A/N:
Hey look, I'm still sorta on a weekly schedule~ But watch that fall apart when I start school lol
But I have power back now! That's better than some of my town at least . the hurricane did more than I thought, I guess... And to any of my readers who were affected by the storm, you're in my prayers!
So this chapter kind of skips through a good few years for Lovino, so I'm sorry if it gets a bit confusing along the way!
*looks at chapter* ...and the paragraphs are still messed up... fffffff
(10 years old)
"No, Romano, like this," Arthur demonstrated the motions needed for the spell they were practicing. The two were in front of Arthur's house, trying to teach Romano the basics of spell casting. The angel felt that, if nothing else, the Host should at least know basic defensive spells.
Antonio watched from the shade of a nearby tree, keeping an eye on his boy. Francis and Gilbert were with him, bickering lightly over nothing.
Romano watched Arthur's motions with a huff. The angel's movements were like water, fluid and precise, and a transparent blue shield formed in front of him, solidifying and surrounding him. Arthur dropped his arms the shield stayed in the air in front of him. "You must clear your head and whatever you do, don't concentrate. Protection and healing spells rely on the element, water, calm and confident." he waved a hand and the spell broke; the shield shattered like crystal. He ruffled his feathery wings before motioning for Romano to try again.
Romano scowled, but took a deep breath, trying to calm a pounding heart. The angel bastard made it look so easy! He closed his eyes and went through the motions again, a half step back, one arm across his chest, the subtle outstretch of his other arm and the flick of a wrist...
He could feel the cool glow of blue light hit his closed eyelids and he willed his heart not to pound so loud. Now was the part he always screwed up on. With the hand that was partially outstretched, he pushed forward, making the blue shield grow. For a second, it seemed like it worked, but then Romano opened his eyes and his gaze locked with Antonio's. Instantly the cool blue shield burst into orange flames, the spell became unstable and the power shoved Romano away, changing from a protection spell to a ball of flame.
Again, Arthur put out his faulty spell and sighed. The kid had potential, he had the power and the passion, but something always distracted him...
The angel's gaze flickered between a discouraged Romano to the trio that the boy was half watching and scowled. Romano had a dark blush covering his cheeks as he watched Antonio out of the corner of his eyes, shoulders drooped in disappointment. Antonio met his eyes with a look of encouragement and Arthur sighed. The boy was obviously distracted by trying to impress his shadow and not concentrating on the spell as completely as he should have been.
"Antonio," Arthur called over to the brunette "Would you three leave us? Romano seems to be getting distracted."
As Romano glared at Arthur's back, Gilbert got to his feet and laughed. "The boy's getting distracted by my awesome, right? I knew it would happen!"
"Not even close," Romano muttered under his breath, making the other three men laugh and Gilbert sputter indignantly.
"Fine, we'll be down at the bar if you need us!" Antonio said after giving Romano a goodbye kiss on the forehead (which the boy made a big show of wiping off). When the three troublemakers were gone, Romano turned back to Arthur and scowled.
Arthur sighed. "Let's just try this again…"
.~.~.~.~.
Romano sat with his chin resting on the bar counter top, watching Antonio and his friends out of sheer boredom. They really weren't that entertaining to watch anymore…
Romano picked his head up curiously at the sound of a piano playing somewhere close and turned his head to see a little blonde girl playfully tapping the keys in no particular order.
The boy slipped from his seat to go closer. The little girl lifted her head and smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Lili, my brother owns this bar," she introduced herself, extending her hand to shake like her big brother had taught her. "Who are you?"
"Romano," Romano smiled back and accepted her hand. "Can you play?" he asked, motioning to the piano.
Lili shook her head. "No, I just think it sounds pretty. Actually, I don't know anyone who can play, so nobody can teach me," she explained sadly.
Romano thought for a second. "What if I could teach you?" his grandfather had a big piano in his house, and surely he would teach him!
Lilli's eyes lit up. "You would do that?"
"Of course!" Romano assured.
"Thank you, Romano!" Lili giggled happily, running over to her brother to tell him the good news.
