[ Oh, no. They're flubbing this. Alberto knows this feeling. He holds a hand to Luca's chest, stepping forward slightly with an awkward grin, trying to smooth this over. ]
Snacks for the other fish, he means. Ha, cuz, y'know, fish eat fish. Hah... Guess you must've picked out the right ones so the decorations don't eat each other, huh? Ha ha...! You must be a great fish manager!
[ On the one hand, the praise feels nice after a horrible first day; on the other hand, this guy had nothing at all to do with the fish selection, had never considered this question before, and had only really taken notice of this fish tank while walking past it the day of his job interview last week. He's put completely on the spot here. It takes him pause again, eyes searching the boys' faces for some sign of sensibility, before it occurs to him: Maybe they're filming a TikTok. And he's the butt of some preteen joke. He starts scanning the scene around them for another kid holding a phone, but there's no one else. Alberto glances to Luca as if to ask "what's he looking for," turning to glance around himself, then shrugs at Luca when he, too, sees nothing.
Reading that silent exchange between them, the assistant manager gives up, barely repressing the urge to sigh. ]
I, uh— Y-yeah, I guess so, um. Thanks, kids. Is there anything else I can help you with, ooor—?
[Luca also glances around to see whatever it was that the guy might have been looking for, but he, too, sees nothing. He also suspects he's flubbing it between the man's confusion and Alberto's quick correction, so decides it might be best for them to bow out of the conversation quickly.]
[ Alberto follows Luca's lead on this, the two in silent agreement that this is their cue. He puts his hand on Luca's shoulder, gives the guy a salute, and turns on his heel jauntily to lead them away. ]
Yeah. Ciao, Mr Manager~
[ The manager stares after them for a second, baffled even more. He just got— saluted...? He awkwardly salutes them back, before heading off finally to his lunch break. ]
Uhh— Happy to help? C-Ciao...
[ Alberto leads them back through the fishing section, crossing under the aquarium archway with wandering eyes, though he keeps his hand on Luca's shoulder still. ]
Okay, so. That explains that. Kind of... Hah.
[ He throws Luca a knowing smirk and a little roll of his eyes. Humans' relationship to fish is just really weird, more and more... He can't say he gets it, but. Well. They wanted answers, they got an answer. ]
C'mon. Let's go buy stuff.
[ Because "buying stuff" is a general activity, y'know. An important traditional human hobby. And always exciting for Alberto. For as much as Alberto likes saving money for their Vespa, he also likes spending money... And hey, it's his birthday! They can go shopping. They're "rich," as far as they think, so he figures they can spare it every now and again. And now that he knows they've got to wait until his next birthday til Bruno helps them buy their Vespa, they've got another whole year to keep saving, so— who gives a clam.
Not to mention the energy drink kicking in will probably hamper some already poor impulse control in him... Thank goodness Luca's here to keep Alberto at least a little bit in check, birthday boy or not. They don't need one of everything in the sporting goods store. ]
[It's still weird, but it's an explanation. Luca quickly forgets that with the next suggestion, though.]
Yeah, let's go buy stuff!
[Spurred on by the energy drink, Luca is ready to race off and do some shopping! ...at least he has some idea of what they might not need, but he'll be fairly easy to talk into buying a lot of things. Especially since it's Alberto's birthday, and he needs an amazing birthday.]
[ Luca's eager agreement puts a grin on Alberto's face, and he claps him on the back as he starts trotting onward. In a basket just to the edge of the fishing section, he sees some wooden hand nets — made to look to be more handcrafted-like than they actually are, to no doubt evoke some romanticized rugged exoticism, based upon the price point. It should either cost a lot less, for being as cheaply made as it is, or a lot more, if it were actually benefiting any local tradesmen — but since it's just an average, mass-produced corporate doodad meant to look chic for a fisherman's inner hipster, or a hipster's inner fisherman, it's at exactly the mid-level price point it doesn't deserve. Too expensive for what it is but less expensive than what it's trying to be. Not that Alberto knows any better. He grabs four on their way past. So they can... go trout fishing with at least two friends?
As he grabs them, he feels that Monster finally take effect, like a subtle jolt of lightning, a pleasant shiver up his spine, that subsides as suddenly as it came. It's this exact moment that's the Point of No Return for Alberto's first experience with energy drinks. What's more, they still have a bag full of more tucked under the crook of Alberto's elbow. But indeed, a switch just flipped on some level... Took longer for the switch to flip than it did when they first tried espresso, but considering just how much espresso Alberto's since come to consume on a near daily basis... that checks out.
