GerUk/GerEng Collection

What a Pen and Paper Can Do

GerEng Week 2021 Bonus Day: Pen and Paper

It was amazing how much a pen and paper could accomplish. It could form alliances, bring forth peace, create a new world, express an idea, share a new invention, and so on. The only limit to the use of a pen and paper was the holder's imagination. That was why Arthur had decided to use them to finally express his feelings properly.

Arthur was not used to expressing feelings such as love so openly. If anything, he tried to push such feelings as far down as he could, snapping at whoever stirred such feelings. But be it from old age or maybe he had finally found "the one" he decided to swallow his pride and fear of rejection, and attempt to confess to a certain someone who caught his interest. That someone being Ludwig.

But now, sitting in front of the blank paper, pen in hand, Arthur was considering just hiding again. It would be so much easier than actually writing what he wanted to say on the paper. What did he even want to say? He could simply put "I like you" or, if he was feeling bold, "I love you." But there was so much more that came to mind and that he felt when he thought of Ludwig. Just the thought of seeing the man made Arthur unbearably happy. His heart never failed to beat faster anytime he heard Ludwig speak and when he laughed, everything seemed to stop. And worst of all, Arthur was realizing how lonely he was, and whenever he was apart from the German nations he felt empty. But that was a little too much for Arthur to admit. So in other words, he was stuck.

He scratched down a few ideas, hoping that having it on paper would ease his worries and boost his confidence. That did not work however and instead made him more anxious and embarrassed. All attempts were tossed aside. With a groan, Arthur buried his head in his arms. Too distracted by his swirling thoughts and overwhelming emotions, Arthur didn't hear someone else enter the room.

Ludwig looked around at the discarded papers, eventually picking up one and looking over it.

Dear Ludwig,

I like you.

From Arthur

It read in Arthur's handwriting. Ludwig felt his cheeks heat up. He picked up another and another, reading each and every one. Words were scratched out, thoughts were incomplete, but Ludwig was able to get a jist of what was being said. Arthur still hadn't realized Ludwig had entered, giving the German an idea. Taking one of the notes and a pen from his pocket, Ludwig wrote:

Dear Arthur,

I like you too.

Love Ludwig

Short, sweet, just as Ludwig liked it. Folding it into an airplane, he tossed it over to Arthur, landing smoothly on the desk and right beside the Brit's arm.

Feeling the paper plane woosh past him, Arthur looked up and picked up the paper. He tensed as he read over the words before slowly turning around and realizing he wasn't alone anymore. "How many did you read?" Arthur asked tightly, his eyes falling back to Ludwig's note.

"Almost all of them," Ludwig admitted sheepishly, cheeks tinted pink. "Forgive me for the intrusion, I just...my curiosity got the best of me I suppose and after I read the one, I had to see the others. They were all...very flattering to say the least."

Arthur's own cheeks heated up at the German's words. "W-Well...y-you're welcome I guess." He coughed awkwardly and began cleaning up the desk, trying to escape, or at least distract himself from the growing tension.

"So where do we go from here?" Ludwig asked after a moment.

"I'm not sure..."

"Naturally we would go out on a date would we not?"

Despite everything being cleaned, Arthur kept his eyes fixed on the desk. That desire to run and hide was starting to consume him. But he couldn't run. Not with Ludwig right there, sounding hopeful, having returned his feelings.

"Or...we could take it even slower...sleep on it." The disappointment in the German's voice pierced Arthur's heart more than it should have.

Taking a deep breath Arthur turned back to face Ludwig. "It's almost dinner," he said, fumbling with his sleeve slightly, "How about we go out together, maybe get some ice cream or something after?"

The brightest smile Arthur had ever seen spread across Ludwig's face and Arthur's mind went blank. He was snapped out of his daze by Ludwig timidly extending his hand which Arthur just as timidly took. And so the two set off for their first date. 

And that concludes GerEng Week for me! So glad I got to do it this year, it was a lot of fun! Thank you for gereng-week over on tumblr for putting this together!