Ned and Elizabeta came to visit Lovino in the morning, as they missed him the other day. Unsurprisingly, their appearances were similar to Femke and Henry, and their pride and attitudes hadn't been scathed (well, except Ned's; he was being more pessimistic than usual) by the crash as well. In fact, proof of this was when Elizabeta sent Lovino a suggestive wink when she caught him teaching Antonio English, and she even hustled off to gossip with Femke about dirty things, most likely.

Those two were psychos when it came to romance and intimacy between guys, and Lovino pinned the blame on Ned's Japanese boyfriend back home, Kiku Honda. He was the one who introduced "yaoi," as it was apparently called, to the girls. One time, Lovino actually took a look at a "doujinshi," or whatever, that Kiku gave Femke, and let's just say that he saw some very descriptive things he'd rather not have seen and would have liked to delete them from his brain if he could.

But after that encounter, Lovino did his best to brush it off and continue on with the lessons. It wasn't like he was an English teacher or anything; he already had a much better, more exciting, more profitable career he loved that he wouldn't give up for any other job in millennia. He just found Antonio's terrible grammar irksome. He and his younger brother Feliciano had grown up in the United States where English was the official language, so it was only natural he knew it well, as well as Italian because his family spoke the latter often.

"Alright, bastardo, that's enough for today. We can pick up again tomorrow," Lovino said in dismissal, standing up from his cot in the hut he hadn't left since he'd woken up.

For the first few lessons, Antonio did okay; he improved marginally, but they still had a lot to work on. It was only the first day, so Lovino didn't expect him to fathom and retain everything he told him.

"Okay, Lovi!" Antonio chirruped. "Change leaves!" He grabbed Lovino's arm and pulled him back down to the cot, reaching to peel the soiled, blood-crusted leaves off the Italian's pale chest that was quickly growing flamingo-pink, having descended from his neck and face. However, Lovino slapped his hand away, and the look of a kicked puppy was slapped onto Antonio's face.

"I-I can take them off you know... By myself..."

"Oh, okay then..." Antonio stood up from where he sat on the floor next to the cot. "Eat something?" He laughed heartily when Lovino's stomach rumbled in response.

"Sh-shut up! It's not funny!" Lovino stomped his foot on the wooden floor angrily and stood back up. Jabbing a finger in Antonio's chest, he snarled, "I'm sure you're just as hungry as me! Probably even more, you ditz, because the size of your brain's so small that it can't even comprehend the feeling of you hungry!" His face reddened when the taller male laughed again.

"But my stomach no speak!"

Stomping over to his semi-burnt luggage that Henry brought in earlier, Lovino retorted with, "You know what? Fuck you!" Tearing the poor leaves off his chest, he fished through his bags for a shirt with the least amount of damage, and whipped out a decent maroon shirt, slipping it on immediately. Then, without another word to Antonio, he stormed outside and looked around for somebody to rant to.

He scanned the area briefly before he processed that there was definitely more than that one hut that was across from his quarters he saw yesterday, among all the dense and colorful undergrowth. In fact, there were four others of similar structure and a square of wood flooring under it. Each hut was connected to two others by rickety rope bridges, on either side, and as far as Lovino could see, he noted in marvel that five of the huts including his, formed a small, taut pentagon shape. The last structure out of the six total was in the middle of it all, the only differences being that the tree trunk ran through the middle of the hut, and that there didn't seem to be any bridges connecting any of the huts to it.

"Lovi, fruit!" the annoying voice suddenly sliced through his gawking and awe. Before he realized it, there was a mango in his mouth.

"What the fuck?!" shot out of Lovino's mouth right after the mango went flying. "You bastard! You don't just shove food into people's mouthes!" He glared at the giggling man. Giggling.

"Lo siento, Lovi~" Antonio apologized, but the younger male knew he didn't mean it because of his bubbly giggling that wouldn't stop.

"Hey, Lovino!" a certain someone suddenly called. The Italian immediately identified the certain someone as Henry and whirled around to where he figured the blond would be, spotting him sitting at the edge of the square of wood flooring of the center hut with his legs dangling, in between the legs of his annoyed older brother, Ned. How the hell did they get over there?

"Hold still, Henry," he scolded his younger sibling mildly as he carded an unbroken comb through Henry's tousled hair. "Do you want me to fix your hair and get the debris and bugs out or not?"

He sighed in an exaggerated manner and rolled his eyes playfully in response. "Fine, I'll stop moving, Big Brother."

Lovino shouted, "Henry? How'd you guys get over there? And is there anything to eat around here besides mangoes?" He had to admit, mangoes weren't that bad, but he just didn't feel like eating one at the moment. He had a craving for a tomato.

