Author's note: I'm back again, peeps! And with more humanised nations!

... Okay, seriously, do you guys want this to stay a friendship, or become a romance? Coz I have a romance plotline ready, if anyone wants it. Or should it be split into two fics? I'm still undecided.

Regardless, I hope you like the chapter!

... Also, I'm rather proud of the chapter name. XD I like sounding clever and pretentious.

Chapter Two: Dust Kitten

Settling into the chair at his homeroom desk, Ludwig pulled out his pencil case and placed his stationary in their designated positions. It wasn't often he needed his stationery in homeroom, but it was always better to be prepared.

Straightening out every edge, until the objects on the desk were perfectly aligned, he sat upright, waiting patiently for the teacher to arrive. He was always first in the room, after all. He made sure to be.

A while later, the other students started to file in. As the teacher took her place at the front of the classroom, he let out a small breath, ready to start the day.

"Buongiorno, Ludwig~!" a voice called out from beside him.

He blinked. Frowning in confusion, he turned to see who'd addressed him. Beside his desk was the puny Italian student from the day before. The one who sat on the other side of the room. He was beaming at him while casually swinging his arms back and forth at his sides.

"... Uh, hi..." he replied warily. Why was this guy talking to him? He'd never bothered talking to him before. "Vhat do you vant?"

"Oh, nothing~! Just wanted to say 'good morning'!"

"... Ja, vell, guten morgen..." He waited for him to go away.

"So, how are you on this fine morning~?"

"... Fine." Why wasn't he leaving him alone? The rest of the class was starting to stare now. He could even hear whispers beginning to spread. "Vill you go und sit down, already?"

"Aww, but I wanted to talk-a to you~!"

"... Vhat on Earz for?"

"Feliciano," the teacher said, "please sit down."

Feliciano turned to her. "Okie dokie~!" He skipped off to his seat by the window.

Sighing and shaking his head, Ludwig turned away. Well, that had been weird. At least it was over with now, though.

Eventually, the bell rang. Having already packed his stationery away long beforehand – he liked being punctual – Ludwig grabbed his bag and left the classroom, on his way to his first class of the day.

"Ludwig! Hey, Ludwig, waaaait!"

His confused frown returning, he turned to see the same Italian running up to him, his bag haphazardly thrown onto his shoulder. The smaller student smiled up at him.

"... Ja? Vhat?"

"Can I walk to class with you? We've got-a Math together~!"

"Uh..."

He didn't really know how to respond to this. Since when had this guy ever wanted to hang around him? He'd barely ever spoken to him before.

Feliciano bounced on the balls of his feet. "Well? Can I?"

"Uh... vhy?"

"Because you're nice! And I like nice people! So, can I? Please?"

Nice?

"Vell, I... guess?"

"Yay~! Grazie, Ludwig!"

Why did it even matter? They were going to the same classroom, anyway. What difference did it make whether or not they went together?

On the way to Math class, Feliciano just would not stop talking. Pasta this and cats that. Telling Ludwig his plans to take something called 'siestas' and listing all the pretty girls in the school and... Why the hell was he talking to him?

Once he was seated, he was certain that he'd get some peace. As he began taking out his books and stationery, however, he noticed Feliciano plant himself at the desk next to him. He frowned at him, both in confusion and annoyance.

"Feliciano..." he said.

"Si~?" Feliciano replied with a smile.

"Zat's not your desk."

"Nope~!"

Ludwig stared at him in disbelief. After a few moments, he heaved a sigh and sat back in his chair.

"Just vhat ze hell is wrong viz you...?"

A while later – Feliciano quietly singing to himself as he prepared his books – a shadow fell over the Italian. Ludwig watched apathetically as the smaller student looked up curiously, locking eyes with the Norwegian student who normally sat there.

Lukas stared into him, a frown on his face. "You're in my seat..." he said.

"Huh?" Feliciano replied. "Oh, well..."

Lukas tilted his head towards the back of the classroom. "Your seat is over there."

"Well, si, but..."

"I want to sit down now."

"Oh, please let-a me sit here! I want to sit next to Ludwig! 'Cause Ludwig's so nice and-"

Ludwig's eyes widened slightly, his brows furrowing in confusion. Why was he so obsessed with being near him today? What had he done to deserve this kind of attention? The only time they'd really interacted had been yesterday, when he'd pulled him off the floor. That wasn't really deserving of whatever this was.

"Just get out of my chair."

