AN- Look, more SebKug. Look, this ship has only two fics on here, so that means I get to be as cliche as I want because no one's written the cliches for it yet. So, here's a cliche, hope you like it. Thank you, I own only my own ideas (which even then A Broken Imagi-NATION helped me come up with), and enjoy! -Twilight Joltik
Famiglia
Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths, oh god he was making a mistake. But as Seborga paced around his apartment, he tried to rationalize things. Veneziano liked people, it would be fine, and Romano lived when Vene had told him he and Germany were dating, despite it looking very much like he was not going to, it couldn't possibly be that bad. Ah, but what if Kugel didn't like them? His darling art prince would surely be fine, he could find a way to like anything from burnt cookies to children's television by dismissing it as art. But if things went wrong, and given his luck, they surely would-
"If you mean to walk in circles, could you at very least walk in more precise ones?", Kugelmugel requested, not even looking at him but still flipping through that animation art book that sat on the coffee table despite him not having opened it since three Christmases ago where he'd only briefly pretended to appreciate the gift. "I mean, not to say their lumped quality is not art in its own right, but it would be more aesthetically pleasing if a tad more rounded, don't you think?"
Only Kugel would say such a thing. And that was precisely why he was worried. If things fell through, he wouldn't get to hear such seemingly random but truthfully thoughtful insights come from anyone else. Kugelmugel was one of a kind, and he would never forgive himself for losing him.
A knock on the door, and Seborga was ready to die now, thank you. No need to worry, he told himself, but he wanted to scream very loudly regardless. He forced a too shaky smile on his face and opened the door. "Ah, w-welcome!"
Veneziano was smiling brightly and Romano- well, he wasn't scowling, that was a start. The younger of his two brothers hugged him a bit too tightly while the elder simply sat down without so much as a word.
"Oh, it's so nice to see you!", Vene exclaimed as he released his little brother from his crushing hug that should not be able to come from someone so slight. "I miss not having you and Roma around as much, you know?"
Romano muttered something under his breath, probably to the effect of "if you miss us so much why'd you move in with the Potato Bastard", but it really didn't matter. Actually, it mattered that the fact that it didn't matter was enforced here, because he wasn't about to let Kugel's first impression of his family be petty squabbling.
"Yes, yes, lovely to see you both!", Seborga quickly exclaimed. "Ah, so, um, I-I'd like you to meet m-my boyfriend…" He gestured to Kugelmugel, who hadn't seemed to realize his brothers had arrived and was still immersed in the coffee table book.
Slowly, Kugel looked up at Veneziano and Romano before giving a smile. "It's wonderful to meet you," he greeted. "He's told me a lot about you two."
Both his brothers sort of cringed at this. "Good things, all good things!", Seborga hastily assured them.
"Are there that many good things to say?", Romano remarked with something of a half-formed laugh-scoff hybrid.
"He always says that he learned a large portion of his life skills from his big brother Romano," Kugel offered in his usual, overly wordy manner, and Seborga thanked his lucky star that at least someone knew what to say.
Roma seemed rather taken aback for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "Well of course!", he exclaimed, almost boastfully. "Taught the little squirt everything he needed to know."
"I'm taller than you," Seborga automatically corrected, regretting it quickly. He was supposed to avoid conflict, why had he said that, that wasn't avoiding conflict!
Thankfully, Romano just shrugged it off. "So what, I'm older than you!", he countered playfully.
"Ooh, what did he say about me?", Veneziano questioned excitedly.
Kugelmugel looked at Vene for a second before smiling. "He always says I remind him of you."
"Awe, that's so sweet!", Veneziano cried- no, gushed. "They always say people like guys who are like their brother!"
Things were going well, but the burning of his cheeks made Seborga continue to regret his life decisions. He tried to give a proper explanation for that: "Ah, well, you're both artists and-"
"Oh, right, I totally forgot!" Veneziano hit himself on the head before digging something out of his bag. "Seb said you were looking for some good oil pastels, and I had some extras laying around, so here!"
A wooden box was thrust at Kugel, whose eyes were already glittering like stars at the prospect. Vaguely, Seborga recalled asking Veneziano help with getting his dearest a gift a few weeks prior, but had forgotten about it until then. He felt a smile join his burning face.
Before he could so much as blink, Vene and Kugel were chatting at a rate faster than he could hear about things he couldn't comprehend and Kugel had pulled out a sketchpad and was testing out the oil pastels. Wow, just a few stray strokes and it was already beautiful, how had he been so fortunate as to capture the heart of such a divine talent?
He tried to tune into the conversation:
"The consistency on these is a lot better than the ones Austria got me."
"Yeah, Austria kinda always goes for the cheap ones."
"Oh? You're familiar with his tendencies?"
"Well yeah, I lived with him for ages!"
"Oh, right, you worked with miss Hungary, did you not?"
"Yeah, it was a while ago but guess he hasn't changed much huh?"
"Doubtful, he's always so set in his ways, it's horribly dull."
"Wait a sec, Austria?", Romano suddenly interrupted, standing above them.
Kugel nodded. "Yes, he's my… brother, I suppose."
"Great, another German in the family," Romano half laughed. "God, what is it with you two and Germans? Prussia better not get any ideas…"
Wow, Romano really was trying! Normally, such a sentiment would have sounded a lot harsher and contained quite a few more expletives, but either he'd learned from the Germany debacle or he was actually trying to make a good first impression.
For the first time since arranging the get together, Seborga felt at ease. Everything would be fine, of course it would be. This was his family, they always managed to function, even if a bit haphazardly. And Kugelmugel accepted him for all his many, many flaws, and so of course he would accept Vene and Roma.
Really though, he didn't realize how well the evening had went until once everyone had gone home and Veneziano texted him two short messages.
"So when's the wedding?"
"And if you don't marry him I'm adopting him anyways."