Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3b/?]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 10:04:43 UTC
Or maybe Lovino loved her but never said anything about it, and she was a little bit interested in Lovino but too shy to explore her options by finding excuses to deliver coffee to the bookstore. And Lovino was too shy to make excuses to deliver books to the café! Or maybe Lovino’s brother was really a tyrant of the kitchen! Tall and angry, he ruled the café with an iron fist and an impressively curled mustache. And he hated love too. He had to.
Or maybe it was the music thing.
Antonio had had an hour to gather information on the waitress, but he was no magician. He needed more time to figure out if she was The One for Lovino or if she was The Previous One Who Would Make the Actual One Irrationally Jealous by Her Kindness and Tragic Backstory. Antonio hadn’t decided yet. She might even just be an accessory character, he couldn’t forget about that. The last time Antonio had forgotten that not everyone was a previous or present love interest, Roderich Edelstein had slapped him in the face in the middle of a seminar on bees.
It had stung.
Antonio made a note to his note (maybe friends, supporting cast, or maybe it’s her SISTER!). When he looked up again, the clock on the wall showed a quarter past nine. The bookstore should have opened at nine.
What Antonio needed most of all was time to watch Lovino Vargas. But the lights in the bookstore were off and the chair behind the register was empty. Antonio wondered if Lovino was already caught in an affair somewhere on route to work. It would be sad if Antonio had missed it, the love light bulb turning on, but Lovino having a chance at romance was the most important thing, essentially. “And I could always ask about it later, too. Don’t you think? Do you think he’d mind if I asked about it?”
The centerpiece didn’t answer. But someone else did. “This is yours!”
The voice was on the lighter side of familiar. The face that belonged to it was too, because it wasn’t twisted into a scowl. Antonio began having second thoughts. Maybe Lovino was a morning person and the evening before had been a fluke. “It is?”
Feliciano set down the cup and saucer and turned the handle towards his newest patron. “You ordered it, ve, didn’t you?”
“I did?” If he’d ordered it then he couldn’t refuse. And it smelled nice. Antonio took a sip. It tasted even better. “It’s good.”
Feliciano put his hands on his hips, proud. “That’s because the air today is perfect for my grandfather’s fourth super secret special blend!” His grandfather had been a renaissance man in every sense of the word. Especially if those senses involved tasting coffee and seeing words on the page and hearing the doors to his own business open for the first time and smelling fresh-baked rolls sitting next to the oven. Or touching everything that got close.
Antonio’s left hand picked his cup up for another heavenly drink while his right hand began to write in his backup journal (definitely morning person, food, smile kind of cute).
It wasn’t until Lovino had wandered off again, after Antonio had assured him that his grandfather’s coffee was the best in the world (although not as good as blend number seventy-three which was much more suited to sunrises in June), that Antonio bothered to reread his newest notes. He had doodled a small cat next to the comment about Lovino’s smile. And the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was true. Lovino did have a cute smile. In fact, everything about him seemed cute now that it was morning.
Cute like the waitress who slid back into Antonio’s view from somewhere in the kitchen. She had two bunches of napkins in her hands, and a platter balanced on one arm. Antonio watched as she blushed her way around Lovino in the tight walking space near the coffee machines and… and… blushed! This was going to be easier than Antonio had thought.
Lovino ghosted a kiss on the side of the waitress’s cheek.
M-much easier? (workplace romance! Can’t act, evil brother only around at night???)
Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3c/?]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 10:08:52 UTC
Kiku lightly pressed her husband away with a hand full of cloth. Feliciano was forward, and she loved him for it at times, but the customer behind the fern was staring. She needed to change the subject. Clearing her throat loudly enough to startle a customer leaning against the bar, she did so. “Lovino is a little late today.”
Antonio, eavesdropping as well as staring, nodded along. Late to notice how much the waitress yearned for him! If Lovino needed help defeating his dastardly brother (who was probably also power-mad and a baron and not very nice), if that was the only thing standing in the way, Antonio would do everything he could. He’d taken a night class in amateur fencing with Gil once; he could show Lovino how to defend his lady’s honor.
“You think so?” Feliciano spared a look for the customer at the bar before rummaging around in the pastry display case. He’d forgotten to eat his own breakfast, despite being surrounded by food in the kitchen. And the tarts he’d made had smelled extra delicious. But which one should he pick…? “It’s only been a few minutes.” In his opinion Lovino was still early. Feliciano didn’t like getting out of bed either and the bookstore didn’t get many customers in the morning. It was small, and enough competition in other parts of the neighborhood meant that Contrasts didn’t get many customers at all. Only enough so that Lovino could buy new books from time to time and not have to store them everywhere in his apartment because the store hadn’t sold off any of the old ones.
