PLEASE READ!
Before you read on, let me just say that there are several lines of the movie that I am keeping the same for humor purposes. It's been this way for quite a few of the chapters. However, I apologize for the spoiler, but Ludwig asks why a guy would want to marry another guy. I am not against homosexual relationships in any way shape or form, I am only trying to keep true to the time period in which this was unacceptable, as well as to the movie.
Therefore, please do not flame me for the little line, and just take it for the humor it is worth.
Thank you.
Arthur wanted to pout as he watched Ludwig ride a bicycle down to the dock to meet with Feliciana. There was very little that made the Brit more happy than being out on a boat…and here he was telling this stupid Frog that boats made him seasick.
Francis had looked a little put-out that they weren't going to be out on his boat, but he quickly bounced back and started talking about this great dance place down the road that they could go to.
Arthur wanted to refuse, but this was probably one of the better options. Miniature golf was certainly out of the question; he was NOT about to get stuck in a sandtrap with the stupid fool!
"So, about that dance?" he found himself asking, twirling the dark red rose in between his fingers.
…
Ludwig, meanwhile, was trying not to show just how lost he was on the ship. On the way out, Feliciana had laughed with him over how ridiculous yachts that slept over twelve were. In reality, it was yachts that slept more than one that he had trouble with.
Where on EARTH did the man's servants set up the preparations for them?
"Ludwig," she spoke, and he smiled a little at her voice saying his name, "Is this the room?"
He turned to see her peering through the curtains to look into a well-lit room with candles and dishes, as well as plenty of trophies.
He smiled benevolently at her, "Ja, it is," he opened the door, "Sorry, I'm a bit lost around here on Tuesday nights."
"Why is that?" she just about skipped into the room in front of him.
"Well, you see it's the crew's night off."
Brown eyes grew wide, and Ludwig worried for a moment that he shouldn't have said that, "You mean we're alone?"
"Ja."
Can't recant his statement now.
He was relieved to see her smile again, though he couldn't deny that the reason behind it might've been that she had spotted the pasta on the table.
He massaged the bridge of his nose as he watched her skip over to fill a plate with the Italian dish; wearing his reading glasses so much was giving him a headache. But it was worth it to see her smile like this.
"Is this a water polo trophy?" she asked.
He nodded at her.
"But isn't that terribly dangerous?"
He quickly thought up a response, and prayed that Feliciana was only pretending to know about the sport, "I'd say. I've had four ponies drowned under me."
She gave a little gasp at that before starting to giggle.
"You're so funny, Ludwig! I can't believe that you're not married!"
It was cute how blunt she was at times.
"Well," he decided to tease her a bit, and was rewarded with her immediate attention, "The truth is, I can't fall in love." He decided that he was going to try out this trick from a play that Arthur told him about once. He couldn't remember the name of the play, but knew that the author was Oscar Wilde.
"You can't?"
"No," he did his best to appear completely solemn, "You see, there was this girl back in Germany, that's where I come from, you see. We went to school together, our families were great friends. They even all decided to move over to America at the same time, when she and I were around eighteen. She wore glasses too. One month, our family decided to take a trip out to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful, standing up there with her by my side, and the moment came over us to kiss."
He took a moment to spare a glance for the entranced Italian, watching him eagerly, and with a little apprehension. Perhaps he was laying on the love a little too much if she was worried about this fictional girl.
"I took off my glasses. She took off her glasses. I took a step towards her. She took a step…" he trailed off as Feliciana let out a wail, realizing EXACTLY what had happened.
"After that," he continued, giving his chest a bit of a thwack, "Nothing. Nothing at all."
"Have you tried?" she asked cautiously. Ludwig allowed himself a bit of a scoff at that.
"Have I tried? When my parents found out, they hired the best doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, anyone they could think of, to come and help me. They brought in all of these exotic girls from all over the world…nothing worked."
Ludwig was beginning to think that this sounded like something Gilbert would use to get a girl, and felt a wave of disgust run over himself at the realization of what exactly he was doing.
But he couldn't stop.
He was now waiting for her to turn away from him with hatred. He wasn't expecting her to continue talking to him.
"Have you ever tried, an Italian girl?"
His eyes widened, ready to tell her that he had just been joking with her, when suddenly he could feel her soft lips on his own.
…
Arthur only felt this way when he was drunk, at least, he thought that was the only time. But unless Francis had somehow spiked his drink while he wasn't looking, he was feeling this giddy while being completely sober.
And somehow, he didn't mind overly much, even if he did feel slightly ridiculous being twirled about on the Frog's arm, spinning about the dance floor.
Francis DID have to keep reminding him to stop leading every now and then. But it was with a smiling face that led Arthur to believe that the French billionaire was having a grand time as well.
Arthur was surprised as he was given a sudden dip, his emerald eyes meeting sapphire blue that were a little too close for comfort, yet surprisingly pleasant.
"Are you enjoying yourself, ma cherie?"
Arthur had to force himself not to smile back, "I think not."
The Frog seemed to see right through him as he lifted the smaller man to his feet to twirl him again, "Then perhaps we should keep dancing, non?"
…
Ludwig was slightly dazed as he climbed back into their room, as carefully as he could in order to avoid attention of a man going to a lady's room. Not to mention the fact that he had told Feliciana that he was staying on his yacht, not in the hotel. If she saw him anywhere near there, there could be suspicion.
However, he was slightly worried that he had climbed into the wrong room when he saw a girl giggling on the bed.
