A/N: For those of you waiting on Aqua, I have found I have grown major writers block for that story so I am currently putting it on hiatus until I find the will to write for it again. But for now, take this ^^
It would be a short-sighted statement if you said that Antonio was excited to be moving in with one of his better friends, but rather he was overly ecstatic to be doing just that. Gilbert had just moved into a medium sized apartment with his younger brother, Ludwig after he had finished high school. And Gilbert should be out of the house anyways. They truthfully didn't know how he had managed to stay in the house as long as he did. Nobody ever really knew how or why Gilbert did anything, so everyone stopped questioning and just went along with whatever the wild German did.
He had received the call about a week ago by said German and was informed by Gilbert himself that they had a space left in the apartment, after that day he had been told by his own parents he needed to get out of the house and get a life. It was obvious where Gilbert had gotten the memo he had needed a house since he had been looking at apartment ads and his two friends, Gilbert and Francis, had caught him in the act. He had happily accepted, for both the fact it meant he could get out of his parents' house and he would be moving in with people he knew and were close to instead of just finding an apartment by himself. Antonio didn't like being alone, and the exotic Spaniard instead thrived being around people.
So, Antonio had happily accepted and when Gilbert told him he had a few other people living with him at the time, and that it wouldn't be just them three, Antonio didn't really mind. The more people the better, and he was sure he could make quick friends with all of them. He had that effect on people, which made his life of being much of a social butterfly much easier. Perhaps it was his lilting Spanish accent or just the way he was always smiling, or perhaps he was just naturally a charismatic person. He didn't know, but he never really thought much about it.
But what he wasn't expecting was mid-way through his second knock on the apartment door was for it to swing open, nearly missing his face, and to be greeted by a bright and smiling face he had never seen before. The person had bright amber colored eyes and brown hair that seemed to lie fairly flat on his head, except for one untamed curl that seemed to just fly there, on the left side of his head. "Ciao!" He greeted happily, his bubbly voice accented with one thing or another. Italian? "Are you the person that Gilbert said will be living with us?" Definitely Italian.
"Ah, si," Antonio said, slightly put off for a moment at this unfamiliar Italian who was greeting him at the door. He quickly regained himself, though, and flashed him a bright grin. "¡Si!" He repeated this time sounding more confident and was about to introduce himself to the jumpy Italian until a booming voice sounded from behind the Italian, in a familiar German accent.
"Feliciano!" Ludwig called, appearing over the brunette's shoulder. His blue eyes were narrowed and he didn't seem very pleased with this so-called 'Feliciano' as he glared down at the shorter one, tapping his foot. "I thought we told you not to open the doors from now on!" He snapped, huffing in annoyance.
"Oh! Sorry! I forgot again, didn't I?" Feliciano said, slightly distractedly as he turned those odd cognac-brown eyes upwards to meet Ludwig's gaze. "I'll remember next time! I promise! Plus this time it wasn't a scary stranger like you said it might be! It's Gilbert's friend!"
Ludwig sighed heavily, bringing one hand up and pinching the bridge of his nose. "You said you'd remember not to get the door the past seven times." He said slowly, "and I know who Antonio is. I've seen him before. I'm not- Mein Gott Feliciano, stop with your humming already!"
Feliciano was, in fact, bouncing up and down on his toes, humming a tune loudly until Ludwig snapped at him to stop. He did immediately shut up, his eyes widening slightly at the German's harsh command. Antonio was working on stifling his laughter as the blonde German looked up at him with those hard blue eyes as if he had finally noticed Antonio. "Oh, hallo Antonio."
"¡Hola Ludwig!" He said happily, still grinning widely. Feliciano turned towards him again, his amber eyes sparking.
"Oh! So your name is Antonio? It's nice to meet you, Antonio!" Feliciano said quickly, and Antonio could hear Ludwig mutter something under his breath that caused the Spaniard to huff quietly in amusement, "when Gilbert told me that you'd be moving in I was so happy! Lovino wasn't, he said that just meant he'd have to deal with… ah, I'm not going to repeat his words. But he wasn't very happy. I'm sure he'll get used to you soon enough, though! But, I was really happy! Oh! We'll have so much-"
Feliciano was cut off as Ludwig put a hand over the others mouth, shooting Antonio an apologetic glance but the Spaniard just laughed as Ludwig guided Feliciano inside, with him following just short behind. He closed the door behind him and looked around the small room they had set up. A couch laid against the back wall, a television opposite of it. To the right of the couch was a table and a window, which currently had it's shades drawn, and to the left a hallway.
"Danke Antonio," Ludwig said, leading Feliciano over to the couch and pushing him onto it. Feliciano seemed to not mind the action, and he started bouncing up and down where he sat. He started humming the same tune again, though this time much quieter and Ludwig only spared him a cold glare before turning and walking down the hallway.
