For the drabble thingy (if your doing it) Can you do 49 or 2 (love your blog BTW)
“Well this is awkward…”
#49 from drabble prompts
Elizaveta had dragged Roderich out for a date, but not just any date – a blind one. The kind Roderich detested the most. He couldn’t understand how one could simply go on a date, something that was supposed to deeply intimate, with someone he had just met.
He refused to go. But Elizaveta would have none of that.
He pressed for details. But Elizaveta only answered with sly smiles and an mischievous “oh you’ll see…”
Elizaveta led Roderich into a small bar on the outskirts of Austria. There were only five or six patrons. The bartender seemed bored out of his mind. Roderich wanted to ask if business was slow that day, but Elizaveta only shook her head. It seemed business was always slow. There was a time when if a customer hadn’t seen several splotches of mold, they would instead find a rat.
Roderich wanted to ask why he was brought to such a place. And for a blind date. It was a reason he wouldn’t accept. This was silly. A waste of his time.
He got up to leave, but the doors opened for him.
“Well this is awkward…” Gilbert Beilschmidt, of all people, lingered in the entrance. His eyes widened and his brows arched. His mouth formed a small “o” as if he couldn’t quite understand what was going on.
“Alright gentlemen.” Elizaveta had gotten up from the table. “This is your date.”
The two looked at each silently. And then, simultaneously, they turned to Elizaveta. Both could hear the words she spoke, but neither could comprehend. There had to be some mistake. Elizaveta must have been feeling sick, delirious even.
She could read their expressions quite plainly.
“No, I’m not hallucinating. This is your date.”
“Elizaveta, please. I’m not saying that you’re hallucinating, but… maybe you just need to lie down for a bit.” Roderich shook his head. There was no way this was happening. It seemed out of a bad nightmare, a horror movie, or anything that wasn’t reality.
“Yeah Liz,” Gilbert nodded slowly. It took him a while to truly digest the Hungarian’s words. “You weren’t drinking before I got here, right?”
She took no heed of their protesting. “You two are being ridiculous! It’s two centuries since you kissed and I bet neither of you have spoken about it.”
“Eliza–!” Roderich was absolutely mortified.
“Don’t you ‘Eliza’ me! You told this man that you loved him Roderich.”
Gilbert fidgeted uncomfortably. “Seriously Liz, you can stop. We’ll both go back to our cars and pretend that this never–”
“You can’t hide from this forever,” she snapped. “It’s been two centuries. That’s enough time to hide from each other like little children.”
“I’m not hiding – ” Roderich began.
“Neither am I – ” Gilbert chimed in.
Elizaveta held up a hand to both of them. “Conference meeting. Two weeks back. Gilbert, you were supposed to drive Roderich home but you left the meeting half an hour early to leave your keys with the concierge and take the bus.”
“That wasn’t hiding!”
“Roderich, a month ago you were supposed to drop some papers off with Ludwig. Personal papers that had to go directly into his hand. But you heard Gilbert and left them in the mailbox.”
“I-I didn’t want to interrupt whatever he was doing.”
“You panicked,” Elizaveta interjected smoothly. “You panicked and bailed. Just like you’ve always been. Ludwig tells me that you never come over without asking whether or not Gilbert will be there.”
“Gilbert only causes trouble.”
“Hey, I object to that!”
“You always have something to object to, don’t you?” Roderich replied haughtily.
“Sure I do,” Gilbert took the insult. “Especially when you’re around because I object to your face.”
“Elizaveta please.” Roderich turned to her once more. “This man is deplorable. I cannot be with him. Let me go.”
“Not until you resolve this,” Elizaveta answered coldly. “I am so sick of putting up with your squabbles. Both of you. Look, I don’t care if you start dating. It would be nice, yes, because maybe you’d fight less. It’s just, all this back-and-forth, avoiding one another banter has to stop. I’ll be in the car. Come out when you’re done. I will not let you out until you’ve talked for at least an hour.”
With that, Elizaveta pushed open the doors and left. Roderich and Gilbert watched wordlessly as she sat in the car. She pulled out her phone, some headsets, and upon noticing their gazes, made a shooing motion.
Gilbert sighed. “If we’re really forced into this… I guess I’ll buy you a drink.”
“Only because we’re forced into this,” Roderich agreed. He slid into one of the booths. His fingers drummed on the table. The light taps grew more fervent. Roderich’s fingers began moving, up and down, twisting and turning as if there were some sort of invisible keyboard lying right there on the table.
The noise made Gilbert’s gaze snap up. “I know that song. That’s the song… That’s the one that was playing when we…”
“I know. Gilbert, I know.”