Feliciano stirred, listening to the other in his room move about, picking up clothing and muttering to himself. Feliciano didn't like talking to customers that stayed overnight; the conversations tended to be awkward and the man who had muttered sweet nothings in Feliciano's ear the night before tended to be upset and even slightly hostile to Feliciano in the morning. It was better for Feliciano to believe that the man was still in love with him, if only for the first few minutes Feliciano woke up.

The man cautiously approached Feliciano and touched his shoulder, bringing Feliciano out of his thoughts. "Ah—please wake up. Who do I give my money to? It's a check so I… Could you sit up?" The man snapped when Feliciano remained laying down.

Feliciano sat up immediately; face heating up slightly in embarrassment. He should have known to sit up. "Y-yeah~! You'll see this pretty lady with long brown hair cooking, give it to her. You don't have to give her your name, just mine and the check."

The man nodded, blinking. "Okay… Okay. I'll tell her I slept with…" He waved his hand toward Feliciano, who quickly responded.

"Feliciano, Roger. Feliciano." He shot Roger a tired smile, immensely disappointed Roger didn't remember his name. Currently, the man had spent the night with Feliciano five times, and every morning the man forgot Feliciano's name.

Roger nodded, buttoning up his shirt. "Yep. Yep—Felish—Feli. Sorry." He left, leaving Feliciano fully awake and lonely. Sometimes Roger talked more, about his wife and kids, and Feliciano would nod eagerly. Now, though, Feliciano just felt sad and angry at Roger for screwing him and leaving. It wasn't even a reasonable time to wake Feliciano up at.

Feliciano sighed, shook his head and stood up, cracking his back. Oh, how Feliciano's back ached. He sighed and threw his clothes in the hamper. Feliciano quickly grabbed his clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom across the hall from his room, #7. Although Feliciano was the one of the first ones up, Elizabeta would be using hot water, and he didn't want to use it all up.

Feliciano pulled on a tank top, sweatshirt and short-shorts and examined himself in the mirror. He frowned, tugging at the stray curl on the left side of his head before quickly brushing his teeth and heading down stairs to help Elizabeta in the kitchen.

Alicia's House of Pleasure, Feliciano current place of residence, was quite simply, a brothel. It was located on 57 School Street, right outside the business part of the city. The establishment started out as a simple bed a breakfast place, but as time wore on and the town around it became seedier and the bills became harder to pay, Alicia's House of Pleasure began offering prostitutes to draw people in. While all the other businesses closed, Alicia's House of Pleasure remained a permanent inhabitant of School Street.

Some prostitutes, like Feliciano, had to go out during the day to find customers to make money. Three others were allowed to stay in the restaurant part of Alicia's House and serve the day time meals to patrons. While originally the plan was to alternate who got to go out and who got to make food, Alicia decided that that certain prostitutes were more capable of running the business than others. Feliciano was saddened at the decision; he liked cooking.

When Feliciano arrived in the kitchen, Elizabeta was busy making pancakes for the other members of Alicia's House. Elizabeta was one of the three who got to stay and work at Alicia's House during the day, as she was the best cook out of everybody—even Feliciano. She was one of the hardest workers Feliciano knew, and personally, Feliciano thought she cooked faster and better than any Iron Chef. Feliciano knew very little of how Elizabeta ended up in Alicia's House, but Feliciano hoped she could leave it; she deserved better.

When Elizabeta noticed Feliciano, she grinned. "Feli~! Good morning. I see you woke up early. You might as well help me make pancakes. One of the burners is open, and I'm distracted preparing for food later today. Make—ah—blueberry, please." Feliciano was all too happy to oblige.

While preparing, Feliciano talked amicably to Elizabeta, enjoying one of the few times he got to spend alone with her. She took care of everyone, and she was so motherly and caring that soon Feliciano found himself talking about Roger to her.

"When he goes to sleep, he seems like he likes me so much, but then in the morning I'm a stranger!" Feliciano let out a huff, before glancing guiltily up at Elizabeta, who was piling pancakes onto a platter. "But who I'm I to complain to you…?"

