CHAPTER 6: Market Trip
"... and then we need three cartons of eggs, two gallons of milk, a package of sausage, you know the brand, and finally a few tomatoes just for you Lovi,"
Lovino grabbed the shopping list from his grandpa and checked it over once, committing the items to memory. He nodded, shoved the list in his back pocket, and whirled around to leave the house.
"Make sure you get back before 5, Lovi! We need to make dinner and whatnot. Plus it would suck if you got lost, which is most likely to happen." Grandpa called out. "Actually, you will get lost. Take Antonio with you. You'll need help carrying all the bags."
Lovino rolled his eyes and flipped his grandpa the bird. "Yeah, no thank you. I am a perfectly strong person, who can carry a couple of fucking eggs, grandpa."
Grandpa ignored him, save for a small finger wave of disappointment. "Antonio!" he shouted, "Get down here, please. Lovino needs you to help his scrawny little ass carry groceries home."
"Do not need help at all! Go back to whatever the hell it was you were doing, or whatever," Lovino shouted back, and quickly started to walk out the door and escape. However, Grandpa barred his way.
"Nope, you are not leaving yet. Antonio! come on, Lovino doesn't have all day!"
"Yes I do, just ignore him. I think Grandpa is going senile." Lovino tried to maneuver around Grandpa, but the old man slammed his hands on the wall, prohibiting any escape.
"I'm a perfectly sane old man, Antonio. Just get your ass down here an-"
"DEAR LORD IN SWEET HEAVEN WILL YOU SHUT UP I AM TRYING TO TAKE A GODDAMNED SIESTA IS THAT SO DIFFICULT. ANTONIO GET YOUR ASS DOWN THERE AND GO WITH LOVINO." Feliciano's screeching voice carried through the house and entered Lovino's eardrums, causing him to wince. Man, you think we would learn he's cranky when he wakes up. Lovino thought. There was a loud thumping noise, followed by the sound of footsteps as Antonio finally moved. Lovino spotted his head peeking over the banister, then noticed the ear buds hanging out of his shirt.
"Yes, what is it? I am super sorry, I had my ear buds in."
Lovino glared at him, and slapped a hand against his forehead. "I can see that now. God you are going to make yourself deaf or something. Just, come with me to the market, okay? Do that much right,"
Antonio nodded, and quickly jumped down the staircase. Brushing off his shirt and ruffling his hair, he quickly walked over and opened the door.
"After you, Lovino!" He said, smiling. Lovino only rolled his eyes and pointed at Antonio's barefeet.
"Shoes moron," Lovino retorted, and quickly walked out the door, snickering as he heard the confused mumbles from Antonio as he looked for his footwear.
After walking the half-mile long trip they finally reached the market. As per the norm, market-life was bustling with activity, smells and sounds coming from every which way, vendors selling items varying from pencils to pasta, people mulling about chatting to their friends, and other activities. Coming to the market was one of Lovino's favorite times of the month, as there were so many things to see and they changed with each visit. Not to mention all the pretty women out shopping with his friends, which really was what Lovino loved the most. He enjoyed hearing the girly giggle escape from their lips as he winked at them, or threw out a cheesy pickup line. Of course, there was also the running away of angry jealous boyfriends, but he normally could sprint away and hide quick enough, and even that in itself was a thrill.
Taking a deep whiff of the market place smell, he tugged on Antonio's sleeve and forced him forward, as he too was taking in the sights of the place. Laughing, Antonio pulled Lovino to a stop, and held out his hand.
"Here, Lovino, hand me the list. I'll go get the things, and you can mull about and do whatever it is you need to do here. Okay? Meet back here in about an hour or so." Lovino, wide-eyed, quickly took out the crumpled paper list from his pocket and slammed it into Antonio's hand.
"Antonio, I don't think I say this enough, but you're the best," Lovino said as he whirled around to dash away. "Bye then! Make sure you get me my tomatoes, or else!"
