Gilbert's feet slowly shuffled across the floor, rubber dragging against the dirt covered cement. His body hung over itself, and Gilbert's head was cocked to the side, mouth slightly. Eyes deep inside sullen sockets, the skin grey and loose. He didn't look all that different from yesterday, with only a few exceptions. 1. The swelling has gone down. 2. His milked over eyes had a soft yellow glow to them.
Ludwig held his breath while his brother turned around to face him. "Gilbert?" The eyes slowly blinked. "Gilbert, it's me, your brother." Ludwig felt tears threatening to squeeze from his eyes. He had done it, his brother was here. In front of him.
Ludwig took slow steps towards Gilbert, his hands out to show his brother he meant no harm. Gilbert in turn did not move, he just blinked and watched. Ludwig continued approaching until he was within arms reach of his brother. Arthur's warning echoed faintly in the back of his mind, otherwise Ludwig would have hugged his brother. Instead the two stared at each other. Ludwig was fighting hard to keep tears out of his eyes. "It's me brother" he barely whispered. Any louder and he would have choked on his words. "You're back. I'm here to help you get better."
Ludwig was slow, but he gently put his hand out, reaching for Gilbert's. Only lifeless eyes followed the movement. Ludwig gently took hold of Gilbert's hand. It was cold and damp. But it wasn't stiff. There was ever a slight, slight buzz underneath the skin. Ludwig swallowed back more tears. "I'm going to help you get better." He nodded to himself.
Prussia's sullen eyes shifted to gaze at the iron cross around Ludwigs neck. Germany noticed. "Oh…you noticed then. Sorry I took it." He let go of the corpse's hand and moved to take the chain off his neck. He placed the necklace over Gilbert's head. "It's actually yours. You can have it back."
The corpse's eyes followed the cross as it was put around its neck. Stiffly, and very slowly, it's fingers reached for the cross, admiring the shine of the metal. Ludwig ignored the foul stench coming out of his brother's gaping mouth as he softly smiled. His brother must have remembered the cross as a significant token in his life. Ludwig concluded that his brother probably just needed a few more momentos to jog his memory.
Either way, Germany was excited about his brother being here. He pulled an old chair from the stacks of furniture stuffed in a corner and placed it in front of his brother to just talk. Talk about the last week, talk about the nations, Talk about how he was doing and how he was taking the pandemic. Talked about how much he missed his brother and talked about memories the two shared. Like the last night they had gone out, which was over a year ago, and how Feli was doing and how Romano was doing. Ludwig felt a huge weight lift off his shoulder while he just talked to his brother, who seemed to listen with glazed eyes, unmoving. Ludwig must have been talking for an hour before decided he wanted to test his brother's overall abilities.
Ludwig started with small movements, asking his brother to move about the basement, but Prussia struggled with leaving the center. He didn't go past foundation pillars, and his steps were awkward, heavy, and stiff. Ludwig also tried to see if he could get his brother's attention to focus on certain things. He tried showing Prussia the pictures in his wallet of the two of them, but his brother was uninterested. He was just sorta standing there. Barely moving about. HIs brother's only consistent movement was the shuffling of his body to follow Germany's movement, and the unbroken gaze from his eyes. Ludwig tried his brother's reflexes as well, but no real response. It was discouraging at first, because Ludwig felt like his brother was really really far away, but he remembered that the necromancy book addressed this issue. The answer to this problem lay in Germany's library, in a large stack of photocopied pages.
"I'll be back Gilbert" Ludwig reassured his brother as he went to the basement door. "I need to check some things for you. Don't worry, I won't be long."
Ludwig rushed to his library and shifted through the stacks of texts and translations. There were actually quite a few spells in here, but most of them he didn't give a shit about. There was no need to. They were not something he felt would serve his purpose. A few minutes of thumbing got him to the page that he needed. He's eyes scoured the words, with the translations alongside it. It wasn't word for word. A few things had been lost but he did his best to decipher the texts.
