Tomato of the Sea
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Warning: AU, Lovi's way of verbally expressing annoyance, male x male pairings, and a very bipolar Gilbird fluttering about.
Plot? What plot? We'll get there eventually…maybe. In the meantime, here's Alfred and Lovino being fluffy and cute!
oOo
It was a windy day in Canton, the village overlooking the sea. The chilly breeze swept through the streets and sent the brightly dyed cloths fluttering in all directions. Gray clouds moved in from the water and blocked the sun out. The villagers began closing their windows and calling their children home. A storm was on its way.
Lovino looked up from his sketchbook in annoyance. He had been trying to complete the picture of the ocean view from the porch when a storm rolled in from nowhere. Now he'd never get the damned thing done.
Picking up the oil pastels Alfred had recently given him, Lovino made a few adjustments to his drawing. He was confident he could do this from memory. He'd seen the blue of the ocean and sky his entire life. Glancing up at the sky, he judged that he still had a few more minutes before the rain started. Plenty of time! He looked back down at his sketch and a familiar pair of blue eyes stared back at him.
"What the…?"
Somehow his picture of the ocean meeting the sky had morphed into a portrait of Alfred's bright blue eyes shining with excitement and a wide grin to match.
"Cazzo," he cursed. "His stupidity must be affecting my brain."
The more Lovino went about trying to reclaim his original design of the serene landscape, the more he saw Alfred in his work. He blamed the eyes.
oOo
Alfred had been quickly making repairs on one of the window shutters. He had hoped to beat the storm, in case it rained heavily. The blonde really didn't want his living room to get soaking wet. He had a lot of sentimental keepsakes on a shelf near the window. Besides, it was next to the couch Lovino liked to nap on. Alfred chuckled a bit at the mental image of a drenched Italian complaining about the rain interrupting his siesta.
The Hero of Canton quickly hammered another nail into the wooden shutter. Normally, he kept up on house repairs better, but lately he'd been distracted by his roommate. With Lovi around, there was so much more to do! Explore the town, introduce Lovino to others, keep him far away from knives, and eat lunch on the docks so they could watch the boats pull in and out of the harbor. They weren't even halfway through Alfred's mental list of things to do with his new friend, but he was loving every minute of it. Lovino was always fun and exciting to be around! Even when his temper got him into trouble, Alfred knew he'd be there to play hero and save the day. Even if the brunette teased him about a 'hero complex' it was fine, because they were still spending time together.
Alfred reattached the good-as-new shutter to the window frame and glanced around. He wondered where his friend was right now. Reading? Napping? He decided to find out. For some reason, Lovino had stopped playing the violin when Alfred was around. The brunette claimed he was just bored with it, but sometimes the blonde heard him play it from an open window on his way home from work. Once in awhile, Alfred liked to lean against the outside wall and let the music wash over him like a wave. He still wasn't familiar with the music Lovino knew, but enjoyed it nonetheless. It was actually during one of those listening sessions that Alfred noticed the broken window shutter.
"Lovino!" Alfred called out. He walked inside through the back door, but didn't see him. Was he upstairs? "Lovino?"
Still no response. Alfred was about to head upstairs when he saw a familiar curl bobbing up and down in the wind out of the corner of the main window. So that's where he was! Alfred laughed to himself a little. He should've known. Lovino had been taking an interest in relaxing on the porch lately.
"There you are!" a smile appeared on the blonde's face and he poked his head through the large open window to greet his friend. He was certain the brunette would be happy to hear that his favorite napping spot was now 100% rainproof.
"CHIGI!" the green-eyed boy nearly jumped out of his skin.
The Hero was unfazed.
"What'cha drawing, Lovino?"
"Nothing!" he snapped, slamming the sketchbook shut. Stupid idiot surprised him so much his face was flushed. "What the hell are you doing, anyway?! People don't normally sneak up on others and pop up through windows."
"But I wasn't sneaking up on you, I was just saying hi."
"Whatever, bastard," snorted Lovino. "No dinner for you tonight."
"But you said you were making spaghetti!" Alfred pouted. "I love spaghetti!"
"You say that about everything I make you," the brunette rolled his eyes.
"You're a good cook!" the blonde grinned. "Oh, by the way, I fixed the window by the couch you like to nap on. Now you can rest easy without worrying about buckets of rain dropping in on you."
"Finally. It looks like it's going to rain really soon too."
"You have to say it!"
"Say what?"
"You're supposed to say 'My Hero!' whenever the Hero does something heroic for you!"
"Like hell I'm going to say that!"
"Please?"
"I'm not going to say it!" Lovino felt himself blushing again. What was with his brain-damaged roommate, anyway?
"But you have to reward me for saving your life from the treacherous icy rain of death!" Alfred joked. "Your next siesta might have been your last!"
