If there was anything that he hated, Lovino hated the formal parties that he had to attend to. It wasn't something he looked forward to. Yet, the reality was that every New Year's Eve, Feliciano threw the grandest party possibly and invited the richest people and most important people wanting to flaunt their riches in their faces. Every year Lovino was flirted with only for the other person to realize that this wasn't the adorable Feliciano. Every year a new theme. Every year Lovino found a new reason to loathe the parties even more. And of course, every year, Lovino was dragged along as well and was expected to act properly. He abhorred it with every fiber of his being.

Sighing heavily, he pulled at his gold lace collar.

Masquerade

That was the hellish theme that Feliciano chose and it absolutely drove Lovino mad in every way possible.

The itchy collars and tight pants that he could barely dance in were already bad. Yet, the addition of restricting masks made everything just perfect.

So of course he changed.

Clad in flowy clothes (though his collar still itched), Lovino attended begrudgingly.

With an annoyed sigh, he fixed his collar for the millionth time that day, slumping in his seat as irritation boiled inside of him. His eyes flickered across the room, bored at the many masks that he saw. Laughing lightly, he shook his head at all of the people.

Hazel

They all bored him. All of these people sought to marry into his riches, yet they were all vain and conceited and knew nothing about him. Hazel—the color of his eyes. Was that really all that they could come up with? It was pathetic. He didn't even like the color that much. It was just a mix of two colors. It was unoriginal. Though, not as unoriginal as the people who came clad in hazel during every event in hopes of flattering him. Of all the things that anyone would pick, he would have expected better than that. Especially when they all seemed to grovel at his feet like he was some sort of deity.

Hazel. Hazel. Hazel.

He hated the color by now. It was the color of masks, dresses, suits, and gifts! All of them hazel in pathetic attempts to compensate for the lack of a will to truly understand him. The assumption had long since damaged Lovino.

He didn't even have gorgeous, alluring, rich brown eyes like his brother. He had hazel. A color so many admired that went to waste with him.

"You know, you could dance with one of them," Feliciano suggested, his eyes flickered with sorrow before filling with neutrality as Lovino shook his head in disgust.

Lovino scoffed, "No. They know you. Look at those suitors wearing red with masks like peacocks. They at least try."

He ignored the frown that went on Feliciano's lips and watched him get up to make his way towards one of the servants from Germany and focused on the crowd. His eyes rolled and his head shook gently.

He didn't care that most of the suitors that were attending wanted to marry him. After all, he was well aware that it wasn't him that they loved.

He watched the people dance, not interested in those who subtly attempted to flirt with him. Bored out of his mind, he decided he would have some fun. Standing up, he watched eyes fall on him. He gave a cock of the brow, eyes flickering to nowhere in particular, but people making attempts to find out where he was looking anyway.

He was dashing, that much he would admit. From the emerald green fabric that wrapped around him to the gold cuffs to his soft brown hair that gently cupped his face. As plain a boy as he could be, he kept up his desirable reputation with his actions and overpriced clothing that he really didn't need.

As his feet touched the dancefloor, he tied the sparkling mask to his face. He could see the people waiting for him to come forward to join them in a dance. He also knew where their hearts lay; it wasn't with a deep love for him.

Somehow, he didn't think that he had a place to truly care about the situation. After all, life was odd. It didn't take time to show others how a plain boy like him could hold a million words. Yet, for sweet Feliciano, it held its hand out generously.

Did he envy it? Very much. However, he knew that he was where he was for his own actions. So rather than sulk for an eternity over the way that the world worked, he chose to toy with the world.

It seemed to do him well.

Eyes fell on him and the world seemed to slow just to watch him take careful steps. Gentle voices called to him and asked for him to dance. All bore a hazel mask. Moving beyond them, he went up to the new guard from Prussia and held his hand out.

The gasps that filled the room brought a smirk to his lips.

"Care to dance, sir?"

His hazel eyes met a pair of ruby ones that looked at him in amusement, "You like breaking people's hearts. Sure."

Lovino held the guard's hand, not really caring. He hardly knew him at all and really only did this to irritate the noble men and women who saw him as a prize to be won and nothing else.

He laughed at the guard, shaking his head, "There's no hearts being broken in this building. I have only shut down the men and women with a lust for nothing but wealth."

He raised his brow and shrugged, "You do not have to marry."

"But it is taboo if I don't," Lovino replied, giving a pompous grin to all that watched his emerald clothes shine in the light.

"I suppose you have a point there. That's why I became a guard for you. Nobody expects me to marry at all."

Lovino scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Charming, really."

The conversation cut off after that and Lovino didn't mind too much. Gilbert was a strange guard anyway; not only in appearance. Though, he was a good one. Straight from the kingdom of militarism, he protected Lovino well. His brother was the assistant to the baker from France. Lovino thought it amusing to pull talent from around Europe into his household, but he rather enjoyed it at times.

Francis and Ludwig made treats like no other and Gilbert was one of those people that he would arrange jests with for personal amusement.

All of them were aware on how Lovino felt about his suitors.

That was how he spent the first bit of his time during that masquerade ball. He danced with Gilbert—someone who could not dance at all—for the time being as he disliked the unoriginal people who thought that he would be wooed by hazel masks.

Pulling from Gilbert, he nodded at him, "My deepest thanks for the dance. Now get back to your job."

"Yes, sir," Gilbert chuckled softly, making his way off, leaving Lovino to throw himself back to the wolves.

