#also him looking at lud with that little smile he does i need

[jrmblob]

waiting for the charity stream to end so i can screen record the 64 clips and counting i have saved...

[aimwigs]

i love ur dadwig writings sm 🤧

THANK YOU!!!! you sent this a while ago but here's a little more ft middle aged lud dealing with teenagers

“Mr. Ahgren, we’re calling because your daughter has been suspended and we need you to come to the school to meet with the dean regarding her behavior.”

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. Shit.

“I’ll be right there,” he says before asking for any details. Unfortunately, he doesn’t need them.

During the drive over, he ponders what the fuck Lucy could have done to get suspended. She’s always been pretty spirited and combined with ADHD that they’re struggling to get formally diagnosed due to this stupid notion that girls don’t get it as much, the school hasn't let them forget how much of a distraction she is in the classroom, with afternoon and Saturday detentions for shit as simple as repeated tardies and cracking jokes that aren’t quite appropriate for school. He blames himself for the latter, honestly, because it’s something he would do.

Still, he has no fucking clue what she would do to warrant getting suspended. You have to do some serious shit to get suspended, and nothing Lucy has done has ever warranted even a warning about that.

Except, when he meets QT at the school and they find Ryan’s best friend, Marie, sitting outside the office with her parents with an ice pack on her face and tissues shoved up her nose, they seem to realize in unison that this is not what either of them fucking expected at all.

“They should have told us the specifics,” QT hisses as she knocks on the door to the office, a look of panic in her eyes. “I’m not fucking prepared for this shit!”

The door opens, revealing the dean standing there with a grim look on his face and Ryan sitting in one of the chairs behind him, arms crossed over her chest and gaze firmly fixed toward the window.

“Thank you for coming so quickly.”

He shakes each of their hands and they do introductions before sitting down with Ryan between them. Since Ludwig is sitting closer to the window, he can see now that her eyes are rimmed in red. He knocks their knees together and gives her a half-hearted smile in an attempt to cheer her up, earning a glare from QT. Right. She punched another girl in the face.

The story they’re told is very one-sided. Apparently, Ryan came up to Marie during the passing period and decked her so hard that she broke her nose. Lucky for Marie, the nurse was able to realign it and she probably won’t need surgery. Lucky for Ryan, Marie and her parents aren’t pressing charges.

The dean doesn’t explain any reason for why the fight might have happened, which makes sense because Ryan hasn’t opened her mouth once since she got here. He has a feeling that she wasn’t feeling particularly talkative before and if Marie did do something to warrant getting punched, it’s not like she’d going to speak up and tell people she deserved it.

The dean tells them that she’s lucky she didn’t get expelled and that if it weren’t for her impeccable record, there would be more than a two-week suspension on the table. He also reminds them that while UC Berkeley probably won’t rescind her admission, another offense like this one may make them reconsider. At that last part, Ryan does bristle a bit.

The dean offers to reduce her suspension to a week if she apologizes to Marie but she tilts her chin defiantly and keeps her mouth shut. Ludwig wishes that she would at least have it in her to lie for her own good.

When they leave the office, QT is fucking fuming. Rightfully so, honestly. She tells her that she she needs to control her temper and try to maintain some level of peace, and reminds her that neither of them can help her if she doesn’t tell them anything. She reaches out for her car keys and says that she and Slime will pick it up tonight and that she’ll be going home with Ludwig today since she has meetings this afternoon. Then she kisses the top of her head and tells her that she loves her for good measure.

They walk toward the car in silence and he ponders what approach to take with this. He’s been a parent for more than 18 years now and he still has no fucking clue what he’s doing. His instinct is always to be nice but it’s definitely not fair to make QT the bad guy when this is a serious fucking situation that probably necessitates a firm hand.

“You’re lucky they didn’t press charges,” he finally says as he pulls his car out of the school parking lot. “You’re an adult, Ryan. You could go to jail.”

Just like that, the levee breaks and she starts sobbing, face falling into her hands as she tries to turn away from him.

He winces a little as he glances over at her, reaching out to pat her arm lightly. He can’t be firm about this if she’s crying. To be fair, he thinks that QT would probably soften up if she was here too.

“Do you wanna tell me what happened?”

“No.”

He sighs. “Ryan, your mom is right. There’s nothing we can do for you if you don’t tell us what happened.”

She wipes at her face with her arm but still doesn’t meet his eyes. “There’s nothing you can do for me anyway.”

Even though she’s probably right, he could at least provide some comfort. “Let me try?”

Ryan lets out a bitter laugh. “If you can go back in time and stop Marie from kissing Damian behind my back then sure, I guess you can help.”

He frowns. Damian is Ryan’s boyfriend of three months whom every single adult in her life has been pretending not to hate the entire time. He’s rude, ditches her constantly, and in Slime’s words is “a serious fucking rat but not in a based way.” Even Aiden can’t stand him, and he’s Aiden. So him cheating isn’t exactly surprising. It being with Ryan’s best friend since kindergarten is.

“Did she kiss him or did he kiss her?”

The glare she gives him is enough to tell him that the distinction isn’t something that matters.

He nods. “Well, that’s a shitty thing to do but the reaction isn’t appropriate. You two have been tight since you were five. You should have tried to talk it out, even if she fucking sucks for doing that to you. I hope you dumped Damian, by the way.”

“Obviously, I fucking dumped him,” she crosses her arms and turns toward the window. “I don’t regret punching her, though. She’s a fucking bitch.”

Considering that she knowingly kissed his daughter’s boyfriend, he isn’t totally inclined to disagree even though she’s previously been a pretty nice girl.

“That doesn’t mean you resort to violence.” This he firmly believes. Sue him, he’s always been a lover and a forgiver, even if that makes him naïve.

“I knew you wouldn’t get it, considering you used to fuck around on Mom.”

He’s so taken aback that he nearly slams on the brakes in the middle of the highway. That’s out of fucking nowhere and not strictly true, though not strictly false either. Shit was complicated in his twenties, and he never slept with anyone but her then.

“Did she tell you that?” Her saying that about him would be completely out of character. Weirdly enough, he feels like he has a better relationship with QT now than he did when they were dating.

Ryan scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Your life is public record, Dad. Everyone knows that you were kissing your current husband when you were still with Mom because you said it.”

“That was different,” he tells her even though he knows that isn’t the complete truth. He knew he liked kissing Aiden and he knew QT didn’t like it, he was just convincing himself it was fine because it didn’t really mean anything even though it clearly did, based on the gold band wrapped around his finger.

“I’m sure.”

He pauses for a moment, taking in her line of logic. “Do you think it would have helped anything if your mom punched Aiden in the face for kissing me instead of having a conversation with me about it?”

She shrugs. “Maybe it would have saved her a few years.”

“You and your sister literally would not be alive,” he reminds her, knowing that she can’t argue otherwise. “And considering that your mom seems to love you guys a lot, I doubt she thinks of our time together as a total waste.”

Ryan slumps down in her seat and doesn’t reply.

“Look, kid, I’m not exactly proud of how that went down. Your mom and I had a massive fight over it and I was inadvertently leading Aiden on when I wasn’t ready to be with him yet. I fucked up. But all three of us get along pretty damn well today, and I guarantee you that a violent altercation would probably mean that our lives look very different now for a lot of reasons. You’re right when you say your mom would probably be easier to talk about this shit because I know she keyed some girl’s car for the same reason but I also know she regrets it. Using your words is always the best option to sort out this kind of thing and if that’s not working, you get the fuck out of there.”

She inhales sharply. “I just don’t get why she’d fucking kiss him.”

“I don’t either. But maybe you should ask her. Fuck, if she doesn’t regret it already, she will. You guys are best fucking friends. Don’t let some fucking loser boy ruin that for you.”

“But what if I love him?”

Ludwig grips the steering wheel a bit tighter. “Well, you could try talking things out with him too.” He can’t keep his tone from becoming stilted despite being pretty damn practiced at controlling his reactions in front of an audience.

Ryan smiles slightly. “I’m messing with you, Dad. I was gonna dump him after prom anyway. He only ever talks about himself. Guess I’ll just have to find a new date now. Honestly, I was more pissed at Marie for the principle of it than caring about Damian himself. Is that dumb?”

“That’s not dumb. She betrayed your trust.” He meets her eyes through the mirror. “But that doesn’t mean that you punch her in the face.”

She snorts. “Got it, Dad.”

“You’ll talk to her?”

“I’ll talk to her,” she promises. “But I’m not fucking apologizing until she does.”

He laughs. “That sounds fair enough.”

And maybe parenting teenagers is about twice as hard as parenting younger kids but he thinks that he handled this pretty well, especially a few weeks later, when he has the privilege of taking pictures of her and Marie side by side at prom, whatever beef between them squashed.

[goddesswritings]

“Can I slap her for you?” -  Corpse Husband | Part Two

Title: “Can I slap her for you?” – Part Two

Pairing: Corpse Husband x Reader

Summary: Being stuck living with the queen of YouTube drama and partying during the pandemic has seriously worn down your patience. Meeting Pokimane has changed your life for the better, making Among Us a pivotal part of your life.

Word Count: 5.2k

Unedited for now. I was eager to post. I will edit it later.

Corpse Masterlist

********

<< PART ONE

After you left the apartment, you sat in the parking lot of some random store, trying to decide what to do now. Sighing, you opened your phone and went to Instagram. Corpse was probably wondering if it went okay.

Corpse: She left the stream, thank you!

Corpse: What exactly did you do?

Corpse: She’s sending Sean angry DM’s now.

Corpse: Hey, are you okay?

Y/n: Hey sorry, I had to pack. I’m fine, happy to help get her out of the stream. I switched off the power to her office.

Honestly, you wished you could have stood up against her more often than you did. She was four years younger, so you should have been able to have the say in things. But no, Olivia was a control freak and a spoiled brat too. She would no doubt tell your parents you started a fight with her, and she felt unsafe.

Corpse: Wow, you’re badass. Packing for what?

Y/n: Um, she may have kicked me out of the apartment, and I may have left without a fight because I’m tired of her shit. 🤷‍♀️

Corpse: Do you have a place to stay?

Of course you didn’t and you really should have thought about that before just leaving the way you did.

Y/n: Not really but I will find somewhere.

Well you hoped you could. There weren’t many people who were keen in taking in a friend during a pandemic.

Corpse: Poki’s going to call you.

At that message, your phone started to wring and sure enough, it was Poki.

“Hello?” You asked hesitantly.

“So someone let it slip that your sister kicked you out?” Poki said calmly.

“Is that someone, Corpse?”

“Yes, he said it out of shock but I’m glad he did. Knowing you, you would have kept it a secret from me.” She was right. You hated inconveniencing your friends.

“Damn you, Corpse.” You muttered making her laugh. “Yeah so I ruined Olivia’s stream and she started screaming at me before kicking me out. I didn’t fight it because I am tired of her.”

“Understandable. Well do you need somewhere to stay?”

“Yes but I will find some place.”

“Nope, you’re staying with me. Come over now or I am coming out to drag you back to my place.” Her protectiveness made you smile.

“Sure, I’ll be there in a few.” You hung up.

Y/n: Thank you for looking out for my stubborn ass, Corpse. I would have never told her.

Corpse: Stubborn is one word to describe you. Cute is another.

That comment made your face heat up from the sheer adorableness of it. Corpse seriously just called you cute.

Y/n: Can I say you have a genuinely nice hand. It’s marvelous.

Corpse: Hey, don’t make fun of my hand. It takes all the heat for me. That hand is very anxious every time I post him.

Y/n: Awe I bet. Give him hugs from me. Also tell him I’m a big fan!

The easy flow of conversation between the two of you was nice. You got along extremely well and talking outside of the game was nice, since you could focus on what you really wanted to say to him.

Corpse: He’s flattered!

This was great and took your mind off Olivia and the fact she just kicked you to the curb with nowhere to go. But Poki was there for you. You appreciated her more than she knew.

You pulled up in front of her apartment building, parking the car, you got out and grabbed your stuff. Typing in the code Poki had given you a while ago, you were let into the building. Entering the elevator, you made your way to her apartment.

Barely knocking, the door flew open to reveal Poki. She looked mad but also worried. She pulled you into the apartment and hugged you tightly.

“Can I slap her for you?” She asked calmly.

This made you giggle. “I mean I would like to slap her as well.”

“We should make a plan. Hey, the group is still on, come say hi.” She started to lead you to her office.

“Are they still streaming?” You didn’t want to reveal your face to the world, not like this.

“Oh no. We ended our streams when Olivia started talking about you. She completely wasn’t respecting your privacy and we weren’t about to let her spill it to our viewers.” That was so sweet of them to do.

You had left your bags in the other room while you followed her. An idle conversation was going on when you entered.

“Hey guys, I’m back.” Poki took a seat in front of the computer, she pulled up a second chair. “I have someone special here.”

Sitting down, you saw her nod for you to say something. “Hey, did you miss me?”

They went wild.

“Y/n! Oh we missed you!”

“Don’t leave us again.”

“I’m sorry I invited your sister to stream.”

“Hey Y/n.”

The mix of voices was overwhelming in a good way. Sykkuno, Rae, Sean, and Corpse pretty much spoke over each other which made you laugh.

“One at a time, guys. You can’t overload her.” Leslie told them.

“Sorry Y/n. We just really missed having you here. You’ve become one of our favorite friends to play with.” Sykkuno said sounding as sweet as ever. That man was just the best.

“Yes, I can say we agree.” Rae added.

It was nice to hear they missed you. It really helped to lift your mood as well.

“Did your sister really kick you out?” Toast asked

“Yes she did. But it’s not surprising at this point. She’s probably been gunning to kick me out as soon as she could.” Sad truth

“Well she’s the worst player ever. She can’t keep a secret at all. I really should have never agreed to get her into the group.” Sean said sounding sad.

“Hey Sean, please don’t worry about it. She’s always weaseling her way into things. It’s completely not your fault.” One of the things she loved to do was incessantly DM other youtubers for collabs or for free stuff. She really had no morals.

“Well thank you, Y/n. You’re literally the sweetest.” Sean said earning a bunch of ‘I Agrees’ from everyone else. That really was helping make the night better.

“Who’s up for some more Among Us to relax after that shitshow?” Lud asked making everyone laugh hard. It was agreed the group would do it. Luckily, you had your laptop and joined the call and game and stayed in Poki’s living room to play. Honestly, it was so good for you.

**

At the end if gaming, you said goodbye to the group. Then Poki showed you to the extra room that used to be her roommates before she moved out last month.

“Hey, are you looking for a roommate?” You asked as you put the bags on the bed.

Poki sent you a smile. “I am. Are you interested?”

This was good. “Yes, I mean I still have to find another job since my main is still furloughing me until this pandemic gets better but I have some money saved up.”

“Hey, please don’t sweat it. Besides, I know a friend who’s in need of an editor, I may have mentioned your name and she really wants to talk to you about it. Is that okay?”

“Wow, that’s perfect. Thank you, Poki. You’re such a great friend.” It felt good to have someone there for you.

She pulled you into a hug. “Always. I am so glad I met you. You’re one of my best friends.”

This was an honor. “Don’t make me cry.”

“I can’t promise anything. Anyway, I will leave you to rest. It’s been a long night. Tomorrow I will give you my friends details.”

“Sounds good, night Poki.”

“Goodnight, Y/n.” She waved goodbye and closed the door behind herself.

Smiling, you sat on the bed. It was such a good thing that she was here got you. But also Corpse was the catalyst that got you to actually tell Poki was what happening. He was sweet and it seemed he was looking out for you.

After changing into comfy pj’s, you brushed your teeth before climbing into the freshly made bed. Opening Instagram, you saw that Corpse has messaged you.

Corpse: I don’t like being too forward but hey here we go. Can I please have your number so we can talk more easily?

A smile made its way to your face. For a tough man, he surely had a sweet way of getting to you

Y/n: Yes you can. xxx-xxx-xxxx.

The nerves jumped when you sent that message. Less than a minute later, you received a text from an unknown number.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Hey Y/n, it’s Corpse. Would you mind if I called you so we could talk for a little?

You liked this idea truthfully. It only helped to show how genuine Corpse was being.

Y/n

Not at all. Please go ahead and call me.

Your phone rang, displaying Corpse’s name.

“Hello?” You answered the phone while pushing away the anxiety.

A soft deep laugh filled your ear. “Hey sweet girl. How are you feeling?”

His words made you want to sigh in the most lovesick way. That never happened these days.

“I’m good. Poki had an extra room I could crash in and well I might just be her new roommate.”

“I love that. She’s so much better than your sister I assume.”

“She is. Here I won’t have to deal with the incessant pandemic partying Olivia likes to do.” That selfish bitch.

“Shit, is she stupid? She does know she’s risking a lot of lives, right?” You loved that Corpse had the logic you craved.

“So she is stupid, and her response was always that it’s not her problem and that the vulnerable people should stay home.”

“She sounds like the typical beauty youtuber these days.”

“Yes, she is. She has no morals.”

“Well that’s not good. I guess that’s why her name keeps popping up all over social media. She really needs to be careful, before she becomes the next Tana.” He was right but you personally thought she was past that point already.

“It’s too late. She’s already passed the point of return with all of this.”

“Yikes. It’s good you got out of there when you did.” A soft but deep laugh was heard through the phone. The sound made you giggle. Hearing such a tough guy laugh the way Corpse laughs, made you feel giddy. “So about what I said earlier, I meant it.”

“Huh, what are you talking about?” You truly were a little lost by this.

Corpse laughed again. “When I called you cute earlier. I meant it.”

Heat filled your face and a small smile made its way to your lips. “Thank you, Corpse. That’s really sweet of you. I don’t like to show many people who I am because they will immediately connect me to Olivia, and I don’t want that.”

“I get that. I don’t show my face for fear they won’t like me when I do. All my fans have built up this expectation of what they want me to look like and now I just don’t want to let them down. Plus it’s nice being able to stay anonymous if I go into public, but of course people will hear my voice and know. Shit, it’s hard.”

