Gilbert entwined his fingers and stretched lazily. "Right. The awesome me is going out. Don't like all this emotional stuff. Blech. P'raps I'll go stop those biker guys getting outta hand again. Tshüss, losers." His bird cheeped again as he strutted out.
Lovino watched him leave, before resuming glaring at Antonio. "Oi, bastard. Where's my food, damn it?"
Antonio gave him a brilliant white smile. "It is probably best to leave Francis to talk to Feliks for a while, huh?"
"What?" Lovino exclaimed incredulously, insulted he was being denied food. He hadn't eaten since the morning before they arrived, and judging from the light through the window, it was early evening now. Since it had been mentioned, he was actually starving.
"I know what you're thinking, but Feliks will be fine. Francis won't take advantage of people who are emotionally fragile. He does eventually find his moral compass." Antonio walked across the room towards him and leant against the whitewashed wall a few feet away, staring at the temporarily mystified boy. "Perhaps instead you could enlighten me as to who you are?" They locked eyes again, and for half a second Lovino was tempted to tell him everything. He just seemed so warm, so welcoming.
But his sensible side regained control. "Mind your own business, damn it!"
Antonio sighed. "You are so harsh. I told you, we're not here to hurt you, or anything else bad."
"Screw you," Lovino replied coldly. He was still waiting for the opportunity to leave. If Francis and Feliks had just gone out the door and it was just Antonio in here, perhaps the window would be a way out.
"Could you at least tell me your name?" Antonio persisted. "It's very hard to have a conversation with someone when you have to address them as 'you' all the time."
"Nope." Lovino had had enough of the pestering. He slung his bag over his shoulder and ran for the window. He could hear Antonio shouting after him, but he didn't care. There was nothing for him here.
But the window was locked firmly shut and wouldn't yield to his tugging. He raised a foot, intending to kick it in, but a sudden vice-grip captured his wrist and he was knocked over by an inopposable force. He yelled out in surprise as his bag slipped off his shoulder and spun off across the room.
There was a dull thud as he contacted the wooden floor and a heavy weight landed on top of him. Disorientated, he opened his eyes to find Antonio's face mere inches from his own. Emerald eyes pierced into his, and his nose filled with the smell of sun-dried tomatoes and cornfields. For a moment, he lay completely stunned.
"Ah, sorry. But I couldn't allow you to break our window." Antonio was smiling, but there was an underlying threat to the words.
Lovino's wits came back in an instant. "Get off," he gasped, breath cut off by the impact. After a second, Antonio obliged, and Lovino scrambled away, mind whirling in confusion. He was angry, definitely. But there was something else...something he wasn't sure about. Probably more anger. Breathing hard, he reverted to his age-old defence. "What the hell, bastard?"
Antonio approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder, a gentle smile on his face. "Sorry about that. But why did you just try to leave like that? Don't you want to wait for your friend?"
"He's not a friend, just a guy I met, damn it," Lovino muttered unsurely, fighting the rising guilt. These thoughts were becoming a problem for him - he'd even forgotten to knock Antonio's hand off his shoulder.
"Of course." Antonio gave him another sympathetic smile. "So how about we drop the subject for a moment and just talk, ok?"
"No."
Antonio sighed. "Can I at least have your name?"
Lovino folded his arms and glared again. "Will it shut you up?"
Antonio grinned. "Probably not. But I would like to know it. You are...an intriguing person."
For a moment, Lovino lost his composure. Intriguing? No one outside his family had ever said anything even remotely complementary to him before. Did Antonio really mean to be nice to him?
"Lovino," his traitorous mouth admitted before his brain had a chance to catch up.
"Aw!~ That's a cute name!" Antonio smiled.
"No it's not. Shut up, damn it. You're a complete bastard and I hate you." Lovino stalked over to the other side of the room and faced away. Just because Antonio wouldn't let him leave didn't mean Lovino was going to talk to him.
Hmm-hm-hmm. Yeah. Some sort of vague-Spamano I guess. I had fun writing this chapter. :D Confused Lovi is confused.
Tschüss is like a German form of 'see ya', for those who don't know.
PS: Spot the sneaky, sneaky hint ;)
