It was three days into the month of June. A warm summer afternoon, a newspaper serving as a hand fan to create a chilly breeze, hitting against his tanned complexion. Lovino was settled on the sunbed outside, enjoying the tranquility and the simplistic atmosphere around him. He always enjoyed the silence, but it's short stay was inevitable with his younger brother, who threw himself into the water beneath with a massive splash and an enthusiastic laugh that only enlit a frown from his older brother, as the cold water from the pool flew at him in a wave of bullets.
Feliciano's exaggerated excitement was justifiable. This was his first time abroad compared to his older brother, who had been in Spain now for numerous occasions. While for Lovino this had been a typical occurrence, for the younger Vargas brother it had been a breeze of a fresh, new experience. Adventure awaited for him, or at least that's what he felt.
In contrast, Lovino wasn't bothered, the enjoyment taken from the sun rays hitting his face in the early morning only reminded him of home, where this was a normality, just like his younger brother's typical overly optimistic behaviour that greeted every possible life activity.
"Can you stop acting so childish?" He spitted, staring at Feliciano coldly, folding his arms in dissapointment, and watching the other shake his hair from the water like some pup. "Oh Lovi! You can't tell me you're not enjoying all this! Have some fun!"
In return the older boy shook his head stubbornly, rolling his eyes and pretending to read the newspaper. "We're not here on holiday - take it more seriously!"
"For now I see nothing more but holiday and fun. Grandpa hasn't told us anything about this 'important' thing we were sent to do here!"- remarked Feliciano, splashing the water around himself with his hands, then some towards the other, who brought his knees up to his chest - like a cat avoiding any contact with water.
"Come on, stop being so boring!" Feliciano frowned in response, leaning against the edge of the pool and looking up at him, however he was only met with an unhappy silence "Let us at least have our walk? It's a lovely evening, Dover won't be nearly as sunny as here - won't it? Pa' used to say, it is always stormy in England. I will miss Spain - I sure hope we will return here next year for holiday. Or perhaps next time, we'll embark to France, or Portugal? Grandpa's friends told me they're beautiful countries. Even if the beauty of Italy is unmatched, the idea of seeing everything seems enticing doesn't it?"
Tired by Feliciano's never ending chatter, Lovino could only sigh in defeat, finally agreeing to move from the comfort of his seat "A walk, huh?" He interrupted, standing up and doing up the buttons of his shirt. "Come on then, before I change my mind" - the older Italian frowned, watching Feliciano's perplexed expression turn into one of excitement. Lovino could picture the other's tail wag at the idea of going out to explore, like one of a little puppy.
The younger Italian immediately jumped out of the water, nearly slipping on the flower-patterned tiles surrounding the edge of the pool, running towards the little wooden hut - a changing room, a place for storing towels and swimming attire. Lovino found it completely useless, as most people from the pool managed to dry out in the sun before going upstairs and changing there - if changing at all. He noticed most of the guests were too drunk to even care about what they slept in at the end of the day. This thought only brought him back to the various other parties he has been to, hosted in the villa.
Lovino remembered the simplicity of things, those previous holidays in Spain when mama and pa' were still alive. She loved a good party, guests and music and dancing. Their father in contrast, preferred to look out through the window of their bedroom, reading a book, coffee in hand, waiting for her to return into his arms after a long day. Before Feliciano was born, they went there every summer, and while he spent his time with his uncle and grandpa, he watched his mother blossom in her warm-hearted nature as a hostess. Her eyes always drifted up into the window, where his father was sat, reading his book with a sweet smile, catching a glimpse of her dancing and singing and meandering amongst the guests animated, with a gorgeous smile. Lovino often noticed himself being similar to their father. Longing for a woman he could look so fondly upon, from their bedroom window, as she smiled and partied next to the pool, entertaining everyone with her lovely smile.
Despite his handsome features however, he wasn't much lucky with finding himself a wife, a woman he could spend his life with in the same way his father did with his mother. There had been fondness and passion but never love.
As he stood there, waiting for Feliciano, he looked up at the same window his mama gazed upon all these years ago and wondered, how does one even seperate such emotions from love?
Soon the younger Italian walked out in his casual attire, brushing his towel-dried hair back with his fingers, squeezing out a tiny bit more of the remaining water. "Are you ready?", asked Lovino, watching the other nod, then leading him out of the property into the town below.
Feliciano happily admired the architecture, the garden, the house, and the town spread out beneath. Everything was well-kept and undoubtedly impressionable. Although often considered similar, it was nothing like Italy, they were two different types of beauty. The food smelled spicier, the apples were redder, the sounds of that bustling market were different. So far, his favorite stall was the one led by a kind old couple, selling little glass containers of different spices and bunches of dried herbs. While Feliciano decided that the strong smell of rosemary and lavender were his favorite, Lovino was much more interested in finding his favorite fruit among the many stalls.
