Lovino placed his third portrait by the charcoal one. He wasn't up for comparing the two, or the second one for that matter, so he groggily returned to the couch where Antonio was currently glued to his phone. The Spaniard glanced up at him as he sat down, flashed a bright grin, and returned his gaze to the screen.
"You've been on that thing every second you weren't sitting on that stool; what the hell are you doing?" Lovino questioned. To his growing annoyance, Antonio spent several seconds continuing on in silence before looking up.
"Sorry, what was that?" Antonio tilted his head ever so slightly. Lovino had begun to notice he did that whenever he asked questions.
Lovino rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I said, what the hell are you doing?"
Antonio set his phone down on his leg and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, a friend was asking about something."
"For an hour?"
"Yeah."
Not knowing how to respond to that, Lovino shook his head and opted for staring at the far wall.
"So, Lovi-"
"Lovino."
"-you never explained why there's a huge tarp in the corner over there," he asked, sounding slightly skeptical of hearing the answer.
Being reminded of it in front of someone caused his cheeks to burn. "Oh, that. Um, the wall is kinda, sorta...gone," he managed to finish.
Antonio's eyes grew wide. "Wait, really?" Lovino nodded. "I thought I could feel a breeze from over there..."
Lovino sighed. "I don't know what happened, but the woman who used to live here left it like that." He paused. "But I just leave it that way. It actually gives me pretty good lighting in here when I need it."
Antonio stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. "So you have no intention of fixing that?"
"Not really, no."
To Lovino's surprise, Antonio sputtered momentarily before erupting into full-blown laughter. To him, he looked completely ridiculous doubling over on the couch, and Lovino couldn't help but feel the embarrassment seeping back into his face; he hated when people laughed at him.
It wasn't as if the entire wall was missing; that would be too much to handle. There was only a window-sized hole in the wall from God-knows-what.
"That wasn't my fault, you shithead!" he practically yelled when he decided Antonio had made him feel bad enough. Antonio sighed and wiped his eyes, a few tears having had escaped him during his laughing fit.
"Then what happened?" he asked through a smile.
Lovino pouted. "I don't know."
Antonio was calming down now, seemingly interested in the backstory of the partially-destroyed wall. "Well, who owned the place before you?" he asked.
"It was a little old German lady," Lovino stated with his chin slightly raised indignantly. "I helped her with her groceries every other week and painted for her sometimes, and she was really nice to me. I knew her for a few years before she left. She let me have the place when she moved back to Germany to live with her family again, and I've been here ever since. So if you wanna know what happened, go find her and ask!" He huffed and crossed his arms, fully aware of how childish he was acting. "Now, stop laughing at my natural lighting spot, bastard."
It was easy to see Antonio was still struggling to suppress his jovial mood, as he had a hand over his mouth and his face was several shades of red; Lovino was fairly certain he was holding his breath.
Wearing a frown matched with a glare, Lovino abruptly stood up. "I'm making lunch, so shut up and do whatever until I'm done. Just don't destroy my things in here."
He turned and walked the short distance to the kitchen, swiftly getting out the necessary materials and ingredients to make pizza. He almost groaned out loud when he saw Antonio standing behind him.
"What are you doing?" he snapped over his shoulder as he reached for a jar of tomato sauce in a particularly high cabinet. Antonio reached over him and retrieved it for him, setting it down on the counter.
"Helping!"
Lovino huffed through his nose, annoyed. "Why?"
Antonio shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. Plus, it could be fun. What are we making?"
"Don't you wanna be all secretive and text your friend?" Lovino replied, ignoring his question.
He could see a small twinge of hurt in Antonio's eyes, and he almost regretted saying it. "But we already finished talking," Antonio said. Then he was smiling again. "And I'm sorry if I was being rude earlier; you could've said so if you wanted to spend time with me."
Lovino laughed briefly, walking to the other side of the kitchen to fetch a rolling pin. "Don't you dare think that's what I-Ow, shit!" He fell to the ground with a loud thud, frantically clutching at his sock-clad left foot and gritting his teeth in pain.
"Lovino!" His head was swimming as Antonio appeared by his side, hand on his back to help him hold his sitting position. "Are you alright? What did you hit? Do you need anything?" He sounded like he was panicking.
"I-I'm fine, just hit the…side of the counter," Lovino managed to wheeze out, still clutching his foot. He had hit it on the side of his missing toe, where he could feel it throbbing as he kept his death grip around it.
Antonio looked around, though Lovino couldn't tell if he was searching for a person or a solution. "Stay still, I'll go get you an ice pack."
"Fridge," he mumbled, briefly closing his eyes to concentrate on something else other than his spotted vision.
Only a few moments later Antonio was back with an ice pack wrapped in a cloth. Lovino muttered a "grazie" and gingerly pressed it against the area, wincing as it touched.
The worried look was still plastered on Antonio's face. "Lovi, go sit down, please. I'll make lunch," he offered.
Lovino pouted, his breath evening out. "What? No, dumbass, I'm cooking. Just because I hurt myself doesn't make it the end of the world," he hissed through his teeth. In a sudden attempt to stand up, he quickly lost his balance and his footing. He fell into Antonio's arms, staring up at him with a look of both annoyance and embarrassment.
