Ten-Faced
Chapter 3 – The Third Face – Charisma
Disclaimer: I solemnly swear I don't own any of it; I'm just in it for the Romerica ;)
Warning: MPD/DID!Lovi, male x male pairings, harsh language, and AU.
Holy flying mint bunnies! I was really surprised by the amount of reviews from last time! You guys are awesome! Here's the third chapter, out a little early, just for you!
oOo
Feliciano was one happy guy. He aced both his tests earlier that day, convinced his boyfriend to take him out somewhere fancy for their upcoming anniversary, was chosen to run the Culinary Club's bake sale, and now was cooking with his older brother. It had been so long since they had done that, and Lovi was smiling! Feliciano couldn't even remember the last time his fratello had looked so happy. Maybe things were finally looking up for him too?
"So how'd your tests go today, Feli?"
"Ve, really well!" the amber-eyed boy beamed. "I'm pretty sure I got perfect scores on both!"
"Nothing less from Saint Vargas!" his fratello grinned and sighed dramatically. "My little Feli's gone and grown up on me! Soon, you won't even need your big brother around!"
"Fratello, don't say that!" Feliciano nudged him. "Who's going to protect me from weirdos?"
"Relax, little bro," his green eyes twinkled. "I'm not going anywhere…"
Feli had missed this. He didn't realize it until now, but he had been lonelier than he thought at home. Even when Lovino had been home with him, they hadn't connected like this in months, maybe even years. Now, not only were they cooking together, but they were talking just like old times. A happy feeling rose in the younger's chest. Lovino was laughing and teasing him so naturally, but something still felt a little surreal. Feliciano tried not to let it bother him.
"So…are you feeling better, fratello?" Feli asked shyly. He didn't want to spoil the good time they were having, but at the same time, he was still worried about what set his brother off last week.
"Of course, Feli!" Lovino's laugh came easily. "You still owe me 100 plates of pasta, remember?"
"R-Right!" Feliciano resumed stirring the noodles over the stove. He tried to push the sore topic out of his mind, but it kept nagging at him. Something was wrong. "It's just…well, you seemed so upset the last couple of days…"
"Don't stress it, fratello," shrugged the older brother. "I'm fine now."
"B-But…" Feliciano felt a comforting arm wrapping over his shoulder.
"Look at me, do I look upset?" Lovino grinned, gesturing to the side of his face. "Honestly, I was just pissed off at a few teachers at school. Then I ran into Antonio and his stupid pack of friends. Worst day ever. But it's already over. What's done is done and all."
"If you say so…"
"Hmm, speaking of worried…You've been a little out of it too, recently." Lovino leaned in with a smirk and raised an eyebrow. "How're things between you and Ludwig?"
"V-Ve?!" Feliciano blushed and nearly jumped out of his chuckling brother's grasp. While it was true that recently he'd started working out more to impress his boyfriend (which made him sleepier than usual at home), he never would have expected Lovino to notice, much less ask him about it. He even used Ludwig's name and not a slew of curses. He hadn't been ready for that question at all!
"Well?"
"Th-Things are good," the amber-eyed boy nodded. "Things are really good right now."
"Oh? Then what's up with that crazy dance you were just doing three seconds ago?" Lovi had a Cheshire grin forming.
"I-I just wanted to impress him, s-so I started working out more," Feliciano blushed. "Getting up earlier to run before school…a few laps after school or lunch…"
"What's so bad about that?"
"Huh?"
"Ludwig should be grateful you hold his opinion so highly, that you'd do something like this," the wise big brother nodded. "It's not like he's making you do drugs or sell your body, right?"
"Lovi!" Feli's mouth hung open. "Of course not!"
"Good, 'cause if he was, I'd have to kill him. Painfully."
"There's the loving fratello I know…" Feliciano sighed, but smiled.
oOo
Romulus was surprised when he returned home from work and heard the sound of two boys laughing in the kitchen. One of them was clearly his youngest grandson, Feliciano, but the other one…he sounded so much like his own son when he laughed. Romulus hadn't heard that voice in years… The resident Nonno walked over quietly (a tremendous feat for him) and slowly poked his head around the corner.
…Lovino?
Both boys took notice of him as he walked into the kitchen, a little hesitant at first. He didn't want to throw off whatever it was that convinced Lovino to join his brother in making dinner. Sometimes even the slightest thing could set off the older boy. To his astonishment, Lovino's mood stayed the same and his grin remained intact.
"Nonno, look! Me and Lovi are cooking together!"
"Yes, I see that," Romulus smiled.
"We made you scones."
Romulus' smile fell upon hearing his oldest grandson's words.