Kiku did not frown, but thought about it very determinedly at Feliciano’s bent back. “It’s been twenty-three.”
Finally deciding that coffee would be enough for him, Feliciano stood, closed the display case and kissed his wife on the cheek. Again. He didn’t even bother to hide it from the customers. “Then he’s barely even late at all, ve, and you shouldn’t worry!”
“Fe-feliciano!”
Antonio nodded again, excitedly, until his brain caught up with the content of the conversation. Lovino wasn’t Lovino? He was Feliciano? Feli…ciano? …Oh. Antonio stabbed a short line through his rough sketch of ‘Lovino’s love story. Feliciano wasn’t evil after all. And he was clean-shaven. And very nice, so it was probably a good thing Antonio had learned his real personality before challenging him to any duels. Except if Antonio had thought that Feliciano was Lovino then would he accidentally have challenged Lovino to a duel on Feliciano-Lovino’s behalf or would he have tried to fight a complete stranger?
The story was becoming too complicated. And Antonio had run out of coffee. Even worse, while he’d been thinking (and confirming his thoughts with his coffee cup), Lovino-who-wasn’t-really-Lovino and Was-She-Really-a-Waitress-Then had moved to the other end of the shop and continued their conversation. Antonio’s seat had him close enough to pick out a smattering of individual words and a few snipped phrases. But nothing else. “Books” was easy to pick out. “A long time” and “Heracles” drifted to his ears in the waitress’s voice. Antonio wondered what they meant.
Before he could get up and ask, or even better yet start making his own guesses, a nearby door slammed shut. Antonio didn’t jump, because he’d been Gilbert’s friend for too long to be surprised by noises that sounded a little like random explosions. None of the other customers even so much as twitched. He didn’t know the skill was so common.
A few seconds later, another person who looked a lot like Lovino strode into view. He looked disgruntled, which made Antonio want to guess that it actually was Lovino. But after Feliciano, he couldn’t be sure. It was entirely possible that Lovino had a surplus of twins; some evil, some nice, some avid fans of Antonio Fernandez Carriedo romance novels. At the thought, Antonio pulled up his coat collar and reminded himself to be inconspicuous. The waitress hadn’t said anything, but she worked really close to a bookstore. Either she was a book person or she was polite enough to know not to make a scene while other people were trying to eat breakfast. Antonio appreciated her consideration.
Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3d/?]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 10:14:13 UTC
It was nine-thirty in the morning and Lovino Vargas hated the world. After his brother handed him a cup of their grandfather’s not favorite coffee but screw it, that didn’t matter because Lovino thought it was fine, perfectly fine, it was fucking capable enough to manage the store on his own dammit, Lovino Vargas hated the world a little bit less. Mostly. After a few sips of coffee, the smell of which brought back enough twisting emotional memories that made Lovino unsure why he kept drinking it, Lovino Vargas only hated the world as much as a normal person should. “Good morning.”
He only said it to Kiku, but Feli took the chance to give his brother a good morning hug. “Good morning!”
Kiku nodded her head. “Good morning to you as well, Lovino.”
Lovino had no idea how his twit of a brother had had the good fortune to land a woman like Kiku. She was pretty, intelligent, and most importantly, wasn’t an idiot: she and Feli weren’t compatible at all. Sometimes Lovino had an easier time accepting her as a sister than he did failing to pretend that he and Feliciano weren’t related. But other times, like later when Feliciano started poking him mercilessly on the shoulder, Lovino made a good effort for the latter.
Feliciano had only been talking to his brother for ten minutes and he was already irritating the fuck out of him. “What?”
Kiku watched her husband and brother-in-law start and end a short tussle before they settled on staring at each other with teary eyes. “It is wonderful that we have so many customers today.”
Oh. Lovino and Feliciano wiped their eyes and hid their embarrassed blushes as one. Customers.
Never one to be mollified long, Feliciano pointed at one particular customer and stage whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Lovi, ve, he’s staring at you. Did you notice?”
Lovino hadn’t. “O-of course I did!” Surreptitiously, because he already know who Feliciano was talking about because he had noticed, Lovino leaned around his brother’s shoulder to see who the hell Feli was talking about.
“Gilbert?”
