Pairings brought up/mentioned: GerIta

Warnings: Germany and Italy almost die. Almost. As in, 'no, I'm not killing them off; they just have a freak encounter with almost-death.'

-2.24-

At about three o'clock in the morning, I hear the pitter-pattering of soft feet on marble floors. Still half-asleep and more than half-groggy, I growl lightly, clamping a feathery pillow upon my head like a shield. Unfortunately, the muffled noises don't quiet themselves, but instead crescendo until they're just outside the room. Whoever's on the other side hesitantly creaks open the door before gently closing it once more and tiptoeing inside. My face scrunches and the ridiculously plush mattress bounces up and down temporarily, the mysterious person now in bed with me.

"What are you doing?" I lazily mutter from under the cushion still clenched in my hands.

The other freezes for a moment, probably having forgotten about the better sense of hearing most spirits display. "I had a nightmare," an airy, distinctly Italian voice whispers from my left.

I instantly remove the pillow from it's place obscuring my vision and look at the naturally cheerier of the Vargas twins. He truly does appear to have just gotten out of bed, his hair a mess aside from the inexplicably suspended curl protruding from his rat's nest of auburn locks. His lips, almost always spread like butter in a large beam of sunlight, are now downturned into a childish pout and he's visibly shaking from whatever occurred in his dreams.

"... Why don't you go to Lovino?"

"I already tried that!" Tears begin to gather on his amber eyes, "He kicked me out and said 'It's bad enough I have to deal with this Spanish asshole disturbing my rest; I don't want to put up with your whining ass too!'"

How could anyone honestly say that to Feliciano?

I sigh; "Alright, you can stay here, but no-" He latches onto me, wrapping his arms about my waist, "- Cuddling." My eye twitches, "You know what? Do whatever you want. Just let me get some much needed recuperation, and we'll be fine."

"LUDDY, LUDDY, WAKE UP!"

"GAH!" I shoot awake, "WHAT, IS THERE A MURDER GOING ON?!"

"Luddy, wake up!" Feliciano continues to jump up and down, causing the entire pointlessly luxurious bed to groan and reluctantly follow his motions. "Luddy, it's breakfast time, so wake up!"

"You're in a good mood today." I comment, my words like a rollercoaster from the movements of the mattress.

"Ve~ I like cuddling when I sleep!"

I carefully get up from the unstable platform, and grab a few clothes Gilbert had lent me in wake of the revelation that I only had the one outfit, "Ja, well, I suppose you should go back to your own room now."

He stops his childish actions, "Why?"

I give him a stern look, "I need to get changed."

"So?" He says with an innocent tilt of the head.

Without a single doubt in myself, I shamelessly kick him out the door, sprawled in the middle of the hallway. As I dress, the little Italian can be heard banging on the now locked door, complaining loudly about exactly how much I can't take a joke, and how I always ruin his fun. Mid-knock, I swing the wooden entrance open, surprising the other enough so for him to almost fall flat on his face. As usual, he automatically crushes me in a hug, begging for my forgiveness.

"I'm not mad you know," I begin walking towards the staircase, "I just don't think it's appropriate for you to be in the room while I'm changing."

His reaction is almost instantaneous, his entire expression lighting up in joy, "Really?! Okay, I can do that!" He grabs my hand and pulls me along behind his nimble form, "Now, let's go eat food; I'm starved!"

And so, only but a few minutes later, we all but crash into the dining room, Feliciano exclaiming loudly, "Ciao, everybody!"

Everyone in the room, most already eating their breakfast food of choice, give a chorus of greetings in response. Well, that is all except for Arthur, who merely glares with gentle reprimand for being fifteen minutes late to the meal.

"Ve~ Sorry, Arthur! I slept with Luddy last night!"

