Work Text:
Somewhere in the US Northeast, sometime in the 1920s…
Lovino sighed with some slight irritation as he dried his hands with one of Alfred’s towels, having just finished with cleaning a load of dishes by hand. He was annoyed at the fact he seemed to wind up being the cleaner so often; but he couldn’t be too mad. For as much as he disliked being the cleaner, he was happy he at least got paid well enough for it. And his company was certainly much more pleasant to be around than what he had been stuck with back in Europe; even if they were all a tad crazy.
“Hey Lovino!” A shout came from around the corner, it seemed even thinking of the devil brought him.
Lovino turned to see Ruairí’s short, red, and messy hair appear, followed by his ever pale and jovial face. For a moment Lovi was ready to leap forward as Ruairí seemed moment away from toppling over from inertia, but just as quickly he was able to stop and right himself. Lovi sighed with relief hidden by mock annoyance, “What is it you want Ruairí?”
Not missing a beat and either seeing through or not caring about Lovi’s mock annoyance, Ruairí spoke with sunshine while walking over to Lovino, “Do you want to have some fun with me and Tolys? Alfred is gonna be out all day and we don’t have much work so, why not have a party?”
Lovino thought about it for a moment, part of him just wanted to go to his room and nap after cleaning; but looking at Ruairí’s gleaming face put a pin in that, and as he thought about it, a party did sound fun. He hadn’t had many parties in his life; or at least not ones he enjoyed being at much. He sighed and nodded with a small smile, and Ruairí seemed to flare with even more energy somehow, mumbling some small victory to himself before darting back down the hall. Lovino couldn’t help but roll his eyes a bit, he always seemed to be so full of energy that even Alfred sometimes struggled to keep up with. Finishing drying his hands and giving his white overalls a quick dusting down, he made his way over to the living room turned ad hoc party room.
Walking in he looked around to see Ruairí missing but Tolys was there, carrying a crate of something, hell if he knew what it was, one of the new fancy things Alfred had gotten with his love of everything modern. “Oh, hello Lovino, how are you?” Tolys said with a small bit of surprise once he noticed him, putting down the records as he spoke.
Lovino gave a small shrug, “I’m good, just gone done with cleaning a bunch of crap, how are you doing?”
Tolys dusted himself off, not that there was much of any dust on him, “I’m good! Just got done with filing our expenses and bills, the taxes are low so that makes doing them easy enough-”
Lovino groaned, he didn’t want to hear about taxes and finance, he was here to party, “Okay we get it you know numbers, how about the party celebration thing we’re doing?”. He begged to change the subject from work because he knew Tolys would absolutely ramble about it for hours, and Tolys for once seemed to pick up on it.
“Oh yes, Ruairí said we should all just have some fun together because we’ve been working a lot and got some free time, and I brought some old decorations we had” He explained, tipping the crate over a bit to reveal a bunch of colored strings, some candles, and a bunch of other random decorations, “and I figured it couldn’t hurt to set them up just to add to the atmosphere”
Lovino took one of the strings, a simple white string with colorful flags attached to it,and the stylist in him got awakened, “Well if you’re going to decorate the damn room we need to figure out a style first, can't have it looking like shit you know?”
“Well what do you have in mind, style king?” Tolys joked back, knowing the gears in Lovino’s head were turning and happy to indulge the architect in him, pulling out the decorations and laying them out on the table.
“Well first we need to keep all the colors cohesive and shit you know?” Lovino started to ramble without looking at him, in his mind planning out where everything should go to look best. “Like these are all bright so keep them up high,” as he began setting up the stringed banners, “while these are more dull so we can keep them on the edges” , turning to some of the large colored sheet cloths.
Tolys just chuckled and nodded, helping along here and there when Lovino requested it, but otherwise content to just watch him go off about the ‘proper’ way to set up decorations and have a bit of banter with him here and there. It didn’t take too long to set up everything, and it certainly was no grand speakeasy in opulence, but Romano seemed proud enough of it. “I have to admit this is actually really good, you got an eye for this stuff huh?” Tolys softly said with a clearly genuine voice, getting a perhaps overly proud “You fucking bet!” as a response.
“Woah this looks fucking awesome guys!” Ruairí exclaimed while walking in, carrying a crate of beer in, and getting both Lovino and Tolys to turn to him.
“I know right? That’s because I’m just that great-” Lovino began rambling with inflated pride before being cut off by a gasp from Tolys, “Is that Alfred’s good stash?”, as he ran over to inspect the crate’s contents. Lovino grumbled a bit at being cut off but didn’t make a fuss, going over to the table where Ruairí put the wooden container down.
