The time was around almost midnight, the moon nearly at its peak as it shone down on the dying forest below. The low din of the nocturnal creatures could be heard; even the occasional rustle of the trees as the wind blew, rustling the dying branches of the forgotten place. Leaves fluttered uselessly to the ground, landing quietly on the nearly covered forest floor.
Two boys could be seen, well, stampeding through the assumed forgotten land of trees. One, angrily snapping every twig or branch that dare try and fuck with him. While the other, hurriedly followed after the first, grinning like the oblivious idiot he was, hands clasped behind his back as he turned his head every which way as he observed his surroundings.
"Hey, Lovi, why do you think this place was abandoned and forgotten?" The grinning one asked, smiling innocently towards the irritated other.
"Because of the fucking spiritual rumors, smart ass," 'Lovi' spat, halting so he could stare at the idiot with a 'What the fuck are you on' look. "I mean seriously, I went over this at least four times on the way here, bastard,"
"Lovi, why can't you ever call me by name? 'Antonio' really isn't that hard of a name!" Antonio whined, suddenly changing the topic. He jutted his bottom lip out, pulling one of the best puppy dog eyes known to man. Which 'Lovi' loved to beg to differ. His puppy dog eyes were the best, so shut up about it and go suck a cow… because that makes so much sense in the world, shut up.
'Lovi' tensed and willed himself to tear his gaze from the most perfectly irresistible puppy dog eyes. Emerald green eyes glistened in the moon light, threatening to spill over with the shining tears of the curly haired brunette. "B-because... you refuse to call me by my real name, so I won't call you by yours!" He hurriedly clarified, folding his arms over his chest, turning his head to the side with cheeks slightly dusted pink.
"Oh, well, that makes sense, Lovi-no!" The tanned man caught himself at the last moment, able to add the last syllable of the name to make it almost sound like a complete word... well not really, it actually took him a moment or two, but Lovino really didn't point it out as to not want to make the other boy upset.
"Wh-whatever, bastard, let's go," The other brunette let out in a rush, spinning back around to continue his angry stampede through the forest.
Antonio frowned and hurried to follow after Lovino. "But Lovi-no, I called you by your name, can't you pleeeeease call me by mine, amigo?" He pleaded loudly. Anyone with in a five mile radius could probably hear them... Luckily they were the only ones there... Unluckily, they were the only ones there. If anything were to happen to them, no one would ever know. They were all alone in this forest, in the middle of the night, surrounded with a shadow that concealed who knows what. The boys knew this, yet the continued onward. If they were scared, they didn't show it. They just kept pressing forward.
"How much longer until we reach the lake, asshole?" Lovino asked after a couple minutes more of walking. He took this opportunity to stop and catch his breath. He had been hiking all night, the tedious task of walking, climbing, and snapping wooden objects had finally begun to take it's toll on his body. Which was extremely surprising, seeing how this boy never exercised. It was like hell to him...
"Oh? Can't you see it, Lovi?" Antonio asked, completely forgetting how the other had just told him not to call him by that nickname. "Right through those branches over there, it's probably only a couple minutes away!"
Lovino raised a brow and turned to look through the branches Antonio was currently pointing at. It took him a moment or two to register what he was seeing, and once he did, he sucked in a breath and booked it. Like, running at the speed of light almost, towards a small break in what seemed like an endless amount of trees, leaving Antonio behind to frown slightly and furrow his brows, watching his partner take off without him. He had to admit, he was a little hurt that'd he'd just leave him behind, but looking at the situation, he really couldn't be too bothered. The situation was dire, their purpose life or death. Of course, the smiling man didn't really seem to quite understand, so he just grinned happily and took his time to follow after his partner.
Said partner had finally broken through the thick, dense forest to a wide open clearing. It was illuminated by a glowing white light, making things seem ghostly and pale, almost older even. In the center of this all was a pearl white lake, reflecting the rays of the moon light around the boy. He inquired this must be what was causing the white glow, but honestly he could care less right now. What he was currently fixated on was the tall, white figure standing in the middle of the milky water, the stranger's back facing the boy.