Elizabeta frowned and turned her back on Feliciano for a moment, placing the platter of pancakes onto the table at the far end of the kitchen. While she thought, Feliciano glanced at the kitchen. It was impeccably clean, for belonging to a one star restaurant and brothel…

"Feli!" Elizabeta finally exclaimed, turning to face the startled boy. "Roger is a rotten piece of scum. He comes looking for a—a—poor boy to take his needs out on. Feli…" She walked over to him, placing a warm hand on his cheek. "Please, don't get attached. You know how that goes…" Elizabeta bit her cheek. "How Alicia deals with that…"

Feliciano let out a small smile. "I'll try not. Thank you, 'Liza. You're such a good person…"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes and got back to cooking. "You're going to make me cry." Although Feliciano thought she meant to say that with sarcasm, he detected a faint tremor in her voice... "Go upstairs and wake the rest of the lazy bastards up. They're not going to have time to eat unless they get a move on. God knows how long Yao takes to get his hair done…"

Feliciano nodded and bounded upstairs. He knocked on room #1, which was Yao's room. "Yao~" Feliciano sang. "Are you up? Elizabeta made pancakes, and she'll be super-de-duper angry if you don't head down stairs. You've missed breakfast for the past few days…"

Yao opened the door, peering out at Feliciano. "Feliciano, I'm coming. I've just had trouble sleeping for the past few days, so it's been harder getting up… Really, I am. Go wake the others." He shut the door quickly, leaving a concerned Feliciano on the other side.

Yao had been acting weird for the past couple of days. He had been coming back to Alicia's House late, not bringing back as much money and skipping meals. Whenever Feliciano tried to pester Yao about what he was worried about, Yao would just refuse to speak until Feliciano changed the subject. Feliciano sighed; he would open up eventually…

Feliciano skipped room #3, as Kiku was already downstairs in the main part of Alicia's House, setting up silverware and rearranging the flowers. Kiku was the second person allowed to stay in Alicia's House during the day. He tended to the general upkeep of the establishment, such as laundry and cleaning, as well as helping out Elizabeta in the kitchen or taking orders during the lunch crowd. Instead, Feliciano bypassed Elizabeta's room #2 to room #4.

Feliciano knocked on the door, rolling his eyes at the silly American flag taped hastily yet proudly at eye level. Really, sometimes Alfred's patriotic spirit was quite foolish... especially on the Fourth of July. Feliciano shivered just remembering the last Independence Day.

The hurried call of:

"Oh—hold on! I'm just trying to find my—" Bang "Damn it—glasses. Be down in a—" Crash "My vase—second!" Assured Feliciano that Alfred was indeed up.

Alfred was the last person allowed to stay and help Alicia's House during the day. He waited on the tables and brought the food out, not to mention flirted with everyone to get extra tips. However, Feliciano knew that Alfred was essentially the guard of the building while the others were away. If any thugs came knocking, Alfred would knock them right back.

Feliciano shook his head and skipped off, internally telling himself off for daydreaming so much today. He knocked on room #6, waiting patiently for the occupant to answer. Torris looked out nervously at Feliciano, and then smiled. "Sorry, Feli. Feliks is taking especially long to pick out his outfit today. We'll be down in a moment." He shut the door, and Feliciano heard the impatient chastising of Torris, directed at poor Feliks.

Feliciano didn't know much about either of the two that shared room #6. Feliks had been in Alicia's house for at least as long as Feliciano had. Originally, he was always daydreaming, or talking on the landline to someone. Then, one day a week or so ago, Feliks showed up with Torris, a sorry looking prostitute from another brothel with a black eye and a limp. Since then, Feliks had been the most talkative and lively Feliciano had ever seen him in all the years of living together. Feliciano hoped Torris stayed and continued to accompany Feliks every day; whatever the two did made Feliks happy, which in turn made Feliciano happy for the two of them.

Letting a small smile cross his face, Feliciano walked over to the last room: room #5. He cautiously knocked on the door and opened it a crack, peering into the surprisingly neat room. There was a reason Feliciano left this room for last. He sighed and dawdled at the door. Behind Feliciano, Alfred sneaked up next to the shorter boy, looking in as well.

"Best do it fast. I got up to pee and I heard him up at—oh geez—five? Four?" Alfred rubbed the back of his neck. "Letting him sleep any longer would only throw him all out of sorts. Gooo, Feli. Nowwwww." Alfred playfully shoved Feliciano.

Feliciano laughed, trying to smother his laugh. "No. He'll just be angry with me." He mellowed out, frowning. "Plus, I he had a rough day, yesterday. Some creep came up to him and just stared at him for a while."

Alfred rolled his eyes, stood up to his full height and kicked to door open. It swung and smashed against the wall. Feliciano, aghast, turned to berate Alfred only to find he had run off down stairs, leaving poor Feliciano looking like the culprit.

Inside, there was a growl. "So help me, Feliciano, if I sit up and you're still there…" A form sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes.

Feliciano panicked and held his hands up. "No! Lovino it was Alfred!" He wailed, shaking his head. "I would never wake you up like that! Please don't head-butt me! Last time you did I got an awful bruise and Elizabeta said I had to take it easy and—oh Lovi forgive me!"

