A surprisingly chilly breeze brushed through the air, buffeting a large white cloud across the sky where it eclipsed the warm, shining sun; the first indicators of the new season of autumn. Had there been a single leaf on the only tree that stood in the prison courtyard, they would no doubt be turning a dark shade of auburn, crisping and weakening until the lightest gusts of wind would be able to send them fluttering to the ground. Feliciano leant back against the trunk of this sturdy tree, staring up at the slim twisted branches above his head; they were bare of any leaves, green or otherwise. It was the simple things he was starting to miss about life on the outside, just watching the leaves fall and the conkers bloom...it's amazing what you take for granted when you're in prison.
Beside him sat his newfound friend and prison cellmate, Ludwig, no last name, just Ludwig. The German had become a surprisingly valued friend in the short amount of time the Italian had been incarcerated. A lot had changed since Ludwig had opened up to Feliciano about his crime and revealed his life story; it had initiated their friendship and given the Italian the security he longed for in prison. Not that he hadn't previously been protected, Ludwig had been watching over him since day one, if only out of pity, although he hadn't exactly been the nicest guy.
Now that their friendship was cemented however the German had actually been much better with him, kinder even. Ludwig didn't seem to care anymore about appearing weak in front of the other inmates; he defended the Italian and protected him from harm, not even minding the fact that every single person in the prison was now under the impression that Feliciano was his bitch. If anything Feliciano rather liked being thought of as Ludwig's property, it ensured that no one would dare try to harm him, not whilst he was glued constantly to the German's side.
Feliciano glanced next to him at his blond friend; they'd been sat under Ludwig's tree in the courtyard for the last hour or so, just chatting together quietly. As the days had gone by the Italian felt more and more comfortable with the German; in the first couple of days of their friendship Feliciano had felt a little awkward when trying to start a conversation, especially after what an emotional revelation the German had had. But now he was fine just talking to him, he actually rather liked it, they got on surprisingly well.
The Italian saw an inmate inadvertently pass close by across the courtyard, he glanced up, saw Ludwig, then tried to look casual as he hurried away, giving the tree a much wider girth, as if afraid the German was going to jump up and pounce on him for no apparent reason. Feliciano watched the man curiously before turning back to Ludwig. "You've been in here a long time haven't you?" he asked, purely for conversation starting purposes, he already knew the answer.
Ludwig glanced next to him. "What makes you say that?" he asked, resting his head back against his arm.
"Well Arthur told me it's been five years..." Feliciano said with a shrug, earning a raised eyebrow from his companion. "...but I could probably tell anyway."
"From what?" Ludwig inquired curiously.
Feliciano shrugged again, his eyes drifting across the courtyard through the vast crowd of orange jumpsuits to that one man who he'd been watching just before; he was still casting anxious glances back towards their tree. Every now again the same thing seemed to happen, inmates would either be glaring over at them with dislike, fear, irritation or confusion. Ludwig didn't seem to notice, maybe he was used to it. "Well...there's the way everyone in here seems to know who you are." the Italian suggested.
"They know of me, not who I am." Ludwig confirmed. "I'm just that guy everyone's afraid of."
Feliciano rested his head back against the trunk of the tree, gazing at him quizzically. "But why?"
Ludwig quirked an eyebrow. "Why?" he asked incredulously; the German gave a grunt of disbelief. "You were pretty damn terrified of me up until recently."
"Sì...but I'm scared of most things." Feliciano admitted softly with a bashful smile. "But I mean you're not the scariest looking guy in here." he said pointedly, scanning the vast open space he indicated the many examples of this, the large, grizzly inmates glaring over at them. "You're not the tallest or the biggest."
The German followed his gaze, and when their eyes met again he smirked. "Looks can be deceiving." he said simply, running a hand through the short hair at the back of his neck. "Nein, I think stories about my crime have been greatly exaggerated around here, und that's why everyone steps round me like I'm some kind of diseased pigeon." he muttered with a shrug of the shoulders.
"In what way are they exaggerated?" the Italian asked, crossing his legs he shuffled back against the tree so his bottom was just sitting on the tiny patch of grass that burst through the tarmac. "I mean other people in here must be...murderers, too."
The Italian winced slightly, hoping he hadn't offended the German. Thankfully Ludwig appeared unaffected by the 'M' word. "I have doubts whether there are many in here." he alleged.
