A/N: I'm taking so much advantage of being alone in my room! Ha! But seriously, should I slow down my updates? Because after tomorrow I probably won't be able to update nearly as much...
A pirates life for Ellie: Ha! Lovi as a vampire would be awesome, but sadly this is not so supernatural~ That's for a future story, wink wink. Sadly I don't know of any real life illnesses or diseases that have the qualities I'm looking for in this story (cause migraines and in turn, vertigo and fainting, medicine can dull the pain, and surgery can fix it completely). If you know any diseases or illnesses like this that don't include cancer, I'm all ears! Haha... ha... And thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Kyouno-aru: Nice Lovi FTW! And they totally are. They're best when they're directed at YOU, of course, but that's beside the point, amiright? Heh~ And yes, Tonio shall be a part of these beautiful moments eventually, I promise~
Natalie Edelstein: No worried, that's perfectly fine~ To be honest I hadn't really expected any reviews. Just shows you how much faith I have in my writing, neh? Heh. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And yea, I hate that too. I suppose that stems from real-life me, I'm a rather angry individual myself but I'm so sweet around my loved ones~ I keep it out of my writing, of course, but it makes writing Lovi so fun! And yea, sadly, parents CAN do that. It's horrible and makes me want to strangle them... I feel sorry for Feli, too; he's the one being favoured but he hates it. Those be his bros! I'll explain the hour thing later, don't worry~ I figured I'd make grandpa loving since his parents are douchebags. I wish I could be this speedy all the time! But once I'm back in school I'll sadly have less freetime...
This chapter Antonio gets to meet Lovino and Feliciano (and Marcello)'s horses! Sadly it feels very filler-ish, nothing interesting really happens until they get to school...
SS Out~
When the family and Antonio sat down to breakfast, the parents praised their son on a job well done. Yes, son; singular. Antonio couldn't stop the frown on his face as they fawned over Feliciano about how amazing he did on the breakfast. The Spaniard felt like he should say something, because it was obvious the awkward-feeling Italian and his two brothers wouldn't. He started to open his mouth when he felt a hand on his arm.
Antonio glanced to the side where he knew Lovino was, but he couldn't imagine the eldest son touching him willingly. Lovino was facing forward, but he was looking from the corner of his eye at Antonio. The Spaniard wasn't completely stupid. Apparently his thoughts were on his face, and the shorter Italian was telling him to shut up.
Instead, Antonio asked, "Lovino, why aren't you eating anything?"
"I ate earlier," he stated, picking up his cup of... wine? Antonio was sure Lovino wasn't old enough to drink wine... and everyone else had a simple coffee. Why was Lovino drinking wine? "Nonno just wants me to sit at breakfast with the family. Feh..."
"Well I think it's... um... nice, to, um... spend time with your family," Antonio said awkwardly. Lovino looked at him with a 'you're a terrible liar and you'll make a terrible king' look. "Well... it is..."
"Would be without them," Lovino mumbled, turning away to look at Feliciano. "Feli," he interrupted his parents praises, "After you finish eating, want to help me with the horses?"
Feli perked up immediately. "Si! Oh, but... are you feeling up to it?" he asked, cheerfulness level falling slightly. Lovino scowled at his brother.
"Would I have fucking asked if I wasn't?" he demanded. Feli giggled, perking back to normal immediately.
"Okay~! And we can introduce Antonio to our horses! Can we go for a ride? Toni, Toni, do you know how to ride a horse?! It's so fun!"
Feliciano rambled on happily about horses while Lovino simply rolled his eyes. He then looked at Antonio. "Well, do you, bastard? Or will we have to teach you? You look stupid enough not to know..."
"Oh, no, I know how to ride a horse," Antonio answered, laughing slightly.
"Good." Lovino stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll be waiting for your stupid asses."
"Loviiii," Romero whined, but Lovino was already gone.
Antonio was sure he'd missed something, but he wasn't quite sure what.
After they finished eating- five minutes after Lovino left- Feliciano led Antonio out the kitchen door and down a long path to a barn. It was a large barn, shining a stark red and not at all falling apart.
"Ve~ Lovi is inside, probably waiting for us in the loft~" Feliciano hummed. "That's where he usually waits~"
"So you guys do this often?" Antonio asked. Feliciano thought for a few moments on that.
"I wouldn't say often," Feliciano answered slowly, pulling the barn door open. "Only when Fratello is... feeling up to it." Antonio frowned. He was missing something, and he wanted to know what. But he didn't get a chance to ask. Lovino landed on his feet right in front of them, startling Feliciano. "Ve~! Fratello, you shouldn't do that, what if you break your legs?!"
