Ludwig couldn't sleep past half an hour. He thought that he hadn't cared if Alfred was gone or not, but he did. He was stranded in a country he had never been to and didn't know any of the language. Ludwig bit his lip in worry, what if this compromised everything, delayed the find-what if something happened to Alfred? A bunch of nasty dirty thoughts filled his mind, thoughts he didn't want to think of, but his wondering mind couldn't help it. He had learned a long time ago that the this world didn't have superheroes and that the good guy didn't always come out on top and that you had to grit your teeth and stand your ground to even get a threshold, especially in America. They, random strangers, could be doing anything to Alfred sexually and non. The list was endless and it made Ludwig feel nauseous. He sat up on the bed and took his phone from the charger and began to text Al, knowing that people where more likely to answer a text than to pick up a phone, he also didn't wish to wake up Kiku who was in a deep sleep on the neighboring bed. Plus even if he just saw that he had read the message it would make him feel a little better. He didn't want anything bad to happen on this trip.
Alfred was fine, at least Alfred thought he was fine. At first he had wondered the streets, not recognizing it, just bathing in the new culture that he was surrounded with and running off an adrenaline from being somewhere exciting. Eventually he made his way into the bustling and busy nightlife of the downtown area in Cairo. He went into and out of shops that stayed open later, just looking around at the trinkets and other things. He was content just observing the products and how people interacted, he found the nature of people very interesting and different cultures thrilling.
A man was leaning on the wall, he had light brown skin, with curly dark brown hair, what truly caught Alfred's attention was the pristine white porcelain mask, that would catch and reflect the bright lights of the street lamps and passing cars. He slowly passed, not meaning to stare, the man smirked catching his eye. He pushed off the wall and walked towards the young man.
"Hey, you look like you want to have fun?" He asks in thick accented English, coming up next to him. Causally throwing an arm around him, the touch didn't bother Alfred very much, he was comfortable with touch.
"Sure! I'm Alfred!" He says, enthusiastically. He felt only a little uneasy with his prescience, but he pushed the feeling away, having always believed in the best of humans.
"Charmed. I'm Sadiq, are you a foreigner to this country?" He asks, guiding him through the street, confidently walking through them in a way that one would walking through their house.
"Yea." Alfred says, letting himself be led by the stranger. Sadiq created small talk while he led him into an underground bar. It was dark and a little muggy. He could hear the quiet thud of music, it was the type of music one could feel instead of really listen. Alfred could see the people crowded in the dance floor and people drinking above and away near the bar in the low lights. It was different, to an extent, then the clubs that Alfred had attended. He was used to bright neon lights, with heavy pop and dance music, screaming was a must and grinding. The music this so hard that Alfred didn't feel the buzz as Sadiq took him to the dance floor, having spun him around. They started to dance and any fear or anxious of being with this stranger melted away and he couldn't feel the repeated vibrating of his phone.
Ludwig was nervous, even more so than originally, he had slipped into the hall so he could call Alfred. When the American didn't answer his call he got very...anxious, annoyed, a little bit of everything. He opened up an app on his phone, in his rather paranoid and irrational mind before they had even left the state, he put a tracking number in Alfred's phone when he added himself as a contact. It was in the event if they were separated Ludwig could track the others like he was planning to do now.
Alfred lost himself in the music and with dancing with Sadiq. "Alfred, come." He said after awhile of dancing, grabbing his wrist and guiding him through the throngs of dancing people.
Ludwig took a cab, eyes glued to his phone screen and to the streets. He was worried, not like that was anything new in his life. It always seemed like he was worrying about something, he used to be worried about school, then work and people. God, he always managed to find something to find something to get him worried or nervous. He hated it, but he couldn't help it. Some people would call him a humanitarian he would call himself a decent human being.
"Here. Try this." Sadiq says, as he hands Alfred something. It was a metal cylinder that was warm to the touch and smelled sickly sweet.
"Is it a drug?" Alfred asks, taking it so that way he could examine it and get a better look at it.
"No. It's like a mint you inhale." He lied, encouraging him to take a drag and he did. One big intake, he didn't cough or clear his throat he just felt the sharp pain, the pain reminded him of sucking on a peppermint and breathing the crisp cold of winter, so it didn't really hurt, but he didn't know how else to explain it. It made him relax maybe a little too much because he stumbled a little. That made Sadiq chuckle a little.
"Stop!" Ludwig suddenly shouted, causing the cabbie to make a screeching halt and cuss. He threw a few bills at him, hastily getting out of the car and the building that the blue blinking dot that was Alfred was in...theoretically. Ludwig had been in a club in a total of five minutes in his entire life and that was mostly to pick up his drunk brother and friends. He darted into the club ignoring the dancing drones and the drunken perverts, eyes still glued to the screen as he followed to where he hoped Alfred was. Soon he came to a door, he took a deep breath before opening it, bracing himself for what he could see, he pushed it open.
...it was completely empty. The dull little room only had a tattered couch and a long, narrow and worn coffee table. He didn't understand, could he have actually been with the dancing crowd or perhaps he was in the wrong bar, but how could he have been so wrong?
"Sadiq!" Alfred squealed and Ludwig snapped his head to the door across the hall where the sound had came from and he burst through that door.
Alfred was slumped on the ground leaning against the wall, he couldn't see anyone else , although he was certain that this Sadiq person was still in the vicinity.
"Alfred are you okay?" He asks, stooping down to his level.
"Hey Luddy, how ya doing?" He asks, his speech slurring together. It was apparent that Alfred was either drunk or drugged or both, really any three of those options were possible in Ludwig's mind. He quickly scooped the American up and briskly walked out before anyone could stop him. He was relieved that Alfred was alright at least at a glanced minus the drugged/possibly drunk aspect, but he was also a little...disappointed, although that wasn't the right word for what he was feeling, but it was close enough. When they got outside he tried to stand Alfred on his own, but he wobbled and almost fell on his ass. So he acted like a prop for his unstable companion, a part of him couldn't believe that the student would act so harshly, but another part of him knew that he should have expected it, the other thirsted for adventure...he just wished he would have been more fucking careful!
It took awhile, but a cab finally came around, he carefully helped Alfred in the car buckling him up. Now that he had stopped worrying he realized just how tired he was. They sat in an awkward silence.
Alfred slowly came down a dull buzzing in the back of his head and slowly realizing where he was. He wasn't in the room where Sadiq had left him, instead he was sitting next to Ludwig in a taxi. Memories slowly creeped back and he internally cringed, funny how hindsight is always twenty twenty.
"Are you mad at me?" He finally asks, slightly leaning on him .
"No. Just," he sighed a little mainly to get more air "disappointed."
"Oh" He didn't mean to disappoint him, he really didn't although he knew he should have known better.
"If you want to run around and be a child go back to The university." Ludwig says, breaking the tension and Alfred could feel his heart twist up in his chest.
"I'm sorry I'll do better." He says, trying not to sound as sad as he felt.
"Okay, let's just get some sleep then. Tomorrow we start." Alfred nodded and left it at that.
