Lovino wasn't even sure why he was here. It wasn't like he wanted to be spending the weekend in Germany, of all places. But when Feliciano did that face, with the puppy dog eyes and the quivering lip, it was impossible to say no. Lovino could be cruel sometimes, but he wasn't heartless. Not when his fratello was involved, anyway.

None of which explained why he was suddenly woken up by a loud clattering sound followed by angry German swearing. Lovino definitely could've ignored it, and almost certainly gotten back to sleep for another couple of hours. He'd gotten to bed late, and it was still pretty early. Except there was a really enticing smell drifting through the house, and Lovino was reminded that he'd skipped out on dinner the previous night.

Leaving the warmth of his bed, Lovino grabbed some clothes, got dressed and padded barefoot to the kitchen. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he came looking, but it certainly wasn't this.

What he saw was Gilbert standing at the counter, hands and shirt covered in flour as he poured cream into a bowl. Two cakes say on a cooling rack beside him, and Lovino finally recognised the scent in the air as chocolate. His first instinct was to be incredibly confused. He didn't wait long enough to find out with his second instinct was.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lovino asked, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"Scheiße!" Gilbert exclaimed, nearly knocking the bowl off the counter in his rush to turn around. "Don't do that!"

If Lovino hadn't known him, he would've thought Gilbert looked almost guilty at being caught baking. The moment passed quickly, and the Prussian regained his composure. Lovino just glared at him, still annoyed at being woken up.

"The awesome me decided to do some baking," he explained nonchalantly, turning back to the bowl on the countertop.

"Baking doesn't usually involve waking people up with your stupid German cursing," Lovino deadpanned.

He finally spotted an empty cake tin perched on the edge of the sink, crumbs scattered on the floor around it. It must've been dropped loudly enough to wake Lovino.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that," Gilbert said, and he actually sounded half sincere about it.

Sighing, Lovino wandered over and sat on the edge of a small table that'd been crammed into the kitchen.

"What're you making anyway?" he asked, nodding in the vague direction of the cakes.

"Black forest cake," Gilbert replied absentmindedly, dropping a heap of dishes into the sink. "The most awesome German cake ever."

Lovino rolled his eyes, not awake enough to think of a comeback to that. Even if he'd had one, it wouldn't have shut the Prussian up. Gilbert was incorrigible.

"It'd better be worth two hours of sleep," Lovino grumbled.

"If you keep complaining, you're not getting any," Gilbert said, and it might have been the most childish thing Lovino had ever heard a grown man say.

"How long until it's ready?" He wasn't going to admit it, but the cake did smell good.

"Five minutes," Gilbert replied, taking a knife and spreading cream on the cakes before stacking them on top of one another. "I didn't know you were so eager to try my baking."

Lovino spluttered for a few second, unable to come up with a response. He crossed his arms and prayed that Gilbert didn't turn around to see the blush rising on his cheeks.

A few minutes later the cake was ready, sitting on a plate in the centre of the kitchen table. Gilbert didn't bother cleaning up, and Lovino knew that would annoy Germany so he said nothing. Although…

"Where's my fratello and the potato bastard?" he asked, watching Gilbert cut two slices of cake.

"West took Feli out on a date," Gilbert said, cackling to himself.

Lovino wasn't in the mood to even think about that, so he focused on the cake instead.

"This had better be damn good," he warned as a plate was set in front of him.

Gilbert smirked, taking a seat opposite him and digging into his own slice of cake. Lovino scowled, even as he picked up his fork and dug it into the chocolate sponge.

The moment he took the first bite, Lovino decided that it was, in fact, worth it.

The cake was warm and not overly sweet, baked for just long enough to cook the batter without making it dry. It was certainly better than anything Lovino had thought Gilbert was capable of making.

"So?" Gilbert asked, still smirking through a mouthful of cake.

"It's fine." Lovino shrugged, trying not to seem too eager to take another bite.

"Just 'fine'?" Gilbert asked cockily, raising an eyebrow. Lovino sighed.

"It's good. Happy now?" he relented. He supposed Gilbert deserved the praise, just this once. His head was already big enough as it is.

The Prussian's smirk transformed to a more relaxed smile, ruby eyes staring straight into Lovino's.

"I told you, it's the most awesome cake ever."