Work Text:
Wednesday
"Sugar?" Romano asks, feigning politeness. He looks around at the state of his yard. Half of it is overgrown and the other half is yellowed grass and dirt patches. His gaze sweeps back to his porch. He frowns. There are potted plants that his brother gave him that might've made the place look halfway to okay if they weren't dead. And if the porch itself wasn't a complete eyesore. What about my house seems like I'd be the kind of neighbor to borrow anything from?
"Yeah!" the guy says. His green eyes practically sparkle as he smiles. There's enough cheer and sweetness in that one word that Romano is sure he doesn't actually need any sugar. He must be made of the stuff.
The guy laughs out of nowhere. When Romano looks there's no sign of it. He's just smiling at him. Suddenly he feels as though he's missing something. He thinks back quickly, he'd been expecting his brother, there was a single knock at the door that he thought was weird because Feli doesn't usually knock unless Ludwig was with him, he'd opened the door and...oh. He didn't introduce himself.
"Do you live around here?" Romano asks, a little sharper than he intends to sound.
The guy goes very still for a second and then he laughs in a way that Romano guesses other people might find charming. It does anything but put him at ease.
"I should start over, my name is Antonio! What's yours?"
Romano hesitates. This guy is a weirdo, but...Feli's always telling me to be nicer. "Romano," he says, regretting it immediately. Antonio's smile widens.
"Okay, Romano. Now that we're not strangers. Do you have any sugar I can borrow?"
His tone is nice and friendly. But there's something about him that Romano can't put into words, something that sets his nerves alight. His instincts say to not trust him. But his instincts have admittedly not always been the best judge of character. Especially with Ludwig. They've gone from animosity on Romano's part, to... something else entirely. But again, probably only on his part. His luck isn't that great when it comes to relationships. He's good at short-term. Of course, not lately. He doesn't really leave his house unless Feli makes him. He doesn't know why.
"Just a cup or so. I'm making cookies."
Again, said with a smile.
Before Romano can say anything, the guy is talking again.
"They're peanut butter cookies." And Lovino wants to say 'That's some nice information that I didn't ask for.' but Antonio continues before he gets the chance to. "And they're only five ingredients! Isn't that great?"
"I'll go get the sugar," Romano mutters. He hadn't planned on it. But this guy was annoying him with his cheeriness. At least that's what he was telling himself. He'd rather be annoyed.
He shivers as he turns his back to the stranger. His heart starts racing, sweat forming at his brow. Danger. He dismisses it as anxiety. He's always uncomfortable around anyone that's not his brother or Ludwig, after all. This is just his brain overthinking things again. He knows he should work on that, but he's pretty sure his insurance won't cover the cost of a therapist, or psychiatrist, psychologist? He always gets those mixed up. His hands are shaking as he pours the sugar into a Ziploc bag, some spills on the counter. He considers cleaning it up now, but decides he'd rather have Antonio out of here sooner rather than later.
When he returns with the sugar, Antonio is rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. His smile widens further somehow, he leans forward and says "Wow! Thanks, Romano. You're really nice!"
Romano scoffs. Yeah, definitely shifty. No one's ever called him nice. At least, not at first meeting. "Yeah," he says. Then he remembers his brother, be nice, Roma! and he adds "You're welcome or whatever."
He closes the door, effectively cutting off whatever Antonio was going to say. He's definitely surpassed his limit for social interaction today. As he flops onto the couch, he hopes that this is the last time one of his neighbors bothers him.
Wednesday
There is a knock at the door.
Romano pauses the show he's binge watching and turns to stare at the door. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
No one ever visits him.
No one except his brother and Ludwig. If it was Ludwig, he would have called. He always calls ahead of time because he knows Romano doesn't like surprises. His brother, on the other hand, just lets himself in. And Feli was here just the other day with Romano's groceries. So why would he be back already?
Maybe he just wants to hang out again? He thinks, but dismisses the thought because Feli would have just walked in if that were the case.
Maybe he lost his keys? He relaxes a little. It's happened before after all. Or it could be Gilbert. He realizes on the way to the door. He's fine with either one, always happy to see his brother and he hasn't seen Gil in a while because he's always busy. He won't admit this to anyone but himself, but he really wants it to be Ludwig.
The person he finds when he opens the door isn't his brother or Gilbert. And despite the blonde hair, definitely isn't Ludwig. It's a woman with a smile like a cat, sly and knowing. Her eyes are the same. He notices that they're green. She opens with "Hi, my name is Emma! What's yours?"
He suppresses a shiver. She's pretty, but something about this exchange is familiar and not in a good way.
"Romano?" It comes out like a question because he's confused.
The woman, Emma laughs. Her hand goes to cover her mouth as she does. For a second it feels like she's laughing at him, her eyes glinting sharply in the low light. Then the moment is gone and she's just smiling.
"Well, Romano, I was wondering if you had some sugar I could borrow?"
"Sugar?" he asks, realizing why it seemed familiar. It's like last week with that Antonio guy.
"Yes. A cup of it, if that's alright. I'm mak-"
Romano holds a hand out to stop her, then quickly mutters. "I'll be right back."
He doesn't want to find out what she's making. What if it's peanut butter cookies? He's probably just being paranoid again. That's what his brother would say. It's what he said when he told him about Antonio. ("This is why you need to go outside and talk to people, Roma!" he whined while bringing in Romano's groceries. "You think everyone is out to get you.")
