Chapter Text
Romano was folding the sleeves of his button up, making sure it reaches his elbows when he heard a knock on the door.
“Romano?” It was Prussia “Are you done?” he asked through the door, settling on not opening it. “Yeah, I'll be out in a minute” was all the Italian bothered with, his sleeves weren't cooperating and he was just about ready to ditch whatever plans his boyfriend had for them.
The past month has been quite busy for many nations, it being summer and all. Many tourists like to flock to Europe and spend a buttload amount of money, which in turn gives the nation more paperwork to keep track of their economy.
But it was finally the weekend and Romano finally got a day off he planned to spend lazing around doing nothing. However, Prussia had other plans and asked him to go out later that night, telling him to just dress casually without giving Romano a single idea on where they were going.
A small “alright” was heard on the other side followed by footsteps down the stairs. Romano had given up at that point and decided to fix his hair and get on with it. Spraying cologne and grabbing his phone, he headed down the steps to the living area.
Romano hated surprises, but here he is, walking straight into one.
The moment he spotted a head of familiar white haired man halfway down the stairs, his footsteps seemed to have gotten faster. Make no mistake — Romano definitely had no interest in going out but he rarely gets to spend time with Prussia due to their god awful schedules.
Turning the corner, Romano placed a hand on the other's shoulder to grab his attention.
“I'm ready, let's get out of here”
Prussia looked up at the sound of the Italian’s voice and smiled “took you long enough” he laughed “You look wonderful, but I did say dress casual, right?” The albino raised a brow.
“This is casual” Romano bit back.
“I look like a slob compared to you”
“Don’t be dramatic, you look fine”
And he meant it, Romano rarely ever sees the man in anything other than jeans and a shirt. So seeing him in a polo and a pair of slack is a pleasant surprise, quite a nice one to look at too.
Prussia might not be as muscular as his brother, but he fills out his clothing quite nicely. The tension of fabric around his arms and chest, highlight his physique, show the centuries of battle experience. Even now that he isn't as much of an active nation, you can tell that he still takes care of himself.
“Eh enough of that” Prussia waved his hand in the air “it is nice to see you outside of a meeting room for once”. He lifts his hand to move a strand of hair away from Romano's face, smiling as he holds the Italian's round cheek.
The sudden action caught Romano off guard, pushing Prussia's face out of reflex. It earned a laugh out of the other, taking his free hand to gently move Romano's, placing it down.
Prussia's free hand makes its way to Romano's side, gently rubbing the soft flesh on his waist. “You look nice” Prussia let out a breathy laugh “Sorry, I'm in a bit of a mood right now”.
Romano's breath hitched, he still wasn't used to this stuff. The compliments, small touches and that look Prussia gives him are all still so foreign to him.
“Idiot…” The Italian looked away flustered “Where are we going anyway?”. Prussia smiled, pulling back to get something off the couch, “To that summer festival by the Tiber river”
Turning back, Prussia smiles at him and continues “I've never been there myself but I heard it's good, plus I know how much you like being around your people” he hums.
“Oh please, it's basically a tourist attraction these days” Romano tried to brush him off, ignoring how warm that made him feel. It caught him quite off guard, it's rare for someone to know these sorts of things about him.
Damn it…
Romano felt oddly frustrated — how does Prussia know so much about him? — They've only been together for 3 years, which for nations is an awfully short amount of time. But also…
He pays attention.
Prussia listens, he's patient even if he whines about it,and he cares. Even if he's shit at words, obnoxious and loud, he still knows how to treat the people he cares about.
Guess that's why I like him huh…
“Fuck I'm pathetic”
“What did you say?” Prussia tilts his head, looking confused “what's wrong?”. Romano looked up and sighed “I said that out loud didn't I?” The other nodded in response.
“Just don't worry about it, I'm fine”
“If you say so—”
“Trust me I am”
“Alright then” the albino agreed “But I have something for you, I hope it isn't too much”. Hearing that, Romano realized what Prussia had been holding.
“Holy shit, Gil”
It was a bouquet, Romano liked bouquets, he liked gardening and crops and flowers and…
“Gilbert what the fuck”
He was in a state of pure shock, Prussia had never given him flowers — well, Romano never gave him the chance anyway. He always talked about how corny and gross it is, and how Prussia would waste his money if he got him one. His pride was too big for him to tell anyone he likes that crappy sappy stuff, so how did he know?
“I asked Veneziano when he was visiting West, he mentioned that you liked this type of stuff” Prussia tried to seem confident, but you could tell he was nervous “I wasn't sure if what he said was true since you've always talked about hating this sort of thing, but it was better to get beaten up by a bouquet than have you be underwhelmed”.
