When I woke up, I was surrounded in warmth, and the source of it seemed to be under me. I snuggled closer to it and wrapped my arms around it, feeling it rise and fall underneath me. There was a hand that threaded itself through my hair. It caught a few knots, but I didn't mind. What kind of street person would I be if I couldn't stand a little pain? I tried to time my breathing with the rising and falling, so I wouldn't have what felt like someone's ribs digging into mine and vise versa. Eventually though, I had to get up. I lifted my head and I was met with ruby-coloured eyes and a half-asleep smirk.

"Morning, Birdie! Did the awesome you enjoy sleeping on me, kesese?"

I squeaked and rolled off, but I was caught by an arm.

"I wouldn't roll to far, Birdie... you were almost at the edge of the bed"

"O-oh... merci beaucoup, then"

"You are awesomely welcome, Mattie! So, bruder and Feli are out of the house, and you didn't get a tour. You want a tour of awesomeness?"

Honestly I hadn't remembered what happened last night until that point. I was freaked because I was in a bed with someone, and I was pretty sure I hadn't resorted to selling myself yet. Feeling kind of silly that I was a little worried, I nodded my head. I probably had a serious case of bedhead because my hair was pretty thick. We got out of bed and I walked to the bathroom, looked in the mirror and found that my hair looked like a giant cornpuff. Sighing, I tried to pat it down. It worked... somewhat, but there were still a few pieces sticking out. I walked out and Gilbert was in pj pants, with no shirt on. I felt something inside that seemed like a long-forgotten emotion, but I shrugged it off. If I had ignored it so far, it couldn't be that important. Right?

"G-Gil, where's my violin?"

"On the desk, now what do you want the awesome me to make for breakfast?"

"A-anything's fine.. I'm not a picky eater"

"I would guess not... wurst and fried potatoes sound awesome?"

"O-oui"

I walked to the living room while Gilbert was getting down the ingredients for... potatoes and whatever wurst was. I picked up the violin case and sat in the middle of the floor. Gently, I took the instrument out and ran the bow over it quietly, making sure everything was in order. I set them back in the case and took out the picture of Mama carefully, like it would fall apart at any moment.

"Bonjour, maman... comment ca va?"

I would always envision her in my head, everything from her real smile to her voice.

'I am doing well, Matthew. Now, go out into the world and prove to everyone that you're worth something'

I usually didn't say anything else to maman, but this morning I had to. I had to tell her that I'd found a home, and in my mind she smiled, patted me on the head and turned away.

"Good... someone sees you for what your father couldn't... but, I have to go now. Be good, okay?"

I didn't want to, but I nodded and watched her walk away. Sighing and feeling a few tears escape, I set everything back in the case. I closed the bag and stood up, surprised to find Gilbert leaning against the door frame with a sad smile.

"You really miss her, huh?"

I was pretty surprised that was all he'd said. Usually if someone caught me, they'd whisper something about me being crazy and walk away. I could feel more tears well up, and before I knew it they'd spilled over. I sat on the ground again and cried silently, trying to keep myself from sobbing. Somehow, I succeeded. I felt arms wrap around my shoulders, and before I knew it I was crying into the albino. He didn't seem to mind at all, which shocked me more. I'd never cried on anyone; I'd always expected them to tell me to grow a pair and walk away. But... somehow, Gilbert was different from the norm. When I finally stopped crying (after a good ten minutes) we walked to the kitchen. There were two plates with potatoes and what looked like sausages on them. I looked at Gilbert and he smirked.

"This is my specialty meal, so eat up vogel!"

"V-vogel?"

"Ja! It's German for 'bird'"

"O-oh... then that's... four nicknames I have th-then"

"What's the fourth?"

"S-Silent Music"

"Ah... stage name, I'm awesomely guessing?"

"O-oui... Introducing myself as 'Matthew Williams' Isn't exactly money-friendly"

Gilbert nodded and got a jug of milk from the fridge. He grabbed two glasses and set them down. Speaking of glasses, I didn't have mine...

"G-Gil?"

"Glasses?"

"O-oui"

"Ah... I think Feli took them while he and West were going out the door. He said something about the world looking 'Funny like-a overcooked lasagna noodles'. Can you see up close?"

