Okay, now I got that out of the way ... what happens now??

We'll both find out!! :)

(Actually, no. I know. I mean, I've been doing excessive research, so I kinda need to haha)
(...Even if most of it didn't make the cut because I'm trying to find a balance between excessive details and what's necessary for some accuracy.)

Get ready for a lunch date! (The picture is kinda where I imagine them to be)

Enjoy! :)

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"Sono Antonio," the singer introduced himself.

Sean snaps back to reality. "Sono Sean."

Antonio smiles. "Piacere."

"Piacere," Sean echoes. He's running out of Italian phrases that he knows. Well. He has been studying Italian, but now that he has to use it, talking to someone really cute who he just sang a duet with, it's all flying away.

"Vuoi parlare inglese?" Antonio asks, sensing Sean's rising discomfort.

"Sì!" Sean exclaims, relieved. Then he realizes that he just answered a question asked in Italian about wanting to speak English ... in Italian. 

Luckily for him, Antonio chuckles a little, amused. Sean gives in and chuckles too.

"Want to find a spot to eat lunch somewhere?" Antonio suggests.

That's right; Sean was looking for somewhere to have lunch ... but then got distracted.

Extremely distracted.

"That sounds good," Sean agrees.

Antonio stands up and starts packing up the keyboard. "Just give me a few minutes and I can show you anywhere in the city you want to go."

"Okay." Sean steps back, not entirely knowing what to do. "I'm not interrupting your little street show or anything, am I?"

"Oh no, you're fine. That was the last song I was planning on playing anyway." Antonio looks up and grins. "If anything, I was better because you interrupted it."

"Mm." Sean doesn't exactly know what to say to that, even though he's glad Antonio feels that way. To keep things from getting too awkward, he asks, "Do you just carry that thing everywhere with you?"

"It's like the other street singers who carry guitars everywhere with them," Antonio answers breezily as he continues dissembling the keyboard and packs it up. "Very portable. Yeah, keyboard is kinda more of a hassle, but I like it better than a guitar, you know?"

"I play both," Sean responds, "But yeah, I get what you mean. I like the way on a keyboard or piano you can see all the notes in front of you, and how all your fingers reach them. Plus, you can play many notes at once. And it sounds both beautiful and magical." 

Antonio sits up and throws his arms up in the air. "Finally. Someone who gets me."

That makes Sean smile a little. 

True, he threw that last sentence in on an impulse. But they were able to connect further because of it, so he's glad that he did.

"Alright." Antonio zips up the keyboard and its stand and the little stool he used and stands up, strap on his shoulder. "Let's go find some food!"

They find a little restaurant close to the sea. Antonio speaks Italian to the waiters (he's obviously a local who has been here a lot) and they are seated at a small table outside with an amazing view.

"Don't you just love looking out at the sea?" Antonio asks, not taking his eyes away from the ocean.

"I do," Sean says. And it's true, this is such a pretty view.

"Okay, I'm dying to know," Antonio asks suddenly, "how did you know that song?"

Sean knew that this question was coming sooner or later. "I, uh..." He trails off. "It's kinda hard to explain."

"Well, if there's one thing I've learned," Antonio tells him, "is that nothing in life is every truly simple." He leans back. "Nor is everything entirely complex."

Huh.

"I guess I just don't think it's that interesting how I know it," Sean admits. "I was looking up new and/or popular Italian songs before coming here, so I would have an idea of what to expect, and then I found Una Cosa Più Grande, and I've been listening to it a lot."

Antonio grins, leaning forward, resting his chin in his hand. "And you loved it so much you memorized it."

"I mean, I guess."

"You guess? I know very few people who could do what you did then. And that was awesome."

Sean grins sheepishly and averts his eyes. "Okay, maybe it was kind of cool."

"Wow, why are the best ones always so modest?" Antonio leans back again, arms folded, looking entirely amused.

"Is this a game to you?" Sean asks.

Antonio smirks. "Everything is a game if you want it to be."

Sean has nothing to say. He can truly say that he has never met anyone like Antonio before.

"So how does a guy like you at age...?" Sean begins to ask.

"23."

Like me.

"..at age 23 end up playing in a piazza?"

Antonio shrugs. "It's fun."

"Fun?"

"Weren't you having fun back there?"

"Well--yes, but ... I don't know. I'm just used to people my age either being in college or getting out of college."

