The Mystery of Love (Robul)

Part 3

When Vlad entered the room, he saw his grandfather sitting with a book in his lap. He looked up when Vlad entered the room. "Vladimir!" He said smiling. "How are you? I feel like I haven't talked to you in a long time." Vlad managed a small smile. His grandfather had seen him, quite often in fact. He just chose when he wanted to talk to him or acknowledge him. "Fine...not much has been going on so..." Despite the fact that they were related, he'd never felt so awkward talking to someone before. Rome smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "That's good. Now, would you mind explaining what this is?" He held up a board of wood with sharp nails sticking out of it and Vlad had to bite down on a grin. He had attached that board to the inside of Lovino's closet(the little devil had asked for it ok?) complete with some speared pieces of meat to add extra effect. The scream he had heard a day prior had been absolutely worth it. Vlad bit down on his cheek harder. "Never seen it before in my life." He said flatly and Rome narrowed his eyes at him. "Really? I would of thought someone with your sense of humour would find this sort of thing...entertaining?" Rome raised an eyebrow before scowling and throwing it down at Vlad's feet, where it smashed into two pieces. "I've been around you long enough Vlad. Clean this up and then go apologize to Lovi." Vlad blanched. "But-But that's not fair! He pushed me down the stairs and made fun of my teeth! It was-it was pay back!" Despite stumbling over his words he managed to fix Rome with a strong stare. Rome looked generally shocked by this news for a moment before he sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I will speak to Lovino later. But for now, like I said, clean this up and then go and apologize to him." "But-" "NO buts. Go. Now." Vlad puffed up his cheeks in anger and picked up the broken piece of wood. He then stomped outside and began hammering the nails out of the wood, putting them back into a case so they could use them later, all the while mumbling under his breath. Oh course Rome would play favourites. Lovino and Feliciano could do whatever the heck they wanted, but when it came to everyone else, more him to be honest, they couldn't even get away with the smallest things. But then again, he didn't have anything against Feli, he was actually quite nice to him. Even though when he was a baby he used to cry at the sight of Vlad's sharp teeth. Once he had finished with the nails and put the wood back into a pile by the side of the house, he went back inside and up to his room and flung open his closet. An array of reds, blacks, greens, and dark greys opened up in front of him and he slid a long black cloak off of its hanger, slipping it around his shoulders and fastening it in the front. He left his room and flew down the stairs, almost making it out the door before he remembered that he had to apologize to Lovino. He heaved a large sigh and turned around to head towards the voices in the kitchen. Francis was sitting in a chair and talking to Feliciano, who was sitting on the counter, and Antonio, who was leaning against that same counter. They all stopped their conversations when Vlad entered. He stood there awkwardly for a moment with all their eyes on him until Feli broke the silence. "Vlad! We were just talking about you!" It looked like he was about to say more, but a stern look from his elders was enough to cut his sentence short. Vlad rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Have you seen Lovino? I need to talk to him." They all seemed surprised to hear him ask where he was, since they had never really gotten along. Antonio gestured to the back yard. "In the garden." Vlad nodded his head in thanks and headed to the door in the kitchen which led to the backyard. He headed out the door and pretended he didn't feel three people watching him from in the kitchen as he headed towards the garden. Lovino was there, loading a basket full of tomatoes and grumbling under his breath. Vlad approached him and the younger turned to glare at him. "What do you want to sick person?!" Vlad raised an eyebrow. Out of everything he'd been called, that was a new one. He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look intimidating. "Listen Lovino. We don't get along but I still came to apologize to you for putting that thing in your closet. So there. I'm sorry." Lovino raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Nono made you say that didn't he? Well fine." He turned back to continue picking tomatoes and Vlad blinked. "Don't you think I deserve an apology too?" Not looking up, Lovino scoffed. "Apology for what bastard! I didn't do anything. Not that I'd apologize for it anyway." Vlad's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "I think I do." He said defiantly. "You made fun of my teeth and pushed me down the stairs!" Lovino finally turned to look at him, still wearing a smirk. "Well really, with teeth like that, you should be used to being made fun of. And second, I didn't push you. You just so happened to get in between me and my hands. So technically that's all your fault. I don't have to apologize for anything." Vlad was stunned. How anyone could be so mean was beyond him. He wanted to pick up Lovino and shake him violently until he apologized, but the three sets of eyes that were still watching from the window made him think that wasn't the smartest idea. So he bit down on his lip and turned and walked away. He headed towards the woods near their home and sent a sad glance back over his shoulder before pulling up his hood and disappearing into the bush. Lovino saw the look he sent back and stubbornly pushed down the wave of sympathy that rolled through him at the hurt in the elders eyes.