Romano, still smiling slightly, walked back over to the trio. "Roma, you're so sweet~" Antonio cooed, pulling him into a hug.
"S-shut up!" Romano blushed. "I'm not sweet damn it! She's a pretty girl and plus the piano isn't half bad!"
"Little Romano is so kind to pretty girls, isn't he?" Francis teased, earning a kick in the stomach from the boy.
Gilbert just laughed, out of range from the flailing boy and both of his friends. "You guys are so not awesome right now!"
.~.~.~.~.
(11 years old)
"No, no, Lovino, like this," Romulus Vargas instructed his oldest grandson, fixing the boy's hands once again on top of the piano keys, showing him the fingerings for the basic melody he was teaching. The boy had insisted on trying to learn the piano for no apparent reason. He had never taken interest in the arts at all, at least, as far as Romulus knew.
Lovino scowled and yanked his hands away, fixing them back on the keys in a way he found comfortable and efficient; screw posture, this worked too!
Romulus sighed. "Lovino, how do you expect me to teach you if you do not listen? Feliciano listens, and see how talented he is!"
The mention of his little brother made Lovino slam his hands down on the ivory, eliciting a loud banging of off-key notes as he whipped around to glare at his caretaker. "Just teach me, damn it!" he yelled.
The older man sighed and sat back down on the bench, once again pointing out the mistakes of his problem child.
.~.~.~.~.
"Ah, Romano, you're so talented!" Lili sighed as she sat listening to Romano play on the piano in her older brother's bar, her big green eyes watching his fingers as she played with the violet ribbon in her hair.
Romano smiled and thanked her, moving to one side of the bench to invite the 8-year-old girl to sit with him so that he could show her the fingerings of the light-hearted melody he had been playing.
Lilli's older brother, Vash, watched the two of them from the bar, fingers twitching for the gun hidden under the counter. Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis sat near him, also watching the two.
"You keep that boy of yours a good distance away from my sister, got it, Antonio?" Vash growled threateningly at the shadow, not knowing that the boy was his planet's Host.
Antonio waved a hand. "Don't worry, Vash, he's not going to hurt her, I promise."
"I'm holding you to that," the blonde huffed and moved farther down the bar to tend to another customer.
Antonio continued to watch his boy laugh with the little blonde girl, looking genuinely happy. "You two think it was a good idea to bring him here, don't you?" he asked his friends randomly.
Francis also turned to stare at Romano. "So far, there seems to be nothing wrong with the world, so he's not hurting anything by being here," he commented.
"Aw, admit it, Franny!" Gilbert elbowed him, almost spilling his beer in the process. "You like the kid being here!"
"Oui, I suppose I do," Francis admitted. "He is rather cute."
Antonio stared at him. "Hands to yourself, Francis," he ordered coolly.
"Ahaha~ of course mon ami!" the blonde agreed quickly and turned back to his wine without another comment.
Antonio turned back to Romano and the piano and sighed contentedly. This was perfection.
.~.~.~.~.
(12 years old)
Antonio found Romano sitting at Arthur's kitchen table one afternoon, staring at a tomato sitting on the table top. Gilbert was bothering Vash in town and he could hear Arthur and Francis bickering in the garden.
Setting down the basket of fresh picked vegetables for that night's dinner, Antonio pulled up a chair and sat down next to the boy, folding his arms and resting his chin on them just like Romano. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Antonio decided to break it, seeing how Romano was perfectly content with ignoring him in favor of the red fruit-vegetable. "What are you doing, Roma?" he asked with a small laugh.
"I'm staring," Romano mumbled.
"I can see that, but why?"
"Because it just appeared there," Romano explained.
Antonio looked between Romano and the fruit. "What do you mean 'it just appeared there'?"
"I mean exactly what I said," Romano lifted his head, never taking his eyes off of the tomato. "I was just thinking about how I wanted a tomato and it just showed up."
