A/N: Oh wow, this chapter is huge... Don't get used to it, I just couldn't bring myself to cut it in half, even though it would give me some time to write the next chapter. D:
Well, anyway, thank you guys for all the support on this fic, and a thanks to MissiriKoharehn for pointing out stuff about some chapters concerning China, Japan, and Taiwan, although I can't help but feel it was a big misunderstanding because I just can't seem to type things right when delivering certain informations in my author's notes. x_x
So yeah, overall, fixed a few things, but mostly gave a quick refinement in chapter 7 because I could not, for the life of me, read it without thinking that a lot of things were missing, I just wasn't satisfied with it, but no matter what I do, remember this, I'll never change the plot! So you can even ignore this, you won't be lost in the story, even if I change details in past chapters.
I hate my memory, I just forget to add important things...
So that's it, here's the first chapter to reach 5000 words! It's big, so don't mind grammar mistakes! I certainly missed something! Warning: a lot of f-bombs!
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Chapter 12
Citizens & Nations
Naples (UTC +2) 1:35 p.m
Romano could say he had a very objective approach when it comes to understanding exactly what he hates in this world, and why he hates it. He had a big list, even.
However, there was something way high up in this list of things he hates. That is being stared at.
He can say for sure, he hates being stared at. Before he arrived on this dock, he had no recollection that he hated it so much. But now he does. Romano let out a sigh that sounded more like a growl. "You better thank me for this, fratello." He hissed under his breath, slumping on the bench.
The sound of seagulls were barely tolerable, and the sun was annoyingly hot that day. Romano could see a ship approaching the docks, although, it was neither too far nor too close, enough to make him tap his foot impatiently, willing it to go faster with a glare.
Maybe he should call his brother, tell him to hurry up already. It was tempting, especially with all the goddamn stares. Romano leaned forward with an elbow on his knee for support, rubbing his face. He was trying so, so hard not to leave, but oh, how he wants to explode and walk away right then and there.
He eyed the approaching ship again, this time it looked closer, maybe, but still not close enough. He knew how obvious his nervous ticks were at this point, anyone could see he moved and changed position every five seconds or so, but he couldn't help it.
He didn't remember that this was so uncomfortably annoying! Don't these people have anything else to do other than stare?! Sure, they were moving about, too, not just staring, but it still wasn't an excuse! He could feel the eyes boring into him from all possible angles and it was like an incessant itch he couldn't scratch. The sensation of humans staring and directing their attention at him has always been incredibly nagging.
His lucky brother didn't seem to have this extreme reaction... To his baby brother, it was like a raised flag, just a heads up, easily pushed aside.
To Romano, it was an alarm bell with a needle poke that never stopped poking, for some godforsaken reason. So if this became a common thing, then America be damned for his shoddy security!
Still, he decided to force himself to remain still and use all of his willpower to ignore it, acting out would only draw more attention, so he waited long enough to hear the waves created by the approaching ship.
Out of curiosity, he craned his neck to look behind him as discreetly as possible, confirming that yes, there was a camera as well. Romano cursed once again. It's not possible that he was that interesting, he was literally doing nothing.
Well, he guessed that he at least looked different enough to warrant this interest. The hair curl definitely stood out. Human hair just doesn't do that.
"It's not doing anything..." Romano's ear twitched when he heard it. Someone behind, sounded young enough to say something so stupid…
"Why is it here…?"
It? It? He was an it now? Romano straightened, baring his teeth. He stood up and turned with a scorn on his face. "What was that, I'm an IT, you shitty brats?!" There were two, and their postures stiffened, giving him an incredulous stare behind a camera. "Yes, I heard you!" Romano stomped around the bench towards them.
They backed away with jerky steps, one pulled the other by the arm. "Oh, shit, run!" Both bolted away, while Romano huffed in frustration.
Others also took steps back, giving him cautious glances, as if trying to assert whether he was a threat or not, while some had already taken this chance to run too. Romano blinked when looking around. Were they actually expecting him to attack? Quite a few were volunteer people, there to help with the incoming flow of refugees by setting tents and such...
