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.
Was anybody else craving hamburgers after the last chapter? I know I was. Despite being American, I don't really relate to many of the classic stereotypes, with the huge exception of MEAT. I'm very much a freaking carnivore XD
…Which is why I have a lot of respect for Vegetarians. I don't have anywhere near that willpower. I once tried to go a week on a Vegetarian diet on a dare and caved after three measly days. I guess you really need to be willing to make it your lifestyle… ^^;
…This has nothing to do with the fic, does it? ^^; Sorry, about that! On with the fic!
oOo
"Oh…my…god…" Alfred nearly fell off his chair after his first taste of the hamburgers he and Lovino created.
"What? What is it?" Lovino asked, a tad worried. "Do they taste alright, bastard?"
The blonde's eyes almost rolled back in ecstasy. He chewed each bite slowly (Lovino was such a good influence on him), savoring each taste. The flavors danced on his tastebuds – tangy and rich. While making them, Lovino had the idea to add cheese, lettuce, tomato slices (of course), and seasoning to each burger. And if that wasn't enough, he also had the idea of adding butter to the bread and toasting it to crispy perfection. This was quite possibly the greatest idea since the invention of the steam engine. Somehow each bite was more heavenly than the last. He didn't even realize he was drooling until Lovino not so subtly pointed it out to him. The hero never imagined food could taste this good.
So, yeah…Alfred was happy with how they turned out.
"You're really weird, sometimes…" Lovino stated, taking a small bite of his own burger. He had to admit they weren't completely terrible, but only because he helped make them. "They're just hamburgers, calm down already…"
"We should have them every day!" proclaimed the Hero of Canton.
"I created a monster…" the brunette groaned.
It was the start of a typical dinner between the two roommates, until the front door opened. Or rather was slammed open. Francis barged in, collapsing on a nearby chair, crying his eyes out into a silk handkerchief in a dramatic fashion.
"I can't take it anymore! I simply cannot take it anymore!" he sobbed.
"What's wrong? Are you in trouble?" Alfred asked, concerned son senses activating.
"Oui! It's your father!" Francis moaned. "Arthur is slowly killing me with his 'love!'"
"Uh…you're gonna have to elaborate a little more for me, Dad."
This caused Francis to bring his hand to his forehead and sigh.
"For whatever reason, Arthur has refused to leave the kitchen and insists on making all of our meals as practice for something horrible…!"
"Relax, Christmas is way off!" Alfred reminded him. "And Mattie took over cooking that meal years ago!"
"No, mon chou..." Francis said darkly. "I'm afraid it's far worse than that…"
At first, Lovino didn't believe the drama queen. He was too busy being annoyed that their nice dinner was being interrupted by the primadonna. That all ceased when Francis told him the one thing that could scare Lovino more than his last encounter with Arthur's cooking…Arthur's invitation to have them over for dinner sometime.
After that bomb was dropped, the rest of their night was clouded by fear. At one point, Alfred had even considered building a sailboat to get them far, far away from the poisonous dishes Arthur tried to pass off as food. This was immediately shot down by Lovino – who had no interest in getting on a boat anytime soon and Francis – who was appalled that Alfred thought they'd all fit in a tiny little sailboat.
"What do you mean 'us all?'"
"You weren't really considering leaving your dear brother and I behind with that monster were you?!"
"Hey, you're the guy who married that monster!"
The bickering continued long into the night until Francis finally had to go home for fear of Arthur wandering the town, searching for him. He'd undoubtedly be punished by having to eat a cold version of whatever his culinary-challenged husband created tonight.
Alfred and Lovino breathed a sigh of relief when Francis left. Neither would say it out loud, but both had a scary image of Arthur creeping around the house in his hunt for Francis, the smell of death wafting from his cooking pot, and the sound of his ladle scratching on the door. If he got mad enough, he might even chop the duo up with a bloody butcher's knife to use as dessert ingredients.
