Some time later, it was a hoarse-throated Antonio who collapsed back on the soft folds of the bed once his recount of the night was complete, exhausted even though he'd just had a full night's sleep. He'd left out a lot of detail while telling his story, yet it still had taken quite a while to complete, mainly due to Feliciano's continuous interrupting. Antonio couldn't blame him, though. Poor Feli had to sit there listening to Antonio talking about his lost family, the family he couldn't ever see again, and so was trying to get every detail he could in order to feel closer to those he once had. Especially when Antonio said that he'd met Romulus. Feli had known nothing of his grandfather since his death several years earlier, and Antonio knew it must be so painful to hear about someone else meeting someone you'd never see again. He wished he could do something about it.
After Antonio finally finished, the room was unnaturally silent. No one was quite sure what to say; for it to be over almost as soon as it had began, to them at least, seemed a bit anti-climatic.
"Ve~," Feliciano beamed, finally breaking the silence. "I'm so glad everything's ok now. This was all so sad and confusing."
Ludwig cleared his throat awkwardly, his expression forming its familiar serious stance. "Well, perhaps not everything."
There was a short growl from Gilbert, who was hanging upside down off the bed for one of his ever-inexplicable reasons. "Give it a break, West. We can sort out whatever's got a stick up your ass at a later date. Gott, can't you just let everyone be happy for a bit? At least let Feli get a couple letters from his brother before you complain."
"Gilbert..." Ludwig frowned.
"What? Seriously, just think for a sec that this has been a real trial for Toni and Feli. Give 'em a break for a bit, huh?" Gilbert shrugged and gave his brother an upside-down glance, for once not looking arrogant or sarcastic.
Francis laughed quietly. "Gilbert, this is unusual for you, non? Playing the conscientious, empathic friend? Mais, you are quite right. To let everything settle down for a week or so is the best idea. Then we can address Ludwig's concern, whatever it may be. I am assuming that it is not urgent?" The Frenchman turned to Ludwig, one eyebrow raised with his question.
"It's not that urgent," Ludwig hummed thoughtfully. "But it really ought to be addressed sooner rather than later. For the moment, we just need to make sure Antonio is alright, and that he doesn't revert back to his behaviour of a week ago now that this seems to be sorted."
It's not completely sorted, Antonio thought. I'm still not entirely sure Lovi's ok with everything. I mean, I'm glad he's happy, but he's good at holding grudges, and there's probably some part of him that still resents me. I'll have to ask Feli about it later. Some time when Gilbert, Francis and Ludwig aren't around. Out loud, he said. "Don't worry, Ludwig. I'll be fine. I realise now that what I was doing then wasn't...uh...entirely healthy."
"Oh, oh, Toni!" Feliciano interrupted before Ludwig could reply. "Can you send letters to nonno too? I really miss him and it's not fair that only fratello gets letters. Although I wish I could go with you and see them. Fratello's world sounds so pretty, and you can't hug someone through letters." Feliciano's face fell. "Aw, I want a fratello-hug now. And a nonno-hug." Tears started to well up again in his wide golden eyes and his bottom lip quivered dangerously.
"Aw, no, Feli, don't cry!" Antonio leapt up and wrapped his arms around Feliciano in an attempt to cheer up the saddened boy. It was far from the first time that Feliciano had been sad that morning, but Antonio still hated seeing his friend that way. "You can have an Antonio-hug instead. I know it's not the same, but I hugged Lovi earlier so it's kinda like you got a Lovi-hug. Please don't be sad, Feli. Smile!"
Feliciano sniffed, blinking back his tears and returning Antonio's hug. "Ve~. I'm not sad, Toni. I'm happy that everyone's made up with each other now. I just miss fratello and nonno."
Francis smiled sympathetically. "That's normal, Feli. Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, and you'll always see them once you die," Gilbert pointed out, complete with his usual tact.
"Gilbert!" the other three berated in unison.
"What?" Gilbert grinned, his face blank but his eyes mischievous. "It's true."
Ludwig sighed. "I could lecture you for hours on the many ways in what you just said was inappropriate, but you would neither listen nor care. When are you ever going to learn, Gilbert?" he questioned exasperatedly to himself. "Well, if that is everything, then I suggest that we go downstairs and have some breakfast, if Antonio doesn't mind our intrusive presence further."
"Lud, it's fine!" Antonio said cheerfully, glad he was regaining his characteristic good humour despite his ordeal and tiredness. "You guys have been so great to me these past couple days – it's more than my pleasure to have you over."
"Excellent!" Francis smiled. "Let us go cook a delicious breakfast to celebrate that everyone is happy once again." And with that, he pulled himself to his feet and started for the door, a hungry-looking and tousle-haired Gilbert hot on his heels.
Antonio laughed to himself as he slowly followed the others downstairs, leaning on the walls to protect his still-throbbing ankle. Yes, Francis was right in principle, but there were still parts of people that would be far from happy for a while yet. But Antonio was determined to stick by both Vargas brothers through this, as he had been from the start. And, for the moment, breakfast sounded like a good idea. Now he was properly awake, his stomach had decided that it was emptier than a student's bank account and was complaining loudly. Perhaps he'd go make some churros. Churros sounded nice about now.