"Lovi, Lovi, Lovi, Lovi," Antonio chanted obnoxiously as if he was a hyperactive Cazador, tugging at the shredded hem of the Italian's shirt as he continued the seemingly perpetual mantra.

"Shut up." Accompanying the command, he smacked the taller brunet's hands away from him and gifted him with a venomous glare. He was rewarded with a pout, but paid no heed and focused his attention upon the two Dutch males. "Well?"

A soft chuckle slipped out of the younger blond's lips. "Sorry, kinda got distracted. There's a bridge that connects this place to the top of the pentagon that the huts form, and we have plenty of food in here!" His intention was to point at the hut speared by the tree trunk through the center vertically with his thumb, but inadvertently jabbed his brother in the cheek. Glancing at an annoyed Ned, a sheepish smile tugged at Henry's lips. "Whoops... Sorry, Big Brother..."

"Just. Stop. Moving. Don't turn into Femke."

"I think it's already too late for that!" Lovino called from the other side. "He doesn't have anything of yours in terms of personality! It's all sunshine, butterflies, and all that crap, like Femke!"

"That's true..." Ned groused. It's better if he's more like Femke instead of me though, he thought as he continued raking Henry's hair with the comb.

"Lovi, Lovi, Lovi, Lovi," was chanted once more in a mantra, much to the auburn-haired model's dismay.

Deciding to ignore him, Lovino marched off across the first unstable rope bridge, heading toward the hut that served as the top point of the pentagon. "Why does the stupid thing that connects those two have to be all the way over there?" he murmured to himself but froze in his tracks when he felt calloused hands snake around his waist. Before he could react, he was pulled into Antonio's chest (who else could it have been?) and the next thing he knew, they were both falling.

"Hold me, Lovi~!" Antonio ordered, laughing jovially while the model shrieked in sheer terror and wrapped his arms around Antonio's neck, desperately clinging to him and anticipating Death to come for him at any second. His eyes were screwed shut the entire time and he furiously prayed to God to protect him, and if he didn't make it, he prayed to let somebody find his body and take it back home to properly bury him.

Instead of pain though, he felt the cool breeze skim through his silky auburn hair and across the bare patches of his soft, smooth skin that his tattered articles of clothing failed to cover. He felt his fright simmer down marginally and pleasure bubble up at the skittering of the wind and how cool he felt, and it was then that he'd realized that the environment around them was rather humid. How could he not have noticed?

Well, it is pretty hot in Italia, he thought, then shrugged it off, still holding onto the nettlesome male. At this point, he was much calmer than before and had stopped shrieking, but still refused to open his projector-like organs and continued to softly whimper. He wasn't dead either, so that was good too; Antonio hadn't let him plummet to the ground and get flattened into a human pancake.

He felt like he was flying. He felt like most of his stress was melting away and felt so free, like one of those red birds with feathers of cyan, lime, and yellow that lived in tropical climates. What were they called? Macaroons? No, that was a food item. Magpies? That didn't sound right either, but whatever the name of the bird was, he was sure it started with the letter "M."

Unfortunately for him, his "freedom" was soon caged up again as if he were a pet parakeet, for he could no longer feel the tender, pleasantly chilled breeze caress his body. Soft snickering from nearby filled his ears ere it was blocked out by Antonio cooing in his still broken English with mirth gushing from his voice, "Lovi, eyes open. Safe."

Trusting the bastard just this once, Lovino slowly pried his golden eyes open, gaze falling upon a smiling Antonio who continued to hold him close (much to his annoyance), as well as a concerned Henry and his stupid asshole of an older brother Ned, chuckling under his breath. To say he was surprised was an understatement. The elder Dutchman never laughed at anything; he was always stoic and a stingy grump, similar to how the Italian was. To see Ned laugh was unnerving, and the possibility of what he was laughing at or about was clear to Lovino, and his face was utterly dominated by crimson.

"Wh-what's so funny?!" he demanded, despite knowing the possible answer he'd receive.

"Nothin,'" the elder blond male with gravity-defying locks lied, a diminutive smirk playing at his lips.

"I-it wasn't nothing! Damn you! You were laughing at me, weren't you?"

Ned only replied with a shrug, the smirk still ever present. "What can I say? You sounded like a woman in labor."

He couldn't go any redder, but he did. The model was sure he probably broke the world record for the deepest and reddish blush possible. Plumes of smoke would be feasibly expelled from his sanguine ears by now if humans possessed the capability to do so, but they didn't, and Lovino was grateful for that because if smoke really was coming out of his ears, then it'd most likely make Ned laugh more.

