Please sit back, und ENJOY!
When he got outside, a sudden, horrible stench made him stagger back as it burned in his nostrils. He almost gagged, and his eyes immediately started watering. "Oh, dear god...!" He coughed to himself, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt, before taking a few steps forward again and glancing around for the source of the disgusting smell. Soon enough he found a black, dense puddle slowly drying in the sun. It looked indeed like molten rubber, and its smell would have been able to make a person faint easily. It did not take a genius to understand that that was where the Nightmare had fallen the night before.
"Ew. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Yuck!" Feliciano gagged and coughed repeatedly, the shirt barely managing to make the air more breathable. The medic had been more than right, it smelled awful. And the desert heat did not really help with the smell, if anything it actually enhanced it. Coughing, he asked himself how Arthur could even start considering that something positive could emerge from analysing that stuff.
He swallowed dryly, trying with all his might to ignore the smell and failing horribly. He glanced around, for he needed to get on higher ground, where the hole of the mirror cave was. After aimlessly walking around for some minutes, he found a narrow path going up, and he followed it.
The smell was thankfully gone now, but he soon faced another problem: physical exertion under the merciless desert sun, which was still rising to its zenith. Sweat was pearling on his forehead, and he was heavily panting. Sure, he could run and was light enough to be fast at it. But climb a mountain? That was asking too much apparently.
Finally, after what seemed like a century, he reached one of the flat tops – plateaus – of the mountain that was the Rock. First his hands went to his knees, as he regained his breath, and then he straightened up, resting his hands on his lower back. He felt like he had climbed mount Everest, but when he looked down, he was embarrassed to notice just how little the distance actually was: maybe thirty, forty metres? Fifty? Not mount Everest in any case. But as he regained his strength, he had the opportunity to look at the desert landscape unfolding in front of him.
"Wow." He breathed, in awe.
The sandy ground almost glittered in the late morning sun, and contrasted heavily with the deep blue sky devoid of any clouds. There was almost no obstacle as far as the eye could see, and only at the horizon he could vaguely make out the silhouettes of faraway hills. So much space, he felt infinitely tiny. A soft ,warm and dry breeze brushed his face and gently ruffled his hair. Like this, the desert did not even seem such a threatening place.
He snapped out of it and shook his head. "Focus, Feliciano. Find the hole." He scolded himself, turning his back to the landscape and focusing on the plateau of the Rock. The flat spot where he stood was not the highest point of the mountain, but he knew that the hole of the mirror cave had to be in his surroundings somewhere, therefore not higher up. Sand and the occasional pebbles cracked under his feet, as he wandered around the place, the sun still scorching the back of his neck. After a couple of minutes he finally found it, and he was surprised himself to see how well concealed it was by the rocks scattered around it. Even from his position he could not even see a glimpse of the mirrors inside.
Crouching on one of the rocks that helped to conceal it and gripping its edge, he cast a glance inside. The intriguing thing was, even if someone from outside could have the random idea of looking at the hole, he would not be able to see anything because of the sharp difference in lights: the sun made the muddy-orange rocks a few shades brighter, while the hole was nothing but black.
He hummed in admiration, it seemed the Rock had almost been built to be suitable as a fort.
"Ok, now to find that rope..." he muttered to himself as he scuttled back from the edge. It had to be close, so he walked around the hole, his eyes scanning every square centimetre. After one round of no results, he started turning stones that could possibly hide it. It did not take too long to find it that way: it had been hidden under a concave rock, all rolled up. With a triumphant smirk, he picked it up. "Aha!" He said to himself.
Suddenly, he heard a voice. "Hello?"
This startled him so much he almost jumped, dropping the rope. Panicking because he had not recognized the owner of the voice, he threw himself behind a big boulder, dropping the rope in the process. Chest heaving with worried breaths, he kicked himself mentally. On his quest to find the rope, he had completely forgotten why he had been searching for it in the first place.
Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me... He repeated a mantra in his head, as if simply by willing it, the thief would go away. He could hear his carefully slow footsteps, walking around as the thief looked for him. Fear constricted his guts, and he knew it was the fear of the unknown. He did not know this person, and recalling how people's manners had deteriorated after the Disaster, he could be almost certain that the stranger would not confront him peacefully. He was a thief, after all, as well. What if he had a weapon? Probably. Would it be a rifle, a gun? He didn't want to die with a bullet in his head!
"Hey, whoever's there, come out with your hands up!" The voice whispered urgently.
Feliciano's eyebrows shot up briefly, as he pressed his back even more against the boulder. That was definitely a feminine voice. The thief was a she?
The footsteps stopped, and Feliciano almost, almost thought he had gotten away with it. But that was when a figure suddenly jumped at him from above, scaring the living daylights out of him.
He yelped in surprise and grunted at the impact, before immediately struggling against the assaulter, but with little to no result. In barely a couple of seconds his face was pressed against the ground, and the thief was weighing on his back.
"Gotcha, you sneaky guy." The woman smirked, holding the Italian's arms easily pinned behind his back with only one hand.
Feliciano couldn't see it, but he felt her move, and suddenly the blade of a knife entered his field of vision, glinting maliciously. If possible, he panicked even more, leaning his head back as he tried to put as much distance as he could between his face and the blade. He also instinctively and aimlessly tried to kick the person on his back, but hit nothing but thin air. "Nonononononono, no, no please don't kill me!" He pleaded. After all, what else could he do in such a situation?
"Don't be such a crybaby, stop struggling and nothing will happen." The woman huffed. Feliciano gladly complied, and she continued. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here?!" She demanded, gently pushing the blade in the direction of the Italian's jugular.
Feliciano whined, lifting his head back even more and twisting his fists in an effortless attempt to free them, but the woman had an iron grip. "I-I should be the one asking that...!" He blurted out in a reckless moment. He definitely should not taunt someone while in this situation.
"Cheeky, aren't we?" The woman chuckled, releasing his wrists and grabbing a fistful of his hair instead while still holding the knife to his Adam's apple. Feliciano's hands were free now, but it's not like he could do anything with a blade to his throat anyway. She then proceeded to twist his head around as to have a look at his face, and Feliciano could finally see the features of his attacker as well.
The woman was young, probably around his age, with blonde shoulder-length hair and big green eyes. Despite the fact that she was generally dirty and possessed an air of haggardness that they all possessed, Feliciano could not find another word to describe her with other than pretty.
She blinked in confusion however when she saw his face. "Romano? What the...?" She muttered, surprised, her grip slightly slacking.
Feliciano groaned, not recognizing the name and still in the uncomfortable position of having a blade pressed on his throat. "I don't know what you're talking about-"
"Who are you?!" She interrupted him, turning him around so that the Italian was lying on his back, the knife still hovering dangerously close.
"Ugh- I'm n-no one, please don't – don't kill me...!" He said, lifting up his hands in sign of surrender.
"Your name!" She demanded.
"F-Feliciano..."
"...And?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Feliciano Vargas."
The pressure on his throat was suddenly gone. Feliciano did not expect this, but did not move.
"No way... Het kan niet..." She muttered, eyes as wide as saucers while looking at him.
"What?" Feliciano was worried. How had his surname changed anything? Did she know him? Did he know her?
"Nothing." She simply said, shaking her head but not sounding very convincing. "You're from the caves, aren't you?"
"Y-yes," He nodded affirmatively, and she finally let him go. She stood up and stopped pointing the knife at him, but she did not put it away yet. She motioned for him to stand up, and he obediently did.
After taking a painfully long look at him, she sighed. "I suppose you're looking for a thief, right?"
The Italian waited a few moments, wondering what he should say. "Yes," he finally said, eyeing the woman for any reaction.
