Matthew felt his heart skip a beat when Gilbert leaned closer to whisper to him. He nodded slightly to show him understood him. He poured himself more wine after Feliciano before looking down at his plate, which was still half full. He immediately began eating again when the Italian pointed out nobody was eating.

"I'm full, Feli. Besides. Don't you want to have enough for Monday?" Ludwig asked. His own plate was empty. No matter how much food was on the plate, if Feliciano made it for him, he always ate every bite. No matter how full he may be.

Gilbert drank more beer and eyed his plate. "Sorry Feli, I'm not that hungry after all. Maybe you should try feeding Astor some meatballs," he said, unaware that Ludwig already banned him from this. Maybe it was the stress, but his stomach could not relax enough to eat. He still had half a plate of pasta.

"...Oh, I see," Feliciano blinked. Everyone was full? But he was still hungry and they all seemed hungry before. He helped himself to a little more before he tugged on Ludwig's sleeve. As usual, he went straight to the other for everyone, even if Gilbert just said he could feed the dog. "Can I give him meatballs?"

Ludwig looked at Feliciano when he tugged on his sleeve to Astor, who was still sitting by his feet and begging for food, back to Feli. He knew that he should say no. But he couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes Astor was giving him. "I already said no... But I suppose one couldn't hurt him." He told him.

Matthew wanted to tell Feliciano that he really shouldn't feed people food to dogs. But meat was good for dogs and as Ludwig said, one couldn't hurt. Besides, he was training to be a vet. So if something went wrong he would be able to handle it.

Gilbert huffed when Feliciano asked Ludwig, but he still smiled when the Italian rolled a meatball onto the floor and Astor lunged for it. A second later, the dog sat himself next to Feliciano's chair, wagging his tail and looking even more eager for food. "At least someone here is happy."

Feliciano whined, unable to look away from Astor. "But Ludsy, I think he wants another! Pasta is so tasty! I don't see why I can't give him pasta!" He looked over at Matthew. "Dogs like pasta right?"

"Nein. You can't give him another." Ludwig told him. He could already tell that he shouldn't have let Feliciano give Astor even one. Now the dog was going to beg even more for food. He knew that if that happened, he would eventually give in and he didn't want to do anything to make him sick.

"Pasta isn't exactly healthy for dogs. Ludwig is right, Feliciano.. You shouldn't give him anymore." Matthew explained to him. He would feel awful if Astor got sick. It didn't matter that it wasn't his dog. He couldn't knowingly let any animal get sick or hurt if he could avoid it.

Feliciano pouted before patting Astor on the head. "Sorry, puppy!" He would just give the dog some other kind of treat later when no one was looking. If Ludwig said not to give him any pasta though, he definitely would not. Feliciano always listened to Ludwig.

Gilbert sighed, watching the others. Although he didn't notice it, he'd started frowning. Weren't they all a little too happy, even though he bought the dog for that reason? Abruptly, he grabbed a meatball off his plate and dropped down to the floor, offering it out. "Here Astor. Come play with me!" he called, irreverent of what the other two had been saying. He wasn't really going to give the dog the food anyway. He just wanted to steal his attention.

Astor turned to Gilbert when he called for him and he instantly noticed the food on the floor. He went over, tail wagging, wanting the food. Ludwig hadn't noticed what Gilbert had done, otherwise he would be scolding him.

Matthew on the other hand, did. He had noticed that Gilbert had started frowning, but before he could ask what was wrong, he saw the albino drop the meatball. "You really shouldn't give him more food, Gilbert." he told him.

Gilbert pouted and pulled the meatball away from Astor, tempting him even closer. "I'm not!" he snapped back, a little harsher than he meant. Astor really wanted the food though and Gilbert couldn't pull it away fast enough the second time. He watched it disappear with a lick of tongue. "...okay, maybe I am..."

Feliciano noticed something off first. "Eh, where'd Gilbert go?" He couldn't see the older man from where he'd dropped down under the table. Gilbert tried to pull Astor out from under the table to steal a hug from, but the dog was too busy licking the floor clean.

"I just...want...a hug!" Gilbert whined, still messing with the dog.

Matthew flinched slightly when Gilbert snapped at him. He really hated when people yelled at him like that. ".. You know that would work better if you waited until there wasn't the temptation of food." he informed him.

"Bruder... Just finish eating your dinner." Ludwig said with a sigh. Why couldn't his brother be normal when they had a guest over? Its like having other people in the house flipped a switch in his brain to make him act different.

"How so..?" Gilbert asked. He needed to learn this trick of getting at least animals to like him. The temptation of food was supposed to win Astor over to his side of the table. He lifted his head enough to stick his tongue out at Ludwig before sitting down on the floor again. "Don't wanna! Didn't you hear? I'm not hungry! " He sounded like a petulant child and crossed his arms to accent it.

Feliciano made a pouty face both from the mentions of being full and Gilbert's tone. "Ahhh! Why is he always yelling?!" He yelped as he latched onto Ludwig's side. Astor decided that with all the attentions, that he should simply walk up to Matthew and plop his head in his lap.

"Gilbert. You are acting like a child. You are a full grown man, now act likely it" Ludwig demanded. He really hated when the other after like this. He was the older brother, after all. You would think that would mean he d be mature, but no. He shouldn't have to be scolded by his younger brother.

Matthew watched them, a small frown on his face. He wasn't sure where tonight went wrong, but he somehow felt that it was his presence was responsible. When Astor laid his head on his lap, he gave the dog a smile before scratching behind his ears.

