Antonio did not return that evening. He had homework, and besides, he felt slightly awkward after creeping on Lovino while he was sleeping. As he struggled, the face of Lovino filled his head: when he smiled at that woman. When he was sleeping, like a delicate porcelain figure. When he woke and Antonio could see himself reflected in his eyes. He couldn't concentrate. Annoyed, he closed his notebook and grabbed his coat, deciding to go for a walk to cool his head.

As he stepped out of the dorm, he felt himself relax as the cold air hit his face. A walk. This was what he needed, to clear his head of Lovino. And yet as he rounded the corner, he spotted the familiar dark brown hair half a block away, standing in line in a small Chinese take-out restaurant. He didn't want to be seen, lest Lovino think he was not only a creeper who preyed on sleeping men, but a stalker too. Yet he still was curious, wanting to see what Lovino did on his nights off, so he hid himself in the adjacent bookshop, looking through the glass showcase window, pretending to read a book.

He watched as Lovino received his order in one of those little white cartons with the plum sauce and chopsticks and fork taped onto the side, and Lovino took his food into the alleyway just by the side of the window and sat down heavily on one of the trashbags. Antonio could see him perfectly, and watched silently as Lovino ripped open the carton and began to pour fried rice, the cheapest item on the menu, into his mouth hungrily. When he had gotten most of the rice, he reached into the carton and ate the stray bits of rice still stuck to the inside of the carton, one grain at a time, then tore the cardboard in such a way that it was flat and licked it completely, getting all possible food residue off it. Then he tore the lid off the plum sauce and licked the inside of that feverishly, until it was all gone and the little plastic container was spotless. He opened the fortune cookie and devoured that whole, not cracking it in half or taking out the fortune. He did this all in under ten minutes, and when he was done, he examined the carton and the lid and the fortune cookie wrapper to make sure there was no food left. He licked it all off, again, and then leaned against the dirty alley wall. He looked hopelessly at the clean remains of his dinner, as if he was still hungry. Looking around to make sure no one could see him (although Antonio stayed where he was, watching with amazement), Lovino grabbed the napkin also and began to eat that too, tearing at the thin paper with his teeth.

Finally he leaned back against the wall, exhausted, and scanned the alley, looking for anything else he could eat. He glanced at the window, and looked at the many books hungrily, as if he was contemplating eating those too. Then he saw Antonio and their eyes met.

Lovino stumbled to his feet in an instant and shot forward, pressing himself against the glass, yelling something at Antonio, but Antonio couldn't hear him. He could tell just by looking that Lovino was angry, however, and he wondered why. Lovino's breath fogged up the glass and Antonio could no longer see him as well, and he gestured silently, trying to tell Lovino that he couldn't hear and that he was sorry for whatever he did, but Lovino didn't seem to notice, or was either too angry to care. Antonio quickly exited the bookshop and attempted to make a speedy getaway, but Lovino grabbed him from behind, pulled him into the alley, and tackled him to the ground, sitting on Antonio's stomach to stop him from moving, leaning forward and holding Antonio's wrists down also, breathing heavily.

"You speak of this to no one," Lovino threatened, his face flushed red from anger. "Got it? No one."

"Right, right- I'm sorry- I saw nothing, I promise!" Antonio apologized quickly. He didn't want to get pepper sprayed again. Lovino leaned down closer, his face just above Antonio's, staring Antonio down. Finally he seemed satisfied and leaned back up, swinging his leg back over and standing up. Antonio got to his feet also, brushing off his jeans.

"I wasn't creeping on you," he said, although to say that now was pointless. "I was actually just taking a walk and happened to see you- sorry bout that." Lovino raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Antonio wasn't sure what to do now; should he just leave or was there something else he was supposed to do, some other social rule that people abided by whenever they saw a friend eat a napkin, so he stood there also and said nothing, hoping Lovino would leave first so he wouldn't have to be the one to awkwardly step out of the alley. Yet Lovino was not relenting, staring fiercely at the night sky and determinedly not looking at Antonio. Finally Antonio gave up and slid out of the alley.

Antonio walked into the coffee shop the next morning, a little scared that Lovino might attack him as he ordered his usual mocha and pastry. Yet

Lovino acted cool and brisk, as if last night had never happened, as if Antonio was just another customer.

"Sorry," he whispered as he handed over the money, but Lovino ignored him. Instead of having his drink and pastry brought to him, he waited at the counter, hoping to speak to Lovino, but to no avail. "Sorry about accidentally seeing you last night," Antonio said again.

"Forget about it." Lovino handed Antonio his mocha and got out the pastry and put it on a plate. "Have a nice day," he said vaguely.

"Thanks." Antonio turned his coffee mug around and around in his hands. "I was wondering if…" he started to say, a little unsure, but then was cut off as another customer walked into the coffee shop and Lovino greeted them.

