A/N- Back from vacation! Which means I now have to finish my summer homework! Which I really don't want to do. So I started writing!
Not much to say on the chapter. Feels almost pointless, aside from talking about Feli's feelings on feelings and showing that, once again, Lovi does not like Antonio. And that Vasch exploits pity.
… Well, wouldn't you?
Vasch led them to his pawn shop, which turned out to be a small corner store thirty minutes away. He explained it was the only one that would take what he had to sell even though he was a kid. Along the way, he would point out signs and Lili would read them out loud. Whenever she did, he would smile in his tiny way and pat her on the head, and then they would continue on their way. Antonio didn't get what about reading a sign would earn praise, and neither did Gilbert or Ludwig, but they shrugged it off. He could ask later when Vasch wasn't so prickly and not adorably talking with his not-technically-but-to-the-same-effect-little-sister.
Plus he was still a little uncomfortable with Vasch's nonchalant attitude towards stealing from people. And not just people, but people who gave them the things they needed, at that. It felt a little cruel.
… Antonio wondered if it was his fault, since he had stopped coming and bringing them food to eat.
The corner store pawn shop was small but very neat, with all their baubles and trinkets and jewelry and action figures all laid out carefully in display cases and shelves.
He failed to notice there was an exceptional amount of wallets.
The Beilschmidt brothers browsed the store with an amusingly avid interest. Gilbert ran straight for the (possibly more than decorative) sword hanging on the wall, while Ludwig seemed especially attracted to the model cars. Vasch spared none of the wares a passing glance and began talking with the guy at the counter, while Lili watched intently.
"Hey kid, you're back," the counter guy greeted with a cheerful smile as he took Vasch's (emptied) wallet, and took a moment to examine it. "Pretty nice one you got here. Fully functional, good condition. Can sell for good money."
"How much do I get for it?" He made no attempt to negotiate a price, instead just taking what he was given without hesitation and handing it to Lili. "Hey, you two," he said to Ludwig and Gilbert. "We're leaving. Now."
"Old guy, how much is this thing?" Gilbert asked, pointing at the decorative sword.
"More than a few years' allowance, kid."
"Can I get a discount?" Vasch dragged the albino out of the store before he could continue, Lili, Antonio, and Ludwig (who sighed) following.
"He made it sound like you went there a lot." Antonio commented.
"Yeah, we do. He knows where those wallets come from, too."
The Spaniard blinked. "… But he still takes them?"
"He pities us." Antonio thought back to all the stories of the heroes who would be at their breaking point, but would still act like they didn't want pity from anyone. Vasch didn't act like those heroes. Did any of them? "Does it matter?"
"I… don't know?"
"Then figure it out before you start asking stupid questions."
Antonio figured that befriending them was a long way away, if Vasch was any standard.
Gilbert couldn't help but talk excitedly as Vasch took them first to the pawn shop and then that big grocery store and then back to the bus. Eventually Vasch stopped with the "Do you ever shut up?"s, and instead ignored him, but Lili always looked interested in what he had to say. Ludwig tried to point out a number of times that she probably didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't listen. And Antonio had been silent since Vasch brushed him off.
"I brought meat." Vasch announced as they got on the bus. "More than one kind." He added, referring to their guests.
"Food?" Alfred was the first to respond, standing in front of Vasch and grabbing for a meal, which their friend with the gun didn't allow. "C'mon, Vee, heroes need to keep up their strength!"
Arthur pulled him back by the collar, shoving him back to his brother. "We all need to eat, so get." His eyes flicked towards the trio. "Welcome back, boys. Do you need something?"
"No?" Antonio said. "How's everything been?"
"Fine. Normal for us." Arthur replied curtly as Vasch handed him a piece of the pre-roasted chicken he bought at the grocery store. "And how are you?" Gilbert recognized that he probably didn't actually care, which kind of bothered him.
