::Germany::
You glanced over at Ludwig, who was silently reading a book before going to sleep. He was sitting straight-backed against the headboard, hands securing the book as his quick eyes scanned the pages. His head never moved and his expression was that of sheer concentration. The glasses on his nose almost slid off once, but he fixed them without skipping a beat.
He was lucky. Unlike you, at the precise moment that he told himself that he needed to fall asleep, he could be found with his eyes shut and breath slowed in less than five minutes.
It wasn't fair. You'd never been a great sleeper- well, you were fine once you actually fell asleep because anyone that even remotely knew you knew that you slept like a rock. The part leading up to that, though, was the challenge. You had tried everything in the past- quiet, calming music with no lyrics; a white noise generator; counting sheep to yourself; a small dose of medicine with Antihistamine in it- but none of it ever seemed to work. You would just end up reading some book that bored you to death and falling asleep with the lights on.
You never had to deal with sharing a bedroom or a bed, since you and your older brother always had separate rooms, so you were never able to get help or listen to someone else's steady breathing. You wondered then if Ludwig's brother had taught him the easiest way to fall asleep in minutes. Being a bother and interrupting him was inevitable, but you had to know.
"Ludwig?" you asked quietly, knowing that the students in the surrounding rooms might be asleep, and you didn't want to wake them up if they were. Having a cool roommate in college could certainly be worth it sometimes.
He looked up, placing a finger where a bookmark should go. "Ja?"
"How do you fall asleep so quickly?"
He blinked, and then a look of confusion showed up on his face. "Vhy do you ask?"
You shifted yourself in the bed, lying on your side and propping yourself up on an elbow so that talking to him would be an easier task. "You know why I'm always so tired in the mornings? It's because I can't ever fall asleep when I want to. I always end up thinking in the dark and then distracting myself and getting myself excited about something stupid."
His eyebrows scrunched up as he thought out loud, "Vell, zhat is indeed a serious problem. How long has zhis been going on?"
"For as long as I can remember, I guess. I'm fine once I fall asleep, I just can't fall asleep."
"Hm…" He put the bookmark in its proper place and set the book on his nightstand, deep in thought.
"Did your brother teach you to fall asleep quickly?" you asked before he could reply.
He laughed dryly. "Nein. Mein bruder vas alvays zhe party-goer und vas alvays out vis his friends. Vis no bruder to help me fall asleep, und vis parents zhat vere out on business a lot, I vas forced to make meinself fall asleep, or else I vouldn't be able to vake up for school zhe next morning."
"So what did you do?"
"I… I did a few things, actually. I made sure zhat I ate proper meals at zhe proper time, vis no eating right before bed, exercised regularly, und had all of mein homevork finished before it vas time to sleep. Also, I didn't do sings zhat strained zhe brain right before sleeping, eizher, like playing video games, vatching television, or getting on zhe computer."
"Oh." Those things were so… so obviously healthy. "Were there ever times where you couldn't fall asleep, even after all of that?"
"Mm… Ja, a few times."
"What happened then?"
He blinked again, his eyes looking up as he tried to remember. "I sink I… counted Schaf- zhat's sheep."
"Ah, okay." You shifted again so that you were looking up at the ceiling, and you sighed. Stupid sheep. That never worked for me…
"Vas… vas zhat all? You just vanted to know zhat?"
"Mm-hm." You closed your eyes, willing yourself to fall asleep.
"I don't sink you're telling zhe trus."
Your eyes snapped back open, flicking over to meet your roomate's serious stare. "What?"
"Novone just asks about not being able to fall asleep. My guess is zhat you can't fall asleep und vanted some advice, vhich I couldn't give. Is zhat right?" He was giving you that You-Know-I'm-Right-Look with his arms folded over his chest.
"I-" You sighed, defeated. "Yeah..."
There was a long moment of silence before Ludwig suggested, "Are you vanting me to count Schaf for you now zhat I told you about it?"
"Umm… Well…" You fidgeted with your hands, looking down at them and mumbling inaudible things to yourself. "You'retiredandit'donlybeaninconvenienceandIdon'twa nttobotheryoubecausethat'srude…"
"Speak up! I can't understand zhat pasetic mumbling from all zhe vay over here!"
"Well, sorry! I said: You're tired and it'd only be an inconvenience and I don't want to bother you because that's rude. There. Ya happy now?"
"I'll be fine, but danke for zhe concern. Our mission is to make you fall asleep, so zhat's vhat ve'll do." He pushed the blanket off of himself, grunting as he got himself out of bed. Making his way over to yours, he said with a half-amused grin, "Now tuck yourself in; I'm not your nanny."
You pulled the blanket up to your chin, snuggling underneath the warmth of the covers and scooching yourself over to give Ludwig enough room to sit on the edge of the bed. He gently sat down- half facing you, half not- the bed making a light creaking sound under the combined weight.
"All tucked in?"
