The Best Kind of Family Reunion [Italians]

[Deleted]

I MUST ADMIT, I FEEL LIKE A MONSTER

She adjusted the waiter's uniform, grinning. It was decently comfortable, comfortable black pants and a ruffled, white blouse with a custom tie. The girl Sera had stolen this from had a cute little pink tie, embellished the face of the iconic Princess Peach. Sera had never really had the pleasure to play any of those video games when she was in her youth, besides the early, early years, but that didn't mean she wasn't familiar with the current pop culture. Adjusting the tie so as not to choke herself, she examined herself in the mirror. She winked at herself, pleased with the outfit. Her hair was tied back in a bun, and Sera figured if she truly wanted to b convincing she would fetch herself a hairnet, but details, details. She didn't think the two boys would be that observational, but if they were, kudos to them -- perhaps she would actually consider giving them a little credit, despite being part of the slower half of the family. "Thanks for the uniform, bella," she patted the unconscious girl's head, and clipped the name tag on her breast. Lola, it read in fine print. She would wake up from her artificial sleep in a bit, unfortunately lacking some clothing, but Sera hoped she would appreciate that she let her keep her undergarments. She ducked back out of the restroom, and smiled cheerfully at another waiter as she passed by. "I'll get the two that just came in, sitting outside there," she said, and the other offered a distracted affirmative. This restaurant was so big and glamorous, it wasn't really a surprise that no one noticed "Lola" didn't appear to look quite the same today. Then again, everyone seemed to avoid eye contact, as they were too busy glancing over their notepads with their orders. The weather today was pleasant; pleasant enough to deem it appropriate to be seated outside underneath a large tarp sort of cover to block the sun. Marcello and Feliciano sat there, unaware, having conversation with each other. It seemed like an innocuous enough lunch date in all aspects. For now. Sera had done her research. Although she hadn't had direct contact with Feliciano in a while since the last time they had a friendly chat, she was sure he would recognize her. But in front of Marcello, his poor, unknowing half-brother? He had limited options, but he was the creative type. She was intrigued as to what he would do, and all in all, this was a variant type of a test for her dear cousin. How he would react, would he be subtle, could he handle such a situation with his brother's life at risk... The factors were set in place, and the show was ready to begin its performance. Sera Russo, enter from stage right. "Hello! I'm Lola, your waiter for today," she chirped in greeting, pouring some water in their glasses. She set it down on the stand only a few feet away, and returned with her notepad and pen -- formerly tucked in her apron -- in hand. "What can I get you to start?"

WHY WON'T SOMEBODY COME AND SAVE ME FROM THIS

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

SPOILER: Click to show

HAYYYY HERE'S THE THREAD FOR THE ITALIANS FEEL FREE TO THROW YOURSELVES IN YEAHEYEHAEYAHE

@marcopolo
Feliciano Vargas
Lovino Vargas
@nyomano
@romulus

also im sorry about the title of the thread sobs

[Feliciano Vargas]

Words: 737

Tags: 

Notes: So it begins....

Today was going to be a good day. Feliciano looked over at his half brother with a warm smile. It had been so long since he had any time to just sit and catch up with Marco and now that they were both in London, he intended to make the most out of it. Despite his current relationship with most of his family, Feliciano treasured any time with them. Marcello, especially, understood his current feelings of isolation. Feliciano couldn’t imagine what it was like, not being surrounded by cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles. His heart went out to the younger man. (Although… given both his and Fratello’s interactions with organized crimes, Marcello might have dodged the figurative—and sometimes literal—bullet.) But today wasn’t about the past—today they were just two brothers, enjoying good food and each other’s company.

“You’ll really like here, I think,” he chattered away as they looked over the menu, gesturing excitedly with his free hand. “It’s the closest place I’ve found that serves authentic Italian food. Seriously. The first time I had their risotto I almost cried, it was so amazing! They hand make their pasta! None of that prepackaged garbage; I don’t know how anyone can eat that crap and call it Italian. It’s an insult!” He stopped, realizing too late that he was rambling again. He hated to admit it but he was a bit nervous now that they were sitting across from one another. He barely knew Marcello, had only learned about him just before he’d left for Uni, and he couldn’t help but wander what the boy thought of them, thought of their family. Did he resent them? Not that Feliciano could blame him… he was still treated as a secret, a shame that had to be hidden from sight. Feli’s own older brother had no idea that Marcello even existed. Felicano worried his lip for a moment before looking back to meet Marcello’s gaze. He smiled apologetically and laughed. “Ve… I didn’t mean to babble.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was just so excited to finally have lunch with you. It’s so nice to share a meal with family, no?”

