Work Text:
Love On A Mountaintop
Snow sprayed up and sprinkled Gilbert's face as he flew down the ski-slope, passing other skiers as he headed down hill. No one would have thought Gil was into skiing but he got into the sport when occasionally staying with his cousin and her husband, Elizaveta and Roderich Edelstein, in Austria. Now he was in Canada with his two friends, Francis and Antonio, who were following him down the ski-run. When they reached the bottom, Gil pulled the skiing goggles off his eyes, his white hair glinting in the sun and his red orbs watching his friends join him, their skis scattering snow everywhere.
"Beat you!" Gil declared. "You can never defeat my awesomeness!" The blonde Frenchman took his goggles off, revealing his blue eyes. The dark-haired Spaniard's green eyes shone behind his visor.
"You know you cheated, mon ami!" Francis accused but without heat, like it was a good-natured common occurrence. "When you say 'on three', you're meant to go on three with the rest of us, not one!" Gilbert smirked.
"I just awesomely took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself," he said. "If you unawesomely didn't, that's not my fault!" Antonio pulled his visor off.
"Well, I'm tired, amigos," he stated. "Anyone want to get a drink?" Gil clapped his hands together.
"Awesome idea!" he cheered. Francis looked like he was up for it as well and they went to the nearest bar, leaving their skis outside.
A drink (or a few) later and the trio of friends were a little bit tipsy as Gilbert sipped at another beer and Francis and Antonio drinking wine. Antonio pulled out his wallet and, from the wallet, he pulled out a photograph of a young man with dark reddish brown hair with a curl sticking out to the right and caramel coloured eyes. He sighed over it.
"Ahh! Lovi!" he cooed. Gilbert snorted into his beer.
"Ever since you found your soul mate," he commented, slurry. "You've been all gooey eyed. Not awesome, mein freund!" Antonio looked at his friend good-naturedly.
"You'll be the same when you find your soul mate, amigo," he said.
"I could never be so unawesome," Gil replied. Francis took a sip of wine.
"L'amour makes us do funny things, mon ami," he declared.
"Not the awesome me!"
They finished their drinks and called for another round. As the drinks were put in front of them, some people with mountain climbing equipment walked in, dumping their gear and found a corner to sit in. Gil eyed them, drunkenly.
"I can do that!" he declared. Francis and Antonio looked round at the group who called for a waitress to take their order.
"Do what?" Francis asked.
"Climb a mountain!" Gil replied. "I'm awesome enough for that!" Francis and Antonio snickered into their wine.
"Amigo," Antonio chuckled. "You've never climbed a mountain in your life!" Francis concurred.
"Dangerous if you don't know how to," he said, lifting his wineglass. Gil was not to be deterred when he was drunk. He pointed out of the window at the nearest mountain.
"Shows what you know!" he said, "I go climbing when I visit my cousin in Austria. Bet I can make it to that ledge," he said, pointing to a ledge some way up the cliff-face. "If I win, you have to declare my awesomeness to everyone. You must declare me the King of Awesomeness!"
"Don't be stupid, Gil," Antonio said. "You're drunk!" But Gilbert was already out of the door, grabbing one of the discarded packs as he passed. He put on his skis and began skiing toward the mountain, his friends and the disgruntled owner of the gear shouting after him.
The cold weather exacerbated the effects of the alcohol that Gil had drunk so the chances of him sobering up to the level of thinking 'This would be really stupid!' was slim to none as he raced to the foot of the mountain. He took off his skis and began pulling ropes, harness, pitons and other equipment from his appropriated pack, putting it on around him and began scaling the mountain. Somehow he managed to make headway, even in his inebriated state and, by the time the others had caught up with him, he was already beyond their reach.
"Gil, you're an idiot," Francis shouted up at him.
"An awesome idiot!" Gil shouted back down.
"No, just an idiot!" Gil just 'kesese' d and kept climbing.
"Gil!" Antonio shouted up to him. "Come back down, amigo! You're in no condition to be climbing mountains!" But Gil continued his upward climb. Francis sighed.
"Call Mountain Rescue!" he said and Spain took out his phone.