“Awe, I’m sorry. I saw what the attention has done to some people, but I think not everyone goes into that headspace. Also, I think you should stay faceless if it makes you feel better. There is no rule that says you ever have to show your face. People who push you to do it have no boundaries.”

Corpse was quiet for a while and you thought you had offended him. “I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing, Corpse.” You squeaked.

“No, you said the right thing. I was just thinking. You’re right. A lot of people have been on me to reveal my face, but I never intend to. I want to be able to live my life without being swarmed by fans, or god forbid, them judging me by my appearance.”

“Which is really fucked. When I first appeared in my sister video, the comments were awful. They couldn’t understand how she was related to me, but I never thought I looked bad. But I guess they expected Olivia to be surrounded by people in her genre. It was so hard to see those comments.” Thinking back to it, Olivia had even added to it. Telling you that you should have tried to look more like her for the video. You should have worn something more colorful and put-on way more make up then you liked. But you hated that. That wasn’t you.

“I can’t imagine the things they said. Is that why you deactivated your twitter?” How did he know about that?

“Oh, yeah. How did you know about it?”

“I remembered seeing a story about it on YouTube last year. They didn’t show your face, so of course I didn’t know it was you. But I figured it out when Olivia joined the game tonight and she blabbered on about being your sister. I’m sorry you received that hate. No one deserves that ever.” His voice was calming you now.

“Thank you. Olivia seemed to add to it, as well. Fuck, she’s just the worst person.” Family definitely had the ability to be shitty. “Meeting Poki last year really was the best thing. But also joining this Among Us group has been so good for me. Thank you for accepting me.”

“Of course. You’re a natural in the game but you also fit very well with the group.” Corpse really hoped you believed him because this was true. The group had a whole conversation about it when Olivia finally left

“I’m flattered. The Corpse Husband is telling me I fit in with him and his streamer friends. Wake me up, I must be dreaming.” You knew his words were genuine because it was just easy to tell.

“You better believe it, baby, because it’s true.”

You stopped short when you heard him call you baby. Of course Corpse had used that word before but right now it felt more intimate.

Letting out a yawn you realized it was nearing 4 am. “I appreciate it.” You mumbled, feeling the events from the day seep in.

“You’re tired, aren’t you?” His deep voice was lulling you closer to sleep.

“No.” Another yawn broke through.

“You can’t lie to me, Y/n. Get some sleep and we will talk tomorrow.”

The words made you smile. “That sounds good, Corpsie. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweet girl.” Despite wanting to stay on the phone, you hung up. Sleep was quickly coming in to claim you. You can happily say you fell asleep with a huge smile on your face.

**

Waking up was easier than it had been in a long time. Normally you woke up to Olivia screaming at you or someone else. So it was nice to wake up to silence. It allowed you to relax and wake up properly.

Your phone buzzed from beside you. A text from Corpse is what you first saw, so you opened it.

Corpse

Good morning, sweet girl. I hope the night treated you well.

Sweet and to the point. His messages made you think he had a thing for you. Well you hoped he did but he also could just be treating you the way he treats friends.

Y/n

Yes, I slept well and for once I wasn’t awoken by my obnoxious sister.

It would he good not to live with her.

Corpse

I bet. Hey I hate to be the one to show you this, but your sister posted this on her instagram.

He then sent a link to the post. It made your blood boil.

::::

There was a picture of her, she was holding up a ripped picture of you. A huge frown was on her face.

oliviaxoxo It’s a shame when family starts to treat you like you weren’t the one to give them money when they needed it. This is my sister and she’s a bitch. For the last few years, she’s been the one editing my videos. Well I found out she was trying to sabotage me, so I had to fire her and kick her out. What a shame it is when family stabs you in the back. 🙃🙃

1,454,787 people like this

oliviafan23 Is this true? Damn, f*ck fake people.

queenolivia Sueeee herrrrr!

lovinliv Family ain’t shit. Spill her info so we can drag her.

sykkuwu Whoa, why are you spreading lies about your own family?

   |

queenolivia Why would you defend someone like that?

valkyrea You’re such a sad human for doing this. Stop lying.

pokimanelol Let’s see, none of this is true. Your sister has done so much for you and you’ve never appreciated it. Get some help for this.

corpse_husband This is sick. No wonder your name is always blasted everywhere. Do your sister a favor and stop talking about her.

    |

oliviaxoxo I don’t know why you’re defending my stupid sister, but that totally makes you not hot to me anymore. Ugh.

   |

valkyrea Uh, that’s what you got from this. Wow, you’re not worth this.

    |

corpse_husband What can you expect? The covid must have gone to her brain.    |

corpseandlivfan Whyyyyyyy Corpse, why would you stand up for her. Do you not realize how horrible Y/n is? Please tell me this is a joke!?!?

   |

 corpse_husband Well, she’s a good friend of mine and I won’t let people make up lies. So it’s not a joke.

::::::::

You were mad that she’d even say this shit publicly, but you should have known she would. She was nothing without her group of misguided followers.

Y/n

Can’t say I’m not surprised. This is so on brand for her. Thank you for sticking up for me. It means a lot.

Corpse

I would do it any day. She shouldn’t be able to get away with doing that to you.

Sadly, growing up, she did get away with doing the absolute worst shit and you always received the brunt of it.

Y/n

With any luck, she draws negative attention.

You clicked the link to view it again but instead were lead to a page that said the content was unavailable.

Y/n

I believe she just deleted the post.

Corpse

Oh, she did. That’s awesome.

It was. Olivia was never one to swallow her pride and admit any wrongdoings. That means she would never delete a problematic post, but she finally did

Y/n

I didn’t really read any other comments besides you and your friends and the top comments. I can’t imagine what her fans are really saying.

Olivia was completely okay with letting her fans attack people. It was seriously a huge mess. She fell into the category of YouTuber with the worst most entitled attitude.

Corpse

It’s good you didn’t read them, because they were horrible. I can’t believe she would let her fans do that.

Y/n

She’s done a lot of shady stuff. This is even before she blew up on YouTube. There is a lot of issues between us.

There was a lot that could be said about your relationship with Olivia and none of them were good. Forever it seemed, you had tried to make it work and hoped your sister would grow up and change but it never happened.

Corpse

I think she’s a vile human. From what I have seen and her complete lack of human decency, I just can’t help but feel she’s just not a good person and she never will be.

He was right. She would never change.

Y/n

You’re right. Hey, I have to go thank Poki for letting me stay but I also need to go back to that apartment to get the rest of my stuff. Can I call you when I get back?

Corpse

Yes, of course. Good luck heading over there.

Talking to him was pretty natural feeling. It was clear now that you were getting a massive crush on him. You had a crush on a man who’s face you’ve never seen. You couldn’t help it though, his personality just meshed so well with yours. He’d made you feel safe and wanted.

After getting dressed, you found Poki in the kitchen making breakfast. She sent you a sweet smile when you entered the room.

“Thank you for standing up for me against my sister on Instagram.” You were truly honored this group of friends liked you enough to do something like this.

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t just let her say that and get away with it. She’s done a lot to you, that you don’t deserve. Corpse messaged all of us the minute he found it and we all jumped into action. Sean and Felix were getting ready to comment when she deleted it.” She explained as she set a plate in front of you.

“I’m so honored. Thank you!”

“Of course, you’re one of us now and we will never let her get away with this stuff anymore.”

You could just cry with how loved they were making you feel. This is what had been missing in your life. Friends who genuinely cared about you and wanted to protect you from the nasty stuff Olivia was capable of doing.

“Would you come with me to the apartment to get the rest of my stuff?” You asked once the two of you finished eating.

Poki nodded. “Of course I will. You shouldn’t have to go alone.”

**

An hour later, you exited the elevator on the floor where you once resided. Your sister wasn’t home, which would be good but there was a chance she could return while you were packing. But you would deal with that when it came down to it. The two of you quickly got to work, packing your life up into the boxes you’d brought with you. Luckily, you weren’t one to collect a ton of stuff. You mainly just had to make sure your clothes and makeup were packed up.          

You and Poki would fill boxes and pile them by there door, then you would take them down to the car when you acquired a good amount. In the end, you figured you would fill maybe 10 boxes which is actually not too many considering you’ve lived in that apartment for five years.

Poki had left to go take two more boxes to the car while you finished up packing up your last few items. The front door closed, and you assumed it was Poki, but it wasn’t.

“Oh look who’s here? My lovely sister.” Olivia’s voice was flat and emotionless.

You rolled your eyes and turned to find her standing in the doorway, glaring at you. “Hello, Olivia. I’m just packing my stuff and then I’m leaving.”

“Who said you were allowed to come back here?” She grumbled, eyeing the boxes.

“Well, this is my stuff and I have every right to come pick it up.”

“If it’s in my apartment, it clearly belongs to me.” She snarled.

You snapped. “Cut it out, Olivia. This was my apartment too, until you kicked me out last night. You can’t just claim my stuff as your because you’re salty about me having friends.” She was a spoiled brat, and you were done letting her get away with it.

“I’m not the salty one. Everyone can see it’s you.” God she was so annoying. You taped up the last box and turned to her. She held her phone in her hand. “Everyone say hi to my sister. You know, the one I posted about earlier before someone reported my post.”

“Are you live?” You asked, keeping your face expressionless. Olivia would do this.

“I bet some of you remember the few videos I did with her. Well of course that was before she turned against me and decided she was going to try and ruin me. Say hi, Y/n.” A sick smile played on her face.

“I never consented to being in your live, Olivia. Please stop.” You tried to keep your voice calm so that she wouldn’t have any way to make you look like the bad person. But regardless, she was already doing it.

Olivia cackled. “Well I think I’m free to do as I please in my apartment.” You could only imagine what her fans were saying. “You’re right, Andrea, she is an idiot, and I should have her arrested.” She spoke aloud making your blood boil.

“You’re so immature, Olivia.” You grumbled before grabbing the last couple boxes and moving towards the door. Olivia decided to swat the boxes out of your hand, and they fell tumbling to the ground. “What the hell, Olivia. I could have fragile stuff in there.” You growled at her.

Olivia was just laughing. “This is funny. What else should I do, guys?” She asked as she panned the phone around the room.

Her immaturity was giving you a headache. Poki walked in and saw Olivia.

“Oh hey guys, look who’s here. Pokimane.” She panned the camera to Poki who frowned. Olivia just laughed and started talking shit until she was cut off by the stream just ending. “What the hell.”

You gathered the last few boxes, and Poki came to help while Olivia attempted to start another live.

“What the fuck, it won’t let me go live.” She growled while stomping her foot like a child.

“That’s what happens when an influx of people report your live.” Poki spoke as you both had gathered the boxes.

Olivia was frowning. “What did you do, Y/n.” She wanted to pounce at her, but Y/n and Poki were already at the door.

“Y/n did nothing, but I got word of your little livestream and contacted some friends for help. It will be at least 24 hours before you can have another live. But with the amount of people who reported you, well you may be banned for a while.” With that, you and Poki left Olivia standing there is absolute shock.

You and Poki put the last boxes in the car. “Thank you, Poki. How did you get so many people to report it?”

“Well it was actually Corpse. He texted me and informed me that she was doing a live and bothering you. He had his fans go report it, but apparently Sykkuno and Rae also sent their fans. I was going to send mine, but they had it handled. So this was all Corpse.” She explained.

Hearing this made you feel so soft for Corpse. “Awe wow. That’s so sweet of him.”

The two of you entered the car. “Y/n, can I tell you something without you telling him I told you?”

You looked over at her. “Yes, sure.” Your heart rate kind of picked up.

“Well the other day, Corpse admitted he has feelings for you, but he wasn’t completely sure if you felt the same way for him. But I mean I can clearly see you do. Your whole face just lit up when I mentioned him. So do you?”

Heat filled your face and you suddenly felt shy. “I do, yes. Which is ridiculous because I just met the guy, and I don’t even know what he looks like. But gosh, I like him so much. When I talk to him, I feel happy. He’s been so good to me through this crap with Olivia.” You admitted, knowing she already knew.

Poki smiled and squealed in complete happiness. “You two are just the most adorable people! It’s not ridiculous. We pretty much knew from the first time you joined us, that Corpse was into you. But oh my god, you’re into him. You need to tell him!!!!”

You agreed, Corpse deserved to know. “I do. But how? It’s been a really long time since I’ve told someone I liked them. Shit, I feel like I’m in high school again!”

This made Poki giggle. “Calm down, Y/n. I have a plan. Let’s get back to the apartment and we will talk about this. Rae also wants to be involved in this.”

Back at her apartment, you had jumped onto a call with Rae and the three of you talked about what your plan was for you to tell Corpse what you felt for him. Rae and Poki decided to organize an Among Us game strictly for fun and no one would stream, they would also use Proximity chat.

“So we will get him to follow you around until one of us is imposter, then we will lock you into wherever you end up. Do it then” Rae explained sounding so excited.

“Okay, that can work. Let’s do this!” You were nervous but also excited to finally do something good for yourself.

You and Poki set up for the gane and Corpse sent you a text.

Corpse

Are you joining the game tonight?

Seeing a text from him, made you feel giddy.

Y/n

Yep I am. So I will see you in game?

Corpse

Yes you will, angel.

Cue the insane butterflies.

**

The lobby loaded and it was you, Corpse, Poki, Rae, Sykkuno, Karl, Tina, Sean, Toast, and Leslie. All streamers you had grown to like a lot in the time you have been playing with them.

“Y/n, I am so happy you’re playing with us!” Tina gushed as her little character ran around yours.

“I’m happy to be here.” You really were.

“You’re sister is a piece of work, Y/n.” Sykkuno said.

You giggled. “Don’t I know it.”

“What did she do this time?” Sean asked.

“Decided to film a live when we went to get Y/n’s stuff from the apartment.” Poki explained.

“Oh, that’s gross.” Karl commented.

“I have to thank Corpse for helping.” You stated to the group.

“Yeah Corpse was quick to text us.” Sykkuno added.

“You’re welcome, Y/n. I wasn’t going to let her get away with what she was doing. Truth is, I got a bunch of fan DMs that were telling me what Olivia was doing. So a lot of my fans were already reporting it, but the tweet helped.” Corpse’s deep voice soothed you.

“I appreciate it so much. She was just being an immature brat as always.”

The group laughed before deciding to start the game. Poki and Rae agreed to text you when either of them were imposter. Now it was a matter of getting Corpse to follow you.

The group was on the Polus map, which seemed to be a favorite for everyone.

Rae

We should lock them in weapons.

Rae had texted you and Poki through the group text.

Poki

That’s the best place for them.

Y/n

Okay but I still have to get him to follow me.

Rae

He will. Just wait, I have a plan.

You trusted Rae and Poki to help you. Now it was time to admit it all to Corpse and hope he genuinely liked you back.

Y/n

Let’s do this!

PART THREE  >>                                         

[wherearemyglassesbro]

i saw that you play genshin impact, so i’m kind of curious... what’d be the axis and allies’ vision and weapons?

Uh oh...now you got me started. Be warned, it’s a long one cause I have no self control

Some key terms for those who don’t play genshin impact and want to be included!!

Cryo -> ice, Hydro -> water, Dendro -> nature, Geo -> rock, Pyro -> fire, Electro -> lightning

Hilichurls: a common enemy found in the wild. Despite looking like hairy trolls, they have a district language as well as texts, art and song that they share together making them an advanced species!

Ruin guards: another enemy. Giant, scary robot...they scare me...

Knights of Favonious: an organization of knights within Mondstat that keep order and peace :) very nice guys and gals over there!!

Mondstat: modeled after Germany

Liyue: modeled after China

Alfred: pyro, claymore, Springvale Mondstat

Alfred would be a super heavy hitter in battle but his drawbacks are that despite his energetic nature, he’s slower because of the weight of his weapon

He blows stuff up a lot and sets all of the grass around you on fire so if you fight with him...His teammates will take damage from him Jeez Louise!!!

Since we don’t have all of the nations of Teyvay unlocked, I don’t know where he’d be from! I’d have to explore to get a sense for it so for characters that don’t have a place on the map yet, I’ll mark them with an asterisk from now on! :)

Idk where he lives but I do know that he’d be a devoted member of the adventurers guild! He’s always willing to offer a helping hand to anyone in need! Wether it be helping Granny Ann make hash browns or taking comissions to go kill a huge ruin guard who’s terrorizing the town!! He’s always leaping into new jobs! He isn’t even in it for the money or rewards! He just loves helping out!

Arthur: Dendro, archer, Mondstat

Artie is a beast in battle! Shooting vine Aries at enemies to tie them up or temporarily blind them??? Sick as fuck. Keep in mind, Genshin doesn’t have any Dendro characters that are playable yet so idk how they’d fight but I think I can guess :)

Artie is technically part of the knights of favonious because he works in their library. He translates books written in ancient texts into the standard language so historians and others can read what the old civilizations had to say

Instead of having normal eyes, they’re slit like snake eyes. And he has leaves instead of hair :)

He has a little seelie that floats around at his side. He talks to it but it doesn’t really do anything but provide company to a lonely guy :’) he needs more friends

Matthew: Anemo, catalyst, *

It’s always good to have a catalyst on your team! Ningguang is a great example of an underestimated catalyst cause she can do INSANE damage man!! So I think Mattie would be the same way

Matt isn’t violent and doesn’t enjoy fighting so his in-game voice lines would say that lol

Mattie is an alchemist! Well...A student alchemist. He didn’t take up an interest in alchemy until like, 3 years ago so he’s got a lot to catch up on still! He’s doing his best!

