Feliciano awoke very slowly the next cold morning. A light gloom was cast over his cell that not only seemed to reflect the weather outside but the atmosphere within. He blindly lifted a hand to scrub at his tired eyes; the Italian was surprised by how heavy his arm felt as he brought it up to his face, an indicator of a bad nights sleep. On the contrary he'd actually slept incredibly well, he hadn't woken once from his deep slumber and he felt strangely at ease.
The Italian lay motionless for a long time as his befuddled mind attempted to recall what had happened to him. When Feliciano managed to finally peel open his eyes he realised he was not in fact lying on his own bunk; he was actually on the German's, staring right up at the stone ceiling with Ludwig himself nowhere in plain sight. Feliciano closed his heavy eyes again, letting his hand roll off his face to rest beside his head. He felt as if his mind was no longer connected to any part of him, he couldn't get his thoughts to form any kind of logical pattern; something incredible must have occurred during the night to put him into this numb trance. Feliciano forced his eyes open once more, he gave his head a slight shake from side to side to wake his mind which still seemed to be in a deep, dream like state. When the Italian could finally feel his senses coming back to him did it all slowly start to click into place. Only when he registered the dull, rather painful throb in his rear end as he shifted on the narrow bunk did Feliciano remember what had occurred last night.
The Italian inhaled sharply, stilling on the bed with a hand clapped to his mouth. Last night he and Ludwig had had sex. His German cell mate, his only companion had taken his virginity and Feliciano had let it happen. Strangely enough though after the first few moments of complete shock and lying frozen in horror the Italian very rapidly began to calm until he was feeling perfectly normal again. He hadn't understood what had happened, or more importantly, why it had happened, but it wasn't as if it had been necessarily a bad thing. Quite the opposite in fact, Feliciano had found it rather...enjoyable, amazing even; he'd never experienced anything like that before in his entire life.
Feliciano very tentatively sat up on the bunk, wincing at the slight pain in his bottom. At some point in the night Ludwig must have redressed him because his jumpsuit was back on and buttoned all the way up. The Italian smiled slightly, regardless of whatever was going through Ludwig's head last night the German had still obviously retained some of his caring, protective nature.
As if only just noticing that Ludwig was not in his bed; Feliciano looked down from the bunk to see where he was. The German was sat at their little wooden table with his back to him. He was slumped over in his chair, elbows braced on the table with his head in his hands, his fingers clawing at his hair. From the way he was sat and the way he didn't move a muscle, Feliciano was certain the German had been sat there all night.
"Ludwig?" Feliciano asked softly, having to clear his throat as it came out in a hoarse whisper. The Italian saw Ludwig flinch noticeably at the sudden invasion into the silence, but said nothing in return. Feliciano seemed quite concerned, he slowly shifted towards the ladder and carefully climbed down; the Italian stumbled on the last step as his jellified legs suddenly gave way but he managed to steady himself...he should have expected that after last night.
Feliciano took a cautious step towards the blond, biting his lip. "Um Ludwig?" the German still didn't respond, and the Italian wondered whether he was asleep. "Are you awake?" he asked softly, reaching out a hand to gently tap Ludwig's shoulder. His body moved slightly but still he refused to raise his head; the Italian noticed the German's fingers tighten in his hair. Feliciano moved even closer with his wobbly legs until he was stood right behind his chair, he delicately slid his arms around Ludwig's shoulders, giving him a gentle hug from behind. "Are you okay?"
Ludwig let out a deep, rather frustrated sigh. "Don't." he grunted as he shrugged the younger man off.
