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Hey everyone!

Here it is, at last, the newest chapter of my series! Sorry for keep you waiting for this for so long! But it is good to be back to writing, and I am planning for so much now I hope you will like it and, well, in the chapter the characters go to a place that exist in real life, if you ever go to Rome I really suggest you to go there and try some grattachecca! As always, I thank my darling fiancé, Gritou , for always be there for me and for editing this chapter! All faves, comments and votes will be very welcomed

The evening had gone well since the arrival of Sara and Franco, conversation flowing constantly and being punctuated by laughter. Now the conversation separated in two branches concerning the same general topic, work, but with different specialization: the two canine lawyers were discussing quietly with the nutria about the various changes the technocratic government had brought in their field. The rodent had a job in a financial company, but he seemed the type of guy who always kept a feel of what was going on in general, and with some knowledge of law too judging by his appropriate vocabulary.

That left the three restorers talking about their own work, but the subject was waning quickly, as they didn't want to focus on that when they could be relaxing.

"So, do you think that we will start the next chapel soon?" Ale asked, idly stirring his drink with his straw. For a straight man, he had pretty... fabulous tastes sometimes, Luca noticed while watching the swirl of colors caused by the movement of Fantasia, the aptly named alcoholic fruity beverage.

"I sure don't know, probably. I heard that they are actually talking about it," the squirrel gossiped "but the professor has le labbra siggillate1."

"That isn't a good sign." The lupine observed. Such a silent could be just that the deal wasn't finalized in the details, but a much worse scenario came to his mind: that they weren't going to continue the project, thanks to the crisis and the austerities politics.

"You know the prof, he wants to be 100% sure about something before announcing it." The cheerful rottie dismissed his friend's statement and took a big gulp of his drink.

"But don't you think that la riforma Severino2has deteriorated the situation."

"Gosh, they are still talking about that!" Ale snuffled. "Say something to your boyfriend, Sara?"

"What? It was your girlfriend that started the conversation!" She retorted back with a snarl, both not keeping their voice low. Luckily, it seemed that the other three were too focused to hear the exchange.

"You know your fidanzato3, so stop him!" The muscled man answered her back, the tip of a fang showing.

"Why don't you do that with your sweetheart?" She asked. Luca knew the two were just playing, but still it was beginning to get ugly, in a way. He needed to act, and quickly.

"Ragazzi4, what do you think if we go out for a grattachecca5?" The tall canine proposed, not asking at someone in particular and stopping what it seemed to be a very interesting discussion on the new legal tariffs. Five pairs of eyes turned on him, with flicking ears and other signs of interests.

"That is a lovely idea! I was beginning to think we stayed too long inside." Clara agreed with enthusiasm; a much more girly woman would have clapped her paws too, but the German shepherd just smiled brightly, something that made her even more pretty, Luca had to admit.

"That sounds fun!" Guido echoed, passing his long tongue on his lips as if he was already tasting it.

"Isn't there a famous place, near here? Sora Cesira?" The squirrel asked, tilting her head.

"Sora Maria dear." The nutria corrected her gently, caressing her paw as if to console her.

"Yeah, it isn't that far from here, we can walk there!" The athletic rottie suggested.

"Why not? It seems to be the perfect night to do that, not too hot!" The licaone exclaimed, thrilled by the idea; he sounded like he had enough drinks, or maybe Luca thought that just because he didn't have many. Being responsible sucked sometimes, but he had volunteered to be the driver, so that his friend could have fun with his new girlfriend.

"But I must warn you now, considering the hour we will have to wait un sacco di tempo6!" Ale grinned, giving a meaningful stare to the two older furs at the table.

"Ei! I still managed to be up late, thank you very much!" Sara defended herself, taking the bait laid by her friend. "And I'm sure we can wait forty five minutes for those juice-immersed pieces of ice!"

"More like one hour, one hour and a half." The coypu intruded, smiling innocently at the reaction of his squirrel, who just stopped talking to make some calculations. She seemed to be really considering not going, but it was too late, she already boasted about her ability to stay up late.

