Lovino shook himself dry, trying his best to wring the water out of his tail. That jerk bastard had to give him a bath. And while Lovino had fought and scratched his way out of the tub with all his might, even he was no match when the older Spaniard had angrily tugged on his collar and ordered him to sit. Lovino had complied for his old housepet instincts kicked in, keeping him subdued for the remainder of bath time.
Flicking the last few droplets off his feline ears, Lovino strutted out of the bathroom proudly. But he was not prepared for the little ball of Spanish sunshine to suddenly tackle him down and squeeze him close. Lovino hissed and squirmed his way out of the child's embrace, eyes glaring at the smiling Antonio.
"Hola, gatito. Me llamo Antonio," the boy spoke as he reached out a hand to the angry kitty. Lovino only swiped a slightly clawed hand at the small out stretched fingers as he replied," I don't know what the f*uck you're saying."
Antonio drew his fingers back, his smile faltering abit," Oh okay, I guess I can speak in English too. Hi, kitty. My name is Antonio." Lovino paying little attention to Antonio, only nodded and walked away, thinking of ways to escape.
Antonio looked on sadly as he watched the feline walk away, but then he realized his new kitty needed a name. Toddling after the cat, Antonio called out to it with a smile," Romano! That's going to be your new name." Lovino spun on his feet and faced the child," What?"
Antonio replied, only this time he reached out to pet him, smiling excitedly as rambled on," Romano Tomato Carriedo. That's going to be your new name. And papa can have it engraved on your tag and we'll add your name to the family book and you can sleep in my bed…. Wait Romano Tomato is a long name; can I just call you Roma instead?"
Lovino stiffened as he felt himself being petted, he jumped away as he hissed at the small child. His tail puffed up in anxiety and anger. "Don't touch me, dammit!"
Surprised at the sudden movement, Antonio backed away, with a confused look. He didn't know what he had done wrong. Didn't kitties like being petted? His older brother's cat didn't mind when Antonio scratched it behind the ears. He called out to Lovino in a soft voice," Roma?" Lovino growled and bolted past the confused Antonio, jumping out an open window.
Glancing around nervously, Lovino decided to hide in his new family's large vegetable garden. He found refuge in an abandoned tool shed and swore to himself he'd find a way back to his brother as soon as possible.
When Antonio found himself alone in the room, no kitty to be found anywhere, he promptly bursted into tears and ran around the house calling for his new kitty," Roma! Roma! Donde estas?! (where are you?!)" When neither a hide nor hair could be found of his missing cat, he decided to take a siesta, hoping an idea to find his Roma would appear in his dreams.
Lovino tensed as he heard footsteps approaching his hiding place, he hoped it wasn't the man or that boy again. Unfortunately, the heavens weren't in his favor as a brown curly head of hair poked in through the doorway, accompanied by a," There you are Roma!" He groaned inwardly as he tried his best to back away from the small nuisance. Antonio frowned as he heard Lovino scrambling away from him in the dark shed.
Making this kitty his friend was going to be harder than he though.
Antonio returned frequently to Lovino's hiding spot in the shed, hoping to see his new kitty clearly at least once. But every time, he ended up returning to the house with a disappointed look and complained to his mother about his unruly kitty," He's not nice, mama. He doesn't even want to talk to me."
After a week of no results, Antonio consulted his best friend Francis on how he took care of his bunny. His friend smiled sympathetically and replied " You just need to convince him to like you. I got little Mathieu to like me when I started to feed him some maple syrup."
With his friend's advice in mind, Antonio begged his mother for some paella to give to "his little Roma". He was happily rewarded when his mother scooped up the delicious rice and bits in a little kitty bowl and handed it over to Antonio's unsteady hands.
Antonio focused all his concentration on holding the bowl straight as he walked out to the garden, he didn't want his kitty to miss out on any of the yummy food. In fact he was so focused, he didn't notice a tree branch laying on his path and tripped, falling face flat. As he looked up from the ground, his main concern was, not on the bruises on his face but, on the spilt bowl of paella which laid scattered all over green grass.
His face scrunched into a sad pout as he started to cry, the fat tears falling down his face and his sniffles filling the silence of the garden. Antonio was now almost certain he'd never be friends with his unfriendly cat.
Lovino, who was busy thinking of escape plans dammit, twitched his ears forward as he heard the sobs coming from outside the shed. Cautious of the sad noises, he curiously crept out and found himself looking down at a crying Antonio and a mess. As he saw the tears run down the tiny face, Lovino was suddenly reminded of how Feliciano used to cry. The mental image of his little brother softened his demeanor and Lovino let out a small smile. "What's wrong'a with you?" He asked with concern before adding," little bastard," to save his pride.
Antonio looked up at the question, his green eyes filling up with sadness and disappointment. He sniffled his nose again as he tried to speak," I'a…I wanted Roma to be my friend….and ..and I thought if you ate some paella, you would like me more and be nicer…but the paella fell and n'ow Roma's not going to be my friend."
Feeling a small stirring in his chest as he leaned down closer, Lovino examined the bruises on the boy's face. Suddenly in his mind, the boys green eyes, melted away to light brown one's and the boy's dark curly hair was replaced by soft auburn locks.
His brotherly instincts overtaking his wariness, Lovino kneeled down to coo over the inconsolable Antonio, speaking the same words he often told Feliciano," Look at you, idiota. You should be more careful…. Smettila di piangere (stop crying)… Sta andando tutto bene (It's going to be okay)." Lovino then proceeded to lick the small child's face, his tongue tending carefully to each bruise and cut.
