Post by Liechtenstein on Oct 16, 2010 15:37:57 GMT -8
“Feliciano, get your head out of the clouds and come take these down to the post office!”
The loud demand startled Feliciano out of his reverie, and he jumped up from where he’d been dozing in the grass, beaming unashamedly at the burly shopkeeper as he ran over. Marcello sighed and gave his young employee the boxes, making sure that he could hold all of them securely. Lately Feliciano had been much quieter than usual, and Marcello was a bit worried about the boy. While it wasn’t unusual for him to drift off quite often, the wistful—almost sad—expressions on his face were weirdly unsettling.
“Don’t waste time, okay?” Marcello said gruffly, knowing Feliciano would somehow manage to do just that despite his earnest “si, si!”. He ruffled the boy’s hair before yelling at him to get going, and sighed again as he watched him run off.
It was a beautiful day out, and Feliciano slowed to an easy stroll once he reached the street so he could stare up at the sky. He never wondered how things might have turned out if his parents hadn’t been killed, or if his brother and grandfather hadn’t disappeared—after all, he was lucky to be working for someone as kindly as Marcello, and his life wasn’t bad by any means. At times, though, he longed for the majestic ship that had taken a hold of his heart three years ago to show up once more. Once more, and then the temptation to fly away would leave him; but this was a lie, and he knew it.
Feliciano pushed all thoughts of leaving firmly out of his mind, humming quietly to himself instead as he wandered down the street. He greeted the other shopkeepers who were outside cheerfully, maneuvering the boxes in his arms so he could wave to them. Since he was usually the one Marcello sent there, making his way to the post office was an almost automatic reaction (although he did stop to flirt with the cute girl who worked a few shops over). When he finally got to the counter, he chattered happily away with the worker as he dropped the packages off, any earlier melancholy completely forgotten. He dawdled outside the building for a few seconds before deciding to take the long way back to the shop—past the docks.
And it was there. Brown eyes wide in disbelief, Feliciano let out a little gasp. Three years...and it had changed; but it was still the same ship it had been three years ago, in all its sky-battered glory.
Feliciano was torn between running towards it immediately, just to get a chance to be near it, and returning home and trying uselessly to forget that he’d ever seen it. He stared at the ship for a minute, its sails fluttering in the wind, before giving in to temptation and practically running down to the dock where it was anchored. There wasn’t a thought in his head about what he would do when he got to the ship—Feliciano simply wanted to make the most of this unexpected luck. After all, after it left this time, it might never return again, and he knew that he could not live with that.
When Ludwig took a long relaxed breath of fresh air, his worries and stress seemed to fly away. And he certainly had his stress and worries; being the first mate of The Imperial Eagle was a challenging and consuming job. It had been almost a year since he had been kidnapped by his older brother and basically forced into becoming his first mate. Ludwig had been surprised how fast he had gotten used to living on the ship. He and the crew had grown close; he trusted them and they did as well. He thought back at the time when he first met them; he had expected those to be drawn to a pirate ship to act like the blood-thirsty criminals they were expected to be. But as he grew to know these people, he discovered that they were good and honest people just trying to live. The pirate thing was just a detail.
And I'm a pirate too. Ludwig thought to himself. No matter what happens or what is said, I am a pirate.
Ludwig strolled down the docks carrying a few empty bags. Ludwig had volunteered to do the shopping this time; Katshuya and the crew were busy and Ludwig could use a short "vacation" of sorts. It was going to be quality time by himself, and he doubted Gilbert would disturb him; normally he didn't have much patience when the ship needed to stop for supplies, and would just find the closest bar and stay there until the ship was ready to move on. Yes, nice and quality time, all to himself.
That was, until he saw the strange boy running right towards him.
A voice started to sing "Doitsuu~ Doitsuu~" in his mind. He felt a familiar headache blossom in his skull, but it wasn't the same headaches his brother gave him, it had it's own special feeling. Although, some of the familiarity he felt was similar to which he felt towards some of his crew mates. He had a dragging feeling that he knew this bizarre person. But who....?
"Ah-" he began to say, but he was interrupted by the boy running straight into the beefy Ludwig. The poor boy basically bounced off Ludwig, whom on impact, only stumbled backwards. He was winded though, and he dropped the empty bags. The boy however, was sprawled on the ground.
Ohh boy.
“Mi dispaice, mi dispaice!” Feliciano didn't quite realize what had happened until after he fell—and when he did, his hands immediately went up to his now scarlet face in horror, covering his mouth. Embarrassment made him squirm awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other; his eyes were drawn irresistibly to the blond in front of him, but he couldn't look him in the eye and kept staring down at the ground instead. Feliciano admired beautiful things, but although the man he had so impolitely crashed into was definitely a beautiful thing, they had never made him flustered before. For the moment, any thoughts of the ship were completely lost from his mind.