Neither slept very well that night.
oOo
"Vinoooo! It's time to get up!" Alfred called to his friend from outside his door like an overexcited puppy. If his friend woke up, he could take his mind off of the horrible nightmare visions from the night before. Truth be told, Alfred had been awake for hours and did everything he could think of around the house to distract himself from sleep (even the dishes!), until it was a reasonable enough hour to wake the brunette up. "Vinoooo!"
"I thought you were only calling me that for a day!" the tsundere snarled back.
"So you do prefer 'Lovi!'"
"I'm up! I'm up!" the brunette forced himself out of bed, still a little sluggish from all the bad dreams. "Make yourself useful and go get some water or something!"
"Will do~!" Alfred chirped happily.
After breakfast, the two headed towards town again. This time, Lovino had managed to convince the blonde to let him hang out at Antonio's produce stand. It may have been going from one idiot to the next, but at least he could do actual work at the food stand. When he was following Alfred around town, he was entertained, but felt useless. He'd much rather do something that earned money (and tomatoes).
Alfred still insisted on walking him to the produce stand, however. It annoyed Lovino to be treated like some stupid kid who would get lost or end up in trouble, but he agreed in the end. It wasn't like Alfred was terrible company. On the outside, he could come off as brainless or an egocentric hero, so Lovino considered himself lucky to see the blonde's kinder, thoughtful side. Alfred had done nothing but help him (and talk his ear off) since he arrived in Canton. The brunette was amazed that he didn't mind it as much as he thought he would.
Being joined at the hip with Alfred had other advantages too. People he had helped out somewhere along the road often gave him treats or small presents, which he often shared with his moody friend. Lovino also felt the weird stalker stare less often with the Hero around. Lovino didn't want to abuse this power, so maybe spending a few hours apart from Alfred was a good idea.
Once they arrived at Antonio's produce stand, Lovino began to have his doubts.
"Lovi~! You're okay~!" the tan man enveloped the shorter brunette in a hug. "I was so worried when Bella told me you had eaten Arthur's horrible cooking! You're lucky to be alive!"
"Yeah, yeah, just get off me, already!"
"Arthur's cooking is worse than any plague!" Antonio released his hold on Lovino. "He nearly killed the entire village when he made a dish at one of our festivals! Half the town was on a sickbed before the night was even over! it was a disaster!"
Lovino learned two things that day. One, his boss of sorts could talk almost as much as Alfred and two, Antonio really, really didn't like Arthur for some reason.
The morning passed by quickly. Lovino was pleasantly surprised when several patrons asked how he was doing or expressed their relief that he wasn't sick anymore. This was new to the brunette who was only used to his family saying such things. Even when he helped out in his Nonno's blacksmith shop, customers and neighbors never noticed when he was ill. People in Canton were a hell of a lot nicer than the ones from Torredirosso.
Now if only he could do something about the strange black-haired girl who kept pestering him about his knife skills because she was convinced he was a pirate trying to get Alfred to join his crew with an OTP…whatever that was.
Not long after the lunch rush, Alfred returned to walk Lovino home for their own lunch break. Feeling like he was being babied again, Lovino insisted he didn't need anyone to walk him home. He was a grown man, he didn't need a damned babysitter! Alfred tried to explain he just wanted to make sure he was okay. Antonio agreed it was a good idea. The brunette could use someone to protect him from nasty librarian cooking.
"You two are hopeless!" Lovino threw his arms up and stomped off, but allowed Alfred to follow him.
oOo
After forcing himself to be as quiet as possible for what Lovino called a 'siesta' Alfred found him on the front porch, working on his sketchbook. The hero was pleased his friend liked the present he had purchased for him. He was certain the sketchbook was being put to good use in Lovino's capable hands. Alfred hadn't actually seen any of his roommate's finished work, but if the determined and focused expression Lovino wore right now was anything to go by, Alfred was sure each page was a masterpiece.
"Hey, Lovino…"
"Hey, bastard," came his reply, without even looking up. His eyes were fixed on the landscape in front of him.
"Working hard?"
"Mmm…"
"Can I see?" Alfred asked, curious.
"What?" Lovino quickly turned to face him, a mixture of shock, annoyance, and mortification on his face.
"Please? You're working so hard on them…I'm sure they're amazing!"
