Chapter Text
“Are you really calling that potato bastard again? This is the third time in the last hour!”
Lovino’s voice sounded out from across the room, a hint of exasperation obvious in his tone. Feliciano turned his head slightly to look at his brother who was currently sprawled out on the couch in a relaxed position, his gaze still preoccupied with the TV.
Okay, the Italian will admit that he’s being a tad bit overbearing. Even so, he’s simply worried about his friend! He should be allowed to show at least some concern towards the fact he hasn’t picked up the phone yet. Feliciano sighed as the call went to voicemail once again, hanging up the phone and slipping it back into the pocket of his pants.
“I know, Lovi, but Ludwig never lets my calls go to voicemail! Something has to be wrong…”
The auburn-haired male murmured, watching as his brother rolled his eyes. A small noise of desperation escaped from him as Lovino’s lack of care for his grievances became more and more clear.
“He’s probably just busy right now with paperwork or whatever the hell it is he does in his free time. Let him be.”
The only thing the man got in response to that was a hesitant nod, Feliciano glancing out the window idly. A look of surprise came over his face at the sight he was met with, the sun already low in the sky. He had been so wrapped up in worrying about Ludwig, he hadn’t even noticed how late it was getting.
With this newfound knowledge of his, the Italian made his way to the kitchen, deciding that he should most likely start cooking dinner. Hopefully, it’ll get his mind off of his German ally. Opening one of the various cabinets in their kitchen, he pulled out a box of uncooked pasta and set it down somewhere on the kitchen counter. Afterwards, he grabbed a random pot from underneath the sink, filling it up to the brim with water. As he cooked dinner, he felt the stress that had built up inside him from earlier slowly but surely melt away, the man much too engrossed in the process at this point to think of much else. Maybe Lovino was right about Ludwig simply being busy.
Eventually, Feliciano called out to his brother that dinner was ready, already piling a heap of fettuccine atop his plate. A soft grunt came from the brunet as he got up from the couch, walking to the kitchen where the other man was and grabbing his own plate from the cabinet. Feliciano strolled out of the small space as soon as his older brother came in, not wanting the kitchen to get too crowded. He sat down at the table, happily scooping some pasta into his mouth. The Italian’s not entirely sure how he hadn’t noticed before, but he had actually worked up quite an appetite.
Soon enough, Lovino joined him at the table, begrudgingly thanking him for the food. “Thank you for cooking again, Feli…”
An almost mellow smile graced his face as his brother presented him with his gratitude, glad that his usual douchiness had worn off a little around him. While he does love Lovino with all of his heart, his brother can be kind of a dick at times, even to him. Because of that, for the past few months, Feliciano has been attempting to get him to open up to other countries more and to stop being so rude. He’s overjoyed to see that his efforts could possibly be working for once.
“No need to thank me, I like cooking for the both of us.”
Despite the reassurance from Feliciano, Lovino didn’t look all that convinced, responding to the other man as he took a bite of his fettuccine.
“You’ve been the one cooking for the past month, you deserve some credit.” He paused momentarily, swallowing the piece of pasta that was in his mouth before speaking once again. “Let me prepare dinner tomorrow instead.”
Feliciano merely shook his head in disagreement, carelessly shoveling some more pasta into his mouth. “I’m telling you, it’s fine. There’s no need for that.”
A huff came from the Southern part of the country once he heard that, his expression twisting into one of aggravation. “Can’t you tell I’m trying to be nice here? Just accept the damn fact that I’m cooking tomorrow already.”
This time around, Feliciano didn’t try arguing back, knowing there was no changing his brother’s mind once he was set on something. He quickly finished his bowl of stringy delight, debating on whether or not he should get seconds. He decided against it, standing up and going back to the kitchen. The Italian placed his plate and cutlery into the sink, not bothering to rinse either of them off. He’ll deal with it tomorrow.
After entering the living room once again, he found a seat on the couch, noticing that the TV was still on what Lovino was watching earlier. The Real Housewives of New Jersey plays constantly in the house at this point. He had been planning on changing the channel, but he ended up getting sucked into what was playing out on the screen. In fact, he had become so immersed in the story, he hadn’t even picked up on his older brother taking a seat next to him on the plush cushioning.
The two stayed like that for a while, eyes glued to the screen as time passed by. It took Feliciano yawning to snap the both of them out of the trancelike state they had previously been in, the younger male hastily realizing just how late it was. He gently rubbed his eyes, hauling himself up off of the couch into a standing position. The man glanced over at his brother for a second, not wanting the other to stay up too late like he tends to do most of the time.
“Mmh… I’m going to head to bed, Lovi. Don’t stay up too late.”
A hum of acknowledgement came from Lovino, the man not making a move to get up off of the couch just yet. Aware that the other male probably wasn’t going to heed his requests, the Italian went ahead and walked to their shared bedroom. He didn’t bother to close the door behind himself, briskly unbuttoning his pants and slipping them off. The piece of fabric fell to the floor at his ankles, the male nudging it into the corner of the room with his foot. He was left in his boxers and a t-shirt after discarding his pants, taking a moment to go into the bathroom and brush his teeth.
As soon as he arrived back into the bedroom, he switched off the light before flopping down onto the bed, relishing in the soft comfort of it. He could’ve fallen asleep right then and there if he really wanted to, but he had to force himself to resist the urge. Feliciano scooted up onto the bed some more, slipping underneath the covers and resting his head on the pillow. By now, Ludwig had entirely slipped his mind, the Italian deciding to disregard his lack of response as his friend just not having the time to pick up the phone. He’ll call him again tomorrow, surely he’ll pick up then. Yeah, of course he will, he is Ludwig after all. The Italian man could already feel himself dozing off as he thought about it, his eyes easing shut and his mind slipping into unconsciousness.