At the waitress’ words, Feliciano perked up, more than ready to order. “Ah! Thank you, Ms—“ he looked up and his smile froze on his face at the sight of her. It was like an explosion went off in his head. That’s impossible. That’s absolutely impossible. She couldn’t be here? What reason would she possibly have to leave her shaded position in the Underground to come here and play waitress. It had to be a mistake. But as he stared at her, the dread forming in his stomach confirmed his suspicion.

Sera Russo…

He’d been around violence for too long not to listen to his instincts. And every cell in his body screamed at him. He had always been afraid of her, even when they were kids. He’d never been able to put his finger on just what put him off, but something about her never failed to put him on edge. His fear had been confirmed nearly a year ago, when a chance encounter with her had nearly killed him. He might Seeing the look in her eyes only confirmed his worst fears—she was a lioness, sniffing out the weak and injured. And if she was back (and playing waitress) she had her prey in sight Nothing good would come of this.

Feliciano had to think very carefully about his options. If he’d been alone, it would have been all too easy to escape, or even strike before she could act on whatever plan she had in mind. But with Marcello there… blissfully unaware of the demon in their midst… He couldn’t let him discover the truth. But how else could he get them out safely?

“Thank you, Lola,” he finally managed, donning a pretty convincing smile as he fought the urge to go for his pistol. “Could I get a water with lemon?” He didn’t want to retreat just yet, not until he had a better idea of what she wanted. Sera may be cruel and vicious, but she was also cunning. She wouldn’t risk exposure for something minor. And until Feliciano could discern what she was after, he couldn’t risk showing vulnerability. For now, he had to play oblivious.

Luckily, he had plenty of practice.

made by MISSO for KAT

[Deleted]

Marcello scratched the side of his nose and grinned over at his brother, offering a soft chuckle as he sat across the table. He shifted and crossed one leg loosely over the other as he leaned back in his chair, shaking his head a little bit and letting Feliciano drone on. He honestly didn’t mind his elder brother’s excited chattering—if there was one thing they shared apart from looks and blood, it was definitely their love of food—but he rather welcomed it. It was a nice change of pace and something he had grown to miss as the pair grew apart in their later years. Regardless, the weather was decent with only a slight nip in the air (which Marco countered with a light scarf), he had managed to get the day off work, and he was in good company.

Though his ears were undoubtedly all Feliciano’s, his peridot eyes couldn’t help but sweep over a few patrons and citizens that shifted past them. He knew a few personally—either from them stopping by the flower shop or from being a cast-mate with him one an occasion or two—and gave a soft smile and nod before returning his gaze to Feli. “ “Sci, sci, sci—well-a please don’t cry this-a time!” Marco chuckled and toyed with the table cloth between his fingers before furrowing his brows. “ “Eh?? That's-a hardly what I-a would call food, much-a less Italian.... e I bet it tastes like-a crap too. His nose wrinkled up a bit at that thought and he shook his head with a disgusted groan. “But-a what about the rabbit? Do-a they have that here? Any of-a those dishes like-a from back home or-a mostly just pasta e stuff like-a the other places sell?”

