Hello there everyone. Well, this is my first Hetalia fanfic and I hope everything goes okay and everyone isn't too OOC. Anyways, I got this fanfic after trying to explain to my friend the Holy Roman Empire/Germany theory, and I hope it turns out good. I will use both country and human names (although the country names will be more of just nicknames) in this fanfic and hopefully it won't be too confusing. Here comes the chapter. Enjoy.
"Ludwig, can we talk? In my office," came a stern voice. Ludwig looked up into the cold eyes of his boss. He stood from his desk and nodded quickly and followed his boss into his large office. His boss took his seat in his large chair behind his oak desk and motioned with his hand to have Ludwig take a seat as well. Ludwig plopped down in the soft chair and watched his boss expectantly. "Ludwig... You know how tough the economy has been and everything right?" his boss asked playing with the edge of a picture frame.
"Are you firing me, sir?" Ludwig asked, his thick German accent apparent. His boss heaved a heavy sigh.
"Unfortunately yes. We need to lay off a lot of workers with the way the economy is lately and... you happen to be one of them. Don't misunderstand me. You're an excellent worker and I loved having you work for me, but you have to leave. Have your stuff together by lunch time okay? That's all," his boss gave a small smile as Ludwig stood and left his ex-boss's office. He stomped angrily over to his desk where he found a cardboard box waiting for him. He shoved all of his belongings inside (in an organized way of course), and left the large building with a heavy sigh. He had been working in that banking company for years and finding another job now would be a little more than difficult.
Ludwig decided to head to the local park and sat on a bench setting his his box of things beside him. He leaned back and gave another sigh closing his eyes. He groaned as he began to think about all of the job interviews he would have to do in the future. Ringing snapped him out of his hellish nightmare and he pulled out his cellphone. Looking at the caller ID he saw that it was his brother. He opened the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Yes, bruder? Aren't you supposed to be working?" Ludwig groaned.
"Pssh! Work's for losers. I'm on break, but, West, you sound like shit! Something bad happen? You should totally tell me all about it over drinks tonight. It'll be my treat. Huh? How about it?" Gilbert's annoying voice sounded over Ludwig's phone.
"Look, Gilbert, now's not a good time, I just-"
"Whoa! You're turning down an offer to drink, West? That's unheard of," Gilbert shouted.
"Ugh, alright, fine. I'll go drinking with you tonight," Ludwig sighed as his brother laughed.
"Alright! I'll meet you at our usual bar tonight at 8. Don't be late!" Gilbert laughed more before hanging up. Ludwig shifted forward putting his weight on his knees as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His brother had only served to agitate him more. A loud grumble came from his stomach and he looked at his wrist watch. It was a while past one o'clock. Ludwig grabbed his box and wandered around the park looking for a street vendor. Seeing a hot dog vendor, he smiled, satisfied, and made his way over. Once he had gotten his hot dog and started eating, he walked around again. A bright voice caught his attention.
"Holy Rome!" the voice called in a heavy Italian accent. Ludwig turned to see a boy with brown hair that was somewhat straight except for a curl that went upwards running towards him. The boy was wearing a green dress shirt, a darker green tie, and black pants. Once he was close enough he pulled Ludwig into a hug. "Holy Rome! It's you! I'm so glad! It's been so long!" The boy pulled back to look at Ludwig's blank face. A frown appeared on his face and his amber eyes saddened. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you remember me?"
"Um... I'm sure we've never-"
"It's me! Feliciano! Italy! Don't you remember?" the boy pouted.
"Look, I haven't ever-"
"So you don't remember me? I know it's been years since we last saw each other, but you said that you would love me forever. Didn't that mean anything to you?" Feliciano asked on the verge of tears. Ludwig sighed. What was he to do? He didn't want the boy in front of him to cry even if he was mistaking him for someone else. Ludwig put a hand on Feliciano's shoulder.
"No, I remember now. How could I forget you... Italy," Ludwig forced a smile on his face.
"Good! For a second there, you scared me. I thought you had really forgotten me after all these years," Feliciano smiled.
"How could I forget you, Feliciano?" Ludwig asked.
"Feliciano? You never call me that. Could it be you don't like me anymore?" Feliciano asked on the verge of tears again.
"No! No! Of course not! I just... wanted to say your real name at least once after all of these years," Ludwig lied.
