"What's wrong, fratello?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Lovino set a round of dough in the small brick oven after it had risen enough.
"You seem different."
"That doesn't tell me what you mean, Felici."
"Veh, I don't know how to explain it. Did something happen?"
Lovino glanced back at his younger brother. Feliciano came off as an idiot most days, but he had a certain alertness about him, at least when it came to his older brother. "Fine... I kissed Arthur...twice."
Feliciano looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide open and mouth hanging speechless. Oh great, he finally gets his brother to shut up, but it's over something like this. "You..."
"Yes, me! I'll have you fucking know, he kissed me first," Lovino grumbled, his face burning in embarrassment.
"Are you in love, Lovi?" Feliciano smiled at him and poked his side. "I bet you are."
"No! Shut the hell up!" He slapped Feliciano's hand away. "I've kissed people before!"
"Fratello's in love! Fratello's in love! Fratello's in love!" His brother sang, jumping away when Lovino tried to silence him."That's alright, Arthur's really handsome."
"Shut the fuck up! I'm going to kill you!" He chased after his little brother. Feliciano let out a laugh and a playful scream, fleeing the kitchen with Lovino running after him. "Oh, no! Don't eat me!"
"Get back here, you little shit!" Lovino pinched Feliciano's bum when he got close enough.
"Ah!" Feliciano laughed and ran faster, dodging inside of one of the empty bedroom.
Lovino caught Feliciano around the waist and began tickling his sides, poking all the spots he knew would make Feliciano laugh the loudest.
"No! Please!" His little brother squirmed and wiggled, laughing loudly all the while. "Stop!"
"Not until you take back what you said," he teased playfully, making sure to give Feliciano an especially hard jab in the side.
"Never!" Feliciano jumped from his arms with a wide, happy grin on his face.
He shook his head and chuckled, feeling in a surprisingly good mood. "Whatever, you idiot. I'm going out to work in the field behind the stable. Do me a favor and take the bread out of the oven. Oh, and check on Arthur too."
"Of course, fratellone," Feliciano said cheerfully.
"Grazie." Lovino turned to leave, but stopped and added, "And I'm not in love with him."
"Whatever you say." He grinned, and watched his older brother glare at him and walk out. Feliciano peeked out the door, finding the hall empty, and skipped to Arthur's room. He only knocked once before walking in.
"Who— Oh, good morning, Feliciano." Arthur stood awkwardly with his weight shifted on one leg as he leaned against the bedpost with his shirt half buttoned. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Lovi just told me to check on you," he said happily, noticing the slight blush that crept up Arthur's cheeks. Feliciano bounced over to Arthur and buttoned his shirt for him. "He's gone out to take care of some field and told me to take care of you."
"That's very kind of you, but I'm fine. You can go."
"Don't be silly." Feliciano found his trousers and helped him into them. "You look like you can barely walk."
"I'm fine," he insisted and limped slowly to his closet. "Just a bit banged up, but fine."
"What are you looking for?" Feliciano peered over his shoulder.
"My cane." He found his old, wood cane and leaned on it heavily, testing its strength.
"Is that...?" Feliciano squeezed past him and picked up a worn, leather case.
"Yes, I've meant to give that violin to Lovino, but he won't stay in one place long enough for me to corner him." Arthur sighed. "Must he work so much?"
Feliciano cradled the case to his chest. "Fratello doesn't like to owe people, he feels like it's stealing if he doesn't repay them. I know it sounds silly, but Lovino really hates stealing... Let him do this, it'll ease his guilt."
He rested a hand on Feliciano's shoulder. "Do you think you could help me with something?"
"Sure!"
"When Lovino comes back in for lunch, don't let him just grab some bread and go. You know how stubborn he can be, but I really want to give this to him." Arthur took the case from Feliciano and limped out of the bedroom.
The little Italian followed him and called out softly as he turned down the hall to the library, "Do you love him?"
Arthur looked at the younger brother in surprise. "What?"
"Please, don't let this be a game to you... My brother's been through a lot and I don't want him to hurt anymore." Feliciano stared at him with sad, melancholy eyes.
"I've never been one for games. I won't hurt your brother, but I don't know much about love. We'll have to see how things work out for us." Arthur offered Feliciano a sympathetic smile and continued on to the library.
...
"What do you want? Feliciano said you were dying."
"He what?" Arthur gave him a confused look.
"Nothing, he's an idiot." Lovino turned to leave.
"Wait! I did want to talk with you, though." He made a move to get up, but Lovino raised a hand and sat next to him.
"If you wanted to talk, just say so. Don't send my fucking brother."
