[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?
[ 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... ]
[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?]
[ 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. ]
[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?
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. ]
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.]
[ 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... ]
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.]
He doesn't know how the Change works! He didn't see me get wet. Besides, if he goes around saying, "I think these kids are sea monsters because they don't have bellybuttons" — he'll sound crazy to other humans...! Right?! Like— th-the same way normal humans would think it sounds crazy if someone accused them of being monsters! If I were a normal human, I'm supposed think that's really weird and deny it, right?!
[ That's been his operating approach with this situation: How crazy would this accusation sound to a normal human? He should act like how a normal human would act. It's not a convincing case, though, when Alberto's gaps in what's "normal" to humans seem to be as wide as ever... ]
I mean...yeah, saying we're sea monsters will sound crazy. Unless someone actually decides to check whether we have belly buttons. And yeah, normal humans would probably say they weren't sea monsters if you said they were, and probably laugh or seem confused about why you said that.
[Luca might not know much about human behavior, but he also wasn't raised in isolation, so he knows getting too loud or insistent is suspicious in it's own right.]
Right! And that's what I did— ...basically! [ That half a breath's pause is so slight, but still enough of a lapse to invite doubt. ]
Look, this guy isn't like Ercole — I don't think he has a reason to go around telling everyone... And you agree that even if he did, it'd just make him look like the weird one — not us. So that means we're okay, right?
[ Alberto's mental gymnastics are as impressive now as they ever were... ]
Um...yeah, we're probably okay. People probably won't believe him. But we're really going to have to do our best humaning if he does, because after they hear that we're sea monsters if they see us do anything weird they might start thinking he's right!
Basically, yeah! I-I acted confused— I didn't laugh it off... I acted like he was talking nonsense. Like he was being rude.
[ Which... was suspiciously insistent, as Luca'd probably already guessed. Alberto's already admitted it didn't "go well." But he wants to believe that he didn't just mess everything up for them... a familiar pit has been growing in his stomach at the idea that he might've, though. So, like with most anything, he just doubles down. ]
Look, apart from this bellybutton thing, I haven't been exposed this whole time... You haven't been exposed this whole time...! We've been human-ing perfectly fine. The bellybuttons aren't our fault. We'll just, uh— research what other things like that are necessary to seem human. Easy!
[ How the hell are you going to Google that, Alberto...? He's trying to write off the fact that they don't even know what they don't know. This was a total surprise to them. Alberto's truest fear in all this is simply: what else don't they know? What other quintessentially human details that they lack could blow their cover in a split second? But he's not about to speak to that just yet. He needs to run out of bravado first, of course. ]
Alberto...you didn't get mad at him over saying it, did you?
[Because he's suspecting if stuff got broken and it didn't go well that Alberto started a fight. Which is a terrible idea. And sure, they hadn't gotten caught yet...except Alberto did twice and Luca hasn't been here that long, but okay. They weren't doing terribly at this humaning thing. Most people were convinced. Still, they needed everyone who knew to be on their side.]
No, he got mad. He got mad cuz I wouldn't admit it, and then he started being a jerk! I just stood up for myself...!
[ That is... one interpretation of how things went down, yes. Minus the detail that it was Alberto who brought things to a physical level and drastically overreacted; Katsuki's own hot temper just heated Alberto's, they fed into each other's energy, clashing like metal on metal. It escalated quicker than he's making it sound. ]
[ Oh god. Lie to keep the egg off his face, pretending he didn't get mad first, backfires and the egg is still on his face, because he made the guy mad at them. Maybe it would've been better to admit that he was the one who got mad first...
He wraps his arms around himself and tosses his gaze askance poutily, pausing for a silent, guilty beat. He does think of one silver lining, sort of, perking up to face Luca once more, offering this saving grace hesitantly. ]
...Well— technically he only knows about me, and he's only mad at me... He doesn't know about you. Y-You're still safe. So— I'll figure something out. You're still okay.
[ If he can at least keep Luca out of the spotlight of Katsuki's suspicion — totally oblivious that Katsuki's already pieced that together, too — then he'll feel a lot better about the situation... But how likely is it for Luca to stay uninvolved? Not very likely. ]
Alberto...I want you to be safe. I want you to be okay.
[Sure, people will also probably figure out that he's a sea monster, too, if Alberto's exposed, but that's not Luca's biggest concern. He wants Alberto safe, and he's not going to throw aside Alberto's safety for his own. Not again.]
If this ends up being a problem, we'll figure something out.
[ Alberto goes quiet a long moment, staring at Luca with an earnest look, his brow knotted in thought. He throws his gaze away, though, as he draws his legs up into himself on the cushion and wraps his arms around them, resting his chin on his knees. ]
...It's just— ...What else don't we know, Luca? Do humans have a secret tail they never talk about or something?! This came out of nowhere. Something so small and stupid... It freaked me out.
[ "It freaked me out" being his subtle admission that he actually was the first one to get mad... ...which Luca probably already assumed he was lying about anyway. But it's a rare and genuine moment for Alberto to be so transparent, though he's still visibly uncomfortable letting himself be so vulnerable as to admit he's scared... not in so many words, of course. ]
[Well, sharks. Well, Alberto already seems upset enough at this mistake, there's no point in making it worse. He doesn't want to punish Alberto for finally being transparent.]
