Almost as soon as he got home, Francis gently set the Anti on his couch, putting a blanket over its lap as he pushed it into a sitting position. Did these things get cold? Did they need to be comfortable…? Gilbert hadn't given him a manual, and he hadn't done any research…all he knew was how to turn it on. He looked over it, taking in every detail – besides being frozen in place, it really did look human…maybe he was just easy to fool, but he couldn't even tell them apart from real people…

His was much like Ludwig's; short, chestnut brown hair, with an odd curl sticking up from his head and bangs that didn't quite go down to his shut eyes. He had long eyelashes – the kind that made Francis think of the butterfly kisses his sister had given him when they were children – and sharp cheekbones. Nervously, Francis reached up and touched his cheek, feeling a bit rude despite the fact that the Anti wasn't even on yet. His skin was soft, and if Francis leaned in he could see a few very light freckles dusting his face…his lips looked soft, too. Light pink, and parted just a bit, almost like the Anti were sleeping…he jerked his hand back suddenly, sitting back on the couch and taking a deep breath. It wasn't human, wasn't even awake yet, but he felt somehow attracted to it…him. When he looked so defenseless and gentle like this, Francis felt like he ought to hold him gently and simply never let go…he shook his head rapidly. They must have had this effect on everyone who first owned one – just shock, he told himself. Without another pause, he reached up to touch the Anti's hair, tugging its curl quickly to turn it on.

The Anti's eyes slowly fluttered open, eyes glowing purple as they stared, unfocused, at the wall before them. Then, after a moment, it slowly turned to look at Francis. Its eyes faded to a light, nearly golden, brown as its pupils came into view, taking in the sight of the man before it. The Anti bit his bottom lip, almost like he was thinking, before smiling warmly at him.

"Ciao, signore. Come mi chiamo?"

"Er...excuse me?" Francis frowned a bit. Why was it speaking another language? "Could you repeat that?"

"Come mi chiamo?"

Still speaking…Italian, he thought. Francis sighed, standing up and shaking his head. Maybe Ludwig had had this problem, too? But it was late at night now, and he didn't want to bother him or Gilbert. The Anti stood up, following Francis and asking him that same question.

"Signore, come mi chiamo?"

Francis shook his head, looking at it with confusion. "I don't know what you're saying."

"…non capisci?" The Anti frowned. "Parli Italiano?"

It was asking if he spoke Italian; that much he got. "No, I don't," he said. "Can you speak English?"

"Inglese? Uno momento, per favore…" The Anti's eyes turned purple again as it changed to English (Francis hoped), its eyes flashing back to brown in moments. "Ah. Molte problemi."

"…that's not good," Francis mumbled. "Can you, uh…can you tell me what the problem is?" he asked hopefully, prompting the Anti to rapidly list things off to him in Italian. He sighed, shaking his head. "Nevermind, nevermind. Uh…uh…" He pulled out his phone, quickly googling a few words in Italian before pointing to the Anti. "Tu, dormire."

"Oh? Ok…buona notte, signore." It shut its eyes again, leaning back on the couch and appearing to fall asleep…Francis took a deep breath, rubbing his temples. He'd just ask Gilbert and Ludwig in the morning, it couldn't be that hard…he kicked off his pants quickly, going to his bed and collapsing onto it. At least he didn't have work tomorrow…

"Signore…svegliarsi, per favore."

Francis yawned softly, smiling a bit as he put his arms around the other man. "Just a few more minutes…" he mumbled, nearly falling back asleep before realizing that there was someone else in his bed. He jerked awake and shoved himself away from the thing…which was just his Anti, chin in hands and staring down at him.

"Buona mattina," the Anti said. Francis stared up at it and then looked down, frowning a bit.

"…why aren't you wearing pants?" he asked. The Anti shrugged, pointing to Francis's pants and speaking more rapid-fire Italian. Francis rolled his eyes. "Let me guess; when in Rome…"

The Anti stared at him, unflinching. "Signore. Come mi chiamo?"

Francis sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands. Not even a day later, he was tired of hearing that stupid phrase. He took a deep breath and yanked out his phone, pulling up Google translate and quickly typing in 'please speak English' before translating it and handing it to the Anti. It paused, reading over the message before nodding and…removing part of its finger and plugging itself into Francis's phone. Francis watched as its eyes, purple now, blinked open and shut several times. Not even thirty seconds later, the Anti unplugged itself from the phone and reattached its finger, handing the phone back to Francis.

"English language drivers successfully installed," the Anti said, looking to Francis. "Do you understand me now, master?"

Francis nodded slowly, a bit in shock after hearing the Anti speak English for the first time. "Yes," he said quickly. "Uh…what were you asking me before? Also, why aren't you wearing pants?"

"Master isn't wearing pants, so I thought he wanted me to do the same." The Anti shrugged. "I was asking you what my name is. Or, what you want to name me."

