tampered | [Log] Incomplete

[Log] Incomplete

When; Aug 12th, afternoon
Rating; PG
Characters; Elisabeth (

kitschempress) & Franz Joseph (

uxoriousemperor)
Summary; Franz calls on his wife
Log;

She didn't want to see him, but there had been no polite way to refuse his request. And she was, if nothing else at least polite. Still, he was not really the person she wanted to see right now. There was much to be done. All of her clothing needed to be labeled still, and she was still debating if the fixtures should be marked as well. Granted, she'd already hung a sign on the door reading - in her best calligraphy - 'This apartment property of the Empress Elisabeth', but she still felt the doors and windows could use some labeling.

There was a knock on the door. A very precise, polite knock. She sighed. Now she'd get nothing done. Still, she couldn't very well ignore her own husband, no matter how much she might want to. And his presence would tone down the infernal ticking. And if Franz was here, it was less likely he would show up.

"Please come in" she said, in her most formal tone as she opened the door.

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Franz Joseph was not a man to feel any sort of emotion exceptionally strongly. However, he could not suppress a sound of glee, which thankfully went unrecorded on the little contraption, when he'd read that his dear Sisi would see him. He'd written a quick note in reply - well, as quickly as he could on such a device - and, snatching up the little stick that was nearly devoid of ink and tucking it in his pocket, he hurried along to her apartment. He couldn't help but smile at the sign on her door - he'd done much the same with his door not half an hour ago.

Her tone was polite as she opened the door to receive him. He schooled his expression before he saw her face, the tone telling him that he shouldn't set his hopes too high. Still, if she was willing to receive him, perhaps she'd be willing to discuss...certain things.

"Thank you," he replied, nodding as he stepped inside. Once he'd stepped into her sitting room, he turned and reached out to clasp her hands in a more proper greeting. It was difficult to greet someone in such a narrow entryway. Whoever had designed these rooms hadn't given much consideration to proper etiquette.

Elisabeth let Franz take her hands, her expression still politely neutral.

"Sit, please. May I offer you anything?" Yet another reason she needed a maid. She shouldn't have to be doing such things.

The main living room was small, but comfortable, though the table was still covered in clothes, and there were ends of thread littered around the chair she'd been sitting in. All the furnishings were labeled, of course. She waited, patiently to see if Franz wanted anything, but internally, she was itching to return to her sewing.

"It is good to see you. You look beautiful, as always." Franz took her hands with a smile, squeezing them slightly. It was probably the only show of affection she'd allow him.

"Some tea, please, if you have any," he replied, looking around for a clear space to sit. Seeing the chair less littered with thread, he walked around the little table and took a seat. His eyes traveled around the room, taking in the clothing and labels and furnishings. "I see you are settling in well," he said politely, looking back at his wife.

Labels. He would have to find a way to procure labels for his clothing, as she had. Franz wasn't exactly the best at sewing, but he could mend simple things in a pinch, thanks to his military service. And it really only took a stitch or two on either side of a label to pin it in place.

"I can manage tea" Elisabeth said, with a slight smile. It gave her an excuse to slip off into the kitchen for a moment to collect herself. Why had she agree to see him? And how dare he act as if nothing had happened between them. Oh he was sorry of course, she'd known that from his letters. But that didn't change what had been done. She filled the kettle and set it on the burner with a bit more vehemence than was strictly necessary. She could stay in the kitchen of course. Let Franz sit out in the main room until the water had heated at least. It was a tempting thought.

No, she'd agreed to see him, it was only fair. And she could get some more labeling done while he talked at her.

She was glad to see he'd left her her chair, and sat down. She barely glance at her husband as she took the next dress on the stack and spread the collar on her lap to stitch in the label.

She was being cold, but that was to be expected, Franz supposed. He had wronged her, and badly wronged her at that. But, he was unsure of exactly how to make amends, other than to continue on has he always had done - give her what she wanted and apologize. He watched her take up her sewing again with interest. He always delighted in watching his wife.

"Where had you been traveling prior to finding yourself here?" he asked. Polite conversation was a good way to begin the visit, Franz thought. And it might serve as a way to bring up more important topics without having to be vulgarly blunt about them.