"That bastard! I'm gonna kill him!" Lovino snarled out and was about to tackle the Dutchman and rip him to pieces only for his brain to remind him in unintentional derision that he was still held captive by Antonio's sinewy, caramel arms. "Let me go!" He flailed and kicked and swung his fists around to no avail. Lovino only ended up hurting Antonio a bit, but not the intended target who simply stared at him comically with a raised eyebrow.

"Lovino, calm down!" Henry stepped forward, but stayed a safe distance away from his thrashing companion. "Big Brother didn't mean it! He was just teasing you!"

"Fucking hell! He did mean it, dammit!" crackled from his maw vehemently. He opened it once more to retort but closed it and felt an eruption of heat and red that he'd never felt before explode all over not just his face, but probably his entire body as he registered the slobber dripping down his cheek and a grinning Antonio next to him. "You disgusting son of a bitch..." he growled as Ned simultaneously muttered, "Gross..."

"Lovi no mad~!"

"Not mad? Not mad?" the Italian's voice crescendoed, hostility coursing through his veins and smothering his voice.

Before things could escalate again, Henry intervened again, "Tomato break!" He shoved the plump red fruit into the auburn-haired male's mouth who instantly calmed rather hypocritically instead of snapping at Henry as he did with Antonio and the mango. He sucked on the tomato gently as if it were his pacifier and grumbled something incoherently. "Feeling better?" Henry received only some more unfathomable muffled words in response and assumed it was a yes. "You can put him down now, Antonio."

Reluctantly, Antonio obeyed, pouting. Why didn't Henry get yelled at for putting a delicioso tomate into Lovino's mouth? He got yelled at... And truth be told, he didn't want to let go of Lovino either. He was so warm (especially when his face got all red!) and cuddly, and Antonio felt as if he could hold him forever. He certainly would if he could!

As he was released, Lovino pulled the remaining fruit out of his mouth so he wouldn't choke, sending a tart glare at the pouting barbarian. Pouting. First he was giggling, and now he was pouting. Did the guy have a split personality? Maybe he was just constantly having mood swings?

Just this morning during their English lessons, Antonio had been grinning and laughing as it was apart of his happy-go-lucky personality that Lovino was able to deduce in a matter of only one and a half days. When he embraced Lovino and asked what the word for the action was in English, the model shunted him away and scowled, saying it wasn't important, resulting in Antonio's adorab—annoying pout. Yesterday, he had pouted as well. It was right after Lovino had smacked his hand away when Antonio had reached out to to touch his chest. Sometimes he would even whine—which he did do this morning—just like Femke would along with a pout when they weren't satisfied like the overgrown children they were.

Wait a second. Overgrown children? Femke was definitely one, and Lovino did know more people who were like that, unfortunately. You know what? Screw the split personality and mood swings. Antonio was just another big kid who refused to fucking grow up.

"...So how did we get over here?" Lovino inquired awkwardly when he realized the three men were staring at him with concerned and bemused looks. His cheeks filled back up with red under their gazes bashfully as it dawned a little too late upon him that he and Antonio were with Henry and Ned in the center of the pentagon frame the other huts formed.

"Tarzan swung across on vines while carrying you, Jane," Ned jeered, ignoring Henry's warning glance.

"Shut the fuck up. I honestly don't know what the hell Kiku sees in a jerk like you." The Italian only received a simple shrug in reply.

"Something nobody sees in you." Before Lovino could begin his series of fiery verbal assaults again, Ned disappeared into the hut.

"Just ignore him, Lovino," Henry said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That's how Big Brother is sometimes, so don't get yourself so worked up. A lot of people like you, and you know that."

"Whatever..."

Those people from all over the world that Henry spoke of may like him or fangirl over him, but they didn't know him on a personal level, and that was what drove potential love interests and business alliances away, which also resulted in some self-loathing. He was a rather resentful, flirtatious man who always swore and spoke loudly, had a short temper and low self-esteem, and was susceptible to jealousy. What was so great about any of those attributes?

Nothing.

Who wanted to deal with that crap and "drama" always going on inside Lovino?

Not many people.

"Is there some magical place around here with indoor plumbing so I can take a hot shower?"

"I'm afraid there's no indoor plumbing, but there is a nice, natural hot spring somewhere that Antonio knows the location of. In fact, Sis and Eliza are there now, but they should be on their way back."

"Hmph..." It didn't even cross his mind that Femke and Elizabeta were absent until now. "They better not take too long," he groused, sitting down. "Do we have any more tomatoes?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Jett, don't you dare get too close to that thing!" the Englishman snapped at his cousin who looked over at him, marginally irked. "If that thing bites your head off, we'll be leaving you behind only for Death to come and get you."