Startled out of a daydream involving fencing on horseback, Antonio waved. To be friendly, Feliciano waved back. To be polite, so did Kiku. Lovino did nothing because he was too busy being confused to pretend to be friendly or polite. Gilbert… hadn’t been kidding. Here he was, in the café, smiling, still waving, early as fuck in the morning, waving some more, and “stop that already.”
Lovino half-stomped over to Gilbert’s seat, noticed it had a perfect view of his seat back in the store and frowned. All the waving was getting obnoxious. Almost as obnoxious as Feli and Kiku’s furiously whispered conversation behind him, Lovino could hear it (“ve, but Kiku, Lovi hasn’t gotten any in so long, he should take every chance he gets!”), he bet Gilbert could hear it too and why did Lovino’s relatives only exist to embarrass him?
By some miracle, Antonio had remembered the alias he had given the extra bad-tempered bookstore owner from the night before. And even though he didn’t stop waving like an idiot, he wasn’t an idiot by any stretch. Idiots were people who didn’t have passion; Antonio had passion in spades. In hearts even. “Good morning Lovino! You know,” he paused for a split second before he thought up the perfect cover story. “Everybody calls me Toni!” ‘Toni’ would be much easier for Antonio to remember. And it wasn’t even a lie: plenty of people called Antonio that.
“…why?”
Damn, Lovino was a tricky one. It didn’t matter, or, it mattered but in a good way. Antonio liked his heroes to be clever. But he was clever too. “It’s a nickname! You know… Gilber…ttttt. Tttttoni. They sound alike.” He smiled, lopsidedly, for good measure.
Lovino wondered again why all the good-looking ones were idiots. He wasn’t sure whether to hope that Antonio would be as forward as he’d been the night before, or to hope he would go away so Feli didn’t have so much to work with.
“Lovi sit closer to him!”
Feli was a bastard. “I… apologize on my brother’s behalf. His stupidity is too much for us to contain for long.”
Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3e/?]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 10:20:59 UTC
Antonio didn’t think Feliciano seemed stupid. Then again, he wasn’t Feliciano’s brother or Lovino’s brother by extension, or Lovino’s evil twin’s brother by extension either. “What do you mean?”
“He’s trying to… you know,” Lovino waved a hand vaguely in a circle. Gilbert stared at him, still, but the look was blank now when it had been excited before. And the fucker’s hand was absently doodling in a sketchbook and Lovino wanted to escape into the nonfiction stack for a good few hours. “He’s… nothing. It’s nothing.” Gilbert didn’t say anything. “Nothing!”
A flash hit Antonio’s brain like so much light reflected off a city of steel and glass. Or maybe it was a slow seeping, like a raindrop that sneaked down his hair only to land in his eyes. Antonio wasn’t sure. What mattered was the way Lovino wasn’t quite meeting Antonio’s eyes. What mattered was the way Lovino’s hair fell, the way the wrinkles in his shirtsleeves looked as though he’d tried and failed to press them out multiple times. What mattered was that Lovino was cute and interesting and needed Antonio’s help and those were good enough reasons in Antonio’s eyes. “Are you single?” He probably didn’t need to ask, considering Lovino’s spite for love stories, but it was always better to check.
Before Lovino could die of heart failure or answer properly, light cheering and clapping and ve-ing burst from the kitchen. Feli had better goddamn know how lucky he was that Lovino liked Kiku enough not to want to make her a widow. Not at such an early age.
Gilbert twirled his pen around two fingers and continued. “Because I am and if you are too we should go out.”
Lovino opened his mouth. But nothing came out, not even panicked book recommendations. Not even panicked, but scathing, reviews on the slop of the book world, which was strange because Lovino could insult the things he didn’t like in his sleep. It had scared Feli when they had been younger. “...S-so are you still buying a journal then?” Smooth, Vargas. Smooth.
Antonio closed his pen with a click. Grumpy bookstore owner whose heart changes after meeting a lighthearted customer would be perfect. “Yeah! I’ll have whichever one you like the best.” Grumpy bookstore owner with a secret soft side whose heart changes after meeting a beautiful, open, passionate author-in-disguise sounded even better.
When Lovino scrambled towards his bookstore, glad for the excuse, Antonio watched him go.
Antonio couldn’t wait to tell Francis he had a new book in the works already. He couldn’t wait to start helping Lovino feel the best feeling in the world. He couldn’t wait for the story to begin.