"Greece" she said, attention primarily focused on her stitching. Just because these labels wouldn't be visible didn't mean they should be done slapdash.

"We were on our way to Athens and from there to look at property." Which she'd said in her most recent letter. Had it arrived before she'd been pulled into the City? Probably not if Franz was asking.

"And you?" she asked. "How are things in Vienna?"

She was looking at more property? Franz straightened in his chair ever so slightly. "Was the villa you'd bought not to your liking?" he asked, leaning forward. She'd just bought the thing a few months ago. Surely she hadn't tired of it already.

"Vienna is Vienna," Franz said, shrugging slightly. "Mother keeps to her rooms more now. She isn't quite as spry as she used to be." Not that he thought Sisi cared much about his mother; she and Sophie had never been more than civil to each other. "Rudolf keeps asking when you will come home."

"I am just looking" she said blandly. Mentally she was trying to figure out what he was talking about. She'd not bought a villa. Though she had to admit, it sounded like a good idea. A Grecian villa might be just the kind of place she was looking for. But where had Franz gotten the idea she already owned one? Before she could ask, the kettle whistled. "Forgive me" she said, tying off and breaking her thread before setting the dress aside. "I believe the water is ready."

Another retreat into the kitchen, another brief moment to collect herself. This was far more awkward than she would like. She busied herself arraigning the tea, and carrying the two cups out to the main room. "Rudolf is a sweet boy." she said, handing Franz his cup. She sat back down, and sipped at her tea. "I do not plan to return to Vienna for a while though"

It began with just looking, and eventually became buying. That was how such things were done. His mother had done so, and Sisi had done so. Franz had no doubt that he'd see another Grecian villa on an expense report before too long, assuming both of them returned home. But, he merely nodded, not wanting to upset his wife more than he already had. He nodded again when she rose to get the tea, but frowned once she was out of sight. She really should have a maid or servant of some sort to do these sorts of things for her. Franz thought little of having to take care of himself, but the idea that his wife had to perform such mundane tasks irked him.

He accepted the tea graciously with a smile when she returned, however, not allowing his concern to show on his face. He coughed to stifle a laugh when she spoke of their son. "He is not so sweet as you assume," Franz said, taking a sip of his own tea. A tad too sweet for his liking, but again, he would say nothing of it. "He has become a terror to his tutors, and to the servants." He looked across the table at Elisabeth. "He needs his mother's gentle, calming influence." To say nothing of the fact that Franz needed Sisi's gentle, calming influence.

"He is a sensitive boy" she said firmly. Rudolf always had been a source of friction between herself and Franz. Strange though, she'd not thought of him much in the past few months. No doubt he was just being a typical high spirited young boy. Typical of Franz to consider that a problem.

She sighed and set down her tea in favor of continuing to label her dresses. "I have little desire to visit at the moment. There is still much to see and I have enjoyed my travels" To be fair, what she enjoyed was the traveling, the constant movement from place to place. Staying nowhere long enough to feel trapped.

Franz couldn't deny that Rudolf was sensitive. The complaints from his tutors attested to that as much as to his unruly behavior. "All the more reason he needs his mother," he said instead. "It would delight him so if you'd come home, even for a few days." He glanced down at his tea, then back up at her. "I can arrange to be out of town, if you'd like." Because Franz did assume they'd both end up back home. If he didn't, he'd likely go mad in this odd place.

Franz allowed a ghost of a smile to grace his features as she mentioned she was enjoying her travels. He just wished she enjoyed visiting Vienna as much as she seemed to enjoy visiting other places. "And where were you headed after Greece?" he asked, hoping perhaps her mood would improve if the topic were something more to her liking.

"Perhaps" Elisabeth said, noncommittally to the idea of returning to Vienna. She had no desire to return there, to return to all the memories that place held...

"I am not sure" she said, honestly. She'd not considered where she'd go next. That would be figured out once she'd tired of Greece. Assuming of course, she managed to escape this place.

Franz realized that her answer was probably the best he was going to receive. And it cheered him to think she hadn't directly said "no". Even if he did have to leave the city and palace for a few days in order to bring his wife home, and thus render himself incapable of actually visiting with her.... He wasn't simply using their son as an excuse. The boy really did need some maternal influence, and he didn't seem to be willing to receive it from Sophie.

