HETALIA BELONGS TO HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA
«There's just some things that never change / You say we're just friends / But friends don't know the way you taste», Señorita (Camila Cabello feat. Shawn Mendes)
1870
Veneziano and Romano, while under Spain's domination, had sometimes traveled across the ocean to assist him, most often changing the diapers of his many children. Now that Argentina could control her sphincter and had also made herself independent from Spain, she needed help to build a house of her own, and Italy needed money and didn't hesitate to go to America if needed, the familiarity between them made everything easier. It kind of felt like doing a favor to a relative. Argentina was not a boss like many, but often came to visit to the working place to give them wine to refresh themselves and distract them for a while with a bit of conversation.
How the kid has grown...!
Argentina had inherited Spain's love for social contact, though she seemed to be more talkative than he was, if that was even possible. Veneziano sure loved to let his tongue loose as well, so they spent the days talking and laughing—needless to say that it was Romano who was left with all the work. Romano should have shouted at his brother to focus, but...he couldn't focus himself.
All he could think about was...How the kid has grown!
What nice proportions! What a loud and merry laugh she had! And those gorgeous green eyes...
Every time they turned towards him...his heart skipped a beat and lost a bunch of brain cells, causing him to make mistakes and babble when he was spoken to. Idiot! Why did he have to spoil everything and make a fool of himself? No wonder Argentina laughed with Veneziano all the time...
...Though she was always looking at him...
"Hey! Argentina's here! Hello, Argentina!" Veneziano left the brush aside, not before running a hand on his forehead, painting it white, and waved his arm.
The mistress' coming made everyone at the construction lot cheer up and take care of their ungraceful appearance.
"Miss Argentina, hello!" Another worker of theirs wanted to say hello too, and waved his hand, not remembering that he was pulling a rope, causing a bucket to fall on Romano's head.
"Cazzo! Guarda cosa stai facendo, coglione! Porca madon-!" Romano was cursing out loud, when he found Argentina standing right next to him and he shut his mouth. "Uh, h-hey..."
This was not gentlemanly at all. Now she probably thought he was a brute...He felt so stupid and bad he would have loved to crawl into some hole on the ground like a worm.
But Argentina not only looked at him with the despise he though he deserved, but giggled.
"Oh, are you alright? Should I call someone?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You got blood..."
"It's nothing." Romano drew a smile and swelled his chest, dissimulating very well the awful headache he was suffering.
Argentina seemed to be fooled. "I brought you this. It's very hot today and..."
BOOM!
The building was starting to take shape until that projectile hit it. Some of the debris fell on Argentina, breaking the bottle in her hands and showering her in dust. Her smile gave way to gritted teeth, and she started shouting at the top of her lungs:
"¡LA RECALCADA CONCHA DE TU MADRE, PARAGUAY! ¡COMO TE AGARRE, TE VOY A CAGAR A TROMPADAS, FORRO DE MIERDA!"
When she realized how they were looking at her, she blushed visibly despite the dust covering her and muttered an apology. Romano repressed a chuckle. He stepped forward and tried to shake the dust off her clothes and hair.
"I might as well take a bath...Italy, could you take me home?" She asked.
Romano turned his gaze to Veneziano and gestured at him to hurry up, was he deaf?
"Please?" Argentina insisted, leaning forward.
It was then when he realized he was addressing him.
"...Sure..."
He drove the cart to San José Palace.
"Stupid Paraguay..." Argentina mumbled, looking at herself. "That was a good wine...Don't worry, I'll bring you another bottle."
Romano didn't reply, and Argentina seemed to find it strange.
"Hm? Are you alright?"
"Yes...I..." Romano shook his head and spurred on the horses. "Nah..."
"What is it? Is there something wrong?"
"Absolutely!" Romano didn't mean to shout. His eyebrows furrowed, feeling the most stupid man in the universe. "I'm just surprised, because...uh...You called me Italy earlier..."
"...Yes? Isn't that your name?"