Antonio stared at the tomato for a moment before picking it up, making Romano gasp a little. It felt like a real tomato. He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. It smelled like a real tomato. Carefully, he brought it to his lips, and bit it. Romano cringed. What if it wasn't a real tomato? Stupid Antonio; you shouldn't eat suspicious food!
Antonio's teeth sank into the tomato and he let out a small hum of satisfaction. That was one of the best tomatoes he had ever eaten!
The shadow swallowed and turned back to Romano. "So you wanted a tomato and it appeared?" Romano nodded. "…Do it again."
Romano frowned but stared at the bitten tomato hungrily. He really wanted a tomato…
Antonio let out a little noise of surprise and Romano's gaze was once again drawn to the table top…
Where another shiny red tomato rested peacefully.
Romano turned to Antonio to see his friend's face broken into an ecstatic grin. "Romanito that is so cool!" he squealed. "You can summon things now! Arthur said that you would be able to some day and you can!" he pulled the boy into a tight bear hug and rained kisses down on his forehead and cheeks.
"Let go, bastard!" Romano whined, secretly happy with his own accomplishment and his position in Antonio's hold, but he struggled anyway, wriggling around in his arms.
Because of all of the moving and Antonio still kissing him, the kisses didn't always fall where Antonio wanted them to…
Including one straight on Romano's virgin lips.
The two males stared at one another for a moment that seemed to last hours, still connected by the lips until Antonio broke it off, eyes wide with shock.
Romano stared at Antonio's lips, face turning redder every second, mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.
"R-Roma…" Antonio "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
As Antonio tried to speak, Romano's lips presses once again against his own to silence him. "Shut up." The boy mumbled, not meeting the older man's eyes, still blushing hard.
Antonio stared at his boy in shock, slowly blushing himself. "…Romano." He whispered in blissful surprise.
"D-don't think too hard on it… it's just a fucking kiss," Romano mumbled, hiding his red face behind his bangs.
Antonio smiled softly and tilted Romano's face up to his and presses a third chaste kiss to his precious pink lips. "You're so cute, Romanito~" he laughed quietly.
And that was Romano's limit. With a loud cry, he slammed his head into Antonio's chin "Oh my God, Antonio, shut the fuck up!"
"Oww! Love you too, Roma~!"
.~.~.~.~.
"Hey, Feliciano…" Lovino whispered to his brother one night. The two were supposed to be sleeping, but Feli had crawled into Lovino's bed for warmth a few minutes prior.
"Hmm?" the younger Vargas mumbled in sleepy acknowledgement.
"What do you think about dreams and nightmares?" Lovino asked quietly. He had been unable to sleep with his mind plagued by Arthur's nightmare side and the thought that Antonio or his friends could be the same way.
"Well," Feliciano hummed thoughtfully. "Dreams are all pretty and soft and safe. Nonno calls them night-wishes ve~. And nightmares are all gross and scary and dangerous!" Feli shivered. "I don't like them at all!"
"But don't you need nightmares to have dreams?" Lovino pondered. "Like you need dark to have light and all of that shit that Nonno goes on about?"
Feliciano shrugged. "I guess, but I still don't like nightmares." He cuddled closer to his brother. "Why, did fratello have a nightmare?"
Lovino sighed and moved closer to his brother. "Not yet…"
.~.~.~.~.
Romano woke up from his siesta, curled up against Antonio in the field of flowers hiding the notebook. He sighed tiredly and tried to fall asleep again only to be woken again as Antonio moved his position until he was spooning him.
Romano grunted at the new position and flipped around so that his face was in Antonio's chest, breathing in his calming warmth and thinking about what Feliciano had said last night. Nightmares were scary and dangerous, and dreams were safe and warm. Antonio was safe and warm, so he was a dream. Arthur was the same, but he had said that everyone here had a dream side and a nightmare side. Romano had even seen Arthur's nightmare side.
And, if what Arthur said was true, which he had proven it was, then Antonio had a nightmare side too, right?
"A-Antonio?" he mumbled, shaking the older man slightly.
"Hmm? What's wrong, Romanito?" Antonio yawned.