He smiled at Elisabeth and sipped his tea. "Our problems with the Italian government are more or less settled," he said. "And it is a lovely country. It might make a suitable stop after Greece." Not that Franz wanted her to go to Italy. But, if traveling pleased her, he would take an interest in it.

Italy... It was supposedly a beautiful country, but it felt too close to Vienna right now. She shook her head. "I doubt I'll stop in Italy right now. Though Spain might be nice." She knew he was just trying to make conversation, but it was as trying as ever. She sighed, finished the stitching on her dress and set it aside. A sudden urge hit her, and instead of picking up the next dress, she pulled out one of the stick-on labels, like the one she wore. The strange pen she'd found was not the best for proper handwriting, but she'd gotten practice over the course of the day.

"Here" she said, once she was finished writing. She handed him a label reading 'Elisabeth's Husband' in her best handwriting.

Spain might be nice, she said. So long as she didn't come home having purchased a villa on the coast there as well.

Franz raised an eyebrow as she reached for the labels and leaned forward in his chair, curious as to what she was doing. Perhaps she'd let him borrow some of the labels. They really were clever. He took the one she held out and read it carefully, a smile spreading across his face.

"Thank you, Sisi," he said, looking down at his jacket and carefully attaching it in the place where one of his medals had once been displayed. He was beyond happy that she'd offered it to him. It let him believe there was hope for a reconciliation. He glanced at the labels again. "And might I return the honor?" he asked. He'd been wanting to write one for her since the moment she'd opened the door.

He would wear the thing proudly. Never mind that the claim was only because no matter what sins he had committed, no matter how she'd closed her heart to him, they were still married. Only an annulment from the Pope could change that, and she'd given Franz four children, including a son, so there was little hope of that.
"I do not belong to you" she said, her pride stung by his desire to label her. But she relented a bit, and passed him a label. "But I suppose I can not prevent you."

He could tell as she spoke that he had not worded his request properly. Even though she passed him the label, which he took and immediately began filling in, he knew she wasn't pleased.

"You do not belong to me in the sense that you are not property, Sisi," he said calmly as he wrote. "But you are my wife. And I should be honored if you would wear a note attesting to this fact." he passed her the label, on which he'd written, 'Franz Joseph's beautiful wife.' He hoped the compliment would further convince her to wear it.

Elisabeth was not so cold as to be unmoved by compliments, especially those regarding her beauty. She favored Franz with a small, indulgent smile and accepted the label, placing it under the one she'd made for herself. He still did not understand of course, but that was to be expected.

She picked up another piece of clothing from the pile and began stitching a label into in. In her mind there was little to say. Finally however, the silence had streached to the point of being uncomfortable. She looked up at Franz and asked "Why did you wish to see me?"

Franz's face lit up as she smiled and affixed the label to her bodice. Now everyone would know exactly the nature of their relationship, and know that, as far as marriage vows at least, Sisi did indeed belong to him.

The silence did not bother Franz much. He was content simply to be in his wife's company, and watched her stitch quite happily. Her question startled him for a moment, as he had grown used to the companionable silence.

"Why would I not wish to see you?" he asked, confused as to her question. "Do I need a reason to want to see you?" Of course, part of the reason had been so that he could affix the label she now wore to her person, but there seemed to be no need to mention that. He had a feeling it might upset her.

Several immediate answers to Franz's return question popped into Elisabeth's mind, mostly involving the fact that he wanted to see her now, after everything he'd done? None were the type of thing one said aloud however. Instead, she let the silence stretch trying to ignore him as much as possible.

But propriety demanded she at least make a small attempt at conversation. Dodge his question, sure, but sitting in silence was uncomfortable at the best of times.

"How are you finding the City?" she asked, finally.

Franz waited expectantly, although he had a feeling she wouldn't answer his question. It had been rhetorical, at least in his mind. Had she said "yes" to his second question he would have been quite surprised.

The silence stretched, and Franz had just settled into a comfortable sort of companionship when she asked how he found the City. "It is...unique," he said. "It is unlike any place I have ever been. Have you found it so?" She was more well-traveled than he, so perhaps it wasn't quite as jarring for Sisi.

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