"Nonno, I'm joking," Lovino laughed. "We made fettuccine alfredo."
How long has it been since he's called me 'Nonno…?'
Romulus beamed.
At dinner, Lovino entertained Romulus and Feliciano with his tales of music class. Both nearly fell of their chairs in hysterics when Lovino told them the story of Torris, the Missing Flute, and the White Russian. He also mentioned that recently Mr. Edelstein had lost his conductor's baton. Lovino suspected it was shoved up his ass. Romulus half-heartedly called him out on his language, but was laughing with him regardless.
Eventually, the conversation steered towards Feliciano. To Romulus' surprise it was Lovino who had done so. His eldest grandchild had seemed to be enjoying his time in the spotlight, but he decided to share that with his brother in the end.
What a good kid.
Feliciano mentioned the woes of the bake sale he was just put in charge of. Apparently, Arthur had somehow got into the kitchens unsupervised. He had made some form of poisonous cookies and accidently left a few. Several students found them the next day and after a triple-dog dare, ate some. They were promptly hospitalized and now the class was short a few volunteers.
"I could help out if you want."
Both Romulus and Feliciano stared at the boy as if he sprouted a two horns, a pair of wings, several tails, and just expressed his deepest love for German cuisine. Feliciano recovered first.
"You really mean that, fratello?!" he asked, unable to contain his excitement.
"Sure, why not?"
"Graziegraziegrazie!" he hugged him, ecstatically thanking him over and over. "Ve! I can't wait to tell my teacher tomorrow!"
oOo
As promised, Lovino joined his brother at lunch to visit the Culinary Arts teacher in charge of the Culinary Club. Feliciano was in charge of the bake sale, but still needed to get permission for Lovino to help out with it, as he technically wasn't part of the club (or even taking cooking classes in general).
"So, you really want to help out at the bake sale, Lovino?" the instructor asked, a little uncertainly.
"Of course," the brunette nodded, completely at ease, even with the slight tension from his former teacher. "Feli said you were down a few people, and nobody makes food like an Italian…"
The teacher nodded. He was ¼ Italian himself. Lovino's newfound charisma caught his eye and sparked several memories of the amazing dishes Lovino made while in the culinary program. Such a pity, he transferred to the Arts Department in the first place…
"That should be fine," he agreed. "In fact, I could even use your help before then if you're willing. Most of my students have food poisoning by some unfortunate coincidence."
"I heard," the Charisma inside Lovino adjusted his expression to look concerned. This Face also decided it would be better to leave out the part about the incident being English cuisine at its finest. He didn't want to make an enemy out of the teacher yet.
"Many of them are Juniors and Seniors who were going to present to the freshmen classes today," he went on. "Would you be willing to help with the cooking demo as well? It would get you reacquainted with the kitchens here too…"
"Anything to get me out of my 7th hour study hall," Lovino smirked. "You wouldn't believe how boring that gets…"
The teacher thanked him again while Feliciano looked at him in awe. He never expected his fratello to agree to anything more than the bake sale. Being able to cook more often with him like this was a dream come true!
oOo
Alfred had been hanging around the Culinary Arts hall waiting to meet up with Matthew for lunch. He could never remember which classroom was his brother's and ended up wandering the entire hall. He was surprised when he happened to run into Lovino.
"Hey, Lovino!" he called out, catching his eye. The brunette smiled and walked towards him.
"How's it going, Alfred?"
"Not bad!" the blonde flashed a grin. "You stuck here waiting for your little brother too?"
"Nope, I'm actually helping him out with a class."
Lovino filled him in on Arthur's experiment gone wrong on half the senior students. The Italian was one of the few that had eaten Arthur's cooking before (he was tricked by the Bad Touch Trio his freshman year) and lived to tell the tale, so he knew how much the others were suffering right now. Feeling bad for his brother, Lovino decided to lend a hand.
"That was nice of you to help fill in for them."
"It's nothing, really," he tried to brush off the compliment, but felt his cheeks heat up a bit. "Hard to beat Italian cooking after all."
"Aw, I'm jealous, I never had the patience to cook," Alfred scratched his head. "I usually just eat whatever's in the cafeteria."
"That's not real food," Lovino joked.
"It's not so bad," laughed Alfred. "Sometimes Mattie even makes me lunch! That's what we're doing today."
"Poor Matthew," the Italian looked down. "No wonder he's late…"
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard about how much you eat. Matthew deserves a break."
"Hey!" Alfred pouted. "That's not fair, I've gotta eat a lot, I'm running around all day!"
