Daily life
November 7, 2023 at 2:41 PM
Ivan was dreaming... he was seeing himself as a little child, sobbing and hugging his knees in the middle of a darkness that was enveloping the entire space where he was. On his foot was the club-shaped mark located, almost burning his skin, and he was surrounded by complete silence. Not even a sigh was heard in that room without a single ray of light.
"Don't leave me alone," he said between his sobs, clinging to his legs and feeling such an intense cold that he even tensed his muscles. Except for his little foot, where the mark was still burning him up.
"Don't leave me alone," he repeated and the burning sensation kept getting stronger, making him cry even more, while the darkness was expanding around him.
Why? Why were they leaving him alone?... Why were they abandoning him, even though he didn't ask to be born as a king? They were drifting apart from him one after another... leaving his side for something he had never chosen for himself... but contrary to him, the other people did have a choice and they chose to abandon him, to leave him behind in that darkness with no exit.
"Why are they leaving me alone?" he wondered with his breaking little voice, hiding his face between his knees.
"Don't leave me alone," he said out loud between dreams, and suddenly felt a weight on his chest.
"You're not alone," someone answered, waking him up. He slowly opened his eyes and met the green ones belonging to Feliks, who was leaning his hands against Ivan's chest.
"A nightmare? Hui, super horrible in your first night," he continued, while Ivan was opening his eyes completely and rubbing them with his arm, pretending to get rid of his sleepiness, when in reality he was wiping away a tear that had managed to escape.
"Good morning, young Feliks," the king said with his eternal smile.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," replied Feliks in a mocking tone and still leaning on the king.
"Would you be so kind to remove your arms from me before I break them?" asked Ivan, still smiling and in such a casual tone that it seemed as if he wasn't serious. But Feliks obeyed nonetheless.
"You're in a real shitty mood today, Majesty, but okay... it's not that I, like, expect you to be all enthusiastic and such..." said the other blond, being completely ignored by Ivan, who got up and dressed himself.
He took his scarf that had been hanging on the bed head and wrapped it around his neck, even though it was a warm morning. And while Feliks continued talking, the king was approaching the door, intending to leave.
"Hey, and where are you, like, going now?" asked Feliks in an annoyed tone, realizing that Ivan hadn't been listening. The latter just turned around to him with his typical smile.
"Well, I am leaving," he simply said. The other raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously now, you can't leave here, just get if finally into your head. You should, like, have a look at all these bars..." he explained, pointing at the room's window that was protected by bars and also a metallic mesh.
Ivan was about to answer to that, but before he could manage to, Feliks was already clinging to his arm, confusing him a bit. The king hadn't expected that his roommate would touch him in such an overfamiliar way... or more exactly, he hadn't expected to be touched like that by anyone, maybe only by Elizabetha, but that would be different.
"Hey, Ivan-baby, what you need is, like, me showing you how life's here, and you're totally lucky that it's breakfast time, so come with me," said Feliks, opening the door and basically dragging the king outside, who saw that long hallway again. But this time it was full of people, who seemed to be going to the same place. Some of them were acting strange in Ivan's opinion, talking to themselves or needing help from the men in white, while others looked disorientated and a few were giving the impression of being stalked, since they were looking over their shoulder the entire time.
"Come, don't waste time," commanded Feliks, pulling Ivan forward to not let him get distracted.
He led the king through the entire hallway, until reaching a room with a TV, a few couches and several tables and chairs, apart from a bookshelf with a lot of different books. There was a big window in that small room, protected with that damn metallic mesh again, but offering a view at a large garden.
"That's our "entertainment" room, that has nothing entertaining in it except for the name. It's here where they're, like, keeping us occupied, when we're not totally on drugs," explained Feliks and pointed at the window. "There's the garden, where we're allowed to go sometimes. Behave yourself, and maybe they'll let you breathe some real air." He barely gave Ivan the time to look around, dragging him to the next room, a waiting room with only a few gray offices with a couch and huge desks.
"These are the consulting rooms. When you come here, they, like, only have you talk about your childhood traumas and other totally depressing stuff," he continued and then led Ivan to a dining hall, where some patients are already gathering at the tables.
"And this is our dining room, where they serve the worst food you'll ever eat in your life. I'm, like, serious, it's absolutely horrible." He still hadn't let go of Ivan, who wasn't really listening, more interested in the fact that Feliks was continuing to cling to his arm as if it was some natural habit.
"Oh, and last but not least: the pharmacy!" the latter said in a sarcastic tone. "You go here to receive drugs that make you a bit stupid in your head. But that's not that bad... we all need to relax, at least once in a while," he joked, slightly elbowing Ivan in the ribs, who didn't really get what he meant by that.
"Good morning, Feliks," a young woman suddenly interrupted him. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and standing behind the counter Feliks had called the pharmacy.
"Emma, beautiful, you're doing real magic with your face, 'cause you look prettier every morning," he praised her, finally letting go of Ivan.
"Oh thank you, as sweet as always. You're so attentive, and this means you want something. What is it?" asked him the woman, who possessed blond hair and green eyes as well. She was wearing her hair down and her nurse headband attached with some pins.
"What kind of bitch do you, like, take me for to think that I only say nice things to you to get something in return?" he asked, offended. She just smiled, being used to the drama Feliks was making for each thing. So she leaned her arms against the counter and bent forward, approaching him.
"Sorry, Feliks, I know you're a giant cube of sugar, but still, just tell me what you want," she said. Feliks rolled his eyes, giving up, and got closer to her as well.
"Just a little tobacco and the new issue of the Cosmopolitan."
"I'll owe you the Cosmo," she replied quietly, briefly looked around and put her hand into the pocket of her white sweater, letting it slide along the table, so that Feliks could discreetly take the little box. Observed with curiosity by the king, who didn't understand the reason for such secrecy.