Home…

Dîo…how long had it been since he was back home in Seborga? Three years or something, right? It seemed like forever… Marcello’s gaze settled completely on Feliciano. To some extent, he regretted not being able to fully experience the family life he could have those many years ago. What was it like to have a brother? What did brothers do, exactly? They had met when they were younger, but… that hardly counted as a proper meeting; if anything they were just the occasional playmates before Marcello was no longer able to visit with his brother at Nonno’s. But that was beside the point. He simply just wasn’t used to having a proper family, but he didn’t exactly resent the ones he had… regardless of whether or not he knew about them. Sure, he knew he was a bastard and he figured that some of the other relatives on his father’s side would want nothing to do with him since he wasn’t “legitimate family,” but because none of them were around to rub it in his face, there wasn’t much he could hold against them. He didn’t feel the need to hold anything against them. He had his Mama, his visits from Feli and Nonno, and once he got older, he had the royal family of Monaco. (Though, he partially wondered if Feliciano or any of his other extended family knew about his former engagement to the future Princess—he doubted it, or else they would have probably come to his door more often seeking favors.) Regardless, he had a family of his own back in Seborga that he could run to and was perfectly comfortable with and wouldn’t trade for the world…but he certainly wouldn’t mind getting in touch with those on his father’s side if they would have him after all these years and despite his illegitimacy.

Marcello’s fingers slipped from the table cloth and he uncrossed his legs so he could scoot closer to the table. “I don’t-a really mind it, fratello,” a grin spread over his face once more, “I-a mean, it’s-a great to just finally be able to see ya again, y’know? And lunch is definitely a nice addition--your treat right?” he chuckled a bit and relaxed into his chair again. He was joking, of course… well… partially. He could pay for his own meal just fine.

He stilled for a moment as the waitress came up to take their order. After she poured the glasses and stepped up to the table, Marco, couldn’t help having a smile pull at his face. “If-a you could, bella, just-a some water e… bruschetta with-a the tomato e basil, per favore?” he looked over to Feliciano for a moment, as if deciding what to get, or to gain some input. He couldn’t help but grin to himself, however, at seeing his half-brother’s pause. Aaahh… so maybe these two knew each other? The wheels in Marcello’s mind began to click slowly as he glanced back up to the girl’s face and then back to Feliciano’s. His grin grew all the wider inwardly, but his exterior remained just the same. “Lovers, I bet! ...or former lovers considering Feli’s hesitation. Gotta be something like that,” he mused to himself. Naturally, Marcello would wait until the woman departed to place their order before inquiring further about this bello fiore, Lola.

For now, he would keep his gaze on the woman, smiling handsomely. But of course, he couldn’t resist a small compliment while she was still near them: “Your-a tie is really cute, Lola~”

---

OoC: Whelp. This should be a glorious conglomeration of confusion and chaos XD

[Lovino Vargas]

This was yet another one of those days, Lovino'd come to find during the few hours he'd spent patrolling the streets so far; the bland, boring kind that he would not remember at all come tomorrow. The weather was mediocre - neither good nor bad, and although the ground reeked of last night's rain, there was no sign of another downpour happening anytime soon. People went on their daily business as usual, and nothing so far seemed worthy of suspicion, let alone action. The city was boring and uneventful.

And Lovino loved it.

Now, sure, he'd often complained about being given tasks of little to no value and wasting his talent with things like picking up trash and breaking up groups of loud teenagers, or chasing runaway pets instead of criminals. But after a certain recent incident that almost led him to a premature death (be that it would have been in the arms of two totally smoking ladies), he'd come to appreciate a little peace and quiet during his patrols. Yeah, he didn't earn any brownie points sitting in a stuffy-ass car all day, but neither did he risk his life or possessions to any messed up assholes, so he figured it a fair deal for now. Days like these would end again eventually and he'd get his ass in danger whether he wanted to or not. That's how his life worked; it threw him under the bus every time the light turned green.

So, yes, today was boring as shit. But today was also nice. He could deal.

The only shitty thing about this day was that he couldn't spend it the way he usually would have; either napping, snacking or dating. Yeah, sure, he had a pretty lady in the passenger seat of the police car right now, but she was his cousin so that didn't even count. Yes, he'd cursed his luck to the deepest pits of hell for it before. Yes, he was still doing it, because goddamnit, life was not fucking fair.

That was already one out of three things he wanted to do - but couldn't, today. Napping was probably out of the question too, because whether it was his manly pride or sheer lack of forethought on his part, he'd planted his ass on the driver's seat when they'd left that morning, and he sure as hell couldn't move it now. Because you know, reasons. Like pride and laziness and shit. So no sleeping while driving; it hadn't ended well for him the last time - or the time before that, really.

