Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita

Warnings: Mild language

-2.3-

"This is fucking stupid. There's no way in hell he would actually go through with this after only knowing Feli for two fucking weeks."

"Lovi, stop talking." Antonio lazily pats the simmering, red-faced Italian on the head, avoiding his curl purely using the skill that comes with practice.

"How do we even know he was thinking about it in the first place?" Arthur mutters irritably, "Gilbert's our most reliable source on this, and, well, he's Gilbert. For what ridiculous reason have we all of a sudden decided to trust him of all people?"

"Oui, although I'd like to think you're a reliable source of information when it comes to your own brother, how do you know this stuff anyways, mon ami?"

The arctic wolf snickers and pushes Francis down, "Because West told me this morning, dummkopf! And as for why we're crouched under this window? Simple: knowing how much of a fucking pansy mein bruder can be, it's only about a fifty-fifty chance he'll grow a spine and do what he wants, so we're going to wait here until they come back." He looks ahead, "Humans tend to be pretty exhausted after bonding with a spirit animal, so if Feli's tired AF and no one's physically hurt, it's safe to assume he did it. Now all of you need to shut your traps; I think I can see them."

And, sure enough, two figures can soon be spotted approaching the manor, one carrying the other. "Yup, he went through with it." Gilbert grins wolfishly, rushing out the door.

He slams the giant, orange entrance shut and approaches the newcomers. "Kesesesese~" He releases a mischievous laugh before speaking to his brother in German, "So, you actually did it?" Gilbert allows himself to skim over them, "Damn, you guys look like shit." And it's true; dark bags have made their presence under Ludwig's eyes, and he appears to be more drained than usual. Meanwhile, Feli looks even worse. Hell, he's not even conscious!

"Gilbert, shut up," He responds in kind with a sigh. "Yes, I went through with it, and I feel like I'm going to collapse. Feli already collapsed. He's sleeping like a baby!"

"Aww, and an adorable one at that," The older coos, right before slapping a rambunctious hand on the gray wolf's back, "Gah, I'm just so proud of you! I mean, look at this; it seems like just yesterday you were sucking on ma's tit!"

He glowers, "Gil, I said shut up. I'm not in the mood for it right now."

"What? Come on, brosef! This is cause for celebration."

"Please, any reason to drink your life away is good enough 'cause for celebration' in your mind." The younger groans, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to put Feli to bed, then take the nap of the century. Wake me up in the year two-thousand five-hundred."

And, with that, his little brother enters the mansion, only for loud, angry-sounding Italian to erupt forth, along with the smashing of yet another vase and a cry of French anguish.

Clear water ripples distorts the inside of a glass on the bedside table, its image refracted by the folds and slants of an intricately-carved peacock. I heave a mild sigh from an armchair nearby, following the rise and fall of my charge's chest. My charge. It's acceptable to call him that now, right? After all, it's become my duty to watch over and protect him, so that makes him my 'charge,' doesn't it? I freeze.

Wait a second, I know nothing about guarding a living thing.

This is truly insane. Back in my community, I was a hunter. I've never had to be responsible for other spirits, much less significantly more foolish humans! What was I thinking?! Gott, I really need to stop asking my brother for advice. I take a few deep breaths.

Calm down, Ludwig; you've still got Gilbert, Arthur, and Antonio, remember?

Yes, that's right. Surely, three experienced spirit animals far older and wiser than myself can help with this, correct? I consider the three. Actually, scratch that; Antonio's as incompetent as humans themselves, Arthur's always busy with something or other, and Gilbert's, well, Gilbert. I am completely doomed.

"Ve~" I briefly jump at the sudden noise, regarding the other hesitantly as amber eyes blinked open. He smiles drunkenly and shifts, the blanket rubbing against its own folds with a soft sound of movement.

I gesture towards the table with a straight face, "I got you a glass of water. I thought you might be thirsty after waking."