Antonio could hear Ludwig's gruff voice and a knock coming from down the hallway, then a loud bang and the slamming of a door. Antonio jumped, and he saw Feliciano jump too out of the corner of his eye, but before he knew it he saw a flash of white and he was being tackled by the one and only Gilbert. "Toni!" He yelled, wrapping his arms around Antonio's neck. Antonio's bright green eyes widened, stumbling backward in surprise.
"Ah! Gil, hi!" He yelped, catching himself, and pushing Gilbert off of him. The albino's red eyes glimmered happily as he looked at Antonio, and he seemed almost as excited as Feliciano had been when he had greeted him at the door, as he didn't have the same childlike innocence that Feliciano had, but instead it was replaced with an enormous ego and instead of the bright and friendly smile it was instead a cocky grin.
"You've met Feliciano! Cool! He's cooler than his brother, but I'm the coolest! He didn't change that. And neither are you!" Antonio snorted, though he couldn't help a tickling curiosity of who exactly his brother was, Lovino. He surely couldn't be as bad as they were saying he was.
"Who's Lovino?" Antonio asked, his gaze flickering over the three who stood in the room already. Ludwig's face seemed to darken, and Gilbert's smile faltered for a split-second, but Feliciano jumped to his feet almost immediately.
"Oh! I'll go get him!" The brunette Italian said, his amber eyes lighting up.
"Feliciano that might not be- ah, nein." Ludwig started, only to have the younger male slip in between the two brothers and prance down the hall. He watched him take a right, and then his green eyes widened when he suddenly heard yelling in Italian, then it stopped, and Feliciano soon reappeared. Antonio looked over at Gilbert, who shrugged and turned and looked over his shoulder.
"He's coming!" Feliciano said, and soon after Antonio could hear a door open, shut, and someone appeared at the end of the hallway. Once the other got closer, he could make out his facial features better. At first glance, you might mistake him for his brother, but at a closer look, you would notice very different details to him. His hair was a shade darker, and much like his brother he had a wild curl of hair protruding from one side of his head, but instead of the left it was now on the right side of his head. Instead of the friendly smile that Feliciano seemed to have been continuously wearing since Antonio had arrived, he instead had a scowl planted on his narrow face.
"What the hell do you want?" He asked. Antonio found his voice more intriguing than his brothers, as it was deeper and more heavily accented than Feliciano's. Antonio was looking at him curiously, and the other seemed to finally notice the newcomer. His eyes were the same shade of golden-amber as his brothers, but they had flecks of light green in them as well.
Antonio felt the words go dry in his mouth as he was glared at by this odd Italian, and he watched as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "¡H-hola!" Antonio stuttered out, sliding a grin onto his face. He watched as Lovino's eyes sparked with an uncertain light, then grew hard again.
"Ciao." He said, his voice flat. He turned his gaze to his brother, who stood bouncing beside him. Antonio immediately felt the tightness in his chest leave, and he was also a little disappointed. "Is this all you've called me out here to do?" His voice dripped with exasperation, and Antonio felt a little offended. But Feliciano spoke before he could.
"No! Also, don't be so rude Lovi!" He whined, tugging on the other's sleeve. It was obvious that Lovino wasn't very appreciative of his brother's actions. "Lovi! This is Antonio! He's really nice! And not that loud either!" Feliciano's eyes turned towards Antonio, and this time Lovino's gaze snapped back over towards Antonio.
He felt his face heat up slightly, and his grin turned slightly sheepish in the presence of their almost identical gazes. One friendly, the other annoyed. But something sparkled in those amber depths, something like amusement. "I don't think it's even possible to be louder than Gilbert." Antonio said, and he could hear Gilbert laugh from beside him.
"That's right! And that's because I'm the best! Nobody is louder than The Awesome Prussia!" He exclaimed, and Antonio laughed in his own turn. Nobody was exactly sure why Gilbert had taken it upon himself to call himself 'Prussia'. It all started in high school when he had learned about the Teutonic Knights and the kingdom of Prussia. It just started up from there.
He heard Ludwig snort in disbelief from where he stood behind the two Italians, and Lovino looked like he was about to say something but Feliciano managed to get to it first. "What's Prussia again? I forgot." Ludwig's eyes widened slightly from where he stood, but Gilbert's face only lit up.
"Oh-" He started but was interrupted by his brother as Ludwig grabbed Lovino's arm and started dragging him into the hallway.
"We'll be back," Ludwig said gruffly, not bothering to turn his head. He watched as Lovino's multi-colored widened, and he started spitting out curse words in several different dialects at the German as he was pulled off into the hallway. Antonio's mouth twitched upwards in a smile and he glanced at Gilbert who was watching them go, before deciding it'd be for the better to follow those two.
Antonio found he could pick up some of Lovino's rapid fire Italian due to his own fluent Spanish and their closeness in languages, though he wished he could make out all of it just out of curiosity. Antonio followed the two into a room at the end of the hall that appeared to be empty except for an entirely unmade bed pushed against the far wall, which Ludwig used to throw Lovino onto.
