62. Height Slight
Date Written: June 24, 2019
Date Posted: November 9, 2020
Characters: Veneziano, Seborga, Romano
Summary: A fun little story based on the canon heights of the Italy brothers.
Notes:
It had come up in the middle of a conversation that wasn't all too memorable to begin with. When the Seborgan paused to take a sip of wine, Veneziano found himslef startled for a moment before looking up at his brother. It was then that he realized that he was glancing up at Seborga.
Up.
It had only taken a moment, but this was a moment worth remembering.
"Seborga." The northern representative of their shared republic breathed in awe. In the throes of something too spectacular and heart wrenching to be named, Veneziano could only splutter and smile stupidly while the younger Nation merely glanced at him in surprise. He called out again, this time in urgency when the Micronation tried to shrug away his attempts at communication, "Seborga."
"I don't like it when you stare at me like that." The taller Italian shuffled on his feet, as if he were trying to rid himself of the jitters. "I swear to the almighty that I haven't been lobbying for independence again."
Veneziano shook his head. "No, I just realized something!" The Venetian's eyes were wide with delight as he placed his hands atop his brother's shoulders. Even when Seborga uneasily shrunk away from his admittedly strange advances, Veneziano refused to stifle his sudden enthusiasm.
Seborga took a breath and asked, with the air of a man who had seen too many things to be bothered anymore, "Okay… and?"
Veneziano made a small motion with his hand and his head, signifying the increase of the gap between their heights.
For a moment, Seborga could do nothing but stare at his brother in wordless shock.
And then, his grin split his face in two.
"I'm finally—"
"Uh huh."
The both of them smiled broadly at each other before nodding their heads together. Almost as if they were working together on a frequency that only the most entitled of radios could access, the both of them began running towards Romano's room.
Of course, seeing that it was the middle of the day, the door was tightly closed, but the both of them knew that their eldest brother was in there somewhere. Without much ceremony, Veneziano bowed to Seborga who smiled widely before pounding at Romano's door.
A beat.
Two beats.
Thre—
Just before Seborga could begin yelling and starting up a ruckus there was a sudden thud and burst of curses on the other side of the door. Veneziano, a little more self-preserving than his younger brother, edged away from the sudden footsteps of one angry Romano, but Seborga kept his grin alive and well on his handsome features. Once the door opened, Veneziano looked like he was about to flee the scene while Seborga learned forward and stared down at Romano.
"What the fu—"
Seborga didn't need to lean forward.
No, instead, one of his hands decided to ruffle the hair on his older brother's head. As his fingers ran through Romano's dark, brown locks, Romano grabbed hold of his wrist and yanked it away from him.
"Seriously, Seborga," Romano seethed. He turned to Veneziano who looked like he was either going to choke on thin air because the laughter in his gut was too much for him or run away due to the rage fueled look that Romano was giving him. "Veneziano, what the hell is going on!?
Veneziano didn't have to say a word.
Instead, he pointed at Seborga's head and then at Romano's.
For a moment Romano's glare hardened before he blinked.
He looked at Seborga, back at Veneziano, back at Seborga, and—
His voice was small, but his hands were clenched close to his sides and his eyes were twitching as he glanced at the both of them. They were… They were, he noticed, hulking over him, their forms noticeably taller and much more lithe than his shorter, stockier figure. As much as Romano hasted to admit it, their message was true and practically staring him in the face.
"You are not taller than me."
Seborga tried to interject with, "I beg to differ, my dear brother, but—"
"You misunderstand." Here, Romano approached them slowly, lethally. At that, Veneziano knew that things were going to end up sidewards if he didn't try to intervene… or run away. With that thought in mind, the Venetian patted his younger brother on the back and pivoted on his heel.
However, just when he was about to make a break for it, Romano gripped him by the back of his shirt.
Veneziano turned around and found that Romano was also gripping Seborga by the collar.
"I am older than you weaklings." Romano's grip tightened and Seborga choked, but Veneziano wasn't all too sure if the reaction was feigned or true. For once, the northerner was glad that he wasn't the object of his brother's attention right now. "Which means…"
Thinking that Romano needed some sort of assent in his rhetorical question, Seborga ventured to ask, "Which means…?"
"Both of you are quite literally beneath me no matter the height!"
At that, Romano pressed down hard on their heads until both of them were bowing down towards Romano's triumphant form.
As the both of them groaned, Romano smirked and slapped them up the head for emphasis.
"And don't you dare forget it!"