She closed her eyes sighing again, looking defeated. This confused Feliciano but he refrained from saying anything. "I knew this would happen, sooner or later. How did you find out? Was it because of the meat?"
Feliciano nodded. "Yes. So..." He coughed, slightly afraid, "You are the thief?"
The blonde shook her head. "Nee."
Feliciano frowned, and was about to ask for an explanation, but the woman interrupted him.
"But I know where he is." She said. She seemed to suddenly have an idea, and raised her knife, probably more out of habit than for a real threat, but Feliciano still took a step backwards. "Listen here, let's make a deal. If I bring you to the real thief, and we both apologize and give back the stolen goods, could we start living in the caves too? Me and my friend – the thief – have not had it easy these past months. It looks you all have a pretty nice life down there... we would like that as well. Don't worry, we won't be a burden, we can carry our own weight, and we could actually help you all out."
Feliciano gulped. First of all, he did not even know these – not one, but two, and one of them was the thief – people. Second, he was very well aware that it was not his decision to take, the Rock tried to be a democracy, therefore everyone should be informed. He knew it was not a complete democracy and it never would be, because no decision was taken if either Arthur or Ludwig opposed it, as they were the two main unofficial leaders of their group. To be more precise, Ludwig was some sort of unwilling second in command, but the balance in power was not really clear-cut. In any case, one of those two should have to be ok with this for it to be alright with the rest of the Rock group. And how could he predict how Arthur and Ludwig would think? Then again, he remembered Ludwig's words on his first day. Despite his obvious personal distrust for strangers, he had stated that survivors had to stay together, and that every man counted. It sounded more like a Rock group motto than something that Ludwig would actually believe, but it was clear that if possible, people had to try and live together.
Feliciano decided to follow this statement, hoping that it would be ok with the others. He nodded at the blonde. "Yes, you could stay of course, every person counts. We have more chances of surviving if we're together." He said, surprisingly convincing.
She smiled and sheathed the knife, officially ending all hostile behaviour. Her smile was tired, but her eyes sparkled with newfound hope. "Thank you so much. You have no idea what we've been through, thank you, thank you. By the way, I'm Bella Jansen," She said, holding her hand out. "Pleased to meet you, Feliciano. I apologize for, you know, before. Both the knife and the stealing from my friend."
Feliciano took the hand and smiled back. "Apologies accepted, and nice to meet you too."
"I'll take you to... the thief now, ok?" She said, and Feliciano nodded. "Alright, follow me then."
As the Italian followed her up the mountain, he found himself thinking at the weird expression that had flashed in the woman's eyes for one split second. She knew something but was not going to say it, at least not yet apparently. He just hoped she was not leading him to a trap, or something equally dangerous. Curse him and his trusting nature.
The nonexistent path that the blonde was following led them to one of the higher up plateaus, near one of the mountain's flanks. Feliciano panted, tired, before noticing an opening. Another cave, much smaller than their home but it still offered some sort of shelter.
"Here we are, then." She said, her voice almost a whisper. "I'm going to talk to my friend now, please wait here while I do that." At his puzzled expression, she sighed. "He doesn't trust the ones in the caves. You lot. I think it would be better if you didn't show yourself, at least not yet. Ok?"
"Sure, I'll wait here." He said with a low voice as well, before taking a few steps to the side: he was now leaning against the wall near the opening, close enough to hear everything but out of sight from anyone inside. He did not blame the thief for not trusting them, he had learnt that trust was a very difficult thing to earn.
She nodded, thankful, and entered the cave as she cupped her mouth with a hand, disappearing from the Italian's line of sight. "Romano! I got news!"
Feliciano heard something move in the cave, and a male someone inside grumbled, annoyed. "What the hell is it? It better be big freaking news, I was sleeping."
"I," Bella paused, "have a confession to make. I went to the hole and talked to them, the cave folks." she said, her voice echoing slightly.
