Author's notes and stuff:
Okay, so this is the first story I've ever posted, please don't kill me. OTL I just figured out how to add these notes. First off, Feliciana is a joke. We know that's not her name or even a real name at all but we used it anyway because it was funny. XD Secondly, this is not the beginning of the story. There was a whole other story before this and tons of time in-between that they already fell for each other, they have an established relationship at this point. I'm just too lazy to go dig the other RP out of my skype history. =A= /SHOT
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, thank goodness. I can't ever match the author's awesome genius. X3
Feliciana wrapped her scarf around her face tighter, trying to warm herself with its wool fabric. It was Christmas Eve, and she had been invited to come over and visit Mathew's house. It was snowing outside, and Feliciana was in awe, for she had never seen such a phenomenon before. The small little flakes floated down and stuck to everything, even herself. Standing at Canada's door, she reached her gloved hand out and knocked a couple of times, lightly
Matthew was reading by the fire when he heard the knocking on his door. He was only expecting one person tonight; he had long since stopped trying to host Christmas parties that no one came to. He closed his book and practically skipped the distance to his front door (but of course he didn't, because that wouldn't be manly at all, no sirree...) through the peephole he could see her staring in fascination at the snow falling and oh maple that was so adorable... he opened the door and nervously stepped to the side. "Hi... you must be cold, come on in"
Feliciana beamed at him and said cheerily, "Hi Mathew! Thank you!" she stepped inside and shivered at the sudden change from the winter chill to the warmth of the fire. Excitedly she said, "The snow is so pretty! I've never seen anything like it before!"
Matthew chuckled lightly. "You haven't?" So that was why. It seemed a little strange that she'd never seen snow before, but then again, their houses must be polar opposites when it comes to temperature, he reminded himself. Still, he was glad because he got to see her first reaction to snow "I'm glad you like it... it can be really cold sometimes but it is pretty. And you can do a lot with it, maybe I can show you later, eh? But for now make yourself at home and I'll go make some hot chocolate for us." he smiled, gesturing to the cozy little living room and taking Kumamatata to his pet room down the hall
"Alright," Feliciana said and she watched him take Kumamatata out of the room. She took a seat near the fire and took off her gloves and scarf, and draped them across the arm of the chair. Her fingers were cold so she rubbed her hands together and held them out to the fire places warmth. If Kamamatata was gonna be in his room, it would be just her and Mathew wouldn't it. She uttered a quiet "Ve" and blushed. She told herself to calm down and stop reading so deeply into things.
Matthew's thinking process was on something of the same track but he wouldn't admit that if you called him out on it. Face tinged pink only slightly, not enough to really notice, he led Kumatarou to his playroom and got out various chew toys for him. "Stay in here for a bit okay Kumayasha?" He came back and saw her while she was looking somewhere else, but chalked up the blush to being in the cold on her way here. "Um, right, so feel free to look around and I'll get to work on that coco... do you usually like any specific kind or anything in it? I've got all kinds of different stuff..."
Feliciana jumped a little bit, startled. She giggled nervously, hiding the nervous part as best as she could, and said, "Ah, well, I don't really drink hot cocoa much, so, I guess I'll just take mine however you make yours." She smiled and sat on her hands, trying to keep herself from fidgeting.
"Ah, u-um okay! I'll get on that then!" he gave her an anxious passing glance as he hurried off to the kitchen and started boiling the water. He really should have thought of this earlier so he could make snow flake cocoa... maybe another time. Or later, depending on how long she stayed. He put all the ingredients for that much slower recipe in the slow cooker while the water boiled just in case.
When Mathew left the room, Feliciana relaxed. She was surprised, because she hadn't realized she was tense. She wiggled and shifted her weight and looked at the fire for a moment. Then her eyes started to wander the room. There were pictures hanging about, and even the head of a moose, hanging from the wall. She wondered if Mathew had hunted and killed it himself. She giggled, the image of quiet nice Canada carrying a hunting rifle seeming funny to her. She stood and walked to the fire place mantle and looked at the pictures there. There was one of a baby Mathew and his daddy France, with big smiles on their faces. She giggled and picked the fame up and looked closer.
