Sorry the chapter is kinda short this week guys. Dogs and I were busy and didn't have as much time as usual to work on it.

And by the way. I meant to say this last week but I forgot. Alissa: Sorry, no can do ^^ One update a week. At this point, Dogs and I are writing the chapters right before we post them. As proven this week, we barely got this one done...

BUT we have a lot of stuff planned now! We've moved past a block and we got some fresh schemes to run with! I hope you guys will enjoy them ^^ I don't know how much longer this arc will be going, but it'll probably be wrapped up in a chapter or two.

Have a great week guys!

Feliciano stomped down the street, wiping at his eyes furiously, trying hard not to begin sobbing right there on the sidewalk. He knew he was over reacting. He knew that Ludwig had trouble expressing his feelings. But sometimes, it just was so unfair that it was always him who had to initiate everything! He didn't want to have to ask for kisses and hugs. He wanted to just be given them.

He sniffed and entered Yao's home, going to the only person he felt would be able to give him the comfort he really needed and wanted at the moment. He walked into the living room and wrapped his arms around the waist of Francis, pressing his face into the vampire's chest as his body began to shake with his cries.

"Oh! My poor petit Feli! Whatever happened to you?" The French vampire cried as he cuddled Feliciano close and rubbed his back.

The Italian sniffed again and looked up at the blonde teen, his golden eyes wide and shimmering with tears. "W-With you give me love, Francis?" he asked, wanting hugs and kisses, not understanding that Francis would most likely take it a completely different way. "L-Luddy won't give me kisses..."

"Aww! My poor baby! Oui! I'll give you ALL the love you want!"

"R-Really?" Feliciano asked hopefully, blinking tears from his eyes and sniffing one more time.

"Oui~. Of course, mon cher~."

"Yay~." Feliciano happily hugged Francis tighter, pressing a friendly kiss to the Frenchman's cheek. "Grazie, Francis~! Grazie, grazie~!"

Francis chuckled as he hugged Feliciano. He paused and glanced down at him with a worried look. "Feli…? Why is it you smell different now..?"

Feliciano tilted his head. "I do?"

"Oui. Just like… your brother…"

The smaller teen's eyes again filled with tears. "Y-You still like me though, right?" he whimpered, tugging lightly on the vampire's sleeve, looking up at him with big, sad eyes. "Y-You'll still hug me and s-stuff? Y-You said you would..."

"Why of course I do! Who on earth would ever dislike you?!"

Feliciano looked at the floor, tears beginning to drip down his face. "I-I don't know..."

"Aww! My poor baby!" Francis exclaimed dramatically as he cradled Feliciano.

Feeling much better thanks to the affection from Francis' that he hadn't needed to ask for, Feliciano managed to smile up at him. "Francis, do you love me?" he asked.

"Oui~~."

"Yay~! I love you too~!" Feliciano hugged the Frenchman tightly, happiness welling inside him.

"NOW can we go get Feliciano?!" Lovino growled as he tried to yank his arm free.

"Si, but calm down, okay? I don't think you being angry will help whatever was wrong with him," Antonio said, trying to sooth his boyfriend.

"Then do something about that damn potato! It's HIS damn fault after all!"

"Lovino. Calm. Down," the Spaniard repeated, his voice sharp and firm.

Lovino instantly flinched at the tone and cowered back away from the vampire.

Guilt immediately filled the teen and he held out his arms to the werewolf, an apologetic look on his face. "Oh, Lovi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Please forgive me..." he said, looking at the Italian sadly. "I just wanted you to think before you did anything rash. I'm really sorry."

"I-It's fine, dammit…."

"Are you sure? I can make it up to you!"

"N-No, master…." Lovino mumbled quietly, just loud enough for the vampire to hear him.

Antonio blinked, then frowned. "Master...?"

Lovino sniffled and nodded.

"Lovi... I'm not your master. I'm your boyfriend..."

"B-But….."

"No. No buts, mi querido. I'm not your master. I don't own you." Antonio wrapped his arms around the Italian, hugging him close, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you. You don't have a master. Your life is your own."

