A/N: Previous author!anon is back with a very short fill! The bouquet mentioned contains daisies (innocence, loyal love), forget-me-nots (memories, true love) and yellow lilies (the unofficial flower of Liechtenstein.) Stock flowers are for bonds of affection and contentment, and a carac pastry is like a Swiss chocolate tart with fondant on top.
Feliciano licks the last remains of his pasta sauce off a silver fork in the dying light that comes through the window, tinting the room golden. Ludwig, on the other side of the small table, sits in front of an empty plate, the barest hints of red smeared across porcelain.
(Ludwig loves North Italian cuisine, and he wants to tell Feliciano, but it had never come up in conversation.)
“I was planning on going to visit Lily once you left,” Feliciano turns to Ludwig, shadows and highlights sculpting his face, and he looks like a Renaissance statue in his perfection. His voice is soft and low instead of the usual high pitch, but Ludwig brushes it off as being satisfied with the meal.
“Lily?” he asks.
“I like to visit her now and again, but Vash keeps on thinking I want to beat her up or something,” Feliciano’s voice goes back to a higher pitch, “So I always have to go when he’s busy, or he’ll bring out his rifle and glare at me.”
Ludwig has a hard time keeping the smile of his face, “Are you flirting with her, too?”
Feliciano shakes his head, “Lily has a lot of visitors, and she always makes these delicious cookies, so an afternoon at her house is always fun.”
(Ludwig asks himself whether Feliciano finds visiting Germany fun, and then berates himself for thinking something like that.)
“That’s nice,” Ludwig nods, before standing. There’s a black forest cake in the kitchen that he and Feliciano had spent a good part of the afternoon making, and it would be a perfect dessert.
“Luddy,” Feliciano calls as Ludwig’s halfway to the kitchen, “Would you like to come?”
Ludwig doesn’t answer as he comes back, cake in one hand and plates and cutlery in another. He’s due back tomorrow, and he hates to miss his work, but the Chancellor always insisted that one of them was enough, and Gilbert always pushed him to spend more time away from the office.
“Only a day trip, yes?”
Feliciano nods, standing to help Ludwig put down the plates.
Soon, both of them are looking out the window, watching the sun dip beneath the horizon. Neither of them feels the need to turn on the light. Feliciano always gets quiet, the few minutes before and after sunset, and Ludwig finds the silence more intimate than any words either of the two would say.
--
They arrive at Liechtenstein, or, more specifically, a small house nestled by the mountains, a couple kilometres away from Vaduz, early in the afternoon. A morning of Ludwig spending much too much time waking Feliciano up, trying to make wurst while making sure everything they needed was packed, and convincing Gilbert over the phone no, this is not a date, had left him tired and irritated, to put it lightly. Allowing Feliciano to drive, on top of that, probably wasn’t the best idea, proven by the mess of flowers, barely managing to hold together, in the back.
Tired, irritated, and slightly queasy wasn’t Ludwig’s favourite mood.
“Lily! Ciao!” Feliciano calls as soon as his car door is shut. Lily stands on the steps of the mansion, small smile and flowing dress, and Ludwig feels the tiniest bit less crabby.
“Feli,” lily smiles back, coming down to greet them, “Have you had a safe trip? And you too, Mr. Germany, is there anything I could get you?”
Ludwig shakes his head, “No, I’m fine, and please call me Ludwig.”
Lily nods, and Feliciano dives into the backseat, coming back with a bouquet: daisies, bright yellow flowers, and small blue clusters.
“I’ve got some lilies,” Feliciano smiles, “Just like your name!”
“You know, big brother is going to get curious with all these bouquets coming out of nowhere,” Lily laughs as Feliciano pales, soft and chiming, barely there.
“Oh,” Feliciano wrings his hands, and Ludwig has the oddest need to reassure him, “He is away for now, right?”
“At a business meeting,” Lily nods, taking the bouquet and kissing Feliciano on the cheek. Ludwig’s cheeks turn pink as Lily turns towards him, but, thankfully, she simply offers her hand, much like Vash would.
“Come in, then,” she holds the bouquet to her chest and leads them up the staircase.
--
“Ivan came over the day before,” Lily gestures to the sunflowers beside the table, “And these stock flowers are from Roderich. Honestly, it’s becoming harder and harder to convince big brother that I just pick them out in the forest-- especially the ones that don’t even grow in the alps.”