"Once the enchantment has been successfully executed, the reanimated will need some time to wake up. Rigor mortis (this was a modern translation of the word) causes the body to be stiff for a few days. Allow the subject time to regain body movement. The success of the woken depends heavily on how they are fed" This was where part of the texts were lost, and in the past, Ludwig has struggled to translate. "Ensure the restless have their own designated space. Light _ improves the regaining of orientation. The best diet includes a healthy amount of raw meat" This was also a fuzzy translation..
Ludwig read a little bit more. There were suggestions in the book about how to get the reanimated to perform better, such as providing stimulating toys, and spending time teaching them basic activities with a food reward system. It was also noted that until a proper diet has been achieved, the reanimated will continue to rot away. So there was a bit of pressure with time sensitivity. Germany was a little worried about this because he knew the translation had been shaky. So he needed to figure out the best food for Prussia and figure it out fast.
Ludwig tried to think of what he could make for his brother right now before he went out to run errands. There was some sausages in the fridge, but that was sorta it. Everything else was overflowing with food other nations had made so Germany didn't have to cook for the next month or so. It was worth a shot though. He went to the kitchen and got the plate of sausage together. A fork seemed pointless right now since Prussia couldn't hold much. He was quick to return, knocking on the door to announce his presence before walking in with a plate of food.
"Hey I'm back. I brought you some wurst. It's not cooked but I figured you'd be fine with that." Gilbert's eyes followed Ludwig as he walked over to a dusty table and wiped it off with his sleeve before setting down the plate. "I didn't bring any forks because I didn't really think you could use them right now but I did keep it in a plate for you."
Prussia made small dragging movements towards his brother.
"Anyway" Ludwig turned from the plate and stepped toward Gilbert. "I'm going to go run errands. Get you something proper to eat. Hopefully you'll feel much better after that, then we can start working on getting you into shape a bit and cleaning this place up for you. I promise I won't be long." The instinct to hold his brother popped into his head again but Ludwig bit it back. He didn't want to freak Gilbert out. Instead he just waved goodbye, left the basement, and set out on his journey to the butchers.
…..
Germany was quick to come back. He shouldered with him an entire half cut of a full pork body. The body was carefully balanced as he knocked and then opened the basement door. Prussia's grey head snapped up when Ludwig stepped in with a huff. Yellow orbs in dark circles followed his movements and stared at the pig that ludwig dropped on the floor with a heave
"I know it's a little overkill but I didn't know how hungry you were. Sorry about dropping this on the floor. The tables here can't really support the weight." Ludwig sorta shrugged with a huff of laughter. "Anyway, here's something a little more substantial for you."
Prussia stared blankly at the pork on the floor, not really moving or showing any interest in the food. Ludwig furrowed his brows. Was something wrong with it? He knelt down at the pork and poked it, inspecting to see if it was weird but he couldn't find anything. He stood back up and looked at his brother. "Do you...want me to leave so you can eat?" More blank staring. Ludwig sighed and got off the floor. "You know what, it's fine. I'll let you explore this. See if you like it." He stepped away and instead went to inspect the plate he had left of the sausage. It had definitely been touched, because the sausage was strewn around the table, not not a single bite was taken. He must not have liked it. Ludwig sighed as he picked the wurst up and collected the plate, turning his attention back to his brother who was towering over the pig corpse. "I'll come back in a few hours, okay?" Still no response. Ludwig headed towards the door in defeat, gazing over at his brother who was now starting to bend over the pork. He had to remind himself that this was just the first step in a long journey.
Well… now what? Three hour wasa significant chunk of time. Ludwig had sorta been ignoring a lot in the house, and ignoring messages from other people. Feli had called him 6 times in the last 4 days and he hadn't responded to a single call. Francis had also called. But there were also other things in the house that felt really pressing. Like the fact that the entire house smelt like a rotting body, and Ludwig knew that was directly caused by his brother. He didn't really want other nations and visitors to find Prussia until he was better. He felt they might lie to him and say that Gilbert was dead, or he worried that they would condemn him for trying to heal his brother. He did not want criticism. But having people visit was also unavoidable. He'd need to take care of the smell. Quickly.
