To say the least, Lovino and Feliciano's home was cosy. It was quiet, peaceful, away from the city, and best of all, deserted . Most borrowers preferred to live in a home with human beans, as they found it a necessity in order to survive, but when the brothers' grandfather had taken them here… he seemed so happy to not be around the beans. He had never particularly voiced as to why he carried such a strong dislike to the beans, but he was eminent that the home they resided in be abandoned as to not be near the beans, as well as near a market as to have a place to borrow from.
It had taken what seemed to be ages to find a place to live that fit Nonno's expectations. Neither Lovino or Feliciano knew the reason for deserting their lovely home in Rome. Of course, at the time of their desertion, the two were merely children, unable to recall the events that caused them to travel to Spain in order to find a new home. All that Nonno would tell them is that it was for their parents, who had mysteriously disappeared at their old home. Feliciano had always speculated that it was a fresh start in a new place, away from where their parents had disappeared. Lovino, however, was curious as to why they need be travelling from Rome, through France, all the way to the west of Spain. It all seemed too far of a journey just to "get a fresh start". Why had they not travelled somewhere in Italy where they could understand the language? Was… Was Italy not safe? What had happened with their parents that played such a prominent role in them moving so far away?
Nonno had died five years ago. Lovino was seventeen and Feliciano was fifteen. His death had hit the boys hard, yet… with all that they had been through, something told them that everything was going to turn out alright. Their grandfather was of old age; his death was expected. He had given them wonderful company and so much love … And… He prepared them for life. He prepared them for what was to come, so much of what would remain unknown… And Lovino and Feliciano could never be more grateful. They felt ready to take on the world, just the two of them. They were alone… Their parents were gone, and now their beloved grandfather, yet why did everything feel okay?
Nonno's teachings and preparation for life had served well, the two boys had learnt. In the past five years after Nonno's death, they were able to maintain a steady lifestyle, sustaining their isolated home in the abandoned house outside of the city. It was pure luck, really, that no beans had resided, let alone enter the home. Lovino liked to think of it as good karma from their grandfather, sort of like his way of watching over them in the afterlife…
"Lovino."
Lovino cocked an eyebrow up upon hearing his younger brother call his name. "Yeah?"
"I'm going to go get the laundry from outside," Feliciano gestured to the crack in the wood that had served as a door to them throughout the years.
Lovino nodded his head once, acknowledging Feliciano's comment. It had always been a sort of unspoken agreement between the two to voice their whereabouts, doing so in order to inform the other as to alleviate worry.
Upon seeing Lovino's acknowledgement, Feliciano made his way to the 'door' and slipped outside. It was a windy day, the grass smooth against his skin, swaying over him as would music to the ears. In the distance, atop a bare area that the brothers had cleared some time ago lay the hanging clothes. As Feliciano pushed his way to the patch, a loud whirring caught his attention.
How strange… The wind was very aggressive today! Smiling, Feliciano looked to the sky and raised his arms, letting the wind flow against his body. The whirring continued, suddenly growing louder and louder. The Italian paused for a moment. It seemed to be coming closer… Perhaps it was… an animal?
Feliciano cautiously unhooked the clothes from the wire, keeping an eye out for animals. Over the years, the two had learnt to not fear large animals such as birds, but it was always necessary to stay aware of one's surroundings.
As Feliciano collected the last of the laundry, the whirring grew louder as a large gust of wind came through, the clothes, as well as Feliciano, flying about onto the dirt.
Feliciano looked up, and in doing so, a sharp tang of fear engulfed him for a short moment upon the sight that lay before him.
Was that… a car?
His heart felt to be beating a mile a minute, pounding in his ears prevalently. If… If there was a car there… then that would mean that there werebeans . Oh, gosh. What would Lovino think? He would… He would probably want them to leave as soon as possible, but Feliciano didn't want that. This was his home . Nonno had died inside this home. It was perfect and peaceful and pleasant and everything that he had ever known . His memories were in this home… He couldn't let it go.
