Changing but Never Diminishing.
It was later in the afternoon and the sun was hanging in the sky over the clear lake water and the canopy of the trees in the little corner of Sweden the motley family of the compound happened to be occupying for the duration of spring break. Despite the temperature being what he would normally gripe about as being "cold as fuck", Gilbert found himself not even complaining in the slightest as he shook himself dry after a brisk swim. His lungs were alight with that familiar pull for oxygen that comes with considerable exercise and the pale skin of his lean, finely muscled body had a slightly rosy hue in places from the cold of the water. With his hands on his hips, he stood naked as the day he was born, looking out over the beautiful surroundings in a moment of uncharacteristic contemplation. His life had changed for the better over the last few months and he now had no problem admitting to himself that he was indeed a new man...a man with direction...a man in love. The realization of such things about himself had struck Gilbert on numerous occasions, but never so much more than at that moment when he stood on the shore of the most beautiful place he'd ever been, his lungs hungrily pulling in fresh oxygen after he'd actually taken the initiative to push himself to physical heights that he would have been far too apathetic to reach before meeting Eduard. Over the last few years of his life, more people than Gilbert could count had tried in equally uncountable ways to change his behavior, to "straighten him out", and to "get him on the right path", but to little or no effect. Only one quiet, unassuming, modestly gorgeous genius of a young Estonian had been able to crack the unpredictable hard outer shell of Gilbert Beilschmidt and things had never been the same since.
That morning after kissing his groggy, still half asleep, boyfriend, reluctantly slipping out from the blankets and grabbing a quick bite to eat from the cooking hut, Gilbert had set out on a run through the trails of surrounding the camp, pushing himself even harder than he had the time he'd run into town on that rescue mission for Eeva. For a few moments, he had stood on the shore of the lake catching his breath before, in a sadistic drive to prepare himself even further for the football season, he shed his sweat-weighted clothing and dove into the cold lake to swim a few laps. The only sounds he could hear for miles around were the musical chatter of the birds rustling to life all around him. There was no traffic, no human chatter, no loud music, just the sound of the birds and the gently splashing water as he swam. To put things lightly, it felt good. It felt damn good.
After a few more moments of soaking in his surroundings and catching his breath, Gilbert slid back into his pants, picked up his shirt and made his way back to camp. Maybe if he were lucky, Eduard would still be groggily lazing around in their mound of fur blankets in that unintentionally sweet and attractive way he had that would always melt Gilbert's pale insides to a warm and tingly goo. Gilbert made it back to the hut only to find the blankets empty and his boyfriend's glasses no longer on the stump next to their "bed".
"Well, scheiße..." The albino sighed before tossing his damp shirt onto the small pile in the corner of the hut and heading for the longhouse in the center of camp where the others tended to congregate. If Eduard was elsewhere, he'd at least be able to grab some coffee and something bigger to eat because after that monster of a workout, Gilbert was one MASSIVELY hungry German. At that moment he felt he could probably out eat even Berwald. Gilbert's pace was slow, his muscles burning and exhausted still, but his pale face wore a calm smile as he looked forward to possibly coaxing his boyfriend into one of his surprisingly good back rubs. Nothing like food, caffeine, and a back rub from a sexy genius. So far on the trip they hadn't been attached at the hip like they had been for the first few weeks of their relationship, but had been behaving much in the same way that the more established couples like Tino and Berwald or Mads and Siguard behaved. They both went and did their separate things and had their own experiences, but still spent some of their more quiet and intimate moments together. The smile on Gilbert's face warmed further...they were well and truly a "couple" by now. If he was lucky then hopefully Eduard would be able to put up with his antics for years down the road just like his Vati and Vati-Marc had been putting up with one another's eccentricities all his life.
"Oh well..." Gilbert mumbled to himself as the longhouse came into view. "If I can't find Birdie, I'm getting the fire going. Gott, I'm fucking starving."
That morning after kissing his groggy, still half asleep, boyfriend, reluctantly slipping out from the blankets and grabbing a quick bite to eat from the cooking hut, Gilbert had set out on a run through the trails of surrounding the camp, pushing himself even harder than he had the time he'd run into town on that rescue mission for Eeva. For a few moments, he had stood on the shore of the lake catching his breath before, in a sadistic drive to prepare himself even further for the football season, he shed his sweat-weighted clothing and dove into the cold lake to swim a few laps. The only sounds he could hear for miles around were the musical chatter of the birds rustling to life all around him. There was no traffic, no human chatter, no loud music, just the sound of the birds and the gently splashing water as he swam. To put things lightly, it felt good. It felt damn good.
After a few more moments of soaking in his surroundings and catching his breath, Gilbert slid back into his pants, picked up his shirt and made his way back to camp. Maybe if he were lucky, Eduard would still be groggily lazing around in their mound of fur blankets in that unintentionally sweet and attractive way he had that would always melt Gilbert's pale insides to a warm and tingly goo. Gilbert made it back to the hut only to find the blankets empty and his boyfriend's glasses no longer on the stump next to their "bed".
"Well, scheiße..." The albino sighed before tossing his damp shirt onto the small pile in the corner of the hut and heading for the longhouse in the center of camp where the others tended to congregate. If Eduard was elsewhere, he'd at least be able to grab some coffee and something bigger to eat because after that monster of a workout, Gilbert was one MASSIVELY hungry German. At that moment he felt he could probably out eat even Berwald. Gilbert's pace was slow, his muscles burning and exhausted still, but his pale face wore a calm smile as he looked forward to possibly coaxing his boyfriend into one of his surprisingly good back rubs. Nothing like food, caffeine, and a back rub from a sexy genius. So far on the trip they hadn't been attached at the hip like they had been for the first few weeks of their relationship, but had been behaving much in the same way that the more established couples like Tino and Berwald or Mads and Siguard behaved. They both went and did their separate things and had their own experiences, but still spent some of their more quiet and intimate moments together. The smile on Gilbert's face warmed further...they were well and truly a "couple" by now. If he was lucky then hopefully Eduard would be able to put up with his antics for years down the road just like his Vati and Vati-Marc had been putting up with one another's eccentricities all his life.
"Oh well..." Gilbert mumbled to himself as the longhouse came into view. "If I can't find Birdie, I'm getting the fire going. Gott, I'm fucking starving."