A few minutes later he came in with the hot chocolate on a tray with a small bowl of marshmallows, two candy canes, a bottle of whipped cream and some other stuff. "I wasn't sure what you would like so I just brought everything..." he trailed off when he saw what she was looking at. He set the tray down on the table and, rather than become embarrassed like one might expect, he adopted an air of nostalgia. He walked over behind her and looked at it with her over her shoulder. "That's actually a picture of a painting at Francis's house... it wasn't the best idea to smile for portraits back then but Francis insisted and I was all too happy to comply. It's weird; it didn't seem forced at any point that whole time, I was just so happy to be there. It's a good thing we had such a fast painter or else our faces might have gotten stuck that way, eh?" he smiled gently with a somewhat distant look to his eyes, like he was seeing the scene play out in his head once again.
Feliciana smiled as she listened to his story and she turned around to look at him, and handed him the picture. "I don't think your faces being frozen into smiles would have been so bad," she said jokingly. "It's a beautiful portrait," she added, feeling like she had forgotten to say something.
"Thanks" Matthew took it gently, giving it a fond once over with both his eyes and his sleeve, and put it back in its place on the mantle, turning back to look at her too. "You think? After a while of having the same goofy smile on your face you might start to scare people!" He plastered said goofy smile on his own face in a very exaggerated manner and started laughing. It was (besides being soft-spoken like almost everything involving his vocal chords) warm and bubbly, like he felt, and certainly was not the most manly noise he ever made, but he was too happy to care.
Feliciana laughed too, delighted to see Mathew acting so funny. Her laughter was girly but loud, just the way it always sounded when she was comfortable, or when she was playing around with Germany and Japan. "Maybe," she giggled, "It wouldn't be so great if you always had that face, ahaha." Her eyes twinkled, "I like your normal smile anyway," She said, not realizing she was letting her flirtatious side show a bit.
He calmed down again, shoulders shaking in a stray laugh every now and then as he caught his breath. "Yeah..." he composed himself in time for that last statement, meeting her straight in those vivid eyes. The blush spread preeetty quickly. "T-thanks..." said normal smile was back with full force as he glanced to the hot coco on the table that was miraculously still just as hot despite the fact that they had to have been laughing and talking at least a few minutes.
Feliciana blushed when he looked her straight in the face and she then followed his gaze to the table. "Oh," she said, and she went over to the tray. She picked up a mug and looked at him, and said "Thank you." She smiled, not knowing she was acting overly sweet due to her nervousness.
"No problem... I kind of wanted to make a special kind but figured it would take too long, but it'll be down- I mean done in two hours if you want any later..." he stuttered, feeling a little nervous with a sudden overwhelming feeling of maplewhatdidIdotodeservethis as an anxious, happy fluttering built up in his stomach. He sat down on the couch facing the fire and motioned for her to sit as well, using one of the candy canes to stir his own cocoa and putting various things on and in it, marshmallows, whipped cream, sugar, maple... because, you know, everything tastes better with maple...
Feliciana plopped down beside him (rather close to him actually, but she didn't notice due to the presence of delicious 'food') and reached for the whipped cream. She took a large spoonful of it and put it into her cocoa. She watched him put syrup into his cocoa and leaned closer to him, to see into his cup, and asked, "Does that taste good?"
He blushed a little deeper at the closeness but it didn't feel uncomfortable at all, and he didn't mind... he kind of hoped she wouldn't notice any time soon. "Y-yeah, it does. Want to try some?"
"Sure!" she said and she held her mug of hot cocoa out to him. Feliciana shivered a bit and scooted closer to Mathew for warmth, trying to be as casual about it as possible, so he wouldn't notice.
He did notice, but he wasn't about to complain. I mean, umm, he was cold too... yeah, that was it... He poured a little in her cup and gave her the other cane, and a normal spoon if she didn't want to use that, to stir it in with. After putting the bottle back, he casually (well, he would like to think so but it probably wasn't so much) stretched his arm out over the back of the couch, being too shy to actually do the arm-around-the-shoulders thing the right way.
Feliciana sat the spoon down on the table and stirred her cocoa with the candy cane. She tried to make it seem as she gave the hot chocolate her full attention, but she was all too aware of what Mathew was trying to do. The corner of her mouth tugged up into a smile as she thought, well good for him, trying to make a move. Bringing the drink to her lips, she took a sip and smiled. "Wow," she commented, turning to face him and smiling, "this stuff really does taste good with maple syrup in it."
