Chapter Text
Lovino was well aware of the fact that he should not be practising his shot in the middle of summer and of nowhere. The heat would only keep making his aim worse and his head heavier. Yet the dried useless field was perfect for his desolate activities.
The frustration of his failures and the wasted ammunition sweated his palms and ruined his grip more and more as the sun kept on burning. He was merely trying to hit a tree. The plant was isolated and very stark among the tall branches of yellow withered grass he yearned to lie in if they weren’t so delicate.
Why couldn’t he just ruin the damn dead wood? His standing was not too far away yet the heat made it look as if miles separated him from his target.
Once again, he refilled the machine, regained his shaky —and a little bit weak— position, and just… pulled. The few birds still hanging around fled to the safety of flight as usual. Though it hadn’t been the gun’s noise that had frightened them.
Behind the grass, close to the tree, something someone had fallen. That wretched scream of horror was what made the animals flee and Lovino to remain completely still. Unmoving as the dead tree.
The Italian swiftly picked up his dusty light jacket and shut the top buttons before picking up his hat and dirtying it with wet hands, running towards pathetic yells of a language unknown to him. It seemed sort of Germanic.
He moved his hands through the scratchy plants that ruined his already reddish skin despite the tan. Plenty fell over and there was now a path created everywhere he walked. It wasn’t difficult to find his victim, it was practically a siren.
There! Right by the tree, almost touching it, was this extremely blonde man who seemed to be around his own age and would not stop shaking his body like that of a fish.
“Stop! Calm down!”, he kept shouting in Italian trying to hold his limbs still, knowing well enough there wouldn’t be much of an understanding between them. In truth, he was horrified of hurting the blonde, who on closer look was frighteningly so. Lovino would categorise him as a white-haired but that didn’t make much sense to him at the moment. There wasn’t any alarmingly deep red anywhere in his vision and he kept searching all over the maddened guy for his own bullet.
“You don’t have anything! I missed! Shut up!!” He was shaking and holding the other’s shoulders down trying to get him to look him in the eyes and sane himself out of this. The only crimson he had been looking for was in there. The seemingly insane hellishly red eyes attempted to focus as the lips tried to speak anything other than screams.
“M-Missed?”, he spoke in Italian.
God that accent was horrible, was Lovino’s immediate thought but perhaps an understanding could be reached now.
“I-”, he pointed towards himself, “did NOT”, made a cross with his arms, “shoot you!”
He got up, threw the gun on the ground with any strength left, and looked around in agitation almost wanting to forget all of this. When he looked back the pale and obviously burned one was lying idle now, his eyes towards the sky.
“Understand?”
The reds managed to spot him and finally look at him with some thought behind them. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Lovino went to pick up the gun and check if he had caused any damage to it again. It seemed as bad as last time, not too worrying.
“I-“, the stranger tried to speak, speculating his thoughts in order to articulate them.
“Yes?”, Lovino wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.
Using the tree for stability he slowly got to his feet and it was only then that Lovino noticed the obvious wealth in his garments. “Thank you.”
Oh, he must be a complete idiot. “What for?”
The foreigner opened his mouth but couldn’t manage to find the vocabulary he needed. He fidgeted unknowingly with every piece of cloth on him. The only words he could muster up to utter were: “My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt.”
The Italian continued to stare him up and down scanning for any context on this wandering life that had found itself in isolated fields of an obviously foreign land to it. He did not dare to move. “Lovino.”
There was a cloud to bless them away from the anger of the sun. In that temporary shade, they both inspected each other unmoving. Gilbert’s eyes were indeed red, he hadn’t imagined that, and his hair almost as white as his complexion. His countenance seemed parted away from its reality, as if he could not come to realise what he was living right then and almost who he had been this whole time. The clothing was definitely not suited for the weather although it was obvious that some awful attempt had been made to make it a little more bearable. The heat must have gotten to the poor guy’s head. He didn’t even seem to have a hat, his cheeks and nose were quite burned almost like an intense blush. It made his face quite pretty.
