"Good morning! Ludwig, you've gotten so big! It's been ages since I've seen you!" Elizaveta turned out to be a smiling woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and a face covered in stitches. Matthew seemed to take it in stride, but Antonio recoiled a little bit. He still wasn't exactly used to seeing Elizaveta and Roderich's deformities, being the most recent member to join the household.
"Come on in, all of you! Poor things, you look so tired! Gilbert, you idiot, have you been getting enough sleep? Probably not, since you still stay up gaming until 4 A.M."
"Liz! Give it a rest!" Gilbert blushed before following behind Antonio and Francis, gripping Matthew's arm tightly. Elizaveta swooped down on Matthew and pinched his cheeks, beaming.
"Who's this adorable creature! Gilbert, is he yours? How sweet, how perfectly sweet!" She didn't seem to care about Gilbert's laser point stare boring a hole into the back of her green dress as she pressed the young boy to her bosom in a bone-crushing hug.
"And Antonio, where's yours? I heard you had adopted somebody cute!" Liz released Matthew in anticipation of another recipient for an embrace, but Antonio just shrugged.
"He didn't feel like coming today. I tried to persuade him, but he still felt a little grumpy after an, er, incident yesterday."
Elizaveta frowned. "Well, that's a shame. I wanted to meet him." As they flooded into the spacious living room, Matthew noticed a man sitting on a piano bench, fingers moving across the keys fluidly, his cheeks polka-dotted with coin-sized white spots. When he noticed the others, he stopped playing and addressed them all with a stiff nod.
"Antonio. Ludwig. Francis." He stared at the albino, his curt expression souring into a frown.
"...Gilbert."
Evidently, the feeling was mutual. Elizaveta seemed not to notice, and she turned to Ludwig with a smile still intact.
"I thought you might be bored with our small talk, so you might want to hang out with our newest addition to the family! You'll find him in the last room down this hallway, on the right." She turned him in that direction and pushed him slightly, sending him staggering forward. He headed down the hallway and found the door in question slightly ajar. He pushed it open, eyes adjusted to the dimmed light.
Sitting in the middle of the floor, drawing a picture, was a boy who looked just like Lovino.
Granted, the skin tone was slightly paler, the hair color was a little lighter, and that weird curl that Ludwig was continually perplexed by was in a different spot, but it was definitely the spitting image of the spitfire Perfect that had so captivated Antonio.
"Eh? Who're you?" Ludwig blinked and realized he had been staring at the twin (or so it seemed) for an abnormally long period of extended time.
"Ah! I'm sorry for staring. You just remind me of somebody I know..." Ludwig cast his eyes downward and berated himself for starting off like this.
"Mm, it's okay. I'm used to strangers staring at me." The fair-featured Perfect shifted into a cross legged position, rested his chin in his hands, and returned the favor, scanning Ludwig up and down like a security guard. "Anyway, who are you?"
"Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt. Nice to meet you." Ludwig extended a hand, trying not to let his embarrassed emotions get the best of him. The boy didn't take it, only continued to stare.
"Feliciano. It's wonderful to meet you, Luddy." The male, Feliciano, giggled and finally averted his gaze back to the picture he was drawing, going back to a position on his stomach. There were a few minutes of awkward silence in which Ludwig dutifully observed the boy sketching flowers, leaves, and the face of a cat, his barefoot legs crossing back and forth idly. Eventually, Ludwig moved from his standing position to sit in one of the chairs in the corner of the room, not sure what he was supposed to do. Eventually he pulled out his phone and started playing a mindless game. He looked up in the middle of a round once or twice, but he didn't expect during the third time he'd see Feliciano staring at him intently.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"I want to draw your picture, silly. Now, don't move. Go back to playing your game. Your face is cute when it's so intensely focused." the childish, lilting voice had a determined edge to it, and Ludwig decided it was best to obey his wishes. He went back to the silly cell phone game, a math game he wasn't fond of but he played once a day anyway to keep up-to-par on his intellect. He tapped away at the screen for what seemed like five minutes, but when the small male on the floor finally cried out "Done!", he realized it must have been a lot longer.
"Look, look!" Feliciano brandished the picture, obviously proud of his effort. Ludwig was shocked to see that it looked almost professional, as if it had been drawn by a famous artist.
"Did you seriously draw that? Is this a joke?"
"No, no, this is my actual work!" Feliciano seemed pleased at Ludwig's reaction. "Do you like it?"
Ludwig stared at the almost photo-realistic portrait, admiring the detail in the lips, eyes, and even the texture of the hair.
"Yes, it's very good. You're very talented. Did you go to some kind of art school?"
Instantly the atmosphere in the room dropped about ten degrees, and Ludwig mentally slapped himself. Feliciano only smiled, before saying, "No, I didn't, I never really had the chance to. I just practiced a lot, it's a talent I was sort of born with."
Ludwig was glad that Feliciano didn't mind his little slip up, as some Perfects got very pissy when he said blunt remarks without thinking about it.
"Um, Feliciano-"
"Call me Feli, Feliciano is so formal." The sweet-tempered male's smile grew brighter, and Ludwig swore that the temperature in the room rose with a simple glance.
"Okay, Feli, I'm sorry for being so thoughtless."
"Don't worry about it." Feliciano waved off the clueless remark with a little hand gesture, as if it was just a comment about the weather. "It doesn't matter."
There was more silence for a minute until Ludwig decided to lean down and see what Feliciano was sketching. A half-finished portrait of Lovino dominated the piece of paper, and Ludwig was taken aback once again at how lifelike it was.
"Is this your brother?"
Feliciano nodded aimlessly. "How did you know?"
