Paint it Another Colour

Chapter 62

"I know this road" Antonio told Joao the second they turned of a main road in Rome and started chugging down a side street. "This is Lovino and Feliciano's road. I mean... it was... but I know this road. No where else has this many potholes."

Joao shook his head and swerved the car slightly to avoid another hole. "I did say before where we were going."

"That doesn't mean I know where we are" Antonio jabbed in the direction of the windscreen then frowned and patted around a little before finding Joao's arm and jabbing it. "You sure you should be driving?"

"Yes" Joao raised an eyebrow. "I'm perfectly fine. You're the one who can't see let me remind you."

"Yeah, but your head..." Antonio patted around again and pulled on the hat that Joao was wearing to cover the missing hair and trench of dried blood and a bit of skull. 

"My head's fine" Joao batted his hand away and pulled on the wheel again, steering the car away from another pothole. "Bloody things."

Antonio laughed. "I'm trying to think of a time that you haven't said that."

"Maybe Andres should have given your head a bit of a knock as well" Joao rolled his eyes.

"He did" Antonio grinned into the back of the car. "A glass jar to the face has a lot of force in it actually?"

Joao huffed and put up a middle finger at him before stopping and getting out. "Right. Lovino hasn't seen anyone for about a week at this point. I'm not telling him by the way."

"Why?" Antonio stumbled out of the passenger side of the car. 

"You know him better" Joao snapped.

"You've been around longer" Antonio tapped the car as he made his way around it to clutch at Joao's arm.

"He barely knows me"

"He doesn't know anyone anymore" Antonio sulked. Joao sighed, pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and balanced them across Antonio's nose, who flinched at the contact. 

"What are these for?" Antonio asked, poking them as Joao rung the bell.

"You haven't seen the state of your face" Joao said bluntly. "You have cuts all around your eyes, one of your eyelids is missing, and your eyes themselves are so milky they're almost white. As you said, he doesn't know anyone anymore, so it wouldn't be great for you to look that much in a mess."

Antonio heard a scraping noise and shuffling feet.

"What do you bastards want?" Lovino muttered.

"Hey Lovi" Antonio grinned. "We dropped by to say hi."

"Well, you have done" Lovino huffed.

Joao sighed. "We need to talk to you, and it's not really a doorstep type conversation. Can we come in?" 

There was a moment's hesitation in which Antonio shuffled his weight a little bit, squinting as though it would help him see through his clouded eyes. 

"Whatever" Lovino said.

Joao patted Antonio's arm briefly and started walking forwards, past the step that Antonio knew was there, and into a place which seemed somehow darker than outside had been, although he wasn't quite sure how he'd know. From here, he'd been through and around Lovino's house so much in the past, that he barely needed Joao's guidance, and stumbled himself into the living room, flopping into the middle of one of the couches there to make sure he didn't misjudge the distance and land on the floor.

"Right" Lovino sighed from opposite him. "What did you come to say? You haven't been round for a while." He hesitated a moment. "You know, the sun doesn't shine inside bastard. You don't need sunglasses. And you definitely don't need a hat."

"Hm?" Antonio glanced in the direction his voice was coming from and then tapped around his face, searching for the glasses. "Oh yeah."

"Yes, we haven't been round for a while" Joao said, picking up from where Lovino left off. "I'm assuming Antonio told you about the counterparts?"

"The bad sides of us which are currently trying to take over the world?" Lovino raised an eyebrow. "At least, that's what I got from it."

Joao glanced at Antonio, who was still tapping at the glasses, as though he'd forgotten they were there and had only just remembered. "Well, we've been away because we've been... engaged in conflict with them."

"Why does that have anything to do with me?" Lovino asked. "I didn't ask how your week had gone. I don't want your life-story."

"I know" Joao huffed. "Well... you see... we don't have that may of us left now, and..."

"You shouldn't have 'engaged in conflict' with them then, should you" Lovino shook his head in exasperation. "I'd have thought with you all being 'nations', or whatever you call yourselves - call me - that you wouldn't be able to die."

"We can" Joao hissed. "We can die, and we can be hurt,  and that's all the more apparent with the amount that we came back with compared to who went." He sighed. "Antonio can't see anymore either."

Lovino glanced over at Antonio, both hands now firmly holding his glasses on, and then back at Joao. "You can't be serious?"

"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?" Joao sighed. 

"I don't know" Lovino shrugged. "You all seem to know me more than I know you, so how should I know what you're like? Whether you're serious or not, although I haven't actually met anyone who's really that serious yet." At this point, Antonio took off his glasses, revealing the milky eyes and cut up face. "Right. Now, I know that he can't see anything, but how was I supposed to know when he had those goddamn sunglasses on? I'm assuming you have something hidden underneath that hat of yours as well?"

Joao bowed his head forwards and took off his hat. Lovino didn't say anything for a while, before grunting and standing up.

"Okay, so you both got hurt" he said, completely without sarcasm. "You have my sympathies. Now, what was the real reason you came?"

"It's Feliciano" Antonio said. "He... died."

Lovino went silent again, and although Antonio couldn't see him, he knew he was staring at him, probably with confusion. "Okay" he said quietly. "Now, I know you as someone who jokes around a lot, and joking about something like that is not nice."

"I'm not joking either" Antonio winced slightly. "Feliciano's dead."

"There was nothing either of us could do Lovino" Joao said, putting his hat back on. "I'm sorry."

Lovino nodded, then, slowly, took a deep breath. "I know I should care more, but to me, you're asking me to mourn a person that I only met last month. To me, I still don't know him. You're telling me that my 'brother' has died, and I almost don't care. I feel nothing."

There is a perfectly logical reason why this is so late... I promise... work... college... comic cons... and I went to a concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so good!!!!!!!! Gonna put my favs underneath now, hope you don't mind. It you've never heard of the Killers before, listen to them. If you have, listen to them anyway!
MiddleEarth4eva

And of course, the classic...

Hope you enjoyed!!!