7 - Perfection

About a month had passed since Mathias began his new job. It was at this point Lukas decided he was ready to stand on his own two feet and shoot a couple of pictures. It was also at this point when he decided that, despite being an annoying brute of a man, Mathias really wasn't that bad. He refused to admit it, though, and when asked by Emil or Tino or anyone else, he quickly chalked it up to being a sort of low-key variation on Stockholm Syndrome, where he had gotten so used to Mathias's boorish attitude and ill-placed jokes that it really didn't matter anymore. The most important part, however, was that it left Ludwig satisfied, which would hopefully further his career.

And then there was Mathias. He wasn't a bad guy, but...

Lukas walked through the glass doors of the building. He stopped by the lobby for a couple of minutes to chat with Mona, always the diligent secretary, and was holding up a pleasant conversation with her about the images on the backsides of the Euro coins when Mathias bounded up to them, almost knocking Lukas over with a hearty pat on the back.

"What the hell was that for, stupid?" Lukas snapped. It was early in the morning and he really did not need any of Mathias's shit.

"Just sayin' hi to my best, best, best friend!" Mathias cheered, slinging an arm around Lukas.

The shorter blonde groaned. It was way too early in the morning for anyone to be this cheerful. "Yeah, hi to you, too." Annoying, Lukas added under his breath. He shrugged Mathias off as if he were rain, quickly striding down the hall to the photography studio.

Today was special. He couldn't have anyone ruin it. A friend of Ludwig's, one of the bigwigs from a studio in New York was coming to watch. Spending all that time training Mathias had hopefully put Lukas on Ludwig's good side, definitely better than Tino who spent his free time doing God-knows-what. I work twice as hard as anyone here, he thought as he approached the photography studio, I'm pretty much guaranteed for that contract.

The makeup crew made quick work of his face backstage, sending him out with pats on the back.

Taking a deep breath and composing himself, he strode into the studio with the confidence of a top model. But his throat tightened and his pride wavered in the millisecond his knees wobbled, the American bigwig staring him down behind silver-framed glasses. I'm under mass scrutiny, he thought, stepping up next to Tino on the stage, Gotta be perfect.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mathias quietly enter the room and blend in with the crowd of onlookers. He breathed in. Stay calm. Stay calm, he repeated in his head. Yet that mantra was quickly replaced by his other idle thoughts.

Is it me, or are the lights a little too bright? What the hell am I thinking, I should be used to these bright lights. I shouldn't squint. Dammit, my head hurts! As a model, he couldn't do anything during picture time. No twitching to relieve the kink in his wrist. No licking his drying lips. No shielding his eyes from the burning lights.

He glanced to the side. Tino seemed perfectly composed, happy, even. He wore his trademark cute smile, shoulders thrown back in total unwavering confidence and occasionally blowing kisses at the camera. There was a goddamn American bigwig right in front of them, and Tino was dicking around and blowing kisses. Lukas wanted to shake his head. How could he?

The first wave of dizziness came ten minutes into the shoot. He felt the world spiral as he began to tip over, only to be propped up by a quick helping hand from Tino, who winked at him with a kind smile playing on his lips. Lukas gave a small smile back; he couldn't hate on Tino. Nobody could.

The second wave was accompanied by a throbbing headache. He began to pitch forward, thankfully catching himself in time.

The headache persisted. Lukas tried to straighten himself up, but it was no use. He toppled sideways into Tino, who quickly caught him and lowered him to the ground. The crowd was stunned.

"What's going on?"

"Did Bondevik just faint?"

"Lukas!" Mathias's cry rang out from the crowd as he leapt onto the stage. He knelt down next to Lukas, searching his face for a sign of life. Thankfully he was breathing, but hard, and his hands were cold and clammy. Nodding at Tino, the two men lifted up Lukas and carried him out of the room, photographers following.

"God damn, why won't they go away?" Tino asked Mathias as they trudged down the hall with camera lenses aimed at their backs.

"I can't take this," Mathias replied. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Will you all just show a little respect and get the fuck out of here? Luke is sick, if you're going to stay around, give a little fucking help!" he snapped.

The photographers lowered their cameras, slightly stunned at Mathias's outburst. Mathias and Tino took that opportunity to shuffle Lukas into the dressing room and lock the door behind them.

