Romeo and Romeo

Chapter 1

September,  Oxford.

Today Feliciano dressed in his finest light blue shirt and finest navy bow tie. He was poorer than most of the people attending Oxford University, but he still needed to look his best when he was going to the first meeting of the society for Multi Language Persons.

Feliciano Vargas grew up with his older brother in Italy, being taught English from the age of five by his grandfather. He heavily missed them both, a constant weight on his small shoulders, but he tried not to remember them just for today.

The meeting was after all of the classes and lectures, so he would have time to prepare what he was going to say. His grandfather had chosen for him to do law at Oxford, thinking it would he the best for him, however, Feliciano always wanted to become a painter, so every evening, he would paint to fill that otherwise empty void in his heart.

And so Feliciano stepped into the grand University, nervous but excited.

His legs were wobbling slightly as he walked into the small unused library, not knowing what to expect. When he finally plucked up the courage to enter, he saw ten people standing in the small book filled room. They all dressed smarter than him, so Feliciano felt even more worried.

'Come on then, why don't you choose a seat?' said an extremely English voice. Feliciano glanced at the person. A bushy eyebrowed, blonde haired man in a green tweed suit, about Feliciano's age. In fact, Feliciano thought as he walked to a seat, they all look about his age. That made him feel slightly better about the situation.

'Okay, since there is a new person joining us, why don't we go around like children, saying our names and where we came from.' It didn't really sound like a question, more of an order, from the bushy eyebrowed man.

'Hello I'm Ivan Braginski. I'm from Russia. If you ever need any advice on where to get the best vodka, please ask me. And this is my sister Natalia, she is... Em... Quiet. She isn't a member of the society, she just is always with me.' The very tall light haired man smiled around the room. Ivan looked as if he was wearing layers and layers of unnecessary smart clothes. And his sister was wearing an unusual black dress. She clung to Ivan's arm, avoiding any eye contact.

'I'm Elisaveta Hedervary. From Hungary. But I moved here when I was three, so I have pretty good English. I just joined to help others. I am also the only female in Oxford University.' she too smiled kindly, sorting her green suit jacket and matching trousers. Feliciano heard rumors that she was strict and not a force to be reckoned with. But she looked nice enough.

'I am Kiku Honda from Japan. It is nice to meet you all.' he bowed slightly, face unchanging. He wore a, what Feliciano assumed, a white Japanese suit, contrasting his black hair.

Then there was a man dressed in a blue suit with red trousers. He had long blonde hair and a rose in his lapel. He had his elbow propped on Matthew's sholder, one of Feliciano's roommates that Feliciano hadn't noticed until now. 'Bonjour, je m'appelle Francis Bonnefoy...' The man said more words in French that Feliciano couldn't understand, while the strangly confidant man's smirk grew wider for some reason.

'Oh um... He said his name is Francis Bonnefoy, he doesn't know any English apart from Hello and he came from France and he came here a year before he started school so he could learn better English.'
Feliciano looked curiously at Matthew, as everyone else did to.
'I-I'm Matthew Williams, I was born in America, then I moved to Canada and learnt French.' Feliciano had no idea there was a place called Canada. He really needed to brush up on his geography skills.

'I am Yao Wang from China. I grew up with Mandarin and English and moved here recently to go to the finest school in Britain.' Feliciano guessed he was wearing some sort of traditional outfit. He had his long hair (which Feliciano thought was slightly strange) in a low ponytail to keep it out of his face.

There was a long silence before Feliciano realised that it was his turn to speak. 'I am Feliciano Vargas from Italy. My grandfather taught me and my older brother English. But Grampa Roma and Lovino are still in Italy. I came here to study law, but I really enjoy painting more.' he grew more confident as he spoke, smiling at everyone looking at him, looking around the room at everyone individually, until his eyes met a very intimidating man who stood a couple of seats away from Feliciano.

He had brilliant blonde hair and amazing blue eyes, brighter than the sea he saw on the way to England. He had to blink a couple of times to free himself from his piercing gaze. He then spoke up.

'I am Ludwig Bielschmidt from Germany.' his deep voice sounded strict and his to-the-point introduction made Feliciano wonder more what this mysterious man was like. Feliciano stared at him for a while longer he was wearing a green suit with a darker green tie. But he didn't really pay attention to what he was wearing, he just gazed at his eyes. Arthur's cough made Feliciano break away from him for the second time.

'Well, now that we have finished introducing ourselves, we can get some work done. Please split into three groups, fluent in English, OK at English or bad at English.'

Groups were arranged, Francis dragged Matthew with him to the bad at English group after Matthew had finished translating the instructions that Arthur gave him. Arthur in return, just rolled his eyes at Francis and his ever-widening smirk.

So in the end, Feliciano was put with Ivan, with Natalie of course, Kiku and surprisingly Ludwig. The middle group was Elizaveta and the bottom group was Francis and Matthew.

Strangly, Arthur took out a tea bag from his suit pocket and walked out, leaving the rest of them to their own devices. Feliciano knew what to do to fill the silence and started talking about his home, quite starteling the others.

'Back home I live with Lovino and Grampa Roma. Grampa Roma is called Grampa Roma because he was born in Rome but soon after he moved to Florence. We live in a cottage just big enough for us three, and we help out on Grampa's emm... Grape field to make wine, although Lovino usually works with his Spanish friend, Antonio, on the tomato fields which is about a mile away. I don't know why he travels all the way out there every day-'

Francis interrupts with something in French to which Matthew blushes at.

'I used to live with both of my sisters but Katyusha, my older sister, wanted to stay working at the family farm, while I wanted to come here for the education and Natalie came with me. I really miss her.' this time Ivan's smile looked sad.

There was more conversation, all the while the mysterious German sat watching, his blue eyes showing an emotion that Feliciano couldn't recognise. Ludwig only answered questions when asked directly, so the young Italian tried his best to include him.

'... So Mr Bielschmidt, where did you grow up?' Feliciano thought that formalities were necessary when speaking to Ludwig, who seemed quite serious.

'For the second time, you don't have to call me Mr Bielschmidt. And I grew up with my grandfather and older brother. My older brother found a partner and went to live with them, so my grandfather now relies on me to make a name for myself. So I  am staying here until I have finished my education, then I will decide whether to stay or to move back home.' Feliciano couldn't help but notice that Ludwig's story sounded a lot like his.

The conversation went on like this, Matthew occasionally translating for Francis, Yao occasionally talking about China and the traditions there, while Kiku sat and listened for most of it.

As the hours passes and darkness fell, Feliciano found himself alone with lKiku politely sitting waiting for Feliciano to leave first.