My middle-of-January’s resolution is to try and get some sort of update on this every weekend. I have no idea if that’s going to work. Anyway, Kiku is fem!Japan. Feliciano is handsy. Sorry for any name confusion, but there’s going to be quite a bit more before the end of this. To stop all of us from going crazy, let’s hope Antonio is successful with his tttttoni justification, yeah? On the subject of Antonio, I’m happy so many of you like him eccentric! But you’ve got to remember that he’s fully capable of being a jerk too… you’ll see.
Next time: lunch. I should never outline while hungry.
Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3AN]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 10:27:52 UTC
1non: I LOVE YOU TOO 1NON! And I’m very ♥ that you’re glad the story exists. Thanks!
2non: <3 Thank you. I’m happy you liked this enough to delurk for it, despite the past pairings thing! I promise to try my best and keep the story interesting, in return. And never feel the need to shut up! Rambling is something I completely understand.
3non: Thank you! I do the same thing; I don’t read romance novels but I read plenty of romance fic. It’s easier to get into the silly situations when you already like the characters. Or when the characters are mostly silly to begin with. Or something.
4non: Now who wouldn’t fall for a guy who could make up an endearment like ‘apple-love strudel?’ And have the guts to use it. ;) Thanks anon!
5non: DAT ASS. Will definitely be tapped. And do some tapping of its own. I don’t think any of the actual tapping will be written out here, but it will at least be implied. I’m still on the fence. Thanks!
6non: glad to hear reading it changed your mind! I hope Spain's sneakiness hasn't changed your mind back, but ah, the eccentricity is still there? And any time, anon. Any time. :D
My Apple-Love Stru-I mean OP: <3! Glad Spain is still hitting the spot. “I would probably even end up enjoying them:” it’s a very good thing you said this, OP. It killed a few of my worries for later parts. And poor Iceland. Literally and figuratively, since he’s never going to get away from the jokes. You’re going to see more of him. Because I like him too much to not put him in really awkward situations. ...Speaking of awkward situations, what are your thoughts on threesomes? It might not even come to play in this fill, or involve Iceland at all. Just wanted to check first.
8non: Perhaps Antonio needs to teach Lovino how to be a book person, needs to guide him in the proper ways of handling the sacred tomes with a very hands-on lesson. Followed up by a practical exam.
9non: I’LL BE YOUR APPLE-LOVE STRUDEL IF YOU’LL BE MY CINNAMON LOVE PRETZEL. Spain makes eccentricity more adorable than fluffy bunnies, doesn’t he? I like it too. And you should still fill if you’ve got the time! I bet we’d go in different directions. Unless you’re the anon who’s going to work on something else? Either way. More fills = <3
New chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer ~~~
I don't like capslocking, but I'm actually screaming this comment in total fangirl-mode. Glad it sounds more sane when written out...
First of all: Feliciano! Feliciano!!! Second of all: is married to Fem!Kiku!!!!
I. love. you. so. much!!! Personality clash is pretty much my favourite kink ever for pairings and the way you wrote them had me fangirling all over the place. Oh God I hope we're going to read more about that most awesome married couple ever.
Oh yeah, I'd drink my morning coffee in that exact coffee shop every single day if it really existed. And I don't even like coffee.
Iceland is an awesome character and I'm so happy that you're going to use him more ♥
Threesomes are always awesome. Especially awkward ones xD
I just... I know I'm going to love every single word you write. With fireworks in the background and epic music blasting through loudspeakers everywhere. And I'll just sit there after every single chapter and wonder how many more times it will be possible for my mind to be blown. You're just that awesome. So stop worrying if I'll like something or not, because if you write it, I can't not love it.
4non is back
anonymous
January 20 2011, 13:25:26 UTC
I think you get a special award author!anon for writing a genderbent character and not having me hate it. I almost didn't read this update because I tend to dislike fem!nations who aren't canonically women so much but I really didn't mind it here.
Re: Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3AN]
anonymous
January 20 2011, 17:28:51 UTC
past 4non here. That was just amazing. Seriously. Poor Kiku trying to imply something and not getting anywhere, the theory of the evil twin and the cheering and ve-ing from the kitchen... Let me have your babies, author-anon! I love your Antonio to bits. And your Kiku. And your Feliciano. And your Lovino, even if he insults me in his sleep!♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Re: Most Fragrant Rose of Summer [3AN]
anonymous
January 21 2011, 00:33:56 UTC
Authournon, why are you so... so... damn good at this?! This chapter was just as funny, interesting, awesome and cute as the last one. And the one before that. And... and yes. This Anon former 2non, actually, who can't not comment anymore, sorry about that? is definitely looking forward to seeing more of Spain and Romano, especially after this chapter, but it was definitely Japan who made this chapter. She is perfect. She is adorable. She makes a surprisingly good couple with N. Italy. Although maybe that's because you're such an amazing writer? Anon thinks you could probably do nothing wrong.
