A.N: I mentioned this story is from the same AU as my Spamano fic 'Where's My Cliché?', so it's just the GerIta side of things – You don't have to read the other to understand this. In fact, the beginning of this takes place before the events of the other story begin. Enjoy!
"Are you sure you're going to be alright, Lovino?"
A heavy suitcase was dropped to the floor in the hallway with a bang and Feliciano walked into the lounge, looking over at his elder brother expectantly, even though he had heard the answer tons of times. This had to have been at least the eleventh time their grandfather had asked, and Lovino was beginning to get annoyed - Feliciano could tell, especially when Lovino clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
"Grandpa, I'll be fine! You've asked me before and I've told you before that I'm going to be fine. I've opened the restaurant by myself tons of times," Lovino answered as calmly as he could.
Situated on the outskirts of Rome, Feliciano and Lovino Vargas owned a small but popular, typical Italian restaurant that saw plenty of customers and regulars every week. Roma, their grandfather, was the true owner, but in recent years, as age was beginning to get the better of him, he started to stay at home more or go out with friends instead of working. He still looked good and was as active as he could be, but that was just how things were for him.
"I'm just making sure, Lovi. You've never done a week by yourself. One or two days here and there isn't anything compared to-"
"Grandpa," Lovino said, stopping him. He then smiled softly, "I'll be okay. Go. Go have fun and don't worry about me. You can always call."
Roma nodded before looking to Feliciano, who had been surprisingly quiet as he watched the two of them. "Please tell me you have finished packing, Feliciano," he said. Feli had gotten up and rushed around to shove more shirts and trousers and such into his suitcase quickly.
Feli nodded with a big smile now, glancing back to see his full suitcase. It was more than enough for a week, but he preferred to have something and not need it than not take something and want it.
"All done, Grandpa," he said before stepping towards Lovino and hugging him tightly. "I'm going to miss you, Lovi!"
"Hey! Hey, get off, idiot! It's only a week," Lovino whined, but he hugged him back briefly before making him step back a little. "How's your English?"
Feliciano cleared his throat. He had been practicing all week to make sure he was still okay in speaking English. He, his brother and grandfather were all fluent, but Feliciano didn't get much opportunity to speak it, other than the typical phrases used in the restaurant, such as 'Can I take your order?', 'May I recommend the... It tastes great!' and 'Here's your bill, thank you for eating with us and you take care!'
It was either practice his English or try and spend the next two and a half hours on the plane learning German, which was far less likely.
"Hello, Aldrich. It's lovely to meet you. My name is Feliciano. Thank you for letting us stay with you and your family!" Feliciano said in perfect English despite the thick accent, making Roma chuckle.
"Very formal, but well spoken," he told him in Italian with a nod.
"Thanks, grandpa."
Lovino nodded, "Good. ...Listen, don't let any idiots mess you around. They can be sneaky bastards over there- well, they can be sneaky bastards in any country -but just watch yourself!"
Feliciano smiled again and hugged Lovino once more, kissing his cheek. "I'm going to be fine," he told him.
"Look after Grandpa, too. Old man might break a hip."
"Hey! Keep speaking like that and I'll demote you to dishwasher," Roma said, rolling his eyes, but he ruffled Lovi's hair and said, "Take care of yourself. I don't want this place to look like a pigsty when we come home."
Lovino nodded and then he noticed the car turn up outside, so he helped Roma out to the car with his bag, Feliciano dragging his behind him as he followed them. Then, once they were in the trunk, they got in the cab and waved to Lovino, Feliciano waving until he could no longer see him.
"It's so weird without Lovi... I'm gonna miss him..." Feli mumbled as he sat back in his seat, having been on his knees, waving out the back window at his brother.
"You wanted to come, Feliciano. You can always change your mind and stay here-"
"No! I want to come, too. I'll be okay," he assured his grandfather with a firm nod. He wasn't so looking forward to the flight, but once they get there, he would be just fine and would probably forget all about Lovino for the entire week.
Still, a week away was exciting. Roma had an old friend who lived in Berlin, and they hadn't seen each other for a while so Roma got the invite to stay with them. Feliciano had jumped on that idea.
"Berlin?! I want to go to Berlin! Can I come to Berlin with you, Grandpa? I want to go on vacation with you!" was what Feliciano had oh so excitedly said. In reality, he hadn't been outside of Italy, so he just wanted the excuse. Roma asked his friend, Aldrich, if Feliciano could come, and when the answer was positive, he couldn't be more excited.
