The morning arrived, announced by the joyful chirping of the little birds by the window. Ludwig was already up when this happened, of course, as he prepared his bag and things to set his way off to college. 7:00 a.m., he departed from home, passing by the same plaza where he saw the italian artist doing his job yesterday evening, once again staring at the fountain for a bit.
If it weren't for... Feliciano- that was his name, right?- he wouldn't have seen the stars last night, it never occurred to him to think about watching the stars, why would he do that, anyways? It's a waste of time and out of schedule. He continued his way towards the school, going through the market street as always, but now he heard a voice calling his name.
"Ludwig!" he heard "Ludwig, Ciao, Ludwig!" the called one looked in the direction of the voice, finding the italian in his own booth, waving both of his arms showing a big smile, he still had a sleepy face, though.
What was Ludwig supposed to do? Should he go there and say hi? Maybe a little wave of his hand would suffice? He wouldn't know, because he had to go near the annoying guy, he was getting too loud and everybody started to stare at both of them.
"Yes, good morning" Ludwig finally answered when he arrived in front of the booth.
"Ahhhh, at first I thought you couldn't listen to me! I was about to yell higher!" with a big smile he leaned over the counter, with his arms crossed.
"Please don't, it would disturb the neighbor booths"
"Ve~~~, maybe you are right" of course he is right "so, did you watch the stars yesterday?" this made Ludwig blush a little. How could he know? It's just a coincidence.
"Actually, yes" he said after clearing his throat "they are nice"
"Told you so! Did you watch them with someone? Maybe a belle woman?" the italian giggled with a playful smirk, this made the german to blush a bit more.
"No! I don't have a girlfriend!" after realizing he may have talked a bit too loud-people was staring at him again- he once again cleared his throat, lowering his voice "I don't have interest in having a girlfriend" The italian stared at him for a few moments, with a face a little hard to read, maybe it was... shock? Surprised? Either way, it made Ludwig uncomfortable.
"I see" Feliciano said after a few seconds with a smile again on his face "it's ok! Italia is full of opportunities for everyone, every day!" he straightened and grabbed a canvas "look, I finished the painting I was doing yesterday"
He put the painting over the counter so Ludwig could see it. It was full of color, the feeling of relaxation was stronger, it would be a perfect canvas to have on the living room, or the bedroom, to be able to look at it and rest at home. You could almost feel the warm wind, hear the birds sing along the sound of the leaves from the trees, the soft sunlight on your skin and the smell of grass on the morning, you could almost feel the dew over the grass, you could almost touch it, it wrapped you in a calm and peaceful environment.
"It's nice" was everything the german said. Wait, what time is it? 8:00 a.m., So late and out of schedule! "I have to go! I'm late! Good bye!" he said an ran off.
"Ok! See you later! At the fountain, ok?!" the italian yelled at him.
"Yes! Ok, at the fountain!" Ludwig replied... What?.
After hours of studying, the sunset finally came to be, announcing the nearby end of the day so the night could start anew, showing a different kind of live in the city. The blond german was walking by the street, a lot of people was around there, finally going home after a busy day. This time of the day, the sunset, was one of the german's favorite, because it meant the day was a productive one. This time, though, he had another thing to attend, one he got in by accident. He is supposed to met with the italian guy at the fountain, but what for? He didn't know, all he knows is that it was out of schedule, which meant he would have to use time from another activity.
When he arrived at the fountain, Feliciano was already there, sitting on the fount's stone, obviously waiting for the college student. With a sigh, Ludwig got near; the brunette saw him and smiled, getting up.
"I'm glad you came, Ludwig! I was afraid you wouldn't come, it was so fast, after all~~, you run so fast I was impressed! Do you do any exercise? I can tell because you look muscley under your clothes! I bet you're really strong too. To be honest, I'm a wimp so I always avoid getting people mad, so I don't have to fight, hahaaaa~~, but that shouldn't be a problem for you, people sure doesn't mess with you, right? Ahhhh, so lucky to be so tall and strong and..."
This again.
The italian was doing this again.
Is this a italian thing? Always with the talking, the unnecessary talking about meaningless things. But still, the german just listened to everything the other man had to say, looking at how he was moving all around his place, his head, his hands, his arms, moving so much, so unnecessary. Ludwig is the first to admit that germans don't usually move a lot when talking, because it's a waste of energy and time, just say whatever you are suppose to say and finish with it, time is so important and everyone should respect that.
"… anyways, the other day I ate a really good salami panini, it had black olives and tomato. All this talking made me hungry. Wanna go take a bite?" the italian asked when he finished talking, which took Ludwig by surprise.
"What?"
"Yeah, let's go eat some panini! They are so yummy I'm already drooling just thinking about it!" it was no exaggeration, he really was drooling.
"A-actually, I have to go, I need to prepare for tomorrow and..."
"Ehhh? C'mon! You can do it later!" Feliciano complained with a kiddy voice, and grabbed the german by the arm with both hands, pulling him a little. This startled older man, he was not used to human contact, he IS german, after all.