Romano shifted uncomfortably, not sure if he should voice his thoughts. "Y-you know how Arthur said that everyone has a nightmare and a dream side?"
Antonio was silent for a moment. "Si, what about it?" he asked carefully.
"W-well do you?" Romano asked. "I-I mean, do you have a nightmare side too?"
Antonio sighed and hid his face in Romano's shoulder. "Don't think too hard on it, okay, Romano?"
"B-but I…"
Antonio's teeth left a gentle mark on his neck, a silent warning not to bring it up again.
Romano swallowed his words without another thought.
.~.~.~.~.
(13 years old)
"Antonio!" Romano yelled, running across the flower field to where Antonio slept under an apple tree; Arthur following slowly behind him. "Antonio I did it! I did the spell!"
Antonio got to his feet and wrapped the boy in a hug and giving him a little kiss on the lips. "Muy bien chico! Can I see it?"
All the enthusiasm flew away from Romano at his words, leaving his face pale. "S-see it?" he stammered worriedly.
Arthur finally caught up to him and nodded. "Yes, you should show Antonio all of the hard work that you have done." He advised. During the last few years, he had taught the boy much more than the defense spell they had tried on their fist lesson. First was protection, then summoning and enchantment, and now attacks. The Host had come a long way in such a small amount of time.
Romano looked between his teacher and Antonio, a nervous blush covering his face. "I… I…"
"Please Romano?" Antonio begged, hugging him tighter. "I really want to see it!"
"Fine, fine! Just let go!" Romano growled and shoved the older man off, a blush still clinging to his cheek bones. He backed away a few steps and closed his eyes in concentration. He took a slow, deep breath and put himself in a more grounded stance. Raising his hands, he said the words that Arthur had taught him and with flames licking in his eyes, he clapped his hands.
As his hands separated, a flaming sword was left behind in the space between them. With a triumphant smile, Romano held the sword up for Antonio to see.
Antonio stared at the fire-sword in shock. "Wow, Romano, that's amazing!" he breathed.
"Damn right it is!" Romano smirked, almost expertly playing with the sword.
"Just be careful," Arthur advised, taking hold of the sword handle and making it disappear, earning a whine of disappointment from both Antonio and Romano. "Fire spells are incredibly unstable and-"
"And should never be taken lightly or used for fun." Romano recited. "You've told me all of this before, Angel-Bastard."
Antonio held back laughter and Arthur raised an eyebrow. "…Well it has stuck with you, hasn't it?"
Romano mumbled to himself and shrugged. "So?"
"Aw, Romano, you are so cute!" Antonio cooed and kissed his lips as he wrapped him in his arms, earning a whine from Romano but his weight leaning against his chest.
Arthur watched the two of them with mild interest. Their relationship wasn't… right, but there wasn't any reason for him to stop it.
At least… not yet.
.~.~.~.~.
"Ve~ Fratello seems so happy lately!" Feliciano cooed from his spot at the kitchen table, feet kicking the air idly as he munched on a bowl of spaghetti.
Romano hummed through his pasta, only half listening to his brother as he ate his lunch quickly, hoping to visit Antonio before it got too dark to go to the gardens.
"Has Nonno talked to you about school?" Feli asked, still trying to talk with his brother. Lovino was barely ever around! He disappeared for hours every day! "He says that when I'm fourteen he's going to send me to an art school, isn't that cool! Hey, hey, maybe he'll send you to a music school! Ve~ you love playing the piano, and you're really good at it too, fratello!"
A music school? Lovino thought it over, putting another forkful of noodles into his mouth. That actually didn't sound like a bad idea. He was sick of the tutors that Nonno hired to teach him and Feliciano; maybe actually going to a school would be, dare he think it, fun.
He swallowed his food and finally turned to Feliciano. "You know what, I will!" he smirked determinedly. "I'm gonna be the best pianist ever!"
Feliciano cheered along with him, waking up Spain, who had been sleeping under the table. The cat looked up at the resolute look in Romano's eyes and let out a kitty sigh. Such strong passion for such a small boy…
.~.~.~.~.
