Valentine's Day Event: Venezuela and Germany

Ludwig was surprised at how busy the place was considering the heat. Then again, most of the natives of Venezuela probably didn’t think this to be that hot, unlike him. During the summer it could easily get this hot in Germany but alas, it was winter back home and so to adjust so quickly from cold to hot wasn’t boding very well with him.

He was actually surprised that there was a table open at the back corner of the café and had made his way over there to claim the spot for when Maria did make an appearance. However, he really had expected her to come so late, although, he probably should have expected it. It was something he had grown quite used to having been friends with Feliciano for nearly a century.

It was also something that Ludwig had extensively researched trying hard to get to the bottom of it but not finding any scientific answers and more so things that had to do with culture and way of thought. His research had just pulled up educated guesses and so he had gone on confused and unsatisfied with his findings.

The good thing was that when Maria did make an appearance it was extremely hard to miss her and heads turned to stare at her entrance. Ludwig had been glancing down at his watch at that instance and only looked up when he heard the women speak.

He stood up and leaned down to kiss her on both cheeks, seeing as it had slowly snuck into his culture, and he also dealt with Francis and Feliciano on a daily basis to realise that it was polite to do. Ludwig pulled the chair back for Maria before shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Not his typical response considering he really didn’t like when people were late for scheduled outings but Maria was his hostess and this wasn’t a typical meeting. “I’ve waited longer for Feliciano and Francis than you.”

When he was sure she was seated he pushed her chair in and took a seat of his own. “Did you want something to drink?”

(Please let us know if you want us to delete this guys! It was only for a bit of fun <3)

Feliciano had been busy running through ideas for his own friendly date with a certain Turkish nation one evening when, as usual, his mind began to wander from the task at hand.

He'd started speculating over who each of his friends had been allocated for their blind-dates, and it had only taken some minor sleuthing in order to find them out. He'd found the pair-ups to be fun and interesting, but Feliciano had become just a little concerned about what on earth was going to happen to Ludwig’s mental-wellbeing during his date however.

He wasn’t concerned about Maria of course; the pretty Venezuelan was a sweet girl. However she was outgoing in a similar way to Feliciano himself. And that in turn worried the Italian slightly. Ludwig had a tendency to be fairly awkward in certain settings... and a blind-date could be one such situation. Immediately Feliciano's over-active imagination came into play; what if the German man freaked out? What if he completely froze up? A lovely day could be ruined!

After fretting over the problem for a short while (Read as: ‘After phoning Roderich and wailing that Ludwig’s head might explode… or his heart… or possibly both at once leading to either a large mess in the middle of the street, or another infamous case of Germanic-brain-failure-blue-screen-of-deathitis'), the pair rather spontaneously idiotically decided to tail the German and Venezuelan on their date; in order to ensure Ludwig didn’t end up in the nearest loony-bin.

It was merely friendly concern and a desire to give Ludwig moral support that swayed their decision... really!

And so here they were, in a decidedly warm and sunny Caracas, tailing Ludwig and Maria like the best worst spies in history. Stealth was not Feliciano’s forte… indeed the Italian loved to be seen and heard, and couldn’t just simply will himself to revert the other way and disappear unlike other nations he could mention. He was wearing clothes that probably weren’t standard issue for those trying to be incognito; and the designer sun-shades forced on him by his own brother all but screamed ‘look at me I’m trying to be secretive and failing’!

Here in the hustle and bustle… they stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs and didn’t even realize it!

He took a swig of his own coffee, leaning with one foot braced against a wall whilst trying to pull off ‘suave and mysterious’… but only ended up looking slightly ridiculous (go figure).

Feliciano pushed the aforementioned shades up the bridge of his nose with a forefinger. The smirk curling his lips as he turned to his partner in crime wouldn’t have looked out of place on his own Grandfather back in his conquering heyday. “Hm~ Roderich? Has the target been sighted yet?”

Ludwig straightened in his sit as he memorized her order for when he did decide to go fetch them a drink. However, there was intent in her eyes and it kept him rooted to his chair as he waited for the next part of her explanation. For once in his life Ludwig had not planned anything more than meeting Maria at the café but he hadn’t been too sure what they could have done together that wouldn’t have crossed any lines in his eyes.

