Written as part of a fic trade for Tamer Lorika, this is my gift to her! I hope you like it, bambina. ;U;

ALDRICH'S MORNING

Aldrich's mornings were the same.

At precisely 5:05am Aldrich Beilschmidt woke, turned off his alarm and began stretching, working out the morning ache of his muscles. Truthfully, he didn't have to wake up so early, being that his first class of the day was at 9:30, but he figured that students or other faculty might need his help before his class began, so he arrived early anyways.

Finishing his morning exercise, Aldrich immediately set about selecting his clothing for the day, then laying them on his bed to put on after a quick shower. Showering was not exempt from his methodical lifestyle; applying his shampoo evenly and rinsing his hair to apply conditioner, soaping himself as he waited the recommended three minutes for it to help. Completing the routine consisted of washing hair products out thoroughly followed by combing out his long hair to ensure its kempt appearance.

He dried himself with a towel, securing it about his waist as he performed his other hygienic processes, refresh and removing facial stubble.

As he dressed himself he could hear the clanging of pots in the kitchen, signaling that his grandson Ludwig was already beginning on breakfast. That left one.

Aldrich picked up a cup from beside his sink, filling it to the brim with ice cold water. Then he made his way down the hall to a certain bedroom door, having to forcefully push it open past the blockade of dirty clothes. Walking through the disaster area he now stood beside the bed of his other grandson, sprawled on his sheets and snoring away. Without ceremony, Aldrich poured the freezing water on his head.

"I-I'm up, I'm up-p! J-Jesus, that's not cool, G-Gramps!"

ROMULUS'S MORNING

Romulus's mornings were the same…in a manner of speaking, that is.

At precisely whenever Romulus Vargas managed to wake up he tumbled out of bed, resting for a couple minutes on the floor before sluggishly beginning his day.

On this particular day Romulus checked his bedside clock to find that it was 7:02am, meaning he had 28 minutes until his work officially started.

Judging by the honking of a horn outside (the sound that woke him up, incidentally) and the subsequent yelling and door-slamming it was safe to say that Antonio had arrived to pick up Feliciano and Lovino.

Still, despite Romulus's almost debilitating exhaustion and overall lack of coherency, he couldn't find himself regretting staying awake until 4:30 watching porn. Really, what man would choose sleep over watching two gorgeous blonde twins having sex? Certainly not a sane one. Granted, he'd rather have been in a threesome with the beautiful women, but desperate times called for desperate measures, even if said measures included his right hand.

Still, as long as masturbating didn't become a regular part of his life, he was perfectly content with viewing instead of partaking.

Abandoning these (oh-so-wonderful) thoughts Romulus stood, stretching his arms above his head and feeling satisfaction as his sleep aches loudly dispersed. 'Time to get ready,' he instructed himself mentally. Slowly he made his way to the adjoined bathroom, noting with mild disdain that he wouldn't have time to shower before work.

Mindlessly he set to the task of brushing his teeth, applying his Old Spice deodorant with his free hand and delighting in the "come hither" aroma. Knowing that trying to comb out his hair would be a lost cause Romulus concluded his routine by gurgling mouthwash, spitting it and taking a moment to admire his pearly teeth.

Fastening his tie with unwarranted leisure Romulus hummed a soft tune to himself, fancying his voice to be that of sexy, masculine birdsong. Then again, what about him wasn't sexy and masculine? With this thought Romulus proceeded to stare at himself in the mirror, ogling his own body with even more unwarranted leisure.

Yes, he was indeed the complete embodiment of manliness.

FIRST PERIOD

The door to room 237 swung open violently, nearly snapping it off its hinges with the amount of force applied by the boy in the doorway. "I'M NOT LATE," Mathias hollered, slightly out of breath and disheveled in appearance. If one looked close enough (or knew him in any degree) they'd be able to see the light dusting of color on his cheeks, evidencing his ritualistic morning cups of beer.

"Yer five minutes after the bell, Køhler. That means yer late." Mathias shot Sadiq a dirty look, Sadiq only smirking in response.

"No one asked you, asshole."

Sadiq's smirk widened, threatening to turn into a full-on grin. "I know. Just like to piss ya off." The Dane's reply was interrupted by the door slamming once again, revealing none other than their unprofessionally tardy instructor.

"Buon giorno, class~" Romulus exclaimed, virtually plowing over the student that was standing in front of him. "It's good to see you all on time!" His gaze drifted to the fallen Mathias, cheerful grin transforming into a toxic glare. "Most of you, anyway." Mathias's complexion paled as he skittered backwards on the floor, hastily retreating to his seat beside Neils to escape the wrath of his teacher. The majority of the time Romulus was a very laidback man, but when it came to rules and order he was an absolute tyrant. In his classroom, exams were nothing short of a near-death experience.

"Now then," he began, adopting his charming demeanor once again, "where did we leave off yesterday?"

SECOND PERIOD

If Aldrich liked teaching, he did poorly in showing it. In truth, he took great pride in his job, and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge of ancient cultures. It was his life's passion, but his enthusiasm wasn't quite obvious in his seemingly bored "Good morning, students. Take your seats."

Luckily, there were students that had a genuine interest in the topic and could read between his seemingly jaded lines, namely Tino Väinämöinen. In every lecture the boy looked positively enraptured, his seat partner Berwald's eyes shining with interest as well (though Aldrich suspected they might be more than that, considering how very close they sat next to each other).