"We're great!" Antonio either did not notice or thought nothing of it. "We saw Vasch in the city and he invited us to the pawn shop you guys apparently like to go to, and it was a lot of fun!"
"It was?" Arthur looked towards Vasch, but was only received with a shrug. With nothing more to say, the Briton began to eat.
"Salut!" Francis greeted, watching them from what was formerly either seat four or seat five. "Gilbert and Ludwig, non? From a few weeks ago."
"Yes." Ludwig answered. Gilbert grinned at the French boy.
"Ve~ Ludwig! Gilbert! Antonio! You're all back!" Feliciano jumped at them in what looked like an attempt to get all of them in a hug but ended up being a miserable failure. He did manage to hug Antonio before moving on to the German (well, Gilbert was totally Prussian, thank you very much) brothers. The kid was adorable, really. "You should visit more often!"
"We totally will, Feli."
"You will?" That voice was also Italian, but significantly less happy. "Great." Does this kid have a tone of voice besides sarcastic?
"Nice to see you, too, Lovino." Gilbert replied, mimicking his tone. Lovino said nothing, too focused on his meal.
There was quiet as the bus kids began devouring their chicken without much in the way of manners (the trio excused that without a second thought).
"Ve~ Ludwig, Gilbert!" Feliciano finally said, smiling sweetly at them. "Can I show you something in the forest? It's really pretty!"
Gilbert raised an eyebrow, but agreed. "Sure, Feliciano. C'mon, Luddy, don't stray behind."
"You say that like I would." Ludwig replied, following them off the bus.
"Feli," Francis stopped them. "Be careful, all right?"
"Seriously, Feliciano," Arthur chimed in. "I don't want you coming back hurt."
"Have fun, Feli." Lili said. "And be careful. The woods are dangerous sometimes." Vasch and Matthew nodded in agreement.
"Ve~, I'll be careful!"
"Damn right," Lovino replied. "If you come back with a broken leg, all three of you die." Gilbert really didn't like that he had to die if Feli was clumsy.
"Ouch. You really have to be careful if you don't want Lovino after you!" Alfred teased. Lovino shot him a glare. "Be back soon, 'kay?"
Feliciano smiled cheerfully. "Ve~."
It was kind of cute how they all told him to be careful.
Feliciano did lead them into the woods. He did lead them along the river, once almost falling in after he slipped (Gilbert had laughed, Ludwig had helped him up and wondered quietly how he did anything on his own). But they didn't seem to be getting any closer, judged by how Feli hadn't said a thing about it since they left, not even an "it's a surprise!" or "you'll really like it!" He did monologue endlessly about food—pasta was his favorite subject, but apparently he liked pizza and gelato and hamburgers and Matthew says pancakes with maple syrup are good but he had never had a chance to try and if he did he didn't remember but that would be weird right? and… It went on and on.
"Yo, Feli," Gilbert said. Ludwig had given up attempts at conversation long ago. "Where are we going?"
"Ve~…" Feliciano paused to think. "Well, there is a pond this way if you want to see it."
"What do you mean?"
"If we keep going this way for a few minutes, then you reach this little pond, and sometimes you can see fish and water spiders on the water and—"
"No, no, what were you going to show us?"
"Ve~… I kinda didn't think that far ahead."
Ludwig looked between his brother and their new friend. "Feliciano, is there something you needed us for?"
"I wanted Antonio to talk with them."
"Excuse me?" Ludwig's eyebrows raised.
"Ve~, I think something happened," Feliciano clarified. "I don't really know what, but Lovino was angrier than usual before Antonio stopped coming over."
"Lovino can get angrier?" Gilbert asked sarcastically.
"Ve, of course!" Feliciano didn't catch that. "He's usually pretty happy for someone who doesn't like to smile."
"He doesn't like to smile?" Ludwig repeated. Not a farfetched idea, Gilbert thought, rolling his eyes.