“Hmm,” Feliciano squints at the bouquets, “Maybe if you tell him they come from big sister Elisabeta and Emma?”
Liechtenstein’s cheeks tint a light pink, “It’s a good idea, but after an incident with them, he doesn’t really want me to visit them, either.”
“Lovino was never this overprotective,” Feliciano draws his brows together, “Maybe you should say something?”
(Ludwig wants to burst out, yes, Lovino was very overprotective, simply choosing to express himself in intense glares rather than shooting ranges. But, as it is, Ludwig sits silently, carac pastry in hand, feeling very out of place.)
“I like to talk to the citizens, and it’s awfully nice of all of you to come visit,” Lily brushes off, “Besides, it’s fun when big brother is around, with all the picnics and baking.”
“Oh!” Feliciano waves around his hands, as he is wont to do, “You should come over to Italy and we can have a picnic by the seaside! I can invite Lovino, he’s really nice around ladies, and maybe Mister Austria too? We could have gelato, and I’d make the pasta, of course, and you could bring, um, cake, right?”
Lily smiled, and Ludwig can’t help but admire her self-restraint.
“That sounds lovely.”
As Feliciano prattles on about how nice the weather was in Genoa this time of year, Ludwig observes Lily. She looked like Vash, yes, and had many of the same mannerisms, but being so polite, and the air of grace around her, that could probably be traced to Roderich. The only thing Ludwig couldn’t place was her calmness; not only was that trait missing from most of central Europe, but from a good part of the world. Perhaps that was why Feliciano visited.
(Maybe because Lily never got angry and started yelling?)
--
“Luddy,” Felciano begins, thankfully from the passenger’s seat, “What was your first memory?”
Ludwig sighs-- Feliciano has asked his this over and over again, always with an odd melancholy around him, “I told you, I woke up in a forest injured, and Gilbert helped me up.”
“Oh,” Feliciano nods, turning to look out the window.
“What was yours?” Ludwig asks, partly because it’s polite, partly because Feliciano acting like he is makes Ludwig feel not quite right. Feliciano’s face lights up and he talks of the sea, of his older brother and the Roman Empire, and, somehow, both of them end up on the picnic with Lily.
(Ludwig thinks he wouldn’t mind, really, and that Lily would be a breath of fresh in Italy, filled with passion and almost too loud.)
A Visit to the Alps
Feliciano licks the last remains of his pasta sauce off a silver fork in the dying light that comes through the window, tinting the room golden. Ludwig, on the other side of the small table, sits in front of an empty plate, the barest hints of red smeared across porcelain.
(Ludwig loves North Italian cuisine, and he wants to tell Feliciano, but it had never come up in conversation.)
“I was planning on going to visit Lily once you left,” Feliciano turns to Ludwig, shadows and highlights sculpting his face, and he looks like a Renaissance statue in his perfection. His voice is soft and low instead of the usual high pitch, but Ludwig brushes it off as being satisfied with the meal.
“Lily?” he asks.
“I like to visit her now and again, but Vash keeps on thinking I want to beat her up or something,” Feliciano’s voice goes back to a higher pitch, “So I always have to go when he’s busy, or he’ll bring out his rifle and glare at me.”
Ludwig has a hard time keeping the smile of his face, “Are you flirting with her, too?”
Feliciano shakes his head, “Lily has a lot of visitors, and she always makes these delicious cookies, so an afternoon at her house is always fun.”
(Ludwig asks himself whether Feliciano finds visiting Germany fun, and then berates himself for thinking something like that.)
“That’s nice,” Ludwig nods, before standing. There’s a black forest cake in the kitchen that he and Feliciano had spent a good part of the afternoon making, and it would be a perfect dessert.
“Luddy,” Feliciano calls as Ludwig’s halfway to the kitchen, “Would you like to come?”
Ludwig doesn’t answer as he comes back, cake in one hand and plates and cutlery in another. He’s due back tomorrow, and he hates to miss his work, but the Chancellor always insisted that one of them was enough, and Gilbert always pushed him to spend more time away from the office.
“Only a day trip, yes?”
Feliciano nods, standing to help Ludwig put down the plates.
Soon, both of them are looking out the window, watching the sun dip beneath the horizon. Neither of them feels the need to turn on the light. Feliciano always gets quiet, the few minutes before and after sunset, and Ludwig finds the silence more intimate than any words either of the two would say.