There was also the issue with people getting nosy with Germany's brother. He didn't want uninvited visitors getting inside the basement. For now, the door was okay. The sturdy oak at the end of the stairs had a good lock, just in case something was to happen. But it might be beneficial to put a lock on the door at the top of the stairs so no one could get nosy about opening it. He nodded slightly. Yeah that was fine. But first, this fucking smell.
The smell was the worst near the basement and in the living room. Ludwig knew that he wouldn't really be able to cover it up without a strong counter smell. He had a few candles that he could light that would work. He'd never admit it, but Ludwig loved those classic cinnamon pumpkin winter candles. And no scent was stronger than one of those bitches. A candle alone would not be enough though. The couches and carpet would need to be deep cleaned. A bissell could take care of that. Everything else would need to spend some quality time in the washroom. The work was tedious. Scrubbing for god knows how long was tiring, but in a few hours, Ludwigs living room smelt like a grandma's house right before Christmas. His kitchen was next, but he wanted to check on Gilbert first.
Ludwig was slow to approach the basement door, ear pressed against the wood to try listening to the other side. He didn't really hear anything which worried him a bit. The door slowly creaked open, and Ludwig peeked his head inside. The light of the day was starting to set, so the basement was rather dark. He squinted, seeing a wispy shadow of his brother. His hand went for the switch on the outside of the wall. Lights flicked on over his brother and Ludwigs stomach dropped. Gilbert had not moved. At all.
"Gilbert...," Germany was starting to feel defeated. His brother hadn't touched the meat on the floor at all, and it had been several hours. His body was still hunched over at odd angles over the pig corpse. Germany softly closed the door behind him and approached the carcass, which had now collected a few flies. Prussia's distorted body remained motionless over the pige while his head turned to follow Ludwig's movement. Germany squatted down in front of his brother and poked at the pig. Not a single bite was taken.
He stood up, clearly upset, but not ready to walk away defeated. Maybe Gilbert just needed a little more time. Or maybe he'd like it warm. To be fair, the pig was still slightly cold. Ludwig looked over his brother and tried to get Gilbert's attention.
"Hey...hey Gilbert" Ludwig waved his hand in front of his brother, Prussia's head cocked to the side, his mouth open and dry. "You gotta eat." Ludwigs hands hitched onto his hips "Look I know that this is all sorta new but you gotta work with me." Once again, Prussia was just blankly staring at Ludwig. Ludwig was growing more desperate every time Gilbert didn't respond.
"Please" His eyes furrowed in a place of bargaining but Gilbert only managed to close his gaping mouth. Maybe he just needed more time. After all, the book said that he needed to let Gilbert have some time to become more flexible.
The German let out a frustrated huff before dropping his hands. He just has to wait it out and see what the morning brought. Prussia took small, clumsy steps towards his brother while he was trying to leave. Ludwig paused to reassure him.
"It's okay. I'll be here tomorrow." He almost felt bad about leaving his brother in the dark but Ludwig was at a loss. His brother wasn't eating and if he couldn't figure out what prussia would eat, and figure it out fast, he'd lose the last chance he had to spend time with him. "I promise i'll think of something to help you."
Ludwig had a lot to think about for the night. How did he get his brother to eat? Did Gilbert need to get a bit more mobile before he could start eating? Did Gilbert want freshly killed animals? Was he being picky because Lugwig had to put the pig on the floor? What about human amenities? Did he need to get a bathroom for his brother? A bed? Would Gilbert sleep? What about things for him to do? Was Gilbert going to want toys to play with? Books to read? Ludwig felt like books were a little too far advanced for where his brother was at, so what could he introduce? A pet maybe? Maybe Gilbird? Or maybe he'd like things that made sounds. Would children's toys be appropriate? He couldn't spend all his time in the basement with his brother, so how would he keep him entertained? What about the smell? Would it ever go away? Would Ludwig need to deep clean the basement every week to manage it? All of these little questions with no answer piled up in Ludwig's head. He spent the night restless.
…...
Ludwig woke up at the crack of dawn, anxiety eating a hole in his stomach. Had Gilbert eaten? Had he not? Was he moving about? Would he be dead? The uncertainty motivated Ludwig to swiftly head to the basement. The door slowly swung open as Ludwig peered inside a dimly lit basement. Prussia had moved science last night, and Ludwig grew fearful when he couldn't find his brother's lanky figure. The german's eyes scanned the dark corners when suddenly a rasp raked its way into Ludwig's right ear. He jumped.
