ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[zombles]

[ i gotcha //sunglasses. these cuts always remind me of harry potter where they like zoom out during a moment that explains itself ]

"Surprises you?" Ludwig questioned, chuckling. He stepped to the closet, pushing other things in front of the old record player. He held the heavy thing in his arms before gently placing it on the island, plugging it into one of the near sockets. He pulled out a couple of old records before holding it out to Feliciano so he can check the songs on the album. At least he had one Christmas one. Probably a gift from one of his brothers.

[vault]

[ YES. Let's not make it like the Return of the King where they're sitting on that lava rock and they fade to black like three times ]

"Well, yes. But like I said, you're only full of good surprises." Feliciano watched as Ludwig lugged the old machine out from its dusty hiding spot. He paused, running his finger lightly around the platter. "My grandfather is the last person I've seen with one of these." He whistled lightly, adding "And this isn't even dusty. They have such a nice sound, you know? Well, of course you do. You have one. That was silly."

Feliciano reached forward enthusiastically as the records were handed to him, holding them delicately and flipping them to inspect them just as carefully. "These are such good quality too. You really take care of them!" His voice was soft, reverent. "When I was little, there were some of these at one of the places I stayed for a while—but I wasn't allowed to touch them." He giggled at that, remembering—albeit a bit hazily. "I was a little ball of energy, I don't blame them, really. I could've broken hundreds. N-not that I would have meant to, but" "Nice to dance to, though. Hmm. Here, just teach me something." He handed them back, indecisive and set on learning some new dance today. They all looked very nice.

[zombles]

[ i have not watched that movie but i do understand. we will not do that or i will probably explode ]

"Record players remind me of when I was a child," Ludwig smiled after Feliciano spoke. At the record hovering on Feliciano's fingertips, he took them in return. And gently slipping them out of their sleeves and clicking the vinyl plate into place. He beckoned the other over. "Okay. If you ever need to know how to work one of these for god knows what reason, I can't remember what everything is called, so bare with me." He mumbled, biting his lip in concentration before he crouched in front of the machine. "Turn it on first, obviously, so it starts rotating. Now you take the little arm and place it in the first groove exactly. It should start playing after that. It's not that hard to get the hang of."

Once he had explained everything, Ludwig did what he had said, standing back and waiting for the music to play. Which it did, but it was a little choppy at first before it started going smoothing. Last Christmas by Wham! of course, it's a classic. "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I'll give it to someone special." Ludwig started singing in a mocking voice of Wham!, taking Feliciano's hands and moving them back and forth between their bodies.

[vault]

[ *war chant* Tolkien movies Tolkien movies Tolkien movies ]

"You too, huh?" Feliciano returned a bright smile. Padding lightly to Ludwig's side—close to him, of course, Feli worked hard to conserve that body heat in the cold. Even though it wasn't freezing in Lud's apartment, Feliciano got the impression that he'd rather save on heating costs than stay too warm. He listened intently to the other's instructions, taking in the simple task. He'd probably forget, honestly, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to muddle through if he needed to. Of course, he could just ask the German for help if he forgot, right?

Unsure of what to expect, Feliciano tensed, waiting for the other to move first. Thank God Ludwig knew what he was doing though, because Feli was able to instantly relax when the other took over and the music crackled into existence, playing a familiar tune. He had a very nice singing voice, and Feliciano moved closer to a more comfortable distance where neither of them had to reach far. He was light and flexible, so he hoped that however Ludwig led, he could keep up. He'd always been a natural at dancing, willowy as he was. He smiled up at the other, genuinely happy. Yeah, he was content, and he didn't expect that to change soon... as long as Ludwig continued to be his friend, that is.

[sorry that I am terrible I am in and out of xmas shopping]

[zombles]

Surprised at the crisp, clear smile on Feliciano’s face, Ludwig’s singing cracked just a bit. He couldn’t help but allow a small smile in return slip onto his features as he continued singing, holding on a bit tighter to Feliciano’s hands. He didn’t really want to let go. This had been a very surprising day, a nice surprise, a good surprise like the Italian had said earlier. Inside, though, Ludwig was just hoping that he wouldn’t screw this friendship up. He hadn’t ever had a friend before, not like this exactly. He hadn’t ever been so attracted to one person. There was something special about Feliciano, and Ludwig would not mind gently pulling the other’s hands back and forth in dance to experience more of that feeling.

