Jealousy was an emotion that Lovino rather preferred he not be associated with, even if it was something he often felt. Even as he turned away from his younger brother and chose to spend his days surrounded by the plants he grew, and an alarmingly determined Antonio (he never could leave Lovino alone), he still felt the tendrils of it creeping up his body and wrapping their way around his heart.
Feliciano always got the praise, the attention, he got his hair ruffled along with a 'good job' from their father. Something that never happened to Lovino; even if he hated his hair being ruffled, he did want it in some twisted, intrinsic fashion. Always, he would be likened to Feliciano, asked why he couldn't be more like his younger brother, be less of a failure.
He did try, he honestly did.
Even then, there was very little that he could cherish and call his own skill or talent. Not only was Feliciano capable of everything he could do, but better at it as well. And the small things that only he could manage to do, were things that he didn't want a single soul knowing about. Especially with the laws in place that encouraged the killing of people like him, people that had superpowers.
At least he had a better power than Antonio, all the man could do was understand animals.
Not that his power was much better, but being able to grow plants and know if they needed something to thrive really had their up sides. He could grow tomatoes anytime he wanted, as long as he waited a while for the fruit to actually form once the plant itself was mature, and he had a flower garden that was the envy of the local gardening club, which he was totally not a part of.
It was a shame that his talents lay with understanding plants. Lovino sat in the garden that he had spent hours upon hours making absolutely perfect with not a single leaf out of place. People couldn't understand him, and he couldn't understand them, and thus he spent his days in the backyard of his father's house.
Antonio understood him, partially, and though Lovino loathed to admit it, he was grateful that Antonio had put in the effort to peel away his outer, onion-like layers to expose some of the inside. In return, Antonio had shown Lovino his ability with animals. Though he wasn't embarrassed of his rather pathetic powers, like Lovino was.
"You're moping, Lovi. Care to tell me what's wrong?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Lovino was not sure if he was somewhat disgruntled or just plain disgruntled.
"Tch, nothing's wrong. Other than that you're here." Lovino looked up, the sun framed Antonio's face and gave his skin a healthy glow that Lovino's skin could never compare to, retaining more of a muddy hue than the golden brown of Antonio's.
"I can tell that there's definitely something wrong. You don't sit in your garden doing nothing for no reason. You're a busybody." Antonio sat down next to him and Lovino made a pointed effort to not look at him.
"I am doing something, I'm… making sure that nothing's wrong with my garden," Lovino said.
From his position on the grass he could easily see the part of the garden he had dedicated towards fruits and vegetables. As per usual, the tomatoes were glistening in the sun and the other herbs surrounding them were in mint condition.
When Antonio spoke next his voice was hushed and calm. "You know that you can tell me anything, Lovi. We've already shared so many things with each other. There's no chance that I'll be weirded out by whatever it is."
Lovino leaned backwards until he was lying on the ground, his elbows propping himself up so that he could see what was happening. "Why is that that we were given such stupid abilities?" he asked. "What are we supposed to do to 'save the world' according to my brother, if all I can do is grow a plant?"
Silence wavered between them for a few moments, during which, the leaves rustling in the trees calmed Lovino. "Well, you can help create food for those that need it—"
"But not enough! It takes days to get a plant to grow and even longer before it actually makes fruit."
"That's still better than a few months isn't it?"
Lovino scoffed. "I wish that I could do something better and instead of growing plants I could understand people."
"What and make them grow too? I don't think that I'd like to be any taller than I already am." Antonio laughed, not the depreciating laugh that Lovino was used to hearing from others, but a nice one that made him want to smile even in his foul mood.
"That would be stupid. I want to know what makes people just hate me." The ground was cool against his back as he lay flat against it.
"I think, actually I know that those people, have a stick rammed so far up certain places—"
Upon hearing that, Lovino couldn't help but laugh at the phrase that Antonio had tried to talk around yet still use. Unlike Antonio, his laugh wasn't warm and welcoming, but nonetheless Antonio smirked.
"As I was saying, those people are stupid. Maybe it's because we're different, Feli, Luddy and Gil are all like us, and they don't have very many friends outside of themselves. It's just people's natural reactions to stay away from people that have powers, even if they don't know it," Antonio said.
"It would still be nice to know what it is that people hate about you." Lovino's lips drew together and his eyebrows came down in a frown, not even the clouds floating slowly past could goad him into relaxing.
"How about the fact that you're got an amazing talent with plants?" Antonio asked.
"Huh?"
"It's something that makes you likable, you're talented with plants and a lot of stuff you do."
Lovino looked at Antonio. "And Feliciano is better with everything else."
"Feliciano can't cook as well as you can, you're a much better flirt when you're actually in the mood. You've got a sense of humour that can make even Lud and Gil's dad laugh, and that's a feat. When you care for someone, you're the most thoughtful person." Antonio stopped listing things and gave Lovino a pointed look.
"And then why can't people see it?"
"Because they only want the shallow people where everything is shown in a single picture, they don't want to read the book."
"That's a terrible analogy," Lovino said.
"But it is true."
They sat in silence, Lovino hated it, but he couldn't bring himself to say something that would actually be of interest. So he sat there, watching the clouds float past while Antonio sat next to him.
"And did I say that you have the most beautiful smile, especially when you don't realise that people are around and you're in your own world?" Antonio added.
Thank you for reading! Comments and feedback are much appreciated.
Have an awesome day!
Sevanadium