Year of 1910.
There's something called "The American Dream". The concept is pretty simple. People going to live in the United States in hopes of finding new opportunities and a chance to get a better life than the current one. All around the world people talk about the States as if it was a magical place where everyone had a chance to succeed if they worked hard enough. That talking even reached Italia, from where Feliciano is.
Feliciano is a young Italian man that used to live in Venezia along with his companion Ludwig. Both orphans, they met on the orphanage since kids and decided to stay together forever since then. Ludwig was obviously not Italian-born, but they never found out from where the blond really is. The only "clue" of whatever his origins were was a piece of paper with his name attached to him when someone abandoned him at the old orphanage when he was just a baby. They ran away from the orphanage at the age of fifteen and have lived hardly well since that fateful day.
They are now twenty years old.
But right now Italia is on a hard time, you see. There are not enough jobs, not enough food, and not enough money.
That's why he and Ludwig decided to leave everything they knew back at Italia and start a new beginning in the new land of the United States of America.
"Do you think it will be a lot different from home?" the brunette asks his companion suddenly.
They are sitting on a really cramped room that should only allow four people but are actually six. Both the brunette and the blond are sitting on a bed with their backs resting on the wall. Feliciano is hugging his knees close to his chest and Ludwig is reading for the 50th time an old English magazine.
"I don't know, Feliciano, but I don't think so" his icy blue eyes looks at the deep brown on the Italian's eyes "I mean, the States are in a whole other continent"
"Yeah, you're right, Ludwig" he leans his head over Ludwig's shoulder and lets go a deep sigh "I just hope the food is delicious"
"Don't be so picky, Feliciano. You'll have to eat in any case" after a moment of silence, he continues to talk "But I hope the beer is good"
Feliciano chuckles at the other's wish.
He would be lying if he says he isn't scared of the new changes. Scared of abandoning his home land for the unknown. He doesn't even speak English. But he still knows that whatever happens, it'll be alright. As long as he's with Ludwig, everything will be alright.
It's always been like that, anyways. Since they became friends at the orphanage, they both would rely on the other. Ludwig's physical strength and intelligence, and Feliciano's stealth and friendly appearance would often help them go around life. The Italian would almost say they are the perfect duo.
"How long until we arrive?" he asks.
"We've been on the sea for about three days, don't we? Maybe other three or four days" Ludwig answers without removing his eyes from the magazine.
"Ve~~ so long. I'm bored already" the Italian complains with closed eyes.
"You should practice your English, if you're going to America"
"I don't need that, I have you" Feliciano smiles, trying to save his ass of having to study such a boring thing. Even if he knows it's actually crucial for him to learn the language.
It's no secret that the Italian's way of life is hedonism and he prefers to prevent any kind of stress and such from his life. Besides, learning a language sounds like a lot of work he isn't feeling like having. Unlike Ludwig, that decided to speak English way before they decided to go the States. "You never know when you'll need it" he said at that time, years ago, and who would have guessed? He was right!
"I'm not going to be with you all the time, you know?" the blond reminds his friend and the latter sighs once again.
"I know, I know… teach me when we arrive there" Feliciano opens his brown eyes and look around the room.
Their roommates are other Italians with the same hopes as them. They don't know them but they seem kind of friendly, Feliciano guesses, but he wouldn't know because for some reason they won't talk that much to them. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Ludwig is imposing and threatening, being so tall and muscley.
The brunette doesn't mind, though, if the other occupants of the room are distracted with themselves, that means that Feliciano could pass his arm under Ludwig's and grab it. So he does, feeling how immediately the taller man stiffens at the contact. The Italian can't help but wonder if Ludwig reacted like that because they aren't alone in the room.
After all, they've been physical since a long time ago.
If someone asked Feliciano what his relationship with Ludwig is, he would answer that they are best friends. But they are actually something deeper than that. "Lovers" would be the correct name, but it feels weird to call themselves like that because they've been together for so long that the word "lovers" doesn't seem right. It feels too shallow to use that word to describe what they have.
It just happened naturally. One day they were sitting together on the small room they shared when they were approximately seventeen years old and then they decided that it would be a great idea to kiss. So they did. And they've been kissing each other – and a lot of other things – since then.
They never asked each other if they wanted to be their boyfriend or lover, though, they just continued their relationship without any kind of name and they are happy like that. Whatever they have, it's enough for both of them.
"Feliciano" Ludwig whispers loud enough so only the mentioned can hear him "Stop"
After another deep sigh, the Italian lets go the other's arm, with an obvious pout in his face.
"You know it's dangerous" the blond warns still whispering.
"Yeah, yeah" Ludwig being a paranoid asshole is also no secret "We should go to another place" he suggests whispering too.
"Another place?"
Feliciano just bumps his shoulder to Ludwig's and gets up, expecting him to follow him. Of course he does. And soon enough they are outside the room still with the brunette leading the way through the alleys.
He stops in front of a door that has a sign reading "Authorized Staff Only". But Feliciano ignores it and with a smile he opens the door, revealing a janitor's small room. They are on the third class floor, so not a lot of cleaning happens in there.