"You're the most beautiful woman in this world and for your good deeds, you'll, like, lose two kilos and fit in size XS," Feliks said as a thank-you, hiding the cigarettes in his clothes.
"My beauty will not save me from losing my job either," she reproached him.
"Don't say that, my gorgeous, if they let you go, I'll die!"
"Sure, and now go eat breakfast, before I will be let go for real," she chased him off. Feliks left, blowing her a kiss on the way.
"Look and learn, my dear Ivan, this is how you get yourself little luxuries here," he said to the king, clinging to the latter's arm again and leading him to the dining hall, to sit down at a table.
And effectively, just how Feliks had mentioned, this was the worst food the king had eaten in his life, even worse than that one time King Alfred had tried to cook despite his jack's objections. And well... it had been a disaster, and the kings had finished the food only because they had been too polite to turn down that disgusting stuff on their plates.
With an enormous effort, Ivan finished swallowing (because he didn't even want to know what it tasted like) that thing they dared to call breakfast, while his roommate was just playing with it and from time to time putting some spoonfuls of that white paste, that looked like glue but was called oatmeal, on the plate of the person next to him, pretending to have eaten it all.
"Let's go before we get seconds," murmured Feliks, and this time, the king got up without any objections. Feliks did the same, shaking his hips, and they left the dining room, meeting one of the men in white, who seemed to be watching over anything and any time.
"Where are you going?" the guy asked in a threatening tone, crossing his arms, but naturally didn't manage to intimidate Feliks, who just showed him a vain smile.
"Well, we've finished our breakfast, so we're, like, going back to our room. Or is that forbidden as well?"
The man seemed annoyed by that attitude, or more precisely, none of the men in white seemed to like Feliks, perhaps for his arrogant behavior. The guy just glared at him and then at Ivan, who was calm and smiling... however, in a way that could make anyone shudder. So the man didn't say anything, just stepping aside to let the two patients through, who headed directly to the hallway with the rooms. But as soon as the man turned around again, Feliks started dragging the baffled Ivan by his wrist, into another hallway, reaching an emergency exit, where stairs were leading to the terrace. The fact that it, too, was surrounded by bars even taller than the king himself, didn't surprise the latter anymore.
"To hell with these nurses, a diva like me is, like, doing everything he wants," said Feliks mockingly, took the cigarettes out of his clothes and a lighter that had been in the little box, put one of the cigarettes into his mouth, lit it up and took a drag, exhaling the smoke, as if he was freeing himself from all the accumulated tension.
"Look at that, I did not think to ever be able to see the sun at this place," commented Ivan, raising his gaze and protecting his eyes with his hand, to not let the rays of the morning sun hurt his retina.
"Of course you're able to, like, not every day there's such a good weather, so it's totally great to feel that warmth," replied Feliks, putting the cigarette between his lips again and leaning his back against the bars, while Ivan just sat down on the floor. His eternal smile seemed to tint itself with something similar to melancholy.
"It seems strange to me that despite this warmth, I am still feeling cold..." said the king, raising his scarf a bit and hiding his mouth behind it, capturing Feliks' attention, who took another drag of his cigarette.
"Well, then you have a really super awful problem... feeling cold with that sun," commented the latter, hearing a forced laugh from the king.
"Loneliness is cold, no matter where you are," responded Ivan, hoping that the other didn't hear him, but in vain.
"Are you really that lonely? You already said something like that in the morning... that you didn't want to be left alone," said Feliks, dropping the ashes on the floor without any shame, while Ivan crossed his legs, thinking that it actually wouldn't be that bad to talk to a stranger, whom he soon would never see again anymore... to reveal his feelings for the very first time.
"Young Feliks... Have you ever felt like the whole world had abandoned you, despite being by your side? As if everyone would leave you one after another for something you are not to blame... something you have never asked for, something that is making people stay away from you, until there is nothing more left but a loneliness, so real and tangible... that you feel as if it is going to swallow you any moment," said Ivan, resting his hands on his ankles and shrugging his shoulders, while staring at the floor and forcing himself to smile.
After that, he fell silent, knowing very well that the other blond wouldn't be able to understand what the hell he was talking about. Maybe a crazy guy, who was locked up in this place and doing everything he wanted without a second thought, would never comprehend the icy feeling of being abandoned for something destiny had decided for him.
But as he was thinking about that, he suddenly perceived an extra weight on his back and turned around to Feliks, who was leaning against him, looking at the sky and letting out the smoke that was forming figures in the air.
"Yes, Your Majesty... more often than I could ever count," he replied and his green eyes seemed to have lost a bit of their shine, but gained it back in a few seconds, enough time to make Feliks straighten his back and return to his good mood. "And that's why, Ivan, when my boyfriend will come for me, and we'll get out of here, we're going to look for a partner for you, so you leave behind these super sad thoughts," he suggested with excitement, continuing to smoke.
"But I do have a partner already... well, I am actually married," answered Ivan in a completely casual tone. Suddenly, Feliks seemed to choke on the smoke from surprise, coughing a couple of times and trying to breathe again after that incredible declaration.
"What do you mean, married?! Like, how, why, with whom?!" he approached Ivan with every question, expecting a good answer.
"Ah, well, it was an arranged marriage with Elizabetha, the Queen of Clubs," replied Ivan as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Feliks opened his mouth so wide that his jaw could almost touch the ground.
"Okay, this was really, like, totally unexpected... I need to process it first..." he said, trying to stay calm, getting up again and heading to the bars, in an attempt to clear his mind after the shock and looking at the scenery, consisting of the garden and part of the clinic's main entrance. One person was leaving it right now, and Feliks got excited.
