My Roommate is Company:
"Here," There was a nudge at his shoulder and Ludwig looked up, surprised to see An'na holding two mugs of what he assumed was coffee and wrapped in a blanket. He sat the pliers that was in his hand down next to the other tools and grabbed the outstretched cup. It warmed his nearly numb fingers, though he had been doing mechanical work for some time now.
An'na sat in a corner of the tiny closet, wrapping the blanket around her legs until she was comfortable. Ludwig looked into his cup, finding that it actually was hot chocolate, "You don't have to sit in here," he assured taking a sip as well, "I'm fine."
She shrugged, sitting the cup at her feet, "Too cold to do anything else. And," An'na looked down at her feet "I thought you could use the company." With a sniff, she nodded towards the heating system. "So what's wrong with it?"
Ludwig sighed, eyeing the exposed electrical wires of the broken boiler. The thing was old and he was sure they were going to have to go half on a new one soon. Otherwise, they'd have to wear blankets around the house for the rest of winters.
"The compressor, I think, which I can fix now," Ludwig pointed to loose wires, "These are worn as well, I might have to find some new ones in the morning. Or use some electrical tape, for now. Ultimately, we'll need a new heating system."
An'na rubbed her hands through her short hair, "Daniel usually fixes it. And he said I needed a new one," then she shrugged, "I'll wait until you fix the compressor."
Shifting so that she was laying on her side, An'na pulled her knees closer to her chest in the fetal position, watching as Ludwig returned to his work.
On occasion, while he tampered with wires, Ludwig could hear An'na sipping hot chocolate. He wanted to tell her she ran the risk of spilling it while trying to drink lying down.
She coughed and he assumed it was do to the draft in the house until she spoke, "So, um, I have a question."
"Ja?" he answered mildly distracted from clearing dust out of his workspace. There was brief pause and he could tell she was moving, trying to sit up he assumed.
"Actually, Daniel wanted me to ask you but since he just never got around to it," another pause and more movement of her blanket, " See my family has this Christmas party every year and Daniel's always just inviting people and stuff."
Ludwig could hardly understand the last part because her voice sounded slightly muffled. He stopped his working and turned around completely. Sure enough, An'na had her blanket nearly wrapped around all of her face, with the exception of her eyes and a tiny peephole for her mouth.
Concerned, he stood which made her look up, "I'll get you another blanket since you seem cold. I can't hear you while you're wrapped up liked that."
"No, I'm, it's" she sighed and lowered the folded fabric from her face, "I'm not that cold." Her nose and cheeks were red, which, for Ludwig, countered her previous statement. In his years of pharmaceutical practice, flushed face always equaled cold temperatures.
"Are you sure? The linen closet is right there," he asked again, inching closer to the door just in case.
An'na looked down, finding interest in her empty coffee mug, "Yeah."
With a bit of hesitation Ludwig returned to his spot on the floor, keeping a close eye on his roommate until he grabbed his tools and started back to work. If she coughed again, he was going to get that extra blanket, "What were you asking me?"
She cleared her throat, "Well, just that, we have this family Christmas party and Daniel always invites people and you know he just wanted me to you know ask you if you might possible be interesting you know in coming, not that you have to or anything but if you didn't have anything to you know do and wouldn't mind meeting my extremely crazy but also fun family members…"
Deciphering was in order because it came out in one long run on sentence, which he Ludwig figured out happens when she's nervous. After extracting her meaning amidst the 'you know', he couldn't quite piece together why she would be nervous to him such a thing.
"Gilbert and I usually have our own celebration," he cut a wire in half, tying the loose end, "But I suppose I can pass through. That is if your family doesn't mind me leaving early."
"Yeah, I mean, that's fine if you leave early," her tone was cheery much to his content.
They talked sparingly, mainly because Ludwig was focused. He was sure she understood because she never pushed for conversation and eventually stopped talking altogether. Ludwig was grateful because then he could focus on heating the house, if only for that night.
When the familiar hum of the machine echoed in his ears, Ludwig smiled triumphantly at his work. "I think this should hold…for…a few days…" Ludwig's voice dropped to a whisper before dissipating altogether when he saw An'na cocooned in her new blanket, breathing softly and sound asleep.
A/N: In heaven, all the mechanics are German...who drink hot chocolate and offer you blankets when you keep them company. ;)
~.^ CeCe