“You bet! None of that cheap shit, this is the real deal!” Ruairí proudly beamed while Tolys took a bottle and inspected it like it was his child, clearly enamored at the thought of having some quality alcohol. Lovino couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of it, for such a straight laced man he was acting like a kid who had managed to sneak a beer from his dad for the first time. “You gonna marry that bottle, Tolys?” Lovino teased earning an eye roll from him, “You just don’t get the wonders of a good drink is all” he parried back. Lovino took a bottle to look at it for himself, it was a fine wine bottle from his native land with beautiful gleaming glass, a handcrafted label made with skilled hands, and a classic cork that seemed not a day old despite the bottle having been aged quite for some time. “Well you got good taste I’ll give you that, but still, you think Alfred will notice? He doesn’t like when we touch his stuff” He asked with a bit of sheepishness; Alfred certainly wasn’t a devote prohibitionist despite the 18th Amendment, and he was pretty lenient with them even when it wasn’t in line with his population at times, but of the few things that would get him mad, his stuff getting messed with was certainly one of them.
“I mean, what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him right?” Ruairí said with a shrug, never having bothered to be dry beyond just not getting arrested or entailed with crime. Lovino was about to reply but Tolys cut him off, “What, scared of a bit of alcohol?” he said with a teasing smirk. Lovino got a bit red, like he would give the knee to a bottle! “No! Just you know,” he shot back but then lost his words, not sure how to actually respond. Tolys dropped the smugness for a more gentle smile, “Come on, it’s been awhile since we’ve done this, right?”
Lovino raised his hand to argue but then sighed and lowered it, he was right it had been a few weeks since it had just been them having some fun. “Alright, but,” he raised his hand, “I’m not taking any blame if Al gets pissy, okay?”
“Sure, I doubt he’ll notice anyways' ' Ruairí said with a smile as he began laying out glasses, just happy that things were finally moving. “Sounds good, then lets have some fun” Tolys said before popping open the bottle with his bare hands, a move Lovino would always find impressive as hell and never admit so, but Tolys knew well enough. He poured out the first round of drinks for them all, the beautiful red liquid flowing into the glasses and filling the room with a wonderful smell of the Mediterranean and ripe grapes.
“Let’s have a toast! To us!” Ruairí jumped, raising his glass up in the air for them all, and with a small chuckle from both Lovino and Tolys they followed suit with a clang of glass, “To us!”
With that the event had officially started, Ruairí clearly enjoyed having a good drink again, even if it wasn’t the beers and whiskeys he loved. “What do you think of it, man?” He asked Lovino with a smile while Tolys was off picking a song for the jukebox background. He gave it a small spin before taking a drink, enjoying the tartness and sweet note to it, smiling warmly, “It’s good, no surprise since it’s from my place afterall” he said with a small chuckle. “I can’t deny that, even if I’d like it to be a bit stronger” Tolys said while sitting down next to him, the jukebox warming up with some jazzy tune that filled the room. Lovino scoffed, “It’s not about just the strength, it’s about the delicate tastes and flavors that make it special” he began to go off, having always preferred wine above all else, “it’s like how a cake isn’t just about how much sugar you dump in it!”
Tolys shook his head, they always had this debate over and over. “Well yes but an alcohol needs to have some good strength, otherwise you might as well just drink sweet tea” He replied back after another drink, watching Ruairí and Lovino shudder at the thought of Alfred’s sweet tea, “Ruairí you agree with me right?”
Ruairí shrugged, “I mean yeah a drink needs some punch with it,” he took another big drink, “but I want some taste as well, not just fire in my throat” he said with some smugness, asserting his drinks as the best. Lovino rolled his eyes, “Oh please your stuff is still a bit overkill, I always wind up hungover when we drink it, and Tolys’ stuff is even worse” he replied with a head shake.
“That’s just because you’re a lightweight, '' Tolys bluntly replied, getting a gasp from Lovino and a big laugh from Ruairí. “I mean you are Lovi, you get hammered so fast, even Arthur can handle it better than you!” He teased with Tolys’ and getting another great gasp from Lovino, “remember when we had to drag you out of a speakeasy so you didn’t throw up on the bartender?”. Before Lovino could defend his sinking alcohol honor Tolys’ jumped in with a laugh recalling the memory, “Oh yeah, and you were rambling something about how your brother was a shit priest”
Lovino pouted, “Well excuse me for being a normal person, you guys are just crazy with how much you can drink!”. Tolys and Ruairí just shrugged, “I enjoy a good drink, sue me” Ruairí joked back.
“Oh yes, because you’re a lawyer now” Lovino shot back, poking fun at Ruairí’s tendency to fumble paperwork in the most strange and confounding ways. “I could be!” Ruairí tried to argue back, getting a snort from Tolys and Lovino. “Ah yes, with such great accomplishments like forgetting your signature and making the bank think you were a fraud to your own bank account” Lovino cooly replied, Tolys bursting out in laughter at the memory while Ruairí froze like a stone had gotten jammed in some gears. “Look, that was one time! You messed up bank stuff as well!” Ruairí waved his hand around to make the point but it seemed to fall on deaf ears as Tolys kept snickering and Lovino merely shrugged once more, “I didn’t mess up that badly”
“Alright alright, how about we agree there’s a reason I do the paperwork for both of you” Tolys said with some pride and tapering off laughter, earning a small nod from both of them.
