Mellow,

In all likelihood no one expected to see another chapter of this. However, here we are. Enjoy!

Chapter 18

Lovino had managed to shove a scape of warmed bread into his mouth. However, a yawn or two later and he found himself resting his head on the table.

The woman was still around and apparently made whatever was served on the table. The teen did not know nor care about what it actually was. He was fine with her staying, she didn't particularly bother him.

Much like Antonio, she had been too cheerful for his taste though when he had first come down stairs. Was sex that great at improving the moods of adults, he wondered.

Mayne one day his suave Italian attitude would score him a night with a woman to find out. Just, not yet. He wasn't all that sure he was truly ready for all of that. Maybe kissing though.

As he drifted briefly into sleep once more Antonio was quick to shake him back awake. "Oi Lovino, you need to get up."

"No, I don't," The Italian mumbled, not very willing to budge from his spot.

"He seems rather tired," that lady smirked and laughed at the antics of the two.

Antonio nodded and heaved the child to his feet, "Come on. It shouldn't be that hard today, you can siesta later."

"Si, si," Lovino grumbled, feeling unable to think too much.

With a shove in the direction of the stairs Antonio added, "To the library, your tutor should be there waiting."

For extra measure, the man added a final warning for behavior that the teenager choose to ignore.

The stranger who greeted him in the library introduced himself as Señor Carriedo. The frumpy old man looked like he would be even more annoying to learn from all his former instructors. However, he knew that Antonio would be riding him if he didn't at least put forth some effort in learning. Stupid bastard Spaniard.

At first he man simply droned on and on about what he expected from the youth. Going on for what seemed like an endless amount of time about how his behavior and what was expected.

By this point in his long life, Lovino had heard it all before. So he simply shook his head and occasionally mumbled something. For the most part he didn't really listen.

The only portion that he actually paused his day dreams for was when the man started threatening to smack him with the damn cane that he carried. For the most part, the man looked too old and frail to really do so. While planning on playing it cautiously, the teenager assumed he couldn't face any real punishment unless Antonio found out.

Soon after he was given test after test for the man to understand what it was that he did know. Admittedly, Lovino purposely answered several of them wrong. Being as lazy as he was, the child simply wanted to look like he was improving while he already knew some of it.

His brother use to scold him for doing so, having known that Lovino was smarter than he let on often. However with no one to snitch this time, Romano was going to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Thankfully, Antonio said they wouldn't bother with Spanish or history for at least a few days. Which left the child to nap way most of the afternoon and be as lazy as he liked.

Lovino carefully avoided the subject of schooling during dinner. He had behaved himself for sure, but it wasn't fun either. Antonio didn't press too hard, so he felt like he was in the clear.

Relaxing for the evening, Lovino decided the clear skies were worth scurrying outside again. He only needed a book or two; the new one of course, as well as one of his old ones. Given the amount of books in the library, it was very unlikely the man would notice.

"Agh," The child tripped over his own feet and went stumbling just as he hit the kitchen.

Thankfully his guardian was quick to save him. Clinging to the telescope the lad dropped everything else in an instance.

"Oi, where are you going?" The man inquired, aiding in retrieving the supplies.

With a rather chipper smile the lad replied, "Outside, I think I figured out how to work the telescope."

It had taken some time toying with it to understand how the mechanisms were different from the others that he had used. The time had been well spend in his opinion though. Soon he might even be able to make discoveries that weren't in books.

"No you're not," Antonio responded swiftly and firmly.

Immediately, the child lost his smile and replaced it with a frown. He didn't understand why the man wanted to be so mean now.

"Why the hell not?" Lovino snapped back, snatching the last of his papers from the other.

"Because, you're grounded," The man reminded sternly.

"You let me yesterday," Lovino argued back, finding this all to be unfair. There was no reason that he could think of for this change. The rule had been that he wasn't allowed the fields without permission, not just out back.

His brow furred together in thought. It was pretty obvious what the difference between the two nights were. The presence of a certain female. In all honesty, it hurt to think that he was only a nascence to the man. Not like it was any different from his time under Austria's care.

"What was that just so you could be with your girlfriend?" He accused venomously, tears swelling up in the corners of his eyes. "Was this just a way of getting rid of me for a few hours?"

The man's chest rose as he sighed heavily. "You had a bad day, I was being nice and allowing you to play."

"You're a fucking bastard." Lovino snarled out, not giving a damn if a few of his papers fell once again. How dare the man consider this playing. It was a leisure activity, but not playing.

"Lovino," Antonio began in a warning tone, the child was walking a close line to punishment. "Go to your room, right now."

"Why should I listen?" The boy was angry and foolish. In his mind there was no reason to respect a man that was only after self-interest. If Antonio was going to act like he didn't care, than Lovino was not going to listen. "Are you going to do something about it?"

At once the nation grabbed Lovino by the upper arm, pulling him in the direction of his bedroom. "It seems like you need a bit of time alone."

Afraid that he would drop even more of his items, the child held off on fighting back. If the telescope broke he was very likely to never get another one. Then he'd simply be stuck in the most miserable place ever. "Let me fucking go!"

"No," Antonio kept his voice as even as possible. "You didn't want to listen the first time Romano."

Seeing that there truly was no choice for him, Lovino slammed the door shut with his foot the second that he was in. Kicking it an extra time or two just for good measure.

He had read the man use his country name, a sign that he was edging into some dangerous levels of trouble. However, the lad did not care.

He threw down his stuff on the bed and grabbed a pillow. After screaming and swearing into it for a few minutes he began to feel himself calm down.

Sitting up on his bed, the teen went to rub his eyes. He was surprised and annoyed to notice that he had cried a little. "Stupid bastard!"

The child looked out the window, he could hardly get a good enough view from there to do anything. He was determined to go outside regardless of what his guardian said.