Chapter Eleven

Progress was slower than the two men would have liked, what with Ludwig's limp preventing him from moving at his normal pace. It was also quite common for the taller of the two to bump into something or stumble because he couldn't see anything out of his right eye. Still, they were making good enough progress, all things considered. Gilbert was having to take the lead, his heightened senses meant he had a much better idea of where they were and the direction that Ludwig did.

It was odd, ever since entering the forest the duo hadn't run into any other forms of life apart from disturbing the occasional bird or small rodent. According to gossip, this place was supposedly teeming with wildlife. Yet in all the time they had wandered the undergrowth there had been almost nothing.

After three days of travelling they found themselves at a large lake in the middle of the forest. The sun was sinking low in the sky and both wanderers were exhausted. The last couple of nights neither had managed to have much sleep - too worried that something could sneak up on them while they were vulnerable. The decision to rest by the lake that night was quickly reached, the area had a calm atmosphere surrounding it which was already starting to soothe them both immensely.

As Ludwig dug around in the pack for their dinner, Gilbert started stripping. He rid himself of the old and worn tunic, then paused at his breeches to look over his shoulder towards Ludwig. "West!" the tall blond looked over at him questioningly. "You reek." Gilbert told him simply. "Leave dinner for now and let's get cleaned up. It wouldn't be awesome to miss this chance - we don't know when we'll next be able to bathe."

At first Ludwig's cheeks flared up and he looked about to decline. However Gilbert made his way over and forcibly removed the younger man's hands from inside the pack. "Leave it and come bathe. We need to get these wounds cleaned up before anything else. Can't let them get infected."

"All right, you've got a point. Now let go of me so I can strip." Ludwig sighed. He couldn't argue with Gilbert's logic on that one. They hadn't had the means to get their injuries cleaned before wrapping them up in makeshift bandages, so they had to remedy that. Should one of them end up getting infected there was no way for them to treat it. Yes, dinner could definitely wait.

Gilbert chuckled and released his hold on Ludwig, carelessly removing his breeches and unwrapping his shoulder before getting into the deliciously lukewarm water. It took Ludwig a little while as his bandages were slightly more awkward to reach. The albino watched him impatiently, his eyes taking in everything they could see about the blue-eyed male. His build was strong, made for hard graft-work. Gilbert frowned at all the scratches and bruises littering the younger man's physique, almost glaring at them for daring to be there.

He was brought back down to Earth by a nervous throat-clearing cough made by a very red-faced Ludwig. Gilbert smirked playfully, pushing his previous line of thought away. "Come on already, you're not afraid of the water are ya? Because that is incredibly unawesome."

Bashfulness instantly forgotten, Ludwig scowled at Gilbert as he strode into the water with his head held high. The act just made Gilbert let out that irritating hissing snigger once more as he waded over. "Now sit down so that I can clean your leg."

"Fine. But you sit there," Ludwig indicated the area he wanted Gilbert to occupy as he sat down at the bank. "so that I can get your shoulder at the same time." with a nod the albino did so and in silence they got to work, cleaning out each others' wounds. It was a good thing that they found this lake when they did - despite the cloth wrappings the bolt-wounds were gritty with dirt and Gilbert's shoulder was still looking quite an angry red colour around the gash.

Ludwig frowned, ignoring the surprisingly gentle way his companion was washing his leg and the tiny shudders that threatened to run up and down his spine. Instead he forced himself to focus on getting rid of anything that could prove harmful to the werewolf while trying not to hurt him at the same time. Ludwig could see the tension in Gilbert's jaw as he tried not to voice any of the aching pain. The only way he knew if he was being too rough was when Gilbert accidentally twitched and aggravated the area around Ludwig's own wound.

As soon as they were done, Gilbert decided he was clean enough and left the water to prepare something for them to eat. "Don't use too much, that has to last us as long as possible!" Ludwig warned as he waded out deeper into the water. He was going to take his time and make completely sure he was clean.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Gilbert remarked with amusement written all over his pale features. "And don't be too long, we'll need to bandage up that leg again soon." he told the younger man as he pulled his breeches back on. He didn't need to wander far to find firewood, in fact there were plenty of stray branches just lying around for the taking.

Deciding to have a quick look to make sure West was still alive and well, Gilbert glanced up from the fire he had just started. What was meant to be a brief glance turned into blatant staring before he even realised it. In the warm dusk light Gilbert could see every muscle in Ludwig's back and arms. He found himself appreciating how the droplets of water left tiny glistening trails all down the broad expanse of flesh. Had Ludwig always been so well-formed and strong? Gilbert couldn't remember noticing before...

Catching himself, the albino scowled and shook his head, holding some skewered meat over the flames to let it cook. What did any of that matter? It was only West; the albino was probably just realising how deprived he was after such a long isolation. He could probably get turned on by just about anything at the moment.

Eventually he deemed the roast meat to be edible and began separating it out equally. "Hey, West! Get your ass out of the water and come eat!" he called irritably. All through the time he had been cooking, Gilbert hadn't been able to stop himself from stealing peeks at Ludwig while he bathed and it had been slowly grating on his nerves. He was more than relieved when Ludwig pulled his breeches back on and scoffed playfully as he handed the tall blond his share of dinner. "Honestly, you take about as long getting washed as a girl, West."

Ludwig scowled. "It's hardly a crime to want to be clean, Gilbert. In fact you could probably have done with a little bit longer in there yourself." he bit back, which just made Gilbert snigger again. Really it was much too easy, and fun, getting on Ludwig's nerves.

A/N: Another short chapter, but I got done with it pretty quickly which I am happy about! So yeah we have some bathing and the start of some conflictions in Gilbert, yay! Ludwig is as clueless as ever - and we love him like that!

I just want to go ahead and make a list of the anagrams I've used for the places in this story. Feel free to just skip it if you already know or if you just don't care enough to find out. If you have anything to say then please just let me know.

Prussia - Saupris
Italy - Atyil
Berlin - Relbin
Germany - Megryna
France - Efcran
Spain – Napsi
Russia – Urisas
England – Dangeln
Ukraine – Kieraun
Kiev - Vike
Turkey – Yekurt