A heavy storm had hit Astraea Hill overnight, resulting in most of the classrooms becoming too flooded for lessons that day...Most.
Unfortunately for the boys of St Lulim's, whose school sat at the top of Astraea Hill, their classrooms had remained bone dry, and so, it was business as usual...
But, the boys of St Miator's, and of St Spica's were off the hook for the day...That would've been brilliant for them, if it weren't still hammering it down outside.
Even so, Antonio had decided to make his way to the school's kitchen, to secretly bake something for his next meeting with Arthur (Which he was to go to at exactly seven o'clock that night, in the greenhouse). Since Arthur had mentioned that they would be having Darjeeling tea, Antonio had decided to make strawberry tarts to go with it. Apparently desserts with strawberries in them paired very well with Darjeeling...
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Antonio was stopped in his tracks by his angry room-mate, just as he was heading out the door.
Lovino glared at Antonio, his curl twitching, presumably with rage, "What are you doing with all of that, tomato bastard?!"
"Just going to the kitchen," Antonio said coyly, "No need to freak out, is there, pasta bastard?"
Lovino switched his focus to the contents of Antonio's bag, as he now found himself strangely unable to look his room-mate in the face...Hmm...Looked like Antonio was only carrying ingredients. Ingredients for what, though?
He's not gonna...Do that, is he?
It was fairly common for younger students to give occasional gifts to the Etoile, usually in the form of homemade cookies or chocolate...But usually, they only gave such gifts because they...Had a thing for the Etoile. Was that what Antonio was planning to do? Had Arthur already stolen his heart away? Lovino could see it now; Antonio presenting Arthur with a gift made just for him, and then the two confessing to each other...Like a scene in some dumb shojo anime...
And then Lovino's chances with Antonio would be gone!
Lovino quaked in his shoes as the stupid scenario played out in his head...
"Hello?" Antonio called, noticing Lovino's desperate state, "You ok?"
The Italian's gaze remained fixed on Antonio's bag, for he feared that he would burn up if he dared look anywhere else...Even though the temptation to look over at Antonio's waist was almost too much to resist...
"Y-you're not going to see M-Mr Etoile, are you?" Lovino interrogated, "You're going to the kitchen alone, right?"
"Uh, yeah, that was the plan," Antonio informed him, "Anyway, why does it matter if I was planning to meet Arthur there? Am I not allowed to see the person I like anymore?"
Lovino's blood started to boil when Antonio finished that sentence...This could not be happening, Antonio belonged to HIM, not to that perv with stupid eyebrows...
"Geez, with the way you're acting, anyone else would assume that you're in love with me," the Spaniard remarked.
Lovino's breath caught in his throat, "A-and what makes you say that, tomato bastard?!"
"I've never seen anyone blush that much in my life," Antonio continued, "And you really don't like the fact that I'm interested in Arthur..."
The other boy felt his cheeks...And dear lord, they were burning! Lovino almost recoiled upon touching them; they were like two hot plates...
"Y-yeah? Well, you can fuck right off with that idea, I don't love you!" Lovino insisted, dashing away from Antonio. He couldn't take the embarrassment anymore...
Antonio sighed, and made his way to the kitchen...
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Arthur poured two cups of tea, and set one in front of a framed picture of himself with another boy.
"Do you remember this blend, Kiku?" he asked the picture, listlessly stirring his tea, "We had some with Afonso on your first night here. You were the only one who liked it."
No answer. The boys in the picture simply smiled back at Arthur, deaf to all but each other.
"I used to bring it to you, whenever we celebrated anything," Arthur continued, "On the day you passed your French exam, on your birthday, on the day that we became the Etoiles..."
And suddenly, all of Kiku's last days came flooding back to Arthur. All the days that Arthur had had to spend by Kiku's side, watching his illness slowly kill him, turning him into a shell of his former self. All the days that Arthur had spent, knowing that there was nothing he could do for Kiku except hold his hand and falsely promise that everything was going to be ok...
Arthur's tears fell into the mild tea, replacing its lightly sweet flavour with the taste of salt and grief...
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"Ok, let's make the glaze now!" Antonio declared, after he'd filled his tart shells with crème patisserie and fresh strawberries. He smiled to himself as he imagined how Arthur would react to them...
"Right, I've got everything, so let's begin!"
Antonio jumped as he noticed the presence of someone else in the kitchen. This new boy was clearly one of St Spica's; his white blazer was proof of that. He was tall and stocky, with slicked back blond hair, and piercing blue eyes.
The blond boy looked up from his own cooking, and noticed Antonio at the stove in front of him...
"Ah, so you're the one causing all the fuss on Astraea Hill."
Antonio whipped around, to face the boy. "M-me? What have I done?"
"If the rumours are true, then you're the one that the Etoile kissed," the blond explained, "The envy of most, if not all of the pupils at the schools here."
"It's true," Antonio admitted, "Happened on my first day at St Miator's."
The boy shook his head. "Hmpf. St Miator's...The school for caged birds."
"C-caged birds?"
"That's what the other schools here call it," the boy continued, "A lot of you have roles to fill. Expectations to meet. You know your student council president, Afonso? He's been betrothed since birth. He will be married as soon as he graduates. As will most of the boys in the Tomato dorms."
Antonio snorted slightly, "I guess that's why St Miator's is also known as the school for husbands..."
