Inbox (Kaisou)

[schoolingfish]

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[schoolingfish]

I'm not really sure...but everyone in my summer school class is the same age as me. There are kids of other ages in the building, but they all seem to go to different rooms. So maybe that's why the school is so big? To divide up the different ages?

[prontissimo]

[ This draws a short silence from Alberto, who swishes the tip of his tail over the side of the tub, fidgeting as he's reconsidering his preconception about human school a bit. If it's not all the kids, all at once, all the time — maybe that's not so bad. His idea of human school seemed maybe more overwhelming than it actually is, from the sounds of it — not that that's necessarily any more convincing that he should attend... At least at this juncture. He dumps another bowl of water over himself. ]

...So everyone's the same age— learning the same stuff, at the same time— and everyone's human... yeah? By the time real school starts, you'll be all caught up with the rest of the humans, then, huh. ...Nice.

[ He's glad for Luca, he is; but still, there's the faintest hint of something not quite dejected in his tone, but a certain familiar resistance — jealousy? — apprehension. Some mix. Nothing at all surprising, nor new, even in this world. But just in engaging as much as he is: it's progress? ]

[schoolingfish]

Well, everyone but me is human. But yeah.

[And it's not like the people at the school knew he wasn't human.

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto gives a twitch of a smile in the corners of his lips, gazing at Luca with sly narrowed eyes. ]

Heh. Yeah— everyone but you. ...Aaand any other secret monsters you don't know about yet, ehhh~? Bet you're not the only one, ha!

[ After all, if there's one, why not two? That was true in Portorosso in their case, technically. And if there's two, why not three?! He wants to be optimistic here. Aaand crack a joke to cover up anything that makes him even the slightest bit uneasy ever, of course... Because far be it for Alberto to be "the other secret monster" in this scenario and go to school with Luca. Oof... ]

[schoolingfish]

Oh, right!

[Thinking that there might be other secret monsters at school is pretty exciting and makes him look forward to school that much more. After all, why would he necessarily be the only monster there? He's met other non-human kids in this place, after all.]

I bet there's plenty of other monster kids there! I wonder if I'll be able to figure out who they are.

[prontissimo]

Well, not if they're as good at human-ing as us, you won't! Ha!

[ He flashes Luca a smug, conspiratorial grin. He has full confidence they can keep this up as easily as they have so far... Little does he know, tomorrow starts a whole domino effect of exposure and discovery. But for now he can enjoy his last ego trip about his "human-ing" for a while. ]

[schoolingfish]

Oh, right. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how good at humaning they are, won't we?

[Assuming, of course, that they weren't the only monsters there, but at this point he's fairly certain they won't be now that the idea's gotten into his head.]

action; 31 August, night before school starts

[prontissimo]

[ Moment of truth. Alberto's been nearly ready to explode for days now, having decided to surprise Luca with his big news... Why? Because it's dramatic. And he especially loves making these grand stands to Luca, from the very moment they met, because he really gets an incomparable kick out of Luca's reactions. And somehow another "Guess Who's Going to Human School~!" surprise between them feels fitting... Bottom line, of course, is Alberto's a ham — but though he's overwhelmed with excitement all day, he waits to break the news until a while after dinner... Not quite bedtime, because he knows if he tells Luca too late, they'll get too riled up to sleep enough. He's thought this through, man.

He's already showered (in outer space!!) and changed into pajamas, and is now putting away laundry, trying to hide how he's goofily smiling to himself while folding clothes. There's music playing as always, though the volume is much softer than usual — but still pretty energetic, since it happens to be ABBA o'clock. The apartment is quietly lively tonight, tidy, all their colorful string lights on — a nice vibe for getting ready for their first day of school, starting off on the right fin. Alberto's low-key setting out his outfit options for tomorrow while putting away their laundry. He's managed not to drop too many hints, and any probing questions he's asked Luca were probably easily taken as being just out of pure interest for the occasion. But as the night's gone on, he's biting at the bit; he keeps glancing over at Luca more than usual (which is— a lot, then) then swallowing his smile, and grinning to himself while going about their chores, when he thinks Luca's not looking. He's dismissed any questions all day about his extra smitten energy as just being in a good mood, excusing his weird secret smiles by claiming he "thought of something funny." And then every time, he promptly changed the subject, often to off-hand questions about how school works. Otherwise, he feels he's been more or less playing it cool — but as the night's gone on, he can't stop smiling, and he can't hide it. He openly shoots Luca a grin, bopping along to the music, trying to fold their T-shirts to the beat. ]

Sooo, on a scale of one to ten, how excited are you for tomorrow? Like, eleven?