Lovino blinked as he thought about it then looked away. "… I'm hungry, dammit. Let's go get some food."

"We still need to find Matthew..."

"Where the hell do we look for him?"

"I honestly have no idea... Alfred would know... Gil would know... Ahhhhh. This is hard," Antonio whined.

Lovino frowned as he thought about it. "… Smell for the bastard?"

"He's a ghost, he doesn't actually have a smell... Well, at least not to us. Gil keeps insisting he smells like maple syrup, but I haven't ever smelled that when he's around..." the vampire commented.

Lovino shrugged in reply. "So what the hell do we do, master?"

"... Seriously, please don't call me that, querido. I'm not your master."

Lovino blinked then scowled as he glanced away. "… Yes you are, dammit…" he muttered.

"No, I'm not."

Meanwhile, back at Yao's shop, Feliciano had managed to get Francis to sit on the couch and had then taken advantage of this by laying down and curling up with his head in the Frenchman's lap, letting the vampire stroke his hair gently until the Italian drifted off to sleep.

Yao happened to walk in on this spectacle. "Francis, is something wrong with Feliciano?" he asked, worried about him because of course he cared, but also because he was one of Kiku's first friends.

Francis glanced down at Feliciano and sighed. "He smells like his brother…. EXACTLY like him…."

The nature spirit frowned. "I see..."

Francis nodded, continuing to running his fingers through Feliciano's hair. "And it seems a certain German hurt his feelings yet again."

Feliciano murmured and nuzzled Francis' hand in his sleep, then settled back down.

Yao sighed. "Well, nothing we can really do about that. Unless you want to try and teach Ludwig how to be more loving and affectionate." He watched Feliciano for a moment before continuing. "The poor boy really does need more attention than Ludwig gives him. I know he tries, but Feliciano is one of those people that requires constant reminders that he really is loved. Or this happens..." He gestured to the Italian curled up in the vampire's lap. "He goes to the first person he knows will give him what he wants."

"Oui."

"So are you going to teach Ludwig how to be more loving?"

"Aww~~. If only I could."

"Perhaps you should hold a sort of intervention for them then. Try and help them meet each other half way rather than letting Feliciano feel he is the only one putting real effort into their relationship. Maybe get Ludwig to try and start something on his own without prodding," the Chinese man suggested.

Francis thought about it then smiled. "Oui~. That should work~."

"Let' hope it works."

Suddenly, Feliciano's stomach let out a loud growl. It woke the Italian and he blinked for a moment, then sat up. "Francis?" he asked softly, his eyes wide and hopeful. "I'm hungry... C-Can we get food?"

"I take it you want pasta?" Francis asked with a chuckle.

"W-Well..." Feliciano wrung his hands, looking away at the far wall. "W-What do you want to eat...? I-I know you don't have to, but Toni says it's really nice to be able to eat, s-so how about you pick what we get?"

Francis blinked, then glanced over to Yao, hoping he had heard the same thing. Did FELICIANO of all people really just deny PASTA?!

The nature spirit frowned deeply. He stepped forward and placed his hand over the Italian's forehead, making Feliciano squeak in surprise. "Hmm... Well, he doesn't have a fever," he reported, letting his hand drop.

Feliciano wiggled away, moving back onto the couch. "I'm not sick, I-I just want to be nice." He gently reached out and took Francis' hand. "S-So where do you want to eat?" he repeated.

"Now, Feli…" Francis lightly scolded, his face twisting into slightly irritation. Not at Feliciano, but at the fact that he was unable to help his friend. "You should pick what YOU want to eat. Not what someone else does."

The Italian instantly coward back, the expression looking more like a scowl to him, as the look was so rare on the Frenchman's face. He coward away. "I-I'm sorry!" he whimpered, covering his head as though he expected to be hit. "D-Don't be mad, please!"

"Now now, Feli, I'm not mad at all," Francis said comfortingly. "You know that."