"Yeah it gives it kind of a sweet woodsy taste you know? But I'm all out of grade B this late in the season, that's really a lot better..." he started ranting just a little bit, and kind of lost track of himself.
Feliciana giggled. She peered up into his baby blue eyes and sipped at her cocoa, not knowing what to say now. He was really pretty, for a boy. In a nice, manly way. She decided that it wouldn't really be that awkward to see him holding a gun. He probably was a really good hunter anyway. She sipped at her drink again.
As if reading her mind, his rant started heading towards wilderness stories after a few minutes. "...and then Kumatabarou got into a fight with the whole pack, I was really worried! He's really tame at home but get him in the mountains with all the wild animals and suddenly he's one of them... well, besides still listening to me and all... he's really loyal you know?" Suddenly the realization that he was ranting struck him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must be talking your ear off right?" he chuckled nervously.
Feliciana smiled graciously and said, "Oh no! I like your stories. They're full of adventure and the wild. The stories Germany always tells are about war. And Romano is always to angry to tell stories. And Japans stories are always about the orient. I think I like your stories best though." She said, kind of rambling herself. She raised her mug to take another sip of her cocoa, but she realized the cup was empty. She sat the mug down on the table and folded her hands in her lap awkwardly.
Matthew noticed her empty mug. "Oh, um, would you like more of that? I think the snow flake cocoa should be done in another 30 minutes... whoa it's been that long already? Time flies..."
"Oh, sure," she said. He had said that that cocoa would take to hours to make, didn't he? They really had been here for a while. And he had never tried to wrap his arm around her. Feliciana felt disappointed, and surprised by her disappointment. She wasn't going to say anything though, that would be awkward
"So I guess making more would be a little pointless if we only have half an hour to wait..." Time really did fly didn't it? Not like he wasn't enjoying any minute but still... oh, wait... suddenly he realized something that made him deflate a bit. "Um, by the way, when did you say you had to leave again?"
"Oh, well," Feliciana stammered, "Err, I guess I have to leave in about an hour if I wanna make my flight..." She looked down, suddenly distressed. She didn't wanna leave yet. They had barely gotten to spend any time together at all. She twiddled her thumbs, trying to decide what to do.
"O-oh..." He felt a little disappointed, but... it wasn't the end of the world, right? At least he told himself, but it didn't stop him from feeling more disappointed. "So, um, what do you want to do? This is your first time seeing snow right? We don't have much time left but I bet it's still enough time for snow angels... Maybe I can even teach you the basics of a snowball fight, eh?" he perked up a bit and smiled at her. Half of it was an act to get her to feel better, because oh he really did want to see that beautiful smile, but the other half of it was him truly resolved to making the absolute best of the hour they had left.
Feliciana looked up, tears in her eyes that had fought against her resolve not to cry, and won. She sniffled and quickly whipped her eyes and muttered, "o-ok..." Despising herself, she tried to make herself cheer up. She was such a cry baby. Why did she always have to cry? Over the stupidest things too, like paper cuts, and not wanting to leave Mathews house.
"Aww, don't cry..." It broke Mattie's heart to see those tears, especially the silent type that she tried so hard to fight back... he pulled her into a hug, petting and threading hair through his fingers. After a moment he pulled away, kissed just under her eye where those tears used to be, and wiped away a bit more that were starting to form with his thumb, brushing some bangs out of her face in the process. "We'll just have to make the best of this, eh?"
Feliciana flushed a violent red color, just like a tomato, and squeezed her eyes shut embarrassed, when he kissed her. Not wanting him to see how embarrassed she was, she wrapped her arms around his chest and pressed her face into his neck and collar bone. "Ok," came her slightly whiny reply, muffled by his shirt.
He blushed too, especially since she didn't seem to want to move at all for some reason. He wrapped his own arms around her back rubbing small circles, assuming she was still upset. He was perfectly content to spend their hour like this if that's what she wanted.
Feliciana relaxed in his embrace, but then she remembered that in about an hour, she would have to leave. Distraught, she tried to think of what to do. She could just sit here and cling to him like a baby for a whole hour, or they could go out into the snow. It was warm in here. She defiantly preferred the warmth. Especially since Mathew was holding her, but she knew he just was because she was upset. Sitting up, Feliciana sniffled and said, "I guess we could go outside. I've never made snow angels before..."