"Ivan, Ivan, come here!" he commanded, jumping from happiness. Ivan got curious and approached him. "Look, that guy, who's leaving right now..." said Feliks, pointing at a young man with brown hair, who could be seen in the distance. "This tanned and sexy and, by the way, Iberian hunk is called Antonio. He's Emma's childhood friend and the hottest man I've ever seen, right after my Toris... oh, what a babe..." He let out a few sighs rather sounding like moans, while Ivan wasn't understanding his reactions once again. Or more precisely: he didn't understand that excitement due to seeing Antonio, who was leaving the building to head to his workplace in the orphanage.
That morning, the brown-haired man with green eyes had met his childhood friend Emma during his way to work and decided to accompany her to her own workplace as a nurse at the Claymore clinic. Antonio found that fact a bit terrifying, since he had never thought that his sweet friend for practically his whole life would one day end up surrounded by mentally ill patients. They had walked together to the hospital, chatting about different things and catching up on their lives, since it hadn't been possible for them to see each other for some time due to work. Then, Emma had clocked in and left her things, before going out to talk a bit more with Antonio, until he had to rush to his own workplace as a volunteer in the orphanage that was a few streets away. They said goodbye and promised to meet soon again to not lose contact with each other.
So, here we have Antonio once again, leaving the hospital, without knowing that a certain pair of patients was watching him from a distance, thinking about how that new guy Francis was doing. He was finding him a bit odd, that blond with blue eyes was really something, but perhaps he still would get along with the kids... however, to be honest, he was doubting that, since Francis seemed to be quite conceited and arrogant. But as they say "We cannot judge a book by its cover".
Antonio was walking, whistling a song and spinning the keys of the front gate on his index finger, until finally reaching the rusty gate of the orphanage, where he had been helping out since being a teenager, gaining enough trust to be given his own key. He unlocked the gate and crossed the garden until reaching the building, where he had left Francis with the smallest kids. There, he entered and was welcomed by a wave of hyperactive little ones, who jumped at him, happy to see him.
"Hi kids," he greeted them, trying to walk with the weight of some kids climbing on him. "Do you know where Fran is?" he asked. Suddenly, the kids seemed to get into a bad mood and started to look annoyed, freeing Antonio.
"Yes, that unbearable guy is with... how's his name again?.. ah yes, Matt, they're upstairs in the dormitories, " answered one.
"Muchas gracias, and you should really have memorized Mattie's name by now, he's longer here than you, after all," Antonio reminded the little ones, leaving them in order to head to the dormitories, where something was definitely going on. Antonio heard Francis scream and got worried, running to the place, or more precisely, the bathroom where the screaming was coming from.
"Dear God, boy! Do you plan on killing me with a pneumonia? The water is icy!" yelled the King of Diamonds, leaving the bathroom wet and with a towel around his waist, as Antonio was entering and seeing him together with Matt.
"I told you to hurry, the hot water doesn't last long here."
"What inhumane conditions are these? I cannot take a good bath because the water is so cold it seems to come from an iceberg... if I spend any more time here, I will die for sure," complained (like always) Francis, while trembling from the cold. Antonio couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Stop complaining and get dressed if you don't want to catch a cold," said Matthew, taking Francis' clothes and giving them to the king, who took them begrudgingly, while being led back to the bathroom by the boy to get dressed. Francis entered the small and much too humble bathroom again, slamming the door after himself. Matt was just shaking his head.
"Hey Matty, are you getting along with His Majesty?" asked Antonio, coming closer.
"Hello Antonio... ah, well, I try to, but he seems like a really spoiled king, perhaps he never had to work in his kingdom," complained Matt in a very serious tone and sat down on one of the beds, putting his white teddy bear on his lap. "But I suppose I have to help him survive until he returns there," he concluded, shrugging and letting out a sigh. Antonio was happy to see Matt taking this so seriously, since it was rare for the little one to socialize and to do something with another person instead of with his bear.
"So tell me, Matt, do you think Fran is a good person?" asked Antonio. But the boy was interrupted before he could give an answer.
"But of course I am a good person. Or do you think that the King of Diamonds is lacking virtues? I am always giving the very best to my people, not to mention my future queen. She is bathing in gold, silver, and the most precious gems you could imagine," bragged Francis, leaving the bathroom so dressed up it was impressive to see how he could look so glamorous in such simple clothes.
"Money's not everything, you can't buy happiness," said Antonio, thinking that this was a bad example for Matthew.
Hearing that, Francis started to smile, as though Antonio was a little ignorant.
"Of course you can, I have done this until now... everything has a price, young man, everything without any exception," he said. The other frowned.
"You too?" asked Matthew, innocent as always and looking with his big blue eyes at the king, whose smile disappeared and who looked at the mark on his arm for a split second.
"Yes... even me," he answered gloomily... slightly immersing himself into the memories of his past that had marked him and made him the one he was now.
"Ah! Let's stop talking about this and go," Antonio changed the topic, noticing that Francis had fallen silent all of a sudden. "And you, Matty, don't listen to His Majesty, it's just that he has so much money he thinks he can buy anything. But that's wrong, isn't it?" he asked the king, who just averted his gaze without saying anything. "Come, come, the kids' lessons will start soon, and we can't be late," said Antonio, wrapping his arm around Francis' shoulders and taking Matthew by the hand. The three of them left the dormitories, walking through the entire hallway, going downstairs and heading to a big classroom with a lot of desks, where classes for all the different grades and children of different ages were held. Matthew let go of Antonio and was about to run towards one of the desks, but was stopped by Francis, who grabbed him by the collar of his sweater.