Lovino leisurely walked through the crowd, giving his usual grins to the local women. Occasionally, he would go up to a particularly interesting woman and chat for a while, until he either became bored, or spotted another girl. When he became tired of talking, he walked over to his favorite spot in the market area, which was a small, secluded area in the far corner of the market. He usually sat on a bench that overlooked a small garden, and simply thought. Occasionally, on days where he just felt like shit, he would bring his sketch-book and doodle random objects or people. Of course, compared to his brother his sketches were always second-best, but he enjoyed to draw, and so he did.
As Lovino walked up to his bench he overheard an argument happening somewhere nearby. Interest peaked, he pricked up his ears and tried to find his way to the source of the sound. He found it when he turned a corner, and discovered a very large man clad in a blue hoodie roughly shoving a small, blonde girl in a pink, ripped dress into a wall. Standing there in shock, Lovino watched as the man threatened the girl and demanded that she give up her purse. The blonde squirmed and hit and bit, but the man was way too strong to have any of it. Snapping out of his daze, Lovino ran over to the man and grabbed him by the collar.
"Hey! Get off of her you asshole!" He commanded. However, he was simply met with a fist to his face. Staggering backwards, he lifted a hand to his face to discover blood dripping from his nose. He snarled at the man, and wiped his face. Charging towards the affronter, he gave a swift kick to the man's rear-end. But yet again, he was just pushed back. This time however, the man directed his attention to Lovino, obviously incredibly angry and ready to fight. Wiping his nose once again, Lovino fell into a fighting stance, lightly bouncing on his toes.
The affronter laughed, and pulled a small pocket knife from his jacket pocket. Waving it around, he said in a raspy voice, "You really wanna fight me, kid?"
Of course, now Lovino was scared shit-less, he had no desire to die. Thankfully, he was saved, as apparently the small girl wasn't so helpless as either men first thought. While her attacker's back was turned, she delivered a punch to the back of the man's spine, then quickly thrust the man's legs out from underneath him. The man fell to the floor with a resounding thud, and the girl lifted her and slammed it into the man's stomach, earning a grunt. Finishing her attack, she quickly dashed over to a very shocked Lovino and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the nearly crying assaulter.
Once they were a safe distance away, the two caught their breath. The girl smoothed out her dress, and frowned as she spotted the tears.
"Oh dear, brother will have a fit about this. Maybe I can sew it back together without him noticing? Hopefully, I don't want to have to explain what caused it." She mumbled to herself, with a voice as light as air. Lovino straightened his back as he stared at the girl who, even though she was just physically attacked, was simply worrying about her dress, which, come to think of it, was rather familiar. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together, he finally recognized the girl.
"Lili?" he asked tentatively. Upon hearing her name, Lili looked up from her dress, remembering that Lovino was there.
"Oh! Lovino is that you? Thank you so much for distracting that man, it gave me the perfect opportunity to defend myself."
Lovino stared at her in disbelief, then laughed so hard his sides began to hurt. "Where, how in the world can you do that! You knocked him flat on his ass. That was probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen."
Lili blushed, and shuffled her feet. "Well, my big brother taught me everything I know. He's always going on about how I should be able to protect myself, and that I should be a strong person and stuff. Of course, brother was right, and thankfully he's a wonderful teacher. He taught me lots of things, like how to shoot a gun, or if I meet a wild animal not to take it home unless I bring him home a friend!"
Lovino just sort of chuckled, then looked at Lili, really looked at her. The dress she was wearing really looked good on her, with the magenta colour nicely accenting the small, green ribbon in her hair. Walking over to her, Lovino took the bow in his fingers and gently rubbed the silky fabric. She's grown up rather well. He thought, smiling gently at her, and ruffling her hair, which was cut rather shortly compared to the pigtail-braids she always sported.
"L-Lovi? What are you...?" Lili stammered, turning her head to the side like a puppy. Lovino slowly backed away, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ah, sorry, Lili. You're just rather cute." He said, laughing lightly. Lili jumped back slightly, eyebrows raised.