"Well, no… I think it's that he doesn't like to smile without a reason. Like Alfred smiles to smile, but Lovino only likes to smile if something really makes him happy. He wants there to be a meaning behind his smile, I think."
"Wow." Gilbert asked. "You know them pretty well, don't you?"
"Ve?" Feliciano tilted his head, and the so-called Prussian didn't answer. "Anyway, do you want to see the pond?"
"Sure." Ludwig replied.
Lovino would never understand his brother. Never, ever, ever would he understand the little freak. Especially now.
What the hell was there in the woods that could be considered 'pretty'? Yeah, Feliciano always did like looking at art, but even he couldn't find anything 'pretty' about that place in the summer. You had to wait 'till the winter for it to be pretty. That idiot.
And he forgot to take Antonio with him! How stupid could Feliciano get?
Speaking of which, said Spaniard was talking to Alfred about food, but he kept glancing at Lovino in a way that almost seemed sad r uncomfortable, before cheerfully going back to Alfred. "I know this recipe for this chicken, it's really good! I could make some sometime."
"That would be awesome! Is it spicy?"
"Sì, but it's still really good! Do you like spicy food?"
"Salty, man, that's the best. Like those fries at McDonalds, do you know how much salt they put on those things?"
"Lots?"
"Yeah! It's great! You like McDonalds, right?"
"Umm… yeah, I guess so."
"Really? Good, 'cause Matt only eats it 'cause, you know, we don't know when we'll get our next meal, and I think it's all because of Francis, 'cause he has these prissy tastes, you know?"
"Or maybe it's because you two idiots have the worst tastes ever," Lovino commented, glaring extra furiously to make sure Antonio got the message of 'quit looking at me'.
"Wha?" Alfred looked shocked, not noticing Lovino's expression like the absolute moron he was. "We do not, Lovi! And besides, what about you? I mean, I like pasta and tomatoes as much as the next guy, but you two are crazy!"
Antonio apparently wasn't as moronic… not completely, anyway. "Lovi, are you mad at me?" Antonio asked.
Yes. Because you're acting like you frikkin' give a shit about us. "Why would I?" Why wouldn't I?
"That's just how he normally is," Arthur said, before going back to concentrating on the job ads with Francis and Vasch. "You get used to it."
"Shut the hell up." Lovino retorted.
"Are you, Lovino?" Antonio pressed.
"Shut up."
"Why?"
"Man, give it up. Like Artie said, Lovino is Lovino. Feliciano can tell you that." Alfred had a semi-serious face on, and didn't seem to be teasing like he usually did.
"Do you ever say anything important, Alfred?" Lovino snapped.
"Yes. Do you?"
"Lovi, about my question—"
"What about my question?" Lovino raged.
"What are you talking about, Lovino?" Vasch asked, looking from Antonio to Lovino to the others on the bus.
… So Lovino had neglected to tell them about Antonio's previous visit. Wasn't any of their business.
"Oui, what question?" Francis agreed, his face showing blatant confusion, and maybe a tinge of annoyance.
"Did something happen we don't know about?" Matthew asked, but Lovino didn't really hear it.
"Nevermind. Forget I said anything."
"But—" Antonio tried to say.
"I said forget it." Lovino growled. When will those idioti quit acting like they care?
A/N- I feel like I'm writing Arthur wrong, but I could just be paranoid. Am I?
And, yes, I should probably work on Lovi a bit more. That's a soon-to-be thing!
And Feli's plan probably failed.
Also! "Salut" = informal hello in French. Like "hi". "Idioti" = idiots. "Vee" = pronunciation of the letter "V", as in Alfred attempting to come up with a nickname for him because life is more fun that way!
I've kind of taken a liking to writing Pawn Shop Guy. His dialogue was a lot longer before I thought I should delete it… I might bring him back. He's my new background OC.
Reviews! They are magnificent! They fuel the earth and bring us trees! … Okay, not really, but they make me happy. :]