"Not so fast, boy," he said as the little one was turning around to him. Francis bent down a bit to be at his height. "Where do you think are you going with that dirty face and unkempt hair?" The king took out a handkerchief from his pocket to clean Matthew's nose, who was trying to escape that procedure.
"Stay still, young man," ordered Francis with his aristocratic tone, so different from Antonio's always affectionate and cheerful one.
"It doesn't matter, no one sees me anyway," complained Matt, turning away his face to make the other stop, like a kitten escaping its mother's tongue.
"I do see you and I will not allow you to walk around like that," replied the king, stroking back the boy's long blond strands to see his slightly surprised face better. Matthew couldn't believe his ears. 'I do see you'...
Finally, he stood still, letting Francis do his thing and finish to make him look decent enough to enter the classroom.
"Now you are ready," said the latter finally, straightening his back and looking at the boy, who hugged Kumajiro tighter and whispered a thank-you, entering the room and shooting a sideways glance at Francis, as though making sure that he was still there.
"Despite being so superficial, you are a good person after all, Fran," said Antonio, patting the king's back, who was still annoyed with things like that.
"I have already told you that I am a good person, I really do not understand how it could occur to you to call me superficial," he said offended and combing his long hair back.
"Don't be like that, Francis, it's just that sometimes you're saying things that make me think bad of you, like that about the money and so on."
"This is not being superficial, this is being a realist, and you should stop filling the boy's head with stupid ideas," objected Francis, making Antonio laugh.
"And I get to hear that from someone who's proclaiming to be a king," the latter mocked him, watching Francis get annoyed for a second time.
"I told you that this is the truth! You have earned yourself the worst punishment, that you can be sure of!"
"Yeah, sure, better accompany me to my boys, we'll return here when the little ones' classes are finished," said Antonio, tugging Francis along, while Matthew was watching them from a distance, stretching his neck as far as he could in order to see where the two adults were going.
"Hey, Fran... it seems that Matt is very interested in you, please treat him well... socializing is very difficult for this child, he almost doesn't talk, and most kids are ignoring him. Besides, he doesn't know anything else apart from this orphanage, so a little affection would be great for him," asked Antonio, becoming a bit more serious. Francis was just walking forward. "And please stop saying that money's everything and such, at least in front of the children." The king was keeping his inexpressive face.
"I am just honest, there is nothing wrong with that," he answered, making no big deal of the matter. Antonio shot him a reproachful look.
"No clue how you must have been raised to have all these ideas in your head..."
Hearing that, Francis couldn't help but remember some things, for example, that one scene where he was still a child, approximately of Matthew's age, wearing his orange velvet clothes and his crown that had been too big for him back then but still only slipping from time to time. His entire room was filled with toys, designed by the most famous toymakers exclusively for him, there was not a single free spot on the floor, and on a table nearby were standing the most exquisite sweets of all kind. The small King of Diamonds was looking at everything he possessed with such an arrogant smirk on his lips that it even annoyed the men of the court who were watching him enjoying his luxuries...
But when he asked for something and was denied it, he went into a rage and burned down that room on a whim, throwing a hissy fit. A room filled with treasures that could feed more than ten families with their value... or at least, everyone thought that it had been a hissy fit, that the young king had been pouting and decided to burn it all, just because one of his wishes hadn't been fulfilled... he was so angry... however, the next day, everything had been replaced, the room that had been empty for only one night, was filled again the next morning, with all the things and even more and better ones. This was the day when King Francis started to convince himself that emptiness could be filled with material stuff, that money was able to buy anything, and the only thing needed to get what you wanted was gold in your pockets... even affection could be bought, though fake one, after all, his heart was just like that room: if it was empty, he could always buy something to fill it with.
Without even noticing it and lost in thoughts, he arrived together with Antonio at the building of the kids the latter was taking care of. The age difference was noticeable, since they all seemed to be a bit calmer, quite the opposite of these small hyperactive monsters in the first building.
"Lovi!" called Antonio suddenly, abruptly taking Francis out of his thoughts. The king saw the other waving at one of the boys, with a radiant smile on his face. "Lovi, here!" he continued to yell, and even his voice seemed to sound a bit dreamily now.
"Shut up, you bastard, don't call me that!" spat the teenager at him and approached them reluctantly.
Francis couldn't help but get a bit surprised when he saw Lovino, since the latter was looking very similar to the Jack of Hearts. Though it was evident that they weren't the same person, he had still never thought that two people could look so similar without being related to each other.
"And you, why're you staring at me?" grumbled the boy, feeling Francis' gaze over himself. The king answered, without really putting attention to Lovino's rude tone.
"It is nothing... you are just looking a lot like someone I know," he said, still thinking about the jack.
"Lovi, I've already told you so many times that you shouldn't be rude to other people," scolded Antonio, but in a not very strict tone.
"I don't give a shit about that, who is this guy, by the way?" asked Lovino, realizing that he didn't know that effeminate blond man.
"Another shameless pretending to not know who I am..." grumbled Francis. "I am the K-..."
"This is Francis, a new volunteer," Antonio interrupted him, before the other could start telling his stories again. "And, Francis, this is Lovino."
"I already know that it is a pleasure to get to know me, boy, come on, don't be shy, I allow you to express your excitement by kissing my hand," said Francis, stretching his hand into Lovino's direction, who was looking at him with something similar to disgust on his face.
"Or you better kiss my ass or something like that," he spat at him. Francis gasped after hearing this, almost unable to breathe.
"How dare you, you little monster?! You will be burnt at the stake! And not only that! I will order to spread your ashes over the filthiest parts of my territories, and all the generations of your family will be stained by your sin, they will be despised and pointed at until your last name will be forgotten over the time! I will make sure of that to happen, just you see!" screamed the furious Francis. Lovino was just looking at him, bored.