"Sorry, I couldn't chase after you with this leg of mine." Arthur gestured to the leg propped up on a pile of cushions.
"How does it feel?" Lovino scooted closer, his frown barely hiding his concern.
"It just needs some good rest, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Then what is it?"
"I wanted to give you this." He reached down and picked up the violin case, setting it in his lap.
Lovino stared at it in shock. The Italian opened the snaps of the case and lifted the lid, almost afraid of what was in it. Lovino had that dazed expression of a dreamer, running his fingers over the soft, velvet interior to the wooden instrument laying inside. "Is this really for me...?"
"Yes, it's my thanks you."
"Thank you... Thank you!" Lovino grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Arthur happily returned the kiss, bringing his hand to cup Lovino's cheek. He felt Lovino press closer and he licked the Italian's arm lips and was quickly allowed in. He rubbed his tongue against Lovino's, enticing soft moans from the other man.
The Italian pulled away reluctantly and caught his breath. He kissed Lovino's cheek and placed the violin in his hand. "Try it out, love."
Lovino blushed at the pet name and nodded. He plucked the strings, twisting the knobs until he deemed each string tuned. Lovino placed the instrument under his chin and drew the bow over the strings, letting out a pleasant sound. More notes joined the first, slow and hesitantly, a melody formed and danced in the air around them.
"I'm out of practice, but Roderich would be proud that I still sound half-way decent after more than six fucking years," Lovino said, his eyes full of nostalgia. "Are you sure I can keep this...?"
"It is yours, along with use of the piano in the music room." Arthur smiled at Lovino's startled expression.
"You have a piano?"
"Yes, it's my mother's, but it is yours to use. You cannot have it, but it'll serve you better than me." Arthur stood up carefully and used his cane to steady himself. He watched Lovino place the violin back in its case and hugged it to his chest. "I'm glad you like the gift."
Lovino glared at him, his cheeks a pretty shade of red. "Shut up, bastard... Of course, I like. Now, show me the piano."
Arthur chuckled and walked towards the door. "Alright, love. Follow me."
"Are you going to start calling me that a lot?" Lovino walked beside him, opening the door for him.
"Call you what?" He glanced at Lovino's flushed face and found the Italian's embarrassment endearing.
"Love."
"Perhaps. It's a name I use for people I really like."
"Oh..."
He stopped walking and wrapped his arm around Lovino's waist. "And so far, the list of people I've used it for is very short." Arthur pressed his lips against Lovino's cheek.
"Idiot," Lovino grumbled, nudging him down the hall.
"Yes, yes." He chuckled and led Lovino to the part of the house not even he went to often.
"Damn, you house is so big..." Lovino glanced around curiously.
"This house is fairly small for what I use to live in, but I can't say the bigger house was any better. It was still just as cold and empty as this one." Arthur stopped in front of a wall. "Hm, if I remember correctly..." He pushed the wall and it swung open.
"Holy shit, why all the secrecy?"
"This is one of the rooms Mother use to let resistant fighters plan things in, but this particular one was converted into a music room." Arthur led him in inside. "She even went as far as to add windows to the room."
"This is amazing," Lovino breathed and gravitated to the grand piano in the corner. The Italian pressed down one of the ivory keys and flinched, setting the violin case down. "It's horribly out of tune.
"I'm sorry about that, no one has played it in a very long time."
"That's fine." Lovino opened the top of the piano and looked inside. "Roderich made sure I knew how to tune a piano."
"Why was that? Most teachers don't teach their students how to tune a piano."
"That up-tight bastard wasn't exactly like most teachers. I don't thing he was really a teacher at all, but Grandpa asked him to teach Feliciano music." Lovino spotted the trunks towards the side of the room, knelt in front of them, and began looking through them. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's popular in Vienna now. The bastard had talent."
"What'd you say his name was again?"
"Roderich. Don't go looking for him."
He frowned. "I wasn't going to, but he sounds familiar."
Lovino stopped searching through the trunks, straightening up, and glanced at him. "Can you promise me something?"
"Anything for you, love." Arthur didn't like the sudden change in Lovino's tone.
"If something ever happens to me and I'm not here, find Roderich and take Feliciano to him."
"What do you mean? You're not going somewhere, are you?" Arthur turned Lovino to face him completely, his heart squeezing painfully in his chest.
"No, I just want a plan in case..." Lovino glanced away from him.
"In case of what?' He gripped Lovino's shoulder's tightly. "Are you in trouble—"
"No, no. Life and Ruin just have a way of screwing me over..." Lovino kissed his cheek lightly. "Don't get so worked up. I'm not going anywhere, idiot."
Arthur frowned and pulled Lovino against him. "Don't say things like that. I makes me think you want to leave..."