Also, Anon agrees with the anon above about your narration being one of the best parts. Combined with well-written and interesting characters and all of it funny... this fic is still very enjoyable to read. Anon is looking forward to the next chapter now that Spain is setting his plans into action~ And more of Spain thinking he's more famous than he is. Anon loves how you have written that, Authournon. It's even better than Anon thought, reading the prompt - and speaking of which, great idea, OP. :) Can Anon say that in a comment to the authour?
At this rate, Anon will be completely speechless by the next chapter and will have to use smileys. Every weekend, really?! No, no, Anon has already resolved not to question Authournon's awesomeness. But that's very awesome indeed.
Anon is also thrilled Authournon understands (and condones?) rambling.
Or maybe it was the music thing.
Antonio had had an hour to gather information on the waitress, but he was no magician. He needed more time to figure out if she was The One for Lovino or if she was The Previous One Who Would Make the Actual One Irrationally Jealous by Her Kindness and Tragic Backstory. Antonio hadn’t decided yet. She might even just be an accessory character, he couldn’t forget about that. The last time Antonio had forgotten that not everyone was a previous or present love interest, Roderich Edelstein had slapped him in the face in the middle of a seminar on bees.
It had stung.
Antonio made a note to his note (maybe friends, supporting cast, or maybe it’s her SISTER!). When he looked up again, the clock on the wall showed a quarter past nine. The bookstore should have opened at nine.
What Antonio needed most of all was time to watch Lovino Vargas. But the lights in the bookstore were off and the chair behind the register was empty. Antonio wondered if Lovino was already caught in an affair somewhere on route to work. It would be sad if Antonio had missed it, the love light bulb turning on, but Lovino having a chance at romance was the most important thing, essentially. “And I could always ask about it later, too. Don’t you think? Do you think he’d mind if I asked about it?”
The centerpiece didn’t answer. But someone else did. “This is yours!”
The voice was on the lighter side of familiar. The face that belonged to it was too, because it wasn’t twisted into a scowl. Antonio began having second thoughts. Maybe Lovino was a morning person and the evening before had been a fluke. “It is?”
Feliciano set down the cup and saucer and turned the handle towards his newest patron. “You ordered it, ve, didn’t you?”
“I did?” If he’d ordered it then he couldn’t refuse. And it smelled nice. Antonio took a sip. It tasted even better. “It’s good.”
Feliciano put his hands on his hips, proud. “That’s because the air today is perfect for my grandfather’s fourth super secret special blend!” His grandfather had been a renaissance man in every sense of the word. Especially if those senses involved tasting coffee and seeing words on the page and hearing the doors to his own business open for the first time and smelling fresh-baked rolls sitting next to the oven. Or touching everything that got close.
Antonio’s left hand picked his cup up for another heavenly drink while his right hand began to write in his backup journal (definitely morning person, food, smile kind of cute).
It wasn’t until Lovino had wandered off again, after Antonio had assured him that his grandfather’s coffee was the best in the world (although not as good as blend number seventy-three which was much more suited to sunrises in June), that Antonio bothered to reread his newest notes. He had doodled a small cat next to the comment about Lovino’s smile. And the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was true. Lovino did have a cute smile. In fact, everything about him seemed cute now that it was morning.
Cute like the waitress who slid back into Antonio’s view from somewhere in the kitchen. She had two bunches of napkins in her hands, and a platter balanced on one arm. Antonio watched as she blushed her way around Lovino in the tight walking space near the coffee machines and… and… blushed! This was going to be easier than Antonio had thought.
Lovino ghosted a kiss on the side of the waitress’s cheek.
M-much easier? (workplace romance! Can’t act, evil brother only around at night???)
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Antonio, eavesdropping as well as staring, nodded along. Late to notice how much the waitress yearned for him! If Lovino needed help defeating his dastardly brother (who was probably also power-mad and a baron and not very nice), if that was the only thing standing in the way, Antonio would do everything he could. He’d taken a night class in amateur fencing with Gil once; he could show Lovino how to defend his lady’s honor.
