Chapter 1 – June

It was always peaceful this time of the year. Quiet and warm while life bloomed around them. A flowery scent hung in the air, the smell of freshly cut grass filled his nostrils as a soft breeze caressed his face, his temples cooled from the sweat rolling down his rough cheeks in tiny drops. Birds were chirping in the trees, he could spot them every once in a while sitting between the branches and young leaves.

At least, that's what he should have heard. Instead, the sound of the lawnmower overlapped everything as his hands clutched to the handle, his frame shaking from the machine while he slowly made his way up and down the garden. His eyes darted to the door and the wide windows. From there, he could see both the kitchen and the living room, but nothing moved in there. His three trusty dogs were laying by the closed door, letting the sun shine on their furs as they didn't have to deal with the rattling sound of the lawnmower that had them frightened still.

Ludwig frowned to himself. Of course, the other wasn't up, yet. He had already given up trying to get him productive in the morning and even if he was awake, he was of no use in the early hours. However, Ludwig didn't mind, not really. That always gave him a bit time to himself which he would need and the mornings were especially perfect for him to gather his mind now that they lived and travelled together.
Besides, there was something calming about the sight of Feliciano sleeping beside him. His breathing slow and deep, the expression showing warm content and a faint smile curled on his lips. How he mindlessly snuggled up to his side, shy like a kitten seeking warmth, because he kept sleeping without anything on. At least, Ludwig got him to wear underwear.
Sometimes. Feliciano was stubborn like that. Other times, it had an entirely different reason… Not that he lingered in those memories for long, he had to take care of the lawn.

Time was nothing that Ludwig ever had a proper grasp of, especially as an immortal creature, time was more of a concept than a reality. At the moment, it seemed as if it was slowed down, almost utterly stopped when he strolled up and down the garden with the lawnmower and as the sound clogged up his hearing, he didn't notice the movement in the house, how the dogs got up rapidly and rushed towards the stairs to follow the other member of the house who was finally awake. Ludwig didn't even lift his gaze anymore, he didn't expect anything to happen. Even when he turned off the machine to shove it back in the shack, he hadn't noticed any kind of change before someone opened the door to the garden and the dogs jumped outside, finally relieved that the evil construction was gone, along with a bright voice calling after them between the chirping of the birds:

"Go greet Papa, too!"

At this point, it was ridiculous to him. One would think that the sight of their beloved would bring content and warmth to one's mind. To feel save and calm. Instead, as soon as Ludwig's gaze spotted Feliciano by the door, he could feel his heart jump, the pulse felt in his throat and creating a knot. His pale cheeks flared red, suddenly forgetting about all that he had thought about before. Even a gentle smile curled on his lips when the other chuckled in amusement and moved back to the kitchen without his own carefree smile ever dying out. Ludwig patted the three animals that danced around him as if trying to celebrate that 'Papa' had defeated the horrifying metallic enemy before they dashed off to roll themselves over in the freshly cut lawn.

