Feliciano smiled a happy little smile to himself, only wincing when he felt the sharp jab of the sewing needle or pin hit his side. In a way, he didn't really care that his first dance (well, his first dance in America, at any rate) was going to be one where he would be ridiculed. He was determined to have a good time, even if he was going to be laughed at. Besides, when he was a child, he was often mistaken for a girl, so maybe it could work. At any rate, it would teach him not to make bets with his brother. He decided to make idle conversation in the meantime-not because his brother Lovino was a thrilling conversationalist (he wasn't) but because standing completely still for so long without moving or saying a word had been incredibly boring.
"It's really nice of you to make this dress for me," he said to Lovino, who was hemming the dress. And, he had to admit, it was a very nice dress. It was white, which Feliciano thought made him seem like a baby, but it was made of satin. Considering that he was going to the dance dressed like a girl, he had to admit that he would at least feel like a pretty one. Besides, despite his high-pitched voice and occasional feminine mannerisms, he still wasn't built like a girl. It made Feliciano feel better to know that people probably wouldn't get his gender confused.
There was a pause, and then he spoke. "Hey, Lovino? Can you make this just a tiny bit shorter? I shaved my legs and everything!" After making an 'ew' face, Lovino had rolled his eyes and told him no. "How much can one little inch do?" whined Feliciano. It wasn't fair that he had to wear a dress at all; did it have to be a frumpy one? It wasn't even that flattering on him, really, now that he thought about it. The more he looked at the length, the less pretty it looked.
Lovino shook his head as he took in the waist. "Too much," he replied. Lovino was always like this. Feliciano was certain that if Lovino would just smile more, he wouldn't be so grumpy all of the time. But as it stood, he smiled once in a blue moon, and was probably the grumpiest person Feliciano could name.
Feliciano pouted. "But Lovino," he began, whining, "it is a dress for dancing. Not for kneeling in front of an altar." He shook his head as he tugged at the dress's edge. "It's so frumpy," he murmured. Feliciano was certain that an inch wouldn't do anything at all, and Lovino was just being stubborn.
Lovino glanced up at him. "You know, Felicia," he said, using the feminine name as he often did when he wanted to be patronizing, "you can't trust the boys over here." Lovino reached for his tomato pincushion before continuing. "Let me tell you something, with these boys, you can certainly start out dancing, and then before you know it, you'll end up on your knees." It took Feliciano longer than it should have to get what Lovino was implying, and he was glad that he couldn't see him blush.
"Il miele, just one inch, un po alta-" he began, but Lovino cut him off.
"Antonio made me promise," he said shortly. Ah. So that was why Lovino had been so insistant on it. Whether he admitted it or not, Lovino loved Antonio to death, so if the instructions had been from him, then there truly was no hope.
"Antonio?" asked Feliciano. Antonio was incredibly nice, and probably the most cheerful person Feliciano knew, but he was very overprotective. "He never wants me to have any fun. Why did he even bother bringing us here? I mean, I know why he brought you here, but why me?" Just as Lovino was head over heels in love with Antonio, Antonio was practically nothing without Lovino, or at least that was how it seemed to Feliciano.
"To marry Kiku," said Lovino impatiently, "now be quiet so I can focus." Feliciano couldn't help but frown at the name.
Kiku was a boy that Antonio had met while traveling abroad in Japan. He had been part of the reason they had moved to Manhattan; Kiku was an underage genius who had made billions for himself off of selling some computer product, and was opting to move to 'the land of oppurtunity'. In a way, the nickname must have been true, because Antonio had certainly seized the oppurtunity to arrange a purely financial, though all in all beneficial marriage out of it. It was something relatively harmless, though one that made Feliciano feel rather limited, especially if he were to actually fall in love one of these days.
Kiku was painfully quiet and shy, and Feliciano's heart went out to him. He supposed that they probably would have been friends even if they hadn't met; he was incredibly polite, for starters. In fact, he was so polite that he suspected their arranged marriage had only been arranged because of Kiku's reluctance to offend.
