[c] Coffee and Sketchbooks

"You better, young man!"

Fleck looked up and smiled when Dick approached. His brows raised when Dick passed him the bag. "What's this?" he asked in English, pulling it open and peering in. "Oh, you didn't have to feed my sweet addiction."

He smiled, though, as he stood. "Thank you."

"They asked if you - they asked if you wanted one so I figured you probably do. They added an extra one in on the house too. You can have it - I am not too hungry."

Hands busy holding their drinks he pushed the door open with his hips. He let Fleck pass though first before going though himself.

"Oh, you speak-"

Fleck felt his cheeks heating up in an embarrassed blush. He just assumed that Dick didn't speak Italian. All their conversation so far had been in English.

Well, he knew what assuming did.

He slipped past Dick, his hip brush against Dick's as he did so, and reached out to take his cup when he was out on the street.

He didn't know what to say now. He felt embarrassed and awkward.

"Oh, yeah, I speak Italian."

Fleck spoke English so well he didn't think of changing to Italian. He probably made it a lot more awkward of Fleck then it needed to be.

"Sorry. I should of said something shouldn't I?"

He joined Fleck on the street. The embarrassment was radiating from Fleck if his cheeks were anything to go by. As cute as it was, he didn't want to embarrass the man.

"I just never thought to ask if you..."

He gave a little laugh and his hand moved up to play with his gauge.

"I feel like a bit of an ass." He laughed anyway.

He was in the bad habit of assuming that people that spoke English around these parts were tourists and couldn't speak Italian.

"It's fine, I don't blame you. It happens all the time."

Wherever he went in Catania - unless he was the first to speak - they would take one look at him and speak in English. His light blond curls and pale face always had people assume he is a tourist. It never bothered him.

"No you're not. I will say that you speak English is well. I never thought of speaking in Italian since you spoke it so well."

"I've been speaking it pretty much all my life." He'd grown up in a bilingual house. His father spoke English often, and his mother spoke Italian even more often.

English wasn't his dominant language, but he knew his way around it pretty well.

"You're very good at Italian for someone who isn't."

"Thanks. I have lived out hear for quite some time now. Plus it was pretty much beat into me."

For almost the whole of his life he has been following Giacinto around. He had little choice but to learn it.

"Do you know any other languages?"

"English was beaten into me. I was fine just following mom's example, but dad wanted us to know English, too. Probably a good thing, or I would have just stared dumbly at you last week."

He was glad he had known what the drunk bubbly blond had said to him in the club. He wouldn't be here now if he wasn't.

"A tiny bit of Spanish that I learned in school, but otherwise no. What about you? I bet you're some kind of magical linguist that knows half a dozen languages or something."

Dick laughed.

"That would of made our meeting even more awkward. Some drunk English guy yelling at you in a language you don't understand is probably not ideal."

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"Something like that. I am also fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese. I also know bits and bob's from other languages."

Living as long as he did meant he had plenty of time to learn different languages. Learning Latin since he could talk also helped.

"It's nt as bad as a drunk German girl yelling at me." Fleck widened his eyes and shook his head slowly. "That was a scary night out."

It was a difficult evening, with the German girl following him around, speaking to him in this aggressive language that he didn't understand.

"I know it. You're a walking, talking language app! If I ever go back to Spain, I'm taking you with me to translate."

Dick gave Fleck a toothy grin. He never gave it much thought before.

"Not quite. I am virtually useless if we went up north."

His ears pinked. He new the invitation was a joke, but still...

"They will take one look at me and speak in English anyway. Unless you go to the middle on nowhere.

"It never hurts to be prepared just in case. It's always good to have someone with you that knows the lingo."

He grinned and dropped another flirty wink. "And it helps if they're as cute as you."

He perked up when he caught sight of the boardwalk. "I spy the beach."

Dick's stomach twisted and his face glowed red. Blue eyes switched there focus from Fleck to the road ahead of him out of embarrassment.

He spotted to the edge of the beach too. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He enjoyed the smell of the salt air and it calmed him.

"Oh yeah. There is a bench over there. Want to sit and enjoy our coffee first, or do you want to walk along the beach."

"I think now's a perfect time to enjoy our coffee. We'll have our hands free tomess around on the beach then."

It took seconds to find a free bench and settle himself down, slinging his free arm over the back of the bench.

"That view is beautiful." He loved the sea. He had more than a few sketches and paintings of it in his studio.

Dick too a seat next time him, their thighs almost touching. He agreed with Fleck as he took a sip of coffee. The view of the sea was beautiful and very nostalgic.

"I could sit and look out at see all day. I'm a bit of an old man like that."

"If you're an old man, so am I."

At one point he was down here every day for weeks planning and painting the view here. He literally had spent all day just staring out at the sea.

He'd loved every moment of it.

Fleck took a long draught of his milky, chocolatey coffee and gave a satisfied sigh, melting back against the bench.

Dick enjoyed the silence that followed. It wasn't awkward, it was nice, sharing a moment together. Breathing in the salty air and listening to the waves gently crash against the against the sand.

It was very peaceful. If it wasn't for the few local couples and families leisurely enjoying the beach it would of felt they had the whole beach to themselves. It was amazing how different it was if you compared it to summer.

While he enjoyed the silence he soon broke it, wanting to know more about his date.

"So, have you always lived here?"

"Yeah, I have, but my family hasn't. Theo and Fia were military brats, though. They moved around bases while mom was enlisted."

The majority of the family had lived here all their lives, but the twins hadn't.

"Now I know you haven't lived here your whole life. You're English, right? What's it like in England?"

"I haven't been there for a for a while."

When he thought of England, he always thought back to his childhood and how it was all those centuries ago. It was a very different place them - it felt a lot bigger then.

"It is a lot greener over there and you can grantee it is raining right now - especially this time of year. Although you probably already know that."

"I couldn't tolerate it raining so much."

Fleck liked the sun. He was notorious for holing himself away from sunlight for days at a time while he was working, but he really did like Italian weather.

He wouldn't be able to cope with constant rain.

"It's not that bad. I find it refreshing, especially when spring time rolls round. It is also pretty cosy. At home there is a windowsill that looks out on the garden and there is a open fire right opposite it. Nothing is better then curling up with a book there listening to the rain while the fire is on."

He closed his eyes and envisioned one of his favourite reading place.

"Pure bliss."

"I'd melt in front of an open fire."

Italy was a hot conutry. Unless it was the dead of winter, the thought of an open fire during the day was horrific. During the night, it was fine, but the day time was spent searching for the coolest places and objects.

"You read a lot?"

"Yeah I do. I would rather pick up a book then watch TV."

TV and film were fascinating when it first came out. Watching images come to life on a screen was magical - it was hard to believe it wasn't. Once the wow factor wore off he found himself returning to his books. He found you could emerge yourself so much more in a book then some television program.

"I haven't even looked at the TV since I was thirteen."

He was far more interested in drawing than watching TV. Very occasionally he was dragged out with Jay to watch whatever new movie was out. He always ended up paying for his brother somehow, too. That was probably why he was the one that got dragged out.

He tipped his paper cup upwards and caught the last few drops of his coffee on his tongue.