-Part 2: Modern Times-
-2.1-
I watch with pleasant curiosity as the world passes by in a colorful blur. As I press my face against the glass, a small puff of condensation fogs up the window. I grin. All of these vineyards will make a really pretty painting! I can see it already: vibrant vinery suspending grapes in every shade of vermillion and boysenberry, the sky a nice baby blue, rays of light emanating from a glowing orb above…
Suddenly, the car stops, pulling me out of my train of thought. Before the chauffer even has the chance to open it for me, I bounce out the back of the car and begin bounding towards my cousin's mansion. About halfway to the front entrance, I see a small, white bunny hopping along. In my bubbly, jovial state, I lift the rabbit into the air, holding it close to me with a giggle.
"Ve, it's you again!" I exclaim happily, "I missed you, you cute little coniglio, you~!"
Then, with a yelp, I drop the adorable animal as it transforms in my hands. Where a rabbit should be instead stands a person. His sandy blond hair, covering pointed, elongated ears, is a total train wreck, flat in some places and sticking up randomly in others, heavily decreasing the amount of intimidation intended by the glare of his moss-green eyes, and the crease in his unusually large eyebrows, with the cuteness of it.
"Honestly, you humans have no class." He mutters grumpily to himself.
"Feli!" My attention turns to another, as my cousin rushes out of the countryside villa and pulls me into a hug.
"Cousin Francis!" I cheer, returning the embrace. "It's been so long!"
My older relative sets me down, holding me at arm's length. His zircon eyes twinkle enchantingly, "Ah, you've grown up so well. You've always been adorable, and you still are; you're just more obviously masculine~!"
"Thank you, cousin Francis!" My grin grows even larger, "Ve, do you know if fratello has arrived yet? He said they would meet me here."
"Yes, they got here yesterday. I believe they're in the sunroom," Francis smiles, "I trust you all will be joining me for lunch, oui?"
"Si! Of course!" I nod my head enthusiastically before dashing off, leaving my chauffeur, cousin, and the spirit animal bound to him in the dust.
I slam the front doors open, a gigantic, tiger orange entrance, then run through the maze of halls to the back of the house. As I sprint, I pass by golden walls covered with oil paintings of historical figures and the surrounding vineyards. My twenty-six year old cousin, Francis Bonnefoy, moved from Paris to the French countrysides outside of Marseille about five years ago, claiming he needed to 'experience l'amour of the secluded wilderness!' Every summer since then, fratello and I visit to spend three months with our favorite cousin! I absolutely love when we vacation here; it's always so warm and sunny, and the vineyards of southern France are the perfect landscapes for my artwork!
As I reach the door to the sunroom, I practically tear it off its hinges, "Fratello~!" I pounce onto my twin, "I missed you so much!"
"Ack!" He exclaims, "You idiot! What are you trying to do, make me spill my drink?"
Indeed, as I pull away, I see Lovino holding a slightly damp glass of iced tea. "I'm sorry, fratello. I just haven't seen you in so long!"
At this, his face turns a bright, angry red, "Feli, you're a moron. I just saw you a few days ago."
"Si, but those were a few days without you!" I glomp him once again, "Oh, where's Toni? Didn't he come with you?" I pause, noticing the heavy absence.
Lovino snarls, "Knowing him, the bastard's probably roaming about in the neighbors' grape fields. I swear; it's like he lives on pure trouble!"
I giggle, "But isn't that why Toni and cousin Francis get along so well?"
"Ugh, don't remind me of it," He groans in exasperation, "Those two are assholes and I hate them."
"Aww, come on, fratello. You don't actually hate them," I smile disarmingly, "You just don't like the stress they tend to cause you. It makes your face look like a tomato~!"
"Oh, fuck off!" He pushes me off him, eyes aflame as I give away a melodic little laugh.
"Anyways, do you think it's safe for us to just let him wander around like that? I think we should go find him," My eyes widen a little, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. What if Toni's shoes are untied and he doesn't know how to fix it? That would be terrible! I should know; this happens to me all the time, causing fratello to get this funny, deadpanned look on his face. Sure it makes me laugh inside every time I see it, but I can't help feeling if it happened to Toni, fratello would kill himself with a heart attack of mass irritation. I don't want fratello to die!
