It was on this day, Feliciano realized time was a fickle thing. In such a short span of time, he had found more evidence than the detectives themselves. His murderer was shorter than him; the shadow from behind him was bent much further to the left than his own shadow. From all those times a shadow was cast from behind an object, Feliciano always learned it was the smaller objects that projected more of a shadow. The weapon used that day was a large knife, as an ordinary kitchen knife wouldn't have been able to pierce so far through his stomach as the one that did on that night. But the biggest mystery yet was how did the killer know people could come back after being murdered? How?
Feliciano furrowed his eyebrows and hugged his knees to his chest tightly. Nothing made sense and he only had 10 days left to find out who had killed him. There was a quiet knock from behind his door which snapped Feliciano out of his thoughts with a jump. "Feli? Are you awake?"
Oh. It was only Ludwig. Feliciano let out a relieved exhale. "Yeah I'm up" he replied. Ludwig slowly opened the door, a cup of coffee in both his hands. "You sounded distressed so I felt you needed a kaffee to calm down" Ludwig mumbled, "I bought ingredients for the apple crumble…you mentioned you wanted to make some". With a warm smile, Feliciano sat up and accepted the coffee. "Grazie…" he whispered, taking in some of the warm coffee. Feliciano took in a mouthful and paused, his eyes widening. The coffee tasted like metal. He sloshed his tongue around the metallic tasting liquid before making a sprint to the bathroom. "Feli? Feli?! What's wrong?!" Ludwig called after him. The sound of liquid slapping thickly against liquid made him stomach churn uncomfortably. "F…Feli….?" Ludwig peered from around the door to see Feliciano hunched over the toilet bowl, heaving through sobs. "Feli?! What's wrong, liebe?!" He asked in a state of panic, rushing to his boyfriend's side. "d-don't…don't…don't…." Feliciano whispered through dry heaving. Feliciano was drooling a mixture of saliva and coffee; Ludwig had no idea what was wrong, he made his coffee just like he always did! While he didn't understand, he could at least try and support him. Ludwig lowered his hand onto Feliciano's back, but jumped back when Feliciano violently flinched and curled closer to the toilet. "don't..do-DON'T HURT ME!" Feliciano screamed, kicking Ludwig in the leg. Now he understood. Ludwig recoiled and made a small distance between them, sitting towards the door.
"I…it was warm blood…I could taste it…" Feliciano barely managed to whisper through his tears. "It's okay Feli…you're safe now. You're alive, you're okay" Ludwig reassured. What else could he say to his boyfriend? "I'm not. I've only got 10 days left. I'm going to die again! I don't want to die!" Feliciano whined, his voice was full of pain and fear. "FELI! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE AND THAT'S FINAL!" Ludwig yelled, making Feliciano whimper and curl up against the toilet bowl again. He took a few moments to catch his breath and continued. "You are not going to die Feliciano. I can assure you I won't let it happen. I promise. Have faith in me, I know we'll make it through" he soothed, taking this opportunity to come closer to Feliciano and squeezing his hand. It was as cold and pale as Feliciano's face. Feliciano let out a few more shaky sobs before launching himself onto Ludwig, hugging his waist tighter than he had ever hugged it before. "It's okay now. You're safe. I promise.
"Luddy?"
"Hm?"
"C…Can you sing me a song?"
Ludwig recoiled a little at the awkward request. His vocal cords were strained enough as it is with the past few weeks being full of tears and late nights. But if it would make Feliciano happy. "um…I'm afraid I'm not the greatest singer…but I'm sure it will suffice"
Feliciano gripped Ludwig's shirt a little tighter as he cleared his throat.
"Weißt du, wieviel Sternlein stehenbr, an dem blauen Himmelszelt?
Weißt du, wieviel Wolken ziehenbr weithin über alle Welt?
Gott der Herr hat sie gezählet, daß ihm auch nicht eines fehletbr
an der ganzen großen Zahl, an der ganzen großen Zahl…"
Feliciano loosened his grip as Ludwig's deep voice rumbled out the song. His voice was amazing! With a warm smile he snuggled closer to Ludwig's chest, enjoying the vibrations from his voice at work.
"Weißt du, wieviel Mücklein spielenbr, in der heißen Sonnenglut,
wieviel Fischlein auch sich kühlenbr in der hellen Wasserflut?
Gott der Herr rief sie mit Namen,daß sie all ins Leben kamen,
daß sie nun so fröhlich sind, daß sie nun so fröhlich sind…"
Ludwig's voice hitched a little as Feliciano kissed his jawline and sat in his lap like a little child. Feliciano seemed a lot calmer now; he was even trying to mouth out the words under his breath even though he didn't know how to speak German.
"Weißt du, wieviel Kinder frühebr
stehn aus ihrem Bettlein auf,
daß sie ohne Sorg und Mühebr
fröhlich sind im Tageslauf?
Gott im Himmel hat an allenbr seine Lust, sein Wohlgefallen;
kennt auch dich und hat dich lieb, kennt auch dich und hat dich lieb."
"That was beautiful Luddy! Was that a lullaby?" Feliciano asked childishly, interlocking his fingers into the gaps of Ludwig's palms. "Ja…my mutti used to sing it to me whenever I was sick. I used to be really restless so she would sing it to me so I could go to sleep. She said it would help with the healing process. Although singing can't fix a person" Ludwig confessed sheepishly. "It fixed me!" Feliciano chimed up with his usual perky attitude. Ludwig smiled and kissed his cheek. "It certainly did, liebe"
Ludwig twitched a little as he heard a knocking from the bottom of the staircase. "hm? Someone is here….who would be visiting at this time?" he mumbled, "You should hide. Who knows who it will be at the door." Feliciano took his cue and searched around the room as Ludwig got up and made his way to the front door. Where could he hide? Feliciano looked towards the closest. Perfect.
"I'm coming! Be patient!"
Ludwig opened the door to see Kiku staring back at him, his face hardened into a grim expression. "Kiku…" "Ludwig, I'm here to see Feliciano."
