Inbox (Kaisou)

[schoolingfish]

Am I doing it right? Is it rec-oh! It is! Hi! You missed me, leave a message!

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[schoolingfish]

[Luca had gotten himself signed up for some summer school courses when he heard about them from Moana and Varian, hoping to get himself to where a kid his age should be before the new school year starts. While he hates taking the time away from hanging out with Alberto, it's only for a few weeks and he figures Alberto has a lot of his own stuff to do anyway. Like finding things to sell to Eda's shop.

He's not expecting anything too terribly eventful to have happened while he was gone, though. Grabbing the key from under the mat, Alberto will hear the click of the lock and Luca opening the door. Before he even looks into their apartment, Luca starts to greet his friend in a cheery tone.]

Ciao, Alberto! How was--

[He trails off as he walks into the room, first noticing that all the jars were missing from their hanging spots.]

Mother of pearl! Did all the jars really fall down--

[Now, he had noticed a lot of the furniture was pulled away from the walls, but with Alberto that could mean anything. Sometimes it's hard to predict what he'll get up to, after all. But then, it's unusual that he'd get up to it so quietly. No music, no yelling, and Alberto...is he cleaning? Then when Alberto finally manages to get the glass out, Luca has so many more questions. That cabinet is nowhere near the jars.]

How did glass from the jar get all the way over there?

[Then there's the bit of dead plants all cut up everywhere, the bloodied gauze which isn't too surprising since Alberto had those wounds from the goose...wait. Luca looks at Alberto, closing the door behind him, noticing all the places that had various bite marks now looking completely fine. How...]

Um...Alberto? What happened while I was gone?

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto starts slightly at the question, his nonchalant act almost instantly faltering. But he doubles down, shifting to sit more comfortably on the floor, though he stays sprawled out, propping himself up by his elbow with his chin in his hand. ]

Ohhh... Uh. I had— company. And the glass broke. Watch your feet, okay? Oh, hey, look!

[ On a hairpin turn, he suddenly shoots up, sitting upright with his legs crossed, and sticks his arm out to show Luca the lack of scrapes and scratches and bites. ]

Amazing, right? I'm healed! It's magic! I met a cool magic guy online, he came over and healed me. August? He can talk to birds and he's a psychic fortune teller, too — he knew my name before I even said it! Che forza, eh?

[ Distracting from whatever issue is clearly at hand here... But he's not gonna open with "hey, someone figured out we're sea monsters, welcome home." He'll at least let Luca get inside and sit down for this. He's eating himself inside. He's been dreading this talk with Luca ever since Katsuki left. He knows he's the one who messed up here on some level, deep down. So they'll just... ease into it. If only for his sake. ]

[schoolingfish]

The glass broke and landed all the way over there?

[Something isn't adding up, but Luca goes over to look at Alberto's arm. That is pretty amazing.]

Wow, that is pretty amazing! And he could heal you up just like that?

[And he's psychic, too! Wait...]

Um...Alberto? If he's psychic...does he know anything else about you? Other than your name?

[Like the fact that Alberto is a sea monster?]

[prontissimo]

[ There's a delay of about ten minutes or so, before Alberto responds, not with another text, but instead... with something no one wanted. But now it exists. Sorry. ]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's face falls at the question. He... hadn't thought of that. Could August tell he wasn't human, just by having done his magic on him...? Alberto forces a breath of a chuckle out in spite of himself, bracing himself inwardly. ]

Um, ha, I-I don't think so? Not that he let on, at least. But, um— that brings me to the glass...

[ Oh. Oh, no. There's something extremely foreboding in the way he segued there... He rises to his feet, turning to face Luca with a nervous smile on his face, as the feigned nonchalance begins to shed away. He abruptly lifts his shirt (a navy shirt that reads "CRABULOUS" with a trail of little red embroidered crabs, a topically nautical prized thrift store find, just to make matters worse; not like that adds suspicion at all, right) and exposes his chest to Luca — aaalso totally normalll...? ]

See? Bruise is gone, too. Um— ...Luca, weird question, hah, but— can you show me your belly? Does it look perfect like mine, or do you have a hole in it...?

[ He points first to his side, where the bruise had been, which is now completely healed, but what he really means to show off here is his smooth and unscarred belly... He points to his own first, then to Luca's, meeting his eye with an uncharacteristic hint of worry in his gaze. He's seen Luca shirtless plenty; he already knows the answer. But maybe he's overlooked Luca's bellybutton, it's possible, it's not like Alberto's ever looked for it, since he... didn't know what a bellybutton was... He just wants confirmation on this before he lets the truth out. If Luca has a bellybutton, then they might be in the clear — well, sort of — but... Alberto's fairly sure he doesn't, either... ]

[schoolingfish]

[That brings him to the glass? Why does that bring him to the glass? Luca's incredibly concerned about that segue, but decides to say nothing, to give Alberto a chance to explain and to avoid distracting him. Then he lifts his shirt and shows him that his bruise is gone, too. Okay...what does this have to do with a possible exposure, though? And why is Alberto asking him about holes in his belly?]