Disregarding the fallen clothes, Feliciano quickly hid behind a tall plant, watching the car with curious eyes. Suddenly, the car stopped, and a large (very large, mind you) foot stepped out, along with… a human bean . Then another. And another.
"Beans," Feliciano spoke a little above a whisper, his fingers ghosting against his lips. What were beans doing here…? It could be that they lived nearby, but that didn't explain what they were doing at the house. And… they were speaking Spanish. Lovino and Feliciano knew very little Spanish - only what they caught from passersbys at the market and its similarity to Italian, but never anything enough to understand or speak the language. Perhaps they should work on that someday…
But nevermind that. Feliciano had to tell Lovino right away. He only hoped he wouldn't panic about this… For all he knew, the beans could be really nice!
Feliciano squinted his eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the beans. They seemed normal… They just looked like larger versions of Lovino and himself; he was sure there was nothing to fear.
"¿Puedes llevar esta caja?*" The shortest of the three spoke, the words ringing no recognition to Feliciano's ears.
Furrowing his eyebrows in concentration of the words and movements of the man, Feliciano moved closer without realisation.
They seemed to be moving things inside the house. Feliciano and Lovino's house. Of course… they could just be passing by or had run out of petrol and needed to stop, but Feliciano knew this was unlikely. They had boxes . With labels on them. Moving closer, Feliciano attempted to get a closer look at the words on the boxes.
Unfortunately, this was not the greatest move, as Feliciano, disregarding the rain from the previous day, slipped on the grass, falling to the ground. In an attempt to catch himself, the borrower held onto another slippery strand of grass, falling not once, but twice.
The loudest of the three beans, seemingly albino, turned his head to the movement in the grass, emitting instant panic from Feliciano. Quickly, he fled the area, as not to draw further attention to himself.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" The man, previously having spoken Spanish, switched to English. Mentally, Feliciano sighed in relief. He and his brother knew English, which would make it easier to find out what these beans were up to…
"Huh?" the albino scratched his head in curiosity, "Oh, I just thought I saw an animal in the grass there or something."
Feliciano's heartbeat picked up, his breath caught in his throat. That was really close. He better let Lovino know that there were beans near.
With the thought in mind, Feliciano escaped through the crack in the house to the inside of the wall where Lovino was. When Lovino caught sight of the dishevelled and laundry-less Feliciano, he raised his eyebrows in question.
"Shit, what happened ? Did an animal get you or something?" Lovino quickly walked toward his brother in concern, checking for any scratches or wounds.
"Uh, actually… Lovino…," Feliciano raised his finger in protest, his voice weak.
"Did something happen? I swear, I'll-"
"Beans," Feliciano's breath was weary, eyes scouring for Lovino's next move.
Lovino's eyes widened, then simply brushed off his brother's comment. "Oh, they're probably just going to the market. You worry too much."
Actually, it was quite the opposite, as Lovino was more worrisome of the two (whilst Feliciano was more carefree), especially in consideration of his recent concern for Feliciano's wellbeing, but he decided to keep quiet about that.
"Ehm, actually-" Feliciano's voice was quiet, suddenly interrupted by a loud noise from… outside of the walls. Inside the house. The beans. Quickly, the younger finished his statement, "They're inside. I think they're moving in."
Lovino's eyes widened once more at the addition of Feliciano's comment alongside the noise. "Shit. Fuck. How do you know? Did you see? Did you hear?"
Maybe Feliciano should have eased him into it…
"They were holding boxes and talking outside. I… I think that's what was going on. I don't know for sure, though…" Feliciano fiddled with his fingers.
"What did they look like? Were they old? Young?"
"Wha-? Why?"
"If they're old, they can die sooner and leave," Lovino shrugged nonchalantly.
Feliciano gasped, "Lovino! That's mean!"
The elder of the two rolled his eyes, "Hey, this was our house first. They can't just come in and take it."
"There's three. Only one of them looks Spanish, though. He was speaking Spanish, but switched to English for some reason. The other two definitely didn't look Spanish. They're pretty young, it looks like. Maybe about our age."
