Ludwig groaned as he pulled himself out of the bath and drained the water. If only he had been there. Drying himself off, he numbly made his way to the kitchen in his dressing gown. The house was exactly the same as it was all those weeks ago. But Feliciano's presence being missing made it feel like an unfamiliar place to Ludwig. The rooms were a lot darker, the floorboards seemed to creak more and the air felt much colder. Nothing at all like when his lover was here. Everything seemed to be brighter to him when he was there. He could feel his chest ache again and his throat become sore. He was so tired. It was the loneliness that killed him most of all. Ludwig took everyday with a struggle. While his boss advised him to take some weeks off to grieve in peace, sadness wasn't going to pay the bills. Ludwig began to boil the kettle with a sigh and slumped onto the living room couch with a sigh, his phone dropping out of his gown pocket. Oh? A painful reminder has come to him again.
He picked up the phone, scrolling through his contacts until his finger stopped on Feliciano's name. Choking back the tears, Ludwig read the last texts he and his lover exchanged to each other.
"Luddy! Ti amo! I'm going to make the best pasta tomorrow. With sauce so good I'll marinate it all night!"
"I look forward to it. Ich Leibe Dich"
Ludwig couldn't control himself, with a strangled cry he dropped the phone and let the tears stream down his face. "Damn it Feli...We were going to eat that pasta together...I was finally going to confess to you...damn it!" Ludwig choked out. The sadness was so crushing he fell to the floor, his phone a few inches from his face as he curled up and sobbed. And then there was a knock at his door. Ludwig slowly pulled himself together, wiping his eyes frantically and sniffing up the mucus that threatened to run. "Uh..j-just a second!" He called out.
Stumbling towards the door, he opened it, expecting another detective to ask for evidence on the murder of his lover. What he did not expect was the victim in question, picking dirt out his hair. "Hey Luddy!" Feliciano laughed as he tightly hugged his boyfriend again. Feliciano buried his face in Ludwig's chest. God how he had missed this. Ludwig stood in the doorway, not knowing what to do, what to say. Was this a dream? Ludwig's chest began to expand and collapse rapidly, which made Feliciano jump and look up at his boyfriend's face. He was paler than milk, his eyes reddened and inflamed with tears spilling down his cheeks once again. Feliciano could only describe Ludwig's face as the one of a constipated man who had just ripped his asshole. "Ludwig...it's me~ I'm alive~" Feliciano cooed, holding Ludwig tighter. Ludwig fell to Feliciano's knees and let out a strangled scream, the tears flowing like a river as he tightly gripped Feliciano's pant legs. "FELI! Oh my god, Feli...I thought you had died! Where the fuck were you?! How?! Why?!" He spluttered, holding onto Feliciano tightly for dear life. Feliciano knelt down in front of Ludwig, cupping his face with his warm hands. "I'm here. Everything is going to be okay, Ludwig"he cooed, as he felt tears of his own spilling down his cheeks with a smile. Feliciano and Ludwig sat in the doorframe together for what could have been hours, a blubbering mess of tears and words.
"Kaffe?"
"Si, Grazie"
"Explain everything. How are you here?" Ludwig spoke, his throat sore and weak from the crying and screaming. "Well...it's kind of hard to explain...but from what I was told, I was sent back here to expose who killed me. If I do that before two weeks, I get to stay here just like I was. And if I don't...I don't actually know, they never taught me that part..." Feliciano explained, taking small sips from his coffee. Ludwig let out a long sigh and looked deep into the swirling cream in his mug of coffee. "I'm just...so...happy...but so confused...I know you explained it to me...but...I'm unsure" Ludwig confessed weakly, "Feli...do you at least have any idea on who could have killed you?". Feliciano leaned back in his chair, taking another sip of his coffee while he thought to himself.
