"He's awake." The words would have been quiet in a normal setting, but here they sliced through the chilly silence with as much power as any shout. Red eyes tore away from ghostly pale hands, posture stiffening. The cold morning and it's eerie silence were temporarily forgotten.
Words had failed him for the weeks that they'd waited, and they continued to fail him now. He relied on body language alone to convey his question. There was a nod in response. He rose.
The marble floors made every room here far too bright, and his steps echoed oddly. Normally it would bother him. Today he hardly noticed.
There was a chair beside the bed for him to sit in, though he ignored it, coming to rest on his knees. It brought him that much closer to the little blond body.
He smiled widely at the child, a flash of white in the already too bright room, as blue eyes made their way to his face. They held exhaustion, as was to be expected, and all the weariness of an old man. He tried to ignore it as he closed a hand warmly around a tiny arm.
"Who are you?"
The question came out as though mandatory, as though he'd asked several others before the very same. There was a smile, and ruby eyes flicked away so as not to show their owner's pain to the child. The silence filled the room.
Time stretched on. The boy didn't ask again. Neither of them seemed to know what to say.
"...Who am I?"
The ruby eyes snapped back to the young face at the sound. It was whispered tentatively, fearfully, as though the speaker was willing the answer to be pleasant though he knew it would be condemning.
"I'm your big bruder." It was even quieter than the child's words. They were the first five syllables to leave snow white lips in weeks. The warmth of them banished the morning's icy fingers.
"I'm..." The desperation hidden behind the exhaustion in those blue irises broke his heart. He struggled with an answer for the child. There was no longer a country to his name, and they all feared that the reminder of such would break the tiny being.
He cast around for a name, anything Germanic. It registered vaguely that his actions here would effect the rest of the blond's life, but most of his focus was on brining temporary comfort to his distraught brother.
"Ludwig." The boy blinked.
"Ludwig?" There was a nod.
"I am Gilbert, and you are Ludwig, my awesome little brother." Another grin. The hint of a smile danced across young lips.
"Ludwig who?" The question was curious, lacking any previous fear. Gilbert searched his memory for anything that could have been the younger's earlier name, wishing he'd spent more time with his brother, before realizing that the truth might remind him of what he was, and of the trauma he went through weeks ago. He settled for his own name then.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt."
The joyful glimmer in those blue eyes was worth the white lie.