(Every freaking time I write this, my internet crashes. YOU NEED TO STEP IT UP.
Anyway, welcome to my first actual decent fanfic! I feel a lot better about this one that ISOS {I'm TRYING people!} Young Blood is the result of Omegle giving me possibly the world's best RP partner, and she supported my decision to turn our idea into an actual fanfiction. I'll be updating YB a lot more than ISOS because the majority of it is already written without editing. It's been a lot easier to work with too. You can all thank my partner for not letting my brain explode whilst writing. I certainly do. Please Read & Review! Writing for ghosts isn't exactly the most thrilling experience, but I live to please. -Shad)
Young Blood
Chapter One: Should Have Known
For the past twenty minutes, Adolf Hitler had been droning on and on about an alliance offering, his tone sickly sweet and cloying. A black rose studded with poisoned thorns. The small Austrian's brown hair was slicked back and parted impeccably, not a single strand out of place. His mustache writhed upon his lips with each sentence. He was not strong or imposing, yet he demanded attention. He reeked of authority. Hitler's hands were placed on either side of a large stack of signed documents, several detailed maps and charts poured out upon the redwood conference table before him. Seated directly across from him on the opposite end was Winston Churchill. The left side of the table were seated German and Prussian officers, each facing their British counterpart.
Sabine Kirkland wasn't paying attention to any of them, however, despite her brother's blatant warning to listen during the meeting. The personification of London had found a much more interesting subject for her attentions. Her green eyes slipped over him freely as she sipped her glass of champagne, knowing he had no idea she was doing it. Or how much she was enjoying it.
All the silver insignias, down to the belt buckle, were polished until gleaming in the electrical lights overhead. She had no doubts as to whether the blond had stayed up polishing his boots either. She was willing to bet they'd squeak if rubbed together. Any rumors of Prussia's younger brother were silenced in the face of the broad shoulders facing her, toned body pressing against the black material of the SS uniform. Every detail was perfect: the hat, the cross belt, the sharp contrasting red armband, and the matching Iron Cross of course. All of it topped off with a pair of piercing baby blues.
Sabine had yet to hear him utter a single word, or even move, since arriving in Berlin. He and his brother seemed to possess the ability to stand at rigid attention for inhumane amounts of time, the blond behind Hitler and the albino flanking Goebbels. The Germanic nations were both listening intently to their dictator's proposal, all while slowly scanning those in attendance for any sudden movements or threats. They repeated the routine for the remainder of the hour until a short recess was given. Gilbert was led away by Goebbels as an escort, and Arthur accompanied Churchill to a conjoined room to discuss the meeting's offerings.
Sabine stood and moved to the window nearest Germany, looking out over one of the nation's finest cities. Ludwig had stiffened slightly at her sudden close proximity, still not having been released from his assigned post. London sipped at her glass, frowning slightly.
"This is possibly the weakest alcohol I've ever had in my life." She murmured to herself, and much to her surprise, the soldier at her side answered.
"We're not allowed to bring the strong stuff in here. It's against regulations." Only the side of his mouth moved, accent hardening his whisper.
"So the statue does speak," She said with a pleased smile, voice quiet. They weren't supposed to be conversing, and keeping a silent appearance would work in both their favors. "Then where exactly do you keep the stronger kind?"
"I could probably show you after the conference... If you can handle it. From what I've heard, you Britons don't exactly have the strongest of stomachs."
"Oh.. I've had strong liquor before. Whiskey, rum... And when Russia visited, we were given some very strong vodka that I came to like. But your challenge is accepted, sir." She smiled and finished her champagne. Ludwig didn't reply, instead looking pointedly in the direction of the returning leaders. Sabine hurried back to her seat, now much more enthused about the meeting, which ended within a few more hours. A few words were exchanged between the officers before they left, and the Britons exited soon after. Sabine and Arthur passed Ludwig, the former with a curious glance and the latter with a dismissive air.
