his shirt and the other tangled in his hair when the other maid walked in. Elizaveta had only chanced to look up, when she was met with the sight of a shocked girl not much older than her (human age, of course.)
"Damn," she whispered. This caused Roderich to actually open his eyes and look at her sternly.
"Langua-" The word died on his tongue when he actually looked at what had produced that response from her. Elizaveta could have sworn she saw Roddy say a word very similar to the one she had just uttered, but she was never quite sure.
The maid cleared her throat, looking around uncomfortably. "Uh, Mr. Edelstein? There is a man here to see you…"
Elizaveta rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Then tell him to-"
"No, Lizzy," Roderich cut her off. "Please, tell him to come in. I will be ready momentarily." The maid nodded and made a hasty exit. Sighing, Elizaveta stood up, followed by Roderich, who was busy buttoning his shirt, most likely in order to avoid the glare being shot at him.
"Lizzy, I would suggest working on some chores until our guest leaves," he said, finishing the last button and moving on to righting the remainder of his clothing.
"Fine," she huffed. "You do know I'm unbearably angry with you, correct?"
"Yes." He turned back to her and gave her forehead a kiss.
When they looked up, there was once again a person in the doorway. This time, however, it just happened to be a relatively important government official.
"Ah, I can return later if this is a bad time…" the man said.
"No, no, now is perfectly fine," Roderich said quickly, giving Elizaveta a stony look that clearly meant "leave". She refused to look at him as she stormed out of the room. She didn't even bother to glare at either of the men.
Unable and completely unwilling to do chores, Elizaveta sat down on the landing of the grand staircase that she was supposed to be cleaning. She pulled her knees to her chest and leaned back against the wall, not caring if anyone saw her in such a position. Even if Edward and John the guards tried anything again, Elizaveta could survive well enough on her own.
Or, at least she had been able to when she was a "boy".
Besides, even if something did happen, it would pay Roderich back for ending that wonderful bonding moment they'd been having on the music room floor. Elizaveta couldn't help feeling like he was being a bit insensitive, as if he were ashamed of her. But that was preposterous. After all, she was a stronger nation than he was… well, she had been years ago. Still, she knew that she could beat Roderich (or anyone else, really) in a fight any day. She'd done it before and sometimes she was far too eager to do it again.
She must have fallen asleep, because the next time she woke up, the light coming in through the window was a different color. Once she had gotten her bearings, she stood up quickly, brushed the dirt off her dress, and bounded down the stairs. Roderich was probably out of his stupid meeting by now.
Still, she approached the music room cautiously, in the very rare chance that the two were still talking. And, of course, to her dismay, she heard voices coming from behind the almost-closed music room doors.
By looking through the crack between the two doors, Elizaveta could see the men sitting on the couch at the far end of the room, sipping what looked to be tea and having what could be none other than a friendly chat.
Sound carried rather well, since it was the music room, after all, and she could actually hear bits and pieces of the conversation. She would have let them be, however if she hadn't heard her name.
"Elizaveta?" Roderich was saying. "Yes, she's the maid you saw with me earlier."
"Are you… seeing her?" the other man asked.
Roderich coughed, which by now she knew meant he was either embarrassed or having an allergic reaction. In this context, she was 99% sure that he was embarrassed.
Why the hell would he be embarrassed about the fact that he was in love with her? If anything, it should be the other way around. Elizaveta was the one that had to deal with the fact that they were polar opposites and that Roderich was completely useless in battle.
"Yes, I am," she heard Roderich say at length. Well, at least he didn't deny it.
"I see. Say, she's that girl from Hungary, is she not?"
"She is."
"Ah, I see now." There was a pause, which allowed Elizaveta to marvel at the dull nature of this conversation. Then Random Man had to go and ruin it by speaking again. "She seems a bit…"
"Uncivilized? Unladylike? Unsophisticated? They all fit my Lizzy quite well."
She didn't even want to hear the rest of the conversation, so she turned away from the door and walked down the hall to her room. No matter how hard she tried, she simply could not get Roderich's words out of her head. So maybe he was ashamed of her. She couldn't see why, since he had never given any indication before…
But rich people were strange beasts, stranger even than Gilbert when he was going through puberty. It was just like Roderich to be ashamed of loving a girl like her; the fact that he loved her at all barely made sense. There were far more refined women out there, and yet for some reason it had always seemed as if Roderich wouldn't have it any other way.
It was a while before Roderich knocked on her door. "Are you in there, Elizaveta?"
"Yeah."
