Summer was coming to an end, which never really bothered the German. Whatever the season, as long as the weather was decent enough for him to train, he didn't care. And if the weather wasn't decent, he'd train inside.
While the change of season didn't much affect him, it seemed to mean something to his small Italian friend. When he finished with his own personal training, he noticed the small male resting against the window and sighing.
"What's wrong, Italy?" He felt slightly more compassion than he normally showed. Then again, Japan wasn't around. He found himself opening up more to the other when everyone else was gone. The Italian continued to sigh as he shrugged.
"Veh, summer is ending, and we didn't get to do anything fun!" He swirled his fingers along the windows glass. "I was really hoping to do something fun with you and Japan. Even just for one day. We could have gone swimming, veh…!"
Needless to say, it caught Germany off guard. He wasn't expecting something like that to upset the other so greatly. At most he thought he hadn't had any pasta yet. "Well, summer is just about over now, ja? I suppose it's too late do to anything. The comment didn't inspire Italy to smile at all.
The past few days after that small incident left the Italian upset, and it was starting to eat at the German. He wasn't exactly sure why it bothered him so. Anyone else would have thought he'd be happy that the tinier Nation sleeping in his own bed would be a blessing to Germany. He even thought that it would be. The second night without the little Italian crawling into his bed made him prove himself wrong.
It felt cold and empty to him, and he was exactly fond of the emptiness. He finally decided to phone Japan and see if he knew what to do. His advice proved to be a good idea, at least in Germany's mind. After hanging up the phone he packed a bag and slung it over his shoulder. He then rushed to Italy's room and burst through the door.
"Italy! Wake up! Pack a bag now! We're leaving!" He ordered and the Italian quickly responded, shoving a few clothes and a white flag into a small backpack. He followed the German out of the house and into the woods. He noticed that Germany's bag was much larger than his own; it could just have clothes in it.
"Doitsu, where's Nihon?" He questioned, a bit nervous that Japan wasn't here. When Germany explained that Japan had a cold and couldn't make it, his only comment was "veh".
The German led the other into the woods, walking and walking until he couldn't handle the complaining about Italy's aching legs. Sighing, he threw his bag down. This made Italy flinch. He shrugged it off and unpacked a tent before quickly setting it up.
Seeing how confused the Italian was, he sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a tent, Italy. For camping." He half smiled, hoping it would cheer Italy up. Indeed, it made the Italian smile widely. "We're camping!? Not training, veh!?" Germany nodded and the Italian jumped up and down with joy.
It made Germany happy to see the Italian smile again. He quickly set up their sleeping bags in the tent. When he finished placing their beds down, he crawled out of the tent and noticed the Italian was gone.
He followed the small trail from their camp site to small stream where he did, in fact, find the Italian. He was kneeling in front of the water and smiling at the small fish that swam by. "They're so cute, veh!" He giggled and swirled his fingers in the water. The German couldn't help but smile softly and sit next to the Italian, nodding at his prior comment.
They sat by the stream until the sun had finally start to set. After a bit of conning, the German got Italy to follow him back to the camp site. He started a small fire while the other looked through their bags for something to eat. Once the fire was started, Germany felt a small tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Italy holding up a bag of marshmallows.
Smiling softly to himself yet again, the German nodded and found two of the cleanest sticks he could. Pressing the marshmallows onto the sticks, he handed one to the smaller Nation and sat in front of the fire. His tiny Italian friend joined him then, and they both shoved the sticks outward, over the fire. While Italy twirled his stick around constantly, Germany took his time.
They talked very little, which neither one of them seemed to mind. After Italy went through the majority of the bag's contents, the German felt something press against his shoulder. Looking over, he saw the other was leaning against him. Italy must have fallen asleep, Germany thought. He pulled the stick out of the Italian's mouth and positioned him so his head was resting on his legs.
The German let the other sleep on his lap until he found himself getting sleepy as well. He then proceeded to drag himself and Italy into their tent. They slept well that night, and the Italian seemed to have no knowledge of passing out on the German upon waking up the next morning. Germany didn't tell him. He smiled to himself and kept that his own little secret.
Italy didn't really need to know, anyway.