"Shit," Lovino grumbled.
The room was silent for a few moments, nothing but the faded rustling inside the house, presumably the beans.
Finally, Feliciano spoke, "What do you think Nonno would do?"
Lovino sighed, combing his fingers through his hair, "Shit, man… I don't know. I honestly don't."
"Yo, Antonio."
Upon hearing the outside voice, Feliciano and Lovino looked to each other, eyes wide. The beans.
Quickly, the brothers scrambled to the wall, Lovino even going as far as to tear a piece of chipped wood to create a peephole. Through the hole, Lovino caught sight of three men as Feliciano had said. A blond, an albino, and a brunet (frankly, he was the only one that appeared to be native to Spain).
"Where do you want this to go?" the albino lifted a rather large box, appearing to have trouble whilst the blond helped him.
The Spaniard (Antonio, apparently) replied, a large and goofy smile on his face, "Just set it down anywhere."
As the albino and blond set down the box, Antonio continued. "I can't believe Afonso owned this house and didn't tell anyone."
Lovino furrowed his eyebrows. Somebody owned the house? That must have been why no beans had resided in it… Until now.
"What I can't believe," the blond replied in a thick French accent, "is that you had a rich brother and didn't tell us."
"Aw, really?" Antonio laughed, "I never see him anymore! He's always busy travelling with his job, you know? I'm just lucky that he gave me this house. I think all I need to do now is furnish it with my own stuff."
Lovino sighed, tapping his fingers relentlessly at the words being spoken. Shit, shit, shit . He didn't need this. He barely even remembered what it was like to live with beans. It seemed to be ages ago when they were still living in Rome…
"Are you okay?" Feliciano's words cut through Lovino's thoughts, returning him to the present.
"Uh… Yeah. I think. It's whatever. Don't worry about me," Lovino's voice was nonchalant, although the teetering of his hands said otherwise.
"It'll be fine! I'm sure of it! Hey, we've been living inside the walls all this time, so it's not like any of our stuff is out there!"
"Ah, shit," Lovino swore, "I forgot I left some of our food out there."
"Our food ? Why?"
"Remember that day where we got the big stuff from the market? It was too big to fit inside here, so I put it outside of the wall, as in inside the house ."
"What big stuff?" Feliciano raised his eyebrows in question. When had they gotten big stuff? Wasn't everything big to them? Unless… No … Unless he meant…
"The pasta."
"SHIT," Feliciano said loudly, surprising both himself and Lovino.
Suddenly, Lovino, in a stark contrast to his previous mood, began laughing . "I never thought I would hear that word come out of your mouth."
Only once in a blue moon did Feliciano see his brother laugh like this and for him to laugh after having so much anxiety? It was a wonder, to say the least. Feliciano wanted him to be happy. He wondered what would happen if…
"What word? Shit ?" Feliciano emphasised the swear, leaning closer to Lovino, who was emitting into fits of laughter.
"That doesn't sound right coming out of your mouth," Lovino's words were spoken between giggles (although he would deny it).
"What word do you think would sound right? Fuck?"
If Lovino had been drinking something, he would have most definitely done a spit-take at the mere sound of those letters together escaping Feliciano's lips.
"No… What about bitch?" Feliciano smiled, a hand on his chin.
"Okay, okay, I see what you're doing, you jerk," Lovino returned the smile, a twinkle in his eye. "It's not natural for those words to come out of your mouth, so shut up, eh?"
Feliciano grinned triumphantly. At least Lovino was considerably happier now, rather than his bitter mood previously. "Hey, but… Lovino. I do want that pasta… Do you think there's a way that we can get it back?"
"No, absolutely not, Feli. I don't want to risk being caught, even for pasta."
"But-"
" No . We can find other food. If anything, we'll get to more at the market whenever the time comes."
Feliciano sighed. There was no fighting for it on this one. He would just have to… go without his pasta. Even the thought tied his heart into knots.