He pushed open the door and stepped in. "It's late in the evening and you haven't done your chores. Care to explain?"
"No, I do not care to explain," she said defiantly, resorting back to her first ever manner of dealing with him.
"So what did you do while my guest was here?"
"Oh, nothing. Nothing other than hearing my lover tell some idiot about how uncivilized I am."
Roderich paled, and she felt the tiniest bit pleased with herself. "You were eavesdropping?"
"If you want to get technical about it, then yes."
"Why?"
"Because I happened to walk by and hear people talking about me."
"So, what were you doing for the remainder of the time?"
"Sleeping."
"You should have been working."
"Well excuse me for being so uncivilized that I didn't think of that."
"Why are you getting so worked up over this?"
"Why are you getting so worked up over the fact that I didn't do my chores?"
"They were your responsibility. I can't just let you have no work to do because of my feelings for you."
"Apparently your feelings prevent you from saying good things about me to your friends as well.
"Lizzy, I think you're overreact-"
"No, I'm not!" she said, trying not to yell. "Maybe I would just like to feel appreciated once and again. You know, since I really thought you meant something by the way you were kissing me earlier."
"I did! I'm in love with you, Lizzy, so of course it meant something!"
"So what did your words to that guy mean, hm?"
Roderich sighed. "You couldn't hear how I said them? I said, 'Uncivilized? Unladylike? Unsophisticated? They all fit my Lizzy quite well. That's why I love her, you know.'"
He said the words fondly now, but she still wasn't sure if he was telling the truth. As if he could see her doubt, he sighed and sat down next to her on the mattress. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, although she still refused to look at him.
"You do know I love you, correct?"
"Sometimes."
"Then I'm sorry for not making it evident all the time." He wrapped his arms around her, and she begrudgingly sank into the embrace.
"How do I know you're not lying?" she asked.
"Well, I do believe that you wrote on your promises list that I had agreed to never lie to you."
"And how do I know you're keeping that promise?"
"You'll just have to trust me."
"How do I-"
"God, why can't this be simple!" he cried in agitation. The sheer strangeness made Lizzy laugh.
"Because you're in love with me, not some brainless idiot."
Roderich smiled. "And that's why I'm in love with you."
"Why, because of my extremely witty side?"
"No, because my uncivilized, unladylike, unsophisticated warrior has a rather lovely brain. And, besides, being uncivilized makes her very happy and very beautiful."
Elizaveta couldn't help her goofy smile or her blush as she buried her face in his chest. "Stop," she mumbled.
"Stop what?" He sounded unduly amused.
"Stop being so sentimental. It's annoying."
"You like it."
"No I don't."
"On the contrary, I believe you do."
"You're wrong."
"You know, this time I actually think I'm right."
"No, Roddy, you're never right."
"Well, I do believe I am this time."
"Not a chance."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really." She grinned up at him and slid her hands through his hair. "Am I right, Roddy?" she whispered against his lips.
"I think so," he replied, before gently biting down on her bottom lip and pressing his mouth to hers.
Elizaveta grinned inwardly. She had known all along that he couldn't resist that. Besides, they had been rudely interrupted earlier, and she was determined to make up for that. With this in mind, she promptly started getting rid of the shirt that was blocking her view of Roddy's abs.
"Lizzy," he said, suddenly jerking away.
"What?" Now she was officially annoyed. Why was he stopping her now?
"I don't believe we are at a stage in our relationship where we can go to such extremes yet. Perhaps in a few months, or years even-"
"So we're not at a stage where you can be shirtless? Or are you just embarrassed? You shouldn't be embarrassed, Roddy, I'm sure you look amazing without a shirt on."
"Lizzy," he interrupted her babbling. "I'm not talking about my being shirtless, per say… I was mainly speaking of where this may lead."
"And that is?"
"I don't want to do anything beyond kissing you."
Oh.
The silence was almost unbearable. Roderich wasn't looking at her, and she was too busy staring at the floor to really bother noticing him. Maybe staring at the floor helped her think, because she seemed to be doing a good bit of thinking.
"What if I married you?" she asked quietly.
"Then I have a feeling I would never get to put a shirt on."
"At least you've got your sense of humor back."
"It never left."
-Insert annoying border here-
"Hey, Roddy?"
"Hm?"
"I'm making you promise to show that you love me all the time."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"Yes it does."
"No it doesn't."
"Shut up. I'm making you promise it anyway. That doesn't change anything."
Roderich Edelstein promises to always show that he loves Elizaveta Hédeváry.
"It still doesn't make sense."