So with that, the only thing out of those three he could still do was eat. Last he checked, they were allowed a lunch break somewhere in the middle of driving in circles for eight fucking hours. He'd just need a place worth his time and money, particularly because the latter didn't come in abundance for him. Luckily, there was an actual Italian restaurant (yeah, yeah, he knows, how freaking typical, right?) somewhere just around the corner. All he'd have to do was turn to the left, and he'd see... something he never in a million years expected to see.

Either the dust from his office had seriously screwed over his vision, or that was indeed his bastard of a little brother sitting outside the restaurant, giggly as ever. It'd been a few years since they'd met, but there was no mistaking that stupid smile plastered on the guy's stupid face in a very irritatingly stupid way. It felt almost surreal, seeing him there in the flesh in front of him now, after so long. Yes, they'd met after Feliciano had moved to London all those years ago - how could they not, with their nonno around, really - but heir meetings had been few and brief, and for whatever reason, Feli'd grown... distant, at some point. Which, you know, was usually Lovino's thing. It'd been weird and awkward, and they'd just slowly drifted apart since then, for reasons both various and unknown.

His little brother had grown, he noticed. He'd better not have outgrown his big brother, though, or there would hell to pay, he swore.

Across from Feliciano, occupying another seat at the table was some freaky look-alike that shared an uncanny resemblance to his brother (and by extension, him), chatting away with Feliciano like they'd been best friends since high school prom. The sight curled the Italian's lips into a frown, and he felt something sting painfully in his chest. Oh. Oh, Feli sure got along with that asshole, but not him? Screw that. Screw them.

But that fleeting pain of jealousy and longing couldn't even begin to compare to the bloodcurdling feeling of dread welling up in the bottom of his stomach when his eyes slowly moved from the cheery duo of men up to the woman waiting the table. The cutesy outfit and sunny disposition weren't enough to keep him from recognizing her - nothing could, really, because Lovi remembered a pretty face when he saw one, particularly if it belonged to someone as dangerous as this chick. Who was... a waitress, now. At his brother's table.

There was no way she wasn't planning something, if she was willing to come out in the open like that. Big mafia bosses didn't do that - or if they did, they didn't have to hide. Something was up. Something was wrong, and his stupid-idiot-bastard brother could very well get killed before he could tell him how much he... totally did not care for him at all. Yeah. No.

He was going to take that lunch break right now.

So with complete disregard to any traffic rules or decency, Lovino pulled the civil car over to the side of the road a little ways from the restaurant and yanked the seat belt away, turning a quick, pointed look at Silvia. He did his best not to let any panic shine through, but had no time to stop and measure his level of success with that.

"I'm hungry," he blurted out as if that would explain his sudden burst of reckless driving, before exiting the car and opening the door for her - yes, he was never in so big a hurry that he couldn't afford to extend a little courtesy to a girl - and offering her a short nod. "Just realized we passed a freaking cool restaurant here, so I figured why not eat right now? You'll love it. I'll pay."

I'll pay whatever price I need.

And with that, he turned on his heels and headed towards the restaurant, mind racing to come up with a way to do... something. Shit. Shit, he had no plan at all, did he? Should he just casually go up there and flash his badge? He was in civil clothes and the patrolling was done with a civil car... so he wasn't even sure how many of the people present knew he was a cop, otherwise. But then, wasn't that a good thing? Or bad? Should he just grab the table next to them and pretend he didn't see shit, or-

He ran out of steps to walk before his thoughts had finished.

This was bad. He couldn't just stop here and stand awkwardly, that'd be suspicious as shit. He needed something else, something else, he had to protect his useless-ass brother.

Lovino's mind never finished going through his options, so something else guided his legs to move instead. He wasn't sure what it was, and he would laugh at your face if you suggested it to be some sappy shit like his heart, but the fact was that his legs moved and his arms spread, and his body didn't stop until he'd suddenly embraced his little brother into a hug. A rough, angry hug he didn't know the reason for, but it was a hug nonetheless.

Because that's what brothers did when they were reunited after years, no matter how much they hated each other.

---

ooc: aka wow Roma fucking rambles ok. tell me if you want something edited. also, feel free to time this thing whenever! before/after sera went to fetch orders if she plans to do that, etc. AND NO THIS IS NOT LATE SHUSH.