“Here.”, he gave him his dirty hat and wasn’t actually sure if he would accept it in this condition even though Beilschmidt’s clothes weren’t in the best shape at the moment.
Gilbert nodded through his daze and gladly wore it, almost confused as to how to put it on for a second. He felt a little more protected with that piece of stiff fabric than before. It did somehow help him focus on this new person before him who in no way helped him touch down to reality. Other than the fact that he had never held a conversation with someone outside his social class before, this similarly aged youth with the seemingly feminine features that were hidden by his sharp expressions and his beautifully tan skin and his challenging attitude and the way he carried himself in that shorter body through his movements, was not exactly unattractive to Gilbert.
“Why are you here?”, Lovino kept trying to keep his words simple and could not bear to look into those eyes for any longer without a word spoken.
“I-“, Gilbert tried to scan his mental dictionary which couldn’t have been any longer than ten pages, “I travel.”
“Here?”
“My friends! At square… they wait me.”
“And you…”, he couldn’t figure out how to ask in simpler terms.
“I understand you! I don’t speak good.”, Gilbert was quick to interrupt.
“Huh, want me to take you to the square?”
“Yes! Thank you!! I….”
“Lost?”
“Yes! That!”
“Well then.”, Lovino muttered to himself as he signalled for him to follow after his steps before realising the tree had in fact been shot.
Gilbert noticed him staring at it and let out some sound of joy coming to terms that the wood was what had saved him. He also did let some of his tongue’s unknown words slip out.
“Come.”, the Italian turned around and began to walk back towards the town, nowhere near where Gilbert was headed to in the first place. The foreigner followed quietly looking around and stealing glances from his saviour.
“Where are you from?”, Lovino questioned absentmindedly, needing something but the awkward silence.
“Deutschland.” So it was German.
“And what are you doing here? Why here?”, Lovino had his suspicions that the German could be one of those working for the state and helping the Italian government fight resistance groups but he didn’t seem nearly witty or old enough for such.
“Travelling… with friends. We made a stop at town.”, he pointed towards where he figured the place would probably be.
“But you’re alone? Here?”
“I-“, he thought for a moment, “bored.”
Lovino chuckled, “You’re bored? Your friends are boring?”
“Ja! Uhh…. sì!”, he felt that he had blushed at his mistake but was too busy giggling about his situation to care. Even the hard-edged Italian had joined in.
“So you abandon your friends and go get lost in a random field in this weather.”, he smiled and looked towards town again, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything as relatable in my life.”
Gilbert smiled and nodded while pretending to understand what had just been said. He was glad enough it had cracked a laugh out of the Italian anyway. He felt kind of disappointed when he noticed the houses near them.
They walk into the square of the small town and Gilbert begins to look around confused yet relieved. “They said they are here.” This is the right town, right? It seemed so.
“We can get a table here and wait for them.”, Lovino offered gesturing towards the little café near them. It was just big enough for five tables at most inside, but there were quite a few spread out towards the main little fountain some people were currently collecting water from.
“Uhm, yes… yes.”
Lovino approached a table and Gilbert sat with his back to the rest of the square not to get any more burned and be able to gaze at his companion without blinding himself. The Italian sat right across from him.
“So… you want a drink? Need to eat anything?”, Lovino offered.
“No hunger. Drink, yes.”
He nodded and called up the waiter who had been smoking, looking at the girls by the fountain.
“Evening, Gian. I’d like some wine. And you…?”, he looked to the German.
“Uhh… Bier?”
“He-“
“Yes, I think I got that.”, he left as quickly as possible. Probably to get over with it and continue whatever he was doing. The fountain was empty again. Not many people liked to go around in this weather and at this time of day.
“Is he a friend?”, asked Gilbert, thinking people don’t usually talk that casually with a waiter. He didn’t even talk like that with his family.
“More or less… So, anyway, why do you travel?”
