“I’m not sure I want to tape a 40 to my hand, Gilbert,” Antonio stated, eyebrow quirked, half-grinning at Gilbert’s small army of 40’s lined up on the back porch of the Hjortdonner house.
“Antonio, c’mon, stop being a goddamn pansy. It’s Saint-fucking-Patrick’s, and me an’ Sadiq are gonna do Edward 40 hands because we rule like that. And I thought you did too,” Gilbert glowered.
Antonio laughed at his expression. “I’m not sure I can handle Steel Reserve, Gil.”
“Ey look,” Sadiq cut in. “What if ya drink, but don’t tape ‘em down. Don’t think we need any incentive to get shitfaced, Gil.”
Gilbert paused, frowning. “You’re sayin’ taping the Reserve is actually more cowardly than drinking it straight-up.”
“Yep,” Sadiq grinned.
“Ya got me there, fucker.”
“Ha, well, okay Gil,” Antonio smiled, grabbing a nearby bottle. “I’ll do that.”
They were all into the first bottle, keeping a fairly even pace, when Sadiq suddenly remembered that Francis was supposed to be there. “Where’d yer dude go, Antonio? S’always fun to see him plastered.”
“Hm? Oh,” Antonio looked at his phone. “He should be on the way. I already told him to just come around back.”
---
They were all seated at the rickety picnic table in the backyard, loudly conversing, nearly done with their first bottle, by the time Francis got there. Gilbert and Sadiq greeted him with a wild cheer, and Antonio, an enthusiastic, upside-down kiss.
“Way ta be late, bastard,” Sadiq laughed, shoving an open 40 into Francis’ hand. Francis frowned down at it.
“Oh fuck you Francis,” Gilbert snarled. “Too snooty for a 40? Man up and drink the goddamn thing. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Better not make them get a funnel,” Antonio laughed, a dark glint in his eyes.
“You are cruel for even proposing that idea, dear,” Francis responded. He took a drink and frowned. “This - ugh - it is fowl.”
“Ey man,” Sadiq looked at him, falsely serious. “Get drunk and it won’t be so bad.”
Francis heaved a heavy sigh and settled down beside Antonio, chugging as much as he could stand. “This had better be strong,” he muttered. Gilbert and Antonio crowed with laughter while Sadiq informed him that the ABV was 8.1%.
---
Francis had finished half the bottle, pace picking up now that he was on his way to the land of drunkenness - the other three had started on the second, Gilbert in the lead at this point.
Well, they were certainly frolicking in the land of drunkenness, Francis thought. Gilbert was standing on the table, alternately rambling, yelling, and singing whatever came to mind.
Antonio’s expression changed to a smirk, out of nowhere, and he laughed and swept his arm under Gilbert’s knees, bringing him crashing down to the table.
“You fucker!” Gilbert slurred, and launched himself at a wildly laughing Antonio, tackling them both to the ground. Antonio barked a dark laugh and bashed Gilbert’s head to the ground, only to get flipped and kneed in the gut. They continued rolling around, grappling, snarling, and pausing to laugh.
Francis stared at them a moment, then looked at Sadiq, who was leaning back against the table, watching with a somewhat dopey smile and keen eyes.
“What are they doing?” Francis asked.
Sadiq jerked a little and shot a slightly bewildered look at Francis. “Ya got eyes?”
Francis huffed and waved his hand at the two, who had now begun spitting vicious insults at each other between their breathless snickers. “I know Gilbert is - well, he does these things,” he began, “but, I would have never expected it of Antonio.”
“Uh, where ya been, dude? This kinda happens a lot.” Sadiq looked at them, assessing, then turned back to Francis. “They’ll do this, an’ then start destroyin’ things. S’usually when I jump in,” he grinned.
Francis laughed. “You stop the destruction? How noble of you, dear.”
Sadiq snorted. “Fuck no. I help, oi.”
They turned and watched as Antonio ate a mouthful of grass through a spluttering chortle. “I’ve never seen it,” Francis murmured, tilting his head and squinting, intrigued.
“Mm,” Sadiq grunted into his bottle. “I think he watches ‘imself around ya.”
Francis looked over, surprised, but Sadiq continued watching the fight with a smirk. He shifted in his seat, took another gulp of his drink, and watched with intent eyes as the vitality that always simmered within Antonio boiled over and lit up the night.
---
“So, Ivan,” Arthur sighed, “how long’s it been?”
“15 minutes.”
“Fuck me, this is boring,” Arthur griped, and lit up a cigarette. The flame from the lighter cut through the murky darkness and was reflected in a few polished graves around them - Kiku saw that it also brought out the distinct twitch of Nils’ jaw.
“It is only polite,” Kiku said, looking around at the cemetery.
“Yeah, you said,” Arthur shrugged, blowing smoke and taking another drag. Nils determinedly watched the clouds - they kinda looked smoky tonight, too. Damn.
“It is also not very polite to smoke,” Ivan frowned.
“To smoke?”
“No. It is not your home to trash.”
“Huh,” Arthur looked down at the cigarette in his hand. “Suppose I’ll just put the butts in my pocket, then.”
They stood in relative silence in the midnight quiet of the cemetery. The darkness was almost tangible - every object became another foggy slab of charcoal and gray, the shapes bleeding into one another. It was cold, misty, and wet, with no moon to light anything, no wind to move anything. Just heavy and chilled. Arthur whistled a tune and it seemed entirely too loud.
“Where are we plannin’ on going once we’ve been here long enough?” he finally asked into the air.
Kiku and Ivan looked at each other. “I think we should start in the oldest part,” Ivan shrugged.
Nils nodded and shifted to his other foot. “That’s a good bet for ghosts. Or orbs. Whichever.”
