After about two and a half months my tailbone fully heals but there is still some pain from the inflammation of the muscles. I can walk and run without a problem but it will get sore after a period of time. Since I still get pain around my tailbone Luddy doesn't want to try anything yet ve~ He really does try to care for me, even if he does act childish and does dramatic things on an impulse~ Ve but I do things on an impulse too, we are only human.
"Hey Luddy!" I shout with great enthusiasm as I jump on his back. By now it's fall and the tree's leaves are those beautiful colors of red, orange, and yellow, with some hints of green still. His body stiffens under me because of the sudden, unexpected pounce.
"Vat!?" I smile a wrap my arms tightly around his neck and settle myself on his back.
"Can we go pick up Gino since my butt's all better?" I ask with a big smile on my face. I haven't seen him or Lovi in forever and I'd really like to catch up with him! I also want to see how well Lovi is doing because maybe, with Luddy's permission, he can stay here and help pay and stuff! I'd be cheaper than staying at his home alone and caring for a cat! Plus Luddy wouldn't have to send money to him! And maybe I could even I could try and find myself a job. Or work for Luddy or just do something to help out ve to say thank you for helping me and keeping me!
"Ja, fine. You just show me ze vay." I lean in close to his ear.
"Um... If Lovi is having issues living at home could we invite him to stay here? I mean I can try getting a job if it means fratello can stay! Or I can just do all the chores around house ve! I can cook pasta and pasta is really cheap ve so I can cook cheap but it fills you up!"
"Ja ja just stop yelling in my ear!" I lean away from his ear.
"Hehe oopsy~!" I get off his back and scurry to the front door. "Come on lets go!" I open the door and rush to the car outside. While sitting inside I notice the light rays shinning through the clouds and angelically cascade over the colorful trees. Quickly I take out my phone and take a picture.
"Vat are you doing?" Startled I flinch and drop my phone.
"I was just taking a picture ve! Um, on our way back can we stop at my old place? I left some things there and I don't think anybody has taken it so I want to see if they're still there." He stares at me oddly. "I couldn't take my life with me when I had to abandon my store because I lost all my money and planned on committing suicide so ve I didn't take anything with me! I left all of my stuff in my store... But that's OK because my life right now is great ve~! I may have lost hope at some point but it is always darkest before the dawn! I did think that it was over but that was shortsighted! I have an amazing life now ve and I know that it will only get better~!" I stare out the window smiling at the thoughts of all the future and all the great moments I will have with my friends and I.
"Ja... Vatever." My attention turns back to Luddy because I can tell that he still feels bad about everything that happened.
"Luddy, don't feel bad! Really!" At the next stop light he looks at me with very sad eyes.
"But you aren't ze only life I ruined... There are other people zat are suffering because of me. I vouldn't have saved you if I hadn't fallen in love vith you. If I hadn't fallen for you I vould have left you zere to die..." The conversation starts to make me feel uncomfortable so I try to change the subject.
"Uh, turn right here..." I hear the blinker sound as the angle changes. "Why ve did you you fall for me?" I ask him randomly.
"Vell um... You are very sweet, like zere is an aura of altruism and the essence of compassion. You have an ability to get people to smile during a bad time. You are zat light zat illuminates a dark, depressing room but ven you are gone ze room goes back to ze bleak and dreary reality it actually lives in. All my life I vas around assholes and ven somevun so happy-go-lucky and bubbly showed up in my life I couldn't help but fall in love... I need zat light to make my vorld brighter." A smile creeps across my face. All I wanted to do in my life ve is make people smile and I'm thankful to God that I am able to do so. "Um, vy did you fall in love vith me, especially after all I did to you?"
"Take the next left ve and it should be the fifth house on the left... Well, when I saw your eyes I knew you were the one ve. Like a crystal clear pool I could see right through them and to see the small frightened child ve who really needed some love~ I saw that deep down you were kind and sweet, even though people are scared of you and you have hurt people I could still see the kindness in you and I wanted to bring it out ve~!" He stops at the house I told him. "I live for the beauty of the world and you, Ludwig, are one of the most beautiful people in the world~" I get out of the car and start to walk away. I hear the car door slam behind me, followed by the sounds of footsteps. I approach the door and quickly ring the doorbell. Luddy finally stands next to me. The door slowly opens a crack as an eye inspects us up and down. The door closes for a moment but only to fully open again.