--
They arrive at Liechtenstein, or, more specifically, a small house nestled by the mountains, a couple kilometres away from Vaduz, early in the afternoon. A morning of Ludwig spending much too much time waking Feliciano up, trying to make wurst while making sure everything they needed was packed, and convincing Gilbert over the phone no, this is not a date, had left him tired and irritated, to put it lightly. Allowing Feliciano to drive, on top of that, probably wasn’t the best idea, proven by the mess of flowers, barely managing to hold together, in the back.
Tired, irritated, and slightly queasy wasn’t Ludwig’s favourite mood.
“Lily! Ciao!” Feliciano calls as soon as his car door is shut. Lily stands on the steps of the mansion, small smile and flowing dress, and Ludwig feels the tiniest bit less crabby.
“Feli,” lily smiles back, coming down to greet them, “Have you had a safe trip? And you too, Mr. Germany, is there anything I could get you?”
Ludwig shakes his head, “No, I’m fine, and please call me Ludwig.”
Lily nods, and Feliciano dives into the backseat, coming back with a bouquet: daisies, bright yellow flowers, and small blue clusters.
“I’ve got some lilies,” Feliciano smiles, “Just like your name!”
“You know, big brother is going to get curious with all these bouquets coming out of nowhere,” Lily laughs as Feliciano pales, soft and chiming, barely there.
“Oh,” Feliciano wrings his hands, and Ludwig has the oddest need to reassure him, “He is away for now, right?”
“At a business meeting,” Lily nods, taking the bouquet and kissing Feliciano on the cheek. Ludwig’s cheeks turn pink as Lily turns towards him, but, thankfully, she simply offers her hand, much like Vash would.
“Come in, then,” she holds the bouquet to her chest and leads them up the staircase.
--
“Ivan came over the day before,” Lily gestures to the sunflowers beside the table, “And these stock flowers are from Roderich. Honestly, it’s becoming harder and harder to convince big brother that I just pick them out in the forest-- especially the ones that don’t even grow in the alps.”
“Hmm,” Feliciano squints at the bouquets, “Maybe if you tell him they come from big sister Elisabeta and Emma?”
Liechtenstein’s cheeks tint a light pink, “It’s a good idea, but after an incident with them, he doesn’t really want me to visit them, either.”
“Lovino was never this overprotective,” Feliciano draws his brows together, “Maybe you should say something?”
(Ludwig wants to burst out, yes, Lovino was very overprotective, simply choosing to express himself in intense glares rather than shooting ranges. But, as it is, Ludwig sits silently, carac pastry in hand, feeling very out of place.)
“I like to talk to the citizens, and it’s awfully nice of all of you to come visit,” Lily brushes off, “Besides, it’s fun when big brother is around, with all the picnics and baking.”
“Oh!” Feliciano waves around his hands, as he is wont to do, “You should come over to Italy and we can have a picnic by the seaside! I can invite Lovino, he’s really nice around ladies, and maybe Mister Austria too? We could have gelato, and I’d make the pasta, of course, and you could bring, um, cake, right?”
Lily smiled, and Ludwig can’t help but admire her self-restraint.
“That sounds lovely.”
As Feliciano prattles on about how nice the weather was in Genoa this time of year, Ludwig observes Lily. She looked like Vash, yes, and had many of the same mannerisms, but being so polite, and the air of grace around her, that could probably be traced to Roderich. The only thing Ludwig couldn’t place was her calmness; not only was that trait missing from most of central Europe, but from a good part of the world. Perhaps that was why Feliciano visited.
(Maybe because Lily never got angry and started yelling?)
--
“Luddy,” Felciano begins, thankfully from the passenger’s seat, “What was your first memory?”
Ludwig sighs-- Feliciano has asked his this over and over again, always with an odd melancholy around him, “I told you, I woke up in a forest injured, and Gilbert helped me up.”
“Oh,” Feliciano nods, turning to look out the window.
“What was yours?” Ludwig asks, partly because it’s polite, partly because Feliciano acting like he is makes Ludwig feel not quite right. Feliciano’s face lights up and he talks of the sea, of his older brother and the Roman Empire, and, somehow, both of them end up on the picnic with Lily.
(Ludwig thinks he wouldn’t mind, really, and that Lily would be a breath of fresh in Italy, filled with passion and almost too loud.)