"Yeah, but...when people say Italy, they usually mean Veneziano...I'm usually just...Romano...Veneziano's brother..."
The guy in the background that no one liked as much as they liked charming, good-willed, funny Veneziano...
"But you're Italy, too." Argentina replied.
"People often forget that."
She came to see him...She laughed at his jokes...
"Should I call you Romano? Do you like it better?"
"You can call me however you want. I don't care."
"Well...If you don't mind, then I'll call you Italy. I'll use Romano to avoid confusion only."
"That'll be fine...Thank you."
His heart was pounding so bad, to the verge of a heart attack. He probably had an idiotic face...
And she was still looking at him, and only him...
"You know? I remember when Tata brought you guys..." Argentina said when they hopped off the cart, now at the gates of the palace. "I would eagerly wait for you at the harbor..."
"And you cried when we left. And made Veneziano cry too." Romano smiled.
"You were so fun..." Argentina close the door of the bathroom and Romano waited outside, walking around with his arms behind his back.
He was a teenager at the time, and found it annoying to have to keep a brat entertained. Now that he had matured—more or less—, he regretted having felt like Argentina was a waste of time. She was naughty but not bad. Out of all of Spain's children, she was probably the one he was most fond of.
"...We had...very good times, yes..." He said loud enough for her to hear.
He couldn't resist. He approached to peep through the keyhole.
How the kid has grown..., he thought, seeing that the unruly child had given way to a beautiful woman.
She knew. She wasn't as dumb as not to notice the footsteps.
All her next moves, she did them knowing that he was watching her.
"Ah! There's no room for games anymore, I'm afraid..." Argentina dropped the dress, moved it to one side with her foot and poured the proper amount of cold and hot water into the bathtub. Every move was conscious, every posture, deliberate. "I'm not only talking about Paraguay, or...It's like...life was so much simpler back then...All I've had to renounce to, all I had to do, in my quest for independence and finding my power..."
Her eyes turned towards the door. Romano felt a shiver and wanted to move away, but couldn't. He didn't want to.
"Good thing I still have you." She smiled.
Romano swallowed.
"Sure..." He replied. "You will always have me..." He quickly added: "And Veneziano..."
Argentina closed her eyes and purred when she came in contact with the water. She rubbed her body, smiling.
"I'm so glad..."
Romano told himself that he couldn't keep on being a creep. He moved away from the door and kept on walking around, trying to distract himself in vain.
"Romano." Argentina called him.
"Yes? What do you need?"
A pause.
"I've been thinking about those times..."
"Yeah?"
"And I...well..."
He heard the water stirring, footsteps, and the door opened. Argentina was naked and wet, Romano just couldn't look at her to the face, though he didn't need to dissimulate, for she broke all distance between them to place both hands on his cheeks and attracted him into a long kiss. She moved away, looking at him with great expectation.
She had always been a naughty kid.
She left Romano with no excuses to control himself. His hands were all over her body as he kissed her for long, as long as he had been dreaming about this moment, barely stopping to breathe. They stopped, looked at each other panting, then were back at it again. It was when they finally stopped, yawning of pleasure and love, that they realized that they had been kissing for so long that Argentina was dry.
They didn't spoil this moment with any stupid love declaration. Everything had been already said. They just giggled at this bizarre picture—Romano would have many ocassions to see her naked and touch her from then on, and to be naked and touched himself—, Argentina put her clothes on and they both left the house to get another bottle of wine to offer to the workers and Veneziano, blaming the delay on the traffic. They never spoke of this, either. They just kissed whenever they felt like it, as long as there was nobody looking. No one needed to know—and it would have forced them to give some uncomfortable explanations. After all, Argentina tried to build a reputation and acting like a schoolgirl in love could have damaged her, and Romano did not like to put up with people's feelings, so he wasn't going to openly show his.
But everybody knew. One had to be blind, deaf or utterly thick not to see it. And didn't mind.
In fact, they blessed this union, becase...the times when Romano was his happiest were whenever Argentina's green eyes turned at him.
THE END