ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[vault]

The arrivals terminal was nothing but a large hub of activity, motion, and noise. The senses were overwhelming, even for a lifelong extrovert. Generally Feliciano did fine at this sort of thing, but despite knowing some German, he was still in a foreign country where they didn't speak a language he was fluent in. A few people had already tried to engage him in some sort of conversation, at which he'd just stared blankly before Ludwig took over. Thank God for that. He wondered if the baby crying a few steps away from them was crying in baby-German, or if they were just as confused as he was. Wait, "Baby-German?" Maybe he'd already cracked. He probably (hopefully) knew more German than that baby. He was just going to write it off as travel confusion, and he'd get the hang of it soon. He'd always been great at language-learning, so he figured it'd be sort of like riding a bicycle. A much larger and more confusing bicycle than when he'd stayed in Austria, but a bicycle all the same.

Brain all but completely shut down when Ludwig spoke, he almost missed the conversation taking off without him. "Both. Tell me both times. I might miss bits, but talking to me is going to help me here." His brain just needed to switch, maybe. Ease him in rather than dropping him into icy water from a plane. Literally. Literally from a plane. He rested his head against Ludwig's arm, and teased "Or you could talk about the passenger behind you. I love your grumpy face." Relaxing for just a minute, he closed his eyes, knowing Ludwig would be keeping an eye out for the bags and not to worry too much. "If you tell me now, I can be prepared for a disaster wherein I have to answer trivia about your family." Deciding now was too early to start worrying about what they would think of him, he tried to calm down a bit. He'd save the sheer, crushing panic for when they were just outside and then start hyperventilating.

[ true facts I almost missed a shuttle (<1 min) waiting for baggage claim we were the actual last clump of bags ]

[zombles]

Since Feliciano could be absentminded sometimes, Ludwig had thought it was just that. But at his attempt to engage him in a conversation, he was a bit shocked to realize that possibly this was a lot in a short amount of time. And true, because it was. Even though the Italian seemed comfortable resting his head on his arm, Ludwig moved his arm to pull the other in close. He slowly slid his hand into the reddish-brown locks, gently rearranging his hair and to calm him down at the same time.

"Don't worry, even though it's hard, my family isn't the type to judge. Someone's usually drunk and or arguing over something stupid." He told the other, his eyes scanning the baggage for theirs which had yet to emerge. Yes, he double-checked, they were looking in the right place. He continued to slip his fingers between the smooth locks of hair, delicately teasing the knots of his hair if he came across one. "We live in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, but you don't really need to know that... Uh, I have four brothers: Gilbert who's an albino, Theodore who has short hair, Christoph who has a scar on his face, and Albrecht who has long hair. We called our grandfather, who owns the house, Opa."

[vault]

As Ludwig pulled him closer, it was like having a shield from the outside world. A really cozy, tall, gentle-though-he-wouldn't-admit-it shield. "Grazie, Lud. See, wrong language already." He chided himself, trying to recuperate. Although, speaking of recuperation, he didn't think he could properly put into words how wonderful Lud brushing though his hair felt. Feli was almost like a puppy, sometimes... it was one thing that he dearly prayed any partner of his would do, and Ludwig hadn't disappointed. It absolutely calmed him down, making him feel safe and protected. So far, the German did everything right. It was wonderful.

Opening his eyes as stories of each family member were told, Feliciano concentrated hard and committed them to memory. He downright refused to mess this up the first night. He wouldn't—couldn't do that... even if they didn't mind. Ludwig's face happened to be slightly different as he talked about each relative, and Feli decided he could probably use Lud's ever-so-slight facial expressions as a backup cue in case he forgot too much. When Ludwig had finished, Feliciano turned his eyes to the baggage, absently looking for their tags. "Gilbert I've met—well, seen & spoke to, so if I forget him that's my own fault." Clicking his tongue in thought, he continued. "I think I've got the others. But I might forget the instant I'm supposed to remember." He laughed, leaning into Ludwig's person and the hand still in his hair. "And if I panic and start speaking Italian, I apologize in advance." Though he felt a little better, the nagging worry didn't leave—and he didn't expect it to until they'd settled in. Well, at least he'd brought gifts.