The teen sniffed. "B-But you gave me t-the same look fratello does w-when he's mad..."

"Oh! I'm so so sorry, my petit Feli!"

Feliciano sniffed. "S-So you aren't mad at me?" he asked, wanting to be sure. He hated when people were mad at him. If Francis was upset with him, he was going to do everything in his power to change that.

Francis smiled as he patted Feliciano's head gently. "Of course not. Now, how about some food, oui? Does that sound good?"

The younger twin sniffled, then nodded, smiling up at the French vampire. "S-Si. That sounds good," he agreed.

Francis' smile grew. "Well then, let's go."

"You're still my damn master, you bastard…." Lovino muttered under his breath as the three searched everywhere they could think of for the Canadian ghost.

Antonio heard him. "No, Lovino. I'm not." He wasn't angry with his boyfriend for insisting this fact or repeating it, he just didn't like the idea of having mastery over someone. It reminded him too much of a time long ago. Long before he had met the Italian.

Lovino shot him a glare. "Why the hell not?!"

Antonio was silent for a moment, then turned to the German teen. "Ludwig, could you give us some privacy? I need to talk to Lovi." His tone clearly indicated he didn't want the German to ask any questions, his green eyes almost begging him to just do it.

Ludwig blinked then nodded. "Ja. I understand." He walked off, leaving the Spaniard and a very confused Lovino alone.

Antonio took Lovino's hand and led him to a bench a short distance away. He sat him down, then took the space at his side, still holding his hand. "Lovi…" he began slowly, "I've only ever told a few people about my life before now. If you'll listen, I'll let you know why I refuse to let you call me your master…"

Lovino glanced at Antonio's hand then mumbled. "It feels like instinct now for you to be my master though…. B-But fine, dammit… E-Explain."

Antonio swallowed, knowing that what he said now would change everything Lovino knew about him. "You see, Lovi… When I first became a vampire, I… I wasn't exactly... I wasn't exactly a good person."

"…. What do you mean….?" Lovino asked, his voice soft.

"B-Before I say anything else, I want you to know that I really regret how I used to be," Antonio said quickly, locking eyes with the Italian in desperation. "I was angry, I didn't understand what had happened."

Lovino blinked, then gave him a small awkward smile. "I-I understand perfectly, bastard…. Feliciano and I went through a lot of it ourselves in a way, remember? Just say it."

The vampire's head went down as he stared shamefully at the ground. "I… I know you've noticed how sometimes I get kind of possessive and I-I'll say something strange… R-Right before I was turned, I was… I was pirate."

"A… pirate…?" Lovino asked, trying to fight off his new instincts of trying to cuddle with the vampire to make him feel better. "But…. Those damn things don't exist anymore…. As far as I fucking know of, anyway."

"They do, they're just not as common," Antonio mumbled, wringing his hands. "But this was back during the Golden Age of piracy. I was kidnapped from my home and forced to work on the ship. At least…. At first it was forced… But I started to like it. The captain taught me how to fight, how to run the ship… I didn't realize it at first, but he was grooming me to take over from him. He died in battle… against an English pirate. An ancestor of Arthur's, actually. That's why I dislike him so much… But after the captain died, I took over the ship… I was feared all over the world… I was ruthless. I did whatever I could to bring anguish and misery to the lands I conquered... I-I was... evil."

Lovino sat there looking down for a while, then slowly moved forward and climbed into Antonio's lap.

The Spaniard's arms instantly went around him, holding Lovino close. "I… I've killed so many people, Lovi… And before I was kidnapped, I was a slave... I had a 'master'… I hated it so much. I can't stand to hear another person call someone else 'm-master'..."

Lovino stayed quiet and buried his face in Antonio's chest until he murmured a soft, "… I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

"I didn't want to ever tell you… I hate having people know…" Antonio murmured. "I've only ever told Francis and Gilbert… S-So please… Don't call me master… It brings back… t-to many memories… bad ones..."

Lovino nodded, then gave Antonio's cheek a small lick. "I-I promise…."