He stood for what felt like moments, just gazing at the man's, what he assumed was a man's, broad form, brows furrowed, lips pursed. He knew he should call out to the man, but seeing how he was kind of standing in the middle of the damn lake, he could say he was a teensy bit spooked. Of course, he should have expected this. This man, he knew, was the guardian, or god, of this lake. It shouldn't be too shocking to see him standing on the damn water… but Lovino was quite scared of water, seeing how he was gifted with Wind and Fire, but that's for another time.
After what felt like, seemed like, had to be, hours, Antonio finally emerged from the brush, humming a silly tune as he skipped on over to his shorter partner. "Ey, Lovi, is that him?" He asked, not even bother to control his tone of voice. It seemed like he wasn't even worried if the white man heard him, which knowing him, he probably wasn't. "Why haven't you called him on over? Isn't he the reason we're here?"
Lovino flushed red in the face and quickly shot a hand up to try and covered the tanner of two's mouth, but he was too late. The white figure had heard them and he was staring wide eyed at Lovino.
Lovino wasn't scared, more as surprised at the equally surprised gaze of the, what was assumed to be, a completely white figure. Well that assumption would be completely and utterly true, if not for one small detail. Instead of having the expected white eyes, the tall man had bright crimson eyes, burning with emotions the shorter boy couldn't place. Lovino's eyes grazed over the nearly blinding man's body, not surprised to see a white suit was what the man had decided to wear. He was like a giant, paper human. If that made any sense what-so-ever… Lovino was almost tempted to walk over there and write 'I AM A DOUCHE BAG' on the poor gut. Well- because only douche bags wear white suits. Like some fancy mother fucker.
"Is it true?" The man asked, a slight hint of a German accent to his voice. To Lovino, that was a major turn off, but maybe he could work past that and focus more on- wait what the hell was he even thinking? He hadn't known the man for more than five minutes and he's already planning their wedding! Of course that was a little exaggeration, but that was in his job description, lay off. "Did you really come here for me?"
After hearing the man speak again, he blinked slowly and shook his head to try and clear his jumbled thoughts. "Well, er, sort of," He replied carefully, trying to choose his words carefully so he didn't sound like a complete dick.
Of course he never got the chance because he watched the man's face drop so fast he could have sworn the former expression was ever on his face. "You're here for my power aren't you?" He accused, looking, believe it or not, betrayed. Lovino wanted to explode at the man, looking at him with such betrayal in his eyes. They didn't even know each other's names, so why is he looking like Lovino just slept with his wife, and why did he feel as guilty as if he had?
"Well, yeah?" Lovino stated bluntly, a 'duh' sort of expression on his face. He removed his hand from Antonio's mouth and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring slightly at the white man. Damn guy, making him question his own sanity. The nerve of him…
Free to speak, Antonio took this chance to use his, surprisingly, wistful thinking to be the peace maker here. One could almost scoop the tension between the other two with a spoon. Even him, an oblivious numb skull, could see this easily. If the circumstances were different, Lovino would swear up and down that the world was ending. "Ah, amigo, don't be so harsh to the man," He addressed Lovino, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. This earned him his own share of the glare, but he just smiled and gestured to the now approaching white man. "We are here for an important reason, no?"
This caused the younger to falter in his anger, determination. Determination to make that guy hear an earful of his opinion, which he knew no one wanted to hear. No one ever did- well okay that was a lie. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew Chucklehead over here did. He didn't understand why, but he just knew it… mostly because Antonio always reassured him that, yes he liked him, no he wouldn't prefer him over his adorable little brother, of course he always loved what his little tomato had to say! Ow- Lovi, that hurt why'd you head butt—well that's a good enough, let's just stop right there.
Lovino cast a weary gaze over to the practically glowing white man, biting his bottom lip as he mulled over the thoughts running inside his over powered brain. After a couple moments of thinking, he felt his shoulders slump in submission, his hands dropping to hand at his sides. "Yeah… we are," He mumbled softly, willing his voice not to crack as a large lump formed in his throat. Which, of course, he quickly cleared, glancing down at his feet as he did so.
