Got bored waiting for the 2 day upload downtime~
This one's kinda long. I think I might have drabbled in some parts.
So here's the second chapter~!
Shopping With Hetalia
Chapter 2 – Italia Romano
The world conference in Italy had been quite the show. America and England had been the main source of entertainment as usual. You were there too, taking notes, and happily chatting to Italy Veneziano in between speeches.
It wasn't until the end of the meeting that you actually absorbed any information. The moment France had been chased out of the room by a very angry Switzerland, Germany let out a very long sigh and dismissed the nations.
The first thing you understood while you were reviewing your notes was that the next meeting was to be held in Germany, in about four days. What was it with the frequent meetings recently..?
The second thing was that there was going to be a formal dinner right after the meeting, in which the nations and other important dignitaries were supposed to attend.
You then realized that you didn't have any formal clothing aside from the jacket Veneziano had bought you earlier. It would take too much time and money for you to go all the way back to your homeland and find one of your own dresses, then hop onto the next plane to Berlin. Maybe it would be cheaper to get a dress here..? Besides, all your dresses sucked.
You decide to ask Italy if you could go shopping with him, but for a fancy dress this time.
"Eh? Oh, I really would love to.. But I can't.. I have to take care of some matters related to the conference earlier.."
Italy gave you a sad look.
"Ve.. I'm really sorry.. But I think I know who could help you look for one though!"
His face brightened with the idea.
"Fratello could help you! He gave us the name of the store we bought your jacket in, right? Well then I'm sure he'd know just where to find a dress for you!"
"He's always been the better of the two of us when it comes to these things.."
"Oh, let me ask him first!"
Italy shot off like a rocket to wherever it was his brother Romano was. After organizing your things and placing them very orderly in your briefcase, a very peppy Veneziano returned with a very reluctant looking Romano.
"So this is the girl you were running around with earlier, huh?"
Romano gave her an appraising look.
"Mm! She's really nice, ve~ But she needs help finding a dress for Germany's party at the next conference, and I'm busy with something.."
"Let me guess, you want me to find something for her?"
"V-ve.."
"You DO know I was planning to go out with Spain tomorrow?"
"Please, Fratello, help us out, she's a really nice person.. And she was really nice to me, and she promised to lend me her meeting notes after she finished making copies.."
Romano gives him an exasperated look.
"All right, all right. Let me go tell Spain then-"
"Thank you, Fratello~!"
Veneziano ran headlong into his older brother and gave him a big hug.
"What the-"
"Thank you, thank you, thank you~!"
"Enough with the hugging, what the hell is wrong with you, idiot Fratello!"
Romano squirmed and tried to pry Veneziano off of him. You could see that he didn't seem to want to actually hurt his brother, but he forced him off all the same.
"Ve.."
Veneziano looked close to tears.
"You have work to do, right? Go take care of it. I'll handle this one. Got it?"
Romano gave his brother a firm pat on the head.
"Mm! I promise I'll work hard, Fratello!"
Romano blushed, his cheeks turning red.
"I'm only being like this to you because you brought home so many tomatoes. Be grateful that your brother is making an effort to help you!"
"Hehe~! I love you too, Fratello!"
After much cursing and chasing Italy Veneziano around the meeting room, Romano finally ended up collapsing on a chair and panting for breath.
"Really, Fratello, you should start getting exercise.. Do you want to come with me to Germany's drills in the morning? They could really help.."
Romano took a deep breath.
"Shut up! Why should I have to wake up in the morning for you and your potato bastard friend, huh?"
"VEEE!"
Italy let out a shriek, sending him running from the room.
Romano breathed deeply.
"Sheesh, my brother. He hasn't grown up one bit since we reformed."
..
"Oh, right. I haven't properly introduced myself yet. My name is Italy Romano. I'm the southern part of Italy, occupied by Spain. In case my stupid Fratello probably forgot to tell you, he's northern Italy, and he was conquered by Austria.."
..
"Eh. Right. I must be boring you with this info. Anyway. Since you did a pretty good job of helping my brother out, I'll help you buy your dress. Maybe if you're lucky and if I'm in a good mood, I'll buy you a couple of accessories to boot."
Buy you? Accessories?
"What? You must be kidding. Yes, I meant it when I said that I'll buy them. For you. I know most of the designers, and they give me stuff for free a lot, so it's not like I don't have spending money. I have a ton in.. Investments. Anyway, I'm doing this because he asked me to."
..
"Veneziano trusts you. He trusts the potato bastard too, but Germany's done a good job protecting him from harm. When he got home the other day, you should have seen the look on his face. It was like he won a pasta lottery or something. For that, I'll treat you to a nice bag. Or two. A pair of earrings. Some gems. You can't have a dress without accessories."
..
"Don't give me that. I know you're not exactly loaded. This is gonna be best for all of us, believe me. You've just started out, right? Think of it this way. You pay me back for this one day. Not in cash, but in deeds. You're lucky that I'm even thinking about doing this. Got that?"
You choose to remember at this moment that Romano has ties with the Italian mafia, and simply nod your head.