"Then, we should go as soon as possible!" The female rodent declared, standing up, followed immediately by the others. Ale chuckled softly, amused by what he caused, while laying some coins on the table as a tip. They had already paid the bill, which saved them precious moments. The lupine added some more coins, the service had been good, and surely he didn't do that because of the waiter's nice ass...

He shook his dirty thoughts to see that he had been left behind. He walked toward the stairs, leisurely, after all they were going to wait upstairs, but the upcoming figure he saw approaching from the kitchen made him think that they would wait a bit longer than expected. Al diavolo la fretta di Sara!7

"Are you going already?" Edward the cougar waiter purred, his paws busy with carrying a trailer full of glasses.

"Yeah, my friends want to get some grattachecca." The wolf smiled at the American boy, his tail wagging a bit more quickly now.

"It sure sounds like a good idea! Did you have a good evening here?" The feline asked, his tail looping lazily behind him.

"Of course, you had been great with the service and the place is nice!" He answered, smiling in a foolish manner. He knew perfectly that the foreign boy had a girlfriend, but damn, he was so cute!

"I'm happy for that." The other smiled back, ears flicking. "Your offer for a guided trip of Rome is still on, yeah?"

"Yeah, it is! Call me whenever you want, so we can arrange. I'm sure you and your girlfriend will have lots of fun!" The lupine assured him; the cougar seemed to be a nice kid, and he liked to help nice kids, after all! And he wasn't surely trying to justify himself right now!

"Cool! I'll call ya soon!" The waiter waved goodbye, so to speak, before disappearing in the room to bring the needed beverages to his clients.

"Bye!" Luca shout him back, before starting the brief ascendance to the exit, to meet the gathering of friends who were waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" Sara asked, impatiently. The others didn't seem that bothered by him being late, just staying there and chatting.

"I... I went to the bathroom. Sorry for not warning you!" He lied to her. Considering how they hold a terzo grado8before, he didn't want them to know he had been chatting with Edward, else....

"Okay, well, off we go!" The squirrel called them to order like a teacher with her pupils, heading down the road.

"Dear, the place is in the other direction." Franco whispered her, taking her hand and guiding her along the right street.

"I can lead you guys!" Ale offered, hand in hand with Clara.

"I'm sure you are a good leader!" She flattered him, and the compliment made the rottie puff out his chest in pride. They fell in a lovey dovey conversation soon after that, leaving the other four to walk a bit behind them, else they would get diabetes for how sweet they were.

"They sure look nice together." Guido said, looking a bit unstable on his legs but fine otherwise.

"How many drinks did he actually have?" Luca wondered, hoping that his friend didn't drink as much as he did. Come to think of it, she did say she didn't like drinking much, so there wasn't anything to worry about that.

"Yeah, they are. By the way, Luca, how are the preparations going? For Stanley's visit, I mean?" Sara asked, all of sudden, making his heart beat faster. They had reached the big avenue that was Viale Giulio Cesare and they were walking now under the trees, the couple formed by the two black and tanned dogs still ahead of them.

"Perchè te ne esci così9!?" The lupine exclaimed, surprised by such a question.

"It's a talent of her, to come up with things unrelated to the current situation." Franco said, stamping a kiss on the squirrel's cheek so to mitigate the foul stare she gave him.

"Who's Stanley? A sexy friend of yours, Sara?" The painted wolf intruded in the conversation.

"I don't know if he is sexy, I never saw him. He is the son of a friend of my mom, who is coming to live here." She answered nonchalantly.

"So, why aren't you going to do that yourself? Maybe he is-" The rodent stopped him before he could say something more.

"Because I can't. Plus, he is closer to Luca's age than he is to mine, even if that pains me to tell." She confessed, and the lupo could almost be sure that she was blushing because of her confession; by the sound of Franco's chuckle, someone was beyond sureness.

"Oh, I see, better to give that kind of job to the wolf!" Guido laughed a bit, as if he had just made a fantastical joke.