"Well, he used a knife...there's that. I'm definitely certain it was a he. Nobody else could have shoved a knife in me that strongly"
"Feli...I know I've said this so many times already...but I'm so happy to have you back again. I missed you so much" Ludwig breathed out, holding Feliciano tightly against his chest. He thought he would never be able to feel his body embraced against his ever again. Ludwig kissed Feliciano passionately, running his fingers through his warm hair, his hands trailing down his neck and to his hips. "Ha...Luddy~ You've missed me quite a lot haven't you?" Feliciano chuckled out of breath. Ludwig laughed and squeezed Feliciano's hips eagerly, "More than anything, Leibe". Ludwig and Feliciano laughed as Ludwig carried Feliciano like a groom would with a bride, walking towards the bedroom. With a smirk and a kiss, Ludwig shut the door behind them.
"So...you didn't leave your house at all that night?"
"Si, I was asleep. Hard day at work"
Detective Arthur Kirkland gave a little nod at Francis and he stopped the tape recording. "Very Good, Vargas. At this point in time we will give this to our Evidence sorting team. From this you've given us, this will help find out who was the one who killed Feliciano. We thank you for your cooperation and give our deepest sympathies" Arthur sighed, signing off the papers on his clipboard and standing up from the desk. "If Yao tells us this information is drawing up blanks again I swear to god..." Francis muttered under his breath down the hallway. "It isn't like Yao to give us lies. He has helped us with the evidence for so many other cases. This one's just difficult because of the lack of witnesses on this one" Arthur mumbled. It has to have been his third cup of coffee this morning and the caffeine in his system didn't make him any less tired of this case. "You look tired there, mon amour" Francis sighed, "Perhaps it would be wise to take a break, non?". Arthur gave a small smile and stared deep into his mug of coffee. "All of this doesn't make any sense. There was a knife but none of the finger prints in town matched. There weren't even footprints to trace the killer by...if we don't catch them soon, who knows who will be next?" Arthur mumbled, downing his last gulp of coffee before discarding the paper cup into the bin.
"When will we be interrogating Ludwig Beilschmidt?"
"Three days time. The man needs to grieve for a bit first. We can't just jab him with too many questions after this situation. His lover did just die after all" Arthur spoke bitterly. He was tired of his name already. Ludwig's name had continuously been thrown around the room, filled with If's What's When's and Where's all attached to the sentences. If only there were more signs!
"Kirkland! Sir! I think you need to come see this!" Yao called from his office. Arthur and Francis looked at each other and ran into the room, their expressions full of concern. "You see, this footage was taken from last night..." Yao explained. Arthur and Francis stared disbelievingly at the screen. There was Feliciano, alive and walking across the same street he had been killed on. The chalk line, faded but still there. The video on the screen continuously repeated, but still had the same abnormal footage. "Are you certain that isn't Lovino? He and his brother do look very similar" Arthur asked quickly, repeating the footage again.
"No sir, I know what I saw. That's Feliciano" "But that isn't possible! Feliciano is dead. We saw the blood. We saw his dead body in the morgue with his innards on display. WE SAW HIM BEING LOWERED INTO THE GROUND. HOW DOES THAT WORK?!" Arthur snapped. "Let's not get mad at our evidence gatherer, mon petit ami. Let's instead get mad at Ivan for faking an autopsy report on our dear, late, Feliciano" Francis suggested. "Good idea, love. Ivan will have hell to pay for this" Arthur growled. With that, he pair stormed out of a concerned Yao's office.
"Ivan Braginski! You have some serious explaining to do!"
"Come out here right now! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Oh, privet Arthur! What is the problem?"
"Don't play dumb with me! Why did you fake those autopsy reports?!" Arthur roared. "I wouldn't be speaking to me that way, da? How about we start over a little more civilly? Okay. I have no idea what you are talking about" Ivan murmured, his eyes glinting sharply, "The man was dead. No alcohol or drugs in his system. Completely clean. He was dead. End of story". "Then explain what that footage was in Yao's office!" Francis snapped, thrusting a frame-by-frame paper copy of the Italian walking down the street. Ivan looked flabbergasted. His expression alone made Arthur loosen his shoulders a little. Maybe he wasn't to blame after all. "You really told the truth? You are certain Feliciano was dead when you worked on him?" "Da...I don't know how..." "Then...I'm sorry for yelling at you...for now let's just...calm down"