Closer inspection revealed that this girl was in fact Ludwig's long-time roommate, with an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
"Arthur?" the German asked incredulously.
"Oh, Luddy! I have the most wonderful news!"
"What's that?" Ludwig was apprehensive.
"I'm engaged!"
"Oh," the German was feeling even more confused, but pleased for his friend, "Who's the lucky girl?"
Arthur paused dramatically, holding the rose to her nose and taking a large whiff of it, before kissing the petals, "I am."
"What?" the German accent was stronger than ever as he nearly choked, ripping the glasses off of his face so he could look at his friend.
"I. Am. En. Gaged." Arthur responded slowly, as though explaining to a stupid child, "To. Francis. Bonnefoy."
Had that Frenchman somehow brainwashed his friend?
"You can't!"
"Why not?" The really scary part had to be that Arthur sincerely seemed to have no idea as to why marrying Bonnefoy was a poor move on his part, "Do you think he's too old for me?"
"You're not a girl!" Ludwig was having a little trouble keeping his voice down low, "You're a guy, and why would a guy want to marry a guy?"
"Security!"
Ludwig wanted to slam his head into the wall.
"Look, I'm not crazy, Ludwig, I know there's a problem…"
"You can say that again…"
"It's his mother," Arthur nodded firmly, "We need her approval. But I'm not worried about that at all, because I don't smoke…anymore."
"Well, what are you going to do about your honeymoon?"
Arthur sat up on his bed, flipping a pigtail over his shoulder as he started to use his fingers to brush out the other one, "We've been talking about that. He wants to go to Paris, since he thinks that it's the city of love, but I really want to go to London."
"How on Earth do you think you're going to get away with this?"
"I don't expect it to last, Luddy!" though he did look a little crestfallen at the thought, "I'll tell him the truth when the time comes."
"And when is that? Right after the marriage?"
Arthur looked a little sheepish, "Well…then we can get a quick annulment, he'll make a settlement on me, and I'll keep getting alimony checks every month."
"Look, Arthur, there are laws and conventions. You just can't do this!"
"But Luddy!" the Brit's pout was even more powerful as a girl, "This might be my last chance to marry a millionaire!"
The German groaned, "Look, forget everything I said about pretending to be a girl. Tell yourself that you're a boy again, Arthur, please."
Dawning comprehension filtered into the Brit's eyes as everything that he had been saying finally came home to him.
"Oh dear, I'm a boy. I wish I was dead. Wouldn't Alastair laugh himself silly about this?"
Ludwig didn't respond as Arthur dropped himself back onto the bed in defeat.
"Now what am I going to do about my engagement present?"
"Engagement present?"
"Aye," Arthur showed the shiny bracelet on his wrist before removing it to hand over to Ludwig, who stared at it with wide eyes.
"These are real diamonds!"
"Of course they are," Arthur snatched them back, "What do you think my fiancé is, a bum or something? I guess I'll have to give them back to him."
"Wait just a second," Ludwig grabbed them back, "Let's hold onto them for a bit. We don't want to hurt Francis's feelings after all."
"Huh?"
Suddenly a white-blonde whirlwind rushed into the room, followed by a more stately-looking (and shy) conventional blonde, who closed the door behind them.
"There you two are!" Gilbert spoke angrily in a rather feminine voice, planting his hands on his hips, ruby eyes flashing furiously, "I was looking for you last night, and neither of you were anywhere to be found. I thought Romano had gotten you, and that I was going to have to explain to Mutti what happened!"
Ludwig couldn't get over how feminine his older brother looked just then, tapping his foot angrily in those high heels.
"Sorry…schwester."
It slipped out before Ludwig could stop it. He could tell that it was the wrong move as Gilbert looked ready to snap. He was saved from his brother's wrath by the slight blonde who walked up behind Gilbert and started whispering in his ear…was she TALLER than him?"
"Ja, Maddie, I understand," he smiled at his wife, giving her a little hug, resting his head onto her shoulder, and then straightened up to point at his brother, "Luddy, get your dress on. It's undignified for a man to be in a lady's room."
Maddie snorted a little at that, muttering something along the lines of her being the only lady in the room, but no one heard her except Gilbert, who let out his unique laugh.
"Good one, Maddie!" he ignored the strange looks he got from his brother and his friend, "Anyways, I got word that they're sending down two men to help us by train. Or at least, they did. They might even be here by now, but they are unable to tell me how to contact them yet."
"Who are they?" Ludwig asked, arranging his wig and fixing up his makeup.
"Alfred F. Jones and Ivan Braginski."
…
"So this is where Romano is supposed to be staying?" Ivan asked as they entered the hotel.
"Yeah," the American responded as he carried his huge trunk over his shoulder as though it was nothing heavier than a feather, "At least, that's what we hope. It's where his girlfriend is supposed to be," his eyes suddenly caught a large banner welcoming lovers of the Italian opera.
He pointed, and Ivan turned to see it as well.
"Yeah," Alfred grinned, "I'm pretty sure that he's here."
Let the hunt begin again.
…
Lars sighed as they finally entered the hotel. Romano was starting to become a real pain to live with. Not to mention that he was now down to the last pack of his…special cigars. Couldn't exactly make more on the train.
But first they had to get past the convention's staff checking all of them for weapons.
And, of course, Romano couldn't take it gracefully, slapping away a hand, "Only mia ragazza is permitted to touch me like that."
By then they had moved on to the rest of the Italian's staff, and were confiscating every bit of hardware they could find."
This was going to be a long day. Lars could tell.