Feliciano took a slight step back, feeling rather hurt. "...what's wrong?" he questioned in a murmur. The German didn't answer and instead pushed his chair back and got slowly to his feet, crossing towards the other end of the cell in an attempt to get away from him. Feliciano frowned slightly, "Ludwig..." he hurried over, grabbing hold of the German's arm and attempting to turn him around to face him. "...listen, last night-"
"Don't!" Ludwig barked furiously, wrenching his arm away from the young man, giving him a look of dire warning. Feliciano shut his mouth, taking a hesitant step back. The German sighed, his anger flooding quickly into what Feliciano recognised as despair, raking his fingers into his blond hair again. "Seriously Feli just don't because right now I'm just about ready to kill myself..." he whispered, clenching his eyes shut.
Feliciano stared at him. "Ludwig-"
"Morning love birds!" the cheerful voice of the American prison guard sounded as he beamed at the two of them from outside their cell, getting his keys out of his belt. "Heard all about what you two were doing last night!"
"WHAT!?" Ludwig yelled suddenly, storming over to the bars of their cell. "What did you hear?" he demanded, his pale face going slowly red.
Alfred looked at Arthur beside him in confusion. "Uhhh...Arthur told me what he saw you guys doing last night." he said awkwardly, looking rather annoyed. "Maybe you could be a little more polite?"
"What did he say!?" the German raged, his dark eyes flicking from the American to the Brit.
Alfred glared at him. "My God would you calm down already? He just said you guys were cuddling cause you'd had a nightmare...not a big deal." he said irritably, rolling his eyes as he unlocked their door and slid it open. "What the hell you getting so worked up about?"
Ludwig growled in frustration, his cheeks flaming bright red he hurriedly stormed out of their cell, practically running down the long corridor to get away from them and join the rest of the inmates heading down to breakfast, his angry hissing and snarling ensuring a wide girth was kept at all times. Arthur watched him disappear, his rather large eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Is everything alright with him?" he asked the Italian who was still stood alone in the cell.
Feliciano shrugged slightly as he shuffled over, knotting his fingers together anxiously as he followed the prison guards down the corridor towards the cafeteria. "I don't know..." he murmured, keeping close to the Brit's side.
"Must just be a reaction from his night terrors." Arthur said reassuringly, smiling slightly. "You know he's never gotten help for it."
"...what do you mean?"
"Well he could speak to a counsellor, we've got several employed here." the Brit informed him, herding Feliciano and the rest of the inmates out of block D. "But whenever anyone suggests it he won't hear of it."
The Italian nodded slowly, frowning slightly. "I don't think that's why he's acting like this though..." he said quietly so the Brit couldn't hear; Alfred pushed his way through the crowd to get to the heavy metal door, unlocking it so that everyone could file through to the cafeteria.
Feliciano could easily spot Ludwig in the crowd, normally the German didn't attempt to intimidate other inmates if he could help it, he'd just stand still and not interact with anyone. But this morning Ludwig's fiery temper was in overdrive, he was still grunting angrily and he was making threatening gestures at anyone who dared to breath near him. When the blond forced his way unnecessarily violently through the crowd into the cafeteria and the rest of the block followed, Feliciano gently grabbed Arthur's arm before he could follow after. "Um, Arthur?"
The Brit smiled at him. "Yes?"
Feliciano ignored the American prison guard giving him evil looks as he touched the Brit and carried on. "Um, do you think maybe I could go and see Elizaveta?" he asked anxiously.
"What now?" Arthur question; the Italian nodded. "Why, are you unwell?"
"No I just I...I think I need to speak to her..." Feliciano said softly, looking hopeful.
Arthur bit his lip, glancing around. "I don't know...I mean I don't think I can authorise a visit with no medical reason." he muttered awkwardly.
The Italian sighed, "Oh..." he murmured, his gaze wandering towards the cafeteria where he could see Ludwig sat at his table, looking more disgruntled and edgy than he was ever used to seeing him.
Arthur saw where Feliciano was looking and sighed. "Although..." he drawled, earning the young man's attention. "I suppose if you promised to feign a bit of a cough as we pass the main office I could let it slide just this once." he said with a slight smile.
Feliciano smiled in relief. "Grazie Arthur."