"Hmph, I suppose I can give you the burned noodles for your effort…"
Alfred grinned again. Lovino never burned anything.
oOo
The next morning, Lovino found himself assisting Antonio at his produce stand again. He was tempted to leave because Bella wasn't there, but the taller brunette had convinced him to stay by offering him some churros. Having never eaten them before, Lovino was curious and chose to stick around. The very second he took a bite of the delicious sugary snack, Lovino had to struggle not to shove the rest of it in his mouth. They were delicious! Who knew the airhead he was working for could be such a good cook?
"Thank you!" Antonio waved to a customer who was leaving with a basket full of apples.
Lovino ignored the customer and tore into his 6th churro of the day. Damn, those things were addicting.
"I'm so glad you were able to help me again today, Lovino!" Antonio beamed at him, pulling out his own churro to munch on.
"Why'd you even need the help? It's so slow today, bastard," the tsundere grumbled. Not that he particularly minded, though. The first day he helped out was terrifying. He'd never seen so many crazy people in such a short amount of time.
"Probably the storm last night," Antonio smiled. "It was pretty strong, so I'm sure lots of people had to fix up their houses and do maintenance work today. Looks like it'll rain again soon, too."
Lovino shrugged. He figured it was a good thing Alfred could fix just about anything. Or build anything. He didn't often see Alfred having to fix up his own stuff, so he must do a decent job of building things that don't completely suck. Too bad that was where the blonde's attention span ended.
Lovino opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by something scuttling under the stand.
"What the hell was that?"
"Eh?"
Lovino leaned over the side of the wooden stand, but didn't see where the thing had gone.
"I saw something there just now and it—" Lovino turned to Antonio and flinched. Crawling up the hem of the other man's tunic was the culprit. "There's a fucking turtle on you!"
"Si? Ah, there is! How cute!"
"They're not cute! They're disgusting! Get rid of it before it scares off the customers!"
"You don't like turtles, Lovi?"
"No!"
"But you have one crawling up your leg…"
"What?!"
Sure enough, there was another small green reptile making its way up his pants. Lovino quickly shook it off and looked back up at Antonio to yell at him for not telling him sooner. His words caught in his throat when he realized his boss-of-sorts was now sporting several more happy looking turtles.
"Holy shit! You're covered in the little bastards!"
"I guess even the turtles can't help but adore me!" Antonion replied, not taking the situation seriously enough for Lovino's liking. Especially when the little creatures started munching on some of the vegetables on the stand. The cabbage was a lost cause by now.
"Hurry up and help me or they'll eat us next!"
"But they're so cute! They wouldn't do that!"
A turtle began nipping at Lovino's boot. Panicking, he sent it sailing back towards the sand. Another dozen quickly replaced it. Soon the beachside marketplace was swarming in turtles and the two brunettes were surrounded.
"Where the hell are they coming from?!" Lovino asked as he quickly packed the vegetables back in a crate. Priority one had been the tomatoes, which were now all secure in a large whicker basket.
"Hmm…probably the beach."
"Fine, smartass! Why are they attacking us here! They belong in the water!"
"Oh!" Antonio's eyes lit up as he pet the turtle on his shoulder. "I bet they lost their way in the storm last night! Poor things…"
"Worry a little more about us, would you?" Lovino glared at him. By now the number of turtles was getting ridiculous. He was doing everything he could to keep them off the stand to save the tomatoes. He wasn't about to let the little bastards get a hold of his precious tomatoes…even if they started piling up on each other and formed a fairly intimidating mountain of turtles…
"Wow! There's so many!" the produce stand owner laughed contently. Lovino almost envied his blissful ignorance at the moment. At least until the turtle army turned their attention on Antonio.
Lovino wasn't sure if it was jealousy that he wasn't scratching all of their heads (or praising their pretty shells, or cute small size) or if it was hunger that drove a wave of turtles to crash into Antonio, effectively knocking him over. Lovino watched in terror as Antonio was swept away by the sea of green beasts. His heart started racing and he climbed to the top of the wooden vegetable table with the last basket of tomatoes.
"Chigi!"
He had never used the dagger he got from his Nonno to fight off turtles, but there's a first time for everything. Of course, Lovino was doing more threats and bluffs than he was actual damage.
"I swear to god, if you bastards take one more step towards my tomatoes, I-I'll slice you in half and make turtle soup!" he closed his eyes as he felt them swarm beneath his feet, submerging the stand and inching towards the basket of ripe, delicious tomatoes above his head. He began to randomly flail the arm holding his dagger around, hitting nothing but air.
All around him, the marketplace had gone to hell. The stream of turtles carried people off screaming (although a few freaks were laughing like Antonio) and devouring everything in their path. His pounded in his chest and bead of sweat trickled down his face. Lovino knew it wasn't long before he'd meet a similar fate. He couldn't believe he was going to die on account of baby turtles. He started shouting for help, not caring how pathetic it felt.