Hitler glanced over at Ludwig after finishing his conversation with Goebbels. "You have your orders." The Germanic nation straightened his back even further and brought his heels together with a single click before turning and exiting. As he moved towards the exit of the building, he signaled to a waiting Sabine to follow. She herself was wondering how this "drinking challenge" would go down. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the German. After all, he was cute.
Ludwig slowed his pace so that she could keep up with him. Some tiny part of his mind wondered just what, exactly, he was thinking, but he ignored it. It wasn't everyday he was able to take out a girl for drinks, even less often one who knew who and what he was. Female nations were rare in and of themselves.
"There's a bar about three blocks from here, if you're up for a walk." He offered, adjusting his black officer's hat after holding open the door for her. She cast a glance down at her heels before answering.
"I think a walk will be nice," She answered, hoping they wouldn't be too overdressed for the place he had in mind. After all, she was clothed in a formal black dress that went just below her knees, and he was wearing his military uniform. The German didn't seem bothered though, and allowed himself a rare smile.
"So.. We haven't actually formally met. I am Sabine Kirkland, also known as London." She introduced herself with a smile, giving a slight bow as they kept moving. As they walked Sabine went to the task of unpinning her hair from the bun of the meeting. After pulling out a number of pins, her long, light brown hair cascaded down past her shoulders.
"I am Ludwig Beilschmidt, also known as Deutschland... Germany, at your service."
"Nice to meet you, Ludwig." She said, trying out his name.
"Same with you, Sabine." Their destination swarmed into view upon turning the next corner and there was an almost imperceptible quickening in Ludwig's pace. Guess the stereotypes really were true. The German held the door open for her as he had been raised before letting it close behind them and moving towards the bar. Sabine stayed close to him, looking around the place with interest.
"It's quite like the pubs back home." Her accent was highly visible now in the sea of German, almost painfully so.
Ludwig chuckled. "Maybe at first glance. Just wait until the waitresses come out." He slid onto a stool, muscular arms resting on the counter top. As if on cue, a waitress materialized dressed in a traditional uniform. In other words, a short green and white dress with a low cut neckline. Ludwig glanced over at Sabine.
"So... You said you wanted to try something strong, Ja?" There was a devilish smile and a twinkling of blue eyes. Then he ordered. It was two of the strongest German beers on the menu. The waitress smiled and darted away. Sabine grabbed the stool next to the German, fear momentarily showing in her eyes at seeing the look on his face, before composing herself and answering.
"Aye.. I wanted to try something strong... and I don't see many similarities to pubs back home anymore..." There was a slight knot in her stomach and she really hoped she didn't embarrass herself in front of him. His expression softened at her nervous look, but he offered no words of comfort. It wasn't his strong point. The waitress returned with two large mugs of bubbling golden alcohol, akin to liquid fire. Sabine looked at the mug placed in front of her, bringing her hand up to grip the handle. She muttered something in a strange sounding language before bringing the mug to her lips and taking a large gulp.
"You might not want to-" Ludwig began, wincing as she took increasingly large gulps. "That's not good for-" He sighed when she began hacking, and took a drink of his own, feeling himself warm up as it slid down his throat.
"Bloody hell..." Sabine spluttered, leaning against the bar.
"I knew I was right about the whole 'handling alcohol' thing." There was an amused note in his voice, hand laced around his own frosted mug.
"Ack.. You be quiet over there, German. It's a foreign alcohol... Give me a bit to get used to it." She said forcefully, a bit more of a Scottish accent coming into her voice. She brought the mug to her lips again, this time taking more moderate drinks. Ludwig laughed softly while shaking his head, bringing the mug to his lips once more. He was gradually beginning to relax, the initial stress of the meeting wearing off with each drink.
There was a companionable silence between the pair, occasionally broken by one or two words here and there. More humans were gradually streaming in, and their attention shifted between three terrible-quality televisions bolted to the wall above the bar. Two were playing the fuzzy highlights of a recent soccer game, and the one in the center was delivering the day's news in German. Ludwig payed little attention to either of them, instead finding his eyes occasionally panning over to Sabine before he regained control of himself and focused once more.