"Good morning sir, how may I help you today?" Lovino asked, with not so much as a glance to Antonio. Antonio sighed and sat down, defeated, as Lovino served the next customer. Finally the customer left, after getting six coffees for his coworkers, and Antonio opened his mouth, about to speak, but then Lovino disappeared into the backroom for a while and then came back out, closing a notebook. He must have been taking inventory, Antonio realized, as Lovino then stored the notebook neatly in a drawer.

"Honestly, I wasn't stalking you or anything last night," Antonio said. "I just-"

Lovino held up a hand to cut him off. "It's fine," he said wearily. "Just forget about it."

Antonio brightened. "Great! Thank you. So we're good, then?"

Lovino sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We're good," he assured Antonio, but he seemed distracted.

"Is something the matter?" Antonio asked.

"No," Lovino said. He seemed sincere, and Antonio wondered what exactly it was that was making Lovino act so melancholy.

"Anything on your mind?"

"No," Lovino said, in a slightly more irritated tone. "Just drink your fucking coffee and go to your fucking bourgeois University like the rich brat you are."

"Ah... Problems with the University? With your brother?"

"None of your fucking business, cunt-face."

"Hey, hey," Antonio protested, but he was laughing. "I'm just trying to help."

"Too bad."

"No, but really- I'm learning to be a therapist, I could help." Antonio couldn't help prying, he was just Lovino sighed.

"I just got off the phone with my grandfather."

"And?"

"And the rest is none of your business," Lovino said coolly.

"That's pretty harsh." Antonio sipped his coffee, not really knowing what to say. "Are you doing anything this weekend?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Apart from school? No. Someone else comes in on the weekends, so I have them off. I don't start class until two, though. Why?"

"I was thinking we could do something. It's Friday today, do you get off early?"

"Yeah, at seven." Lovino looked at Antonio doubtfully.

"It's warmer today, maybe we could go to the park you told me about after work?" Antonio suggested with a lopsided smile. "And you also mentioned you needed someone to show you around town. I'd be glad to."

"I- I don't know." Lovino picked up the broom again and began to sweep.

"Go on," Antonio urged. "It'll be fun!"

"If it's with you? On the contrary." Lovino raised an eyebrow and turned away.

"You could come back to my dorm and I can show you Gato!"

"Gato?"

"He's my pet turtle, he's sooo cute! You'll love him!"

"You named your turtle Gato?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Doesn't gato mean 'cat?'" Lovino pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but he makes this weird little sound when he's happy, that sounds sort of like a cat, I guess."

"Really. A cat."

"Yeah," Antonio insisted. "It sounds like this- mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnn." Lovino stared at him disdainfully and Antonio tried it again, sticking out his neck and moving his jaw backwards to imitate a turtle. He folded his fists into his armpits and stuck out his elbows to mimic fins and waved them about. "Mrrrrrrrrrrrnn. Mrrrrrrrrrrnnnn." He did it again, for emphasis.

"And- And he walks really slow! Like if I lay down, he likes to walk up my body and sometimes it can take him almost an hour to get just from my ankle to my neck. It's a weird feeling, at first, feeling something else walk on you, but after a while it becomes really relaxing and calming. You know?"

"Not really."

"Oh." Antonio deflated. "Well, you should definitely come over to my dorm, then, and try it out!"

"No thanks."

"You know those Galapagos tortoises?" Antonio asked, undeterred. "The giant ones? They're said to be about 4mpd!"

"Mpd?"

"Miles per day."

"Miles per day?" Lovino repeated incredulously. "Four miles? Thats it?"

"I know, right? And those tortoises are so big, they can weigh up to 600 pounds! And Charles Darwin- do you know Darwin?"

"I know of him, yes."

"Yeah, well Darwin, when he was in Galapagos, a long time ago, like the… I dunno, 1500s or something-"

"1800s," interrupted Lovino. "It was in the 1800s. Victorian England."

"Right," Antonio scratched his neck, a little embarrassed at his blunder. "Well, anyway, at that time, the tortoises were so tame he could ride on them! Like, sit on the back of the tortoise and ride it like a horse!"

"I can't imagine it was a most effective means of transportation if they only traveled 4 miles per day," Lovino said dryly.

"But still- riding on the back of a giant tortoise! How cool would that be?!"

"I guess it would be kinda cool," Lovino admitted reluctantly.

"'Kinda cool?' It'd be hella cool!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just let me get back to work." Lovino dismissed him, returning to his sweeping.

"Yeah, I should probably leave if I want to get to class early. See you tonight, then?" Antonio asked, packing up his things.

"I never said yes, you know."

"I'll come back before closing time. You'll have the whole day to decide. See you later!"

"Bye," Lovino said. As Antonio left the shop, he saw the woman from yesterday enter and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. He quickly turned his head and looked down at his feet, shuffling away, shoulders hunched. He didn't want to see Lovino smile at that woman, even if it was false. But what he didn't see, as he turned away, as the woman walked in, was that Lovino's eyes were on him until he was out of sight, staring at him almost longingly.