“I’d like to find orbs,” Kiku quipped. “Hopefully there will be more activity due to the equinox...” He pulled out his camera to adjust the settings. “Did anyone bring a disposable camera?”
“I did,” Nils replied. He’d made the mistake of bringing only a digital camera once (also the same time he made the mistake of bringing Alfred) and it started acting screwy when the temperature dropped out of nowhere.
“Time’s up,” Ivan smiled, and turned to lead the way, weaving between tombstones. The other three trailed behind in a lazy line, passing and falling behind each other as Nils would pause to look at a particular tombstone or Kiku would stop and glance around at the air surrounding him.
“What’s an orb?” Arthur asked Kiku, keeping his voice down to almost a whisper. He had no idea if any spirits would be around to hear or anything like that, but he’d rather not get caught by the police.
“It is essentially what it sounds like - a glowing ball of light.”
“Kinda like a will-’o-wisp, then?”
“No,” Nils flatly stated from behind them, “a will-o-wisp flickers like fire. Sometimes it recedes when you move toward it. An orb doesn’t flicker.”
Arthur nodded and veered off a little, to swing by a statue nearby on his way.
“I’ve never heard of a will-o-wisp,” Kiku stated, glancing at Nils. “What legend is that?”
“Oh,” Nils took a deep breath and thought, stepping over a tall clump of wet grass. “There are a lot of them.” When Kiku didn’t say anything he went on. “They’re from all over the world...er - well, some people thought that they were lights that misguided travelers. Other cultures thought they showed where treasure was buried underground. In America they’re part of the Jack-o-Lantern tales.”
“The Halloween pumpkins?” Kiku asked, a little humor seeping in.
Nils let out a small laugh under his breath. “Sort of. Most of them are a variation of one story. A guy named Jack is so evil he gets turned away from both Heaven and Hell, and has to walk around the earth forever with a flame. It probably came over from Ireland - the Irish had one about a guy who had to walk around with a lantern made from a turnip.”
“How the hell did you get ‘im to say that much in one go, Kiku?” Arthur laughingly asked from behind them. They both jumped a little and turned.
Nils scowled; Kiku smiled, barely, and said “It is easy when he’s talking about folk tales and mythology.”
Ivan had stopped and was looking around, appraising. They drew up to him as well, quiet.
“There is a Japanese tale that is similar to the will-o-wisp - it concerns the kitsune-bi,” Kiku whispered, warmth in his voice.
“Oh?” Nils asked, head cocked.
Kiku nodded and turned on his camera. “I can tell you about it later. It would be wise start hunting now that we are here.”
---
Antonio opened the door to his apartment only to get smothered with an excitedly blabbering Francis.
“Haha wait, wait, what?” he asked, pulling back and holding Francis around the waist.
“Antonio, my darling, lovely,” he held Antonio’s face and quickly kissed him on both cheeks before continuing, “oh my goodness, you’ll never - it’s simply so exciting dear - I got word from MetroPop magazine today - and - oh, it’s wonderful - they’re covering the store in the summer issue!”
Antonio smiled and kissed Francis, then shut the door. “That’s great!” He lead them both to the couch as Francis kept rambling on like an excited child, gesticulating everywhere. It was adorable. Antonio briefly wondered what, exactly, had made Francis so excited, but decided to simply revel in Francis’ glow with him.
“And - oh - they’re covering my clothing line too, it’s just -” he paused and looked at Antonio; Antonio raised both eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “Do you even know what MetroPop is, dear?”
“Nope,” Antonio replied, peppy. “But you’re so happy - it has to be good!” He kissed Francis again; the giddiness was contagious.
Francis broke away and laughed before stroking the side of Antonio’s face. He really didn’t give Antonio enough credit sometimes.
---
Author’s Notes
Yeah Matthew, tap dat!
Conversely - no no, Berwald and Ludwig did not have sex. Because I would sooo have written that. (Even better: I am so gonna write that. I am gonna write the hell out of that.)
So, Mathias and Sadiq’s total-bitch shoot-your-balls-off dealer? Yuuup.
Antonio and I finally agreed on his characterization! Woo! I can stop writing him from the other person’s POV/omniscient POV now! And not a moment too soon, dude. You’ve got some screen time comin’ up.
Kitsune! The Japanese tale Kiku was talking about - foxes hold glowing balls in their mouths or tails, and the balls are called fox fire. Here’s a pic - one of my favorite favorite Hiroshige prints: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Hiroshige-100-views-of-edo-fox-fires.jpg
Ahhh my second-favorite Roddy/Lili scene is comin’ up next!!! ALSO: Take the hipsters bowling, take them bowling!
Basically the first four scenes: Peaking Lights - Silver Tongues, Soft Whispers
The Nils-and-Kiku smoking shebang: Modest Mouse - Dramamine
Feliks and Eduard meet up at a record store: Metric - Succexy
Eliza and Matthew listen to folk: Carolina Chocolate Drops - Sally Anne Roscoe Hocolmb - Black-Eyed Suzie - Yeeeah boi drop dem g’s, pimp dem hollers STATE PRIDE BROFIST
Ludwig goes home with Berwald: Weezer - Only in Dreams - oh, cautious love
Francis tries to skateboard: Pavement - Range Life
Gilbert learns about Lovi’s day job: Autolux - Sugarless
Natalia and Eirik go on a drive: The Smiths - Asleep - Ahaha you probably thought I was gonna use that other one, yeah? So did I. I mean, it’s about riding in a car and wanting to be out and not home and enjoying your company and and and - It wasn’t subdued enough. -_- Le sigh. Dirty on Purpose - No Radio
Nonstandard St. Patrick’s Day: Blur - Song 2
Ghost hunting on the equinox: Caboladies - Atomic Weekender Side B - if “creepy-beep-bloop-noise-synth” isn’t your cup of tea, skip this’un
Hey it's one of those Husband pair girls popping in again. First off I have to say that because of this fill I started going to Look at This Fucking Hipster I just so happened to find a copy of the book at the book store and yeah totes worth the cash. I also kind of sort of needed to buy the rest of Murakami's novels and gosh did I feel like I belonged in that damn book when I went to ring up. idk just thought I would mention that, now onto my comment yes?