He spots a shopping cart corral up ahead, and waving Luca along excitedly, runs up to grab one. He tosses their plastic bag from the corner store and the four hand nets he'd just grabbed all into the trolly together rather carelessly — in fact, almost pointedly, like making the least impressive slam dunk ever... He spins the shopping cart round to face the openness of the store, leaning on its handlebars with one foot propped up on the bottom rung, idly making it do a tiny wheelie as they look on at the expanse of treasures before them. All at once, he's forebodingly excited... He pauses for a beat, letting a low whistle of appreciation out, before turning to Luca with a grin from the side. ]
Sooo, you miiight've picked the coolest store ever? Next to the Home Depot. Maybe — hah! Dai, avanti. What should we buy~?
[ Definitely not all stores are this cool. Alberto's done more than a fair bit of exploring in the city, and this is one of the best places they've found — and somehow even more exciting that Luca found it. He gets the cool points.
He follows Luca's line of sight, seeing the soccer balls. Alberto gives a nod of his head toward them, throwing Luca a smirk, before zipping off with the cart together. Once over there, there's actually a pretty wide variety of soccer balls... even a fair few novelty ones. Alberto catches sight of some neon green and blue ones right away, but when he swings the cart around to position themselves better, he accidentally knocks it into the display. It's not hard enough to knock any balls out (though his heart drops for a second, thinking he might've freed them all), it is enough impact to send a shudder up the rack of neon balls... which, all at once, light up.
Any fear Alberto had about possibly messing up the store, is immediately forgotten in utter delight at the sight of the glow-balls all activating in unison. He turns to Luca with a dazzled smile. Guess what they're buying... ]
[Luca cringes for a second when the cart hits the shelf...before letting out a relieved sigh when nothing comes rolling out. When the balls all light up, though, he moves closer, fascinated.]
Wow...it's so pretty...it's like those glowing jellyfish.
[ Alberto pauses, then reaches out and slaps the bottom ball to cause another shudder of light to crawl up the rack. Seeing it a second time, he turns to Luca again with a smugger smirk. ]
Well, we need two of these~
[ He says in a nonchalant, singsongy voice, as he plucks one with a bright blue light inside and plops it into the cart, leaving Luca to choose his own. Because obviously they each need one. Of course they're getting two. Does he know any two-balled games? No. But he figures they probably exist? Right? And, really, in any case, it's his birthday, and what's better than one cool soccer ball? Two cool soccer balls! ]
[ Look, they just like pretty lights, okay. Alberto starts pushing the cart along, almost triumphantly, blindly moving forward, deeper into this elaborate trap for them to spend all their money... He's smirking wide as he cases the scene, eyes scanning the store, his excitement now flirting with sensory overload. He spots an area a way's off that's sporting a small fake forest, the tops of the faux pine trees sticking out from a distance. He points toward it, nudging Luca with a grin. ]
Let's go look over there! They brought the outside inside, ha. Dai, andiamo~
[ He puts his foot up on the bottom rung of the cart and pushes forward with his foot as he climbs on; the shopping cart zooms along down the aisle, Alberto riding it like some kind of toy vehicle. It's a short joy ride before he stops himself, hopping down again, not wanting to leave Luca behind — even if he can't resist the urge to go fast... ]
[Luca sees no problem with buying all of it. After all, they're rich. They can have what they want. Then when he sees the indoor outdoors, his eyes widen.]
Wow!
[He races over, reaching out to touch one of the pine trees and--]
It's fake! They made an artificial outside!
[And he sounds no less impressed by it for being fake.]
[ Once they make it over, Alberto's just as tickled watching Luca react to the fake trees as he is to the fake trees themselves... He didn't know the word "artificial" before, but now he does — always learning new things from Luca just off-the-cuff, even when Luca doesn't even mean to teach him anything. He loves it. He stands with his arms resting against the shopping cart, grinning ear-to-ear, watching Luca inspecting the faux fir. But the real fun is just around the corner — rather literally.
For as they make the turn into the section proper, it turns out to be a wide and elaborate display for tents and other camping gear. None of which Alberto's ever seen before. His eyes go wide, and he starts excitedly slapping at Luca's shoulder to get his attention (like he needs to), before shooting off toward one of the tents, abandoning their shopping cart on the edge of the aisle. In a flash, Alberto's already on his knees unzipping the entrance flap to a two-person tent, crawling inside without hesitation. How could he resist the temptation, after all? There's something compelling to kids about crawling into small spaces, even at their age. It's practically beckoning them in. ]
Haha, wow, looook, Luca!