"Wow, how terrible," he commented cynically and turned to Antonio. "Where did you find that weirdo?" he asked, pointing at Francis, who was red from rage.
"Lovi, please behave," begged the Spaniard.
"I am behaving, it's this guy, who's acting strange," objected Lovino.
"Strange... your face will be strange, after I give the order to arrest you and put you for seven days and seven nights into the dungeons," hissed the king.
"See? Really strange..." repeated the teenager, stepping away a bit from Francis, who was almost snorting from anger.
"Ah... well, Francis likes to make drama, don't take him too serious," said Antonio. The king looked at him, as if he was a traitor.
"Yeah, I already noticed that," said Lovino, eyeing Francis. "Alright, if you only wanted to greet me, I'm leaving." But before he could manage to, Antonio almost threw himself at him, trapping him into a hug.
"Don't, Lovi, there's still time until your class starts, stay with us a little longer," he begged, without giving in to Lovino's attempts to free himself from his grip.
"Leave your sob stories for another day and let me go," ordered the boy, struggling with him.
"But Lovi, we don't see each other as often as we used to," whined Antonio like a little child throwing a tantrum.
"The hell are you talking about? We see each other every fucking day, or did you forget that you're working here, you idiot?" asked Lovino, being crushed by the Spaniard's arms, who was shaking his head and still rubbing himself against the other.
"That's not true! Since the day Feli was adopted, you leave your room only when it's absolutely necessary," complained Antonio. After hearing that, Lovino shoved him with so much force that he was able to get him off himself.
"And whose damn fault was it that we got separated? Just let me in peace once and of all and better start to grow used to not seeing me, because when I leave this place, you'll never see me again, nor my brother," said Lovino with so much resentment that everyone went completely silent. Not even Antonio dared to say anything, not having any other choice than let the angry teenager leave.
"Lovi..." whispered the Spaniard with a sad face.
"This boy has a difficult personality and seems to hate you, it has to be tough to be in love with him," commented Francis without that much interest and crossed his arms.
"Yeah..." replied Antonio, but then suddenly realized what Francis had just said. "No! I mean no! I'm not in love with Lovi, of course not! And besides, he doesn't hate me... he's just going through a difficult time..." he corrected, with a sad voice.
"Say whatever you want, young man, but it is visible all over your face that this boy is taking your breath away, even though he does not seem to share your feelings," said Francis, looking at Lovino's back as well.
"Don't say these things, you could get me in trouble, Lovi's still a minor and basically under my care... I can't fall in love with him..."
"I will correct your words: you should not fall in love with him, but of course you can. In fact, you already did." Francis spotted a hint of remorse in Antonio's eyes, who was still observing Lovino's back, while the latter was continuing to leave the place.
The teenager was sulking a bit while walking, due to Antonio's nonsense. That guy was always so sickly sweet to him, playing the caring one, despite being the reason why Lovino had been separated from his twin once again. Mentally cursing at the Spaniard, he passed by the fence facing the street and spotted a certain person there.
"They guy who brings us books..." he said, looking at Arthur, who was accompanied by someone else. "And who's this weirdo? So many of them today," he muttered at the sight of Alfred still wearing his long trench coat with the spade-shaped-decorations, who seemed exaggeratedly lively, walking next to Arthur.
"Hey, Alfred, could you maybe turn down your voice a bit? You're speaking too loudly," Arthur scolded him, begging to be swallowed by earth, because that guy next to him had caused him so much shame that morning that he wouldn't mind to disappear from the face of the universe any moment. At the beginning of the day, Arthur had decided to take his new housemate to the doctor to let the latter's tremendous wound get checked, and as soon as they arrived and Alfred was being checked, he couldn't stop telling that tale about him being a king and calling the doctor a "healer". After that, the king played around with all the instruments he could find in the doctor's office, even with the stethoscope as though it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen in his life, listening to the heartbeat of almost everyone he met.
Arthur was waiting for the doctor to say that Alfred was suffering from delusions due to the blow, but no, his condition was perfect, in fact, too perfect! To which Alfred couldn't miss the opportunity to say that it was obvious, since "the King of Spades was the strongest and mightiest king of the entire Nation of Cards". After this, Arthur really wished to take a pistol and shoot himself rather than continue to endure all this and also the loud laughing of the supposed king, who, to top if off, before leaving the hospital gave such a deep and exaggerated bow that all the nurses started laughing (but rather than amusing themselves with his occurrences, they seemed to make fun of the poor boy).
So there they were on the way to Arthur's bookstore that had to be opened ten minutes ago.
"These people were very kind and interesting, I have never seen healers like that, what odd artifacts they had," Alfred kept talking without end.
"I already told you that they are called doctors, not healers, and these weren't any artifacts, but absolutely normal instruments," Arthur corrected him, exasperated.
"Really? My kingdom doesn't have things like that, but oh well, I don't get sick that easily, it's Yao who does. I'm always telling him to stop smoking that stuff he always has in his pipe, but he doesn't listen to me. I think this is the only occasion where he doesn't obey me," the king continued narrating. Arthur just snorted and took out his pocket watch for the fourth time that morning, looking at the hour.
"Alfred, if you keep on talking, I will leave you in that mental hospital here nearby," he threatened between clenched teeth.
"But if you do that, I won't be able to return to my kingdom. Well, but to be honest, I don't even want to," said the king, pouting and frowning while putting his hands into the pockets of his trench coat.
"This again... I think you're rather a teenager who ran away from home, because he wasn't allowed to do what he wanted," grumbled Arthur, spotting his store.
"If I was able to run away from the palace, I would have already done it a long time ago. But Yao seems to have his eyes everywhere."
"Well, then I wonder how you managed to get here," said the other, not really interested, and took out the key for the metal curtain. He unlocked and lifted it, and then opened the main entrance. A bell started to jingle as he did that.