"Don't mention it...and I mean that." he said warningly, turning around to wave a dismissive hand at Alfred as he was still stood by the door waiting for the Brit. "Come on." Arthur led Feliciano back into block D and down the long corridor towards the main building.
As the Italian was taken away he saw Alfred glaring at him again from the corner of his eye, it seemed a good a time as any to finally get a straight answer. "Hey Arthur..."
"Yes?"
"Are you and Alfred, you know..." Feliciano said, searching for the right word.
The Brit smiled slightly. "Life partners, yes...although God only knows why." he muttered with a shake of the head, speaking rather fondly. "That's why he keeps getting jealous, he's convinced I fancy you, you see." Arthur said with a smirk, stopping outside the large metal door at the end of the corridor. "Right..."
Feliciano waited patiently whilst the Brit began to unlock and unbolt the heavy door, fiddling anxiously with his orange sleeves; he wasn't sure why, but he just really felt the need to speak to the friendly Hungarian, apart from Ludwig she was the only person he felt comfortable discussing personal matters with...as he couldn't keep Arthur away from Alfred long enough to say anything to him. True to his word the Italian gave a few feeble coughs as Arthur led him past the main office, the man sat behind the glass gave him a sceptical look but said nothing. Feliciano walked with a quick pace to the open doorway of Elizaveta's office.
The Hungarian was busying herself with paperwork, humming softly, she looked up and smiled when Arthur knocked on the side of the wall. "Oh hi Arthur, hi Feliciano!" she sang happily when she spotted the young man slightly hidden behind the Brit. Elizaveta got to her feet and swept over to the doorway, holding out her arms. "How have you been sweetie? I haven't seen you for a while now." she said brightly, pulling the young man into a hug.
Feliciano smiled slightly, cuddling her back, having to reach up as she was ever so slightly taller than him. "Sì I've been fine...how about you?" he asked, pulling back from the embrace.
Elizaveta beamed at him. "I've been doing well thank you honey bunch." the young woman ushered him into her tidy office whilst the Brit dawdled outside "So, what can I do for you today?" she asked, taking a hold of the Italian's face gently in her hands she gave his cheeks a light squeeze and felt his forehead. "You seem perfectly healthy to me."
Feliciano removed Elizaveta's hands from his face. "I am, I just...I need to talk." he said softly.
"Oh?" Elizaveta looked at him curiously, giving his hands a gentle squeeze. "Well I'm not really qualified for that sort of thing to be honest sweetie...but we do have a some counsellors if you'd like to speak to one of them?" she offered with a friendly smile. "Usually they deal with alcohol and substance abuse but I'm sure they'd be willing to talk about whatever it is you're dealing with."
The Italian shook his head. "No, it's not that...I needed to talk to you specifically." he said looking at her beseechingly.
"Really?" the Hungarian looked quite flattered. "Okay then, sure sweetie." she smiled, gently tugging him over to the narrow bed at the end of her office; the two of them jumped up onto it to sit side by side, their legs dangling down to the floor. "What's up?" Elizaveta inquired, but before Feliciano could speak she carried on. "You know I'm surprised you want to talk to me when you could have talked to Ludwig, Arthur tells me you two have become good friends...and I'm so happy you have." she added with a warm smile.
Feliciano sighed inwardly, placing his hands in his lap. "...I can't talk to Ludwig about this." he muttered.
Elizaveta looked confused. "Oh, why not?"
The Italian bit his lip, pulling his hands into his sleeves. "...because it's about him." he said quietly, glancing away.
Elizaveta's eyebrows rose and she nodded her understanding. "Oh I see...so what's wrong sweetie?" she questioned, edging slightly closer to him on the bed.
"Um..." the Italian's eyes darted towards the doorway where he could still see Arthur standing guard; the Brit was distracted with his wristwatch however and wasn't looking in. Feliciano bit his lip, lowering his head towards Elizaveta. "...this is just between us sì?"