"The hell—no! No, they're not!" he slammed the book shut.
The blonde was a little taken aback by his friend's strange reaction. Surely, they couldn't be that bad…Anything Lovino could dedicate so much time and effort to had to be something incredible. Alfred might not have much of an eye for art, but he considered Lovino to be one of his closest friends. He could show him a scribble and it would be fantastic, if for no other reason than Lovino was the one who made it.
"It's just…I'm not…" the artist gathered his thoughts. "My brother's the one who's good at art…not me."
"Ah, you don't give yourself enough credit!" the hero laughed, sitting down beside his friend on the wooden bench, now very grateful he found the time to finish it a few days ago. "I'm not asking about your brother's work, I'm asking about your work."
"But it's—"
"Lovi, you don't even want to see the blobs and scribbles I would try to pass off as art!" he laughed again. "But you're much more dedicated at this than me. So, please? Please can you show me some of your drawings?"
Lovino clutched his sketchbook to his chest, weighing his options. He was sure Alfred of all people wouldn't judge his sketches, but at the same time they weren't anything special. For some inexplicable reason, Lovino wanted to impress his friend. Why couldn't he have been better at drawing? Feliciano could have made something so much better…Finally, the puppy eyes Alfred gave him won out over his insecurities.
"F-Fine, bastard!" he eventually caved. "But I get to choose which pictures to show you! And you have to stop babysitting me so much!"
"Deal!" Alfred beamed, inching closer to the brunette to get a better view.
Lovino opened his sketchbook and showed him the most recent landscape he had been working on. It was of the beach and surrounding area. Even though it was only a combination of blacks, grays, and whites, it was a wonderful picture that captured every beautiful detail perfectly. Clearly, it had been drawn by a steady and patient hand. The page before that was of the wooden bridge near the entrance of town. This one had color, so it looked nearly identical to the actual bridge. Another page featured a basket full of tomatoes that made Alfred chuckle and Lovino blush. After Lovino threatened to close the sketchbook back up, the blonde practically threw himself at his legs, begging for forgiveness.
"Fine, but only because you asked so nicely and agreed to buy me more tomatoes."
"Wait, when did I…er, I mean, yes! That's right! I'll pick some up tomorrow after work."
Lovino nodded and flipped to another page of a highly detailed violin in the sunlight. Alfred was amazed that his friend could be so good at drawing things close up and far away. The sketch of the town square was one of his favorites. Lovino captured the happy and hard-working expressions of the townsfolk really well. Judging by the amount of shading, blending, and effort his artist friend put into the variety of patterns and textures in people's clothing, Alfred figured Lovino was interested in the different style of clothing people wore in Canton compared to Torredirosso. Since Canton was a part of the Guild-controlled Viridian Islands, it was a big melting pot of cultures.
It was fun to learn about Lovino through his art. Alfred felt extra-special when he caught Lovino blushing more while he hastily flipped over a few sketches he clearly didn't want Alfred to see. However, the blonde caught glimpses and was able to tell they were of him. There were at least four or five that he noticed. Was that his way of acknowledging they were best friends? Lovino was so cute! Alfred kind of lost himself in the brunette's explanation of sketching different areas near the house. All that the blonde really picked up on was that he really liked the way it sounded when Lovino rolled his r's and that he had mentioned something about seashells.
"Would you like some more seashells to sketch?"
"I would, but I haven't had a chance to get any from the beach lately…" he was too embarrassed to admit he was a little worried the creeper would show up again.
"Let's go now!" Alfred suggested, jumping up. "We could find some shells and even go swimming!"
Lovino felt better about the idea with Alfred there, but pretended to think it over.
"Unless…you can't swim," the blonde's grin stretched across his face.
"You take that back right now!" Lovino demanded, instantly on his feet. "I'd swim circles around you, overstuffed bastard!"
"…Overstuffed?"
"I saw the way you were stuffing cabbage rolls down your mouth at lunch," It was Lovino's turn to smirk. "You're going to sink to the bottom of the damned ocean!"