"O-oui, I can see for a few feet in f-front of me"

"Awesome! Well, start eating! It's not going to magically transport to your stomache, kesesese!"

I chuckled and began to eat. I tried the potatoes first, and before I knew it those were gone. The wurst was also disappeared rather quickly. Though, an entire plate of the food had filled me up. Gilbert handed me a glass of the white liquid to wash everything down with, which I chugged. I sat back in the chair and let my arms hang. But something slimy and warm dragged itself along the back of my hand...

"Aster! You should be awesomely looking after your puppies! Oh... nevermind, you brought them with you, kesesese!"

I sat up and looked down. There was a golden retriever and it's puppies to my right. I held out my hand for Aster to sniff, and it licked my hand again. The puppies were jumping up on the chair, so I got up and walked to the living room. I sat down and was immediately attacked by an onslaught of fluffy adorableness. They licked every inch of skin they could find before Gilbert pulled a few of them off.

"Oh, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but me and West are dog breeders! We have golden retrievers, Dobermann and short-haired German Shepherds... you wanna see the rest of the puppies?"

I nodded my head and was helped up. With the dogs at our heels (literally.. one of them nipped me) we walked to a room behind the kitchen. There were two other litters there, which were the breeds Gilbert had said. They waited until I was seated on the floor, then about twenty puppies jumped at me, including the golden retrievers. They managed to knock me down, and I laughed while getting tickled by the noses and tongues of them. The older dogs came and got their litters off of me. I think I was dripping with puppy saliva. Gilbert chuckled and threw me a towel. I wiped all the remnants off of me and looked at Gilbert, confused as to where to put the dirty towel.

"I'll show you on the tour, so come on!"

We walked out of the room, despite the puppies' pleading expressions. The albino said something in German to them and they calmed down... er, got excited again and started annoying the bigger dogs. I was shown the upper level of the house. There was the 'main' bathroom, Ludwig and Feli's room, a guest room, the study (which apparently only Ludwig used) and a games room. There was board games, video games and a few decks of cards. I walked in and looked at some of the titles of the games. They had Candyland, Life, Monopoly, and Snakes and Ladders among other titles. I didn't realise I was still holding the towel until it was taken out of my hands and thrown into a random room.

"So Birdie, you wanna play some awesome video games downstairs?"

"O-oh... um, I'll j-just watch... if that's okay"

"Ja, it's awesomely fine! You can play my DSi if you want"

I nodded and we descended the stairs to the basement. Gilbert sat down in front of the TV, after turning off the lights I guessed he was going to play a scary game... probably Ju-On again. I was proven correct. I layed on my stomache on the bed at an angle where I could see the TV. I noticed him take a deep breath before he clicked on his last save.

It was actually a pretty entertaining hour. Every time Gil got scared he'd start denying it right after; sometimes he was so scared he denied it in German. And then realised I didn't understand a word of what he was saying. Eventually I did pick up his DSi, and found a Pokémon game in it. I started a new game, using the fire pig thing. All the Pokémon there were Pokémon I'd never heard of, but it was the new game... I think it was White. I looked up in time to see Gil pause the game right when the girl's face was in direct view of the camera. I just looked back to my game; the genre of horror didn't bother me at all. Mostly because in the five years I was homeless, I saw some pretty horrific things.

"You doing okay Birdie?"

I nodded and frowned when my... Tepig, I think it's called... I frowned whan that got defeated by a bird thing. I felt the albino sit beside me, and he watched me play.

"Birdie, you have too many non-attack moves... you need at least two, though it is possible to just power your way through the game"

"O-oh... merci b-beaucoup"

"You're welcome! I'm going to play Amnesia, because it takes place in Prussia!"

"Y-you have an interest i-in Prussia?"

"Ja, because that's where I come from! And before you argue, technically it's 'East Germany' but that sounds so bleck"

"I-I wasn't going to argue... b-but that sounds cool"

"Oh.. usually when I tell people I'm from Prussia they shove historical facts down my throat or say they've never seen it on the map"

I shrugged and the albino grabbed a different controller. He started the game and this time I put down the DSi to watch. My understanding of the game was the only thing you could do was run and hide, and hope the weird monster things didn't catch or find you. You were trying to get through a castle, and occasionally I would see a Prussian Eagle banner hanging on the walls of stone. Gilbert always had a pleased smirk whenever I pointed it out to him. He played until we heard the door open and close, and the cheerful voice of Feli and the... not-so-cheery voice of Ludwig. Gilbert and I left the ame to go see them. They had groceries, and other things.