Still, even if few students enjoyed his class, it was his duty as a teacher to educate them, whether they wanted him to or not.

"Today we will be continuing our lecture series on ancient architecture. As always, extra credit will be given on the day of the test if you turn in your notes, so I recommend you do so. That means you, Mr. Jones."

"Hey! That's cold, dude!"

"Mehrgarh, believed to be started around 7000 B.C., is considered one of the most important and prolific of all ancient civilizations, is located in what is modern day Pakistan…"

THIRD PERIOD

Romulus discreetly poked his head into his friend's classroom, noting with glee that Aldrich had finished his lecture and the students were busying themselves with textbook reading. Truthfully, he himself didn't mind what the class was doing, but Aldrich had been less than happy the last time he waltzed into the classroom while Aldrich had been giving a lesson. Romulus's head hurt just remembering the event. Multiple students glanced upwards at the intrusion before returning to their work, their teacher only noticing Romulus's presence when the man seated himself on his desk atop a stack of forms. "Hey, Aldrich! How are you this fine, sunny day?"

Aldrich's pen stilled, face turning upwards to reveal his exasperated expression. "Romulus. Don't you have a class to teach?"

"Yes, but right now I'm 'making copies'," he explained, grinning broadly and giving Aldrich an exaggerated wink. His coworker looked very unimpressed by this.

"If you have copies to make, go and do them. I have paperwork to do."

Romulus offered a childish frown at Aldrich's prudish behavior. "I don't actually have any copies to make, you know! I came to visit you. Besides, sitting around while they study is boring, and paperwork is even worse. You should consider me a Godsend." He gestured to himself grandly, radiating pure narcissism.

Again, the other instructor looked unimpressed. "Go back to your classroom."

"You're so stingy, Aldrich! You should loosen up. Anyway, we're having lunch together, right~?"

"If you go back to your class and actually work, yes," he deadpanned, returning his attention to the documents in front of him.

Romulus beamed at his victory, hopping off the desk and laughing boisterously. "Excellent. See you in about twenty minutes, my friend! Ciao~!" With that he made his exit, waves of energy left in his wake.

Aldrich sighed. How troublesome.

LUNCH

True to his word, Romulus was in his classroom 27 minutes later, armed with a large paper bag and donning his "teaching glasses".

"Hello, mi amor, I've returned! I have food~"

The mentioned man sighed, taking off his own glasses and shuffling away his papers. Unlike the other history teacher, Aldrich actually needed to wear them. Choosing to ignore the rather embarrassing endearment he replied, "Take off those glasses, Romulus. You look foolish."

"But they make me look intelligent, don't they? Like a real teacher! Not that I'm not intelligent already, of course. Who doesn't recognize this great genius before you?" Romulus made a show of striking a pose and flexing his muscles as if to emphasize his point. It didn't.

"What did you bring?"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Romulus gasped, rummaging through the bag. "I brought pasta, peppers, flank steak, a thermos filled with wine-"

"That's prohibited!" Aldrich looked significantly displeased. Then again, he seemed to be that way a lot when Romulus was nearby.

The aforementioned Italian smiled widely, practically glowing with good humor. "But you want some, yes?"

He sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "…Fine." Romulus laughed boisterously as he poured some of the alcohol into a Styrofoam cup and pushed it over to Aldrich, followed soon by a forkful of spaghetti held to his face. "What are you doing?"

"I only brought one fork! That means we share. Now open up~" he cooed. Grimacing slightly, Aldrich took the food into his mouth, reasoning with himself that it would be worse to eat it with his hands (never mind that he could get one from the staff lounge, but this was yet another point that he chose to ignore).

Suddenly a fork was being forced into his hand. "Now feed me!"

FIFTH PERIOD

This was ridiculous.

Throughout the entire class period, from his lecture to the individual assignments, Aldrich could not stop glancing at the door, expecting to see a jovial Romulus bursting through it.

Was he really so enamored with him?

SIXTH PERIOD

Romulus eagerly stared at the clock, paying no mind to the students as they packed up to leave.

Could the time pass any slower?

AFTER SCHOOL

As Aldrich had been waiting for, Romulus did indeed burst through the door to the classroom, his face shining with joy. Aldrich also noticed that the school day ended in three minutes, making it apparent that Romulus was all too excited to see him. How unprofessional.

Bounding up to him like an energetic puppy Romulus took a seat on the desk once again, waving cheerfully at the students. In seemingly no time at all the chime of the bell rang out to signal the end of classes, students leaving to find their friends or return home. A few of them stopped to ask their instructor about the assigned homework or a question they had about the reading, Aldrich easily answering each one. Once the room cleared out silence reigned for a moment, eradicated by Romulus's voice.

"So I was thinking that we should go out for coffee today. Does that sound good?"

Aldrich pondered this. "Don't you have to manage your grandsons?"

"Nope! Lovino is going over to that Fernandez kid's house – you know, the Spanish one? – and Feliciano was asking me about going out with your kid and Kiku last night. That means my afternoon is free!"

Aldrich nearly smiled at his excitement. Nearly. "I suppose I could, after I make some copies for tomorrow's lesson."

"That's great!" Romulus cheered, getting to his feet and stumbling slightly in his haste. "Let's go make them then! Come on, mi amor." Aldrich blushed when his friend (though he was definitely more than just a friend, despite how reluctant Aldrich was to admit it) took his hand, lacing their fingers together and humming a soft tune.

And maybe, just maybe, Aldrich let himself smile.