All at once, Roderich spits out the coffee he'd been drinking previously, Arthur nearly faints, Francis applauds loudly, Gilbert falls out of his chair laughing, and Lovino starts shouting nasty-sounding curses in Italian. The only one not to automatically react is Antonio, who appears to, for once, give that statement a good amount of thought, before physically reeling, almost joining the arctic wolf on the floor.

I simply glare at the still obliviously happy one of the group, "If you say it like that, it sounds worse than it actually is."

"Hm?" He observes others in confusion, "But what's so bad about sleeping in the same bed? I do that with fratello all the time."

As before, their retaliation comes within seconds. Roderich gives Feliciano an extremely disturbed look, Arthur pulls himself together, clutching his chest as if experiencing a heart attack, Francis appears to be surprisingly disappointed, Gilbert's boisterous guffaws die down to obnoxious snickers, and Lovino continues to cuss in his native tongue, blatantly ignoring Antonio's brave efforts to pacify him.

"I give up on this discussion," I pointedly decide, plopping myself down in a chair next to my bruder, "You people can sort this out on your own for all I care."

The rest of the meal is held with the laughter of a floor-bound Gilbert and Lovino's wrathful yelling as background noise.

"Luddy, come on! I want to paint a scene from the roof!"

Once again, I surrender all hope of being by myself for once, a certain easily excitable Italian dragging me to and fro, forcing me to participate in his day-to-day shenanigans. This time, he apparently wants to play on the railing-less, wall-less roof of a two-story building.

Great.

Do note the sarcasm.

And yet, before I have the opportunity to protest, I find myself at the very top of the wealthy manor, the wind blowing like a brisk but loving caress. Always one for adventure, the other carelessly runs amuck in his new surroundings, grinning almost insanely as he finds what he deems to be the best spot and sets up his artistic equipment. I seat myself next to him as per routine and quietly watch as the redhead begins to work. Due to having to run up and down stairs a lot for this, Feliciano didn't bring his easel, and is instead sitting on the cold, pale gray shingles, the canvas waiting patiently in his lap. Seeing the other diligently paint to his heart's content, I feel my lips turn upwards just a tad.

"Ve~ the view is so pretty from up here!" I hum and nod in agreement.

"Ja, the countrysides, although French, are quite beautiful this time of year."

I lean back and breathe in a good amount of fresh air, the light smell of grapes and grass pleasantly assaulting my nose.

This is surprisingly peaceful.

So distracted am I, that I don't even notice when Feliciano leans forward to get a better look at the setting of his painting. So distracted am I, that I don't even notice when he slips on the cool, sloping roof top, until he releases a loud shout of panic.

"WAHH!"

My eyes widen as I immediately lunge forward to grab ahold of the screaming Italian, purposely falling as well. I pull him close to my chest as lukewarm air rushes about us, causing the redhead's hair, even that strange curl of his, to fly upwards. In the terror of the moment, Feliciano lets go of his brush and canvas, the objects just above us, aimed for the ground but at a slower rate due to their lightness compared to two fully-grown bodies. My instincts kick into overdrive. Before I know what's even happening anymore, one of my arms reaches out to the mansion, the other holding the human even tighter, all four of his appendages already clinging to me in an almost suffocating embrace. My fingers manage to clamp down on a stone windowsill, the sudden stop causing me to bite back a grunt of pain at the unsettling pop of my shoulder. I regard his face and the salt water brimming around his eyes. I have to get us out of here. My fingers clench harder onto their hold.

"Wahhh, I don't want to dieee!" The other whimpers softly.

"It's alright, Feli. Just, whatever you do, do not look down." I warn him.

As soon as I say that, he opens his eyes and glances downwards. "Ahh, Luddy I looked down!" He somehow latches onto me in an even more crushing hug, climbing up my torso to have a better squeeze.

Ignoring the shaking Italian, I gaze downwards myself. We're dangling from a windowsill on the second floor. Sheisse.

Okay, maybe there's someone inside?

I can't see what's in the window from this angle. Sheisse.

