You Look Familiar Ch2

"There!" the boy stepped back to examine his handy work, grinning from ear to ear, his viridian eyes twinkling with unrestrained joy. A picture frame was mounted on the wall, containing an image of wide, blue-gray dawn skies, golden fields and his family's dew-dusted tomato plants stretching out as far as the eyes could see. "Its just like taking home with me!"

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo was the son of one of the wealthiest families in Spain; he had good grades, even better looks, and he loved his country and his home. However, he had practically jumped at chance to come to this school in a foreign place, to study with students from almost two hundred countries across the globe. There were reasons for his eagerness to get away, reasons he'd rather not think about; he didn't want to spoil his good mood!

The Spaniard sank down onto the edge of one of the room's occupying beds that he had decided to claim for himself, running a hand through his chocolate brown curls. "I wonder what my roommate will be like," he pondered aloud to himself, swinging his legs slowly back and forth. He wondered where the person would be from, what kind of places and people he had seen, what languages he spoke. "Whoever he is, I hope he's nice!"

"Dammit, old man, stop acting like a freaking mother hen and leave me the fuck alone!" the door burst open and hit the adjacent wall with a loud bang, causing Antonio to fall forward off the bed with a loud yelp. He jumped to his feet in time to see the room's most recent occupant slamming the door in the face of a rather stunned, older gentleman in the hall.

The new boy pivoted on his heel to face Antonio, and in the first single second Antonio saw his face, his entire world crumbled, exploded and built itself back up again, everything that had once mattered most now insignificant to this face, this boy standing right in front of him. How had Antonio stood, when he had never seen God's greatest gift of beauty to humanity before now? How could he ever find joy in music again, when surely nothing was more captivating, more melodious than this voice, this lilting Italian accent that washed over him, overwhelmed him, was talking right at him…

Antonio blinked himself out of his intense daze, noticing that the sound had stopped flowing over the other boy's mouth and his beautiful lips were now drawn into the most endearing scowl. "Huh, wait, what?" the Spaniard stammered quickly, still half-lost in his reverie. Slender eyebrows tilted angrily inward, golden eyes like something out of a fairy tale flashed and narrowed irritably.

"I said," the boy's words were practically snarled through his teeth, but Antonio was oblivious to the fact that he was only making his anger worse. "Who the hell are you looking at?"

Antonio bit his lip, trying uselessly to hold back a brilliant, dazzling smile. "Who, me? Well, that's a silly question! You, of course! You are the only other person in this room!" a sudden revelation hit him like a metaphorical frying pan in the face. "¡Dios mío! You must be my roommate! I can't believe I haven't introduced myself; lo siento, how rude of me!" he leaned forward and grasped the shorter boy's hands, positively beaming by this point. "My name is Antonio! What's yours!?"

For a moment the boy just stared, a vague blush spreading upon his cheeks before one of his eyes gave the smallest of twitches and he shoved Antonio backward, that irresistible scowl of his more prominent than ever. "God, were you dropped on your head as a baby!?" he snapped, obviously not used to anyone other than he brother and grandfather attempting to invade his personal space.. anyone else who dared to try had not lived to tell the tale.

Antonio blinked quickly at him several times and laughed before nodding cheerfully. "Seven times, actually! Why do you ask?"

His eye twitched again, and he resisted the urge to swat his own forehead in exasperation. Is this guy for real? He thought incredulously to himself. Out of every fucking person in this school, how come I get stuck with the one whose exactly like my stupid brother!? "Never mind, idiot." He growled, stalking over to the untouched bed and throwing his suitcase down on top of it. "My name is Lovino, if you have to know."

Antonio squealed, nearly making the Italian jump. "¡Qué lindo!" he exclaimed. "Lovi~ How cute!"

What. The. Hell. The 'vague' blush from before was tomato-red now, reaching all the way from Lovino's collarbone to his forehead and everything in between. Did this dumb Spaniard- another MALE -just call him fucking cute!?

"What is.. did you just.. what are you.." After living with Feliciano his entire life, Lovino had thought he was immune to people who were adorably dumb beyond hope to the point of being irritating… clearly he had been wrong. "… Did you just call me cute?"

"Si!" Antonio practically danced forward, effectively 'glomping' his new roommate, holding him in a warm but somehow impossible-to-escape-from embrace that Houdini himself wouldn't have been able to get out of.  Lovino kicked and swore and wiggled to get away, but Antonio was unaffected; actually.. it didn't even seem like he had noticed.