"You do?"
"Ja...you know I'm actually rather fortunate in that this was the prison I ended up in." the German nodded up towards the large, towering prison confines that loomed over them from a distance. "It's not a maximum security prison, those are the ones where you're most likely to get killed."
The Italian blinked slowly. "Really?"
Ludwig nodded. "I only ended up being sent here because every other prison for miles was so over crowded that there was no room for me in any of them." he said with almost an air of relief. "Those places are the ones where guys like me usually end up, it's there where you find all the drugs, rape und abuse, und at least one inmate is killed every day in those kind of prisons."
"...and that stuff doesn't go on around here?" Feliciano asked with a slight note of confusion, thinking back to the sex auction on his second day with a shudder.
"Oh there are rape und drugs sure." Ludwig said casually and Feliciano cringed slightly. "But murder is rare...most of the guys in here are total pussies anyway, total pussies with ridiculous tattoos und no hair...they think they're so hard just because they committed petty crimes but they'd probably wilt if I so much as looked at them." he said with slight sneer in his voice.
Feliciano smiled slightly. "So that's why you're the toughest guy in here?"
Ludwig glanced at the Italian, he almost look flattered. "Pretty much, although if it were any other prison I'd probably be in trouble." he said softly, biting the inside of his cheek. "...killing one man is nothing compared to what some guys in places like that have done, as far as prison goes though this place is alright." he muttered, nodding again to the building ahead of them. "There's more freedom here then in a lot of other prisons."
Feliciano stared at him, momentarily at a slight loss for words. "...that's a strange word to use to describe a prison." he murmured softly, shivering slightly as the wind picked up suddenly in the courtyard and breezed across them, chilling him through his thin clothing.
Ludwig's eyebrow ascended slightly at the involuntary tremor. "Well a newbie like you just hasn't gotten used to the confinements of prison life." he explained briefly, and Feliciano could have sworn the German had just inched closer to him, as he could now feel Ludwig's broad shoulder just grazing against his own. "It could be a hell of a lot worse." the blond continued. "How long are you in here for anyway?" he asked.
Feliciano leant into the warmth now pressing against him. "Two years." he said with a soft sigh.
"What did you do?" the German asked interestedly.
Feliciano glanced up at him, trying his best to keep a straight face as he responded. "...I assaulted someone, he's in hospital now in a coma."
Ludwig nodded slowly, and the corner of his mouth twitched just slightly upwards. "Alright, so what really happened?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Ve?"
"Come on, you expect me to believe that a little weakling like you put someone in hospital?" the German said with a smirk, slowly shaking his head.
Feliciano held back a grin. "You don't know, I might secretly be a master of kung fu, or something." he said with a shrug.
Ludwig snorted slightly. "Ja, right." he muttered.
"Looks can be deceiving." the Italian said simply, a smile dancing in his eyes.
The German gazed down at him with a sceptical look; Feliciano just smiled sweetly and Ludwig smirked, rolling his eyes. "...so go on then, what happened?" he asked, resting his head back against the tree trunk.
Feliciano sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest he wrapped his arms around them. "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." he muttered, resting his chin on top of his knees.
"So you are innocent." the German said softly.
The Italian nodded slowly. "Sì...I wish the jury had believed it though." he murmured woefully.
"What happened?" Ludwig asked, nudging the Italian with his shoulder perhaps a little too forcefully.
Feliciano stumbled slightly, having to brace one hand on the ground in order to steady himself. He sat back up, stretching his legs out in front of him he let his hands rest in his lap, sighing deeply as he regaled the German with the story. "It was really late, about midnight, I was on my way home from a really bad date...I was supposed to get a lift home but I just wanted to get away from my date so badly and leave so I decided to walk home instead." Feliciano revealed; the German nodded for him to continue. "I live in a really nice neighbourhood so I didn't think anything would happen..." he said almost with a groan. "...but on the way home I was walking down this really quiet part of town and I saw someone lying in an alleyway. At first I thought he was just a homeless person, but when I walked past I could smell blood..."
Feliciano bit his lip slightly. "So I went into the alleyway to see what had happened; there was this Japanese man lying on the ground, there was blood everywhere...I went to see if he was okay and tried to wake him up but he wouldn't, and I didn't know if he was breathing, so I called an ambulance for him and told them where he was, and then..." the Italian trailed off, he clenched his eyes shut, resting his head in his hands he gripped the front of his hair, letting out a groan of frustration. "...then I did something really stupid." he whined.