The two of them entered, and Arthur put the "Open"-sign on the door glass. Once again, they had to evade piles of books to reach the light switch.
"I've already told you that my arrival here was the jokers' work. If I had known earlier that creatures like them existed in the Nation of Cards, I would have left a long time ago," answered Alfred, being completely ignored by Arthur, who was walking around in the bookstore, arranging things.
"Very interesting, Alfred, but now we have to talk about something more important," he said, putting his hands on his hips, making the king finally fall silent. "If you want to continue living in my house, you will be forced to work, to pay for your accommodation, at least. Don't like it? Then you are free to find another place, where they accept a runaway king," Arthur warned, noticing that Alfred suddenly seemed to get very excited.
"Work?! Like the simple folk in the fields?" the latter asked, even doing a jump he couldn't hold in.
"Wow, so sorry for being 'simple folk'..." grumbled Arthur. The other one shook his head effusively.
"No, no! It's fine! I want to work! Yao never allowed me to, saying that this was only for normal people and that I'm not normal..." said the king, getting angry at the memory of his jack.
"Ah, well, I'm glad that you're so enthusiastic about working, because if you had started complaining, I would unfortunately have been forced to chase you away... what a shame that you didn't," murmured Arthur the last part.
"And what do I have to do? Plow the fields? Take the cattle to graze? Cultivate plants?"
"Uh... no, first of all, we're not in the countryside, and second, you just need to help me clean up this whole place and order the books WITHOUT DAMAGING THEM!" the store owner warned him. "I'm serious, Alfred, if you do something to one of my precious books, you will regret ever having landed in front of my store," he threatened. But Alfred just started laughing again, so loudly, it resounded through the entire bookstore.
"Don't you worry, Arthur, one time Yao allowed me to help him clean his porcelain cups, and I didn't break a single one of them. So this will be a piece of cake," he assured, taking off his trench coat and the jacked he was wearing underneath, unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them up to his elbows in order to start doing his task.
"Whatever, just clean up and that's it. Ah, and don't forget the books lying in a cardboard box, they're a donation for the orphanage," commanded Arthur, going to the backroom to get everything needed and to maybe free his shelves from a few kilos of dust, since he hadn't given that place a thorough cleaning for quite some time, to be honest.
Alfred didn't waste time and went down to business on the spot, maybe due to his excess energy. However, the fact of him being busy didn't stop him from continuing to talk, and while he was standing on a small ladder and cleaning the highest rack of one of the many bookshelves, he continued to have a conversation with Arthur, who was just trying to read in peace.
"If Yao had seen me now, he would have surely fainted." The king said, giggling. "I would've killed to see his face," he added, thinking about the jack and his constant scolding again.
"Hey Alfred, you're always talking about that Yao. Is he your only friend?" asked the store owner, a bit annoyed, while turning the page in his book and waiting for a long explanation. That didn't come. Slightly surprised, he looked up and saw the young man sitting on the top step of the ladder and looking a little sad and in thoughts.
"Alfred?" called Arthur. Maybe he had touched a sore spot.
"Yao is my jack, or rather, my servant... as a king, I can't have contact to people outside the court or who are not royals as well, so I have spent my entire life with Yao, since I see the other kings only at some audiences and festivities. When I was a child, I wasn't allowed to play with the other kids, either, so the Jack of Spades has been my only company during basically my whole life..." Alfred explained, sadly playing around with the humid rag in his hands which he had used to clean the bookshelf.
"And what about your parents?" asked Arthur. Alfred raised his head, smiling.
"I don't know them. When a king is born, he is separated from his family in order to be raised in the palace... not a single one of us kings knows our parents or siblings." He resumed his task. "This is why I was raised by my jack, so coming back to your question: yes, I think that Yao is my only friend." The king started laughing again, as cheerfully as always. But then he suddenly felt a tug at his clothes, looked down and met an ashamed Arthur.
"I'm sorry... for having made you talk about this," the latter apologized, thinking that if you took away all these stories about kings and servants, Alfred was just a lonely orphan, which sounded really sad.
"Don't worry, this is just a reality I'm already used to," said the king, without sounding very sincere. "And you, Arthur? Do you have friends?" he asked, descending one step to wipe the next shelf, while the other only rolled his eyes and snorted again.
"Let's say that I have never been very sociable," he replied, returning to the table where he had been reading.
"But you have been very kind to me, you should be surrounded by people," said Alfred, taking out one of the books to wipe it with the rug as well, as carefully as he could, of course.
"I hope that was sarcasm..." commented Arthur, opening the page where his bookmark was, a dried maple leaf.
"I'm imagining you with a lot of siblings and also many friends," said Alfred cheerfully, sorting the books by their sizes.
"Well, concerning the first point, you are right: I have four elder brothers. I'm the youngest, but I never got along with them. As a teenager, I even ran away from home and almost became a delinquent, so people didn't use to get close to me," narrated Arthur so casually as if the two of them have known each other their entire life.
"You ran away from home?! Seriously?! How?" inquired the excited king, pausing his work once again.
"Back then, I was thinking exactly like you, that my life was being controlled, because..." Arthur stopped, as he realized that he was becoming too familiar with someone he barely knew.
"Because?" Alfred incited him to continue. Arthur still seemed a bit unwilling to do it, but then remembered that the other had already told him things about himself, so it would be only fair.
"Because I have been sick my entire life. I have a heart defect, and my family has been always telling me what to do and not to do... and I have taken their worry for oppression and started rebelling. I didn't care if the things I was doing were dangerous or able to kill me, I just wanted to live my life as I wished to, so I just left. Nothing interesting," he explained, as though it really wasn't that relevant. But for Alfred, it sounded like a really epic journey. Until he remembered the first part of the story.