"Matthew, come into the living room again, please"

I did as I was asked and sat on the floor. There was a yell from the kitchen and a puppy came scampering over, then jumped into my arms and snuggled. Feli came in and did a bouncy-thing.

"Ve, Mister Polar-Puppy likes you!"

"W-why is he named Mister Polar-P-Puppy?"

"He's a different breed than all the others, because we took him in off the street. We think he's part bear... mostly because he's just a little smaller than the norm for a bear cub, and his ears are rounded. Though Feli is right, he does appear to like you"

I scratched the puppy's chin and looked and looked at the German who had seated himself on the couch. He set a bag down in front of me. Curious (and with permission) I shifted the little one in my arms and looked in the bag. There were a few pairs of jeans, a red sweater, a few t-shirts, some pj pants, a toothbrush and a mug. I looked up with a genuine smile on my face and felt arms around me.

"Y-you got this for me?"

"Ja, of course! The awesome you needs clothes! I'll take MPP, you go try everything on. Oh, and there's boxers and socks in a different bag"

I grabbed the bag and almost ran downstairs. I was so happy to finally get my own clothes, after having lived with the plaid shirt and the ripped jeans for so long. Everything fit well; I was surprised they knew my size! I walked back up in black jeans and the sweater, smiling at everyone.

"H-how does it look?"

"Like you're at home, kesese!"

"B-by the way, h-how did you know what size to get me?"

"Ve, I have a good eye for sizes! I used to make costumes for movies and stuff like that, but then I met Luddy and I didn't need that anymore because all I need is him!"

"Kesese, bruder you look like a tomato!"

"Shut it, Gilbert... anyways, Matthew we have some people coming today to look at the dogs, so you and bruder will be getting new shoes and going around town. Got it? Ja? Good. Feli, ah...c-come help me, please. Bruder, you get $100"

Gilbert smirked and chuckled, while Feli was giggling. I was... sort of scared of Feli, because the laugh didn't seem very innocent. I grabbed the violin case and slung it over my shoulders, then slipped on my poor excuse for footwear. Gilbert smirked again and leaned against the door.

"Planning on making another public appearance, Silent Music?"

"Q-quoi?"

"You have your violin"

"O-oh, oui... it's basically my backpack, a-and my wallet, and my life support"

"Ah... oh by the way. Do you have your birth certificate and health card?"

"Oui, th-they're in an inside pocket"

"Awesome! Alright, the awesome us is off! BRUDER! MAKE SURE NO ONE TAKES MPP!"

The answer was merely a grunt, and a shirtless Ludwig came downstairs, picked up the puppy and carried him upstairs. A door closed and we heard something creak, a lot like a bed... and we were out faster than the two upstairs could 'help' one another. We ran a little away from the house, before looking back and sighing in relief. Gilbert looked at me with a smile this time as we walked to who-knows-where.

"So Birdie, what do you know about this town?"

"U-um... that you live in it, a-and now it's my home?"

"You didn't see the sign- oh right, you were dead asleep. Okay, this place is called Crescent Cross, and there's a huge German-Italian influence here. Almost everyone knows English, but it's better if you know German and Italian"

"I-I know French... a-and Italian and French is pretty close"

"Ja, but German is kind of off that map... it's not one of the 'Romance' languages"

"T-true... does Feli speak German?"

"Ja, he speaks it pretty well... sometimes when he forget's the awesome me's home, he sings German opera... he's a soprano, but I guess you could have figured that out. So, what kind of shoes do you like, Mattie?"

"Oh, um... I-I don't know... something comfy, b-but still wearable i-if I have to be on foot for long periods of time?"

"Hm... skater shoes would be awesome for you then. By the way, you do realise you won't have to play for money anymore, ja?"

"O-oui, but it would be nice to take walks around the town"

"True. Okay, we're at the awesome me's favourite shoe place!"

The name of the store was in German, so obviously I couldn't read it. I would have to get Gil or Ludwig to teach me German. Because I kind of needed to know if someone was trying to kidnap me or return something... with my experiences with German, I couldn't tell.