Holy shit anon give me some of your talents because your characterizations are just freaking amazing and the speed and way you write always leave me in awe. This chapter was so up to the standards that I have for your updates too! Gosh I so love it! Like hardcore!
I have a question though: Is Carlos Cuba?
Okay Lili and Roderich on the phone was so cute. I was laying here reading that scene and thinking to myself, "I want this from my boyfriend!" bitch never calls me when I'm sick or sends me flowers... actually we aren't dating I just pretend we are... man am I lame seriously I can't help but imagine that the two of them will one day be a cute little married couple with cute little kids in cardigans and over sized fake glasses, playing piano like a boss. So freaking cute.
Ludwig and Berwald! Oh gosh I am so glad that you didn't have the to of them bang this chapter I don;t think I could have handled that. And for some reason having that happen now doesn't feel right, you know what I mean. They're both such slow and steady characters that having them have sex within this chapter right here wouldn't have felt quite right. glad you held off on that. So when are we gonna get that back story because I am so looking forward to that
Lovinia the drug dealer. <3 Can I just say that that is seriously fucking perfect. Like oh my gosh for real, there really aren't words I can think of right now to express how much I like that <3 And Gilbert's reaction to that was gorgeous! haha I love how she reacted to his reaction a lot too.
I love every single second of Francis and Antonio. They're such a cute couple.
I pity Eirik so much. Seriously he;s so into Nataliya and I can;t tell if she can tell that he is and I get the feeling that she can't... so I feel even worse for him... and I have to totally admit that I don't want her ever to notice that he's in love with her, ya know? idk what to say.
Okay I think I'm done. Also your taste in music is fucking bitching.
Hahah oh, yeah, Carlos is Cuba. How hot is that pairing, eh? It’s really unlikely he’ll pop up again, though, I don’t have his characterization down at all.
PSHHHH CARDIGANS + GLASSES + PIANO = WIN
Whoooa no. Ludwig and Berwald aren’t gonna have sex for a while. They haven’t told me if they even will in the course of the fill yet - but even if they don’t, I’ll totally write an omake with smut because these two are way too hot not to. But - they are both done with casual sex. Checked out. Forever.
Lawl thanks for the music comment XD
OKAY OH YEAH FML FORGOT ABOUT THE BACKSTORY THING HERE HAVE ONE I WROTE THIS IN LIKE 20 MINUTES SO HOPEFULLY IT’S NOT SUPER FAIL:
---
LUDWIG’S BACKSTORY
---
Oh gosh Ludwig. Okay, so he’s an only kid who was raised by semi-conservative, super-strict parents, in a kind of mid-size city. He was always really serious, borderline-OCD, studious, and somewhat easy to anger. He didn’t really have many childhood friends. His relationship with his parents is more “professional” than anything, and always has been. He probably didn’t even get a “birds and the bees” talk, just, like, a book placed in his room or something in the hopes that he’d find it.
His only really close family member was his grandmother, who was a total snarky BAMF and was completely different than either of his parents - she lived near his middle and high schools, so after school he’d usually go there and vent and work on homework and be doted on and all that.
His parents were pretty concerned over his anger - he got into trouble for yelling at other kids in school and such - so before he went off to middle school they sent him to a psychologist (not for the obsessiveness or anything though, ironically enough) who suggested they enroll him in some sort of sport to get his aggression out.
Ludwig, welcome to soccer.
It actually worked really well. Disagreement with his parents? Kick a ball around. Some of the cool kids make fun of his shirt? Run a few (dozen) laps. Frustrated with a test score? Practice, practice, practice.
So yeah, he got really good at it, and played through middle and high school, and made all-state and that sort of jazz. And he picked up a few friends along the way - more acquaintances, but he started getting invited to things, so that was cool.
But then -uhhh. Sweaty, hot soccer players. Why couldn’t he stop staring at his teammates? God damn it. Let’s practice some more because this is confusing and I don’t even want to think about it because oh, my parents would murder me, this is wrong -
His grandmother died before his junior year of high school, in the middle of his months-long debate over whether he should tell her about it or not. It’s one of his bigger regrets.
Which meant - more practice, more soccer, more confusion. Oh, and let’s really throw yourself into your coursework, too, to ridiculous proportions.
So Ludwig’s kind of this absurdly perfectionist kid, who’s awkward and gels his hair back kind weird, but he’s cute and fantastic at soccer and aces every subject. There are some girls who like him, and he goes on a few dates, makes out with a few - and, just, no. It’s not happening. Shiiit.
He decides he wants to do engineering (he really likes math - so black-and-white - but wants to do something more useful than play with numbers) and gets a full ride to the university, which has a pretty bangin’ engineering/math/architecture program.
The summer after his senior year, his parents send him to Germany to stay with some family for a few weeks as a graduation present. His German family is waaaay more chill, and they have a son and a daughter who are around his age, so they show him around, since he only knows rudimentary German. He becomes pretty close with them, though the beer probably helped. Oh yeah, they introduce him to beer. There are some pretty hilarious/awkward shenanigans that go down. He also drunkenly tells them he’s gay and is blown away when they’re not only cool with it, but arrange to go to a gay bar with him. He makes out with a guy or two and they laugh and cat-call.
