[Fic][Round 50] Words and Actions, Rating: G
Author: Isha
Title: Words and Actions
Ships/Characters: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 1,500
Rating: G
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Word prompt: love
Timeline: Very post Season 3
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series.
~
They were neither of them people to say the words often-or even out loud.
~
‘What, never? You mean, really-never?’
Anissina cocked an eyebrow at her brother’s incredulous lover. The man was wide-eyed in disbelief. Restraining herself from rolling her eyes openly, she shook her head.
‘Not never,’ she said, ‘but not often, either. Gwendal isn’t the kind of person to say the words ‘I love you’ to me. And I don’t really feel I’m missing out on anything, to be honest,’ she went on. ‘We don’t need to say the words to each other to know that it’s true.’
‘Well! I don’t think I could do that. And I’d definitely expect Densham to be the same. Wouldn’t I, love?’
This last was directed at her brother, who had just entered the room. He looked around confusedly at the two of them, having missed their conversation. He broke out into a smile a moment later, though, immediately crossing the room to sit with his lover.
‘So what are you both talking about?’
Anissina watched her brother as the other man spoke, and it was clear Densham wasn’t really paying attention, his eyes kept drifting to his lover’s mouth as he spoke. She suppressed a sigh, almost instantly realising that this would not be a permanent relationship in her brother’s life-like so many others before it.
Almost unbidden, she remembered the night before, when Gwendal had spent nearly half an hour telling her all about the current problems in Small Cimarron and how her suggestion to Gunter the month previous had been of great help.
Looking at her brother now, Anissina shook her head to herself.
Really, how could these two say they were in love when they couldn’t even be bothered to actually listen to each other?
~
When Gwendal finally had time to read the letter he had received late that afternoon, it was already night. Having seen that it was personal correspondence-from one of his more distant cousins-he had set it aside for later, when his work was all done.
Now, it was later, and he sat the desk in his rooms, frowning as he re-read the letter. Anissina brushed her hair in the mirror behind him, already in her nightgown.
‘What is it?’
‘Hmmm?’
A moment later, footsteps sounded behind him, and he felt Anissina lean over his shoulder as she read the letter, too. ‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ she cried when she was halfway through, and he raised mystified eyes to her.
‘You know what this is all about?’
‘Of course! Nikolai’s mother had been worried about him because he hadn’t been showing any interest in his studies, and he is take over the family business soon, so I recommended a tutor to her. Looks like it worked!’
A small silence followed as Anissina read the rest of the letter, her smile growing wider as she did so.
‘My cousin has a son named Nikolai?’
‘Hmm?’
Gwendal folded the letter closed, forcing Anissina to meet his eyes. ‘Anissina, what exactly is going on? I didn’t even know my cousin had a son.’
In reply, Anissina huffed an affectionate-if exasperated-laugh, moving around to lean a hip against his desk. ‘Which was precisely why I handled it on my own. You’re busy enough with King Yuuri as it is, I can take care of things like this.’
‘But Anissina, it’s my duty to make time for things like this,’ he told her, troubled now. ‘They’re my family.’
‘Gwendal, now they’re my family, too, remember?’ she said, leaning forward to tap a finger against his forehead. ‘It’s only natural for me to take up some of the von Voltaire work. Now, stop worrying and come to bed, or you’ll get new wrinkles.’
He blinked at her before coming to the conclusion that like so many of Anissina’s other suggestions, this one really was what was best for him at this moment.
Which was why, when she tugged on his hand, he silently abandoned the rest of his paperwork and followed her to bed.
~
She slid out of bed as carefully as she could, hoping to avoid disturbing Gwendal.
It worked. He slumbered on, only turning on his side as she crawled away from him and out of the tangle of blankets. She winced as he bare feet touched the cold stone floor, suppressing the reflex to jerk her leg away. The movement would surely wake Gwendal, and she’d never hear the end of it if one her experiments was responsible for disturbing his slumber.
Gwendal was a surprisingly heavy sleeper, only managing to rise early every day through sheer, dogged bloody-mindedness, taking a grim sort of satisfaction in overriding his body’s protests for more sleep.
Which was why he could be an absolute bear if he was woken up in the middle of the night for no good reason.
And Anissina knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would consider one of her experiments a terrible reason, indeed.
Her foot had become acccustomed to the cold now, and she used it to scrabble around for the rug. Having found it, she eased herself off the bed and onto the rug, shrugging on her clothes in the half-light provided by the dying fire in their fireplace.
She made for the door, closing it quietly behind her. She’d tell Gwendal about this particular alloy only if it worked as it should, but for that she needed to go and mix the metals now. If she’d estimated correctly, they would have just finished melting, and would be at the perfect temperature. Any later and it would be useless.
