nods and appreciates that she did that. "Ja, packed everything." He says as he opens the door for her.

smiles and places his back there as well. "Do you want to drive. I'm still not one hundred percent sure where the trail even is...I wasn't able to find it on the Internet or any maps." He offers her

the keys.

nods as he switches places with her so she can drive. He didn't mind. "Is it far?"

was glad he had brought a small tent for them in that case. Just in case. "I trust you. I'm not worried." He settles back into his seat.

lets her take the reins as he he settles in for the drive to France. His sitting in his seat quietly.

interlaces their fingers holding it close. "A little put off by the fact that I'm still this age."

smiles lightly squeezing her hand. "Thank you. I'm trying to make the most of this."

quirks a brow at that. "Do you really prefer it like this over my other hairstyle?"

flushes. "Ahh...I see." He would keep that in mind.

gives her a small smile. "I didn't expect anything but for an answer from you I should have know it would be something like this."

smiles back. "I just know you well now." He says as defence.

gazes out the window curiously.

is pleased when she finds it. He waits for her to park the car before he gets out and grabs their bags. "How long of a hike is it supposed to be?"

shakes his head. "Not at all, that's quite a mild hike." He shoulders his bag.

hums at that as he follows after her. "I'm sure we will." He knew Francis' lands quite well with all the invading and occupying he had done in the past. And, also that they workd together now.

smiles and takes it as he walks beside her unaware of what would soon occur.

frowns, he had noticed the confusion and aimless walking. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

sighs but nods as he turns around. At least by backtracking they could find the trail again.

's frown deepens a bit. " I thought you said you knew where you were going..." He says, the irritation evident. "We passed several possible trails. It could have been any of them."

sighs. "A few decades..it probably changed since then. You didn't bother asking Francis for a map or at least better directions?"

grows quiet but nods as he picks a path that looks familiar and follows it in hopes it takes them back.

was trying to spot things that were a little more familiar but it wasn't happening. He should have been paying more attention as they were walking this way. He curses under his breath stopping. "We

need to turn back..."

knows that staying in one place is usually better but they didn't have anyone looking for them so that was out of the question. "If we keep going this way we may get even more lost. So right now I'm

not sure what's the best course of action seeing as the situation just keeps getting worse." He grunts.

huffs. "That would have been useful the moment we got lost. Why did you wait till now to mention you had a compass."

crosses his arms unimpressed at the face although on his younger self he only looked petulant. "Apparently not. You said you knew and you didn't. You gambled when you shouldn't have."

catches it with a bit of a scowl but he doesn't bother replying since he knew it would only be rude. He stands still aligning the compass properly before he's able to tell that east is back the way

they came. He starts that way lips thinned to show his irritation as he walks by her.

had caught sight of it from his periphery . He rolls his eyes. "Very mature Elizaveta."

tenses and scowls at the comment. It hit home in a bad way. "At least I have excuse to sound like this...what's yours." It was clear he sounded hurt.

thinks she's really stopping down to his level. He grows quiet deciding it was best to just ignore her. In his anger he doesn't realise he takes a wrong turn getting them even more lost.

had noticed this but was still upset and a little hurt. "Then go your own way...maybe you'll have better luck." He shoots back.

glares at the ground as he pulls off his pack and settles on a tree stump looking away from her. He pulls out some water and sips at it angrily.

glances at the compass and tries to remember everywhere they had gone. It would be dark soon and when it does it would be impossible to leave.

glances over to her his expression softening a bit. He glances up, it was already getting dark. "We have to make a move now...but we might have to camp."

nods as he gets up. "I remember a good place." He says as he starts for the area.

walks for a good thirty minutes before stopping. He glances around before putting down his bag and pulling out the small tent he had brought. He starts to set it up quietly.

is glad for the help. When it is set up he heads out gathering firewood. He comes back and works to make a fire seeing as it was getting cold fast. Thanks to his brother's training it takes him barely

no time. "There's a blanket in my pack. Take it and wrap it around you...it'll keep you warm."

isn't feeling hungry. It had a lot to do with their small fight. "I'm not hungry..."

tenses when she sits by him. She did have a point. It did look good for such a simple meal. "Fine...pass it back here..." His voice had softened.

