Secretly, Matthias left the book where the German sat. And once Ludwig returned, it was to look rather surprised about finding a book that had previously not been there.

The Dane quickly turned away to work on one of his orders so that the big dopey grin on his face wasn't seen by the German. Because he was sure that Ludwig would turn around, wide eyed, to glance over the shop and see if whoever had left him the book was still there. It would just have been a completely normal, human reaction to use after receiving such a shock.

For the rest of his day, Matthias could not wipe that stupid smile off of his face. Alfred even commented on how stupid he looked, although that wasn't something difficult to see with a dumb Dane like him... Sometimes, Matthias wondered why he kept the annoying teenager around. Then, at other times, he pulled amazing stunts out of his ass and left him completely stunned and grateful. Which happened to occur during closing time once again.

Once again, they were waiting for their boss to close up. The shop was completely clean after they'd all worked to keep it nice and Alfred and he were just sitting and waiting. The American had whistled a happy little tune and Matthias had wondered what food he might be going back home to- for either Tino left him food or his brothers had purposefully eaten everything good in the house and would force him to cook for himself.

Suddenly, though, Alfred's upbeat whistling came to a full stop and he looked at Matthias with wide eyes.

"I forgot to tell you!" The blonde bolted up with that manic shout, only to thrust his hand into his bag, rustling noises coming out as he searched for something, then smiled broadly as the noises stopped. "Ludwig left you something."

With this the American pulled out a book that wasn't as thin as the comic book that he'd previously returned to his owner. It was much thicker, but it also seemed to be a normal, non-pictured book. And the cover was encompassed in what seemed to be leather, but Matthias was pretty sure it wasn't.

"I've never been a big fan of reading," the American began as he glanced down at the thick book, "but you two seem to like it enough. He left a note inside it, too."

Now he handed the book over to Matthias, who, with wide eyes and a soaring heart, quickly opened it up to see what note the German had left.

Thank you for returning my comic to me. I am very grateful that you returned it in the same condition I lost it in. And, even though this is not a comic, I did not have any other book with me at the moment. But Fyodor Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' is a magnificent read if you wish to challenge yourself.

~ Very gratefully, Ludwig Beildschmidt

For the life of him, Matthias could not believe what he was reading. He couldn't believe what he was holding.

Ludwig... Had actually left him something to read.

This must have been a dream. There was no way that the German could have actually left one of his books with him. Especially one that looked to have cost an arm and a leg.

"You think you'll be able to read that?" He faintly focused on Alfred's question, but was much too focused on the book in his hands to properly process what had been said. "I mean, it's a pretty thick book."

Matthias had never been one for Russian literature. It was extensive, heavy in its themes, and barely ever managed to truly capture his imagination. But if Ludwig had left it for him, then this book must have been worth the read. And it had been kind of a challenge, Ludwig had said so. He should read it if he wanted to challenge himself.

Honestly speaking, the Dane was not looking for a challenge. He would have been happy with dozens of small books so he could have an excuse to constantly return books with messages to the German. But if Ludwig had left this for him, then Matthias would not back down. He'd always risen up whenever he'd been challenged. And he refused to leave that creed.

"I'm going to read this." He nodded to himself even as Alfred rolled his eyes and sat back down to continue to wait for their boss. "I'm going to read it and I'm going to make Ludwig fall in love with me. I swear it."

"Do you swear it by Odin? Or Thor?"

This time, he did process what Alfred had said. And he scowled over at the younger male, closing the book back up while making sure to keep the paper note within. He would like to keep that paper for as long as he could.

"You know, you're looking for an ass kicking by making fun of Scandinavian history."

"Please, I'm American."

Matthias blinked over at the smugly smiling teen, truly dumbfounded by the blasé attitude he'd taken.

(Blasé. That wasn't a word he'd known before. But the comic book he'd read had used it and he'd wound up looking up the definition. Maybe he wasn't using it right at the current moment. But he felt damn proud to know such a word.)

"What does that mean?"

"The whole world loves me, Mattie. And you can't hurt someone the world loves."

Why Alfred thought the whole world loved America was well and truly beyond the Dane. Because, from the current news reports he'd been seeing floating around, nobody loved America at the moment. Especially the countries in the Old World.

"You're ego is as inflated as your economy."

Alfred let out an undignified squawk and stumbled to come up with a comeback. But at that moment Mr. Frederick walked outside of his office and motioned for his two employees to leave the café. So both males stood up from their chairs and walked out.

As he walked, Matthias couldn't help but just stare at the large book in his hands.