Prussia had been standing in the shadows next to the door the entire time. "Jesus East!" Ludwig breathed, clutching his heart. "You scared the shit out of me."
Ludwig took a shaky breath before fully stepping inside the basement to look at his brother. "What are you doing here mucking in the dark? Did you eat the pig?" Prussia's sullen lifeless eyes refused to say anything, leaving Ludwig to search the crowded basement floor. At first he couldn't find anything, which helped ease a bit of anxiety. Prussia must have eaten. But then, upon further investigation, he saw that Prussia had dragged the meat to a corner and let it sit. Ludwig sighed and tapped his foot in frustration over the carcass before turning around to face his brother, who was starting to slowly follow him.
"Well….. you didn't eat it….but you certainly played with it. What am I gonna do with you."
Prussia tilted his head in response and Ludwig huffed
"I guess I'll just try something else." Ludwig felt defeated by his brother. "I have to run a few more errands this morning. I thought you might like it if you had some of your things down here, so I'm going to stop by your apartment. And I'm going to try to pick some stuff to help entertain you too" Germany shrugged "I doubt all these stacked furniture and boxes are all that fun for you. We'll get through it eventually. But for now, just be a little more patient with me. I promise I'll be back as soon as possible." Ludwig waited for a response from his brother, but once again, got absolutely nothing. Ludwig said his goodbye to his brother and headed out to run his morning errands. He was hoping to get them done before 12 today.
Prussia's apartment was first on the list to visit. He figured that maybe Gilbird would make a good companion for his brother. His brother really really loved the bird. And he was not being aggressive, so Prussia would probably respond well to his pet companion. Ludwig also wanted to grab some of his brother's clothes. Gilbert already smelled horrible. Maybe clean clothes could help the stench. There were also the albums and journals that Ludwig wanted to show and read Prussia, and maybe Ludwig could grab a few things to help the basement feel more like Gilbert's home.
When Ludwig got to Prussia's apartment, he expected the door to be locked. But it was not locked at all. In fact, the door wasn't even closed all the way. Perplexed and slightly alarmed, he held his breath while he pushed open the front door. Cautiously, he called out "hello?"
He heard a sort thud in the distance, paired with a "fuck!" and then some steps. Soon Francis emerged in the living room, holding his head like he had just hit it on something. That explained the thud.
Francis left out a sigh of relief when he saw Ludwig. "Oh thank god it's you. I thought you were Prussia for a split second and it freaked me the fuck out." Francis let his hand drop and stretched, relief and curiosity overcoming his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." Ludwig replied, closing the door behind him.
Francis held up a finger and shook his head. "My question first."
Ludwig sighed "I'm here to collect my brother's clothes, loose items, albums, and bird. What about you?"
Francis huffed a deep sigh. It was obvious that the grief was weighing him down. He was tired. Keeping up his composed demeanor was exhausting. "More or less the same reason. But I was also here looking for you. You've haven't been answering my texts. Feli said you wanted to be alone but it's been a week now. I figured I'd try you here first, then stop by your house." Francis neared Ludwig and took his hands into his own, concern and compassion overflowing from his eyes. "how are you doing"
Ludwig pulled his hand away from Francis and closed in on himself, "I'm fine. Honestly."
Francis didn't believe Ludwig. "Are you sure? Here. Come sit. We can talk. I'll get some drinks."
Ludwig tried to decline but Francis already floated over to the kitchen. "I feel sorta bad about eating Gilbert's food" Francis called over his shoulder while Ludwig resigned himself to follow "but I'd rather some of these not go to waste."
Francis dug into the fridge and pulled out two beer cans. The exact ones Ludwig had noticed were abandoned only a week ago. Ludwig's brows furrowed when he saw the can while he took his coat off. "Francis, it's 9 in the morning."