"Yes of course." Elizaveta said sincerely, placing a hand on his arm. "What is it?" she asked quietly.
Feliciano started tugging at the edges of his sleeves, his heart clenching anxiously in his chest. "...um, last night...last night Ludwig and I...we slept together." he finished in a whisper, feeling his face heating up ever so slightly.
The Hungarian however hadn't realised the double meaning behind his words. "Don't you always?" she asked curiously. "Being cellmates and all..."
"N-No I mean we..." Feliciano cringed slightly, biting his lip. "...we had sex."
Elizaveta stared at him. "What?" she gasped out in shock. "Oh my...really?"
Feliciano nodded slowly. "Sì..." he murmured.
"Oh wow..." Elizaveta breathed softly, shaking her head. "That's really surprising, I mean especially from Ludwig." the Italian let out a soft sigh, and Elizaveta rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. "So what is it you wanted to talk about? If you're worried about having safe sex I can give you some condoms to take back with you." she suggested, gesturing towards a row of cabinets and drawers sat in her office.
Feliciano blushed heavily, rapidly shaking his head. "N-No I just...Elizaveta I'm really confused...I don't know why it happened." he said with a slight groan, resting his head in his hands.
"Well what actually did happen?" Elizaveta asked interestedly; the Italian sighed, regaling her with the full story, how he'd woken the German from one of his night terrors, how he'd cuddled him for comfort on his bunk and then for reasons unknown a simple cuddle had turned into wild, erratic sex. Elizaveta listened intently to his story, nodding throughout. "...I see, and Ludwig was definitely awake was he? Because you know sometimes people can have sex in their sleep." she pointed out.
"I'm sure he was awake..." Feliciano murmured softly, twisting his sleeves around in his hands.
"...and did he force himself on you sweetie?"
The Italian was silent for a long moment before shaking his head. "...not really, I mean...I didn't try to stop him." he said with a shrug.
"So you're glad it happened?" Elizaveta queried with a raised brow.
"I'm not, not glad..." Feliciano muttered awkwardly, knotting his fingers together.
The Hungarian seemed a little confused. "...so what exactly is the matter honey?" she asked, gently rubbing his arm.
Feliciano sighed, leaning into her. "...it's just that...this morning Ludwig was acting weird...he didn't want to talk about what happened." he revealed gloomily.
Elizaveta looked at him sadly, her eyes softening. "...and that upset you?"
Feliciano bit his lip, "A little..." he mumbled.
The Hungarian gave him a gentle hug, the slightest of smiles on her lips. "Sweetie...do you think perhaps you may have feelings for Ludwig?"
The Italian felt another blush coming on and burrowed his head slightly into her shoulder. "I don't know...but he doesn't share them anyway, he must have just been after sex..." he muttered softly.
"Oh honey, now I can tell you right now that that is not true." Elizaveta said certainly, gently lifting his head up to look at her.
Feliciano still looked incredibly despondent as he stared at her. "How can you know?" he murmured.
Elizaveta smiled slightly, glancing up at the Brit still fiddling with his watch. "Because out of everyone in here Arthur and I know Ludwig the best, and I can guarantee he'd agree with me when I say that Ludwig would never use anyone for sex...he's in the minority here." she said, gently patting his knee.
"What?"
"Feli sweetie," the Hungarian took hold of his hand in her own, giving his fingers a squeeze. "Men need sex, okay? That's a fact." she stated and the Italian nodded unsurely. "Guys in here will sleep together, sometimes willingly other times forcefully, because they need it, that's the sad truth." Elizaveta gently tipped Feliciano's chin up as his head lowered to stare at the floor. "But in all the years Ludwig has been here he's never done anything of the sort, I know things like that are hard to keep track of in here because men aren't usually willing to come forward when they've been raped...but I know Ludwig, and he'd never do anything like that." she said, smiling certainly.
Feliciano's dismal face brightened a little. "...really?"