[schoolingfish]

[Luca's already in his pajamas as well, and he's been bouncing around excited all day. He's laid out his clothes for his very first day of school, and keeps checking and rechecking his back pack to make sure he has all of his school supplies. He's noticed that Alberto's seemed giddier than expected all day. Sure, this is way better than when he was going to be away at school for months and they were going to be separated, but he never imagined Alberto would be this excited for him going to school. Maybe Luca's own enthusiasm is just infectious?

When Alberto asks how excited he is, Luca bounces on the balls of his feet.]

Eleven thousand! It's everything I wanted! I get to go to school and learn and have fun, and I don't have to go far away from you!

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto's grin just widens at that, bright-eyed despite the sly gratification swelling in his chest in anticipation. ]

Hah! Yeah— not far away at all...! It's gonna be great. Plus we're way better at human-ing now — and this'll be your third human school, technically! You're basically a school-expert now, heh.

[ Keeping it cool, easing in, nice segue... But he can't hide at all how smitten he is — it's something tugging his voice, his well-practiced nonchalant facade starting to fail him as an actor. Something's up, but... what? ]

[schoolingfish]

Yeah! Although I think this counts as just a continuation of summer school.

[Still, that would still count as two schools. Then, suddenly, he notices something. We're better at humaning now? But only Luca was going to school...still, it is true that they're both better at humaning now. And what's with that strange tone to Alberto's voice?]

You know, Alberto, I'm really surprised you're so excited about all of this.

[prontissimo]

[ He gives a little huff of a chuckle, his grin reaching his eyes, and shrugs as he keeps folding clothes. ]

Oh? Why shouldn't I be?

[schoolingfish]

Well...

[Luca pauses, trying to think of how to put it.]

I mean, I guess that it's just that it'll be a normal day for you, right? Like any of the days I was off at practice school.

[prontissimo]

Mmhmmn...

[ Alberto gives a kind of funny pressed smile, accompanied by an odd and annoyingly indistinct nod... then changes the subject. No surprises there somehow... Oy va voy. He gestures with his head at the clothes Luca had laid out for himself tomorrow, moving on swiftly as if that little nod even remotely resembled an answer...! ]

So, is that what you're thinking of wearing? S'cute. I like it. And very human-y, ha~

[ Ever since Luz gave him some human fashion tips (re: watermelon-printed lady's swim trunks do not count as actual pants), Alberto's been especially taken with fine-tuning their far-too-extensive wardrobe... They're not so far off the mark lately, though Luca seems to be a bit better in tune with human style principles, for sure, having more or less blended in with other kids their age all summer. Alberto's eye for what's the most human-y hasn't improved that much, but, uh— he feels it has significantly improved. So that means it has. Right? Right. ]

[schoolingfish]

Thanks!

[Luca feels a rush of giddiness when he hears Alberto thinks his outfit is cute.]

I did my best to put together my best human outfit for the first day! Luz gave me some tips on dressing human, so I'm sure I got it right!

[Granted, Luca was better at dressing human to begin with just because his own clothing choices didn't tend to be as loud, but it never hurts to learn more about how humans dress just to make sure he's doing it right.]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto grins at Luca, endeared, then sets down whatever he'd been folding and moves to stand beside him, up close with his arm wrapped casually around his shoulders. His grin melts into his usual self-satisfied smirk, as he reaches over and grabs at a pair of the clothes he'd set aside for himself unfolded still, holding them next to Luca's outfit for comparison. ]

See, I was torn between this and those over there. But if you're wearing that, then I think I'm gonna wear this. The colors match yours better — so we'll look cooler sitting together in class~ Good first impression, right?

[ ...Smug as can be. After barely containing his excitement all this time, now he manages this stupidly nonchalant, casual delivery? He's so amused with himself over this, and try as he might to sound cool and calm and collected, that giddiness is still heard in his voice. He shoots Luca an expectant, sly smile, keeping his arm wrapped around him as he eagerly tries to read his reaction. ]

[schoolingfish]

[At first Luca looks confused.]

Sitting together in class? But...

[Then that confusion gives way to excitement.]

Does that mean you're going to go to school, too?

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto doesn't say anything. All Luca gets is an ear-to-ear grin, eyes alight and smitten, and an enthusiastic nod Yes — no mistaking this one. Absolutely transparent in his excitement and anticipation. Boy, does he love nonchalant grand gestures like these... ]

[schoolingfish]

[And at that confirmation, Luca lets out an excited squee, hugging Alberto.]

I'm so excited! I can't wait to go to school with you! It's gonna be great!

[He's happy that he'll get to be with Alberto and he's happy for Alberto. Alberto conquered his fear! Because Luca doesn't doubt for a moment that part of the reason he didn't go was fear. He doesn't want to bring that up, though, since he knows Alberto doesn't like to admit to being afraid. He's just glad they'll get to go to school together.]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto grins his widest yet at Luca's excited squee, and hugs him back right away, wiggling them back and forth a bit in his own excitement. When he breaks the hug, he holds Luca enthusiastically by the shoulders instead, beaming at him still. ]

Hah, I know, right?! I got Bruno to sign all the papers and stuff — so he can be our grownup Emergency Person. And, Luz already told me everything I'd need, so!

