[fic] Born Normal ch. 2
Hey man! Heard you took the suicide mission. Good lu- BEEP!
Mon ami did you happen to hit your head recen- BEEP!
Did you know how awesome I am? Well maybe some of my awesome has rubbed off on you and will protect you from the- BEEP!
With a sigh Antonio closed his phone. Why did everybody have to be so negative? Adjusting his bag on his lap he looked out the window and watched the buildings fly by. The bus ride was nice enough, but slow and he hoped he wouldn’t be late to the Vargas’s apartment. He wanted to make a good impression after all.
When he finally got there it was 12:45, five minutes later then he had planned to be there. Inwardly cursing the lack of an elevator he rapped his knuckles against the white wooden door. Almost instantly it opened.
“Mr. Carriedo! Lovely to see you! You’ve been staying out of trouble, I assume?”
Antonio could only nod at the overbearing presence of the principal, “Y-yes sir.”
Mr. Vargas let out a laugh, “Relax, kid. I’m only the principal inside school grounds. Outside I’m a man, a grandfather, and a real-estate agent. Call me Remus.”
Smiling Antonio walked in, “Alright then.”
“Hi, Antonio!”
His head swiveling around his eyes landed on Feliciano. He was sitting at a table working his hands around a lump of clay, “Hi. Nice to see you, Feliciano.”
“Hmm?” Closing the door Remus stepped farther into the room, “You two know each other as well?”
“Just in gym class,” Feliciano replied, deftly making a handle to his creation, “Antonio can run really fast!”
“Really? What’s your mile time?”
Antonio rubbed the back of his head, trying to remember, “About 7… 20 I think?”
Remus seemed impressed, “That’s a good time! But you’re not here to talk about gym class. You’re here for…”
“Math,” he finished.
“Ah, right. LOVINO!” he called, “Your math partner is here!”
“SCREW YOU!” came the answer from down the hall.
Antonio blinked. Well, that wasn’t very welcoming.
“That means you can go right ahead!” Remus said, grinning, “His room is the second on the right.”
Nodding he tightened his grip on his bag and walked down the hall, stopping in front of the aforementioned door. He knocked lightly, “Um… Lovino?”
“If I tell you to die in a ditch somewhere and have wolves eat your bastard face will you go away?”
“Probably not.”
“Shit,” and with that the door opened, revealing a plain room with a bed, desk and window seat. Lovino glared at him for a second before marching in and sitting on the light yellow cushions of the seat, “Lets get this over with, asshole.”
Smiling Antonio bounced in, swinging the door shut, “By the way, I’m Antonio.”
“And I don’t give a shit. Now tell me stuff I won’t listen to and get out.”
His resolve faltered but only for a moment. Sitting on the bed he pulled out a text book, a few sheets of paper and a calculator, “Alright, lets start with right triangle trigonometry,” he drew a few triangles on the paper and labeled the angles, “This one is a 30-60-90 and this is a-”
“Um…”
Antonio looked up, “What? Am I going too fast?”
“No, you bastard! I’m not an idiot!” Lovino’s hand moved up around his mouth for a second before he put it behind his head to make it look like he was stretching, “I just have to go to the bathroom. So,” getting up he hurried across the room, “I’ll be back and don’t touch anything or I’ll rip your goddamn head off!”
“Okay Lo-” the door slammed closed, “…vino.”
While he waited Antonio looked around. From what he had heard about Lovino’s reputation it wasn’t anything like he expected. The walls were a sort of darker off-white color, and the only things in the way of decoration were the bookshelf above the desk and a picture of the ocean next to the door. Antonio hummed to himself, drawing a few more triangles on the sheet. Next door he heard the toilet flush and a minute later Lovino came back in, rubbing at his face with his sleeve.
He grinned, “Ready?”
“Like hell,” Lovino spit back, but took a seat anyway.
“Okay then. Like I was saying this is a 30-60-90, and this is-”
Once again he was cut off, “45-90-45. Yeah I know. Move on already.”
Raising an eyebrow Antonio said nothing and continued, “Well, to find this value here you have to use-”
“Tangent. Sine divided by cosine. Sine of 90 is 1, cosine of 90 is 0. Look, I get all of this stupid math stuff. So go home, I don’t need your help.”
“But then what about your work?”