He had a peculiar appetite for a fresh, red tomato, and spotted a perfect one on a stand led by a handsome young man. Lovino noticed him from afar, watching him set up a few more boxes of different fruit. As the man turned back to his wooden wheelbarrow, collecting small baskets of tiny wild strawberries, another man approached, stealing one of the tomatoes when the other wasn't watching and proudly taking a huge bite. He didn't even bother to pay. What an oaf!
Lovino felt his blood boil within him, and didn't even think to look at the face of the criminal, catching the other red-handed, gripping his wrist. "Where are your manners mister?" Lovino frowned, watching the Spaniard's perplexed expression, as he tried to free his wrist. "You better pay for it bastardo! You owe this salesman an apology! If you can't afford a tomato, go work scum! This gentleman is breaking his back to make a living and you-" - however Lovino's serious speech had been only met by the other's warm laughter.
"Oh boy!" The Spaniard patted the other's shoulder with his free hand. "Dear, perhaps I should introduce myself? The name is Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo-" the man didn't even manage to finish, interrupted by a frown. "I care not for your name - but the reason behind your thievery!"
Antonio, allowing the other to continue holding his wrist, gently kicked the wooden sign, engraved with 'Hermanos Carriedo', and fixed up in red paint for visibility. The colour now reminiscent of Lovino's cheeks - burning up red from embarrassment. He let go of Antonio's hand, allowing him to bite the tomato again. While he was lost for words, the Spaniard took the opportunity to finally explain himself.
"It's sweet you were so worried about my tomatoes, but every one of them belongs to me amigo~" he winked. "My brother, over there is only helping me with it, his own stall is next to mine, he fixes watches" he gently took Lovino's gloved hand in his own, inspecting the watch wrapped around his wrist, before the other pulled it away in what seemed like disgust.
"He could sure fix this little thing for you in no time~"
"No thank you, I wasn't planning on getting it fixed -" Lovino frowned, his gaze dropping down to the accessory for a moment. Antonio swiftly jumped behind the counter then leaned in, watching the Italian's gaze drop to one particular tomato. Before he opened his lips to speak, the Spaniard took the exact red fruit into his hand - successful as shown by Lovino's following gaze. Smiling from ear to ear at his confused expression, Antonio passed the fruit into his hands "I suppose, then, this must've been what you were looking for? They are beautiful this year, it's true. So red and ripe. These particular ones are the sweetest" the tomato barely fit in his palm.
"Just take it amigo, don't worry about the price". Lovino frowned, "I'm no thief"
"You sure are" - the Spaniard leaned his elbow on the counter flirtatiously, watching the other's expression from below. It was a puzzled frown, trying to search for an explanation to Antonio's response.
"What was that supposed to mean?"- Lovino questioned, but upon no further reply he rolled his eyes and placed down a fair amount of money. Stepping back, he digged his teeth into the fruit, meeting with a sense of euphoria when the taste met his tongue.
He swallowed the bite surprised, but restrained himself from the further talk, knowing well that the other's smirk only foreshadowed another conversation. "Adiós" he huffed at the brunette, walking away from the stall and leaving the man far behind him. Making his way to the place he had last seen Feliciano.
They shortly returned to the villa, followed by the shadow casted when the sun began dissapearing below the sea. It was something quite spectacular. Though what is a sight of beauty for one, isn't for another; Lovino didn't seem particularly impressed. That's what Feliciano felt when thinking about Italy. Of course beautiful, but sight as any other. He wondered if it was comparable to Dover.
"Certainly" Lovino huffed "Here or Dover doesn't stand a chance against Florence or Sicily or Rome"
"Why so sure?" Feliciano frowned.
"This place is wonderful" Lovino started, undoing the buttons of his shirt and setting himself down on the couch. "But they still left it, and chose Italy over everything. That's how I feel. I would chose my home over anything - and you should feel this way too" he huffed, watching Feliciano roll his eyes and dramatically throw himself into the armchair, taking a big tired breath and tilting his head to fall on his shoulder. "I don't think that's why they lived in Italy, Roma... Otherwise why would they come here so longingly every year?" - Lovino stayed silent. "Perhaps they fell in love with Spain over both England and Italy?"
Before Lovino managed to form any sort of argument, their conversation was diverted by Romulus' obnoxious laughter as he walked into the living room. He just finished discussing some details with Roderich before they made their grand entrance into the room. "Boys I come to you both with an offer" the man crossed his arms on his chest, smiling from ear to ear.
"How do we feel about a party?~"
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