Short chapter is short. It's also the only one that actually has a time lapse at the end. Enjoy.

Glad to be about level with the floor and not in the air anymore, Feliciano smiled a bit sleepily and stretched out a bit, half-lying on top of Ludwig and nuzzling the man's neck with his face. He remembered the last time they had been lying together like that, and it seemed so amazing that, at that time, they hadn't known that they would be on a train to escape together within a few hours. He loosened his grip around Ludwig's neck to lest his arms rest on the German's chest—his bare chest, as it occurred to him just then.

"...Aren't you cold?" he said into Ludwig's neck, lightly rubbing his stomach.

Ludwig smiled at the touches and yawned before nuzzling dark locks. "Not really… I am used to the cold," Ludwig said. In Germany, winters could be brutal, though not as cold as Russia. Still, he could handle himself, and the warm body on top of him helped considerably.

"Hm." He hummed into Ludwig's neck, closing his eyes and just feeling the German's warm neck on his face. "It was usually pretty warm back where I lived in Italy, so I get cold easily..."

For what felt like a minute of silence, Feliciano felt his stomach give a squirm-sort of noise and realized that they had yet to open their bag of food. He was rather hungry, but now that he was in such a comfortable position with Ludwig, he didn't want to get up...

"Hungry?" the German asked and laughed. It did seem like a while since they had eaten, Ludwig's own stomach was pestering him for food.

Laughing as well, Feliciano rolled over onto his back to put his hand on his own stomach and nodded. Still not wanting to sit or stand up, though, he inched down on his back until he could grab both sides of the bag with two feet and then pull it back to them like that. When he could get it up to his arms, he scooted back up to the hay and leaned against it, then opened the bag to see what food Ivan had gotten for them.

"There's a lot of fruit and bread in here... and dried meat," he observed, peering inside and moving stuff around. Feliciano pulled out a loaf of bread and broke it in half, handing one of the halves to Ludwig, and also a bit of the jerky for both of them. "Dinner," he offered, smiling and letting out another laugh.

Ludwig accepted the bread and closed his eyes in a blissful state as he took a bite of the soft bread. This seemed utter perfection. He had food, Feliciano, and a fairly comfortable place to sleep. The German couldn't have asked for anything better—besides maybe some beer. Other than that, he was sure his normally stoic face would split from all the smiling. Not only was Feliciano funny and amusing, he was also beautiful. The Italian's smile almost always made Ludwig's heart constrict with a need just to be closer, and as he thought about this, he allowed himself to move closer.

There was still a part of him that was so unsure of what he was supposed to do, though, and every time Ludwig made a loving move, he felt a slight pang of anxiety that Feliciano would somehow be annoyed with him. Right now, however, he pushed those thoughts aside and let his shoulders loosen.

Feliciano didn't notice Ludwig moving closer at first, though. Oh, it was nice to finally have some food... He felt like he hadn't eaten in forever. Taking a bite of the bread, he gave a small moan of relief and satiated hunger, oblivious to the fact that it might have sounded a bit sexual. And he then felt the warmth on his side increase, and he turned his head to smile softly up at Ludwig. After a second or so, he got an idea and tore a strip of bread away from the loaf. He put one end in his teeth but didn't eat it, and he raised his eyebrows slightly up at Ludwig with an offering look.

Catching the look, Ludwig blushed slightly before leaning down to take the other end. He slowly nibbled until he got about halfway, watching the deep amber eyes. This kind of thing was what couples did, and wasn't that what they were? These small affectionate actions felt so intimate and personal that it was as if sex was less intimate.

This wasn't quite like kissing, so Feliciano didn't close his eyes. He kept them half-open, wanting to watch the beautiful, blue ones across from him. He had never done this before, but he remembered his grandfather (ever the shameless man) once telling him that it was a good thing to do with women. Ludwig wasn't a woman, of course, but he was Feliciano's lover, and he was sure it worked the same. Better, actually.

Nibbling on his end of the bread as well, he eventually came to meet Ludwig's lips halfway, at which he bit off the rest of his end and gave him a slow, soft kiss at the same time.

Despite himself, Ludwig felt his toes curl at the sweet touching of lips and leaned forward to more firmly lock them together. He gently brought a muscled arm to form around Feliciano's smooth waist, tasting the Italian and the bread equally.

Feliciano temporarily forgot about how hungry he still was and set down the bread in his lap so that he could put one gentle hand on Ludwig's shoulder. He returned the kiss and, a minute later, pulled away so smoothly that it felt like it was the perfect time to do so. Giving a soft sigh, he kept his hand on the other man's shoulder and rubbed lightly at his collarbone.

"...I love you, Ludwig," he breathed, for some reason finding that moment perfect. No better feeling could come from anything else in the world—he may have been sitting in a pile of hay in a livestock car of a train with two cows behind them, but they had each other and they were on their way to the safest place in Europe and they had their whole future ahead of them. And... everything was perfect.

Ludwig stopped breathing as something caught in his throat. The way those soft words word were whispered without a doubt made him feel a little headed before he found the use of his tongue. "I love you too, Feliciano," he whispered, pulling the other closer to let their body heat warm them. Ludwig could feel his chest tighten again and this time knew what it was. This feeling was the sheer weight of his words and their truth.