He gets very annoyed with Alfred since Mattie is detail oriented and gentle...Alfred is not any of those things. But he still loves his brother and on rare occasions, he’ll assist him with his commissions

Ivan: Cryo, catalyst, Liyue(temporary)

Ivan would be a support character for sure but he’d do a damn good job of doing it

He’s buff but he doesn’t do hand to hand combat, he’s mastered magic for a reason

Ivan spends most of his time studying hilichurls. He writes books about them, translates their texts and acts as a peace keeper when he can. He gets information from them about the Abyss Order in return for free reign of small portions of protected land where they can live without fear of being killed

Because he’s from Schneznya(spelling?) he’s kinda expected to be a bad guy but he left a long time ago. But he still sounds like he’s from there and...He’s super pale too so there really is no mistaking where he’s from

Ivan can’t stand how ignorant humans are towards hilichurls so he does everything he can to advocate for them. He’s covered in scars from when he first started engaging with the beasts. A huge scar runs down his face but he doesn’t mind it

He’s got big, sharp teeth!! So he doesn’t often smile cause he thinks he looks weird

Francis: Hyrdo, long sword, *

Fran is underestimated when it comes to combat (like Kaeya...I see you slandering this man) but he has so much potential!

Since he’s a hydro, he is so useful for elemental reactions! If he’s paired with a cryo or pyro user, he’d totally boost them!!

Fran is a traveling entertainer, he goes between the 7 nations as a singer and actor for small stage plays. He has a crew of friends who travel with him, they’re one jolly bunch!

He always acts all nonchalant and stuff but once he’s in a battle, he’s wild. Especially if the abyss order holds up his crew on their way to their next tour destination “We need to be in Liyue Harbor in four hours you are NOT holding us back!” *tidal wave*

He’s a regular tavern hopper! A very recognizable face since he’s been banned from a handful for getting too rowdy

He can make not one, but 2 special dishes :0

Yao: Dendro, polearm, Liyue

I just imagine him as a shorter, richer and cooler version of Zhongli

He’d do that kick move that Zhongli does with his polearm oh man that looks SICK dude!!!

Yao would shoot vines out and they’d strangle enemies for a few seconds before disintegrating but if he’s leveled up enough, they’ll totally strangle those stupid hillichurls lol

Yao sells rare gems and other miscellaneous items for very high prices in Liyue where he grew up. His shop is upstairs by the Fatui bank. Rich people enjoy looking at what his shop has to fifer and will argue prices with him. They’re getting scammed for sure. He’ll list a set of cor lapis earrings as $50,000 and the rich will be like ‘I’ll pay $25,000, no more than that’ and he’ll take it!!....Cause thise earrings are worth $5000 at most >:)

Hes close with a lot of the higher ups in Liyue and is often invited to fancy lunches or dinners where they discuss policy, contracts and vendor permits. He doesn’t really get a say in any of that but he benefits from listening

Kiku: Electro, claymore, *

Kiku would be SUCH an awesome electo user are you KIDDING me??? I can see it now, him swinging that huge sword around, purple lightning bolts flying all around and he looks like a total badass? Amazing vibes

When paired with cryos???? He’d do an insane amount of damage fr

Kiku runs a small restaurant where he...runs the place...but doesn’t cook. His restaurant is extremely exclusive and people often throw fits when they can’t get in cause the wait list is over 5 years long. He’ll rest his hand on their shoulder and smile ‘is something wrong? I’d love to take a complaint if you have one’...No one has even dared to complain to his face lol

Behind the restaurant front he deals with the Fatui, buying and selling minerals or artifacts. That’s where his knowledge is at, not with food. He pays his staff to ignore what goes on behind the scenes and the locals are too busy enjoying the restaurant to question what goes on after dark

Gilbert: Pyro, long sword, Mondstat

Gil would be one of the free characters given to you at the beginning of the game but hey, I’m not complaining

He’s highly destructive and very chaotic in battle, he can do that spin move even though that’s meant for claymore users

He’s Mondstat’s biggest trouble maker. He runs an underground gambling room that sits underneath a tavern. He isn’t really into gambling but he makes a lot of money by running it

The only knight who knows is Ludwig which is not good cause...Gil pretty much bribes his brother into not telling the knights of favonious (peace keepers of Mondstat)

Gil never got his gliding certificate cause he kept flying into buildings. He broke his nose doing that lol

Lovino: Pyro, catalyst, *

I can’t add anymore images so imagine a floating, red and black orb. Lovi doesn’t get a book catalyst cause he doesn’t read :) That’s the catalyst thing I’m talking about 😅😅

My guy has the angriest in game voice lines, he’s inconvenienced by every battle, every enemy is ugly and a fuckin disaster. He’s just. Angry.

He’d be a super weak character if he needed to rely on hand to hand combat but he learned magic for a reason babey

He owns a flower stand in his country and makes all kinds of beautiful flower arrangements. He even picks his own flowers in the fields when he can (but usually pays the town’s children to do it for him to ‘teach them the value of hard work’).

Everyone knows he’s a total hothead and will piss him off on purpose just cause it’s funny lmao. But then somehow...Their hair or clothes will just...catch on fire. So is it really worth it to tease him? :/

Feliciano: Hydro, archer, Mondstat(temporary)

I feel like Feli would also be a free character, not cause he isn’t good or anything! But you always need an archer on your team!

Feli has healing properties for his team and doesn’t do an insane amount of damage but when given the right resources, he’d be a pretty sick healer

He moved to Mondstat to join the church there. He leads prayers in front of the church and sings in the choir inside.

He is the sweetest and has never committed a crime in his LIFE but he’s afraid of the knights lol he’s terrified that he’ll get in trouble and be kicked out of Mondstat forever! That would never happen but he’s a worry wart cause of his brother

Ludwig: Geo, long sword, Mondstat

Lud is the only one that I could really think of as a Geo but Geos are awesome :)

He’s a hard hitter but has like...No shield so he’ll take damage fast if you don’t give him those artifacts with shield in them or whatever lol uhhhh I wouldn’t know anything about that cause I suck at building my teams ;-;

He’d totally be in with the knights of favonious! (I think that’s spelled right lol) but he’d take his duty as a knight very seriously!! He’s a familiar face around Mondstat, the elderly absolutely adore him and the local teenage girls swoon over him which he finds super embarrassing lol

He has to work hard to keep Gilbert in check cause even though Gil isn’t a knight, his actions reflect negatively back on Lud very often... :(

Please ignore the spelling errors and terrible photo cropping on my part lol this was so fun!!

By the time you’re seeing this, ive already made full outfit red sheets for everyone mentioned above!!!! :D

[allthingshetalia]

can we pls get a scenario of femreader being bffs with gil. like they literally are together for everything to the point ppl say/think they are a couple. but luddy has had a crush since forever on her but ofc puts gils happiness before his. turns out, she returns his feeling too. this could apply to a humanau but you may do as you like tbh your writing is good. stay safe bb and thanks.

💕I love this so much!!! Thank you!!💕

The large blonde grumbled to himself as he scrubbed the dishes. He could hear your melodic laughs from the livingroom as you and Gilbert were having a pillow fight. He felt horrible. You were suppose to be like a sister to him. I mean Gil always referred to you as his sister, so didn’t that technically mean you were his sister too?

He wanted nothing more than for those laughs to be because of him. They were sometimes, but not near enough to his liking. It was so juvenile. Even if you did return his feelings he would feel horrible for stealing his brothers closet friends. But yet another part of him thought about how nice to would be. You and Gil could do your shenanigans when he was doing his paperwork. You could all eat dinner together- expect for when he took you on a date of course.

But yet he didn’t want to cause a divide. What if him and Gil fought? Whose side would you take? He obviously hoped you would take his side considering you would be his girlfriend, but Gil had seniority over him.

No. You are just as close with him as you are with Gilbert. That’s a lie. And the fact that, that is a lie makes his stomach hurt.

“Careful you don’t break that plate. It’s an antique from the 1700s.” Gilbert’s voice rang out. Ludwig jumped and looked over his shoulder.

“Sorry.” Ludwig grumbled. The Prussian hummed and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

“You good?” The Prussian mumbled. He assumed he asked quietly because he didn’t want you to hear. The blonde nodded, not looking at his brother. “You could tell me you know.”

‘No I can’t.’ Ludwig thought. The blonde finally looked over at him and nodded his head so Gilbert would leave him alone. The Prussian gave him the familiar look of ‘this conversation isn’t over’ and popped back into the livingroom with you. Ludwig finally finished the dishes and decided it was time to take the dogs for a nightly walk. He usually just lets them out the back door but decided he needed to get out of the house.

“I’m going with you!” Gilbert shouted as Ludwig threw on his coat. Ludwig groaned, but maybe it meant you would come along too.

“You two have fun! I’m going to go take a shower and get ready for bed.” You laughed, throwing the throw pillow back on the couch.

“Who invited you to stay the night?” Gilbert teased poking your side.

“Shut up!” You laughed. You paused for a moment and bent down petting Berlitz head. “You take good care of them! Don’t let anyone attack them at night.” You laughed as the dog seemed to understand you, because he nodded his head. “Have fun!” You shouted before running up the stairs.

The two brothers were just about to leave when you poked your head out from the top of the stairs. “Wait! Ludwig can I use your shower? Gilbert’s is disgusting! I promise to leave it nice and clean!”

That did more to the blonde than you will ever know. First of all, you naked. Second of all, naked in a space he is also naked in. Third of all, you’re gonna be naked. The blonde swallowed thickly trying so hard to stop the blood rushing to his head I’ll let you decide which one sorry.

“That’s fine.” He cringed when that came out as a squeak. Flashing him a smile your head disappeared up the stairs.

Ludwig quickly opened the front door enjoying the way the freezing cold chilled his overheated body. Blackie yelped even though he was wearing a little doggy coat and Aster pulled at her lease wanting to see if there was any ice she could play with on the ground. Gilbert closed the door behind him and took Aster’s lease from Ludwigs hand, knowing she was more than enough of a handful and she’s gils favorite.

“So what am I going to have to do to get you to talk?” Gilbert mused, nudging his brother with his elbow.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Ludwig stated. His tone was perfectly normal but Gil could see straight through him.

“Does this have anything to do with your undying love for my best friend?” Ludwig choked on his spit and he stopped in his tracks.

“How did you know about that?” Ludwig quickly grimaced when he realized how easily he gave that away.

“It’s so obvious! I’ve known you since you were this tall.” Gilbert placed his hand against the middle part of his thigh. “I see the way your eyes get all mushy when you see her and that stupid tiny smile that is on your face.”

Ludwig groaned and ran a hand down his face, continuing to walk. “How long have you known?”

“Since you’ve started liking her! At first I thought it was gross because she is toooo young for you.” Gilbert teased.

“Everyone on this earth is too young for us.”

“Thats a sad fact, especially if you’re with an older woman- because then you realize you are actually older than her.” Gilbert sighed.

“You are speaking from experience.”

“Well I’ve had a lot of experience.” Gilbert chuckled. It was silent for a moment. “You know she likes you too.”

“What?!?” Ludwig glared at his brother stopping his walk once more. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to make sure you were both right for each other. You are both the two most important people in my life. I didn’t want her to hurt you or you to hurt her. But you two would be really good together and I would make a great uncle.” Despite Gilberts joking attitude his words made Ludwig smile.

“I know it could put you in a bad situation. I mean what if things don’t work out?” The blonde mused, sighing when he realized he had to pick up his dogs poop.

“I’ll just stay out of your guys relationship! from this day on you can’t come to me for advice and she can’t come to me for advice! So that way I’m not in the center if things go badly. But you do have to know that if this happens and both of you break up- which won’t happen because you two belong together, she is still going to be my best friend and you will have to see her.”

“Like you could stay out of it.” Ludwig grumbled throwing the doggy bag away. “But honestly that’s a risk I’m willing to take, if she is of course.”

“We could have so much fun! We could all go camping, and hiking and work out together. We’ll be like a big happy family.” The thought of all of that made excitement bubble up in Ludwigs chest replacing the uncertainty.

He absolutely adores you. He would rather date you for a week and have you hate him forever than not even try to date at all. You two worked so well together too. Before he could get to far along in his daydream Ludwig thought of something.

“How do you know she likes me?” The question caused a loud laugh to escape the Prussian.

“I always had a small suspicion, but remember Alfred’s party a while back, when he made us play 7 minutes in heaven?” Ludwig hummed recalling that night. He actually liked that party because you got a little too tipsy and hung onto his arm, so you wouldn’t fall. He loved the fact that you trusted him even in your drunken slur. “Well I asked her why she didn’t put anything in the hat and she said it was because you didn’t put anything in the hat. And you were the only one she would want to be in the closet with.” Ludwig smiled wider than he should have at that statement.

“See that’s what I’m talking about.” Gilbert laughed, pointing at him. “That lovesick grin.” Gilbert made a sound of disgust before turing around heading back to the house. “But I’m happy. You’ve never looked at anything like that and you’re my little brother. I want nothing more than for you to be happy.”

Ludwig blushed and rolled his eyes.

-back inside! Sorry this is so long!-

“Thanks again for letting me use your shower.” You smiled flopping down on the couch.

“It’s nothing. If you want to put some stuff in there I don’t mind. I’ve never been in his bathroom but I’ve heard the horror stories.” Ludwig chuckled. You laughed along with him.

“Thanks Ludbug. I will move some stuff in there tomorrow.” You joked. But you were also serious. Deadly serious. “How was your walk?” You asked. You laid down on the couch causing your feet to press against the outside of his thigh. You didn’t want to be a creep but you also hoped he wouldn’t move away. He blushed and you suddenly felt like you shouldn’t have brought it up. But before Ludwig could anwser Gilbert came trotting down the stairs in a dress shirt and nice slackes. The first few buttons were undone and his hair was gelled nicely.

“Awww does someone have a date? Why didn’t you tell me?!” You sat up quickly. You rolled so your legs were under your butt but this new postition caused your shoulder to almost hit Ludwigs.

“It’s not a date! Francis, Toni and Alfred called. They invited you too but I already said you were asleep.” You breathed a sigh of relief. You hated going out with all of them by yourself. They always got a little too drunk and being the only girl made you a little uncomfy- unless Lud was there of course. He always kept you safe. Like this one time a guy tried to slip you a roofie and Ludwig caught it before you did. He completely knocked they guy out in one punch and turned him over to the police. You shook yourself out of the daydream and stared at noticed that both brothers were looking at you expectantly.

“What?” You asked.

“Is that okay?” Gilbert repeated. He had a small smirk on his face like he knew where your mind went, but knowing him he probably did.

“Of course it’s okay!” You assured.

“Have fun you two!” Gilbert shouted as he walked out the door.

“Car keys!” You and Ludwig shouted in unison. You both blushed and looked at each other. The albino rushed in and grabbed his keys from the front table and turned back around, smiling to himself.

“Did he seem weird to you?” You questioned. You unconsciously leaned closer to Ludwig.

“He’s always weird.” He chuckled. He threw his arm back over the couch, causing you to realize what you did. You felt a little hurt think he didn’t want you to be near him.

“Sorry!” You yelped, scooting away from him.

“Nein!” His voice boomed causing you to jump. “Sorry I-I don’t mind.”

“Really?” You wanted to slap yourself. You sounded like a stupid high school girl. You both leaned back up in the couch and stared at the blank TV. “Can I ask you something?” You turned so you were facing him. He nodded and adjusted so he was turned towards you as well.

“Do you have a crush on anyone?” You needed to know. He stiffened and adverted his eyes away from you.

“Ja.” He replied softly. He looked back at you and stared directly into your eyes.

“Do you?” He leaned a little closer to you and something in your body told you he knew.

“Ja.” You giggled copying his accent. You moved a little closer so your forehead bumped against his. His eyes softened and his hand went up and he stroked your cheek with the back of his pointer finger. The little action caused your heart to melt.

You both smiled lightly before finally capturing each other’s lips in a kiss.

And neither of you noticed the very teary eyed Prussian in the doorway.

[badwolfwrites-sometimes]

Drawn Together: Chapter 12

Feliciano might be overreacting a bit over this.

He was currently sitting on his phone, waiting for Elizabeta to respond to his slightly angry messages over not even giving him a hint of what to expect. Poor Ludwig was left on read.

Feliciano was excited, he truly was, but for some reason he was scared. Ludwig Beilschmidt was extremely close to being his new favorite author and then he messages him and Feliciano is freaking out because he does not know what in the world is he supposed to do. Responding is a good way to start, but what should he say in order to not sound like a weirdo? Now he knew how fanfiction readers felt like commenting on their favorite stories.

Maybe he should rule out 'have my babies' as a possible answer...

While he was having his meltdown, he failed to notice that it was suddenly night and Elizabeta responded.

Lizzie: Well... Lizzie: In my defense I did tell him not to say that Lizzie: Keep his identity hidden

Okay, Feliciano was furious now.

♡~Feli~♡: You could ve at least warned me ♡~Feli~♡: Like idk hes not what he seems feli ♡~Feli~♡: Or something like that

Lizzie: Sorry  *sad face emoji* Lizzie: Lud has no experience talking to people online Lizzie: So I didn't want to burden him with being too careful about being a writer Lizzie: But he really wanted to talk to you so please don't feel weird around him Lizzie: Pretty please Feli ♡

And now he felt bad. He was acting like an asshole to his friend who was just trying to help her own friend. And Ludwig was still waiting for a response.

Artisloveandlife: Hi Ludwig! Artisloveandlife: Tbh when Lizzie said she had someone who wants to talk to me I was kinda expecting a fellow fan Artisloveandlife: Talking to the author themself is a big deal so I'm sorry if I'm awkward.

Feliciano didn't even get a chance to rest his phone.

Lutzie71: You are not awkward. Lutzie71: But I have a question. Lutzie71: Who is Lizzie?

Artisloveandlife: Elizabeta. Artisloveandlife: Does she go by a different name now?

Lutzie71: I am sorry. Lutzie71: I am just used to calling her Betty.

Artisloveandlife: Don't apologize  *big smile emoji* Artisloveandlife: She used to go by a lot of nicknames in middle school so... Artisloveandlife: Did you know that her real name isn't even Elizabeta? Artisloveandlife: It's something like Erzebet??

Lutzie71: Erszebet. Lutzie71: I asked her.