"I'm gonna… I'm gonna go to bed, alright? I just need the time alone. Don't bother me," Lovino's voice was cold, the anxiety seemingly returning to his mind. With no further words spoken from either brother, Lovino made off to his room, shutting the carved door behind him. Feliciano just hoped he wasn't too upset…
"Wow, this is a really nice house, 'Tonio. I can't believe your brother just had this lying around," Gilbert ran his fingers across the smooth, light cedar wood of the windowsill.
"Ha, thanks. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me much. He's lived in so many places before… It wouldn't surprise me if he had a house in every country he's stayed in."
"Hey, do you think he would have one for us?" Francis nudged Antonio, waggling his eyebrows.
Antonio only rolled his eyes, a smile prominent on his face. He had never spoken in so much detail about his brother to Gilbert or Francis before until now. Of course, he was well aware that the two were joking, but the topic just never arose. Antonio was never one to go into much detail about his family, unlike Gilbert, who spoke frequently of his "little, baby brother". Although Antonio was more of an extrovert, he was a listener as well. He occasionally made silly jokes, but ultimately, didn't speak too much about his personal life to his friends.
"I'm pretty hungry. Do you have anything good to eat?" Gilbert stretched his arms, exaggerating his tire.
"Uhh, I don't know. I may have soup in one of those boxes. Or Francis could make somethin'."
"Yes, I'm the only one of us who won't burn the place down…" Francis quietly speculated to himself, tapping his chin.
"Shut up," Gilbert groaned, and tossed an empty box at Francis, who retaliated, bouncing the box back at Gilbert.
"Aw, shit. Hey, Antonio! Francis is abusing me in your new house!"
Antonio turned his head back from the kitchen, "As long as you don't break anything, abuse all you want!"
Francis let out a victory laugh and launched a piece of bubble wrap at Gilbert, who simply groaned in reply, continuing the initiated fight.
"So do ya guys want some soup?" Antonio called out from the kitchen, removing a few cans from a box.
"Uhh, do you have anything else? Or is it just soup?" Francis blocked his face from the incoming box, peeking into the kitchen to catch sight of Antonio.
"Nope! Just soup here. I didn't have much in the first place, sorry!" Antonio scoured the room for other boxes of food, only to catch sight of a small box in the corner. How did that end up there…?
Walking to the corner of the room, Antonio bent over and picked up the box. Was this… pasta? He certainly didn't have any pasta before. It was highly unlikely that this was in the house, given the blatant vacancy throughout the years.
"Hey, Gil, Fran. Come here! I found somethin',"
"Is it a taste in fashion for Francis?" Gilbert called out. Directly after the comment, an "ow!" was heard from the other room.
When Francis and Gilbert made their way into the kitchen, Antonio held the half-empty box in his hand, looking at it curiously.
"Aw, yeah! You have pasta?" Gilbert grinned.
"I found it on the floor in the corner… It's not mine! I just found it there!"
"That's odd… So, there was just a box of pasta lying on the ground? Did you drop it?" Francis mused curiously.
"...So can we have it for lunch?"
"Wh- Of course not, Gilbert! It's old! We don't know how long it's been there!" Francis put a hand to his chest in offence.
"Actually… the expiration date on here is in three years. It looks like this was just bought. Huh," Antonio ran his fingers across the cardboard, examining the box.
"That is odd. Hey, do you think someone could be secretly living in this house?" Francis spoke, a jest in his tone.
Antonio only laughed in reply, setting the pasta on the countertop, only for Gilbert to pick it up and proceeding to take one of the dry noodles from the box and eat it, much for Gilbert and Antonio's astonishment.
"Aw, shit, Gilbert. You couldn't cook it first?" Francis quickly took the box away from Gilbert, placing it on the far side of the counter.
"Yeah! You didn't even know what could have gotten into it… It was left open . I swear you'll eat anything!" Antonio laughed, a stark contrast to the pure disgust framing Francis' face.
"Toss it! That'll prevent him from eating any further," Francis said.