He is definitely gay. And not really sure how to feel about that. His German family tells him to take a chill pill, but, ha. Ludwig still freaks internally for the next six months.
They introduce him to German techno, and he gets really into it and sends a lot of records home. They take him out to buy nicer clothes, because he looks touristy in baggy Levi’s and tennis shoes. He ends up liking his new stuff so much he just adopts it as his permanent style.
His family also takes him to the Vitra Design Museum. The museum with one of the largest collections of modern furniture anywhere. Ludwig falls in love with modern furniture, and when he gets back to the states he reads up on it as much as he can.
In college he decides to take German and get a minor, so he can go back and speak fluently. He lives in the dorms and tutors math, hoping to meet some people - and he does. This crazy blond kid who lives down the hall, arranges his tutoring schedule to coincide with Ludwig’s, then rolls his eyes and says that Ludwig’s hair is, like, so lame gelled like that. Seriously, hun, I can hear it crying. If you’re gonna insist on gel, at least make it something stylish - like a pompadour. You’d look, like, 50’s hot with a pomp. James Dean, hello?
He isn’t sure how it happens, but the pompadour becomes another style staple.
He also isn’t sure how it happens, but he ends up hanging out with Feliks a lot. They trade music and work on math and Ludwig is relieved that apparently Feliks isn’t hitting on him - he keeps telling Ludwig he needs to get out more and meet some guys. Ludwig kind of freaks out that Feliks knew so easily; Feliks just laughs at him.
One night Feliks drags him to this homecoming party and makes sure Ludwig gets, like, totally schwasted. Ludwig ends up going home with - someone - and having sex. And it is the last time he’s ever gonna hook up with someone again, because it was just awkward and completely unsatisfying and he’s kind of ashamed of himself because his grandmother always said you shouldn’t have sex with someone unless you care about them.
The next time Feliks tries to do something similar Ludwig ends up yelling at him. It doesn’t seem to phase Feliks - he ends up laughing in Ludwig’s face and cutting the rant off short - but he never seriously encourages Ludwig to randomly hook up with someone again. He still gets a kick out of lewdly joking about it though.
In the winter Feliks hears - from his homegirl Eliza, you should really meet her, she’d, like, love you - about this noise-techno show in this abandoned warehouse place. They go and it’s harsher than expected. Feliks doesn’t really care for it, but Ludwig is entranced. He begins going to noise shows whether Feliks decides to come along or not.
Summer rolls around, not much happens, he and Feliks send an e-mail or two back and forth - when school starts up again they make sure to tutor together - and this kid comes cannonballing into Ludwig’s life. All bright and cheery and so fucking annoyingcan’t-you-sit-down-for-one-second-Alfred-we-are-trying-to-teach-you-Lagrange-multipliers!
Alfred laughs and says Ludwig yells too much, and begins hanging out with them outside of tutoring in the spring. They go thrifting and jointly laugh at Feliks’ griping. They hang out in bars and get a little too drunk and all three talk about math and Star Wars the entire time. They go to shows. They trade music. Ludwig’s probably the happiest he’s ever been.
He doesn’t even realize he’s got a crush on Alfred until Alfred announces he’s skipping a bar night because he’s got a date. He tries to ignore it - Alfred’s straight - but that doesn’t really work. His summer home is torture, and he can’t wait until he moves into his first apartment at the beginning of September, and he and Alfred e-mail and chat way more than he and Feliks do.
The first thing he does after moving in is help Alfred fix his moped.
First things first Fuck yeah BelarusxCuba is hot. I like that a lot. But I'm one of those people that finds contrast in skin tone to be a huge turn on. idk just something about dark and pale together is super freaking gorgeous to me... and I can't figure out why... and it's not only with like two people but also hair color. LOVE dark skin with pale hair/pale skin with dark hair... anyways I approve of that pairing wholeheartedly and may use it somewhere in the future...
... Oh and yeah Berwald and Ludwig not doin' the deed I like that because gosh like I said slow and steady. God they're so hot together Husband pair is like my OTP for a reason. and y'know also because they're both so my type (I hope I didn't frick up the coding that time).
Okay so now I am going to go ahead and get to the whole backstory thing because you know I feel like a total bitch wad for bringing it up like a ton of times and ya know I feel like you wrote it for me <3. Anyways I loved it. Everything worked just so perfectly, like Ludwig's relationship with his parents being professional. The whole sports to keep him from exploding thing was a great touch because god I can imagine how anal he would have been as a kid and anything to keep him from going crazy and having the explosion of his head take out an entire city block is a good thing. Also practicing when he's confused or stressed out explains how a guy like him would be so buff. *nods* The fact that he's so anal makes his crushing on Alfred just adorable, you know? *sigh*
Is this coherent because I am typing this first thing after waking uo... and after reading this... but you know I like totes lack coherency after being awake for an hour. idk why.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh! This back story is too precious! Ludwig is wonderful! You've done him perfectly! (but does this mean he's only had sex, like, once? poor guy)
Also, I concur; it was good that ludwig and berwald didn't have sex yet. But when it happens, i know it's probably going to be cute and fluffy and whatever but for some reason i just want berwald to top the hell out of Ludwig. is that wrong? am i a bad person. yes, but I still want Ludwig bent over and screaming for more...
Ludwig and Berwald are absolutely, totally, completely adorable together.
AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO. HOW DO YOU DO IT?
Like seriously, these are the pairings you'd never really think of, or if you do, you wouldn't think they'd be able to work. But you deffo work it and I'm enjoying it so much < 3
+++++PRUMANO = FANTASTIC +++++FRSP = EVERYTHING I WANTED, FOR REAL
THANK YOU.