[ He pulls away at last to crouch down beneath the bed, reaching deep under with his cheek to the ground, until he produces a backpack he'd already prepared and hidden. He sits up and holds the bag out proudly, though he stays half-sprawled out on the ground, just smiling up at Luca. ]

We're good to go~

[ So he's had this planned for sometime, then, if Luz and Bruno were in on it. It's obvious now why he was acting so goofy all day; he was about to explode holding all this energy in, which is now released like a flood. ]

action; Saturday, 24 September, night before Alberto's birthday

[prontissimo]

[ It's just about bedtime, the boys getting into their wind-down mode. All the lamps are off, all the fairy lights and star projectors are on; Alberto's popped one of their Cosmos: A Personal Voyage VHS tapes in the little TV (because, no offense Luca and no offense Carl Sagan, but it's so good for putting him to sleep), keeping it paused until Luca's ready for bed and joins him. He's already nestled in with just the right mess of pillows arranged around him and his small collection of midnight snacks. A normal night, really; their usual "lavishness" is hardly any different than ever, but now that they're in school together the past three weeks, Saturday nights hit totally different. No school all day, no school the next day, it's the peak "do-whatever-you-want" time in his life now.

He took it for granted; he didn't realize how much of his "do-whatever-you-want" lifestyle was going to be compromised by joining school, if only just by eating into his free time. But it's not just that. His mood has been taking a hit, too. He's really been giving it his best effort studying at the Library of Alexandria after school just about every day, which at least gives the illusion of keeping his chin up, but the more he learns, the more he's discouraged by how much he doesn't know. It's been an emotionally and mentally taxing few weeks trying to play "catch up" to Luca and their human classmates. He doesn't let it get him down, because he loves to learn no matter what, but he likes learning on his own terms. The stressfulness has been slowly showing more and more this week, though, now that the muses' magic has finally worn off; now it's just him, no more excuses. And that's been surprisingly disheartening all week — but, of course, he won't admit to it at all, just keeps insisting everything's fine and nothing's bothering him and school's great, he loves it...

But spending today, tonight, tomorrow, like this—? Doing whatever he wants with no structure or plans in mind, guided only by his whims and fancies? He's in his element again. Relishing the chance to not give a clam about anything, if he doesn't want to...! And that's basically tomorrow's agenda, too. Yup. Just how he likes it. Blank. ...oh, and it's his birthday tomorrow, so, you know, there's that, too. ]

[schoolingfish]

Wow, it's all sorted out then, this is going to be perfect!

[It makes so much sense now, and now Luca's bursting with excitement and he doesn't even know how he'll get to sleep tonight!]

School is going to be so much fun! You'll learn about so much stuff, it's exciting!

[schoolingfish]

[Luca gets all snuggled in under a blanket, ready to snack and watch another episode. He'll take much longer than Alberto to fall asleep since instead of being bored by this show, he's enraptured, fascinated by everything Carl Sagan has to say. He'll likely stay up late, devouring snacks and information until eventually he becomes so exhausted he drifts off to sleep. Luca's noticed that Alberto's seemed a bit stressed this week and he feels bad about that. He knows Alberto's going to school for him, and he knows the classes have been difficult for him, but he hopes that as he learns more and gets a handle on things Alberto will have more fun. Right now, though, Alberto's relaxed and they get to enjoy the weekend. The best part? Neither of them have to worry about getting to sleep on time, so Luca can just marathon these episodes without worrying about it!

Maybe, though, he should do something fun with Alberto over the weekend to take his mind off of the stress of school.]

Hey, Alberto, since tomorrow's still the weekend do you want to do something fun tomorrow?

[prontissimo]

It's so exciting...! I can't wait~! I've known for like a weeeeeek, Luca, ahhh...! I've been waiting to tell you this whole time. It was so hard to act normal, man, haha!

[ He collapses backwards to lay flat on the ground as he talks, feigning exhaustion with no less of a smile. His face is gonna hurt from smiling by the time they get to sleep, he can already tell.

Nevermind that he absolutely did not need to keep this a secret for a week and torture himself like this, but, you know. That's... how he chose to do this... evidently. ]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto cocks his brow at that question, smirking at Luca beside him. ]

Uh, yeah? I was already planning on it, ha! What'd you have in mind?

[ Not that he had any particular fun plans of his own in mind, looking forward merely to having no structure or obligations on his birthday, total freedom for spontaneous who-knows-what's. If it'd have fallen on Monday instead, he'd be pissed... ]