Romano wanted to be mad, he wanted to say something but he couldn't bring himself to. This was one of the few things someone did for him, and for once, his pride wasn't big enough to refuse it.
The expression on Prussia's face changed from being shy to pure and utter confusion. Letting the bouquet go as Romano held it in his arms, the smallest resemblance of a smile resting on his face. The bouquet was undeniably gorgeous, bright red roses wrapped in sleek black bouquet paper and tied with a shiny, satin ribbon. It was quite big as well, Prussia really wasn't taking chances on Romano's standards.
“Mio fratello has always been a loud mouth” Romano tried to say with false malice, only to be betrayed by a small laugh that escaped his lips. “Mio dio…” he sighed “You're really something, caro”.
“Well I—”
“Shut up”
Shifting the bouquet to be supported by one hand, he took his free hand and pulled Prussia's head down as he tip-toe’d to leave a small peck on the corner of the other's mouth. Looking at him with a smug smile, he ruffles the front of Prussia's hair.
“You look better with your hair like that”
That's all it took. Prussia pulled the Italian closer, pressing his lips softly on Romano's. It was sweet as it was short, looking at each other, eyes pooling with love. “Mein gott am I lucky” Prussia laughed “Let's put those flowers on a vase and go out, I don't want your efforts going to waste” he says, not hiding the fact that his eyes weren't just looking at Romano's face.
At the realization, Romano's ears flushed red as he handed the bouquet to Prussia “Vaffanculo, bastardo!” He yelled, storming off to grab his shoes, not noticing the wide and disgustingly smitten grin that laid on Prussia's face.
__________
It was a pretty short walk towards the Timber river where the Lungo Il Tevere is held. The bustling of vendors and chatter of visitors filled the area, making the atmosphere lively and warm. Romano smiled, he's always enjoyed being sounded by his people, and going to these events always helps support locals as well.
“This place is huge” Prussia holds on to Romano's hand, the other looking at him with a raised eyebrow “I don't wanna get lost”. Turning back to the booths, he gave Romano an expectant look, smiling as he tilted his head.
“What do you wanna do first?” Prussia asks, patiently waiting for a reply.
“I need to eat something, all this talking is starving me to death”
“You know that's not possible leib—”
“Shut up”
After looking around, Romano saw a booth that caught his eye, “Let's go there” taking Prussia's hand and dragging him to the stall. It was a small area with a few tables beside it, the river reflecting the warmth of the lights. Noticing the two walking up, the young woman behind the stall gave them a smile “Salve, cosa posso portarle”
“Did you understand any of that?” a smug smile on Romano's face. “Yeah no clue” the blank expression on Prussia's face gave him all the answers he needed, “Anything you want specifically?” Romano says as he turns to the menu. Prussia just shakes his head and hands Romano his wallet “I trust you”.
The albino’s mind goes blank once the sound of Italian could be heard between the two, blurring it out as he looks at Romano. The same sickly sweet smile he had earlier coming back, his eye growing softer the longer he looks.
“Sì, grazie, bellissima”
That was his cue, seeing Romano wink at the woman. “There's a spot over there” the Italian pointed out, it was a secluded spot by the railing that overlooked the river. “What did you get?” curiosity laced in his voice, “Better than whatever you have back at your place” Romano stated, a proud smile plastered on his face. “You better not disappoint me then” Prussia knew how much the other prided himself over the cuisine of his country, he found it endearing that Romano wanted to share that with him.
After a bit of chatting, the same woman who was up front came to them with a tray of food only Romano knew the names of. “Grazie, splendore” Romano gave his signature wink as the young woman left, a look of flattery on her face.
“So what am I looking at—”
“Don't touch anything! I need photos so I can rub it into Feli’s face” Romano said, already pulling his phone out.
“Why exactly?” As if Prussia didn't already know.
The deadpan expression on Romano's face says that he expects Prussia to know “To show him that my dates are better? Obviously!”
“I think you got it, mein liebling” Prussia states, gently taking Romano's hand and setting it down. “Fine… Anyway, the food!” The excitement in his eyes could light up the whole river “You've heard of it, Cacio e pepe. Ask anyone what the epitome of local cuisine is and this is what you get”. He pushes the plate closer to Prussia as he continues “Try it, it's as simple as pasta water, pecorino romano and black pepper. I also got you a beer, since that's all you seem to choke down”.
Taking the plate from Romano, Prussia swirled the fork through the pasta and took a bite “That's fucking amazing” he almost dropped his fork “How have you not made this for me before?”. Taking a bite of his own serving, Romano looks at him “Because Cacio e pepe isn't the only good food from here” he shrugged. “I will literally clean your house if you cook this for me” Prussia points at the plate with his fork, “You already do” Romano looks at him with a raised brow. The Prussian just slumps in his seat, he'll find a way, maybe.