He was shocked to find Antonio's expression turning a frightening, almost angry one. "Lovi. Couch. Now." Antonio looked dead serious, and Lovino didn't try to argue any more.
Heaving a sigh, he held the ice pack in one hand, using the other to hold on to Antonio for balance as he hobbled to the couch where he could still watch.
Antonio took a deep breath back in the kitchen. "So, what are we making?"
"Well, technically you're making it now. But I was planning on pizza," Lovino replied, his leg up on the couch and his arms crossed.
Lovino watched as Antonio tapped his finger on the counter. "Okay…" he trailed off. "Alright, someone showed me a few times, so I think I can handle it."
"Go ahead." Lovino occupied himself with adjusting his ice pack on his foot without hurting it too much. Though the pain was beginning to ebb away, he was still pissed that he was careless enough to let it happen.
With a surrendering sigh, he rested his head on the arm of the couch. Before he could catch himself, the faint cluttering of kitchenware and the soft sound of his own breathing lulled him off to sleep.
Something was burning.
Lovino bolted upright on the couch. The pain in his foot was gone and the ice pack had fallen on the floor. The burning smell was getting worse. When he finally processed what was going on, he glared at Antonio, who was occupied fanning a smoking pizza with a kitchen rag. The two locked eyes and Antonio smiled sheepishly.
"Haha…um, you're awake."
"No shit."
Lovino could tell the other man was trying to play off the horrible pizza as if it weren't there; he tried blocking his view of it by standing between the ruined dish and Lovino, but the tempered Italian was having none of it.
Standing up and marching over to the counter with a determined stride, Lovino shooed Antonio out of the kitchen against his protests and began preparations for a second pizza.
Antonio had once again switched from an unmovable force to a hurt puppy. The shift almost made Lovino laugh.
Throughout the duration it took for the second pizza to be done, Antonio coaxed Lovino into a lengthy discussion about what had gone wrong the first time. He went on about the temperature in the oven, the size of the dough, distribution of ingredients, until he stopped himself before the point of nitpicking. He was secretly pleased to see Antonio listening attentively; he really wanted to get it right next time. Next time? he thought briefly. He shook his head of the thought.
Pizza finished, Lovino nodded in satisfaction at his creation. He left it on the counter to cool off and flopped down onto the couch beside Antonio, who had gotten his phone back out. Lovino cleared his throat, effectively getting his attention.
"Almost done," he confirmed.
"Great! Smells much better than my attempt." Antonio laughed, and Lovino couldn't help but laugh alongside him.
Antonio excused himself, saying he wanted to use the restroom before they ate. Lovino nodded and stretched, enjoying the satisfaction of hearing his back pop in several places.
Just as he was melting back into the couch, he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Who the hell...? he though in bewilderment. He didn't get visitors out in the middle of nowhere.
Regardless, he pried himself off the leather couch and made his way to the door, hearing the bell again when he was almost there. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" he yelled. Nearly throwing it open when he touched the handle, he scanned outside to find someone's car parked in his driveway. The trunk was open, and someone was leaning inside it.
"Zio Lovi!" He looked down into deep blue eyes on a face surrounded by a mess of brown hair. The little girl in front of him sported a grin so wide, Lovino feared she would start to hurt soon.
"Fiorella? Is that you?" His expression now held a mixture of surprise and happiness, the annoyance forgotten.
Lovino heard a shout from the car, and he looked up again. "Don't forget about me!" the man shouted.
"I wish I could, Feliciano!" Lovino replied. His brother knew he didn't mean it. He rolled his eyes as he watched Feliciano struggle with taking out several suitcases from the tiny car. His habit of over-packing would never change. It was a miracle he had fit them there in the first place.
Lovino found himself holding his niece's hand as he walked to greet his brother properly. The two embraced in a tight hug, Feliciano being the one to pull back and smile brightly.
"You didn't tell me you were coming today," Lovino commented. He wanted to be annoyed, but he realized he couldn't bring himself to. He hadn't seen his family in months, and it was a nice surprise, even if it was somewhat planned.
Feliciano shrugged and closed the trunk to his car. "Fio was begging me to come see you, and neither of us could really wait, so we packed up and left yesterday!" His expression soured. "But I'm so tired now."
"Then get your shit inside and lay down."
"Lovi!" Feliciano pointed at his daughter with a hard frown.
"Oh, uh, right. Sorry," Lovino apologized. He'd need to monitor his language while she was here.
"Here, let's get your bags." He pulled up the handle on one of the suitcases and threw a smaller bag over his shoulder.
Feliciano ran in front of him, stopping him from going further. "Hey, hey, don't strain yourself and give me one of those."
Lovino groaned. "Don't do this. I'm fine, and I can handle some damn luggage. Now, move." Feliciano sighed and stepped out of his way, going back to get more of his things.
Back in the house, Lovino spotted Antonio walking in from the other side of the living room. He tilted his head gesturing to the suitcase. "Going somewhere?" he asked, sounding a bit confused.