An hour later, when she eased the door to their bedroom open again, tired but satisfied, Anissina winced again at the thought of getting back into her now cold side of the bed. Well, if it was the price for her science…
She had just shucked off her clothes and slid into bed again when her feet encountered something blissfully warm. Blinking in surprise, she pressed her feet more fully against it, enjoying the warmth as she snuggled more comfortably into the blankets. Gwendal had placed a brick from the fireplace under the blankets, she realised. So that she wouldn’t be cold when she returned to bed.
An arm came around her waist, and she snuggled back into his chest, but Gwendal only mumbled: ‘Cold?’
‘Not any more,’ she replied, turning to press a kiss to his mouth. Perhaps she should show him just how grateful she really was…
~
It took a full minute for him to realise that someone was knocking at the door, so deeply was he concentrating.
When the door finally swung open, Anissina stood in the doorway, a frown on her face and a tray in her hands. The smell of spices drifted to him, and his stomach clenched, reminding him abruptly that he had skipped lunch.
More than the fact that she had somehow found out that he had skipped a meal, it surprised him that she had brought him dinner, seeing as they were in the middle of a terrible fight since the previous night.
He expected a tirade-along the lines of how he never took care of himself, how she always had to do it for him, but then of course he was a man, and too stupid to know any better-he was braced for one, in fact, but Anissina remained silent as she strode over to him, waiting until he hastily cleared his papers away before placing the tray in the middle of his desk.
Gwendal watched as Anissina raised the lid of the dish before him, the delicious spicy smell growing stronger. When he saw his favourite spiced meat rolls before him, he almost winced in guilt.
And still Anissina said nothing to him.
This silent treatment was beginning to get to him.
‘Anissina, I’m sorry,’ he tried, catching her hand when she would have moved away. ‘You didn’t have to do this for me, I would’ve-’
‘Eat.’
He nodded, hastily raising the glass of wine she had brought for him to his lips. He ate quickly, feeling unaccountably more and more nervous the longer Anissina remained silent. He wasn’t used to this chill disapproval from her, she was more the type to rage and rant at him when he did something to annoy her.
It humbled him, that she would have cared enough to bring him dinner when they were in the middle of a fight like this.
She waited until he was done, taking the tray back from him without a word, and was nearly at the door before he was able to scrape his chair back and dash after her.
The paperwork would wait. He had more important things to attend to, right now.
~
They were neither of them people to say the words often-or even out loud-but they made do, somehow.
~
A/N: So, this is the last in this series. Wow, can’t believe it’s finally over. I feel kinda sad to let it go. :P
Anyway, thanks very much for reading. As always, all comment and concrit is very welcome. =)
Title: Words and Actions
Ships/Characters: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 1,500
Rating: G
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Word prompt: love
Timeline: Very post Season 3
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series.
~
They were neither of them people to say the words often-or even out loud.
~
‘What, never? You mean, really-never?’
Anissina cocked an eyebrow at her brother’s incredulous lover. The man was wide-eyed in disbelief. Restraining herself from rolling her eyes openly, she shook her head.
‘Not never,’ she said, ‘but not often, either. Gwendal isn’t the kind of person to say the words ‘I love you’ to me. And I don’t really feel I’m missing out on anything, to be honest,’ she went on. ‘We don’t need to say the words to each other to know that it’s true.’
‘Well! I don’t think I could do that. And I’d definitely expect Densham to be the same. Wouldn’t I, love?’
This last was directed at her brother, who had just entered the room. He looked around confusedly at the two of them, having missed their conversation. He broke out into a smile a moment later, though, immediately crossing the room to sit with his lover.
‘So what are you both talking about?’
Anissina watched her brother as the other man spoke, and it was clear Densham wasn’t really paying attention, his eyes kept drifting to his lover’s mouth as he spoke. She suppressed a sigh, almost instantly realising that this would not be a permanent relationship in her brother’s life-like so many others before it.
Almost unbidden, she remembered the night before, when Gwendal had spent nearly half an hour telling her all about the current problems in Small Cimarron and how her suggestion to Gunter the month previous had been of great help.
Looking at her brother now, Anissina shook her head to herself.
Really, how could these two say they were in love when they couldn’t even be bothered to actually listen to each other?
~
When Gwendal finally had time to read the letter he had received late that afternoon, it was already night. Having seen that it was personal correspondence-from one of his more distant cousins-he had set it aside for later, when his work was all done.
Now, it was later, and he sat the desk in his rooms, frowning as he re-read the letter. Anissina brushed her hair in the mirror behind him, already in her nightgown.
‘What is it?’
‘Hmmm?’
A moment later, footsteps sounded behind him, and he felt Anissina lean over his shoulder as she read the letter, too. ‘Oh, that’s wonderful!’ she cried when she was halfway through, and he raised mystified eyes to her.
‘You know what this is all about?’
‘Of course! Nikolai’s mother had been worried about him because he hadn’t been showing any interest in his studies, and he is take over the family business soon, so I recommended a tutor to her. Looks like it worked!’
A small silence followed as Anissina read the rest of the letter, her smile growing wider as she did so.