"You guys gave me a heart attack! I thought you were dad..."
"He's still trying to find you?" He looks down at the ground.
"No... I just really don't want to go with them so I can't be too cautious... Wait why are you guys here anyway?"
"We're here for Gino ve~!" Lovi steps aside so we can enter his house. As I step in and walk around I make sure to examine around the house to see how well my fratello is doing. I look down and see my cat walking past my feet. "Gino!" I yell as I pick him up.
"Meow meow meow!" Gino starts to lick my face excitedly.
"I missed you too Gino~! I'm sorry I left you for so long but you get to live with me again!"
"Meow~!" I walk over to Lovi with Gino still in my hands.
"Hey Lovi, I was wondering if maybe you want to live with me and Luddy ve~! It would be cheaper for you and then ve we can see each other all the time~! What do you say?" I ask Lovi.
"Well... I guess I should but only to make sure that idiot doesn't do anything stupid and hurt you again! I can't have my baby brother hurt all the time and I'd be irresponsible if I let someone completely unable to take care of you!" Lovi says with a pout of the face.
"Ja ja, vatever. Ve vill come back in a few days to load up your stuff and move it into my home. Can you and Feliciano share a bed?" Luddy asks us.
"Luddy do I have to sleep with Lovi? He is a blanket hog and I can't ever get the blankets back... Oh I know! Can I sleep with you Luddy~!?" I finally ask. Since my tailbone is completely healed I can finally sleep in a bed again! Actually for awhile I've been wanting to ask Luddy if I can sleep in the same bed as him...
"No!" Fratello shouts. "No, I don't want you sleeping with that bastard! Your ass just got healed and I refuse to let him hurt it again! You are sleeping with me and that is final!" Luddy's face turns a dark shade of red and I just stand there in a chuckling daze. Luddy just walks away and goes to grab all of the cats stuff and load it into the car.
"Come on Lovi, Luddy doesn't even want to do anything still ve. It will be fine I promise!" I beg him like a child begging his parent to get him the newest toy that everybody is going crazy over.
"No, I don't want to even risk it! We can get each other our own blankets but you are not sleeping with him! During the night he'll probably just roll on you in his sleep and end up suffocating you!" I sigh and nod. "Good..." Lovi now sighs. "Fine, you can sleep with him before I come but after that you are rooming with me, got it?" I nod with a beaming grin.
"Thank you fratello~! Thank you so much~!" I give him a great big hug but, as usual, he just pushes me off and scolds me.
From a distance I hear "Feliciano, come on! We're leaving!"
"Oh, gotta run ve! Bye Lovi, see you later~!" I quickly run out my brother's house with Gino still in my hands. Once I reach the car I set him in the back seat and then I get into the front.
"I get to sleep with until fratello moves in~! Isn't that great ve~?" I ask him with a curious smile on my face.
"Ja... So to your old place then?" I give him a nod as Luddy pulls the car out of the driveway and onto the path back to my old home. We sit in silence the whole ride to my place. I stare and watch the people as we drive by. There really isn't as many people out on the street as you would expect. Honestly I saw only a few homeless people. There was even a few homeless people in the cashless society because they refused to do any type of work so no one offered them a home.
I walk to the front door of my old home. The paintings and sculptures are still in the front window, just the way I left it...I open the door and a bunch of dust blows in my face. I walk in and turn on the lights. Smiling, I quickly run up the stairs and into my room. I stare at the bed that I use to sleep in, the same bed that Luddy and I were both in that night. I grab the paints and canvasses from my room and load them into the car. I get back in the car and buckle myself in. "Lets go." Luddy stares at me confused.
"Vat about ze rest of ze stuff?" He finally asks. I give a sigh before answering.
"That Luddy is my past and I need to get over it ve. I need to move on. Plus I have a new view on life and a new inspiration! I have so many ideas for new paintings and I know that they are gonna be great~!"
"Vell... Alright zen..." He drives us back to his house. We unload everything from the car but my butt starts to hurt.
"Luddy... My butt's starting to hurt again, can I please lay down?" He continues to unload as he answers.