"Alright, it looks like there's only one way to get someone's attention at this point."

Feliciano looks at me tearfully, "And what's that?"

I take in a deep breath, "GILBERT YOU DUMMKOPF, COME GET ME OFF THIS WINDOW THIS INSTANT!"

"FRATELLO, HELP MEEEEEE!"

After that, a startled cry of "SHEISSE" can be conveniently heard from just inside, along with the sound of another vase shattering upon the ground. Then, the window slams open to show a red-faced Gilbert.

"WEST, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU- Wait, why are you and Feli hanging from the window sill?"

"Feliciano fell off the roof and I jumped after him."

"Please pull us in; I'm scared!" The Italian continues to bawl his eyes out, hiding his face in my chest.

"You did what?! Holy shit, what were you thinking?!" Without needing any further explanation, Gilbert hurriedly grabs the smaller one's arm, yanking him inside none-too-gently before hoisting me up as well.

I wince as I move my hurt arm, attracting the arctic wolf's attention to it. "The hell happened to your arm?!"

I shrug, "I barely managed to grip the windowsill before we crashed to the ground; it's probably just uncomfortable from the sudden stop.

"What- oh hell nein." He rushes to my side, lifting and prodding at the appendage.

I hiss as he pokes my shoulder, "Gilbert-"

"Nein," He gives me a firm look, "What were you trying to do, pull your arm right out of the socket?! It's bad enough you're still healing from whatever the hell gave you that monster of a gash on your other shoulder! Did you really need to fuck up both your arms?"

"Gil, I wasn't trying to do anything," I send him a glare in return, "Feliciano and I were in danger of being a large puddle of flesh on the driveway, so I grabbed the nearest thing I could to prevent our impending dooms."

He huffs, "Impending doom or nada, you can't just go around getting yourself hurt like this! First you get that thing on your shoulder, then you punch a hole in the wall, and now this?! This is getting ridiculous!"

"I'm fine," I attempt to pull my arm away from his hold, only to give a short yelp of pain at the sudden jerk. "Alright, maybe I'm not so fine."

"Damn right you're not!"

And so, a little while later, I find myself sitting on Gilbert's temporary bed as my older bruder frets about. Feliciano had long since run off to get everyone else, so, honestly, I'm not that surprised when all six of them burst open the door, a large mob of yelling and mixed emotions. Arthur, Antonio, Feliciano, and Roderich seem to be worried, each shouting out their own versions of panicked questioning, but Lovino appears to be even more pissed off than usual, accusing me of pushing his brother off the roof. Strangely enough, Francis simply stands there with a completely blank face.

"Alright, alright, everyone shut up so I can talk!" Gilbert raises his voice above the others, causing a soft hush to fall over them. "Long story short, Feli's clumsy arse fell off the roof, so Ludwig, being the idiot he is, jumped after him. Good news: they actually lived. Bad news: West fucked up his shoulder. Even worse news: it was the opposite shoulder to the already fucked up one, meaning he's basically down both arms now. Any suggestions?"

"Actually, my other arm's almost entirely healed by now-"

"Shut up, West; you're injured."

I frown. Feliciano raises his hand and waves it about in the air.

"Yes, Feli? What is your awesome, but not as awesome as me, idea?" The moronic wolf calls on him.

"Shouldn't we take Luddy to see an actual doctor?! This is really starting to freak me out!"

"I agree with Feliciano on this one; what if his arm's broken or something?" Roderich butts in.

"Si! We should really get that checked!"

"Okay, Francy-pants? What say you on this matter of the utmost importance?"

Francis wordlessly steps into the room, head bowed and a hand under his arm. Then, he faces the others and pulls his hand out, rose petals flying everywhere.

Mein Gott, not another speech about romance.