“I-I-I'm sorry, I should h-have been watching where I w-was going,” he said, then flushed an even brighter red. Feliciano had never been the type of person to become tongue-tied, but something about the way the man was staring at him made him flustered. It was more than the fact that he had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. This stranger seemed familiar in the same way that Grandpa had felt familiar—like they'd known each other a long time ago. He wanted to become this man's friend; it was almost as if running into him was like coming home. The feeling made Feliciano uncomfortable, and yet it pleased him at the same time. He realized he had started to stare and quickly looked down again.
He took a deep breath and then recovered himself a little. Running into this man had been inexcusably rude, but stammering and staring at him were no better. Feliciano let a tentative smile spread across his face. He wasn't very good at the whole polite thing, but he figured it couldn't hurt.
“A-ah~! I'm Feliciano!” he announced cheerfully. His blush had faded to two bright spots on his cheeks, and his usual bright expression replaced the small grin. He paused for a second, uncertain of what to say next—something that almost never happened to him. “What's your name?” he finished a bit lamely as he glanced down once more, although the look of almost oblivious happiness never once faded. As Feliciano's embarrassment started to fade, he remembered again why he had been in such a huge hurry in the first place. Now he began to stare up at the ship, his eyes wide and fascinated as he took it all in. He wondered what its crew was doing now, and if he might have the chance to meet the people who ran this beautiful vessel or if they would remain a mystery forever.
But if the did meet them, then the urge to leave might overtake him—and he couldn't do such a thing to Marcello, who had been so kind since Grandpa had left, or all the other shopkeepers who had helped him. The grin slid off Feliciano's face as he became lost in thought, to be replaced by a more vacant expression.
Ach, what kind of weirdo have I run into this time?
As the strange boy rambled hyper apologies, Ludwig regained his posture. He raised a hand apologetically, which was strange for him; normally he would have criticized the boy for not looking where he was going. But Ludwig felt pretty sorry for him. Ludwig knew very well how muscular he was, and the kid was skinny as hell. The boy reminded him of something flimsy, like linguine or something. Regardless, the collision had to have really hurt the kid.
"Er, it's alright." Ludwig said quickly, trying not to stare at the kid. Just looking at the kid made his head throb. He picked up the empty bags he dropped. "Just be careful next time, alright?"
Before Ludwig could carry on, the boy randomly introduced himself. Feliciano. The name made his head hurt even more. He rubbed his temple. "I see." he responded lamely. He hesitated when Feliciano asked what his name was. Who knows what consequences there could be by giving the little weirdo his name.
"Er.." he said, his head pounding. "My name is Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt."
What's wrong with taking a few risks once in a while?
The loud demand startled Feliciano out of his reverie, and he jumped up from where he’d been dozing in the grass, beaming unashamedly at the burly shopkeeper as he ran over. Marcello sighed and gave his young employee the boxes, making sure that he could hold all of them securely. Lately Feliciano had been much quieter than usual, and Marcello was a bit worried about the boy. While it wasn’t unusual for him to drift off quite often, the wistful—almost sad—expressions on his face were weirdly unsettling.
“Don’t waste time, okay?” Marcello said gruffly, knowing Feliciano would somehow manage to do just that despite his earnest “si, si!”. He ruffled the boy’s hair before yelling at him to get going, and sighed again as he watched him run off.
It was a beautiful day out, and Feliciano slowed to an easy stroll once he reached the street so he could stare up at the sky. He never wondered how things might have turned out if his parents hadn’t been killed, or if his brother and grandfather hadn’t disappeared—after all, he was lucky to be working for someone as kindly as Marcello, and his life wasn’t bad by any means. At times, though, he longed for the majestic ship that had taken a hold of his heart three years ago to show up once more. Once more, and then the temptation to fly away would leave him; but this was a lie, and he knew it.
Feliciano pushed all thoughts of leaving firmly out of his mind, humming quietly to himself instead as he wandered down the street. He greeted the other shopkeepers who were outside cheerfully, maneuvering the boxes in his arms so he could wave to them. Since he was usually the one Marcello sent there, making his way to the post office was an almost automatic reaction (although he did stop to flirt with the cute girl who worked a few shops over). When he finally got to the counter, he chattered happily away with the worker as he dropped the packages off, any earlier melancholy completely forgotten. He dawdled outside the building for a few seconds before deciding to take the long way back to the shop—past the docks.
And it was there. Brown eyes wide in disbelief, Feliciano let out a little gasp. Three years...and it had changed; but it was still the same ship it had been three years ago, in all its sky-battered glory.
Feliciano was torn between running towards it immediately, just to get a chance to be near it, and returning home and trying uselessly to forget that he’d ever seen it. He stared at the ship for a minute, its sails fluttering in the wind, before giving in to temptation and practically running down to the dock where it was anchored. There wasn’t a thought in his head about what he would do when he got to the ship—Feliciano simply wanted to make the most of this unexpected luck. After all, after it left this time, it might never return again, and he knew that he could not live with that.