"Sounds like a plan." he gave her another winning smile and helped her up, then all but bolted for his coat and gloves and other winter wear, bringing her own before she could even get to it. He wasn't excited... he just didn't want to waste time. Yeah. ...Why did that not sound convincing even to him?
Feliciana giggled at his eagerness. She guessed he really really liked snow. Then again, most of his stories he told earlier took place outside. A brief thought about wolves and bears flickered through her mind then was quickly dismissed. She pulled on her gloves, coat, and hat, and loosely draped her scarf over her shoulders, not bothering to wrap it around her face for the moment.
He took her hand, excited more about introducing her to the snow than the snow itself, and led her to his reeeeeeally big backyard. Kumatachi needed /somewhere/ to frolic about; he was a big bear after all. At this point, it was covered in a beautifully even blanket of snow that sparkled from rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds. But he did notice that it was snowing just a bit harder than earlier... he pushed that to the back of his mind and carefully led her down the stairs of his back deck.
Feliciana followed after him, squeezing his hand, giggling like a stupid ditz all the way. In the back of her mind, she cursed herself for acting stupid. "So," she asked, back to her usual cheery and loud self, "What do we do first?"
"Well I told you we'd so snow angels so I'm going to show you how to do it right first, eh!" he led them out a few feet before giving her a 'wait a sec' motion, and falling into the snow backwards. "So first you just lay out completely with your arms out and stuff like this... and then you move them like this to make the wings, and move your legs together to make the robe..." he was demonstrating all this, not giving a single passing thought as to how he might have looked. "...so the hard part is getting up without messing it up. If you were by yourself you'd leave handprints and stuff all over, so you can't really do a real one unless you have someone to help you up. Wanna try?" he held his arm out to her, still in the snow, and smiled.
Feliciana watched him make the snow angel and laughed. He looked so goofy, like a little kid, and it was charming. Childish abandon suited him very well. "Alright, I'll try," She said when he asked if she wanted to make a snow angel too. He held his hand out for her, so she could help pull him back up onto his feet, and she took it, her glove fitting into his. She noticed his hand was much bigger than hers. She didn't realize though, that he would be so heavy, so that when she tried to pull him up, with a weak tug unbalanced by a casual stance, she fell, his weight pulling her down, instead of her pulling him up.
For a second he just looked her over carefully, checking for signs she hadn't hit her head too hard or something no doubt, but then he started laughing. He brushed off some snow that had gotten on her face. "Well so much for that, eh!" laughter bubbled and wouldn't stop. He took her hands and pulled her up, muttering something along the lines of 'there we go!' and turned to admire their work. Needless to say it definitely didn't look like angels at that point. He put on a mock serious face and stared, putting his gloved hand to his chin in equally mock contemplation. "Hmm... you know, I think if we took a picture of this we could sell it as abstract art. Give it a weird confusing title and call it modern, you know?" he looked back at her and gave a warm smile.
Feliciana laughed as well and said, "Haha, I guess we could! It's defiantly more thought provoking than some of the other abstract art I've seen," she joked, giggling. She was still holding onto his other hand, and she swung her arm back and forth, giddy. "So, what do we do now? What time is it?"
He let his arm be swung, maybe even contributing a bit, feeling just as happy. "I doubt we've been out here but five minutes. There's a lot you can do with snow, anything you want to try first? I don't think we have time for a full snowman but we could make a little one if you wanted, eh"
Feliciana's eyes lit up. "A snowman? Really?" She beamed, excited now.
He figured that'd be the type of thing she liked. She looked so adorable like that... "Yeah. It's not too hard; we just need to get it started. Want to help me make the base?" He scooped down and picked up snow, patting it into a little snowball and setting it back down.
She squatted down next to him and made a snow ball of her own. "Like this?" she asked, her face turning slightly serious, like making snowmen was the most important thing in the world.
Matthew chuckled a little at her seriousness. "Yeah, just like that. And now we roll it along in the snow until it gets bigger. Never in a straight path though..." he put his hands on her own over the snowball and guided her through the snow, until it was about as big as one of their heads. "That should fit our purposes, I think!"
"You think so? for the bottom, right?" She asked, kneeling in the snow next to him, peering at the large snowball.