“You think so?” Feliciano spared a look for the customer at the bar before rummaging around in the pastry display case. He’d forgotten to eat his own breakfast, despite being surrounded by food in the kitchen. And the tarts he’d made had smelled extra delicious. But which one should he pick…? “It’s only been a few minutes.” In his opinion Lovino was still early. Feliciano didn’t like getting out of bed either and the bookstore didn’t get many customers in the morning. It was small, and enough competition in other parts of the neighborhood meant that Contrasts didn’t get many customers at all. Only enough so that Lovino could buy new books from time to time and not have to store them everywhere in his apartment because the store hadn’t sold off any of the old ones.
Kiku did not frown, but thought about it very determinedly at Feliciano’s bent back. “It’s been twenty-three.”
Finally deciding that coffee would be enough for him, Feliciano stood, closed the display case and kissed his wife on the cheek. Again. He didn’t even bother to hide it from the customers. “Then he’s barely even late at all, ve, and you shouldn’t worry!”
“Fe-feliciano!”
Antonio nodded again, excitedly, until his brain caught up with the content of the conversation. Lovino wasn’t Lovino? He was Feliciano? Feli…ciano? …Oh. Antonio stabbed a short line through his rough sketch of ‘Lovino’s love story. Feliciano wasn’t evil after all. And he was clean-shaven. And very nice, so it was probably a good thing Antonio had learned his real personality before challenging him to any duels. Except if Antonio had thought that Feliciano was Lovino then would he accidentally have challenged Lovino to a duel on Feliciano-Lovino’s behalf or would he have tried to fight a complete stranger?
The story was becoming too complicated. And Antonio had run out of coffee. Even worse, while he’d been thinking (and confirming his thoughts with his coffee cup), Lovino-who-wasn’t-really-Lovino and Was-She-Really-a-Waitress-Then had moved to the other end of the shop and continued their conversation. Antonio’s seat had him close enough to pick out a smattering of individual words and a few snipped phrases. But nothing else. “Books” was easy to pick out. “A long time” and “Heracles” drifted to his ears in the waitress’s voice. Antonio wondered what they meant.
Before he could get up and ask, or even better yet start making his own guesses, a nearby door slammed shut. Antonio didn’t jump, because he’d been Gilbert’s friend for too long to be surprised by noises that sounded a little like random explosions. None of the other customers even so much as twitched. He didn’t know the skill was so common.
A few seconds later, another person who looked a lot like Lovino strode into view. He looked disgruntled, which made Antonio want to guess that it actually was Lovino. But after Feliciano, he couldn’t be sure. It was entirely possible that Lovino had a surplus of twins; some evil, some nice, some avid fans of Antonio Fernandez Carriedo romance novels. At the thought, Antonio pulled up his coat collar and reminded himself to be inconspicuous. The waitress hadn’t said anything, but she worked really close to a bookstore. Either she was a book person or she was polite enough to know not to make a scene while other people were trying to eat breakfast. Antonio appreciated her consideration.
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He only said it to Kiku, but Feli took the chance to give his brother a good morning hug. “Good morning!”
Kiku nodded her head. “Good morning to you as well, Lovino.”
Lovino had no idea how his twit of a brother had had the good fortune to land a woman like Kiku. She was pretty, intelligent, and most importantly, wasn’t an idiot: she and Feli weren’t compatible at all. Sometimes Lovino had an easier time accepting her as a sister than he did failing to pretend that he and Feliciano weren’t related. But other times, like later when Feliciano started poking him mercilessly on the shoulder, Lovino made a good effort for the latter.
Feliciano had only been talking to his brother for ten minutes and he was already irritating the fuck out of him. “What?”
“Shhh!” He didn’t stop poking.
Lovino wished he’d stop poking. “Feli, dammit, stop that.”
Kiku watched her husband and brother-in-law start and end a short tussle before they settled on staring at each other with teary eyes. “It is wonderful that we have so many customers today.”
Oh. Lovino and Feliciano wiped their eyes and hid their embarrassed blushes as one. Customers.
Never one to be mollified long, Feliciano pointed at one particular customer and stage whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Lovi, ve, he’s staring at you. Did you notice?”
Lovino hadn’t. “O-of course I did!” Surreptitiously, because he already know who Feliciano was talking about because he had noticed, Lovino leaned around his brother’s shoulder to see who the hell Feli was talking about.
“Gilbert?”