[ Alberto is going to be wowed by sincerely anything they encounter in this entire store, or maybe just the entire day, it seems so far. He's wowed by being in a tiny tent. Any novelty is amazing, always. ]
Wow! We can have our own hide out! And it would have a roof so we wouldn't get rained on!
[He'd liked staying in Giulia's 'hide out' with Alberto, but having something over their heads would have prevented a lot of panic. Granted, they didn't have to worry about as much with being seen here as they did back home, but having something that was covered would still be nice.]
[ He crosses his legs, getting comfortable inside the little tent, looking around starry-eyed. ]
Yeah-hah! It'll be perfect for when we get our Vespa. It's a rain-proof, portable hideout, heh.
[ He spots a zipper on the side, so impulsively crawls over to unzip it, naturally. He's just as dazzled when the flap exposes a mesh opening behind it. ]
Oooh~ Hey, we can even look outside! Like a net-window! Window-net!
[ It's the little things in life, man. Which, to them, is like... all the things. Everything's exciting all the time. ]
[ Luca's so right. It is a tiny house — a tiny, portable, foldable house. With cool zippers. Alberto collapses backwards onto the floor, which has a soft layer of padding laid down, being a fairly nice quality tent on display. He rests his hands behind his head, smiling dreamily to himself. ]
[ He grins at Luca wide, eyes bright, but then lies down again, arms and legs splayed out comfortably akimbo now, taking up more room than needed. He lets out a little sigh, but the smile stays on his face. ]
Y'know, I know it sounds a lil crazy, but sometimes I miss my island... We should go sleep on the beach in Stardew sometime — in our new tiny house, hah~
[ An out-of-the-blue admission, but wistful as it is, Alberto's in such high spirits, it's a sentiment that comes from a happy place. He's plenty of happy memories from his island — the happiest without question being the week they spent playing together, before they ran away. Technically Luca never stayed the night over at Alberto's island — not intentionally, at least; his fateful accidental nap didn't count as a sleepover. But the idea of going camping together, it's suddenly extremely appealing. It'd feel extra homey, being so accustomed to living with Luca now, sleeping together. Giulia's hideout was one thing, but sleeping the beach itself is another, more familiar to Alberto than their nice apartment, as much as he adores it, too. But waking up beside Luca with the sea breeze and the morning sun, with all their cool new human stuff — that sounds downright idyllic to Alberto. ]
[It seems so strange to him that Alberto would miss that lonely place, but maybe that's just because Luca now sees it as the place he was stuck alone for so long until Luca could show up to save him from it. Then again, they did have fun on the island before Luca knew why Alberto was alone there. Just jumping and learning about land and having a good time in both their human and sea monster forms with no fear of being seen, building 'vespa' after 'vespa'.]
Well, maybe we can go to Stardew, then. We can do all the fun stuff, like jumping into the water and watching the stars, without being afraid of my parents finding out or worried that someone will see us. Just you and me, having fun. And it'll be better than the island, because whenever we want to be around people again, we can just come back home!
[ Alberto's heart swells as Luca details this plan. His smile spreads even wider over his face, glancing at Luca again — but just a glance, because he feels his eyes tearing up a bit, so stays lying down to better hide it. He feels a dull ache in his cheeks by now from smiling so much, nonstop, basically for hours now. This is the perfect day — definitely his best birthday — maybe the best day ever? His life has changed so much... Luca's changed his life so much. And his life with Luca has changed so much! But that first week they spent together, playing on the island every day, are still some of his happiest memories, period, and the promise of recreating them even better is just an overwhelmingly beautiful idea, the way Luca describes it. Their dreams keep getting better — easier — keep coming true... All that's left is the Vespa, and Bruno promised him that this morning; he wouldn't be able to drive it til his birthday next year, anyway, so he doesn't mind waiting. And that element of their dream coming true is just the cherry on top — bonus new-dad factor!