They dumped Lukas on the couch. "I'll go get the office nurse," Tino said before scrambling out the door.

He returned less than five minutes later with the nurse in tow. Mathias and Tino stood aside quietly as she checked up on him. It was a quick checkup, only a couple minutes, but each minute wondering what the hell had happened to their friend felt like forever.

Finally, the nurse finished the checkup. "He's fine," she stated, "just fatigued. This kind of stuff doesn't just happen, what has he been doing?"

Mathias shrugged. Tino shook his head. "He's been working hard lately," he said quietly, "but I didn't know it was affecting him this much." He gazed at Lukas, who lay unmoving on the couch.

"He just needs a nice, long nap and to stay off his feet for a couple days, then he'll be as right as rain." The nurse smiled and left the room.

Tino sighed and plopped into an armchair across the room. He shook his head. "This is just... I can't believe it. Lukas finally worked himself to the point of passing out," he said in disbelief.

"What do you mean by 'finally'?" asked Mathias.

"I suppose he hasn't told you about his 'dream' yet," Tino said, spitting out the word "dream" as if it were poison. "Well... He's completely consumed. He wants to be an international-grade model."

"Seems like a nice dream," Mathias said weakly.

"You don't understand. He's been damaged by it. It's like... Eating him from inside." Tino propped his elbows on the armrests, gazing at Lukas. "He has no friends outside of Image. Hell, he's even said bad things about me, too, and he's supposed to be my best friend. He's actually a really nice guy, but not like this..." Tino sighed, "I'm actually really worried about him. First his relationships, now his health... What's next?"

In the midst of his worried murmuring, Ludwig burst into the room. "Väinämöinen, we still need you onstage!" he barked.

Tino leapt up from his chair before casting a hesitant look at Mathias and Lukas. Mathias shook his head. "Go on," he said, "I'll take care of him. They need you out there." Tino nodded and left with Ludwig, shutting the door behind them.

Mathias sat in Tino's vacated chair. He won't tell me anything about himself, he mused, looking over Lukas's sleeping form. I bet we wouldn't be here right now if he did. Hey, Luke, can you just give me a chance?

XxX

A loud click, the sound of the door opening, roused Mathias from his sleep. He wiped the grit from his eyes to look at the newcomer, who seemed to be barely more than a kid, from the looks of his childlike face and the heavy school bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hey, kid, personnel only," Mathias grumbled.

"I'm here for Lukas," the kid replied, "I'm his brother, Emil."

"I didn't know Luke had a brother," muttered Mathias, shaking Lukas gently. "Luke, your brother's here for you. Wake up."

Lukas rolled over and wiggled his nose, still asleep.

"What happened to him?" asked Emil, approaching his sleeping brother.

"Fatigue," Mathias answered, "He's been hittin' it hard, apparently, according to Tino."

Unexpectedly, Emil uttered a curse before shaking his brother, yelling, "Hey! Stupid brother! Wake up!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" Mathias pulled Emil away. "He needs to get some rest!"

Emil said nothing. He simply stood there.

"Hey, kid, look at me." Mathias tilted his head so he could get a better look at Emil's face. The silver-haired boy was biting back tears, his watery eyes cast on the floor.

"I told him!" Emil cried, stamping his foot. "I told him not to overwork himself! God, he's going to work himself to death one of these days! I told him not to!"

Mathias tried to console Emil by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Kid, calm down. Your brother just needs a nap and he'll be fine."

Emil shoved Mathias away. "No, it's not! He hasn't been eating as much lately, either! Do you see how skinny he is?"

The kid's telling the truth, thought Mathias solemly, glancing over at Lukas. His face was the slightest it more gaunt and his collarbone stuck out a little too much. He turned back to Emil. "Listen, squirt," he said, "go home. You've probably got school tomorrow."

Emil stopped his sniffling to retort, "what if I do?"

"Look," continued Mathias, "trust me. I'll stay here with Luke until he wakes up." He held out his pinky. "I promise. Nobody ain't touching your bro while I'm around."

Emil looked at him skeptically. "How do I know I can trust you?"

Mathias groped for an answer but drew a blank. "Uh..."

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" asked Emil.

"Mathias Køhler. Former unemployed loser and Image's newest model." he smiled, "Your brother's the one who trained me."

