A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've updated and I apologize for that. Work has been kinda hectic and things at home have gotten worse because of issues I don't think will be alright to discuss out in the open. Plus I kinda fractured my finger two weeks ago (it's finally healed but I'm weaning off the splint because my finger is still a bit sore). I'm in the process of finding a new job and things at home are starting to settle down though it drops down to a new low every now and then. That will hopefully be fixed before the New Year, or summer at the latest (hopefully not that late).
But I'm here now! I have this little one-shot here plus two others that I will be uploading shortly after but the main thing is that I'm here with an update for Forget Me Not! I'm still plotting and I kinda know where I'm going with the next few chapters, but I want your opinion on what I should do. I feel guilty for staying on hiatus fo so long and want to give you guys some content. If you go to my profile, there is a poll and I want you guys to choose on what I should do for Forget Me Not. The poll will stay open for a week before closing and I will go with the highest vote. Please vote! I will put the poll notice in my other two one-shots just in case people over look this notice. Thank you all for your patience and lovely reviews you sent so far!
This little one-shot is from a prompt that my GerIta writing group sent out along with the Deaf/Mute AU. I had fun with this little piece and I hope you enjoy it!
The man sighed, slouching forward on the bench to rest his face in his hands. A disappointed frown settled on his lips while bright, amber eyes filled with irritation as he stared at the painting before him. The smiling face of the Mona Lisa only seemed to be mocking him at this point. Why did he come here again? The man sighed once again, glancing at his open sketch pad, the first page filled with crude doodles that made the irritation in his eyes more apparent. He bit his lip so as to not let out another sigh as he went and ran his hands through his messy brown hair.
"Great idea Feliciano." He muttered to himself, "Go to the museum you said. You'll be inspired you said. Ha! I could be sitting at home and get the same results."
Feliciano couldn't help but sigh as he straightened up, pushing his back against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. So much for going back to my roots, he thought as he tried to push the irritation away. Feliciano had been in a bit of an art slump for nearly a week now and it was getting to him. He thought that coming to the museum would be a good idea. Looking at famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island, The Starry Night, and The Great Wave off Kanagawa usually gave the Italian some sort of inspiration. It was also a bonus that he worked at the museum as a tour guide so he knew where all of the best pieces were. But his usual spots weren't working.
Leonardo da Vinci's quote, 'Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art', came to mind, but that only proved to make Feliciano feel worse. He was in the mood to draw! The Italian could feel the itch in his hand grow as more unproductive days passed, but nothing good came out of what his hands created. Feliciano didn't even want to flip to a new page in his book because one glance at those doodles would only make him want to throw the damn thing.
The Italian was getting tired of his own sighing by now. That's all he had been doing every time he settled himself in front of a piece of art he thought would be inspirational. Feliciano knew he was only getting frustrated with himself. He should probably take a break, but even as the Italian got up and gathered his supplies he found himself looking around. The itch to draw was too strong and Feliciano just needed to find the inspiration to scratch it.
The Italian became so focused on finding his inspiration that he didn't notice that someone was turning the corner. The two of them nearly collided with Feliciano roughly bumping his shoulder into the unsuspected by passer. This brought the Italian's attention back to his surroundings as he stumbled, but the stranger quickly steadied him with careful hands.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Feliciano said quickly, focusing on the person he bumped into.
Before him stood a man in the familiar uniform of the guard that patrolled the museum. The man himself had a rather big build, making him look a bit intimidating even in the simple uniform. He had blond hair which was slicked back and his blue eyes looked bright even in the artificial light. Feliciano vaguely remembered seeing the man during a couple of his tours, but that fact escaped the Italian rather quickly as he looked the guard over with careful eyes.
The concern that was on the guard's face quickly melted away with Feliciano's apology, becoming neutral with a short nod of his head. "That's alright. Just be careful next time." He said, being to move away.
"Wait!" Feliciano called out, causing the blond to pause and look back.
The Italian just stared, looking the guard up and down a while longer as a familiar feeling ran through him. He hadn't felt it in nearly a week since finishing up his last big project. Inspiration had finally hit him. Now he just had to… Feliciano looked up, noticing the man was looking quite annoyed. He hoped he hadn't been staring for too long.
"Sorry but…would you mind if I drew you?" He finally got out.
The other man looked confused, furrowing his eyebrows. "I-what?"
"Would you mind if I drew you? I know it's sudden, but you are just what I need for inspiration."
The poor guard looked around, unsure of how to respond to this sudden request. "Um…okay? I suppose not since I'm on break currently."
Feliciano smiled widely, looking as if he was ready to jump up and down with joy. "Thank you! We just need to find the perfect spot."
Before the guard could do anything, the Italian grabbed hold of his sleeve and pulled him along with a sweeping gaze. It was quite an interesting sight. Feliciano was a bit smaller than this man of authority, yet he was one pulling the blond around. As he searched, the Italian blabbered on about his struggle of finding inspiration and that he was glad that the other man came along. The guard was helpless to the situation, being too stunned to say anything. From the sudden request to this random stranger talking as if he didn't need breath, how exactly was one to react?
Feliciano soon cried out with excitement, pointing to an intersection with little to no people around. The guard was promptly put into place and Feliciano was quick to sit on a close by bench, opening up his sketch pad quickly. The Italian stared at the guard once he had a pencil in hand and waited. The other man stared back, looking confused as ever.
"Well?" Feliciano said, making the man raise an eyebrow, "What? You expect me to be inspired by that pose?"
"Well, how do you want me?" the guard asked exasperated.
"You don't know how modeling works do you?"
"You're the artist. Shouldn't you tell me how you want me?"