"You're really cute, Lovi! Just like a tiny tomato, especially with your face all red like that!" Antonio continued, absently petting the Italian's dark auburn hair. "It makes me want to eat you up!" And then his thumb snagged on the one particular curl that stood straight up from Lovino's scalp.

And much unlike a metaphorical frying pan, when Lovino's fist made contact with Antonio's groin half a second later, it hurt very, very much.

.

"Finally!" the boy exclaimed, bent over and panting with his hands on his knees by the time he located his room number, after scanning rows upon rows of identical-looking doors in seemingly endless hallways. "Why is this school so large? Its not like there's that many students!"

He drew himself up, rolling back the too-long sleeves of his white uniform sweater once he had caught his breath. Despite his complaining, he was happy to be given the chance to attend this elite school; he hadn't had any friends at his last one, and the teachers were always telling him to cut his long hair. He hoped he wouldn't have the same issues here.

Retrieving the key from his pocket, he opened the door.

Yao wasn't necessarily surprised to find his roommate had already made himself at home (after all, it had taken Yao some time to find the room) by the time he arrived; rather  there were several other factors that caused him to let out a soft gasp as soon as he saw what was on the other side of the door.

For one, this guy was huge, his pale hair easily coming close to brushing the ceiling. Second were his eyes, a hauntingly beautiful lavender color Yao had never thought humanly possible. Lastly, he was… finger-painting? Already one of the walls was almost completely cover in strokes of gold, brown and green. Yao might have been angry about the vandalism, if it wasn't surprisingly good. His roommate had painted an entire field of sunflowers, and Yao couldn't help but like the way it brightened up the plain room.

"You're very good.. aru." Yao spoke up shyly, announcing his presence in the room for the first time.

His roommate turned his head quickly in surprise, giving Yao a full view of his face. He was shockingly attractive, his messy platinum hair obscuring his forehead and framing his high cheekbones. His nose was a little out of proportion with the rest of his face, but in a way Yao found it charming. Even though it was warm, he was wearing a long scarf that covered his chin and half his mouth.

Those stunning lavender eyes lit up and the stranger flashed a huge smile. "How nice! You like sunflowers too, da? They are my favorite!" he extended a large hand, fingers still coated in paint. "My name is Ivan, it is pleasure to meet you!"

Yao hesitated, biting his lip to contain a smile; Ivan's accent was thick, though his voice was surprisingly soft and sweet for someone so intimidating-looking. That aside, is fingers were nearly dripping with paint, and Yao didn't want to stain his new sweater. So instead he wrapped his fingers around Ivan's only clean digit, shocked that they could all fit comfortably around just one of his thumbs. They shook awkwardly like that, Yao blushing and Ivan still beaming.

"I'm Yao," he introduced himself, slowly releasing the thumb.

"Yao," Ivan repeated thoughtfully, rocking back on his heels and studying his face with a curious expression. "That sounds like a boy's name!" he said finally, with a weird sort of laugh that sounded like "Kol Kol".

Yao gave him an odd look, starting to question his new roommate's sanity, or lack thereof. "That's because it is a boy's name." he said obviously.

Ivan stopped laughing, giving Yao a sympathetic look. "I am sorry, do you get teased a lot?"

Yao stared at him blankly. "… Huh?"

"I will not tease you!" Ivan continued cheerfully, as though he hadn't heard him, patting Yao's slight shoulders with a monstrous hand. "Is cute sometimes, when girls have boy names!"

Yao's brain finally caught up with him, and immediately he felt his skin flush with anger and embarrassment. "I am not a girl, aru!" he exclaimed. God, not this again!

Now it was Ivan's turn to look shocked. "What? ... Are you sure?"

"Quite sure!" he said, cheeks boiling. "How could you even think that, aru!? Boys and girls can't share dorms!"

"I just thought you might have gotten lost," Ivan said sadly. "And you are so beautiful, just like a girl…"

Now Yao was blushing for a different reason. Had this guy really just called him beautiful?

"Are… you a homosexual?" Yao asked flatly.

"Da!" Ivan replied cheerfully. "I like the penises very much!"

"Um.." if possible, Yao's face felt even hotter. How was he supposed to respond to something like that?