"Oh come on now, Arthur," the man said, an Australian accent coiled around his voice. "I've been wrestling crocs and snakes all my life, I won't get killed. I'm experienced." Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he glanced at the massive creature resembling a log cloaked in ash, still in the pool of water in order to keep up its facade. "And you won't leave me for dead; you brought me along because I'm a wildlife expert!"

The shorter man, Arthur, rose a thick eyebrow. "Well, if you are a so-called 'wildlife expert,' then pray tell, why do you have a bandaid over your nose?" He strode up to the brunet, flicking his nose.

Jett turned away with a scowl, cupping his nose. "No reason!"

"No reason? Ha! I bet your bloody little devil bear did that!"

"Oi, he is not a devil! At least I don't see flying green bunnies, mate!"

"What tosh! He's mint! Mint! And he exists!"

Nearby, a blond Norwegian with blue eyes devoid of emotion gave a soft sigh. "We'll be here for a while..." he mumbled. 

"Yep." The strawberry blond Romanian next to him nodded in accordance. "But at least it's nice here, with all the exotic species and all this... darkness enveloping us from all the trees packed tightly together." Twinkles of mischief dotted his peculiar eyes of blood-red as he rubbed his hands together, his body language screaming that he was plotting something sinister. The sharp little fang at the corner of his mouth didn't help his case.

"Knock it off, Vladimir," the Norwegian groused, smacking him upside the head. "It's not even that dark."

The man, Vladimir, rubbed the injured area of his cranium. "Ow... You didn't have to hit me that hard, Lukas!"

Lukas shrugged in reply, mumbling sternly, "You were asking for it. Let's set up camp. Night will fall before those two will stop arguing and Matthias and Alfred get back."

Expelled from Vladimir was an overly exaggerated woeful sigh as he fished in his pockets for his wand. "I wish Aleksander was here... You have Matthias and Arthur has Alfred, but Jett and I have no one." He stuck his lower lip out in a pout but the expression on his face swiftly contorted to suit a bemused look when he caught Lukas' gaze on his wand with an eyebrow raised. "What?"

"Your wand..."

It took a few seconds for it to click in the Romanian's mind. "Oh! Yeah, I could always do that~!" A wolfish grin conquered his lips as he practically tackled his friend in an embrace. "Mulţumesc~!" His smile as well the tautness of his hug only grew as his companion tried to escape his grip of death vigorously.

"Get off me!"

Before Vladimir could verbally refuse, two shrieks popped the atmosphere of umbrage sprinkled with some blithe like a bubble when simply prodded with a phalange. The sources of the screams, Matthias and Alfred, erupted from the thick and twisted tendrils of undergrowth nearby, capturing everyone's attention. Alfred dove behind Arthur while Matthias halted by Vladimir and Lukas, both panting harshly, their lungs and legs aflame with exhaustion.

"Ar-Artie! L-leopards!" the American huffed.

"Leopards?" the Englishman reiterated for confirmation, receiving a nod. "They could be the key to having all our wishes granted!" Glints of excitement fizzed up in his eyes of jade as he darted into the brush with his wand in hand.

Alfred attempted to run after him, but could only manage a somewhat speedy walk. "Ar-Artie, wait!"

Contemplating on whether he should join his cousin and his cousin's potential love interest, Jett glanced back at the pond, only to discover the crocodile had vanished. Their arguing had probably scared it off.

Sighing, he decided it would be best to go so he wouldn't get yelled at by Arthur. He called to the trio of males, "Be right back, mates! Stay there!" Without waiting for a reply, he picked up the slack and snatched up a protesting Alfred, insisting he could keep up if Jett set him down because he was "The Hero."

Seconds after they left, Matthias demanded breathlessly, "Wh-why are... you on m-my boyfriend...?"

Nonchalantly and with a smile, Vladimir responded as he removed himself from a flustered Norwegian, "Just hugging him because he gave me a great idea. Don't get your undies all twisted up in a knot." He laughed and then winked at the Dane after getting to his feet.

"Oh... Okay!" Matthias held a hand out to help Lukas who slapped it away in rejection and helped himself up. "Lukas~!" he whined.

"Shut up."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ello~! I feel like it's been years since I last updated... XD But yeah, here's chapter three! Apologies if I made any of the characters OOC because this would actually be the first time I'm making Norway, Denmark, Australia, and Romania characters in a book. I'm not completely sure and confident about their personalities as I am about England and America, so if you guys have any suggestions as to how I can improve, that would be much appreciated! ^w^

Alright, that's about it, so until next time~!

~Wolf