Haunted by his past

[morethanpasta]

Who: North Italy/Feliciano Vargas morethanpasta and OPEN
What: Feliciano walks into the haunted house despite knowing better and meets a ghost masquerading as the Holy Roman Empire
When: Thursday evening
Where: Austria's house, then the haunted mansion
Warnings: PG
Status: In progress

Comments

[clockwrkangel]

It's time to brave the house again, and Becca is eyeing it sceptically. It was horrible the first time she went in, she's not sure why she feels like she ought to go in the second time. Still, that's where she's heading when she spots Feliciano. She frowned, and knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, the same tone of voice she'd use when comforting her brother.

[clockwrkangel]

"I'm probably older than you," she countered, smiling softly. She had no idea about nations; all she saw was a teenager who needed help. She was happy to give it, it made her feel like she was needed and had a purpose here. That and he'd likely come to her aid in return if she helped him at the moment.

"But if you look for a happy ending in everything, you're going to get hurt when it doesn't come. Let's leave that old mansion behind and go somewhere better. I know a place where we can have something good to drink and something to eat."

[morethanpasta]

He couldn't help cracking a smile at her claim that she was older than him. Humans, they could be so endearing at times in their belief that everything was exactly as it appeared. Of course, in this place, you never knew, she might truly be older. Either way, she was kind and truly, he didn't mind a bit of mothering, he didn't mind it at all.

"That sounds nice," he said softly. "Maybe then we can find out if you are older than me. Do they have pasta? Or gelato?"

[clockwrkangel]

"I bet they have pasta. I dunno what gelato is, though," she answered, getting up and offering a hand down to help him up as well. "We can ask, though. James has magic, I bet he can make anything."

She grinned, hoping it would cheer the boy up. "What's your name? Mine's Becca."

[morethanpasta]

He took the hand and hauled himself up, quickly dusting off his uniform. His smile was a bit wan, but he tried his best. "I'm Italy Veneziano, but my name? Feliciano. Feliciano Vargas." His smile became a bit brighter. "It's very nice to meet you, Becca!"

[clockwrkangel]

She didn't expect his smile to be perfect, but she smiled back at him cheerily for having tried. She didn't quite understand what he meant about being Italy Veneziano, but she supposed it must mean he was from Italy. She squeezed his hand and started to lead him off to James' cafe. "It's nice to meet you, too, Feliciano. Have you ever been to America? That's where I'm from."

[morethanpasta]

He squeezed back, quite liking how affectionate Becca was. She liked holding hands, too, how nice!

Feliciano cooed softly. "No, I haven't been to America. But I just got back from Africa before I was kidnapped," he supplied helpfully. "Have you ever been to Italy? That's my country. Ve~ the northern half of it is. The southern half is Lovi's."

[clockwrkangel]

"Wow, I've never been to Africa before. Or Italy. Italy sounds really cool, though. My brother likes Italian food, I make it at least once a week back home..." She sighed sadly, thinking of her brother. She gave Feliciano's hand a squeeze. He was as good a substitute as one could substitute for a beloved sibling. He needed her protection and comfort, it seemed, and she was more than happy to give it.

"America's pretty cool, too, though. But I guess I think so cause it's home. It's good to love home, though, then you're happy most of the time."

[morethanpasta]

"Ve~" Italy cooed. He's a bit doubtful whether loving your home ensured happiness. In his experience, it's rather the other way around, loving your home made it hurt all the more when your people suffered. But explaining that didn't seem like a good way to cheer both of them up, so he would rather focus on the nice things Becca said.

"Your brother likes Italian food? Really?" A happy coo. "We should cook together sometime! I love cooking."

[clockwrkangel]

She laughed brightly, swinging their hands a bit as they walked. "Sounds good to me. You can come to where I live, there's a load of people that live there, and it's always better when there's people that'll enjoy your cooking, right?"

She looked up at James' cafe. It looked like he wasn't there, and she frowned. "We might have to go do that now...this place looks closed." He might have been in there, for all Becca knew, but she wasn't the type to poke around a place that looked quiet, unless she wanted to steal from it. And she actually liked James.

[morethanpasta]

"Ve~" he cooed uncertainly. As a rule, Feliciano loved crowds, particularly if he was the centre of attention. He wasn't sure if he wanted to have 'loads of people' around him right then, though. But if he went home... Lovino would be terribly upset, with good reason, if he learnt that he had gone to the haunted mansion.

"We can go if you like," he agreed. "I would like to see where you live. My brother and I want to get a house of our own."

[clockwrkangel]

She led him away, heading for Nightroad Manor with him. "Everybody'll be out right now, but that's okay. We can just have pasta for ourselves. Will that cheer you up a bit?"

She squeezed his hand and smiled for him, glad that he seemed to be doing better. He wasn't her brother, but it felt good to slip back into her old routines of comforting and mothering.

[morethanpasta]

He nodded. "Pasta always cheers me up. It's the best food in the world." He sighed wistfully. "When I lived with Austria as a child, he wouldn't let me have as much pasta as I liked. Holy Roman would give me his food. He was very sweet." He'd been nothing like the cruel ghost in the mansion, keeping that in mind helped, though the niggling doubts that the ghost's accusations had been right remained.

Feliciano was content to let himself be led wherever Becca wanted to take him. She was kind and mothering, after that involuntary trip down memory line, it felt nice to relive the nice aspects of his childhood as well - like being cared for by Hungary. "You're good at taking care of others," he noted suddenly.

[clockwrkangel]

She figured he meant 'lived in Austria', and 'he' must've been Feliciano's father. It was so easy to convince herself there was nothing unusual about him. Holy Roman was a strange name, but she put the thought aside to focus on helping Feliciano feel better. She could ask him more questions about things later, when the memory of a ghost of this 'Holy Roman' wasn't going to be so fresh in his mind.

She laughed when he noted her ability to care for people, and squeezed his hand gently. "I raised my little brother. I always take good care of him, and it's been good practice for taking care of everybody else that needs it."

[morethanpasta]

Feliciano, meanwhile, was blissfully oblivious to the confusion. He assumed anyway that everyone in Ruby City knew about the nations since most people he'd encountered had already been familiarized with the concept. The others hadn't inquired about it, at least not in a way Feliciano understood. He had forgotten all about the age confusion already.

He smiled brightly at her. "You're a very good girl, taking care of your little brother! America must be proud of you. I would like to have a little brother to take care of, too. I take care of Lovino, though, when he lets me."

[clockwrkangel]

"Eh, nobody's really proud of me, but...that's okay. I only have to wait a little bit longer." Then she'd die, and everyone would find out about why she was so quiet and sullen. Everyone would find out about the burden she'd borne all on her own, and they'd be proud of her then. They'd remember her fondly, and that was all she could really hope for given what she'd seen of her future.

"I bet you'd take really good care of him if you had a little brother. They're a lot of work, though. I spend most of my time doing things for him, even if he doesn't know it."