Disclaimer: Animerockchic does not own Hetalia or Beauty and the Beast

Note: Stelios = Cyprus

Stelios hurriedly shoved the fallen duck into a hemp bag before scuttling back to a tall masked man.

"Wow, Sadik! You didn't miss a single shot! You're the greatest hunter in the whole world!"

"I know." Sadik casually twirled his shotgun around, leaving it point directly at Stelios's face. Stelios laughed nervously and pushed the muzzle of the gun away from him. "No beast alive stands a chance against you. Not to mention girls or guys!"

"That's true and I've got my sights set on that one!"

Stelios followed Sadik's pointing finger with his eyes to a dark brown head with an upstanding curl barely concealed behind a leather-bound book. Stelios looked back at Sadik in incredulity.

"The...the inventor's grandson?"

Sadik smirked beneath his mask. "He's the one, the lucky one I'm going to marry. I'll tame him and he'll be a great trophy on my arm."

"Sadik, but he's..."

"The best looking person in town, apart from myself of course."

"I know, but ..." Stelios tried to protest but Sadik grabbed him roughly by the collar and pulled him to his eyelevel.

"That makes him the best and don't I deserve the best?" Sadik growled into Stelios's face.

"Of course you do!"

Sadik dropped Stelios and strolled over to the well, ready to entrance Lovino with his 'natural charm', but became distracted by a few scantily dressed women who worshiped the ground Sadik walked on. Lovino peeked cautiously over his book to see Sadik safely occupied by the three bimbos. He crept away gratefully.

Sadik turned back to the well, ready to woo Lovino. But Lovino was no longer there, instead Stelios was lounging casually in the spot Lovino had been.

Sadik thwacked Stelios around the head and scanned the crowd for Lovino. His finely trained hunter's eyes finally caught an errant brown curl bobbing in the middle of a throng of fisherwomen, haggling over pennies. Sadik grabbed Stelios by the collar and pushed his way through the crowd to Lovino.

Sadik tapped him on the shoulder and struck a casual pose. "Well, hello there." Lovino looked up from his book and regretted it immediately. "What the fuck do you want?"

He tried to go around Sadik but he grabbed the book from Lovino's hands and began flicking through it.

"Give me my fucking book back!"

Sadik held it above his head, out of Lovino's reach. "How can you read this, there's no pictures?"

Lovino jumped up and triumphantly yanked the book out of Sadik's hands. "Some people like to use their imaginations".

"Lovino! You need to get your head out of these...books and start paying attention to more important things, like me."

"Sadik, you are a completely primeval retard."

Sadik smirked, not understanding the word primeval. He slung an arm around Lovino's thin shoulders. "Why, thank you. Now, how 'bout we take a walk over to the tavern and take a look at my trophies."

Lovino scowled. "Take it off or I'll break it off. And what do you say... we don't go to the tavern?"

"Aw, Lovi. I think I know how you feel about me."

Lovino growled. "Don't you fucking dare call me Lovi!" Lovino turned to walk away but Sadik grabbed him by the wrist. "Let the fuck go! I have to get home to help my grandpa!"

Stelios started laughing. "That crazy ole fool? He needs all the help he can get!" Sadik started laughing too, both of them practically falling over each other with mirth.

Lovino snarled. "Don't you fucking dare call my nonno crazy. He's a genius!"

Sadik stopped laughing and punched Stelios. "Yeah, don't talk about his grandfather like that."

Suddenly a loud explosion sounded from one of the nearby houses.

"Oh shit, nonno!" Lovino turned and ran towards his house.

"Some genius" humphed Stelios.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen I want you to go to the woods and bring me back the biggest, healthiest deer you can find for my wedding feast."

At this Stelios started whining. "Not the woods, anything but the woods! You know how I hate the woods! It's dark and spooky and there's bugs and spiders and..." Sadik kicked him hard in the ass and off Stelios went.

Pagebreak

A dark cloud of smoke cloaked part of the garden. Lovino wafted his way through the smoke, coughing slightly.

"Nonno? Are you there?"