It's fine. It'll be fine. We just...we need a trusted human. Like Giulia. Someone who can look at the stuff we're saying and doing and look at us and let us know if there's anything that'll give us away.
[ Alberto starts at the question, looking back to Luca, but rephrases to stay on the defense, sounding slightly dejected — though the wash of guilt over his face betrays his half-lie. ]
I didn't say I freaked out on him, I said it freaked me out. S'different.
[ But barely. What's more, he's also not saying that he didn't freak out on him... because he definitely did. Alberto sighs a little, in turn, and throws his gaze away once more, still staying curled up against himself. ]
...Have you met anyone you trust like that yet? I mean— We could tell Signor Bruno, but... Boh. He doesn't need to worry about our problems... I think I already worry him enough.
[ This, too, betrays Alberto's true feelings. He's been creeping toward a more parental dynamic with Bruno without Alberto even realizing it, and that he's worrying about making Bruno worry about him, shows that on some level he's thinking in that direction. Healthy hot take or not, and entirely off the mark, it's still telling. Right now, though, they've got bigger fish to fry (so to speak) than Alberto's father issues. ]
[At this point, it doesn't matter. No matter whose fault this is, there's someone who knows their secret that's mad at them. They need a plan for if he decides to share what he knows, which means they need to be perfect humans. At least until this blows over. Then Alberto mentions Bruno.]
I think telling Bruno would be a great idea. He's probably going to worry about you no matter what, but if we tell him then at least he knows what's going on.
[At least, if Luca's own parents are any indication there's no avoiding his worry, and it definitely seems like it's a parental role Bruno is taking on. He also knows that keeping Bruno in the dark about what's going on with them won't make him worry any less, and if Bruno wants to look after Alberto (which he seems to), he won't be able to do that without all the information.]
[ Alberto goes silent a long moment, tightening his hug around his legs. He doesn't want Bruno to worry about him no matter what. If he's worried about him, it means Alberto's messing up, as far as Alberto's concerned. He worried Massimo because Massimo saw him messing up from the very moment they met, and it only got worse as time went on. His dad worried about him blowing their cover if he were to take Alberto to the human town, or worried about Alberto hurting himself doing something reckless while he was away — just generally often worried about all the things Alberto might "ruin." Between that mentality ingrained in his mind still somewhere deep down, setting Massimo's boat on fire his last night at home, and how badly he screwed up this thing with Katsuki... accepting that Bruno might want to worry about him is a distant and foreign concept. Alberto isn't entirely in tune with this parental dynamic developing between them, not sure quite what his friendship with the older man counts as, but he knows that he doesn't want things to change, and that he wants to make Bruno proud by being a good kid — that he wants to do it right for once. And grownups aren't supposed to worry about good kids, because, you know — they're good. Alberto still has a long way to come in his perception about these things — and a long way to come in how to express them, too. Even to Luca. When he speaks up, his tone sounds more dejected, and he dodges the matter entirely. ]
[Of course, Luca doesn't have the same background with people worrying about him, because his mom was a worrier. She worried if he messed up, sure, but she also worried if he didn't. She worried when boats went by and he hid just like she said, and she worried when he so much as mentioned the surface. So for him, people worrying about each other was just a thing that people might do as a sign that they cared about the person, and keeping them from worrying was a futile endeavor. As for who he'd tell...]
I don't know. Luz seems pretty nice. She kind of reminds me of Giulia. Maybe her?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2022-06-27 06:12 pm (UTC)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?]
no subject
Date: 2022-06-30 02:45 am (UTC)...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... ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-03 12:48 am (UTC)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?]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-07 05:58 pm (UTC)...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. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-08 02:18 pm (UTC)[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?
no subject
Date: 2022-07-08 03:06 pm (UTC)[ 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. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-11 02:02 am (UTC)[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.]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-11 04:38 pm (UTC)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... ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-12 01:20 pm (UTC)[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!
no subject
Date: 2022-07-14 08:58 pm (UTC)[ That's been his operating approach with this situation: How crazy would this accusation sound to a normal human? He should act like how a normal human would act. It's not a convincing case, though, when Alberto's gaps in what's "normal" to humans seem to be as wide as ever... ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-15 01:59 pm (UTC)[Luca might not know much about human behavior, but he also wasn't raised in isolation, so he knows getting too loud or insistent is suspicious in it's own right.]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-15 02:36 pm (UTC)Look, this guy isn't like Ercole — I don't think he has a reason to go around telling everyone... And you agree that even if he did, it'd just make him look like the weird one — not us. So that means we're okay, right?
[ Alberto's mental gymnastics are as impressive now as they ever were... ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-15 03:01 pm (UTC)[What does Alberto mean basically?]