They were there for one reason and one reason only… his little brother was deathly ill, only had, at most, 24 hours left. Lovino couldn't let him die. Not only for the fact that he was the only one in the town gifted with Healing, but also because he was his little brother. No matter how jealous he was, how much he resented him, he still loved him. Besides Antonio, he was the only constant in his life. If he lost him, he'd lose it. Everyone knew this, especially Antonio. He was the one who found out about this place, passed the information onto Lovino, a hopeful glint in his green eyes as he watched the light brown haired boy mull over the information.
Setting his shoulders, he glanced back up at the white man with a fierce determination in his eyes, a different determination in his eyes. "Can you- can you heal my brother?" He asked, taking a step forward as he talked. "Can you make him better? Can you help him?"
The white man looked taken aback at the questions, if his slowly widening eyes weren't a hint. It took him a moment or two to answer, composing himself first before setting an icy gaze on the brown haired boy. "Maybe," He replied coolly, placing a hand on his, oh so surprisingly, white tie. "Maybe not."
This irritated Lovino to no end. "Look here buddy," He started, having to take a deep breath so he wouldn't blow up at the man. "I'm trying to be nice here-" He shot a glare at Antonio when he interrupted him with a "He really is, it's scary!" before continuing. "-but you're really pushing my buttons. Either you can, or you can't, and if not, then we'll be leaving. I can't waste my time with someone who just wants to fool around." And with that, he snatched a very confused Spaniards hand, dragging him back to the small opening they entered from.
"Wait-" They heard after a moment, slowly turning back around to see a very anxious white man. "Yes- I can heal him but-"
He was quickly cut off by a certain sharp tongued Italian. "Well hurry it up then! I don't have all night-"
"It isn't as easy as you may think," He finished, a small smirk playing on his lips at his small victory in interrupting the interrupter… if that made any sense what-so-ever. He may have even mutter a 'I'm so awesome' but no one will ever know, now will they.
Lovino raised a brow as he let go Antonio's hand who looked like he wanted to say something but thought it best to bite his tongue for now. "What do you mean?" The shorter asked, gazing at the white man suspiciously.
The man sighed and dragged a hand through his bright hair. "What I mean is- if you want me to do something, I can only do it through a deal. I do something for you, you do something for me. It won't work any other way,"
"What, but that's-" Lovino was cut off by Antonio who took this chance to speak. "I think that's a perfectly reasonable offer, don't you, Lovi?"
Lovino muttered a quick "It's Lovino, bastard," before letting out a small sigh. He mentally kicked himself as he said. "Fine, what's you're price, bastard?" Under normal circumstances, he would have never agreed to easily, quickly, eagerly, or evern asked the damn guy what his price was. He almost never let anyone set the rules, it was his way or the highway! But these weren't normal circumstances. This was life or death, and he had to take it or leave it, and leaving it wasn't an option.
"If I heal your brother, you have to visit me every day for at least an hour until the day you die," The white man stated, looking dead serious, where if he didn't, Lovino would have just let out a nervous laugh and demand if he was crazy or not.
Knowing he was completely serious, Lovino cast wary hazel eyes over to bright, encouraging green ones. Antonio grinned and gave a double thumbs up like the tard he was, causing Lovino to snort and shake his head. "Alright, alright, I'll do it. Where do I sign?" Lovino eventually let out, giving the guardian an exasperated look.
"Just… come on over here for a minute." He said hesitantly, gesturing with his hand for Lovino to actually walk over to him. He really didn't want to do that, he was comfortable right where he was standing, but of course. Dire situation, no complaining. So he just, slowly walked over to the man until he was, like, oh let's say, five feet away? Yeah that sounded about right. The guardian sighed and gestured for him to come closer… which he did, a foot closer. So the glowing man sighed, "Just picture the one you want to heal, okay? And don't let your mind wander," as he closed the distance between them.
What happened next almost made the small boy squeal like a teenage girl and explode into rainbows… which of course didn't happen, so shut up, and he totally didn't want to either! Totally. Anyways, the red eyed boy gripped the hazel eyed one by the shoulders and firmly pressed their lips together.
