ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[vault]

[ undignified squeaking at them being eachothers' ]

Feliciano pouted, generally always hungry. He knew Ludwig was right, though, of course. "Hmm, okay. It's probably better there. But are you kidding? I want everything." His eyes sparkled with mirth, looking at all the cute little trinkets. He tried his best not to touch everything, though, afraid he'd break something or otherwise irritate the owners. "No, sorry, that was a joke." He said quickly, suddenly worried that his over-generous friend would actually buy them all.

After some extensive searching, he stumbled upon nice little old lady who had some of the softest winter accessories—mittens, scarves, earmuffs, etc.—he'd ever seen, and who he had very little idea how to communicate with. She didn't speak English at all. Thank God he had a German attached to him. He put some of the fluffiest ones on Lud as they were looking through, which sent him into a fit of giggles. Ludwig was so well-kempt and he currently looked like he had large marshmallows for ears.

Though it was generally warmer in the market than when directly exposed to the winter chill of the Thames, Feliciano still got cold really easily, not undue to his Italian blood. It was so much nicer there, he grumped quietly. "Has this place ever heard of 'warmth?'" he mused, mostly to himself. As the native speakers chatted, Feliciano managed to worm himself under the side of Ludwig's coat, still freezing even with 10x the layers the other man had. Eyes scanning from under his newfound blanket, he noticed some of those name/crest ornaments behind her booth, pointing fervently. "Hey, hey, Lud, look, it's yours! Isn't this place great?" He couldn't believe the day was already going by so fast.

[zombles]

[ each others' FOREVER - 20TH PAGE HOLLAR WOOO ]

In contrast to Feliciano enjoying his nosing around the little old lady's booth, Ludwig was getting the pestering of his life when he decided to speak in his native language. By far the worse decision of the day that consisted of many personal questions. Where in Germany was he from? "Regensburg." How many family members did he have? Too many. What was his job? "Ein Polizist." Did the brunet next to him happen to be his boyfriend? Maybe.

He tried his best to redirect the question and avoid answering, which helped when Feliciano pointed towards the crest. The little old lady happened to notice what his friend was pointing up and rushed off to go grab it for him. "It is. Do you want me to buy these earmuffs?" He asked, the earmuffs having settled around the neck when he had to move them to hear the old lady. Ludwig smiled shyly noticing that Feliciano was literally inside his coat. "You could use the pair of earmuffs. We should get something hot to eat if you're that cold." His attention was slightly distracted, the old lady coming back and holding out the crest towards Feliciano so he could see it.

[vault]

Feliciano blushed a little, looking up at Ludwig in gratitude. "I still disagree with you buying things for me, but they are very nice." He turned his attention back to the lady, embarrassed, and not wanting her to feel ignored either. That turned to admiration pretty quickly, though, as his emotions tended to do."They're beautiful, very intricate. Does she make these? Lud, hey, can you ask her how this is made? This is so artistic." He tsk'd lightly. "Shame I don't have a German last name, or I'd have one of my own." Picturing that mental image, he lapsed into laughter. "Oh God, literally nobody would be able to say my name." Mirthful, he ran his fingers over the piece, even going so far as to take off his gloves for just a minute to feel its texture.

He thanked the lady before slipping his gloves back on to save his fingers from frostbite. "Now I'm all warm and fuzzy right here, but you know I'd never turn down food." He grimaced. "Wait, I take that back. If it was too gross, I'd turn it down." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But here at the market it'll be better." Conspiratorially holding his hand to his mouth and looking around like someone would be offended, Feli added "Better than most British food, anyway." He squinted at some passersby, searching for a reaction that, of course, didn't come.

[zombles]

Ludwig rolled his eyes when Feliciano happened to mention that he didn't like the idea of him buying things for him. He liked buying things for his best friend, he knew that Feliciano used them. "Uh, yeah, I'll ask." So he did as he said he would, Ludwig turned to the old woman again and proceeded to inquire about the ornaments. He wasn't exactly able to follow what she was telling him though, but not being one for artistic endeavors, he didn't even know what half the things were. He politely ask her for a card with the information instead, which she was willing to write for him.