"Hey, snap out of it!" I look at Lovino in confusion, "You were spacing out again, captain idiota."
"Oh, sorry, fratello! I was just thinking about how Toni's shoes might be untied, and that would be really bad."
"Feliciano, please, Antonio may be a tomato-sucking bastard, but that doesn't make him nearly as stupid as you are."
"Ve~! Okay then! I'm still going to go look for him though," I give him one final, bone-crushing hug before dashing off once again, yanking open the sunroom door to the outside world, and running towards the neighboring vineyards.
Differing from the yards of everyone else in this area, behind Francis's house is a large, romantic rose garden expertly designed with elegant strokes of cobblestone pathways, tear-shaped plots of flowers, and a handcrafted gazebo as the centerpiece. However, I don't pay any mind to the astounding scenery as I rush to the more rugged grape fields next door. Knowing Toni, there's no way he would be hanging around in such a controlled environment as Francis's gardens, as pretty as they may be! So, instead, I find myself running through the neighbor's fields, hopeful for a sighting of the elusive Toni, amber eyes peeled for either red fur or brown hair among the grapes. After a while, I pause for breath, leaning against a vine. I'm not used to so much exercise!
Then I take a good look around me.
Wait, where did cousin Francis's gardens go?!
Lo and behold, instead of my dear relative's backyard somewhere off to my left, all I can see is vineyard. Vineyard, vineyard, when did I get surrounded by so much vineyard?! As I gaze, panicked, at the seemingly endless stretch of grapes around me, I begin to feel a sharp stinging in my eyes as warm, salty tears well up. I then think of the worst-case scenarios. What if I never find my way out of here? What if I die of dehydration? What if I die of starvation? What if the reason I can't leave is because there's some crazy, scary ghost-thing haunting this very vineyard? What if it kills me? What if a person kills me before the ghost gets to me? What if this person is with the mafia? What if this is all a set-up, they kidnapped Toni to lure me into a haunted vineyard, and this is an assassination so they can steal all our money from my grief-stricken fratello? Oh no, Toni's missing and I'm trapped in a haunted vineyard with an evil Mafioso who wants my money! What do I do?!
Before I have the chance to release a loud, pained cry of fear, I'm tackled to the ground, causing me to scream anyways, "DON'T KILL ME, MAFIA GHOST!"
"Hahahaha, what?" I stop crying and look up to see I'm being hugged by…
"TONI!" I cheer, returning the Spaniard's embrace.
"Hey, Feli! Long time, no see!" He grins, basil green eyes shining happily.
"Toni, Toni, Toni, Toni, Toni, how do we get out of here, Toni?" I cling to him affectionately, "Toni, I'm lost, Toni, help me!"
He laughs that mischievous little snicker of his, "Feli, calm down, okay? It's alright now, so let's go back to Francis's house. Does Lovi know you're out here?"
I nod enthusiastically, wiping the clear trails from my face, "Yeah, I told him I was going to go look for you in case your shoes were untied!"
"Feli, I'm not wearing shoes," Toni picks me up and slings me over his shoulder, "I was wandering around in my fox form."
I giggle as I stare at the ground, "I guess that makes sense. It's a good thing you were, or you could've been in big trouble!"
"Yeah, I bet I would've! Where did Francis say we were having lunch?"
"He didn't!" I smile airily, "But we can probably ask fratello; I bet he knows. Fratello knows a lot of things. I hope, for lunch, it's pasta!"
For the rest of the walk back to Francis's house, we chatter aimlessly about this and that. I tell Toni about my plans to paint as much of the local vineyards as possible, and he tells me about the tomato-filled omelet he had for breakfast that morning. Soon, we make it back to the lovely gardens behind Francis's villa, and enter the behemoth of a building once more from the sunroom.
"Ve~ Fratello!" I exclaim from Toni's shoulder.
"What the- Antonio, you stupid bastard! Put my brother down right now before you drop him or something!" Lovino fumes, "What are you, brain-dead? What could possibly make you think it's okay to do that?"
Toni begins to laugh in response as he gently sets me down, "Sorry, Lovi, I just didn't want Feliciano to get lost again!"
"Wait, AGAIN?!"
"Si! I got lost in the neighbor's grape fields." I hug fratello, "I thought for a moment there I was going to be assassinated by ghosts and Mafioso, but then Toni showed up, and now everything's okay!"