"You think I won't dig it out of the trash and eat it? I ain't no pussy!" Prussia's expression shone pride, causing Antonio and Francis to change looks, the latter reaching for the box and depositing it into an empty box to be served as a rubbish bin.
"You're disgusting," Francis shook his head, whilst Antonio grinned.
"I think it's funny! Hey, now c'mon! We gotta finish unpacking."
Gilbert groaned, following the two into the living room to unpack more boxes.
Antonio carried very little possessions, causing the unpacking to go by fairly quickly. Gilbert had, despite Antonio and Francis' protests, finished off the box of dry pasta noodles, even going as far as to take a bite of the cardboard for the soul purpose of spiting his friends. By the end, the rooms were filled nicely with furniture that was either left by Afonso or brought by Antonio, alongside other essential household items.
"You guys really didn't have to help me out like this!" Antonio scratched the back of his head, grinning ear to ear.
"It was nice of you to move from Madrid to Córdoba to be closer to us!" Gilbert ruffled Antonio's head.
"Yeah," Antonio laughed, "It's better than having you both come up to Madrid each month!"
"Are you two interested in going out for dinner? It's on me," Francis said.
"Nah, I'm full," Gilbert patted at his stomach, sprawled out on the couch.
Francis and Antonio exchanged looks.
"Hey! We can finally eat at your restaurant together, Fran," Antonio smiled.
"Yes, what did you think I was referencing?" Francis rolled his eyes, a playful smile taking place on his face.
"Aw, shit! Tonio! You have to go there! And we gotta have Francis make the food for us!" Gilbert pumped his fist in the air, seemingly thrilled about the idea.
"Excuse you, it's my day off."
"You own the damn restaurant."
Antonio rolled his eyes at his friends' bickering. "We should go now, then, yeah? I'm not sure how far of a drive it is."
"Gilbert drives!" Francis quickly covered Gilbert's mouth to prevent any protests.
Antonio, noticing his plan, played along, "He doesn't seem to be against the idea, so it's a go!"
"MERDE," Francis suddenly yelped out, holding his hand to his chest. "He… bit me ."
Antonio couldn't help but laugh. Gilbert and Francis constantly bickered with each other like this, but it always ended up alright in the end. After all, it was all play.
It took a few minutes for Antonio to finally catch their attention. Ultimately, Gilbert had ended up driving to the restaurant, much to his dismay and Francis' and Antonio's delight. They had left the house not long after, leaving Feliciano and Lovino, once more, alone.
"Holy shit ," Lovino's eyes widened, then stretched his arm behind him, beckoning for his younger brother.
Feliciano, who had burst into tears after watching Gilbert eat the rest of the pasta, came forth slowly to meet his brother by the 'window'. "Did they leave?"
"Yeah. Didn't you hear the door close? It was pretty loud…" Lovino scratched at the wood a bit, then turned to his right to meet his brother's eyes.
"I was too sad," Feliciano sniffled, causing Lovino to roll his eyes.
"I think the fucking pasta is the least of our worries," Lovino mumbled, "I can't believe that some dude actually owned this house. That must have been why no one moved into it… I just always thought it was luck… but… damn." Lovino, speaking more to himself than Feliciano, jolted in surprise when he received a reply.
"Do you think he'll leave?"
"Leave? No way. You heard it. He thinks he's getting the house for free . But it's not free, dammit. It's our house. He should know that!" Lovino pounded his fist angrily against the wall.
"He didn't know… We should to be understanding. He and his friends seem really nice!" Feliciano smiled softly toward his brother.
Man, fuck him and his optimism. Now Lovino was going to feel bad for being an arse.
"I don't care. This is our house. Ours . Nonno found it for us and that guy ," Lovino spat, "can't take it away."
"Lovino… We can live amongst the beans! That's what other borrowers do. We'll be okay."
There were tears welling in his eyes. Shit . He couldn't show weakness. Fuck emotions.
"How do you know that!?" Lovino's quiet voice quickly turned to shouting, but Feliciano, clearly taken aback, had grown accustomed to such behaviour. Calmly, he placed a hand on Lovino's shoulder in an attempt to alleviate his stress.