Gilbert was a little stunned by the sudden question. In truth, he had only agreed to the trip because the only people he considered sort of friends decided to invite him and he needed to get out of that house for once.
“Horizont.”
“Your horizons? Expand your horizons?”
Gilbert nodded.
“What places have you visited?”
“Visited?”
Lovino paused, “Oh thanks Gian.”, they both got their drinks before he turned his attention to Gilbert again, “Where have you been?”
“Ah! Hm, Belgien, Frankreich, die Schweiz, und… Italia!!”
Lovino believed he had gotten those right. He took a sip from his wine and Gilbert suddenly remembered he could do the same. He quickly made a bit of an unsatisfied expression.
“The wine is much better than the beer.”, Lovino noted and offered up his glass for Gilbert to taste. The German wasn’t exactly sure what he should do.
“Try!”, Lovino insisted until it was comprehended by Gilbert’s brain and he reluctantly did do so. He wasn’t used to this food-sharing thing. He decided to only take a sip from the place Lovino’s lips had not touched.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“You want one?”
“Please.”
The Italian grinned. “Gian!”
Their evening went on like that, trying to communicate and speak of anything a little less surface level properly. Gilbert felt that he had learned more Italian in that hour than in his entire life. It must have been the wine giving him knowledge.
“Why do you speak Italian, anyway?”, Lovino asked after returning from the restroom. They were both kind of tipsy by that time and it was sort of an odd sight as they were the only people hanging around in that heat and made Gian’s life difficult.
“Mein Mutter.”, Gilbert began, “She said "Italienisch!! Sehr wichtig!!!"”
“Wichtig?”
Gilbert looked through his, now wine-stained, little German-Italian dictionary as he had done a thousand times already. “Important!”
“Ah!”, Lovino looked to the last sip of wine he had left. “Why?”
“Because "Italy!! Good Italy!! Brother Italy!!!"”
Lovino figured what that meant politically.
“But I’m not very good.” Gilbert obviously mentioned. “I don’t like study.”
“I see.”, he finished his wine and got up, putting his money on the table once he noticed some German-speaking people approaching.
“I, uhh.”, Gilbert was still sitting.
“Yes?”
“I don’t have that.”
How spoiled was this guy?
Lovino added more money to the table and leaned in to Gilbert, passing him a folded piece of paper before he noticed his friends.
“Open this alone. Hide it.”, he whispered quickly right when the other travellers had spotted him. Gilbert looked frustratingly confused.
“Beilschmidt!”, somebody shouted out making him immediately turn around and hop to his feet. He felt really disoriented. Was it over?
They exchanged some words in German, the others seemed to be teasing him. He was probably explaining himself and they their delay. They looked kind of weirdly towards Lovino but did not pay much attention to him nonetheless. Gilbert seemed to act a bit mechanically.
“Ciao.”, Lovino waved weakly and got inside the café. Gilbert didn’t even have the time to respond. Was he going to see him again? He had just realised the difference between a random stranger and his “friends” and it’s just over?
He was quickly carried away by the group while Lovino went up to Gian at the counter. He had turned the air black with his unstoppable smoking.
“Can I have one? The German didn’t smoke. I didn’t want to filth his privileged tidy lungs.”
Gian only passed the tobacco and watched as Lovino rolled his own. “Who is this guy?”. He was right to have his suspicions. It’s odd to have a foreigner around let alone a German.
“Just a traveller. Lost. Little knowledge of Italian. Kept him company until he could find his group again. Nothing else.”
“Are you sure he’s not-“
“He’s too young, no. And too aloof, innocent even. No, he’s just rich, nothing to worry about.”
Gian shrugged. “Whatever you say.”. He knew well enough to have trust in Lovino. He had saved them from the wolf’s mouth too many times to remember. If he said it’s fine it was fine.
“Anyway, I should go. Thanks for this.”, he lit his cigarette, “See you at the meeting.”
Gian waved with his hand on his forehead as if a makeshift soldier, “Arrivederci.”