Matthew Williams flipped his final pancake on to the plate in his other hand and he put down his spatula and turned off the cooker. He took the plate to the kitchen table and sat down to drizzle a good amount of maple syrup over the tasty treats and tucked in. As he chewed, he thought about his younger brother, Alfred and his soulmate problems. Matthew had yet to find his soulmate but he was luckier than his brother who had. The problem was Alfred had been only three at the time and he was pulled away from his soulmate and it was only later that their parents had realised that Alfred's heart was beating. By then, Alfred's soulmate had vanished and they had no idea who they were and, therefore, had no way of finding them. Alfred seemed to be happy but Matthew knew that was just a front and that Alfred was very lonely. Alfred was in America, working for a big corporation and he was actually American, having been born there while Matthew had been born in Canada.
Attempts had been made to find Alfred's lost soulmate but the information they had was limited. They knew it was a boy called Artie who had left America on the day he and Alfred met in a busy airport. But many children had been on planes leaving the States on that day and it was not allowed to give out information on passengers. It seemed unlikely that Alfred would ever find his soulmate.
Matthew broke off another piece of pancake and had just popped it into his mouth when the pager on his belt bleeped. He took it off his belt and read the emergency message, looked at his remaining pancakes and sighed. He had really been looking forward to them but duty called and he had to answer because someone was in trouble up a mountain. He put on his sturdy snow boots, grabbed his thick winter coat and headed out to his truck to make his way to the heliport where the Mountain Rescue helicopter was waiting for the rescue team that was on its way.
When he reached the Mountain Rescue base, everybody was climbing into their rescue gear and Matthew began to change into his own kit while everybody talked about what this emergency was.
"Apparently, some idiot got drunk and decided to go climbing," Natalya Arlovskaya, their platinum blonde, blue/violet-eyed pilot, said. "He was already a good way up before his friends could stop him so we have to go rescue the moron."
"How did he managed to climb intoxicated?" Ivan Braginski, their Russian co-pilot and winch man asked. Natalya had joined Mountain Rescue because her violet eyed, ash blonde brother had and she had, what some would could call, an over-excessive amount of affection for him which even Ivan was uncomfortable with, to the point that Ivan had asked Matthew not to mention his soulmate to her and he refused to give Natalya his address. Given some of the things Ivan had mentioned about Natalya's behaviour toward her brother, Matthew wondered if Natalya had some kind of psychosis but, right now he was also wondering how a drunk had managed to scale the side of a mountain.
"The guy must have more lives than a cat," Natalya replied and looked at her two team-mates. "All right! Let's go save the imbecile!"
The alcohol in Gilbert's bloodstream had dropped to a level that finally had the albino thinking that, perhaps, this was not his best idea. While it was true that he had climbed, it was only small cliff faces and always with an instructor. He was just six feet away from his target ledge and he had used up a universe of luck getting this far. He had been fortunate that the weather had been mild but while he would make it to the ledge, he did not trust his ability to get down and, boy, was the owner of that mountaineering gear going to be pissed.
Gil made it to the ledge and hauled himself on to it, finding the safest part of it he could. Well, he said he could make to the ledge. He never said anything about getting back down and he had to admit that he had been unawesomely stupid this time.
Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!
The helicopter blades whirled round at high speed, holding the aircraft aloft with Natalya and Ivan at the controls. Matthew sat in the back as they sped to their destination and then they had to find their drunken climber. They past over the Canadian scenery, trees and snow whizzing past below them and the mountain coming toward them.
Natalya circled the mountain, looking for the idiot they had to rescue and then, finally, they came into view of a man sitting on a ledge. Ivan left his seat while Matthew put on the winch harness as they got ready to pluck the silly man off the mountain.
Gilbert could hear a sound coming toward him that eventually became the tell-tale whomp, whomp, whomp of a helicopter that got louder and then a rescue helicopter flew into sight and Gil had never felt so relieved, despite the wind whipping around him. The helicopter gained height to reach a spot where it could get in close enough without the blades hitting the side of the mountain and someone swung out on the winch and began to be lowered down.