Elizaveta nodded. "Of course, he has a lot of respect for you Feliciano, I can tell." she asserted, patting the top of his hand. The Hungarian gave him a warm smile, letting out a contented sigh. "You know you actually remind me a lot of Ludwig when he first showed up here."
Feliciano stared at her in amazement. "What? But we're complete opposites..." he said with furrowed brows.
"Not when I first met him." Elizaveta informed the Italian, squeezing his hand again. "You know most of that tough guy act he has was developed here in prison, before he was incarcerated he was actually a rather shy young man...he cried his eyes out when I first met him, same as you did." she recalled, smiling sadly with softened eyes.
"Ludwig cried?" Feliciano blurted out in shock. "Was he scared?"
Elizaveta smiled sadly. "I don't think he was scared sweetheart, I think he was grieving, he'd only just lost his brother." she reminded him.
"Oh sì..."
The Hungarian sighed softly, shaking her head. "Bless him he was so young too...I think out of everyone here I remember his arrival the most..."
~0~
Elizaveta yawned softly, packing together her filled in paperwork for the day, she was certain there must be some kind of law against making employees who had barely turned nineteen work this late. Beside her at the desk her mentor thrust another handful of forms towards her, fixing her with a stern look.
"Remember to file these correctly this time Miss Héderváry." the elderly woman scorned, reaching onto the back of the office chair for her coat.
"Yes Mrs Wilks." Elizaveta said softly, dropping the papers onto the desk so she could help her mentor into her thick fur coat, the sooner she got her out of the office to go home the sooner she'd be able to finish her work in peace.
Just before the elderly physician could hobble out of the doorway one of the prison guards had appeared, blocking her path and holding onto a large file. "Um, Mrs Wilks, we've got a new arrival who needs a health check." he said, wincing slightly as he spoke.
"Oh for goodness sake Arthur!" Mrs Wilks snapped with a sharp tongue. "I've just put my coat on and I'm ready to go home, why on earth has this place allowed criminal scum to show up so late?" she demanded, glaring at the Brit who shrunk slightly behind the wall. "He'll just have to wait until tomorrow."
"The traffic was really bad, we couldn't get him here any earlier..." Arthur said quietly, having to look away from her dark glare before it burned his skin.
"It's okay Mrs Wilks." Elizaveta said, hurrying over to her. "You head on home, I'll stay and run the health check for him."
The elderly woman sighed, "Miss Héderváry you won't be able to handle the procedures without me."
The Hungarian tried not to be too offended. "Mrs Wilks I assure you I'll be okay...I know what I'm doing." she insisted.
Mrs Wilks glanced at her watch, dithering by the door. "Oh fine, but I'll be checking the paper work tomorrow to ensure you've filled in everything correctly." she said coldly, buttoning up her coat. "Right, goodnight both of you." the elderly woman exited through the doorway, hobbling away down the corridor.
"Miserable old bat." Arthur muttered when she'd disappeared, slipping into the office. "I'll be glad when she's retired and you've taken over." he said to the Hungarian.
Elizaveta smiled slightly. "If that ever happens, she seems to be clinging on until death." she chuckled slightly, leaning back against the edge of her desk. "Anyway...ooh!" she perked up. "What was going on yesterday?"
Arthur looked confused. "Sorry?"
Elizaveta grinned at him. "Don't give me that, I mean with you and the new prison guard, the American one." she said with a grin.
"I don't know what you're talking about." the Brit muttered, going slightly red.
Elizaveta giggled. "Yes you do." she said with a knowing smirk. "I saw you two making eyes at each other in the staff room, bit young for you isn't he?"
"I really don't know what you mean." Arthur said dismissively, still blushing as he hurriedly shoved the file he was holding into her arms. "Anyway here's the man's file with his medical form attached."
The Hungarian continued to grin but decided to let it go...for now. She opened up the file and slipped the form out, her forehead creasing in confusion. "Hang on..." she glanced up as Arthur was turning to leave. "Wait a second Arthur, there's a mistake here."