Feliciano's smile drooped. "Oh, okay..." Grabbing his things, he moved to the back of the classroom. "See you later, Ludwig~!"

Ludwig watched him incredulously from the corner of his eyes. He really didn't understand that guy at all.

"... Vhy ze holy Fuhrer are you still following me?" Ludwig asked, one eyebrow twitching.

So far, the Italian had followed him to Math class and English class and, now, he was following him to recess. This was getting ridiculous.

"Because I like you~!" Feliciano replied, bounding after him.

Ludwig heaved a sigh. "You barely know me. Ve spoke vonce in ze entire time I've been here." He rounded on him, a frown on his face. "How can you possibly know you like me?"

Feliciano continued to beam at him. "Because you were nice to me yesterday~!"

"... Uh?"

"You helped me off the floor and dusted me off and that-a was really nice of you~! So, can we hang out together?"

Ludwig paused, staring disbelievingly at him. Feeling a headache growing behind his temples, he heaved a sigh. "Fine. Vhatever."

"Yay~!"

For the entirety of recess, the two of them sat on the grass. Feliciano was eating his second bag of chips from the vending machine, while Ludwig sipped a can of shandy that he'd brought from home. One day, he'd be old enough to drink beer, like his parents. He looked forward to that day.

Whenever the Italian's mouth wasn't full of chips – and sometimes while it was – he rambled on about pointless things. Pasta. Cats. Pizza. Siestas. Art. More pasta. He was rather tiresome to listen to.

Seriously, all he'd done was help him off the floor. One would think he'd saved his life, or something. This was just insane.

Ludwig's headache grew more and more painful the more he had to listen to him. Just why had he allowed him to tag along?

He finally got a breather from the bothersome Italian when they realised that their next two classes were different. Ludwig breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the locker room. Hopefully, it would be the last he'd see of him in such close proximity.

Heading over to the corner of the room, he got out his gym clothes.

After both Gym class and Physics class were over, he headed out towards his usual eating spot. With any luck, the crazy student from earlier would have gotten bored of him by now.

As he rounded a corner, he almost ran into the student in question. The Italian beamed up at him.

"Oh, hey, Ludwig!" he said. "I was hoping to run into you! Though not literally, like-a last time! Then you'd have to pick-a me off the floor and dust off my clothes again and I wouldn't-a want you to have to do that twice!"

The headache was suddenly returning again. "Vhat do you vant now?" Ludwig asked.

"Can I eat lunch with you?"

Ludwig stared at him. "Eat lunch viz me?"

"Si~!"

Enough was enough. "Nein." He walked past him.

"Huh? Wait!" He could hear those blasted hurried footsteps chasing after him. "Come on, Ludwig..."

"Stop following me!"

"But I want to eat-a lunch with you!"

Skidding to a halt, he turned on his heel to glare at the smaller student. Feliciano very nearly ran into him again.

"Vhy?"

"Eh?"

He subconsciously raised his voice. "Vhy vould you want to eat lunch viz me?"

Feliciano visibly cowered. Seeing the pitiful display felt rather like a kick to the stomach. He sighed, calming his voice.

"Just tell me vhy you von't stop following me..."

Feliciano suddenly brightened. "I told-a you! It's because I like you!"

"But... you don't even know me!"

"Well, that's true, but you're really nice! For the longest time, I thought-a you were really big and mean and scary and I was really terrified of you! But then, yesterday, you helped-a me off the floor! No one's ever done such a nice thing before and I never expected anyone to do it, but I least expected it from you! That means you're actually really nice and not the big, mean, scary German that I thought-a you were!" He paused a moment to take a breath. "So, that's why I like you!"

Ludwig blinked. He blinked again. Then he suddenly felt his face grow awfully warm.

"Oh... um... vell..."

"Aww, you're blushing~!"

Grunting in displeasure, he closed his eyes for a moment. Goddamn it. He'd tried so hard to suppress this awkward side of him over the years. It seemed it hadn't gone away completely, after all...

"So, can I eat lunch with you? Please~! Pretty please~!"

"Um... vell..." He cleared his throat, cursing his slight stutter. "I... suppose..."

"Yay~!"

"... Vell, come on, zen."

"Okie dokie~!"

Taking the lead, Ludwig began to walk Feliciano towards his favourite eating spot. It was a rather strange thought that he'd be sharing it with someone. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with sharing the space that he'd claimed for his own personal use. It felt rather like an invasion of privacy.