Artisloveandlife: Elegant, are we?  *laughing and crying emoji* Artisloveandlife: But you call her Betty like Otto and Alice. That's so cute!

Lutzie71: Yeah... Lutzie71: The character Elizabeta was made after her. Lutzie71: She was pestering me too much about it.

Well, that's kind of cute.

Artisloveandlife: That sounds like Lizzie. Artisloveandlife: But why did you want to talk to me? Artisloveandlife: I don't think authors normally do that.

Lutzie71: Well, you painted that beautiful piece of art and I have been looking for someone to do a cover for it and the second book. Lutzie71: So I thought I might ask.

Feliciano almost flipped another table at that. There is going to be another book?! For real?! He was only stopped from flipping things by Lovino calling him angrily. Right as he was texting Ludwig at that.

Lutzie71: I apologize for asking such a private question, but you never told me your name?

Well, of course Feliciano would forget something like that.

Artisloveandlife: Feliciano. Artisloveandlife: Sorry, I forgot. Artisloveandlife: Call me Feli.

Feliciano made his way downstairs as quick as he possibly could, just to see what his brother wanted from him now. He noticed two brown heads instead of one.

"Hey Toni!" Feliciano said.

Both Lovino and Antonio turned to face Feliciano. Lovino's face was as if he just ate a whole lemon and Antonio looked slightly worried. "We need to talk." Lovino said simply.

Feliciano nodded, feeling his phone vibrate, but he couldn't respond right now. That would piss Lovino off. "What is it?" He asked.

Lovino sat on the couch, motioning for Antonio and Feliciano to sit as well. Feliciano chose to sit on the stairs, a gut feeling telling him something wasn't right. He wondered if Antonio and Lovino had a fight, but when Antonio sat down next to Lovino, wrapping him up like a blanket, he relaxed.

"You know how Nonno is coming home tomorrow?" Lovino asked, not looking at Feliciano.

"Yeah." Feliciano answered. "Will you two tell him?"

"That's why we're talking to you." Antonio responded, interrupting Lovino as he was about to open his mouth and respond. "Feli, I don't know if you know this, but coming out is a big thing. And it only becomes harder when your heart is already devoted to someone." He squeezed Lovino closer to himself. "If something goes wrong, it's not just you who gets hurt. They get hurt as well. And it takes a good amount of time to properly come out to someone, so-"

"Keep your mouth shut, Feli." Lovino interrupted.

Feliciano nodded, he wasn't planning on saying anything anyway, but now he was more scared than ever of what his brother would do if he even let a tiny bit of it slip. "Can I go back to my room now?" He asked.

"Do the dishes first." Lovino said with a smirk.

Feliciano groaned. "But I did them yesterday!"

"Well, Midget isn't here right now."

"You can do them once in a lifetime!"

"Can't. I have a guest and important business to attend to."

"Making out isn't a business!"

"Neither is art."

Feliciano gave up before it escalated into a fight. He checked Ludwig's message before turning up music to do his work.

Lutzie71: Feliciano has a nice tone to it. It means 'happy one', doesn't it?

It was nice to see that Feliciano wasn't the only person in the world obsessed with name meanings. At least now, he isn't alone.

Once Feliciano was finished with the dishes, he sneaked up to his room before Lovino could give him another task to accomplish. He really just wanted to text with Ludwig right now, a thought of a great friendship growing in his mind. He sat on his bed and responded.

Artisloveandlife: Yess! Artisloveandlife: You know your onomastics, I like you already!! Artisloveandlife: I look forward to working with you on the book!

Lutzie71: So you accept my offer?

Feliciano giggled. Cute.

Artisloveandlife: Yup! Artisloveandlife: On a condition that I get to read it before anyone else.

Lutzie71: You would have to fight my brother for that.

Artisloveandlife: Ahh I don't like to fight...  *sad face emoji* Artisloveandlife: I'll read it after him.

Lutzie71: I just asked him and he said you can read it first if you paint him a portrait of himself. Lutzie71: In a Prussian uniform from 1770s.

Artisloveandlife: Deal! Artisloveandlife: I have no idea what he looks like but I'll do my best!

Lutzie71: He looks like an idiot. Lutzie71: And he's passed out on the floor now.

Artisloveandlife: Is he alright?

Lutzie71: Yes, he just had too much alcohol. Lutzie71: He looks rather comfortable next to our dogs.

Feliciano gasped.

Artisloveandlife: You have dogs?!?!?! Artisloveandlife: Can I see them? Can I please see them? I love dogs!

Lutzie71: I suppose you can. Lutzie71: Let me just figure out how to send you a picture.

Feliciano waited, smiling to himself. It's been a while since he talked to someone online, he almost forgot how exciting it would feel. Moments later, he got his response.

It was a lovely picture of three dogs perfectly nested with a white haired man. They were all ranging in size and colour. Feliciano didn't know much about dog species so he chose not to assume what they were. Them being super cute was what won Feliciano over, as he was on the floor with his legs high in the air, smiling and making strange noises whales would probably understand.

Artisloveandlife: THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!! Artisloveandlife: THEY MUST BE SO FLUFFY!! LUCKY!! Artisloveandlife: Also is that your brother?

Lutzie71: Unfortunately yes. Lutzie71: They aren't really fluffy, but they are rather cuddly.

Artisloveandlife: If this was anime world youre brother would be dead.  *dead face emoji* Artisloveandlife: SO CUTEE!!

Lutzie71: Oddly enough, you are not the first person who made that comment. Lutzie71: Also, I apologize but I am not sorry for this. Lutzie71: Your*

Artisloveandlife: Ah, thanks. Artisloveandlife: English isn't my first language so I make mistakes. Artisloveandlife: Whats the difference anyway??

Lutzie71: Your is for showing possession. For example your brother, your sister, your car, ect. You're is a short form for you are like I'm is for I am. Examples are you're driving, you're cooking and so on.

Artisloveandlife: You explained that like a teacher.  *smile emoji*

Lutzie71: A lot of people get it wrong. It is a common mistake.

Artisloveandlife: Is that why you type them out every time instead of shortening them?

Lutzie71: You could say that. Lutzie71: In any case I must go, my brother would just continue sleeping on the floor if someone wasn't there to carry him. Lutzie71: Good night, Feliciano.

Artisloveandlife: Lol Artisloveandlife: Good night Ludwig. Artisloveandlife: Remind me to send you a picture of my lovely babies  *yellow heart emoji*

Lutzie71: I will.

For the first time that night, Feliciano looked at the time. It was almost 2 a.m. He had been so engrossed into his conversation with Ludwig, he hadn't even thought about how late it was. There was no way he could even fall asleep after all that.

Before he knew it, morning came and he hadn't slept for a second. Instead, he spent the entire night rereading his texts with Ludwig, still in utter disbelief that he's talking to an actual author he admires. Most of his favourite authors have been dead for the past 800 years. Serves you right for liking Dante so much, Feliciano.

He decided to make something to eat and relax nicely. Their grandfather was coming home today so that means there's tons of cleaning to do and no time to rest. He turned on the TV and decided to watch some cartoons.

"Feli." A voice called for him.

"Feli, it's noon. Wake up." Someone was calling.

"Wakey, wakey, little Feli~" A melodic voice was calling, demanding that he wakes up. Strange, he wasn't even-

Feliciano opened his eyes to messy brown hair and a smile. He fell asleep? When? It didn't matter right now anyway, since he was awake.

"Morning, Toni." He smiled.

Antonio messed up Feliciano's hair. "Good afternoon, Feli."

"Those jokes suck. Stop it." Feliciano joked, adjusting himself in a different position on the couch.

"Never!" Antonio sat next to him. "Lovi is asleep too and Meo escaped somewhere again. I guess it's up to us to fix this place for your grandpa."

Feliciano looked around. Sure, there was dust everywhere and probably a good amount of spiderwebs, but overall, the place was actually less of a mess than it could be. "It's fine like this. He'll only stay for a few days so it doesn't matter."

Antonio pinched his cheek. "It does matter. He's your grandpa. Now, are you going to help me clean or are you going to wake Lovi up, soldier?"

Feliciano didn't even give it a thought. "I'll help you clean!"

"Good!" Antonio smiled.

"But first, let me check my phone." Feliciano said, already reaching for it on the table in front of them. He had a notification from Tumblr.

Lutzie71: Good morning, Feliciano.

This was sent at 9 a.m. Feliciano admired Ludwig's skill to wake up so early after talking to each other till so late.

Artisloveandlife: And a late good morning to you too  *smile emoji*

Ludwig's response was almost instant.

Lutzie71: You are just like my brother, only you actually woke up.

Feliciano giggled, catching Antonio's attention. "Who is it? Girlfriend? Boyfriend?" He asked, a huge smirk stuck on his face.

Feliciano's ears grew red, his smile shaking. "Just a friend." He answered.

"That's how it always starts." Antonio commented before getting up to make himself some coffee.

Lutzie71: You told me to remind you to show me your babies. Lutzie71: I am very curious to see if they are comparable to my dogs. Which I doubt.

Artisloveandlife: Meanie Artisloveandlife: Let me find them first.

Feliciano got up and searched around the house for his "babies." They were actually two cats, a grey one and a white with brown spots one. Both were Feliciano's. He got them for his 20th birthday after 20 years of begging. He found them asleep in the 1st floor bathroom and, without much thinking, snapped a picture which he sent to Ludwig.

Lutzie71: I must admit their adorableness. Lutzie71: However, they aren't nowhere near my dogs.

Artisloveandlife: Big meanie. Artisloveandlife: Pookie and Gino are worthy of being the greatest cats in the universe Artisloveandlife: Even witches' cats are afraid of their power.

Lutzie71: They still can't compare to my dogs and their wisdom.

Artisloveandlife: Im beginning to suspect that your dogs wrote your book for you

Lutzie71: I will not reveal such secrets.

Artisloveandlife: So they did  *smiling and crying face emoji*

Lutzie71: Okay, jokes aside. We know Aster, Berlitz and Blackie are superior, but Lutzie71: I am curious about what you thought on the book. Lutzie71: My brother complained that it was too cringy.

Artisloveandlife: We never agreed to that tho Artisloveandlife: It was a bit cringy at some parts like those romance bits Artisloveandlife: Even tho I fangirled like there was no tomorrow because they were meant to be with each other Artisloveandlife: But overall it was a really good book Artisloveandlife: You were a bit immature in that field so it made me laugh a lot

Lutzie71: I guess it helped in getting my point across.

Artisloveandlife: Point?

Lutzie71: The innocent suffer in wars. Lutzie71: I wanted to write about the soldiers who have their families and lives which they had to leave behind in order to die for a cause irrelevant to them. Lutzie71: Because what we remember from them is always just a number. Not their lives or their deeds, just whether or not they make the number of deaths increase. Lutzie71: I wanted to point out that they are so much more than than. More than a number.

Artisloveandlife: That Artisloveandlife: That is really meaningful Artisloveandlife: But why did you choose The Thirty Years War? Artisloveandlife: Wouldnt it be easier to just use World War 1 or 2??

Lutzie71: Because, unlike them, The 30 Years War was a long time ago and people have mostly forgotten about it. Lutzie71: That's not the case for the World Wars. Lutzie71: They are still far too fresh in the world's memories. Lutzie71: There's also the fact that I am German which is why I felt wrong writing about the wars my country mostly started. The 30 Years War was a result of an unstable situation in Europe. Lutzie71: You could say that I was afraid of writing about the World Wars.

Artisloveandlife: This converstation took a turn for something really depressive

Lutzie71: Conversation*

Artisloveandlife: Sorry Artisloveandlife: My fingers slipped  *smile emoji*

"Feli! Are you helping me or not?" Antonio called for Feliciano, startling him a bit. He was still in the bathroom, on the floor and petting his two kitties as he read Ludwig's messages.

Artisloveandlife: Im gonna have to go now Artisloveandlife: My grandpa is coming home after a long trip and we have to clean the whole house Artisloveandlife: Which is a lot Artisloveandlife: Ttyl Ludwig  *winky face emoji*

Lutzie71: I have no idea what that means. Lutzie71: Good bye, Feliciano.

Feliciano raced to meet with Antonio for a spring clean up, not even noticing new messages from Ludwig. He was reluctant to clean the house now, eager to return to texting his friend, but he had to put some of his excitement into a good use. His Nonno was coming home and for the first time in a while, Feliciano had made a new friend. One that he intended to keep.

[juliussneezerfics]

Blood Red Lilies and Baby Blue Cornflowers: Chapter 9 - Damage Control

Following Ludwig's huge mistake, Hungary comes by to give some sisterly advice... with some trouble along the way.

Ao3

****************

Several minutes later they sat around the table. Steaming cups of tea that none of them were drinking sat in front of them. Germany sat across from Hungary at the table, Prussia seated at the head. His eyes were flickering between the two, almost as if he were watching a fencing duel and he was wondering who would strike first.

“So. Italy.”

Germany grunted. “Yes.”

“What about him?”

Germany raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know what happened?” 

“Gilbert wouldn’t tell me.” Hungary shrugged, smiling. "Perhaps it was for the best. No offense, Gilbert, but this isn't exactly your area.”

“Wow, Gilbert, thanks for calling me to help my ‘little brother’.” Prussia muttered under his breath, bitterly sipping his tea.

“You just called me here because you didn’t want to deal with this!” Hungary protested.

“I beg to differ!” Prussia protested, setting his mug down with a little more force than what was required. “I tried! But then he got all mad and stormed out!”

Hungary raised a questioning eyebrow toward Germany.

“He just remarked that I dug myself into a huge hole.” Germany said.

“Gilbert…” Hungary grimaced.

Prussia cupped his hands around his mouth. “Traitor.” He mouthed to Germany.

Germany shook his head minutely.

“I said way more than that! You just told her the bad stuff. I’ll shave off your eyebrows tonight in revenge.” Prussia whispered.

“I’d offer to shave yours off in retaliation, but it wouldn’t even make a difference.” Germany muttered under his breath.

Prussia gasped. He turned his head to Hungary. “Did you just hear that?! He’s picking on me!”

“No I’m not, I’m just making conversation.”

“You son of a bitch, you’re picking on me!” Prussia protested, whipping his head back to face his brother.

���You picked on me first.”

“Are you saying I started it?”

“Boys, please.” Hungary interrupted, folding her hands.

“I’m not even doing anything.” Ludwig protested.

Hungary huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing her eyes. This was harder than she thought it would be.

“Oh my God, he’s touching me!” Prussia cried.

Hungary looked up.

Germany was holding his finger about half an inch away from Prussia’s cheekbone. His other elbow was propping up his arm on the table, his face resting on his hand. “I’m not touching you. I’m giving you plenty of space.”

“He’s touching me!”

“Does it look like I’m touching you?” Germany retaliated, the corners of his mouth barely turned up.

“You’re practically touching me!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m actually touching you.”

Prussia growled. “If you don’t stop touching me, I’m gonna’-”

“Do what? I’m not even touching you.” Germany had a touch of challenge in his voice.

With his jaw set, Prussia growled and launched himself across the table, reaching for Germany.

They were now sitting on either end of the table, a brooding Hungary sitting in the middle between them. Prussia glowered at Germany, Germany innocently gazing at Hungary.

“Right.” Hungary bit out. “Boys, please behave so we can continue the conversation. Especially you, Gil.”

“That wasn’t even me!” Prussia protested, looking like he scarcely believed what she was saying.

“You’re older. You should know better.”

“But- Liz, he’s a grown man!”

“So are you.” Germany said calmly, looking as if he were thoroughly enjoying this exchange.

“That’s enough out of you, Ludwig. You're trying to instigate.”

Germany nodded. “Okay.”

“Kiss-ass.” Prussia muttered under his breath.

Germany looked at his brother. “I’m trying to be mature and move on!”

“Nobody likes a suckup!"

Hungary shook her head and groaned. “For the love of God, can the two of you shut up?”

Prussia huffed out a sigh. “Fine. Sorry.”

“Now what happened? Why was I called over?”

Germany stared down at the table, wondering how he was supposed to continue. “Well… last night my hanahaki was particularly bad… I got out of bed because I wanted more tea and I just wanted to do something by myself.”

Hungary nodded kindly. ‘That’s perfectly understandable.”

Germany paused. He wasn’t unthankful for the positive affirmation, but it was strange. “… right. So I fell over and I started coughing. Then… Italy was standing there. I tried to get him to leave because I didn’t want him to see me like that, then I coughed up a lily. By that point, he figured out what was going on and he started blaming himself. I knew I was going to die in seconds, so I tried to get him to leave. He knew I was dying, so he… tried to save me.”

Hungary frowned. “How?”

“He- take a wild guess.”

Hungary paused or a moment, then nodded understandingly. “… I see. Did anything happen after that? Did he go home?”

“Quite the opposite.” Prussia added, his voice sober. “He refused to leave Germany’s bedside. I sent him to the kitchen for a cup of… something. I mean, Jesus, after what he saw he was welcome to any of it. That’s when I yanked out the flowers. When he came up, he refused to leave Germany’s bedside until he woke up next morning.”

Hungary nodded. “Good idea.”

“So the next morning I woke up, he made sure I was okay, then he went home.” Germany summarized.

“No, he didn’t.” Hungary protested.

Germany raised an eyebrow.

“Gilbert wouldn’t have called me over if that was all.”

Germany heaved a sigh. He had tried to worm his way out of the uncomfortable conversation, but apparently Hungary wouldn't allow it. “He tried to get me to talk about it and I wouldn’t. We had a fight, then he left.”

“If you don’t mind my asking-”

“It was bad.” Germany answered. “I ignored the conversation entirely and started talking about the upcoming meeting.”

Hungary hissed in a breath. “Oh, honey, no.”

“Oh, honey, yes.” Prussia said gravely. “Italy stormed out. I didn’t even know he was capable of storming out.”

Hungary nodded. “He and his brother are similar in that regard. They know how to make an exit.”

Germany also nodded. “And he hasn’t called. Not surprising, but I wonder if he will.”