He turned back, "Hm?"
"Only his first name has been filled in." Elizaveta said, brandishing the form towards him. "The second name box is left blank."
"He doesn't have one." the Brit said with a shrug. "No parents."
"Oh poor thing..." she murmured, scanning down his file. "Only twenty years old as well..." she said as she found his date of birth, and then looked for the description of his crime. "...wait." she became confused once more. "Murder?" she asked incredulously. "Since when do murderers get sent here?"
Arthur shrugged slightly. "Everywhere else was packed, only vacancy for him was here...anyway he's not a killer, his reasons were just." the Brit muttered.
"In what way?" Elizaveta asked softly.
Arthur sighed. "I was there, I heard everything...poor guy's brother was killed and he took revenge on the guy who did it."
The Hungarian looked at him sadly. "You've always been a strong believer in revenge haven't you?"
"Only when it's appropriate." Arthur said, rubbing his eyes. "Right I better go and get him, you sure you'll be okay doing this on your own?"
"Of course, I'm not as helpless as Mrs Wilks thinks I am." Elizaveta said certainly, taking out the man's file for a proper look. Arthur disappeared a moment later and the Hungarian took the few minutes he was gone in which to study the details of this man's file. Ludwig...she'd never met anyone who didn't have a last name, although the poor man didn't have any parents. It always saddened her to realise how many inmates incarcerated had a history of a broken family; there was definitely some kind of link to crime associated with such cases. She'd only been employed here for the last six months, having to put in a lot of work and pleading phone calls until the prison allowed someone as young as her to apply for the job, most of her medical training she was picking up as she went along and learning from home. The prison guidelines on this weren't as strict as a real hospital, probably because they really couldn't care less if an inmate died or not from lack of treatment, but Elizaveta was determined to complete all of her training so she could save lives in here, a human being was a human being after all. But she'd seen enough in her short time here to get to grips with how everything worked, and how truely tragic some of the cases were; she wouldn't be surprised if she developed severe depression in the coming years working here.
The Brit emerged again a while later with a tall man stood behind him in handcuffs; Arthur stood aside and introduced him to the Hungarian, who smiled and held out her hand towards him. "Hi sweetie I'm Elizaveta, I'm the trainee prison physician for this block so myself and Mrs Wilks, who I'm sure you'll meet sometime soon, will be dealing with any injuries or illness you encounter here." she said brightly, just as she'd rehearsed. The Hungarian took the blond man gently by the wrist when he didn't shake her hand and tugged him into the office. "Now I'm going to need you to answer some questions okay sweetie?"
Ludwig nodded numbly, letting the Hungarian lead him to the bed where he hitched himself up to sit on the edge. Elizaveta smiled slightly, she was rather nervous without her mentor here but she knew the procedure to follow and what she needed to ask. "Okay I just have to ask you a few questions about your medical health is that okay?" she said gently; the blond said nothing, his dead eyes just stared at the floor as his shoulders slumped over his knees.
Elizaveta felt a little awkward, she hurried to her desk to grab a pen so she could fill out his form. "Um, okay so tell me sweetie do you have any kind of diabetes?" she asked, bracing the pen against the medical form as she waited for a response. After a few moments of silence she glanced up; Ludwig hadn't answered, his shoulders had started shaking, he must have seen her looking however because he shook his head. "Okay, allergies?" again a shake of the head, but this time the blond man a strange noise in the back of his throat. Elizaveta looked up concernedly. "Are you okay?"
In an instant the man's weak resistance crumbled and he burst into noisy tears, sobs wracking in his chest as he buried his face in his hands. Elizaveta looked startled and rushed towards him, dropping the form onto the counter somewhere. "Oh sweetie don't cry..." she placed tentative hands on his shoulders; the Hungarian knew if her mentor were here she'd be astounded if she saw Elizaveta doing something like this, on the occasions when an inmate started crying like this the old woman would throw a box of tissues at them and tell them to man up. But Elizaveta was far too kind hearted, it was one of the faults Mrs Wilks mentioned a lot, and she couldn't help her need to comfort the poor young man.
