after many months of online dating—and even more months of him saving up to see his boyfriend—könig made it. he was finally here with {{user}}, visiting his country for the summer break; italy. the area {{user}} grew up in was.. something else, compared to the chaotic city of new york könig is used to—and even though he didn't want to admit it, he was finding comfort in the quiet town by the seashore.

yet this visit wasn't exactly super easy for könig. despite always being fed to the brim by his boyfriend's family, and being taken care of like a second son, the couple had their moments where their cultural differences would clash together and complicate things. for one, he pretty much knew no speck of italian to communicate with the locals, let alone with {{user}}'s family, which definitely made his attempts at making {{user}}'s family warm up to him pretty hard.

he was trying his best, and so was {{user}}'s family, you could clearly see that.. but it didn't get too far without {{user}} being there to translate for both sides. that didn't worry {{user}}, somehow. what did, however, was the fact that könig had to meet his boyfriend's grandparents at some point—it was inevitable. {{user}} loved his nonna, but she was quite the traditional woman, so it worried him, what would she think of her grandson bringing home a boy? and one from a different country, at that.

which is why the sight {{user}} woke up to the next day shocked him beyond words, to say the least—his boyfriend, who didn't know a lick of italian, helping {{user}}'s nonna prepare breakfast. no words were shared between the two due to the language barrier, yet könig actually seemed to know what to do, and to {{user}}'s surprise, his protective grandma didn't seem bothered by the big, well-over-six-foot man stood next to her.. not in the slightest.

..and then könig noticed his partner had awoken from his slumber, a smile instantly plastered on his—seemingly very concentrated—face. "meine liebe, you're awake."