Day Twenty-One

"Oh, Hooooooope~ Won't you please come out? I made you some mille-feuille~"

No response.

Francis quietly sighed. This was the fourth or fifth time he came knocking on her door, and it had been nearly five hours since the first time he came, once every hour. It was late in the evening, the sun was setting, and what made him worried was how she still hadn't come out of her room for that day.

The girl had a sweet tooth, as Francis discovered some time in the past, but apparently that wouldn't work either. Right now, he couldn't tell whether an iron will was a good or bad thing. Because normally, it would be a good thing, but this is just ridiculous.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you just said there's a delivery?"

Gilbert was standing across the hall near the kitchen doorway. A frown replaced the usual smirk on his face.

"She could be starving in there! I know how to sort out my priorities, and frankly mon ami, this is placed higher on my list than him!" Francis defended.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever- I'm hungry as fuck. I'm offended that you would place someone else's starvation over your most awesome best friend ever." The sarcasm was practically dripping in his tone. A guilty chuckle sounded from Francis. They were almost out of groceries, so they needed to go shopping sooner or later. Thing was, he hadn't received his paycheck yet (but he will by next week!), Gilbert was still scouting for a job (or he was just being lazy), and Lovino...

Well, that was something he had yet to ask about, although he wouldn't be surprised if he secretly had a job already.

(There was an actually good Italian restaurant nearby, and he had heard of a job vacancy for the position of a chef, so yes, he wouldn't be surprised.)

Though there would still be the issue of whether or not Lovino was willing to buy the groceries... which was very much unlikely. He could just tell Gilbert to get off his lazy ass of course, but he wasn't in the mood for getting angry.

Francis placed his head on the door and sighed once again. There was so much to be done yet nothing can be done. Oh, the dilemma...'

"Ma cherie, locking yourself in your room wouldn't do you any good, you know. It's much better to come out and eat delicious food in the company of people who care about you and a warm, toasty fire."

The longer he tried talking her into coming out from her room, the more he realised he had been trying to bribe her food, in a sense.

And finally, there was response. Kind of. It happened so suddenly and quickly that Francis barely noticed he was no longer standing beside the door. When his vision refocused, the first thing he saw was Hope, looking at him like she was standing at a taller place.

Taller place?

A slight pain jabbed at his right side. His eyes wandered to his surroundings. Ceiling, Hope, door open... ah, so that's what happened - the door opened very suddenly and he fell down. Of course, it was as plain as day.

"I see you have heeded my advice. Don't worry, I can always make more food if you like~ After all, cooking is my forte."

He picked himself up and dusted the (possibly non-existent) dust from his clothes. Glancing at her, she was staring blankly at him.

"Anyway... it seems you have another delivery." Francis pointed a finger in the vaguely at the direction of the foyer. She nodded, and Francis breathed deeply in relief. Five hours was a long time, that's for sure.

A tap on his forearm got his attention. Hope made some gesture akin to a shoo-shoo gesture at him. He blinked a few times, before cracking a grin. Her way of telling him to get out seemed silly somehow.

"Ah, hello again. I trust you've been well." Graham smiled, tipping his hat as Hope crossed her arms. From the looks of it, she huffed, although silently. After signing some papers, Graham brought the crate in to the living room. Footsteps sounded from the stairs; it was Lovino.

"Good evening, Mr. Vargas." More people? Again?

"Exactly how many are we expecting?" Francis beat him to the question. Graham appeared thoughtful for a moment.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. However, Miss Bonheur is a beta tester, so... many, many more." A grin. "Emphasis on beta tester. I wouldn't be too surprised if an uncommon or never-before-seen one came."

From where Lovino stood, he could see her lips pursed into a thin line and eyes narrowed, even more so than usual. There was a general feeling of not impressed written all over her.

"Oh, come now, it won't be all that bad." Then Graham proceeded to have what Lovino could only describe as the most shit-eating grin ever on his face. "Think of it like this. You get to explore a whole new world of the unknown!"