His tongue clicked as he went back to his seat, but not before giving everyone else a glare. "What the fuck are you all looking at?! Don't you have anything else you're supposed to be doing?!"
He sat back down again, his head low. It took only half a minute for him to feel the alarms going off in his mind again, this time much more concentrated to his right. Romano glanced at the offenders, seeing a group of men watching him, almost menacingly. Some dockyard workers, but a few civilians as well.
His eyes narrowed, but preferred to look away. Maybe he was too harsh before? His fellow Nations are pretty used to his behavior at this point and rarely treated him badly because of it. After centuries, it was only expected, but these humans…
"Ei, tu!" Romano's train of thought was interrupted and he craned his neck around, seeing those men approach him while still maintaining a 'safe' distance.
He straightened his shoulders, eyes narrowing as he sized them up. Six men, all slightly bigger than him. However, much as he is often easily terrified of stronger Nations – they can kill him, after all – humans are never a threat, no matter how well armed or how strong.
They can't scare him like the bigger Nations can… So his eyes narrowed. "What?" He replied curtly.
They weren't fazed by his tone. "What is something like you doing here?"
"Something?" Romano hissed, standing from his seat, hands in his pockets. He eyed what could be used as weapons with mild caution.
One had a blowtorch, probably part of a repair crew, another had a high-pressure water hose, normally used for cleaning the outer layer of ships, and could cause him some problems if directed at him. He could also see a wrench… Nothing he wasn't capable of dealing with on his own…
"Yes, something. What do you want?" There was a certain harshness to the man's tone, and Romano didn't like it. Other Nations' citizens never did this kind of shit to them. Why is it always him...?!
He could see they wanted to circle him and leave no angle uncovered in case they decided to attack, but were hesitant to leave the group. Romano took a deep breath to vent some of his frustration. "I'm waiting for that ship." His head tilted rapidly towards it. "Something wrong with that?"
The ship had slowed down considerably to not hit the concrete dockyard, crawling slowly to a stop, he could already see its name, the Comandante Bettica painted on the side.
The leading man narrowed his eyes. "...Why are you waiting for it?" He crossed his arms in suspicion.
"Now, that isn't any of your business, is it?" Just in case, Romano adjusted his stance, readying himself for some self-defense. It seemed to make the humans nervous, and they backed away slightly.
His expression slackened and his thoughts froze. Were they… scared of him? He shook his head slightly. "If I were going to hurt you, I've done so already." He intended to be reassuring, however, that was the wrong thing to say, Romano could see their expressions darkening.
"As if!" One scoffed. "We're six to one."
Romano raised an eyebrow. "I've faced worse." He droned, then blinked when they frowned and gritted their teeth, abandoning that previous hesitation and forming a loose circle around him slowly. Romano shifted his stance, arms and feet more spread out, head snapping from side to side in alarm. 'Good one, stupid.' He berated himself. 'That's what you get for provoking them... You should know this by now...' Veneziano wouldn't have gotten in a mess like this…
He could just Hop away… But there were people watching, there was definitely a camera somewhere too, he didn't want to test his luck, and he didn't want to reveal a Nation's most important ability right off the bat…
Ahead of him, he could see the one with the water hose, gripping it with his knuckles already white and taking slow steps back. Romano eyed him carefully. "You're going to hurt someone with that..." He warned.
That thing, from this distance, could definitely break a rib, especially if it hits another human. The man seemed to know this and was hesitant to open the valve. Behind Romano, he could hear and sense someone's steps, slow, careful, and approaching as he could nearly feel it vibrating on the concrete, a slight clink of metal, cutting through the air, a wrench nearing his head, so he intercepted it and the hand holding it with both hands, pulling his weight forward easily before another man was sprawled in front of him.
The ground vibrated along with a thump sound again as someone else moved suddenly, and Romano quickly crouched and swept his leg on the man's way, making him trip. A clear space was opened, so he took several steps back and out of their circle, eying them closely.
