ｔｈｅ ｂａｌｃｏｎｙ ｂｅｌｏｗ ｍｅ

[vault]

Seeing Lud pick out his clothing, Feliciano smiled to himself before choosing his own red christmas sweater, the one that wasn't embroidered mind-numbingly. "Now we match!" He joked, proud of the minor accomplishment—though he picked out matching slacks instead of sweatpants. Normally he'd be much lazier, but he was a guest, and damn it all if he wasn't going to try and look nice. "Now we're the cutest couple. Although you should be wearing a Christmas sweater." He winked, knowing full well that Lud was not to be trifled with in the Christmas sweater department. Not that there would be an issue of any sort today. Speaking of issues, though, Ludwig appeared to have developed some serious lines between his eyebrows since Feli had turned around. "You look worried again," Feli stated simply, in the midst of rummaging for his warmest pair of socks. Luckily, Ludwig's packing skills were far neater, and he found them in record time. "What are you thinking about?" With a small, thoughtful noise, he stood up and skipped over to Ludwig before standing before him and taking the man's larger hands gently in his own. "It's Christmas! Buon pensieri, bello." He looked down to make sure his phone was in his pocket—he had a bad habit of snapping pictures to Lud while they were nearby, mostly to get a smile out of the German in boring or tense situations. It worked pretty well, if he did say so himself.

[zombles]

"You know I'm not one to know fashion," Ludwig begun, "but Christmas sweaters are the ugliest things on this planet." Fingers on the trim of Feliciano's sweater, he straightened it out on the other's form. Not that Feliciano cared if it wasn't lopsided or anything, they had time to kill, and might as well make good use of it. Feliciano was starting to go off to find something else to cover himself with, Ludwig withdrew and stood off to the side, his eyes following him carefully. Meeting the warm amber colored eyes, he tried his hardest to make the frown lines go away. "Nothing, come on, they'll start be wondering what happened to us." Good thing his family didn't enjoy doing family things together. They could mostly open their presents privately, and Ludwig's sure were embarrassing and only meant for Feliciano's eyes, for the most part.

[vault]

Squeezing Lud's hands in mirth, Feli couldn't help but laugh at the comment—and at the inability of the German to actually get rid of those worried lines. "Of course they're the ugliest things on this planet," he chirped, "that's exactly why they're amazing!" Smiling widely up at the taller man, his brown eyes were full of happiness. "You've gotta own the hella ugly clothes, Ludwig, and just do what makes you happy." He quipped, sing-songy tone back after the exhaustion of yesterday. "Of course, if ugly sweaters don't make you happy, don't wear them. But deep down under that tough exterior, I know they amuse you. You can't fool me." Nodding dutifully, he let himself be led towards the main areas of the home, nerves all but gone in the—cheesily—loving presence of his Ludwig. Hey, cheese. "Is there food?" Feli suddenly questioned, eyes wide.

[zombles]

Uttering a small gasp, Ludwig couldn't help but glare (just a little). "None of my clothes aren't ugly," he grumbled in defense. Not surprised with the sudden topic change, he exhaled loudly, shaking his head. "I don't know, probably, someone might of made pancakes, or something," he said and only offered a shrug in return. Ludwig didn't wait long for a reply, leading the shorter man into the living room. Some bodies are on the couch, while someone was sleeping in a chair, and someone else was sorting the presents on the floor nearby the couch. What a bunch of lazy bums; and oh god, they were watching some idiotic comedy show. Never mind them. "Food, or presents first?" That was the question.

[vault]

At the other's precious noise of indignation, he smiled. "You literally just said you didn't have much fashion sense. I'm Italian. Shush. I win." He cocked his head to the side smugly, as if looking for a challenge. "Besides, I called you handsome like six times today. You can tell I just find you horrendous." Entirely sarcastic, he playfully bumped into Ludwig's shoulder as they walked. "Besides, it's my job to embarrass you today, right?" Feli teased even more, happy they were both in a better mood.

At the question, Feliciano looked like he got hit directly in the face with a truck, big brown eyes utterly indecisive. Asking the Italian to choose between food and gifts was not an easy thing to do, and he rightfully wilted in the face of the challenging decision. "I can't possibly choose that." Feli admitted, finally. "You have to choose. I'm going to be impatient and wrong either way, so don't make me decide." He squeezed his eyes shut, resting up against Lud's side in anticipation. "I can't get mad at you, so it all works out."