“I don’t bother.”
Antonio pondered this for a second, “How about this then. Since I’m supposed to be tutoring you, I come over when I’m supposed to and you start to do your homework. We don’t have to study, and the teachers are happy and don’t bug you anymore.”
Lovino scowled at him, “And why do you have to keep hanging around?”
“Because your grandfather is the principal and he’ll tell the math teacher if I’m not coming anymore.”
“…Dammit,” Lovino pressed his face into the glass, “You’re damn annoying.”
“Really? I’ve never noticed…”
Rolling his eyes Lovino scanned the street below, thinking. There were only a few cars out, and a couple walking a dog together.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Now get out of here before I smash your head into my window.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
And so life continued. Lovino started turning his homework in and Antonio went over every three days. When he was there they wouldn’t talk much; Antonio would sit on the bed and Lovino on the window seat. Of course, if there was any chatting it was always Antonio who started it.
“So how come you don’t talk to anyone?”
“None of your business.”
Thus the second visit ended.
“But don’t you talk to your brother?”
“Yes. Just him. When he’s not hanging around that stupid potato bastard. And if you shut up I might consider not punching you.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time the sixth visit came around, they had moved onto slightly cheerier topics.
“So what’s your favorite food, Lovino?”
“What the hell is it to you?”
“I’m just curious,” he replied, pulling his legs up under him.
“If I tell you will you shut up?”
Antonio nodded his head.
“Fine. Tomatoes.”
“Mine too!”
“Shut up!”
For the rest of the duration Antonio kept his mouth shut.
“Time’s up, tomato bastard. Get out of here before I smash your head into my window.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“So how goes the tutoring, mon cher?” Francis whispered into his ear at lunch. Antonio had been going to Lovino’s for about a month now, and no one in the school could believe that he was still alive.
“Fine I guess, Francis. Why?”
“Because we worry about you, Antonio!” Gilbert cut in, wrapping an arm around Antonio’s neck, “And you’re tutoring the school psychopath.”
“Now, now Gilbert. Dare you forget that Belarusian beauty?”
“Okay, psychopath #2.”
“Guys he’s honestly not that bad.”
“Oh yeah?” Gilbert gestured over his shoulder, “Then why’s he got a black eye?”
“What?!”
Antonio turned and sure enough there was Lovino, sitting alone at his usual table, his left eye swollen and bruised. Grabbing his things he stood and hurried over, “Lovino, what happened?”
The other student scowled up at him, the black eye making him seem much more menacing then usual, “Wouldn’t you like know, tomato bastard.”
“Come on, Lovino. Tell me.”
“NO!” Rising, Lovino slammed his hands on the table, attracting the attention of the whole cafeteria, “I don’t need your goddamned pity! So take it somewhere else; I’m sure there’s a kitten in a tree somewhere that could use a guy like you!”
Lovino’s bag rattled as he threw it over his shoulder, and ran out of the cafeteria. Antonio gaped at the spot where he used to be standing then tore after him. On his way he picked up scraps of conversations.
“Did you see that? Can you…”
“I swear that Lovino Vargas is insane…”
“Antonio is tutoring him right? How dare he…”
“What a little bitch…”
Luckily Antonio was able to make it out in time to see Lovino heading towards the roof. Following him up, he opened the door slowly to see Lovino leaning on the railing, looking down at the ground. In the sunlight his bruise seemed to stand out even more.
“Lovino?”
“Go away, jackass. Otherwise I’m going to punch you.”
Ignoring the threat Antonio walked forward, placing his bag next to Lovino’s, “I won’t tell anyone how you got it.”
Lovino eyed him. He smiled. Lovino sighed, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere. Not at all happy about it but resigned nonetheless.
“I will always protect my brother. If I didn’t protect him he couldn’t survive the trip home, much less life. So he gets mugged, I beat up the guy who did it, he comes back with friends. End of story. Bye.”
With that he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, the contents rattling again. Antonio pondered this for a moment, “But you don’t have to right? I’m sure Feliciano could-”
“Look, tomato bastard,” Lovino whirled to face him again, “I protect him. That’s what I do. I know it’s too complex for you brain to comprehend but after that there’s nothing, okay? So just leave it alone.”