"A-all right! We can go eat something!" the italian smiled when he heard this.
"Yay! We are gonna eat delicious food! You are not gonna regret it, I promise, Ludwig~~!" and he finally let the other man's arm go "just follow me!"
Ludwig started to follow the local man through streets and alleys until Feliciano stopped in front of a door. The building looked old-just as anything in Venezia, being honest- but with a allegorical feeling, that kind of feeling tourists have with anything "vintage" or "old". It had two stories and various windows, still with light and you could hear soft music through them. It was in front of the see. The italian man knocked on the door and a young lady opened it up, welcoming them both and allowing them to pass. She had a light brown skin, long curly black hair and brown eyes, her voice was strong but sounded more like she was always singing.
"So glad to see you here again, Feliciano!" The lady received him with a big smile, a hug, and kisses on both cheeks. Ludwig had learnt that italians usually greet others like that "and not only that, you also brought a friend!"
"Sí, sí, Abrielle" he responded "I told him about the delicious paninis this place has, and we just had to come here!"
"Wow, with that kind of reference we now and absolutely can't fail, do we?" she finished with a loud, and yet elegant, laugh "but come! Follow me to your table and then I'll take your orders"
And so she started to walk through the other tables, all of them full of people, it seems it was a rather popular restaurant. It had a cozy feeling, with candle lights everywhere, a band of musicians playing happy music in a corner, all the people were talking and laughing loudly, some were eating and others were playing cards or something familiar. The establishment also had a bar, and a woman, somewhat look alike Abrielle but older-maybe her mother- was the barista, also talking loudly with the clients. The young maid finally stopped at a table by the window, with a smile she told them to sit.
"And so, what is your order, young men?"
"We will order two salami paninis" the italian replied with a smile.
"And to drink? I'm guessing you're gonna ask for wine, Feliciano" Abrielle said with a smirk"
"Ve~~ you know me well" the man then looked at Ludwig "What do you want to drink?"
"Ehm... do you have beer?" the german asked the waitress.
"But of course! Light or dark? I would recommend light, seeing that is already kind of late and you have to go back home!" the lady said as she jokingly hit on his shoulder "we don't want any drunk accidents"
"Don't worry, belle Abrielle, he's german! I'm sure he can take his beer, also, he's so big and strong and muscley and-"
"Is that so?" the girl interrumped, maybe because she knows how Feliciano rambles a lot.
"A light beer is fine" Ludwig replied, somewhat thankful for her to interrupt the italian man. Abrielle goes away after assuring their orders will be done quickly.
"And so, what do you think?" asked the brunette.
"Nice" simply replied the german.
"Ve~~~ you're so serious! But I guess you need to be serious and quite to be able to go college"
And just like that, Feliciano started to ramble again, this time about how awesome must be to go to college, also being smart as Ludwig, of course he was smart, he is going to college, after all! And how is Germany, by the way? He has heard it's cold and somewhat rainy, he has never went there but would like to visit some day! Traveling is fun, do you travel a lot, Ludwig? Feliciano used to travel around all of North Italy with his grandpa, learning different kinds of arts on the way. He would like to go South Italy first, though, his older brother lives there and it's been a while since last time he saw him. By the way, what's been your favorite part about living in Italy? If he had to choose, Feliciano would say the food, so delicious, and the people, so beautiful and warm people, always so kind.
Ludwig was once again simply staring at him, the italian didn't give a chance to talk at all, even when he was doing questions. It's not like the german wanted to talk that much, but he was impressed at the velocity and ability to talk so much in so little time, maybe it was just Feliciano? Of course, the german knew a lot of italians in college, but he never really talked to them, so he wouldn't know if they spit as much words and he does! To his luck, Abrielle came back with their drinks, a light beer for him and a glass of wine for the italian. It was almost funny, so stereotypical in a way.
"So, Ludwig" Feliciano started as he took a sip of his glass "tell me about you"
"Uhm" this was different "I don't have much to say, I'm from Germany, I came here thanks to a scholarship, I also have an older brother, but he stayed on Germany, I've been leaving here for a few months"
"How long are you gonna be here?"
"When the semester ends, I'll go back to Germany"
"Why did you wanna gome to Italy in the first place?"
The german got quite for a few moments. Why did he want to come to Italy? It was weird, to be honest. It's not like Italy's educational level were THAT different from Germany's, he could perfectly stay on there and his education would be superb, also it's not like he had family or something in this land.
But, then, why?
Since forever, Italy has been so interesting for Ludwig, maybe it was the art, maybe it was the story, or the language? He honestly couldn't put his finger on what specifically attracted him to this vast peninsula. He even learnt the language, for God's sake! Even before it was decided he could take the scholarship.
Maybe he was quite for too long because the italian started talking again.
"Well, it's no big surprise foreigners would like to come to Italy!" Feliciano said with a wide smile "Italy is so beautiful"
Ludwig grabbed his mug full of beer and took a swig, realizing the window was open, he looked through it, he could saw the stars.
They were as beautiful as yesterday.