Laughter.

No.

Giggles.

Sweet and mindless and full of an innocence that only a child can possibly possess. The melodic sound of joy and thoughtless happiness floats up the beach in tendrils, lapping up onto the sand like the waves where the sound is coming from. The gentle lapping of the sea on land, the giggles, the soft whistle of the warm breeze all playing together in a melody and making the atmosphere on the near-deserted beach one of relaxed bliss with a counterpoint of hectic splashing.

Two men, one Italian and the other German, stand on the beach, watching the man-boy frolic in the water like an infant. The older of the two onlookers, a blonde-haired wall of solid muscle, has got a lop-sided smile splashed onto his face, eyes drawn instinctively towards the playing male. His companion, in turn, has his eyes locked on the German, irises seething with a kind of protectiveness that could make a demon shudder in fear.

"What you looking at, Potato Bastard?" A thick Italian accent all but snarls, tone brimming with a fierce protectiveness that it's owner daren't look too far into. The addressed doesn't respond, just carries on staring almost dreamily at the figure in the waves. "Hey! Answer me, bastard!"

The German shakes his head, the sharp edge of the Italian's words cutting deep into his daydream and forcing him to turn his head in the direction of the speaker. He takes a moment to register the fear that he should probably be feeling at the sight of such a furious man but then he remembers that he is Germany; he fears nothing.

Least of all over-protective big brothers.

"I'm looking at Feliciano." The blonde smirks, his eyes just daring the Italian to step out of line. "The guy can be annoying, but damn is he cute."

"You can't say that about my brother!"

"Say what, Lovino?" The German practically purrs, turning back to the sea once more with a sense of satisfaction swelling in his chest.

Lovino growls, actually growls like a wild animal, and his hands form tight fists at his sides. He is fully aware that he's not exactly known for being the best big brother around, but he'll be damned if he lets his baby brother get his heart broken all over again, just like with that bastard Holy Roman Empire. The first time round was bad enough and he refuses to even give it the chance of ever happening again.

Sure, his fratellino and the German aren't officially dating or anything but, despite popular opinion, Lovino isn't stupid; he can spot a disaster a mile off, giving him plenty of time to run away from it and drag his little brother with him out of harm's way.

And this towering, hot-headed German who can't keep his nosey blue eyes away from Feliciano is a disaster if ever Lovino saw one.

"Say that my brother's cute!" Then as an afterthought Lovino adds, "Or annoying!" The German just chuckles, blatantly unfazed by whatever threat the smaller man poses towards him. "I mean it, Ludwig, you stay away from him!"

"Easy there, Lovi, or people might start thinking that you actually care about him."

Ludwig knows exactly what he's saying and how he's saying it, the way in which it will worm into Lovino's mind and make him falter because that's just who Lovino Vargas is; he doesn't care about people, especially not his stupid little brother. At least, not openly anyway.

The subject of their conversation reaches his hand down into the shallow water, his usual exalted beam igniting his face like lightning as he pulls a small object out and starts yelling something about a 'pretty little starfish'.

See, Lovino thinks, so innocent and naïve. How can I not protect him?

"Yeah, well, maybe I do. Just a little bit." Lovino grunts, refusing to make eye contact with Ludwig or so much as look in the direction of his fratellino. "Feli he, he's had his heart broken before. Not that you need to know, Potato Bastard."

At Lovino's words, the slightly pained tint to them, Ludwig's eyes soften and he even goes as far as to offer the younger man a smile in response to Lovino's persistent scowl. He can vaguely remember Prussia being like this with him once, a very long time ago.

"Ah, very valiant of you, Lovi, playing the protective big brother. But I assure you that there's no need to worry." He backs his certain words up with such a sincere look of absolute promise that Lovino finds himself wanting to trust the damn German, wanting to believe that he can let Feliciano belong to the man that his little brother won't stop wittering on about. "Feli is very special to me and I'd never hurt him, not ever, not for anything or anyone."

Lovino looks away, back to where he can see Feliciano skipping around in the water like a little girl and singing some on-the-spot song about his love of pasta. Coming from most people it would most likely make them appear to be insane, but from Feliciano it's just plain adorable, just adds to his goofy cute charm.

Heaving out a sigh, the Italian closes his eyes and lets his mind take him back to when he used to have let Feliciano share a bed with him at night lest he want to be awoken by his little brother's pathetic keening for a certain empire that would never return. He kind of misses that. Not Feli being sad, of course not, but the sharing a bed with him; the being needed part of it, being a good big brother and having a snuggled-up Feliciano to prove it. Yeah, he misses all of that.

Not that he'd ever admit it.

"When I first met him, he was hiding in a box in the middle of a forest." Ludwig starts, having spotted the deep desperation in the big brother's eyes. "And yeah, at first I kinda really wanted to punch him in the face repeatedly. But then, I don't know, he just, I just…" He trails off, looking to the figure in the waves for some kind of answer. "What can I say? He's Feli and he's mine." He burns a bright red but does not feel embarrassed by his words; this is nothing to be ashamed of as far as Ludwig is concerned. "He needs someone to look after him and I need someone to look after. We just work."

Lovino raises his eyebrows, not completely sure why Ludwig is spilling his heart out to him like this. He's glad he is though, because it's giving him a chance to judge, a chance to decide whether or not this tall German man is good enough for his fratellino.

Not that he thinks anyone is.

"Look, Lovino, I really do care about him. I really do."

Lovino just nods, willing himself to believe that this man is capable of being careful with his baby brother's heart. It's time Feli got to feel love again, Lovi thinks.

And when they're walking home later on, Feliciano will complain of the coldness that comes after playing in seawater. It will be Ludwig who wraps his own coat around the shivering Italian, who holds him close and carries him onward when the younger starts yawning, eyes bursting with exhaustion.

And it will be Lovino who looks upon it with approving eyes, deciding to give the German a chance after all.

But God help him if he blows it.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading and please let me know what you think!

This is my first attempt at a GerIta, so sorry if it sucks. Also on my deviantART account.