[Relationship] The Rosenhof Residence

[Basil Benson]

The Rosenhof Residence was a three story townhouse in a line of identical townhouses on Gate Street Mews, just off High St.

The ground floor had a car port for the family vehicle, a W.C., a utility room for the storage of rain clothes, coats, and other things one might not want to haul up and down from the upper levels. Off the utility room was a small conservatory meant for plants or perhaps just to enjoy a bit of the outdoors without having to fully subject one's self to it.

The first floor had a kitchen with a breakfast bar, a dining area, a living room and a study.

The Kitchen and dining area had been redecorated to a 1950s retro style in pastel blue and white, complete with matching retro appliances, a four person dinette, and that kitchy checkerboard pattern flooring in alternating white and pastel blue tiles. The one modern item that stood out was the breakfast bar, a long slab of marble meant to aid Colette in her studies as a confectioner.

The living room was left somewhat neutral ground, containing the same dark reddish-brown wooden floor that ran through nearly every room of the house. It contained a black leather sectional that could be turned into sleeping accommodations for guests, A television that could be (and often was) hidden behind the doors of a white wall-unit entertainment center and an electric fireplace which frequently had white floor cushions laying in front of it.

The study frankly looked like something out of the mind of a perfectly lucid but entirely gothic mind. Basil's study had the same flooring as anywhere else in the house, but the wall paper was floor to ceiling black and white wide stripes. Locked behind the door of a black roll-top desk was a computer and likely personal documents. The wall opposite the desk was lined with shelves for books, though they weren't as filled as one would expect for a would be librarian.

The second floor contained the bedrooms and the full bath.

While Colette considered the bathroom Basil's domain (and the plethora of men's grooming products cemented the idea), Basil had made a significant modification for both their enjoyment: A claw foot tub fitted with a shut off valve to keep anything amorphous from accidentally going down the drain. The bathroom itself was decorated to compliment the tub and is a mostly white, black, and silver affair with alternating white and black floor tiles.

The master suite served as Colette's bedroom. Painted in mint and lavender candy-stripes on a white base, the room was designed in a colour palette complimentary to her own bubblegum pink complexion. A King sized canopy bed was the obvious focal point of the room, though it also contained several pieces of pastel furniture, and a bay window with another white wall unit acting as storage for the room.

The guest bedroom has the largest closet and a goodly portion of the closet was used for storage. Another neutral territory, there is little to note about the room, though the white sleigh bed with the cozy little quilt could definitely hold two sleepers if need be.

The smallest bedroom has been fitted with a lock that none of the other bedrooms have and can only be opened with a key. The knob is purple glass. Currently only Basil knows what's inside.

Lastly, each room has a Bluetooth speaker so Basil can inflict his questionable taste in music on his friends and loved ones.

[Basil Benson]

By the end of April, Basil had finished all of his coursework. He hadn't gotten the results back yet but so far but he felt like what was done was done. He couldn't exactly undo the home ownership now. He'd told himself it was necessary to go back for a semester he would. For now, he intended to enjoy the home he'd built them at least for the summer.

Pulling into the carport, he turned off the vehicle and climbed out to get the door for Colette.

"If I told you to close your eyes I suppose that wouldn't mean much."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Well, I AM capable of not-seeing, if zat is your intentions." Colette placed her hand in Basil's as he helped her out of the car, looking up at the rather impressive home. It was roughly as tall as the one she'd grown up in, though her family had been confined to just the one floor.

"Zis... zis is real, is it not?" She asked softly.

[Basil Benson]

"As real as it was before." He replied, helping her out of the vehicle and shutting the door behind her.

"Perhaps more real, really, because I've made it ours.

Also all of my useless tatt is here now, sooooo." He laughed it off.

"Come." He lead her up the stairs, but made sure he went up first.

"Close your eyes then." He stated at the top to encourage her not to peek, in whatever way she did that.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette hadn't started moving much of her stuff yet, many items that were considered less essential were in the car's boot - the stuff she absolutely needed for school was still in her dorm room.

"I suppose zat, since before zings were still in ze process of paperwork and ze like, zere was still ze chance of zings not happening. But... zey have." Her voice sounded almost full of wonder. Such a mundane thing for Basil was a dream come true for her, further demonstrating how different their worlds were.

Colette's other hand grabbed Basil's arm, her skin going that light pink opaqueness as she closed her eyes, her sneakers tapping on the steps as she followed with less-sure footsteps.

[Basil Benson]

Basil lead her up the stairs, and took her into the kitchen. Centering her in the perfect spot amid all the pastel blue wonder.

"Alright, you can open now."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette opened her eyes and immediately let out a sudden gasp, covering her mouth and stepping backward into Basil's chest.