ALSO IM SICK AGAIN (OF FUCKING COURSE) WHICH IS WHY I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO COMMENT ON THE OTHER PARTS, BUT ONCE IM LIKE ACTUALLY BETTER, I'LL BE RIGHT ON IT. And I'll actually give you like in depth reviews, I mean it hahaha
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
LATFF [10k/15]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-01 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)“Antonio, c’mon, stop being a goddamn pansy. It’s Saint-fucking-Patrick’s, and me an’ Sadiq are gonna do Edward 40 hands because we rule like that. And I thought you did too,” Gilbert glowered.
Antonio laughed at his expression. “I’m not sure I can handle Steel Reserve, Gil.”
“Ey look,” Sadiq cut in. “What if ya drink, but don’t tape ‘em down. Don’t think we need any incentive to get shitfaced, Gil.”
Gilbert paused, frowning. “You’re sayin’ taping the Reserve is actually more cowardly than drinking it straight-up.”
“Yep,” Sadiq grinned.
“Ya got me there, fucker.”
“Ha, well, okay Gil,” Antonio smiled, grabbing a nearby bottle. “I’ll do that.”
They were all into the first bottle, keeping a fairly even pace, when Sadiq suddenly remembered that Francis was supposed to be there. “Where’d yer dude go, Antonio? S’always fun to see him plastered.”
“Hm? Oh,” Antonio looked at his phone. “He should be on the way. I already told him to just come around back.”
---
They were all seated at the rickety picnic table in the backyard, loudly conversing, nearly done with their first bottle, by the time Francis got there. Gilbert and Sadiq greeted him with a wild cheer, and Antonio, an enthusiastic, upside-down kiss.
“Way ta be late, bastard,” Sadiq laughed, shoving an open 40 into Francis’ hand. Francis frowned down at it.
“Oh fuck you Francis,” Gilbert snarled. “Too snooty for a 40? Man up and drink the goddamn thing. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Better not make them get a funnel,” Antonio laughed, a dark glint in his eyes.
“You are cruel for even proposing that idea, dear,” Francis responded. He took a drink and frowned. “This - ugh - it is fowl.”
“Ey man,” Sadiq looked at him, falsely serious. “Get drunk and it won’t be so bad.”
Francis heaved a heavy sigh and settled down beside Antonio, chugging as much as he could stand. “This had better be strong,” he muttered. Gilbert and Antonio crowed with laughter while Sadiq informed him that the ABV was 8.1%.
---
Francis had finished half the bottle, pace picking up now that he was on his way to the land of drunkenness - the other three had started on the second, Gilbert in the lead at this point.
Well, they were certainly frolicking in the land of drunkenness, Francis thought. Gilbert was standing on the table, alternately rambling, yelling, and singing whatever came to mind.
Antonio’s expression changed to a smirk, out of nowhere, and he laughed and swept his arm under Gilbert’s knees, bringing him crashing down to the table.
“You fucker!” Gilbert slurred, and launched himself at a wildly laughing Antonio, tackling them both to the ground. Antonio barked a dark laugh and bashed Gilbert’s head to the ground, only to get flipped and kneed in the gut. They continued rolling around, grappling, snarling, and pausing to laugh.
Francis stared at them a moment, then looked at Sadiq, who was leaning back against the table, watching with a somewhat dopey smile and keen eyes.
“What are they doing?” Francis asked.
Sadiq jerked a little and shot a slightly bewildered look at Francis. “Ya got eyes?”
Francis huffed and waved his hand at the two, who had now begun spitting vicious insults at each other between their breathless snickers. “I know Gilbert is - well, he does these things,” he began, “but, I would have never expected it of Antonio.”
“Uh, where ya been, dude? This kinda happens a lot.” Sadiq looked at them, assessing, then turned back to Francis. “They’ll do this, an’ then start destroyin’ things. S’usually when I jump in,” he grinned.
Francis laughed. “You stop the destruction? How noble of you, dear.”
Sadiq snorted. “Fuck no. I help, oi.”
They turned and watched as Antonio ate a mouthful of grass through a spluttering chortle. “I’ve never seen it,” Francis murmured, tilting his head and squinting, intrigued.
LATFF [10l/15]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-01 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)Francis looked over, surprised, but Sadiq continued watching the fight with a smirk. He shifted in his seat, took another gulp of his drink, and watched with intent eyes as the vitality that always simmered within Antonio boiled over and lit up the night.
---
“So, Ivan,” Arthur sighed, “how long’s it been?”
“15 minutes.”
“Fuck me, this is boring,” Arthur griped, and lit up a cigarette. The flame from the lighter cut through the murky darkness and was reflected in a few polished graves around them - Kiku saw that it also brought out the distinct twitch of Nils’ jaw.
“It is only polite,” Kiku said, looking around at the cemetery.
“Yeah, you said,” Arthur shrugged, blowing smoke and taking another drag. Nils determinedly watched the clouds - they kinda looked smoky tonight, too. Damn.
“It is also not very polite to smoke,” Ivan frowned.
“To smoke?”
“No. It is not your home to trash.”
“Huh,” Arthur looked down at the cigarette in his hand. “Suppose I’ll just put the butts in my pocket, then.”
They stood in relative silence in the midnight quiet of the cemetery. The darkness was almost tangible - every object became another foggy slab of charcoal and gray, the shapes bleeding into one another. It was cold, misty, and wet, with no moon to light anything, no wind to move anything. Just heavy and chilled. Arthur whistled a tune and it seemed entirely too loud.
“Where are we plannin’ on going once we’ve been here long enough?” he finally asked into the air.
Kiku and Ivan looked at each other. “I think we should start in the oldest part,” Ivan shrugged.
Nils nodded and shifted to his other foot. “That’s a good bet for ghosts. Or orbs. Whichever.”