Sabine was much the same. She wasn't interested in the football teams, since they weren't her precious own, and she couldn't understand German very well, so she gave up trying to listen to the news. She also found her eyes occasionally drifting over towards the handsome German, but then she went back to her drink, now actually quite fond of this German beer.
The male stiffened beside her, piercing blue gaze frozen to the middle screen, beloved beer abandoned. The conversation in the room quieted drastically, many of the occupants' attention focused on the footage of the earlier meeting playing. There was no view inside the conference room - only of two SS soldiers flanking the closed door - but whatever was being said put Ludwig at a loss for words. The footage shifted to a slightly shaking view of Germany and Prussia entering the building directly behind their leader, black uniforms impeccable. No one in the bar seemed to realize that the blond was sitting amongst them, though. The story went on for a while before Ludwig relaxed, and the story changed to the night's weather report.
"They said the conference has not reached a unanimous vote, which means we're still neutral. We'll probably have another meeting scheduled for around... mid next week."
"Maybe that means we can come drinking again sometime.." Sabine said softly, giving a slight smile before draining the last bit of the liquid from her mug. "I quite like this stuff."
"Ja," Ludwig replied, placing a few bills atop the check before it was whisked away by the waitress. "I'd like that."
She smiled, glancing at him quickly and hoping that blush wasn't showing on her cheeks. She then hopped off her stool and tried to stand, but swayed and stumbled slightly, muttering curses. His brow creased with slight worry at her struggle.
"Er... I don't think it'd be such a good idea to walk back to your hotel. I'll call a cab and help you there. No offense, but I don't want you getting out there in that state as late as it is."
"I guess it was a bit stronger than I thought..." She mumbled, then giggled. Ludwig took note of her slightly slurred speech and helped her to the door, using an arm wrapped around her waist to steady the wobbly Briton. They stood together on the corner, a light snow beginning to cascade down, despite the unusually warmer temperature. A pair of headlights drifted towards the pair, and the German flagged down the taxi. The yellow vehicle pulled to the curb and Ludwig leaned down to the window, giving the driver directions to the hotel that had been assigned to all the officer's he'd had to escort before opening the back door for Sabine and helping her inside, then sliding in next to her and shutting the door.
She giggled again and said "Oh, Iggy is gonna hate this..." Then without thinking she leaned against the muscular German next to her, resting her head on his shoulder. Ludwig stiffened slightly, knowing the alcohol was performing its magic, but still reddening nonetheless. Luckily, the cab driver was more interested in navigating the traffic than the German's awkward situation. Maybe he should have stopped Sabine after her fourth...
She was about to say something, but ended up half falling asleep against him. Feeling her weight shift slightly, the German glanced down at her. She was very beautiful, he had to admit.
Maybe this would... No. Stop. Stop right now. Relationships with business partners are nonprofessional and... Oh, who am I kidding? Ludwig began clamping down on his thoughts, and the cab drove on silently in the night. After around ten minutes, the vehicle pulled up near the lobby of the expensive hotel. Ludwig paid the driver and lightly tapped Sabine on the shoulder, somewhat startling her out of her haze and helping her out. She looked at him with bleary green eyes, then shook her head in attempt to clear her thoughts. She got out of the cab and half stumbled to the door of the hotel, Ludwig following close behind.
"So... um. W-where's your, er, room?" Ludwig seemed at a loss for words as he trailed Sabine into the lobby, unwilling to let the poor girl wander around and get lost in her drunken haze. His good intentions were going to kill him, however, and it seemed that God had decided that today was the day. The German nation looked incredibly awkward standing before her, not that she noticed.
She half stumbled into him, one hand landing on his chest, then with the other she reached up and gently patted his cheek.
"I think I got it from here, love..." She said fairly clearly, before pushing off of him and walking over to the corner. She turned around and mumbled something before disappearing down the hall. Ludwig waited until she vanished before slapping a palm to his face and groaning. He should have known...
No English personifications could handle their alcohol.