"Uh, Ludwig?"

"Ja?"

"The cafeteria's over there, silly!"

"I know, but zat's not vhere I'm going."

"You don't eat in the cafeteria?"

"Nein."

"Oh... then have you packed sandwiches, or something?"

"Ja." Ludwig stopped in his tracks, turning to face Feliciano. "You don't have anyzing packed?"

Feliciano threw him a sheepish smile. "Nope. I always eat in the cafeteria."

Ludwig groaned, running a hand down his face. He held that pose a moment as he thought things through. Eventually, he shook his head.

"Alright, fine. I guess ve'll eat in zere today, zen."

Feliciano brightened up. "Si?"

"Ja... zough pack a lunch or somezing tomo..." He trailed off as he realised what he was saying.

"Okie dokie~!"

Oh, scheisse. He'd just invited the dummkopf to eat with him more than once... Well, great...

Ludwig impatiently tapped his fingers on the table. He didn't like eating in here. It was way too crowded and noisy. Glancing up at the queue, but not finding Feliciano, he sighed. Just what was he supposed to do in this situation? His food was right there, sitting in front of him – mocking him – and the person he was supposed to be eating with didn't have his food yet. What was the proper etiquette here? Was he supposed to wait until Feliciano got his food before eating? Or would it be alright to just eat it now? He really didn't know. If only he had a book on the subject...

A short while later, Feliciano appeared with a tray of pizza and fries and sat down beside Ludwig. The Italian beamed up at him.

"Got-a my food~!" he said.

"Ja, so I see..." Ludwig replied. He pulled out a sandwich and began to chew on it.

Feliciano leaned uncomfortably close. "So, what's on your sandwiches?"

Ludwig leaned away awkwardly. "Lunchmeat."

"Lunchmeat? That sounds disgusting!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Vell, you're not eating it, are you? Dummkopf..."

"I have pizza~!" Feliciano paused. "Though it's not-a very good pizza." He poked the offending object with his fork. "I can make better..."

Ludwig sighed. "Ja, school lunches aren't ze greatest... but zey do zeir job und zat's vhat's important."

"How boring..." Feliciano paused. "Though at least it's not as boring as your sandwiches~!"

Ludwig groaned. "I don't put lunchmeat on my sandviches because I like it! It's efficient und easy to do."

"Really? Hmm... so what do you like, Ludwig?"

Ludwig paused as he chewed and swallowed. "Wurst und potatoes."

"Verst? What's that?"

Ludwig gave him a side glance. "Are you making fun of my accent?" He received a confused tilt of the head in response. He sighed. "It's sausage. German sausage."

"Oh! Okay! It doesn't sound too bad~!"

Ludwig grunted, taking another bite of his sandwich. He noticed that Feliciano had yet to touch his pizza and fries.

"So, Ludwig, where are your friends, anyway?"

Ludwig halted mid-chew at this question. He looked at Feliciano, who was looking back at him with a curious smile on his face.

With a painful swallow, he took a deep breath and answered. "I don't have any."

Feliciano flinched back in shock. "Ehhhh? You don't have any?"

Ludwig winced, choosing to stare at his sandwich, instead. "Nein. I don't."

"Why not?"

"... Zey're a distraction."

"Eh?"

He tried to maintain his composure. "I need to concentrate on schoolvork. Friends vould only be a distraction."

"No, they wouldn't! They'd make-a you happy and you deserve to be happy, because you're a really nice guy!"

Damn it. From the corner of his vision, he could see people staring again. Why was his personal life so damned fascinating, all of a sudden?

"I'll be your friend, then!"

Ludwig's brain screeched to a halt. He turned to look at Feliciano. "Vait... vhat?"

The Italian nodded in determination, stuffing a piece of pizza into his mouth. "Shi! Uh'll be yo' frin~!"

He scowled at him, disgusted. "Don't talk viz your mouz full!"

Fretting, Feliciano quickly swallowed the pizza, almost choking on it. After a moment, he smiled up at him. "Do you want to be friends~?"

Ludwig stared at him. "... Friends?"

He rolled the foreign word around his tongue. Merely speaking it aloud was causing a weird emotion to blossom in his chest. He didn't immediately recognise it, but it felt... oddly nice. Like someone had placed a fluffy blanket over his heart.

"Si! Friends~!"

Ludwig continued to stare. He blinked once. Twice. Then he felt the tiniest corner of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Ja... sure... Friends..."