"Uhm, yeah, since I do work part-time as a guide, it was logical for Sara to ask me that." He said, being extra careful to not even allude to the whole age gap problem; not that his friend was that touchy about that, but still, better not to push the subject.

"You work as a guide too?" The licaone uttered, somewhat sobering thanks to the combination of fresh air, walking and the cold, cold stare of a certain squirrel.

"Yeah, always nice to get a little bit of extra money." The lupine simply put, a bit confused since he thought he already told him that during the evening. He didn't get to remember if he had for real, since the other restorer charged again.

"You didn't answer me. Are you ready for next Saturday?"

"Yeah, I have some plans prepared, and so on. Don't worry; he will have a nice afternoon, if the heat spares us." The tall canine assured her, stopping now to graciously wait the end of Clara and Ale's sudden kissing session. Probably there was another dog who drank too much...

"Good, good, my mom will be happy to hear that." The squirrel nodded, fending off with her paw an attempt by the nutria to have their own session of such a pleasurable act. He didn't seem to the lupine that he minded that, so maybe it had been a jokingly attempt.

"I'm sure. But maybe you should give me Stanley's email, so that I can contact him directly; he would like that better than having you serving him things already prepared!" He proposed, eyeing Guido a bit since he didn't have una buona cera10, standing near a tree, leaning to it with a paw as if he was going to puke.

"Uhm, okay, I will ask mom for that..." She trailed off, watching the painted dog too with weary eyes. She, and Luca with her, relaxed when it was clear the dog was just stretching his arms, even if in a weird way. Franco, who the lupo didn't see moving to help the licaone, returned at his girlfriend's side.

"That's a bad idea, you know these northern women: they want to be in control of everything!" The nutria joked, smiling even more broadly at the annoyed shake of Sara's head.

"That's why I am gay." He laughed, not adding that there were plenty of guys with the same attitude.

"Maybe there are a couple of other, hard reasons for that." The painted wolf, having finished his stretching, chuckled. "Look, they are done!"

They sure had, with Ale staring at them and even motioning to hurry up; he retained enough good sense to not shout that at such a nightly hour. They did as commanded, though they kept the distance a bit, as before, since the two guiding dogs seemed still absorbed in each other.

"Che stavo dicendo11? Oh yes! Sure, I will send you his contact by tomorrow!" The squirrel came back to the matter at hand.

"Good, thank you!"

"Will your brother be there too?" Franco asked, now taking Sara under one of his arms. The question was really surprising; he didn't remember that he had told the coypu about having a bother. But he guessed he had, if he mentioned it.

"No, he won't." He responded, his voice a bit restrained for crossing the viale quickly, before the lights turned red. "Why?"

"As Sara said, this visit is as much about showing the kid the city as to give him some opportunities to acclimate." The nutria revealed his plan, always holding the squirrel under his arm. "Since, if I recall it, your brother is just a bit younger than this Stanley; it could be another opportunity to meet people his age."

That made perfectly sense to the lupo, giving two choices for the incoming Husky that could lead to knowing more people. It was perfect, but just for a tiny, little detail...

"Uhm, that sounds like a good idea, but Valerio isn't that ... interested in visiting Rome. God knows how many times me or my parents tried to bring him to visit places! In his own city!" The lupine snuffled at the lack of curiosity for the past his brother had.

"But you could arrange so that he could come later, maybe for an aperitivo12?" Sara chimed in, reinvigorated at the prospective of fulfilling her task in such a competent way.

"Uhm, maybe, I should ask him." He agreed, thinking that he could do that once he saw him during the week. He saw his friend Ale crossing the street along with his German Shepherd, turning in Via della Giuliana and, after that, in Via Trionfale. Their group had to stop and wait for the lights to be in their favour, they didn't want to risk crossing knowing the Romans's driving behavior.

"Oh! I thought of something more!" The female spoke once again, excited by the new, wonderful, sudden idea. "You promised that waiter a visit, no?"

