Chapter Text
The first thing Ludwig is aware of is the chains on his wrists. They scrape and hurt in ways that feel vaguely familiar, and at first he doesn't panic, oddly enough. Once he's awake though, he starts banging the chains around, trying to pull them off of whatever they're attached to. A quick glance up reveals this to be the metal bar of a bedframe, and Ludwig realizes he's chained on top of a bed. Naked.
Lovino is in the shower, when suddenly he hears something fall outside of the bathroom, somewhere inside his home. Someone is in his house. He reluctantly turns off the water and wraps himself up in a towel before getting out of the bathroom, figuring that it's only Spain.
"Spain!" He calls out, wielding a bottle of shampoo, "If that's you, I'm going to kill you! You ruined my shower!"
There's another sound of something falling over, this one coming from the other bathroom. Lovino turns around, and stalks over there, cautiously. Antonio would normally have called back by now, some apology and a promise not to do it again in the future. Like that would happen.
"Who's there!?" Lovino yells out "Answer me!"
There's a quiet reply, but he doesn't catch it. Whatever it is, it's enough to convince him that there is someone in his house and that they aren't likely to attack him.
Letting out a cry he bursts through the door, already squeezing the bottle of shampoo and aiming the stream that comes out at the intruder, who in turn cowers, seemingly trying to hide his large frame behind his forearms. It’s Ludwig, although he’s entirely naked, and has a chain wrapped around his neck.
“What the hell?” Romano mutters, coming closer, and Ludwig trembles more as he approaches, letting out a whimper.
“Sorry,” he says quietly.
At first he snorts, but then the sight of the man, cowering before him like he’s waiting to be hit is unsettling.
“What are you doing here?” Lovino growls, deciding not to put the bottle on the ground, and instead holds it defensively, “Answer me,”
Another whimper, “I-I… waiting,”
The shorter blinks, “What?”
Ludwig nods slightly, “I’m waiting,”
“Waiting for what?” Lovino blinks, suddenly worried.
The reply is a quiet “You,” and then he adds, “I’m waiting for you to…”
Almost irritated to the point of frustration, Lovino scowls, “Waiting for me to what?”
“Waiting for you to want me again,” His voice is low, quiet, Lovino would even call it afraid, if he could even believe such a thing were possible.
Giving a snort, Lovino gives him a half-lidded ‘Are you kidding me?’ look, however this is met only with confusion.
Momentarily, Lovino considers just throwing him out of his house, but then the thought that he might not be doing this by himself occurs, and reluctantly Lovino decides that the best thing to do is to follow along.
“So,” He murmurs reluctantly, “What do you mean by that?”
Ludwig gives him an odd look, before saying, in a quiet voice, “I… You always… tell me what I should do, and…” He trails off, flinching at the glare of Lovino’s eyes.
Giving a sigh, Lovino turns around, still not sure how he should handle this. Obviously, the situation is ridiculous, and there’s no possibility that any of this, or at least most of it, is real. On the other hand, Lovino’s never known Ludwig to pull jokes of any sort, or be any good at lying, really, so the fact that he’s so honestly confused is alarming.
After a moment of thought, Lovino gives a shrug.
“Fine. Go make me some dinner.”
To Lovino’s surprise, Ludwig is gone when he turns back around.
He huffs, and decides to go watch.