Author's note: Ohai. I don't know how to make things short and sweet. So I know I was originally going to make this a one-shot, and then said it will be a two-parter instead...

Nope. It's going to be a three-parter. xD

Probably no more than that though. At least as far as the Spamano story goes. Again, if people want me to write similar stories involving these dolls and whatnot with other ships, lemme know. .w./

So here's the second part. Enjoy!

After spending that time observing the snow sprinkle from the silver sky, the pair finally returned home. The air around them was already darkening, illuminating the pale white ground in the milky moonlight. Antonio was especially conscious of the dark walking home- Lovino was conscious of the close, protective proximity Toni walked beside him in.

Eventually they made it to his abode though, and finally tucked themselves into bed. Antonio actually fell asleep faster than Lovi for once- the Italian's mind was racing too fast with confused thoughts about today's events. He held the two bundled-up dolls in his hand, inspecting their simple fabric in the moonlight falling through the blinds. There was nothing particularly special about them, except for the red strings. He sighed and closed his eyes, attempting to venture to dreamworld, hopefully one filled with tomatoes. ...

Any tomato-full dreams of his were rudely interrupted, though, by the shrieking of the bitter winds outside.

They lashed at the window menacingly, and Lovino's eyes almost immediately flew open. He sat up hurriedly, Toni following suit, blinking at him with a mix of puzzlement and grogginess.

"The wind's loud," Lovi tried to squeak out, but the gusts of air snapped back at him, as if retorting angrily. He clamped his mouth shut, clenching his teeth and hands. He never realized how close he slept to the window...

Antonio crawled over him to open up the blinds and peer out at what he hoped would just be a windy, white landscape. But it was just as he feared- snow was mixing with the frenzied air, morphing into a blizzard so dense and violent that he couldn't even see a meter out his window. Yikes...

His eyes flicked to the alarm clock as he prayed that it was still night and they could try to get back to bed and sleep through it to awake to a peaceful morning. Much to his surprise- and dismay- however, the alarm clock read nothing. It was dead and dark.

Filling with dread, he attempted to switch on a nearby lamp. Nothing. They had lost power.

"Maldita sea...!" he cursed under his breath in his native tongue, which caused Lovino to realize what had happened. The storm screamed at them once more, and Antonio couldn't help but notice his companion jump at the sudden noise. Furthermore, the heat in the house had vanished with the electricity. Lovino was visibly shivering, curling up tighter in his wad of blankets.

Dammit, dammit, dammit all to hell! the Italian growled in his head, there's nothing to get so jumpy over! It's just wind! Stupid wind! Stupid, stupid-

SHRIIIIIIIEK-

!

He finally opted to squeeze his eyes shut, trying his absolute hardest to envision that nothing but the most beautiful tomatoes existed outside that window. Antonio noticed this. He could even tell what Lovi was trying to imagine- there was something about his expression that read, 'tomatoes.' And also the fact that he was singing "Buono tomato, buono tomato, buono buono oo tomato..." quietly under his breath.

The Spaniard paused while looking at his friend for a moment, before rising and turning to face the bedroom door. Lovi could feel his presence depart from him, and opened his eyes to look up at him curiously. He received a gentle smile in return.

"Come on. I'm going to light the fireplace."

. . .

Lovino laid his blankets down on the floor in front of the fireplace to sit in, having been wincing from the freezing touch of the floor tiles beneath his feet. The crimson flames Antonio had lit swirled and flickered comfortingly. Lovi's heartbeat was finally settling.

Toni had left to the kitchen for a minute, and returned with two mugs. He was met with bright, quizzical eyes, blinking at him with inquiry.

"Good ol' fire-heated hot cocoa, amigo." He replied to those eyes with a cheery grin. Lovino pouted, but only for the sake of not revealing he was pretty pleased with this idea.

. . .

"Looks like we won't be venturing outside for a while," Antonio remarked as he sipped his cocoa, peering at the endless flurries outside his living room window. Lovino scoffed.