There's almost nothing left the same about his life anymore, compared to his life on the island. He's even in human school, a wild plot twist in itself. Everything's just shaping up to be so perfect here lately. He lives in a huge human city with an amazing home and Luca and lots of friends and a whole new family, more love than he knows what to do with. Endless adventures, enjoying a life of excess, practically always together. They're living the dream and then some! He's maybe not always happy, but he's always happy — and he truly can't remember the last time he felt lonely. That's the wildest plot twist. Definitely not since Luca arrived. They've lived together five months now, and his whole life here with Luca is so different than he'd ever imagined their inevitable adventures would go, even beyond the obvious magical-spirited-away-time-travel-y bits — but it's also so much better, just better and better every day. In little ways like this: lying in a demo tent in the middle of a sporting goods store, high on energy drinks, daydreaming about camping on the beach, just the two of them. Every little thing seems perfect right now. He heaves a deep, dreamy sigh, tempering himself before he gets too verklempt and almost loses it. He can't even come close to putting into words how happy he is right now. ]
Heh... Yeah... That sounds perfect~
[ He does reach out, though, and smacks at the padded floor of the tent, holding his hand out to Luca to — what, beckon him over, hold his hand, have him join him lying down? Something. He doesn't say what he's wanting, exactly, but clearly just to be physically nearer to him in whatever way. Instead, Alberto keeps his hand held out, wiggling his fingers at Luca a little, and just lies there smiling with his eyes closed, in order to avoid Luca noticing they're welling up. Turns out Alberto holds back happy tears, too. ]
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schoolingfish) wrote2022-05-26 12:33 pm
no subject
Snacks for the other fish, he means. Ha, cuz, y'know, fish eat fish. Hah... Guess you must've picked out the right ones so the decorations don't eat each other, huh? Ha ha...! You must be a great fish manager!
[ On the one hand, the praise feels nice after a horrible first day; on the other hand, this guy had nothing at all to do with the fish selection, had never considered this question before, and had only really taken notice of this fish tank while walking past it the day of his job interview last week. He's put completely on the spot here. It takes him pause again, eyes searching the boys' faces for some sign of sensibility, before it occurs to him: Maybe they're filming a TikTok. And he's the butt of some preteen joke. He starts scanning the scene around them for another kid holding a phone, but there's no one else. Alberto glances to Luca as if to ask "what's he looking for," turning to glance around himself, then shrugs at Luca when he, too, sees nothing.
Reading that silent exchange between them, the assistant manager gives up, barely repressing the urge to sigh. ]
I, uh— Y-yeah, I guess so, um. Thanks, kids. Is there anything else I can help you with, ooor—?
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Nope! That's all we needed! Thanks!
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Yeah. Ciao, Mr Manager~
[ The manager stares after them for a second, baffled even more. He just got— saluted...? He awkwardly salutes them back, before heading off finally to his lunch break. ]
Uhh— Happy to help? C-Ciao...
[ Alberto leads them back through the fishing section, crossing under the aquarium archway with wandering eyes, though he keeps his hand on Luca's shoulder still. ]
Okay, so. That explains that. Kind of... Hah.
[ He throws Luca a knowing smirk and a little roll of his eyes. Humans' relationship to fish is just really weird, more and more... He can't say he gets it, but. Well. They wanted answers, they got an answer. ]
C'mon. Let's go buy stuff.
[ Because "buying stuff" is a general activity, y'know. An important traditional human hobby. And always exciting for Alberto. For as much as Alberto likes saving money for their Vespa, he also likes spending money... And hey, it's his birthday! They can go shopping. They're "rich," as far as they think, so he figures they can spare it every now and again. And now that he knows they've got to wait until his next birthday til Bruno helps them buy their Vespa, they've got another whole year to keep saving, so— who gives a clam.
Not to mention the energy drink kicking in will probably hamper some already poor impulse control in him... Thank goodness Luca's here to keep Alberto at least a little bit in check, birthday boy or not. They don't need one of everything in the sporting goods store. ]
no subject
[It's still weird, but it's an explanation. Luca quickly forgets that with the next suggestion, though.]
Yeah, let's go buy stuff!
[Spurred on by the energy drink, Luca is ready to race off and do some shopping! ...at least he has some idea of what they might not need, but he'll be fairly easy to talk into buying a lot of things. Especially since it's Alberto's birthday, and he needs an amazing birthday.]
they're so butch flisnjk I love it
As he grabs them, he feels that Monster finally take effect, like a subtle jolt of lightning, a pleasant shiver up his spine, that subsides as suddenly as it came. It's this exact moment that's the Point of No Return for Alberto's first experience with energy drinks. What's more, they still have a bag full of more tucked under the crook of Alberto's elbow. But indeed, a switch just flipped on some level... Took longer for the switch to flip than it did when they first tried espresso, but considering just how much espresso Alberto's since come to consume on a near daily basis... that checks out.