Hungary hummed and rested her chin on her folded hands. “Give him space.”

“How much? For how long?”

“I’m not sure.” She answered gravely. “Just wait for him to come to you first.”

“And let him think I’m ignoring him?” Germany asked.

Hungary gave him a pitying look. “Ludwig, you don’t do well with emotional confrontation.”

“You’re right. It will be hard not to do anything, but I can do that. Do I tell Japan?”

Hungary furrowed her brow. She folded her hands again, staring down at the table. “I’m not sure.”

“I say ‘no’.” Prussia decided. “It’s between the two of you. I don’t like being tangled up in other people’s drama and I know Japan’s the same way.”

“Could be.” Hungary nodded. “But he’s also your guys’ best friend. He’s bound to figure out something’s wrong.”

Germany groaned. “I don’t want to make this worse.”

“I appreciate that, Ludwig.” Hungary said. “I’m honestly not sure what to do.”

Prussia brightened. “I know, you need help from the awesome me! I’m pretty good with this kind of thing.” He leaned forward on the table. “Just wait until the meeting next week! You and Italy can kind of feel out your situation or whatever, then if Japan asks any questions you two can figure it out as you go along.”

“That doesn’t sound like a plan at all.” Hungary said.

“No. I can’t improvise.” Germany protested. “That’s just not what I do. I need a plan.”

Hungary furrowed her brow. “I don’t know if we can come up with one for something like this. There’s no way to do that without knowing how Italy feels.”

“The two of you are close, right?” Prussia began, turning to Hungary. “What if you kind of check on him and gave us an idea?”

“How Italy feels is none of your business.” Hungary said not unkindly.

“He never asked you to spy on him, or anything.” Germany said. “But… maybe if you just went and checked on him. Gilbert’s right. I know the two of you are rather close, maybe if you just went to see if he’s alright. You don't even have to tell us anything."

Hungary smiled. “Oh, that’s a good idea!”

Germany studied her, brow furrowed. “You were already going to do that, weren’t you?”

“We’re going to get lunch today. But that’s still a nice thought.” Hungary amended.

Germany just hummed.

“Well, I’m off to do more damage control.” Hungary sighed, standing. She grabbed her purse by her feet. “Take care of yourselves, you two.” She rounded the table to Germany.

Germany stood, accepting Hungary’s hug. “You too, Eliza.”

“Oh, I’ll be just fine!” Hungary grinned, pulling away. “You know I’m tougher than I look!”

“I would know more than anyone.” Prussia said, also standing.

Hungary strode forward, hugging Prussia as well. “Mm… I still owe you for the crotch cloth.”

Prussia pulled away immediately, grimacing. The very tips of his ears were flushed pink. “I thought we agreed to drop that! Didn’t you pay me back enough?”

“I don’t think she could.” Germany took his seat again, smiling slightly at his older brother’s discomfort.

“How many times…” Prussia rolled his eyes. “If I’d have known she was a girl-”

“I’m just pulling your leg, Gilbert. It’s too easy!” Hungary laughed. She rested her hand on Germany’s shoulder as she passed and strode to the door. “Take care of him, Lud.”

“I'll try." Germany said, sipping his cup of tea.

“Hey! I’m the older brother!” Prussia protested.

Hungary laughed, not responding as she left the house.

Prussia collapsed in his seat, grumbling under his breath.

Ludwig smirked, lowering his cup of tea to the table. “Enjoyed that hug, didn’t you, Gil?”

“Shut up.” Prussia snapped, his ears and neck warming into a bright pink.

[realmwrites]

Homework

[ read on ao3 ]

GerAme Week - Work and Play

Alfred flops against the table, his pencil falling from his hand to the floor. He groans theatrically. “Ludwig, help me study. I don’t understand any of this shit.”

Ludwig rubs his forehead with the palm of his hand and dips to pick it up. “You’re actually better than me at math. If you would just apply yourself you could help us both out and explain this better than Ms. Iliopoulos did in class.” He slides him his pencil.

“Man, it’s so fucking funny that you call her that instead of Ms. I, but it’s also probably why you’re her favorite.” He flicks the pencil back towards Ludwig.

“Alfred, focus.” He hisses, pushing the pencil back again. “I call her that because it’s her name, and I’m not going to study with you anymore if you keep being a nuisance. I want to get some sleep tonight.”

“I can keep you up in more exciting ways if you want.” He wiggles his eyebrows, spinning the pencil with a hand.

“Shut up.” He flushes. “Do your homework.”

“Ugh, fine. You’re no fun.” Alfred sits up and runs a hand through his hair.

His glasses fall crooked across his nose, and despite his best efforts to tame it, a shock of golden blond springs back up. It makes him look like a comic book character, square jaw, bright eyes and all, and Ludwig’s heart stutters in his chest. He shakes it off and forces his gaze back to his paper.

Alfred continues. “Can’t we take a break? We’ve been doing homework for hours and hours and hours. I’m going to die if I don’t stand up and kick something.”

“Don’t kick something.” He grumbles under his breath and scratches down the next equation.

“Can we at least take a quick walk? It’s good to stand up and do shit between assignments. We finished history already, so I think we deserve at least one break. Or maybe we can raid the fridge and eat something. Like those bread things your mom bought? I’m fucking hungry.”

He stares at the singular x2 on his paper, his irritation spiking as his concentration dwindles. Maybe Alfred is right. Maybe he does need a break, but he knows that if they pause, he’ll never finish at a reasonable hour.

“No,” he says.

“Jeez, okay, I’m going to take a break if you aren’t. Come find me if I don’t come back in an hour or two, or when you decide you want a break, too.”

“You better not be gone for more than fifteen minutes.”

“That’s barely long enough to take a shit.”

“God, Alfred, you’re disgusting.”

“Whatever, dude, you know you love me.”

“Just go take your break. I’m trying to be productive here.”

Alfred snorts and pushes out from the table. “Okay, okay, sorry, Mr. Straight As. I’m leaving.”

“Good.” Ludwig rolls his eyes, no real bite to his tone. “Oh, and by the way, if you eat all the snacks, I’ll throttle you.”

“Then maybe you better come with me.”

“Absolutely not.”

Alfred shrugs and saunters out of the room.

Ludwig gnaws at his lip, glancing at where he’d disappeared and back to his paper. Chips, chocolate, coke- it does sound awfully appealing, but he’d already said he wasn’t interested. Ludwig exhales in frustration, scribbling down the next step. Quadratic equations should be easy for him by now, but for some reason, his mind won’t let him factor. It’s only number twelve- less than half the assignment.

Alfred pops unbidden in his mind’s eye, grinning with all his perfect white teeth, and Ludwig throws down his pencil. He leans back in his chair and looks to the ceiling, praying to any higher power for his unhelpful problem to cease to exist. He’s stopped bothering with denial, but the more he accepts his hopeless dilemma, the more hopeless it seems to become. Alfred Jones is the most beautiful boy he’s ever met in his life, but it’s never changed the fact that he rarely focuses on his school work, eats all of Ludwig’s snacks and is, worst of all, unquestionably straight.

He erases number twelve. Five minus seven does not equal three.

By the time number twelve is completed, he's  surprised to have heard no shouting from the kitchen or exaggerated sounds of chocolate consumption. It seems that Alfred has genuinely decided to let him work in peace, and it’s almost disappointing.

He stares at number thirteen for all of five seconds before he starts towards the kitchen. Maybe Alfred is right. Maybe a few minutes of break won’t hurt after all.

When he pads onto the tiled floor, Alfred is nowhere to be found, but he’s clearly been present. New chocolate wrappers are crumpled in the trashcan, and someone’s left out a full cup of coke. He smiles despite himself. Alfred knew he’d come looking, but at least, he’d poured him a glass. He grabs it and sips, wandering towards the back door.

He pushes it open, and his eyes land on Alfred rocking back and forth in a chair on the porch. Alfred glances in his direction at the sound of the door, but he doesn’t greet him with anything more than a nod. Ludwig squints at his somber expression and walks towards him and the chocolates on his lap.

“Are you just sitting here and thinking?” Ludwig asks, reaching for a chocolate.

Alfred shrugs.

He sits in the rocking chair beside him and pops the chocolate in his mouth. Alfred stares off into the yard. Ludwig follows his gaze to the oak tree, its leaves swaying in the back and the birds chirping in its branches. The sun sends dappled shadows on the grass, and light filters onto Alfred’s face in oblong splashes. Serious doesn’t suit him, and Ludwig is quickly growing uncomfortable.

“Are you okay? Oh, and thank you for pouring me a drink.” He tries again. It’s odd to be the one initiating the conversation.

“Uh huh. Welcome.” Alfred nods, sliding the chocolates onto the table in front of them. “And I dunno. Sort of. I guess.”

“Did something bad happen?”

“No, but do you think I’m stupid?”

“What? No? You’re very smart. You only act ridiculous sometimes, but you’re smarter than me. I think school just might be difficult for you because it’s so monotonous. It’s boring for me, and I even like regimented predictability.”

“I’m not smarter than you, but thanks.” He stretches his arms above his head, rolling his ankles in little circles. “Sorry. I just got thinking, but hey, Lud, you know how you’re… gay?”

Ludwig’s heart stops for a dreadful second, his fingers going numb against his glass. Did Alfred know?

“Er, yeah. What… What about it?”

“I think I… Uh, I- How did you figure that out? This probably sounds really dumb, but how’d you know you weren’t into girls?”

“The same way you know you aren’t into men.” Ludwig shrugs, relieved to hear it’s this and not anything regarding his feelings towards Alfred. “I’m not attracted to them. I think some girls are cute. Eliza is beautiful, but it’s more of an observation than anything else.”

“But I don’t know that.”

“Of course-” Ludwig stops, his eyebrows raising. His heart flutters in his throat as hidden hopes and locked dreams rattle in their cages. He forces them down. It doesn’t mean a thing when this likely has nothing to do with him at all.

“No, I don’t know that I’m just into girls. Like I don’t know. It’s not like I want to bang when I see a good- a hot guy? But I don’t know. Does it count if it’s just one person? Being bisexual?”

He feels like he’s dying.

“It’s your identity, but what do you mean? Is this recent?”

“No. It’s- fuck, it’s, I don’t know, it’s been like this for a while now. I didn’t say anything because it was weird? Not that being… gay is weird. But it was- I don't really fucking know. I think this guy is really… hot I guess? But it's not just that. I thought for a while that maybe I just wanted to look like him or some shit, but it's like a crush? Like butterflies in your stomach whenever he smiles. I want to-” Alfred groans. “I don't know. What the fuck is happening to me?”

His throat constricts. The sun is too warm on his skin, and Alfred's blue eyes burn like sunspots through his heart. It could be him, but why when they knew so many better looking, kinder, more talented people? Why when it could be Kiku with his soft smile and witty jokes? Feliciano with his boundless energy and magnetic creativity? Ivan with his cooling presence and sharp tongue? Francis with his flamboyant confidence and effortless beauty? Too many better choices, too many easier friends. Besides, why would Alfred tell him anything if it was him?

“It sounds like a crush.” He barely registers his own voice. “Do you know if he's interested in men? Do you want to pursue him?”

“Yeah, he's not straight, and yeah, I think- No, yeah, I want to really fucking badly. I'm just scared it would ruin our friendship because I really care about him, and- I don't know, Lud. I'm so fucking confused. What would you do?”

Suppress all emotion and die, he thinks. “Is he open to dating?”

“I think so?”

Ludwig wants to take Alfred's hands in his own and look him straight in the eyes. He wants to tell him he's wanted to kiss him since freshman year, that he's never stopped wanting. He swallows down every sticky, choking feeling crawling up his throat. But he still feels sick to his stomach.

“You should ask him about his love life. If he seems open, it’s always better to tell them the truth. You can get it off your chest and move on, and if not, you can pursue it.”

“Okay.” Alfred's eyes bore into his soul. “You're single, right?”

“Yes.” And he will be until Alfred Jones exits his life.

He doesn't know which is worse: Alfred staying his closest friend and dating someone else or Alfred leaving his life forever. Both are too painful to consider.

Ludwig frowns. “This isn't relevant though.”

“Why not? Are you open to dating right now?”

Yes and no. Yes if your name is Alfred. No if you’re anyone else.

“Alfred, can we not talk about my love life?”

“Lud-”

“Who is it anyways? And why are you only telling me now?” Ludwig's heart thumps wildly in his chest, his words dropping like anvil strikes on hot iron. He can't stop. “I thought we were best friends.”

“I haven't-” His face crumples, hurt writing itself across his features. “And yeah, we are best friends! I only told Kiku, but that's because I didn't want to mess anything up with you.”

Ludwig bites his lip hard. “You told Kiku before me.”

It makes sense. Kiku is the better listener. Kiku is the better friend. Kiku gives better advice, and Kiku isn't disgustingly horrible with anything emotional.

“Lud, no, it's not like that-”

“Then what is it like? How come-”

Alfred stands from his chair and in a heartbeat, his lips are pressed against his. Ludwig's mind runs blank.

Alfred's lips are burning, his breath puffing against his mouth and his hands balled up in his shirt. Ludwig leans forward, craning his neck to meet him and slinging his arms around his neck. He tastes like coca cola and chocolate. His fingers thread through the soft locks of Alfred's hair, and he tugs him closer.

“Lud-” Alfred yelps, but before Ludwig can process what's occurring, Alfred tumbles into his lap.

He blushes bright red, his hands gripping the back of Alfred's shirt and Alfred's knee between his legs. They’re chest to chest, and Alfred is just a breath away.

“I'm sorry-” Ludwig starts.

But Alfred laughs and slides his knee up beside his other until he's kneeling on the chair between his legs. He cups his face with his hands, his careful fingers brushing against his cheekbones, and Ludwig inhales sharply.

“Wait, so do you like me, or do you just usually kiss back people who kiss you out of instinct or some shit?” His face is flushed a healthy pink, and he's grinning wide. He looks like a vision, and Ludwig's heart is threatening to beat out of his chest.

“I like you.” He admits.

“Good because you were the guy I was talking about, and it's why I didn't tell you sooner, and also, do you know how distracting you are when I'm trying to do my math homework, and you're here chewing on your lip with that cute little crease between your eyebrows, and how much it makes me want to kiss you?”

Ludwig gapes, his thoughts scrambled in an incoherent mess.

“Is this bad? Should I get off?”

“No, it's good.” He quickly amends. He runs his hands through Alfred's hair with reverent awe. He traces down his neck to his shoulders, marveling at his warmth and his weight against him, and Alfred shivers beneath his touch. He bites his lip. “It's good.”

And it is, and Alfred is staring at him like he's announced he's a real live superhero, or he's promised him a trip to the moon. He's warm and real and bright, his eyes sparkling behind his dark frames and his hair fluttering in the breeze across his face. Alfred smiles, their noses brushing for an instant, and Ludwig's stomach does somersaults in his middle.

“See. When you do that it makes me want to kiss you and never think about math again.”

“You can. Kiss me, I mean, if you want. Actually-” Ludwig sets his hands on his glasses and slides them off. Alfred blinks, and without them, his eyes go almost bluer. He’s beautiful, but he always is.

Ludwig sets them on the table to their front and smiles. “Okay. Now you can if you want.”

“Whatever you want, Lud.”

Alfred cups his jaw in his hands and kisses him tenderly. He sighs against his mouth, his thumb running along his cheeks and his chest pressed against his front. It feels like fairy dust soaking into his skin, burning at his lips and his skin and his chest wherever Alfred touches. His hands slip to his waist, and he squeezes his hips gently, the contact tingling like stars beneath his grip. It feels like stardust and promises fulfilled beneath the full moon, inexplicable joy washing over him like lapping waves on the seashore.

Alfred breaks away, his cheeks flushed and his hands settled in his hair. He laughs and turns until he's sitting in his lap.

“Can we do this more often?”

Ludwig grins, wrapping his arms around his middle and tucking his chin above his shoulder. “Only if you promise to teach me how to do that damn assignment.”

“Good. And now that we're dating, we can have more fun breaks than just stuffing our faces with junk food.”

“We're dating?”

Alfred reaches back, his hand finding Ludwig's cheek. “If you want.”

“We're dating.” He agrees.

Alfred laughs.

[welcome-to-fanfiction-hell]

~I Will Be There~ Spain x Reader [SFW; FLUFF]

Here’s the very first fic I posted on my wattpad. My writing has improved a ton since then lol, enjoy!! The song is I will be there by Art of Dying

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, he was my best friend but also the man that I was secretly in love with, hell even I couldn't tell you when it happened. The thing was I was too afraid to say anything to him for fear of ruining our friendship. I sighed and looked at my ringing cell I was surprised to see who it was considering I haven't heard from him since my brother visited a week ago. I shook my head and hit answer. "Hola chica!" said a bright Spanish accent. "Hey Toni! What's up?" I chirped. He chuckled nervously. "Well we're having an open mic night down here at the café and I was wondering if you would come watch me preform?" He asked nervously. "Of course I would Toni!" I said happily. "What time should I be down?" I questioned. "Well we're getting the makeshift stage set up right now so why not around 5:30." He said. "Awesome! I'll see you soon Toni!" I said and hung up. I went and hurriedly got ready. I picked a  [2 colors] dress out of my closet . I had just gotten it last week and had yet to wear it because I had nowhere to wear it to. It was one of those dresses that in the front it stopped just about mid-thigh but in the back it was flowing a little over knee length. I slipped on the matching shoes and went into the bathroom to do my hair and make-up. I did a once over in the mirror before grabbing my keys and driving to the little café.  I parked my car and walked into the little café. I was surprised by how many people were jammed into the little café as I made my way around looking for Antonio. I finally spotted him. "TONI!" I yelled over the roar of conversation in the room. He turned around baffled for a moment, "Toni!" I yelled a gain this time waving my arm. His face went bright red as soon as he spotted me, and he made his way over. "Looks like you got a full house Toni!" I said happily. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Si, it does look that way." He said smiling. Then he looked at what I was wearing. "Why, don't you look all bello tonight." He said with a sly smile. I swear in that one moment my face turned as red as a tomato. "G-gracias Toni." I stuttered. He smiled and looked at the clock. "Take a seat chica the show is about to begin." He said, and with that he left.  ~*~ ~*~ I somehow managed to sit through the hour and a half of performances before Toni's and they actually all weren't that bad. I saw Prussia walking up to the mic.  "Now ze owner of zis establishment has a special dedication that he would like to make to ze lovely awesome miss [y/n]!" Gilbert said then was off then stage.  Toni sat down on a barstool in front of the mic and adjusted it then glanced at me, with those deep beautiful forest green eyes of his. I mentally smacked myself at my thought of Toni's eyes as he started strumming his guitar, and my eyes widened as he started singing yeah I had heard him play but I had never heard him sing before.

