A Proposal of Sorts

Chapter Two: The Stubbornness of boys


Once their parents have gone and both of them have settled down, Nikola lets out a tired sigh and stares at his very new, very unwelcomed, roommate. It wouldn't be too bad if he was simply a roommate, Dimitrie seems pretty cool honestly, but the fact he is so insistent on them getting married is one of the most frustrating things in the world. Seriously, how is it that everyone he knows is so crazy? At least Roderich will most likely side with him...maybe. Probably. ...Not.

"Hey, Nikola, what are you frowning about?" Dimitrie asks from his canvas near the window. Only been here two hours but he's already set up his canvas and began painting. Seriously, who feels at home that fast?

"Why do you want us married?" Nikola mumbles, staring at the teen.

Dimitrie blushes, as Nikola has noted he's been doing a lot, and looks to the canvas. "Well…I mean…I..." He lets out a shaky sigh before glancing at the man. "You were raised knowing about it as well, right?"

"Yeah."

"And…when you were younger…you…I mean, at least a part of you must have been excited at the thought, correct?"

Nikola frowns, remembering how obsessed he was with the idea when he was little. "Yeah, when I was small it was all I could think about."

Dimitrie smiles a little. "Yes, because it seemed magical. Someone almost destined for you to be with. Of course the true case is our mothers used us as a way to stay connected…but even that is magical. If we fell in love, our love would keep the women we love happy for ever and united forever."

Nikola smiles at Dimitrie amused. "You are quite the romantic, aren't you?"

"Haha! Yes, I am." He says, gesturing to his canvas. "I am an artist after all!" Dimitrie jokes, watching as Nikola's eyes light up in amusement before he laughs. It's the first time since he's met him, but he's fairly certain that is just about the best sound he's ever heard. Of course, he knows better than to say so yet. "Hey, Nikola, I have a question for you, too."

Nikola's laughter stops abruptly and he looks over to Dimitrie. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering…what exactly did you used to think of our engagement? When you were little." Dimitrie asks and Nikola groans.

"Pretty much what you did. I made sure to be the best person I could be in everything, so my future wife would be able to love me as much as I had already loved her." Nikola answers, seeing the smile on Dimitrie's face falter every time he mentions the gender he was expecting.

"Can…can you…I mean, is there a possibility…that…you could grow to love a man?" Dimitrie asks and Nikola stares at him for a second.

"Huh?" Nikola begins to look around the room curiously. "Other than in the mirror, I see no man here." He mocks before smirking at Dimitrie. "Only a boy."

"Don't dodge the question." Dimitrie says in an almost stern voice, surprising Nikola a bit.

"Ah…well…I suppose…it was never the gender that made me happy about the engagement, technically…and I've never really been interested in anyone aside from my arranged fiancé…" Nikola mumbles, his gaze going everywhere but Dimitrie. "But I suppose…gender doesn't matter much to me…probably."

A glimmer of hope comes to Dimitrie's eyes and he pushes his rolling chair to be in front of Nikola. "Really?" He asks, leaning forward.

Nikola's eyes widen and he quickly jumps back. "W-whoa now! I'm still not really into guys! Also, gender aside, I don't know anything about you except you move in really fast, are an art student, and a romantic to a scary degree! B-be realistic here!"

Dimitrie stares at him silently for a moment, making Nikola grow more nervous. "I understand. It can wait." He says, sitting back in his chair and smiling at Nikola. "We can get to know each other first. Fiancés do usually start with dating."

Nikola twitches a little. "Y-you...are still on about that?" He groans, throwing his head back on the couch. "Could we not do the fiancé thing? Can't we just be friends?"

"NO." Dimitrie says firmly, looking at him with a strange determination. "We are engaged. I'm going to marry you and I'm going to buy you a ring and one day I'm going to kiss you. The first time might be on a date, in this apartment, or at the altar, but it will happen."

Under the boy's intense gaze, Nikola can't help but look away. "Damnit, Dimitrie…don't smother me. I don't take kindly to people smothering me."

"What are you going to do about it?" Dimitrie challenges before a couch pillow is rammed in his face, sending him and his chair to the ground.

"I'll retaliate." Nikola answers, standing up to look down at him. "Understand?"

An amused smirk comes to Dimitrie's lips, showing the strange fang on the left. "I think I like you, Nikola."