Um...no, there's no hole.

[Luca lifts his shirt to show Alberto his belly buttonless belly.]

See? I'm fine. Why are you asking me if I have a hole? Is there someone going around stabbing people in the belly?

[Seriously, Alberto, what is that question?]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto leans in, bending straight down with his hands on his hips, to inspect Luca's belly at a closer distance, with a shrewdly discerning look on his face... but it's a let down. It's true. Luca's navel looks exactly like his. Smooth and unscarred — with no sign of an umbilicus in the slightest. Alberto inhales sharply, a look of defeat suddenly washing over him, and he lowers his shirt, flopping backwards suddenly onto the nest of cushions they call a sofa, abandoning his cleaning project for the moment. He lays dejectedly, motionless, limbs splayed akimbo, with his gaze fixed on the empty ceiling where the jars of marbles and buttons and whatnots used to hang. He doesn't have a good wind-up for this conversation. He's tried to rehearse a few before Luca came home, but he's not been satisfied with any of them. So just wings it with something entirely new, improv, off-the-cuff, which is... not gonna yield the best result, more than likely... But he feels something might be said for his candor? ]

...Soooo... ...Humans have holes in their bellies. I guess. They call them buttons. I don't know. It's just a scar. But I guess all humans have this scar? Even cats have their bellies buttoned! I looked it up! ...Isn't that stupid, though?! That's stupid of— Nature! You'd think if it was such an important human thing, more humans would talk about their bellybuttons, y'know?! Psssh...!

[ Um, this is a great fun fact and all, but... increasingly nerve-wracking... It's easy to read between the lines, and probably infuriating that Alberto's tiptoeing even around his own frankness. His exasperation is clear through every detail of this scene, from his tone, to his face, to the way he thrashes himself in agitation at the final note, to the very room around them... The gig might not be up, but... something's gone awry. And this? This is probably not the best way to admit it...? The day had to come when one of them shocked the other with news of discovery, though; it was only a matter of time, and deep down, somewhere, they both knew it. It's probably just coming sooner and more bluntly, yet backhandedly, than expected... ]

[schoolingfish]

[Is there something mildly disturbing about his dad drawn as a very concerned looking fish being held by a crab person? Probably, but Alberto drew it so it's wonderful.]

Oh, wow. That would be really weird to see if sea monsters here were like that!

[schoolingfish]

[Luca just...stares. This sounds completely and utterly ridiculous. Humans have holes in their bellies? Why would they have holes in their bellies? Why does every single human and cat, apparently, scarred? But...there's no reason to think Alberto is making this up. Especially since it sounds like he did his research, and if this all comes back to the broken glass...well...then he probably found out about this straight from the source.]

So...I'm guessing the person who healed you saw that you didn't have a hole in your belly? And...and...

[He swallows and looks to where all the glass jars were hung. Oh, this is not good.]

And I'm guessing it didn't go well if the jars all ended up broken...

[How worried should they be? Should they run away? They were too far from saving up for a vespa, and Luca hadn't even started school yet. Were they going to miss out on their dream just because of belly holes?]

[prontissimo]

Lets HOPE those arent the sea monsters HERE…! 😬👀 thats terrifying 🙀😂🤣

[schoolingfish]

I hope so, too.

I guess we'll probably see what the sea monsters here are like sooner or later!

[prontissimo]

I dunno I've never seen anyone in the lake ocean. I don't know WHAT the water at the beach is... sometimes it's salty, sometimes it's not. maybe that's why no one lives there?

there's a NORMAL beach in Stardew. we should try there.

[schoolingfish]

Oh. Really? That's weird. Yeah, I know I wouldn't want to live in water that suddenly loses its salt.

We definitely should go to the normal beach in Stardew!

[schoolingfish]

It got you, too? Weren't you able to run away fast enough?

[Wait, this is Alberto. Did he even try to run away?]

...you tried to fight it, didn't you?

[prontissimo]

Of course I did...!

[ Finally he leans up, propping himself up by his elbow in the nest of cushions. But he looks far from comfortable — affronted, like why should Luca even ask. "Wait, this is Alberto," indeed; even Alberto agrees with that statement. ]

I got away, but it got me before I did... I didn't even do anything! I was just walking!

[ The drama is so thick in his voice, lamenting, aggravated, exhausted. It's frankly pretty comical, though, truth be told. ]

wanna wrap up here?

[prontissimo]

OK!! Lets check the weather news when you get home. We'll go when its gonna be sunny both places! 🤗🌤️🌊🐚

Works for me

[schoolingfish]

Yeah!

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's silent for a long moment, still staring at the ceiling. After a beat, he trills his lips in resignation, but stays motionless. ]

...No. It didn't go well. But it wasn't August who noticed.