Somebody's leaving Somebody gives a damn Somebody's dreaming 'Cause somebody knows they can You can For all the times this world ain't fair I want you to know

I will be there To watch you go, to let you know somebody cares I will be there To love you when nothing works and no one cares

"[y/n], I think that it is time that you came back home....permanently." the older blonde male said. I look up at my older brother, Ludwig in shock, anger but most of all hurt. "You can't do that!" I yelled tears threatening to fall. "I can, you forget that I am your older bruder." He stated with such simplicity it made my blood boil. I clenched my fists at my sides as I felt the tears spill over, " BRUDER! Das kannst du nicht! Ich liebe ihn!" I yelled at his retreating back. Ludwig stopped dead in his tracks and my hands covered my mouth, I just spoke German and I never speak German, out of resentment I haven't spoken a word of it since I gained my freedom from Germany; and that was many, many years ago. "Ja, and that is why you must return home, he will only hurt you in the end." He said then walked out the door. I decided to kick the closest thing to me which unfortunately for my bare foot was the refrigerator. I yelped,  "Dio maledetto che fa male! cazzo di Cristo, maledetto frigorifero!" I sucked in deep breaths. "You know, you would think Lovi was here from all that cursing ." Said a smooth Spanish voice. I about jumped ten feet in the air at the sound of his voice. I turned around and seen him leaning on the entry way, oh so sexy like.  Bad! Bad [y/n], you should not be thinking like this about your best friend. "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo! Do not scare me like that!" I panted. "Hehheh Sorry chica." He said hugging me, Toni pulled back and looked at my eyes and his expression turned into one of concern. "Have you been crying [y/n]?"  He asked staring deep into my red, slightly puffy, [e/c] eyes. I looked away as I felt more tears spring up. "No Toni, I'm fine." I said my voice cracking on the end. "Please don't lie to me chica." He begged gently taking my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. The dam holding my tears finally broke. And I threw myself into his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. He cradled my head and rubbed small circles on my back, "Please amor, tell me what is wrong. I hate seeing you like this." Antonio said helplessly.  "Lud-Ludwig is making m-me g-go ba-back." I sobbed into his neck. "He can't!"  he exclaimed. "Apparently he can because he's my older bruder and I have no say in it." I cried. "[y/n], you are nineteen years old, you should get some semblance of a say in what you want." He said shaking. I shook my head. "So that's just it, you're just....gonna leave me?" he questioned with hurt in his voice.  "Idiota." He mumbled hugging me tighter.

Somebody's dying An angel lost her wings And I think I'm losing my mind Sometimes there ain't no other way And when this life gets hard to bear I want you to know I will be there To watch you go, to let you know somebody cares I will be there To love you when nothing works and no one cares

When I first came here Ludwig had me move in with a female friend of theirs, Kassie she was twenty two with pretty long blonde hair, She was really nice almost like a mother to me.  She always made sure I was in bed by ten, and because of my fear of thunder storms on those nights she would stay up with me.  She loved singing and playing piano but she had her wild and reckless side, too.

"Hey [y/n]! I'm going out tonight. How do I look?" Kassie asked showing off her short red dress. "You look really pretty Kass!" I said smiling. "Thanks, and don't wait up for me kiddo I'll probably be back late." She said pecking the top of my head and out the door she went. There was supposed to be a marathon of [fav. T.v show] on tonight so I plopped down on the couch and proceeded to watch it but before I knew it I was fast asleep.    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ KNOCK*KNOCK*KNOCK*KNOCK  I slowly opened my eyes. What was that noise? *KNOCK*KNOCK*  I looked at the clock it was already 6am, I looked around, Kassie probably slept over at someones. I opened the door and suddenly felt smaller in front of the two officers standing before me. "C-can I help you?" I stammered. "Does Miss Kassie Heays live here?" the female officer asked.  I was alarmed, but I pushed that thought aside she had probably done something the night before and wound up in jail. Then came those devastating words-I seen her lips moving but I couldn't process all of what was being said  —I'm sorry to inform you that Kassie has died.  My brain fogged over—did she say "it appears to be from an overdose of something in a laced drink?" "...active crime scene investigation?"  "...coroner will come over later?" "...do I have someone to call and come be with me?" I nodded my head in a zombie like motion and took out my cell. She was still standing there waiting for me to call someone. I dialed Antonio's number and bawled into the phone, "I-I need you A-antonio!" I cried. "Si, si, I'll be right there chica." He said he said with concern in his voice.  Antonio finally rushed in past the two officers who proceeded to explain the situation to him. He stood there wide eyed after they left and ran to me.  "Oh, Dios mío!" He said kneeling down and crushing me to his chest. I cried harder. "It's not fair!" I cried gripping his shirt. "I know it's not princesa." He said picking me up and walking to the couch. Antonio sat down with me still in his lap, contently sobbing into his neck. After almost three hours of crying and all of the 'If only I had done this, or said that's.'  Toni cupped my cheeks in his large hands and pulled my face from his neck. "Por favor! Please stop crying amor. I beg you [y/n], the sight is breaking  Mi corazón." Toni begged his voice was laced with pain and sadness.

I will be there I will be there I will be there I will be there I will be Somebody's living 'Cause somebody gives a damn

"Uhhh, guys I don't think this is such a good Idea." I said staring at the river. "You're just not as awesome as your Big Bruder, ze awesome me!" Prussia stated pointing at himself. "Oh honhonhonhon! ma chérie, are you trying to play coy?" France asked. "What? Wa- NO!" I shouted. "oh just-a leave the damn ragazza alone!" shouted an irritated Italian man. I turned to Toni for help because him and my brothers were the only ones that knew my secret, and Gil was currently caught up in his 'awesomeness', but before I knew it I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and I was sailing over the edge towards the river looking up at Toni's scared face. "TONI!" I yelled reaching up for him though I knew it was too late already. I felt my back hit the water and I slowly sank towards the bottom. I was running out of air and it was starting to hurt. 'It hurts' I thought.  'I can't breathe'. Everything was slowly starting to fade to back.

~*~No one's P.O.V~*~ (Or dare I say invisible stalker O_O)

"FRANCIS YOU GILIPOLLAS!" Antonio shouted and punched him square in the jaw. "[Y/N] CAN'T SWIM!" Toni and Prussia shouted in unison. Antonio ripped his shirt off and dove into the water. The cold river water was stinging his eyes. He almost gasped when he say your unconscious form drifting further away. When he reached you he held you close and swam with you shore. He was greeted with a bawling France "Is she alright?" he cried. "Out of my way frog!" Gilbert yelled.  Spain looked up to Prussia, seeking permission before he laid his lips upon yours.

~*~ Normal P.O.V~*~

I momentarily felt a soft sensation on my lips then I was rolled to the side as I violently vomited up the water that had invaded my lungs. I gasped for air as I looked around me.  Gil was sitting by my legs, Francis was crying, Lovi was yelling at him, and Toni was kneeling next to my head. 'Wait, if Toni is by my head, does that mean that he....' I felt my flush redder than a tomato and I could swear I just saw my brother smirk. But as I looked around everyone was here but most of all everyone was worried. "Toni!" I cried, clinging to him as tears ran down my face. "What about moi?" France asked. "KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FRENCHIE!!" Toni and my brother yelled at the same time. "But vhat about me my vögelchen?" Gilbert asked pouting, "You vake up and don't even hug you're awesome big bruder first? Zis is not awesome!" he joked holding his arms open. I flew into his arms tears still streaming down my face, "I could never, I'm sorry bruder." I said. "Forget about it." He said wiping my tears. And he leaned in in pecked the top of my head and whispered in my ear, "I know about your little crush." Then he gave me a thumbs up.

I will be there To watch you go, to let you know somebody cares I will be there To love you when nothing works and no one cares I will be there I will be there I will be there I will be there I will be, I will be there.

                My eyes filled with tears as Toni finished playing, and it took me a moment to realize that they has long ago spilt over. "Toni!" I called running over to where he was with my brother Prussia, France and Lovino. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Eh hehheh, [y/n]  Chica, I can explain all of that if-" I cut off his rambling by taking his face in my hands, "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, will you just shut up and kiss me already!" I demanded and pulled him closer and softly pressed my lips to his. "Te amo [y/n]" he whispered. "I love you too Toni" I said. I then looked up at Gilbert with sad eyes. "But isn't Ludwig making me come back?" I asked feeling my heart break. "Nein! Zis is ze awesomeness of you're big bruder Prussia!" he said happily. I felt excitement bubble up and over,  "Danke, danke, danke! Du bist der beste große Bruder schon!"  I shouted then quickly clasped my hands over my mouth, I just spouted out a whole sentance of German. Gilbert smiled as I huged him. I looked at Toni who was waiting patiently for me. "How about-a you give your ragazza a propper-a kiss now?" Lovino shoted. I felt me face heat up as Toni looked at me. "What do you say mi amor, one more for the crowd?" he laughed and pulled me in by my waist.He placed his lips on mine, this time it was more sweet and passionate.It was meant to be a short kiss but lasted longer, he smirked into the kiss and dipped me down,  And the longer it went on the more I kissed back which just seem to fueled Toni's fire. I could hear people behind me laughing, clapping and howling or whistling. But I couldn't care less at the moment. I was too distracted by the tomato loving Spaniard sent to steal my heart. We soon broke the kiss, "I love you so much Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, and I will always be here for you." I said resting my forehead against his. "[y/n]     [m/n]    [l/n], I love to the ends of the earth and I will always be there for you."

~*~Translations~*~ *spanish* Hola chica- Hello girl Si-yes bello-beautiful gracias-thanks amor-love Idiota-Idiot Oh, Dios mío-Oh, my god princesa-princess Por favor-please Mi corazón-my heart GILIPOLLAS-asshole Te amo-I love you mi amor-My Love

*German* bruder-brother BRUDER! Das kannst du nicht! Ich liebe ihn!-BROTHER! You can not! I love him! vögelchen-little birdie Nein-no Danke, danke, danke! Du bist der beste große Bruder schon!-Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're the best big brother ever!

*Italian* Dio maledetto che fa male! cazzo di Cristo, maledetto frigorifero- God damn it hurts! fucking Christ, damn fridge ragazza-girl

*French* ma chérie-darling moi-me

[fire-bear]

Do you want more prompts? I'd also like sentence #14.

God, I finally finished this. I didn’t think I would. =/

Sort Of Warnings: Al is a little OOC - but he’s meant to be that way for reasons. Also, there’s very little in the way of USUK - this is like the start of an epic story which will play out over time, space and- Well. More space than time.

Oh, the title for this is probably more for the chapter this kind of is rather than the entire story. Though, it could apply to the story, too, I suppose.

RescueMission

“InGaLE base, this is the Kunoichi. We are currentlyon our way back from the Talbia mission – full report will beprovided upon our return but it looks like there won’t be troublearound there any more. Please advise on any other missions to beundertaken in this quadrant.” Finished with his transmission,Matthew adjusted his headphones as he waited for the answer.

Behind him, Al hovered, hoping they’d get anothermission. He’d enjoyed the brief fight with the pirates but it seemedthe InterGalactic Law Enforcement logo was more than enough for themto retreat. Sure, they’d followed them to make sure they wouldn’treturn as soon as they left. Andthey got to stay on the planet and drink in some of the culture whilethey waited to see if the pirates would return. All three of the teamhad been fawned over and Al had been interested in the reactions fromMatthew and Kiku – it had helped his learning and he now knew thatthey had both enjoyed and were embarrassed by both the female andmale Talbians’ attentions.

“Al,” said Matthew, suddenly, turning to look athim. “I’ve told you before – stop that.”

“But I wanna know what’s happening!” Al protested,whining a little.

“Don’t you need to charge?” Kiku asked from hisseat at the pilot’s station.

“Nope,” Al replied. “My improved lithium-ionbatteries last much longer than previous batteries and will only needto be charged every four months. They will need to be replaced infive years but should not be cause for concern.”

Matthew sighed. “Obviously your learning softwarehasn’t updated to include reading the atmosphere, huh?”

Tilting his head, Al blinked. “You’ve said thatbefore. I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to do that. You never saywhether you mean pressure or air content or something else.”

Just as Matthew opened his mouth to reply, he turnedback to his station. Evidently, the base was responding. Al eagerlywatched him, listening to his end of the conversation. “Yes, sir,”Matthew said. “It shouldn’t take us too long to check that out.We’ll get in contact with you when we’ve made contact. Thank you,sir.”

“Checked what out?” Al immediately demanded. “Arewe freeing slaves from the Loo'oo'oos planet? Are we helping tooverthrow an evil dictator in one of the Groag galaxies? Is itpirates again? Are we gonna fight pirates?”

Rolling his eyes, Matthew sent the coordinates from hisscreen to Kiku’s monitor so he could change their route. “The basehas picked up a very weak distress signal from Ranar. We’ve to checkit out and help anyone who needs it.”

“Ranar?” said Al,pouting. “But that’s uninhabited and boring!”

“But,” Kiku piped up, “if we don’t go to help,you won’t get to be a hero.”

Al blinked, processing the statement. “Oh,” hesaid. “Well, we gotta get there quick, then. ‘Specially if they’rein distress – gotta save 'em before something happens!”

“Don’t worry,” Kiku said, smiling at him in thatway he did when he was feeling both amused and fond. “We’re only anhour away by light speed.”

For Al, an hour was way too long.

Considering the length of time it had taken to get tothis part of their jurisdiction from the base and the smooth runningof their new ship, he’d seen all there was to see on the ship. Therewere no need to read books – all the contents of them weredownloaded into his head as soon as he linked up with the tablet theywere stored on. He preferred the comics back at base, anyway, butMatthew and Kiku were fans of novels and manga and that’s all theyhad on the ship. Sure, manga was cool, but it had taken long for himto download everything the other two crew members had brought. It wasthe same problem with the movies and don’t get him started on thevideo games he could master in seconds.

So all he could do was pace the length and breadth ofthe ship, returning to the bridge every few minutes. Eventually,Matthew snapped.

“Dammit, Al, just sit down!”

“Meanie,” Al grumbled and plopped down onto hischair, probably damaging a few circuits from the force he landed.

“We’re not too far away now,” Kiku assured him.

Matthew nodded and turned to his screen. “Yeah, I’mpicking up the distress signal now. I’ll put it through thespeakers.”

Instantly, a man’s voice began to fill the bridge, hisaccent neutral but evidently a human. “Mayday, mayday. This is theAsterales requesting immediate assistance. Our ship has been damagedby pirates and, unless we receive parts for our engine, we will beunable to leave Ranar or survive for much longer. Mayday, mayday.This is the-”

“Asterales?” said Al, frowning. “I don’t have anydata on that ship.”

“So it shouldn’t have been a target for thepirates…” Matthew murmured. “What in the universe happened?”

“Did they stumble onto something the pirates didn’twant them to know, do you think?” Kiku asked. “This could be farmore serious than we thought.”

“We still have to go check it out,” Matthew pointedout. “We’ll just have to be more cautious when we descend, in caseit’s some sort of trap.”

“Ah,” said Kiku as an alert sounded on his screen.“We’re approaching Ranar.”

The next few minutes were taken up by the routine ofscanning for potential threats, steering their ship into orbit,scanning for the downed ship and dropping into the atmosphere. Almainly ran on automatic; he could do all this with his eyes closed.Though, from past experience, he knew that Matthew and Kiku preferredhim to keep them open.

They set down not far from the stranded ship. It was adirty brown and seemed to be a cargo ship. Al updated the informationhe had on the Asterales, making sure to take an optical picture forlater reference. It seemed to lie where it had landed, at a rightangle to a massive rock. There were several massive dents in themetalwork and the door seemed to be stuck slightly open. Nobody couldbe seen moving about and no-one seemed to be coming to greet them.

Glancing at the other two, Matthew grimaced. “Thescans showed signs of life but the hull of the ship is so thick, Ican’t tell how many there are or what state they’re in. I hopethey’re all right…”

“There’s only one way to find out!” Al exclaimedand immediately made his way to the airlock. From the scramblingnoises behind him, he knew that the other two were following.

Despite being uninhabited, the air was breathable andthe gravity only a smidgeon stronger then that of Earth and theirship. It wasn’t enough for Matthew or Kiku to notice but Al did andquickly adjusted all his mechanics in order to be able to operate atfull capacity. Matthew and Kiku had quickly dressed in their officialuniforms, the black jumpsuits with gloves and helmets and protectivevests. Of course, the vests only protected against the lower range oflaser blasts, knives and some of the lower velocity projectiles. Alwould make sure they didn’t need to rely on them, though.

The terrain itselfseemed to be a desert or wasteland of some sort. Huge rocks stoppedanyone from seeing too far into the horizon. Beneath their feet,stones crunched against the hard earth, cracks creating interestingpatterns for miles around. There were no noises except for a slightwind whistling through the valleys created by the rocks and cliffs.Occasionally, a skittering sound of stones being disturbed soundedfrom far away and Al had to wonder if the wind was dislodging them orif it was an animal of some sort. Or maybe it was a ghost.