There was a short, stunned silence. Then, it was almost as if the person inside had suddenly exploded. "WHAT THE FUCK?! Why the hell did you do that for?!" Feliciano instinctively recoiled from the voice's force, but he felt like he was used to it. He blinked. Why did his brain decide to remember something now, of all the moments available?! He did not have time for this, he had to listen to the conversation going on inside. Well, he actually did not really have a choice but to listen, because to the volume of the discussion was louder than any of his thoughts.
"I'm tired of stealing, and especially your stealing, that's why!"
"Morals died with the Disaster, Bella, why the hell-"
"They agreed we could join them."
"I don't fucking want to join anyone, do you hear me?! I'm staying right here!"
"But, Romano-!"
"No buts! What the fuck, Bella! What, the, fuck!"
"Roma-"
"Shut up! You traitor! I thought I could trust you! Even after Ant-"
"ROMANO! LET ME TALK!"
A panting silence fell, and Feliciano briefly wondered what those two could have gone through. And then there was this feeling, as if his brain were desperately trying to make him remember something. The name Romano was familiar to him, and so was the swearing. The degree of familiarity of the voice kept varying in his mind, up and down, now sounding almost as if he recognized it, now sounding like a total stranger. It was almost maddening. He shook his head, feeling the start of a headache. This had never happened before when he was about to remember something, what on Earth was happening to him?
"I saw this guy. They are on to us – no, do not interrupt me! I said, they are on to us. They found out about your stealing, and someone was searching outside, near the hole. I talked to him, and he said it would be ok for us to join, now we won't have to steal or hide from Nightmares anymore! We could be finally safe here." Bella's rant was answered by some unintelligible muttering, and she continued. "Listen, whatever. We will go, understand? You cannot afford to be stubborn in this case. And there's one more thing I need to tell you. The guy I talked to..." She suddenly dropped the volume of her voice, and Feliciano had to strain his ears to hear. "..-last name, and he looks a lot like you."
Feliciano gulped, afraid of what could happen next.
Silence fell once more, but was interrupted by a breathless "Bullshit."
"I'm not lying..."
"Bullshit, I say! Let me see this guy! Where is he?! I'm going to fucking murder that liar...!"
Feliciano was suddenly very afraid. This person, whose voice sounded somehow familiar to him, evidently knew him, and now wanted to murder him... that had to be bad news. Maybe they had been enemies, before his memory loss? He instinctively took a step backwards, and accidentally moved some pebbles, which fell off a ledge and rolled lower and lower, making an exceptionally loud noise. He whined as silently as he could, not daring to move anymore.
"The impostor's right here outside, isn't he?" The thief asked, with eerie calmness in his voice.
The woman did not answer, and suddenly there were a lot of unidentifiable sounds of a struggle coming from the cave. A push, a shove, something soft falling.
"Let me through!"
Someone stomped out of the cave, looking downright furious. And looking... remarkably like him.
They did not have many reflecting surfaces at the Rock, the obvious exception made for the many mirrors that hung in the mirror cave. Clearly to complete that massive work the Rock gang had had to smash every mirror they could get their hands on, so not many survived for personal use. However they had managed to equip every bedroom with its own little mirror shard, varying in size from the width of a palm to the length of a forearm. So Feliciano had had some time to examine his forgotten features, and he knew that they were eerily similar to the thief's.
The only differences were that the thief had slightly darker brown hair, and his skin was also more tanned. For the rest, they looked incredibly alike: their height, the shape of their faces, the colour of their eyes, even a rebellious tuft of curly hair at the crown of their heads.
The thief turned around and spotted him, leaning against the rocks near the entrance. Feliciano gasped, establishing he was indeed looking almost at a reflection of himself. His brain finally overloaded, a harsh jab of migraine making him flinch as the thief readied himself to attack him.
Then however, the thief – Romano, his brain kept screaming, Romano! – suddenly stopped dead on his tracks, a few steps from him.