--

Ludwig owned a car. But today he couldn't use it. The crowds at Hyde Park were insane when it came to the Christmas market called Winter Wonderland. To make it better, it was German. If that made it any better. The only perks was that if the vendors happened to actually speak German, he could take a break from English. It was hard to go without speaking your native language for a while. The second perk was the beer. Even though they had beer there, Ludwig had to not embarrass himself by not drinking any and or drinking less than he normally would. It would be pathetic to get drunk around Feliciano. He didn’t want Feliciano have to end up to deal with him, and his drunk self tended to be too honest for his taste.

He used the back of his hand to knock harder on the other's apartment door, his nerves getting to him to beat the crowds. They were going have to take the tube, finding parking was too much trouble around this time of the year. Besides this was the last day before Christmas he could take Feli, he had to leave on the 23rd (it was around 169£ for a flight of London to Berlin, much better than the train he took last year).

"Hurry up Feliciano! We're on a tight schedule! It's ten o'clock!" Ludwig grumbled through the door. His hand went to his pockets, pulling out the folded paper of Arsenal to Hyde Park Corner, at least he had marked down the times of several trains just in case the managed to miss it. The walk to Arsenal station was probably only five minutes or so, and the train ride was only around eighteen. Not too bad.

[ stupid england and making me looking up airfare and the underground poop. stupid train from london to berlin, stupid flight, and the stupid tube timetable from arsenal to stupid hyde park. ]

[vault]

[ if this doesn't post this time I will be all of the angry pretend it's still before the 23rd chop chop feli ]

At the other's hurried knock, Feliciano smiled, leaping up from his cozy couch position and grabbing his tote and scarf on the way to the door. Though he could hear the agitation in Ludwig's voice, he knew it wasn't directed at him, personally, but rather at the premise of being late. Luddy didn't like to be late. That was something Feli had figured out pretty quickly. Lud had been planning this for days, and Feliciano knew better than to be unprepared and mess it up for his German friend.

Not that Feliciano himself was unexcited, rather he was thrilled. He'd been whining about Christmas markets for days before Ludwig had started the detailed planning, probably half in an attempt to get him to shut up. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he'd been dealing with Feliciano this whole time, finals had meant the Italian was a emotional mess half the time, refusing to get up off of Lud's floor and actually do anything productive. Now that break had come, though, he'd been back to his usual chipper self.

Unlocking the door to greet the other, he greeted him with a bright smile and hug. "I'm ready, Lud! Suprisingly." Suddenly noticing he was much squishier than the other man, Feliciano questioned "Are you really going to be warm enough?" Eyeing the other's rather light winter wear and contrasting it to his own bundles of fleece and various layers. "Do you even have a scarf and gloves?" Eyes falling to the paper, he let out a small laugh. "You have your schedule though, of course." With a little sigh, he locked up his apartment, ready to follow the other on this little adventure. This very diligently planned adventure.

[ I adore your attention to detail, silly ]

[vault]

[ Accidental double?? post?? how ]


[ nothing to see here, move along ]

[zombles]

Hearing the patter of feet behind the door, the piece of paper crumpled just a bit in Ludwig's hand. Honestly, he didn't want to ruin going to 'Winter Wonderland' for Feliciano. The other would not shut up about it until finals came and then he started up again. It wasn't too hard not to be convinced not to go. It was a fun experience, and a good excuse to go out with a friend rather than be in his apartment packing and then sleeping over at Gilbert's the night before. But now, after many days of careful planning, the nerves were catching up to him. No, it wasn't about anything he had told Feliciano, not yet, at least. Was it okay to attempt to ask your friend out after knowing them for a month or something and then leaving for Germany the day afterwards? Or admitting that you may be slightly in love with them? Ludwig wouldn't know until he tried it. He definitely planned to do that before he dropped Feliciano at his apartment. Sadly, the guilt of the idea was going to be hovering over him the whole time. Ludwig didn't want to be distracted by a thought the whole time, Feliciano would notice, and then he would have to confess basically his deepest, darkest, and most embarrassing secret of all time.

Silently thanking Feliciano as the door opened, giving him a break from his nagging thoughts. He offered a small smile as Feliciano squished him into a hug, a little red blush covering his cheeks. "I have gloves, Feli, don't worry about me," he mumbled before scoffing, spotting that the Italian's first layer's coat zipper wasn't all the way up. Crumpling up the underground's schedule into his pocket, he shrugged as his hands extended and grabbed the flaps of Feliciano's coat. "It's only the tube's train times so we beat the traffic." He pulled at the flaps so that the brunet was in it tight before zipping it up all the way, over the other's mouth.