[ I tried to post this at noon and my internet died gdi ]

[zombles]

Ludwig's smiled faltered, wanting to make sure he could reassure Feliciano to the best of his ability. Although, he knew that frankly he could not cure the brunet's worry no matter how much he would like to or could possibly do. "It's alright, you don't need to apologize," he smiled again, ducking his head to meet the pair of amber eyes. He removed his hand slowly from the other's hair, seeing their bags moving onto the claim. He didn't want to leave him there stranded in the middle of the large space, so he quickly grabbed their baggage and extended the handles to roll them back to Feliciano. "The drive isn't very long." The German turned towards the doors to the exit of the building, wheeling them towards that direction.

[vault]

"Mmhmm." Feliciano nodded, trying not to say sorry for, well, saying sorry. He watched the German's back as he retreated to the baggage claim, unsure whether to move after him or not. Ludwig's face was always so serious, sometimes it was hard to tell what he was thinking. There was always that intensity in his eyes, where you could tell he was on a mission and was ultimately going to complete it. Thankfully, Lud settled the issue for him, returning quickly and leading him towards the exit. Feliciano trotted after him, offering a quiet "I can help carry my bag." He didn't like being completely useless, even if Ludwig never made him feel guilty or worthless.

Knowing already that Ludwig wouldn't relent and make him carry anything, Feliciano simply followed to their ride, running scenarios through his head that may or may not occur upon meeting the German family. Suddenly, a happier thought crossed his mind, and Feliciano asked it instantly upon sliding up next to Lud. "Hey, hey, you have pets, though, yes?" Excitement was clear on his features, hoping there were many friends to be made there. Feliciano always had a soft spot for pets of any kind, and hadn't met a single animal that didn't trust him back. Sort of like children, his little cousins—quite an extended family, Feli had—always thought he was the fun one. Maybe because Feliciano was childish as hell, but he also never tired of the imagination and games like others did.

[zombles]

[ since i didn't want to go and disgrace the german language by writing it with google translate, i'm just gonna italicize it ]

Hearing the hushed words, Ludwig shook his head, refusing to let Feliciano lug around the baggage. "I'm not going to make you carry it, it's a little heavy, did you pack rocks?" He joked lightly with a small smile, falling besides Feli. Espeically with Ludwig being the host, he was definitely not going to make him carry his bag, perhaps otherwise. When they walked out and stopped at the sidewalk, the blond's eyes followed every car before noticing that the other had said something over the noise of everybody and the constant honking of cars. "Oh yes, three dogs: Blackie, Berlitz, and Aster. God, I forgot," Ludwig groaned as a familiar car pulled up in the midst of the traffic. Why do we still even own this car? They're too cheap, and or lazy, to go buy a new one? He thought to himself, spotting a blond head in the driver's seat and virtually climbing out of the car already.

"F-Feliciano, ha, I thought Gilbert was going to pick us up, but he must of been too lazy." Boy, did he feel bad. Ludwig had not been expecting that Theodore of all people would pick him up at the airport, it may be better to ease Feliciano one brother at a time. He had already met Gilbert, now it would be two out of five rather than one.

Coming out of the car and walking over to his brother, was a somewhat averaged height man, bright blue us and short blond hair that looked like it had been tousled more than enough. Instantly, the newcomer messed up Ludwig's hair, speaking in German that sounded slightly different than Ludwig's own. "Mmm, stop growing, you make me look short. How's London? How's being a police officer? I haven't seen anything in the news that had to do with homicide, Ludwig, I'm slightly disappointed." Rambled the older brother, Ludwig just waiting until he stopped talking to reply and then said. "Ooo, is this the famous Feliciano? He's cute," Theodore moved over to the Italian, grinning. The brother hesitated for a second, "Hello! I'm Theodore, and you must be Feliciano because there's no one else on the planet that Ludwig can't shut up about." He rolled his eyes towards the end, holding out a hand.