"You're right, I'm sorry," Lovino snickered. "Will you find it in your heart to forgive me if I bring you samples from the bake sale tomorrow? For lunch, maybe?"
"Will there be cookies?"
"At least a dozen different kinds."
"Hmm…alrighty." Alfred pretended to consider the offer. "You're forgiven!"
The two chatted for a little longer, Lovino basking in the attention he was finally getting from his secret crush. It was rare that he got to talk to him alone like this! And today he was able to do so without stammering or blushing like an idiot. Words and confidence came naturally to this Face. Things were going smoothly until Alfred finally had to ask the question that was on his mind.
"It feels like there's something different about you today, Lovino…"
"Really? What do you mean?" Lovino maintained a calm and collected disposition.
Alfred managed to shrug it off and shortly after they said their goodbyes. As they parted ways, Alfred still tried to put his finger on what's different about the Italian. Whatever it was didn't feel like a bad change, but Alfred missed the fiery side of Lovino. Maybe he was just having an off day?
oOo
The downside of helping out with the cooking demo was missing class. Lovino truly didn't care about his Study Hall (he skipped it half the time anyway). He was more upset about missing Advanced Algebra – his only class with Alfred in it (but meeting him alone before lunch kind of made up for that. It wasn't like they got to talk to each other much in math class). The cooking demo lasted two periods; one to set up/prepare and one to wow the crowd.
And wow the crowd he did.
Still running off of his Potential-Lunchdate-With-Alfred high, Lovino sliced, diced, and flambéd with the best of them. At one point, he even threw in a few Hibachi knife tricks he'd learned from watching TV with Kiku. He'd been meaning to try those out. They didn't look all that difficult and in Lovino's fairly capable hands, they weren't. Several students were actually cheering for him, despite the fact that it was just a cooking presentation. Some of the other presenters were getting distracted themselves.
"Relax ladies, I'll be signing autographs after the show," Lovi winked to a particularly vocal group of girls in the front. Nearly all six girls swooned and one even fainted out of sheer bliss.
Over the course of the demo, he won many fans and admirers with his energetic cooking style, crooked grin, and confidence in every little thing he did. Once the class got a hold of the samples he made, they realized what a good cook he was on top of it. Lovino couldn't help but smirk when he overheard a few students compare Feliciano to him. Although, to be fair, Feli was a little distracted by his brother's antics, so it wasn't his best effort today.
Lovino stuck around for awhile to answer questions alongside the other presenters (wherein the teacher had to remind the girls to focus on food questions and to stop asking Lovino about his hobbies, phone number, if he has a girlfriend, and if they could fill that position). It became a little irritating at times and several of the students were beginning to annoy him, but Lovino remained interesting and pretended to be interested in all of the inane questions he got. Feliciano had to admit that this side of his brother surprised him, but he was proud nonetheless.
After the final bell rang and the freshmen were all but escorted out of the room, Lovino exited into the back room to change out of the chef's uniform he had borrowed from Feli. He let the door slide behind him and took a deep breath. Now that he was alone, he leaned against the tiled wall and closed his eyes.
What good are all the groupies in the world if I still can't win Alfred over?
He opened his eyes, now shining brightly with hope.
I just have to try harder next time! I know I can do this!
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the list of experimental recipes he kept hidden (mostly from his nosy brother). The brunette searched through the names until he opened the one he wanted – the cookie recipe he created about four years ago, lovingly called 'Sonovabitch.'
oOo
A/N – Several people were thinking this Face was going to be "Happy" or the like. Were you surprised? I thought "Happy" might be too easy, so I wanted to put a little spin on it. Hopefully you all liked "Charisma." He'll be showing up again later…
And to all the Lovi-fans, when he talks about "groupies" he's referring to the crazy, hormonal girls from the cooking class who only now began to notice him because he's becoming popular and entertaining them for the moment. He's not referring to the people who liked him already for who he really is. Interpret that how you will ;)
I asked you last time, so I'll ask again here; any guesses on the next personality? I know there weren't many clues to go off of, but I love reading your responses :)
-Rajikka
Translations:
Fratello – Brother (It.)
Grazie - Thanks (It.)
Hibachi – Fire Bowl (Jp.), but what I'm referring to is that in the U.S., 'hibachi-style' is often used to describe teppanyaki cooking, where hotplates are integrated into the table for multiple people to sit and watch a talented chef make their meal with lots of theatrics. I chose to write it as Hibachi over Teppanyaki because I figured that's how most of the readers interpreted 'hibachi' and I didn't want to confuse anyone. That, and I figured this Lovi isn't at the same level of culinary skills as South Italy, so he may call it that as well.