An incredulous look washed away the rage from the thief's face. "What the hell?! What the...? No, it can't be..." He murmured, before pointing an accusing finger at him and raising his voice. "It's not possible... you... no, this can't be, this isn't real! You are not real!" He shouted, a hint of panic in his voice. "Tu sei MORTO!"
Feliciano's hands instinctively went to shield his face, and he had a plethora of excuses ready to be fired, but then the meaning of the last few words sank into him, feeling like lead weights. "Wah! Wait... What do you mean... I'm... dead?"
The thief did not look like he could register anything anymore. "You should be dead. He is dead. You're not real. He's... I... I..." He could barely piece two words together in a logical order, as his face contorted into a scowl of various emotions – confusion, fear, hate, sadness. His eyes were watering, and he started crying, grimacing. And then, "...Feliciano..." he finally croaked in what seemed to be relief. All colour drained from his face, and his knees buckled under him as he lost consciousness. He would have hit the rocky ground, if Bella hadn't emerged from the cave and caught his shoulders just in time.
Feliciano stood frozen like a statue, barely realizing that a tear was running down his cheek. He felt like a dam had been busted in his mind, and suddenly, memories started flowing. Romano, his brother. Now that he remembered, he felt ashamed. How could he ever forget about him? Many memories popped up, like bright coloured flashes in the blank pages of his past: the two of them playing together, eating together, sleeping together, getting lost together, getting into trouble together, growing up together. Both of them very similar but at the same time not quite the same. He stared at the unconscious face of his brother, and remembered everything about his personality. The swearing, bad-tempered and rough attitude, the usually empty threats, they all hid a softer side, well sort of-
Bella's groan snapped him back to reality, and he immediately knelt down to help her. "Agh, well, that was unexpected. But we need to get him out of the sun." She said.
Feliciano slowly nodded, still a little shaken. "Yes, you're right... Let's bring him... let's go down to the caves. I'll help you carry him."
"Are you sure? And are you ok? I thought you two were related, due to the last name... was I right?" She asked, clearly worried due to her actions causing Romano to faint.
"Yes, yes, and yes." Feliciano nodded more vigorously this time, slowly recovering from the shock. He cracked a smile as he grabbed Romano's legs. "He's... my brother." He almost could not believe he was saying this.
Bella's expression lightened up immensely, as she picked up the fainted man by his armpits. "So I was right! Oh, I'm so happy you two got reunited! You are a very lucky man, not everyone gets to see their family again like this, you know."
The Italian let out a hum of approval, and they started descending towards the entrance of the Rock without saying another word. Not that Feliciano could possibly bring himself to hold up a conversation right at that moment: he felt like an enormous lump had lodged itself in his throat, and his heart ached: he did not know if it was because of joy or sadness, but it was probably both. He had found his brother. If that was not a reason to rejoice, he did not know what was. However, Romano had clearly been convinced that he was dead. Why? What had happened? Out of all the sudden memories he had gained, there was no information about that particular event. Once again, his stupid brain had only shown him so much, and mostly only useless memories about his distant past. But on the other side, those memories were probably better than any other recent one, at least he now knew he even had a past. He had existed before the Disaster, and that was already more reassuring than anything he had remembered before.
When they finally arrived at the jeep, Feliciano felt exhausted. He wasn't that strong, and carrying a person, although with help, had been hell. Together with Bella – who was surprisingly stronger than he had expected of a woman her size – he delicately let Romano rest on the ground, before letting go of his ankles.
"I'll go call someone, please wait here, ok?"
After a nod from the blonde, he ran through the caves to get Arthur. Sure, Ludwig had loosened up, but that did not mean he was ready to accept two new members yet. In the dining cave he passed by Tino and Berwald, who were probably taking a break from the search, and they both looked surprised to see him running so fast, but he did not have time to explain. He would have slammed the door of Arthur's medical room open if it had had any, but due to its lack he ran right through the curtain, panting heavily as he looked around for the medic. To his disappointment, he wasn't there, not even in his own bedroom. Then it dawned on him: of course, everyone was out looking for the thief. He ran around the Rock like a madman until he almost bumped into him, not too far away from the dark cave with water.