But Feliciano hadn't met Kiku by chance. No, they were betrothed, and even though it was both implied and directly stated (depending on who you were talking to) that the marriage was to be strictly for the money, Feliciano couldn't help but feel like along the way, the arranged marriage was supposed to lead to him falling in love with Kiku. To be honest, it wasn't that Kiku wasn't nice, or even good looking. He had also gotten the impression tha the only slack he got was due to the fact that Kiku was also a male. Despite this, Feliciano somehow felt that even if Kiku had been a rich little Japanese girl instead of the boy he was born as, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, and to be honest, he didn't think it mattered one way or the other what gender Kiku was. It just seemed to be something about him that quelled all attraction.
"When I look at Kiku, nothing happens," said Feliciano quietly. And it was true. Feliciano wasn't quite sure what he expected to happen (fireworks, perhaps, or even one's heart skipping a beat) but he did know that he and Kiku lacked a certain chemistry, and he was fairly sure that the feeling was mutual. Lovino, who had been working on the zipper, spoke to his back.
"And just what do you expect to happen, Feliciano?" He practically spat out his words, though Feliciano suspected that this was because he was irritated with the work-though, he submitted that it also could have been an irritation with him. It was such a literal question that Feliciano struggled to come up with an answer. Finally, after a far too long silence, he spoke.
"I don't know," he admitted. He tried desperately to think of something, anything to appeal to Lovino. Finally, it hit him, and he snapped his fingers triaumphantly. "What happens when you look at Antonio?" Lovino was not facing him, but Feliciano knew that his face was probably a deep scarlet. Bringing up Antonio tended to cause that effect, but when anything involving the two of them together-together was added to the mix, the effect was increased by tenfold.
Feliciano heard him mutter some curse words in Italian before finally speaking. "It's when I don't look at him that something happens," he replied testily. Feliciano laughed, a light, twinkly laugh. It probably wasn't true, since Antonio rarely got into any trouble at all (well, except for the fighting; Feliciano tried not to shudder at the thought) but all the same, hearing Lovino say it amused him. But soon it occured to him that the dress was nearly done, and if he didn't act fast, he would have to go to the dance dressed not only like a girl, but like a dowdy girl. He cleared his throat and tried to get back to the subject on task.
"But Lovino, if you just made it a little bit shorter-" he began, but Lovino cut him off.
"Next year, Feliciano." This was punctuated with a deep sigh, and a jab to the back with a sewing needle that Feliciano could swear was intentional. He bit his lip slightly to keep from crying out in pain, so he wouldn't annoy Lovino any further. After all, being annoying wasn't going to get him a stylish dress.
"But Lovino," he began, trying to stop himself from sounding whiny, " by this time next year, I'll be married, and I probably won't even go to dances." He frowned at the thought, imagining all of the happiness being drained from his life. He wasn't sure why he thought of marriage so negatively. Perhaps it was the thought of being married to someone he didn't actually love. He shook the thought from his head. Negative thinking wouldn't get him anywhere, either. Feliciano couldn't help but pout, though, as he continued to make his case. "And if I do go to dresses and I do wear a dress, no one will care if I wear them to here," he said, gesturing to his upper thigh.
Lovino, who had now stood up to get a better look at the dress and see if there were any changes to be made, frowned distinctly. "Well, that's not true at all, you idiot," he said, though Feliciano didn't detect malice in his insult. "I would most certainly care if you dressed like a prostitute and wandered the streets. I don't want you to get mugged or worse, you know," he said. The way he said 'worse' made a chill go down Feliciano's spine.
Lovino sighed, a 'I carry the world on my shoulders' sigh. "If it bothers you so much, go to the dance naked. Better yet, don't go at all. It makes my job of chaperoning you a thousand times easier if you just stay home." Of course, Lovino must have known that there was no way that was going to happen, and he continued to circle Feliciano, examining the dress from all angles.
Feliciano's mind began to wander. 'Hmm,' he thought, 'what could make the dress better besides making it shorter? Ooh! What if it was red?' He smiled to himself, proud of himself for coming up with the idea.. Red was a pretty color, and even if it was a long, boring dress, making it red would make it so much prettier. "Hey, Lovi," he began, trying to keep the exitement out of his voice, "can we make it red? Can we? Can we?" He bounced slightly from his toes to his heels, too nervous to keep from moving.
Lovino's trademark frown deepened, though it seemed to be one of confusion. "Make what red? The dress?" When Feliciano nodded, Lovino shook his head. "No, we can not," he said flatly. "I just finished making this dress for you, you ungrateful brat. How can you expect me to take the time to dye it and go through all of that work?" Lovino took Feliciano's hand in his own and led him to the mirror. "Hopefully, though, this will satisfy you instead."