(14 years old)
Lovino hurried out of the house to meet the mail carrier down by the street, hoping that today his letter would come.
"Hello, Lovino," the older man smiled and handed the excited boy a pile of mail, tapping the envelope on the top with a wink. "I believe this is what you've been waiting for."
"Thank you!" Lovino said quickly and bolted back to the manor, dropping the mail on the hall floor and opening up his envelope with anticipation. His face lit up at the words printed on the paper: the music school had accepted him! Finally, he could go to a talent school like his brother! He had to tell Antonio!
Clutching the letter to his chest (and leaving the rest of the mail on the floor), he ran out to the garden, following the path that would lead him to the tomatoes. Crouching down in the dirt, he carefully took the book from its hiding place in the vines, running a hand over the branded design before flipping to a random page. With a small blade that Antonio had made him slip into the book, he cut his finger and let the blood color the page. After so many times, the pain no longer bothered him, and nobody noticed his bandages, anyway.
Like every time before, the page began to glow and Lovino was sucked into the pages, blinded by color.
Antonio dozed lightly in the field of flowers, lazily twirling a pink flower in his hand. He hummed a little tune to himself as he thought of his precious Roma. His boy had been busy lately, so his visits had been shorter and more spread out than Antonio would have liked.
Then again, if Antonio could have his way, Romano would stay with him permanently...
Romano appeared in the field silently. Not long ago, he would have stumbled and given himself away when he appeared, but after so many visits to his dream world, he had finally gotten the landing down.
Seeing Antonio lying not too far away, Romano had to suppress a devious laugh as he willed the flowers to turn into tomato plants.
Antonio yelped as the flower he was holding turned into a bright red tomato. All around him, tomato vines obscured his vision. Romano's laughter drifted to his ears and he looked around him wildly, an amused smile split his face.
"Romano, where are you~?"
He felt soft lips touch the back of his neck, but his assailant was gone with a bought of laughter when he turned around.
With a crafty smirk, Antonio lay on his back and waited for Romano to attack him again.
Sure enough, Antonio heard the leaves rustle and suppressed giggles as another kiss was gently laid on his forehead. Just as the lips started to pull away, Antonio's eyes snapped open and, with a feral smirk, he wrapped his arms tight around the startled, and now struggling young teen.
Romano shrieked as Antonio grabbed him and rolled him over so that the older man lay on top of him, trapping him under his broad chest and in his arms.
"Gotcha~" Antonio breathed against his lips and stole a kiss, making Romano blush that beautiful shade of red that he loved so much.
"Bastard," Romano panted affectionately and allowed Antonio's hands to wander his chest and arms, the older man's fingers weaved through and toyed with his hair. Antonio pressed loving kisses and nips along his neck and shoulders, making him squirm from the attention that he had long since figured out was to be expected from his possessive more-than-a-friend.
"Okay, that's enough!" Romano grunted as the kisses became harder and hands wandered closer to his belt. His mind was beginning to become hazy with growing pleasure and he refused to go too far so quickly.
Antonio whimpered. "But I haven't seen you in so long, Roma~!"
"I was here a few days ago, idiot!" Romano pushed his face away gently and Antonio laughed.
"But I missed you!" Antonio nuzzled his stomach, making the ticklish Romano snort. "You have to come more often! Or stay here with me, mi amor!"
Romano sighed. "You know that I can't do that, Tonio."
Antonio sighed and nodded. "Si, I know..."
The two lay together in comfortable silence as Romano changed the tomatoes back into flowers, eventually dozing off for a few minutes before Romano remembered why he had been in such a hurry to see the tanned man (besides the obvious affection).
"Tonio," he mumbled quietly and the older man grunted in a way to say that he was listening. "Do you remember that music school that I told you about?" he asked carefully, not sure how Antonio would take the news.
Antonio blinked lazily and nodded. He had always encouraged his Romanito's singing and musical abilities. "Si, what about it?"
Romano pulled away from his embrace slightly. "I... I got accepted. I leave in a week."