[ dorks ]

[vault]

He was quite content with being fretted over, but not with leaving that feeling unreciprocated. "It's cold! Of course I worry." Feliciano fussed back, mumbling through the coat. He frowned, adjusting his voice so he could be properly heard. Not that Feliciano really ever had a problem with being heard. "If I'm all bundled up, I don't need my scarf! If you look cold, I'm going to give it to you." Correctly assuming he was more threatening when most of his face was hidden, he shot the taller man his best stern look. It wasn't very stern. He was very excited.

Walking quite a bit faster to catch up with (and keep up with) the taller man's pace (Feliciano still insisted Ludwig was very tall), Feli slipped his hand into Ludwig's to slow him down a bit—and, y'know, because he wanted to. He still wasn't sure if the other man was okay with it, he'd been informed by friends that holding hands was sort of a relationship-y thing, but he didn't care a bit if they weren't actually dating. Feli really liked Ludwig, and contact was important to him. He figured he should probably ask if it was too much for Lud, though. He'd be mortified if the German absolutely hated it. Oh God, he was such a big baby. He wasn't afraid to admit that, at least, but he did wish—for Lud's sake, if not his own—that he was more tactful. He finally had settled on it being totally fine, because tons of other people hold hands. Probably not Germans, or men in general, but Feliciano wasn't one to give a damn about social cues—in fact, he wasn't one to judge anyone at all. He did what he liked, and what he liked was being with Ludwig, who was a very good (albeit comparatively quiet) friend to him.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, he reveled in today's excitement instead. "I'm so excited for today! I still have a couple of Christmas presents to get." He chirped, knowing he'd get a look from Lud about being lazy for that and preemptively heading the conversation off. "I don't have to have them by Christmas... I'm pretty sure Nonno won't be back in time." He wilted a little at that. "I'm not sure yet, but they, Nonno and Lovino, that is, went on that trip—remember, the one that they accidentally scheduled to begin before I was out of school? Yep, well they're still not back yet, they were a little delayed—although they anticipated that, that's why they wanted me along, but—" He hesitated, cutting himself off. "Sorry, I was rambling, huh? Oopsie. Well, they'll figure it out." He swung his and Lud's hands between them, not losing his cheery demeanor for something so silly as delayed plans. Life was so changeable, and that's what made Feli laugh at the idea of planning everything.

[ help me I'm still the travel but this is so cute ]
[ also did you know that that Feliz Navidad song is by a "Jose Feliciano" because I sure didn't until driving tonight ]
[ ALSO I LOVE THE TUBE IT IS SO GREAT ]

[zombles]

Ludwig let a small chuckle out at Feliciano's threat, making sure that the zipper was secured over his mouth. The combination of his stern look and excitement in his eyes caused the blond to raise an eyebrow. It was a mixture of oddness but the expression was funny, funny enough to make him chuckle again. "Come on," he sighed, cocking his head in the direction of the staircase and then starting to walk in that direction.

Feeling a smaller hand slip into his, Ludwig blinked, glancing back at the other and slowing a bit down for his sake. He hadn't noticed that he was walking faster than normal, thank goodness that the tube had a lot of trains and different times. Still, a schedule was a schedule, and from the time he had known Feliciano, he didn't run on plans or moved very fast, either. It was better sometimes. Ludwig tended to movie a little bit too fast, and he would admit to himself that he did need to relax more. With his line of work, that was rare. Since when did he ever relax before though, usually never. Feliciano was great at bringing a calming atmosphere with him even if later Ludwig got annoyed or angry at something Feli did, he could never stay mad at him.

Tightening his grip on the other's hand just a little bit, his eyes flickered over to the brunet's face as he spoke. Feliciano would be the type to buy Christmas presents late, so he couldn't help but confirm Feli's suspicions with an eye roll and a scoff. He didn't like how sad the other's voice had become and it just made Ludwig feel more guilty by his worsening expression. Abruptly stopping their swinging hands, the blond turned to the shorter man. "Feliciano... It's horrible to spend Christmas on your own. So uh.." He took a breath, avoiding eye contact, "you can come to Germany with me. I mean, if you want to. It'll just be my family and you'll probably have to sleep in my bed.. We can take the train if you rather not fly. It might be better than being alone.." Ludwig said.

[ why are they so cute i don't understand. but i think i knew about that song i dunno?????? just never noticed until now that Dominic the donkey is italian, not spanish. i never rode n the tube before lmao. ]