"Feliciano, no" Ludwig says as if he had read the Italian's mind "We can't, it's too dangerous. You can't even lock it"
Either way, Feliciano grabs his hand and pulls him inside the small room, closing the door.
"We have to hurry up, then" the smaller man says with a giggle in the darkness of the room.
Even if Ludwig was complaining just a few seconds ago, he's the first one to pass his arms around Feliciano's waist, keeping him close, and the latter takes the opportunity to kiss him on the lips.
It's been a while since last time they had a moment of intimacy, so it feels like a dream to finally be so close to his lover.
Feliciano caresses Ludwig's blond hair with both hands, biting the lower lip with anticipation of something deeper. The taller man opens his mouth and lets the brunette's tongue to play with his own. Their breaths get heavy with each passing second while Ludwig starts to move his hands all along the Italian's back until he reaches his buttocks and stops there, clenching his hands over the soft muscle.
The smaller man pushes Ludwig against the wall and the other grunts a bit for the hit, but never breaking the kiss until Feliciano does it.
"Ludwig, I want you" he confesses with short breath, and even if the room is dark, he can bet his ass his face is bright red.
"I know, but we can't" his hand stars to rub against Feliciano's crotch, so the Italian moans in a whisper "I want you, too, Feliciano"
"Let's hurry up" without a waiting second, the brunette starts to undo Ludwig's buttons on his trousers and the blond does the same.
"Ah, Feliciano…" Ludwig gasps the moment he feels the smaller hand over his groin and lower to his dick.
Not wanting to be left behind, the blond imitates the Italian's movements and promptly starts pumping up and down Feliciano's hot member after getting his pants undone. They kiss to prevent the outside world from hearing their gasps and heavy breaths, wanting to have finally a moment just for themselves without interruption.
Feliciano's free hand finds its place over Ludwig's shoulder, clenching on it with force.
"So—So big, Ludwig" the Italian teases in a murmur without breaking the kiss completely, to which the blond just answers with a grunt and grasping the smaller man's butt with the other hand.
The brunette feels his ear get softly bitten and moans. If he knows what to say to bring Ludwig over the edge, Ludwig knows how to touch him to do the same. Their synchronization would be kind of creepy if it wasn't so pleasurable.
"Ludwig, al—almost there" is everything Feliciano can say to announce his finishing, moving his hips accordingly to the blond's hand.
"No, Feliciano—" Ludwig answers with a raspy voice against the other's ear, sending a shiver to all of his body "Just a bit… just a bit more"
The Italian loudly moans against Ludwig's shoulder, muffling it on the shirt. His whole body is getting that familiar hot tension down in his groin and his legs aren't as responsive as before. But his lover asked him to last longer and, dear Lord, he would last longer. He doesn't know how, though, because the blond is an expert at touching him and soon enough he is teasing the slit on his glans with the thumb.
For that, Feliciano starts to pump Ludwig harder and moving his other hand under the other's shirt and undershirt to scratch his back. The blond hide his face on the Italian's neck. Somewhere along the way of their self-discovery on their teenagers lives, they found out Ludwig actually likes to feel a little bit of pain. This is further proven when the blond also starts to move his hips, wanting to get closer to the smaller man.
"Come for me, Ludwig" the brunette tells him with the best voice he could pull off, but ultimately failing because it's a moaning mess.
As he feels the tension on Ludwig's body to build up, Feliciano covers the blond's glans with his other hand and kisses him on the lips. After a shiver going down the blue-eyed's back, a grunt escapes from his sealed in the kiss lips and comes, letting go the white and hot strokes smear his lover's hand.
"So good, Ludwig, so good" Feliciano whispers on a purr against the other's lips.
But as soon Ludwig stops trembling, he continues to touch the Italian's dick and teasing its slit and bridge until he's also over the top and comes, muffling his moaning once again against Ludwig's shirt.
They both are left breathing hastily, with their foreheads resting against each other's. Ludwig gives the Italian little kisses all along his face and the latter can't help but giggle a bit.
"We need to get clean" the blond says finally.
Luckily, they find a clean rag and soon enough their hands are wiped. They accommodate their clothes as if nothing piacular had happened in that closet and make their way back to the quarters.
"Feliciano" Ludwig calls him after a moment of walking in silence.
"Yes, Ludwig?"
"This isn't repeating. We won't touch each other like that until we arrive to land" his cheeks are red as blood from the embarrassment and the Italian chuckles.
"Alright, Ludwig" he thinks he can bear with the abstinence until then.
And so the days continue to pass as if they didn't care about anything else. But that's a good thing, because the boat's residents were starting to get uneasy and restless. Time is a tricky thing, it loves to play with humans' mind and make it appear as if it was eternal. Something so slow that even a snail would be furious. But then again, time could just suddenly disappear and be gone without announcing anything to anyone, making everything faster than usual.
Time is just something humans created to measure their lives. But it's usually forgotten that time doesn't care about humans' lives.
In that day of 25th of October in 1910, Feliciano and Ludwig put a foot over American land for the first time.