As he turned, he saw what he expected, hazel hazel hazel. The entire room drowned him in an ocean of his own sight. Hazel masks stared at him, selfish and loveless eyes behind them. Hazel clothes stitched beautifully but there was nothing beyond that. It was all shallow. The people wanted wealth—not his love. Even his ability to make men and women swoon with a single glance was beginning to fade.

Eyes flickering to look up at everyone, he gave a slight coy smirk as he began to make his way back to his seat. He could see Feliciano shaking his head at him gently. Lovino chuckled and began to walk, already hearing the murmurs.

"Would you like to dance?"

"No."

"May I have the honor of dancing with you?"

"No"

The people were already beginning to fall at his feet. Not as quickly as they normally did, sadly, but they did. That was satisfactory enough for Lovino. It made up for the shallow, narrow, selfish minds of the people he held in the palm of his hand.

He saw Feliciano, his big brown eyes looking at him in concern through the ruby red mask he wore. As he took the first step to get onto his seat, he suddenly felt a jerk and everything turned to a blur. Gold flashed before his eyes and when his brain stopped turning in circles from the sudden movement, he realized he was in someone's arms.

Lovino's lip curved in disgust and he looked up, but he froze.

Gold.

His mask is gold.

Eyes were wide for a moment. He had forgotten what he had been doing.

"Let's dance."

Lovino attempted to pull back, his look of awe replaced with irritation, "No"

A soft chuckle escaped past the stranger's lips and he pulled Lovino closer, hovering deadly close to the pampered prince's face, "Ah. Guapo, that wasn't a question."

His jaw dropped and he struggled more, "Excuse me?"

The stranger lifted Lovino's chin up with a finger and grinned, "I said it wasn't a question. Now, quierido—let's dance, okay?"

With that, he was pulled to the dance floor, eyes quickly shooting and landing on him and the stranger in shock. What sort of demon was this man? He hated him! He hated being dragged around. But most of all…

He hated that he was actually enjoying himself.

He moved with the stranger, watching his brown locks bounce and the green eyes hidden behind that golden mask. Of course. The crazy stranger had to have his favorite color for eyes.

He had to admit, he was pleased that this crazy man was not wearing any hazel at all. He was decorated in gold and black, the only thing being different was the deep red carnation tucked in his front pocket.

Fine. Perhaps he could stand a chance. Lovino relaxed in the stranger's arms and danced with him, a light blush tinting his cheeks.

"Are you growing on me already? How cute~"

"In your dreams," Lovino shot back, picking up the pace of the dance and making a rather sensual move that caught the stranger off guard.

His lips twitched and gew into a smirk, quickly pulling Lovino and dipping him, one hand a bit farther up Lovino's leg than he allowed people to go, "Are you sure about that?"

Smacking the hand away, he pulled close so that their chests were touching, leaning awfully close to his face before bending backward, one leg hooked around the stranger, a devious smirk as he brought all of his weight onto one side of the stranger, pulling back up and reaching to his ear, his breaths softly tickling a tan ear.

"If you don't let go of me, I'm going to castrate you."

The stranger laughed, it was sweet and hypnotized him. He was helpless in those few seconds of a sweet summer laugh.

Pulling him back up, the stranger let go of him after kissing Lovino's hand gently.

"How do I win your heart?"

"You pray really hard to the Virgin."

The stranger laughed again and Lovino was beginning to turn pink, looking around him at thee people who were beginning to stare at him and this stranger as well. When those piercing green eyes met his again, they filled with a great desire and intensity.

Gently brushing his thumb over Lovino's bottom lip, he chuckled, "You're cute. I want you."

Never had so much heat run to his cheeks in so little time. As he stared into those eyes and that golden mask, Lovino knew that this man was making him weaker by the second and that was extremely dangerous for his situation. His heart pounded so loud he was sure that it was heard rather than the fast-paced music or romantic words lovers threw to each other.

"I want nobody else to have you."

Lovino was weak.

Soft kisses pressed to his skin and Lovino tilted his head to the side. Greedy lips continued to kiss and bite. They marked what was theirs and they marked plentiful. Large purple and red marks covered Lovino's skin down to his shoulders.

He was panting, but he pulled him up, hands tangled in his messy curls as he kissed him deeply. His flushed cheeks looked ready to explode with roses.

After all, he was up against a wall, kissing this man with a fiery passion, and forgetting completely about the masquerade party to celebrate the new year.

"I hate you, Antonio. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hide these?"

Antonio chuckled, kissing him over and over again roughly. His lips kissed Lovino's ear, whispering Spanish words of adoration as well as some personal desires that caused Lovino to kick him.

But he enjoyed being lavished. He enjoyed being wanted. But most of all, Lovino enjoyed the fact that this man was sweet enough to give him a cavity but his mind was like walking into brothel.

"They'll be toasting to the beginning of the new year soon, you know," Lovino commented through the kisses.

"That's nice."

"Feli is going to wonder where I am."

"That's nice."

Lovino laughed, "You don't care, do you?"

Antonio shook his head, "Not in particular. Your brother can have you after I'm done spoiling you and marking you so that everyone knows that you are mine."

"Yours?"

"Yes, mine. Selfish suitors have to go through me. You're mine."

Lovino didn't mind all that much. He simply continued to kiss and get spoiled. His hands twirling brown hair and legs wrapped around Antonio's waist.

As the bells rang, the new year was signalled and Lovino still had his lips crashed with Antonio's in the dark room, both content in each other's presence. By this time, he had grown drunk on Toni's kisses.

He tasted of grapes.