Matthew attached himself and a sling harness to the winch cable and climbed out of the helicopter, hanging in mid-air as Ivan operated the winch to lower him down to the stranded, drunk climber. The wind from the blades plucked at him and blew snow into the air as he descended lower. He could not see much of the man on the ledge as he put his head down away from the wind blowing around him. Matthew descended slowly down until he finally reached the ledge the man sat on.
"HELLO!" he shouted above the noise of the helicopter. "MY NAME'S MATTHEW! WHAT'S YOURS?" The man was still shielding his face against the wind.
"GILBERT!" he shouted back in a German accent. "ZE AWESOME GILBERT BEILSCHMIDT!" Matthew snorted but it was drowned out by the sound of the helicopter. That this man could pull this stunt and still refer to himself as awesome …...
"I'M GOING TO PUT THIS SLING AROUND YOU!" Matthew told him, dropping it over Gil's head. "THEN WE'LL BE PULLED UP TO THE HELICOPTER!" He helped Gilbert put his arms through the sling and pulled him into a standing position and looked up at the helicopter, waving and Ivan operated the winch and they began to rise. As they lifted into the sky, Matthew and Gil looked each other in the eyes, violet looking into crimson.
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump!
A look of shock overcame both of them, Matthew was stuck between euphoria that he had found his soulmate and bemoaning his bad luck that his soulmate was such a reckless drunken idiot. Gilbert, however, after the shock had worn off, gave a smirk. This was his soulmate and he was adorable. Violet eyes and tufts of blonde hair stuck out from under the helmet he was wearing, with one strand sticking out and curling in the middle. Oh yes, this Gil could live with!
"WELL, HELLO, MY LITTLE BIRDIE!" he shouted. "FLYING IN TO SAVE THE AWESOME ME?" Matthew nearly got drunk off Gil's alcoholic breath.
"YOU'RE AN IDIOT, YOU KNOW THAT!" he shouted back. Gil continued to smirk.
"AN AWESOME IDIOT!"
"NO, JUST AN IDIOT!" Matthew could not hear Gil's 'kesese' laugh.
"YOU'RE NOT THE FIRST ONE TO SAY THAT!" Gil grinned. They were nearly up to the helicopter now and Ivan reached out to grabbed the cable line to pull them into the helicopter. When they were safely aboard, Natalya turned the helicopter homeward.
"What did you think you were doing, you imbecile?" Natalya blasted Gilbert from the pilot seat. "We've got better things to do than rescuing idiots who climb mountains drunk!"
"Ja, not my most awesome moment," Gil admitted. "But something good did come out of it!" At which point, he grabbed Matthew, pulled him forward and kissed him. Natalya struggled not to lose control of the helicopter in shock while Ivan's jaw dropped.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Natalya gasped as the kiss broke. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Matthew blushed.
"Birdie here and I are soulmates," Gil announced, putting his arm around Matthew. Ivan looked surprised then gave his child-like smile while Natalya looked shocked for a moment then angry for some reason and then a neutral expression fell over her face and she huffed.
"Brilliant timing!" she commented. "Rather you than me, Matthew "
When they landed, Francis and Spain were waiting at the Mountain Rescue base for their friend. Unfortunately so were the police as the owner of the mountaineering gear that Gil took was less than happy to have his equipment stolen and his mood dropped further when he found out it was still stuck up the side of the mountain and Matthew found himself driving his soulmate's friends to the local police station and being shamelessly flirted with by Francis. When they arrived, the owner of the gear was there, berating Gilbert for taking his stuff and losing it. Now he was in the warm and a little time had past, he was sobering up and the verbal abuse was making his head hurt. Matthew would normally think that anyone who did what Gil had done deserved what he got but he was Matthew's soulmate so he felt he had to intercede.
"Look!" he said, cutting off the man's tirade. "I know Gil's been very stupid but if he replaces what you've lost on the mountain, how would that be? He was drunk and CLEARLY ..." he emphasised, glaring at Gil. "... not thinking at full capacity. So if he pays for everything, could we leave it at that!" The man gave it a moment's thought and reluctantly nodded.
"All right!" he agreed. "Although I don't know why you're helping this idiot out!" Matthew sighed.
"He's my soulmate," he admitted. The man muttered 'Poor bastard!'
