Sorry for the late update, guys, but my school blocked fanfiction (I KNOW!), and when you add that to early Friday departure for a weekend vacation it was hard to get onto a computer.

This chapter gave me lots of trouble, but I absolutely LOVE it. It might even be my new favorite. The fluff was wonderful to revisit after finishing the next chapter, which will by definition contain MUCH ANGST.

Oh, but speaking of the next chapter, really important note here: Like Romano, I'm Catholic, and tomorrow (later today?) is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. This is relevant to you guys because I AM GOING TO FAST FROM HETALIA until the end of Easter Weekend.

Once again, in case you skipped that, I AM LEAVING THE FANDOM UNTIL EASTER. This is going to be super difficult for me AND not so fun for those of you who really like my story. More on this at the end, but for now, behold, fluff!


Ludwig and Feliciano were seated on the couch, after the latter had begged to watch some television together. Ludwig had, of course, relented, and now here he was, his arm around Feliciano's shoulders as they snuggled together under a blanket.

He groaned as the commercials began to cycle again, blaring much louder than the actual program had. "Feliciano, is this show really so important that it's worth sitting through this? Why can't we just record it and watch it tomorrow?"

"Ve, but if we don't watch it live then Lovino's gonna call and tell me all about what happens to Piero and I don't want him to spoil it for me!"

Ludwig was about to roll his eyes, but found they were quite abruptly fastened to the television screen.

He didn't want to admit it, but this one commercial made the day's total lack of productivity absolutely worthwhile.

It was genius. Pure genius. The technology was so simple it was a miracle no one had thought of it before. And even better – it looked very, very easy to clean.

He hoped Feliciano hadn't noticed the way his body had suddenly tensed as the commercial began. But, as he muttered a quick "Excuse me," he supposed that even Feliciano might have thought something was suspicious in the haste with which he rose from the couch and strode into the next room to make a simple phone call.

~xxx~

Six to eight weeks later, Ludwig's incessant checking of the mail was finally rewarded. He opened the door to find a rectangular package left on his doorstep, wrapped in brown paper and surely containing the means to produce pure joy.

He reached down and picked it up gingerly, as if its contents were fragile enough to break at the first jostle. He dropped the mail on the mantlepiece – at least, he hoped it had landed there; he wasn't really sure, too busy gazing at the cardboard box in his hands to care – and made his way to the kitchen.

As soon as he crossed the threshold he snatched a kitchen knife and cut through the tape on the box, ripping it open with growing excitement. He felt it bubbling up in his stomach as he lifted the flaps and looked down at the other box inside.

There it was.

The Perfect Baking Pan.

Ludwig tore off his uniform jacket – he could take a day off – and reached to the very back of the topmost shelf of the pantry closet for his apron. He tossed it around his neck, knotted it hastily behind his back with practiced ease, and tore into the packaging, pulling out all the pieces and scattering them across the counter to admire them. Then he set to work.

~xxx~

Feliciano frowned as he pulled his key out of the lock. It wasn't often that Ludwig left his door unlocked; he hoped everything was okay. He shifted the bag of groceries on his hip and entered the house.

The mail was on the mantlepiece as it usually was, but it was only in one messy pile as opposed to its typical straight, sorted stacks. He narrowed his eyes. Something was most certainly amiss.

He passed Ludwig's office on the way to the kitchen, noting that it was quite conspicuously empty. Was he even in the house?

A clanging sound rose from the kitchen. Ah. He made his way there next, still clutching the groceries at his side.

Feliciano stopped short in the doorway, staring.

The kitchen was filled with the undeniable scent of brownies. And he could see why – there were dozens of them sitting on cooling racks all over the counters, batch after delectable batch.

Well. Now he could see why Ludwig had texted him asking for more flour, butter, and cocoa. It was a wonder he hadn't run out sooner.

Ludwig stood up, closing the stove and turning around, another pan of brownies in his ove-gloved hands. "Feli!" he said, a bright smile on his face. He was wearing a pink, frilly apron, and was absolutely covered with flour. To add to the strangeness of his appearance, he even had a bit of batter smeared across his face and in his hair, which was starting to slip out of its carefully gelled hold.

Disconcerting as it was, Feliciano thought he had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.

Ludwig rushed over and pecked him on the lips in an uncharacteristically random show of affection. "You brought the ingredients I asked for! Oh, Feli, look–!"