"Feli." Feliciano looked hopefully into the room, blinking away tears that he had created due to his panic. "Shut. The. Hell. Up. I forgive you. Now let me get ready, please." Lovino stood up and walked over to the door, gracing Feliciano with a small smile. "I won't head-butt you again. I promise."

Feliciano grinned and tackle-hugged his older brother. "Oh, thank you! I'm sorry Alfred woke you up do bad!"

Lovino blushed and pushed Feliciano away. "Get off of me, you hugging—hugging…"

Feliciano smiled. "Buffoon?" He suggested.

Lovino rubbed his temples. "I'm too tired for this shit. I'll be down in a minute. Tell Elizabeta not to get her panties in a knot, either, if I take longer than a minute. She's so god damned precise."

Feliciano nodded and skipped downstairs, happy his brother woke up in a good mood. Usually it was Feliciano who was happy to wake up, and it was Lovino who never wanted to go to sleep… Until he did go to sleep, in which case, then he wanted to never wake up. What a strange night creature his brother was, Feliciano thought as he arrived in the kitchen.

Everyone who Feliciano had woken up beforehand was eating pancakes and talking loudly, Elizabeta taking a break from cooking and enjoying her breakfast as well. Feliciano bounced over and took his seat next to her, grabbing a blueberry pancake and drenching it in syrup. He listened to the conversation around the table as he ate, laughing at what was being said.

"So, I said to him, 'Well, I don't think that's very nice to say to this lil' darling, here. I want you to apologize 'n—'" Alfred boasted loudly, before being cut off by Yao.

"I was there! You didn't say that at all to the guy, he was twice your size and double your weight. You would have never remotely said such a thing… And you certainly didn't have a southern accent! Don't lie to make yourself look better—"

"Yeah, we already know too much to be influenced by you." Feliks said, leaning on Torris and snickering. He mock shuddered. "So, so much…"

The table burst into laughter and Alfred tried to recover from being insulted. At that time, Lovino marched angrily down stairs and sat across from Feliciano, scavenging for the remaining pancakes. Elizabeta gazed warily at Lovino, frowning. "What time did you stay up until now?"

Lovino's face heated up, and he glared at Elizabeta. "If you must know, Mom, None-of-your-fucking-business AM. Sorry if that's late." He deadpanned and tilted his head to the side. "Ah. The boss is here. Nine'o clock on the dot." Lovino sank back into his chair, scowling.

The whole table instantly quieted down, listening to the approaching pair of footsteps. The kitchen doors swung open, revealing Alicia herself and Chez, who was standing a few feet behind. Alicia rarely showed up herself, usually preferring to send Chez to attend to the business of the day. Obviously, she had something important to say, or she would never mingle with the actual staff of Alicia's House.

Alicia's cold blue eyes scanned over the table, making eye contact with everyone. Her gaze finally settled on Yao, who stiffened. "Yao. How are you?" She asked, tilting her head ever so slightly so she looked down on him. Intimidating him, Feliciano thought unhappily.

Yao broke eye contact, tugging on his pony tail. "Fine, thanks. How… how are you?" Feliciano's heart went out to Yao; it was never a good sign when Alicia singled you out. It meant something was going to happen. Whether it was good or bad, Feliciano had no idea.

Alicia nodded, and then glanced at Torris. "Torris." She nodded, before turning on her heal and walking out of the kitchen and to the front doors. Alicia left her business deathly quiet, the air thick with uncertainty. Only five words, Feliciano thought, and Alicia had managed to scare everyone stiff.

Chez, the polar opposite of Alicia with warm, expressive eyes coughed politely. "She just wanted to see how everyone was faring…" He said mildly, smiling faintly.

Lovino was the first to snap under pressure by lashing out. "Bull shit. She never comes in here, unless she plans on doing something. What's she planning to do with Yao, hmm? Or Torris?" His voice bordered on hysterical. "Or someone else? Feli, perhaps?"

Elizabeta's eyes widened and she turned to look at Lovino. "Calm down. You're over reacting. You heard Chez, she was just here to… to… to make sure we were doing alright." She turned her gaze to the rest of the table and smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Come now, we're running behind! It's time to go." She stood, and walked toward the stove.

Slowly, the rest of the room stirred. Chez went to go sit down in the main part of Alicia's House—to keep an eye on things—while Feliciano was the second one to hop up from the table. "She's right!" He chirped, tugging Lovino up as well. "We can't sit around here all day!"

There was a murmur of consent as the rest of the table stood. Lovino finished the sentence that hanging in the air. "Besides." He mumbled, "We don't want her coming back if we did…"