"What was that?" Ludwig asked, intrigued.
Feliciano sighed, releasing the tight hold on his copper coloured hair, he shook his head, biting his lip slightly. "...I ran."
Ludwig stared at him. "What?...why?" he asked in utter bewilderment.
Feliciano shrugged slightly, biting the edge of his thumb. "I panicked, I thought...I thought they'd think I was the one who had attacked him...so after I called the ambulance I ran home." he said softly.
The German nodded but still seemed a little confused. "...but they did think it was you."
The Italian nodded. "Sì...someone must have seen me; the police showed up at my house a couple of hours later to arrest me...I had the man's blood all over my clothes and they wouldn't believe my story." he muttered quietly, knotting his fingers together.
"It probably would have been better if you'd stayed with the man until the ambulance got there, you'd have looked like an innocent bystander." Ludwig said delicately, almost with a look of sympathy.
Feliciano sighed. "Sì I realise that now, I made the wrong decision...I told my story to the court but they all thought I was lying...and man's family wanted justice and they thought I was guilty."
Ludwig shook his head. "That's bad...you know you're probably the only innocent guy in here."
"Sì...I don't belong here."
"It's all down to circumstances." the German said, running a hand across the back of his neck. "It's amazing isn't it? How such small actions can have such a big impact on our lives...you probably wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't gone on that date." he glanced down at the Italian, quirking an eyebrow. "I hope she was worth it."
Feliciano smiled, going slightly red. "Oh...it was actually a he, and no...no he wasn't." he said softly with a shake of the head.
"A he?" Ludwig asked rather abruptly before he cleared his throat, turning away slightly. "Oh...well neither was the guy I slept with." he muttered awkwardly.
The Italian gazed at him for a moment, still smiling. "...you know I really didn't expect you to...be that way."
"Really?" the German asked with a slight smirk. "Even after you offered yourself to me?"
Feliciano blushed violently at the reminder, turning his head the other way to face the far end of the courtyard. "I thought guys having sex with guys in prison didn't mean they were gay." he muttered, feeling suddenly quite hot despite the chilly air.
"Ja they can all keep telling themselves that." Ludwig said with a scoff. "But nein, I've known I've been this way since I was fourteen."
"That young?" the Italian asked in amazement, whipping back around to face him; he himself had not fully been aware of his sexuality until just a few years ago.
Germany nodded. "Ja, I wasn't very sure about it at first, but I came out to Gilbert und he was understanding..." he smiled softly, shaking his head. "...he always knew the right thing to say, I was terrified he'd be disgusted und he'd hate me...but he was just so great about it."
Feliciano smiled as well. "He sounds like a great guy."
"He was...he just cared so much about me." Ludwig said softly, leaning back against the tree. "He taught me everything and accepted everything about me...I'll never forget the day I told him..."
~0~
"Hey Luddi!" Gilbert kicked open the back gate to his old orphanage, the social workers had long ago stopped scorning him for 'breaking in' and just allowed him to wander into the back garden of his own free will since he'd done it almost every day for the last five years...just so long as he remembered to close the gate again when he left. His little brother was sat waiting for him in his usual spot on the back wall of the garden, legs dangling down to the ground below. It was only Ludwig who was there, the other children had learnt to anticipate Gilbert's visits and steered well clear of the orphanage garden when they knew he was going to show up. When the German spotted his brother at the gate he jumped down from the wall and immediately ran to greet him with a hug.
Gilbert grinned, lifting the young teen off the ground as they embraced. "Wow bro you're getting bigger every day!" he laughed, his voice slightly strained as he struggled under the weight of the blond, he eventually dropped him to the ground. "How have you been?"
"Okay...how about you?" Ludwig asked softly, playing with the end of his sleeves of his old green jumper, both of which were tattered and torn as if they'd been clawed at by a cat.
"I'm great! Can't wait for next week though, when I'm officially eighteen they'll let me take you out of this place during the day cause I'll be a legal adult! I'm gonna take you to the carnival und to the cinema und we'll go to the beach und I'll buy you drinks, as long as you don't tell anyone, und..." Gilbert babbled out his words in an excitable tone, beaming down at his brother. He stopped when he spotted the German's jumper sleeves. "Hey, what happened to your sleeves Ludwig? You get chased by a hungry dog or something?" he asked in befuddlement.