XxxxX
The familiar but disorienting feeling of waking up in heaven was once again a happy one as Antonio opened his eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on his face and the lush grass beneath his hands.
Lovino wasn't in sight, which was unusual, but Antonio guessed that he just didn't know when to expect Antonio, and hence was doing something elsewhere. In which case, Antonio should probably start looking for him. Even after coming here for nearly six weeks, Antonio still wasn't sure if Lovino could detect his presence here or not. Sometimes it seemed like he could, yet other times he was completely oblivious to Antonio being here until Antonio went looking, which admittedly hadn't been often.
Antonio picked himself off the ground and began walking in no particular direction, appreciating the summer-like weather as a beautiful contrast to the chill of spring that was still hanging around at home. As he looked around, it was almost impossible to tell that the world had been a wasteland just a day before. Birds chirped once again in the tall trees, the shape of the town was just visible some distance away, and winds ruffled the fields of grass like a parent proudly tousling their child's hair. Only the cracks along the base of the tree, and the light scattering of dust that lay beneath the grass on close inspection betrayed the fact that not everything was quite healed yet.
But before he'd gone ten paces, an invisible obstacle stole his feet from under him and Antonio fell hard to the ground, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. Groaning, he picked himself up again, and glanced back to see what had tripped him. To his surprise, there was nothing there save the grass, which was as harmless as a cloud. Whatever had tripped him had either been his own feet, which was unlikely, or had disappeared completely.
It was then when he heard stifled laughter coming from behind the tree and he turned back, suspecting instantly who it was and what had just happened.
"Lovi?" Antonio asked curiously, unable to keep from grinning despite the slight pain and humiliation he'd just encountered.
Proving his guess correct, Lovino appeared from behind the tree, face lit with an amused and mischievous grin. Antonio immediately ran over and enveloped him in a delighted hug, but the Italian was too busy laughing to bother returning the embrace.
"Aw, Lovi, that was mean!" Antonio complained once he'd let Lovino go, but there was no heart to the complaint.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lovino spluttered. "That was fucking hilarious. You were all like, 'where's the ground gone?' and then hit the floor with your face." He mimed tripping over and burst out laughing again.
A scowl briefly tried to cross Antonio's face, but the smile that was already present quickly fought it off without the slightest bit of trouble. It was rather easy to see the funny side, after all, and Antonio found it impossible to stay mad at Lovino.
He was glad Lovino was laughing, though. For a brief second he thought the trick had risen out of malice, and that Lovino was still mad at him, but now it was clear that it had just been a joke. A slightly humiliating joke, perhaps, but a joke nonetheless. Hopefully that was as bad as revenge plans would get, but Antonio didn't want to bring that question up, just in case Lovino had forgotten and the reminder would help him invent something much worse. Antonio was fine with going along with such plans if they were to arise, but he would prefer them not to if he had the choice.
XxxxX
Several hours later, it was a tired and dazed Antonio who raised a hand to his face in exhaustion and left a dirty smear where a line of sweat had previously been. As it had turned out, Lovino's revenge plan's, due to the lazy Italian's lack of imagination, mostly consisted of being his personal slave for some time. Antonio had cleaned the house, which had somehow gone from spotless to dirty in about ten seconds, run countless little errands, and harvested all the tomatoes from the field. This latter task had taken the majority of the time, mainly due to the fact that the tomatoes kept growing back while his back was turned and it took him two and a half rounds of the field before he noticed anything was unusual. Lovino, meanwhile, watching from the hillock nearby, was in hysterics at Antonio's obliviousness.
"They were growing by themselves, damn it! Surely after even one pass you'd have noticed!"
Antonio let out a long breath, and quietly watched Lovino laugh, enjoying the look on his face even though Antonio knew it was at his expense. Outwardly, Antonio was untroubled, but in the back of his mind he was wondering how long this was going to last. Probably until Lovino got bored of the novelty of having a personal servant, but Antonio didn't know how long that would be. He didn't want to complain, as Lovino would get mad, and Antonio had promised anything to him, but endless chores were getting a bit dull. But, if he mentioned this to Lovino, there was always the chance that he'd invent something much more painful or humiliation instead, so Antonio kept his thoughts to himself.
Finally out of breath from laughing, Lovino leant back against the grass, using his hands as a pillow and closed his eyes. "Get me a drink, would you? That's your next task."
Antonio paused for a second, running a hand through his damp, tousled hair as he caught his breath. "Wait...can't you just get one yourself? Make them appear out of nowhere. I swear you did the other day."
Lovino sniggered. "And it only took you about four hours to cotton on. You're not as dumb as you look. Mind you, that's not hard."
"Hey!" Antonio protested. He'd spent ages working his fingers to the bone – why did he have to be insulted too?
"What?" Lovino shrugged and sat up, fixing Antonio with a curious look. "I'm surprised at you, though. Thought you'd have at least complained once by now, the amount I've had you doing. What's wrong with you?"