"For the love of God!" He spat at the German, and Antonio stifled his laughter as the Italian struggled to fall off the bed as he landed heavily and unevenly on his side. "You fucking potato bastard-"
"Potato? Bastard?" Antonio interrupted, coughing to hide his laughter. He watched as Lovino's face gained a pink hue to his cheeks as he swung his head around to look at him, his mouth turned down in a snarl.
"Yes. Maybe I'll call you tomato bastard you Spaniard." He snapped, before turning back Ludwig, whose own mouth was twitching upwards in one of his rare smiles. He watched the pink on Lovino's face redden at the sight, and Antonio's coughing became strangled. "Damn it! Is anyone sane in this damned house!" He yelled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm afraid everyone but me isn't," Ludwig said, and Lovino's eyes widened and he looked about ready to protest until Antonio couldn't help it anymore and he burst into bubbling laughter. He could feel Lovino's glaring amber eyes on him, but through that hard shell, he could see a light twinkling in his eyes that wasn't there before.
Ludwig even chuckled slightly, and soon enough Antonio found a hold on his laughter. Clutching at his chest he looked up at the other two, his green eyes sparkling with happiness. Lovino still had the scowl plastered on his face, and it refused to budge. He wondered what Lovino would look like if he smiled. He brushed away the thought, before grinning.
"Are you done?" Lovino asked snappily, glaring at Antonio. The Spaniard nodded and found himself captivated with Lovino. His scowl was so cute, and the way his eyes told otherwise was confusing and sparked his curiosity. It was easy to tell that Lovino had a hard shell he had put up, but really he had a more emotional and loving side to him, you just had to fight for it.
"Good, now I can get back to yelling at Ludwig." Just like that Antonio was back to watching and listening to the people around him, "God damn it, man! Why'd you have to fucking drag me down a fucking hallway damn it!" He snapped his full attention back onto the blonde German in front of him.
Ludwig raised an eyebrow but wasn't given a chance to speak as Lovino continued, wagging a finger in his face. "Ficcati una barca in culo con i remi aperti! I can walk down a fucking hallway with my God damned feet for christ's sake!" Antonio whistled from where he stood, but either Lovino didn't hear him or pretended not to. That was some colorful language he was using. "So for fuck's sake, next time let me walk!"
Ludwig looked at him for a moment, before shrugging. "Ja, okej." He said finally, and Lovino seemed satisfied by that. The brunette brought one leg over the other from where he sat on the bed, before looking over at Antonio for a moment. This time Antonio didn't skip a beat and grinned at the other, who quickly looked away.
"Ah, by the way, Antonio, this is your room," Ludwig said, turning to the Spaniard from where he stood slightly behind him. The brunette looked around and decided that he was satisfied with the small bedroom, and he figured he could quickly make it homey.
"Gracias Ludwig." He said, turning his green optics onto the German in front of him. Ludwig simply returned his gaze for a moment, before nodding stiffly and turning his head. The three fell quiet and the only sound was Gilbert's voice that floated down the hall and to their ears, as he explained what Prussia and the Teutonic Knights were. Antonio laughed softly underneath his breath, trying to imagine the optimistic Italian he had merely met ten minutes before sitting down on the floor and looking up at Gilbert with his wide amber eyes as he explained in full-length what the great dissolved country what was and will be again with his help.
Antonio wasn't sure where Gilbert got his extra-stellar ego from, truthfully. Antonio had met his Grandfather, who was the person the two Germans lived with for most of their life, and he was a stern man and acted a lot more like Ludwig then his eldest grandson. Though he had never met their mother or father, so it was hard to tell if he inherited his cockiness from either one of his two parental figures.
He turned his head when he heard the bed creak, and watched as Lovino scooted a little further onto the edge of the couch. He was biting his lip and looking down on the floor between his feet, obviously thinking. Antonio turned his green gaze over towards Ludwig, who was looking over at the door. Antonio hummed quietly, shifting on his feet and looking over at the window. After a moment he decided to go over, so he skirted around Ludwig and walked over to the glass pane.
Antonio set his hands down on the sill, leaning towards the window and looking out onto the busy streets of New York City. The Empire State Building was visible over the taller buildings and apartments, shining in the bright afternoon sunlight. He propped his arm on the window, setting his chin on his hand, and listened to the voice of Gilbert and the city noises that met him on all sides.
He could feel eyes on him, and Antonio turned his head the slightest bit. Lovino was looking at him out of the corner of his eye, those odd hazel optics sparkling with a mixture of uncertainty and confusion. The brunette flashed him a bright smile, and Lovino immediately deepened the small, cute frown on his face into a scowl and turned away, crossing his arms over his chest. Antonio let out a small and light laugh, before turning his emerald green eyes back to the window.
He could imagine himself living in the small apartment with the four other people, waking up in the mornings and being greeted by Lovino's scowling face, Feliciano's smiling one, Gilbert's- well he'd be asleep in the mornings. And lastly, Ludwig's thoughtful frown he usually wore. Or perhaps coming home at night to Gilbert tackling him, or yelling at him from the other room. Ludwig and Lovino off in the house somewhere, and Feliciano greeting him at the door.
He could get used to this.