Startled out of a daydream involving fencing on horseback, Antonio waved. To be friendly, Feliciano waved back. To be polite, so did Kiku. Lovino did nothing because he was too busy being confused to pretend to be friendly or polite. Gilbert… hadn’t been kidding. Here he was, in the café, smiling, still waving, early as fuck in the morning, waving some more, and “stop that already.”
Lovino half-stomped over to Gilbert’s seat, noticed it had a perfect view of his seat back in the store and frowned. All the waving was getting obnoxious. Almost as obnoxious as Feli and Kiku’s furiously whispered conversation behind him, Lovino could hear it (“ve, but Kiku, Lovi hasn’t gotten any in so long, he should take every chance he gets!”), he bet Gilbert could hear it too and why did Lovino’s relatives only exist to embarrass him?
By some miracle, Antonio had remembered the alias he had given the extra bad-tempered bookstore owner from the night before. And even though he didn’t stop waving like an idiot, he wasn’t an idiot by any stretch. Idiots were people who didn’t have passion; Antonio had passion in spades. In hearts even. “Good morning Lovino! You know,” he paused for a split second before he thought up the perfect cover story. “Everybody calls me Toni!” ‘Toni’ would be much easier for Antonio to remember. And it wasn’t even a lie: plenty of people called Antonio that.
“…why?”
Damn, Lovino was a tricky one. It didn’t matter, or, it mattered but in a good way. Antonio liked his heroes to be clever. But he was clever too. “It’s a nickname! You know… Gilber…ttttt. Tttttoni. They sound alike.” He smiled, lopsidedly, for good measure.
Lovino wondered again why all the good-looking ones were idiots. He wasn’t sure whether to hope that Antonio would be as forward as he’d been the night before, or to hope he would go away so Feli didn’t have so much to work with.
“Lovi sit closer to him!”
Feli was a bastard. “I… apologize on my brother’s behalf. His stupidity is too much for us to contain for long.”
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“He’s trying to… you know,” Lovino waved a hand vaguely in a circle. Gilbert stared at him, still, but the look was blank now when it had been excited before. And the fucker’s hand was absently doodling in a sketchbook and Lovino wanted to escape into the nonfiction stack for a good few hours. “He’s… nothing. It’s nothing.” Gilbert didn’t say anything. “Nothing!”
A flash hit Antonio’s brain like so much light reflected off a city of steel and glass. Or maybe it was a slow seeping, like a raindrop that sneaked down his hair only to land in his eyes. Antonio wasn’t sure. What mattered was the way Lovino wasn’t quite meeting Antonio’s eyes. What mattered was the way Lovino’s hair fell, the way the wrinkles in his shirtsleeves looked as though he’d tried and failed to press them out multiple times. What mattered was that Lovino was cute and interesting and needed Antonio’s help and those were good enough reasons in Antonio’s eyes. “Are you single?” He probably didn’t need to ask, considering Lovino’s spite for love stories, but it was always better to check.
Before Lovino could die of heart failure or answer properly, light cheering and clapping and ve-ing burst from the kitchen. Feli had better goddamn know how lucky he was that Lovino liked Kiku enough not to want to make her a widow. Not at such an early age.
Gilbert twirled his pen around two fingers and continued. “Because I am and if you are too we should go out.”
Lovino opened his mouth. But nothing came out, not even panicked book recommendations. Not even panicked, but scathing, reviews on the slop of the book world, which was strange because Lovino could insult the things he didn’t like in his sleep. It had scared Feli when they had been younger. “...S-so are you still buying a journal then?” Smooth, Vargas. Smooth.
Antonio closed his pen with a click. Grumpy bookstore owner whose heart changes after meeting a lighthearted customer would be perfect. “Yeah! I’ll have whichever one you like the best.” Grumpy bookstore owner with a secret soft side whose heart changes after meeting a beautiful, open, passionate author-in-disguise sounded even better.
When Lovino scrambled towards his bookstore, glad for the excuse, Antonio watched him go.
Antonio couldn’t wait to tell Francis he had a new book in the works already. He couldn’t wait to start helping Lovino feel the best feeling in the world. He couldn’t wait for the story to begin.
My middle-of-January’s resolution is to try and get some sort of update on this every weekend. I have no idea if that’s going to work. Anyway, Kiku is fem!Japan. Feliciano is handsy. Sorry for any name confusion, but there’s going to be quite a bit more before the end of this. To stop all of us from going crazy, let’s hope Antonio is successful with his tttttoni justification, yeah? On the subject of Antonio, I’m happy so many of you like him eccentric! But you’ve got to remember that he’s fully capable of being a jerk too… you’ll see.