"Alrighty then. Say, were you eating lunch just now?" Feliciano asked. Ludwig nodded. "Oh... I was gonna ask if you wanted to have lunch together, but I guess not."
"No, I can have lunch with you. I barely ate, see?" Ludwig tossed the hot dog in the trash. "We can go eat somewhere. Where do you want to go?" Ludwig hated himself for wasting that hot dog, but the boy in front of him seemed to be very fragile. He would finish 'catching up' and then he would never see him ever again. He picked up his box again just before Feliciano hugged his arm.
"How about my favorite restaurant? They have the best pasta there! They also have that weird food you like to eat too," Feliciano smiled and pulled him away. They walked together in the park with Feliciano hugging Ludwig's arm. "So, Holy Rome, how have you been? We were just teenagers last time we saw each other." You mean this kid is actually an adult? Ludwig thought.
"Ah... You know, I've been... okay... I actually just got fired from my job," Ludwig sighed.
"That's terrible! I know! You can work with me! We're currently hiring!" Feliciano announced happily.
"Uh, no thanks," Ludwig panicked. Feliciano pouted and Ludwig stuttered to correct himself. "N-Not that I don't want to work with you or anything! I-I just feel like I should find a new job by myself you know?"
"I see. I guess you're still the same as ever. I hope you're still aspiring big. I remember when we were children you would always chase me around saying 'Let's rule a big nation one day'," Feliciano laughed. Who exactly is this Holy Rome person? Ludwig wondered. "As long as you'll be okay, I guess that's fine. I would hate for something bad to happen to you."
"Thanks, but I'll be fine. No need to worry, Italy," Ludwig smiled. Feliciano stopped walking and stretched onto his toes. Ludwig stopped and looked down at him. Feliciano pouted.
"I-I can't... Kiss me please..." Feliciano cried. Ludwig blushed. K-Kiss him? Is he crazy? Ludwig thought. He reached down and kissed Feliciano on both his cheeks. Feliciano smiled happily and continued walking still hugging Ludwig's arm. "You've grown a lot taller. I never would've thought you'd be this tall. How tall are you now?"
"Almost 5 foot 11," Ludwig smiled proudly.
"Wow that's tall! I'm only 5 foot 7," Feliciano pouted.
"That's not so short. Besides, I don't mind your height," Ludwig said. Feliciano smiled at his words and continued walking. Soon enough, the two stopped in front of an Italian Bistro. The two were seated at a booth in the back corner of the restaurant. Feliciano happily sat beside Ludwig and rested his head on his shoulder. The waiter serving them quickly took their drink orders then left. Ludwig looked down to see Feliciano smiling happily and hugging his arm tighter. "So... Italy, what have you been up to lately?"
"Well I own a chain of Italian restaurants. It started off slowly, but then my business really started to hit it off with people and before I knew it, I was the C.E.O. of my restaurant found all over the country now," Feliciano said.
"Oh, that's good for you, Italy. I'm glad you've got a nice future ahead of you," Ludwig said. Feliciano let out a content sound and smiled foolishly. Ludwig couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face or when his hand reached up to run through Feliciano's hair. Feliciano melted into the touch.
"Oh yeah! I meant to ask you, what did you do after you left Austria's house that one day?" Feliciano asked. Austria? As in Roderich? Ludwig thought. He chuckled nervously.
"U-uh... I-It was so long ago... H-How could I remember?" Ludwig tried.
"I guess... you must have really bad memory, huh, Holy Rome?" Feliciano laughed as Ludwig blushed from embarrassment.
"Not bad memory. More like mistaken identity," Ludwig muttered.
"What was that?" Feliciano asked.
"Nothing! Say, why don't you tell me more about your restaurant chain? It sounds interesting," Ludwig said sitting back in the booth. Feliciano brightened with excitement.
"Okay! Here it goes," Feliciano started. As time went on, Feliciano told Ludwig more about his restaurants and even brought up some recent stories. Ludwig smiled and relaxed as Feliciano talked on and on. Feliciano continued talking even when their food had arrived. The two ate while talking more and Ludwig even shared some of his recent stories with Feliciano as well. Once they had finished eating and paid for the meal (Ludwig had ended up paying) the two left the bistro with Feliciano hugging his arm again. "That was fun, Holy Rome. We need to do this more often. I've really missed you."