"Which makes this my lucky day," Ivan's lavender eyes now held an unsettling gleam. "Because I have such a lovely roommate to share my bed with."

Yao's eyes widened and he took a step back. "Th-there's two beds, a-aru." He pointed out, his heart pounding in his ears. Okay, this wasn't the first time he had been hit on by a guy, but all the other times as soon as Yao pointed out he wasn't female, he would receive an awkward apology and be left alone. But Ivan actually liked boys. His towering, slightly creepy roommate who could easily over-power and take advantage of him was gay.

"We will push them together~" Ivan decided easily. "I like to cuddle! But not with my half-sister Natalia.. she tries to grab me in strange places." He looked a little troubled by this, then brightened again. "Of course, if it was Yao I wouldn't complain."

Yao honestly had no idea what to think at that point; there had to be something seriously wrong with Ivan (and by the sound of it, the rest of his family as well). "I-I would do no such thing!" he said, completely aghast. "I am not gay, and therefore have no interest in your 'strange places', and will be very content never having to come in contact with them! Aru."

"Oh Yao," Ivan laughed cheerfully, unfazed. He looked down at him with blazing lavender eyes, and though his tone was cheerful, Yao felt a terrified chill run up his spine. "You think I won't get what I want, how cute!" he leaned in close, trapping Yao between himself and the wall, his smile eerily pleasant. "You will see very soon, Ivan Braginski always gets what he wants."

.

"I'm sorry, but you can't bring that cat inside the school; there's no pets allowed."

"But.. he just keeps following me." A soft voice said. "What else am I suppose to do?"

"I don't know, just get rid of it!"

Kiku Honda peered around a corner, ears pricked in curiosity. He saw who he assumed was a teacher, but it was the young man he spoke with who really drew his attention. He was breath-taking, like nothing Kiku had ever seen. His skin was perfectly tanned, a warm bronze color that could only be obtained through many hours in the sun. His chocolate-brown hair was messy and longer in the front than in the back, curling delicately around his jaw. His green eyes were as bright as emeralds, partially obscured under long, thick lashes.

Kiku's first thought was: I have to draw him!

He crept forward silently, wanting a better look at his new muse. He rummaged in the messenger bag slung over his shoulder, groping for his camera. He'd rather not work from a photograph, but he would be too shy to ever ask the boy to model for him.

Kiku withdrew the camera, an expensive Nikon he had gotten for his last birthday. He switched it on, focusing the lens on the beautiful boy. He was still talking to the teacher, arguing in that soft voice of his. He held a cat in his arms, a beautiful storm-gray tom with molten gold eyes and long white whiskers. The cat locked eyes with Kiku and yowled, alerting the boy that held him.

The dark-haired boy turned his head, looking at Kiku curiously, who stood frozen with his camera pointed right at him. The teacher just rolled his eyes, poking the boy in the chest to get his attention again. "I don't want to see that cat again." He warned, stalking off. The other boy didn't seem to hear him; he was still gazing at Kiku with inquisitive green eyes.

Kiku bit his bottom lip, not sure what to say. The boy was just staring at him, not saying anything. Finally, after several long minutes of silence, he spoke. "Ooh, I see." He nodded, stepping toward Kiku. "You wanted to take a picture of that cat, right? He is pretty."

"Oh, I.. yes." Kiku nodded, seeing his way out of an awkward situation and taking it. "I did want to take a picture of your kitty." Well, he did like cats. "Uhm, why don't you pose with it?" That way I can still get a picture of you, He thought slyly to himself.

The green-eyed boy shrugged, adjusting the feline in his arms and holding it closer to his chest. The cat immediately began to purr, stretching its neck and rubbing its face affectionately against the boy's cheek. Kiku quickly snapped the picture, unable to help a small smile. It was just too cute.

"So, what's your name?" the boy asked as Kiku switched off the camera and stuffed it into his bag.

"Kiku." He responded and made a movement to bow, then- remembering he was speaking to a foreigner –hesitantly extended his hand for a shake.

The boy smiled, taking his hand and shaking it briefly. "My name is Heracles."

A beautiful name, too, Kiku thought wistfully. It suits him.

"So Kiku, I have a favor to ask you." The boy continued, lowering his voice, his demeanor changing. "Will you help me smuggle this cat into the school?"