GerMerica : Screaming Indulgence Part 3

Time seemed to freeze around the American as he stared in open surprise at the retreating back of the german. "huh...? Lud, what are y--" Alfred noticed the direction the now peeved German was heading and felt a shot of adrenaline spike through his veins in panic. The hero immediately went to follow, his movements slow as he attempted desperately not to fall face-first on the ice. "Dude, It's fine! Really!" He called after the other, trying to pick up the pace. The last thing he wanted was a brawl of sorts to ensue; especially one that involved his citizen. Douchebag or not, the man was still one of his own. Unfortunately, the American's shouts seemed to fall on deaf ears as Ludwig continued forth with a clear purpose. The only thing he could hear was his heart beating faster, the sound seeming to pound in his ears. Heat traveled further up his neck in obvious anger as man he was approaching turned and arched a brow with a contemptous sneer in place. It was almost as if he expected the German to skate away.

"Goddamnit...." Alfred breathed as he pitched himself somewhat forward, trying to gain further speed as the distance between the other two men lessened with each passing moment.

When the man noticed Ludwig wasn't retreating as he thought would occur, the man's jaw twitched and he abruptly stopped skating. He turned and crossed his arms, partially leaning against the railing. Nearly everything about his stance screamed the word 'challenge' clear as day. Only a few seconds passed before Ludwig stood infront of him, taking the moment to just perhaps rein in his temper so that he wouldn't cause too much damage. However; all attempts at that ended when the other opened his mouth to speak.

"Something wrong, Fuckwad?" The man sneered with a sickening smirk, staring right back at the German, "Why don'tcha just skate your ass back over to that little faggot?" He half laughed, looking immensely amused by his own words. By this point, Alfred had finally managed to slide up alongside Ludwig, nearly flying past him in the process. He quickly put a hand on the German's arm, digging his nails sharply into the cloth that made up the other's shirt before giving a firm tug backwards. What would have made a normal human stumble back and most likely fall on his backside only succeeded in making the German nation scowl and try to shake off the American's grip.

Alfred gritted his teeth and tried to further tighten his grip, feeling himself grow more nervous by each passing second, "C'mon, Ludwig. He's not worth it." He half groaned in a perplexed manner, trying to coax the other to atleast take a few steps back.

Shifting his gaze briefly to Alfred, the man smirked and reached past Germany, snagging the American by the front of his shirt and tugging him up to his face so that Alfred's feet hovered just a tiny bit above the ground. "Not worth it?" He growled. "Why don't you keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut, Kay? Cantcha see the big boy's are talkin', Princess?" He snarled out the last few words. Cheeks flushing in indignation, Alfred couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this..small. "Put.Me.Down." He demanded, voice coming out with a soft snarl. One of the last things he wanted was to be manhandled by one of his own damn citizens. But even more than that, he didn't want to risk using his strength as a nation to accidentally hurt the human...no matter how much it may have been deserved. It just simply wasn't the heroic thing to do.

With barely enough time for the citizen to fully comprehend Alfred's command, the German had taken that final step closer, hand balled into a firm fist before he let it fly forward sharply into the man's gut. This was followed in quick session by Ludwig bringing up his knee, slamming it harshly against the other's crotch. The man had immediately dropped Alfred onto the ice and swung blindly at the German. This only lasted for a bit before he gave a shout of pain and dropped to his knees,clutching himself. "You fucken bastard!" he snarled, breathing hitched in obvious agony as he most likely lost the ability to reproduce.

Eyes widening, Alfred quickly moved to stand in between the two of them when it seemed Ludwig meant to continue with using his citizen as a human punching bag. Placing his hands on the German's chest, Alfred tried to give a firm push when Ludwig continued trying to move forward, "Damnit, Ludwig! That's enough!"
Words seeming to slowly penetrate through the angered and terribly irrate German, America took in the sight of how flushed and aggravated Ludwig's face was. Even his breathing seemed a little off balanced. Other than the occasional outburst in meetings, Alfred had always thought of the other as a very stoic and composed man with an underlying temper that would take quite a bit to provoke eruption. Much more than this pathetic situation. Currently, he scowled and glanced down at where the man was curled up on the ground, spitting curses and hissing threats of sueing.