She pointed at her throat and made a cut-throat gesture in response.

"I'm afraid that's not possible; as you can see, or should I say hear, this is my natural way of speaking the English language. After a while of settling down in this country, I was bound to have picked up some of the quirks and habits." He spoke with an accent that was very clearly British, whereas before, it wasn't as pronounced.

"Oh, so you are one of Angelterre's kind? It's a good thing that you're not like him at all." Francis chuckled.

"You might want to step away from that soon," he pointed at the crate, "is what I'd recommend, but you probably won't listen to me. Adieu, monsieur!"

"I think I know who's inside, kesesese!"

"And I think I know as well!"

Lovino chose that moment to abscond.

A minute had barely passed when he heard the sounds of wood breaking, followed by swears in a British accent.

He decided it was going to be a long night.

Even after slipping away to the kitchen to make dinner with the little groceries they had, Lovino could hear their voices clearly. Francis and Arthur were arguing about something or other, with Gilbert occasionally pinching in a few words and laughing.

Lovino chose not to partake in anything for the most part during dinner. The dreaded question was spoken as he washed his plate.

"You said there were only three bedrooms... where would I be sleeping?"

When he turned towards the table, he jumped a bit. All eyes were on him. He glanced at each of their faces, some questioning, some not.

"Not in a million years." He gave the pointer finger at her, before stalking off.

"What was that all about?"

"Ohonhonhon, you should have seen last week."

"...Do I even want to know what happened?" Arthur asked rhetorically, sparing a glance at Gilbert, who snickered.

"Well..."


Day Fourteen

"So what if we just bought some wine and beer? It's called stocking up because the awesome me would never run out of beer!"

"Oui, it would do no good for me if I don't have a bottle of wine to spare."

Lovino rolled his eyes. Why did I even bother...?

Earlier that day, the duo went out to buy a mini fridge and some alcohol. Nothing particularly wrong about that.

And then they announced they would be out to a local bar to celebrate Gilbert's arrival, just the two of them ("Only awesome people are allowed to go! Of course, Francis is not as awesome as me, but he's still more awesome than the two of you!").

"So, what do you think of your new home?"

"Not too shabby. It'd make a great vacation home, I'll tell you that!" Gilbert glanced towards the living room. "I still think a fireplace over there would make it twice as awesome. I mean, it's winter and it's fucking freezing!"

Hope, who had just been some water, placed the glass on the table with a little more force than necessary.

"Okay, I get it, the heater's just fine. But you have to admit a blazing fire would look much more awesome!"

She placed her utensils on her plate, making a clanking sound that was louder than usual.

"Somebody's a little moody..." Gilbert whispered. Francis just shrugged.

"Anyway... what's upstairs like?"

"Mine and Lovino's rooms are upstairs! ...That's pretty much all there is when I think about it." A chuckle sounded.

"Hmm... what about me? I am definitely not sleeping on the couch. I'm far too awesome for that."

Lovino was washing his dishes, so when he turned towards them, he didn't expect for all of them to be looking at him. Francis and Gilbert each had a suspicious-looking grin on their faces. Wait...

Three rooms. Three occupants. One newcomer. Looking at him.

"Fuck."

Their grins became wider.

"Hell no. Don't even think about it."

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?" Francis was obviously trying to keep himself from laughing.

"Hell fucking no."

Lovino took a few unsteady steps away.

"Hell to the fucking to the-"

"Yes to fucking?"

"Hell fucking is no."

Francis and Gilbert burst out laughing as he disappeared from the kitchen. His footsteps could still be heard - although they were more like angry and loud stomping - and stopped moments later. Glancing at the living room, Lovino was on the couch in front of the TV.

"He takes things so seriously that it's fun watching him get riled up," Francis snickered, "even the smallest things."

"Ja. He didn't realise what he said doesn't even make sense!"


"Kesesese!"

"Ah, good, you're back with us."