It was rather nice to hear Ludwig say that to him. Once again, Feliciano couldn't shake the feeling that Ludwig was someone whom he'd known for a very long time and loved for just as long. There had been only one person in his life that he could honestly say that he'd loved before, and that was someone he'd never forgotten, someone who he supposed had kept him from loving anyone else all this time—until now. And they had only been children back then...

And suddenly, he was struck with a thought that he couldn't shake. Pressing his cheek to the other man's chest, Feliciano muttered, his tone giving off nothing but innocent curiosity, "Have you ever loved anyone else before, Ludwig?"

"...I don't think so, but I don't remember too much before I was a teenager," he began. "I got into an accident on my brother's farm, a beam dropped on my head. After a few months I was alright, but I couldn't remember much of anything." Ludwig tried not to sound sad and talk flippantly as he spoke. Though the event didn't bother him all that much, he didn't want Feliciano to be upset for him. Instead, the German wrapped both arms around his lover and held him close.

So... Ludwig didn't remember much of his own childhood? That was... sad, at the least. Feliciano wrapped his arms around the other's neck, feeling the need to give him some kind of comfort whether he wanted it or not, but he didn't say anything about it. However, when he was pulled close to him, he felt the bread that was on his lap squish between their stomachs, and he couldn't help but giggle slightly as he took one arm down from Ludwig's neck and pulled the bread out from between them.

Ludwig laughed lightly through a yawn and stretched out his arms and legs. He grunted as he felt his sore back protest and made a face of discomfort. He had landed harshly on it not but a week ago when a grenade had blown up far too close. Though nothing was broken, it still was sore and tender. With a wince, Ludwig reached a hand back to rub at the area.

It didn't go unnoticed by Feliciano, who had just been about to take another bite of the bread. He automatically set it down again, frowning with worry. Ludwig was a tough man—he didn't wince unless he was in a lot of pain.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly and quickly, pulling a little more away in his worry.

"Nothing." Ludwig quickly shook his head, giving a tight lipped smile. He didn't need the Italian worrying. "My back is just a little sore from the grenade," he muttered, rubbing too hard and hissing slightly.

Remembering the grenade he was talking about, Feliciano cringed a little. At the time that it had actually happened, just the thought of being that close to a grenade when it went off had scared him quite a bit. And now, he just didn't want to think of Ludwig being that close to death. He heard the hiss coming out of Ludwig's mouth and frowned more for a second—but a small idea then came to him, and he felt a lot better.

Slowly working himself out of the German's arms, he said, sounding almost too much like he was giving an order—but not meaning to, "Lay down on your stomach."

Surprised by Feliciano's sudden authoritative voice, Ludwig complied. He flipped over and rested his head on folded arms, watching the Italian out of the corner of his eyes. He sort of liked pushy-Feliciano, but decided to leave that for another time.

Smiling, he shifted himself and lied on his side next to Ludwig so that he could clearly see the side of his face and also reach everywhere on his back fairly well. Feliciano extended his arm a little and began running his cold, soft hand as lightly and soothingly as he could over Ludwig's back, trying to alleviate the soreness.

The relief was near immediate for him as cool hands ran over his back. Already he cloud feel the muscles unwinding and he showed his thankfulness in his eyes as well as he could. Drowsily, Ludwig closed his eyes and let Feliciano have free reign, trusting him enough to let his awareness slip. He knew the Italian would do nothing against him, so there was no reason for him to worry. He let out a low hum of approval and shuddered in enjoyment.

Feliciano could tell how much Ludwig liked it, and that alone made him enjoy doing it so much more. He continued to rub his hand around soothingly, almost starting to lose all but vague awareness himself, with it becoming slower. In spite of the lack of food he'd eaten in the past twenty-four hours, he was feeling more and more tired. But who could blame him, really, after the long day that he'd had?

After some time, Feliciano let his hand slip off of Ludwig's back and carefully used both of his hands to support himself, putting them on either side of the man in front of him. Slowly and carefully, he bent down to place a kiss on the inner edge of Ludwig's shoulder blade, and then a few more down his spine.

"Feels good," Ludwig said sleepily, stretching out more as if to allow Feliciano more of his back. He hadn't ever felt such light, loving touches there and found he rather liked it. As they continued lower, the German made a mental note to try it out on the other at some time, seeing as how soothing and nice it felt. So nice he could just drift off right then...

His lips hovered over Ludwig's spine for a moment, and he decided on continuing the kisses down to the middle of his back before pulling his head back and lying on his side again, returning his hand to his lover's back. Now, though, Feliciano was only rubbing in slight circles, as he was getting too tired to do otherwise. Inching up close to Ludwig, he put his hand lightly on the man's neck and whispered, "Are you asleep?"

Ludwig grunted in reply, too tired to form words. Instead, he cracked an eye, taking in Feliciano's tired eyes before reaching out his arms to pull him closer. Forcing himself, he stretched out to where he could just reach the bag of clothes and pulled out the largest item, a fluffy comforter to wrap around them.

If he'd been awake enough to have coherent thoughts, Feliciano would have been thinking that he hadn't expected Gilbert to bring them a blanket. But even in his extremely tired state, he was grateful for it. Once the blanket was around them both, he felt himself immediately curl up in Ludwig's arms and rest his head in the hay next to him, muttering "Buonanotte..." as he drifted off to sleep.

Ludwig smiled and felt the warmth envelop them. He murmured a silent "Gute Nacht," before drifting off himself.