Gilbert pointed a finger at Ludwig. "You can't say that to me! I'm older than you!" When Astor moved away, he pouted even more. Of course the dog would like Matthew more. Everyone seemed to like Matthew and maybe Gilbert was jealous or whatever. He wasn't going to admit that even to himself though. He shifted over and grabbed Astor around the middle, not caring that he had to sit next to Matthew's chair.

Feliciano's brow drew together as he looked between everyone. "Eh...? Why has today turned out so weird?" He just wanted a pasta dinner to make Matthew and Gilbert friends. "Was there something in my special seasoning?"

Matthew looked down at Gilbert where he was leaning against the dog. He had the sudden urge to either pat the man's head or run his fingers through his hair. But, he felt that would be creepy so he repressed the urge. But it was hard with him sitting so close.

Ludwig sighed. "No.... It has nothing to do with the food.. Gilbert is just an idiot." he told him. He couldn't believe how immature his brother was acting in front of their guest. It didn't matter if the albino knew Matthew before they did. There were certain ways you were supposed to act when someone was in your house for the first time and the way the other was acting wasn't it.

"It's your fault for liking them more than me..." Gilbert muttered low enough that his brother wouldn't be able to hear. He had no intentions of moving no matter what anyone said. He was and adult and he could do whatever he wanted at the dinner table, including not sitting at it. Because it was either this or go sulk in his room and he still had to ask Matthew to be his friend before the he left.

Feliciano blinked. "I thought he was smart?" He seemed to know how to do the math involved in cooking well, but then again, he lit dinner on fire. He turned to Matthew. "Did you know Gilbert is an idiot?"

Matthew was surprised by Feliciano's question. He knew he could do the mean thing and say yes. But that just wasn't like him. And just because the guy had been mean to him didn't make him an idiot. So he decided to go with a passive answer. "I wasn't aware of that." he eventually said. That was passive, right? He thought it was.

Gilbert opened and closed his mouth a few times. "You know I'm still here right?" If they were all going to call him an idiot, they should do it do it behind his back. Though Gilbert himself knew he acted weird. Ludwig should have known better than to ambush him with this dinner. He gave up after another half minute and moved back to his chair, staring at the table with his chin propped up in his palm. "Better?"

"Much better." Matthew told him, giving him a small smile to make up for if he sounded rude. Besides, at least this way there was a little bit of space between them and he didn't have to feel so awkward about him being so close.

"Does anybody want more to eat or can I start cleaning this up?" Ludwig asked. The mess was starting to bug him and he wanted to get started on getting everything clean again.

Gilbert's sour expression had yet to dissipate. He held his plate out for Ludwig with a shake of his head. "Do you need any help with that?" The cleaning was sure to take a while at this point.

"Ooh, I want to help!" Feliciano exclaimed, waving one hand into the air. He was on his feet in a second, running off to the kitchen with a plate.

"What? Hey!" Gilbert yelped. "I offered first!"

"Feliciano can help just fine." Ludwig stated. Though he knew the Italian wasn't the best at cleaning. "You two can stay here and talk." He took Gilbert's plate and started gathering up the dishes before following the other into the kitchen.

Matthew silently watched him go. 'Don't leave me alone with him!' he thought to himself. He had no idea what to say. His eyes when to Gilbert before dropping down to Astor, who still had his head in his lap. He lightly patted the dog on the head.

Gilbert screamed in his head, reaching out a hand with pleading eyes. It had little affect. He dropped his forehead onto the table before turning it to the side so he could look at Matthew. The other wasn't looking at him, but rather the dog. Gilbert was so going to put something weird in Ludwig's dinner next week. "I think Astor likes you more than me," he sighed.

Feliciano dumped some empty dishes from cooking earlier in the sink, letting the bubbly water splash up and a bit of suds splatter on both him and Ludwig. "Eeeh, but why couldn't we all clean together?" he asked, not sure why they should have left the other two alone.

"Only because he knew me longer. I've been taking care of him since he came into the shelter. You've only had him for a day. Just give it time." Matthew told him, looking over at Gilbert.

"Those two need to talk and work things out." Ludwig explained to him. He began putting all the leftovers into containers and dropping the dirty dishes into the sink. "Wasn't that the whole point of inviting him over? So he and bruder would be friends?"

Gilbert didn't want to give it time though. He wanted to stop feeling so incompetent and pathetic with basic social skills. It wasn't his fault that no one taught them to him growing up. "They really like you, ya know?" he said, referring to Ludwig and Feliciano.

He forgot that was the point. Feliciano added extra soap since everything was extra messy. "Is it working? Ah, where's the scrubby brush thingie?"

"I only just met them yesterday. They seem nice though." Matthew said. "I was really surprised by the invitation. Does Feliciano invite people he just met for dinner often?" He asked, curious if that was normal behavior. It not, then it definitely would make him feel special. Not that he wouldn't if it was the normal behavior for him.

"I hope so." Ludwig said. He opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the requested item. That done, he began wiping down the counters and stove.

"Yeah...they're good people." Gilbert shrugged one shoulder. "Eh, I've seen Feli give pasta to homeless people before and just...strike up conversation with total strangers. But he doesn't normally invite them all over. Or Lud doesn't let him anyway..." He wasn't sure which.

Taking the scrub brush, Feliciano did his best to clean the dishes, but he didn't have the same anal characteristics as Ludwig. He just got the obvious mess off and set them aside to be dried, each plate stacked in a tilting tower on a towel. "What's hard about making friends though? It's easy!"

"I can tell." Matthew responded to the 'they're good people' comment. He could see Feliciano doing what Gilbert said, despite just meeting him the other day. "Why wouldn't Ludwig let him?" he asked.

"Not everybody is like you, Feli." Ludwig told him. He glanced over at him and could tell he was going to have to rewash all the dishes. But he didn't mind. He found cleaning to be relaxing anyway.