They helped their fallen back up, and were giving him hesitant glances again, as if they didn't actually expect him to know how to fight. He saw the one with the blowtorch clicking it on and off anxiously, the man with the hose seemed very intent in not getting involved, and the other four were approaching with fists half-raised.
Romano cursed mentally. Why are his citizens so goddamn stubborn? Why can't he get them to easily trust him like any other normal Nation?! It was infuriating! The first fist that flew cut his thoughts, but it was much slower than he was used to, it was easy to deflect it to the side and use it to twist his opponent around before pushing him off, leaving him enough time to simply dodge the next attack and back away in another direction. "Va bene, this is getting annoying!"
"Then maybe you should go back to where you came from, demone!"
"I'm fucking catholic, asshole!"
This provocation was enough to make two of them jump to attack him. "WAIT!" But someone ducked in between them, arms spread out, and stopped everything.
Romano's eyes widened and he stepped back. "V-Veneziano...!" It was indeed his little brother in his dark blue navy uniform, the obvious high ranking signs making the men sputter and back away.
Now Romano could see the ship was already stationed by the docks, the bridge being set up so people could reach the ground. The fact that it wasn't done yet indicated that his brother had simply jumped off the ship to reach him quickly.
He saw buses parking nearby, and many other people crowding that general area. He also saw more navy officials leaving the ship as soon as the bridge was ready and coming towards the two brothers.
Back with Veneziano, he had grabbed Romano's arm, dragging him away, but still looking at the men he was fighting with. "I-I'm so sorry, please, Romano is like this to everyone, he doesn't mean any harm..."
Romano squinted. "Why are you talking like this is my fault?! I did nothing!"
"D-Don't mind him,"
"Ei!"
Those men remained dumbstruck, as if Veneziano was an alien even when he apologized over and over. Romano clicked his tongue and pulled his arm away, walking off on his own. Of course they stopped when Veneziano told them to.
He walked past the navy officers who gave him curious glances. Veneziano exchanged a few brief words with them before following. "Wait, Romano!"
Romano stopped, his head low as he heaved a sigh.
Veneziano caught up with him. "What were you doing...?!"
"I didn't do anything! They attacked me!"
His brother blinked rapidly. "A-Attacked you…? They're your people, they shouldn't attack you for no reason!"
"Well, they did!" Romano gestured flippantly, walking away again. "I only came here to give you a ride back to my place, so come on, I wanna leave."
"W-wait, I..."
"Oh, what?" Romano snapped back impatiently.
"I need to stay a little while more, to help the people we brought..."
Romano pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling heavily. "If I had known that, I would have stayed home for one more hour..." He turned and continued walking away. "I'll be waiting in the car, try not to take too long, or I'll leave without you."
Veneziano watched his brother leave, brows tilting upwards. He sighed silently and glanced back at his brother's people, with whom he'd managed to start a conflict with.
This wouldn't be the first time his older brother didn't get along with his own people, and granted, no Nation ever got along with 100% of their people, but the frequency of Romano's altercations was extremely worrying…
So he went towards them, as it seemed like they were arguing with his officers, one who was his vice-captain, a slightly older-looking man named Enzo. Veneziano caught the conversation in the middle.
"-t would have attacked those kids! We saw it!"
"Look, sir..." He could tell his men were struggling with uncertainty. Intervening would be best, he didn't want them to have doubts about him and his brother.
Veneziano placed his hands on his hips once he was close enough to them. "What happened?" He demanded, as calmly as possible and with a hint of worry.
The dockyard employee took one look at him before taking a step back. "How many of you demons are there?!"
His breath hitched and his eyes widened at the accusation, he took a step back, his hand almost going for his chest, where he would normally keep a cross necklace.
This seemed to make them even more inclined to believe their claims held some ground, and they approached menacingly, but were stopped by Enzo and the two younger officers. "How dare you!" One said.
"Don't go spouting this kind of crap!" Another spat, stepping in front of Veneziano protectively.