Francis shrugged, unbothered. "Gilbert's passing has made time irrelevant." The sizzle of beer popping echoed off the walls. Francis pushed a can into Ludwigs hand and took a seat, raising up the beer. "To our late Gilbert Beilschmidt"
Ludwig felt awkward but he clinked the can anyway before taking a sear himself. Should he tell Francis that Gilbert wasn't dead? Did Francis know? Germany didn't think so. Francis drank down the can like it was water. It caused concern in the german. "Please tell me this is your first drink, Francis."
France gave a sad smile "I had a glass of wine this morning. But it really doesn't help. You don't have to worry about me. I promise I'm not drowning my sorrows in alcohol." He sighed, set down the drink, and leaned back in the kitchen chair. "But I guess this really isn't about me. Have you been taking care of yourself?"
Ludwig gave a thick nod after he swallowed a bit of the beer. "Yeah I'm fine. Just cleaning."
Francis raised a brow "I'm gonna be honest Ludwig. You are a terrible liar."
Ludwig felt his throat catch. Did Francis know about his brother?
"You haven't slept in a week. I can see it in the bags under your eyes."
Oh thank god. Germany nervously swallowed and then nodded. "Yeah. I…I haven't been sleeping." He paused, "is it really that noticeable?" Germany felt like he looked fine.
Francis nodded. "Very. Have you been eating."
Germany gave a half nod. "Sorta."
"At least that's something. You know," Francis leaned in on the table, "A few others are having a really hard time too. I've heard the Dane hasn't been home for the last week. He's at Norway's. He must be really upset. All the Nordic countries closed down their borders. Isn't that weird? I guess they prefer to mourn in solitude."
"Huh…I guess that is weird."
Francis nodded. "But you have a whole support system here. I'm by myself most of the time. I really loved your brother. It's sorta hard to even be here but like, fuck. It happens." Francis paused to stop his words from catching in his throat. He was not having a great time. "You said you were here to grab some of your brother's stuff?"
Ludwig nodded
"Let me help you. I….I promised your brother, a long long time ago," Francis was starting to fumble on his words a bit. The grace he normally carried was starting to dissolve. "I told him, well promised him, that if something was to ever happen to him, your brother I mean, that would take care of you." Francis wiped his face with his sleeve. "Obviously you're grown now. But…I still made a promise. If you need anything. And I mean anything, just let me know." Francis had reached across the table to squeeze Ludwigs hand again. "We all love you a lot."
Ludwig could see that Francis' eyes were red and puffy. Had he been crying the whole morning? Germany squeezed the hands back "My brother made good friends."
The comment caused France to suck in a sniff and blink back a few tears. "I appreciate that. You know, Arthur always criticized me for being Gilbert's friend. Did I ever tell you that?"
Ludwig shook his head.
"He did. Always thought the guy was a nuisance. I mean, he didn't even show up to the funeral." That, Ludwig had noticed.
"Arthur is odd at the best of times. Despicable at worst."
Francis scoffed. "Sometimes I think I hate him. I've never met someone as cold as him."
Ludwig was pretty sure Francis was not handling Gilbert well at all. There was a weird silence. It started to get awkward. Ludwig cleared his throat. "Francis… are you...are you sure you're okay."
The man shook his head, not even trying to hide."I'm not." he was really soft, talking into the beer can he picked up again. "I lost my best friend. What am I supposed to do?"
Ludwig took a deep breath, words slightly shaking. Should he tell him? "He's not really…gone."
Francis scoffed "I know, I know. That's what everyone tells me but…" he paused, swishing the bits of beer in the can that was left. "I don't know. I came here looking for you but also, I want the same things you do. The pictures, memories, and clothes. I don't know. I was kinda hoping I could take a shirt of his or something. Everything here still smells like him. Sometimes I'll close my eyes," Francis' head leaned back as his eyes squeezed shut "and I can see him, standing, laughing. And I hope that when I open them, he's here next to me." Francis opened his eyes but kept his gaze at the ceiling. "But he's not. But I have to stay strong, you know, for other nations. It's hard. I don't really think I got a chance to be upset?"