Antonio's smile faltered a bit. "Leaving? Romanito, you're not leaving~" he laughed, a nervous, worried sound.
Romano flinched and wouldn't meet his eyes. "Y-yes I am. That's what I came to tell you. I don't know when I'll be able to visit next, maybe winter break..."
Antonio laughed again, tightening his hold on Romano. "Silly Roma~. I already told you, you're not leaving~. So there's nothing to worry about."
"Antonio, I'm serious!" Lovino frowned, the tan man was beginning to worry him; his eyes were bright and wild and his arms kept tightening. He struggled until Antonio let go and got to his feet. "I'll come back every break and see you then, but I need to go to this school!"
"Mi Romanito," Antonio got to his own feet, his form starting to waver in and out of focus. "I am being serious as well. I will not allow you to leave me."
Lovino took a few nervous steps away as Antonio began to change, morphing from his perfect human form into a black, tar-like creature with glowing green eyes and a Cheshire grin. Long, sharp claws made dripping fingers look longer and his feet seemed to seep into the ground. "A-Antonio, stop it!" he ordered, horrified by the shadow in front of him. The shadow came closer, mumbling things about his Romanito never leaving, staying with him forever in their world. "Antonio you're scaring me, fucking cut it out!" his voice was high pitched and scared.
He let out a scream as Antonio's nightmare side grabbed him, claws sinking into his olive toned flesh and drawing up dark blood. "Stop it!"
"Stay with me, Roma!" Antonio rasped, eyes bright with terror at the thought of never seeing his Romanito again and anger at the thought of him leaving. Romano's eyes were filled with pain and he leaned in close to his face, whispering an alarming promise. "Stay and you will never feel pain again!"
Lovino kicked the creature in the stomach and ripped his arm away, ignoring the burn of tearing flesh as the claws released him and bolting back to where the notebook lay, clutching his bloody arm to his chest.
"No!" Antonio yelled and chased after him, succeeding in catching him by the back of his shirt, tearing it to shreds and ripping away huge claw-mark gouges in the boy's back.
Lovino let out a sob of pain and stumbled, hitting the ground hard on his bad arm but scrambling away immediately. Tears of horror streamed down his face and blurred his vision as he tripped over the notebook.
He made a desperate grab for it and opened to a page, the flowing blood on his hands opening the passage the moment he touched the page. He let out a small, tear-choked noise of relief as the colors enveloped him but let out a scream as Antonio grabbed his leg.
Lovino hit the garden ground hard and screamed, alerting some of the servants in the yard. He tried to crawl away, grabbing at the dirt as Antonio tried to drag him back, claws sinking into Lovino's shin as the boy tried to kick him off. Half of the shadow's body was in the book, halfway in each world.
"Let go!" Lovino sobbed. "Antonio, please! Stop it!"
By now, some of the gardeners had found them, the smell of copper strong around them as the young boy bled into the tomatoes, held captive by a creature out of their nightmares.
One of them sliced through Antonio's arm with a shovel, making the shadow recoil with an animalistic hiss, the severed arm evaporating. Another gardener grabbed Lovino and pulled him close and out of the shadow's reach.
"Romano!" the creature screamed, desperate and upset. "Mi Romanito!"
"The book!" Lovino sobbed, pointing at the book sucking the monster in.
"Romano!" the monster wailed, almost crying, but Lovino refused to look at him, turning away as a brave servant shut the book and buried it under the tomatoes. Only when the book disappeared into the dirt did Lovino allow himself to cry, letting out a heartbroken, agonizing wail.
Every gate to every part of the garden was permanently locked the next day. Lovino would go to the school in another month, leaving the house and the man he once loved forever, never looking back.
Spain watched everything happen from his tree. This was never part of the plan…
A/N:
Bwahaha! Spain is back and so is his 'plan'. X3
And I created and destroyed a shota Spamano relationship in a single chapter T3T ...it had to be done, really! Now the fun can begin next chapter~
...Anyone freaked out by the 'nightmare' side of Antonio? I don't think I made him scary enough .3.
Rate and Review por favor!
Ciao~!