[Action]

[bewaeltigung]

Ludwig is sitting at the porch of a house in the city. It was empty, and looked abandoned. The windows were dirty and most were broken. The front door was gone and the pain was chipping off the siding in clumps. It was obviously unlivable but for the city it was perhaps average. Ludwig had a pad of paper in his lap and was drawing something on it.

Comments

[morethanpasta]

[There Feliciano comes along, a bundle of hyperactive energy and bubbly happiness.]

Ludwig, Ludwig! Ve~ what are you doing? Are you drawing? You never told me that you like to draw! Are you drawing a pretty girl? Is it anyone I know? Let me see the picture!

[bewaeltigung]

V-vhat? Nein, I'm not drawing anyzing like zat!

[He blushed, setting his clipboard down with a bit of a slam]

[morethanpasta]

[Feliciano pouted a bit at the harsh rebuke, but he wasn't about to get discouraged.]

You should! Girls like it when you ask to draw them and tell them they're pretty. It makes them giggle and blush.

[[He peered at the clipboard to see what Ludwig had drawn, if not a pretty girl, and cooed happily.] A floor plan! Ve~ Ludwig is getting a house!

[bewaeltigung]

I do not vant to make girls giggle and blush. Hmph.

[he sighed when his drawing was seen]

Ja, I am going to renovate zis building. I vill need help vonce it is started.

[morethanpasta]

Ve~

[Feliciano takes a tiny instinctive step backwards. 'Help' sounds awfully like 'hard work.' But... he's a dutiful best friend, isn't he? He eyes the house, it looks utterly horrible, and his shoulders slump in defeat. Repairing that house is going to take forever!]

I can make pasta for you while you work? [Well, it's worth a try.]

[bewaeltigung]

Pasta vould be good.

[Because you were useless in construction and carbs were great for energy]

[morethanpasta]

[Well, chances are he would do better once they got to the painting part, as long as you could keep him from painting pictures instead of simply painting the walls. But in the meantime, Feliciano smiled brightly, very relieved he wouldn't have to do anything that resembled hard work.]

Ve! I'll cook the very best pasta for you - and wurst, too, if you like!

[See how nice and accomodating he is being. Isn't he the best best friend ever?]

[bewaeltigung]

[Well he was good at babysitting Italy. But he could be convinced to keep some of the murals in the house as-is. But that would have to be later on. For now he offered the Italian a genuine smile, small as it was]

Vurst... you'd do zat for... me?

[morethanpasta]

[Feliciano's own smile widened, so happy that he had managed to get a smile out of Ludwig.]

Ve~ of course! [He pushed his bottom lip out.] But I didn't promise that I would eat any! I'll have to think about that some more.

[bewaeltigung]

[He blinked... and he actually... chuckled]

Ja, I know you hate zem. Don't vorry. It is kind of you to offer.

[morethanpasta]

[Feliciano gazed at him in wide-eyed, gaping wonder for a moment, then he joined in with the laughter. Still laughing, he dashed forward to give Ludwig an enthusiastic hug.]

You have a nice laugh, Ludwig! I wish you would laugh more often!

But I'll try the wurst, if you want. I liked the one you made me once, that was yummy. [He wrinkled his nose, it cost him a lot to admit it, but it might make Ludwig smile some more?] Maybe it's just that wartime rations taste icky.

[bewaeltigung]

[He flinched at the hug, unsure how to respond. He allowed it but didn't really return it. Though the second statement made him chuckle softly again]

I don't like ze rations eizzer, but ze vere vhat I could afford to make at ze time. I vill make you anozzer proper vurst sometime. Maybe vhen ze house is finished.

[morethanpasta]

Ve~ I'd like that! I would really like that. I enjoy cooking for you, but it's nice when you cook for me, too!

[At least it is when he isn't given icky food.] And don't forget, you promised that we would cook together!

[bewaeltigung]

...You never said zat before. You only ever said zat you hated my food.

And ja, I remember. Gelato.

[morethanpasta]

[Feli ducked his head with a blush.]

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It makes me happy when you cook for me, even if I don't like the food - because you took the time to do something nice for me and I appreciate that, I really do!

[bewaeltigung]

Danke.

[a small smile returned to his face]

I'll cook for you sometime.