Enzo took charge. "This is a great man you're insulting, signor! He's been with us for months, helping us save these poor people's lives!"
"It's not even human, in case you didn't know!"
"We know that!"
"Veneziano has been nothing but kind and caring towards all of us! He's an incredible guy and better than most humans in this shitty world!"
Veneziano remained quiet, but couldn't help but feel the flush on his cheeks with these compliments. He bit his lower lip so he wouldn't smile. He felt the warmth, the feeling of elation that usually comes from the pride and patriotism from his citizens, it inevitably made him feel taller, bigger, stronger, but he pushed those back… He didn't want it to go to his head...
He'd been in a closed space with his people on that ship, he had already met all of them long before the news hit them. He had been afraid of them suddenly treating him differently, or worse, feeling threatened, if they knew he wasn't human at all.
His worries turned out to be baseless. They accepted him anyway, he's their captain, and after some minor scuffles, arguing, and some explanations, followed by some pasta, things were settled without any injuries...
"As if we would believe some manipulated idiots..." The sullen response dampened these feelings, if only a little, and Veneziano watched them walk away, not willing to fight the marines. He sighed. Romano should be dealing with this, not him...
"Bunch of assholes…" Enzo grumbled, intoning each word and adjusting his hat. The other two agreed with silent but exacerbated nods. "Back to work then, ragazzi." The man clapped Veneziano on the back, the other two saluted them before running back, giving Veneziano reassuring smiles along the way.
Smiles which Veneziano returned, somewhat forceful. He lagged behind his vice-captain until the man stopped and glanced back at him. "Everything alright there?"
Veneziano tilted his head, his eyes wandering around in thought. "They said Romano nearly attacked some kids."
Enzo slowed down, waiting for him to catch up. Once they were side by side, he spoke again. "Would he do that?"
Veneziano nearly scoffed in amusement, showing a small grin. "Romano's all bark and no bite, he would never attack without being attacked. He's usually harmless and wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Are you all bark and no bite?" Was the bemused response. That man seemed to have caught that the topic made Veneziano tense.
He smiled tiredly, but felt thankful for the man's attempt at distracting him. "I'm more 'yapping and no bite', like those small little dogs, you know?"
"Oh, that's not what we saw these last few weeks. You've been incredibly helpful to this crew, better than any captain I've ever seen."
Oh, pride... Such a sweet feeling when it comes from his people. Veneziano felt his cheeks warming up, his smile widening. "You gain experience with time, bambino."
The man huffed with a smile, rubbing his stubble, not quite believing he was hearing this from someone who looked 20 years his junior. "Ah, now you're just bragging. How old were you again…?"
He shrugged, hands intertwining behind him. "Nhh, I'm not sure…? B-but you can start counting at some point in the 4th century..."
Enzo hissed as if feeling some kind of pain, hand taking his hat off to rub over his hair. "Buon Dio, Maria e Giuseppe..."
Veneziano felt like shrinking on the spot. "Sorry..."
"No, no, don't apologize… My poor brain just can't quite… grasp that amount of time. It's fine…" The man waved him off as he adjusted his hat over his head again. "Well, let's get back then. There's still a lot to be done for these refugees."
It was relieving to him that somehow, this didn't bother them as much as he thought it would, so Veneziano gave him a small grateful smile and nodded, following his vice-captain back to the ship.
He still would have to talk to his brother later, though… Veneziano wasn't sure what was wrong with him. Romano has always been like this, he always managed to get people angry, especially his own people.
He glanced in the direction of the parking lot, where his brother was waiting. It was like his anger influenced his people, which shouldn't come as a surprise, he's their Nation, however, Romano always seemed… out of touch with them.
Which made no sense. Romano was too hyper-aware of their presence and attention. So maybe it was something else entirely. He sighed. Veneziano wished he knew more about their kind, in the way humans knew about themselves. Maybe it was something that could be fixed or remedied.
Who's to say Nations couldn't have any unique disorders or ailments of their own...?