The younger lazily sits up, adjusting himself at the speed of a turtle, the crimson covers of his bed unwinding from their fold around his petite frame. He rubs his eyes with both hands and turns to face the table and me, releasing a high-pitched yawn. One hand grabs ahold of the glass, the other still removing all traces of sleep from his face, and carefully brings it to his lips. He takes long, slow gulps of water, then wipes the stray drops from his mouth.

The redhead gazes at me with a look of utmost contentment, "Ve~ Thank you, Luddy!"

I cough into my fist, "It- it was nothing."

He smiles, then pauses. His face takes on that strange expression it adopts when he's being thoughtful about something, mulling and processing information in his head. "That wasn't very nice of Gilbert to leave like that, was it?"

"No, it wasn't." My expression almost unnoticeably turns downward.

He giggles softly, "It's no wonder you gave him two black eyes!" Amber eyes blink a few times, "Actually, your memories told me who you and Gilbert are descended from that's so interesting."

"Yes, of course they did," I look down.

"Luddy, don't you think it's funny that our ancestors were bound together, and now we are too?"

I feel my face pale, "Well, not really. The wolf spirit Aldrich died a virgin as far as anyone knows; Gil and I are descended from his younger brother. He's our great-something-or-other uncle."

A long, silent moment passes before Feliciano finally exclaims, "This is awkward! Why are you being awkward when we're stuck together?"

"Um, w-well-"

"Nope, no excuses! If we're going to be at each other's sides for the rest of my life, I don't want there to be any weird tension, okay?" I regard his cheerfully casual grin for but a few seconds.

"Alright then."

I skip down the carpeted stairs, humming merrily to myself. Behind me, the heavy, trudging footfalls of another follow dutifully. This continues down the hall, past walls lined with stunning paintings, and into the dining room, where the others can be found seated for supper.

"Feli! Holy shit, you're alive!" I laugh giddily as fratello jumps out of his chair and rushes over, initiating a forceful hug.

"Si, I'm fine, but are you sure you're okay? You never hug me," I return his embrace, my smile spreading as he tenses.

"Oh, fuck you! I do what I want!"

Toni groans, "Lovi, why don't you ever hug me?"

"Shut up, you stupid pervert!"

Arthur scowls and separates fratello from myself, "Lovino, knock it off; isn't it clear he's gone through a life-changing event?!" He turns to me, "Are you alright?"

I nod with a large beam, "Uh-huh!"

"Good," He responds in kind, "But, nevertheless, I suggest you sit down and eat something."

With a bright grin on my face, I take Ludwig's hand in mine and seat myself in an empty chair, the other taking the one next to me. Linking my arm with his, I turn to my food, nearly drooling at the sight of fresh pasta. I enthusiastically take hold of a fork and dig in. Man, magical binding sure made me hungry!

"So, how did this happen, anyway?" Cousin Francis asks with a curious tilt of the head.

I attempt to speak, only for Lovino to interrupt, "Don't you dare talk with your mouth full; honestly, I thought I raised you better than this! First, you run off with the brother of Gilbert, and now you're completely throwing manners out the window. What has this world come to?!"

Toni casually places a hand over his mouth with a hush, "I think you're over-reacting."

My twin merely flips the fox spirit off with a burning glare, unable to cuss him out.

"Damn, what is up with that kid and hating on my bruder just 'cause we're related?" Gilbert exclaims, "I mean, I'm not that bad, am I?"

Without even looking at him, Uncle Roddy responds, "Yes, yes you are."

"Hey!" The older of the wolf brothers barks, "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Gilbert, I didn't agree to anything, much less to being your little sidekick."

He huffs, "Who said anything about sidekicks?"

"You did, just now."

"Ja- well- oh, whatever! The point is, I'm not a bad person; I'm awesome," The arctic wolf snaps.

I swallow the food I'd been chewing, "Anyways, didn't cousin Francis ask a question?"

Everyone simultaneously turns to the Frenchman, "Oh, oui, I completely forgot about that!" He comments with a dazed grin.

