Really, she didn't know what to expect. She held the bottle in her hands, gently swishing the liquid back and forth in thought. When Walter had given it to her, he merely said Gilbert had wanted it prepared for her- yet when she blinked up in confusion, stating she hadn't felt ill lately, he had paused.
"Have the two of you not spoken about this yet?"
Yet.
Her face must have been enough for Walter, as he sighed and muttered some choice words about Gilbert before shaking his head.
And now she sat in his room, swishing the liquid, bouncing from thought to thought. She wasn't stupid, despite the initial reaction she had. There was a suspicion to what the liquid was, but quietly, privately, she was hoping it was something else entirely.
Her thinking was interrupted by the clack of his doorknob turning. Gilbert came into the room with a sigh, visibily perking up when seeing her waiting.
"Hehe, did you miss me? You could have visited me in the lab, instead of leaving me all alone."
She hummed, glancing down at the item in her hands. Was there a point to go over a preamble?
No. There wasn't. Not when she realized just how tense her shoulders were, her stomach twisting in anticipation.
"Gil..." She lifted it out of her lap for him to see, "Walter g-gave me this. What is...?"
His expression changed, just for a moment- a flash in his eye, vacant of emotion until he blinked again, smile lingering.
"I'd like you to start taking that."
Mm... The feeling in her gut churned once more.
"Why?"
He didn't respond, focusing on dressing down for the evening.
"I won't. Not until you explain." Her voice was firm, and she was quietly thankful her stutter didn't surface.
"Little rabbit, you know what it's for."
"No."
Sighing, he put his hands on the back of his desk chair, keeping his back to her, "this isn't a debate."
"No, it's a discussion. That I want."
"We can't have a child." A pause, as if waiting for her to speak, "that's non-negotionable. If the medicine makes you ill, I'll improve on it to combat the side effects-"
"Explain."
She could hear the creaking in the wood as he gripped his chair harder, but he relented. Gilbert turned around now, facing her with his cryptic smile.
"You know of my plans, what they were, or have you forgotten?"
"I haven't. Don't regard me so poorly."
"Then is it a surprise I don't want this bloodline to continue? To pass on the curse of this-" He cut himself off, pausing before speaking again, "I won't have a child."
"I... Don't want a child, either." She began, glancing up at him after she spoke. When he continued to look her way, expression... telling her nothing negative, she went on, "I don't... like my choice being decided. Without d-discussion."
"There is not disc-"
"Yes. Yes there is. I-It's talking to me, before ha-having someone else hand me the bottle. It's t-treating me more as an equal, instead of s-something you own." She furrowed her brows, frustration growing at her stutter spiking, "I respect your choice. But I want the r-respect of you telling me what you would like to d-do to prevent this, instead of e-expecting me to accept wordless treatment."
Quiet seeped back into the room, and she found her heart didn't stop pounding. Instead, her ears rang, chest tightening uncomfortably.
"O-one of the reasons I love you i-is for treating me as a person. I don't like being treated otherwise, I've already gone through that a multitude of times. And I deserve more than th-that."
She saw Gilbert pull himself away from the chair, before carefully joining her by her side. Wordlessly, he slid his arm around her middle, pressing a kiss against her temple.
The way his hand rested on her hip was gentle, as if pressing on her further would hurt her. It didn't resolve her anger, not completely. But it quelled the heavy unease, the general fear of speaking for herself.
"You're right."
It was a simple agreement. But it helped her shoulders ease, her breath come out sooner.
"Yes. I am."
The huff in her voice brought forth a chuckle from him, and her brows immediately furrowed. However, he was quick to quell her, planting another kiss against her forehead. And another, as her frown persisted, until she relented.
They'll have more moments like this, that she knew. Until he learned to further let his walls down, to accept that trust needed to be needled into every action that they took together. But she was willing to be patient with him, as he was with her.