He would read this. No matter how long it took.

~/~

Matthias took to reading the book while he was at home. He couldn't really read at his job because even though Mr. Frederick was an understanding guy, he did not approve of slacking off. No matter what romantic adventures were being experienced at the moment.

Because he would usually arrive at his home late at night, Matthias would find himself reading in the corner of his spacious living room with only one lamp lit for lighting. He didn't have to share a room like Tino and Emil did, but he didn't like reading in such a closed space. He wasn't sure why. But he knew he enjoyed reading more out in the living room, which is why he did so.

One night as he'd read about how Raskolnikov finally got his act together and went to kill her intended target, that avaricious and nasty prawnbroker that abused of her poor sister, Matthias heard footsteps coming down the house's main stairs.

Their home was a standard, two story home built before any of them had been born and purchased by their parents when they'd first gotten married. It was a warm home, their father had made sure to decorate it as welcoming as possible when he'd still been alive. And their mother had made sure that none of the kids had broken anything of importance as they had been raised. So it was almost in the same state as it had been when their parents had died.

It wasn't normal for his brothers to wake up in the middle of the night. They were heavy sleepers. Matthias was too, but not to the same extent as them. And Irunya and Arthur weren't usually the kind to walk down into the living room. These two were light sleepers, but when they woke up at night, it was usually to go to the bathroom. They didn't venture downstairs... Or hadn't, until tonight.

When Matthias glanced up from his book, it was to find Irunya.

The Ucranian woman offered him a tired smile as she waved, then went into the kitchen. Matthias could hear her opening cabinets and moving things, then serving some kind of liquid. After a few seconds, he heard the microwave door being opened, closed, then a time being set. After, the quiet hum of the microwave working. And, finally, the shrill beep of the contraption having finished its job. Once again he could hear the door opening and closing, and then, footsteps once more.

His little city was quiet at night. They lived on the outskirts of the busy area, so it wasn't all that surprising for the hustle and bustle to not really affect them as much as others.

When Irunya next appeared, it was with two mugs in her hand. She walked up to him with the kind smile she always wore, for it seemed that she didn't even know how to frown.

"Late night reading?"

Her accent was thick and unmistakable, but it allowed for her to be understood. It hadn't been like this in the past and she'd had real trouble communicating with others in English. But Lukas had helped her over the last week and she'd improved greatly.

"Yeah. Just something to unwind." Matthias smiled back as he accepted what he assumed to be hot chocolate.

Seeing how Irunya was mostly bundled up in thick pajamas, he could guess that she was feeling somewhat cold. And her voice seemed somewhat stuffy, probably she'd gotten sick and was looking to warm her bones.

The woman pushed the book up so she could read the title on the cover, then quirked an eyebrow once she'd finished up. "Crime and Punishment? That is not 'something to unwind'."

This made the Dane smile, then shrug, "What can I say? I'm a weirdo that likes to do weird stuff."

"Very true." She nodded softly, took a sip of her drink, and looked down at the book in his hands with more concentration.

As she stared, Matthias took a sip of his drink and thanked her for it. Just like always, Irunya's hot chocolate was the best around. Not even Kaffebar's could stand up to hers.

"Your brothers..." The woman began softly, then sighed, "They are not too... Forgiving? Tak. That is word." She said this more to herself, but then looked at Matthias and frowned softly.

Matthias had never seen her frown.

What was going on?

"They love you. They're not too nice. But that is because they care."

For a few seconds, all Matthias could do was stare at the Ucranian. But then he smiled softly and nodded. "I know that, Irunya. They've always been tough on me. Ever since we were kids."

"Even then?" She questioned, eyes wide and disbelieving.

This caused the Dane to chuckle softly, but still nod. "Yeah. They're hardasses. All of them. Even little Tino... But I know that they just want the best for me..."

It was weird to be having such a deep conversation with his brother's girlfriend. He hadn't really made too much of a connection with either Irunya or Arthur out of fear of them eventually have to leave their family.

Irunya Chernenko, though, was just the kind of person you could trust. Not just because Matthias was a naturally trusting person. Even mistrusting Lukas had managed to allow her into his heart.

"So... Matthias, are you planning on leaving?"

The hurried question caught him completely off guard. But before he could even say anything, Irunya was shaking her head and apologizing.

"I am sorry! I should not have asked such a thing." Quickly, the woman stood up and turned away. "Goodnight, Matthias."

And she hurried away from the living room. She went away so fast Matthias wasn't even able to tell her he didn't actually mind the question.

..~..~..

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