Ludwig stared down at the now empty beer can. Counseling was not something that he was good at. Never was. Oddly enough, his brother was better at it than Ludwig ever could be. Who would have expected the loud, arrogant, idiotic, string bean of a man to be good at grief counseling? It was time Ludwig stepped up to his brother's reputation.
"Francis, you are always welcome at my home. If you...ever get lonely"
Frances' head curiously peered over to Ludwig "Are you sure?
Ludwig nodded. He would have to keep France away from the basement, but Francis had been very respectful of space as of late. It didn't seem like it'd be an issue. "Yeah, just give me a heads up."
Francis nodded and closed his eyes again, listening to the scrapping of the chair as Germany got up "I take this is the end of our conversation then?" he hummed.
"For now." Ludwig collected the two beer cans and put them in the trash. He paused, a question surfacing to his brain. "How.. How did you get into Prussia's apartment?"
France snorted. "Funny you should ask." He opened his eyes to look at ludwig. " Short answer, I have my own key. Long answer, one time we all got high as shit and I took Prussia's keys because I thought it'd be funny. It was, by the way, and I just never gave them back." Francis shrugged and straightened himself out.
Ludwig nodded. Sounded like his brother. "Well, since you are here, did you want to help me load my car up with Prussia's things?"
Francis gave a small, exhausted nod. "Might as well."
Francis followed Ludwig into Prussia's room. It was immediately obvious the Frenchman was doing the exact. same. thing. Ludwig had done only a few days prior. He has taken all the picture albums out and had strewn them across the room. It was exhausting to relive this through France.
It didn't really matter all that much though, and the two of them worked together putting clothes in boxes for Germany to take. Francis was having a really hard time with it. Some clothing items he clutched on to. Stopping to smell them, hugging them to his chest. Ludwig figured it'd be okay for Francis to keep some of Prussia's things. He was sure Prussia wouldn't mine, so Francis got his own small box of his favorite clothes. The albums were a bit different. They tried to keep all the books in chronological order, but it proved to be difficult. It was agreed that Germany would keep his brother's records in his own library. There was really no other place for these to go.
The bathroom door was intentionally shut, and specifically avoided.
The bird? That was a different type of fuckery. Thank god France was there and knew how to actually take care of birds, because germany knew damn well he'd be fighting the devil trying to get the bird in its carrier. First they had to catch the stupid thing, which was very insistant on not being caught. The two of them ran around the room with towels like dumbasses trying to catch the bird. Gilbird was very angry about this, by the way, so he was screeching the entire time. Francis had finally caught him and shoved the bird in Gilbert's pet carrier. A towel over the carrier and the problem more or less resolved after that.
The two of them loaded everything into Germany's car, and it was a relief when everything, bird included, was finally set in the seats. Francis slammed the door shut and leaned against the car, clearly exhausted. "You know, at some point you'll need to go through the rest of the apartment. I can't imagine you'll want to keep paying the rent for this place when no one is here."
Ludwig gave a small nod. It was true he needed to go through the apartment. But it wasn't a high priority.
"Obviously it doesn't need to be immediately but," France trailed off, looking directly at Prussia's apartment window from the street, "I think it will help give everyone the closure they need if we could all come and just share memories and help you pack up everything."
Ludwig gave another nod. Call him selfish but he didn't really want Prussia's friends to come over and go through his brother's stuff while his brother was still alive. That was one, rude, and 2, invasive. Plus, Gilbert might want his apartment back. How was Germany to known? His brother had a lot of recovery to do but maybe once he was better, he'd like to live on his own again. "I'll let you know when I'm ready for that. For now I think I'll just leave it alone."
Francis nodded in understanding. "Take your time Ludwig. We have our whole lives. A day really is nothing in the grand scheme of things." The Frenchman sighed and pushed himself off the car. "Well, I suppose I should let you go now. I get the feeling that you are in a bit of a rush. Can't tell why but" he shrugged "I suppose it's not my business. I'll text you when I want to take up your offer."
Ludwig gave another nod. It was true. He wanted to leave. And he wanted Francis to leave. "Thank you for the help"
"Anytime Ludwig." Francis stepped over and grasped Ludwig's hand one last time. "Take care of yourself."