"Si, what was up with that whole 'don't kill me, mafia ghost' thing, anyways?"
I pull back to observe Lovino's expression. His practically flaming eyes are narrowed to slits, he's bright red from shoulders to forehead, his lips are twisted into an angry sneer, and at this point smoke might as well be puffing from the orifices of his face, filling the room with thick, heavy smog. Before I have any chance to hold him back, he lunges at Toni, screaming bloody murder.
"YOU STUPID BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MIO FRATELLO?!" An adrenaline-fueled smile in his eyes and plastered upon his face, Toni narrowly evades a furious Lovino, "I SWEAR, IF YOU TRY TO HURT HIM, I'LL-"
"Oh, mon dieu!" I turn to see cousin Francis standing in the doorway to the rest of the villa, gaping at the scene before him.
"Like I said, no class." Next to him is Arthur, the cute, little bunny from earlier.
"Ciao, Francis! I went and found Toni!" I smile at them, proud of my accomplishment. The pair simply continues to look as fratello chases Toni around the sunroom, one in heartbreak as a vase falls to the floor, shattering almost immediately upon impact, one in exasperation.
Then, the Englishman of the group sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!"
Everyone freezes and stares at Arthur. Toni pauses his escape, Lovino aims his merciless glare at the rabbit spirit, Francis appears to have salt water building up under his eyes at the loss of his expensive vase, and I cease my innocent giggling. "This is just ridiculous! You three imbeciles came here to have a good time, not to wreck our house! Now, all of you are going to leave this room, go into the lounge, and eat your triangle-shaped sandwiches while I clean this mess up."
The grouchy blond moves further into the sunroom, and as if a spell has been broken, the rest of us begin to file out, into the hallway.
"Stupid tomato bastard." Fratello whacks Toni on the back of the head.
"Ow! What did I do?"
"You were looking at me the wrong way!"
"What?"
"Antoine, would you and mon cousin cher stop arguing for once?" Cousin Francis groans, "You broke my vase and now mon petit lapin is mad again!"
"But cousin Francis, isn't Arthur always angry?" I blink.
"Oui, but this time he's even more furieux than usual."
The four of us enter the casual lounge of the mansion, immediately greeted by a drastic change in atmosphere. While the vast majority of the luxurious villa is very bright and open, the casual lounge is much more somber than everything else and is instead colored in sleepier tones. The walls are a powder blue, the curtains and cushions a stormy gray, and the floors a dramatic series of white, marble tile broken apart with lightning streaks of black. In the center of the room is a dark-wood coffee table, surrounded by a couch and two armchairs, decked with a silver platter of sandwiches, a bottle of sparkling mineral water, and crystal clear wine glasses.
"Hey asshole," Lovino elbows Toni, "Put on a shirt, will you?"
As I apparently hadn't noticed before, Toni is only wearing a pair of khaki shorts, perfectly showing off his kind of muscular, farm and sunlight-loving, deliciously tanned chest. Why would fratello want him to cover that?
"Hm?" Toni looks down at himself, having not paid any mind to it either, "Oh, hey, would you look at that!"
"Put on some clothes." Oh, I get it now! Fratello wants Toni to put on a shirt, because he doesn't want Toni to know that he thinks he's hot! I snicker under my breath, covering my grin with a hand.
"But Lovi, why do I need to do that?"
"Because I said so! It's either that or fox form."
"Okay, mi tomate!" With a smile on his face, Toni then turns into his original form, a bright, spiritual light covering up the probably horrifying transformation. Where Toni once stood now lays a red fox, green eyes shining as his fluffy tail sweeps back and forth across the crumpled shorts left behind.
"Tch," Sneering, Lovino enters the lounge, sitting on the couch as cousin Francis takes one of the armchairs. Obedient as always, Toni follows, climbing up onto Lovino's lap and almost instantly having his fur stroked.
"Ve~ sandwiches!" I cheer, plopping down next to fratello and taking an edible, triangular prism.
"So, how have you been?" Francis begins as I nibble on a sandwich. This sandwich is really good! It's very yummy, with lettuce, meat, and what is probably some French cheese.
"Eh, school's been hell. I'm glad I get a break." Fratello answers.