"I think I'm locking my bedroom door at night." Nikola responds, going to step over Dimitrie only to have his foot snatched up.

"I can pick locks, Nikola." Dimitrie says, moving to kiss the man's foot before it is quickly pulled away.

"Do NOT touch my feet. It's gross. Seriously, seriously gross. Foot action is not permitted under any circumstances ever. Kissing, ticking, touching, anything." Nikola steps over him, heading to the kitchen. "I will let you live in the guest room, but only so long as you do not try anything…indecent. Especially to my feet." He adds, shivering a little. "I hate feet."

Dimitrie laughs a little. "Wow, I've never seen such intense hatred towards feet."

"They. Are. Gross." Nikola grumbles before Dimitrie stands up, wrapping his arms around the man's shoulders and whispering in his ear.

"Then tell me…where do you like to be touched?" He teases, feeling Nikola tense up in his arms.

"Nowhere. Get off. Right now. Immediately." Nikola warns, bringing his elbow to Dimitrie's gut. "Or things will get very painful."

"Haha! Okay, okay! I surrender!" Dimitrie says, raising his arms up and backing away. "I bet it's your ears, isn't it?" He asks, watching Nikola. "Or perhaps the neck…maybe both, right? They are both fairly common spots."

"You are about one more sexual harassment away from getting kicked out of here." Nikola grumbles, going into the kitchen.

"Haha! So cold!" Dimitrie laughs before noticing a picture frame filled with pictures of Nikola and Roderich throughout childhood. "…Who is he?" He asks, his voice almost sounding bitter.

"Hm? Who?" Nikola asks, walking over to see the frame. Looking at the pictures, he smiles a little. "Ah, that's Roderich. We've been friends for quite a while. We met around the age of twelve do to our fathers doing business together." He says, looking at Dimitrie. "We met up every summer, hence the amount of pictures."

Dimitrie stares at the photos bitterly. "So you have known each other a long time."

"Yeah. What…does…?" Nikola looks at Dimitrie and raises a brow. "Are you…jealous? Of my friend? That's really childish, Dimitrie."

"I'm not jealous!" Dimitrie denies, turning away from the frame to look at Nikola. "It just…irks me…that we never met as children…"

"Meeting in childhood would have probably ended it much faster." Nikola points out. "That's what happened with Roderich and the girl he was arranged to marry. Then again…I'm sure Roderich falling in love with his childhood friend Vash didn't help…" He muses and Dimitrie looks at him curiously.

"He's with someone?"

"Yes, but even if he wasn't it wouldn't matter because I'm not interested in either of you."

Dimitrie smiles. "I want to meet him! I bet he can tell me all about you as a kid!" He says, holding the frame. "I mean, look at you! You were so cute~! If we had met as kids, I would probably have been even more adamant about marriage!"

"Even more adamant, huh? I find that hard to imagine." Nikola mumbles before going back to the kitchen. "So what do you want to eat?"

"Whatever you make will be fine." Dimitrie says, following him into the kitchen. "So long as I can hang out with you while you make it."

"You know what this is considered?" Nikola asks sweetly and Dimitrie smiles.

"Bonding?" He offers hopefully.

"Smothering!" Nikola answers in mock sweetness before turning to the fridge. "Go paint or whatever it is you do."

"We could talk about what we both like to do! What do you like to do?" Dimitrie asks before Nikola turns to him slowly.

"I like to spend my time with people who don't want to marry me." Nikola answers and Dimitrie laughs.

"How ironic! From the looks of it I do, too!" He jokes and Nikola rolls his eyes. "We have something in common now!"

"That's it, I'm sending mom a nasty letter, cursing her and her friendship with your mother." Nikola decides as he pulls out food. "Now if you must hover over my shoulder, take those potatoes and cut and skin them."

"Yes sir!" Dimitrie says, grabbing the potatoes and sitting on the counter as he cuts and peels.

"You're going to get my counter messy!" Nikola scolds, lightly hitting him on the thigh with a wooden spoon. "Off!"

"Ahh, what a good mother you will make~!" Dimitrie says almost dreamily, making Nikola pale.

"OUT OF MY KITCHEN! NOW!"


A/N: Two in one night again! On a school night! ...Don't get used to it. The first week is never busy in college. THANK. GOD. AM I RIGHT?