A sizzling sound reached his ears when he entered, the smell of eggs now pushed away the flowery scent from his nose as he shivered from the cool air in the house. Feliciano hummed happily by the stove, tilted his head from side to side along with the melody before he glanced back at Ludwig and his amber eyes brightened. Before he could even greet him properly or tell him to put on some clothes other than his underwear, the Italian moved quickly to throw his arms around him and press little kisses over the other's reddened cheeks as he pressed his lean frame against his. "Good morning, Ludwig! My hard worker finally decided to come back in!" His skin was soft, almost cooling against his own which had heated up while working outside. It took the German a moment to properly gather his voice as he returned the embrace, though he was still silent in comparison to the other.
"And you decided to get out of bed, congrats", he replied with a low mumble, showing him a bit of a smile to let him know that he wasn't mad, though at this point, Feliciano was able to tell when he was actually angered or not. Therefore, he only smirked sweetly back at him and showed a bit of his tongue before tearing himself away from the hug to get back to the stove.
"I've started doing scrambled eggs for us!", Feliciano added without even minding the fact that he had woken up much later. The sizzling got louder, then he quickly got a few tomatoes on a plate to chop them up. "Did you already have your coffee?" Since there was no hurry this morning, Ludwig once more waited to give an answer and took out two large mugs – both handmade by the Italian, of course, as well as painted with something that each of them enjoyed; for Feliciano, it was a handful of pasta and tomato plants and for Ludwig, it was tiny puppies, of course - and plugged in the coffee maker. Since the German didn't reply, Feliciano turned his head to glance at him for a second to watch his movements before cutting up a cucumber.
"No, I wanted to get right on to mowing the lawn." It sounded nonchalant, as if it was nothing special and covering up some other reasons that had come up in his mind. Breakfast would have been some sort of reward to him that way. Without taking his eyes off of the little screen of the coffee maker, he continued to speak, "otherwise you wouldn't let me get out of the room as soon as you are awake." Not only to spend more time with him, but to avoid having to work outside, he was never one to follow his obligations right away. Feliciano merely hummed at that, very well knowing the truth between those lines, and gave a light shrug before he got plates and poured the scrambled eggs on both. Since there was no continuation on their conversation, nothing more was said and Ludwig was somewhat glad for it. Not that they needed a lot of words between them, they moved around each other naturally and set the table, trying not to bump into each other, though once they would be close enough, the Italian would sometimes place a kiss on his cheek for good measure. Feliciano turned on the radio without breaking any of his movements and the ambient music filled every corner of the room with its notes.
Once they finally sat down at the table, Feliciano couldn't keep entirely quiet anymore. Nothing unusual, really.
"It's so sunny outside!", he chirped happily and his gaze hung in the garden, shifted on his seat in excitement. "We should go out and take a nice walk in a park! Maybe we should go to the English Garden with the dogs! I bet, they would enjoy themselves a lot!" Soon enough, Ludwig wasn't properly listening anymore as the other listed quite some other relaxed activities for the day like an excited child. Something about spending some time in a café in the city or take a trip to a lake. He only half listened, gave nods every once in a while as he ate and watched him move one hand around in the air as he talked while the other one tried to keep up with breakfast. The joy and anticipation that shined through his voice at all times had Ludwig chuckle to himself, Feliciano didn't even seem to really mind that he only got half of what he was suggesting, considering how it was almost always him to initiated any activity that didn't have anything to do with work or training. "Oh! And once we're all done, we can take a bath together after dinner!" Feliciano was sure getting giddy over his own ideas.
Ludwig frowned a bit behind the rim of his cup. "We don't fit in there, you know that perfectly well." His tone was almost scolding, though the Italian only chuckled and waved him off.
"We managed before, remember? I don't mind it nice and cuddly anyway!"
"Of course, you don't…" Another chuckle came from the other, a knowing smile on his lips while the German tried to prevent his cheeks from reddening worse as he focused on the remains of his breakfast in front of him. Silence laid between them for not only a solid minute; Ludwig felt like he had to distract from himself somehow and the gaze that looked him over. "Fine then", he began with a firm voice as he scooped up what was left with his bread and shoved it in his mouth, his eyes were kept down, unable to meet his, "you go and get ready while I try to finish the first part of this month's office work." Feliciano immediately pouted at that and got up quickly once the German was on his feet. As soon as his hands were trying to tidy up the table, Feliciano smacked his hands eagerly so that he would place the dishes down again.
"We can do that later!", he merely said, Ludwig stuttered nervously in response, unable to put together a single sentence and he soon found himself being pulled along to the couch, pushed on it as the other made himself comfortable on top of him like a lazy cat.
A low growl came from him: "You're unbelievable…" To which followed bright laughter and finally, his cheeks lightened up completely as Feliciano nuzzled to his broad chest. "Also, you're heavy. How much pasta did you have back at home?" Without giving him an answer to that, he pinched his cheek and continued to cuddle close. With a bit of hesitation, Ludwig placed his arms around him and gave a little squeeze which brought back a carefree smile on the other's lips. His hands wandered over his shoulders and back, over ever buckle of it. A pleased hum came from him at that, he closed his eyes to focus better on the sensation.
"Well… Maybe we can have a lazy day today…", Feliciano finally mumbled without moving from his position at which Ludwig only snorted, patted his back. "I know what you want to say!" And therefore, the German kept his comment to himself to not risk him having pout again. Instead, it might be better for him to suggest something, though that something wouldn't have anything to do with work.
"You know what? Perhaps we can have that bath now, since we aren't really going to get out today apparently…" This suggestion had the Italian ponder for a moment, he peeked up at him and squinted his eyes for a moment before he shifted upwards and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. That was what someone could interpret as a 'yes' most likely. After that, Feliciano sat up and glanced down on him with a bright smile, though his gaze showed a mischievous glint as soon as Ludwig looked up at him, his cheeks reddening again. "L-Let's go then…!", he added quickly to avoid any kind of situation and the other's sweetness returned as he got back up on his feet with Ludwig soon following behind as they made their way to the bathroom. The three dogs turned to look towards the house in curiosity, watching the two of them take their leave, but as soon as a squirrel dashed through the garden, their attention was dragged away again.

