Wide awake Zeven walked downstairs and found himself in awe of the colossal mess Chris had created. He closed his eyes and rubbed his brow before stepping around hurricane Chris to the bar. There he saw her mostly empty coffee mug. The multiple rings of dried coffee let him know that this was not her first cup, he counted upwards of five.
"Here," Chris shoved a stack of loose paper into his chest. Zeven and Gunter locked eyes and Gunter nodded his head and smiled sympathetically before pouring Zeven a cup of coffee.
With fresh coffee in hand Zeven turned on his stool to look at Chris who was hunched over the table writing. "You are currently holding the previous peace attempts between our countries along with their reason for failure." She finished scribbling on the paper and brought it over to Zeven. "That is the solution I propose!" Chris beamed proudly. Zeven glanced at the paper. "It won't work." "You didn't even look at it." Zeven took a long swig of coffee before snatching the paper out of her hands. "This," he said gesturing with the paper, "will not work. Nothing you come up with in one sleepless night will be a lasting solution." He rubbed his brow again, and took a deep breath, "alright, explain your idea. It's not exactly fair for me to dismiss it outright."
Gunter listened as Chris started to explain. She was different from what he had expected. She was as big of a mess as Zeven was, but they both hid it equally well. He had known this about Zeven for years, but had only just begun to see it in Chris. Inside that well-behaved Prince, there was an actual person, a person with thoughts and feelings apart from what she had been taught her whole life.
Chris reached for her mug as she finished explaining. Zeven caught her hand, gently taking the mug from her. "No more." Chris's eyes lit with the challenge. "I don't take orders from you." Chris reached out for the mug, but Zeven had already dumped its contents into his own mug and threw the mug at Gunter. Gunter who, after catching it, shot Zeven a dirty look for trying to break his dishes.
Zeven put his hand on her shoulder, "Consider this a friendly request." Chris brushed his hand to the side, "first off, you didn't even give me the chance to comply, and second we are not friends-" "I suppose you're right, we're more like partners."
Gunter shook his head. They had one good day and were already back at each other's throats.
Zeven stood up and drained the rest of his coffee, making sure to gloat where she could see it. Instead of throwing the mug at Gunter, Zeven passed it back to Chris before making his way to the front door. She followed behind him,
"Where do you think you're going? You're supposed to help me find a solution." Zeven was at the front door, he took the key from out of his pocket and unlocked the door. "Aw you're already practicing being my wife. How sweet." Chris squeezed herself between him and the door. "I'm not letting you leave until we figure this out." "Chris," Zeven put his hand on her head, "I-"
"It's Christopher. You are not my friend. you do not get to address me so casually." Chris pushed his hand away. "Unless there is something vital out there that you can't get here, I won't let you leave." She grabbed the key from the door and clutched it to her chest. "Chris," he stopped himself, "Christopher you are being a bit unreasonable." He tried to grab the key from her, careful not to touch her more than necessary.
"Am I the only one who cares if we don't figure out a solution." Chris held her ground and looked up at him. "I have already said that I, for one, am not opposed to marrying you. The only reason that the deal was made is because you don't want to get married. Furthermore, I have no obligation to tell you where I intend to go and what I intend to do." He leaned in closer. One hand resting on the door behind her and the other one turned palm side up waiting for her to give him the key.
"Until you give me a good reason I won't move." She challenged.
Zeven took a deep breath, withdrew his arms, and rubbed his brow. "Sex Chris, I am going to go have sex. Unless you would like to volunteer to assist, I think you best let me go."
"You're disgusting."
"Think what you must. Or you could see this as a golden opportunity, I will be out of the house for several hours. so you would have the place to yourself, apart from Gunter of course. Use this time to settle yourself, take a break, investigate, go through my personal belongings if you must, but step back from the deal for a minute. You've obviously been looking at the problem too long and have lost any perspective."
Chris didn't look convinced, her eyes narrowed and her grip on the key tightened.
"What's more, I'll return from this outing refreshed and ready to help. And when I get back, we can look at the problem together. Does that satisfy you?"
She didn't say anything, but she did slowly step aside. Looking up at Zeven once more, she dropped the key into his outstretched hand.
"Thank you."
"Speaking of personal belongings, where are yours?"
"Where's the fun in me telling you? Zeven smiled as he opened the front door and walked out.