Apparently Ludwig's camping spot was a secluded spot deep in the forest. There was a small clearing about twenty five feet in diameter mostly covered in grass. A fire pit was already made when the brothers arrived, a sign that Ludwig has been here before. Not too far away from it was a large spot of flat dirt, a cleared area where Ludwig normally set up his tent. Lucky for Gilbert, he thought that he would have to do "camping work" when they arrived.

Except when Ludwig took out a big bag and set it on the flat spot. Dusting his hands off, he turned to face Gilbert, who happened to be sunbathing on the hood of the suburban. e.O Striding over, Ludwig stared down at the albino as he continued lying there, shirtless, supposedly dozing off.

…Ludwig slapped Gilbert's chest, leaving a red handprint on his brother's there. "I told you we vere going to set up the tent!"

"Vell…" Rubbing away the pain on his chest, Gilbert pouted, "I vas tired."

"TIRED? YOU'VE DONE NOTHING THIS ENTIRE TIME!" Ludwig pulled his brother off the hood and pushed him towards the un-built tent.

Lazily Gilbert trudged over to the bag and kicked it gently, "So vhere's our tent?"

"You know vhat?" Shoves Gilbert back, "Just…Just go away." Kneeling down, Ludwig began opening the bag to take out the pieces that made up the tent. Since Gilbert didn't leave, Ludwig looked up at him, "Vhat do you vant?"

Gilbert pointed at the bag, "That's a tent?" :3

After that, Ludwig made his brother sit in "time out" on a log bench beside the fire pit. Irritation seemed to show as heat waves off his head as he built the tent on his own while checking to make sure Gilbert wasn't having any fun. That lazy asshole couldn't do anything useful, just like Feliciano, maybe Gilbert caught Italian and will never be able to get rid of it. Actually, his brother was more pathetic than Feliciano for it was truly obvious that his brother had no smarts whatsoever. Ludwig pounded the stake to hold the tent down with ferocity because of the fact that his stupid brother was always in his thoughts. Like a disease. Gritting his teeth, he silently wished that damn albino would be a man for once.

The tent had one big room with two smaller rooms on either side. Forcefully, Ludwig made Gilbert bring in all of their baggage and place them in the correct room. Then the younger of the two started pumping air into the air mattresses since the oldest would've blown them up to pieces. Both were silent although Ludwig knew the tranquility at the moment was going to leave soon.

"Can we go swimming?"

"Nein," Ludwig muttered. He gave the mattress a few test squeezes, then moved on to the other one that needed to be filled with air.

:3 "Please?" Gilbert begged. "There's nothing else to do!"

"…For a little bit."

Not too far from the campsite was a small clear lake surrounded by sand. Ludwig sat on a fold-up chair with a large beach umbrella to shade him as he read with his sunglasses on. With one hand, he held a rope that was tied to Gilbert's floatie, just in case Gilbert needed to be "rescued." After unpacking Gilbird from his bag, he dashed into the water with his pet flying by his side. It was a warm sunny day, just perfect for this small break.

Reaching the rope's limits, Gilbert grunted from the sudden pull around his waist. He was standing in water that didn't even reach his knees. Annoyed, he turned to see Ludwig still sitting on the shore reading a book about how to raise a defiant brother. Gilbird chirped overhead before swooping down to float on the water's surface. Sitting down in the shallow water, he splashed the water a bit before coming up with the perfect idea.

"West!" he whined.

Ludwig looked over the top of his sunglasses, "Vhat is it this time?"

"My swimming shorts are in the deep end!" Pointing behind him, Gilbird was flying over his master's swimming shorts, unable to bring them over to shore. "Could you be a dear and get them for me?"

Leaning over, hiding his face with his book, Ludwig cursed. His brother wanted him to join in by using the most idiotic tactic. Irritably, he looked up, "How the hell did you manage to lose your shorts?"

"…Gilbird did it!"

Gilbird chirped.

"And if you don't get it, you'd be littering!"

With a sigh, he left his chair, book, and sunglasses behind. Tying the rope to a nearby tree, Ludwig turned around and ran into the water just in case his brother tried to tackle him, naked. He dove beneath the water so his skin would become used to its' temperature before starting a breast stroke towards the shorts. Of all stupid things to pull, it was throwing your own swimming shorts out of reach and call for help. Ludwig wanted to leave his brother in the deepest part of the lake as a way of teaching him how to swim. But being the person he is, he decided to give in for once to his brother's ridiculous plans.

Snatching the shorts, he swam back towards his brother. Once he was there, Gilbert didn't take the shorts from him. Ludwig glared at him, "Come on, and put your shorts back on."

"I don't vant to."

"You have to."

Gilbert pouted, "Don't you like my awesome nudity-"

"Nein." Holding out the shorts, Ludwig didn't avoid eye contact. His eye twitched in frustration, "I'm not here to play games," he muttered.

"Put them on for me."

"NEVER!" Aghast, Ludwig took a step back, "YOU CAN PUT YOUR DAMN SHORTS ON YOURSELF!"

"Then you'll have to chase me!" Gilbert challenged.

It wasn't long before Gilbert fell because of the fact he still had his floatie on. He put on his shorts while his brother scolded him for being rude and inappropriate for his age. Gilbert kept his gaze downwards the whole time, waiting for Ludwig to stop talking and let him go.