[vault]

[ pffffff good idea then I don't have to struggle through translating it myself because *wince* I don't use gtranslate I just vomit it ]

"Right, I've heard their names. I can't wait to meet them!" Feli chirped, truly excited. Idiot. Ludwig didn't sound too excited, though, and it couldn't be about the dogs. Ludwig loved dogs, he'd never be upset about them. Oh, a brother, maybe? He hesitated, waiting as Ludwig walked over to another blond and had a rapid conversation with him. Definitely brother, then, he thought, smiling as the man messed up Ludwig's perfectly-placed hair. To be honest, it would probably be easier to meet each one sporadically, so he definitely wasn't sure why Lud was apologizing. Either way, it wasn't as if he'd known. So which one was this? Blond, with short hair? He'd already messed it up in his head. They were mostly blond. That wasn't much help to remember that, of all things.

He heard his own name, bringing his attention from Lud to the not-for-long stranger. Theodore, then. "Really?" Feli smiled widely, managing to be charming instead of nervous. He couldn't hold back a slight blush at those words, though. "He's being too nice, I'm sure. Nice to meet you! You can call me Feli, if it's too much." He felt a little out of place with his bright red coat and auburn hair, standing out against the snow & massive amounts of grey. "I'm not very good at German, but I will try my best to remember what I learned in Austria." He said in hesitant German, slowly recalling two of the three phrases he wouldn't forget. That he wasn't good at german, that he would try his best, and finally the one he didn't use now, "I don't understand, could you please repeat." He used that a lot. "I'm barely managing to not lapse into Italian right now, capite." He noted with a small giggle, back to speaking in English. "Sorry about that. Thank you all for having me over!"

[zombles]

[ google translates so bad tho its upsetting but its the best ;( ]

Theodore scoffed, his eyes flickering from his brother to his newcomer. "You don't have to speak German," he smiled lightly, it was nice to have someone be interested in learning your language, "we all could speak more English. Lud already has somewhat a British accent," he grinned at the other before. Theodore pointed over to the car, turning around and starting to walk over to it. "It's great to have you, Feliciano, Christmas gets boring." The older brother kept him occupied.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, Ludwig took care of putting their baggage by putting it in the trunk of the car. After he did that, he returned back to his brother and boyfriend (aw) while Theo slipped into the driver's seat. He assumed that the Italian would want to sit in the back of the car, pulling the door open for him to climb in.

[vault]

[ huhufsahbasfbhjafjbhns yes like "How are you" becomes "I am the rat egg" ]

Relieved that they seemed honestly alright with speaking mostly English with him, Feliciano sighed. "Alright. I appreciate that, really I do. However, it is your Christmas, and I'm already imposing." He giggled, adding "I can't get rid of my accent, I doubt it'd change much no matter how long I live out of my home country." Honestly, it was quite persistent, not helped by his daily conversations with 3+ family members—they were still quite close, of course. And with Lovino nearby, they'd have days where they spoke only in Italian, generally annoying the hell out of anyone who happened to be close.

Feliciano was still getting used to Theodore, but he seemed so nice and Feli was such an open person that he finally just decided to be himself, as was natural for him. "Well, I'm not boring... I actually don't really shut up, I should probably warn you now." He chirped, sliding in and reaching his hands out at Ludwig with wide eyes to make sure he sat with him, if it was okay. "I really am happy to be here, though." Voice soft, Feliciano clung to Lud as if his life depended on it, which it sort of did. "Thank you." Again giving silent thanks for his new ( ! ) boyfriend, Feli couldn't wipe the smile off his face. If all Lud's family was like this, he'd be just fine.

[zombles]

"I don't think being talkative is a bad thing, in contrast to deadpan over there." Theodore laughed, turning the keys, the car roaring to life. Due to the small chill sweeping Berlin at the moment, he turned up the heat just a little bit. The traffic around here was harsh and he decided to give the two in the back of the car a break, focusing more on his driving than on them.

At the compliment, Ludwig's face flushed in embarrassment, nodding in agreement and mulling over some words to reply with. "I'm glad you're here, I'm sorry you have to meet my family though." He reached over across the brunet, pulling the seat belt across the smaller man's chest and clicking him in. The blond pulled back at little, eyes searching Feliciano's face just a little until he noticed the small hair curl again. With amusement in his voice, he chuckled, "your curl seems to reflect your personality. It's cute. When you're happy, it perks up and when you're sad, it droops a bit." He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his own words, knowing that the inference might just be him imagining it. He also could not help himself reaching out and touching it with his fingertip to see it bounce up and then back down.