"Dammit, Alfred! You said you'd protect me, so hurry up and save me, you bastard!"
Now, Lovino hadn't fully realized what he had said until after he said it. He felt his face heat up in surprise. He didn't know why he instinctively called out for Alfred, but was even more surprised when the Hero of Canton actually showed up.
"Don't worry, Lovino! The Hero is here!" a familiar (and altogether too chipper) voice exclaimed.
"A-Alfred?" the brunette blinked, glancing around to find the source of the dramatic voice.
Suddenly he was joined by Alfred landing on the stand beside him, laughing like a crazy person/heroically. It was like he didn't even see the ocean of baby turtles threatening to tickle them to death.
"W-What the—?!" Lovino almost fell over, but Alfred placed a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"I'm here to save you!" he grinned. Had he not been fearing for his life, Lovi would have paid more attention to how the gray storm clouds rolling in contrasted nicely with the hero's sunny hair. Or maybe he did anyway.
"A-About time!" the green-eyed boy managed to reply, trying to hide the fear in his voice. "How the hell do you expect to get us out of here?"
"Like this!" The hero swiftly cut him off by scooping Lovino and the basket of tomatoes into his arms. He crouched lower to build up power in his legs.
"W-Wait, you can't just—!" Lovino's protests were cut off by the huge jump Alfred took. He held onto his friend's shirt with one hand and the tomato basket with the other. By the time they landed on a nearby stand, Lovino was gripping both for dear life. He was determined not to be killed by the vicious horde of bloodthirsty turtles.
Alfred continued laughing heroically and playing leapfrog onto nearby market stalls, statues, and various structures. He was the hero and he would make sure to save his best friend. Sure, the turtles looked cute, but Lovino would be really sad if they ate all his tomatoes. He couldn't let that happen on his watch. A few more well-placed jumps and the duo had cleared the danger zone. Alfred carefully set Lovino down, so he didn't crush any of the tomatoes in the process.
The brunette released the breath he didn't realize he was holding in and slumped to the ground beside Alfred. Wordlessly he picked up a tomato and passed it to the hero. He then tore into one of his own.
"I can't believe we survived that, bastard…"
"It was nothing!" Alfred boasted. "The Hero of Canton will always be here to protect you!"
"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Lovino wiped some of the tomato juice from his chin. He felt himself returning the blonde's contagious smile and took another bite of the red fruit to avoid admitting it.
The two sat like that for awhile, relaxed and munching on tomatoes. After Alfred was sure that Lovino was no longer in danger, he stood up to help the other less-fortunate turtle victims. He had a feeling Lovi wouldn't want to join him, so he asked him if he remembered how to get home from there.
"Of course I do, jerk!" Lovino stood up angrily. His anger quickly subsided when he felt an uneasy sensation wash over his body. He could practically feel a set of eyes on him, but couldn't find the source. The brunette looked around to no avail; they were alone. Creepy. His fingertips brushed over the edge of the sheath he kept his knife in for comfort.
Alfred tilted his head. Lovino seemed off.
"Are you alright?"
"Of course I'm fine!" he replied, his inner tsundere covering for him. He didn't want to worry Alfred over nothing. "I'm not afraid of some stupid pack of turtles!"
Alfred didn't buy it.
"Maybe we should go home together?"
"Suit yourself, bastard."
"You know you can talk to me if something's wrong, right?" he asked, his normally energetic eyes filled with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lovino waved his worries aside. He didn't like seeing Alfred like that. It was too…sad. It didn't suit his typically cheerful personality at all. Lovino hated the idea that he was potentially causing it, either. He started off in the direction of their house at a faster pace. "Get moving, bastard or it'll start raining on us!"
"For a little guy, you sure move fast!" the blonde laughed, jogging to catch up with the brunette, who only moved faster.
"Hurry up or this 'little guy' will leave you behind!" he called over his shoulder as the blonde protested.
When Alfred was far enough away, Lovino paused and spoke low enough for only himself to hear.
"…My hero."
oOo
A/N
I've wanted to write something with turtles ever since "The Turtle Incident" in World Series (episode 40). Just so you know, no turtles were harmed in the making of this chapter. Feel better? In the next chapter, Lovi meets Alfred's "Mom" dun, dun, dun...
~Rajikka
Translations
Bastardo (It.) – "Bastard"
Gracias (Sp.) – "Thank you"
Si (Sp.) – "Yes"
Tsundere (Jp.) – Arthur Kirkland. Haha, just kidding. (sort of.) A tsundere is a type of character seen in anime or manga known for appearing cold or hostile, but having a hidden sweet side. "Tsun Tsun" is the aloof or irritable side, while "Dere Dere" is the lovey dovey side. Iggy and Lovi are two good examples of this character.
