[PFSB] Liechtenstein-Enjolras

[rheintochter]

September is a quiet month at home for a nation as small as Liechtenstein. No elections, no particular public events, nothing major for which her boss might need her presence. The summer hikers have gone home; the winter skiers won't arrive for a few months yet. Most of Europe is back at work after the easier days of August. And as nearly all of her friends and family have far busier schedules than she does, she doesn't feel a hint of guilt for slipping away for a quiet hour or two at the bar.

Which is not to say that she doesn't keep occupied with work. In her sewing basket are several of her socks and stockings that need either darning or reinforcing. She has an armchair a slight distance from the fire, and with her sewing and a light snack of a sliced apple and tea, she almost seems to radiate a sense of industrious domesticity amidst the bustle of the bar.

(She may be keeping an eye out for someone. It's hard to tell, because at the moment she seems to be wholly occupied in repairing a worn-down heel.)

Comments

[rheintochter]

Liechtenstein nods agreement. 'I wouldn't want that for anyone, either. But it doesn't have to be only the one or the other, does it? And even on a cold hearth, it's not too much to hope that there might be a spark hidden somewhere in the ashes. Someone who is good with fire might be able to bring it back to life.'

It was just such a spark that kept her alive long enough for someone to find her -- someone who had fire enough for both of them, however little else he had to share with her at the time -- on the coldest, darkest day she had ever known. She can feel something of that same warmth in the young Frenchman sitting across from her, and it doesn't surprise her in the least that Switzerland would have wanted her to meet him.

'My brother's been that way for as long as I've known him. Most of that fire goes into his work, but sometimes even that's not enough. He spends a lot more time with the army reserves then, drilling and instructing them. Sometimes I think he wishes he could be back chasing Austrian knights off his land with a pike and sword, like he would have done in olden times.' She can't help but smile at the mental image that thought brings. 'But I know he has to work hard to remember that not everyone feels as strongly as he does -- or at least, not in quite the same way that he does.'

She pauses, and then adds with a shake of her head, 'I wouldn't want him to change, though. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him.'