"Ah, yeah... Sure," Ludwig said.
"Here!" Feliciano reached into his pocket and pulled out a note-pad and pen. He wrote a few things down before ripping off the page and handing it to Ludwig. "That's my cell phone number at the top, my house number in the middle, and my address at the bottom. Call me and we can schedule something for later, okay? I've got to get back to work, so I'll talk to you later! Ciao!" Feliciano smiled and waved as he ran off. Ludwig stared at the paper in awe.
"His phone numbers and address? I never meant to get these... What do I do?" Ludwig wondered aloud. He took a cab back to his house he shared with his brother and sighed. He set his box and keys down on the kitchen table before sitting at one of the chairs. He held his head in his hands and stared at the paper. "What am I going to do? If I don't call him, he's going to think this Holy Rome person is blowing him off... He can't be too much of a stranger if he mentioned Austria... How does he know Roderich anyways? I guess I'll just have to pay a visit to him tomorrow..." Ludwig sat there debating his options until his cell phone rang again. He looked at the caller ID and sighed. He answered it, "Yes?"
"Are you blowing me off? I thought that if you had a crappy day that you would want to get a drink. Where are you?" Gilbert asked over the phone.
"What are you talking about? It's not even- Guter Gott! How did it even get this late? I'll be right there! Sorry," Ludwig said hurriedly. He got up and grabbed a coat before running out the door.
"Haha, you lost track of time? You? That's hilarious. Just get over here fast okay. I don't wanna get to drunk without you," Gilbert said in a sing-song voice before hanging up. Ludwig growled and shoved his phone back into his pocket before hailing a cab. Once he arrived at the bar, he was already an hour late. He searched the bar for his brother and saw that familiar head of white hair. He walked over and sat next to him.
"Hello, Bruder," Ludwig greeted before ordering a strong drink.
"Hey, drinking the hard stuff tonight? What happened today? You sounded like crap," Gilbert asked putting a hand on Germany's shoulder.
"Ah well, I got fired today. Danke," he smiled as he took a sip of the drink placed in front of him by the bar tender.
"Fired? But your boss loved you! You always used to kiss up to his sorry ass!" Gilbert shouted.
"Easy, easy. Calm down. I know he liked me, but that doesn't help the economy. He had to let people go and I was just unlucky enough for it to be me. Then, my bad luck continued as this boy- er... guy came up to me today thinking I was somebody else," Ludwig sighed drinking more then placing the empty cup on the bar counter top. "More, please."
"Huh? You mistaken for someone else? What'd you do?" Gilbert asked drinking his beer.
"Well the guy looked like he was about to cry... so I lied," Ludwig muttered.
"Huh? What'd you say?" Gilbert asked smirking and holding a hand to his ear.
"I said that I lied. I lied and played along letting him think I was this Holy Rome person," Ludwig growled. Gilbert stiffened. "Bruder?"
"Did you say Holy Rome?" Gilbert asked.
"Yeah... Why? Do you know him?" Ludwig asked taking in the nervous wreck beside him that was his brother. Gilbert gave his loud annoying laugh before clapping Ludwig on the back.
"Of course not, West. Just making sure I heard you right. So did he believe you?" Gilbert swallowed nervously.
"Yeah... That's the problem. It went so well that he gave me his phone numbers and address and is expecting me- rather this Holy Rome to call him. If I don't call him, he's going to think This Holy Rome person stood him up," Ludwig groaned into his hand.
"Simple! All you gotta do is continue being this Holy Rome to not hurt the poor kid," Gilbert said confidently.
"What? But what if he finds out that I'm not the real Holy Rome? Won't that hurt him even more?" Ludwig asked.
"Maybe... but all you've gotta do is act like the real Holy Rome. Just get help," Gilbert smiled and went back to drinking.
"But who do I... Austria! Thanks, bruder. You're actually helpful every once in a while," Ludwig smiled.
"Once in a while? Are you forgetting that you're talking to the one and only awesome Prussia? I'm awesome!" Gilbert shouted before drinking more. Ludwig laughed and drank more as well.
Well, how was that for a first chapter? Hope you guys liked it. Please let me know by reviewing. I'll give a shout out to people who review. It's totally worth it :3 Plus it will help me decide whether or not to continue this or not. Well, I'll see you next chapter. Later everyone