37. The Other Brother

Date Written: March 24, 2019

Date Posted: January 11, 2020

Characters: Veneziano, Romano

Summary: Veneziano and Romano have a conversation about Grandpa Rome and other relations.

Notes:

It had happened a long time ago.

Stories, back then, were told by word of mouth, often accompanied with the warmth and love of a fire. But stories just don't spring up out of nothing. They are brought forth, birthed into the abled tongues of storytellers. One such story came about when two young boys were taken in by a she-wolf.

For a time, they had no names. They were simply hairless pups who stood on two legs and communicated in song. But, as like most stories are wont to do, that soon changed. Both boys of the she-wolf—

"I've heard that story time and time again," South Italy grumbled groggily. He leaned his head against the headboard of their bed, his eyes still blinking away the dredges of sleep. Although a wayward yawn escaped the confines of his mouth, he still looked regal and classy as he leveled an even stare at his younger brother. "Why are you reciting that myth when I was in the middle of sleeping?"

North Italy looked to his older brother, a sheepish look of embarrassment on his lightly tanned features. He was perched on the edge of Romano's bed, a pillow clutched in between his hands. His fingers, long and slender, alternated between grasping the cloth of the pillow firmly or gently. Inwardly, he savored this sensation as if it were the finest wine.

He just didn't want to let this moment of peace to go to waste.

"I just…" Veneziano shrugged helplessly as he rested his gaze at a point above Romano's shoulder. "I couldn't sleep and I was thinking about the old stories."

He spoke in a whisper that Romano had to crane and strain to hear. Now that the haze of slumber had been lifted from his eyes, Romano was more than aware that there was something wrong with his brother. For one, it appeared that Veneziano looked like he hadn't slept a wink since they had finished their shared batch of paperwork that had been assigned to them earlier that week. For another, Veneziano looked like a kicked puppy expecting more punishment. Normally, Romano would have chalked it all up to botching up some important legal matters or getting on the bad side of one of their friends, but this was different.

Veneziano's eyes were wide eyed, but did not hold the glassy look of someone who was light hearted and merry. No, instead, the look in his eyes were lit with a feverish flame of only the most desperate or the most crazed could ever have. It was a look of a man who wanted to seek something that should never be answered.

And yet.

Yet, Romano indulged him.

"What of the old stories?" Romano leaned towards his brother, a hand outstretched and ready to calm the Venetian down if need be.

Veneziano took the hand that his brother had offered him before a small smile turned up the corners of his lips. The fire that had been alight in his eyes had dimmed so that his eyes appeared to be a dull shade of rustic brown. It was a saddening sight, but Romano much preferred that his little brother not lose his sanity to the cold of the night and of the call of some unknown past.

"There were two boys… two raised by the she-wolf." Veneziano unceremoniously threw himself backwards, his body lying on top of Romano's lap, which elicited a small groan of pain and surprise at the action. Veneziano either didn't notice or had elected to ignore the small noise that his brother had emitted. "Do you think… do you think that Grandpa Rome wasn't the only one?"

Underneath the moonlight, Veneziano's visage seemed to change. Romano didn't know how to say it, but it was like watching his brother age. Slowly, the baby fat had sharpened into straight lines and flat planes. What used to be large eyes filled with warmth gradually narrowed and hardened. No longer did his eyes radiate with warmth and healing, there was only calculation and steel.

At that moment, Romano was reminded of their predecessor.

But.

But, Veneziano wasn't an exact replica of Grandpa Rome.

"Are you trying to say that there was another Grandpa Rome?" The older brother played with the strands of his brother's hair. It was a lazy action, but perhaps it was motivated by the fact that he didn't want to watch his brother become so utterly different under the guise of moonlight and odd epiphanies in the dead of night. "That the myth is truer than what most people let on?"

Veneziano shook his head. "No, not like another Grandpa Rome… do you think that he was like us? That he had a brother?"

Romano shrugged. "It's more than possible. In the struggle for power and survival, maybe Grandpa Rome decided to… well, you know what happens in takeovers for prestige and legacies." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Or rather, the story that you've been talking stupidly about is just that. A story."

The Veneziano that Romano had known for centuries was slowly brought back to the forefront of Veneziano's very being. He was back to the foolish, young man that had somehow found himself cuddling into the sides of Romano's legs.

"Romano! Why are you so mean to me?"

The older brother rolled his shoulders back before shoving his brother off his legs and onto the unforgiving planes of the hardwood flooring beside the bed. Aside from the thud and muttered curses that fell unabashedly from Veneziano's mouth, Romano decided to leave no comment.

"So that's just it then?" North Italy demanded. "It's just a story? That Grandpa Rome didn't have some secret twin and—"

"Why are you so adamant that Grandpa Rome had some secret twin?" Romano demanded. He settled his gaze on his younger brother who had taken to sitting cross legged on the floor. "First you wake me up from my sleep and now you're spouting nonsense about things that have no bearing on today's issues."

Veneziano rubbed the back of his head in apology. "Sorry about that. I don't really have a good reason if I'm being honest with myself."

"Hmph. I would think Grandpa Rome would have seen fit to tell at least one of his successors about a presence of a secret twin or something."

At that, Romano leaned over the side of his bed and held out his hand to his brother.

Veneziano took it.

"I'm sorry for waking you up so late tonight. It's just that… I'm grateful to have a brother like you. I just…" Veneziano's eyes furrowed as he sought for the right words to say. "It must have been lonely to have become an empire by himself, right? It would have been so much easier to have a twin born from the same womb, raised by the same wolf, and to have the same ambitions for greatness. I just don't want Grandpa to be lonely."

Romano slapped the back of Veneziano's head.

"Idiota! Didn't one of the twins kill the other!" Romano shook his head. "Besides, Grandpa wasn't lonely. Want to know why?"

Veneziano looked up at him, a question in his eyes.

Heaving a big sigh, he answered, "Because he had us and the rest of our siblings, stupid. My God, it's like you don't have a brain."

Veneziano socked him in the head for that one.