Surprised at the sudden administrations, Antonio allowed himself to be comforted. He swung his arms around Lovino's neck and a smile reappeared on his face. Antonio hugged the big cat close, "Does this mean we're friends now?"
Pulled out of his dreamlike state, Lovino sputtered as he started to lean away," Wh-hat!? Hell N-" but before he could finish his protest, he noticed Antonio's smile started to fade away again. Relenting with a grumble, he instead said," Si, I'a guess…"
To which Toni replied with joy as he tightly hugged the Italian cat," Yay!~ Roma's my new fr'wend!"
As he picked the small child in his arms, Lovino growled out," I don't remember agreeing to that name," and carried the boy back to the spanish mansion. Antonio let out a sigh of contentment as he burrowed himself into Lovino's warm neck. Tired from the day's adventure, he soon fell asleep. The paella long forgotten from his mind.
From that day on, a tentative symbiotic relationship was struck up. Lovino hesitated to call Antonio his 'friend', but was more than willing to grace the child with his presence. And nothing made the small Spaniard happier than when he was with the sometimes grumpy Roma.
On days when Lovino (now called Romano by his new family, after Antonio insisted it was Lovino's new name) felt particularly pleasant and felt that Toni wasn't quite as annoying, Lovino took to grooming his new charge. He would pull the boy into his lap and gently combing the soft brown curls, making the tussles of hair stayed neat and tidy.
Why you say? Because for goodness sake, it would have been a shame to his tasteful Italian genes if he let his new owner run around messy.
And sometimes, he would blush in embarrassment when Antonio's father would catch them like that. Lovino's head bending over Antonio's curly hair, his brown ears flicking back and forth in soft amusement as little Toni giggled, finding entertainment in playing with Lovino's soft tail on his lap.
When he was found in such a scenario, Lovino usually hissed at the intruder and only pulled Antonio closer, practically hiding the child from view behind his arms. And when that happened, Antonio would squirm his way out of the protective embrace to greet his father at the door. As Father and son talked, Lovino watched from a close distance, still mistrustful of all human adults.
He swore someday the tall bastard would snatch Antonio away and leave him behind.
Surprising, as time passed, it was Lovino who started to cling onto Antonio more as the young Spaniard started to discover the world.
Quite like the mother hen he was, Lovino was absolutely terrified when one day, he couldn't find little Toni for their usual siesta at 2(Lovino would usually curl up next to the sleeping boy, who was already on his bed). His fears were baseless as he looked out the window and found the boy wandering the narrow streets that bordered the mansion.
Sprinting outside in record time, Lovino picked up the boy by the scruff of his collar and pulled him away from the edge of the streets. He scolded Toni in a mix of Italian and English as he mumbled the most colorful words under his breath," What were you thinking, idiota! Che palle! What if you had gotten hurt?! Or some damn bastards came and kidnapped you?!"
Antonio simply smiled at him and reached up, tucking a red flower he had picked from a bush behind Romano's ear. "Bonito (pretty)! Esta como un tomate (It's like a tomato)!" Antonio then giggled at Lovino's flustered state as he jumped out of the cat's grip and ran back up the path to the mansion. Sighing as he followed dutifully, Lovino tried to settle the blush on his face.
If you think that this was bad, it was nothing compared to the anxiety Lovino felt when Antonio started school again.
For a few days now, Lovino had felt the household was in a whirlwind of activity, more so than usual. He could see the mother human washing, buying office things, putting labels on notebooks, pencils and binders. He ignored her strange behavior and chalked it up to hormones.
Lovino was proven sorely wrong, when a few days afterwards, Mama Carriedo dressed the young Toni in his red uniform and handed him his guitar shaped backpack. Romano watched curiously as Toni gave his mother a peck on the cheek and ran towards him. As he was tightly hugged, Romano asked the boy," What is going on?" And Antonio smiled as he let go his cat and started to walk away," I'm going to school, silly Roma."
Now, Romano didn't understand what this 'school' was, he was a humanus how the hell was he suppose to know, but he did understand the words 'going' and 'to'. By this time, Antonio had walked out the doorway and Lovino started to panic. He ran toward the door, only to have it shut in his face by the tall bastard(papa Carriedo). He fumbled with the doorknob and ran out only to see an empty path, lacking a happy little tomato bastard.
Determined that the little boy will come back for him, Lovino placed himself on the front porch and sat down to wait.
So he waited….and waited. Ignoring the call for lunch from Mama Carriedo, he sat patiently watching the street in front.
A few hours inched by, although to Lovino it felt like years, and a sleek black car pulled onto the street.
Then, Lovino couldn't hide his grin when stubby legs poked out and a familiar call sounded," Roma!~~ "
His tail waving eagerly, Lovino waited for Antonio to come to him first, before jumping on top of the Spaniard and scolded him fiercely. He then nuzzled the boy out of worry and examined him for any wounds.
And Antonio responded by smiling, like he usually did, and reached his hand out to pet Roma behind the ears. "Did you miss me too Roma?"
Lovino flinched as he remembered his last moments with his brother
" Dammit Feli don't scare me like that!"
Feli whispering sadly, " Didn't you miss me too?"
Sitting down next to Feliciano and hugging him close, replying….
Lovino sighed as he shook the memory away," Si, I missed you…," he then added in a whisper,"..Fratellino."
Some thousands of miles away in Austria, Feliciano was also reminiscing...
Woot~. That was too cute to write ^^ I 3 that Lovino is such a motherhen~ ^^.
Please Review. ^^... or the chibi gets it muwahahah~. :3