[ He pushes himself up to throw Luca an earnest (though exasperated) look before he lets loose the big reveal. ]

No, it was Katsuki. Remember that guy I thought maybe figured it out, but I wasn't sure if he did or not? Well, yeah, I, uh— I guess he did... Hah. But yeah: it did not go well, no.

[ He lies back down, but gestures at the empty space where the jars used to hang, twirling his wrist to wave at the rest of the room. ]

Aaand. It turns out he also has psychic powers or something? Crazy mind-explode-y powers, apparently...! Ecco— broken glass everywhere.

[ Yet still no details on what happened in between this discovery and the explosion. But Luca's fought with Alberto before. He knows it escalates quickly. He can surely guess what led up to that explosion... quite unfortunately. ]

[schoolingfish]

Wait, so...

[So there were two people who came over after Alberto got attacked? Okay. He's feeling like he'd follow this story far better if he got a lot more details he hasn't been getting, but okay. That's not the most confusing part of what Alberto's saying, though.]

Okay, I'm confused. If he already knew we were sea monsters, how did it not go well? I mean, he wasn't upset when he found out the first time, how did things to in the crazy mind-explode-y direction when he wasn't even finding out anything new?

[prontissimo]

I wasn't sure if he already knew...! I played dumb like I didn't know what he was talking about back then.

[ He pauses, the sense of how dumb he'd really been sinking in now; he wasn't just playing. But dumb in an entirely different way. Dumb and dumber yet, apparently: ]

...And today, I tried the same thing... Acted like he was talking crazy... Like maybe it'd convince him not to be suspicious, right? Like it was all in his head? But it didn't work. I just—

[ He draws his legs up on the cushions, into himself, as he hugs his arms and casts his gaze aside awkwardly. ]

...What a stupid thing to get found out over. Y'know? If bellybuttons are so important to human-ing— how come my dad never mentioned it? His belly didn't have a button, either...!

[ Since his dad was an all-knowing expert at human-ing and taught Alberto everything he knew, naturally. Anything important he'd need to know, he'd been sure his dad had already known and taught him. Even for how many things have completely sideswiped him in the past few months since living in Portorosso and Kaisou, he's still certain his dad knew everything there was to know about everything. And he's mad that he never told him about bellybuttons... but worried that his dad didn't know, either — because that puts yet another crack in the pedestal Alberto's dad still sits on. Let alone in his own confidence that he's just as good at human-ing as his dad was. Just... more and more cracks in his confidence in general. It's been a rough few hours dispelling that feeling, to no real avail. ]

[schoolingfish]

Alberto...when you acted like he was talking crazy, what do you mean, exactly? Did you just laugh it off? Did he just get frustrated with you not admitting it? Or...

[He knows Alberto. He knows how Alberto can be, and that worries him.]

Alberto, you didn't start a fight with someone who knows our secret and could tell everybody, did you?

[He doesn't raise his voice, instead choosing to strongly emphasize certain words, but inside Luca is starting to panic. Everyone will know...and there's so many people here, there's probably at least one Ercole in all of this.]

Maybe your dad didn't know?

[Because Alberto's dad didn't even know that Alberto was way too young by both human and sea folk standards to be on his own, so Luca, unlike Alberto, has no faith that he knew what he was talking about at all.]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's glossing over the remark about his dad not knowing something so important; he's already grumpy enough without thinking too much about his father. But Luca's very valid panic tinting his voice puts Alberto on the defensive. He sits up to face Luca abruptly, pointing a finger emphatically at him, tuned out of his own body language. ]

I didn't start a fight! I mean— We didn't fight...! We argued. It's different. And anyway, I denied it. Okay? W-We're still okay! He can't prove anything!

[ None of that inspires confidence. This is some kind of déjà vu back to Portorosso... ]

[prontissimo]

That is a photograph of The Deep in outer space… ✨🪐💫🌌
Thrre’s a telescope that can see backwards in time 🌀🔭👀 i saw it in the newspaperless newspaper
Amazza eh???!🤩🤔😳

[schoolingfish]

Yes he can! All he has to do is splash us with water! Or show everyone we don't have belly buttons!

[Maybe it's not Alberto's fault. Maybe the guy just got frustrated when Alberto kept denying it and maybe Alberto wasn't more combative than he needed to be. Of course, Alberto's frequently way more combative than he needs to be, but Luca wasn't there. He doesn't know how things went down. Maybe it was unavoidable.]

We need to convince him to not be mad at us!

[schoolingfish]

Oh, wow... 😮🤩🎇

I didn't even know space had a deep! 🧐🌌🤯

It's so much prettier than how my uncle describes the ocean's Deep. He says there's nothing to see or do there, and that there's bits of whale carcass floating around. Just like in the Deep I was in when I was coming here. 🐋😟🤢 But space's Deep has so many lights! Like the little lights in our apartment! Except a lot of these lights look like more like streaks, so they look like they're moving fast!

And wow...I knew telescopes could see stuff far away, but not stuff in the past! I want to look through that telescope!

È fantastico!