"Ja, I don't vant you hurting yourself. If you vant you can just take a nap in ze bed, ja?" I give in an excited not and slowly make my way to the bedroom. I slowly set myself on the bed and then lie down completely flat. As I start to drift to sleep unbelievably beautiful images pass in my head and I know what my inspiration...
... My eyes start to part as I hear someone slightly whisper my name. "Feli, it's time for dinner." I make a frowny face.
"What ve? But I said I could make dinner..." He smiles at me.
"I know, zat's vy I voke you up at 4:30." He helps me out of bed, down the hall, then into the kitchen. "If you need any help feel free to ask me and/or Gil." I give him a nod as I start to round up the materials I need to make my palatable creation.
"Hey Luddy~?" I ask as I set up a pan and a half full pot of water on the stove.
"Vat do you need?" He walks into the kitchen knowing that I'll ask him to help me prepare the dish. I set up tomatoes and onions and set a knife next to the cutting board.
"Can you please dice the tomatoes and cut up the onions ve while I measure out the herbs~?" He gives me a not and starts chopping. I get out some garlic salt, oregano, basil, and olive oil. Once I finish measuring everything Luddy finishes the onions. I Pour some of the olive oil in the pan then let the onions simmer in it. Then I put the diced tomatoes in and after that the herbs. Once everything is in the pan the water in the pot starts to boil. I empty a bag of pasta into the boiling pot of water. From time to time I give each a stir until the pasta is al dente. I turn the pans burner off then drain the pasta. I set up three plates and decoratively lie the pasta on each plate and carefully place the sauce on top of each pasta.
"Dinner's done~!" I yell as I set the silverware next to each plate and a glass 1/3 full of red wine along side a glass of ice water. Gil and Luddy arrive and take a seat in a random spot.
"Oh man!" Gil yells, "This looks and smells amazing! Feli, you have an amazing talent with food! You might just be more awesome than the awesome me!" Luddy rolls his eyes as I take a seat smiling.
"It does look very good Feliciano, zank you." I clamp my hands together and bow my head.
"Um, Feli?" Gil asks. I raise my head and stare at him. "Um... I don't want to be rude but aren't you catholic?" I give him a nod. "Um, protestants don't pray to saints so can we not pray with you?"
"Gilbert!" He flinches some, "He cooked us zis food, the least ve can do is pray vith him! It von't kill us to do so, ve even acknowledge ze saints so praying von't do any damage."
"But Lud we don't pray to them! Praying to them means nothing because our faith alone leads us to salvation!" Ludwig stands up and slams his hands on the table, causing the wine and water to knock over.
"So if praying to zem means nozing zen it can't hurt if you do zis just vunce for him!" Now Gil stands up with the same anger intensity as Ludwig.
"Well I don't want to pray to anyone but God! I don't want to turn on my faith because of some bimbo!" He stomps out of the room with tears in his eyes. Ludwig's body slams down into his chair with his hand over his face and a big sigh. We just sit in silence for a few moments. I quickly get tired of waiting and head to the spare room that Lovi and I are going to sleep in. I lock the door and, with my back facing the door, drop to my bum and allow my head to droop between my legs. I hear a faint knock on the door and a twist of the knob.
"Feliciano, please open ze door." He knocks again. I don't respond. "Please, I am so sorry for vat happened." I get up and walk over to the bed and grab a canvas, paint and brush. Each stroke I make releases an energy of sadness and rage that I feel deep inside. The world around me disappears as I get lost in the image in my head. Once I finally set my brush down I glance at the clock. It reads 3:02 AM. I let the painting lean on the wall next to my bed. I drift off to sleep staring, just staring at it. A dark room with a small candle in the center illuminates the room enough to faintly see things around the border. Around the candle you can clearly see fingers around the flame, pierced as if about to clamp onto the small flame. Above it you can see a faded image of a man. He seems to be holding the candle in the center of what seems to be a store. The man is smiling, not smiling but smirking. Above his devilish smirk and a pair of eyes that slice through the darkness. They are a crystal blue color and radiate like the sun hitting a pool during mid-day. His eyes look sad, his brow furrowed but not harsh. If you look closely, his pupils are an image of a crying, hurt little boy. And with that said, this is the first piece of the series created by inspiration from a hypocritical angel.