Two hours and a caution later, it was dark and Matthew, Gilbert and his friends walked out of the police station after making arrangements to replace the stolen climbing gear and Matthew drove them back to their hotel. Spain and Francis said goodnight, eager for their beds and left Gil and Matthew alone.
"Want to come to my room?" Gil asked. Matthew's eyebrows rose.
"We've only just found each other!" he replied. "You move quick!"
"Just to talk!" Gil said. "We should get to know each other. After all, we're soulmates and we'll be spending the rest of our lives together. I need to prove to you that I AM awesome and not the idiot you think I am." Matthew had to admit that Gil had a point and before he knew it, he was on his way to Gil's room and they did not reappear for three days.
Matthew had the chance to see Gilbert when he was sober and he proved he was not a complete fool and Matthew found he liked Gil better when he was not drunk but he could still have his moments, like when he replaced the mountaineering equipment and Matthew found out that Gil had actually paid for it with his brother, Ludwig's credit card. Ludwig was going to be mad when he got his next bill.
After Gil's misdemeanour was finally settled, they returned to the hotel and went to the bar for a drink where they were joined by Francis and Antonio. Francis began flirting with a rather reluctant young woman called Katyusha, a blonde with blue eyes and her hair in a head-band. She was rather plain but had two, BIG redeeming features which was why the Frenchman's eyes never rose to her face. Antonio took out his phone and rang his soulmate, Lovino and chatted with him, leaving Gil and Matthew to talk.
"I've got an awesome idea, Birdie!" Gil announced. "I want you to come home with me to meet mein bruder!"
"What's he like?" Matthew asked.
"Ludwig!" Gil considered the question. "He's a therapist! Serious and a bit stuffy but he's a good guy, you like him. He's responsible!"
"So I'm not going to have to rescue him off a mountain while he's drunk?" Matthew teased. Gil smirked.
"Not Ludwig!" Gil replied. "He's found his soulmate but Feli's blind and has issues, he never wanted to find his soulmate."
"Why not?" Gil shrugged.
"He figured Ludwig would be better off without him, I guess," he replied. Matthew thought that was a strange way to think but what did he know? He was not blind.
"So what do you say?" Gil asked. Matthew thought he would like to meet Ludwig's brother and then maybe he could introduce Gil to Alfred so he nodded.
"I'll need to arrange time off with the rescue team but I'd like to meet your brother," he replied. Gil grinned, gazing into Matthew's eyes.
"Awesome!"
"Be careful, oh Awesome One," Antonio had returned and sat down beside Gilbert. "You're getting gooey-eyed, amigo!"
"Leck mich am Arsch (Kiss my ass) , Toni!" Gil replied. "I still made it to the ledge so I won the bet. You call me The King of Awesomeness!"
"Whatever, Your Maj'ass'ty," Francis replied.
Matthew was allowed an absence of leave and Gil broke the news to Frances and Antonio that he would be cutting his holiday short to take his soulmate to meet his family. Antonio decided he would go as well and returned his soulmate who just happened to be Ludwig's soulmate's brother. Francis decided to stay and further his acquaintance with Katyusha. Francis flirted with everyone to cover 'heartache'. He had fallen for a blind girl called Alice Kirkland and hoped that she could make his heart beat but she made his cousin, François's heart beat instead and Francis left to nurse a broken, unbeating heart. Katyusha was not his soulmate either and had found and married hers but that did not stop Francis from making up to her. Matthew did not think it was a good idea for Francis to play about with Katyusha like that as she was Ivan's other half-sister and would not take kindly to anyone messing with her and could do some disturbing things with a pipe.
They left Canada and landed at the nearest airport to Gil's home early in the morning. Gil picked up his car and they drove to Gil's (and Ludwig's) home. No one was up when Gil unlocked the door and they went in so he dumped the suitcases and went upstairs to wake his bruder. He crashed through Ludwig's bedroom door, yelling, "Hello, Bro-ha! Kesesese! Happy to see the Awesome Me!" Which resulted in his brother shooting up in bed and a man falling out of a bed beside his bruder's. A very naked man and Gil's eyes gleamed with mischief.
"Whoa, bruder! Finally getting some action!"