When Ludwig took a long relaxed breath of fresh air, his worries and stress seemed to fly away. And he certainly had his stress and worries; being the first mate of The Imperial Eagle was a challenging and consuming job. It had been almost a year since he had been kidnapped by his older brother and basically forced into becoming his first mate. Ludwig had been surprised how fast he had gotten used to living on the ship. He and the crew had grown close; he trusted them and they did as well. He thought back at the time when he first met them; he had expected those to be drawn to a pirate ship to act like the blood-thirsty criminals they were expected to be. But as he grew to know these people, he discovered that they were good and honest people just trying to live. The pirate thing was just a detail.
And I'm a pirate too. Ludwig thought to himself. No matter what happens or what is said, I am a pirate.
Ludwig strolled down the docks carrying a few empty bags. Ludwig had volunteered to do the shopping this time; Katshuya and the crew were busy and Ludwig could use a short "vacation" of sorts. It was going to be quality time by himself, and he doubted Gilbert would disturb him; normally he didn't have much patience when the ship needed to stop for supplies, and would just find the closest bar and stay there until the ship was ready to move on. Yes, nice and quality time, all to himself.
That was, until he saw the strange boy running right towards him.
A voice started to sing "Doitsuu~ Doitsuu~" in his mind. He felt a familiar headache blossom in his skull, but it wasn't the same headaches his brother gave him, it had it's own special feeling. Although, some of the familiarity he felt was similar to which he felt towards some of his crew mates. He had a dragging feeling that he knew this bizarre person. But who....?
"Ah-" he began to say, but he was interrupted by the boy running straight into the beefy Ludwig. The poor boy basically bounced off Ludwig, whom on impact, only stumbled backwards. He was winded though, and he dropped the empty bags. The boy however, was sprawled on the ground.
Ohh boy.
“Mi dispaice, mi dispaice!” Feliciano didn't quite realize what had happened until after he fell—and when he did, his hands immediately went up to his now scarlet face in horror, covering his mouth. Embarrassment made him squirm awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other; his eyes were drawn irresistibly to the blond in front of him, but he couldn't look him in the eye and kept staring down at the ground instead. Feliciano admired beautiful things, but although the man he had so impolitely crashed into was definitely a beautiful thing, they had never made him flustered before. For the moment, any thoughts of the ship were completely lost from his mind.
“I-I-I'm sorry, I should h-have been watching where I w-was going,” he said, then flushed an even brighter red. Feliciano had never been the type of person to become tongue-tied, but something about the way the man was staring at him made him flustered. It was more than the fact that he had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. This stranger seemed familiar in the same way that Grandpa had felt familiar—like they'd known each other a long time ago. He wanted to become this man's friend; it was almost as if running into him was like coming home. The feeling made Feliciano uncomfortable, and yet it pleased him at the same time. He realized he had started to stare and quickly looked down again.
He took a deep breath and then recovered himself a little. Running into this man had been inexcusably rude, but stammering and staring at him were no better. Feliciano let a tentative smile spread across his face. He wasn't very good at the whole polite thing, but he figured it couldn't hurt.
“A-ah~! I'm Feliciano!” he announced cheerfully. His blush had faded to two bright spots on his cheeks, and his usual bright expression replaced the small grin. He paused for a second, uncertain of what to say next—something that almost never happened to him. “What's your name?” he finished a bit lamely as he glanced down once more, although the look of almost oblivious happiness never once faded. As Feliciano's embarrassment started to fade, he remembered again why he had been in such a huge hurry in the first place. Now he began to stare up at the ship, his eyes wide and fascinated as he took it all in. He wondered what its crew was doing now, and if he might have the chance to meet the people who ran this beautiful vessel or if they would remain a mystery forever.
But if the did meet them, then the urge to leave might overtake him—and he couldn't do such a thing to Marcello, who had been so kind since Grandpa had left, or all the other shopkeepers who had helped him. The grin slid off Feliciano's face as he became lost in thought, to be replaced by a more vacant expression.
Ach, what kind of weirdo have I run into this time?
As the strange boy rambled hyper apologies, Ludwig regained his posture. He raised a hand apologetically, which was strange for him; normally he would have criticized the boy for not looking where he was going. But Ludwig felt pretty sorry for him. Ludwig knew very well how muscular he was, and the kid was skinny as hell. The boy reminded him of something flimsy, like linguine or something. Regardless, the collision had to have really hurt the kid.
"Er, it's alright." Ludwig said quickly, trying not to stare at the kid. Just looking at the kid made his head throb. He picked up the empty bags he dropped. "Just be careful next time, alright?"
Before Ludwig could carry on, the boy randomly introduced himself. Feliciano. The name made his head hurt even more. He rubbed his temple. "I see." he responded lamely. He hesitated when Feliciano asked what his name was. Who knows what consequences there could be by giving the little weirdo his name.
"Er.." he said, his head pounding. "My name is Ludwig. Ludwig Beilschmidt."
What's wrong with taking a few risks once in a while?