"Shut up, Feli, I've been doing that for years," Lovino sighed, rolling his eyes. "I always do that, dammit..." he walked over to the side.
"So where are the horses?" Antonio asked, ignoring Feliciano's concern... though even he had to agree that it was a bit dangerous. He was glancing around. There were six stables in the barn, all of which were empty.
"Grazing in the field, bastard," Lovino answered flatly. "And we only have four horses, those two extra stalls are used for storage."
"Oh... well, what do you have to do if they're grazing already?"
"Well~" Feliciano started, picking up a horse brush, "We need to brush their coat and manes, make sure they have enough water and hay, clean their stalls, exercise them to make sure they don't start getting overly restless and going wild, clean their hooves so they don't get packed and infected, make sure there's nothing in the field that could damage their hooves-"
"They sound like a lot of work," Antonio interrupted, unsure of how long this would go.
"Brushing and exercising them is last," Lovino added, grabbing the brush out of Feli's hand and handing him something to clean the stalls with. "Because if we exercise them but there's a nail or something in the field they could get hurt and that's just fucking counterproductive, dammit."
"I never expected a family of aristocrats to take care of horses," Antonio commented, watching the brothers start working. There was a third broom, and he thought about trying to help.
"Don't even fucking think about it, you're neither dressed for nor do you know how to fucking clean a horse's stall," Lovino snapped suddenly. Antonio was starting to think that boy was a mind reader... "To answer your stupid question, Spanish bastard, some of us don't plan on living in big houses with a million fucking servants at our beck and call. I like horses, I'll take up the fucking responsibility to have one."
"Huh... that's a... that's an interesting way to view it," Antonio commented, actually a bit surprised and unsure of how to respond.
"Just shut up, you're distracting us."
-Later-
Antonio watched as the brothers finished brushing the manes of the final horse, all of which had come at their call. They really were beautiful beings, Antonio had to admit.
"Now to introduce you~!" Feliciano exclaimed happily, skipping over to a medium-sized mare. She was a white mare with tan splotches and a light blonde mane. Her hooves looked golden, but that could simply be because of how Feliciano polished them. "This is my horse~ Her name's Adrina! Isn't she so pretty~?!"
Antonio nodded. He looked at Lovino, who was standing next to another horse, about the same size as Adrina. This one was also a mare and looked a lot like Adrina, but where Adrina was white, this one was black, and where Adrina was tan, this one was dark-chocolate brown. Her mane looked like it was dark brown mixed with blonde. Her hooves also looked gold.
"This is my horse," Lovino muttered, stroking the mare. He blushed slightly and glanced down. "... Speranza." Antonio didn't understand what the blush was for but he didn't question it.
"Nonno bought Speranza for Lovino five years ago," Feliciano said with a smile. "Lovi's always liked horses, so Nonno figured the best gift he could give was a horse~ Of course he got me and Marcello a horse too~ All three from the same mother!"
Feliciano skipped over to a third horse, who was slightly smaller than the others. This one was male; he was pure brown except for a strip on his face, which was white. The coat above his hooves were white, all the way up to his knees, like socks! Anotonio thought it was cute. His hooves were different from Adrina and Speranza's; the front left and back right were gold, but the front right was black and the back left was white. Antonio hadn't even known hooves could do that...
"This is Marcello's horse, but Marcello is afraid of getting trampled so he doesn't really ride much," Feliciano giggled. "He named him Rinaldo. I like calling him Rinny~"
"Of course you do," Lovino muttered, rolling his eyes and walking to the fourth. The fourth was taller than the three sibling horses. "Papa bought this horse for Feliciano two years ago, to congratulate him going to high school. But Feliciano never rides him. Feli's scared of falling off."
"He's so big!" Feli whined. "I can't even get on his back without help!"
"I'm usually the one who exercises him," Lovino grumbled.
Antonio observed the large horse. He looked friendly enough; his eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth. He was a pure white horse, no interruptions or little marks, with a beautiful black mane and tail, and lovely, shiny brown hooves. Antonio had no idea what kind of horse any of them were, and he had a feeling the Italians didn't, either, but he thought they were all lovely... especially Feliciano's second horse.
Wait, why does Feliciano have a second horse but Lovino doesn't?
"His name is Gino. Papa picked the name out... I don't like that name, though, and he doesn't respond to it," Feli pouted, crossing his arms.
Antonio gently stroked the large horse's coat. "Well, why not give him a different name? He's yours, not your father's," Antonio said, looking at Feliciano. Feli seemed to brighten at the idea.
"Oh yea! But I don't know any good names! Why don't you pick a name for him?" Feli suggested merrily, smiling widely. "While you're here you'll probably be using him a lot more than I will~!"
"I don't know any Italian..."
"Ve~ That's okay~! Name him something Spanish!"