"How the hell do you just forget you asked something, especially when it's the entire reason for an argument?" Arthur gives Francis a funny look.

"Oh, you know, just by thinking about how amazing it would be if I had you naked-"

"I'M CUTTING THAT OFF RIGHT THERE!"

"But besides that, I'm really happy about this turn of events!" I call out, "Luddy's really nice, strong, he saved my life twice now, and I like it when I'm painting and he unconsciously leans on me, because I like cuddles!"

"HE DOES WHAT?!" Fratello explodes, yanking Toni's hand away from him.

"Lovi, please, just leave them-"

"NO! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SOME ASSHOLE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MY-"

"OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHY CAN'T YOU ALL JUST STOP ARGUING FOR ONE BLOODY MINUTE-"

"This is stupid." Roderich looks down at his coffee in disdain, "I'm going to go grab some water or something."

As he stands and exits the room, Ludwig asks, "Hey, wait a second, aren't you going to help calm them down?!"

"I'm sure you can handle it," He offhandedly tosses over a shoulder, "And if not, they always sort things out amongst themselves, whether that be through violence or reason."

And so, Roderich makes his departure, leaving the gray wolf and me to make the rest of the group stop trying to kill each other with cutlery. He didn't even take the coffee cup with him.

"Ve~ you know, things are going to be quite different for you from here on out." It's sudden, Feli breaking the tranquil silence that had fallen upon us.

I look at him from my place under a tree in the backyard, the leaves' shade forming strange patterns upon his body. "How so?"

He remains carefully neutral, his words slow and thoughtfully conceived, "Well, I'm a Vargas, remember? Even if I'm just a kid, I'm still a huge celebrity. I have paparazzi stalking me on my way to school. As my spirit animal, you're going to have to deal with that too."

"Alright, so what?" My face contorts in puzzlement, "I went into this fully well knowing you're a Vargas. If this is the kind of life I've committed myself to, then so be it."

A smile breaks out across his features, "Great! I just wanted to make sure you're aware of this, because I have an interview on live television tomorrow."

"You what?!"

A/N:

OH MY GOD I'M BACK. IT'S BEEN OVER A MONTH. I FINALLY UPDATED. OH MY GOD.

So yeah, I'm back and better than ever! I'm stupidly hype for part three, which I'm going to start working on as soon as I finish typing up and editing the intermission! WHOOP!

Chapter summary: Gilbert tells everyone else what's up as soon as Feliciano and Ludwig leave the house; basically the entire family hangs out beneath the front window for, like, an hour or something; Gilbert gives the whole 'I'm proud of you' speech; Ludwig says 'Fuck you' and leaves to take a nap, which he doesn't actually take; Feliciano and Ludwig have a heart-to-heart about their situation, as well as reflect upon newly-given information; they go downstairs for dinner; Lovino yells a lot; Antonio mourns the fact that he never gets Lovino hugs; stupid shit ensues; Roderich walks off at just the right moment; Feliciano drops the 'abrupt live TV interview' bombshell on Ludwig.

I thought 2.3 onwards would be longer than it ended up being, surprisingly enough. Originally, I planned on having the NA brothers, Russia and his sisters, the baltics plus Poland, and even the nordics and some Asian countries show up. However, I feel if I added them in it would be kind of forced, so if I do that, it'll be in a later installment of this AU. Anyways, I've decided that part 3 will be the last part of SAS, and then it'll be onto the sequel, afterwards coming various short stories about other characters in this universe. Stay tuned for that!

Responses to review(s):

maryranstadler1: Thank you! I personally think one of the best things about Gerita is how the saccharine fluff goes hand-and-hand with soul-crushing angst, you know?

Seele Esser Deutsch: Aww, thanks! Wow, I can barely believe this thing has followers in the first place, much less that it takes over people's lives! Well, allow me to give you more to obsess over in the days to come.

See you tomorrow!