He had done his research, as was accustomed but Caracas was a large city much like Berlin and there were numerous things that both individuals could take part in. Also, it would have been rude for him to come with a plan when he wasn’t even hosting the date (not that he hadn’t done something of that sort before…but he had learned his lesson).

Ludwig can’t help but give her a small smile. “Frau Maria, it’s fine, you would know your city better than I anyway.” He tries to reassure her as she hands him the envelope and he’s immediately assaulted by the scent of perfume. Well, that was slightly strange and very unorthodox for paper to smell like perfume…and it was the same perfume Maria had been wearing, he had taken note of it when he had bent down to kiss her in greeting.

“I don’t mind at all. It’s actually quite refreshing that I’m not the only one that likes organization.” He says as he gently opens the envelope and pulls out the document that was carried inside. His gaze goes over it flushing lightly at the inappropriate comments before he stops reading, his lips thinning. She wouldn’t have written that herself so it must have been another nation who had gotten a hold of the document and slipped it back in the envelope before she noticed.

Ludwig cleared his throat trying to hide the small blush as he glances at Maria. “Ah…Frau Maria, I’m not sure if you’re aware….but it seems someone else has gotten a hold of your document.” He says as he turns the sheets in his hands and slides it over to her. “I’m sure none of the red writing was of your intention…correct?”

“Excuse me, I’ll go get our drinks as you look over it.” Ludwig says as he gently eases out of his chair and heads to the barista ordering two coffees and both of them with milk. He pays glad he had exchanged some currency before arriving before heading back with some sugar and stir sticks to place one in front of Maria and retake his seat.

Unbeknownst to either individual was the presences of two more nations located somewhere outside of the café…who were keeping a close watch. However, if they had been found out, there would be at least one irritated and frustrated individual.

As Ludwig takes a seat he makes sure to carefully set his coffee down before adding some sugar of his own and stirring it in lightly. The plane ride had been long and unfortunately he hadn’t gotten enough rest on the flight and had to make do with watching the movies provided or reading the guide book he had bought on Venezuela. To say the least, he knew a lot more about the southern nation than he had before which he thought was a good start especially if they were to try and discuss things concerning her lands.

His gaze fell on her as she cleared her throat, her cheeks were as red as his had been when he was reading the document, and really, he couldn’t blame her for that. It was quite embarrassing having your guest read something so inappropriate when that was far from your initial intention.

“It’s find Frau Maria. I’m sure if you had come to my house my bruder would have done something similar if not worse.” He reassures as he takes a tentative sip of his coffee, finding that it was actually really good, not that he was really worried, he wasn’t a coffee snob after all.

Ludwig gives her a small smile. “It was a lovely plan. I’m curious to see the planetarium. There’s a nice walking planetarium in Switzerland that you should see. If you ever come for a visit, Frau Maria, I could take you there. I’m certain Vash wouldn’t mind me showing you around his place.”

He wasn’t angry with her by any means. They were circumstances that unfortunately couldn’t be controlled especially considering the people you hold dear. Besides Gilbert, he was sure if Francis had stopped by for any reason it could have been much worse than what Luciano had wrote on Maria’s document. Regardless, the plans were great and most of the activities if not all of them were all things that he enjoyed doing. Ludwig couldn’t help but wonder if they had any Polar Bears at the zoo they would be visiting.

( I'm pretty sure going to the zoo was on the list but when I tried to pull up the document it was gone. D: Regardless, if it's not, I'll just fix it up and we're good to go. )

Ludwig had probably read up more on Venezuela than he had first thought seeing as he was quite aware of many of the indigenous species that were found within her borders on top of the botany of her country. There had been only one chapter in his guide book that touched base on the issue with a bit more depth but, of course, with each region there was a small description of what it had to offer in regards to nature. Then again, most German guide books on other countries touched base on a lot of outdoor activities.

Maria had a point. It was odd that he was being so formal with her but then again he didn’t know the woman that well and had dimmed it almost necessary to treat her with such regards. “Ah, ja, my apologize. From now on I’ll try to remember to only call you by your first name.” He replies with a slight flush of embarrassment. Ludwig had caught on to the affection in her smile and was a little relieved that she wasn’t completely put off by his formality. “Ludwig is just fine too…if we’re discarding the formalities.” He adds but not having to worry too much about it seeing as she already referred to him by his first name and it would have been odd hearing her use the suffix signor in front of his name.