"Whatever. I wasn't planning on doing much anyway. I just hope my stupid brother doesn't decide to play in the snow today, and get hit by incoming debris or something." He closed his eyes and gulped at his cocoa in a haughty fashion, causing Toni to chuckle adoringly. Lovino felt his laughter and opened one eye to glower at him in a slightly confused fashion.

"What are you laughing at, ya Spanish bastard?" He was about to spout some more insults, but there was something in Antonio's smile that caught him off guard. What was it...? Was it softer than usual, perhaps...? Or maybe something else...

"...?" Why is he looking at me like that...

The smile lasted a peculiar amount of time to him.

"If you drink it down too fast, I'll have less time to enjoy drinking cocoa with you."

Toni beamed playfully. Lovino huffed and looked away to futilely hide the growing scarlet-hued blush burning his face.

"I-Idiota..."

. . .

The day pressed on, as did the storm. It didn't even seem to wane, unlike the dying flames clinging to life within the fireplace- the blizzard seemed to just be in a constant state of viciousness, howling ominously in the background at any given time.

"I'll probably need to restart the fire soon," Antonio noted, examining the remnants of the blaze with calm eyes. Lovino silently agreed, unable to formulate words through his chattering teeth and dreary state. It wasn't too bad, though. Next to Toni, somehow, he felt warmer. He inched the smallest fraction closer to him, praying that it would go unnoticed.

But why can't this stupid storm just go away?

The howling outside rose in volume, as if to say, "I heard that." It chilled Lovino's very being. He felt a shudder run up his spine and shut his eyes, bringing his knees closer to his chest and tugging the blanket closer to his chin. He was scared of the snowstorm, on an unconscious level. It was Mother Nature waking up on the wrong side of the bed. It could harm him and his friends, his family, everyone he cared about, and he could not do a thing to stand up against something so much greater than a single person. He was powerless against it.

As usual...

He bit his lip and began to tremble, but this only frustrated him more. He was so weak, he couldn't even control his bodily reactions to what he feared. At least feigning strength would have made him a bit less pitiful.

And worst of all, Antonio took notice. He felt the man's shining green eyes peer at his cowardly figure, huddled helplessly in a heap of blankets. What was he going to say? A million of annoying ideas raced through Lovino's mind.

"You're scared of the storm, aren't you? Jajaja!"

"Whatcha shivering for, amigo? Need another blanket?"

"There's nothing to be scared of, you silly tomato! It's just a storm!"

Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Lovino squeezed his eyes tighter closed and braced himself for whatever stupid comment would come out of the bastard's mouth.

He was shocked, to say the least, when he received no words at all.

Instead, a single gesture- assuaging arms gathering him up in their warmth. He breathed in sharply, feeling his heart refuse to function for an endless instant.

Antonio embraced him, resting his chin on Lovi's head, and Lovi's forehead against his collar bone. The two were wrapped up together in all of the blankets. They remained like that for a while, until Lovino's startled breaths finally slowed in sync with Antonio's steady ones.

"S-Stupido, I-I'm not scared!" the befuddled Italian hissed without moving, "I'm just colder than hell, b-because some bastard decided to not relight the fireplace yet!"

The uncertainty in his shaky voice was evident, and he cursed himself silently. The smallest of smiles graced Antonio's lips from this, but the emotion within it wasn't quite describable.

"I know. I know."

He murmured into the deep brown hair, before kissing tenderly the head he cradled against him.

...

Lovino's heartbeat halted, and then skyrocketed, along with the jumbled up garble flooding his restless mind. But he did not move, and he did not speak.

Because when Antonio did this, his statement became true. He was not scared anymore.

. . .

Eventually, the storm calmed. The constant assault of icicle-spears in the wind decreased to a drizzling of fluffy snowflakes dancing in the breeze.

Lovino felt gradually heavier in Antonio's arms as night rolled in. He felt his eyelids try to fall, but he resisted again and again.

"The fire's practically dead, idiota," he finally mumbled, "Relight it already."