Ludwig went on to ask to buy the earmuffs for Feliciano, turning and pushing his auburn's hair out of the way and then slid on the soft muffs. "Hey, you can pronounce my last name perfectly fine. If you married me, you could have a German last name then." Ludwig laughed, before realizing what he said and turning his head in embarrassment. Was that flirty or what? He had even laughed too! That's what flirting was! He had just told Feliciano he was gay, he didn't want to go on by flirting with his best friend the rest of their trip just because Feli wasn't straight either.

[vault]

As Feliciano was prone to doing, he did the exact opposite of what people seemed to expect. That, of course, was bursting out laughing. "Y-yeees, F-feliciano Beilschmidt. Damn, what a mouthful." He wheezed, unable to stop. "I-I'd be everyone's least favorite person to talk about." There's no way he was going to notice Lud's embarrassment, incapacitated as he was. Not to mention that he could barely hear, what with the amazing earmuffs. He collapsed into Ludwig's chest, laughter fading. "You're silly." He couldn't help a warm feeling from bubbling up, though, that Ludwig would make a joke like that. Lud really had to be comfortable enough with him to say something of that nature, and it made Feliciano feel great.

He'd known from the first day they'd met that "Ludwig & Feliciano" made sense, as friends, as neighbors, as shopping buddies, as "can-I-stay-on-your-floor-I'm-so-stressed-out" rescue agents. And Feli was sure that he couldn't permanently label it, maybe not ever, but he was so lucky that Ludwig was there. Just that he talked with him, hugged him, simply spent time with him—he could never repay his kindnesses (and don't get him started on the gifts), especially now inviting him to Christmas. Every day with Ludwig seemed to be a big day. As Lud received the card from the old woman, Feliciano could do nothing more than stay devotedly pressed to his side, and definitely not just for the heat. What a mess he was. They were completely different people, yet they balanced so well.

[ hell it feli has completely taken over he wants to show his gratitude ]

[zombles]

Rolling his eyes, Ludwig casted his gaze downwards as the laughing died down and the sight of Feliciano embedded in his chest wasn't very surprising. "Hmmm," he mumbled, "I thought Feliciano Beilschmidt had a nice ring to it, though." He took the card from the old lady, slipping it into his pocket for later. Although, Ludwig was stuck with one problem. There were definitely too many butterflies in his stomach, and a warm bubbly feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was thing he knew he had to do right now, since this was a good opportunity. And if he didn't do anything... he was going to do something, whether he regretted later or not.

Inhaling deeply to muster up his courage (whatever was left from the previous events of today), he gently pulled Feliciano a little bit a way from him, like one of their average hug distances. His hand slip underneath the shorter man's chin, curling his fingers and just pressing the tip of his thumb against neck. He didn't think his words had been that funny, but the auburn's eyes were just a little bit teary from his laugh attack. As Ludwig tilted Feliciano's chin up to match his line of sight, he couldn't help but shyly smile and ignore the growing feeling of the butterflies. He wasn't thinking anymore- he definitely wasn't thinking, but something was overriding that ability saying to just to kiss Feliciano. It did not help that with his slightly rosy cheeks and teary eyes, Feliciano didn't look any less perfect in this moment (he might of even looked cuter than normal). So, in an hesitant motion, Ludwig leaned forward and as softly as he could possibly manage, pressed their lips together.

[ this was the hardest damn reply to ever type in existence and i have no clue why. ]

[vault]

In case Feliciano hadn't realized he was as dense as a rock today, this was surely the final straw. When Ludwig held him away just a little, he'd feared only that Lud didn't want him so close, or he was otherwise being too clingy. When he held his face, it was of course because he must have done something wrong... and finally, that little smile took what was left of his reasoning capabilities. It was only when Ludwig had actually kissed him, because of course that's what this was, that he finally realized the gravity of the situation, eyelids going wide with shock before fluttering shut in contentment. It was so chaste, but it sent electricity down Feli's spine, both parties pulling the other closer almost unconsciously. Lud wanted to kiss him, of all people? The Italian just couldn't make sense of that in his head. But he loved it.

Feliciano was completely unable to open his eyes for a good moment after the kiss broke. There just wasn't enough to say, so Feli settled on a very dignified "Oh." Of course. After a few seconds of general clinging, Feliciano stood on his tiptoes—anything for that again—but stopped before closing the gap. Ludwig wasn't, well... very responsive at the moment! He desperately hoped Lud was alright, fervently wondering if he had accidentally broken. "L-ludwig?" He mumbled, one hand on the other's face and the other waving lightly. "You okay?" Troubled at receiving no response, he nestled himself against that strong chest again, tearing up probably more than was warranted. "Lud, it's alright, are you listening—that was good, please don't be upset."