"Arthur!" He exclaimed, relieved.
The surprised Brit eyed him worriedly. "Whoa, Feliciano, what's all the rush? Did you find something?"
Feliciano started to explain, but his speech was interrupted by his many pants, and therefore sounded mostly incoherent.
"Calm down, breathe. Now, explain, please." Arthur said.
The Italian nodded, but at the same time started pulling his elbow, dragging him towards the entrance cave where the jeep was parked. He explained the whole situation, including the fact that the thief had revealed himself to be his brother, on the way.
"...So, I kind of already promised them they can stay, it'd be awkward if we couldn't... they can stay, right? I'm sure they won't be a burden...!" Feliciano finished with a worried tone as they got closer and closer to the entrance cave.
Arthur nodded. "Of course they can stay, it'd be inhumane to send them away into the desert, but only on one condition: they have to pass my medical test. And unless they've somehow been infected by a Nightmare, they'll both pass without a problem."
The Italian felt as if a stone had been lifted from his heart. He cheered and thanked the Brit, before noticing that Mathias had joined them.
"Hey, so what's going on? I saw Feliciano practically flying through the caves just now, did you guys find something?" The Dane grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Maybe you already found the thief? If that's the case, I'm ready for some payback time, nobody steals form us and gets away with it!"
"Feliciano found the thief, but keep those hands in your pockets, Mathias, because there won't be any payback going on." Arthur warned him with a glare.
Mathias raised his hands in defence, all hostility evaporating almost immediately. "Alright, alright. There must be some reason behind this, I guess?"
Feliciano vigorously nodded, and Arthur answered him. "There sure is, but I'll tell everyone about it later. And it even seems like there might be two more members of the group here at the Rock."
"Really? Sweet! Finally, new people!" The Dane chuckled excitedly."No offence, but after one year, the same company starts to get dull."
Feliciano noticed and could not help but admire Mathias's trust in Arthur's judgement. As soon as the Brit had mentioned that there was a reason behind all this, he had instantly joined them and he even looked excited at the idea of two new members. He could only imagine what they all must have gone through to build so much trust in each other.
The three of them accessed to the entrance cave, and found Bella crouching near a sitting Romano. It was obvious that he had recovered from the fainting, even though he still looked a bit pale. As soon as the two noticed them, Bella stood up straight, while Romano turned his back to them.
The woman stepped forward, introducing herself and her travelling companion. She was slightly blushing, as if not used anymore to speak properly to new people. "...Hello everyone, I'm Bella, and he's Romano. We happened to stumble upon this place during our travels, and we are both very, very sorry to have stolen food from you."
"I am not sorry." Romano snapped, still not looking at them.
Bella rolled her eyes. "He did not want to go here, but of course you eventually found us. And... here we are, I guess." She shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. "I apologize again, also on his behalf – he's too stubborn to admit he was wrong. Feliciano told us there might be a chance of us being able to join you in here... so... can I humbly ask your permission to stay?" She ended with a hopeful smile.
Arthur seemed deep in thought, and Feliciano knew that when he did that, he tended to look disappointed without really meaning to. Bella must have interpreted his expression and silence in the wrong way, because she started ranting excuses. "I-I'm sorry, I know it is kind of pretentious for us to ask this, but I can assure that we won't be a burden, we can actually be of help-"
The Brit interrupted her by moving a hand, before smiling. "Apologies accepted. Of course you're both welcome here." He then held out his hand. "I'm Arthur, pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm sure we can work things out." He said, casting a short glance at Romano's back.
Bella seemed on the verge of tears due to sheer relief. "Oh my God, thank you. Thank you so much. We won't disappoint you." She looked at Feliciano. "Thank you."