"Don't be stupid, you've done so much for Feliciano, more than I can ever thank you for."
"But what about you...?"
"You've given me my music back..." Lovino let out a sharp, bitter chuckle. "But from my experience, good things never stay. Life has its way of taking them away."
He tightened his grip on the Italian. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. You can just stay here...with me. I'm all the way out here, because life isn't suppose to touch me."
Lovino kissed him full on the mouth and stepped away from him. "I might take you up on that offer, even if it seems a little too good to be true."
Arthur watched Lovino take a box out from one of the trunks and walk over to the piano. The Italian took out different tools and leaned inside the piano.
"So, at what age did you learn to play piano?" He asked, secretly trying to get more information from Lovino on his childhood.
"Hm... Four or five, I don't really remember."
"Feliciano told me you just walked up and started playing."
The Italian laughed and he heard a soft, plucking noise coming from the piano. "It didn't happen quite like that. It took me nearly a month of watching Roderich to memorize his finger movements and play them myself. I didn't expect to impress the bastard so much that he would actually request to teach me. Both me and Nonno were surprised, although I was happier than he was."
"Why was he not happy? Wouldn't he be happy he had a grandson that could actually learn to play just by watching someone?" He saw the muscles in Lovino's back tense and he waited in silence.
"No, I wasn't suppose to learn anything like that. Feliciano is the artist, not me, not like he is." Lovino grabbed a strange device and Arthur heard the piano creak softly.
"Then what are you?"
Lovino took his time answering, but he finally said, "The con artist. Grandpa's evil little piece of ruin to be a ruthless as him."
"I don't believe I'm following you..." Arthur stared in confusion at Lovino.
"Good, I didn't want you to." The Italian put the tools back into the box and pressed the keys softly.
"Don't speak in riddles."
"Don't try to nose you way into my past, even though I've warned you repeatedly to keep out of it." Lovino glared at him with a look in his eyes he hadn't seen since the Italian first came to him. "Come on, bastard. I'm sure Feliciano is wondering where I am."
"Yeah..." Arthur held Lovino's gaze stubbornly. "I need to go talk with Francis about his stay here, anyway."
Lovino grumbled something in Italian and walked out, with Arthur right behind him. Just as they made it back to the main hall, Francis came prancing up.
"Mon amis! I've been looking everywhere for the both of you."
"What the fuck do you want?" Lovino glared at the Frenchman, his hostility flowing off him in waves.
"Awh, you're not still sore over this morning, are you? You shouldn't be, I didn't get to land a single hit on you." Francis laughed, but stopped when Lovino's glare only grew colder.
"Why were you looking for us?" He rested his hand on the small of Lovino's back, silently trying to defuse Lovino's anger.
"Ah, yes. I was wondering if I could borrow your little love for a ride into town, if it's not too much trouble." The Frenchman flashed one of his most charming smiles.
"Hell—"
"It's not too much trouble."
The Italian pulled him to the side and whispered harshly, "What do you mean it's not too much trouble? I don't want to take him!"
"Just do it! Francis hates horses and won't dare go near one. He needs someone to drive him!"
"No! And don't fucking order me around, you bastard!" Lovino glared at him.
He sighed and kissed Lovino's cheek. "Please, love. If you don't, he'll never leave me alone."
Lovino let out a loud huff. "Fine, but only because I know the fucker would bother me too."
"Thanks, dear." Arthur smiled and pecked Lovino's lips.
"Whatever, I'm the only fucking person here that can drive that damn cart." Lovino turned away to hide the blush tinting his cheeks. He couldn't stay mad when Arthur smiled at him like that. "Come on, you French bastard."
"Wonderful! Just give me a moment and I'll meet you out in the front." Francis sauntered off down the hall.
Lovino shook his head and went out to the stables, grumbling to himself in Italian. Mint lifted her head when he opened the door to her stall. "Come on, girl. We're going out."
The horse just blinked and followed him without complaint, letting him harness her and lead he to the cart. He bent over to check the wheel and Mint nipped him in the ass. "Ow! Hey!" Lovino glared, but the horse just twitched her ears and acted like she did nothing. "Damn horse, you and you're fucking treats."
He attached her to the cart and slipped her one sugar cube from his pocket, before climbing into the front seat and driving around to the front of the house.
Francis put some bags into the back and took a seat next to him. "Let us be off."
"Where to?" Lovino flicked the riegns and drove out of the large gate that served as entrance to the Kirkland estate.
"Just go down the main road and I'll direct you when we reach town."
"Alright, asshole."
Short chapter, sorry for the wait. Thank your for reading.
-Windy