Welcome to the Vargas Café!

Chapter 6

Feliciano drifted around between the tables for a while, until his curiosity became too much and he approached Antonio's table.

"Toni, could you introduce me please?" Feliciano asked cheerily. Antonio looked delighted,

"Of course! Feli, this is Ivan. Ivan, this is Feliciano."

Ivan smiled. "It's nice to meet you, I hope we can be good friends!"

Feliciano felt a cold shiver go down his spine but he didn't let them see his uneasiness.

"Yes, I hope so too! So you two really used to date? And now you're back together?" It might've been a little too straightforward but he just had to know.

"That's right," Ivan's continuous smile became almost creepy to look at, but Antonio appeared to be oblivious to that. "There were some unresolved issues that we had after we broke up, and after a long chat we both realised that better communication was all we needed. So now we've decided to give it another go."

Feliciano nodded,

"Oh, I see! That's great for you both! I'm glad you found each other!" He looked around, hoping Lovino was somewhere nearby, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

Suddenly the cafe doors flung open and Gilbert and Francis piled through, with a swearing Englishman behind them. Coming through after them was Kiku, who looked a little flustered, and João, who mostly looked amused. And- Feliciano's heart fluttered when he saw Ludwig standing at the back, his face full of blatant frustration, softening, when their eyes met.

"Welcome, welcome!" Feliciano said excitedly.

Gilbert and Francis leapt towards Antonio and grabbed him from behind, Gilbert half strangling him with his arm.

"Heyyyooo we came to crash your date, loverboy!" They both giggled while Antonio heaved a little, desperately trying to breathe.

"You're strangling the poor bloke, you idiots!" Arthur pulled on Francis' arm.

Suddenly Ivan abruptly stood up. "Please let him go," he said, still smiling, but there was a dark aura around him. Feliciano grabbed on to Kiku to stop himself from getting overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of fear and dread.

Even Gilbert and Francis paused and went silent, they looked almost frozen in terror, unable to move and still holding Antonio in a chokehold. Then Ludwig stepped forward, plucking Gilbert off Antonio and pushing Francis out of the way. Antonio gasped for air, coughing, and Ivan sat back down, pleased with himself.

Feliciano sighed in relief. He wondered if it would be too dramatic to say that he saw his life flashing before his eyes for just a split second. He let go of Kiku and hopped on the spot to recover.

Gilbert and Francis recovered quickly as well, and apologised, more to Ivan than Antonio. Antonio smiled weakly and tried to explain that his friends often did that as a joke, it was all in good fun.

Ludwig grabbed Gilbert's shoulder. "You should behave yourself in here. You're an adult, not a little kid."

Gilbert laughed out loud and patted Ludwig on the head. "Yeah yeah, you're so serious, little brother. Hey Feliciano, could I have a beer please? I need a good cold Radler after that."

"Right!" Feliciano scrambled his notebook out of his pocket and quickly jotted the order down. "Anything else?"

"A tea." Arthur grumbled. Then he looked at Kiku. "Two black teas, please."

"I will also have a Radler, please." Ludwig headed towards his usual table.

Feliciano looked expectantly at João.

"Oh, I don't want anything, thank you. Is Lovino here?"

Feliciano felt a little surprised but nodded. "He should be around somewhere, I'll go look for him. Why?"

João smiled, "I just wanted to talk to him, that's all."

A little perplexed, Feliciano hopped back into the kitchen and gave Yao the list of orders. Then Erzsébet approached him,

"Lovino is outside. He wasn't feeling too well, please be gentle on him."

Feliciano gave her a worried look, then quickly headed out the back door to see his brother hurriedly wiping his eyes.

"Fratello?" Feliciano anxiously plopped on to the cold concrete next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lovino muttered. "It's nothing now."

Feliciano pressed his lips together. He had a feeling he knew what this was about but also knew not to press on the matter. Instead, he decided to distract him.

"João asked for you. I think he likes you." He elbowed his brother playfully, who managed a smile in return.

"Ironic," Lovino mumbled, but his smile remained. "I'll come back inside in a bit."

Feliciano nodded and went back into the kitchen where Erzsébet was waiting for him.

"Is he any better?" She asked, concerned.

"I think so..." Feliciano watched Yao battle with the coffee machine behind her.

Erzsébet nodded. Then she exclaimed,

"Oh, I almost forgot, isn't it the twentieth anniversary of the coffee shop's first opening next week on Friday? Didn't we think of planning a party for it?"

Feliciano immediately lit up again.

"Yes it is! We need to organise food and drinks! And music! And cool lights! I'm sure that will cheer Lovi up. Will you tell him when he comes back in? I don't think he wants to be disturbed right now."

"Of course!" Erzsébet grinned at him, then turned around to see Yao about to hit the machine in frustration, and quickly ran to him before he could deal it any damage.

Feliciano left the two bickering with each other and went back to their guests. While walking past João, he informed him that Lovino was taking a break but would be back soon, then he headed to Ludwig's table.

Ludwig was displeasingly observing Gilbert and Francis, who had made themselves comfortable at Ivan and Antonio's table while still making a racket.

"Hey," Feliciano pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Ludwig, who now turned his whole attention towards him. That was something he adored about that man: he was never distracted and always focused on whoever he was talking to.

"Hey," Ludwig leaned forward a little bit. "So what do you think of him?" He nodded towards the loudest table.

"Ivan or Gilbert?" Feliciano giggled.

Ludwig sighed a little. "Ivan."

Feliciano shivered again, even though it wasn't cold.

"He creeps me out." He whispered. "I want to be nice to him but I can't help but feel like running away when he looks at me!"

Ludwig looked thoughtful. "Yes, I suppose he is... creepy. Gilbert needs to learn how to behave himself around that man or he may get in trouble."

"But Toni seems to like him! And I trust him, so I'll try my best to be friends with his boyfriend." Feliciano poked Ludwig in the arm with a grin. "You were so brave to pull your brother away from Toni when Ivan was doing a death stare. Should I start swooning over you like a girl?"

Ludwig's face went a little red. Was he blushing?

"I..." Ludwig cleared his throat. "You better not, because I'm not into women."

Feliciano had to stop himself from jumping up and cheering or letting his mouth drop to the ground. He wanted to do both so badly. But he couldn't stop a happy grin from spreading over his face.

"Bene," he said, and watched Ludwig smile at him.