Ludwig bit his lip, folding the remnants of his sleeves into the palms of his hands. "Nein I've just...been picking at them und stuff." he muttered, his toe digging into the ground.
Gilbert looked a little suspicious. "Alright, well remind me the next time I get my allowance und I'll buy you a new one okay?" he said, gently ruffling the blonds' hair; he smiled down at him and the German managed a slightly distorted smile back. Gilbert looked at him curiously. "You okay little brother?"
"J-Ja...um, want to go on the swings?" the German asked hurriedly, shuffling quickly towards the back of the garden where the rusty old children's play area sat.
Gilbert slowly followed, he grabbed hold of the top bar of the swing with both hands, he pulled himself up and let himself dangle down towards the ground. "You sure you're okay Ludwig? You seem a little off...no one been messing with you have they? Cause you tell me if they have und I'll sort them out." he said determinedly, swinging back and forth on the bar.
Ludwig sat tentatively on one of the seats of the swings, gripping tightly to the ropes. "Nein, no ones been bothering me." he muttered, staring down at his feet as they dragged slowly across the ground with the movements of the swing.
Gilbert leapt down neatly from the bar, landing in front of his brother. "Well then what's the matter? You know I can tell when you've got something on your mind...have you?" he said firmly, bending down on his knees to look him in the eyes.
Ludwig swallowed slightly, his bottom lip quivering ever so slightly. "...ja, I have." he whispered; there was no point trying to lie to Gilbert.
"Alright then, so what's up?" Gilbert asked, softening instantly, he placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight shake.
The German released his hold on the ropes, thrusting his hands in between his knees to stop them from shaking. "Um, well...you know when um...when that Lisa girl told me she liked me..." Ludwig said quietly, his voice shaking slightly; Gilbert nodded. "Und um...she tried to kiss me und um...und I told her I didn't like her und um..." he bit his lip, breathing in sharply. "...I-I think I know why now."
Gilbert nodded slowly, gently rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah..."
Tears suddenly sprung to the German's eyes and he jumped up off the swing, tearing across the garden as he desperately scrubbed at his watering eyes. "O-Oh gott..." he sobbed quietly, biting down on one of his torn sleeves, chewing furiously on the frayed fabric.
"Hey..." Gilbert jogged after him, gently turning the young teenager back round to face him. "I don't like seeing you like this bro...what's wrong? You can tell me anything Ludwig." he said gently, lifting up a hand he slowly pulled his brother's sleeve away from his mouth.
Ludwig clenched his eyes shut as tears continued to pour down his face, his hands being firmly held onto by his brother's he could do nothing but stand in front of him, quietly sobbing. "G-Gil...I...I don't think I..." he sniffled loudly, stepping closer to his brother so he could lean into his chest, burrowing his head into Gilbert. "...I don't think I like girls!" he howled, clutching the font of his brother's jacket.
Gilbert wrapped his arms tightly around the young boy, hugging him close. "Aww Ludwig, don't get upset...there's nothing wrong with that." he said soothingly, gripping the back of his neck as he cuddled his little brother.
The German scrubbed his eyes on his brother's shoulder, his breath hitching in his chest. "B-But it's not just that I...I think I..." he stammered, scrunching his fists into Gilbert's jacket. "...I think I like boys." he whispered, a fresh wave of tears raining down his face.
Gilbert seemed rather stunned by his brother's confession, but he continued to hold him close, attempting to calm him. "...alright, shhhh..."
Ludwig pulled away from his brother suddenly, taking tiny steps back as he desperately scrubbed at his eyes. "I-I'm so s-sorry Gil, please...please don't hate me..." the young boy sobbed, shoving one of his torn sleeves into his mouth to muffle the noise.
"What?" Gilbert blurted out in disbelief. "Ludwig don't be stupid." he shook his head, stepping closer to his brother he took hold of his hands, gently pulling them away from his face so he could look him in the eyes. "I could never hate you."
The German sniffed, tears still seeping down his red face. "Really? Even though I'm...I'm d-distgusting?" he choked out quietly.
