Feliciano is so warm.
His palms are warm and soft with small calluses from paintbrushes, and his voice is warm and round and full of laughter, and his eyes are warm and dark, and his skin is warm and a little rough in places.
Everything about him is warm (sometimes not, but rarely; sometimes Feliciano goes cold and angry and Ludwig will do anything to bring him back then) and Ludwig knows this and it is that, more than anything, that astonishes him.
That he is close enough to Feliciano, that Feliciano lets him close enough—that is enough, sometimes, to make Ludwig wonder how, how. How has he ever been this lucky, how can something so simple (well. Not simple, not really) as falling asleep curled up with Feliciano, fingers laced together and warm breaths mixing, make the corners of his heart tug and ache, how can Feliciano trust him so, how how how.
(the first time they had made love, ludwig had said i-i'm not hurting you, am i and feliciano had looked up at him and then pulled him down and close, closer until feliciano's face was pressed into ludwig's shoulder and murmured no, no, you're amazing i love you keep going and it had been so, so warm)
Feliciano trusts him more than he has ever been trusted in his life, trusts him with his body and his heart and Ludwig has promised himself time and time again that he shall never betray that, never once, and how Feliciano can trust him so easily is a mystery but Ludwig will guard that trust and keep it with him, warm in his chest, and never ever break it because how could six syllables mean so much unless they were Feliciano's trust?
(and afterwards he had curled up around feliciano and breathed the smell-not roses or sunlight or anything like that, instead sweat and a bit of cologne and bread and a tiny bit of fumes from glassblowing-of him and feliciano had nuzzled into his chest and sighed contentedly and ludwig had realized that he would do anything for this, anything at all, he would die for this and give anything for this, for feliciano warm and solid in his arms)
Ludwig knows, definitely, that he is being sentimental and silly and foolish, but that does not change the fact that Feliciano is beautiful, warm and trusting and Ludwig would trust him with his own government and his own people. It does not change the fact that sometimes just looking at Feliciano can make Ludwig's breath stutter. It does not change the fact that Feliciano has said the same of Ludwig, has said it out loud. It does not change the fact that Feliciano trusts Ludwig so warmly and fully that sometimes it pulls at him until he feels like his heart will crack and leak round the edges.
(it does not change that after the first time they kissed, feliciano had laughed loud and clear and warm and pulled ludwig close and kissed his cheeks and said not for the first time love you! and ludwig had replied, carefully placing the words that felt so strange and new and fitting in his mouth, i love you too.)