Another nod.
Francis stepped away and waved as he went to his car "I'll see you soon."
Ludwig waved back and sighed in relief the moment Francis got into his car. The German felt like he could breathe now. Francis' energy was sad and draining. It was the last thing he wanted to waste his energy on.
Ludwig ended up driving to a department on his way back home to pick up some things for Gilbert that he thought he might like. Ludwig had to be pretty selective. He didn't want anything that required too much dexterity, but he also didn't want to buy something that was boring. Critical thinking was needed because he also didn't want to offend his brother with juvenile toys. Granted, sometimes Gilbert loved the most idiotic things, but it was still tough. He decided on rubber ducks. Ludwig felt ridiculous buying these, but rubber ducks were something Prussia was fond of in the past. He also decided that maybe Prussia would like some type of stuffed animal that made noise. His brother had also been very fond of stuffed animals. Ludwig tried to keep the whole ordeal casual but he was embarrassed when the clerk asked how old the kid was and all he got out was "...it's for my brother."
It felt like an eternity, but Ludwig FINALLY got home to his brother. He spent a while unloading the car, and set down the final box of Gilbert's stuff with relief. His first priority, now that he was back home, was to check up on his brother. He figured he'd show his brother the toys first and see how he'd react before trying anything else.
The bag of toys hung around Ludwig's arm when he opened the basement door and called, "I'm back home gilbert." The basement was oddly dark. A quick visual search discovered that the 24 x 6 inch window on the west side of the room was obstructed by something. Prussia was just below the window , holding something in his hand. Ludwig set down the bag of toys and approached his brother.
"What are you doing?" he asked gently, curiosity peeking. He looked towards Prussia's hand and noticed strings of flesh from the pig. He felt his heart rise. Did Gilbert finally eat?. But he had noticed his brother wasn't blankly staring at him like he had been for the last day. Gilbert's gaze was on the window. Ludwig followed his brother's eyes. Animal remains had been smeared all over the window.
Germany slowly blinked "Prussia...thats...thats kinda gross." Prussia ignored the comment and moved up towards the window, raising his grey, spiny hands so he could cover the window with the skin. Suddenly it clicked. Prussia didn't like the sunlight. No wonder he was hiding in the shadows this morning.
Ludwig felt like an idiot. Immediately he went to find something to cover the window and some nails. He was able to get a banket of sorts. Prussia stood back, watching the process, and when the window was covered, he immediately dropped the skin and focused his gaze back at his brother.
"Sorry about that Gilbert '' Ludwig apologized. "But I got you some stuff you might like." Ludwig went back to the closed basement door and picked up the bag. Prussia's feet dragged behind him as he followed Ludwig, sullen eyes fixated on the rustling of the bag. It was good to know that his brother was moving and interested in what Ludwig had.
"I know you're kinda struggling right now to get your body to move, and you've been struggling with motor functions, so I bought some toys that might help." Ludwig pulled out the first toy - a stuffed fish with a bell in it. Ludwig shook the toy and Prussia's eyes followed the movement, his attention immediately captured. "I thought you might like this one," Ludwig explained, making a bit more noise with it. "It's nothing really special but I noticed you like noise and this was pretty fun and had a bit of shine."
Prussia leaned a bit more forward, hand slightly lifted in an attempt to hold the silly fish. Ludwig held out the toy. Prussia was able to grab it in fascination, the glitter of the fabric capturing his attention. It made Ludwig happy. His brother was way more responsive compared to yesterday.
"I also got you some rubber ducks since I remembered you collected them for a while. It's not much but if you get bored with them, I can always get you different ones." Ludwig pulled the collection of ducks out of the bag and set them on the table that he had dusted off the day before. The small bell in the fish softly chimed while Prussia took heavy steps towards the ducks.
"Did you want to play with them right now?" Ludwig asked, turning toward his brother for an answer. He expected the usual blank stare, but instead, Prussia's head snapped up and he dropped the fish that Ludwig had given him. This piqued Germany's interest. Gilbert's blank eyes looked around, his head almost straining.
Then Germany heard it. Gilbird's screeching.