He spots a shopping cart corral up ahead, and waving Luca along excitedly, runs up to grab one. He tosses their plastic bag from the corner store and the four hand nets he'd just grabbed all into the trolly together rather carelessly — in fact, almost pointedly, like making the least impressive slam dunk ever... He spins the shopping cart round to face the openness of the store, leaning on its handlebars with one foot propped up on the bottom rung, idly making it do a tiny wheelie as they look on at the expanse of treasures before them. All at once, he's forebodingly excited... He pauses for a beat, letting a low whistle of appreciation out, before turning to Luca with a grin from the side. ]
Sooo, you miiight've picked the coolest store ever? Next to the Home Depot. Maybe — hah! Dai, avanti. What should we buy~?
no subject
[Unless all stores here are this cool? Definitely worth investigating that possibility.]
Oh, look! They have balls like the ones the human kids were kicking around in Portorosso!
[He didn't know what they were called or what the game was the kids were playing, but it caught his eye all the same.]
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He gets the cool points.He follows Luca's line of sight, seeing the soccer balls. Alberto gives a nod of his head toward them, throwing Luca a smirk, before zipping off with the cart together. Once over there, there's actually a pretty wide variety of soccer balls... even a fair few novelty ones. Alberto catches sight of some neon green and blue ones right away, but when he swings the cart around to position themselves better, he accidentally knocks it into the display. It's not hard enough to knock any balls out (though his heart drops for a second, thinking he might've freed them all), it is enough impact to send a shudder up the rack of neon balls... which, all at once, light up.
Any fear Alberto had about possibly messing up the store, is immediately forgotten in utter delight at the sight of the glow-balls all activating in unison. He turns to Luca with a dazzled smile. Guess what they're buying... ]
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Wow...it's so pretty...it's like those glowing jellyfish.
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Well, we need two of these~
[ He says in a nonchalant, singsongy voice, as he plucks one with a bright blue light inside and plops it into the cart, leaving Luca to choose his own. Because obviously they each need one. Of course they're getting two. Does he know any two-balled games? No. But he figures they probably exist? Right? And, really, in any case, it's his birthday, and what's better than one cool soccer ball? Two cool soccer balls! ]
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[Luca sees no reason why they wouldn't need two balls and picks out a purple one and adding it to the cart.]
I wonder if they have anything else that lights up like that?
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[ Look, they just like pretty lights, okay. Alberto starts pushing the cart along, almost triumphantly, blindly moving forward, deeper into this elaborate trap for them to spend all their money... He's smirking wide as he cases the scene, eyes scanning the store, his excitement now flirting with sensory overload. He spots an area a way's off that's sporting a small fake forest, the tops of the faux pine trees sticking out from a distance. He points toward it, nudging Luca with a grin. ]
Let's go look over there! They brought the outside inside, ha. Dai, andiamo~
[ He puts his foot up on the bottom rung of the cart and pushes forward with his foot as he climbs on; the shopping cart zooms along down the aisle, Alberto riding it like some kind of toy vehicle. It's a short joy ride before he stops himself, hopping down again, not wanting to leave Luca behind — even if he can't resist the urge to go fast... ]
no subject
[Luca sees no problem with buying all of it. After all, they're rich. They can have what they want. Then when he sees the indoor outdoors, his eyes widen.]
Wow!
[He races over, reaching out to touch one of the pine trees and--]
It's fake! They made an artificial outside!
[And he sounds no less impressed by it for being fake.]
no subject
For as they make the turn into the section proper, it turns out to be a wide and elaborate display for tents and other camping gear. None of which Alberto's ever seen before. His eyes go wide, and he starts excitedly slapping at Luca's shoulder to get his attention (like he needs to), before shooting off toward one of the tents, abandoning their shopping cart on the edge of the aisle. In a flash, Alberto's already on his knees unzipping the entrance flap to a two-person tent, crawling inside without hesitation. How could he resist the temptation, after all? There's something compelling to kids about crawling into small spaces, even at their age. It's practically beckoning them in. ]
Haha, wow, looook, Luca!
[ Alberto is going to be wowed by sincerely anything they encounter in this entire store, or maybe just the entire day, it seems so far. He's wowed by being in a tiny tent. Any novelty is amazing, always. ]
no subject
Wow! We can have our own hide out! And it would have a roof so we wouldn't get rained on!