“I’d like to find orbs,” Kiku quipped. “Hopefully there will be more activity due to the equinox...” He pulled out his camera to adjust the settings. “Did anyone bring a disposable camera?”
“I did,” Nils replied. He’d made the mistake of bringing only a digital camera once (also the same time he made the mistake of bringing Alfred) and it started acting screwy when the temperature dropped out of nowhere.
“Time’s up,” Ivan smiled, and turned to lead the way, weaving between tombstones. The other three trailed behind in a lazy line, passing and falling behind each other as Nils would pause to look at a particular tombstone or Kiku would stop and glance around at the air surrounding him.
“What’s an orb?” Arthur asked Kiku, keeping his voice down to almost a whisper. He had no idea if any spirits would be around to hear or anything like that, but he’d rather not get caught by the police.
“It is essentially what it sounds like - a glowing ball of light.”
“Kinda like a will-’o-wisp, then?”
“No,” Nils flatly stated from behind them, “a will-o-wisp flickers like fire. Sometimes it recedes when you move toward it. An orb doesn’t flicker.”
Arthur nodded and veered off a little, to swing by a statue nearby on his way.
“I’ve never heard of a will-o-wisp,” Kiku stated, glancing at Nils. “What legend is that?”
“Oh,” Nils took a deep breath and thought, stepping over a tall clump of wet grass. “There are a lot of them.” When Kiku didn’t say anything he went on. “They’re from all over the world...er - well, some people thought that they were lights that misguided travelers. Other cultures thought they showed where treasure was buried underground. In America they’re part of the Jack-o-Lantern tales.”
“The Halloween pumpkins?” Kiku asked, a little humor seeping in.
Nils let out a small laugh under his breath. “Sort of. Most of them are a variation of one story. A guy named Jack is so evil he gets turned away from both Heaven and Hell, and has to walk around the earth forever with a flame. It probably came over from Ireland - the Irish had one about a guy who had to walk around with a lantern made from a turnip.”
“How the hell did you get ‘im to say that much in one go, Kiku?” Arthur laughingly asked from behind them. They both jumped a little and turned.
Nils scowled; Kiku smiled, barely, and said “It is easy when he’s talking about folk tales and mythology.”
LATFF [10m/15]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-01 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)“There is a Japanese tale that is similar to the will-o-wisp - it concerns the kitsune-bi,” Kiku whispered, warmth in his voice.
“Oh?” Nils asked, head cocked.
Kiku nodded and turned on his camera. “I can tell you about it later. It would be wise start hunting now that we are here.”
---
Antonio opened the door to his apartment only to get smothered with an excitedly blabbering Francis.
“Haha wait, wait, what?” he asked, pulling back and holding Francis around the waist.
“Antonio, my darling, lovely,” he held Antonio’s face and quickly kissed him on both cheeks before continuing, “oh my goodness, you’ll never - it’s simply so exciting dear - I got word from MetroPop magazine today - and - oh, it’s wonderful - they’re covering the store in the summer issue!”
Antonio smiled and kissed Francis, then shut the door. “That’s great!” He lead them both to the couch as Francis kept rambling on like an excited child, gesticulating everywhere. It was adorable. Antonio briefly wondered what, exactly, had made Francis so excited, but decided to simply revel in Francis’ glow with him.
“And - oh - they’re covering my clothing line too, it’s just -” he paused and looked at Antonio; Antonio raised both eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. “Do you even know what MetroPop is, dear?”
“Nope,” Antonio replied, peppy. “But you’re so happy - it has to be good!” He kissed Francis again; the giddiness was contagious.
Francis broke away and laughed before stroking the side of Antonio’s face. He really didn’t give Antonio enough credit sometimes.
---
Author’s Notes
Yeah Matthew, tap dat!
Conversely - no no, Berwald and Ludwig did not have sex. Because I would sooo have written that. (Even better: I am so gonna write that. I am gonna write the hell out of that.)
So, Mathias and Sadiq’s total-bitch shoot-your-balls-off dealer? Yuuup.
Antonio and I finally agreed on his characterization! Woo! I can stop writing him from the other person’s POV/omniscient POV now!
And not a moment too soon, dude. You’ve got some screen time comin’ up.Kitsune! The Japanese tale Kiku was talking about - foxes hold glowing balls in their mouths or tails, and the balls are called fox fire. Here’s a pic - one of my favorite favorite Hiroshige prints:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Hiroshige-100-views-of-edo-fox-fires.jpg
Ahhh my second-favorite Roddy/Lili scene is comin’ up next!!! ALSO: Take the hipsters bowling, take them bowling!
March Mix Tape
(Anonymous) 2010-10-01 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)Peaking Lights - Silver Tongues, Soft Whispers
The Nils-and-Kiku smoking shebang:
Modest Mouse - Dramamine
Feliks and Eduard meet up at a record store:
Metric - Succexy
Eliza and Matthew listen to folk:
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Sally Anne
Roscoe Hocolmb - Black-Eyed Suzie - Yeeeah boi drop dem g’s, pimp dem hollers
STATE PRIDE BROFISTLudwig goes home with Berwald:
Weezer - Only in Dreams - oh, cautious love
Francis tries to skateboard:
Pavement - Range Life
Gilbert learns about Lovi’s day job:
Autolux - Sugarless
Natalia and Eirik go on a drive:
The Smiths - Asleep - Ahaha you probably thought I was gonna use that other one, yeah? So did I. I mean, it’s about riding in a car and wanting to be out and not home and enjoying your company and and and - It wasn’t subdued enough. -_- Le sigh.