"Mhm. Usually it'd be maybe twice as big but we'll save that for another time." He scooped just a little bit off the top, in a disk shape, to help the second body piece stay. "Now we need to make one just a bit smaller than that one to go on top of it, and an even smaller one for the head."
"Oh, ok." Making another snowball, Feliciana rolled up another ball of snow for the snow man, one about two thirds of the size of the first. She picked it up and placed it on top of the one Mathew had made. "Is that good?" she asked.
He gave a happy nod and sound of agreement and made the last one, scooping a bit and putting it on top. "And now... it needs personality. Any ideas?"
"Um... well..." Feliciana looked around trying to decide what to add to the snowman. She saw some rocks on the ground, in a place where they had rolled up a lot of the snow, and she picked them up and placed them on the snow mans face for eyes. She giggled, "He can see now at least."
Matthew had followed and gone a bit further, and brought back two sticks, each different lengths but the only ones he saw from all the snow for a while. He picked up a few smaller pebbles as well, giving the snowman buttons and arms. "Now it has a coat and can do mundane tasks... well actually, wait a sec..." he pulled out the longer one, snapped it, and put the broken end back in. "There, /now/ he can. It. She. I don't know." he gave a soft laugh and rubbed the back of his head a bit.
Feliciana laughed, "Oh Mathew, he's adorable! but wait a moment," She took her scarf off of her neck and wrapped it around the snowman. "There," she said, "Now he can keep his face warm in the cold," She said, satisfied by the achievement of building the snowman. Feli looked at Mathew, and cocked her head, "What do you think?"
Matthew happened looking straight at her, rather than their snowman. "S-she's prett-I MEAN he's p- I mean it looks... yeah..." He stuttered and looked away from her, to their creation in progress, trying to will away the increasing flush in his face. "It suits him." He paused for a few seconds, and then took off his own scarf and wrapped it around her.
Flushing when he wrapped his scarf around her neck, she smiled. The fabric smelled like him. and maple syrup. "t-thank you," she said and sneezed.
"No problem, I just don't want you to get cold, eh..." he started fidgeting anxiously after he heard her sneeze."A-and you are, let's go back inside before you catch something eh? That cocoa should be ready by now..."
"Ah, ok then," she said. Standing on her tip toes, she wrapped the end of the scarf around Mathew's neck as well, saying, "You'll get cold too." Feli smiled and took his and hand, and started walking back to the house.
He blushed. Hard. He thanked his lucky stars that the thing causing most of it was the thing hiding most of it. But his ears were most definitely showing, and he could feel them burning. He hoped she wouldn't look, or mark it off as the cold, and let himself be led this time. Meanwhile, the snow was picking up... but Matthew was too busy studying the ground as if it were the most interesting thing in the world to notice.
Feliciana glanced at Mathew and saw his face was bright bright red. It was cold out, but Feli guessed it was because of the scarf. But that was a good thing, cause it made him cute. She giggled and pulled him up the deck stairs. Turning, She looked over the vast snowy backyard and smiled when she saw the snowman with her scarf and the 'abstract snow angel'. Then she noticed the snow was coming down in bigger clumps and faster. "Mathew," she said, "Does it always snow like this?"
"Huh? Oh..." he looked around, startled a bit and confused. "No, it... sometimes but the weather man didn't say anything about it today... we should get inside and warm up, and get you to the airport before it gets worse..."
"Oh... ok..." Feliciana said quietly. She didn't want to leave. She was having so much fun making Mathew blush. She sneezed again.
He nodded, determined to get her in before she really did catch a cold. Not wanting to expose her any more than possible, he gently pulled her along through the door moved to the kitchen quickly, and came back with two glasses of fluffy, white hot chocolate. He gave her one and pulled a blanket from the back of a chair and wrapped it around her. "Want to sit down?"
Feli sniffled, from trying not to cry, not being sick, but there was no way to differentiate the sources. She nodded when he asked if she wanted to sit down, and she took a place on the couch near the fire. She sipped the hot chocolate, distressed.
"Feliciana..." he wrapped his arms around her and buried his head in her shoulder. He didn't want her to leave either, but she had to, and he didn't want her to be upset because of it. He hadn't been able to see her much, and really wished that somehow she could stay longer... The wind outside was starting to pick up a bit.