"Uhm, yes, I did." The wolf simply answered, and he willed his ears to stay still but didn't manage to stop the blush on his cheeks.

"So, you can invite him in your visit with Stanley! I know he did a Master in America, so he won't have problems with that cougar." She smiled, happiness clear on her feature. "That will give him even more opportunities to make friends in the new city!"

"Uhm, okay, sounds ... fun, but aren't you doing il conto senza l'oste13?" He uttered, the waiting for the green light stretching to infinity.

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"Well, we don't know if any of the two would want that, we don't know if Edward will be free next Saturday." The lupo enumerated patiently. "We absolutely don't know if they will get along. And, lastly, I don't even know this guy!"

They remained silent for a second, finally getting their opportunity to join the couple on the other side and proceed with their journey.

"So, what are those long, thoughtful muzzles?" Ale asked them, having waited for them on the other side of the street.

"They are discussing about some outing with a kid, or something..." Guido answered him, beating the others in doing the same.

"Oh, you mean the thing with Stanley n. 2?" The question didn't come, surprisingly enough, from the muscled rottie but by his lovely companion at his side.

"Wait, you know about it?!" The lupo exclaimed in shock, more because that statement meant that she knew about the first Stanley.

"Yep, Ale here told me a while ago." She patted the canine on his arm, as to show the culprit of such a hideous crime.

"That's a cute name for the kid. One day you should present me Stanley n.1." Sara charged in, never letting down a chance of knowing more about their friends.

"Uh-oh, well, that will be a bit difficult, since he is in America..." The rottie slipped, feeding the fires inside the squirrel; she looked like she had the most tasteful nut in her mouth, but, as the good rodent she was, she didn't say more, waiting for the right moment to use what she had gathered. Not that Luca cared, he was more busy about thinking how much his friend told to the fit canine that was his current sweetheart. Of course he could tell all sorts of things to her, if he wanted to, but that was some private stuff he didn't want a somewhat stranger to know...

The Rottweiler probably felt the heavy stare he was being subject too, from how his ears flicked when he stared back at his friend.

"Soooo why are why standing up here, only a few meters from Sora Maria? Let's go!" He hastily pushed them in the direction of their goal, just giving an apologetic look at Luca that could have meant anything. Surely, it didn't save him an interrogation the day after, or the eventual lecture about privacy...

They walked the road, already seeing the lights signalising the small chiosco14, just on the side of the street, on the curb. The same lights showed the long, long line of furs waiting to be served, stretching a good 100 meters on the road, a sight that elicited a general groan from the group.

"I did warn you that it would take time." Ale stoically said

"But that line is so long!" Sara lamented, speaking for everyone.

"Well, if you are afraid to get a little late and lose some sleep..." The rottie teased her, a grin on his muzzle.

"Of course I am not! We are going to wait, and get this grattachecca, and enjoy it!" She declared in her outrage, sealing their doom.

"Well, for the best grattachecca in town, I could wait a day!" Luca stated, looking forward to the icey treat.

Translation:

1) The lips sealed.

2) Recent reform about legal tariffs and such, named after the then Minister of Justice Paola Severino.

3) Boyfriend. Actually, it means "fiancé" and it should used only once you are betrothed. Nowadays, it is used colloquially for any relationship lasting more than a week.

4) Guys/boys.

5) Roman summer treat, akin to the Sicilian granita but being ice pieces with juices added later instead of frozen juice.

6) Colloquial way to say "a lot of time".

7) To hell Sara's haste!

8) Truncated version of "interrogatorio di terzo grado", meaning third-degree interrogation. In Italian, it means when an interrogation is very invasive and detailed.

9) Why do you bring that out like that? It's kinda an untranslatable Italian expression, that's what comes near ^^

10) "Non avere una buona cera", literally translated with "Not having a good wax", means looking sick/pale.

11) What was I saying?

12) Aperitif

13) Doing the counting without the bartender, a Roman expression meaning deciding something without considering the other persons and factors.

14) Kiosk, stall.