"If I tell you, it won't look natural!" Feliciano explained like it was common knowledge, "Pretend that you're working if you need a suggestion."
"I need to move around if you want me to look like I'm working."
"I'm not capturing you with video! Do you see a camera in my hands? Being a model means you have to stay still. Besides, you guys don't move around that much. I have seen plenty of guards just hanging out around the corner."
"Then they're not doing their job correctly." The guard muttered before sighing.
"Work with me here!" Feliciano sighed as well, waving an impatient hand.
The other man sighed again, regretting that he said yes. A bit awkwardly, he crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall. He stared at Feliciano, as if asking him if his current pose was good enough. The Italian didn't react at all. He just continued to stare at the guard who just sighed again, guessing that his pose wasn't good enough. Looking around, the blond found that they were in the room with his favorite painting. He spotted the famous Italia und Germania right across from him. As he stared at it, the guard's body relaxed and Feliciano let out a small gasp.
"That's perfect! Stay like that and don't move."
"What?" the guard was about to move, but the Italian made a disapproving noise which made him stay in place. "How long is this going to take?"
"I don't know. How much longer are you on break?"
"I would tell you, but you'll yell at me for trying to look at my watch."
This made Feliciano laugh for some reason and the guard just rolled his eyes before looking back at the painting, hearing the sound of the Italian's pencil meet paper. "Do you treat all of your models like this?"
"I don't usually have models. I mostly draw from memory. If I'm having trouble, I look at still life photos. Other times, I go out to the park and see what nature will provide. But like I said before, I've been struggling to find inspiration. The art museum is the best place when I'm in that kind of stump."
"Why? Is it because your muse is in the museum?"
The guard heard Feliciano pause and just knew the other was giving him a look. "Did you seriously just try to make a pun?"
"What?" The guard tried to glance over at the brunet without moving his head, but the strain was too much for his eyes so he looked back at the painting, "What kind of pun would you get from that?"
"Muse? In museum?" Feliciano asked as if it was obvious.
"That's a horrible pun!"
"Exactly!" the Italian continued drawing, "But if I'm honest, I do find my muse in the paintings here. I don't really ask for people to strike a pose."
"Then why me?"
There was a pause in the other's drawing before he continued. "You inspired me. The paintings weren't working out and just as I was feeling like I should give up, you appeared. I haven't really seen you around here too much and I suppose that's why. I guess I needed a change in scenery." The guard hummed a bit, giving the tiniest nod he could without messing up his pose. "Besides, I'm surprised that people haven't asked you to be a model. You're really handsome. You'd probably be a good muse."
The room seemed to have gotten warmer than before, or at least to the blond. "D-Don't say such things!" he stuttered, causing Feliciano to laugh.
The guard thought about asking what about himself was inspirational, but the moment the words started to form on his tongue he shut his mouth. Judging from that last comment the other made, the blond figured it would be another embarrassing statement. Why did he make such a statement anyway? The guard thought before pushing his questioning thoughts away and focused on the painting.
Silence fell between the two of them. The artist focused on his work while the model did his best to keep the pose. Though, staring at a painting could only entertain someone for so long. The guard even went and thought about turning his head slightly just to glance at the other's work. But even when the blond shifted slightly, Feliciano would mutter not to move. He didn't want to exactly know what an angry artist would do if their model didn't cooperate.
"Which painting are you looking at?" Feliciano asked out of the blue.
"Huh?" The guard took a moment to process the question, "Oh… Italia und Germania." How did the guy even know he was staring at a painting?
"Oh?" the Italian sounded surprised, "Why that one?"
"Ah, well…" he paused, unsure of what to say. He even heard Feliciano stop drawing and was probably staring at the blond as he thought of what to say. "It's actually my favorite painting here. I guess you can say that I like how Overbeck fused both Italian and German cultures in one painting. There's also the fact that the painting is supposed to represent a marriage between Italia and Germania. You can see it in their gazes how they feel about each other…"
The guard stopped, clearing his throat as he felt a bit embarrassed with his explanation. Feliciano on the other hand laughed and continued his drawing. "It sounds like you can relate."
"Not exactly…" the blonde started, but stopped when he heard the other humming.
"It's all done~" Feliciano declared, sounding really happy with his results.
The guard uncrossed his arms and moved to look at the brunet, feeling a tad bit stiff from his pose. Stretching a bit, he moved over to see the other's work and could only stare. He could tell the Italian had a passion for art. Seeing himself on the page, it looked as if the blond was just simply relaxing. There was even a faint trace of a smile, making the guard wonder just when he started to smile or if it was just the artist freestyling a bit.
"Do you like it?" Feliciano asked.
"Yeah." The other admitted, looking over the piece once again, "I never thought I would see an exact copy of me on paper."
That made Feliciano smile widely. "Well, you were a good model who stayed still! Did I take too long?" The blond glanced at his watch and the grimace was all the Italian had to see. "I'm sorry."
"Don't blame yourself, uh…" the guard looked at the picture and saw the other's signature, "Fel…lucyano?"
"Feli-chi-ano"
"Right, sorry Feliciano." The blond nodded, "I should go then."
"Sorry for making you late though." The Italian apologized again. The guard just gave him a small wave and Feliciano put on a smile and got up to walk beside the other man after gathering his stuff. "But you were a good model! Your face is so expressive and it also shows in your eyes! There's a lot of stuff I can work with if you wouldn't mind modeling again sometime?"
The guard could hear the hopefulness in the other's question. "I don't know. We don't really know each other…"
"Well, how about we go out for coffee when you get off then? That's the best way to get to know one another. We can start off by talking about Italia und Germania if you wanted!"
The blond's lips twitched into a small smile as he raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Maybe. I'm Ludwig by the way."