The airport was busy, people leaving, with suitcases even bigger than Feliciano's or with backpacks almost as tall as themselves, and trying to find transportation to get them where they needed to go. Someone practically pounced on their cab when they turned up, asking in rushed Italian if he was a private cab or had another job and if he could take them somewhere.
Feli pulled along his case as they found the right check in desk, watching people with a smile as they ran at each other and hugged tightly, kisses being shared amongst many. That always brought a smile to his face, even if he just saw it in some cheesy movie or on TV. It was adorable.
There was always the shop to buy books, candy and anything you could take on the plane, and a currency exchange booth for anyone needing it. Feli looked at the coffee shop, wishing he had had a mug that morning, but the rush to make sure everything was packed away had distracted him. Maybe he could be polite when they got to Berlin and ask Aldrich if he could have some coffee when they got to his home.
Tickets in hand, Roma led Feli through to their gate now that they were free of their luggage. They decided not to take anything on the plane with them besides a book for Roma and Feliciano had a small sketch pad and pencil. It was just effort, and it was only a two hour flight anyway. The two of them followed the crowd through to their gate, the 10.30 flight to Berlin, and waited patiently for boarding, getting on when it was their turn.
"Haven't you know your friend for a long time, Grandpa?" Feli asked when they were all settled in their seats on the plane. Feliciano had claimed the seat by the window when they found out they were sitting there, liking to see everything as they flew. Hostesses had just been round to check on seat belts and such and were now sitting down as the plane began to taxi down the runway.
Roma nodded. "A very long time, Feli. Here, look at this," he said, reaching into his wallet and pulling out a picture - and a little creased, but you could see Roma was one of the men in the middle of the picture, his arm around a heavily pregnant young woman to his left.
"Grandma," Feli said quietly as he pointed to her.
"She was about to have your mother then. That was a few days before she was born, I believe" he said. "I was twenty two in that, and your grandmother was twenty, and that," he pointed to a man with shoulder length blonde hair, "is Aldrich, and that's his wife next to him and their son in front. They came to visit us for the week and ended up staying to meet your mother. So, this is from around forty... five years ago? But we met long before that."
"Wow... So he is an old friend of yours. And he has a son?"
"He's got two grandsons. One is about your age, I believe, and the other is a few years older, but ...His... His son and daughter in law passed away a while ago now, Feliciano, so don't mention it to him, alright?"
Feli nodded, making a mental note to shut himself up if that ever came up. The plane then suddenly began to rush down the runway and then, with a little jolt, it took off, and Feliciano instantly took hold of his grandfather's hand. He wasn't scared of flying, but there a bit of nervousness as the plane took off and landed. He just didn't like the bumps, meaning any state of turbulence wasn't popular with the man, either.
When the plane was steadily climbing upwards, Feliciano watched Roma putting his picture away again and said, "Grandsons, though?"
Roma nodded, "Yes, but it really has been a long time since I last saw him. Before Lovino was born, certainly. I've only ever met one of them and that was Gilbert, the eldest, when he was a baby. The other... Ah, what was his name?" He fumbled in his pocket for a moment and then brought out a piece of folded paper. Opening it, he saw it was a letter written in neat and consistent handwriting.
He and Aldrich were avid writers of letters, preferring to put pen to paper instead of using a phone. "It's an easier way of keeping track and remembering things if you've got it down on paper," Roma had said when questioned by his grandsons. Although, his handwriting wasn't as neat as what was on this paper, so Feliciano pitied Aldrich for having the task of deciphering whatever Roma scrawled out to him.
Roma traced a line down the middle of the page to keep track of where he was reading. He then paused. "Ah, here we are- 'Gilbert, Ludwig and I will be looking forward to your and Feliciano's visit.' There, his name is Ludwig. You might get along with him, Feli."
Feli nodded, interested for a brief moment, before looking at the beginning of the letter. "...He calls you Romulus," he said with an amused smile.
"I don't think he's ever called me Roma. Everyone else has, but he never did," Roma answered with a light laugh, putting the letter away. "I think you will like their family, Feliciano."
The flight wasn't too boring seeing as it was only just over two hours long. Feliciano sketched, Roma read a few chapters of his book, and they found themselves landing in Germany before they realised the flight was over. Feli was nervous as they landed firmly on the runway.