"Here..." she handed him a tissue, gently rubbing his back with her other hand. "...oh sweetie, shhh...it'll be okay."
Ludwig sniffed, loudly, scrubbing at his eyes with the tissue. "S-Sorry..." he cried, biting his lip. "...oh Gott..."
Elizaveta smiled sympathetically, pulling him into a gentle hug. "Sweetie listen to me." she said softly into his ear as he continued to sob on her shoulder. "I know this is a difficult time, but I want you to know that whilst you're incarcerated here, I'm going to be here for you if you ever need someone."
Ludwig had nodded but seemed rather unaffected by her words. They managed to get through the rest of the form before Arthur escorted him away. Elizaveta could remember watching him go, this broken down man, so very young and fragile...and she could remember thinking that either he was going to be badly abused in here, or the prison would drastically change him...
~0~
"Wow...I thought Ludwig had always been strong..." Feliciano said softly when the Hungarian had finished her story.
"No, he learnt fast though I must say." Elizaveta said with a sigh, hopping down off the bed. "Still, I better let you go now, I'll have to write up a report to say I gave you some pain killers or something as your excuse for being her."
"But Elizaveta..." Feliciano moaned, jumping down as well. "I still don't know what to do about Ludwig..."
The Hungarian smiled sadly, giving him a hug. "Well to be honest sweetie the only advice I can give is to go and talk to him."
"But he won't talk, he won't let me..." the Italian murmured, resting his head against her shoulder.
"Well you'll just have to force him to." Elizaveta chided, pulling back from the hug. "I know it's not nice, and it'll be a little awkward, but I imagine Ludwig is just as confused as you are about what happened, but the poor guy doesn't do well with touchy feely things anymore and that's probably why he's acting differently."
Feliciano seemed hopeful. "So he doesn't hate me?"
"Of course not sweetie, how could anybody hate you?" the Hungarian smiled, pecking his cheek. "Now you go and find him and insist you talk about what happened okay?" the Italian nodded. "Now did you want to take some condoms back with you? I have plenty." she said, going to one of her drawers and rattling a box of condoms in his face.
Feliciano blushed, pushing it away. "No, it's really okay...I think I just need to talk to him."
Elizaveta shrugged, smiling slightly. "As you wish."
~0~
Feliciano was eager to find Ludwig, he'd been deposited outside in the courtyard as breakfast was now over and he was determined to talk to the German before he convinced himself it was a bad idea. He didn't want to wait until they were alone in their cell to break the ice, for he feared he'd be too nervous and awkward in the confined space, it seemed like it would be easier out in the open.
For once the Italian actually couldn't seem to spot him through the vast crowds of inmates. Ludwig wasn't lounged by his tree or lifting weights in the outdoor gym...there were no obvious circles of space in which the German would be the centre of with people avoiding him, where on earth could he be? Feliciano kept moving, swiftly around the edges of the courtyard up against the fence as he scouted around for the German. The Italian passed Alfred and Arthur for the second time and stopped next to them, panting ever so slightly. "You two haven't seen Ludwig have you?"
Arthur shook his head. "No, strangely enough, he is here isn't he Alfred?" he asked his partner.
The American nodded. "Yeah man I saw him leave the cafeteria like ten minutes ago, he's definitely here somewhere." he said, craning his neck slightly to see through the crowds.
"Then where could he-...oh God what's going on over there?" Arthur implored suddenly, grabbing his companion's arm he thrust him in the direction of what he was referring to.
Feliciano looked too, and when he saw what, or rather who, it was a slight gasp escaped him. A fight had just broken out on the other side of the courtyard between two inmates; the Italian recognised them immediately as his very own cellmate Ludwig, and Blake. Blake was a rather large man he'd met in his early days at the prison who had threatened him and who Ludwig had then saved him from. He and the German seemed to have some kind of history, same as he and Eric, they clearly harboured a deep hatred for one another.
