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Feliciano slowed to a walk from his usual skip so his new friend could keep up with him, as they walked to and through the town people kept looking at them strangely, Feliciano wasn't sure why but he rather enjoyed the newfound attention.
There were no comments for the most part, and the ones he did here were addressing Ludwig's size.
A comment saying he was 'brutish looking' was probably the worst he heard, but he did his best to ignore it, he knew Ludwig couldn't understand them, so it was ok.
'Brutish' was probably the exact opposite of what he would call the tall man. He'd only been with him a day but already he'd shown himself to be one of the nicest people he'd met lately, he was loyal and strong, Feliciano was happy to call him his friend.
If he was his friend, of course. He couldn't be sure how Ludwig felt about him, hopefully eventually he'd be able to tell him and talk to him properly.
Feliciano took Ludwig's hand, smiling up at him and taking him through the stalls and walking to Antonio's butchers.
It hadn't occurred to him until now that Romano might be there, he looked around briefly with wide eyes, checking to see if his brother was in fact there, exhaling with relief at the realisation that he wasn't.
"Antonio," Feliciano said with a smile, "We have meat to sell."
Antonio looked up at them from his work, "Oh," he said in surprise as he looked over at Ludwig, his usual soft smile coming to his face, "...This must be the uh, the man Romano was talking about."
Feliciano nodded, taking Ludwig by the hand and guiding him further into the shop, "His name is Ludwig. He killed a deer Antonio! I've never seen anything like it." He smiled at the tall man and gestured for him to put the deer carcass on the counter, looking back up at Antonio, his smile shrinking slightly, "Is Romano ok? He was so upset yesterday."
Antonio nodded absentmindedly, staring down at the deer in disbelief, "How did you kill this..?" he chuckled and reached out to pat Ludwig's arm, "Good job Ludwig, no one has killed a deer in months."
The foreign man flinched away, glancing at Feliciano as if asking him if everything was ok.
"Antonio is a friend Ludwig," Feliciano said with a smile, "You don't need to look so worried!" He chuckled softly and pushed the deer towards Antonio, "So Romano's ok?"
Antonio hummed softly, "Yes, he's fine. He didn't tell me what happened until this morning though, last night all he did was swear at me... Not that he doesn't always swear at me."
Feliciano forced a smile, "You know he doesn't mean it, he just gets frustrated easily," he looked up at Ludwig again and squeezed the man's hand, "Ludwig is a good man, Romano just needs to give him a chance."
Antonio gave a small nod, beginning to look over the deer, "I know... I can give you," he let out a small hiss as he evaluated the animal, "forty coins for this... it's been cut very well, this is very good quality."
"Forty?!" Feliciano gasped in disbelief, he'd never got so much money in one go before, the most he'd ever held was twenty. "That is brilliant, thank you so much Antonio!"
He couldn't help giggling as Antonio handed over the coins, he counted them out as he put them in the bag on his belt, thanking the man again before pulling Ludwig out of the shop.
"Where shall we go first?" he asked, he looked up and down the rows of shops carved into the concrete structure, "You need a shirt."
He took the larger man's hand again and walked towards one of the shops, almost pulling him inside and to the small racks of clothes.
He looked up at him, smiling, "Pick what you want, I'll pay for everything."
The taller man looked at him in confusion, "Feliciano?" he asked softly, looking around, unsure what to do.
Feliciano shook his head softly, "You're so cute when you're confused..." he said softly as he picked out a cream-white t-shirt, clean and thick, good value considering how hard it was to find or make materials like this.
"This one?" Feliciano asked, holding the shirt up against Ludwig's chest, seeing if it fit him, it seemed it might be a little tight, but the material seemed stretchy so it should be ok. He pulled the item over the man's head, smiling and nodding as he stepped back to look at him, along with his beige trousers it actually looked rather good.
Rather sweet in contrast to Feliciano's black shirt and pale blue trousers. He chuckled softly as he turned them to look in one of the mirrors, he couldn't help thinking that they made a nice pair.
He paid three coins for the shirt and took Ludwig to look around the other shops, Ludwig seemed to be interested in two things, Feliciano noticed as they walked around. Weapons, and food, he seemed fascinated by the amount that was available to them in both areas.
It occurred to Feliciano that he should try to explain that they had so many options due to trade routs with a few other villages, he tried but he knew Ludwig couldn't understand him.
"Just pick what you want to eat, Ludwig," he ended up saying, "Pick anything you want and I'll help you make it."
They took a bag and filled it with food, some Feliciano had never bought before and had no idea how to cook, he'd have to leave that to Ludwig too.
Ludwig's eyes grew wide as they walked into one of the butchers shops, and he walked over to one of the chilled walls, mumbling in his native language as he looked at the relatively large selection of sausages.
Feliciano wasn't too keen on them, but he could tell by the look on Ludwig's face that he loved them as much as he himself loved the pasta his brother made.
The man looked at Feliciano and pointed to the sausages, "Feliciano," he said excitedly, seeming to be asking if he could have them.
"Yes," Feliciano nodded, "pick what you want, Ludwig, go on." He watched as Ludwig browsed the selection, prodding at the food and sniffing it, trying to determine what it was made of. He picked out a ring and put in in Feliciano's bag. "Pork," Feliciano said softly, giving him a word, "and apple."
Ludwig frowned softly, saying the name in his own language and pointing at it.
Feliciano bit his lip, holding back a laugh, Ludwig's language sounded so funny he couldn't help himself. "Pork," he said, pointing on one of the racks of pork to demonstrate what he meant, "and apple," he pointed to one of the apples in his bag, "That's what's in the sausage."
Ludwig paused for a moment and nodded, "Pork and apple," he said in a thick and broken accent, "Yes."
The smaller man wasn't sure if he was getting it right, but it was still progress.
Ludwig pointed at the sausage, smiling softly, wanting conformation, "Pork and apple," he said again, seeming a little more sure of himself.
"Yeah!" Feliciano said happily, patting Ludwig on the arm, "that's right!"
They smiled and nodded happily between themselves, but their smiles gradually faded. They both knew that two words, as good as it was, was nearly nothing, it would take months for Ludwig to learn at this rate.
Feliciano hummed softly in thinking, he gasped softly and his eyes suddenly widened, "Oh I know!" he said loudly, "I have an idea, Ludwig, something that can help you learn." He smirked widely, quickly going to pay for the sausages and pulling Ludwig from the shop, walking with him to one that sold relatively rare old-world items, including books.
A language book for children, that was what they needed, Feliciano had been given one as a toddler, they'd sold it years ago to this very shop, he remembered that they'd had a whole shelf full, if they were lucky there would still be some.
He looked around, gasping softly at the sight of the old books, some of them had been re-bound and looked rather good. He poured quickly over the titles to see if there was one he could use.
He pulled one from the shelves and skimmed through it, it was perfect, Ludwig could learn everything from this, they'd finally be able to talk.
"Here," he grinned as he handed the book to Ludwig, letting him begin reading it as he went to go and pay.
He returned a moment later, having paid an extortionate six coins for the book, and found Ludwig fully engrossed, moving his lips as he read to himself and looking around to find things that matched the words and pictures in the book.
"Feliciano," he said happily as he approached, pointing to the book, "Book," he said proudly.
Feliciano nodded, his smile widening, "Yes! Very good Ludwig! ...uh..." he found the word good in Ludwig's book, "Good!" he repeated, letting out a small chuckle.
"Ok... We'll go home now Ludwig," Feliciano said slowly, using the book again to show him the word home.
Ludwig nodded, letting Feliciano take his hand again and lead him back to the house.