As soon as Ludwig had turned around to close the door behind them, Feliciano got rid of his clothes which merely consisted of his underwear and let the tub fill up with warm water. The German didn't get startled to see that, it was something else that he had gotten used to. Steam soon hung in the air, it was humid and warm at which Ludwig took off his own clothes, feeling the other's gaze on him every once in a while.
"I should probably get in first", he said with a bit of a frown as his eyes looked over the bathtub. He could barely imagine how they would fit in there, but Feliciano had been right, they had done so before, but even back then, it seemed like they had more space. Couldn't hurt to give it a try. With his frown never really fading away, he carefully moved to take his place. The sensation of dunking his skin into the water had him shivering, it lightly tickled the more dry areas it wetted. Once Ludwig had sat down to take his place, he glanced at his bent legs and looked back up at Feliciano with another frown on his forehead. Quite frankly, the tub was big enough for him already, there was no need to squish in someone else.
"Doesn't look half bad, does it?", the Italian replied with an innocent smile and batted his eyelashes as if asking a favor of him. Before Ludwig could even open his mouth to give him an answer, he gestured him to move back a bit – if that was even properly possible –. "Make some space! I can sit on your lap, yes? Just like last time!" There was no way to debate about this, he wouldn't let it start and did as he liked and soon enough, he found himself with the smaller one on his lap, leaning against him with a content smile on his lips. "See?", he hummed and nuzzled close. "It worked! Told you so!"

