Summary
Antonio was having a day better than any other, filled with tomatoes and sun. Everything was as it should be in his mind. The same thing could not be said for Romano, however.
Antonio was having a day better than any other, filled with tomatoes and sun. He'd woken up, dressed himself in his normal fashion, eaten a healthy breakfast omelet filled with, of course, diced tomatoes, and then gone out to work and mingle among his people. Everything was as it should be in his mind.
The same thing could not be said for Romano, however.
"Ack! DAMNIT… f-uuuugh." Romano groaned in pain. Getting out of bed today not only had he stubbed his toe, he had also knocked over a decorative vase in the process. Romano stumbled his way to his dresser, seething with rage as he passed the vase which lay on the floor in pieces. He pulled on his maid's uniform and grabbed his broom. He looked back to where the broken vase was and, in a very sly fashion, swept the broken bits under his rug.
But his woe didn't end there; walking down the hall a while later he knocked down another decorative piece, this time a suit of armor which, despite popular belief, isn't as easy to sweep under a rug as one would think. Luckily armor doesn't break as easily as a vase would so Romano just had to escape before he got caught, the thing had caused a harsh clamor that it had probably woken a sleeping lord two vistas over.
"That was a close one." He panted, leaning on his broom for support. "That tomato-bastard's dumb enough that he'll most likely think he was the one who knocked it down." Romano thought aloud, smirking.
Romano swept as he walked, just to make it look like he was doing something, and whistled to himself. He looked up at the sky and noticed a single cloud in the distance. It's puffy shape sluggishly pushing itself along its path. Romano didn't know why it was so fascinating to look at, it's just a cloud. But it reminded him of something. He couldn't put his finger on what but he knew it did.
Romano went inside after a while, not to his benefit though because as soon as he got inside all hell seemed to break loose. Romano couldn't quite recollect how it all started but he knew for damn sure how it ended. As his broom swung wide whilst trying to hit a small yellow bird which was attacking him, he heard a creak and suddenly a bookcase was toppling over on him. He went to dash out of the way but his foot caught on the rug.
Now Romano sat with a mountain of books crushing his lower half and most of his upper, leaving only an arm uncovered. He was lucky though, that somehow he'd tossed his broom and it had caught the edge of the shelf itself and was holding it up and keeping it from completely crushing him. Romano squirmed but stopped immediately when he heard the shelf above him move as he did. Romano came to the terrible realization that if he tried to get out by himself it would fall.
Small tears of anger came to Romano's eyes and he did the only thing he could think of.
Antonio sat in his field, flat on his back and enjoying a ripe tomato after a long day, looking up at the sky. He noticed a single, oddly shaped cloud in his field of vision. He chucked in realization then, because that could looked a lot like-
"España!" He jolted forward at the sound of his boss's voice. She stood just behind him, arms crossed, fingers tapping away at her arm slightly.
"Ah!~ What brings you out here on this delightful day!~" He grinned.
"You know why, don't think you can get out of talking about this just by avoiding me all day." She huffed.
"Uh, yeah, I know I know- but you see- we aren't at war anymore so is it possible we could just keep him anyway?"
"That little Southern Province is worth less than he's making us!"
"That's not true; South Italy's economy is much more stable than that of his brother's."
"And ours isn't stable at all!"
"It will be though, I mean I feel pretty good, that's got to be a good sign, right?" Antonio spun in a small circle to emphasize his point. She looked at him skeptically.
"Well-"
"Oh come on, look," He said draping his arm around her and pulling her to his side to look out across his field. "A more than bountiful crop this year, clear skies as far as the eye can see, save for one cloud, and we still have the prospect of gold coming from the new world."
"True. True."
"So… Romano can stay?"
"…Yes, he can stay." She said, giving in to the puppy eyed stare he was pointing in her direction.
Antonio squeezed her close, "Gracias, Señora. Muchos gracias!"
"One last thing though." He didn't have time to think before he was elbowed in the gut. "Don't hug me."
"Right, my apologies," he said as she walked away, holding his slightly throbbing stomach.
At least I don't have to worry about Romano anymore. He smiled at the thought and began walking back to his home, hoping to have time for a nice siesta before getting back to work. He was in the courtyard when he suddenly heard a loud cry.
"SPAAAAAAAAGNA!"
