Twists and Turns

Midnight Paintings and Midnight Pairings

"Why are you taking Italy out with you in the middle of the night?" Germany asked tensely. "Because I had inspiration for my painting and now is the only time I won't be too busy working or sleeping." Leopoldo answered, holding Luciano's wrist tightly. "But why is the middle of the night?" Germany asked. "Luciano wouldn't be able to bear standing around waiting for me to finish it any other time of day." Which was true. Luciano was already starting to sway and stare into space. "And he is very vital to my creativity process!" Leopoldo said enthusiastically, dragging Luciano out the door before Germany could even reply.

After they got to the bell tower, Luciano started staring into space again and Leopoldo started painting on the building. Leopoldo quickly got a ladder hanging over the side and started painting the side of the building. Luciano stared at Leopoldo's hand as he painted the architecture. He held a lantern in front of him so that Leopoldo could see. He didn't even actually see what he was painting until he had finished painting the portrait. At the top of the tower was a painting of a young Italian wearing a blood-red dress next to a young boy dressed in white with gold patterns spotting the lining of his clothing and underneath it faded into a lonely Italian whose dress was flowing with the wind. It looked like the child was struggling to keep from blowing away with the wind. And below it where Leopoldo had been painting, was a grown Italian man and a German man standing together, wind blowing through their clothes and hair.

"What the fuck is that?" Luciano asked, suddenly brought out of his trance.

"It's my edition to my ancestors' painting."

"Why the fuck did you draw Germany and me?"

"Because you two are what inspired me."

"What do you mean?"

Leopoldo sighed. "Do you not see it?"

"Um, no?"

Leopoldo continued shoving his supplies into his bag and finally stood straight in front of Luciano.

"It doesn't matter. It's just my interpretation of the art." Leopoldo answered walking ahead of him. "What the fuck kind of interpretation is that?" Luciano asked. "It's my interpretation, so get over it." Leonardo yawned. When they finally got back to the small wooden house that Lilika and Leopoldo shared at twenty past two, they found a smiling Lilika blabbering on to Luther about a specific Italian that had just come in with Leopoldo and a semi-worried-looking German hanging onto every word she said. "Oh, hallo Italy!" Lilika said cheerily, standing up and coming over to give Luciano a hug. He didn't protest, mostly because he felt like he was going to faint at any given time and partly because he kind of needed a bit of support. His limbs felt like they were falling apart. "What happened?" Lutz asked curiously.

"Nothing. Leo just needed a light so he could paint that damn building in the center of the town." Luciano said, swaying a little. He hadn't gotten any sleep in the past few days and he was feeling like he might collapse at any given moment. "But why not ask Lilika or me?" He asked.

"Because Luciano doesn't sleep. He would actually be able to hold up a light all night without falling asleep on me if need be." Leopoldo answered. Germany knew this, of course. Luciano's brother had already told him this, but he didn't think that anybody would be able to use his restlessness to their advantage. "My ancestors used to paint on the bell tower at night with Luciano when he was younger. That's why they say 'follow the light in the dark to find immortality' a lot here. Finding the light wouldn't lead to immortality. It would lead to an immortal being." Leopoldo explained. "They wouldn't do it during the day because there were other things to do during the day and the only time the immortal child would come out was at night."