The prince frowned and looked at the horse. He'd never named a horse before. The horse looked at him, as though knowing whose decision his real, acceptable name was. "Um... how about... Romano?" he suggested. "It means "from Rome"," he added, laughing.
"Bastard... Romano is my middle name," Lovino grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Oh?" Antonio smiled happily. "Lovi Roma~" He turned to the horse. "What do you think about the name Romano~?" he asked. The horse tossed his head in a way that looked like a nod. "So~ Romano~"
Lovino watched as the horse actually responded. It felt so weird to hear someone calling a horse by his own middle name... and Feliciano was giggling maniacally beside him.
"He likes it!" Feliciano cheered excitedly, skipping over. "Ve~ We should get Marcello out here and the four of us can go for a ride through the countryside like we used to, Lovi!"
The elder Italian frowned and looked about to say no, but then Feliciano was using super-effective puppy-dog eyes. Antonio watched as the older gave in to the younger. "Fine! But you're going to get Marcello, I'll saddle the horses," he grumbled. Feliciano cheered and ran back to the house.
Antonio followed Lovino to one of the extra stables. "Hey, bastard, grab those blankets," Lovino commanded, grabbing a saddle off of where four saddles hung on a wall. The Spaniard did as he was told.
"I find it interesting," Antonio started now that they were alone, "that you treat me like anyone else despite knowing who I actually am."
Lovino rolled his eyes. "What, am I supposed to give you special treatment because of that? You play the cards you were dealt, bastardo; you have no control over who you are. You're just another person as far as I'm concerned." He set the saddle down and grabbed the blanket, throwing it over the correct horse.
Antonio watched as the Italian saddled Romano. "That's an interesting way to view it," he repeated what he had said just earlier, only this time he knew he meant it. Lovino glanced at him.
"Yea well, I'm an interesting person," he said sarcastically, going to grab another saddle. Antonio watched him.
Yes indeed you are... What are all of you not telling me?
After about ten minutes, the three Italian brothers and Antonio found themselves riding through the countryside. When Feliciano had returned, he had not only their brother but a hat which now sat on Lovino's head... though Lovino had insisted he didn't actually need it. It once again prompted Antonio to wonder what was going on that he didn't know about, but he chose to enjoy his time on his new horse-friend's back.
For someone afraid of being trampled, Marcello sure did a lot of things that Antonio was sure could cause you to get trampled... like make the horse run, let go of the reins, lean over, stand in the saddle oh god what the hell...
"Hey, Feli!" Marcello called, commanding his horse into a trot. "I'll race you!"
"Veee~ You're on, Marcy!" Feliciano accepted the challenge, and the two younger Italians took off. Lovino just chuckled and shook his head.
It took Antonio a moment or two to realize Lovino had chuckled. As in, laughing chuckle! Out of innocent amusement! He spun to look at Lovino so fast he nearly fell out of his saddle, which Romano didn't appreciate at all if his whinny was anything to go by.
Lovino watched Antonio try to regain balance. "What the fuck was that about, bastard?"
"You chuckled," he answered, finally straightening back up. "I was surprised, I haven't heard you actually laugh or anything like that... not like that, anyway."
"Don't get used to it," Lovino rolled his eyes, turning his face forward again. Speranza pranced a little then settled down again so as not to cause Lovino to lose balance.
"Hey, what does your horses' names mean, anyway?" Antonio finally asked. Lovino scowled.
"I can't believe you didn't bother learning any Italian," he grumbled. "You're lucky you chose my school. The principal is American and the majority of the student body is from other countries, so most everything is in English."
"Well?" Antonio refused to let Lovino change the subject.
"Ugh, nosy Spaniard. Adrina is 'happiness', Rinaldo is 'wise power', and Speranza is, ah 'hope'," he answered. Antonio blinked at Lovino.
"Hope? Why did you name your horse hope?" he asked curiously.
"Mind your own fucking business, princey bastard," Lovino growled. "I have my reasons." He looked up at the sky. "Come on, let's catch up to my idiot brothers." With that, Speranza took off at a gallop. Antonio simply watched in surprise. The movement had been so subtle he hadn't even realized Lovino gave the command.
And then Antonio realized he himself didn't know how to give the gallop command.
These Italians get more and more interesting, he couldn't help but think. Aristocrats who not only ride horses for fun, but clean them themselves... very interesting. He flicked the reins, thinking maybe that would spur Romano into a gallop.
Nope. Romano took off at a full run. All Antonio could do was hold on for dear life.
-To Be Continued-
After this chapter, I'll probably skip ahead to when school begins. This is pretty much how their days would pass, to be honest. Ride the horses, go to the beach, have lunch, hate the parents, etc...