Dirty on Purpose - No Radio
Nonstandard St. Patrick’s Day:
Blur - Song 2
Ghost hunting on the equinox:
Caboladies - Atomic Weekender Side B - if “creepy-beep-bloop-noise-synth” isn’t your cup of tea, skip this’un
Mediafire link: http://www.me diafire.com/?7eh 8n1py58k6q
Re: March Mix Tape
(Anonymous) 2010-10-02 02:38 am (UTC)(link)I also kind of sort of needed to buy the rest of Murakami's novels and gosh did I feel like I belonged in that damn book when I went to ring up. idk just thought I would mention that, now onto my comment yes?
Holy shit anon give me some of your talents because your characterizations are just freaking amazing and the speed and way you write always leave me in awe. This chapter was so up to the standards that I have for your updates too! Gosh I so love it! Like hardcore!
I have a question though: Is Carlos Cuba?
Okay Lili and Roderich on the phone was so cute. I was laying here reading that scene and thinking to myself, "I want this from my boyfriend!"
bitch never calls me when I'm sick or sends me flowers... actually we aren't dating I just pretend we are... man am I lameseriously I can't help but imagine that the two of them will one day be a cute little married couple with cute little kids in cardigans and over sized fake glasses, playing piano like a boss. So freaking cute.Ludwig and Berwald! Oh gosh I am so glad that you didn't have the to of them bang this chapter I don;t think I could have handled that. And for some reason having that happen now doesn't feel right, you know what I mean. They're both such slow and steady characters that having them have sex within this chapter right here wouldn't have felt quite right. glad you held off on that.
So when are we gonna get that back story because I am so looking forward to thatLovinia the drug dealer. <3 Can I just say that that is seriously fucking perfect. Like oh my gosh for real, there really aren't words I can think of right now to express how much I like that <3 And Gilbert's reaction to that was gorgeous! haha I love how she reacted to his reaction a lot too.
I love every single second of Francis and Antonio. They're such a cute couple.
I pity Eirik so much. Seriously he;s so into Nataliya and I can;t tell if she can tell that he is and I get the feeling that she can't... so I feel even worse for him... and I have to totally admit that I don't want her ever to notice that he's in love with her, ya know? idk what to say.
Okay I think I'm done. Also your taste in music is fucking bitching.
Ludwig [1/2]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-03 11:50 am (UTC)(link)PSHHHH CARDIGANS + GLASSES + PIANO = WIN
Whoooa no. Ludwig and Berwald aren’t gonna have sex for a while. They haven’t told me if they even will in the course of the fill yet - but even if they don’t, I’ll totally write an omake with smut because these two are way too hot not to. But - they are both done with casual sex. Checked out. Forever.
Lawl thanks for the music comment XD
OKAY OH YEAH FML FORGOT ABOUT THE BACKSTORY THING HERE HAVE ONE I WROTE THIS IN LIKE 20 MINUTES SO HOPEFULLY IT’S NOT SUPER FAIL:
---
LUDWIG’S BACKSTORY
---
Oh gosh Ludwig. Okay, so he’s an only kid who was raised by semi-conservative, super-strict parents, in a kind of mid-size city. He was always really serious, borderline-OCD, studious, and somewhat easy to anger. He didn’t really have many childhood friends. His relationship with his parents is more “professional” than anything, and always has been. He probably didn’t even get a “birds and the bees” talk, just, like, a book placed in his room or something in the hopes that he’d find it.
His only really close family member was his grandmother, who was a total snarky BAMF and was completely different than either of his parents - she lived near his middle and high schools, so after school he’d usually go there and vent and work on homework and be doted on and all that.
His parents were pretty concerned over his anger - he got into trouble for yelling at other kids in school and such - so before he went off to middle school they sent him to a psychologist (not for the obsessiveness or anything though, ironically enough) who suggested they enroll him in some sort of sport to get his aggression out.
Ludwig, welcome to soccer.
It actually worked really well. Disagreement with his parents? Kick a ball around. Some of the cool kids make fun of his shirt? Run a few (dozen) laps. Frustrated with a test score? Practice, practice, practice.
So yeah, he got really good at it, and played through middle and high school, and made all-state and that sort of jazz. And he picked up a few friends along the way - more acquaintances, but he started getting invited to things, so that was cool.
But then -uhhh. Sweaty, hot soccer players. Why couldn’t he stop staring at his teammates? God damn it. Let’s practice some more because this is confusing and I don’t even want to think about it because oh, my parents would murder me, this is wrong -
His grandmother died before his junior year of high school, in the middle of his months-long debate over whether he should tell her about it or not. It’s one of his bigger regrets.
Which meant - more practice, more soccer, more confusion. Oh, and let’s really throw yourself into your coursework, too, to ridiculous proportions.
So Ludwig’s kind of this absurdly perfectionist kid, who’s awkward and gels his hair back kind weird, but he’s cute and fantastic at soccer and aces every subject. There are some girls who like him, and he goes on a few dates, makes out with a few - and, just, no. It’s not happening. Shiiit.
He decides he wants to do engineering (he really likes math - so black-and-white - but wants to do something more useful than play with numbers) and gets a full ride to the university, which has a pretty bangin’ engineering/math/architecture program.
The summer after his senior year, his parents send him to Germany to stay with some family for a few weeks as a graduation present. His German family is waaaay more chill, and they have a son and a daughter who are around his age, so they show him around, since he only knows rudimentary German. He becomes pretty close with them, though the beer probably helped. Oh yeah, they introduce him to beer. There are some pretty hilarious/awkward shenanigans that go down. He also drunkenly tells them he’s gay and is blown away when they’re not only cool with it, but arrange to go to a gay bar with him. He makes out with a guy or two and they laugh and cat-call.
