"Loviiiii" Spain whined looping his strong, tanned arms around his lover's neck. Romano's eyelid twitched.
"Must you embarrass us in public, stronzo?" he said trying to push Antonio away, in vain. When the man decided he wanted to cuddle nothing short of a headbutt could make him let go of his cuddle buddy.
"But Loviii-" Spain repeated hugging him tighter. At that point Lovino was a step from asphyxiation. He stopped struggling and instead just tugged at the arm around his throat, croaking "Spain, you idiot, let me go I can't breathe!"
Antonio let go at once, smiling sheepishly in apology.
They were standing near the entrance to the National Gallery of Canada, waiting for the others to come back from the bathroom. It was the first time they were alone with each other, save for the nights. Nights, however, were not a good time to start a conversation, for various different reasons, so Antonio sized his chance to talk to his lover in privet.
"Sorry, Lovi, I was just really happy to have you with me." he said.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, what do you want?" Romano rolled his eyes fondly. His lover was overly enthusiastic sometimes but now that he'd gotten used to it, it made him feel mushy inside, even if in public. Spain was too dear for him to push him away seriously.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about João. Don't you think something's going on with him?" asked Spain taking on a serious look. As much as he fought with his brother, or rather his brother with him, João was still family and Antonio cared for him.
Lovino nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed. Matt noticed it too. Actually, we discussed that yesterday at the Niagara Falls. And if anyone can help us find out it's that guy. He has that strange ability to escape people's notice, it's scary how much intel he can gather just standing quietly and listening." he mused. "Don't worry, between us three we'll have that oaf brother of yours back to normal in no time." Lovino added trying to make his lover feel better.
Spain smiled a little. "I hope so. I don't really miss his jabs but I don't want him to feel sad either."
The Italian rolled his eyes.
"You're too good, 'Tonio. You shouldn't forgive people that easy. They'll take advantage of your kindness and you'll end up in the gutter." he warned.
"That's why I have you, querido!" Spain grinned.
"Antonio it doesn't work like that! What if I'm not there? It'll be the XV century all over again! Thank God your conquistador reputation worked at least as a deterrent from invading your country while you were away, even if it was mostly fake." Lovino grumbled.
"Oh, love, don't you think I'm a fearsome warrior?" Spain laughed.
"I think you hadn't massacred millions of Natives in South America, like Arthur did in the North, and yet you are the one with the label of a bloodthirsty murderer." the Italian spat angrily making Spain's smile soften in fondness. Romano rarely showed as much affection to anyone so he was only too happy to see the glimpses of his caring side. It was so beautiful and yet Lovino hid it behind a shield of profanities and false bravado to protect himself and those he loved. His childhood with Grandpa Rome, watching his bloody games, and later his connections with mafia, all that made him wary when it came to emotions in general.
Spain treasured the heart he was given and he would gladly give his life for Romano if it didn't break the Nation. As it was it would so he settled for trying to be the best he could for his little tomate.
"And what are you smiling at, huh? It's not funny you idiota!" Lovino muttered starting to blush under Antonio's warm gaze.
"No, it's not." the Spaniard agreed. "I'm just really happy to have you, querido." he said quietly.
Lovino was spared from answering when their friends finally appeared, holding also the entrance tickets. He just pecked his lover's cheek trying to communicate "me too" without actually saying the words. From Antonio's brilliant smile he must've understood just fine.
Meanwhile nobody saw Canada in his 'stealthy' mode snapping a picture of João's face, managing to catch also the kiss.
Huh he thought to himself saving the picture and pocketing his phone as much as this sucks sometimes, other times it's actually quite handy. "Well," he said aloud and stifled his snicker when all four Nations jumped, startled "what do you say we go in, guys?"
"Matteo-!" Romano started but was suddenly cut off by a loud, German voice. Gilbert clutched dramatically at his chest wailing "Matt! Dude, how could you! Almost gave a heart attack! The world is not ready for such an awesome heart attack!"
Matthew chortled, patting him on the back in a manly comforting manner. "Oh, sorry Gil. You do look pale. Do you need to sit down for a minute? Maybe I should bring you a cup of water, eh?" he teased. There was no better way to rail the Prussian up than to question his prowess.
"Who, me?! I'm totally fine, I'm the epitome of fine!" Gilbert jumped at the accusation. "Certainly better than the swooning, blushing Italian you've got there, Spai-" he started, but the 'swooning, blushing Italian' detached himself from his lover's chest and proceeded to show every person in the hall how fine he was by trying to strangle the albino loudmouth.
The two Iberians started laughing, Gilbert went purple in the face and finally Matthew, the only sane person present, quickly jumped in to prevent a homicide being committed. It would have resulted in them being thrown out of the Gallery and he'd already bought the tickets. Not to mention it wouldn't be his brightest moment, the living, breathing personification of Canada kicked out of his own country's National Gallery.
Thank gods he was stronger than he looked because then separating the angry Italian and asphyxiating Prussian would've been much harder. As it was, he managed just fine, making a mental note to get back at the two brothers for their total lack of help whatsoever.
Gilbert, trying hard to look awesome, immediately hid behind his savior, hugging Matt around the waist and panting like he'd just finished a marathon. Romano huffed, triumphantly, his curl bobbing as he nodded his head, decisively, having enforced his manliness. Then he trotted back to Spain and calmly slapped him upside the head.
Matthew freed one arm from Prussia's hold and facepalmed. Seriously, why this was his life?
Thankfully though, even insufferable dumbasses could appreciate the wonders the National Gallery held, so the rest of the visit went without a hitch. Oh, Spain was, of course, drooling at everything and Romano rolled his eyes every time his lover looked at him with that bright expression and those lovely lit up green, green eyes, but he smiled back at him nonetheless and grudgingly admitted the place was worth visiting.
It meant a lot to Matt. Lovino was part of the country that had played a big part in the development of art. True, opera and singing in general was more in his area of expertise, but still.
Portugal, though much less obviously, enjoyed the visit too and it was visible. He even teased Antonio some, and the Nation couldn't even feel hurt because his brother was acting kind of like himself again and it made him happy.
And then there was Gilbert, who, although pretended really good that he was totally engrossed in the collections, was actually bored to death. He didn't want to hurt Matthew, though, so he tried really hard to look interested and instead watched their host, from the corner of his eye.
Gilbird, who was, as usual, nestled in his silver hair, was outright snoring and the Prussian had a constant desire to poke the yellow ball of feathers and make it endure the same thing he was. He refrained, only because animals were not welcome into the Gallery. Gilbird was, of course, much more awesome than a normal animal, not to mention as old as the Nation himself, which made him much, much older than any human in the Gallery.
And besides, Gilbert had Matthew to stare at. He tried to not be too obvious but the Canadian could be awfully perceptive sometimes. It was a miracle of itself that he'd managed to keep himself from blushing around the guy. He was mature enough to recognize that he may have developed a crush...
/txtbreak/
It did take me kinda long, huh? I'm really sorry for that guys but this year is my matura year and I've got a shitload of studyingto get done before May. Not to mention the pesky little problem of my upcoming finals in the music school. I'm going to suck at updating... I can only apologize in advance and hope that you'll still drop me that little bit of encouragement any time I do come through like you do now. It fills me with amazement :) You're awesome, thank you!