And with that he turned and walked back downstairs. The sky roared, and Antonio looked up just as the first raindrop fell.
Mon ami did you happen to hit your head recen- BEEP!
Did you know how awesome I am? Well maybe some of my awesome has rubbed off on you and will protect you from the- BEEP!
With a sigh Antonio closed his phone. Why did everybody have to be so negative? Adjusting his bag on his lap he looked out the window and watched the buildings fly by. The bus ride was nice enough, but slow and he hoped he wouldn’t be late to the Vargas’s apartment. He wanted to make a good impression after all.
When he finally got there it was 12:45, five minutes later then he had planned to be there. Inwardly cursing the lack of an elevator he rapped his knuckles against the white wooden door. Almost instantly it opened.
“Mr. Carriedo! Lovely to see you! You’ve been staying out of trouble, I assume?”
Antonio could only nod at the overbearing presence of the principal, “Y-yes sir.”
Mr. Vargas let out a laugh, “Relax, kid. I’m only the principal inside school grounds. Outside I’m a man, a grandfather, and a real-estate agent. Call me Remus.”
Smiling Antonio walked in, “Alright then.”
“Hi, Antonio!”
His head swiveling around his eyes landed on Feliciano. He was sitting at a table working his hands around a lump of clay, “Hi. Nice to see you, Feliciano.”
“Hmm?” Closing the door Remus stepped farther into the room, “You two know each other as well?”
“Just in gym class,” Feliciano replied, deftly making a handle to his creation, “Antonio can run really fast!”
“Really? What’s your mile time?”
Antonio rubbed the back of his head, trying to remember, “About 7… 20 I think?”
Remus seemed impressed, “That’s a good time! But you’re not here to talk about gym class. You’re here for…”
“Math,” he finished.
“Ah, right. LOVINO!” he called, “Your math partner is here!”
“SCREW YOU!” came the answer from down the hall.
Antonio blinked. Well, that wasn’t very welcoming.
“That means you can go right ahead!” Remus said, grinning, “His room is the second on the right.”
Nodding he tightened his grip on his bag and walked down the hall, stopping in front of the aforementioned door. He knocked lightly, “Um… Lovino?”
“If I tell you to die in a ditch somewhere and have wolves eat your bastard face will you go away?”
“Probably not.”
“Shit,” and with that the door opened, revealing a plain room with a bed, desk and window seat. Lovino glared at him for a second before marching in and sitting on the light yellow cushions of the seat, “Lets get this over with, asshole.”
Smiling Antonio bounced in, swinging the door shut, “By the way, I’m Antonio.”
“And I don’t give a shit. Now tell me stuff I won’t listen to and get out.”
His resolve faltered but only for a moment. Sitting on the bed he pulled out a text book, a few sheets of paper and a calculator, “Alright, lets start with right triangle trigonometry,” he drew a few triangles on the paper and labeled the angles, “This one is a 30-60-90 and this is a-”
“Um…”
Antonio looked up, “What? Am I going too fast?”
“No, you bastard! I’m not an idiot!” Lovino’s hand moved up around his mouth for a second before he put it behind his head to make it look like he was stretching, “I just have to go to the bathroom. So,” getting up he hurried across the room, “I’ll be back and don’t touch anything or I’ll rip your goddamn head off!”
“Okay Lo-” the door slammed closed, “…vino.”
While he waited Antonio looked around. From what he had heard about Lovino’s reputation it wasn’t anything like he expected. The walls were a sort of darker off-white color, and the only things in the way of decoration were the bookshelf above the desk and a picture of the ocean next to the door. Antonio hummed to himself, drawing a few more triangles on the sheet. Next door he heard the toilet flush and a minute later Lovino came back in, rubbing at his face with his sleeve.
He grinned, “Ready?”
“Like hell,” Lovino spit back, but took a seat anyway.
“Okay then. Like I was saying this is a 30-60-90, and this is-”
Once again he was cut off, “45-90-45. Yeah I know. Move on already.”
Raising an eyebrow Antonio said nothing and continued, “Well, to find this value here you have to use-”
“Tangent. Sine divided by cosine. Sine of 90 is 1, cosine of 90 is 0. Look, I get all of this stupid math stuff. So go home, I don’t need your help.”
“But then what about your work?”
“I don’t bother.”