Ludwig [2/2]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-03 11:52 am (UTC)(link)They introduce him to German techno, and he gets really into it and sends a lot of records home. They take him out to buy nicer clothes, because he looks touristy in baggy Levi’s and tennis shoes. He ends up liking his new stuff so much he just adopts it as his permanent style.
His family also takes him to the Vitra Design Museum. The museum with one of the largest collections of modern furniture anywhere. Ludwig falls in love with modern furniture, and when he gets back to the states he reads up on it as much as he can.
In college he decides to take German and get a minor, so he can go back and speak fluently. He lives in the dorms and tutors math, hoping to meet some people - and he does. This crazy blond kid who lives down the hall, arranges his tutoring schedule to coincide with Ludwig’s, then rolls his eyes and says that Ludwig’s hair is, like, so lame gelled like that. Seriously, hun, I can hear it crying. If you’re gonna insist on gel, at least make it something stylish - like a pompadour. You’d look, like, 50’s hot with a pomp. James Dean, hello?
He isn’t sure how it happens, but the pompadour becomes another style staple.
He also isn’t sure how it happens, but he ends up hanging out with Feliks a lot. They trade music and work on math and Ludwig is relieved that apparently Feliks isn’t hitting on him - he keeps telling Ludwig he needs to get out more and meet some guys. Ludwig kind of freaks out that Feliks knew so easily; Feliks just laughs at him.
One night Feliks drags him to this homecoming party and makes sure Ludwig gets, like, totally schwasted. Ludwig ends up going home with - someone - and having sex. And it is the last time he’s ever gonna hook up with someone again, because it was just awkward and completely unsatisfying and he’s kind of ashamed of himself because his grandmother always said you shouldn’t have sex with someone unless you care about them.
The next time Feliks tries to do something similar Ludwig ends up yelling at him. It doesn’t seem to phase Feliks - he ends up laughing in Ludwig’s face and cutting the rant off short - but he never seriously encourages Ludwig to randomly hook up with someone again. He still gets a kick out of lewdly joking about it though.
In the winter Feliks hears - from his homegirl Eliza, you should really meet her, she’d, like, love you - about this noise-techno show in this abandoned warehouse place. They go and it’s harsher than expected. Feliks doesn’t really care for it, but Ludwig is entranced. He begins going to noise shows whether Feliks decides to come along or not.
Summer rolls around, not much happens, he and Feliks send an e-mail or two back and forth - when school starts up again they make sure to tutor together - and this kid comes cannonballing into Ludwig’s life. All bright and cheery and so fucking annoying can’t-you-sit-down-for-one-second-Alfred-we-are-trying-to-teach-you-Lagrange-multipliers!
Alfred laughs and says Ludwig yells too much, and begins hanging out with them outside of tutoring in the spring. They go thrifting and jointly laugh at Feliks’ griping. They hang out in bars and get a little too drunk and all three talk about math and Star Wars the entire time. They go to shows. They trade music. Ludwig’s probably the happiest he’s ever been.
He doesn’t even realize he’s got a crush on Alfred until Alfred announces he’s skipping a bar night because he’s got a date. He tries to ignore it - Alfred’s straight - but that doesn’t really work. His summer home is torture, and he can’t wait until he moves into his first apartment at the beginning of September, and he and Alfred e-mail and chat way more than he and Feliks do.
The first thing he does after moving in is help Alfred fix his moped.
Re: Ludwig [2/2]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-03 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)... Oh and yeah Berwald and Ludwig not doin' the deed I like that because gosh like I said slow and steady. God they're so hot together Husband pair is like my OTP for a reason.
and y'know also because they're both so my type(I hope I didn't frick up the coding that time).Okay so now I am going to go ahead and get to the whole backstory thing because you know I feel like a total bitch wad for bringing it up like a ton of times and ya know I feel like you wrote it for me <3. Anyways I loved it. Everything worked just so perfectly, like Ludwig's relationship with his parents being professional. The whole sports to keep him from exploding thing was a great touch because god I can imagine how anal he would have been as a kid and anything to keep him from going crazy and having the explosion of his head take out an entire city block is a good thing. Also practicing when he's confused or stressed out explains how a guy like him would be so buff. *nods* The fact that he's so anal makes his crushing on Alfred just adorable, you know? *sigh*
Is this coherent because I am typing this first thing after waking uo... and after reading this... but you know I like totes lack coherency after being awake for an hour. idk why.
Re: Ludwig [2/2]
(Anonymous) 2010-10-04 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh! This back story is too precious! Ludwig is wonderful! You've done him perfectly! (but does this mean he's only had sex, like, once? poor guy)
Also, I concur; it was good that ludwig and berwald didn't have sex yet. But when it happens, i know it's probably going to be cute and fluffy and whatever but for some reason i just want berwald to top the hell out of Ludwig. is that wrong? am i a bad person. yes, but I still want Ludwig bent over and screaming for more...
wow i am so glad this is anonymous.
OP
(Anonymous) 2010-10-02 06:32 am (UTC)(link)Ludwig and Berwald are absolutely, totally, completely adorable together.
AND THEN EVERYONE ELSE IS TOO. HOW DO YOU DO IT?
Like seriously, these are the pairings you'd never really think of, or if you do, you wouldn't think they'd be able to work. But you deffo work it and I'm enjoying it so much < 3
+++++PRUMANO = FANTASTIC
+++++FRSP = EVERYTHING I WANTED, FOR REAL
THANK YOU.
ALSO IM SICK AGAIN (OF FUCKING COURSE) WHICH IS WHY I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO COMMENT ON THE OTHER PARTS, BUT ONCE IM LIKE ACTUALLY BETTER, I'LL BE RIGHT ON IT. And I'll actually give you like in depth reviews, I mean it hahaha