Ludwig was pacing, "Un if you vant me to swim, just ask me-"

"Bruder, mein knee is bleeding."

Stopping short, Ludwig noticed the streak of blood sliding down his brother's leg. The cut must've been from the fall on the multiple rocks in the shallow part of the lake. Quietly he knelt down and started washing the blood off with the lake water before placing his thumb on the small wound. Applying pressure to it so as to stop the bleeding, he counted off the seconds as they passed in silence. Then he gave the cut a quick kiss before standing back up to walk back to his chair without looking back.

Hesitantly Gilbert stood where he was even though he wanted to run after his little brother. This moment of brotherly care seemed to have paralyzed his body for he couldn't even think of how to react. His heart raced, pounding loudly within his chest. Each breath was fast since the feeling of Ludwig's lips on his knee had the most wonderful affect on him. Gilbert swallowed hard while gripping the floatie in agitation of being unable to say anything. What could he say? Watching Ludwig untie the rope to hang onto it while he read, Gilbert bit his lip until it bled. Would his brother kiss him there to make the stinging pain go away? Such a question would ruin the scene, and so he kept his mouth shut and accepted the kiss he received to the knee.

That night, Gilbert dreamt about an old memory. He was Teutonic Knights then, just a small child always managing to get himself into trouble. The particular scene was when he managed to piss off Hungary and received a good fight that he was too afraid to defend himself in. Lying where he was, Gilbert began to cry, he didn't mean to hurt Hungary's feelings. Now he was all alone in a grassy field with no one around but Gilbird. He ignored the fact that his white outfit was dirty and torn, something Vati would complain about when he returned. Then that would be another person who would be angry towards him.

"Hey," a voice whispered.

Gilbert looked up to see a boy around his age dressed all in black staring down at him with bright blue eyes. His hair was slicked back beneath his large hat, making him look older than he was. "Who are you?"

"I'm Holy Roman Empire, your bruder." Then he kissed Gilbert's forehead, the spot where he had a large bruise from one of Hungary's legendary punches. Softly Holy Roman Empire moved Gilbert's hair out of his eyes, "I'm here to take you home."

Immediately he sat up wide awake. Darkness clouded his eyes from seeing much until they became used to the dimness to form shapes of what was before him. Gilbert heard a fire crackling outside of the tent along with the occasional shifting of the logs. Patting the sweat off his face with his blanket, he took deep breaths to calm himself down. Gently he patted Gilbird's head before leaving his room to peer through the window of the door leading outside. Sure enough, Ludwig was seated on a log bench tending to the fire. A small smile formed on his face as he unzipped the tent to go join his little brother.

Without turning, Ludwig listened to his brother sit down on the log bench to his left. "Vhat are you doing so late at night?" he asked quietly.

"Masturbating, how about you?" Gilbert let out a sigh, "Nein, I'm just thinking about the dream I just had."

"Un was it a nightmare?"

"Nein, it was a good piece of my past."

He gave a nod before using the poker to move a log within the fire pit closer to the center. Ludwig shrugged, "I vish I could say the same, but I can't sleep."

"Maybe my awesomeness is too much for your mind to handle."

"Or your snoring."

Grinning, Gilbert stared at the dancing flames, "Possibly," he said with laughter in his voice. "Vould you like to try sleeping now while I'm awake?"

"Nein, I'm not tired now."

Staring at his little brother, he gave a quick rundown of what he saw. Ludwig was masculine, with a firm jaw and a good sense of poise. Any leader would be put to shame by how authoritive Ludwig was, especially when it came to military. He had plenty of determination that anyone would notice just by giving him one look in the eye. Protective, kind, and gentle, Ludwig's soft side was noticeable towards his closest friends and family. Gilbert smiled at the thought of his brother's hobbies like cooking, drinking, and looking at dirty books. This was the perfect brother he asked for, although Gilbert preferred to be protective most of the time towards Ludwig.

Ludwig noticed the staring. "Is something wrong?"

"You're one sexy man, West."

"Funny, I thought I hid the beer vell from you. How many did you drink?'

"I didn't drink any…West! You brought beer without telling me?" Gilbert was about to demand where his brother hid it, but realized this was a distraction. "Sly bastard," he muttered. Moving over to sit beside Ludwig, he put his arm on his little brother's shoulder. "Don't try that again."

"Heh, and I thought you vere as stupid as Feliciano."

"That's not nice!" Playfully, Gilbert gave a gentle punch to Ludwig's shoulder.

Giving his brother a side glance, Ludwig shoved him without much force, he smiled.

Knowing what Ludwig was up to, Gilbert tackled his brother to the ground laughing. He gripped his brother's shoulders while he stared down at those blue eyes. Fritz, the man below him was more than just sexy. Before he could contemplate any longer, he was rolled over onto his back, Ludwig above him. Gilbert couldn't help but give his brother a challenging look and tried rolling him over, with little success. Easily Ludwig kept him pinned as he tried moving them to one side to gain top again.

"L-Ludwig!" :3 Frustrated, Gilbert kicked his legs in what little leg room he had. It wasn't fair of his brother to be Superman, "Let me win!"

"I told you on the ride here that I'd get vhat I vant."

"THAT WAS OVER A RADIO STATION!"

Laughing, Ludwig leaned down, "Doesn't matter."