Ludwig had been working studiously in the library, working out a long list of calculus problems on a sheet of notebook paper, when the library's phone rang shrilly through the quiet. As the librarian picked it up, he could hear her side of the conversation quite clearly. Really, as a librarian, shouldn't she be one of the enforcers of quiet?

"Yes?" She said. "Of course, he's here… a situation? What kind of situation?... Oh really, at the very top?... Oh, the poor dear… I'll send him right down. Yes, goodbye."

Ludwig looked up as he heard her footsteps approach him, of all people.

"Ludwig, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the gym. Coach Harden needs your assistance…"

*~*~*~*~*~*

This was the scene Ludwig ran in on; an entire gym class, plus the gym teacher Coach Harden, staring up one of three climbing ropes, at the top of which… was a terrified Feliciano. Of course.

Sighing, he slowed to a jog and went up to the teacher. "Is this what you needed help with?"

"Oh good, Beilshmidt, you're here." Coach Harden clapped his shoulder. "Yep. The kid's stuck up there and won't come down. He's also spent the last half an hour crying your name, so we thought maybe you'd be able to get him down."

Ludwig stared up at the little brunet. "How'd you get him up there in the first place?"

Coach Harden cleared his throat guiltily. "I… may have told him there was spaghetti at the top… don't look at me like that! If he didn't do the rope climb, he wouldn't pass the course. I just told him what I had to in order to make sure he didn't have to repeat the class… again."

Ludwig opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a frightened voice whimpering, "Where's Ludwig? Ludwig, help!" Feliciano cried, tears streaming out of his tightly shut eyes with the side of his face pressed firmly against the rough rope. "It's so high up and I'm really, really scared and there's rope splinters in my hands and it hurts, Ludwig, all my muscles hurt so bad! Ludwig, where are you?!"

"I'm here, Feliciano!" Ludwig called, cupping his hands to his mouth.

"Ludwig?!" In his sudden excitement, Feliciano made the mistake of opening his eyes and trying to look down at the sleek blond head of hair. Dizzy from the height, Feliciano squeaked and slid down the rope a foot before stopping himself, body going taunt once again as he clung desperately to the rope. "AHHH! LUDWIG!"

"Calm down, Feliciano! Just hang on!" Turning to the teacher, he quietly asked, "I can see you have some mats on the floor… but how much good would they do against a fall from that height?"

"Enough to save his life… probably." Coach Harden confided. "There wasn't room in the budget for new mats. He might be lucky enough to get away with a broken ankle and concussion… but if he landed wrong, it could hurt his spine…" Even Coach Harden seemed genuinely concerned as he spoke.

"Scheiße" Ludwig swore under his breath.

Above him, Feliciano slipped a bit further down. "WAHHH! Ludwig, save me!!!"

That was the last straw. As Ludwig bent to take off his dress shoes, he informed the teacher, "I'm going up to get him. It will hold both of us, right?"

Coach Harden stared. "Well yeah, but are you sure you'll be able to do it?"

"It won't be a problem." Ludwig said, taking off his collared shirt, but leaving on his undershirt. "My father was a military man; I could do this one-handed."

At the base of the rope, he called up, "Feliciano, I'm coming to get you. Don't let go or fall while I'm climbing the rope." He instructed.

There was a whimpered, snuffled noise in response. He was going to take that as a 'yes, sir'.

(Okay, so maybe it went to his head a bit when he was in 'military mode'.)

The climb up the rope was relatively easy. When he neared the top, he changed direction slightly until he was right next to Feliciano. Up close, he could see the poor boy's red, tear-stained face, the way his entire body was trembling with exertion, and hear the small whimpering noises that were stifled in the back of his throat.

Feliciano was literally the only person who could make Ludwig's eyes go gooey with adoration and concern.

Holding on with one hand, he reached out and clasped the back of Feliciano's neck. "Feli, look at me," he murmured. Feliciano opened his eyes, sobbing quietly in relief. "Feli, keep your eyes on me, okay? On the count of three, I'm going to grab you with this arm, and you're going to let go of the rope –" At this, the Italian boy whimpered and closed his eyes in distress, pressing his face harder against the rope. "No, Feliciano! Liebling, look at me." The boy opened his eyes again. "Good," Ludwig encouraged, "That's good. Now, on the count of three, I'm going to grab you, you're going to let go of the rope, and put your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist, okay? Just like you do when I show up at your house, right? Latch on to me, but gently. You understand?"

Feliciano nodded tearfully. "Okay then, you ready?" Ludwig braced himself. "One, two, three!" He slid his forearm under where Feliciano's buttocks met his thighs and brought his body to his chest, just as Feliciano unwound himself from the rope and clung to Ludwig, wrapping himself as tightly as possible around the blond's torso. Ludwig kissed his temple in reassurance, blushing furiously at committing even this small display of public affection.

The trip down was much, much harder than the way up, due to only having one hand available in addition to Feliciano's (admittedly minimal) bulk, but he made it by half inching and half sliding down the rope. By the time he was at the bottom, he was definitely ready for one of those siestas Feli was always talking about.

The entire class cheered as he touched down on the mats. "Feliciano," Ludwig nudged the boy, "You can get down now." There was no response. Leaning forward to displace the brunet's head from his in order to see his face, Ludwig realized that Feliciano had passed out. Well, he was up there a very long time, he mused.

Coach Harden made the class back off, while Ludwig carefully unhinged the Italian's limbs from around him and laid him on the mats, proclaiming, "Let the kid get some air." And, despite his protesting back, the blond knelt over his unconscious boyfriend, calling, "Come on, Feliciano, wake up" and shaking him gently.

"Uwah~ Ludwig…?"

"Yes, it's me."

"…I feel horrible, ve~…" wow, Ludwig thought, even his 've' is listless.

"Well stand up and I'll take you to the nurse's office."

"Noooooooooooo…" Feliciano whined, "Just stay here with me… siesta…"

"Feli, I…" the German looked over at the class currently standing around them, looking at them like they were fascinating animals in the zoo. He could see it now; Come one! Come all! Look at the emotionally awkward barely-out-of-the-closet German attempt to comfort his needy, hyper boyfriend! Thankfully, Coach Harden cleared his throat and dismissed all of them to the locker rooms. Before leaving to his office, he patted Ludwig on the shoulder with a, "Vargas, you passed. Good job, Beilshmidt."

When they were along, the last of Ludwig's propriety crumbled in the face of Feliciano. Groaning, he laid out on his back, letting Feliciano cuddle up against him. He could easily fall asleep like this…

"Hey Ludwig?"

"Mmph."

"... Coach promised me pasta."

"I'll get you pasta later, Feli."

"…Ludwig?"

"Ja?"

"Thank you for saving me. Ti amo."

"…Ich liebe dich, libeling."