"What? Ludwig you're not disgusting!" Gilbert looked shocked, hurriedly pulling his brother into another hug. "Seriously Ludwig, there's nothing wrong with liking boys...it's perfectly natural." he said gently, running his fingers through the young boy's blond hair.
"...i-it is?" Ludwig whispered, gazing up at his brother.
Gilbert smiled down at him. "Of course, it doesn't matter who you like or who you fall in love with...what matters is that you be yourself, und if you like boys Ludwig then that's who you are, und you should embrace it." he said warmly, gently brushing his brother's messy fringe out of his eyes, slicking it back for him.
Ludwig managed a tiny smile back, drying his eyes on the back of his hand. "Really?"
Gilbert nodded, kissing the top of his head. "Sure, nothing wrong with love little brother." he said, grinning down at him. "So...you got a crush on any of the guys here?" he asked with a suggestive tone.
The German blushed slightly, pulling away from his brother in embarrassment. "No!" he snapped.
Gilbert laughed, poking him in the cheek. "You so do! Aww bless..." he smirked, still chuckling slightly. "...Ludwig when you're old enough I am going to help you get so much cock."
"Gil!" Ludwig blurted out in shock; his brother laughed and the German couldn't help but join in.
Gilbert grinned, slinging an arm around the blonds' shoulders. "You laugh now but trust me, you'll want my awesome help in the future with identifying gays."
The German rolled his eyes, pushing Gilbert away, still smirking slightly as he dabbed at his eyes. "Ja...I'll keep that in mind."
~0~
Feliciano smiled softly, tucking himself up against the tree as the wind picked up. "That's lucky, my brother got really annoyed at me when I first told him."
Ludwig looked sympathetic for a moment before confusion set in. "Hang on, I thought you said your brother had a boyfriend." he muttered sceptically.
"He does, he was annoyed that I turned out gay as well...he doesn't like me copying him." the Italian said, laughing slightly.
The German snorted, shaking his head. "Dear gott, that's a terrible excuse."
"I know, he's okay about it now though." Feliciano said softly. "By the way...does anyone else in here know about Gilbert?"
Ludwig was silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "Ja, Arthur knows...the prison guard." he clarified.
Feliciano smiled. "Arthur's really nice."
"Ja, he's a good guy." Ludwig agreed. "He was present at my trial und he heard my story...he was the only one who cared." he muttered softly, leaning back against the tree.
Feliciano nodded, it was all making sense now. "I wonder if he's here..." he wondered aloud. The Italian craned his neck slightly to try and locate the Brit; the guards were easily spotted in their uniforms, usually wandering around the edge of the courtyard keeping their eyes out for trouble.
Feliciano found Arthur at the right side of the courtyard conversing with Alfred; the American seemed to be showing off some kind of new handgun he'd obtained. The Italian wasn't entirely sure of their relationship, they argued like a married couple yet he wasn't certain whether they were actually romantically involved, perhaps Ludwig knew the answer. "Hey, do you know if those two are together?" Feliciano asked, turning back to look at the German next to him. He gave no response; the Italian looked slightly confused. "Ludwig?"
The German wasn't looking back at Feliciano, his gaze was clearly focused elsewhere; he was staring straight ahead of him, his face was screwed up slightly as if there was a very bad smell in the air. Feliciano tried to see what the German was staring at, it wasn't hard to spot. Stood just a little way from where they were sat, was an inmate with a similar look of disgust to the German's etched onto his face, he was staring straight back at Ludwig. The man was rather tall, although probably still shorter than the German, with dark brown, messy tufts of hair and deep grey eyes. He was quite skinny although his arms seemed to be bulging with muscles, his face was shallow and he had a rather beaky nose, and a very pointy chin.
Feliciano looked from this man to Ludwig again and back to him. For just a split second the Italian could have sworn the man's sharp stare had fallen on him, but before he could work out if this was the case the man had turned his head away from them and had set off through a crowd of inmates, and was lost among the other orange jumpsuits. Feliciano seemed rather befuddled, glancing next to him at the German. "Ludwig?" he asked.
Ludwig shook his head quickly, clearing his throat slightly. "It's nothing, sorry. What did you say?"
"It doesn't matter..." Feliciano said quietly, he shivered slightly, wrapping his arms tightly around his legs.
"Do you want to play cards later?" the German asked.
The Italian smiled slightly, nodding. "Sure."
