"You want… me to wear this?" Lovino asked sternly as he looked at the clothes that Antonio was holding out to him.
"Si~ I do~" Antonio sang happily. Lovino stared at the outfit. A white tank top lined with red trimming with a white and black jacket that only seemed to go down to the rib cage, dark brown slightly tight pants, a red belt part that was held with an actually dark brown belt.
"And what if I refuse?"
"Then you can go walking around in the outfit you're in already. Though I don't think you want to go around in your pajamas~" Lovino blushed as he looked down at the tan colored pajamas he was wearing, knowing Antonio was right.
"F-Fine…" Lovino grumbled as he took the outfit. Antonio chuckled with a smile as he walked out of the room to give Lovino some privacy. Antonio looked around the deck before spotting Francis and walking up to his French friend.
"Francis!" Antonio called as he walked over. The blond slowly turned towards Antonio, a look of dread plastered on Francis' face. He knew something bad was going to happen to him after that incident yesterday with Lovino.
"Oui?" Francis asked, trying to sound as casual as possible as his friend walked up to him with a slightly serious expression on his face.
"I need to talk to you about yesterday's incident." Yup, just as Francis had thought. Francis nodded before following his friend to the upper deck where no one could really hear them. Antonio spun around and stared at Francis with emerald orbs. "Francis, when you were molesting Lovino like that, do you remember seeing him shaking?"
Francis stared at Antonio with slight confusion before thinking for a few minutes. "No, I didn't see him shaking," he replied with all honesty. Antonio sighed and shook his head as he pulled out a file and handed it to Francis. "What's this?"
"The file that man had about Lovino."
"You stole it!" Francis was surprised how bluntly Antonio could say that statement. He may have seen Antonio steal something before, but it wasn't anything like this, and normally when the Spaniard stole it was for a good reason. This, however, didn't seem like one.
"Si~" Antonio smiled brightly at that. Francis sighed, wondering sometimes how Antonio could be so oblivious to a lot of things. Francis shrugged it off as he opened up the file.
"'Lovino Vargas…'" Francis began to softly repeat the things that were inside. "'Age 21. Italian. Prostitute.'" Francis stopped reading as he looked up at Antonio. "What's so different about everything you've already told me?"
"Well…" Antonio began as he pulled out a magnifying glass from who-knows-where and handed it to Francis as he pointed to some small writing that was next to 'Prostitute.' Francis carefully laid the glass over it as he read the word 'slave.'
"What about it?" Francis asked as he looked back up at his Spanish friend, not really understanding where he was going with all of this.
"Lovino wasn't any prostitute Francis. He was a Prostitute Slave meaning that he was forced to have to stay in that place." A pained expression seemed to cross Francis' face as he heard this. If he had known about that, he never would have tried to make Lovino talk to him by his actions.
"I see…" Francis handed the glass back to Antonio as he continued to read what was behind the first page of basic information. He was a bit surprised to see that there were a few journal entries behind it, but it sparked his interest and began to read.
'March 12th,
Today Lovino Vargas tried to escape from me but don't worry, I tracked him down and made sure that he couldn't escape from me again. Oh yes did I drill it into his head about running away from me. That little shit should be grateful that I even let him work for me. When I found him he was beaten, bruised, and looked like he hadn't eaten anything decent in months. It's only been a month since he's been here and already Lovino is trying to escape.
I taught him a lesson though. Oh yes did I teach him a lesson that he would never forget.'
The more Francis read the worse he felt about what he had done. Sure, people were used to him acting like that with most people, even Antonio who seemed completely fine with it. Though everyone knew the Spaniard was just oblivious or used to Francis doing that to him since they were friends. If Francis had learned all of this yesterday, he never would have done that to the Italian.
"You understand now Francis?" Antonio asked, his voice gentler as he saw the color of his friend's face leaving his face the more he read. Francis finally placed the papers back into the file and closed it, nodding.
"Oui…. I understand…"
"Good… I want you to apologize to Lovi and make it up to him." Francis nodded, knowing that Antonio was right. He did need to make it up to Lovino. This time it was he who had been oblivious to the Italian's actions. It was he who didn't notice when he normally had the sharpest eyes on the ship. Antonio smiled as he took the file back from Francis before waving and walking off, leaving the Frenchman to stand there and contemplate on his own.
"Aw~ Lovi~" Antonio sang as he saw the Italian walk out of the room dressed in the outfit he had chosen out, along with the brown boots Antonio had also allowed him to borrow. Lovino looked over at Antonio as he walked up.
"What?" he asked.
"You look nice in that~ I knew you would~" Lovino felt a blush creep onto his face again at Antonio's compliment. He wasn't really used to being treated this nicely before. Sure, there would be a few people in the restaurant bar who would be nice to him and joke with him, but that was normally only two or three people and they would only come every other week or so.
"G-Grazie…"
"Though…"
"W-What?" Antonio looked at Lovino with a thinking look that looked like he was pouting a bit as he looked at the attire that Lovino was wearing. He knew the reason why Lovino closed the shirt up more than it was supposed to since it was supposed to be an open chest shirt and he knew the jacket that went a little above the waist was closed to a reason too, though on himself the jacket only went to the bottom of his rib cage. The pants were a perfect fit, which was a good thing.