"Hi, Germany," Feliciano said with a little smile as he looked out of the window, seeing the airport with lots of houses in the distance behind it. He wondered how far away Aldrich's house was and hoped they wouldn't be in another car for too long. He was eager to start sightseeing, really, even if Roma wanted to stay behind with Aldrich. He had been to Germany a few times to see Aldrich before, so maybe it wasn't as exciting for him. Then again, he hadn't been for a long time, so maybe he wanted to see what had changed.
"Grandpa, are we going to go and see everything?" Feli asked curiously, the thought playing on his mind now.
"The sights of Berlin? Of course, Feli," he answered, but knew Feliciano could be left doing some things by himself depending on how the day went. He had hoped that maybe, seeing as Aldrich had a grandson the same age as Feliciano, he could spend some time with Ludwig.
Getting through the airport and bag collection was simple, Feli nearly taking the wrong bag despite the difference in size between the one he grabbed and his one, and then they were in a cab to Aldrich's home after managing to fit both bags into the trunk somehow.
Feliciano was on the edge of his seat as they drove down the streets of Berlin, watching everyone they passed, looking at every building before focusing on the next, trying to read different signs out loud and laughing when he couldn't pronounce it. "Grandpa! Say that one!" Feliciano said after realising his grandpa had had practice in saying some German words from when he had visited before, able to learn how to say them with Aldrich's help.
"…Baumschulenweg?" Roma said.
"Yes, that one!" he burst out laughing again before his focus moved onto something different.
This continued for the remainder of the journey until the car began heading down smaller streets, into estates with houses, the majority of which being detached. Each one was neat and no hedges were overgrown, nothing seemed to be where it shouldn't and all were clean and tidy. The car soon stopped outside of a specific house, and Roma smiled, "It hasn't changed…"
The house was white, one of the whitest in the street, with a red roof. The front garden had a range of flowers growing around the edge of the green lawn, and a darker green fence bordered the property with a matching green gate. The path inside of the gate sloped downwards to a red front door, the number 53 in brass letters on the front above a letterbox. Two windows were on the ground floor next to it with two windows above. A fifth window was at the very top, which Feli assumed to be the attic, or possibly a third floor. All of the windows had some kind of plant in them, the top one and bottom two with window boxes on the outside, the ones above having a potted plant inside.
"We're here, Feliciano. Get your bag," Roma said, passing the money to the cab and then getting out and heading to the trunk. Feli nodded and did as he was told, following him around to the trunk and pulling his bag out. The driver then drove off when the trunk was closed and they were on the path.
"You know, it looks almost exactly the same as the last time I was here," Roma said, and that was when the front door opened and the man in the picture Roma had showed Feliciano was standing in the doorway, except he was forty years older now, his hair longer, too, now reaching to just below his chest.
Roma smiled and instantly flipped to English, "Oh, god… Aldrich, you got old."
Aldrich laughed quietly, tilting his head a little bit to the side as he watched Roma and Feliciano approaching the house. "Quiet, you. Time hasn't been so kind to you, either."
"Oh, thanks." When he got close enough, Roma took him into a big hug, Aldrich's arms immediately returning the embrace. Feliciano started to smile at this. They hadn't been together for over twenty years, and the thought that they were now seeing each other again warmed Feliciano's heart. He only hoped he would have such a strong friendship as they had that would last that long.
When Roma finally let him go, he said, "How are you?"
"Not bad. Pretty good, actually. And yourself?"
"I'm great. Really great. Oh, hey, meet my youngest grandson, Feliciano."
"Hello, Feliciano. He looks a lot like you, Romulus," Aldrich said. "…He looks like Marcella."
Roma nodded sadly at the fact that, yes, he and Lovino did inherit looks from his daughter which would only remind him of her every single day, but then Feliciano started up his practiced routine, which only made him laugh.
"Hello, Aldrich. It's lovely to meet you. My name is Feliciano. Thank you for letting us stay with you and your family!" he said again with a happy smile.
Aldrich chuckled. "It's good to meet you, too, Feliciano. Here, come inside, the both of you. I bet you could use a drink."
The two were led through the hallway and to the kitchen once they had left their bags by the staircase. "Ludwig or Gilbert can take those up for you when one of them comes home," Aldrich said. "Ludwig will probably be back first. He's only gone to the store for me."