She started to cry now, and she hugged him back, leaning on him for support. "I don't wanna go home Mathew, I wanna stay here and drink hot chocolate with you," She whined, tears streaming down her face. Burying her face in his chest, she whimpered.
He adjusted to fit her position and rubbed comforting circles in her back, whispering sweet nothings to calm her down (for the first time in his life, and he would not admit to doing so later) and letting her cry it out a bit before bringing out more sound arguments. "Hey, hey there... it's okay, it's not like we're parting forever... We can still talk through email or IM or something, and even if you didn't have internet I'd write every day, and there's another G8 meeting coming up in a few weeks anyway, eh? Although, next time we probably should plan on a lo-" his speech was cut off abruptly by a very violent sounding howling wind. "...that doesn't sound good, eh..."
Feli looked up startled. "What was that, veh?" She asked, worried and shaking from crying.
"Umm... wait right here okay?" he slowly released her and made his way over to a window on the other side of the room behind them, pulling back the curtains. "...Maple..."
Looking after Mathew, she watched him cross the room. The curtains opened and she gasped. Feliciana had never see a full out blizzard before, and never imagined it could be fierce. Snow pelted everything with the full force of the wind that screamed through the sky. She couldn't even see the driveway anymore. "I-is this usual? I-I'm not sure this is a very good thing..."
"No... not really..." His voice cracked a bit and he stared. Well, that came from nowhere. He was having a talk with whoever hired those weathermen. He turned around and gave a hesitant smile. "So, what do you want to bet that your plane's been delayed? Hah hah hah... hah... heh..." he looked at the window again, still a little shocked, and closed the curtains.
"Wh-whats going on? You mean my plane can't take off in this?" Feli asked, trying not to get her hopes up, and trying her best not to show that she was failing.
"Hold on, let me check... I guess we can call the airport and ask what happened to your flight... I need to go look up their number and call or I guess I could just check the site..." he rushed off to the study, the real silver lining of the situation starting to sink in, feeling a little giddy himself, and feeling a small smile creep onto his face as he finally made it to his computer. He googled like a madman.
Feli watched him run off, feeling a small bit of shock. That was an awful lot of snow, but could it REALLY cancel plane flights? I guess that'd make sense, if they couldn't see through the front windshield. But that would mean she was stuck then, wouldn't it? That'd mean she could stay with Mathew and drink his special hot chocolate. Feliciana brightened, and pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her blanket around her.
A few minutes later, Matthew walked back into the living room... well, fast walked, trying not to seem too frantic. "All flights out have been delayed an indefinite about of time until weather conditions clear. And if I know storms like these, that's not anytime soon."
"R-really?" She exclaimed, her face lighting up dramatically. A huge smile crossed her face and excitement shone in her copper eyes.
He couldn't keep it in any longer. He matched her smile, her radiance only serving to brighten his mood further. He wasn't entirely sure how to react to the situation but he knew he didn't want to be standing at the other side of the room any longer than necessary. He crossed the room in record time and hopped the couch rather than just going around (which he NEVER did, by the way... maybe hanging out with Al had finally gotten to him...) and pulled her into a hug as soon as he landed. He murmured something about not complaining about weathermen after all more to himself.
Gleefully, She hugged him back, her fists clenching the fabric of his shirt, and she laughed out loud in delight. "Hahaha, that means I can stay here! It's almost like a sleepover!" she said, innocently.
He couldn't stop himself from blushing at that and was glad that she couldn't see his face. He knew she probably didn't realize there was anything wrong with that, but still... he had a lot of guest rooms so he guessed it was okay. He was just happy she was here longer. "Mhm, it's really great..." a warm laugh bubbled up in his chest and he hugged tighter.
She giggled and looked up at him. Giddy, she unexpectedly pulled his face down her hers and gave him a big kiss. then she let him go and rubbed her nose against his.
Blood instantly rushed to his face and he returned happily, smiling against her lips, and gave a totally manly, not girly in any way whatsoever giggle of happiness at being nuzzled. He rested his forehead on hers and sighed contently. "So... now that we're snowed in for who knows how long, what do you want to do?"
Feli let out a "Ve~" and said, "I don't know, I'm just happy sitting here like this." She moved so that she was sitting in his lap wrapped her arms around his waist, and she nuzzled her nose under his chin.