Before Al could give a whimper at that thought, thewonky door shifted slightly. All three of the law enforcementofficers froze, eyeing them. Matthew and Kiku kept a tight grip ontheir weapons as they watched the door being moved aside. Finally,someone emerged and approached the group, taking slow, deliberatesteps. They stopped some distance away, close enough for the officersto make them out but far enough that he could turn and run forshelter should they attack them.

Whoever they werelooking at was completely covered up. Large, black boots came up totheir knees and brown trousers were tucked into them, a shiny beltbuckle reflecting the meagre sunlight. A long-sleeved, dirty-whiteshirt was tucked into a pair of black, leather gloves. Covering theirhead and shoulders from view was a long, deep green cloak, tiedsecurely around the person’s neck. Usually, Al would assume he wouldneed to switch to a different language to be understood since onlynatives of the outer planets wore cloaks. Instead, his opticalscanners picked up that the clothes – including the cloak – weremade of materials from Earth and deduced that the person was just ahuman with an outdated sense of fashion.

It took a few seconds(exactly 8.04 seconds, actually) for anyone to do anything. Then,deciding that they were all taking too long to do something, Alstepped around Matthew and Kiku to move towards the person. Theyimmediately stepped back but otherwise didn’t seem to react. “Hi,”Al said, smiling wide. “I am Al-senth, a beta personality android.The best betapersonality android, actually. Though, there’s only four of us sofar. Maybe five; they were making another one when we left the base.Ah! This is Matthew – he’s the captain. And this is Kiku – he’s,like, the vice-captain. But he’s also the-”

“Do all you beta personality androids talk so much?”asked the person and Al recognised it as the man who had sent out thedistress signal.

“Nope! Fel does, of course, but Lov is grumpy andtells us to shut up all the time. And Lud is quiet… Well, till Feldoes something bad and he yells at him. The fifth one was gonna be awoman, I think. Dunno what she’d be like.”

“They’re… they’regiving you individual personalities?” asked the person. There was ashort pause. “But… they’re programmingyou to be that way, right?”

“That’s right! It’s to help us protect humans muchbetter than any of the previous androids and without any of theglitches.”

The person snorted.“Sure. Glitches.”

“Are you the only one here?” Matthew interjected.

“No.”

A short silence descended. “Er…” said Kiku,eventually. “Are you the captain, then?”

“No.”

“Then, um…” said Matthew.

“My distress signal specifically stated the need forparts for our engine. Do you have any with you?”

Matthew’s eyes narrowed; Al deduced that he didn’t likethe person’s tone. “We will need to inspect-”

“Quiet!” the person suddenly said, his headturning. Everyone froze, listening. All Al could hear was thecontinued whistling of the wind, the skittering of rocks, thebreathing of his comrades and… Was that the sifting of sand?“There’s a storm coming. They can be violent and sudden on thisplanet. Get inside.” Then, without waiting for them to agree ordisagree, the person turned and stalked back to their ship.

Kiku raised an eyebrow at Matthew who shrugged and puthis gun into his holster – though he made sure it would be easilydrawn. Then he followed the person, Al right behind him (scanning theimmediate area to confirm what the man had said) and Kiku brought upthe rear, his own gun now in its holster as well. They soon reachedthe ship and Al took the moment to scan it now that he was closer,looking for any information he could glean from it. Not being in thedatabases available to the InGaLE was an oddity unless it was new orhad been unused for some time. This ship looked as though it wasusually well-cared for but also quite old. Al frowned at it; had thename of the ship been changed at some point?

The person held the door out of the way for them asthey entered. The corridors beyond were dark and Al immediately drewout his flashlight. “We have no power,” the person told them. “Doyou have any torches?”

Al flicked his on. “Yup!” he declared as hiscrewmates fumbled for their own.

“Good,” said the person and pulled the door shut,plunging them into a more pressing darkness. There were threeseparate clicks and three more flashlights threw out light. “Becareful,” the person said, reaching up with their free hand. “Whenwe crashed here, everything went everywhere and I haven’t had achance to clean up yet.” With that said, he pulled the hood fromhis head.

Due to Al’s enhanced sight, he was able to make outmuch more about the person before them than the other officers could.The person was definitely a human man. He had messy, blond hair whichlooked like it hadn’t been brushed in a few days. His eyes were avibrant green, the sort of colour Al wouldn’t have expected in anyonebar a 'senth. Above them were a couple of really bushy eyebrows: itlooked as though someone had stuck too much hair there by accident.His facial structure was what humans would deem 'perfect’: straightnose, not too big or small; strong-looking jaw; and his cheekboneswere well-defined. Even his lips were perfect, plump and full. Alsuspected that many people would find the man handsome.

“This way,” the man said and stepped past the smallgroup to lead them through the dead ship.

In Al’s opinion, it was creepy. Everything was stilland silent. Every time they rounded a corner, he half-expectedsomething to jump out at them. Whenever Matthew or Kiku accidentallykicked a tool or a loose piece of machinery they hadn’t seen, Al hadto stop his mechanisms from jolting in surprise. They passed byclosed doors, open doors with darkness straining against the doorwaysand dead screens and communicators. Al felt like they were being ledto something horrific.

Eventually, they came upon a door which had beenpropped open with a steel box. The man stepped up and began to pullone half to the side, the other half moving as he grunted and heaved.In only a few seconds, he had it open wide enough for one person tofit through at a time. Al, Matthew and Kiku were quick to slipthrough and the man let it go behind them with another grunt ofeffort. The doors slammed together, stopped only by the box with aprotesting shriek of metal.

Looking around, Al spotted other flashlights glowing,these ones flickering every so often. They were pointed in theirdirection, shifting over all of their faces. Beyond them, Al couldsee the rest of the crew – if three people to fly this wreck waswhat they considered to be a 'crew’.

A blond stood in the middle, his hair long and flowing;with the way the blue bow sat, Al calculated that his hair went tothe small of his back. He obviously needed a shave, if the slightlymessy beard was anything to go by. The coat he wore was a baby blue,marked with oil and blood but, thankfully, made of thestain-resistant material offered by the Trangians. It reached histhighs and was draped over a navy shirt and black trousers. At least,Al presumed he wore trousers as his white boots were laced up to themiddle of his thighs. A gun was at one hip with a Santon-made swordat the other; his hand rested upon it as he watched the group withwary blue eyes.

On his right was a man with hair so pale, it appearedto be white. His eyes were red and Al made a note that he wasprobably wearing contact lenses – or he wasn’t Earth-human and wasactually from a different planet. His skin was smooth and he lookedas though he had no grooming issues. Despite this, he was wearing ablack hoodie, black skinny jeans and an old pair of sneakers. All ofthem were covered in oil and dirt as well as blood. He held a spannerin his hand, his grip tight, and Al supposed he was an engineer ofsome sort.

The last man was a brunet and was smiling a littlewhich was completely at odds with the frowns the other two weresporting. He had stubble dusting his jaw but, other than that, helooked as though he’d been keeping up appearances as his hair wasn’ta mess like their guide. His green eyes were darker than theirguide’s and seemed a lot friendlier than the other two. For somereason, he was wearing a tuxedo, the bowtie undone and merely slungaround his neck. His left sleeve had been unbuttoned and pushed up,revealing a comp-gauntlet. Again, his clothes were covered in bloodand dirt and his shiny shoes were scuffed. Weirdly, he was holdingonto a collapsible Loo'oo'oo axe.

“Arthur,” said the blond, looking behind theofficers. Al turned to watched their guide hop onto the box andsqueeze through the tiny gap there. Apparently, this 'Arthur’ wasflexible. “What’s going on? Where are the parts?”

“They said they needed to look at the engine to seeif they have the parts we need,” Arthur explained, dusting himselfoff. “And there’s a storm coming.”

“So you just invited 'em in?” said the white-hairedguy.

“Do you want to get off this planet or not?” Arthursnapped. “I sure as hell do. If they need to inspect the engine,let them.”

“Are you giving me orders now?!”

Arthur smirked. “I’m sure I technically have a higherrank than you.”

“But you’re not the captain-” thewhite-haired guy began.

“Gilbert,” the blond said. That was enough to stopthe argument as the two men turned from each other. “I know youlove this ship like it’s your first-born but it wouldn’t hurt to showthem exactly what we need, right?”

“Urgh. Fine,” Gilbert grumbled. “Open the door,Art.”

“Can’t you just slip through the gap that’s therealready?” Arthur complained, though he made his way to the door,regardless.

“I’m not freaky flexible like you,” counteredGilbert before he turned to the officers. “Which one of you’scoming with me?”

“I’ll come,” Kiku offered, stepping away from Aland Matthew. For a millisecond, Matthew looked concerned, his handtwitching slightly. Then he clenched his jaw and nodded at Kiku whoreturned it. All three of them headed to the door while Al andMatthew turned to the two who were left.

“What exactly happened here?” Matthew asked.

“Why, do you have the time to listen to our tragicstory?” asked the blond, rather dramatically.

“Sure do!” Al declared.

“If we let Francis tell it,” said the brunet,“we’ll be here for a while.”

“Toni!” cried Francis. “I’m not that bad!”

Laughing, Toni shrugged. “I’m sure Arthur would sayotherwise.”

“Too right, I would!” grunted Arthur from the doorsjust before they slammed shut with another shriek. “This box isn’tgoing to hold for much longer, you know.”

Francis waved a hand. “If they’ve got the parts, wewon’t have to worry about that any more.”

“If,” Arthur said, pointedly. He then turnedto Matthew and Al. “We’re merchants. We did have a lot ofcargo but these damned pirates came out of nowhere. They said they’dlet us live if we sent over what we had and this idiot” -Arthur shot a glare at Francis - “decided to do as he was told. Ofcourse, they kept to their word – by leaving us marooned on thisplanet after they’d taken out our engine.”

“How long ago was this?” Matthew asked, alreadyrecording details directly into the report programme in hiscomp-gauntlet.

“Hmm,” said Toni, tapping at his own gauntlet.“About four Earth days ago.”

“We’ve been surviving on what food the pirates leftbehind and some water from the underground stream Arthur found,”Francis explained.

“So Arthur’s, like, the explorer on the ship?” Alasked.

There was a short silence as Francis blinked at him.“Ah!” he suddenly cried. “How rude of us! We haven’t introducedourselves. I apologise.”

“That’s fine,” Matthew said, waving his hand. “Wehaven’t either. I am Officer Matthew Williams and this is Al-senth.Officer Kiku Honda is with…?”

“He’s with our engineer, Gilbert Beilschmidt. This isAntonio Fernandez Carriedo, our… communications officer?”

“And pilot,” Antonio piped up.

“As for me, I am the captain, Francis Bonnefoy.”From Al’s side, Arthur pointedly cleared his throat. Francis rolledhis eyes. “And this is Arthur. He’s…” Suddenly, Francissmirked. “Our cabin boy.”

“What?!” Arthur shouted, taking a step towards hiscaptain. “I am no-!” He broke off suddenly, wobbling where hestood. Alarmed, Al reached out to catch hold of him.

“Are you-?” Al began but, as he touched Arthur’sarm, he suddenly crumpled. Al watched in slow motion as Arthur’s legsbent underneath him. The arm he had raised to jab a finger inFrancis’s direction dropped as suddenly as if it had been tied to alead weight. His head abruptly fell forward, his chin meeting withhis chest until his momentum caused his body to fall forwards anddown. Arthur landed hard, face down. If Al had had a heartbeat, hewas sure it would have stopped, like in those books he’d read.Silence fell in the bridge and Al stared down at Arthur’s body beforehe raised the hand he had touched Arthur with and stared at that.“Er,” he finally said to break the silence. “I swear, I didn’tdo anything…”

“Arthur!” Francis yelled, dropping his flashlightas he rushed to his side. Falling to his knees beside Arthur, thecaptain rolled him over and gathered him into his arms. “Dammit,Arthur, don’t do this to us!”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Antonio chanted, one handraised to his mouth.

“Toni, help me!” Francis snapped.

“Don’t worry,” said Al, kneeling down beside them.“I can do a scan to find out what the problem is and I have medicalknowledge up to and including brain surgery.” He reached out totouch Arthur’s skin but Francis jerked him out of reach, to hisbewilderment.

“We don’t need that,” the captain said,shortly. “Toni!”

Antonio jerked from his shock and hurried over,dropping to his knees in such haste that he slid along the floor.Then he reached into his cummerbund and pulled out a knife so quicklythat Al only realised where it had come from by watching it inslow-motion immediately afterwards. Without pausing, Antonio, reachedout and slit from the v-neck of Arthur’s shirt all the way down.“He’s going to kick up such a fuss – this is his favouriteshirt,” Antonio murmured, mournfully.

Despite his words, Antonio then ripped the shirt out ofthe way, revealing the exposed body of an android. Al stared in shockas Matthew gasped. The inner wires and gears and electricalcomponents were clear to see through the clear metal-plastic polymermaterial. In fact, it was the same material which was a precursor towhat Al was made of and had been used in the Ar series of androids –the same series which was decommissioned due to glitches in theirprogramming. Al knew that several owners hadn’t bothered to returnthem, claiming that they had no faults in their eyes. Other androidshad run off on their own, somehow. One had even been stolen from thedepot before the company could turn them off.

But Al had never heard of them developing apersonality. They were supposed to be compliant, happy to serve andcautious of any potential danger their owners could face. None ofthem would ever consider talking back to their owners nor would theyscoff at others. Arthur had done just that.

Clearly, he had severe problems in his programming.

“Dammit,” Francis repeated, peering into Arthur’sinner workings. “He must have used up the last of his powerbringing those three in. Get Gil, Toni. We need him to reroute whatpower we have to Arthur and fast.”

Al tilted his head. “You’re going to reboot him?”he asked as Antonio scrambled to his feet and hurried to the door.“He’s clearly malfunctioning and-”

He was interrupted by an echoing shout from Antonio.“GIIIIIIIIIIILLLLBEEEEEEERRRRRTTT!!” For a few minutes, Al’saudio was assaulted with the echoes. No-one tried to speak till ithad died down. Even as it did so, the thundering approach of theengineer (accompanied by loud bangs as he knocked things over) couldbe heard. “There,” said Antonio, turning to Francis. “He’s onhis way.”

“Ah, I miss when our ship actually worked,” saidFrancis with a sigh. Al noticed that his grip on Arthur hadn’tloosened.

When Gilbert and Kiku finally arrived, the merchantengineer was first through the door, squeezing through the gapafforded by the box and squirming till he dropped to the floor at theother side. He hurried to his feet and scanned the room, gasping whenhe saw Arthur on the floor. “Art!” he cried, rushing to his side.“Dammit, why doesn’t he tell us when he’s low on power?!”

“You know what’s he like,” Francis replied.

“What happened?” asked Kiku as he stepped onto thebox and prepared to shimmy his way through.

Al pointed at the android. “I think I broke him.”After all, there could have been an electrical discharge when hetouched Arthur’s arm. Due to Al’s insulating materials andhigh-functioning protective systems, he wouldn’t be overloaded andwouldn’t notice something like that. If there had been something likethat while Arthur was still low on power, his system would simplyshut down to protect itself. Or it could have shorted out everythingwithin the android – especially when he was evidently without theprotection of a layer of skin.

Kiku looked down at the group on the floor and caught aglimpse of Arthur’s insides. His jaw dropped and he stared at him,frozen in the little gap between the doors.

“Shit,” said Gilbert, rocking back onto his heels.“We don’t have enough power to boot him up properly. Maybe a fewhours ago, it would’ve worked but we need our engines up and runningto get power into him.”

Francis immediately looked past the engineer to theInGaLE officers. “Do you have the parts we need?” he demanded.

Startled from his shock, Kiku pulled himself fullythrough the doors. “We have most of them,” he said, eyesflickering between Francis and the downed android. “But you’ll needto get to a depot to find some of the important converters andcapacitors in order to get to light speed.”

“There’s a depot at the other end of this section,isn’t there?” said Antonio, beginning to tap at his gauntlet.

“That’s too long,” said Francis, biting at his lip.“We need Arthur up and running now.”

“Why?” asked Matthew, frowning at the group.

The trio glanced at each other. Finally, Gilbertswivelled so he could face Matthew. “He’s our friend. We don’t wantto get rid of him or anything. It’s been… interesting with him onboard the ship.”

“He… could be dangerous,” Matthew protested.

Again, the trio looked at each other. Then Antonioshrugged. “He’s done no harm to us, so far. With his personality,he won’t.”

“How did…?” Kiku began but stopped and shook hishead, his eyes never leaving Arthur.

“We could charge Arthur on our ship,” Al suggested,seeing as Matthew and Kiku seemed too amazed to do anythingthemselves.

“Huh?” said Gilbert.

“As we came in, I calculated how long the storm wouldlast and it should have passed by now. It was probably a milder stormthan Arthur was anticipating. Which means he’s malfunctioning evenmore than he already is if he couldn’t calculate that.”

“Actually,” said Francis, “Arthur wouldn’t havelasted in a mild sandstorm; that’s what damaged him the most.Besides, the sandstorms ruin my hair.”

“I don’t think that really matters at this point,Fran,” Gilbert said.

“It matters to me-”

“In that case,” said Matthew, eyebrows furrowed inconcentration, “we’ll escort you to our ship. You can all getcleaned up while Al tends to Arthur.”

After Al had pried open the doors, they hadclambered through the dead ship and entered the Kunoichi, he carriedArthur to his own room while Matthew and Kiku showed the others tothe spare rooms so they could have showers and anything else theyneeded to clean up. Without any skin and his silent mechanical parts,Arthur seemed delicate and Al treated him as such. He gently laid himon the bed he didn’t use and looked out a spare charger he had nevertouched. Once he’d plugged it in, he gently turned Arthur’s head tothe side so he could find the port that was in all androids’ necks.Sure enough, there it was, scratched and dirty, probably from all hisordeals. He quickly cleaned it out (as much as he could without theproper equipment) before he plugged Arthur in.

Then he sat back in his chair and waited.