[zombles]

[ sucky mobile post ]

Hesitating at first, Ludwig calculated with the pros and cons if each activity. "Presents. Get the most embarrassing thing over with—right?" Letting go of the soft hands, he walked over to the presents and shuffled through them to grab the special ones as carefully as he could. It was almost hard not to go overboard on Feliciano's presents, next year was going to be harder, he'd have to step up his game every year. That was assuming that Feliciano would still like him by then... Placing two presents off to the side (a small white box and a long box wrapped in fancy paper), Ludwig held out the widest of the boxes to his boyfriend eagerly. There was the only embarrassing present that Ludwig was concerned about. Save the best for last, so Feli would just have to wait and see what all his fuss was about.

[vault]

[ aHHHA. TOOK ME THIRTY YEARS but ]

"That makes sense." Feli consented, following quietly. He wouldn't consider himself responsible if his stomach started making noises while they did the more exciting thing, though. Food wasn't incredibly exciting, but it was tasty. Well, that and integral to human survival, but that's obviously secondary. That said, watching the expressions flit across Ludwig's face for split-second intervals was definitely fascinating enough to distract anyone. "Wait, why is this embarassing?" Feliciano questioned with a soft smile. "This should only be fun." Taking the gift, Feli inspected it with amusement, again watching Lud's face change almost imperceptibly. "I'm surprised that I have no idea what this is," he chirped, "as clingy as I am, I had no idea you got me these things." He sat down on the floor, scooting towards Lud awkwardly so as to not draw attention to them, and started attempting to take the paper off nicely. This is not a thing that worked well for someone with his temperament, and the results were exactly as you'd expect.

[zombles]

[ tHIRTY YEARS IS BETTER THEN NEVER ! ]

Once Feliciano had peeled through the wrapping paper and had gotten through the box containing the items, in it sat three objects: a pastel blue colored scarf that was tightly knitted, cream colored mittens, and a pair of red socks, all of them knitted. "I managed to do these at work, when I'm not investigating homicides." Ludwig chuckled lightly, glancing upwards to observe Feliciano's reaction. "I hope they aren't as bad as I think they look," he awkwardly added. He dearly hoped they weren't as bad he knew they were, and that Feli would put them to good use as well. He had knitted several times before, but it only had been things for himself (and that he had deemed unwearable. He had tried his hardest on these, though, unlike before).

[vault]

[ we're so old now ]

Upon seeing the presents, Feli just didn't know what to say. Wide, warm brown eyes looked from the box to his boyfriend, back to the box, and back again to meet the other's eyes, before lunging forward and seizing the other's lips in a grateful kiss. "You knitted these for me." He mumbled, reaching back for the scarf before wrapping it around both of them with a choked laugh. "Even when we weren't together." He wasn't crying, not at all. His eyes were just watering a tiny bit of happy water. "You're so kind, Lud, I just…" Picking up the other two gifts, he cradled them in his hands. Feliciano was an artist, he knew exactly how much work went into things like this. People didn't just put that much effort in if they didn't want to. "You made these at work." He squeaked. "For me." He hoped he wouldn't embarrass Ludwig with this show, so he held the gifts close to his chest as he leaned against the other man. "There's more than one? I don't think I'm emotionally stable enough for this."

[zombles]

[ old farts ]

Ludwig hadn't expected any reaction close to this one. It was nice. Yes, there were better words to use than 'nice', but in this instance, it was almost impossible to describe. At firsts he was unsure if Feliciano was thinking, looking back and forth between the boxes. That was a good sign, right? Not having to wait a moment more, he watched as Feli pulled him into a sweet, thankful kiss. He couldn't help but kiss back, maybe a little bit more than normal in thanks. He studied as Feliciano's nimble fingers reached for the scarf, straightening his back to allow the Italian to wrap it around their necks. "I had too, you're my best friend, and you like warm things." Ludwig flustered. He felt his heart continue to swell at the reaction, welcoming the brunet against his chest. His arm went for the longer present, pulling away and handing it to Feli again. "These ones aren't homemade though, so no more crying." Ludwig gently said, cupping the sides of the smaller man's face and using his thumb to rid him of his tears.