His attention was caught at her slight exclamation as he watched her lean down to grab something. Ludwig took the box with a bit of a flush as he glanced down at it curiously. “You didn’t have to get me anything, Maria.” He says lightly. A smile crept onto his face at her explanation and knowing full well that he was going to take advantage of this fine cocoa powder which reminded him.

“I nearly forgot. I brought you a gift as well.” He goes on as he pulls out the box of chocolates and slides it over to her. “I meant to give it to you when you first arrived but you know how it is.” He adds.

Ludwig gently tucked the small box away in his bag before glancing back at Maria. “Shall we start with your plan in that case? No point in staying in the café when there are better things to do, ja.” He smiles as he gently eases himself up, grabs his bag and offers her his arm.

Ignoring Roderich’s beckoning to join him in a more unobtrusive and far less obvious position; Feliciano continued to unabashedly watch their intended targets from behind his dark glasses. Once or twice the foolish need to intervene had almost sent him hurrying over in order to ‘help’ proceedings, yet he contained himself for the most part, merely deigning to watch Ludwig’s actions and reactions with hawk like determination and the occasional ‘tutting’ sound of one who was far more apt in social situations than the awkward German.

He didn’t mean to appear so condescending; it was compassion and not mockery that steeled his resolve to help, misguided though it may be.

The Italian regarded their interactions with a practiced eye, and smiled as Ludwig seemed to relax a little more as they conversed. He couldn’t quite hear their conversations from their vantage point, but he could gather the basic gist (years as a nation had served him a little in lip-reading during boring meetings at least). As their presents were exchanged, Feliciano couldn’t help but feel a small pang in his chest. He’d quite been looking forward to giving out his own chocolates, but as matters stood he’d have to wait. Not to mention in this heat his lovingly crafted confectionaries would end up looking like misshapen blobs… not the desired look he wanted.

Speaking of the heat…

Feliciano loosened his collar a little and spared a glance at his compatriot, his partner-in-crime. He wasn’t sure about the Austrian, but Feliciano was beginning to wilt a little and hoped that the pair they were following would move on soon… preferably somewhere with shade or air-conditioning!

“Ah! Roderich, they’re on the move… let’s go!” Catching Ludwig and Maria standing to leave, Feliciano instantly perked up. Heedless whether Roderich had finished his coffee or not, the enthusiastic Italian grabbed the other hapless mans’ arm and dragged him towards their quarry; making sure to keep a decent distance between them.

It was fortunate that the area was busy this time of day, not only did it make them less conspicuous, but when Maria produced a hat for Ludwig to wear, the general hubbub of chatter smothered Feliciano’s amused laughter which he failed to contain. Gaining control after a few moments, Feliciano lapsed into happy little chuckles and waved a hand at Roderich to keep up.

It appeared their destination was a zoo. A good choice on Maria’s part, Feliciano decided… though the Italian had to keep from losing sight of the objective and cooing over the animals himself. It was a hard temptation to bear, he decided. His fingers fairly itched to sketch some of the creatures here. He’d just torn his gaze away from a Brazilian porcupine (who he swore had the same displeased look and spiky attitude of his own brother) when he caught Maria snapping a few pictures of Ludwig.

It was a shame he was too far away to see properly, but he assumed that Ludwig probably looked a lot more relaxed now. He was cute like that… If he was right and that was why Maria was happily snapping away, maybe if he asked nicely Maria would show him the photographs at a later date? It would possibly mean coming clean about following them but still…

They’d been walking around for some time, and in the current climate, Feliciano was beginning to flag. He’d been forgetting to hide himself quite so promptly, and on one occasion had walked far too close behind them. He spared a glance to Roderich and presumed he probably wasn’t faring any better. Thankfully Maria seemed to be on a similar wavelength as he, as she called a halt under the shade of a large tree, and Feliciano all but slumped gratefully under the shade of another nearby, hidden from sight by the trunk. He nearly whined when Maria mentioned ice-cream… that sounded good, but he doubted it would be possible to remain incognito whilst purchasing one.

“Roderich… have you melted yet?” He smiled over at the Austrian with an air of melodrama.