Even so he doesn't turn his back to her until he's a good distance away from the door.
When he drops the Ziploc bag into her hands, her smile widens. He almost expects fangs.
"Thank you, Romano. Antonio was right, you are really nice," she says sweetly, still smiling. She reaches towards his face.
He pulls back nervously, not letting her touch him. "Um. You're welcome," he stammers out.
He hurriedly closes the door, taking care to lock it. His heart is racing.
Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with me? That was probably normal, right? Feli was right, I need to get outside more.
He returns to watching his show, but it takes him awhile to calm down.
Monday
This time, Romano is cooking when the knock sounds.
Maybe it's his paranoia talking, but he decides to bring a cup of sugar with him to the door.
The first thing he sees is a blue-striped scarf so he looks up, in to green eyes. The guy seems normal enough, he thinks with a bit of relief.
I'm just glad he's not smiling
"Romano."
And just like that poof his relief is gone and anxiety hits him like a goddamn train.
"Did you want some sugar?" Romano asks reluctantly.
At that, the guy smiles, slow and creeping. Romano's nerves are shot now. He tosses the bag at him, slamming the door shut before he sees if the guy actually caught it or not. He double checks that it's locked and slumps to the floor.
What the fuck is happening to me? I must be losing my mind.
Thursday
There isn't even a knock this time.
Romano decides to brave the outside to get his mail at an absurdly early hour. He figures his neighbors should all be asleep. When he peeks out from his window there are no lights on in the neighbourhood.
He opens the door, takes a step and freezes.
"What the fuck?" He whispers to himself. There's someone on his doorstep.
"That sort of language isn't very nice, Romano," the stranger says, sickly sweet.
"My name is Arthur. Do you h-"
Romano slams the door in his face, not caring if his brother will call him rude for that. He can hear 'Arthur' still talking on the other side of the door.
What if everyone but me has been replaced by crazy sugar-obsessed aliens?
He leans against the door, listens to muffled words, and cries.
Friday
He's just getting out of the shower when he hears a quiet tapping at the front door. He waits to see if it will stop. A few minutes go by and there is still that constant tap-tap-tapping.
How long have they been knocking?
He decides not to answer it.
Saturday
He texts his brother to say that he doesn't need to bring any groceries. He says that he's fine and that he just ordered some. Which he didn't because that would mean more knocking. And he can't have Feli bring him any because the last thing he wants is his brother to just walk in like he usually does. He doesn't think he can handle that. He'll make the stuff he has last, even though it means he'll probably be eating canned food for awhile.
He shuts his phone off after his brother responds. He feels like he's going to throw up. All it said was: Do you have any sugar?
Sunday
There is a knock at the door.
He stops what he's doing. He walks up to the door, not to open it, but a part of him wants to. He doesn't trust it. It must be them messing with him somehow.
"Romano, are you in there?"
Ludwig?
When he opens the door, Ludwig is standing on his porch looking concerned. Romano stares at him. His heart is racing, but he's not sure if it's because he's afraid or because it always does when Ludwig is around. He's not smiling. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind if he was smiling. He loves when Ludwig smiles at him. Right now though, Romano is glad he's not otherwise he would have had to slam the door in his face.
It could be a trick.
"Let me guess," Romano ventures. "You need some sugar?"
"No," Ludwig says, confused. "I'm here t-"
"Okay, good. That's good," Romano mutters, pulling him into his house and glances around before shutting the door. He locks it. Double checking it, because what if it didn't actually lock, what if he just imagined locking it?
"Romano, what's going on? I couldn't get ahold of Feliciano. Are you okay?" Ludwig asks.
"I'm fine," Romano lies. "Wait. No, no I am not fine. Ludwig...I think I'm going crazy." Romano hides his face in his hands. He's not crying, but he's close. If he does happen to cry, he doesn't want Ludwig to see him like that.
Does it matter? What if he's not real?
He feels arms wrap around him, Romano drops his head onto Ludwig's shoulder. He wills himself not to cry.
"I'm s-sorry," Romano says quietly, voice cracking a little. "I'm so fucking sorry for treating you like shit before. When we first met. I'm a terrible person. Is that why this is happening to me?"
"It's okay," he says, rubbing Romano's back. He breathes in shakily, his throat hurts from the effort of holding back sobs. "I don't think you're a terrible person. I never did. I think you're really nice."
Romano pauses, he wants Ludwig to think highly of him, but why did he have to use the word 'nice'?
"You know what would make this all better?" Ludwig continues. "Sugar."
Romano reacts violently, shoving Ludwig off of him. "What the fuck?! Why, why would you say that? Wha-" Romano snaps his mouth shut, a wave of nausea washing over him. Ludwig is smiling at him. A full-on Cheshire cat smile.
He bolts down the hall and runs into the first room he sees - it turns out to be the bathroom.
Monday
He's in the bathtub with the shower curtain closed.
There's knocking at the bathroom door and a constant tap-tap-tapping at the tiny bathroom window.
He doesn't want to see the 'person' on the other side again. The first time was terrifying enough. When he closes his eyes he sees violet.
He turns his phone on, thankful that he held on to it, and decides to try one last thing.
His hands shake as he dials 9-1-1.
"Romano, what's the matter?" the voice on the other end croons into his ear three rings later.
The phone falls from his hands with a loud clatter.
There is knocking at the door.