Bluuuuuuuuuuuuush. "U-u-u-u-ummmm..." he was suddenly acutely aware of her so close. Did she really not think anything of it at all? Well he supposed if she didn't have any motives then it was okay, he certainly wasn't thinking that way either so-wait now what is she doing? He thought in frantic circles. He didn't want her to stop but knew he probably should because it felt a little weird but she obviously didn't know she was doing anything unusual... his cheeks lit up like the Fourth of July (his brother always was a bit too flashy) and he flailed a bit, and kept stuttering, trying to get SOMETHING out.
Confused by Mathews sudden change of color and rise in temperature, Feliciana asked, "Ve? what's wrong?"
"N-n-n-nothi- I mean- It's just umm- ummm... really c-close and umm..." he stuttered and looked away awkwardly.
"Oh, ok then," She said, and yawned. She stretched and laid her head on his shoulder tiredly, about to fall asleep. Feli didn't want to go to sleep, she wanted to drink hot chocolate and sit by the fire with Mathew, but her eyes were slowly closing and her mind slowly shutting down against her will.
Matthew calmed down a little, at least she wasn't moving much anymore... he saw how tired she was becoming and smiled. "Getting sleepy? It's been a long day, eh..."
Feliciana grumbled, "No, I'm not sleepy..." Her eyes closed, her awareness fading, she muttered, "No... Ludwig I don't wanna go to bed...I was... talking to... Lovino..." her breathing became regular as she drifted off.
Matt felt serene in total contrast to his earlier frantic mood. She looked so peaceful and adorable when she slept... at one point he had started petting her hair, and figured that that ponytail couldn't be comfortable to sleep with so he gently pulled it off and... maple. She needed to do that more often. He eased her off his shoulder and onto the couch slowly, careful not to wake her, and went to get a blanket and pillow from his room to make her a bit more comfortable. He was almost famous for his ability to go without disturbing people, but he didn't know how much of a deep or light sleeper she was and didn't want to risk carrying her to a guest bedroom, since they were all kind of far away... maybe if she started looking uncomfortable he would get her to move to a bed. He tucked the blanket into the inner side of the couch and eased the pillow under her, stopping to stroke her cheek slightly. She looked almost angelic to him. Actually, scratch that almost. She definitely had to be some kind of angel, and he had no idea what he had done right to deserve her attention... and... affection. His cheeks tinged pink slightly, he bent over and pecked hers, murmuring a soft "Sweet dreams" and going off in search of a book he had been reading recently. He really wasn't tired enough to sleep just yet, so he figured he would read a bit more while he waited for the day's exhaustion to catch up to him. Finding said book, he returned to the room and sat down in a single chair near the fire and the couch she was now sleeping on, flipping it open. He looked back at her and smiled a bit, and then remembered something. What had she said before she drifted off again? Something about Ludwig and her brother... What was it... why was he thinking about it? He ignored the little voice questioning himself, curiosity taking over. She was complaining about not wanting to go to bed... to Ludwig. Does that mean she'd stayed at Germany's house before? It did make sense, they were very close, but... he suddenly felt a little jealous, but he forced it down. No! Whatever happened before was none of his business. Still... he felt himself sink and shook his head, trying to shake out those kinds of thoughts. He loved her... yes, he did, and he blushed to even be admitting that in his head... and he was going to trust her no matter what. He found his place in the book and began where he left off, hoping to distract himself from picking up that train of thought again.
Shifting her position in her sleep, Feli let out a grumbled "Ve" as she curled up under the blanket. Her sleep wasn't very peaceful, probably due to too much sugar (the hot cocoa with maple syrup and copious amounts of other sweets in it) and she started to mutter in her sleep. She said something unintelligible, then the word pasta, some more muted words that cut off, and then Ludwig again.