Antonio pondered this for a second, “How about this then. Since I’m supposed to be tutoring you, I come over when I’m supposed to and you start to do your homework. We don’t have to study, and the teachers are happy and don’t bug you anymore.”
Lovino scowled at him, “And why do you have to keep hanging around?”
“Because your grandfather is the principal and he’ll tell the math teacher if I’m not coming anymore.”
“…Dammit,” Lovino pressed his face into the glass, “You’re damn annoying.”
“Really? I’ve never noticed…”
Rolling his eyes Lovino scanned the street below, thinking. There were only a few cars out, and a couple walking a dog together.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Now get out of here before I smash your head into my window.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
And so life continued. Lovino started turning his homework in and Antonio went over every three days. When he was there they wouldn’t talk much; Antonio would sit on the bed and Lovino on the window seat. Of course, if there was any chatting it was always Antonio who started it.
“So how come you don’t talk to anyone?”
“None of your business.”
Thus the second visit ended.
“But don’t you talk to your brother?”
“Yes. Just him. When he’s not hanging around that stupid potato bastard. And if you shut up I might consider not punching you.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time the sixth visit came around, they had moved onto slightly cheerier topics.
“So what’s your favorite food, Lovino?”
“What the hell is it to you?”
“I’m just curious,” he replied, pulling his legs up under him.
“If I tell you will you shut up?”
Antonio nodded his head.
“Fine. Tomatoes.”
“Mine too!”
“Shut up!”
For the rest of the duration Antonio kept his mouth shut.
“Time’s up, tomato bastard. Get out of here before I smash your head into my window.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
“So how goes the tutoring, mon cher?” Francis whispered into his ear at lunch. Antonio had been going to Lovino’s for about a month now, and no one in the school could believe that he was still alive.
“Fine I guess, Francis. Why?”
“Because we worry about you, Antonio!” Gilbert cut in, wrapping an arm around Antonio’s neck, “And you’re tutoring the school psychopath.”
“Now, now Gilbert. Dare you forget that Belarusian beauty?”
“Okay, psychopath #2.”
“Guys he’s honestly not that bad.”
“Oh yeah?” Gilbert gestured over his shoulder, “Then why’s he got a black eye?”
“What?!”
Antonio turned and sure enough there was Lovino, sitting alone at his usual table, his left eye swollen and bruised. Grabbing his things he stood and hurried over, “Lovino, what happened?”
The other student scowled up at him, the black eye making him seem much more menacing then usual, “Wouldn’t you like know, tomato bastard.”
“Come on, Lovino. Tell me.”
“NO!” Rising, Lovino slammed his hands on the table, attracting the attention of the whole cafeteria, “I don’t need your goddamned pity! So take it somewhere else; I’m sure there’s a kitten in a tree somewhere that could use a guy like you!”
Lovino’s bag rattled as he threw it over his shoulder, and ran out of the cafeteria. Antonio gaped at the spot where he used to be standing then tore after him. On his way he picked up scraps of conversations.
“Did you see that? Can you…”
“I swear that Lovino Vargas is insane…”
“Antonio is tutoring him right? How dare he…”
“What a little bitch…”
Luckily Antonio was able to make it out in time to see Lovino heading towards the roof. Following him up, he opened the door slowly to see Lovino leaning on the railing, looking down at the ground. In the sunlight his bruise seemed to stand out even more.
“Lovino?”
“Go away, jackass. Otherwise I’m going to punch you.”
Ignoring the threat Antonio walked forward, placing his bag next to Lovino’s, “I won’t tell anyone how you got it.”
Lovino eyed him. He smiled. Lovino sighed, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere. Not at all happy about it but resigned nonetheless.
“I will always protect my brother. If I didn’t protect him he couldn’t survive the trip home, much less life. So he gets mugged, I beat up the guy who did it, he comes back with friends. End of story. Bye.”
With that he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, the contents rattling again. Antonio pondered this for a moment, “But you don’t have to right? I’m sure Feliciano could-”
“Look, tomato bastard,” Lovino whirled to face him again, “I protect him. That’s what I do. I know it’s too complex for you brain to comprehend but after that there’s nothing, okay? So just leave it alone.”
And with that he turned and walked back downstairs. The sky roared, and Antonio looked up just as the first raindrop fell.