[He'd liked staying in Giulia's 'hide out' with Alberto, but having something over their heads would have prevented a lot of panic. Granted, they didn't have to worry about as much with being seen here as they did back home, but having something that was covered would still be nice.]
no subject
Yeah-hah! It'll be perfect for when we get our Vespa. It's a rain-proof, portable hideout, heh.
[ He spots a zipper on the side, so impulsively crawls over to unzip it, naturally. He's just as dazzled when the flap exposes a mesh opening behind it. ]
Oooh~ Hey, we can even look outside! Like a net-window! Window-net!
[ It's the little things in life, man. Which, to them, is like... all the things. Everything's exciting all the time. ]
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Wow! This is kind of like a tiny house!
[A roof and windows are all you need for something to qualify as a house, right?]
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[ Luca's so right. It is a tiny house — a tiny, portable, foldable house. With cool zippers. Alberto collapses backwards onto the floor, which has a soft layer of padding laid down, being a fairly nice quality tent on display. He rests his hands behind his head, smiling dreamily to himself. ]
Man, humans have thought of everything~
no subject
We should get the tiny house!
[It's way too cool for them to not have one.]
no subject
Really?! Hah, yeah, we should!
[ He grins at Luca wide, eyes bright, but then lies down again, arms and legs splayed out comfortably akimbo now, taking up more room than needed. He lets out a little sigh, but the smile stays on his face. ]
Y'know, I know it sounds a lil crazy, but sometimes I miss my island... We should go sleep on the beach in Stardew sometime — in our new tiny house, hah~
[ An out-of-the-blue admission, but wistful as it is, Alberto's in such high spirits, it's a sentiment that comes from a happy place. He's plenty of happy memories from his island — the happiest without question being the week they spent playing together, before they ran away. Technically Luca never stayed the night over at Alberto's island — not intentionally, at least; his fateful accidental nap didn't count as a sleepover. But the idea of going camping together, it's suddenly extremely appealing. It'd feel extra homey, being so accustomed to living with Luca now, sleeping together. Giulia's hideout was one thing, but sleeping the beach itself is another, more familiar to Alberto than their nice apartment, as much as he adores it, too. But waking up beside Luca with the sea breeze and the morning sun, with all their cool new human stuff — that sounds downright idyllic to Alberto. ]
no subject
[It seems so strange to him that Alberto would miss that lonely place, but maybe that's just because Luca now sees it as the place he was stuck alone for so long until Luca could show up to save him from it. Then again, they did have fun on the island before Luca knew why Alberto was alone there. Just jumping and learning about land and having a good time in both their human and sea monster forms with no fear of being seen, building 'vespa' after 'vespa'.]
Well, maybe we can go to Stardew, then. We can do all the fun stuff, like jumping into the water and watching the stars, without being afraid of my parents finding out or worried that someone will see us. Just you and me, having fun. And it'll be better than the island, because whenever we want to be around people again, we can just come back home!
no subject
There's almost nothing left the same about his life anymore, compared to his life on the island. He's even in human school, a wild plot twist in itself. Everything's just shaping up to be so perfect here lately. He lives in a huge human city with an amazing home and Luca and lots of friends and a whole new family, more love than he knows what to do with. Endless adventures, enjoying a life of excess, practically always together. They're living the dream and then some! He's maybe not always happy, but he's always happy — and he truly can't remember the last time he felt lonely. That's the wildest plot twist. Definitely not since Luca arrived. They've lived together five months now, and his whole life here with Luca is so different than he'd ever imagined their inevitable adventures would go, even beyond the obvious magical-spirited-away-time-travel-y bits — but it's also so much better, just better and better every day. In little ways like this: lying in a demo tent in the middle of a sporting goods store, high on energy drinks, daydreaming about camping on the beach, just the two of them. Every little thing seems perfect right now. He heaves a deep, dreamy sigh, tempering himself before he gets too verklempt and almost loses it. He can't even come close to putting into words how happy he is right now. ]
Heh... Yeah... That sounds perfect~
[ He does reach out, though, and smacks at the padded floor of the tent, holding his hand out to Luca to — what, beckon him over, hold his hand, have him join him lying down? Something. He doesn't say what he's wanting, exactly, but clearly just to be physically nearer to him in whatever way. Instead, Alberto keeps his hand held out, wiggling his fingers at Luca a little, and just lies there smiling with his eyes closed, in order to avoid Luca noticing they're welling up. Turns out Alberto holds back happy tears, too. ]
Wrap?
Yeah, it does sound perfect. So we'll do it.