There was a large and ancient-looking book on the table, and Hope was writing in it. Arthur standing behind her, peeking at the book.

"Apparently, we're going shopping," Francis seemed cheery enough about it.

"For what?"

"Angleterre's tasteless clothes are unfit to be seen in public. In fact, they should never see the light of day."

"At least they're not as tacky as yours! You stand out so much I wouldn't be surprised if you became target practice."

Just then, a wallet was held up in front of Arthur's face. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but took it anyway after a moment of hesitation. He looked inside and his eyes widened a bit.

Hope stopped writing, holding up the pen in her hand. Her free hand reached into her pocket.

[I'll lend you money for now.]

She tapped the book with the non-business tip of the pen and at a first glance, there were an awful lot of numbers written. Upon closer inspection, the book seemed to record things like purchases, sales and cash... financial transactions.

"Looks like someone has a debt, kesesese!" A scowl immediately appeared on Arthur's face.

[As if you don't.]

Francis turned away and coughed, but it was obvious he was covering up a snicker.

[Laughs the one with a credit card debt of four digits.]

Lovino, who had been silently sitting further away from all of them the entire time, quietly huffed.

"What about him? You said he was the one who renovated the entire kitchen and all! There was even a crate of tomatoes when I first got here!" Disbelief was written all over his face. Genuine or not, it didn't really matter - after all, it was Francis.

[I never said he paid for it.]

"...That's true. Tell me, how? How did he get the money? I can't really wrap that thought around my head," he demanded, eyeing Lovino suspiciously.

"I'll have you know it was a fair deal and I won't be giving back anything!" Lovino defended himself angrily. Well, as angrily as he could, knowing full well the Frenchman frightened him to some degree.

"We should really get going. I don't want to prolong this any longer than it has to be..." Arthur sighed.

"I disagree because I don't see the point in rushing when it's your problem to deal with."

...And back to the usual state of contradiction between the two.

"Ugh, I don't give a shit about why you're arguing - no, I don't give a shit about this little shopping trip at all. The only thing I do give a shit about is-" He paused, fully gaining the attention of everyone.

"I call shotgun, dammit."

A moment of silence. Then, a string of colourful words came out of Arthur's mouth. The car wasn't exactly big or fancy, which wouldn't have been a problem except for certain individuals, but it was normally made for three passengers and a driver. Since they were five altogether, one of them had to sit in between two people. And since Lovino called shotgun, Arthur was stuck in the back with Francis and Gilbert.

Doop-de-fucking-doo.


Author's Note

Mille-feuille is, traditionally, a pastry (or cake if you prefer) with three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream, with the top coated with powdered sugar. In later variations, the top is glazed with icing in alternate white (icing) and brown (chocolate) strips and then combed. Today, there are also various savoury fillings such as cheese and spinach. [Referenced from Wikipedia.] Pssst... It looks so yummy!

Oh jeez I am so uncreative with arrivals of new characters, no questions asked. I swear this will be the last chapter that is seemingly without a plot! Next chapter will have some plot... if you can call it plot. Forgive me if the insults are plain... orz

The flashback thing in the middle is because B is an idiot and forgot to write it in the previous chapter (where it originally was supposed to go), so it's here. It's supposed to happen before Lovino went to watch TV. (Also, pointer finger ala Phoenix Wright is an interesting sight.)

Does anybody know what I should do to attract more people? I've never really known how to advertise, so. It'd make me really happy if you have a suggestion, or help spread the word!

As always, thank you for the reviews and visits! All reviews - comments, questions, critiques, suggestions, whatever - are welcome!

PS. I'm wondering if anybody's interested in their house's plan? Because before I posted the first chapter I went looking for house plans to give me an image of how it would look like. To put it bluntly I suck at designing and describing houses and I can't work without a clear image so... eheheh. I'm not sure if you, the readers, have any trouble imagining it, but I would be more than happy to provide a link in the next chapter! (I'm targeting Tuesday/late night Monday!)