"Good. That's what friends and family are for. They're not too easy to come by, these days.."
"Enough about the details. Do you have any kind of dress in mind? Any particular designer?"
You remember passing a few stores with attractive-looking dresses during your shopping trip with Veneziano.
..
"Hm. Not bad. A good enough start. Fratello Romano's gonna fix you up real nice and good. That'll show that wurst bastard.."
..
"I think you'd look good in Versace. Never mind what my stupid brother thinks, if it's fashion, I'm the go-to guy. Now meet me tomorrow at.."
You agree to meet Romano in the middle of one of Italy's most fashionable districts. There were people everywhere in various states of dress, and you could see a large group of Asian tourists who were taking pictures of everything. You were wearing the summer dress that Italy Veneziano had bought you a few days before. It was just before lunch time, and you were getting hungry.
"Oi! There you are. Just in time."
Romano checked his watch. Today he was wearing a dark cashmere shirt with sharp khaki pants and black leather shoes.
"Maybe we should have lunch first? Oh, right. I forgot to cancel the reservation at that restaurant.."
Huh? Reservation?
"I was planning to go out with Spain earlier, right? We were gonna have lunch at.."
He gives the name of an Italian restaurant you've never heard of.
"Well at least we've got a place to eat. Not too far from our first destination too. Follow me."
Romano disppeared into the crowd, and you quickly ran after him.
Somehow, the pasta you ordered was yummier than the pasta you had eaten with Veneziano!
..
"Good, huh? This place is one of my favorites. Spain and I found it about a decade or two ago. What's with that look?"
..
"Hmph. My brother will eat anything as long as it tastes good to him. This place uses only the freshest, finest ingredients. Everyone knows that the ingredients make the dish, no matter how good a cook is! Well, except when it's England maybe. Do you know what his food is even like?"
..
"Seriously, I have no idea how he even manages to screw up on something as simple as a fried egg. I'm surprised he hasn't died from some stomach blockage or something."
..
"Yeah. I mean, what is fine dining to them? Steak. Effing steak. Meat put on a grill. The dish requires no skill whatsoever, and it's BLAND. Yeah, they eat it with worch.. wochesto.. wurstor.. STEAK SAUCE. They put it on EVERYTHING. Lazy bastards with no taste. Italian cooking is so much better."
You somehow want to agree, seeing as the pasta you ordered was so delicious. And from an inconspicuous street restaurant at that.
"And would you believe that brother of his, is he his brother? Something like that. Anyway, AMERICA. His hamburgers are God awful. Even with tomatoes. Those stupid hamburgers are a waste of tomatoes I tell you! Ruined by all that grease!"
Romano slurps up the rest of his pasta. It's a wonder how he manages to keep his shirt clean.
"You done yet? I'll wait for you if I have to."
Romano waves a ruby red credit card at one of the waiters, who indiscreetly took it. Romano then took out his phone (the same model as Veneziano's but somehow shinier) and began jabbing at it furiously.
..
"See this? It's a map. I can see the locations of the stores we're going to visit.. This phone is pretty useful."
Romano looks at his phone thoughtfully.
"Shame it doesn't come in a different color though. Oi, let's go."
You hastily wipe your mouth with a napkin, and stand up to follow him.
"Fisrt stop! Versace. Beautiful dresses here. This is a good place to start.."
The staff welcome you, and they all seem to know Romano.
"Get me some of your best dresses in her size. Scratch that, get me all of them."
He gestures to the manager, and he disappears into a side room.
..
"You're trying all of them on. Why? Because I'm trying to figure out what'll look good on you. Dresses have certain styles, but you've gotta have the perfect fabric and cut as well. So we experiment. Ah, here comes the manager."
The manager returns with one of those wheeled clothing racks, full of dresses. You see about fifteen..
Romano scans the rack.
"This one-" He picks up a stunning blue one. "This one, this one, this one."
He picks up several more dresses in a flash.
"Not that one. That one." Romano skips several dresses and ends up choosing seven.
"All right, try each one of these on."
He thrusts the armful of dresses at you.
"Oh. Right. One of you-" He gestures to some of the female store staff. "-assist her."
"Yes, Mr. Vargas!"
The girls snapped to attention, and you were ushered into a fitting room.
You try on a white dress with some sort of fabric that seemed to glitter in the light.
"Hmm. No. Too wedding. Next dress!"
You try on a black one that changed into shades blue as you moved around.
"Too Academy Awards. Something more subtle, perhaps.."
The staff seemed to be responding to Romano's comments, and promptly gave you a different dress, this time a red one with a sequined bodice.
"Too flashy."
Romano waved his hand.
"The pearl one."
You tried on a creamy silk dress that looked like you were wearing milk.
"Hmm. Good. The shoulder is a bit off, but good."
Romano stood up.
"Put on your clothes, we're going to the next store."
Huh?
"You heard me."
Romano whipped out his phone to look for the next boutique to visit.
..
"Yeah, the dresses are good, but I want better. Something MUCH better. Something that will fit you perfectly. It's Italian pride."