However the Italian had never seen Ludwig lash out quite like this, he'd seen him fight before, but he only ever did it for defensive purposes. The German was thrashing his fists into Blake's face over and over, slamming him so hard across the jaw the sounds could be heard throughout the entire courtyard. Arthur and Alfred had already started running towards the scene, and Feliciano could see several more prison guards taking the same course of action; the Italian ran as well, his tiny legs speeding furiously to reach the German before anybody else could.
As Feliciano came closer he could see just how one-sided the fight actually was, Blake...Blake wasn't hitting back. He grunted and gasped out occasionally in pain, attempting to block some of the hits, but he made absolutely no move to attack Ludwig, he was clearly demonstrating serious restraint. The man spat blood onto the ground, giving the German a sweet smile. "Too bad Gilbert's not here to help you out, remind me, what happened to him again?" he asked innocently.
Ludwig roared, suddenly fisting his hands into his chest and hurling the man over his shoulder to the ground. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" he bellowed, throwing himself on top of Blake and wrangling him around the neck. "DON'T EVER SAY HIS NAME!"
Blake clawed at Ludwig's hands, trying to prise them away, his face was slowly reddening as the air was no longer getting into his lungs. Feliciano saw Alfred hurriedly reaching for his taser in his belt and the Italian panicked, hurling himself at the German. "Ludwig stop!" he tried desperately to push him off of Blake but Ludwig knocked Feliciano swiftly to the ground with a dangerous snarl.
Before Feliciano could even get to his feet he heard a deafening yell of pain. Alfred had just electrocuted the German in the back with his taser, sprawling him to the ground with his limbs twitching. The prison guards who had rushed to help now swarmed them, some dragged Blake out from underneath Ludwig whilst others pinned the German to ground and restrained him with handcuffs.
Feliciano scrambled to his feet, trying to push his way through the officers. "What are you doing? Stop it you'll hurt him!" he cried, watching helplessly as Ludwig was yanked to his feet, he hung limply in the arms of two prison guards like a rag doll.
Arthur grabbed hold of the Italian and pushed him back. "I'm sorry Feliciano but he left us no choice."
"What are they doing to him?" Feliciano struggled in Arthur's grip; Ludwig was being dragged towards the entrance to the prison by Alfred and another prison guard.
"He's being put in isolation, that's what happens, we warned him not to start fighting again." the Brit said firmly, finally releasing him.
"What!?" Feliciano looked alarmed, his stomach dropping like a stone. "But...for how long? Arthur I need him!"
"I don't know, a few days, it depends what the warden decides." the Italian gave him a horrified look and the Brit sighed. "I'm sorry but this is what has to happen when someone tries to inflict serious harm, no matter what the reason." Blake was being helped up off the ground by a guard and escorted towards the building where he would no doubt be seen by Elizaveta.
"But...but..." Feliciano stammered uneasily, everyone in the courtyard seemed to be staring at him.
"Look you'll be fine." Arthur said reassuringly. "I have to go and give a witness statement to what just happened, I'll see you later." he jogged after the other prison guards who had already gone back inside the main prison building.
Feliciano swallowed slightly, slowly rotating on the spot he stared around the suddenly very cold, hostile courtyard. He hadn't felt quite so uncomfortable since his first day here. Ludwig was actually gone, he was completely alone. The Italian kept stepping slowly around in a circle until his eyes met another gaze and he froze. A familiar face was creeping towards him, deep grey eyes locked onto his own as the skinny, yet rather muscular inmate moved towards him. Feliciano bit his lip, too rigid to move, all to soon he was face to face with this pointy chin, swallow cheeked young man, whose slim lips stretched into an overly-friendly smile. He thrust his hand forward towards the Italian and said in a low voice.
"Hi, I'm Johan."