As Romano kept talking about some of the other dishes and even a bit about the festival, Prussia noticed how his food was left untouched from all the talking. Taking Romano's fork, he picked a bite-sized portion and brought it to his lover's mouth “Idiota, what is wrong with you!” Romano's face flushing red as Prussia laughed at the display. “What? You haven't eaten a thing” Prussia continues to laugh as he extends his arm a little further “You know exactly what I'm talking about, bastardo!” The blush spread to Romano's ears.
“Oh c'mon! It's not we're fucking out in the open”
“My god you're loud”
“Just take the bite and keep talking”
Romano looks down at his plate and stares at how untouched it is, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for a hit to his ego, he leans forward and takes a bite from the portion he was offered.
“Happy?” Romano's nose slightly scrunches from displeasure, Prussia only hummed “Absolutely”, he proceeds to pick another bite for the other. The routine of Romano talking and Prussia making sure he eats goes on for another 10 minutes before their plates are licked clean.
“You know I have a lot more for you to try” Romano points out to the numerous food stands “So I hope you're hungry.”.
And that's exactly what Romano had them do. Prussia went on to try things like suppli, pizza al taglio and trapizzino, by the end of it, he was practically stuffed. But as much as he didn't want to eat any more, Romano seemed to have spotted a gelato stall and now they—or Romano for that matter—were picking flavors.
“Lovino, I don't think I can eat anymore”
“Don't be dramatic. You go to the gym, you need the food more than I do”
“Just pick a flavor already, liebe”
“Fine” he groaned “Prendo la vaniglia, se va bene?” He asked the vendor, watching him take a scoop of gelato. “I'm going to be rolled out of here if I keep this up” an exasperated gasp escapes Romano's lips, “Right? Tell me about it” was all Prussia said before paying the man behind the counter, making sure that Romano was content with what he got.
As they continue walking, looking through the things on display. From woodcrafts to herbal products, there was a wide variety of things being sold and having access to his lover's face wallet, Romano went to go buy a few things for himself. After a while, Romano decided he needed a break, so they stopped by an area by the railing to take a breather and so that Romano could finally finish his dessert.
Noticing how spaced out Prussia had been, looking at Romano, he tried to snap him out of it. “Gil?” Romano waved his hand in front of the Prussian “Snap out of it, stronzo!”. At some point Prussia was brought back from spacing out, it just turned out to have been Prussia's staring problem.
Suddenly an idea came to Romano's head, but he's just unfortunately a little stubborn to go through with it. After some thought and a bit of mental preparation, Romano asked “Do you want some?” holding out the cup of gelato. “I'm alright, it's yours, you should enjoy it” Prussia tried to refuse only to be hit with the live image of Romano lifting the spoon up to his mouth, a generous scoop of the cold dessert resting on the utensil “I thought you would say that”.
To say that Prussia was surprised was an understatement, after the initial shock, he leaned down to take a bite. “Oh that's good!” Prussia hummed in surprise, already leaning down to take another bite Romano had offered. As they finish eating, Romano seems to have calmed down, both of them turning to the river with the Italian leaning on his lover.
Prussia snakes his hand around the other's waist and places a small kiss on Romano's temple. The Italian has never been used to any sort of affectionate display in public, covering his face on the crook of Prussia's neck from embarrassment. They stay like that for a little while, enjoying the atmosphere the river brings. Prussia slowly takes Romano's hand into his free one and he continues to rub small circles around his hip. Romano turns to look at Prussia “People are gonna stare, asshat” but makes no effort to move away from him. “Just enjoy the night, Lovi, it's your day off” the albino smiles “And you're out with me, so how can you not be happy” the pride and giddiness in his voice was apparent.
He's actually pathetic, it's adorable
“Alright then” a wide smile sits on Romano's face, slightly laughing as he spoke. Looking at it made Prussia's legs turn into jello. With Romano suddenly pulling him in for a kiss, quick and gentle, the albino might just die a happy man. “You know, this hasn't been a bad night at all” Romano teased, turning to look back at the stalls, “Taking me to a festival in my own city”. It was Prussia's turn to go bright red, stammering for an explanation “I heard it was good, okay?”.
The sound of his lover's voice faded into the background as Romano tried to take the night in. God he missed this man, the both of them were piled with work for weeks on end, it's nice to finally be able to take a break. He's glad he agreed to going out, because even after everything he throws at the man, there's a reason Romano's dating him. Through years of pain and suffering, Prussia feels like a warm blanket to his cold soul. Someone who understands and looks behind his rough persona, determined to befriend him, well look where that got us.