The kitchen walls were a pale green with white stencilled flowers and a framed picture of Van Gogh's sunflowers on the wall. Aldrich's wife had decorated before she died, and Aldrich had wanted to keep everything the way she left it. The back double doors were wide open, leading to a patio area with four chairs and a table, and beyond that was a lawn that was reasonably sized. Feli expected it to be smaller. Flowers bordered the lawn here, too, and a neatly trimmed hedge was at the end. The windows on this side of the house also had window boxes for flowers. Feliciano was really happy to see so many plants everywhere.
"Coffee, Romulus?"
Roma nodded, "Please."
"Feliciano?"
"Si, grazie!" Feli said, too eager to have a cup of coffee that he forgot to answer in English.
"Take a seat outside. We've certainly got a beautiful day for it."
Roma and Feli went and sat down by the table, and that's when Feliciano noticed the dog house to the left of the doors. He pointed it out to his grandfather.
"You have a dog, Aldrich?" Roma said as he came to join them, placing a mug in front of both Italians before sitting next to Roma. Feliciano's mug barely had a chance to touch the table before he had it in his hands, taking the first sip with a hum of appreciation.
"Three. They're Ludwig's, though. He's very good with them. Gets up at six every morning and goes for a jog with them, brings them home unless he's decided to take them to work, then takes them out when he gets back, and then once again at night… He does it every day without fail," Aldrich answered.
"I haven't met Ludwig yet. I only remember Gilbert from when he was a tiny baby."
Aldrich breathed a laugh, "He was a scrawny little thing. You wouldn't think he was the same person as that baby. The two of them are all muscles."
"Really? Well," Roma reached in to find his wallet and showed Aldrich a picture of Feliciano next to his brother. "That's Lovino, my eldest grandson."
"…How are they not twins? He looks just like Feliciano."
Feli soon got bored with this talk of him and Lovino and looked back to the house. He could see through an archway to the lounge from where he was sat, seeing the beige and white walls and brown carpet, a white rug in the middle. A long beige couch was on one side of the room and a matching beige armchair was in front of the windows. A low coffee table was just in front of the couch, and a TV was placed in the corner where all seats could see it. At the edge of the room were three dog beds – Feliciano wasn't too pleased to see that they were all big dogs. He could see people in framed pictures, but wasn't close enough to be able to see what they looked like.
Feliciano, after a short while, decided he needed the bathroom, so, once he got directions from Aldrich as to where the bathroom actually was and finding out there were two - an actual bathroom was upstairs, but there was a toilet that was under the stairs – he went to use it, deciding to use the one downstairs. It was just a toilet, a sink and a small mirror under the stairs, but the walls were lilac with, like the kitchen, white stencilled flowers.
When he came out of there, Feliciano had a bit of a fright, for a large Doberman was waiting outside of the door to greet him. It jumped at him and made a little noise, like a bark but not very loud, and, after a squeak of fear came from Feli, the dog was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled back.
"Berlitz! Unten, junge!" came the demand, and Feli, who had receded back into the toilet for a moment, peeked out to see a man who looked an awful lot like Aldrich, except he had short, slicked back, blonde hair and was very muscular, down on one knee holding the dog back. Feliciano paused, waiting quietly for him to pull him back, looking the man over, which is when they made eye contact, the other's blue eyes rather intimidating to look into by themselves.
He began to speak to him in German at first, to which Feliciano frowned, blushing heavily as he looked away. He hoped he hadn't made a fool of himself, being scared over nothing, really. The dog didn't even do anything, but the fact it was suddenly there and had jumped at him and sort of barked was an acceptable reason to be nervous, he reasoned. He was still standing half in the bathroom, so he stepped out and closed the door, still silent.
The other then had an expression of understanding on his face before saying, "You're Feliciano."
Feli nodded, "Yes."
"I'm sorry. I should have thought." The man got to his feet, nudging the dog in the direction of the kitchen, to which it went running off and out to the back yard where he could hear Roma cooing over him – no, he could hear him talking about three dogs. Oh, good, they were all here, so this must be...
"It's okay…" Feliciano said, hugging himself gently as he looked out to the kitchen.
"He… he didn't scare you, did he? Or hurt you when he jumped up at you?"
Shaking his head, he answered, "No, I'm alright. …Are you Ludwig?" This earned a nod from the man. Feli was glad he could finally put a face to a name now. He smiled, "Your grandpa has been telling us all about you. It's nice to meet you."