Taking in a breath, the self proclaimed hero slid his hands up so that each rested on either side of the German's red face, firmly forcing him to look away from the man curled on the ice. "Look at me, Lud......Look.At.Me...okay?" He breathed out, trying to keep his voice from wavering. "Just...take deep breaths..kay?" The American's glasses were mostly fogged, effectively concealing any emotions that may have been readable in his eyes. Obviously surprised by Alfred's actions, Ludwig quickly shifted his gaze away, feeling embarrasment slowly sink in as he allowed himself to come to terms with what just happened. Quite frankly, he was starting to feel terribly stupid about what he had just done. Sighing, Germany closed his eyes and remained silent as the American looked at him.

Alfred slowly let go of Ludwig, looking more worried than anything. He then took his arm and began to lead him to the other end of the rink, away from the still muttering man. "I.." He blew out a breath. "Thanks...You alright?"

Ludwig eventually gave a slight nod, his facial expression unreadable as he was pulled to the end of the rink. He once again sighed deeply before glancing down to his feet once they made it to their destination. He'd look anywhere that wasn't at the American. "E-Es tut mir leid, Alfred..." he mumbled out coarsley, his breathing then quickly reaching a decent stability.

The next few moments were filled with the American frantically trying to reassure the other that none of this was the German's fault, facial expression shifting to reveal something earnest as he spoke.

After taking a deep breath, Ludwig exhaled and managed the smallest twitch of his lips. Which was most likely supposed to be a smile. "Vell, after zhat, I zhink I can skate pretty vell, hah." He laughed weakly, still feeling quite peevish, but  soon headed out of the rink and made his way over to one of the benches. It seemed the wisest decision to make in that moment was to stage a tactful retreat from the rink.

Alfred was quiet for a few moments as he followed, exhaling a weak laugh of his own. "Yeah...I'm sorry that happened, man...usually I'm alone when that type of shit happens." He said, rubbing the back of his head in a somewhat nervous gesture.

Ludwig stopped and glanced at the American, his face suddenly stern as ever. Straightening his back after having removed the skates and putting his leather boots back on, he narrowed his eyes at Alfred. "Vat do you mean? Zhat's happened before?" Alfred slowly sat down on the floor beside the bench and had started to unlace the ice-skates. He glanced up however when he heard the German's tone. Quickly glancing away from the stern stare, he tried to focus on removing the skates, his usually nimble fingers doing a poor job of it. "Ah..it's not that important. This type of shit just happens from time to time." He shrugged his shoulders with the smallest of grimaces. Remembering. "Sometimes there's a mark left, sometimes their isn't."

Before Alfred could register what was happening; the German had partially knelt down and pulled the American up sharply to his feet by the arm. He glared deeply into Alfred's eyes with his own icy blue, his face remaining stern. "Leave a mark? Explain yourself..."

After having given an initial yelp of surprise as he was jerked up from the floor, Alfred felt a frown tug at the corners of his lips. "What's there to explain..?" He tried to keep his voice steady and 'hero-like', although it faltered just a smidgen. Huffing, America struggled to avoid the stern gaze that seemed to be doing a pretty damn good job of trying to suck him in. Unfortunately; it was starting to prove just a little too intense, "Dude, Like I said...It doesn't matter." The German kept his composure and continued to glare down at the American, his eyes narrowing further every few seconds. A deep scowl soon marred his features as he heard Alfred say 'It doesn't matter' once again. He eventually sighed in such a way that suggested he may be sporting the starts of a migraine, his eyes a sullen ice blue as he looked into the Americans own darker eyes. "It is a big deal. You shouldn't be treated like zhat. You're too good for zhat."

Alfred blinked, looking quite surprised and perhaps at a momentary loss for words. A rare accomplishment. "I..." He blew out a breath and forced himself, for who knows how many times that day, to give a false smile. "Thanks...But I can handle it. I sorta deserve it anyways." The German almost blew steam as that last sentence reached his ears, but breathed deeply to calm himself. "Nein. You don't deserve it. No vone deserves to be treated like zhat!"

"I have to disagree with you on that..." The American's voice had lost its usual apparent energy as he finally pulled away to finish putting on his shoes. As he moved to hurriedly put them on, the collar of his shirt shifted slightly, just barely showing the fading purple bruise near the base of his neck. Finishing putting on his boots, Alfred picked up his bomber jacket, folding it over his arm. The German's hand was quick to travel to the Americans back and rub the bruise gently with his ring and forefinger, posture stiffening as he was taken quite off-guard by this. "Vat happened hier...?" He questioned in a surprisingly soft tone.