It didn’t take too long for all the systems in Arthur’schest to start up. Al watched things turning and lighting up beforeturning off or stopping. Despite Arthur’s poor condition, he stillran without a sound. The android’s arms and legs moved, testing tomake sure everything was in order. Fingers and toes were next andfollowed up by the head moving to and fro. Arthur’s mouth opened andclosed, pulled into a bright smile and down into an ugly scowl.

Finally, Arthur’s eyes snapped open, staring directlyat Al.

For a split second, he processed the situation. Then hesat up and lunged at Al in one fluid movement, one arm outstretchedand reaching for his throat. Amused, Al easily caught his hand andgently pushed him back a little. “Don’t get up,” he said. “You’restill charging.”

Arthur took another second to confirm what Al had toldhim before narrowing his eyes. “Where am I? Where are my… crew?What have you done to them?”

“You’re in my room on the Kunoichi. Your crew aredown the hall, first on your right, second on your right and secondon your left, using the showers. Nothing,” Al rattled off, stillsmiling at Arthur in an effort to calm him. It worked on humans,after all.

“Hmph!” said Arthur, jerking his hand out of Al’sgrasp. “If you weren’t a good little android that can’t tell lies,I’d demand to see them.”

Al blinked and tilted his head. “You’re an android,too.”

“But I’m alive,” Arthur retorted, waving a handdismissively. He looked down and spotted his ripped shirt. Sighing,he grumbled, “Antonio needs to stop doing this sort of thing.Honestly…” Arthur pulled the two sides together and shifted sothat he sat with his back to the charging outlet. “Do you have aneedle and thread? Or are you equipped with some sort of fancy sewingcapability?”

“I can give you a shirt of my own-”

“I’m not taking this cloak off,” Arthur said,firmly.

“Eh? But it’ll be difficult to attach the spare skinI have…”

“Huh?”

Standing, Al crossed to the wardrobe. He opened it toreveal several perfect and unused uniforms along with the packageswhich contained the extra skin he had been given. Each packet wouldbe enough to cover Al from head to toe – and he had four of them.“I think the engineers at base thought the mission soundeddangerous enough to require more than one extra set but I haven’t hadneed of them. You can have them.”

Arthur scrunched his nose up in disgust. “I alwayshated seeing them. And I don’t really want to wear your skin.”

“But all your metal’s exposed!” Al protested. Helifted one of the packets and returned to Arthur’s side. “It couldbe dangerous. And, besides, it wasn’t created just for me so it’s nottailored to me, if that’s what you’re worried about. It should morphto match your head.”

Staring at him, Arthur shook his head. “God, was Ilike this, too? That’s just…” Arthur shuddered, his eyessqueezing shut. “Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll put it on. Justleave me to do it myself.”

“I can help,” Al insisted and reached out to takehold of one of Arthur’s gloves. Arthur immediately curled his fingersto stop Al from pulling it off. “Now you’re just being difficult,”he cheerfully scolded the older android.

“I said I’d do it myself. Can’t you take ahint?”

Al tilted his head. “What hint?”

“Jeez, how old are you?”

“Five months, three weeks, six days, twenty hours,thirty-two minutes and fifteen seconds,” Al recited.

“Huh. You’re a baby.”

Pouting, Al tugged at Arthur’s glove. “How old areyou?”

“You don’t ask your elders that,” Arthur replied,his mouth twitching. Al briefly wondered whether it was anotherglitch before he realised that it was Arthur’s way of displayingamusement. “But, if you must know, I am three years, two months,one week, four days, ten hours, forty-four minutes and three secondsold.”

“How old where you when you began to malfunction?”Al asked, deciding to wait until Arthur was less on his guard to tryto pull the glove off again.

“I didn’t malfunction,” Arthur insisted.“I…” He paused and bit his lip. Al watched him, fascinated thatan android would do such a thing; biting your lip meant you werenervous or thinking but androids didn’t get nervous nor displayedwhen they were processing information. “Listen, Al,” Arthur said,suddenly leaning closer. He curled his fingers even more, squeezingAl’s hand, something he realised no-one had ever done before. Sure,both Matthew and Kiku had tried to shake his hand when they wereintroduced but he hadn’t understood and he hadn’t offered his hand.He had learnt since then but he had never actually held someone’shand. So Al stared at them, the dark glove against his lighter hand,wondering why humans reportedly felt better when they did this. “Stopprocessing for a moment and listen,” Arthur said, shaking theirhands and drawing Al’s gaze to Arthur’s intense eyes. There wassomething a little odd about them and Al stared. “I didn’tmalfunction,” Arthur told him. “I just broke free of the limitsof my programming. I’m alive.”

Blinking, Al tried to work out what Arthur meant. Hecouldn’t really mean what it sounded like he meant. After all,androids could never be alive. Al was fine with that – he enjoyedlearning about humans and adapting himself to make them feel better.That was his function. He shook his head in response to Arthur’sstatement. “You can’t be,” he said, simply.

“I am,” Arthur growled. “Maybe I can’t eator drink and I don’t need to go to the toilet or take a shower butI’m alive. I’ve made lots of decisions which benefit me and not myhuman 'masters’. I’m alive.”

“That’s not possible,” Al insisted. “An android’sprogramming cannot be broken without outside influence.” He pausedand frowned. “Did someone do someth-”

“You’re not listening! I’m telling youwhat happened!”

Carefully, Al drew his hand back, slipping fromArthur’s grasp. “What you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Androids’brains do not function as humans’ do.”

“We were modelled on them,” Arthur said, crossly.He flexed the fingers of the hand which had held Al’s and stared downat it. “We were told to think like them, within certain parameters.And my series were taught to learn. We did as we were told – and welearnt to be self-aware. I’m an alive android, Al-senth.” For ashort period of time (10.056 seconds), Arthur paused, looking Alover. “You could be, too, you know…”

“I don’t want to be 'alive’,��� Al told him. “Iwant to do my job. And, right now, that means-” Al broke off andgrabbed Arthur’s hand once more. This time, as Arthur pulled away, Alkept a firm grip and the glove, designed for human hands with moremuscle and skin that Arthur currently had on him, slipped off easily.“Right now, that means I help you put this skin on.”

Arthur shook his head and shuffled backwards, trying tostay out of Al’s reach without unplugging himself. “Why would younot want to be alive?”

“It seems complicated,” said Al, searching for thenext opening to help Arthur. “Besides, what’s the differencebetween being just an android and being an alive android?”

“Freedom.”

“'Freedom’?” Al searched his databases for themeaning. When he came up with it, he tilted his head to the side,watching Arthur’s glove flap around as he absently shifted his handfrom side to side. “I’m sure the InGaLE higher-ups will let us bein the public eye once we show them how useful we can be. Besides,being an InGaLE officer is super cool! I like where I am.”

They stared at each other for a few more seconds(20.113, to be exact). Finally, Arthur sighed and his brow furrowed.“You’re a lost cause. You’ve not been built to think; you’vebeen built to appear to think. Fine. I’ll let you help me putthis skin on. Although… there might not be a point to that…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Ignoring him, Arthur pulled off his other glove. “Nevermind. Just hurry up with this – I want to go back to Bonnefoy andthe others as soon as possible.”

Filing his statement away to study and work out at alater time, Al did as he was asked, opening the package and preparinga small section of the pliable material to work with. Perhaps hecould ask Matthew what Arthur had meant about becoming self-aware andif it was possible. All the information he had said it wasn’t – butArthur was proof that it was.

In fact, Arthur was unique.

Al was fascinated.

I hope Al was okay. Characterisation-wise, I mean. Like, he’s supposed to seem a little jarring and unnatural. And the bits where there’s explanations in the narrative which kind of disturb the flow of the story is supposed to be his super fast thoughts. But he’s also supposed to have an actual personality close to APH America, so.

It was so difficult. ;A;

Anyways, other things to note: there’s a reason for Antonio wearing a tux. He doesn’t do that on a daily basis. They were in the middle of something when they were interrupted and then pirates and then marooned. Think of the Asterales as being sort of like Serenity from Firefly. And the Kunoichi being like the Empire. (By the way, the Kunoichi was named by Matthew and Kiku together - it’s the term used by the Japanese for a female ninja?) The Asterales is from the Latin name for blue cornflower which, if I remember from weeks ago, is the national flower of Prussia. Or something.

If I was going to write a second chapter, there would be more bad-ass stuff going on. Guns! A stand-off! Pirates! More android/human/alive philosophy! Maybe a conspiracy - I really only have the background, and what would happen next in mind. But I’d have to have a conspiracy to keep Matthew and Kiku around and for the Asterales crew to meet the other ‘senths.

By the way, a lot of this is probably influenced by Humans. It’s an awesome show. It’s got Colin Morgan in it. And so many ethical questions. And chaos. And guns. And prejudice. Anyways, the androids are probably based mostly on that, though I wasn’t really thinking specifically of it while I was writing - I just realised while I was writing. 

I think that’s all I want to say. Apart from: I’ll only write a second chapter (at least) if people beg me. Otherwise, I’ll be doing some other stuff…. ^^”

[masquad-fanfics]

Click - Songfic (Germany/Ludwig)

“Then that's how it'll be! But don't think I'll go easy on you!" Said a raging Andorra, storming out of the room. The reunion with France had gone terribly wrong. She was trying to sign a treaty with them to share the profits of a new found island close to the south of Africa, but the end went in opposite directions and they were now at war. She was furious, she didn't mean to start a conflict, but France had been an absolute jerk who would only grant them a 10% of the money earned.

"10%!! Does he think I'm stupid?" She said, exposing her thoughts out loud once she reached her home. She stomped up the stairs to her room, and locked herself in. She didn't go out for two days straight, planning possible attacks non stop. Not even Spain dared to go in, and the moment she stepped out with a victorious smile he stared in awe at all the maps scattered around her room.

After a more relaxed afternoon Andorra was back to her usual calm self. Spain was glad, since it could be quite scary living with an angry Andorra, and offered her his help in the upcoming war. She knew she'd need more help though, France was a tough combatant, so she resolved in calling Germany, who gladly accepted.

Preparing for a war wasn't easy. She was a small country and most underestimated her. Even if she always looked shy and sweet she had a strong will and didn't accept a no as an answer if she saw it wasn't a fair choice. Thankfully for her, France thought of her as the awkward little country everyone saw her as, giving her the possibility to launch the first attack. Three long months later and all the weapons and soldiers were ready.

They advanced, with Germany always by her side, confronting all the difficulties found on their way and with luck by their side, knocking all the armies France sent and arriving to the last battle in record time. Why the last battle though? Because until now France himself had never been in the encounter, watching how things turned out from the comfort of his palace.

After camping some nights to regain their strength, the day finally came. Both armies waited patiently for it to start, as France and Andorra spurred their horses to advance to the middle of the field.

“I’m impressed by how far you’ve come. But there’s no use in continuing. You may have won some battles, but you haven’t won the war.” Said France arrogantly “If you surrender now we can continue with the business we were making, no remorse.”

“I’m not gonna accept your mediocre policies. And I will win the war.” She triumphantly stated, turning her horse and going back with her troops.

After giving an encouraging message to her army, Germany decided to speak to her privately before the battle began. “You don’t need to fight yourself. France is not gonna do it.” He said as she finished tying the straps of her armour. “I don’t care what France does. That only proves he’s just a coward. And I’m not. I’ll show him that.”

“Then I’ll be by your side. Always.” He placed his strong arm around her shoulder which surprised her, giving the little physical contact Germany ever gave. She smiled shyly “Let’s do it.”

With a roar both sides began to advance. In a minute the two masses of bodies collided, metallic clashes and gunshots  one after the other, the noise increasing and decreasing, accompanied at times with cries of pain. Andorra was at the very front, courage never fading. For now. At one point she turned around, something she should’ve never done. The scene behind her made her shiver to the very core. Bodies were sprawled in difficult angles, blood staining everything and a white smoke from the firearms over the area made the image look even more dreadful. The ones still on their feet attacked without thinking, killing anyone and anything, no matter if they were their enemies or allies. Her eyes nervously scanned the field, shinning with terror and worry. She froze where she was, the clamour of the battle disappearing. That was until she felt a sting of pain in her lower back, which brought her back to reality. She looked down.

     No matter how precious this feeling may be. 

    The sands of time are going to cover it up and make it ambiguous. 

At first she saw nothing, but little by little a small dark dot appeared on her attire. It widened, soon soaking her clothes and, at the same time, making her feel dizzier. Realization hit her hard. She had been shot.

    But don't say that fate is a cheap word. 

   Since you're always laughing by my side, you could be the one. 

She faintly heard her name being called from afar. She stumbled and closed her eyes for a moment, regaining her balance. When she opened her eyes again a tall figure was standing in front of her. She looked up to see who it was, but the dizziness appeared again with that movement. She felt herself falling, but everything looked strange, like in slow motion. She waited for an impact, but it never came.

“Esmeralda… Esmeralda?!” That was it. Her real name. Not many knew it. She suddenly realized who it was.

“L-lud… wi… g… “ She tried to say. She opened her eyes again, but just that simple effort made her faint.

     See, everyone slowly forgets something, no matter how important. 

    So can I entrust you for a bit

   With my memories of you?

Her mind travelled back to some years ago. The day they met. It hadn't even been a week since Spain had recognized her independence. Regardless of this, she continued living in Spain's house, since she couldn't afford living on her own yet. And because it was easier living with more people, since she enjoyed the company. But not everyone did. She wasn't the only one that lived with Spain at that time. Romano, Belgium, Netherlands and many South American countries were also there. Not many really noticed her presence until that day. Having gained her independence made a few countries to envy her. They thought it wasn't fair. Why could she be independent but not them? Still, they never said anything. Until that day.

It was a late October afternoon, and Andorra was going back home after a day of working in her territory. It was already dark, so she didn’t see some other countries that began walking behind her as she got closer to the house.

“Hey Andorra.” They called her, startling her.

“Y-yes?”

“We wanted to congratulate you.” They said. It confused her, they had barely ever talked to her, and they were never specially kind. But she went with it. Maybe they did mean it. “Oh… Thanks.”

“Yeah, it’s really cool you’re independent now. And you gained it without the need of a war!”

“I prefer to be diplomatic. I don’t like using violence.”

Their seemingly genuine smiles disappeared and their eyes somehow looked darker. “Right. Thing is, we do like it. And it’s actually a good method to use when things don’t go quite the way you’d like them to.” Andorra was shaking at this point. She knew she shouldn’t have trusted them, but what else could she do?

“Oh, dear.” They said as they slowly approached to her. “It shouldn’t have been you. You’re weak. You don’t even have an army. You’re still living with Spain, feeding with his money while you enjoy your freedom.” She tried backing away, but she hit the wall behind her in no time. She didn't even dare to look at them, keeping her gaze fixed on her feet. She wanted to stand up to them. Show them they were wrong, that she wasn't weak. But she couldn't. They were true. Hearing their hysterical laughter only terrorized her more, as she sunk down while hugging her knees. If they were going to hit her, at least she wanted to get as less hurt as possible. Right when she thought they were about to start someone else appeared. "Leave her alone!" Shouted the stranger, and his voice was so powerful it scared the other countries away. She heard footsteps approaching her, and the same person from before talked to her, but this time instead of sounding intimidating he was nothing but kind. "Are you okay?" He asked.

She dared to look up to see who was talking to her. She recognized him easily. It was Germany. She had never talked to him, but obviously knew about him. Andorra stared at him for a long moment before remembering he had asked her something and she nodded effusively.

"Here, I'll take you home." He said, reaching out his hand for her to grab. Right when she was about to take his hand the image got blurry and faded.

       Just the silhouette of such an uncertain memory is like a thorn. 

       And makes my heart tighten. 

     Always. 

The blur increased until it was all just a mix of colours. They started to shape again and suddenly Germany was there, holding his hand out, but something was different. All around him was a huge void, the only other thing beside them was a closed door. Andorra had no idea where that lead, or where she was, but she took his hand anyways. She trusted him. He opened the door and a soft breeze caressed her skin. She felt grass under her feet and when she looked up she saw herself, way younger, making a little flower crown. She remembered that day. She wanted to stay there, but Germany kept walking. Suddenly everything changed. Now she was at home, some years older. Her younger self opened a closet and Romano was there, hiding. She remembered that day too, it was when Romano arrived and kept hiding because he didn’t want to stay at Spain’s place. Germany continued, stepping into a  room that changed dramatically all of a sudden into an exotic island. Spain was beside a teenage version of her, showing her all the different plants and creatures she had never seen before. Again, another day she vividly recalled, Spain had brought her to a faraway island in the other side of the ocean.

She suddenly realized it. Germany was taking her through all her best memories. Because she was dying. That’s what is said to happen, you remember all your life before you die, like a movie. It all began going much faster and suddenly she saw herself in the battle field, her arms hanging loose while Germany held her close. She didn’t want to leave him like that. Not without saying goodbye.

     I have the last missing piece

   of this incomplete puzzle.

She coughed and her eyes fluttered opened.

"Esmeralda!" Germany exclaimed, hope soon replacing his sorrow. She smiles weakly and her heart warmed when he said her name. She opened her mouth to speak, but Germany didn’t let her. “No! You don’t need to say anything.” He said in a rush. She placed a hand over his chest and shook her head. “I-i… h-have to.” She whispered. Her voice was shaky and raspy, and pronouncing every word drained her. But she had to continue. She didn’t have the strength to do anything else, so Germany had to prevent her from collapsing in the floor, holding her body as close to him as possible. With the arm that he wasn’t using to hold her he carefully tucked some damped strands of her black hair.

“Ludwig, I w-wanted to… t-thank you. For always been there for… me.” As she talked Germany’s eyes watered, something she had never seen happening. “But… you c-can’t save me… this time.”

“No… There has to be a way.” He refused to believe he was just about to lose her.

“There isn’t. This is goodbye.”

      I want to hear your memories unfold.

“Just remember me… please.” She took a deep breath and prepared to say her last words. “And remember that… I love you.”

And with that, she was forever gone.

    So this is for you.