“—vino?”
“Huh?”
“I thought I lost you for a minute” Prussia joked, brushing wind blown hair out of Romano's face “You alright, mein liebe?” He asks, teasing the Italian. “Stronza affascinante…” Romano laughs, pushing Prussia's face as he leaves his grasp. Taking his hand, Romano drags him further into the area, suddenly spotting something that caught his eye. Romano pulls him in the direction of his finding “Let's go there!”, stopping and seeing a small crowd form, Prussia realizes it was a live band.
Without even realizing it, Romano was already up front holding a mic “Sarà perché ti amo, signore! Sì, grazie!” Romano looked at the musicians as they began to play a beat. The beat was lively as one of the singers began, her voice light and soft, Romano following suit after a few lines. The both of them sing around each other as the small audience enjoys the performance. And as for Romano, he was glowing, he loved being around his people, basking in their laughter and happiness.
‘Stringimi forte e stammi più vicino’
The sight makes Prussia feel like a love sick fool, looking at the love of his life, seeing him shine as bright as the sun.
‘È così bello che non mi sembra vero’
“Mein Gott… Ich liebe diesen Mann.” He tells himself as he continues to watch the performance with glee in his eyes.
‘Se il mondo è matto, che cosa c'è di strano?’
The crowd was clapping to the beat, and Prussia slowly followed suit, rocking his body to the music.
‘Matto per matto, almeno noi ci amiamo’
Romano finally spots him in the crowd, singing that part to him from a-top the elevated area. He winks at Prussia before he turns back to his singing partner, dancing with her as they continue to sing. As the song comes to an end, they both bow, taking in the applause of the audience. Prussia spots Romano talking with the band before spotting the Prussian and excusing himself, his face relaxed and happy.
Before Prussia could get a word out of his mouth, Romano suddenly pulls him into a hug. The Italian was so obviously giddy, that rare but wonderful smile on his face. “That was great!” Romano’s voice was light, “You were great” the albino reassured him. Romano seemed to realize something at that point and suddenly began apologizing “Ah sorry, that was sudden” Romano shifted “I just saw them when I heard music and couldn’t resist”. Between all his rambling, he suddenly hears Prussia chuckle, making realize how out of character he's acting.
“You did good, great even. Lovi” His name rolling easily off of Prussia's tongue.
“Fuck off”
“C'mon, you looked radiant out there” Prussia teased, earning a nudge from the Italian.
After some back and forth, they decided it was time to head home. As they walked through the streets of Rome, hand in hand, Prussia kept asking about some of the places they passed by. Romano's good mood still hadn't left him, and he would take any chance to talk about his country, it was his most beloved thing in the world—other than this idiot and his brother.
By the time they got in, Romano kicked his shoes off and ran upstairs to get changed. Putting the thrown shoes neatly to the side, Prussia placed their purchases on the kitchen table before joining Romano upstairs. By the time he entered their room, he could hear the shower turn on.
“Lovino?”
“What?”
“Need anything?” Did Prussia even have to ask? He was already on his way to get his lover a set of fresh clothes for him to sleep in.
“Clo—”
“I know, I'm coming in” He says as he opens the door and places the clothes by the sink. To kill some time before he could take a shower, Prussia decided to tidy the room, tidying the bed and putting things in their place. A little while later, Romano comes out with a towel around his neck, water dripping from his hair.
Knowing that the bathroom is now free, Prussia made his way there with no hesitation. After taking his time, Prussia came out of the bathroom as he was drying his hair. Noticing the new presence in the room, Romano got up laying down and took the towel from him, signaling Prussia to sit down so he could dry his hair.
After some time, Romano threw the towel on a random chair and plopped right back down on the bed, patting the space beside him, inviting the other to lay down next to him. And honestly, how could Prussia refuse? The love of his life is right there, in dumb pasta themed pajamas, inviting him to bed.
Laying down, Romano is slowly coaxed into Prussia's arms, the albino squeezing his side playfully. Placing a kiss on Romano's nose, he rubs his thumb across the side of his abdomen, kneading the soft flesh situated there. “Good night, Lovino, Ich liebe dich…” The smile on Prussia's face never falls as he sweet-talks the Italian to sleep. Romano situated himself into the crook of his lover's neck “Night” he mumbled “…Ti amo”, his tone was sleepy. A few more slurred words came out of the Italian before Prussia noted the silence after some time, realizing that Romano had fallen asleep. He followed suit right after, smiling as he knocked himself out cold, that dumb lovesick smile doesn't disappear even until the next morning.