"How beautiful...!" She looked like she could burst into tears. "It's just like the ones in the movies. Where on Earth did you find all of this?" She was a little too excited to take the time to parse her words into English, she had to say them right away.

[Basil Benson]

" The internet and money." He quipped back in his own native tongue.

"Does it please?" He asked, though he was fairly certain he already knew the answer.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette wanted to heap praises onto Basil and tell him how perfect it was, how he'd made her dreams come true, how she never imagined this was possible. But that wasn't the kind of feedback that Basil wanted. She was learning that she could channel those feelings into other rewards, later. She took a deep breath and turned to look at him with a contented smile.

"It does, my tomcat. It does. You have done very well."

[Basil Benson]

Though he had been invisible, whatever emotion caused him to be so had been dashed, replaced instead by the warm fuzzy feeling he got when he knew he'd done a good job.

That in turn caused him to become visible, a lovesick sort of a smile on his face as he leant in to press his forehead against hers. He sighed too, out of relief.

Then a thought occurred, as it always did with him.

"....Now what?" He asked outloud, as if he really hadn't thought this plan out this far. He knew what he was meant to do, what he'd tasked himself to do. But he never really thought about what was to be done after that.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette was having a hard time hiding her giddiness. Seeing that dopey lovesick smile made Basil look so cute - and it also dashed those persistent doubts that would crop up as dark thoughts.

"Well, zere is more to ze house to show zan zis, isn't zere? Not zat I cannot zink of ways to pass ze time in ze kitchen..."

[Basil Benson]

"Yes, I suppose... but I think the covered eyes thing only works once." He mused. "Why don't you wander where you like Madame. I'll follow along."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette stepped out of her shoes, letting her socked feet plap around as she wandered over into the living room, looking around. "Oooh zis is very cozy! And it has a fireplace and everyzing." She seemed pleased again, her eyes looking over the semi-empty shelves and surfaces, future homes for their various knick-knacks.

[Basil Benson]

"You asked, so I delivered." He moved with a flourish to stand in front of a piece of furniture and tapped on what appeared to be a hinged door upon it with his finger. " The telly's inside. I hate the way they look but I know you need your cartoons to be happy."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Well, zat and for cuddling up while watching a film, no? It is difficult to do zat wizout ze film, zen we would not have ze excuse."

[Basil Benson]

Basil casually strolled behind the couch and folded his arms one over the other on the back of it to lean, not bothering to contain his salacious grin. They were alone, a rarity indeed, and with no chance of being disturbed.

He could be comfortable, for once.

"I didn't realize I needed an excuse."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette shrugged, looking back over her shoulder as she walked around, tracing gloved fingers over shelves and furniture alike. A bit like a cat rubbing against things to mark their territory. "Oh, you do not. But a little plot makes zings more enjoyable, does it not? Zough ze fireplace... yes, zat is entertainment worzy of cuddlebugging as well."

The relaxed nature of Basil made Colette feel good. He worked so hard to make her happy, seeing him content, naturally, that was a good thing.

"Ooh, where does zis door lead?" Her interests already drifting toward Basil's study.

[Basil Benson]

"The study, where I hide all manner of things. Mostly things of annoyance like pesky bills." He joked casually, but made no attempt to stop her from having a peek.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette poked her head and inside and let out a little gasp, stepping inside almost as eagerly as she had explored the kitchen. "Oh Basil, yes! Yes yes yes!" For someone who loved pastels and ornate things so much, the room didn't seem like her taste at all. But that's precisely why she was so thrilled with it.

"Zis is you!"

[Basil Benson]

"Really a reaction I'd prefer to get in other rooms of this house, ones with more comfortable furniture... but I guess I should take it where I can get it."

He leant in the door frame and folded his arms over his chest.

"You told me to take some corners for myself. I figured if I didn't you'd get mad.

And not the fun kind of mad."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"And I am so happy zat you listened. If everyzing is to my tastes, you would feel like a stranger in your own home. But it means more zan just 'zis is my side, zis is your side'. Stepping into zis room, when you are reading or doing some work, it will feel like... I am surrounded by you? I do not know how to express zis." Colette seemed a little at a loss, trying to get her mixed thoughts together. "I feel like... in zis place, contentment would sneak up and overtake you. And seeing you in such a state would make me content as well?

"... I zink zat I am zinking too hard about zis."

[Basil Benson]

Basil smiled at her casually and nodded.

"Mmmm, I am inclined to agree. You worry too much about my happiness Madame. "

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Someone has to." Colette said with a little smile as she brushed her hand over the locked desk, just appreciating the aesthetics of it all.