"It looks just like you." Ludwig decided to keep the knowledge of the existence of Lovino a secret for now, he didn't want anything bad to happen to the male (who still hated him) if Antonio found out that he wanted to run away to his brother. He might do something awful, because, and everybody knew this, Antonio had a hot temper and a possessive nature, and if his new favorite toy wanted to leave him, well, it wouldn't be pretty.
"What happened to him?" Ludwig asked curiously, wanting to know more about how the two were separated. Feliciano slyly wiped a tear away before starting on the story.
"We were separated when Lovi was purchased, by a brunette with green eyes, I think. I never found out his name, but after that I was donated to a museum, one of the main ones, I think." Feli sighed at the memory. "I really miss him. We were together for most of our lives as children, and I don't think I would have been able to continue on without him." He sniffed, and held back a tear. Ludwig watched him try to contain his sadness at the loss of his brother, and thought about what would happen if Gilbert had been ripped away from him.
"I... I think-"
Just as he was about to say that he knew where Lovino was, Elizaveta burst into the room, carrying a tray of food.
"Sorry to interrupt, you two, but I brought brunch!" Elizaveta sat the tray down and winked at the two males, who both responded in very different ways. Feliciano smiled and made various happy noises upon seeing the delicious offerings, and Ludwig blushed and moved down to the floor to partake in the delicious meal. Elizaveta smiled at seeing the two new friends, and left them to their own devices, locking the door behind her.
"Let's see, there's sandwiches, and sliced strawberries, and some tea, and some cakes! Here, take whatever you'd like." Feliciano handed him a plate and began to take food from the groaning tray. Ludwig selected two sandwiches (to his disgust, they were peanut butter and jelly, which wasn't his favorite but he could stomach it), a few strawberry slices, and two delicately crafted pastries covered in white frosting and rainbow sprinkles. Feli delicately poured him a cup of tea, handing it to him with the greatest care. Ludwig saw that his plate was covered in food, which was to be expected, as Ludwig doubted he had only had a couple proper meals in his whole life. The pastries seemed to be his favorite, he had selected a variety of chocolate, vanilla, and others Ludwig couldn't identify.
"Eat, eat! Don't just stare at this delicious food, or I'll eat it for you!" The smaller male teased, poking at the stoic male's side. Ludwig, startled, picked up a sandwich almost reflexively. Feliciano only laughed.
"Now you're getting it, now put it in your face." Feliciano, who was now a little too close for Ludwig's liking, poked Ludwig's cheek, disappointed that there wasn't much fat there. Ludwig scowled, and bit into the sandwich, which tasted fine, for peanut butter and jelly. He continued to eat, surprised by how hungry he was, even after his (small) breakfast.
"This is more like lunch than brunch." He observed, taking another diminutive bite. "Is this normally when you have lunch, or brunch, or whatever?"
"I wouldn't know, I've only been here for a day or two. I think they're just feeding me so I don't feel tempted to run out and disrupt the 'grown-up talk' or whatever." Feliciano continued to chatter, leaving Ludwig to just eat and stare at his companion's face.
The features did indeed resemble Lovino's, but with a softer edge, they were almost feminine. Choppy brown hair, tawny brown eyes, expressive hands and pale skin, compared to Lovino's mocha-colored hair and hazel irises. Cheeks chubby but smooth, that strange curl that bobbed with every movement he made, and the simple, casual way that he spoke.
Beautiful.
Ludwig gasped as that sinful thought ran through his head, setting all his thoughts aflame like a forest fire. Had he really just thought that? He barely knew anything about this man, he just met him not that long ago!
"Luddy? You okay?" He felt another poke on his cheek, and he broke out of yet another trance.
"I'm fine. What's with the nickname?" Ludwig set down his barely touched second sandwich and picked up a strawberry slice, nibbling on it anxiously. Thoughts like that never happened, he was usually attracted to... well, come to think of it, Ludwig had always been a late bloomer when it came to this sort of thing. He had been attracted to a sweet girl when he was younger, but she had moved away, and since then he had never really felt any kind of strong sexual attraction to anybody, any gender. There had been a few crushes, not anything to follow up on, but that was about it. His brother always called him a fool for not "waking up and smelling the amazingly gay rainbow you need to be tasting", which Ludwig always brushed off as annoying older brother slang, but he never really considered the possibility that he could have been denying his feelings all this time.
Ludwig, get a hold of yourself! You are a guest in this house, now is not the time to go off on a tangent about your sexuality!
The voice in his head berated him, and Ludwig, sensing he might be creeping Feliciano out slightly, he finished eating the strawberry slice, which was slightly underripe, but not so as to make it unpleasant.
"I like the nickname Luddy, it's cuter! Ludwig sounds so formal." Feliciano had finished his sandwiches and was starting in on the variety of cakes he had chosen. "Anyway, since I don't know you that well, we only just met and all, why don't we try to get to know each other?"
Ludwig nodded, swallowing. "Yes, that sounds fine. Do you want to start?"
"Sure! Um..." Feliciano thought for a minute before asking, "What's your favorite food?"
Ludwig had to strain for a minute, as he wasn't used to answering questions about himself. "I like black forest cake, it's very rich."
"I'm sure it's delicious! I haven't really gotten the chance to try many desserts, but my favorite for the moment is panna cotta. My parents used to make it for me, and it was really good!" He smiled again, cheeks flushing slightly, and Ludwig found himself smiling a little as well. The young man's cheerfulness was easy to get caught up in.
He's really cute... But I'm sure it's just infatuation. I'll get over it... right?
I have an unfortunate announcement to make :(
Due to schoolwork and other outside factors, I have to cut down the update schedule from every Thursday to every other Thursday. I don't like doing this either, but the other alternative would be suspending the story until summer when I have more material ready and written. I hope you all understand, and I hope you continue reading!