~0~
"Straight flush." Ludwig said, displaying his cards on the top of the table. "What have you got?" he asked the Italian opposite him.
"Umm..." Feliciano bit his lip, staring down blankly at his own hand. "I have a three..." he fiddled with the cards haphazardly, sending them scattering across the wooden table. "Oops."
The German sighed, helping him collect them back up. "I thought you said you knew how to play poker." he muttered, handing Feliciano back his hand.
The Italian looked around their cell awkwardly, shrugging slightly. "I thought I'd be able to pick it up as we went along..."
Ludwig rolled his eyes. "You can't pick it up if you don't know the different hands first, look." he took the Italian's cards back from him and laid them out on the table. "See you've got a four here, that makes a pair with the four on the table, you could have played that."
"Is that good?"
"Well it's not great, but it's better than nothing." Ludwig said, scooping them back up. "That's why you have to bluff, so if the other players think you have a good hand they'll fold und you can win even with terrible cards...although that's only really for when you're playing for money." he added, separating the pile of toothpicks they'd been using as chips, giving each of them half. "Let's start again okay? I'll talk you through it." the German collected all of the cards back together and gave them a brief shuffle before dealing them out.
Feliciano nodded slowly, awkwardly picking up his two cards, he tried to copy the professional way the German held his, so casual, with such little effort. "Um...so what do I do with my cards?"
"Well when the cards are on the table you have to match the ones you have to what's on the table to try und get the best hand." Ludwig said simply; the Italian just stared at him blankly. The German sighed, placing his own cards face down on the table he shuffled his chair right around the table to sit beside the Italian, having a look at his cards. "Okay so here you've got a queen and a seven, which aren't great on their own, but then take a look at the cards on the table..."
Feliciano squinted at the cards laid face up. "Okay..."
"So there's no queen or sevens, so you can't make any pairs, but your cards are both diamonds so you could try und make a flush." Ludwig said, dragging a couple of diamond cards from the centre of the table towards them. "That's only four, you need five for a flush so you have to hope that the next card that's placed on the table is a diamond...if it's not you'll lose, but that's where bluffing comes in."
Feliciano tried hard to concentrate on the lesson Ludwig was giving him, but it was incredibly difficult to listen to what he was saying when they were pressed so close together. Ludwig suddenly poked him in the ribs and the Italian jumped, realising he'd obviously just been asked a question. "Sorry, what?"
Ludwig sighed. "I said give me your hand." he tried again, his own hand stretched out expectantly.
Feliciano stared at him, swallowing slightly. "...okay." the Italian muttered in slight confusion, his hand shaking slightly as he lifted it up and gently took hold of the German's own, he was startled by how much larger it was than his, thicker fingers, and Ludwig's palm was startlingly warm. Feliciano kept his gaze fixed firmly on their joined hands; he could feel his cheeks heating up ever so slightly. The German's fingers twitched on some kind of impulse, and Feliciano found his own fingers being tugged into the gaps between Ludwig's, they slotted so perfectly together, locking into place.
He dared a glance up at Ludwig's face and saw he too was staring at their joined hands. The German caught Feliciano's gaze and he cleared his throat awkwardly, his pale face slowly turning red. "I um...I meant your cards..." he muttered.
"Oh." Feliciano blushed furiously, holding out his other hand which still had an uneasy grip on the cards. "Sorry."
Ludwig grimaced slightly, taking them hurriedly he let their hands beak apart. "Thanks." he grunted, dropping the cards onto the table. "Um, I think I'm just going to have a sleep for a while." he said quietly as he got to his feet.
Feliciano felt slightly down heartened. "Okay."
"...you can still play with the cards if you want." Ludwig added as he crossed over to the end of the cell and hoisted himself up onto his top bunk. He lay down on his back, letting his eyes drift close as he rested his hands behind his head, sighing softly.
Feliciano watched him for a few moments; his hand the German had been holding was just resting on the table top amongst the discarded cards. He slowly closed his hand, fingers curling into his palm, the tips were tingling. The Italian eventually heard the soft, heavy breathing coming from the top bunk telling him that Ludwig had drifted off. Feliciano began collecting the cards together on the table, deciding he'd play a much less complicated card game. Every now and again he glanced up at the blond, the slightest of smiles traced onto his face; Ludwig sure did look sweet when he slept.