"I wish I could say the same, but all I know is your name." Realising this may have sounded a bit rude, he quickly added, "Let's go and sit down, hm? So we can talk." Ludwig gestured to the kitchen as he picked up a bag of groceries, carrying it through and placing it on the counter, and then the two of them went out to the yard as he said, "I got everything you asked for, Opa." Feliciano dropped himself back into his seat, still keeping his eyes on Ludwig for a few moments before making himself look away.
"Thank you. Ludwig, this is Romulus," Aldrich said. Ludwig held a hand out and Roma shook it firmly.
"You weren't kidding about him, Aldrich. He's the spitting image of you! Good to finally meet you, Ludwig."
"You too, sir. …I think Berlitz just frightened your grandson…" Ludwig patted his thigh and the three dogs came running up to him, wagging their tails and hopping around his feet. Feliciano flinched when the golden retriever got too close.
"Did it scare you, Feli?" Roma asked, laughing now, especially when Feliciano pouted and looked away from the dog, muttering a 'no'. "He's alright. Sit down, Ludwig! I want to know all about you."
Feliciano stayed generally quiet as they asked Ludwig about his job – Ludwig runs dog training sessions twice a day at the nearest park, which is just a grassy area with a large pond and a path running around it – and found out that his dogs are so well trained that he never needs to walk them on leashes and they do as they're told, when they're told. Feliciano was genuinely interested in listening when the subject was Ludwig, but then things turned to Gilbert and Feli was less interested. He didn't know Gilbert. He hadn't met him and had no idea who he was, so, right now, he wasn't as interested.
As they were speaking, Aster, the Retriever, went inside of the dog house, laying with his head outside of the archway. The German Shepard, Blackie, chose to sit by his master, head on Ludwig's lap, whilst Berlitz, the Doberman, lay under the table. Feli also noticed something about Ludwig, and that was that he hadn't smiled at him, or his grandfather, or even Aldrich. He had cracked what seemed to be a little smile when Blackie put his head in Ludwig's lap, but, even then, Feli wasn't too sure...
"And what about you, Feliciano?"
That jogged him from his thoughts. He looked up at who had asked, finding it had been Ludwig. "Scusami? ...I mean, excuse me?"
"Work. My grandfather said you own a restaurant?"
"Oh, yeah. It used to be Grandpa's but now Lovi and I run it. Grandpa sometimes comes down to help, but..." He shrugged. "It's good. We have fun, even if Lovi is kinda grumpy with customers, and then there's the fact we have to get up really early almost every day when I can sleep for hours and hours…"
The four of them stayed outside talking about anything and everything that came into their heads. Aldrich's son didn't come up. Feliciano's mother hadn't been mentioned again, either, which was relieving. Talking about her too much caused Roma to get emotional. He missed his wife, too, but, as terrible as it sounded to say, that didn't affect him as much as his daughter's death did. Losing a child just had that effect on you.
New conversation topics popped up from everywhere, Feliciano contributing more often than not. Ludwig even asked a few questions, despite the fact he was talking the least out of everyone. He aimed the majority of his questions at Feliciano, actually. Maybe he felt like he had to.
Finally, as it was closing in on dinner time, the last member of the house came home, and that was Ludwig's older brother, Gilbert. The front door closed with a loud bang and Aldrich sighed. "Close it quietly, Gilbert…"
"Opa?! Ludwig?!"
"Quiet isn't in his nature, Opa," Ludwig said, smiling fondly, which pleased Feli now that he had seen him smile. He hoped to see it more often now. "In the garden, bruder!"
"Garden party?" Gilbert said as he stepped through the doors and onto the patio. This guy was silvery haired, his eyes a shade of red, but there was the family resemblance there with his facial features. He wasn't as muscular as his younger brother, but he still looked really strong. Gilbert looked at the houseguests before he grinned. "Oh, right, Italians! I forgot. Sorry, I was out with Liz. Nice to meet you. I'm Gilbert."
Roma's eyes widened, "Gilbert?! I last met you when you were a baby! Look at you now."
Gilbert blushed a little bit and grinned again, putting his hands on his hips, "Gorgeous, right? I know, I know. It's a gift."
"Such a big head…" Ludwig muttered, causing Gilbert to run over to him and catch him in a headlock.
