She Love Me Not
When something was wrong, Vash tended not to say anything to anyone. Heidi knew this well, even though it distressed her. When something was wrong with Vash he closed up to everyone, even her.
So something was wrong. But other than asking him straight out, Heidi knew there was no other way of discerning what was wrong except with watching him very closely.
Except she could not do that, because she was still trying to get ready for the job she had been commissioned for. Still, if she had not been doing that, she might have missed that Maddox was getting the same treatment as she. The both of them being pushed away.
Up until this point, she never realized how easily Maddox fit into their little family. Heidi was quite happy with that. She was always concerned that her brother would never let himself have a friend, but there they were, being friends. At least, most of the time. Until now, where both friend and sister were being pushed away.
Heidi tried to think it through rationally, but she had nothing but her fears. She had nothing to tell her what was wrong.
"Heidi? Did you need something?" Elizaveta asked, looking from down the street down at her. Heidi suddenly realized she had just been standing there and rushed for some words.
"I'm sorry, I was just... was that Lovino?" she asked, turning to look at the retreating back. If he had been a little bit closer, she would have known. As it were, it could have been Feliciano. Ten meters and using just sight tended to make that distinction difficult.
"Yes," Elizaveta nodded. "Any good pictures?"
"A few," Heidi nodded. "But maybe... Maybe I should catch up and ask for approval on some of the set ups Maddox and I discussed."
"Ah ha!" Elizaveta crowed, putting her arm around Heidi's shoulder and whisking her inside. "Luckily for you, dear, I am in charge of everything now, so just put it by me!"
"Oh... you're so selfless Elizaveta!" Heidi exclaimed. "I could never do something like that... it is such a big responsibility..."
"But one I'm well versed in," Elizaveta tapped her nose. "It's nothing I can't handle, so it's nothing I shouldn't do for a friend."
Heidi fought back a blush at the contact. Elizaveta turned to clear off one of the tables. "Would you like me to help?" her voice came out as a slight squeak. Elizaveta stopped, looking back over her shoulder at her with a thoughtful expression.
"You already are." Heidi looked down at her camera and took a deep breath, unable to think of what to say to that. "Is there something wrong, Heidi?"
You are a wonderful person and I wish I could tell you that.
"I..." Heidi swallowed. "I'm worried that something is wrong with Vash."
"...what isn't wrong with Vash..." she heard mumbled from the other room. Elizaveta frowned.
"Hello Roderich!" Heidi called quietly. Roderich poked his head out of the kitchen and gave her an absentminded nod before returning to whatever it was he was currently doing. Probably baking. Heidi wondered if Elizaveta knew the dangers of that.
"What makes you think something is wrong?" Elizaveta asked as she sat down at the table. Heidi followed her example, sitting across from her.
"He's... closed up," Heidi explained. From the corner of her vision, she could see Roderich looking out of the kitchen once more. Vash always tended to have that affect on him. Probably a good thing, considering how once Roderich started in the kitchen he never got out. "Even when he would not talk to me, he would speak with Maddox, but now he is not doing anything with either of us." She thought about that for a moment before another fear rising within her. "Do you think he and Maddox could have gotten into a fight?"
"A fight?" Elizaveta laughed, reaching across and patting her on the arm. "Oh! No, no, Heidi. A fight? I don't think Maddox is capable of that. Verbal sparring, yes. Trapping someone, yes. Master of whatever martial art it is he does, yes. But an actual fight? No, that can't be it."
Heidi was not so certain, but knowing Maddox, she did doubt it would have been a fight. Maddox ended his fights during the same instance in which he started them. No, they did not get in a fight.
But there was something else going on. Heidi would just have to figure out what.
Notes:
Yeah, Vash... I think Heidi is a little interested in someone else. Just not who you think it is.
And Heidi does know of Roderich from before Hearth. She was as acquainted with him as Vash wished her not to be. They got along well, despite Vash and Roderich's animosity toward each other. Basically they tried to make certain it would not affect her, but she was not blind. Or deaf. Heidi is a lot more perceptive than people believe of her.