"Remember that time when we were travelling to Spain and stayed at that café in France? And there were borrowers living there?"
Lovino crossed his arms, looking up at his brother, "Yeah, so?"
" So ," Feliciano began, "They were able to survive with lots of people coming in! We only have to deal with one bean."
Lovino frowned, upset that Feliciano had made a rational point. "Still. Those were French beans."
"Lovino," Feliciano reprimanded, "Be nice to the French. I think you're just making up excuses."
"So what if I am?"
"We have to stay optimistic! The beans looked really nice! I think he has pretty eyes," Feliciano took a seat on the ground next to Lovino, who had collapsed in exasperation.
Slowly, Lovino looked up in judgement, "What. The Fuck. Why were you looking at his eyes ?"
"Eyes are pretty!" Feliciano suddenly shouted in panic. Upon noticing this, Lovino squinted his eyes.
"Were you admiring the beans?"
"Wha- No! I was just paying attention to details!"
"Feliciano, tell me the truth, dammit. You were admiring the beans, weren't you?"
Feliciano sighed, slumping his shoulders down, "Boys are pretty! And those beans are pretty!"
"You gay bastard," Lovino shook his head in fake disappointment, although Feliciano was aware of his jest. After all, all Vargases were gay bastards.
Upon seeing Lovino using light-hearted sarcasm, Feliciano's heart lifted, "Did I make you feel better?"
"I dunno. Life is weird. I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. But I'm pissed at that dickweed albino for eating our pasta. He owes us more," Lovino grumbled.
"Yeah! He's my least favourite," Feliciano replied, a smile on his face.
Lovino snorted, "You have a least favourite ? Does this mean you have a favourite?"
"The bean we're going to be living with! I want to be friends!"
Lovino's eyebrows furrowed. Feliciano… wanted to be friends with a bean. Friends. With a bean. With the bean they're residing with. A bean who could easily harm them. Hell, they barely know the guy. All that Lovino knows is that he apparently has "pretty eyes", according to Feliciano. God, what was wrong with his brother? He was so careless.
Lovino often thought about what would have happened if Feliciano hadn't Lovino to take after him. Of course, they were old enough to take care of themselves, but… Feliciano was a bit of an airhead. He was an optimist, doing things for happiness without thinking them over. Lovino liked to think of himself as the rational one. Everything he learnt, he took after his grandfather… It was up to him to carry on his wishes, and that was to keep him and his brother safe.
What the fuck, he sounded like he was in some dystopian novel. Life was weird. And complicated. Especially for a borrower.
It wasn't fair, really. Borrowers… they…. Borrowers couldn't do everything that a human bean could. It was limited. They were in a bean's world. It wasn't fair… They hadn't the same opportunities that the beans had and the beans didn't even recognise the privilege they had of being able to live . Borrowers… Borrowers like Feliciano and Lovino… All they did was hide. It sucked.
Lovino often dreamt of what it would be like to be born a bean rather than a borrower. If he were a bean, the first thing he would do was probably punch another bean because fuck them . Wait, no. He would go back home to Italy and deck the beans in the face that had done something (Nonno hadn't explicitly stated what had happened to their parents, but Lovino knew it was bad) to their parents. And then he'd go to bean prison… Beans got put in jail for punching someone, didn't they? Either way… After he went to bean prison, it would be worth it because fuck those beans .
Lovino had, in a rare heart-to-heart conversation with his brother, spoken of his desires if he were a bean. Feliciano had given it a deep thought as well, and damn him for being understanding, reminded Lovino of the freedom that they, as borrowers, carry. Neither beans nor borrowers could truly understand the lives of each other unless they had the opportunity to live it themselves, and it would be unfair to compare the lives without having lived both, Feliciano noted.
When had Feliciano become so wise…? The realisation made Lovino feel old, despite being only a couple years older than him… Life was weird. Being a borrower was weird.
Everything was weird.