"So you are sick..." said the king. "And is your illness painful?" he asked with sincere worry, surprising Arthur a bit, who hadn't expected that kind of reaction.
"No, I just have to take my meds and not do very intense physical activities, you could almost call me a weakling," he replied, turning the page and hearing that Alfred was quickly descending the ladder and running (or rather trying to run between the books) to him.
"That's it! Now I know why the jokers brought me here," he said so cheerfully that Arthur got startled, suddenly looking up from his book. "Because you are weak! One of the jokers told me that I didn't know how to use my power wisely, so perhaps this is the reason they brought me to you! To look after you!" He let out an exaggerated laugh. "The King of Spades won't let anything happen to you, I am going to be your personal hero and show these jokers that I am as wise as I am powerful." He laughed again, thinking that he was definitely right, but Arthur suddenly slapped him with the thick book on the head.
"Yes, my hero, save me by cleaning up this place. Finish it, or you won't get anything to eat," he commanded. Alfred went back to his task, rubbing the place where he had been hit, but satisfied to know the reason for him being there. And besides, he didn't mind looking after Arthur, he liked him, since the other was treating him like a normal person, not with that exaggerated politeness, and it felt good.
The king headed to the ladder again, walking by one of the windows, where he saw a small blond head running. It seemed a bit familiar to him, but he shrugged it off and continued to clean, ignoring Peter, who had run by the bookstore.
"This stupid Gilbert... I can't believe that he's so sensitive, disappearing after just hearing a couple of truths," muttered the boy angrily. He was hiding his tail under his clothes, but still wearing his hat with the horns, making more than one school girl turn around to him to comment how cute he was.
"Oh no... please don't let him be with Feliciano..." supposed Peter, stopping for a moment. "No, he's definitely there! Gilbert, you idiot!" he exclaimed, starting to run again and turning into a corner as fast as he could.
Peter knew the address of that Feliciano already by heart, not because he was stalking him, but because Gilbert was always going there, despite all the child's protests.
After having run at least half an hour, he finally reached Feliciano's residence and searched for a window to look inside. Surely, Gilbert was reckless enough to enter, but no, he wasn't there.
But Feliciano was, more precisely, he was standing in the kitchen and trying to prepare a bit of pasta to satisfy his hunger. He was stirring the tomato sauce in the pot, whimpering quietly due to his hurting wrist. Suddenly, someone else entered the kitchen.
"Ah... excuse me..." said King Ludwig, as Feliciano got so startled that he dropped the ladle, producing a slight clanking sound.
"Ve~..." was the only thing the scared boy could utter and turned around to Ludwig, whom he had allowed to sleep in his house. Not because he really wanted to, but to do Gilbert a favor.
"Do you need something?" asked Feliciano, pressing himself against the stove, in order to be as far away as possible from the king. The latter noticed how the teenager was grabbing his wrist, covering the bruise that he, Ludwig, had inflicted on him last night.
Slight remorse appeared on Ludwig's face, and he approached Feliciano, who intended to step aside, but it was too late, the other was already in front of him.
"Please accept my most sincere apologies for everything that had happened last night and for having wounded you. I know that this is no excuse, but I was out of my mind and did not know what I was doing," apologized the blond, lowering his head a bit.
Feliciano saw how ashamed Ludwig was and even noticed how the other's firm and imposing voice was now just deep, hoarse and calm... completely different from last night.
"Ve~ I'm sorry as well," he said suddenly, making Ludwig, who hadn't expected that, raise his face. "I'm sorry for having run away from you... I thought that you were one of the orphanage's watchmen who had caught me talking to my brother," explained the boy, slightly embarrassed. Ludwig was a bit surprised by his words.
"You have never told me that you have a brother..." commented the king, forgetting that he wasn't talking to his jack. Feliciano slightly inclined his head, confused.
"This is because we barely know each other, ve~..." he said, bringing Ludwig back to reality.
"Oh... right, excuse me again," apologized the king one more time, averting his gaze, maybe because he was ashamed that someone as correct as him was doing so much nonsense: first, chasing after someone, who wasn't his servant, getting out of control due to a misunderstanding, and now mistaking this boy for his servant again.
"Am I really that similar to that other person?" asked Feliciano, really wanting to know if there was someone apart from his brother who looked like him.
Ludwig looked at him again, directed his eyes at the other's almond-colored ones, at his brown hair and even at that strange curl sticking out of his head... he couldn't help it, but he definitely saw the Jack of Hearts in front of him.
"Yes... I could swear you were him..." he answered, still examining Feliciano's curious face. The ladder just let out a "ve~" like he always did, even concerning this he was the same as his most loyal servant.
"I see, so this is why you've been so angry. You thought I was your friend."
"Friend?" inquired Ludwig as if that word sounded strange to him, especially when he pronounced it while thinking of Feliciano, his jack...
"Yeah, the one Gilbert called... how was it again?" The teenager was trying to remember, muttering something under his breath for a few seconds. "The Jack of Hearts!" he finally exclaimed.
"Yes, Feliciano, no, the other Feliciano," the king corrected himself seeing that the other reacted to his name. "He is my servant, therefore he is carrying the title of the jack," he explained. It was a bit difficult for Feliciano to understand what he was talking about.
"By the way... who are you?" he asked, just now realizing that he didn't even know the name of the person he had allowed to sleep in his own house.
Ludwig immediately straightened his back as far as he could, raised his forehead and his chin, and put one of his hands behind his back and the other in front of his stomach.
"I am the rightful King of Hearts," he answered with that firm, intimidating voice of his, however, Feliciano didn't look satisfied.
"Ve~ I asked who you are, not what you are, tell me your name," he scolded him. The king seemed to be slightly confused... who he was?