"Oh shit, I almost forgot! I brought back your bird." Prussia ignored the talking. "I thought you might like it. I was going to wait till tomorrow since Francis said the bird has to get used to the space but you seem like you want to see him again."
Ludwig headed to the door while Prussia started to circle the area of the basement the sound was coming from most. "I'll be right back."
Ludwig hurried upstairs to grab the bird still in the carrier. The thing was shrieking and flapping about. Hitting itself against the plastic walls. When Ludwig held the carrier up to see the bird inside, it hissed at him. Jesus. Why was it being so aggressive? Maybe the bird just wanted out. It didn't matter either way. Ludwig carried the screeching bird down to the basement, where it only got more frantic in it's flapping. When he opened the basement door, Prussia immediately snapped his gaze toward his bird. At this point the bird would not stop screeching and it was starting to stress ludwig out. It was going to hurt itself if it didn't stop. Worried about the bird's well being, he opened the cage.
Gilbird immediately left the cage and tried to leave the basement, but Ludwig was able to catch the bird's stunt and quickly close the door before it could escape. The canary started to freak out and flew up towards the ceiling in irregular flight patterns. Prussia's gaze was absolutely glued to the bird, following its movement. Ludwig, on the other hand, was not impressed with the bird's behavior. Gilbird had gone to a deep corner in the basement and Ludwig went to swat the bird out, which only caused the bird to hiss at him and fly away.
It couldn't be helped. The bird just wasn't going to shut up and chill out. But Prussia was so engrossed with it, following it, completely abandoning everything else that was in the room. Ludwig leaned against the wall of the dark basement and just watched Gilbert lumber around. Prussia was following the bird around for a good ten minutes, before the bird started dive bombing Gilbert, screeching and hissing. This was not what this bird was supposed to be doing. If Ludwig knew the bird was going to be so ill behaved, he would have just let Francis take the damn thing home.
Gilbird was starting to get real close to Gilbert, screeching at him. Gilbert himself seemed unbothered by it, and instead stopped moving. Ludwig's head leaned in curiously to see what would happen.
Gilbird went in for another aggressive divebomb, but never finished because out of nowhere, with lightning fast reflexes, Prussia's hand snatched the bird out of the air. The bird squeaked in surprise, the body budging from Prussia's tight grasp. Before Germany could react, Prussia screeched back at Gilbird, grabbed the surprised bird's head with his teeth, and ripped it straight off its body.
Ludwig froze in complete astonishment as the crunching of bones between teeth echoed off the wall. The internal contents of the bird were oozing out its neck from how tight Gilbert was squeezing it. His brother's teeth went back into the bird, pulling out strands of muscle and organs. Muscles snapping and the wet sound of smacking filled the room.
What...the fuck
Ludwig could only watch his brother rip apart and eat his own bird. He didn't know how to feel. On one hand, Prussia just killed his favorite pet, but on the other, Prussia was eating. His brother's face was covered in the bird's blood. When it was finished, Prussia abandoned the bird's puny legs on the floor. To be honest, it freaked Ludwig out a bit. He kept close to the wall as his brother drifted back to where the fish was and picked it off the ground. The noise of the bell felt eerie after hearing the crushing of bones for the last 7 minutes.
Ludwig cleared his throat, causing Gilbert to turn around and look at him. His body no longer hung over itself.
"Well...I guess that's one way to get it to shut up."
/AN - I actually made a playlist for this story on spotify. I'm not sure if I can link it here, but the playlist is called "Good Mo(u)ring Brother." If you can't find it on spotify, feel free to pm me and i'll send you the link to give it a listen. Also, just a little background on myself, I'm finishing my bachelors degree right now and this is just a side project to help me destress. I want to post once a week, but its probably gonna get real inconsistent real fast. That being said, I've been making a lot of art for this story (along with my friends) and I'm planning a photoshoot for this story. If yall wanted to check out the art (and you know, see the chapter picture in it's full glory) yall can head to my insta account the_vultures_branch. Might also post fun things about the story as well as I go. Promise I won't leave these after every chapter, I just wanted to keep ya'll in the loop since this project went from 1 to 10 real fuckin fast./