Despite the fact that Romano didn't want to get any of the dresses, he selected a pair of silver teardrop earrings, and almost threw his red credit card at the manager in his haste.
The next store the two of you went to was Armani.
"These guys are know for being sharp. Their suits are impeccable. Their dresses are a little tricky to carry out well though."
Once more the store staff immediately attended to you. Romano looked very smug.
You tried on a midnight blue dress with a flowing mermaid-style hem.
"Fabric yes, style no. Try-" He selected a grey dress with white accents. "-this one."
You find the grey dress a bit tight around the waist.
..
"Tight huh? You can still breathe, right? It's an evening dress, you're not supposed to be able to do gymnastics in it."
Romano spoke with a deadpan face.
"Looks like Armani's no good either."
Before you left however, Romano ended up buying a pair of round cuff links inset with red stones.
"Spain will love these."
He smirked.
"Next should be.. Let's go to Zara. It's not where I usually shop, but these should be interesting."
Zara was huge. There were fancy shoes and clothes and bags everywhere.
"The advantage of stores like these is that there's more than one designer. There's usually a wide range of clothing here. Remember the blue dress at Armani and the pearl one at Versace? If you can find something like those, come look for me so we can fit them. I'll look over here."
You find a white backless dress and a dark blue sleeveless dress with ruffles. Along the way, you notice that even though Zara is supposed to be in the middle ground of expensive classy and cheap casual, the clothes seem to be quite expensive, and not too far from the prices of the Armani dresses. Italians, you mutter.
You find Romano holding about six dresses. Romano looks at the dresses you hold and immediately shakes his head.
"Those are horrible. Drop those. Now hold still.."
Romano checks each dress against your figure, and casually discards the rejects. The only dress he is still holding is a blue sleeveless one with sequined zigzags reaching the hem.
"Try this one on."
You find the dress both easy to move in, and stylish.
Romano gives you an approving look.
"Buono. THAT is what I was looking for! Now you'll need a purse, and some shoes, and maybe a nice choker. I've already got you earrings. Now go get that wrapped up, and we'll go to my favorite boutique."
"Here we are. Gucci!"
Your eyes went wide at the sight of so many expensive bags.
"Looks like they've got some new stock. What's your shoe size? This pair should look pretty good with your dress."
Romano holds up a pair of strappy stiletto slingbacks with aquamarine crystals artfully sewn to the fabric. You try them on, and find that despite the height, they weren't that hard to stand in.
"Hmm. Are you okay with the heels? Walk around the store once and see."
You do a very careful circuit around the boutique, and return to find Romano with a fancy blue clutch bag in hand.
"How are the shoes? This bag will definitely work with those. Gucci is just that good."
You begin to wonder how much everything was going to cost, as Romano handed his credit card to the staff.
..
"I told you not to worry about it, remember? Besides, we've already gotten this far. And I really want to see that potato bastard's jaw drop when he sees you. If not him, then that French maniac."
You suddenly have a bad feeling about France seeing you in a sexy outfit.
..
"Hm? France, hitting on you? Well he hits on everyone. If you're feeling uncomfortable about him, just do what Switzerland does... And stay the hell away from England. He's that frog's favorite target."
..
"God knows why a country like France exists. I heard from Japan that they have more strikes there than Spain has siestas. Believe me, that's a lot! I still wonder how the hell their economy is alive!"
One of the Gucci staff appears with your purchases and Romano's credit card.
"Grazie. Oi, anything else we need? You've got a dress, shoes, earrings, a purse.. I think you can take care of looking for a stylist. Or do I have to set one up for you? You'll be footing her bill of course."
You politely decline. You know someone in Germany who can take care of that. You still thank him though.
"Whatever. Don't forget this okay? If there's one thing I hate it's people who forget that they owe gratitude."
Romano takes out his cell phone, and checks the time.
"Whoa. That was surprisingly quick. Looks like I still have time to dash over to Spain's and pay him a surprise visit!"
Romano looked determined. You ask him why he and Spain get along so well.
"Ah. Um. Er. That's because.. Well. He took good care of me when I was a kid and.. Why the heck are you asking me such embarrassing questions?"
Romano blushed a deep tomato red.
..
"S-still! That's private!"
You wonder if he likes Spain.
"Like him? I.. Er."
Romano blushed an impossibly vivid shade of red. You try to stifle a giggle.
"Meh! I'll be going to Spain's now! Don't forget your things!"
Romano left the boutique in a huff, as you shout your thanks after him.
Now, to book that flight to Germany..
~End~
Romano was fun to write. It was kind tricky, picking the designers. There are so many good Italian designer brands .
Zara is something like a joint boutique that has many different lines from lesser designers, and it's much more affordable. I have plenty of clothes from Zara, but no dresses. The clothes they send to Asia are tiny T.T
This fic's inspiration is the Venetian hotel at Macau where I stayed recently with my family. I could almost imagine strolling down the halls with the Italy brothers.
Germany is next. Stay tuned!
-czieskara