"That's Romano's voice…. ROMANO!" It took a second but it suddenly sank in that he might be in trouble. Antonio ran as fast as he could to the call. Not looking in his haste, he tripped over something hard, hard enough that he felt as if it might bruise his shins. He glanced over his shoulder to see what it was to find a toppled over suit of armor. Yup. He thought wistfully. Romano's been through here.
"TOMATO-BASTARD, HELP MEEEEE!"
Antonio snapped back to the task at hand and hurled himself to his feet and towards Romano's voice. He turned the corner into his study and skidded to a stop to take in the sight before him.
The room was an absolute mess. His flowers and the small vase they had been in that morning were broken and the vase lay shattered all across the room, almost as if someone had taken a bat to them. His desk was crooked by several inches and all his papers and books he'd been reading were strewn all over the floor. But the most out of place item was his bookshelf, which looked mere seconds from falling off the broom that held it above a huge pile of books.
Under which, lay Romano.
"Don't just stare like a complete moron, you moron! Help me out of this!"
Antonio hurried over and pushed the shelf back to a standing position before kneeling to pull Romano up and out of the pile of books.
"My, my, Romano. How did you get yourself into this?" He said chuckling.
"It was that damn bird!" Romano pointed at a small yellow bird perched atop Antonio's retired battle axe in the corner of the room. Thank God THAT'S not what fell on him. But as Antonio took a closer look he recognized the bird.
"G-Gilbird?"
"Piyo." The bird replied.
"What are you doing here? Go home!" Antonio said putting his hands on his hips. The bird puffed itself up but didn't move an inch. "Piyo."
"Ah, whatever then," He said turning back to Romano.
"It took you long enough to get here!" Romano whined as Antonio stooped down to his level.
"Yes well you see, I would've been faster if you hadn't knocked over that suit of armor." Romano's face glowed bright red.
"I… don't know that you're talking about." He said, not meeting Antonio's gaze.
"Sure you do Romano, don't lie. You know you can't lie to me."
"I said I don't know! And what the heck do you mean I can't lie? I can lie all I want to!"
"Not to meee!~" Antonio said in a singsong-y voice.
"Oh and why is that?"
"Because you get all red like a tomatito!" Antonio said, emphasizing it by pinching Romano's bright red cheeks.
"Ack- Stop that!" Romano said slapping at his hands and continuing on as Antonio fell over in a heap from laughing. After eventually tiring himself out, Antonio carried Romano to his room and laid him down on his bed.
"Are you mad I broke your things?" Romano asked offhandedly.
Antonio was a little surprised, normally Romano didn't care what he thought, or at least never cared enough to ask. That brought a little smile onto his face.
"No, I'm not mad. I could never be mad at you Romano." Not for very long at least.
A small silence ensued after that, causing Romano to shift uncomfortably.
"I saw a cloud today."
"Eh?" Antonio blinked at him."
"I. Saw. A. Cloud. Today." Romano repeated haughtily.
"Oh! I saw it too." Antonio grinned, much to Romano's annoyance. He smiled far too damn much in Romano's opinion.
"Hmm… What did it look like to you?" Romano asked as he thought about that oddly shaped cloud. He still couldn't quite remember what it reminded him of.
"Well…" Romano saw Antonio's smile brighten by at least 30 degrees and that's when Romano knew exactly what it looked like.
"Never mind! It was just a stupid cloud anyway…" Romano's eyes darted back and forth between Antonio and his all-too-fascinating fingernails.
"If you insist," He said, getting up from where he sat on the bed. "I'll just be going then; I have a few more things to do before I can relax for today so I better get to them." Romano watched as Antonio paused at his doorway.
"Oh, and Romano," Romano narrowed his eyes at him.
"Sweeping a broken vase under your rug doesn't count as cleaning." Romano's face turned a deep shade of red and he crossed his arms under his chin in a pout.
"You're too cuuute Romano!"
"Shut up and GO WAY you tomato-bastard!"
Author's note: Soooooooo… I'm not dead! Ta-da!~ Anyways I have a sequel already half done and waiting to be posted for this. (It isn't going to be a second chapter but a new one altogether so look for it on my profile in the next few days or at least by Sunday.) And for those who want more of my old in-progress stories I am very sorry to inform you that they all have been discontinued. I will mark them as complete so if you enjoyed them you can go back and reread them at anytime.