takes it staring down at it before letting out a small sigh. He didn't like being angry especially at her. "I shouldn't have gotten irritated to begin with." He wants to pull her close but he refrains

for now. He picks at the food silently for a bit. He felt a little awkward.

| They looked like quite a sight both picking at their food. "We can see what happens in the morning."

nods at that. It didn't mean they would be found but it was something in the right direction. He shifts and wraps and arm around her pulling her closer and re-wrapping the blanket around them.

kisses the top of her head as a sort of apology. He's also able to start on his food now.

has to pull away a few times to attend to the fire before coming back to settle beside her. For some reason he just doesn't have anything to say. It could be the residual anger from their fighting but

but seems a lot more calm and content.

hums nodding lightly. "Ja, that's probably a good idea."

watches her go. He feels bad but he stays rooted in his spot keeping the fire going. He wasn't tired just yet.

glances over and notices this. "Are you cold?" He asks. It came out a little quieter than he had anticipated, good thing it was just them and everything else was fairly quiet.

sighs as he puts out the fire and crawls into the tent closing it behind him and pulling her hard against him before wrapping the blanket over them. "Don't lie..."

had brought one of his smaller tents for exactly this, to keep warm. He fixes everything properly before wrapping both arms around her and settling against her. "I can feel you shiver...you even feel

feel cold."

would have rolled his eyes at that. "We've all been through worse but it doesn't lower the suffering you're having now just because you have."

huffs back. "Fine." He withdraws his arms and turns his back towards her. He said she could handle it.

is irritated by all this because he does want to keep her warm.

| When he hears her breathing change, he turns around and pulls her against him to keep her warm before falling asleep himself too.

is still quite asleep but moves closer gently caressing her back with a small huff.

shivers at the caress but remains asleep. He frowns when she moves away but doesn't make any move to stop her. She did have to go to the bathroom after all.

wraps his arms back around her pulling her tight against him. He nuzzles his face against her shoulder blades. "You left.." He breathes out slowly waking.

yawns. "I can keep you warm...we can head out when the sun is a little higher."

hadn't been an angel himself. "It happens." He says over it, well for the most part. "I wasn't to pleasant myself." He hums.

is gently petting her hair with a hum. "I can't be angry at you for long..."

kisses her lips lightly. "Gilbert is my brother, I haven't fallen that far from the tree."

shrugs under the blanket. "It could be."

hums. "We do have the compass." He shifts a bit the cold causing him to be more sleepy than he should be. "Did you say Francis was going to meet us?"

sighs. "Lets hope he wakes up early. In that case we should stay here till he finds us."

pulls away nodding at that. "I'll get it ready." He exits the tent yawning and stretching before gathering wood to start something.

's working on the fire and he has it going again, proud. "This should keep us warm for a bit." He says as he sits down near it.

nods. "Gilbert was a good brother...ruthless trainer." He says reminiscing a bit.

lets her pull him down and takes a seat really close to her. "Well, when he was training me...not so much anymore. At least he never said anything around me."

knows how competitive Gilbert was and is, especially since it was shared custody with Roderich at the time. "I would have liked to see you when you were younger."

stares at the fire imagining that. "Apparently when I was young the first time...I was very sickly." He was talking about his Holy Roman Empire days.

gently drapes an arm over her shoulders. "That's right you would have known me."

shakes his head. "I can only remember a few things. When I died it wiped out most of my memories..."

nods, she wouldn't have. "Gilbert and Roderich made sure I would be different...Roderich wouldn't teach much about HRE besides the boring factual things. They both ignored my questions on myself."

glances down nodding lightly. "I still get nightmares from time to time."

hums shrugging. "I can't remember...I can't really feel offended."

shakes his head from side to side. "Vaguely. A little bit."