"What did ya say, little bro? I believe the words are 'such an awesome big brother'. I must have misheard you," he replied as Ludwig struggled to get free. Feli couldn't help but laugh at that, liking Gilbert already. He appreciated someone who liked to have fun, and Gilbert was DEFINITELY the type who liked to have fun.
"That's enough, you two. Gilbert, you can help Ludwig make dinner," Aldrich said.
"I can't. I have a call with Francis and Antonio in ten minutes. Still planning the vacation, you know?"
"Gilbert, I-"
"It's fine, Opa. I can do it by myself seeing as someone is being so lazy," Ludwig said, narrowing his eyes slightly at his elder brother.
"Not cool, Lud. I can help, but I have things to do. Important things that are affected by time zones." Gilbert then got to his feet and walked inside, and so Ludwig got up, too, to go and fix dinner.
Feliciano looked at the door after Ludwig and asked, "Do you think he'll want any help?"
"No, he's pretty good with the cooking. Gilbert, on the other hand-"
"I'm only inside! I can still hear you!" came a call from the lounge as Gilbert was opening up the laptop. He decided to take the call upstairs, and, after a few moments, you could hear his excited chattering to his friends floating down the hallway, and then there was a bump as the door to his room closed. Feliciano wondered what they were like, Gilbert's friends, but he could imagine they might be quite similar to Gilbert, anyway.
The three of them moved themselves into the lounge as it started to get darker, even though the light on the patio came on. Ludwig whistled and the dogs came running to him as he was putting three bowls down on the floor. "Sitzen," Ludwig said, and all three of them sat and waited patiently until he had put the bowls on the floor in a row. "Holen." The dogs moved forwards and started eating with enthusiasm, just as Feliciano felt he could do, too. He didn't eat lunch, which was rare for him, and he felt like he was starving!
Feli did get a better look at the photos in the lounge, though. Mainly, they were of Gilbert and Ludwig, and you could see their age progression as you moved around the room. The one that Feli liked best was of a young Gilbert holding a tiny baby Ludwig, Gilbert looking like the proudest big brother in the world.
Another that Feliciano was interested to see was one of them with their parents and both grandparents from both sides. Aldrich and his wife were stood with who was clearly their son, and then his wife was next to him with her parents behind her. Gilbert and Ludwig were in front, Gilbert in his teenage years, Ludwig possibly ten years old. Ludwig's blonde hair was almost falling in his eyes and he had a cute little smile on his face, Gilbert grinning with his hand on his little brother's shoulder.
In the next picture, Ludwig was quite a bit older and had started to slick his hair back into the style he had it in now. Gilbert was in this one, too, his arm around Ludwig's neck and the same grin on his face. Ludwig was smiling too, not as enthusiastically but in a way that seemed typical for Ludwig.
Dinner didn't take long for Ludwig to cook, and when he heard the clattering of plates, he got to his feet and went into the kitchen, smiling. "Can I help?"
Ludwig shook his head, "No, don't worry. I'm just serving it."
"May I?" Feli smiled again and took the pot of potatoes anyway, placing out enough for everybody neatly on the plate. He then took the sausages and set those down nicely, too, followed by the vegetables.
"...You've done it so nicely," Ludwig said with an amused expression on his face.
"Not really. I have to do it nicely in the restaurant. It doesn't take a moment to perfect presentation," Feli reasoned. "It makes the food look better- Not that this doesn't look really good! It looks delicious, actually! I didn't mean it like I thought your food looks bad!"
Ludwig chuckled lightly, "I know what you meant, Feliciano. It's okay. Don't worry about it." He picked up two plates and placed them on the table where spaces had been set out in five of the six available places. Feli put another two down as Ludwig grabbed the last one and called everyone to the table.
Gilbert came down almost immediately and sat next to Ludwig, nudging his arm, "You cooked again? Look at how fancy this is. You're like a little housewife! Where's your frilly pink apron, Lud?"
"Feliciano helped serve it, actually," Ludwig said, glaring at his brother. "Not that you'd know how to cook or even what to use to cook with. Oh, wait, you are familiar with a frying pan, seeing as you get hit by them so much." Gilbert blushed, but he waved it off, starting to eat.
Feliciano didn't like the sausage. He didn't know if it was what was in it or how it was made, but it was clear that he didn't like it after putting he first piece in his mouth. When questioned on what he thought, however, he, of course, lied, assuring Ludwig it was delicious as he tried another piece. The only one aware of his true thoughts was Roma, and that was only because he could tell from the look on Feli's face and how slowly he was eating. Other than that, the potatoes and vegetables were fine, and he managed to eat through the majority of the sausage, leaving just under a third of it on his plate with a potato.