[ embedded in his heart like a projectile more like ]

[zombles]

Ludwig might have just died a little bit inside. He hadn't processed that Feliciano seemed to enjoy the kiss, stuck in his own head and practically having an meltdown. Even with the brunet trying to reassure him that it was alright, he had convinced himself that it definitely not alright. "F-Feliciano," he said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. His looked pretty much pained and he was pretty much ready to kill himself. "No.. I'm so sorry Feli, I-I shouldn't have done that. I'm so sorry..." Ludwig repeated for a couple of moments, more towards himself than to the Italian buried in his chest.

"I should have told you before I... hmmm kissed you." Ludwig frowned again. He was unbelievable— why did he do that? There was no excuse. He shouldn't had forced him. The German closed his eyes and shook his head again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I have no excuse or reason. I-I think I've been in—uh— love with you, even though that's nothing to justify, you should know. You're kind, you're always there when I need you, and you're the nicest person I've met in my life. I can't think of words to describe you..." He started saying, trying to think of words to characterize Feliciano, honestly it was harder than he imagined. "Every time I'm around you, I'm pretty sure my heart rate skyrockets and the damn butterflies in my stomach. I ruined today, I'm sorry Feliciano..." Ludwig winced. God, he was horrible. He had ruined the whole experience, to make matters worse Feliciano was probably going to spend Christmas alone. Why did he have to do that? He was such a screwup.

[vault]

Hearing the voice, Feliciano was incredibly relieved. "Ludwig, oh thank God, I thought you died a little." He sniffled. "Yes, maybe you could have warned me, but it doesn't matter, it's okay!" Voice gentle, he pleaded with the taller man. "Please stop apologizing, unless you didn't mean it. I don't want you to not have meant it." Ludwig honestly looked like he'd dropped a crate of bricks on himself, so Feliciano pulled back, needing to look up at him. "Look at me, I'm not mad or upset! And I am extremely bad at lying." His tears really weren't helping his case, so he wiped them away. "I'm not crying because you kissed me, I'm crying because I can't bear it if you leave right now. Please don't." As he spoke, there was a fierce undertone in his words. He wasn't characteristically strong or brave, but he was hopelessly loyal.

Admittedly, however, the full confession took him completely off guard, taking him quite a while to muster intelligent conversation. "T-that, um. I-it sounds like a pretty good reason. I m-mean, i-if it were up to me. To—um, t-to choose reasons." Bright red and unable to meet Ludwig's eyes any longer, he clung to him for dear life instead. "Y-you really think that. A-about me." That was something Feliciano couldn't fathom. And, oh God, why? It just didn't make sense. Feli was so blessed if it was true. And Lud wouldn't lie about something like that, would he? He'd been nothing but kind, and protective, and perfect... Oh. Okay, well there it was. And now he was stressed out, because didn't he throw the word "love" around too much? Just the other day, Lud had brought him a pizza and he'd told him he loved him for it. But wasn't it true? "You didn't ruin anything." He said, matter-of-factly. "This is Happy."

[zombles]

They were a mess. With Feliciano's crying and Ludwig's ramblings, it probably didn't look good from the outside to other people either. However, he could care less about the people and what they thought about him. He could care a lot more about what they thought of Feliciano, but now wasn't the time to stare down the people who may or may not be watching. The blond didn't understand. He wasn't sure what Feliciano was trying to tell him. He was happy? How could he be happy? Ludwig wasn't even sure what to think again. His brain won't working properly today. A good night's rest would dearly help.

"It's not happy when one of us is crying, Feli, I'm not going to leave you. Unless you want me to." Ludwig softly murmured. He didn't want to make the other cry again. They had a bit too much for the day. They ought to go eat now, and Ludwig could use a pint of beer. He returned the small hug before letting out a large sigh. He could use more like a mug rather than just a pint. Maybe drinking wasn't such a great idea, Feliciano would have to bring home a drunk Ludwig who was too obnoxious. Too much for the both of them.