It had been more than one hour, and Romano was impatient. He had gone back to his car, knowing his brother would be able to find him fairly easily on his own, they're brothers after all. However, one hour was already past the limit, and Veneziano was abusing his generosity. So he left the car, door slamming loudly, and he stalked back to the dockyard.
Really, maybe he should just go home. Let him find his own way back.
He walked through the parking lot, past the entrance, and stopped by a building, where he could see the large crowd of refugees being guided by marines into check-up tents.
There were big lines mixed with the crowd, but it wasn't all that dense, and Romano had no issues with finding his brother in there. He spotted him, and huffed, shoulder leaning on the building as he crossed his arms.
There he was, around four or five people around him, shaking his hand and thanking him, he could see the light embarrassment and awkward glee on Veneziano's face. He could see other marines patting him on the back and grinning with a strange excitement, one even touching his brother's hair with a curious frown, making him turn red and step away with his hands raised, getting them all to laugh.
Romano's eyes narrowed. They knew Veneziano was a Nation? His brother wasn't the best liar, and being in an enclosed space with too many of his people probably didn't help.
He probably spilled the beans, a whole can of them. But… they didn't seem to have a problem with it… Of course not. He scowled, eyes darting away.
As usual, everyone loves Veneziano… Even humans who aren't even Northern Italians seem to love him now. It burns inside and he can't deny that what he's feeling is envy. Veneziano is always the favorite, his people will love him unconditionally, while Romano's...
His arms uncrossed, his fists clenched, and his eyes glazed as he glared at the ground. He could see it already. Veneziano gets along with his own people, while Romano fights with his own. Veneziano was the real Italy, everyone in the Union calls him Italy… The humans would accept him as Italy in its entirety, and then, who was Romano supposed to be?
Just a territory?
Romano gave the Southern Italians by the dock a sullen look that quickly changed into a bitter frown as he stalked away. He was back inside his car, arms and head resting on the steering wheel, mindlessly staring ahead. Dutifully, he kept his mind blank, he didn't want to think about any of this.
It wasn't until Veneziano opened the door and sat beside him that Romano wondered how long has it been since he purposely stopped thinking.
"Sorry, did I take too long?" His little brother asked, throwing his bags on the backseat as Romano put on some sunglasses to block the bright flash of light that would inevitably hit his face once they hit the road.
"Of course you did..." He grunted, quickly starting the car.
"Sorry..."
Romano sighed, maneuvering around the parking lot as quickly as he could without any accidents, and remaining silent. Soon, they were on the E45 highway, a long road that would be leading them back to Rome in a few hours.
Maybe it would have been faster to get a helicopter, but neither of them wanted to attract this much attention. It was just a few hours away, after all, and Romano actually liked driving. It was relaxing.
"So..." Veneziano started, turning on the radio just loud enough to muffle the silence, then leaning back on his seat. "Anything new these past few months?"
Romano felt his grip on the wheel loosen as he exhaled. "Well… I've been getting money for some restorations in Rome, which is nice… Uh, two American idiots carved stuff on dad's Colosseum with a fucking coin," At this, Veneziano gaped, Romano rolled his eyes, nodding in understanding, but moved on. He'd raged enough back when it happened. "Ah, what else… Oh, they found Rancadore," Romano muttered amicably.
"Oooh, they found him?" His little brother beamed with wonder, his previous gloom pushed aside slowly. "Where was he?"
"In Britain's island."
"Ah, your mafia is really good at hiding… It's been two decades, how is his famiglia doing?"
Romano gave a deadpan stare at his brother's nonchalant tone. Veneziano has long stopped caring about what his mafia does in Sicily, or anywhere else. It's not that Romano minded this, he even helped them sometimes, but he simply didn't like to be pushed around for it.
The mafiosi never seem quite bothered by his attitude and he gets along with them better than with many of his civilian citizens, even if none of them ever even knew Romano wasn't human... "Haven't checked on them, but I'm sure they'll be fine as long as they lay low for now."
"Anything else?"