The other boy sighed wistfully as he put a handful of chopped apples into a pot, "I don't have any such engagements, but...It's difficult being with the person you love, when you're someone like me..."
Antonio raised an eyebrow, "You are?"
"Ludwig Beilschmidt. I'm the captain of the show-jumping team at St Spica's," he greeted, "Since I'm very popular at my school, I can't go public about my relationship just yet. Not until I'm sure that Feliciano can handle all of the hate he'd receive for being with me."
"I'm in a similar situation myself," Antonio said, "My room-mate is getting really jealous over me liking the Etoile..."
"I'd be careful around him, then," Ludwig warned, "You wouldn't want him to try and steal your boyfriend, would you?"
Boyfriend? Antonio had to wonder...He did like Arthur, but was he ready for a relationship with him...?
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Feliciano sat under a tree, having been chased out of his dorm by Ludwig's admirers. Apparently, someone had gotten word of him being carried out of the forest by his angel, and the knowledge that Ludwig Beilschmidt maybe liked Feliciano, a nobody with terrible grades in everything except art, drove the boys of St Spica's crazy with envy.
The rain continued to fall, soaking Feliciano's white blazer. Was it really such a bad thing if he liked a popular boy? Ludwig was human too, wasn't he? He should be allowed to like someone, without half of St Spica's losing their minds...
Without anywhere dry to go, lest the St Spica boys catch him—Except the greenhouse, which everyone knew was off-limits to all pupils except the Etoile—Feliciano sat under the tree like some lonesome drowned rat...
"Feliciano!"
And there he was. Ludwig, his angel, on his trusty white steed, here to rescue him once again...
Star-Bright skidded to a halt as Ludwig offered his hand to Feliciano, asking, "What are you doing out here in the rain?"
"The other boys chased me out of my dorm," Feliciano sniffled.
Ludwig shook his head, "Come with me. You'll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer."
Feliciano accepted gratefully, and was once again whisked away by his angel...
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Antonio waited until Lovino went to use the bathroom before he snuck out of their room, taking only his strawberry tarts with him.
He switched his phone off, and hid it in his underwear drawer...The last thing he wanted was an angry call from Lovino, while he was with Arthur...
He managed to slip completely unnoticed, away from the Tomato dorms, and past the nuns who patrolled the classrooms, meeting Arthur at his usual spot. Antonio appeared to have arrived just on time, as Arthur was just putting the Darjeeling tin back in its box behind the zinnias, and two cups of tea sat opposite each other, separated only by a pot of sugar.
"Evening," Arthur greeted, "How do you like your Darjeeling? With or without sugar?"
"Without, thanks," Antonio replied, setting his tarts on the table.
Arthur placed a spoonful of white sugar in his own tea, before he removed the pot from between the cups, "I wish I could've spent more time with you today, but...I had some Etoile things to take care of," he explained quickly, "Afonso would've killed me if I didn't get them done."
"Oh, it's no big deal," Antonio responded, "Being the Etoile must be a lot of work!"
"It is," Arthur agreed, "When you're forced to do it every day...Alone..."
He began listlessly stirring his tea, as if to melt his stresses into it, like the sugar. Rain continued to fall outside, pitter-pattering on the roof of the greenhouse. The warm, dry greenhouse, inside which were flowers that would never have to face the cold rain of the outside world...
Antonio nibbled a strawberry off of the top of his tart, unable to find any words to fill the silence between him and Arthur...
"How's things with you and Lovino?" the Etoile finally said, taking a bite of one of the tarts.
"I think you were right about him having a crush on me," Antonio sighed, "Today, he got angry when I left for the kitchen this morning, and asked me if you would be there."
"So, it was you who made these? No wonder they're so delicious," Arthur complimented, "And how did you know that strawberries go perfectly with Darjeeling?"
"Oh, I just did a bit of research," Antonio giggled, his cheeks going bright pink.
"Hm... Cute, a good cook, and a tea expert...You're the whole package!" Arthur decided, "Any boy on Astraea Hill would be lucky to have you!"
"Oh, stop it, you're making me blush," Antonio chuckled, casting a mock glare over at Arthur, as they continued speaking, long into the night...
Before long, it was about half-ten, and the rain was still falling outside...
"Let's head back to our rooms," Arthur demanded, "I don't want to be caught by the nuns again!"
"Neither do I," Antonio agreed.
Arthur stepped outside, and put up a small umbrella, "Do you have a coat or anything?"
"No," Antonio answered.
Arthur shook his head. "Then I'm walking you back to the dorms. I don't want you to get wet and catch a cold, or something."
"But what if Lovino sees us?" Antonio worried, "He's going to kill you if he sees me with you!"
"I'll deal with him myself," Arthur assured him, "I'm the Etoile, remember? No-one messes with me and gets away with it!"
Antonio nodded, and the two began a peaceful stroll back to the dorms...The small size of Arthur's umbrella meant that Antonio had to stay so close to him, that they were practically touching...And Arthur's occasional brush against Antonio's hand was definitely not accidental...
Eventually, the two gave in, and held hands all the way back to their dorms...
"See you tomorrow," Arthur said, just as they parted, "Same time."
"OK," Antonio agreed.
Once he arrived back at his and Lovino's room, Antonio was greeted by the sight of the glaring Italian, with his cheeks looking slightly stained.
"What...The...FUCK WERE YOU DOING WITH HIM?!" Lovino bellowed.
Shit...