“Oh! Idea!” Ruairí jumped up from the couch, putting his drink down on the table, “What if we dance!”
“Dance?” Lovino asked with some confusion, looking over at Tolys who seemed surprised but curious.
“Yeah! You can dance right?” He asked innocently, tapping over to him with his always surprisingly flexible body.
Lovino leaned back a bit in surprise at how close Ruairí got, “I mean yeah, it’s been awhile but sure…” he mumbled out, having not danced in a very long time
Ruairí grabbed Lovino’s hand and pulled him up, “Well then we can do it together and I can show you!”, he cheerily said with a vibrant but gentle smile, causing Lovino to blush a bit. “Alright, sure, fine, what dance do you want to do?” he mumbled out and looked away from him, able to see Tolys cheeky smirk; he was very clearly enjoying Lovino being a bit flustered by this.
“Well since we’re two, how about a ceili?” Ruairí said with a bright smile and small red tint on his cheeks.
Lovino blinked. “Uhhh sure.. What is that?”
Ruairí let him go and twirled away, “It’s a two or more person dance for those close like us, lemme show you!” He replied and began, getting straight into the dance. He was skilled and elegant, his feet tapping with the grace of a swan and his balance as unshakable as a mountain, a smile on his face and laugh on his tongue as he clearly was enjoying what he was doing. Lovino was mesmerized in a way, and Tolys was as well, having set down his own drink just to watch Ruairí’s dance. Ruairí himself seemed just focused on his own fun, tapping his feet and twirling and balancing on his toes with childlike joy and the energy of a star.
After what was surely only a few minutes but felt like an hour, Ruairí came to a stop with a final twirl. “How was that? You got that?” He beamed towards Lovino as warm as ever, not minding the brief moment he needed to gather himself again. “I think so yeah, though could we take it slow?”, he said as he got up his hand again being taken by Ruairí. “Sure thing, slow for now” He warmly assured him, gently pulling him closer.
And so they began to dance; or rather, Ruairí tried to show Lovino how to dance. Something that was a not without effort as Lovino struggled at times to keep up with Ruairí, learning quickly that his tapping looked far easier than it was, and stumbling into Ruairí’s arms a few times. He always blushed when he did so, but part of him was also happy; both just to be in his arms for some reason he couldn’t say, and to see they weren’t as thin as they used to be when Ruairí first came here. He could take pride and comfort in knowing his cooking had given him some mass after history had seemed determined to leave him withered. After a while Lovino was able to, if not dance well, at least not constantly fall over.
“Alright, you ready now?” Ruairí asked Lovino and he just nodded in response with an unsure but determined smile, getting a warm one back.
Tolys started up the music again and they began the dance, Lovino doing his best to keep up with Ruairí while Ruairí paced himself as to not leave Lovino in the dust. And it was a sweet dance, not the most elegant nor flawless, but genuine and filled with joy as Lovino felt his doubts give way to simple enjoyment. Ruairí’s positivity was infectious as always it seemed, and soon enough Lovino was smiling and chuckling along with Ruairí, while Tolys enjoyed the music and dance from the side they spun and tapped, avoiding a few close calls and never stepping, just doing all they could to enjoy the moment in its entirety.
And they wound up dancing for hours upon hours, occasionally swapping places, and Tolys accidentally showed up Lovino after a dance; that was where Lovino learned Tolys already knew this dance, mostly after a week where Ruairí pestered him about it endlessly. That didn’t stop or sour the mood though, and soon enough all three were dancing together, stopping only to enjoy their drinks and snack on small things Lovino was able to quickly make. They really did love his cooking, if it wasn’t for the fact he was technically not human, they’d absolutely expect him to be the world’s greatest chef. And Ruairí’s endless energy and positivity was always there to help whenever it seemed a sour or painful thought or memory came up to plague them, acting like both a sword and shield for their hearts and minds; as much as they teased him for being a tad oblivious of things, they couldn’t deny his presence made the bad more bearable and the good more wondrous. And Tolys, for as quiet and timid as he could be, was a wealth of stories and old knowledge, from old rituals to tales of knights and calvary to great poetic epics of old.
Finally though they grew tired, resting on the couch together and eventually passing out; They were pretty sure Alfred would be gone for a few days, so they probably had plenty of time to clean, and right now, they were too tired to clean and too comfortable with each other to want to leave. So together they drifted to sleep, happy in their own ways for having each other, and making an unspoken promise; that no matter what the winds of fate and sands of history may dictate, they would always treasure this bond they had, for as long as the Sun burned and Moon waxed and waned.