A/N- Hi there, this is the first fic I've written in awhile, and the first I've actually bothered (and deemed good enough) to publish. No trigger warnings yet, though there may be in the future, and it's not in this chapter, but there'll be some heavily implied smut. Thanks for reading, please leave reviews!

1

"Downloading… Downloading…" Feliciano tucked his legs against his chest and let his phone fall onto the couch cushions. He'd finally listened to his brother in law's advice and downloaded a dating app… If one could call it that. From what he knew of it, Tinder was more like a one-night-stand locator than a dating app, and one night stands were not what Feliciano needed. He'd had plenty of sex with guys, but after the sex they all left. Feliciano wanted more, he wanted someone who saw him as more than a pretty sex doll.

His phone buzzed and Feliciano looked over to see that it had downloaded and was telling him to make an account. "Oh well, it's worth a try, wouldn't you say so?"

The cat on the other end of the couch didn't respond (not that Feliciano expected her to) so he pretended that she'd given some indication of affirmation. Even with no one to respond, the Italian had picked up the habit of expressing his thoughts aloud when he did things at home. That was another thing that made Feliciano hate being alone, he had no one at home to have an actual conversation with. All his cat could do was meow back, which could hardly be considered a meaningful response.

Only a few minutes after he'd made an account, a message popped up on Feliciano's screen. Someone two miles away wanted a dick pic.

Disgust made its way onto Feliciano's face and he blocked the guy. Of course, he'd assumed this would happen. This sort of quick, easy 'dating' network, these sort of people, he'd known from the start that hordes of men would come begging for nudes, dick pics, and plenty else. That was why it had taken Antonio so much effort to convince Feliciano to get the app.

"Damn, Antonio, I love you but you have some of the dumbest ideas." This came as Feliciano blocked another person who had just seemed… unsavory. He'd been on Tinder a solid two hours and was already regretting it. Normal human beings used good dating sites, not seedy apps meant for people who wanted quick sex. From what Feliciano knew about Antonio, the Spaniard hadn't gotten anything good out of any sort of dating site, since he'd met Lovino at the cafe he owned. Feliciano wished he could find a guy out in the real world, but he was already 24 and hadn't yet met anyone desirable, and was looking for something lasting more than a night or two.

Just when he was about to give up, Feliciano got another message.

AwesomeBirdie: I had a pickup line but then I saw your profile picture and your cute face made me forget it.

Feliciano couldn't help but giggle. That was probably the cutest thing someone had ever told him- even if he knew that it was just a pickup line disguised to look like it wasn't one. So far, this guy fit Feliciano's standards- which he'd lowered with every new message. This AwesomeBirdie guy had not yet asked for anything sexual, hadn't said anything rude or weird, and had started off well. Deciding he had nothing to lose, Feliciano tapped on the guy's username to go to his profile.

The first thing that came up was a picture of a wild looking albino holding a tiny yellow bird. He had a lopsided smile on his face that Feliciano couldn't help but grin back at. Further investigation into the profile, which obviously had a lot of care put into it, led Feliciano to discover that this guy was named Gilbert, and he really liked Rammstein, birds, and Prussia. He seemed pretty normal.

"Oh shit, Stella. What am I supposed to say? I need a pickup line, or something witty, or something not terrible!" Feliciano had gone back to the chat window and was nervously hovering his thumb over his phone's keyboard. His cat didn't offer any assistance, even beginning to smugly lick the brown fur on her chest. Frustrated, the Italian laid down on the couch with his head by the cat's feet and his legs hanging over the arm, onto the coffee table. He didn't want to start off on the wrong foot, not with the first normal (and good looking) guy that had messaged him.

FeliceFeli: I had a pickup line too, but then I saw that cute picture of you with the bird, and I think I forgot English completely.

Barely a moment later, another message came in. It was obvious that Gilbert had been waiting for it with how promptly he'd replied.

AwesomeBirdie: When I saw that message, I forgot how to speak in actual languages and I just started talking gibberish

This was enough to make Feliciano blush. Yes, this guy was really smooth.

FeliceFeli: wow, I don't know what to say. You took the words right out of my mouth

AwesomeBirdie: I think you've won. You're good with pickup lines, my friend.

Feliciano had really begun to warm up to talking with Gilbert. They had a lot in common; they were both immigrants, they both had brothers, they both loved animals, and they both had been messaged by plenty of creeps before finding each other. And soon, they had planned to meet for coffee the next day.

Lovino would kill Feliciano if he found out that he'd gone on a date to somewhere that wasn't his cafe, but Feliciano had decided that he wanted to go on a date without his brother anxiously watching over him. That tended to be a huge turn off for guys. Instead, they'd just decided to meet at a Starbucks near Gilbert's house.

Feliciano had spent a few hours beforehand making sure he looked nice. He'd showered and combed out his curly hair as best as he could, though one of the curls on the side wouldn't lay flat, and it stuck right out. It had taken a long time for Feliciano to put together and outfit that looked nice, but not too nice, and after a long cycle of looking in the mirror, shaking his head, and changing, Feliciano had settled on a pink hoodie that was cropped just above his belly button, and a pair of black skinny jeans. He knew it was ridiculous to obsess so much over clothing, but goddamn it, this was the first promising looking date he'd had in months!

"So you're the cute little birdie I get to go on a date with. Awesome!"

Feliciano turned around to see Gilbert, and his cheeks reddened. The pictures hadn't captured just how good looking Gilbert was. In fact, he was just Feliciano's type; muscular, skinny, and tall. Realizing that he looked horribly awkward, he found words and finally replied, "oh, yeah. That's me. You know, I didn't expect you to be so… Awesome," Feliciano decided on using that word because it seemed to be Gilbert's favorite. That was a good choice, as Gilbert beamed with pride. The German made Feliciano seem like the humblest person on Earth with how he drank in praise.