Um...yeah, we're probably okay. People probably won't believe him. But we're really going to have to do our best humaning if he does, because after they hear that we're sea monsters if they see us do anything weird they might start thinking he's right!
no subject
Date: 2022-07-17 01:46 am (UTC)[ Which... was suspiciously insistent, as Luca'd probably already guessed. Alberto's already admitted it didn't "go well." But he wants to believe that he didn't just mess everything up for them... a familiar pit has been growing in his stomach at the idea that he might've, though. So, like with most anything, he just doubles down. ]
Look, apart from this bellybutton thing, I haven't been exposed this whole time... You haven't been exposed this whole time...! We've been human-ing perfectly fine. The bellybuttons aren't our fault. We'll just, uh— research what other things like that are necessary to seem human. Easy!
[ How the hell are you going to Google that, Alberto...? He's trying to write off the fact that they don't even know what they don't know. This was a total surprise to them. Alberto's truest fear in all this is simply: what else don't they know? What other quintessentially human details that they lack could blow their cover in a split second? But he's not about to speak to that just yet. He needs to run out of bravado first, of course. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-17 10:45 pm (UTC)[Because he's suspecting if stuff got broken and it didn't go well that Alberto started a fight. Which is a terrible idea. And sure, they hadn't gotten caught yet...except Alberto did twice and Luca hasn't been here that long, but okay. They weren't doing terribly at this humaning thing. Most people were convinced. Still, they needed everyone who knew to be on their side.]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-18 02:39 am (UTC)[ That is... one interpretation of how things went down, yes. Minus the detail that it was Alberto who brought things to a physical level and drastically overreacted; Katsuki's own hot temper just heated Alberto's, they fed into each other's energy, clashing like metal on metal. It escalated quicker than he's making it sound. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-18 03:34 pm (UTC)[He hopes.]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-18 11:38 pm (UTC)He wraps his arms around himself and tosses his gaze askance poutily, pausing for a silent, guilty beat. He does think of one silver lining, sort of, perking up to face Luca once more, offering this saving grace hesitantly. ]
...Well— technically he only knows about me, and he's only mad at me... He doesn't know about you. Y-You're still safe. So— I'll figure something out. You're still okay.
[ If he can at least keep Luca out of the spotlight of Katsuki's suspicion — totally oblivious that Katsuki's already pieced that together, too — then he'll feel a lot better about the situation... But how likely is it for Luca to stay uninvolved? Not very likely. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-19 02:46 am (UTC)[Sure, people will also probably figure out that he's a sea monster, too, if Alberto's exposed, but that's not Luca's biggest concern. He wants Alberto safe, and he's not going to throw aside Alberto's safety for his own. Not again.]
If this ends up being a problem, we'll figure something out.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-20 04:11 am (UTC)...It's just— ...What else don't we know, Luca? Do humans have a secret tail they never talk about or something?! This came out of nowhere. Something so small and stupid... It freaked me out.
[ "It freaked me out" being his subtle admission that he actually was the first one to get mad... ...which Luca probably already assumed he was lying about anyway. But it's a rare and genuine moment for Alberto to be so transparent, though he's still visibly uncomfortable letting himself be so vulnerable as to admit he's scared... not in so many words, of course. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-21 09:20 pm (UTC)You freaked out on him?
[Well, sharks. Well, Alberto already seems upset enough at this mistake, there's no point in making it worse. He doesn't want to punish Alberto for finally being transparent.]
It's fine. It'll be fine. We just...we need a trusted human. Like Giulia. Someone who can look at the stuff we're saying and doing and look at us and let us know if there's anything that'll give us away.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-22 04:00 pm (UTC)I didn't say I freaked out on him, I said it freaked me out. S'different.
[ But barely. What's more, he's also not saying that he didn't freak out on him... because he definitely did. Alberto sighs a little, in turn, and throws his gaze away once more, still staying curled up against himself. ]
...Have you met anyone you trust like that yet? I mean— We could tell Signor Bruno, but... Boh. He doesn't need to worry about our problems... I think I already worry him enough.
[ This, too, betrays Alberto's true feelings. He's been creeping toward a more parental dynamic with Bruno without Alberto even realizing it, and that he's worrying about making Bruno worry about him, shows that on some level he's thinking in that direction. Healthy hot take or not, and entirely off the mark, it's still telling. Right now, though, they've got bigger fish to fry (so to speak) than Alberto's father issues. ]
no subject
Date: 2022-07-22 07:57 pm (UTC)[At this point, it doesn't matter. No matter whose fault this is, there's someone who knows their secret that's mad at them. They need a plan for if he decides to share what he knows, which means they need to be perfect humans. At least until this blows over. Then Alberto mentions Bruno.]
I think telling Bruno would be a great idea. He's probably going to worry about you no matter what, but if we tell him then at least he knows what's going on.
[At least, if Luca's own parents are any indication there's no avoiding his worry, and it definitely seems like it's a parental role Bruno is taking on. He also knows that keeping Bruno in the dark about what's going on with them won't make him worry any less, and if Bruno wants to look after Alberto (which he seems to), he won't be able to do that without all the information.]
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Date: 2022-08-01 07:21 pm (UTC)...What about you? Who would you tell?
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Date: 2022-08-05 04:11 pm (UTC)I don't know. Luz seems pretty nice. She kind of reminds me of Giulia. Maybe her?
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From:wanna wrap this one up?
From:Works for me!
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