"I think this is perfect!" He blows a kiss at his audience, "I mean, just imagine it! This is all of the things I mentioned previously and more! The plot twist of the century has occurred: the hapless hero of our story has just had a thrilling brush with death, only to be saved by his stunningly hunky love interest! The love interest not only saved the hero's life once, but twice now, literally jumping off the roof of the gorgeous villa for him. How romantic is that?! And, he was even hurt in the event! The angst, the feels! It's even better than the life-long romance blossoming between Antoine and my darling, yet feisty, cousin! IT'S JUST SO ROMANTIC I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO BURST! So yes, I support this! I support this one hundred percent! As far as I'm concerned, the love interest can get himself hurt as much as he pleases, as long as it's all in the name of l'amour vrai!"

"YOU MORONIC FROG!" Arthur hits him upside the head.

A/N:

And thus concludes the third to last sub-part before another hiatus! Also, I almost caused Feli and Lud to die in the name of l'amour vrai. You're welcome. Why is Francis so crazy when it comes to romance, you may ask? Well, that's a very good question, of which deserves a very good answer: I honestly have no idea.

Yeah, so next sub-part brings us even closer to the half-way point of part 2's plot, meaning I'm going on hiatus again, starting two days from now! Yay! I don't know why, but for some mysterious reason, the minute I start uploading shit, I lose all inspiration to write. Or maybe it's just that I'm on winter break and really want to just sit around and do nothing? I don't know. The basic point is that I think I'm going to be much more productive after the upcoming 'slow season' starts. BTW, that's what I've started calling these time periods: slow seasons and fast seasons. Slow seasons are when I'm on hiatus and I'm just focusing on my writing, while fast seasons are when I'm uploading stuff while I write. Right now, we're nearing the end of this fanfic's second fast season. I'm pretty sure no one's going to use these terms but me, but they're here if you want them!

Oh, and sPEAKING OF ME FAILING MISERABLY TO GET THE READERS INVOLVED IN THIS EXPERIENCE, I'm honestly disappointed that no one looked up the reference I put in the previous sub-part. While Feli was painting Lud, he said, and I quote, 'have I ever told you you're very handsome?' This is the exact same line Romulus used on Aldrich while drunk in part 1. I kid you not, if you go back and check that out (sub-part 1.4) and scroll down just a little bit, you will find Romulus, shit-face drunk and trying to get in Aldrich's pants. This is the hilarious joke I wanted you guys to look up! You see, if you actually read these author's notes, and/or participate in the stupid stuff I come up with, it can be really fun(ny)! This is why I'm disappointed in you all! DX

Responses to review(s):

Okay, PSA time: that weird glitch thing that won't let the reviews come in and actually appear on the story is still in place, but I found plan B! I kept the e-mails about recent reviews intact, so I'm just going to respond to the copy of the review that on the e-mail! Yay!

Seele Esser Deutsch: Hah, yeah, I hope they figure this out soon as well! By the way, thank you for reviewing on almost every chapter; it makes me feel all blushy and flustered that I have regular reviewers like I do. 3 Also, weren't you like the first person to review this thing? Man, you must be really dedicated! I'm glad you've stuck around for so long! =3

APDubtalia: Yeah, knowing my luck, it probably is. XP I know, right? My poor baby! The way I headcanon stuff, I believe that both Vene and Roma have some unfortunate self-esteem issues. Roma's are obvious, as he's voiced in canon on several occasions that everyone, including Roma himself, sees Vene as being better than him. However, I feel like Vene also probably has low self-esteem to some extent. This is shown when Vene freaked out at the thought of Germany abandoning him because he sees himself as just a small margin more useful than Austria; this happened twice. The first time, he left an adorable yet somehow heart-wrenching note to Germany saying he's scared the big guy'll forget about him. The second, he literally ran across Switzerland's lawn, in the middle of the night, being chased by Switzerland with a gun, France being irritated in the background, just to get some reassurance from Germany that he's a good person and fun to be around. Therefore, I'm trying to depict them both having self-esteem issues to a certain extent. (Sorry for the stupidly long response! DX)