The smoke cleared slightly to reveal Romulus, Lovino's grandfather, scratching his head and standing over a strange contraption from which the black smoke was spewing out of.

"Now, why did that happen?"

Lovino coughed again, the smoke making his eyes stream. "Nonno, are you...?" Lovino didn't get to finish his sentence before someone else interrupted.

"Nonno! Ve~ Are you okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Feli, I'm alright. But this is just the stubbornest piece of ..." He kicked it hard. "Ow... I'm about to give up this hunk of junk!"

Feliciano smiled. "Nonno, you always say that."

"I mean it this time! I'll never get this bone-headed contraption to work!"

Lovino opened his mouth but closed it again as Feliciano once again beat him to it.

"Yes you will, and you'll win first prize at the Faire tomorrow... and be a world famous inventor."

Romulus looked up hopefully. "You really think so?"

"We always have." This time Lovino beat his brother in speaking.

Romulus smiled. "Then I better get to work. This thing isn't going fix itself." He bent down and began tightening bolts and various other things on the invention.

Lovino headed inside the house and put down his basket of tomatoes on the table, opened up his book again and settled down with a tomato.

"So how was town today, Lovi? Did you see Luddy anywhere?" Lovino glanced up at his little brother. "I got a new book. And no, I did not see your stupid potato bastard of a boyfriend."

"Aww, fratello, don't be so mean about Luddy." Feliciano perched himself on top of the table. "You... really love those books don't you?"

Lovino grunted in assent. "There're things in these books that I can't find anywhere else."

"Like what?"

"Like mysteries, adventure, romance... and happy endings."

A faint mewing seemed to be coming from under the couch. Feliciano jumped off the table to investigate.

{Author's note: if you want to add something to the next bit, play "No matter what" from Beauty and the Beast [Broadway show version] it's really sweet}

"Umm, Feli, if I ask you a question, would you answer me honestly? No matter what I asked?"

Feliciano's voice sounded slightly muffled. "Don't I always?"

Lovino bit his lip slightly. "Do you think I'm ...odd?"

"My fratello! Odd? Where would you get an idea like that?" Lovino turned his head slightly to see Feliciano looking up at him in surprise, covering dust with his cat Gino perched on his head.

Lovino smiled slightly, almost against his will. He closed his book and straightened up, keeping his gaze firmly on the floor.

"I dunno. It's just that... well, people talk."

Feliciano sat beside his brother, removing Gino from his head and transferring him onto his lap. "They talk about me and Grandpa too. But don't listen to them. No family could ever be saner than ours... not counting Great-Uncle Remus."

Both of them shivered slightly, remembering what he'd done the last time they had seen him.

"But you're special, unique even. Ve~ just like Mamma was. You're meant for bigger things than this little town. Don't ever change fratello."

Lovino found his cheeks beginning to burn. "T-t-t-thanks damnit."

Feliciano smiled. "No problem fratello."

A loud cry of "I did it! It works!" Both brothers looked out the window to see their grandfather jumping up and down like the ecstatic madman he was.

"Feliciano, are you going to the Faire with him later?"

"Sì, why do you ask?"

Lovino rummaged around in his basket before pulling out a hand-knitted scarf and wrapping it around his brother's neck.

"W-where did you get this, fratello?"

"Made it." Lovino mumbled. "But it looked crap on me, so I thought it might look good on you. Besides freezing to death on the way sounds like something stupid you would do. And make sure you fucking look after it; I don't have time to make a new one, damnit."

Feliciano threw his arms around Lovino and brought him into a bone-crushing hug. "Of course I'll look after it, fratello made it for me."

"H-hey, I never said I... Just be careful damnit. "

Feliciano released his brother. "Bye Lovi~."

"Arrivederci , fratellino."

Lovino waved at his brother and grandfather and Feliciano waved back until they could no longer see the other.

A/n: and there's another one finished. Most of the characters have been sorted out but there's still one who needs a bit of tinkering. And I hope that no-one's too OOC. Any way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter

Ja!

-Animerockchic