"Can I cook for you sometime this week?" Feliciano asked. "Not that I didn't like this, but I'd like to say thank you for letting us stay, and I think you might enjoy it, too. ...Would that be okay?"
Aldrich nodded, "If you'd like to. Your grandfather tells me good things about your cooking in his letters to me, so I'd like to see what you can do. We probably haven't got as much as your restaurant's kitchen."
"Trust me, as long as you have a working stove and oven, Feli will be fine," Roma assured him, Feliciano nodding in agreement.
"Just show me where the store is so I can buy ingredients and I'm all set!"
"I suppose you can teach Ludwig how to set the food out all fancy when you do," Gilbert said, earning a gentle smack on the back of the head from Ludwig.
"Ludwig, take the cases upstairs for them, please."
Ludwig had just returned from a brisk walk with the dogs and, after sitting in the lounge and talking for another hour or so, everyone had decided it was getting late so they could do with heading to bed. Gilbert had disappeared a short while ago up to his room, saying something about needing to speak to one of his friends again.
"Ja, opa," Ludwig said, nodding as he managed to pick up Feliciano's case as if it were empty. He then grabbed Roma's in the other hand and carried them up, the two Italians and Aldrich following.
"You're so strong," Feli noted with a smile. He then curiously asked, "Could you lift me up?"
"You? Not a problem. You're only little," Ludwig said with a nod as he placed the cases by the door. He wasn't willing to prove his point, though, moving towards one of the doors to their right. Feli pouted at being called little, but didn't argue.
Aldrich pointed to each door as he came to it. "There's the bathroom, and this is my room. Ludwig is here and you'll be staying in this room. Just be careful if there's a ladder out here when you come out in the morning or during the night. It leads to the attic, which is where Gilbert lives." He pointed up to a square door in the ceiling with a rope hanging down. There was a sticker on the door which said something in German that Feli couldn't read. You could hear music coming from above them, so Ludwig banged on the wall and called, "Gilbert! Headphones on!"
The music then stopped and Gilbert called, "Sorry!"
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. There are spare blankets and pillows under the beds," Aldrich finished. "...And that's about everything. Goodnight everyone."
"Goodnight, Aldrich," Roma said as the other went into his room and closed the door. Roma then nodded at Ludwig and said, "Goodnight, Ludwig."
"Sleep well, sir," Ludwig replied, watching Roma go into the room.
"Buonanotte," Feliciano said, smiling.
"Is that Italian for-"
"Goodnight. Buonanotte, Ludwig."
"Oh. Well, Gute Nacht. That's the German way of saying things. ...Gute Nacht, Feliciano. You sleep well, too."
"Grazie," Feli said before he walked into his room and closed the door. He heard Ludwig linger for a moment as he snapped the hall light off, and then he went into his bedroom.
Feliciano wasn't shy. He took off his shirt and pants, standing there in his underwear whilst he pulled on a tank top to sleep in. He spoke in Italian to his grandfather, sitting down on the bed and looking around whilst Roma changed into his pyjamas quickly.
The room was a very pale pink with a white ceiling and wooden panels on the floor. The twin beds had frilly white sheets on them and the curtains, too, had the same lacy frill along the bottom of them.
"Your friend is really nice, Grandpa," Feli said as he slipped under the covers of the bed. He was comfortable, so he didn't need any more pillows, but Roma fished a second one out from underneath the bed to go under his head.
"Yes, I know he is. Aren't his grandsons lovely, too? I can't believe how grown up they are," Roma replied, Feli humming in agreement.
"Are we going to go out somewhere tomorrow, Grandpa?"
"I should think so. If not, you could go somewhere with Ludwig if you wanted to. It's kind of him to get some time off to show us around."
"Is there a lot to do around here?"
"Well, there are things to see, certainly. I'm sure it's all changed a lot since I was last here, Feli."
Feliciano nodded as Roma reached up to snap the light off. "...I think we're going to have fun this week."
"Me too. Anyway, get some sleep, Feli."
"Okay. ...Grandpa?"
"Yes?"
"That sausage was really gross."
Roma laughed as he turned to face the wall, knowing that would have been said at some point. "Goodnight, Feliciano."