"Expo started with a goddamn mess. Bunch of assholes in black started rioting and breaking shit, they made the media think the No-Expo protests were violent, they weren't!" Romano gestured to nothing in particular, if only to express his frustration at the memory of these events.
Veneziano gave him a half-lidded stare. "You were with those protestors, weren't you…?"
"Of course I was!" He raised his chin. "We have no money for this! It's not creating jobs, it's not helping at all! We're in the middle of a crisis here!"
"You know these things make money as well, fratello. We get a lot of tourists." Veneziano argued calmly, not fazed by his brother's angry rant.
"It's a risk! Can't we just focus on our own problems before investing in stuff like this? And we already get tourists anyway, from May to July is tourist season!"
Veneziano smiled in mild amusement. "Anything else?"
Romano sighed and remained quiet for a second, finger tapping the steering wheel. "…Debt's still shit, birth rates are still dropping, economy's still a fucking pain. Also... some terrorists were planning to attack the Vatican..." At his brother's alarmed look, Romano continued. "We stopped them." A sigh of relief, and Romano couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smirk. "Okay, I'm done for now."
"Don't scare me like that…!" He received a punch on the shoulder for his troubles, but Romano just snickered. It kinda hurt, though...
"Bene, bene. What about your time in the Mediterraneo?"
This seemed to make his brother's mood turn slightly somber, as he leaned back on his seat. "Well, we got nearly 700 people, which is a lot for one scout…" He stretched to grab something from one of his bags on the backseat, coming back with a bottle of water to drink. "I know other ships managed to save at least 6000 in total, but I can't help but feel like we missed a lot of people out there..." His voice faltered as he lowered his head.
"Hm, you say that because you were the captain giving directions. Don't be such an idiot, you did all you could and probably did a damn good job, too." Romano extended a hand, asking for the water.
"I guess so…" Veneziano opened the bottle to give it to him after he took a sip himself. He suddenly smiled brightly. "But you see, this lady had a baby on board!"
"Really?" Romano kept his tone neutral, letting his brother ramble on.
"Sì!" He nodded. "It was a girl, and she named her Francesca Marina in our honor!"
"After our Marina Militare, huh?" Romano gave him a small grin. It was nice to see his brother beaming like this. It seemed that saving people was the only thing that made him genuinely happy these days… "By the way, they seemed to know who you are..." He interrupted his brother, wiggling the bottle, then placing it on the cup holder. Somehow, he already expected this conversation to turn tense.
"Ah, right… I-I couldn't really keep my identity a secret, I had already talked to my entire crew by the time we left the port, and I was the captain, so…"
"...Did anyone react badly…?" Romano narrowed his eyes, gaze still locked on the road.
Veneziano winced lightly. "Well… just a little, I mean, it was awkward, and I had to explain some things, but overall, things went smoothly." He shrugged.
Of course it did. Romano's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Right." Veneziano was family, his only real family, so he didn't like this feeling. His little brother was just better at being a Nation, there was nothing he could, or should do about it.
"Romano..." Veneziano started with visible hesitation. "About what happened earlier… um, I think maybe-"
Romano closed his eyes for just a second. "Maybe nothing. It was just a little fight." He nearly hissed his words, his brows furrowed at the topic, his shoulders tensing. "…So my citizens are a little huffier than yours. It's not a big deal."
Veneziano frowned. "Romano-"
His teeth gritted. "I already said it was not a big deal! Just leave it be-"
"Special news right now! Upper House Senator to speak with RAI News and TG Com, a disclosure about last week's CIA incident and its contents regarding Italy-"
Romano stared ahead with glassy eyes, hand still raised mid-gesture, while Veneziano stared at the radio, gaping. He looked at his older brother slowly. "Did you… give them permission… to do this…?"
Romano could feel his eye twitch. "No. I did not."
The radio continued its chatter about the matter, a little 'press-conference' in a few hours, but they paid it no mind. "I'm s-sure they won't say anything bad..."
"We'll check who's giving this interview, then we'll see. There's plenty of people in the Upper House who don't like me..."
"There's plenty who don't like me, too, fratello..."