Next time: lunch. I should never outline while hungry.
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2non: <3 Thank you. I’m happy you liked this enough to delurk for it, despite the past pairings thing! I promise to try my best and keep the story interesting, in return. And never feel the need to shut up! Rambling is something I completely understand.
3non: Thank you! I do the same thing; I don’t read romance novels but I read plenty of romance fic. It’s easier to get into the silly situations when you already like the characters. Or when the characters are mostly silly to begin with. Or something.
4non: Now who wouldn’t fall for a guy who could make up an endearment like ‘apple-love strudel?’ And have the guts to use it. ;) Thanks anon!
5non: DAT ASS. Will definitely be tapped. And do some tapping of its own. I don’t think any of the actual tapping will be written out here, but it will at least be implied. I’m still on the fence. Thanks!
6non: glad to hear reading it changed your mind! I hope Spain's sneakiness hasn't changed your mind back, but ah, the eccentricity is still there? And any time, anon. Any time. :D
My Apple-Love Stru-I mean OP: <3! Glad Spain is still hitting the spot. “I would probably even end up enjoying them:” it’s a very good thing you said this, OP. It killed a few of my worries for later parts. And poor Iceland. Literally and figuratively, since he’s never going to get away from the jokes. You’re going to see more of him. Because I like him too much to not put him in really awkward situations. ...Speaking of awkward situations, what are your thoughts on threesomes? It might not even come to play in this fill, or involve Iceland at all. Just wanted to check first.
8non: Perhaps Antonio needs to teach Lovino how to be a book person, needs to guide him in the proper ways of handling the sacred tomes with a very hands-on lesson. Followed up by a practical exam.
9non: I’LL BE YOUR APPLE-LOVE STRUDEL IF YOU’LL BE MY CINNAMON LOVE PRETZEL. Spain makes eccentricity more adorable than fluffy bunnies, doesn’t he? I like it too. And you should still fill if you’ve got the time! I bet we’d go in different directions. Unless you’re the anon who’s going to work on something else? Either way. More fills = <3
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I don't like capslocking, but I'm actually screaming this comment in total fangirl-mode. Glad it sounds more sane when written out...
First of all: Feliciano! Feliciano!!!
Second of all: is married to Fem!Kiku!!!!
I. love. you. so. much!!!
Personality clash is pretty much my favourite kink ever for pairings and the way you wrote them had me fangirling all over the place. Oh God I hope we're going to read more about that most awesome married couple ever.
Oh yeah, I'd drink my morning coffee in that exact coffee shop every single day if it really existed. And I don't even like coffee.
Iceland is an awesome character and I'm so happy that you're going to use him more ♥
Threesomes are always awesome. Especially awkward ones xD
I just... I know I'm going to love every single word you write. With fireworks in the background and epic music blasting through loudspeakers everywhere. And I'll just sit there after every single chapter and wonder how many more times it will be possible for my mind to be blown. You're just that awesome. So stop worrying if I'll like something or not, because if you write it, I can't not love it.
Heart-parade!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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Oh Antonio, you lovable, oblivious oaf you. Why do I get the feeling he's going to accidentally end up breaking poor Lovino's heart?
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Gosh. GOSH. WHY IS THIS FILL SO CUUUUTEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!11one!!??
Lovi's and Toni's characterisations. I CAN'T TYPE A COHERENT RESPONSE ATM. *hyperventilates at the cute*
*ahem*
Author!non.
Be my Apple-Love-Strudel and we'll right to the sunset, (y/y)? :'D
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Antonio didn’t jump, because he’d been Gilbert’s friend for too long to be surprised by noises that sounded a little like random explosions.
I love how even your off-side comments turn into spots of characterization.
And I just love this fill incoherently. Yes that adjective fits shut up.
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Also, Anon agrees with the anon above about your narration being one of the best parts. Combined with well-written and interesting characters and all of it funny... this fic is still very enjoyable to read. Anon is looking forward to the next chapter now that Spain is setting his plans into action~ And more of Spain thinking he's more famous than he is. Anon loves how you have written that, Authournon. It's even better than Anon thought, reading the prompt - and speaking of which, great idea, OP. :) Can Anon say that in a comment to the authour?
At this rate, Anon will be completely speechless by the next chapter and will have to use smileys. Every weekend, really?! No, no, Anon has already resolved not to question Authournon's awesomeness. But that's very awesome indeed.
Anon is also thrilled Authournon understands (and condones?) rambling.
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