Work Text:
A few days ago Anchise had been lounging on the lawn after grafting onto the peach tree some new stock and listening to the lunch drudgery. It was another inane political argument about socialism, which he had no interest in, but he listened because it was comical. Two people trying to justify something they really didn't understand and never experienced was hilarious. From his place on the lawn he noticed that Oliver and Elio were playing footsies under the table. Their flirtation was very obvious to him. He even fixed up a bike especially for Oliver and it made Anchise smile everytime Elio and Oliver rode off for a new adventure. He watched as Elio jumped up suddenly and ran into the villa with a napkin held to his nose. It must be another one of those nosebleeds that Elio got sometimes. Anchise hoped that Mafalda remembered that he moved the ice to the bar fridge to make room for the capon he picked up this morning. He watched as Oliver followed Elio into the house and he smiled at the budding love affair. Anchise snapped out of his daydream, picked another apricot and placed it in the basket at his feet. The trees were quite heavy with fruit this year, his extra care and fertilizer in the spring had made this possible. He watched the interaction between Oliver and Elio as he worked. As he watched their association, he knew what was happening between them, even if they didn't. He knew because he once was young and understood the glances and expressions of two people courting each other. He had once been Elio's age and his hormones had raged too. He was 17 and went to study at the Arboretum in Nice, there he met his Oliver, whose name was Anton. The memory made Anchise smile, his heart made a small flutter and his mind turned back to the memories of that year and that love.