He turned to her again and looked concerned, she really did look uncomfortable... then again, he thought, it was probably partly because of all that sugar too. She had really only been over a few hours, and he didn't expect her to fall asleep so fast otherwise he wouldn't have given her all that sugar. Because he was thinking about it, he picked up his untouched one on impulse and downed it. It wasn't hot anymore but it was still sweet so it didn't really bother him. He felt kind of guilty. And then he heard her mention Ludwig again... they really were close, weren't they? He willed himself not to become jealous and almost wanted to ask him about her later... like maybe her interests or favorite animal or pretty much anything, he didn't really care, he was just suddenly overcome with curiosity and the desire to know more about her. But he couldn't ask Ludwig about her, that'd be prying... and weird. Although, she did seem like the type to mutter things in her sleep, he regarded to himself with amusement. Wait what was he doing watching her sleep? That's just creepy! But... he really couldn't help it; even looking uncomfortable she still looked more peaceful than the average person to a point where it would be hard to notice unless you were paying close attention. Maybe he really should move her…
Feli turned again, and stretched, running her hand through her loose hair. She rested her forehead on her elbow and tucked her hand behind her head. "Lovino... be nice..." She grumbled, "... no, I don't want wurst and potatoes... pasta Ludwig, Ve~" Fidgeting in her sleep, she turned over again, her hand still tangled in her hair.
While Matt found this all very amusing, he was starting to worry a bit that she might fall on the floor. Apparently she tossed and turned a lot... or maybe that was just the couch and sugar's influence? He didn't really know. He scooted the chair a bit closer, ready to prevent her from falling to the floor, and decided that if she turned over too much she would move her... light sleeper or not.
"Hmm..." She signed and she snuggled against the back of the couch. For a while she was silent, as if she had falling into a more peaceful, deep sleep, but then she started talking again, saying, "Pater amo... I love you... Ludwig... pater amat..."
Matthew froze in his reading. Had he heard that right? She was speaking Latin, he thought, but that one bit of English... no, it couldn't have been right. Could it? Was he being used? If he could beat that thought with a hockey stick, he would. No! That's a horrible thing to think! Still... it would make sense, they were so close... He put his book down, suddenly not feeling like reading anymore, and started fighting negative thoughts that were popping up fast. No. He trusted... trusts... her. He'll just ask her later... or maybe not. He didn't want to bother her or make it seem like he didn't trust her. He'd just... trust her. He wasn't going to let this get to him.
Feliciana turned I her sleep again, away from the couch. She relaxed, half draped over the edge, her arm dangling out from under the blanket and her hand rested against the floor. She sighed, and right before finally drifting off into peace she whispered, "Mathew..." In a mumble that held more emotion than anything else she had said.
He felt his heart clench. He mentally slapped himself. What was he doing? How could he ever have doubted her? He fought back tears; he was just way too frustrated with himself. After a moment, he calmed down. Yes, she was definitely leaning dangerously close to the edge. He got up and picked her up, blanket and all, and carried her to a guest bedroom, trying very hard to do it gently and not wake her up. He finally reached said room, and tucked her into one of the beds. Maybe now she'd sleep a little better... He shut the door and yawned, stretching. He was a lot stronger than people figured, for what should seem like obvious reasons due to his strenuous hobbies, but everyone just kind of assumed he was weak. Still, carrying her all the way to that room made him aware of how late it really was. He went back to Kumatarou's room finding him asleep in his pet bed, and refilled his food bowl and water bowl before padding off to his own room and turning in for the night.
Howling wind and snow pelted the house, and suddenly, Feliciana was awake. Alarmed, she sat up in the guest bed, and she looked around, confused and frightened. How had she gotten here? The horrific sound of the blizzard scared her, and she started to cry. She was barely able to keep her eyes open, even though she was now awake, and she didn't remember what the blizzard was at all. For all she knew it was a huge monster trying to rip apart the house. "Ludwig..." She whimpered, and pulled her blankets up to cover her head. It was so cold. She couldn't remember why it was so cold. Then slowly, she vaguely remembered the fireplace and hot chocolate. She was a Mathew's house, wasn't she? Outside, a Tree branch broke, and the loud cracking sound made Feli yelp. Jumping out of the bed, she darted out of the room into the hall. Everything was so dark. How had she even gotten into that room? Tears streamed down her face due to fear and confusion. After wandering around Mathews house all alone, in the dark, scared to death, she found a door opened, just a crack. Cautiously, with shaking hands she opened it a bit more and peered inside the room. It was Mathew's room, and she recognized him, sleeping in his bed, facing away. She went inside, closed the door behind her, and crossed the room. Quietly, she crawled into the blankets next to him, shivering. Curled up to him, she clutched him shirt and tried to stop crying and ignore the horrific howling from the storm. Eventually, she fell back to sleep, listening to the sound of his breathing.