Toni laughed lightly and ruffled his hair a bit before letting go. "Fine, fine, whatever you say, hombre."

He got up and began assembling the utilities to spark a flame in the fireplace again. Lovino watched him for a moment before sighing to himself.

Maybe it isn't so bad to be cared for...

He looked down at the two strange dolls he had kept hidden underneath his share of the blankets.

Does it mean that he is useless, to be cared for?

I don't think so...

He glanced up again at the Spanish man messing with the burnt wood in front of them.

...

Quietly, he let his hand search for a nearby pen, and began writing their names on the white fabric of the dolls.

Not quiet enough, it seems, though- right as he finished writing the names, Toni turned around and blinked at him with curiosity.

"What's that?" He approached to inspect the strange items, but this only caused Lovino to back away slightly and shove the dolls behind his back.

"Nothing, bastardo," he responded harshly as per usual, but his normal pout dissolved into a look of perplexity at the Spaniard's mischievous smirk. What's he thinking now...?

Suddenly, Antonio brought his face perilously close to Lovi's. The bewildered Italian backed up more and squeaked as he realized he was pinned against a wall. Toni leaned in close to him, raising his arms up to either side and placing his hands firmly on the wall, to prevent escape.

"T-Toni, what are y-?!"

"Tell me, Lovino." He lifted a hand to point towards the mysterious objects Lovi was hiding. "What is it? Hm?"

Lovi's eyes widened in both shock and fear. Antonio was so close, he could feel the heat of his breaths caress his shivering lips. If he got any closer...

But he was getting closer, every moment. And every moment he grew nearer, Lovino's heart seemed to wheeze painfully, struggling more and more to beat properly. He slid down the wall slightly, gritting his teeth, as Toni placed a warm hand on his cheek.

"You never tell me anything, you know." His eyes, painted with alarming solemnity, narrowed as he placed his thumb on Lovi's chin and lifted it. "Why is that, hm? Why is that, Lovino?"

Lovino felt like he was melting into lava- so much so, that a brief moment passed in his incoherent stream of thoughts, in which he hoped Toni would let go, or else he'd singe his hands.

...And, at their current proximity, his lips.

This single thought terrified Lovino even more than any snowstorm ever could. He choked out a sob, apprising Antonio that something was wrong, who lifted his face away from Lovi's to find out what the problem was.

At this moment, Lovi found the opportunity to flee, which was all he was thinking of doing now. He shoved Antonio away from him with shaky hands and bolted out the door with nothing but a blanket and the mysterious dolls.

"Lovi?!" Antonio immediately got up and tried to follow him out the door, but he had sprinted headfirst into the darkness of the night, out of view by the time Toni reached the entrance way. He called out Lovino's name once more before growling in frustration and planting a fist on the door. Who knew of the dangers that could exist out there, cloaked in the heavy dark of midnight and obscured by the heavy light of snowfall?

The distraught Spaniard began searching haphazardly for a flashlight, ending up with nothing but fruitless efforts. As he stumbled through his dark house, a few lights suddenly came to life, along with the humming of ventilation and a few household appliances. His eyes lit up with them- electricity was back!

Locating the remote, he switched on the television before returning to his hunt for a torch. He wanted to watch the news for any info on what Lovi could possibly be getting into out there. But this only threw him into even more of a panic- it seemed like everything being reported was nothing but disaster, crime, and warnings to stay inside. Finally, he gave up on the flashlight and headed to the front door, throwing on shoes and a coat. He had to find Lovino.

The TV chimed on behind him: . . . A group of armed individuals on the loose, who have already shot and killed a sixteen-year-old. . .

...

Perhaps it would be best if he brought...that item as well.

...

He left the house, clutching tightly to a certain concealed object, moving fast through the thick snow and frigid air.

Author's note: Oooo, mystery. *u* Yeah, this is why I needed to break it into three parts. There's still quite a bit to go that I don't want to jam into one chapter.

Please remember to write a review to let me know if you liked it! I would gladly appreciate it! Gracías y grazie mille! 8D