Lovino shifted the bag to his other shoulder and sighed. "Crap, I didn't tell you, sorry. My brother is visiting." He paused. "But, in my defense, I didn't know either."
He walked past the shocked looking Spaniard in the direction of the guest room. After laying the bags in front of the bed and fixing the pillows up, he left the room to find Fiorella giggling at Antonio. The two were seemingly having a staring contest.
"Hey, Toni, help us get the rest of their stuff," Lovino called, effectively breaking the contest. He couldn't quite tell why, but Antonio looked a little hesitant before he agreed. He watched as he patted Fiorella on the head affectionately on his way out the door. Lovino watched his back as he left, looking back to his niece, who had occupied herself standing on a kitchen stool and practically drooling over the food displayed on the counter. He felt genuinely excited to see her again and ask her about how she'd been, even though they'd seen each other a half a year ago.
Someone yelled-he would almost call it a scream-bringing him back to reality and causing him to run outside. "What the hell is going on?!" he called out.
Feliciano's eyes were wide, his suitcase abandoned on the ground. His gaze moved past Antonio and landed on his brother, and he beamed. "Lovino! Who's this?" Lovino sighed in relief; nobody was actually hurt. Though his relief quickly changed to annoyance watching Feliciano bounce up and down like a child.
He walked briskly to stand between the two. "Feliciano, this is Antonio Fernández Carriedo. He's a new guy at the college I went to, and he's helping me with that contest I told you about." He pointedly raised an eyebrow to remind him not to say anything dumb or embarrassing.
His brother simply nodded and smiled. "Got it." He moved in front of Lovino to reach Antonio again. "Nice to meet you-oh, wait, not Italian, sorry." He cleared his throat, looking to his brother for help. "Um, Lovino, were you guys speaking Spanish or English? Because I don't know much Spanish and-"
"It's fine, we actually switch between the two a lot."
Lovino turned to fully face Antonio, appalled and completely bug-eyed. He wasn't currently speaking either of those languages. "You speak Italian?" he questioned rather loudly. "Why the fuck have you not mentioned that before?"
Antonio rubbed the back of his neck and laughed somewhat awkwardly. "It wasn't…important?" He smiled at the end of the sentence. "I actually lived in Italy a few years back."
Lovino was completely shocked, but Feliciano only seemed to grow more excited. He squealed loudly, grabbing Antonio by the arm and practically dragging him inside. "You know what? I like you, Antonio! Oh, have you met my daughter? I bet you two will get along like best friends!" He continued to babble until Lovino couldn't comprehend a word he was saying.
With a submissive sigh, Lovino picked up the remaining suitcase and brought it into the house; this was just like a normal visit, but he had a feeling it was about to get a lot worse.
Putting the suitcase with the others, Lovino joined the other three people in the living room where they were chatting about the drive here. Feliciano was describing how the drive was long, but the beautiful scenery made up for the exhaustion. Fiorella interjected many times to talk about animals she spotted along the way and the songs she sang with her dad. Antonio looked to be soaking it all in, completely enthralled by the two.
Lovino walked over to the kitchen counter, realizing they still hadn't eaten. "Anybody want pizza?" he called, which was immediately followed by a swarm of hungry people, their conversation forgotten.
"Guys, slow down, it's not going anywhere-hey!" He glared at Antonio who had accidentally bumped into him. Antonio returned an apologetic shrug and backed up a step.
Feliciano was staring at the two, his eyes lost in thought. "Man, that really was one long drive. But it's all worth it to get to eat Lovino's famous pizza again." Without much of a glance, he reached for a slice and briskly took a bite, only to spit it out a second later. "Oh my god, what is that?!" He stared in horror as he finally realized there was more than one on the table. "Don't tell me you've lost your touch!"
Lovino scoffed. "As if. Looks like you grabbed the wrong one." He tilted his head towards the blushing Spaniard beside him. "He made that one."
Shocked gaze now directed at Antonio, Feliciano shook his head. "And you got my hopes so high." He laughed. "I'm joking; we can fix your cooking skills in no time. Isn't that right, Fio?"
"Yup!" The little girl agreed, her hair bouncing with her nodding motion.
"That sounds nice," Antonio admitted. "Thanks, Lovi tried to help me earlier, too, so I think I can improve someday! Oh, but I'm sorry you accidentally ate that one."
Feliciano shrugged, getting a slice of the other pizza. "No problem, we all make mistakes."
After downing two more slices, he clapped his hands together. "Alright, Fio and I are going to our room to take a nice, long siesta. You two, no loud noises while I'm gone!"
"Feliciano!" Lovino screeched.
"What? I'm just saying!"
Lovino tried burning holes into his skull with a death glare; it wasn't working. Antonio laughed, leaning his arms on the counter. "We'll be fine in here, Feliciano. Go rest up."
Feliciano saluted them with a wink. Fiorella waved at them with a bright smile before following her father to the guest room.
"Sorry about him, he's crazy," Lovino muttered.
Antonio shook his head. "They both seem great."
"Tell me that after you live with him for 23 years." Lovino rolled his eyes and walked back to the studio in the back.
