95. Familial Technicality

Date Written: November 11, 2020

Date Posted: December 12, 2020

Characters: Veneziano, Romano

Summary: The first meeting with his brother as the newly formed Kingdom of Italy doesn't go as planned.

Notes: Formation of the Kingdom of Italy, mentions of Garibaldi, takes place after the Risorgimento and when the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia joined.


If there was one thing that Veneziano knew, it was that he was beyond confused.

On this particular day, Veneziano had been tasked with getting himself presentable and ready for a meeting that he had only briefly been informed. His new boss, Garibaldi, definitely did not prepare Veneziano for his meeting with his brother. After Austria and France had decided to give him away to the Kingdom of Italy, Veneziano didn't know what to expect. As a representative of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto (and probably the representative of North Italy if the rumors were true), he knew that as part of the amalgamation of regions that he was part of the Kingdom of Italy.

That was all Veneziano knew.

As he walked through the halls of the villa that Romano resided in, Veneziano held many doubts about their first official meeting. Romano hadn't looked him in the eyes during most of the event, but Veneziano knew that his older brother must have felt the same sort of hesitation and wariness.

Who wouldn't?

There was only so much familiarity and residual memories of having what Veneziano could only assume was memories of his older brother could do before there was only uncomfortable silence. Veneziano dreaded having to… live with his older brother.

He could barely remember dark brown eyes, curly locks of hair falling onto messily over his eyes. Romano… he had been reckless as a child, but sickly at the same time. Over the course of the past few centuries, Veneziano only saw his brother from the south a scant few times.

It made sense.

Even though Veneziano had been his own republic for a great many years, he was closer to his siblings to the north. In fact, he had wedded his brother Lombardy in order to form the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto. Soon after, much to circumstances outside of his control, Lombardy's existence had waned and faltered until he had disappeared.

Veneziano had felt guilty for a while, but he carried on his duties as the representative of his new kingdom. Come to think of it, Veneziano knew that since he was the new representative of the North, it was more than likely that his other siblings like fair Verona, straitlaced Milano, and countless others were definitely gone or at least fading.

It saddened Veneziano that the only family he had left, the last of the successors of Rome, was the one brother he had the least fond memories of.

Had they met back when Rome was still in his prime? Or had they known of each other's existence shortly after the long, gruesome, steady fall?

Veneziano didn't know.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, Veneziano finally reached the dining room. The scents of wondrous food—southern, hearty fair—filled the air. As the aroma reached his nose, his mouth began to water. Still, despite the wonders of food on the other side of the door, Veneziano still hesitated.

Romano… he had made all of this food. Yet, all of it smelled so different, most of it smelling like the zesty richness of the south, of pure grown produce and aromatic spices. It brought tears to his eyes, even though it felt so childish to find a meal that probably did not cater to his tastes should not have done so in the first place.

It was wrong.

It was petty.

But, Veneziano felt that he could still justify it to himself. He was lonely, he was tired. He was far away from his share of the inheritance, from his land and his children. But most of all, he was stuck in an estate with a Nation who was older than him, far more experienced than he at remaining stable and calm in the midst of getting invaded and conquered by foreign powers. Despite all the squabbles that the North had endured, the South had remained firm and Napoli had lorded himself as the main representative above all other siblings.

Veneziano did not want to eat.

Veneziano did not want to sit at the same table with a stranger he had only known a scant a few days with.

This was all too strange, too unreal.

Why couldn't Romano have received the entire inheritance? Why couldn't Veneziano—Venezia—have disappeared along with the rest of his siblings. Furthermore, even if the North supposedly needed a representative why could it not have been his other siblings? It would have made more sense and—

Veneziano wasn't—

He wasn't—

"The longer you stand out there, the colder the food will become."

Veneziano walked into the room, his brother's unspoken command floating heavily through the air.

Romano stood at one end of the table; Veneziano, at the other.

His eyes were dark green, almost harsh in the limited light.

"You don't have to hide from me. We're family, right?"

Veneziano swallowed, a little uneasy, but wanting to avoid conflict all the same.

"R-right, Romano." Veneziano clumsily pulled out his chair while Romano reciprocated his movements.

"We're family," Romano continued. "We should be more familiar with each other."

Veneziano smiled uneasily. "I just… I just need more time to get used to the idea that I'm sharing the bulk of the inheritance with… you."

Romano snorted. "I'm your brother." He took a sip of wine. "And don't you dare forget it."