To be fair, it worked, because he made it work, but Ludwig wasn't willing to get into any kind of argument over silly matters and despite all, he couldn't deny that he did enjoy the closeness, so he merely embraced him from behind and Feliciano gladly cuddled up to him. Then the Italian grabbed the showerhead and turned on the water to get Ludwig's hair messy and wet. After all, apparently the purpose of this activity was to get clean and be lazy together, so he turned around with a shampoo bottle and poured some of the blue liquid on his hands before he edged closer to massage it into his hair until bubbles covered his entire scalp. As he leaned in and against him and focused only on washing his hair, he finally stopped and glanced at him, noticing how close he had gotten, their noses almost touching and the German was blushing terribly. Only a second passed as their gazes were locked on each other and Feliciano's lips curled into a wider smile before he closed the tiny distance to connect their lips, sharing a sweet kiss before the Italian chuckled and parted from him an inch once more. "I love you." The warmth in his honey eyes had Ludwig hold his breath, the way he gazed at him with such affection had his heart race in his chest and he couldn't calm it down even if he wanted.
To gather his voice and get rid of the knot in his throat, Ludwig swallowed and took a deep breath, though it was still shaking. "I… I love you, too…" Feliciano chuckled joyfully again and kept massaging him, the other responded with another sigh and his body kept relaxing. His fingers were running through his blond strands, sculpting his hair up and he hummed along. Ludwig watched him with delight, he felt how his lips had formed into a smile as well while his hands moved up and down his back. "Trying to make me look stylish again, hm?", he added with a mumble and the Italian couldn't keep from smirking at that question while he pressed his fingertips into his skin.
"You already look handsome, Luddy", Feliciano replied and licked his lower lip as he glanced at him, stroked back his soaped hair as it would normally would be when they got out. "But you do have a poor choice in fashion, I have to be honest with you. I have to make sure that you show your chocolate sides!" That comment had Ludwig embarrassed, though he was very well aware of the fact that Feliciano knew much better how to dress and make an impression. The German only edged closer to steal a chaste kiss as if wanting to thank him and he spotted a blush on the other's cheeks as well. Without adding anything more to that, Feliciano rinsed his hair with water and sprayed some more in his face which had him frowning and turn away from him. Soon enough, he got his own hair wet properly until Ludwig took the showerhead away from him to turn it off and pour some shampoo on his hands as well. "Well then, I have to help you, too?" Feliciano immediately turned back for the other to wash his hair which he promptly did despite his fingers trembling a bit while he did so as if he was afraid of breaking something if he used too much pressure.
However, apparently, he was doing it right as the Italian let out little sighs, leaning more against him while his auburn hair was getting covered in bubbles and from what he could see, the other had closed his eyes already with a content smile on his lips. Ludwig wasn't one to sculpt hair, especially when he had to be somewhat careful about his curl. "You know what I love about you? Among the many things?", he suddenly started with a laugh and the German was already blushing without even hearing the rest of his words. "Your hands are strong, but they're also kind… I like the touch of them." Once more, Ludwig didn't know how to properly respond to it, especially since he couldn't really understand what he had meant about it, but if he was enjoying it somehow, nothing could be truly wrong about it and Feliciano wouldn't lie to him. If it was something that made him happy and content and willing to stay with him, Ludwig was grateful for one of his few aspects that seemed to do more good than bad. That alone had his heart jump in his chest, to know that Feliciano spoke with honesty when he complimented him or simply talked to him. With another swift motion, he rinsed his hair, too, and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder after doing so.
"Thank you."
Feliciano looked over his shoulder in slight confusion and raised his eyebrows. "For what? I should thank you for washing my hair and being careful!" He tilted his head lightly and his confusion rose even further when the German smiled softly at him and gave a bit of a shrug.
"For bothering to sit in a tiny tub with me."
"And make you breakfast!" The Italian's smile returned just as brightly as ever with the same innocence as usual.
Ludwig let out a weak chuckle and tightened their embrace. "And make me breakfast, yes… So thank you. I couldn't be more grateful to have you around." These words left the other speechless; it was a rare sight to see the other look around nervously and nibble on his lower lip at loss of words. Feliciano then turned in his arms once again and cupped his flushed cheeks to connect their lips for longer than just a moment, savoring his taste before his tongue flicked forward to tease his lower lip and the innocence of before had left entirely as if someone turned over a switch and his eyes showed mischievousness as soon as they parted.
"My hardworking Teddybear…" His hands wandered over his broad chest and down to his belly, the feather light touch of his fingers leaving behind a warm, tingling sensation. "Let me help you relax and show you my gratitude…" The Italian stopped him from answering to this right away with another kiss and they figured that words weren't exactly needed in this very moment they shared.

It was always peaceful this time of the year.
Quiet and warm with his beloved one between his arms. A couple of lazy days together, simply enjoying each other's company.
And sometimes, that was just enough to realize their great luck.