"Oh my, and zere is yet still so much more to see. Zere is an entire other floor..." She still seemed a little amazed by the notion of living in a place that had more than one floor, that you didn't have to share with strangers.

[Basil Benson]

He was confused by her response about his happiness, but said nothing on it.

"Mmmm. It's not unusual for British townhouses to have this many levels. Lack of space and what not. Everyone builds up. " Basil didn't get it.

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Yes, zey certainly do." Colette said softly, not wishing to correct Basil on her meaning. She purposefully brushed against him as she passed to make her way toward the stairs, hand on the railing and waiting for him to be at just the right angle to follow her when she started up them. You know the one.

[Basil Benson]

Basil hadn't really noticed why she'd paused, he thought she was just being polite. It wasn't until he started up the stairs behind her that he realized he'd been meticulously aligned for a peep show.

Not really sure if he was supposed to look or not, Basil's eyes went everywhere. Where she wanted them, back over his shoulder, to the blank staircase wall, back where she wanted them...

This continued until he got to the top of the staircase and by that point his face was bright red and wearing a sheepish sort of grin.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette didn't turn her head, though she didn't really need to to "peek" at Basil as she went up the stairs, doing her best to hide her smirk. The door to the bathroom was partially ajar, so she investigated that first. She seemed suitibly impressed, eventually moving to sit on the edge of the tub and run her fingers over it's lip.

"Zis is a very large soup pot."

[Basil Benson]

Basil had enough time to compose himself between the staircase and the bathroom to be able to think straight.

"Ah! Yes! Look here." He said, pointing to a very obvious piece of hardware nestled under the tub and between it's front two feet.

"If this is in this position, like so-" He stated as he demonstrated"- nothing can pass through the pipes until it's placed back in the other position."

To follow up, he turned on the water without the plug in the tub to better illustrate his point, and the water began to collect inside of it.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette seemed a little unsure about all of this at first, but seeing that the water really wasn't going down did make her eyes widen. She leaned over and stretched her arm down into the water, fingers slipping down the drain to really test it, finding that she really couldn't push past the shut-off valve no matter how much she tried.

"I... have not had a baz in a baztub in years..." She said softly as she played with the water. She was already imagining taking a nice bubble bath, though hopefully she could find some bubbles or bath bombs that tasted pleasant.

[Basil Benson]

"I know you said you weren't overly interested in the bathroom but... I thought perhaps... if it was safe... you might enjoy it?" He stammered to explain himself.

"You don't have to though if you don't want to!"

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette looked up at Basil with a soft smile. He was trying so hard to please her.

"I am looking forward to trying zis. It looks as zough zere is even room for two." She said almost casually as she pushed herself back to her feet, giving Basil's cheek a little pat with her wet digits.

"Come, let us see ze bedroom. If I wait until tonight I will be too tired to appreciate it properly."

[Basil Benson]

Basil followed along dutifully, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket to dry his dampened cheek.

But when they made it to the bedroom, he would stop at the door frame and step no further..

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette paused for a moment when she stepped inside, before she stepped through the room, taking her time to run her fingers over every carefully chosen piece of furniture. The green and lilac pastel contrasted the light creme of the walls and bedframe, making the furniture and wallpaper really pop. She eventually stopped to take ahold of one of the bedposts, hugging herself to it as she pivoted to look back to Basil. Her eyes were shiny in the sunlight cast through the thin day curtains.

"I love it."

[Basil Benson]

Basil stayed exactly where he was, but the smile on his face more or less gave him away. He was proud of himself.

"Good."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette could have gushed over every little detail, asked about every piece of furniture, praised him up and down. But she was learning. Those few words had a much greater affect than entire stanzas of pages of spoken prose would have. She watched him, unable to stop herself from mimicking his smile.

"Are you afraid to come in too?"

[Basil Benson]

Basil smirked, and explained - "A gentleman operates on vampire rules. One must be invited in to enter a lady's room. Otherwise, he ceases to be a gentleman. "

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Hmmm. Dark clozing, light complexion, impeccable manners, more money zan he knows what to do wiz... yeah, zis sounds about right." Colette let herself fall onto the bed, stretching out and letting her shoes fall onto the floor as she rolled around a bit. She hadn't said for him to come in yet.

[Basil Benson]

"To say nothing of what I do with my teeth..." Basil added, and remained where he was patiently, despite her obvious teasing.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette continued to wiggle a bit, messing up the bedsheets as she looked back at Basil, unable to hide her grin now.

"Venez ici et faites une démonstration approfondie de ce lit."

[Basil Benson]

Basil leant into the door frame to pop the buttons on his cuffs and roll up his sleeves casually, then entered the room.

That proved to be invitation enough.

(FTB)