"Really? Well, thank you Lovi. That's very kind of you to say," she said, giggling.
Gaining confidence, Lovino smirked and ran a hand through his hair. "You are quite welcome. Anything fo-"
"Lovi! There you are. It's been past the hour mark, I've been looking all over for you!" Lovino was interrupted randomly by Antonio practically jumping on him, almost causing him to collapse.
"What the- Tonio? What the fuck are you doing?" Lovino squeaked, swatting Antonio away. Antonio pouted, and shuffled his feet.
"Well, we agreed to meet up in an hour, and so I was waiting at the spot for you and you didn't turn up, so after a while I thought you were lost or hurt so I went and looked for you. "
Lovino sighed. "I was just talking to Lili here, as you can plainly see, I am absolutely fine. So, you can just go now. Yeah." Lovino finished, and started to shoo Antonio away. Unfortunately for Lovino, Antonio was oblivious to Lovino's plea, and turned his attention towards Lili, who was amusedly observing the conversation.
"Lili! Hi sorry, how are you? Wow, it's been awhile since we last talked." Antonio said, smiling and giving Lili a quick hug. Smiling, Lili gave a small curtsey.
"I am doing well, thanks to Lovino. He kind of just saved my life," she said, nodding towards a rather pleasantly surprised Lovino. Antonio blinked and looked between the two.
"Saved her life? Dios mio what happened? You two are okay right?" Antonio asked, looking Lovino up and down for injuries, then noticed his now-dried bloody nose. Quickly procuring a napkin from his pocket, he gingerly began to wipe the rest of the blood of Lovino's face, who backed up and took the napkin for himself.
"Yeah, we're more than fine. Some asshole had the gall to try to attack Lili in an alleyway," Lovino scowled at the ground, "the coward. Anyways. Lili pretty much got off Scott free, save for a tear in her dress and possible brother-interrogation. She gave the guy a good ass-whooping too."
Antonio turned to Lili, looking at her with concern. "Someone attacked you? Are you sure you're okay Lili?" Lili blinked, then checked herself from head to toe, lightly brushing over the tear in her dress, then nodding.
"Yup I am fine!" Smiling, she gave a small thumbs-up. Antonio gritted his teeth, and placed a hand on Lili's shoulder.
"Alright, if you're sure you're okay. Lovino and I need to go home now, are you by chance heading back now? If you want, we could walk you home." Antonio offered. Lili thought for a moment, then nodded.
"If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it, thank you."
"Alrighty! Shall we go home then?" Lovino said, gesturing towards the exit.
Lovino and Antonio walked away from the Beilschmidt house, waving goodbye to Lili as she stood in the doorway, smiling. The walk home from the market was simple and pleasant, with Lovino and Lili holding up most of the chit-chat, occasionally hearing interjections from Antonio, which was rather unlike him. Lovino figured he was just concerned for Lili, and let it slide.
"Lili has really grown up, hasn't she?" Lovino asked, yawning a bit Antonio mumbled a bit, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Lovino furrowed his eyebrows, and stared at Antonio. Scoffing, Lovino picked up the pace a bit, and started jogging towards the house. He heard Antonio chirp in surprise, then start to run towards him
"You started jogging away from me! Lovi I was thinking, that's not nice," Antonio pouted. Lovino smiled and rolled his eyes.
"There you are, thought I lost you for a second," Lovino said, ruffling Antonio's already mussy hair. Antonio frowned for a moment, but then shrugged and gave Lovino a small smile, that for some reason made Lovino's stomach flip over. Frowning and kneading his gut, he picked up the pace once more and ran into his house, leaving Antonio just as confused as he was.
( heeeey!Hello I'm here next chapter woohoo! So summer's here and I'm out of school so I will have loads of time to update and stuff. Got good things coming up. Lots more of Lovino and Antonio being loveydovy and stuff cause really there's not alot of that in there yet. There will be! After Lili and Lovi stop being little flirters. yup.
Reviews and comments and suggestions of any sort would be wonderful, thank you!)