Summary: Cornflowers are Ludwig's favorite.
Warnings: GerIta. Mostly pointless fluff with snippets of German and Italian. And, like, one swear word that's not really that much of a swear word. A repost from a requested ficlet on Tumblr; the prompt was "flowers."
Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya
.. | Flowers | ..
"Here." A bouquet of lilies was shoved into Feliciano's arms. He accepted it graciously as he stood up from his chair in Ludwig's kitchen.
"Ve, um, grazie, Ludwig! They're beautiful. But why are you giving them to me?" Feliciano asked with a soft smile. He took a long whiff of the aroma radiating from a flower.
"Oh, well, it's the first day of spring, so, um…" Ludwig stammered. He ran a few fingers through his hair, something he always did when things got awkward. "… And they remind me of you."
Feliciano giggled. "Of me? Haha, Ludwig's being awfully sweet today. You do the most spontaneous things sometimes!" This pulled out a light blush from Ludwig, who wasn't sure whether it was from embarrassment or irritation.
"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm a scatterbrain like you. I try not to do these kind of things often." Ludwig crossed his arms indignantly, setting his face to stone again. Again Feliciano giggled, knowing there was little mean-spirit behind Ludwig's actions.
"Si, si, I suppose you're right. Ah, but now I feel bad for not giving you anything! If I had known that you were going to—"
Ludwig cleared his throat. "It's okay, I don't want anything in return. I just thought it would be a nice gesture between friends." This prompted a disapproving look on Feliciano face, who fervidly shook his head.
"No! Nonsense! You always do things for me, so let me return the favor this one time!" he cried out. "Um… flowers! I will find you flowers, too!"
"Feliciano, you really don't need to—" Before Ludwig could finish his sentence, he felt a strong grip around his wrist, impatiently guiding him to the door.
"And I know the perfect place, ve!" Feliciano cheered, already dragging Ludwig outside and towards the forest. Ludwig was about to protest, but could sense the other man's determination and resolve. There would be no turning back without dealing with a very whiny, very insistent Italian. So he only released a small sigh and began following Feliciano before the other's grip ripped his hand off.
The two were well into the woods when Feliciano started progressing into a sprint. Ludwig groaned in annoyance. Honestly, why didn't the Italian have this much enthusiasm when he needed to exercise? "Ve, hurry up, Ludwig! Andiamo!" Feliciano exclaimed, more eager than ever. He looked so excited and was running so fast it seemed he was flying off the ground. Which, quite frankly, spelled out trouble for Ludwig.
"Slow down, Feliciano! Before you do something you regret!" Ludwig reprimanded. Said man only spared a quick glance back at him.
"Don't worry, Ludwig! I'll be—"
It was then that a large, gnarled tree root decided to conveniently materialize itself from seemingly nowhere. Feliciano obediently tripped over the obstacle, followed by Ludwig close behind. Both tumbled into a tangle of limbs, rolling across the ground roughly before landing in a clearing.
"Owww!" Feliciano cried, though he made no immediate effort to untangle himself from Ludwig.
"Erk, see, Feliciano? What did I tell you?" Ludwig yelled, attempting to peel off the other man.
"Mi dispiace, mi dispiace! I didn't mean to! But look! We got to the place I wanted to go to, didn't we?"
"Place?"
Ludwig finally took the time to check his surroundings. What he saw made his breath hitch. Flowers. Flowers everywhere. And not just your typical daisies. Cornflowers. The blue-eyed blossoms seemed to envelop the entire area, eager to reach sunlight wherever they could. The woody stems scratched at the skin, but neither he nor Feliciano seemed to have minded. The delicate blue petals were the perfect embodiment of tomboyishness and gentleness, something Ludwig had always admired.
"Feliciano, how did you find this place?" Ludwig asked breathlessly. "These flowers are hard to find nowadays, what with all the urbanization in Germany."
"Well, when you're running away from things all the time, you find lots of things along the way!" Feliciano explained with a laugh. He had finally been able to free himself from Ludwig and was now comfortably lying on the ground among the flowers. A subtle pink tinge painted Feliciano's cheeks, while the flowers' leaves tickled his face and the sun's rays warmed his skin. Ludwig smiled slightly at the sight.
"Is that so? To think running away could be a good thing," Ludwig said. He decided to settle down next to Feliciano, making himself equally as comfortable. He felt a small sort of pleasure when the cornflower petals brushed up against his bare arm.
"Si, si! I've found a lot of special places this way. But this place always sticks out in my mind!"
"This place? Why so?" Ludwig asked. Feliciano turned his head towards him with the warmest grin.
"Isn't it obvious? Because the flowers here are the same color as your eyes!" Feliciano stated as if this was the most blaring truth in the world. Ludwig nearly choked.
"M-My eyes?" he managed to say, fighting off the heat he was sure was spreading to his ears. Feliciano nodded before looking back at the sky.
"Mmhm. So is the color of the sky. The sky, these flowers, your eyes. All a shade of the most wonderful blue! They're all so pretty, no?" A moment of silence. Feliciano's smile grew solemn. "… I'm sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? Oh no, I said something weird again! Germany will think I'm weird now!"
Ludwig had been in some sort of reverie. Pretty? He snapped back into reality when he noticed large, disheartened brown eyes boring into him. "Uh, nein, entschuldigung. I was… I mean… My eyes?" Ludwig stammered. The smile returned to Feliciano, who tried to stave off from laughing.
"Of course! They're very pretty like flower petals and morning skies!" Feliciano plucked a cornflower off its stem and tucked it in Ludwig's meticulous hair. It was all Ludwig could do to not light up like a cherry. "Ve, the flower definitely compliments your eyes!" Feliciano added. Well, hell if Ludwig didn't feel like a girl at that moment. But when it was that idiotic, happy Italian doing and saying such things...
"W-Well, cornflowers are my favorite," Ludwig said. He turned away, embarrassed to say such a thing. Ludwig? Liking flowers? Unheard of.
"Oh, really? Lucky guess!" Feliciano grinned proudly. He scooted closer to Ludwig, finding that spot in his side where he fit perfectly next to the German's body. Content, he snuggled his head into Ludwig's chest. "They were also the favorite of a boy I knew when I was young."
Ludwig wondered who this childhood friend was, but didn't bother to ask. Feliciano had fallen asleep anyway. Ludwig simply adjusted the flower in his hair, fiddling with the delicate petals and observing the sleeping man beside him.
If anything is pretty like cornflowers, it's you, Feliciano.
And with that thought, Ludwig dozed off into slumber among the blue blossoms.
A/N: Yup. Sweet enough to give you diabetes. I made Germany into such a girl in this fic... Forgive me, Ludwig. ;u;