Romano huffed, not giving him a response. He didn't want to deal with any more humans, he's reached his quota for the day… Besides, if this turned into a mess, Veneziano would undoubtedly be a better neutralizing force. "If things get messy, you'll go there for some damage-control once we reach Rome." He decided.
Veneziano blinked, glancing at him. "Don't you want to come?"
"No." His tone was final, leaving no room for rebuttal.
His little brother watched him for a few seconds before sighing, leaning closer to the door and staring at the passing scenery through the window. The rest of the ride would be silent with the exception of the radio and its constant buzz of bad news.
A/N: I really enjoyed writing the Italy brothers, Romano is just really fun to write, you know?
Something important here, I avoided writing about Italian politics, because they confuse me! I don't have the time to do too much research on it, and I refuse to write about it when I know I don't understand shit about it, so I left it aside for now. Maybe one day I'll get back at it.
Anyway, I wanted to highlight that at this point in this chapter, early 2015, there were quite a few problems with how people reacted to immigrants, which led me to think that being too different (in this case, not human) in countries that are suffering the strain, some people would be somewhat reluctant to deal with unknown beings like Nations peacefully.
While the Swiss were quite amicable, I still don't see Southern Italians, at least a minority of them, having a peaceful reaction. They're already cautious and touchy because of the immigrants. So this chapter was about that. But also about Romano... This is an idea of mine, it has nothing to do with real Southern Italians. You might notice there's a difference with how Romano sees his own people, and I absolutely wanted to add this to the plot, because I'm primarily a writer, I focus on the story.
I also have this idea that while Romano would be terrified of stronger Nations, I don't think he would ever be afraid of a human, so in front of them, he's pretty brave. :) I also think that Rome wouldn't be a grandfather, after all, he never looked old enough to warrant this title, and he didn't have any kids who then had the Italy brothers, so this makes no sense! To me, Rome is their father, and that's that.
So yeah, I didn't add too much history, but about the few points of interest:
All the news Romano reported were pretty much real, all happened in the few months prior to this story. I did laugh (a very sad laugh) when I read about the two American tourists who had the gall to carve the flippin' Colosseum, a historical place older than they can possibly imagine, with their initials, and then taking a selfie. Such ridiculous disrespect, and I feel bad that they're American. It just adds the stereotypical image of 'dumb American' with no respect for anything. I think Romano must have been foaming at the mouth over this incident.
Rancadore isn't the only mafioso found hiding abroad, and the Italian government seems to be trying to curb the Mafia entirely. Honestly, I don't even want to go there, on whether they're succeeding or not. I just don't.
Then the Expo 2015, in Milan. There were around 30,000 protesters, and they were mostly very calm and positive, however, a group called "Black Boc", apparently young people dressed in black, kind of messed everything up by rioting and destroying propriety. They're anarchists (and anarchists are divided in many types of anarchists, honestly...). The police ended up involved, there was tear gas, cars on fire, just a huge mess. From what I read, this is not exactly an Italian thing, these guys have appeared in other places, like in the US...
However, to restore your hope in humanity, just a few days later, around 20,000 Italians went to the streets to clean up the mess and protest against violence. :) Aww...
Then the Comandante Bettica, which was a real rescue ship, and the baby girl was really born in there. I added her, mostly because I can't help but think about how she'll grow up knowing her story was on the news like this, that she was saved like this. It seems like a very metaphorical look on a new chance for these refugees...
On the other side of the coin, the close call attack on Vatican was reported, but apparently, anti-terrorists forces in Italy managed to find this cell before it caused any trouble. Which was a freaking relief! If it had gone awry, the feeling of religion vs religion would have intensified, and we all know at this point that more often than not, religion doesn't look good in history!
Oh, well, unfortunately, I wanted to write Veneziano's confrontation with a politician talking shit about him, but I really don't have the time. It'll certainly be mentioned in the next Social Media chapter, though. ;)
So, yeah, thanks for reading, review, fave, or follow, I'll see you guys in two weeks time!