's lip quirks up a bit. "Ridiculous Italian."

nods his smile falling. "I loved him very much.."

leans forward and kisses her lightly. "But not nearly as much as you."

smiles. "I know...it was a different love but I never got to the point of feeling this strongly for a person."

smiles as he wraps his arms around her and embraces her back tightly.

kisses the side of her neck. "They keep me in check."

flushes. He's not sure what to day.

smiles lightly. "Ja, I forgive you...it's not as if I haven't gotten lost myself."

kisses her back softly. It would be much better if they got along.

kisses her for a little longer before pulling away to settle down.

rests his chin on her shoulder. "If he doesn't come I think we should try to find a way out soon."

doesn't blame her for that. "We'll be careful."

glances up at the sky. "Hmm, we could look for a very tall tree and I can try something." They couldn't have wandered to far that spotting the parking lot from a height wouldn't be possible.

shakes his head. "I'll be fine."

nods. He pulls his arms back as he gets up. He rummages in his bag grabbing a few things before studying the area and the trees. He spots one and heads towards it testing it's strength before heaving

himself up and climbing it carefully.

had indeed woken at a decent time this morning, and had worried to see that his expected guests weren't there after he had prepared breakfast for them. After trying to phone both their cells and their homes

and recieving no answer, Francis set out into the hills himself to search for them, relying on his knowledge of the landscape to move more easily through the trees.

makes it fairly high and pulls out a notepad as he glances around him. He frowns a bit. It was very hard to spot anything but forest besides a highway...a highway. They could walk back to the parking

lot. He jots down quite a few notes and even makes a rough map before tucking it away.

eventually pulls himself to a high enough ground that he can survey the area for signs of disturbance, growing a little disheartened when the initial search doesn't reveal much. He perks up though, to see the

faint tendrils of grey smoke coming up just a little bit away, quick to make note of where it was and make his way towards the hopeful campsite.

glances down studying the distance between him and the ground. "Ja, slow." He says as he starts the descent. He is being careful but he didn't realise on his way up one of the branches gave a little

at his weight. The branch snaps, he curses as he barely manages to catch himself losing his notepad in the process. "I'm fine." He calls out. "Almost down."

((should Francis miss them at the campsite or do you want him to show up before they leave again?))

(( He should catch them before they leave. As Ludwig is being scolded. ))

making his way down the mountain, trying to stick to already cleared pathways though making haste. He wasn't exactly a hiking enthusiast, after all. "Hello...?" he calls out when he hears a branch snap nearby,

though he's still a little too far away for his voice to carry to them.

was startled when he gets down. His eyes widen as she grasp him so roughly. He lets her scold him as his expression softens a fraction. He rubs at his chest but keeps her close. "I'm fine...that's

what matters..." He says a little feebly.

startles when he hears Eliza's call of panicked surprise, rushing towards the sound and managing to stumble into their campsite partway through the lecture. He stops, panting slightly but smiling at the

sight, shaking his head. "Well aren't you two cute," he hums, dusting himself off. Even while hiking he preferred to look impeccable.

flushes at the sound of Francis voice and comment. He wasn't to keen on being caught getting scolded and so remains quiet. He was relieved to be found though.

hums, stepping over to them. "Now, I have a question. Why is it that when I woke up this morning, I didn't find two lovely people waiting for me to cook them breakfast?" he scolds, already knowing exactly

how far off the path he had suggested they were.

flushes a bit at the scolding. "Next time you should come with us."

hugs her back tightly, relieved they're alright. "Don't make me put a leash on you two for next time," he teases, though when Ludwig speaks up he finally notices what had seemed odd. He blinks,

stepping over to him to compare their heights, a grin tugging at his lips. "Ludwig! You're little again~!" he comments happily, sweeping him into a tight hug too.

flushes a dark red. "F-Francis...please..." He was embarrassed enough as it is. "Not as young as before though.."

laughs happily, letting go but giving his butt a pat. "Still adorable as ever though~~"

jumps at the pat but settles when Elizaveta sidles beside him. "It would be nice not to be lost." He says as a way of asking to be lead out too.

grins, nodding. "Oui, you two look like you've had enough of this hiking nonsense. Pack up so we can go," he nods, admiring how cute they look together.

nods as he dismantles the tent and puts it away as well as the blankets and eases back to where both Elizaveta and Francis were.

waits off to the side, content to let the pair pack up on their own. He smiles a little when it looks like they're ready at last, turning to lead them back to the parking lot. "Now, do you two need to hold my

hands so you don't get lost again?"

‘s lip thins. “I‘m fine.“

laughs a bit, tucking his hands in his pockets instead as he starts to lead them back up the path. "Now, you two had me worried sick. What are you going to do to make up for it~?" he teases.

thinks about it for a moment. "I can offer you beer or repair your car when you need me too."

hum in thought as he considers it. "Hmm, beer and cupcakes does sound quite lovely~"