‘My cousin has a son named Nikolai?’
‘Hmm?’
Gwendal folded the letter closed, forcing Anissina to meet his eyes. ‘Anissina, what exactly is going on? I didn’t even know my cousin had a son.’
In reply, Anissina huffed an affectionate-if exasperated-laugh, moving around to lean a hip against his desk. ‘Which was precisely why I handled it on my own. You’re busy enough with King Yuuri as it is, I can take care of things like this.’
‘But Anissina, it’s my duty to make time for things like this,’ he told her, troubled now. ‘They’re my family.’
‘Gwendal, now they’re my family, too, remember?’ she said, leaning forward to tap a finger against his forehead. ‘It’s only natural for me to take up some of the von Voltaire work. Now, stop worrying and come to bed, or you’ll get new wrinkles.’
He blinked at her before coming to the conclusion that like so many of Anissina’s other suggestions, this one really was what was best for him at this moment.
Which was why, when she tugged on his hand, he silently abandoned the rest of his paperwork and followed her to bed.
~
She slid out of bed as carefully as she could, hoping to avoid disturbing Gwendal.
It worked. He slumbered on, only turning on his side as she crawled away from him and out of the tangle of blankets. She winced as he bare feet touched the cold stone floor, suppressing the reflex to jerk her leg away. The movement would surely wake Gwendal, and she’d never hear the end of it if one her experiments was responsible for disturbing his slumber.
Gwendal was a surprisingly heavy sleeper, only managing to rise early every day through sheer, dogged bloody-mindedness, taking a grim sort of satisfaction in overriding his body’s protests for more sleep.
Which was why he could be an absolute bear if he was woken up in the middle of the night for no good reason.
And Anissina knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would consider one of her experiments a terrible reason, indeed.
Her foot had become acccustomed to the cold now, and she used it to scrabble around for the rug. Having found it, she eased herself off the bed and onto the rug, shrugging on her clothes in the half-light provided by the dying fire in their fireplace.
She made for the door, closing it quietly behind her. She’d tell Gwendal about this particular alloy only if it worked as it should, but for that she needed to go and mix the metals now. If she’d estimated correctly, they would have just finished melting, and would be at the perfect temperature. Any later and it would be useless.
An hour later, when she eased the door to their bedroom open again, tired but satisfied, Anissina winced again at the thought of getting back into her now cold side of the bed. Well, if it was the price for her science…
She had just shucked off her clothes and slid into bed again when her feet encountered something blissfully warm. Blinking in surprise, she pressed her feet more fully against it, enjoying the warmth as she snuggled more comfortably into the blankets. Gwendal had placed a brick from the fireplace under the blankets, she realised. So that she wouldn’t be cold when she returned to bed.
An arm came around her waist, and she snuggled back into his chest, but Gwendal only mumbled: ‘Cold?’
‘Not any more,’ she replied, turning to press a kiss to his mouth. Perhaps she should show him just how grateful she really was…
~
It took a full minute for him to realise that someone was knocking at the door, so deeply was he concentrating.
When the door finally swung open, Anissina stood in the doorway, a frown on her face and a tray in her hands. The smell of spices drifted to him, and his stomach clenched, reminding him abruptly that he had skipped lunch.
More than the fact that she had somehow found out that he had skipped a meal, it surprised him that she had brought him dinner, seeing as they were in the middle of a terrible fight since the previous night.
He expected a tirade-along the lines of how he never took care of himself, how she always had to do it for him, but then of course he was a man, and too stupid to know any better-he was braced for one, in fact, but Anissina remained silent as she strode over to him, waiting until he hastily cleared his papers away before placing the tray in the middle of his desk.
Gwendal watched as Anissina raised the lid of the dish before him, the delicious spicy smell growing stronger. When he saw his favourite spiced meat rolls before him, he almost winced in guilt.
And still Anissina said nothing to him.
This silent treatment was beginning to get to him.
‘Anissina, I’m sorry,’ he tried, catching her hand when she would have moved away. ‘You didn’t have to do this for me, I would’ve-’
‘Eat.’
He nodded, hastily raising the glass of wine she had brought for him to his lips. He ate quickly, feeling unaccountably more and more nervous the longer Anissina remained silent. He wasn’t used to this chill disapproval from her, she was more the type to rage and rant at him when he did something to annoy her.
It humbled him, that she would have cared enough to bring him dinner when they were in the middle of a fight like this.
She waited until he was done, taking the tray back from him without a word, and was nearly at the door before he was able to scrape his chair back and dash after her.
The paperwork would wait. He had more important things to attend to, right now.
~
They were neither of them people to say the words often-or even out loud-but they made do, somehow.
~
A/N: So, this is the last in this series. Wow, can’t believe it’s finally over. I feel kinda sad to let it go. :P
Anyway, thanks very much for reading. As always, all comment and concrit is very welcome. =)