"I'm studying at the University of Florence right now," Antonio explains. "In the summer I just bounce around a lot. Odd jobs here and there every now and then. Not having a fixed place. And why wouldn't I be having fun? Playing music, something I enjoy, for others to enjoy, knowing that I'll make at least one person happier as they walk through the piazza, therefore making me happy, that's all I need."

"That actually doesn't sound that bad."

Look at this guy giving me new perspectives on things.

"So," Antonio changes the subject, "How long have you been in Italy?"

"This is my second full day," Sean answers. "My flight arrived two days ago mid-afternoon. New York to Italy causes some serious jetlag."

"Yeah, that'll do it," Antonio agrees, tone indicating he's had plenty experience with this. "Don't worry, going back is easier. Yeah, it's a six hour difference, but it always feels better on the side that's behind a few hours."

"So do you travel between New York and Italy regularly?"

"I have dual citizenship," Antonio explains. "I was born here, but I spent a majority of my childhood in America. It's been a lot of back and forth between Italy and New York for me. My senior year of high school was the sixth year I spent in America without at least visiting Italy once, so I knew I had to come back here. And here I've been since then." He stops. "Sorry. That was a lot. And I didn't even get into all of it. It's a complicated situation."

"Well, I think it's cool," Sean tells him. "With me, where I've lived is a very simple concept. I've lived in Brooklyn my whole life."

Antonio smiles. "You're right. That's very simple." Then he mentions, "When I live in America, I live in Manhattan."

"So you're telling me that we've nearly always been within driving distance but it takes us going around the world for us to meet?"

Antonio laughs. "I think so."

A waiter comes by to take their orders. Sean is determined to speak Italian this time. The only problem is that he's been so wrapped up in conversation with Antonio that he barely looked at the menu. Well, now's the time to improvise.

Antonio orders bread--Sean forgot they had to order bread as a side dish here, when in America some restaurants just set it down on the table.

After that's been taken care of, Antonio leans back in his chair. "Everything's laid back here, unlike in America. Prepare to be here awhile."

Yeah, that was something Sean was reading up on before coming here. How food takes its time to get to the table, and how meals aren't grab and go like in America. He's been liking this style so far. As well as coffee at the bar in the morning.

Yet the thing that Sean can't get over is that lunch isn't exactly the lightest meal of the day. It's going to take a while. And Antonio knows that. So Antonio is willingly ready to spend a good portion of the afternoon with Sean, even though they just met. Sean doesn't entirely know how to feel about that, but he likes that thought.

"So you speak perfect English and Italian," Sean starts, "are you bilingual? Or do you have any other languages up your sleeve?"

"Several," Antonio responds. "I'm nearly fluent in Sicilian, I'm close enough to being fluent in Spanish that I can get us through Spain, I know a good portion of Latin, I've recently started studying Greek, and I just started learning Polish conversation starters."

Sean's eyes widen. "That's a lot." He pauses. "How does Polish fit into all of that?"

Antonio shrugs. "I don't know. Oh. And Swahili. I just started learning Polish and Swahili."

Sean laughs. "That's even more random."

"I guess. I don't know. I just love learning languages."

"That's really cool," Sean tells him. "The only language I'm fluent in English. I know some Spanish from school, I studied some Italian before coming here-"

"But not that much," Antonio interrupts with a cheeky grin.

Sean rolls his eyes and sighs. "I studied Italian but not that much, and I'm trying to study Gaelic."

"Wow." Antonio raises his eyebrows, impressed. "Gaelic's not an easy language to learn."

"I guess. My family's Irish, but all they've taught me is a few phrases and words passed down through the generations. I'm just trying to get more connected to the culture, you know?"

Antonio nods empathectially. "That, I understand."

The waiter comes by with their food. "Buon appetito!"

"Grazie!" Antonio and Sean say together.

Antonio immediately reaches for the bread.

"You really like bread, don't you?" Sean asks, amused.

"What?" Antonio asks defiantly, then takes a bite of it. "È il mio pane quotidiano."

Sean smiles. "Touché."

And so they begtin their meal and continue their conversation, both enjoying themselves thoroughly.

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Aww, they're getting to know each other <3

So I incorporated some little details of research I found about dining in Italy while also not being overly specific, and if anyone has any critiques on this I'm open to it.

Spot and Race just have a natural banter, you know? I don't care if it's canon era or modern au or whatever the heck you've done to them. I just love writing them banter back and forth.

Okay, I think I got everything in here.

Hope you enjoy the chapters to come! :)

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who is (was) writing this on the day of the 30th anniversary of Newsies)