Antonio, reckoning the work was over for the moment and hoping for a change, pulled off the gardening gloves he'd been using and dropped to the grass next to Lovino. "Why were you expecting me to complain? You could have me doing this for days, and the most I'd ask is for a short break every so often, no matter what happened. I did say that I'd do anything for things to be right, remember? And I'm pretty sure this qualifies as anything."
"Yeah, but if I'd have said that, I'd have been complaining all the way through until you let me off just to get me to stop," Lovino pointed out. "Surprised you didn't try that."
Antonio shook his head. "No. If you told me to do something, Lovi, I'd do it. No matter what it was. Even walking barefoot across spikes to hell and back."
Lovino snorted. "Good luck with that. Hell's a fucking long way from here, what with it being all opposite. And since I don't even know how to get to your world from here, let alone hell, you'd have to do it without a map."
"I'd still do it, if that's what it took," Antonio murmured, slipping an arm around Lovino's shoulders. The Italian jumped slightly at the touch, but after a second leaned back against Antonio, closing his eyes slightly as he looked up at the sky.
"You're an idiot then," he replied quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, Antonio could see the faintest red tinge coating the younger's cheeks.
He smiled and pulled Lovino closer. "Well, if loving you makes me an idiot, well, I guess I'm just the world's biggest idiot. And glad to be so."
Lovino visibly twitched again, but didn't recoil; just buried his face in Antonio's shoulder while muttering something inaudible. Antonio gently kissed the top of his head and let Lovino try futilely hiding, being content just to sit there and appreciate everything. Lovino was so cute when he was embarrassed.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Lovino asked, somewhat muffled by Antonio's shirt. Antonio knew full well that it was a rhetorical question, but he decided to answer anyway, and taking the question the opposite way to how Lovino intended it for good measure.
"Be you. That's all you ever needed to be," he smiled, tangling his fingers in Lovino's hair. Lovino just groaned and didn't move, but Antonio could tell he wasn't really annoyed. Even he could read emotions in here, but that was because the world reflected Lovino's in a way that was more than obvious. And right now, the world just radiated happiness and contentment, even if Lovino himself didn't want to outwardly show that.
Antonio transferred his hand to the edge of Lovino's shoulder and tipped himself backwards so he was lying flat on the soft grass. The hapless Italian tumbled back against him with a surprised yelp escaping his lips and eyes suddenly wide open.
"Bastard," Lovino complained. "Give me a bit of warning before you do crazy shit like that, damn it! I thought I was falling."
Antonio pulled the other back to their previous closeness and laughed. "Boss will catch you, Lovi. Don't worry~."
Lovino muttered a curse in Italian, but didn't seem over-annoyed, and shifted himself slightly so that his head was resting against Antonio's chest, rising and falling with each of the Spaniard's gentle breaths. The two, comfortable with their new positions, rested together in silence. Antonio was more than glad of the break, and couldn't be happier with where he was now; relaxing quietly in the warm sunlight with his precious Lovino snuggled up against him. He was so glad that everything was alright now.
"Oi, jerk," Lovino muttered a few minutes later, pulling Antonio out of his dozy reverie. His voice was slightly subdued, as if he was tired, or had a cold.
"What's up, Lovi?" Antonio asked, gently stroking Lovino's side with the hand that was still wrapped around it.
"Got another job for you," Lovino replied.
This revelation was much to Antonio's disappointment. He'd rather hoped that Lovino had forgotten, or at least put off, his plans for Antonio. But he'd promised, and wouldn't back out if his life depended on it. "What's the job?"
"This is...your last job," Lovino murmured, with a pause in his sentence that Antonio realised was an adorable yawn. "After this, I can't be bothered to make up stuff for you to do. So now, you're a pillow. I'm taking a damn siesta." Lovino nestled up ever-so-slightly closer, and wrapped an arm around Antonio's waist, closing his eyes as he did so.
If Lovino hadn't been comfortable and about to fall asleep, Antonio would have swept him up and rubbed his face against his own, he was so cute at that moment. The moments in which Lovino showed affection were few and far between, and Antonio dearly loved each one of them with a passion. But for the moment, he had to make do with a contented hum. "...I can do that, Lovi~. Let's take a siesta together."
Lovino didn't reply, but Antonio noticed a deepening in his breathing after a minute or so, and realised the younger boy had fallen asleep. He gently traced a finger down the soft skin of Lovino's face, careful not to disturb him, then leant his head back once more and closed his own eyes. The quiet calm and the gentle music of the whistling wind quickly lulled him into the same peaceful trance that had captured Lovino, and Antonio soon found himself falling to sleep as well.
This is what happens when I completely redecide the ending for a story halfway through it. I get up to a point, and I'm like, 'how the hell do I finish this?' At the moment, it's going one of two ways. Not quite sure which yet. It's been hard to finish this as I'm rubbish at decisions. But it WILL be finished.
Anyways, my apologies that this is so late. I struggle at writing fluffy parts. I'm much better at writing angsty stuff and keep getting attacked by little fic ideas.
~Almost 100 reviews? I love you guys. Thank you so much! Your support really helps me as a writer. :D