No! No, it wasn't fair! White was for virgins, and brides, and babies, and even though he was technically all three, it just didn't seem fair that he would have to advertise it. "White is so boring," he cried, "and I really don't see why-" Suddenly, he screamed (well, squealed) with joy. The dress was still white, but a red sash was wrapped around the middle. "Oh, my goodness! It really is beautiful, Lovino. I love you so much!" Feliciano pulled his brother in a strangling embrace before beginning to spin around in the dress. He could definitely see why girls wore them so much. Even if this was supposed to be embarrassing, he couldn't help feeling very pretty. Now he didn't even mind going to the dance. In fact, just as he had before, he looked forward to it.
Just then, the door opened, and Feliciano turned his head, grabbing a hand on a nearby table to steady himself as he stopped spinning abruptly. Antonio walked in with Kiku at his side. "Toni!" cried Feliciano. "Don't I make a pretty girl?" Antonio laughed. Antonio kissed the top of his head.
"You are very pretty, aside from the gender confusion you are surely feeling, my little Felicia," he said, beaming. The nickname was different from Antonio. In fact, Feliciano was often called 'Felicia' by several members of the house, though for the most part it was somewhere in between the scorn with which Lovino used it and name's adoration when used by Antonio. Lovino meant it as an insult, but with Antonio, it was a pet name. Feliciano smiled broadly at the compliment.
"Thank you, Toni!" Feliciano gave Antonio a brief hug before continuing to spin around in his dress as he had before. He listened politely to Lovino's complaints to Antonio as he did, feeling like he was eavesdropping even with their voices in plain hearing distance.
"Bastard," said Lovino, "I'm the one who made the damned dress, and you have nothing to say to me?" Antonio laughed and kissed Lovino too, only on the lips and for a couple of seconds longer. "Idiot," Feliciano heard him whisper, "not in public!" Feliciano giggled lightly. Their relationship was so odd. Lovino constantly acted like he hated Antonio, Antonio seemed positvely head over heels in love with Lovino, and either way it was obvious that neither one could live without the other. He stopped spinning again, and walked over to Kiku.
"Um...hi," he said, hoping the awkwardness he felt didn't show through his voice. "You can come in, you know," he said, as politely as he could manage. He gave Kiku what he hoped was a friendly smile.
"But this is a women's store," he murmured, looking at his feet. Kiku was so shy. Painfully shy. It nearly broke his heart to see someone so afraid of their own species. Feliciano grabbed him by the hand and pulled him into the store.
"It's okay, Kiku! It's not like any of us are actually women! Besides, bridal shops can be for guys too, right?" When no one answered him, Feliciano continued to speak. "Don't worry, Kiku, Toni owns this store anyway, so even if it is usually for women, it's under his name, right Toni?"
"That's right!" His smile was infectious. Feliciano could never picture Antonio as anything but happy. It was what Feliciano liked best about him. Even when he came home late one night, covered in dirt and blood, he'd always find something to smile about. In fact, even by the next morning, when the bruises had already formed-
Feliciano shook the thoughts from his head immediately. He couldn't stand to think about the fights. The fights were awful. He couldn't imagine anything worse than having all of his loved ones marching out every night to fight a bunch of horrible people. So he focused on the dance. Yes, the dance! He was going to have fun, and everything would be bright and beautiful. He turned to Antonio and cleared his throat. His face took on a solemn look
"Toni," he began, "it is very important that I have a good time at the dance tonight." Antonio looked down at him, his smile looking somewhat confused.
"Oh?" he asked. "And why is that, little Felicia?" Now Feliciano had everyone's attention, at least. Lovino scowled in his direction, though it was obvious that his heart wasn't in it, and he kept stealing glances at Antonio.
"You see," said Feliciano, "tonight is going to be my first real night at a dance!" He felt like he was about to burst with joy, but he continued. "But not just any dance. Oh, no," he said, building up to his major point. "No. Tonight is going to be my first real night at an American dance!" When he smiled broadly, Feliciano found that he was met with nothing but reciprocal ones, even from Lovino. "And I can't wait!" He punctuated his speech with the final happy thought. 'Nothing can go wrong now!'