"Uh-huh." How silly. You felt like you were three years old again, asking a 'grown-up' to read you a bedtime story to help drift into a peaceful slumber. The situation wasn't all that bad, though. I mean, you could've ended up with Ivan as a roommate, and I don't think you'd ever be able to fall asleep then… so the situation was pretty mild and Ludwig seemed kind of willing to help you out. It could've been much worse.
Ludwig's voice broke your train of thought by wondering out loud, "Um… Vould it be better if I counted in English or in Deutsch?"
"It doesn't matter, I don't think. Whatever you want to do is fine."
He nodded, confirming his answer. "English it is zhen. Now you must remember zhat I can't help you out like zhis all of zhe time. You have to learn from zhis und soon be able to make yourself fall asleep, ja? I von't bail out on you, of course, but you just need to keep zhat in mind. Here ve go." He took a deep breath, signaling his start. "Vone sheep! Two sheep! Sree sheep! Four sheep! Five sheep! Six sheep! Seven sheep! Eight sheep! Nine sheep! Ten sheep! Ele-"
"Uh, Ludwig? I don't mean to say 'I don't care' and then say something else, but could you count in German? That might actually help," you lied through your teeth, knowing that his loud counting wouldn't help a bit.
He looked slightly taken aback, asking, "Vhat's zhe matter vis English? If zhere's somesing you need to say, zhen say it."
"Nothing's wrong. I just think it'll sound better- you know, a German guy counting in German? That's all." You peered up at him, hoping not to offend him.
"Alright. Elf Schafe! Zwölf Schafe! Dreizehn Schafe! Vierzehn Schafe! Fünfzehn Schafe! Sechzehn Schafe! Siebzhen Schafe! Achtzehn Schafe! Neunzehn Schafe! Zwanzig Schafe!" He looked down, checking to see if your eyelids had begun to droop, but when they hadn't he gave you a frown. "Hm? Vhy aren't you tired yet? Do you even want to go to sleep?"
"Yes, well…"
"I'll say zhis again: If zhere's somesing bozhering you, just tell me."
"Well, here's the deal, okay? Don't get mad, but you're practically shouting." You grinned nervously. "You sound kind of like a drill sergeant and that's not really helpful when trying to fall asleep…"
He turned, his body facing the window behind your bed. The curtain hadn't been completely shut, so a stray beam of moonlight snuck into the room, falling onto Ludwig's face. Each feature- the straight nose, worried and confused eyes, and mouth forming a concentrated line- was lit up, kind of glowing in the pale blue light.
"It's mein… counting style zhat's bozhering you? It's sort of… funny zhat you vould say such a sing, because mein bruder said zhose exact vords vhen I counted for him vonce. I never meant to act like I vas running a drill or anysing, but… Ich verstehe. I now understand zhat I have to count in a vay zhat vill make you fall asleep. No commanding…"
You sighed mentally, feeling a little bad... but at least he understood.
"Shut your eyes. Einundzwanzig Schafe. Zweiundzwanzig Schafe." His voice became considerably quieter, but not to the point of a whisper. He paused after twenty-two sheep, glancing at you to make sure he was doing it right. You gave him a smile and a small nod, encouraging him to continue. He gave a quick smile back, resuming.
"Dreiundzwanzig Schafe. Vierundzwanzig Schafe. Fünfundzwanzig Schafe. Sechsundzwanzig Schafe. Siebenundzwanzig Schafe. Achtundzwanzig Schafe. Neunundzwanzig Schafe. Dreißig Schafe." He shifted himself, making the bed creak once more and fully facing you, noting with a grin, "It looks as zhough you're finally feeling sleepy."
You were indeed. That counting was like a lullaby, allowing your eyelids to open and close as slowly as they pleased, but when they noticed that they were closed for too long, they'd snap back open in an attempt to keep the rest of you awake.
"You know zhat I vasn't upset vis you about not being able to fall asleep, right?" he confirmed in a low whisper. "It's just zhat if you don't get enough sleep, you can't function vell during zhe day. It looked like my mesod vas vorking, so I'll continue.
Einunddreißig Schafe. Zweiunddreißig Schafe. Dreiunddreißig Schafe. Veirunddreißig Schafe. Fünfunddreißig Schafe… Sechsunddreißig Schafe… Siebenunddreißig Schafe… Achtunddreißig Schafe… Neununddreißig Schafe... Vierzig Schafe... Einundvierzig Schafe... Zweiundvierzig Schafe... Dreiundvierzig Schafe... Fünfundvierzig Schafe… Sechsundvierzig Schafe... Siebenundvierzig Schafe... Achtundvierzig Schafe... Neunundvierzig Schafe... Fünfzig Schafe..."
Fifty sheep had been counted, each one using their fluffy softness to your advantage and easing you into a deep slumber. You weren't able to respond to Ludwig when he chuckled to himself and said, "Gute nacht." He silently got up from the bed, returning to his and flicking off his bedside lamp.
A/N Sorry this one's a bit short and not as elaborate as some of the others. Hope you enjoyed it despite that, though. It's been sitting in the folder for some time now and I forgot about it.