"Ah!" Antonio smiled as he walked up to Lovino. "You're red sash and belt isn't on properly. Can I fix it?" He wanted Lovino's permission first before he touched him since he didn't want to scare the Italian like Francis had done to him. Lovino slightly looked away from Antonio, a deep blush appearing on his face but nodded in reply. Antonio nodded as he knelt down and took off the belt before adjusting the red sash to the proper place. He then placed the belt back on and stood up before placing a bandana on the back of Lovino's head.
"There~ All done~" Antonio sang as he looked at Lovino. "You make a great pirate Lovi~" Lovino said nothing as he looked away from Antonio, his face completely red from all the compliments that Antonio kept showering him with. "You can just walk around~ I have to get back to work." Lovino nodded before Antonio walked off.
Why is he so nice to me? Lovino asked himself in thought as he started to explore the ship.
The crew was working hard to keep things flowing smoothly. The way they scaled the ropes made it seem like they were monkeys. They would be swiftly moving across the mast to make sure the sails were securely tightened while others made sure the rope ladders were securely tightened or to make sure that there weren't any cracks on the ship that could cause something bad to happen. There were also people making sure the canons were securely tightened to their positions. Lovino was amazed at how the crew could move so fast with how large the ship was in the first place. It kind of made him want to help out in some way, but he also felt like he just wanted to stand there and watch them in amazement. He had never seen anything like this before. Being locked away inside that hell made him unable to do much of anything that he would have liked. He had even forgotten how to read and write since he had been in there. The only way he was able to tell what drinks were which were by the color and smell, which would seem weird to most people if they hadn't been in the same situation as he had.
Yes, Lovino may have learned to read and write when he was younger by his grandfather, but when the war was happening he couldn't be taught unless they wanted to be found. Of course, that didn't even seem to work for the most part since everyone, except for Feliciano, had died, or at least from what he knew of. After knowing Feliciano was alive, he could be wrong about the rest of his family as well, though he highly doubted it.
Feliciano… Lovino thought as he walked to the railing of the ship and looked out towards the ocean that seemed to sparkle like a newly polished gem against the sunlight. How did you survive?
"Bonjour mon petit," Francis greeted the Italian who only flinched and spun around, looking at the blond with fear in his eyes. This didn't surprise Francis at all. It expected it so he wasn't really hurt by the Italian's actions. "Don't worry I'm just here to apologize for my actions yesterday."
"L-Like hell you are…" Lovino stuttered as he started moving along the railing to get away from the Frenchman. Francis sighed as he watched Lovino moving away from him. This would definitely be harder than he thought it would be.
"I really am," Francis decided to continue to try and get the Italian to forgive him, even if it was just a little bit. "I wasn't aware of your situation as much as I would have liked to let on." Lovino didn't seem to believe Francis as he continued to move away from him. Francis sighed. "Alright… I guess I'll leave you alone then." With that Francis turned on his heel and walked off, trying to figure out a different way that he could get Lovino to forgive him.
Thank god… Lovino thought as he sighed out in relief.
"KESESESESESESE~!" a voice laughed, causing Lovino to jump almost a foot in the air. Lovino's head darted around to try to find the owner of the voice before a man landed in front of him. Lovino yelped a bit as the man a few feet in front of him stood up with a large grin on his face.
The man had messy white hair that was sticking out of a navy blue – almost purple – hat that was lined with gold at the top. He wore a matching navy long jacket with a white shirt underneath it and an ascot around his neck. His off-white pants were tucked inside black boots and a red cape completed the ensemble. The man's crimson eyes stared at Lovino as if they were trying to pierce through his soul.
W-What the hell is with him! Lovino screeched in thought as he felt his knees give out on him from fright, which only made the albino burst into laughter.
"Didn't think you'd be that scared," the man teased as he kept his position a few feet from Lovino. Lovino tried to yell at the man, but only squeaks came out again. "Anyways, name's Gilbert Beilschmidt! You can ask the almighty me anything you want!" Lovino just stared at Gilbert with fear still present in his eyes. He swore the people on this ship were just trying to make it so he'd jump overboard, though he wouldn't really do something like that in the first place but it was tempting with all the people Lovino was meeting.
Seriously… what is wrong with the people on this ship! Lovino exclaimed in thought as the albino looked at him with a slightly confused expression. Gilbert didn't know whether he should be worried about Lovino or not with the way the Italian was slightly shaking.
"You okay kid?" he finally asked Lovino.
"I-I'm fine…" Lovino replied as he shakily stood back up, using the wooden railing as support. He was still a bit shaken from Gilbert suddenly appearing from the sky, but he was fine none-the-less.
"Well alright. If you say so." Lovino took a deep shaky breath before looking over at Gilbert.
"Was there something you want?"
BESIDES scaring the living hell out of me? Lovino finished in thought.
"Not really," Gilbert replied with a shrug. "This is just my daily routine."
"Scaring the crap out of people is your daily routine!" Lovino heard himself shout, slightly squeaking as he did so. Nope. He still wasn't over getting the living daily lights sucked out of him.
"Of course not! The awesome and almighty me wouldn't do something like that on purpose! You just happened to be there. Trust me, if I was going to scare someone I would be much more discreet than that!" Lovino shakily sighed as he looked back out at the ocean. Something told him that he wasn't going to get used to the people on this ship like he thought he could. "Anyways, see ya around kid."
"My name's Lovino!" the Italian shouted as Gilbert walked off. Of course, the albino only laughed and waved his hand dismissively before he returned back to his work. Lovino let out an annoyed sigh.
Seriously… what's wrong with the people on this ship?