"Ludwig... this is my name," he answered, without adding his title, feeling almost vulnerable doing this.
"A pleasure to meet you, Ludwig," said Feliciano, and the king shuddered slightly from hearing his name pronounced with the other's voice... since now that he thought about it, his jack had never called him by his first name, but always "my lord" or "Your Majesty".
"T-The pleasure is all mine," replied Ludwig, leaving his temporary trance and seeing the boy's beaming smile, who apparently already had lost all his fear. The king perceived a slight relief at the sight of that smile, in fact he had never noticed before that the smile of the one who had been his servant for so many years could be able to calm him like that. But why only now?... Why only now that he didn't know if he would ever see him again, despite feeling as if he was having him right in front of him?
"Alright Ludwig, since you're here, and we have introduced ourselves to each other, why don't you help me in the kitchen?" suggested Feliciano, stepping aside to show him the cooking pots and the table full of vegetables.
"I am very sorry, Feliciano, but I have never cooked in my life," answered the king, embarrassed. Yes, it was true, he had always been busy with completely different things and besides, all that culinary work was the servants' task. In fact, he had never even entered his palace's kitchen.
"Oh, that's a problem, ve~" commented Feliciano, smiling again. "But it's okay! You can help me with something simple, I'll teach you how!" The king gulped. That cooking stuff didn't look simple at all.
Finally, he ended up helping him chop some vegetables to make a salad as a side dish for the pasta, and exactly as Feliciano had said, it was a simple task, even though his cuts were a bit clumsy and the fact that he hit the knife too violently against the table. But it was pleasant to do something unusual, and besides Feliciano was entertaining him with his talking. He told the king that his "tutors" were on vacation and had allowed him to stay home by himself, and that he wasn't going to school at the moment, because he had problems at his last one. The teenager had sounded a bit sad while speaking about that, also narrating that every evening since his tutors were gone, he was going to see his brother who was still living in the orphanage. Just like the previous day.
"Say, Ludwig, are you really a king?" he asked, suddenly changing the topic. Still keeping his attention on the vegetables and the knife, Ludwig answered.
"Yes, though right now, I do not know where I am nor whether my kingdom is alright."
"Ve~ let's pray that it is," said Feliciano, inhaling the smell of the pasta that will be ready soon. "So, if you are a king, do you have a queen as well?" he kept on asking, opening the pot to check on the noodles.
"Yes," replied the other dryly.
"And is she pretty? I love cute girls," inquired the teenager, excited. Ludwig stopped chopping the vegetables.
"My queen Kiku is a man," he clarified, seeing Feliciano's surprised face. "In our nation, it does not matter if the queen is male or female as long as that person has a mark on their body that designates them as part of royalty, and Kiku has it."
"I see, like the one you have on your chest," said Feliciano, remembering the red heart he had seen on Ludwig's body.
"Exactly. When the queen's mark appears on a person's body, they have the obligation to marry the king," continued Ludwig. Feliciano sat down on the kitchen table and thought about it, without saying a word.
"How cruel..." he commented finally, his eyes staring off into space. Ludwig turned around to him, having the sensation that he had already had that conversation, but still decided to go on.
"Why is it cruel?"
"Not being able to be with the person you love... this is cruel," replied Feliciano with the same absent expression. Ludwig wanted to say something to that, but the other was quicker. "I hope your queen married you without having to be separated from a special person and is now very happy by your side," he said in an optimistic tone, swinging his feet, still sitting on the table. The king felt sadness once again after hearing that.
"I don't know... Kiku does not talk a lot about himself, much less about his life before having become the queen. He is even more reserved than me, so sometimes, it is difficult to know what he is thinking," said Ludwig while Feliciano got up from the table.
"He seems like an interesting person, I'd love to get to know him, ve~. But let's eat now, the pasta is ready."
The boy served the pasta, and while they were eating, he asked an endless amount of questions. Ludwig patiently answered each and every one of them to Feliciano, who felt as if he was listening to some incredible, epic fairy tale. The hours passed while they talked and ate their pasta. Until nighttime arrived.
"Oh, it's already time," said Feliciano suddenly, interrupting Ludwig's narrations.
"Time to do what?"
"To meet my brother," replied the teenager, quickly left the table, put all the plates into the sink to wash them later and ran to his room to get a coat.
"Come, you'll go with me," he commanded, grabbing Ludwig's arm and leaving the house together with him.
They took a bus and walked a few blocks. Ludwig recognized them as the same streets on which he had chased after Feliciano the day before, and even the place where the joker had appeared. They continued straight on, passing a huge hospital, then a bookstore with old books and several shops, houses and apartments, until spotting in the distance the buildings that comprised the orphanage of the Sacred Heart of Christ.
They walked around the fence in silence and trying to not produce too much noise with their steps, until reaching the backyard, where someone was already waiting for them, or, more precisely, for Feliciano. Among the darkness, Ludwig managed to spot the shadow of the boy's brother and couldn't help but get surprised due to the fact how similar they were looking. Even though the brother seemed a bit more savage than Feliciano, standing there, frowning and with crossed arms, as though waiting for someone to attack or to pick a fight with him.
"Fratello," whispered Feliciano, not able to control himself any longer and running towards the gate, where the other relaxed a bit and showed a little smile. Feliciano was finally in front of him and intertwined their fingers through the gaps between the bars, while their foreheads touched and they smiled at each other, one more openly and the other trying to restrain himself.
Ludwig was staying a few meters away, watching them and starting to think that if he didn't know that these two were brothers, he would certainly think that this scene was a furtive encounter of two lovers, protected by the darkness of the night and guided by the moonlight... and for some strange reason... he didn't like that thought at all.