Alfred then proceeded to chase a laughing Lovino all the way to the beach.
oOo
The duo spent the rest of the afternoon collecting seashells and swimming. While combing the beach for perfect shells, Alfred learned how picky Lovino was about his sketching samples.
"How's this?" the hero held up a small, grayish-blue clam shell. It reminded him of the one he found as a kid that still had a tiny octopus inside. How cool is that?
"Try looking for something better, like this one," Lovino placed a beautiful, crown-like conch in Alfred's hands, before walking off in search of another.
"Oh yeah, shell?" He muttered, dropping the red seashell into the pile of 'approved' seashells. "He's got five sketches of me and none of you, so take that."
"You say something?" the brunette called over his shoulder.
"Nope!"
By the time the two had gathered enough shells, they pulled off their shirts and used the pile of shells to weigh them down enough to not blow away. Both dove into the cool water and Lovino kept his word of swimming circles around Alfred. The hero had always considered himself to be a great swimmer (quite the accomplishment given the fact that one of his caretakers couldn't swim at all and the other refused to because the saltwater might ruin his hair), but the way Lovino could move about so agilely made him seem more like fish than a person.
Alfred watched for several more minutes as the lean body of his friend arched and curved in various ways. Lovino showed off all the swimming strokes he knew and a few more that he made up. He looked so smooth as he glided around the water effortlessly. If he reached out, would he feel scales or skin? The blonde zoned out until he realized he actually was holding out an arm. Weird...he couldn't remember doing that.
"Was your mom secretly a mermaid or something? You're a really good swimmer!" Alfred praised him.
"Of course I am, bastard!" Lovino somehow managed to puff out his chest while treading water. "I'm from Torre' so it's in my blood!"
"Of course," laughed Alfred. He was happy that Lovino was finally able to be himself and have fun for a change. His friend seemed happier now than when he first came to Canton. Alfred was glad about that and hoped he was a part of it.
When the sun drooped lower in the sky, Alfred realized exactly how long they'd been swimming. It had been such a good time, neither noticed how late it got. Lovino was still determined to out-swim Alfred, despite having wore himself out having so much fun. He slowly treaded water around the blonde with heavy-lidded green eyes.
"Ready to head back?" asked Alfred.
"Cheh…I could do this all day…"
"We almost did," the blonde suppressed a chuckle. "I'm getting kind of hungry, let's go home."
"Whatever…You're always hungry…" Lovino started heading back, seemingly unaware he was dragging his feet once they hit shallow waters.
Alfred felt a little bad about not thinking things through before their spur of the moment trip/race to the beach. He had forgotten to grab something to dry off with, so they walked home soaking wet. Luckily, the sun was still shining bright enough to keep them warm.
By the time they made it home, Lovino practically collapsed on the bench on the porch. He sleepily began drying off with the cloth Alfred had grabbed for him. About halfway through, he started wobbling back and forth on the bench like a kitten trying to avoid a nap. Alfred bit down another chuckle and sat beside him, straddling the bench for a better angle when offering to help. Being too exhausted to refuse, Lovino didn't complain when the hero gently toweled off the rest of his hair.
"How are you doing?" Alfred inquired when he felt Lovino leaning more and more on him. Receiving no response, the blonde peeked over his friend's shoulder to see him sound asleep.
Dinner could wait.
Alfred carefully guided the brunette into his warm arms and wrapped a dry cloth around the two of them, sealing in their body heat. Snuggling closer, he rested his chin on Lovino's shoulder and inhaled the fresh smell of ocean still clinging to them. Lovino mumbled something in his sleep about tomatoes and hamburgers. Smiling, Alfred closed his eyes as well. He wasn't tired, but he was content.
Alfred wished days like these could last forever…
oOo
A/N
…Somehow this entire chapter ended up being about food! XD I've really got to stop writing on an empty stomach.
~Rajikka
Translations
Tsundere (Jp.) –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.
Oui (Fr.) – Yes
Mon chou (Fr.) – My Sweet Bun (as in a pastry) or My Sweetie. I've seen both translations, but don't know enough French to say which is more accurate ^^;