"If you want something to drink, we should join the queue." Gilbert gently nudged Feliciano, who nodded in agreement. There weren't too many people in the Starbucks, and it wasn't long before they were both sitting at a table in the corner, sipping coffees. Feliciano was just spending that time looking over Gilbert and letting every small detail about the man sink in. He was clean shaven and had a sharp jawline, which made him even more handsome. He also had beautiful eyes, though the scarlet color was a little startling at first. From what Feliciano could see, Gilbert had a nice body. His arms were muscular and tattooed down to his knuckles, which had letters on them spelling out something in German. His shirt had the name of some band on it, and it was tight enough to show a little muscle on Gilbert's chest.

"You're staring. Like what you see?" Feliciano felt a cool hand on his cheek, tilting his face up. Gilbert was considerably taller than him, and he had to look up so their eyes met. He leaned into the touch, which seemed to burn against the warm blush of his cheeks. He'd never felt anything like this before, it was so… so new and daring and truly, absolutely awesome. Just as the moment had started, though, it ended, and Gilbert had moved his hand away.

"So, Feliciano, I want to know more about you."

"Well, more specifically, what do you want to know?" Feliciano felt awkward because he was still blushing like crazy.

"Everything. Tell me about your life, tell me about your cat, tell me about your job."

Feliciano bit his lip, wondering where to start. "Well, I was born in Italy, in Rome. I have a twin brother, he owns the Mattina Cafe, and uh. We moved here when I was thirteen," he paused for a moment to sip his coffee, but it wasn't that good and he found that he'd only been using that as a way to cover his omittence of the reason they'd left Italy. That was something he'd only tell Gilbert if their relationship got to the point where he could trust him with that information. "So now I live here," he countinued. "I went to a performing arts college and I majored in dance. My cat's name is Stella. Here, let me show you a picture of her," Feliciano was smiling as he pulled out his phone and held it out to Gilbert. On it was a picture of a fat brown cat who obviously did not enjoy the pumpkin costume Feliciano had put her in. "That was her on Halloween," he set his phone back in his pocket. "I got her two years ago from the shelter, when she was just a kitten. Uh, for work I teach dance classes during the day. Mostly to kids, there's one adult class I teach each week, but it's not as fun. And at night, I'm a drag queen."

"Woah, that's amazing. One of my friends is a drag queen. I think his drag name is like… Menage a trois." Gilbert grinned at Feliciano, and the Italian blushed a little. He really did like his smile.

"Oh yeah, I know her, she's my drag mother. She'll be ecstatic to know that I'm making an effort to date, especially that I'm dating one of her friends," already, this was going so well that Feliciano was nearly 100 percent sure there would be a second date.

"It's like six degrees of separation or something. I'm so awesome that I personally know your drag mother." Gilbert exclaimed, proud of himself. Some might have found it annoying how egocentric Gilbert was, but Feliciano found it to be endearing. Plus, it was obvious from their conversation that Gilbert didn't just care about himself.

"Now it's your turn, tell me about you."

"Of course! I'm the awesome Gilbert Bielschmidt, I was born in Germany, and then I moved to the States for college and I just never left! My little brother's still in Germany, he's finishing up high school. He's super smart, so I think he'll end up at a good college. I didn't get good enough grades in high school to go to college, so I just came here, it's much easier than it is in Germany. And then, when I came here, I found a bird outside my house who was hurt, so I took him to a vet, and now he's mine. His name's Gilbird, because he's awesome like me."

"That's so cute. You're so cute," Feliciano looked at the table and realized that at some point during the conversation, both of their hands had met, and their fingers had intertwined. He blushed at this too, he was just that sort of person that blushed easily. This made Gilbert smile even more and squeeze his hand a little.

"Yeah, Gilbird is the best, I'll let you meet him sometime." Yes, they were definitely having a second date. Their first date was already going so well. "Anyway, I work for a pretty big company and I design airplanes. It's super awesome."

Feliciano nodded in agreement. That sounded awesome, and it made him admire Gilbert quite a bit. He felt so happy right then and there, with someone so kind and fun to be around and so hot. Feliciano could have kissed Antonio, he was so glad that he'd gotten him to join that dating app.

They sat in that corner of the Starbucks for what must have been hours, oblivious to the other people around them filtering in an out. With every minute that passed, Feliciano liked Gilbert more and more. When it was time for Feliciano to leave, because he would be performing that night, he couldn't get himself to say goodbye.

"I've had so much fun. You're so awesome, I definitely want to see you again," Gilbert said as he helped Feliciano up. They stood in front of each other, close enough for one to pull the other into their arms- which was just what Gilbert did. He gently hugged Feliciano, who almost immediately returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around Gilbert's neck. Their eyes met and it seemed like slow motion, how they both leaned in and met in the middle with their lips. The same fire Feliciano had felt when Gilbert had touched his face came back, and he swore he saw sparks ebb away as he opened his eyes.

"Oh my god, did we just…" Feliciano was smiling like he'd never smiled before.

"Yes. That was the most awesome kiss ever," the look in Gilbert's eyes showed that he was sincere. He pulled away from the hug a little, smile still on his face. "Remember to text me. Goodbye," Gilbert leaned in and gave Feliciano a quick peck on the lips, before letting his arms fall away from the Italian completely. He left, then, and Feliciano realized after a few moments that he'd just been standing there, completely starstruck. That was an amazing feeling, and he just knew he needed more.