"Really? I thought this year was pretty fun! I'm planning on taking some supplies out and practicing my painting on the local vineyards while we're here."
"Yeah, but that's because you didn't have my dumbass teacher!" Lovino snaps, "I mean, how the fuck did he get hired in the first place? He knows virtually nothing about entrepreneurship!"
"Ah, that's right; you're in a technical institute, oui?" Francis pours himself a glass, offering some to Lovino and myself as well.
"Just a little bit," Fratello responds, "And si, I go to an instituti tecnici-"
"And I go to a liceo artistico!"
"-But really, how am I supposed to work my way to CEO of the biggest fashion brand in Italy if my teachers are incompetent morons?! This is bullshit, I say, bullshit!"
Toni sniffs curiously at Lovino's hand, of which had stopped its gentle movements during his tangent. I place a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, fratello! Even if you don't become a big name in fashion, at least we'll still have my painting, si? Plus, there's always our family's stupid amount of money!"
Fratello glares at me. I don't think I helped.
"Speaking of the family!" Francis interrupts Lovino's irritated gaze, causing the laser eyes to be shot at him instead, "Feliciano, have you thought about finding yourself a spirit animal?"
I drop my sandwich.
A/N:
Ahahaha, long time no see! Yeah, I'm still not done with with part 2, but I'm a little past the half-way point plot-wise, so I thought I'd start updating again! You're getting 2.1-2.3 purely because of my soft heart. Also, this part is so fucking long that I'm seriously titling the next sub-part 2.12 instead of 2.2, due to my worries of not being able to fit it all into ten sub-parts. I kid you not, the entire fanfic is over 70 pages as of late, and I've been passionately working on this daily. Well, almost daily. I've only missed a beat two days in total so far, and I plan on keeping it that way. Also, I've been working on writing the intermission, so that's great! Originally, I was thinking this would be a serious endeavor of at least four parts, but now I'm pretty hopeful that it will only be four parts, and the last part will just be a small look into the Spamano relationship in this AU. The main plot will end with part 3, and after that I plan on only further developing this AU and the iterations of each character in it.
Anyways, this is the light-hearted part! Yay! =D Unlike part 1, part 2 is meant to be the most cheerful and laid-back part of the fanfic. A. K. A., this is the part in which you lose all respect you have for me. X3 In part 2, there will truly be 'Spirit Animal Shenanigans,' causing the title of this fanfic to actually make sense. Also, Germany punches Prussia in the face later! Twice! Hilariously enough, Prussia's tied with N. Italy for my third favorite country in Hetalia, and yet I feel no remorse for having his younger brother deck him upside the head. Instead, all potential remorse has been easily replaced with a sense of mischief and giddy deviousness. You're welcome.
Also, I would like to thank everyone who actually reads this! Seriously, I'm amazed anyone's wasting their lives waiting for me to update. Just- wow. People actually think I'm good at this. This fact makes me feel slightly faint.
Responses to review(s):
Seele Esser Deutsch: Great! I'm slightly disappointed I didn't cause anyone to cry, but I'm not very used to writing angst and so on, so I'm cutting myself some slack on this one. XP Trust me when I say from here on out this fanfic is mainly going to be a collection of fluff and stupidity.
maryranstadler1: Aw, thank you! I swear, every time I find a review complimenting my writing skill, I can just feel the 'doki-dokis.' You guys make my face go red. 3 (Which isn't really saying much due to my 'blushing virgin'-ness, but still.) Yeah, the only way I could think to end part 1 without making it unsatisfying was to kill off both the main characters of it. Again, you're welcome.
APDubtalia: You've been 'lurking?' I like your use of this word here! =3 Honestly, the main reason I started writing this crock of bullshit in the first place is because of the lack of RomexGermania; when no one writes whatever it is I'm looking for at the time, I tend to write it myself. I'm not even joking here. And yes, the GerIta is coming up, but it's going to be in, like, part 3. My advice is to sit back and relax, because this is going to take a good while.
Katsimakittykat: When will I be submitting part 2? Right now! X3 Also, CATS! YESSS! I love your username, because it fits perfectly with mine! XD Also, aw, that's so nice of you! This is my first real Hetalia fanfic, so I'm really glad I'm not butchering the characters too horribly! (Also, omg, you called my work 'sophisticated!' Squee! People think I'm intelligent!)