Mathias took a heavy step forward, with a big grin on his face. "Any person as cute as you are is more than welcome here! Beware, there's mostly only grumpy stinky men in here, but I could protect you!" He held out his hand. "Mathias, pleased to meet'cha, cutie." He winked.
"That. Is the most horrible flirting I have seen in a long time." Arthur groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Bella chuckled, looking far more amused than charmed, taking the Dane's hand. Feliciano knew she could take care of herself, but she seemed to like to hold up the Dane's illusion of her being harmless.
"What about him?" The Brit asked, nodding in the direction of Romano, who was still stubbornly ignoring them.
"Uh, he'll manage. I'm sorry, but he kind of has a bad temper." Bella sighed.
"Fuck you all to hell." Romano muttered, making all eyebrows rise. Boy, what a temper.
Feliciano took a deep breath, and scraped together the courage he needed to approach him. "R-Romano...?" He asked, a bit afraid. His memories had shown him that most of his brother's threats were empty, but he still felt as if he were approaching a sleeping tiger. He touched his brother's shoulder lightly, and Romano jerked away as if he had been burned.
"Shove off, prick. I'm not talking to you." Romano growled, still refusing eye contact with anyone present.
Feliciano retracted his hand, hesitating. What should he do? What could he do to make the grump forgive him? He had a sudden moment of clarity, and without hesitation, he threw both his arms around his brother's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Romano! I am so sorry!"
"Gah, what the fuck?! Let me go!" Romano flailed in an attempt to free himself, but Feliciano surprised himself by tightening the hug even more.
"I am so sorry for what I did! Please, forgive me..." Feliciano murmured the last part, remembering that his brother had thought he was dead.
Romano stiffened, he stopped flailing but did not say anything, and for a couple of agonizing moments Feliciano thought he had done the wrong thing.
"Fine. Whatever, just let me go now." The elder brother groaned, relaxing his shoulders.
Feliciano did release the killer-hug, and stood up straight. Romano sighed, hunched his shoulders and then stood up as well, turning to face him. His expression was as hard as that of a stone statue, with a tight jaw and downcast eyebrows as to form a frown. But his eyes... were they watering?
Feliciano smiled, ready to embrace him properly this time. He opened his arms. "Frate-"
Romano punched his jaw.
"Feliciano!" Arthur, Mathias and Bella exclaimed in surprise. They had been watching the scene without intervening, but now Mathias stood between the two brothers – either to stop further punches or to aid Feliciano if deemed necessary.
The younger Italian rubbed his jaw where he had been hit, while looking at his brother with a stunned and hurt expression.
Romano's head was bowed, his eyes were downcast, and his balled fists were trembling. "You fucking idiot." He murmured, his voice shaking. "You big, fucking moron, Feli!" He repeated, his voice cracking. His posture relaxed and he raised his head, revealing that he was crying while trying to maintain a straight face. He took a step forward, Mathias moving out of the way, and held out his hand so that Feliciano could take it. He sniffed, before cracking a genuine smile.
"I'm so glad you're alive, you stupid little brother."
That's all, folks!
I'm kind of cutting away a lot of foreign language use here (and I will also in future chapters) from the original version. Can't say that I miss it, it just adds to confusion if you can't understand it.
I know I'm supposed to be writing The Twin Statues of Paris, but as you know I am so, so very busy...! I cannot scrape enough time together to calm down and plan a proper, enjoyable plot. Therefore I'll wait until the summer to get back to that, I'd rather wait than write a crappy plot. I still enjoy writing in the little pieces of time that I have though, so I gladly correct, tweak and improve what I've already written in Nightmare Apocalypse ;)
I hope you're still enjoying this, and until the next corrected chapter!
...
Het kan niet... : (Dutch) It can't be...
Nee : (Dutch) No.
Tu sei MORTO! : (Italian) You are DEAD!