"Oh…I get to choose it?" he asked, a little surprised. "I was never really good at names…" he admitted, carefully pulling on his pajama pants. "Actually though, when I was little I named my two hamsters Thunder and Lightning. I thought that was clever back then." He smiled a bit. "But human names…"

"Should I be named Thunder and Lightning?" the Anti asked seriously. Francis laughed, shaking his head.

"No! No," Francis smiled. "Do you have a default name, maybe? I know it's not original, but…"

"The workers called me Lovino," the Anti said. "That is my default name."

"Lovino…" He smiled. "If that's alright with you, I like that name."

The Anti shrugged, apparently unopposed. "That's fine with me, master. Although, 'Lovino' isn't actually a name. I don't know what idiot came up with that." He shrugged, looking over at Francis. "What's your name, master?"

"Francis," he said, smiling. "Francis Bonnefoy. I go by just Francis, though, so no need to call me 'master'."

Lovino's eyes turned purple again as it registered the information. "Okay, Francis…" he said. "I'm going to ask you some basic questions, and I want you to give me the best answers you can. These will help me understand you better and learn how to best work with you."

"…that should be all the information I need. Thank you, Francis." Lovino stood up from the bed, going to fold Francis's other pants and put them away. The Anti had pulled his back on long ago, at Francis's request, and went on to begin cleaning the rest of his room.

"Thanks." Francis smiled. "It'll be nice to have help around the apartment – and company, too! It gets lonely sometimes, living here by myself."

"I can imagine," Lovino said, organizing some of Francis's electronic cables. "The testing facility where I was born…I think you would call that 'lonely', too."

"Do you remember that place?" Francis asked, curious. "I mean…do you have memories, in general?"

Lovino nodded. "Technically speaking, yes. More advanced Antis – like my not yet released brother, the IT-178 – even have memories fabricated for them; instead of remembering their testing facility and the scientists who made them, they can give accounts of an imagined birthplace, home, and their 'parents' – still the scientists, but thought of more lovingly." Lovino looked over at Francis. "Should I sit down? We can talk if you desire it."

Francis smiled a bit. "That sounds nice. Let's go to the couch…" He stood up from his bed, going over sit on the couch with Lovino following quickly. "Ah, another question," he said. "Do you have to eat anything?"

"No." Lovino sat down, folding his hands in his lap. "But, for the comfort of people like you, I am able to fabricate the action of eating. I also take care of the wasted materials myself…I think it's a bit easier seen than explained," Lovino added at Francis's look of confusion. "The short answer is no, I don't have to. I can though, if you ever wish it."

"Interesting…" He smiled a bit. "Are you programmed with any hobbies of your own, or any…I don't know, personal information?"

Lovino shrugged. "There are things programmed in case the owner can't think of anything, but Antis are designed to be very customizable. If you wanted me to be good at golf, for example, you only have to tell me and I would become that. You can also choose how good I can be at something, depending on if you want me to be better than you at it or not."

"Huh…" Francis laughed softly. "My friend Gilbert was programming his to do sexual things. I can't believe that's part of your abilities…"

Lovino nodded. "Yes. We're able to function just as any human, including in that respect. Would you like me to show you an example?"

Francis blushed suddenly, looking away and coughing. "That, uh…that won't be necessary right now," he mumbled shyly. "I'm not really, uh…casual sex isn't quite my thing…"

"Alright. Understood." Lovino stood up, going to the kitchen and quickly pulling out some eggs. "I'm going to prepare some food for you, Francis," he called. "It's time for you to eat."

Francis laughed softly, shaking his head and trying to clear it. This one was more blunt than Ludwig or Gilbert's…was he supposed to program the behaviors, too? But, in a way, he liked Lovino this way…

"Francis!" Gilbert barged into Francis's apartment, sitting down on the couch beside him with a wide grin. "Morning. How's it going?"

"Great!" Francis smiled proudly. "I got Lovino all set up."

Gilbert grinned. "Lovino, huh? Hey, Antonio!" he called, smiling when his Anti bounded into the room. "Why don't you go meet Francis's Anti and swap information with him?"

"Okay! Hello Francis!" Antonio waved before running off to the kitchen to meet with Lovino. Francis smiled, arching an eyebrow and looking to Gilbert.

"He's so energetic," Francis teased. "Mine's a little more blunt, but I kinda like it…"

"Oh, was his personality preprogrammed?" Gilbert relaxed on the couch, shrugging. "Ours didn't come that way. I got to choose Tonio's."

"Hm…I guess that option doesn't come with Lovino," Francis said, shutting his eyes. "That's fine. I like him how he is—"

"Fuck off, idiot!"

Francis sat up suddenly, both him and Gilbert turning their heads to see what the commotion was about. Lovino had shoved Antonio away and into Francis's wall, looking furious as he stared him down. "Make them leave," he spat angrily. "Make them get the fuck out of here!"

(AN: Hello again. Here's another chapter. A note on the Italian: I'm very rusty since I haven't practiced or spoken in quite some time, so I did my best to stick to basic sentences. If there's something horribly terribly wrong, please do tell me so I may change it. Also, if anyone would like to volunteer as a beta reader, let me know. Enjoy.)