And Feliciano found himself dragged by the elbow to the counter, where a square sheet of metal was standing sentinel on a spike next to the refrigerator. "Watch this!"

He laid the pan with the finished brownies on top of the stand. Feliciano watched his face light up as the sides of the pan fell around the removable bottom, leaving the brownies on a tray. "Ooh," Feliciano cooed appeasingly.

"And then, and then–!" He pulled a metal grid out from in between the brownies, revealing eighteen perfect, symmetrical, square brownies. Ludwig giggled, and Feliciano felt his jaw drop. He turned to look at him incredulously. "No more digging a fork underneath! No more knives scratching the bottom of the pan! No more fighting with Bruder about who gets the biggest brownie!" He giggled again.

Feliciano stared up at him for a moment, then pulled him down by the back of the neck for a heated kiss. He wrapped his fingers through his flour-encrusted hair and poked his tongue out to lick some of the sugar that lined his bottom lip. When he pulled back, a bit breathless, he noted with satisfaction the way Ludwig's eyes had begun to cloud over as arousal began to obscure his strange hyperactivity.

Feliciano smirked. "How very... domestic," he purred.

Ludwig swallowed. "I... erm... S'fun, and..." He was distracted by Feliciano's fingers as they trailed along his jaw, down his neck, and down, down–

Only to snatch the brownie pan out of his hands as Feliciano quite abruptly increased the space between them with a sharp step backwards. He tried not to laugh at the shocked expression on the German's face, a task which became much more difficult as the shock transformed into what could only be described as a pout. "Come on, Ludwig, there's still plenty of oven time left in the day." He stepped closer again at Ludwig's torn expression to whisper huskily in his ear. "Why don't we save some brownie batter for... later?"

Ludwig's jaw immediately tightened at the implications of his suggestion, and after a few seconds in which Feliciano knew he was struggling for control of his brain, he nodded stiffly. He wrapped his arms around Feliciano's waist, and the two stood in a comfortable embrace for a few moments.

Several seconds passed before Ludwig spoke. "So do you wanna help me bake?" Feliciano could hear that the excitement had returned to his voice, and pulling back he saw that it was evident in his eyes as well. He laughed, and nodded. "Great! Oh, Feli, this is going to be so wunderbar! Here, come here–"

Feliciano found himself once more dragged across the kitchen by the elbow. Once more he was struck by the strangely perfect sight of his burly German partner dressed in a flour-smeared, pink, lacy apron. As another giggle escaped Ludwig's lips, he found himself for the first time certain that pasta wasn't his only favorite food.


I laugh. And squeal, because this pairing is just too cute to resist. It's gonna be a hard 40 days.

The name Piero was an unabashed reference to Simone Christicci's "L'Italia di Piero," an Italian song which I simply ADORE. You folks with access to youtube (and that's most of you folks) should go RIGHT NOW to look up some lyrics. There is much reward in seeking SkadiPirate's version, which should be the first result if you add keywords "English translation" or something like that. But that's all the shameless advertising I'm going to give on the matter.

If you're not sure what The Perfect Baking Pan or the Ove-Glove are, LOOK THEM UP. Ludwig would most DEFINITELY own one (or a few) of each.

And now: My decision for Lent. I absolutely adore this series, but it's taken over WAYYYY too much of my thought life, and quite frankly it's getting in the way of MORE than just my relationship with God. I need an intervention. One of my friends thinks WRITING would be fine, but I'm not so sure... My goal is to go all month without reading, writing, watching, or doing anything fanart-related about Hetalia AT ALL. Eventually I might even stop thinking about it so often, which might help me actually pay attention in class once in a while. This means that I'm going to fall totally behind on most of my favorite fics, and I might have to drop a few I don't read as much. I also won't be able to reply to your reviews until a little after Easter.

One thing I have to be really honest about: Last year my mom wagered 20 bucks a week that I couldn't go a whole school quarter without logging in to facebook. 9 weeks later I was completely cured of my facebook addiction, and one year after that I still don't feel like logging on too often. IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN WITH HETALIA. That thought makes me really sad because it's been such a constant in my life for so long (I think March 22 marks my 1-year date of entry into the fandom). If that should happen, I'm going to come back and post as many works as I can find before... riding off into the sunset? I'm not sure. I would at least give you chapter 12 now, but unfortunately it's not even fully typed yet.

I need to stop talking. Sorry, this seemed important... Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, though if you flame me I guess I won't know until April. I'll see you on the other side. ;)