A light lit up in Emil's eyes. "Oh, then you must be 'that annoying Mathias'! Lukas told me all about you!"

Probably not very good things, Mathias thought sheepishly. "So..." he began tentatively, "can you trust me?"

Emil nodded. "I guess so. He says nice things about you." Before Mathias could question his last statement, Emil turned to leave. "However, if you even look at my brother inappropriately, I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish." Emil strode out, shutting the door behind him.

Mathias sank to the floor, leaning against the couch on which Lukas slept. "Wow, Luke. Some brother ya got there," he mumbled, "kinda reminds me of you, in a way." He twisted his body to look at Lukas, "But then again, the kid's right. You've been working hard lately. Take a break." He reached up and brushed a lock of hair from Lukas's forehead, smiling gently. "No wonder you're a model," he whispered, "so keep this model body healthy, okay?"

He turned back around, resting his back against the couch once more, chuckling. "God, I bet you can't even hear me. Guess it's fine to say this, then." He inhaled deeply. "I like you a lot, Luke. I mean, I always manage to piss you off, and I'm really sorry, but there's something about you that makes me think, 'wow, so cool!' and..." he shrugged, "I dunno. I want you to think I'm cool, too." Sigh. "So... Yeah. That's how I feel, in case you wanted to know," He muttered, "Your turn."

He glanced at Lukas, half-expecting a reply, but only silence echoed through the empty room.

XxX

Unnatural indoor light streamed into the small room via a small window perched high on the wall. Lukas's eyes fluttered open only to star at an unfamiliar ceiling. Where am I? he wondered, sitting up and looking around.

He was in the backstage lounge of Image's personal photography studio. The clock on the wall and the sounds of people beginning to hustle outside told him it was about nine o'clock in the morning.

What am I still doing here? Lukas inquired to himself, pushing away the jacket which had been placed over him and swinging his legs off the couch.

"Oof!"

"Mathias, what are you doing here?"

Mathias stood up from his sleeping place on the floor. "What does it look like I'm doing here?" he asked, rubbing his sore back. "Damn, sleeping on floors hurts like hell..."

"Who asked you to sleep on the floor?"

"I was watching over you, what do you think?"

"Watching over me? What are you, some kind of creep?"

"Luke, you've been knocked out for over 15 hours, of course you needed someone to watch over you. Tino and I–"

"That's right!" Lukas sprang up, cutting Mathias off. "The shoot! I was shooting with Tino! What the fuck happened? Dammit, Mathias, tell me!" He clutched at the taller man's shirt.

Looking into those normally calm, disregarding indigo eyes, now hardened with imploring panic, Mathias felt like he had been shot in the stomach. He wanted to hold Lukas to him and keep holding him until he was himself again. Instead, he said, "You passed out in the middle of the shoot."

"I what?" Lukas stumbled backwards onto the couch. "No..."

"Your brother came in, too. Got real angry when he heard you'd passed out." Mathias took a seat next to Lukas. "Look, Luke. You're worrying everyone. Hell, you're endangering your own health, and it's showing on your face!"

Lukas touched his cheek gently. "Maybe I should go in for Botox..." he mumbled.

"You're twenty-four and already sexy as hell! Why the hell would you need Botox!" Mathias snapped. "Luke, you need to take a break. Go on vacation or something. Look, I'll even ask Ludwig for you if you want."

As if on cue, Ludwig walked into the room. "Bondevik," he barked, startling the two men, "how are you doing?"

Lukas looked away. "I'm fine. Fine. Nothing's wrong."

Neither Mathias nor Ludwig believed that lie for a millisecond. Ludwig shook his head. "Køhler. Take him home and see that he gets rest."

"Yes, sir." Mathias nodded and escorted Lukas away.

AN: Woohoo long-as-ass chapter, and the return of Emil! Ooooo! (It's like a horror movie. Hetalia 2: The Return of Iceland or something like that.) I've been working on papers and homework and chemistry and handbells all weekend so I'm a little delirious. I should find some time to get more sleep and I'll stop before I ramble.
To everyone reading, thank you for following this story! It means a lot to me to be read and I flail in my chair whenever I get a new email from FF telling me someone reviewed, or followed, or faved. Soooo... I love you. C: