A/N: Update! I'll try to keep writing at a steady pace, but I'm having a little home problems and it's stressing me out, and I don't want to write while I'm stressed because of stupid things. But! I will do my best! So, please enjoy~
Lines, shadows, edges, hues and saturations; all of it made no damn sense. Feliciano kept talking, and talking as if he was speaking another language. Who knows, maybe he was speaking another language: Art language. Lovino tried to understand what his younger brother was telling him, he really tried. But, it was annoying how Feliciano explained it to him as if he was a damn five year old. He could have told it to him plain and simple, maybe then Lovino would have actually understood some of the things Feliciano was telling him. In actuality, that was all just an excuse because Lovino didn't want to admit that he seriously sucked ass at painting.
"This is shitty. I hate painting and everyone who does it," Lovino said, ready to throw the paint brush down onto the newspaper that covered the area so they wouldn't stain the floor.
"Aw, let me see it." Feliciano walked over to his brother's side and stared at what looked like some sort of alien puking up dark colors.
"See! Even you think it's garbage!" he yelled, crossing his arms and glaring up at Feliciano.
"No I don't! It's good, I promise!"
"Then why are you staring at it like you just witnessed a two-headed cow give birth to a fucking square monkey?"
"Woah, you sure do have an imagination! Now all you have to do is put it on the paper," Feliciano smiled. He gently grabbed Lovino's hand with the brush in it and guided it along the paper. "Soft strokes."
"I can do it on my own… damn it," Lovino blushed, watching as Feliciano cheerfully went back to his own picture.
He continued to watch, unimpressed as Feliciano became one with the paintbrush. He painted rivers, mountains, the sunset; everything. He didn't even have to look at anything for reference, it was as if it was all in his mind. Lovino wasn't surprised, his younger brother had always been far better at artistic and creative things. And well, pretty much everything else, too. He looked back at his own painting and wanted to barf at how inhuman it looked. It was as if it was painted by a blind, alien baby that was having a seizure or something worse. The only thing he was really good at was coming up with random crap like that.
"Are you done showing off yet?" he asked, when Feliciano finally finished his masterpiece.
"I'm not showing off, I'm just happy you wanted to do an activity with me for once, besides cooking!" he said, standing up and observing his work.
"That's only because I had nothing better to do. I'd rather paint a crappy picture than sit and watch TV."
"I know, but I'm still happy to spend time with you. I feel like we've gone back to our childhood days," Feliciano said.
"If this were our childhood, you'd be crying your eyes out and then laughing like a dumb ass. Oh wait, you still do that even now," Lovino scoffed.
"Aw, Wovi! You're so mean," Feliciano teased, and wrapped his arms around his brother in a tight hug.
"You promised you wouldn't call me that anymore!" he yelled, trying to escape his brother's surprisingly strong grasp.
"But, it's cute! Just like us as kids."
"This is the last damn time I'm hanging out with you just because I'm bored!" Lovino finally managed to get out of Feliciano's clutches and walked into the living room, puffing his cheeks embarrassingly as he plopped down onto the couch.
It was barely even noon and now he had nothing to do. He wasn't hungry, so there was no reason to stuff his face with anything. It was Sunday, so their famous family-owned pizza parlor was closed. The stupid stock market was had been declining lately and checking it only pissed him off so he obviously wasn't going to do that. Browsing the television channels, internet, and listening to music all damn day was something Gilbert would do, not him. And well, being productive and creative with Feliciano obviously hadn't worked out the way he had planned it. There was zip, nada, nothing to do.
"Just like when we were kids, huh?" he said to himself, as he stared up at the ceiling.
If only it were just like when they were younger. They would run around all day with their friends and never get bored. He couldn't remember how that was possible, but everyday seemed fun even though he always had temper tantrums and cried almost as much as Feliciano. If he was given a day to be a child again, he would have taken the time to do so many things, he wouldn't have known where to start first.
"If you're bored, why don't you hang out with Tonio, Gilly, and Franny?" Feliciano asked.
"Last time I did that, I ended up with the worst fucking hangover the next morning and losing most of my memory. And stop calling them those childish nicknames, we stopped using them in middle school. Well, I did."
"But, I like using nicknames! It shows how close we all are. Besides, everyone calls me Feli and you Lovi."
"I'm beginning to think you have an unhealthy obsession with friendship and all that crap. It's pretty damn gross so I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about it in front of me," Lovino hissed.
"Why are you especially grouchy this morning? Is something wrong?" Feliciano walked over to the couch and plopped down next to his odd brother and began to cuddle him.
Lovino sighed. "I'm just bored as hell is all. I wish there were more fun things to do these days."
"Hm… you should go out on dates! That's always fun, and it makes you feel good inside to know someone's interested in you. Luddy and I go out on dates often," he smiled.
"Ugh, don't talk about that bastard to me. And, I don't need to do stupid, mushy shit like that to feel good about myself!" Lovino yelled. His brother was doing nothing but getting on his nerves now. Or, maybe he was just senselessly irritable.
"Then, you really should hang with-"
"Shut up! I don't feel like it, they just cause crap loads of trouble for me."
Suddenly, Lovino's cell phone began to ring. The ringtone told him who it was before he even answered it.
"Speak of the devil. What do you want now?"
"I'm not the devil, I'm Antonio, your friend! And, I wanted to know if you'd hang out with me today." Antonio sounded very cheerful on the other side of the line. But, he always sounded like that, until someone pissed him off. Still, you had to be the most hated and unlikable person in the world to piss someone like him off.
"The last time we did anything together, I puked my guts out all morning and spent the rest of the day in pain from a fucking hangover."
"But, that wasn't my fault. You should know your limits, and that was almost a week ago now! Please hang out with us?" Antonio pleaded.
"Who cares, I'm still pissed off about it! And what do you mean 'us'? I thought you were asking if I'd hang out with you."
"Oh, I mean Francis, Gilbert, and myself."
Hanging out with the other two dorks would be fine, but Gilbert would supposedly be there, too. That was a plus, so maybe he should - No. No, no, no. He had to stay angry at them! So what if he was bored? What happened last time still made him feel sick to his stomach whenever he thought about it. He probably even did something really stupid while he was drunk, so he was glad he didn't remember it. Still, he wasn't giving in that easily.
"Nope. You guys can get fucked up without me. Bye."
"Wait, Lovi! I'm sorry, please don't hang up! We're outside of your house already!"
"What the hell?" And sure enough, when Lovino got up from the couch to look out of his front window, Antonio waved at him excitedly from inside of his car with Francis sitting in the passenger seat.
"Hi Tonio! Hi Franny!" Feliciano called out, opening the front door. "Come in!"
"No, Feli! I already said I'm not in the mood to hang out with them, idiot!" Lovino yelled. He tried to slam the door but Feliciano skipped merrily outside and was already talking to the other two men.
Lovino growled and felt regretful already. He stomped outside to the sidewalk and glared at his two friends. For some reason, both of them were wearing sunglasses and tank tops. They also had on weirdly colorful shorts and sandals as if they were lifeguards or something.
"You guys look ridiculous. Why are you wearing that shit? Late summer job as swimming teachers for small children? You guys are sick," Lovino teased, his attitude and dark mood began to lighten from seeing them in that ridiculous state.
"No, and for your information, this is typical wear for swimming," Francis said, lowering his sunglasses.
"Are you two planning to go to the beach? Oh I want to go, too!" Feliciano exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly.
"That's too far, but we are planning to get wet!" Antonio said.
"That sounds wrong, but I like it. Yes, we'll be getting very wet." Francis smiled and leaned his seat back.
"And that's why I called you! I wanted to know if you'd like to come with us. Our 'Guys' Night' was alright, but it didn't go as well I thought it would. And I'm sorry about that, but I think we should hang out again! This time, there will be no women or other people to distract us from having fun with each other," Antonio preached.
"You still haven't said exactly what we'll be doing. And, where is Gilbert?" Lovino looked to the backseat many times as if the albino would magically appear there and be smiling up at him. But in reality, he wasn't there and they were the only two in the car. Never had Lovino been so disappointed.
"He said he'd meet us there. Oh, and he said if you're coming then you should try not to suck the fun out of everything. But, I'm sure he was only kidding," Antonio laughed to himself.
"Is that what the bastard said? Then I'll do just that!" Lovino angrily marched into the house and changed into his swimming trunks and wore a light T-shirt. He dug through his drawers and fished out his sunglasses and picked up his favorite beach towel. So Gilbert wanted to play jokes, huh? Then he'd show up and give that stupid albino just what he wanted. Better yet, he'd pretend to be so enthusiastic that Gilbert would wish he was having as much fun as Lovino. Yeah, that was the plan!
"I'm coming, too! Can Luddy join us? He needs a break from his daily routine!" Feliciano said. He had somehow gotten his things together even faster than Lovino did! He jumped into the car like an excited child and continued to chatter about useless things.
"Sure he can join us! The more the merrier," Antonio said, as he drove off from in front of the home.
"I didn't agree to that when I said I'd go," Lovino pouted.
"Don't worry, it'll be fun! I sent him a text just now and he says maybe. If we swing by his house, I can quickly convince him!" Feliciano chimed.
"God damn it…"
And so they did just that. After practically begging Ludwig on his front lawn to join them, Feliciano smiled when he finally agreed so that the neighbors would stop staring. He sighed and went into the house, returning outside in just a couple minutes to get into the car. Lovino pasted himself against the door so that he wouldn't have to touch or look at Ludwig while Antonio happily drove to wherever the hell he was taking them. So what if the guy was sitting on the opposite side with a grinning Feliciano in the middle, Lovino was clearly not in the mood to even be near him.
"This is your idea of fun?" Lovino asked, when they arrived at their destination.
They stood outside of the big waterpark that was located not far from the busy city. Lovino hadn't been their since he first entered high school so many years ago. It was a fun place but they were adults now, so why should they spend their day at a damn theme park with small children pissing in the water and rudely splashing at them? Well, that was a bit overdramatic but still!
"Yup! It's a cool environment, and it's not far at all! We can leisurely drive back home whenever we're ready without loathing a long distance," Antonio smiled, patting Lovino on the back.
"I love this place! Come on, Luddy, let's go buy our tickets to get in!" Feliciano practically dragged him to the booth.
"I didn't bring any fucking money, you never said where we were going," Lovino frowned scornfully towards the other two.
"Don't worry! I invited you, everything is my treat. I bought your ticket beforehand, and I'll buy your lunch if you wish." Antonio was especially kind, it made Lovino feel a little special inside.
"Yeah, you'd better," Lovino blushed and crossed his arms.
"Ah, Gilbert's here! And oh my, he's brought a friend," Francis said, waving towards the latecomer.
Lovino whirled around, obviously excited to finally see the one he had been waiting for. Sadly, that excitement turned into everlasting dread and misfortune when he saw who Gilbert was with.
"Hey guys! No need to worry, your awesome king is here. Liz decided she wanted to join us at the last minute, so I had to wait while she took forever to get ready," Gilbert said, gently nudging Elizaveta in her side.
"Well I would have been ready faster if I didn't have to search for my sunscreen in your pile of junk," she said, pouting her lips.
What the hell is she doing here? I thought this was another guy's trip, Lovino thought to himself. He never minded her hanging out with them before, but now was different for some reason. He'd known her since high school and felt that she was an alright person, he even welcomed her in their little group when she and Gilbert started dating a couple years before. However, he felt irritated beyond belief at this moment while listening to the couple chat. If she were someone like Ludwig, he wouldn't have hesitated even for a second to tell her to fuck off. But, he just couldn't. He had a terrible weakness for women, and couldn't find it in his heart to ever be cruel to one.
Lovino trudged behind as they all walked inside of the place once everyone had a ticket. It only now just occurred to him that their group was unbalanced. Feliciano stuck to Ludwig like glue, Francis happily chatted to Antonio about the sexy women and men inside of the place, and Gilbert was obviously going to stick with Elizaveta most of the time, whether he wanted to or not. That meant Lovino was the odd number.
"What am I even doing here?" he said to himself. He began to have doubts and figured he should just turn around and go home. He'd have to catch a bus or something, since he didn't drive there. Then everyone on the bus would stare at him and wonder why he was wearing stupid swim trunks and a shirt but wasn't even wet. But, who cares, leaving wasn't a bad idea since he was unwanted, anyway.
"Aren't you coming, Lovi?" Antonio asked, interrupting his thoughts. He pointed to the nearby pool which Ludwig and Feliciano had already gotten in. It seems Francis had went over to a couple of women who were sunbathing.
"Whatever." Lovino lazily walked over to where Feliciano had thrown his things on a lounging chair, and took his shirt off. He then walked over to the edge of the pool and sat there, only letting his legs get soaked in the cold water. It was uncomfortable at first, but it soon turned into bliss.
He watched as Feliciano swam around the shallow water and splashed at Ludwig, who pretended not to be enjoying it. Stupid couples, Lovino thought. They ruin everything for everyone else. What if someone were to come around and want to relax in the shallow end? They wouldn't be able to because his idiot brother was making such a commotion and wetting the whole damn place. The owners of the stupid park should make a small zone just for couples, so Lovino wouldn't have to watch anymore of this blasphemy.
He turned around and wondered where Gilbert had gone off to. He finally spotted him on one of the nearby lounging chairs near the pool. Lovino almost wished he hadn't spotted him at all, when he saw that Gilbert was busy rubbing sunscreen all over Elizaveta's legs and her back while she lied on her stomach. Lovino could see that Gilbert was saying something to her, as his mouth was moving. At least he didn't look like he was especially enjoying it, since his tongue wasn't hanging out and his eyes weren't boggled like a horny dog. But, of course, he didn't look like he was hating it, either.
"Idiot, you're so whipped and you don't even know it." Lovino shook his head and chuckled to himself, thinking of Gilbert as a servant boy. He turned back around and stared into the glistening water. He suddenly felt as if he was drowning ever so slowly. Of course, his lungs were working and he felt the oxygen flowing inside of his body, but his heart felt like it was filled with tainted water. Right about now, he hated life and everything about it.
"What's wrong, Lovi? Afraid to get a little wet?" Francis said. When had he appeared? Lovino didn't know, nor did he care.
"Yeah, Lovi. You should join us! The water feels great," Antonio said, floating on his back.
"Don't feel like it, now get the fuck out of my face," Lovino said. But, there wasn't any of that usual anger in his tone, just depression.
"Don't be a sour puss," Francis smirked, and splashed some of the water in Lovino's face.
"Bastard! I said I didn't feel like it!" he yelled, trying to resist the urge to grab the Frenchie and hold him under the water until the bubbles stopped coming up.
"We just want you to have fun. I don't like seeing you sad, especially since we're all supposed to be enjoying ourselves. But, if one person isn't, then how is everyone else supposed to?" Antonio said, leaning against the side of the pool next to Lovino's dangling legs.
Lovino thought about saying that they all seemed to be having one hell of a time without him, but he didn't want to be a total asshole and ruin the little trip, especially since Antonio looked worried for him. That guy had been so excited to take him there, so why should Lovino ruin it for him? Even now, Antonio was cheerfully smiling up at him, and he just couldn't betray that happiness.
"I'm fine, I just… need to get used to the water. It's cold as hell, and if I get in all at once I'll shiver to death," Lovino said, making up the first thing he could think of.
"Oh, that's understandable. How about you go down the blue waterslide with us?" Francis suggested, pointing to the smallest of the slides there.
"Actually, I'm just going to lie down for awhile, I don't feel well. You two should go, I might catch up soon."
"Well, alright. I hope you feel better! We'll be here for hours so take your time," Antonio smiled and headed towards the waterslide that was practically on the other side of the park with Francis.
Lovino sighed with relief that his excuse had actually worked. He stood up from the edge of the pool and walked over to a nearby lounge chair, then lied on his stomach. The sun on his skin felt better than the water, so he closed his eyes and went into another deep thought for a couple minutes. His eyes shot open when a shadow appeared over his body.
"What are ya doing out here? The water is over there."
Lovino looked up at this rude intruder and almost jumped from the chair when he saw it was Gilbert. He would've recognized the voice but he must have been really out of it. At first he felt a small flutter in his stomach, and then it was overcome with anger.
"What do you want, bastard? I'm trying to tan, and you're blocking the sun so move."
"What bit you in the ass? I'm just wondering why you're - Wait a minute, you're already tan!" Gilbert laughed obnoxiously, then unexpectedly pulled Lovino up from the chair.
"Let go of me, damn it!"
"Hey! You guys should join us, the water feels so nice!" Feliciano called out from the side of the pool.
"We will, I just had to grab Mr. Grouchy here," Gilbert said.
"Fine! If you want me to get in so badly, I will!" Lovino snatched his hand away from Gilbert's weak grasp and walked over to the unused pile of floaties. He picked up one of the long ones used to lie on, and dumped it into the pool. Making sure he wouldn't touch the water, Lovino carefully climbed onto it and relaxed as it floated on top of the cool water.
"That's not exactly getting into the water…" Ludwig said.
"Do I look like I give a shit? Now go back to your little splashing, kids," Lovino snorted, then rested his hands behind his head.
"Hey guys! Look! I'm going to jump off of the high board!" Feliciano exclaimed. He climbed out of the pool and made his way up the ladder.
"Do it! Do it!" Gilbert cheered, edging him on.
"Don't encourage him! I don't think that's a good idea, Feli. You're clumsy and you just may get hurt," Ludwig said. Feliciano seemed to have ignored every word of it.
"Look, brother!"
"Yeah, yeah. That's cool," Lovino said, but he didn't even once look up.
Feliciano yelled excitedly and jumped off of the high board. Gilbert watched intently with a mischievous grin on his face and Ludwig closed his eyes. They heard a loud splat, as Feliciano landed flat on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Ludwig hurriedly carried him out of the water to see if he was alright, but he was too much in a daze to answer back.
"I'll take him to the infirmary," Ludwig sighed, then walked off with the idiot in his arms.
"Man, that was pretty awesome! But, I would have perfected the landing," Gilbert said, swimming over to Lovino's floaty.
Lovino stayed silent and continued to enjoy the bright sunlight on his skin.
"Geez, do you even care about your brother?" Gilbert asked.
"That's a stupid question. Besides, the dumb ass got what he deserved, doing something so idiotic," Lovino snorted.
Suddenly, Lovino found himself being flipped over and crashing into the cold water. The coldness instantly stung his warm, dry skin and he quickly lifted his back up to the surface, his teeth shivering. All the while, Gilbert was laughing obnoxiously, tearing at the eyes and holding his stomach.
"W-What the f-fuck was that for! J-Jerk!" Lovino stuttered, still shivering. Right now he wished Gilbert didn't know how to swim. That would have been an easy murder target to get out the rage he felt at that moment.
"And now you just got what you deserved!"
Lovino puffed his cheeks and angrily glared at Gilbert. But, even he had to admit that was pretty funny. And now, he actually felt as if he was having fun. A smile started to break the scowl on his face and he turned around the try and hide it. Damn him, for always managing to make me smile when I don't want to!
"Aw, don't be mad!" Gilbert said, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Lovino's waist.
"What the hell a-are you doing?" A deep blush filled Lovino's face when he felt Gilbert's bare chest against his back.
"What's it look like? I'm hugging you."
As much as he wanted this feeling to last, it just didn't seem exactly right. He hesitantly unraveled himself from Gilbert's clutches and moved at least a foot away from him.
"What a shame. You used to like my hugs," Gilbert pouted.
"I was 12 years old, dumb ass! And you were like, 13! I used to look up to you, that's all." Lovino's face somehow grew even more red when he realized he had just admitted to idolizing Gilbert when they were young teenagers. He always found the outgoing older kid to be so intriguing, and he was glad whenever Antonio brought him around, because that meant he'd be able to hang out with Gilbert, too.
"Yeah, but still! I shouldn't stop giving out my awesomeness just because I'm older."
Lovino couldn't help but laugh at that. "You sound so stupid," he said, splashing water in Gilbert's face.
They proceeded to have a playful water fight, and Lovino figured that maybe it was a good idea to have come there. It was much more fun than the last time they all hung out, and no one was getting drunk! That was definitely the plus side. Nothing could possibly ruin his mood right now.
"Gilbert! You should've gotten on that wicked waterslide that Francis made me go down with him on. Though, I was pretty sure we didn't have to hold onto each other like he said… oh well." Elizaveta appeared out of nowhere and interrupted their little splash-tastic fun.
"Oh, I plan to get on it! I just wanted to see what everyone else was up to first," Gilbert said, splashing her with the water.
"Hey, hey, cut it out!" she giggled. "Where's Feli and Ludwig?"
"The idiot got hurt and the bastard took him to get fixed," Lovino grumbled.
Well, there goes his fun. Now Gilbert will go back to giving all of his attention to the woman instead of him. And he could definitely see why. The way she filled out that bikini was unbelievable, and even Lovino couldn't help but stare. It looked as if she got the top a size too small, because he was sure her breasts weren't supposed to be that visible. Who knows, maybe she did it on purpose because she liked the way it looked. It was way too sexy to ignore and he could feel his trunks getting a little tighter. He quickly looked away to avoid any mishaps. Damn her for being so attractive, and damn her even more for being one of his weaknesses.
"I'm starved, and Antonio said we should get something to eat," she said.
"Hell yeah! I'm so damn hungry, what about you, Lovi?" Gilbert asked, turning back to face Lovino.
Lovino couldn't lie, his stomach was growling and it was obviously lunch time. But, once they'd eat, then they would have to wait a while before swimming again! And he had only just began to have fun with Gilbert.
"Well, of course I'm starving…"
"Let's go, then!" Gilbert quickly followed Elizaveta out of the pool and began to walk towards the eating area. Lovino could already smell the delicious food being cooked in the back and didn't care what it was, he was going to order just about everything on the menu. But, then he remembered Antonio was paying for his meal, so maybe he should consider ordering something simple. Oh what the hell, Antonio's got lots of money, surely he could pay for it!
As they neared the area, Lovino looked up at the biggest waterslide of the entire waterpark. It looked dangerously scary, but he felt like he needed to try it at least once. Out of the dozens of times they came there as kids and teens, not once had he successfully went down it without chickening out. He was an adult now, so this would be a good chance. Still, he needed company.
"Hey, Gilbert?" he said, grabbing Gilbert by the arm.
"Yeah?"
"Let's go down that one," Lovino shyly suggested, pointing up at the slide.
"Can't we do it after we eat? I feel like my stomach is going to eat itself!"
"But, then we'd have to wait like, 45 minutes to an hour or something! I want to do it now before… before I change my mind," Lovino said. There was no way he'd let Gilbert find out he was scared to do it.
"That stupid rule is fake… but, whatever. I haven't went down any slides, either. Lizzy, we'll be right back," Gilbert said, and grabbed Lovino by the hand as he began running to the entrance of the devilish slide.
Going down that slide was easier said than done. When they finally reached the top, Lovino felt like he was on top of the world. He didn't dare look down to see how high they were. It's a good thing nothing was in his stomach or he would have puked, no doubt about it. Finally, it was their turn. Lovino looked down the slide and couldn't figure out if it was too late to go back.
"Well? Sit down already," Gilbert said, when Lovino wouldn't move.
Lovino took one big gulp and sat down on the big circle floaty, Gilbert sat behind him.
"Maybe you should sit in the front," Lovino said at the last second.
"But, the shorter person always has to sit in the front."
"I'm only shorter by a few inches! Let's fucking switch!" Lovino began to yell hysterically and tried to stand up but he couldn't, it was far too slippery; and the nice man in charge of that slide was patiently waiting for them to say that they were ready.
"Are you seriously that scared, Lovino?" Gilbert asked. When he didn't get a response, he knew the answer.
"Well, don't be! Nothing bad will happen. See, I'll even hold onto you," he suggested, and snuggly wrapped his arms around Lovino's waist. "Do you feel safer now?"
Lovino blushed and slightly nodded. "Whatever… let's just get it over with."
He tightly shut his eyes as they flew down the slide. The only thing he took notice of was Gilbert's excited yelling from behind. Before he knew it, it was over and they were floating in the small pool of water below.
"That was awesome! Right? Right?" Gilbert laughed, as he helped Lovino stand up.
"Again… let's go again!" Lovino was surprisingly excited for some reason. Amazed by this sudden change of heart, Gilbert agreed.
"Yeah, let's!"
After going down the slide three more times, they succumbed to their hunger and returned to the table, laughing together. It seems Feliciano was alright again, since he and Ludwig were happily eating their lunch along with Antonio, Francis, and Elizaveta.
"Finally you guys show up. I was beginning to think you drowned," Francis said.
"Ah, sorry. We were having awesome fun on waterslides, you wouldn't understand," Gilbert chuckled, then sat down next to his girlfriend.
"I ordered your favorite, since you weren't here. You do still like this, right?" Elizaveta asked, handing Gilbert a big, delicious and spicy sausage on a bun with a glass of beer on the side.
"Yup, thanks!" he said, immediately chowing down on the food.
That's not right. When Gilbert ate sausages by themselves, he didn't use any condiments. But, when it was on a bun, he used either mustard, ketchup, or any type of sauce. The one she handed him didn't have sauce on it, which meant he was only pretending to enjoy it to the fullest. Lovino thought about this fact to himself as he stood in line to order his own food with the money Antonio gave to him. He probably didn't want to upset her for getting it wrong, or maybe he was just too starving to care. Either way, Lovino couldn't help but think about it since he knew everything that Gilbert liked. On the way back after he got his food, he brought a small bottle of mustard to the table and sat it in the middle. Gilbert stared at it for a few seconds before grabbing it and applying the yellow paste to the remainder of his food. He gave Lovino a wink as if he knew what he had been thinking.
"I somehow only managed to seduce two women so far today," Francis sighed, as lazily drank his ice tea. Something must have been wrong with the people here, if they didn't accept his love.
"Maybe it was your speedos that turned them off?" Gilbert said. Everyone began to laugh as Francis frowned.
"I don't know, the people he tried talking to were way out of his league," Antonio said.
"Oh? And what do you know about league, Mr. I'm Too Innocent And Oblivious To Know Anything About 'Game'?" Francis teased.
"He doesn't have to know anything. One thing for sure is that you should try actually getting to know people instead of throwing crappy pick-up lines and jumping straight to topics about sex," Elizaveta suggested. And she was completely right.
"A formal greeting is most important. I have not read many books about successful relationships but it is surely important that you stay formal," Ludwig said. His advice was pretty much ignored.
"And maybe it'd help if you weren't such a perverted bastard," Lovino added.
"Also, you kind of touch people too much. I mean, I touch people, too, but not in uncomfortable places!" Feliciano said.
"Geez, what is this? The national day to bash Francis? I thought we were all lovely friends!" Francis pouted and completely stopped listening to their advice.
"Look, Francis. It's easy, you've got it in you so just go after what you like. Like that chick," Gilbert said, gesturing to a woman that walked by. "You said you like people with a nice ass, right? Well, there ya go."
"You were looking at her ass?" Elizaveta asked. Everyone could've sworn they heard the devil in her voice.
"I-I wasn't! I was just pointing her out to Francis, right?" he tried to cover up his idiotic mistake but Francis only looked away and continued to sip his tea. And sweet revenge that was.
Everyone watched, amused as Elizaveta proceeded to chew Gilbert out. He was helpless, it was almost pitiful. After they finished their meals, Ludwig made sure they all waited the exact time before they would be able to swim again. Lovino had to force Gilbert to get on more of the cool slides with him because he was still slumped at being yelled at. After a while, he finally perked up and they were glad to have fun until sunset. After they all said their goodbyes, Lovino was already starting to miss Gilbert's company.
A couple days went by, and Lovino still wanted to feel like a kid again. Their time at the waterpark was unbelievably fun and childish, he couldn't wait to do it again. But, it was back to being bored and doing random things to pass the time. He thought he heard the doorbell ring, but whatever; Feliciano was inside of the house so he could answer it.
"Oh, hey Gilbert!" Feliciano said, when he opened the door.
"Hey, Feli," Gilbert smiled brightly and rubbed Feliciano on the head like a kid. "Where's the grouchy bear?"
"He's outside, in the back," he pointed towards the entrance to the backyard.
Gilbert shrugged and walked through the house until he came to their backyard. The grass was so green it was almost unreal, and their garden was perfect. The Italian's home wasn't super fancy like the one that Francis lived in, and it wasn't big and surrounded by wasteland like Antonio's, but it was homey. It made anyone feel welcome and even now as he stood in the backyard, Gilbert still felt cozy. As he looked around, though, Lovino was no where in sight. He looked up at the big treehouse and concluded he must have been in there.
"Lovi, you up there?" he called out.
"No, and please don't leave a message after the tone."
"Funny. I'll just have to visit you in person, then." Gilbert quickly climbed up the old rope ladder that led up to the entrance. Lovino didn't stop him from coming inside, so he lifted himself up and climbed in.
"What did you want? I'm busy," Lovino said, not even looking towards Gilbert.
"Oh really? What could you possibly be busy doing?"
"Reading."
"So you're reading a bag of chips and an empty bottle of fruit juice?"
Lovino looked down at the bag of chips he was enjoying and the empty bottle. Okay, so he wasn't reading but he was deep in thought! That counts, sort of. Either way, he didn't feel like being bothered at the moment.
"Well maybe I am! It's rude to disturb people," he blushed, and went back to eating the chips.
"I guess I'll just read some chips then, too." Gilbert smirked and comfortably took a seat next to Lovino. He helped himself to some of the chips without Lovino's objection and they sat in silence for a while.
Looking around the little treehouse, Gilbert was surprised to see it hadn't changed at all. He remembered when they first built it in middle school. The four of them set their minds to it and were unstoppable once they had started. It took all summer but the rewards were very satisfying. They even only had five injuries in the process of building it, that was a good thing considering all of the close calls they had.
"Why is it so clean?" Gilbert asked suddenly.
"I always put a big tarp over it when it's about to rain, and I fixed the windows so that nothing gets in. I also sprayed it with strong repellent so none of the insects or animals come screwing with it. I just have to respray every six months" Lovino answered.
Gilbert gasped and nodded in approval. "Wow, you take such good care of it even though we don't even use it anymore."
"That's not true, I use it! See, I'm in here right now. I sometimes come up here when I need peace and quiet. But, you ruined that for me today," he growled.
"As if. If anything, I made it better! Now you're not alone and we can reminisce about the old times we had in here."
Gilbert looked around again at all of the posters and funny pictures they drew when they were younger, which still hung proudly on the wall as if they were drawn yesterday. Even the old beanbag chairs were perfectly clean and still had the little marks from when they tried to draw each other's faces on them. He smiled when he saw the little voodoo doll they had once tried to make, and the dynamite they wanted to construct, which obviously never even made it past step one.
"Haha, remember that time we-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. I remember that time, even if I don't want to," Lovino answered, cutting him off.
"How do you even know what I was going to say?"
"You were going to remind me of the time neither of us had dates to that stupid dance at the end of middle school. So then we ended up staying here in the treehouse and ranting about all of the bastards we hated at school. And… then we had our own little dance, just the two of us."
"Wow, you know me too well," Gilbert chuckled. "And, I had a date! I was just too awesome to ask them out so they went with someone else."
"Sure you did. And, I'm still mad at you!" Lovino said, his face turning red with embarrassment.
"For what?"
"For… stealing my first kiss that night, bastard! It was clearly reserved for someone else," he said, trying to hide his face.
"It's not my fault! Well, it is but, still. I thought it was only logical to kiss someone at a dance. Even if that dance was in your friend's backyard. But, you should feel lucky to have had me as your first kiss. I was also Liz's first kiss, though she won't admit it," Gilbert smirked and felt accomplished as he leaned his head on Lovino's shoulder.
"You don't just fucking kiss random people for enjoyment… who was your first kiss?"
"Francis. That bastard caught me off guard."
"Ewww, your lips are forever tainted!" Lovino teased and shook his head in disgust.
"Hey don't rub it in! You know how he is. Besides, if my awesome lips are tainted then that means I spread it to you, too."
"Damn you, sneaky bastard. If there's ever a zombie apocalypse, it's all your fault. I don't even want to imagine how many people that perv has tainted with his lips," Lovino shuddered at the mere thought.
"Well then, don't think on it. Instead, let's get out of here. Antonio is trying to gather us for another group outing and this time it's just a simple movie at the theater. I'm glad though, because that's how I like to hang with you guys: casually, plain and simple." Gilbert stood up carefully so he wouldn't hit his head on the ceiling and exited the old treehouse with Lovino following close behind.
Lovino smiled to himself, feeling a little better after chatting with Gilbert. Even though things were different from before, friends never change.
"I'll go, as long as you guys don't treat it like old times and throw popcorn at the fucking screen."
A/N: I imagine Lovino being the owner of their city's most famous pizza parlor. It's a family business and whatnot. He's also a stock broker, I don't know why I just thought that was interesting... Feliciano will be a worldclass painter!