little brother capitano

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gn reader, child capitano, reader is as usual implied to be a few years older, reader can be seen as kind of an asshole, this is actually kinda sad toward the end, also capitano is human sorry 😔

ok this one I thought about and was like "this one. cute." Idk whether to do Signora or Dottore next (could be another one too)

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Capitano's fondest memories come mostly from you agreeing to teach him things you shouldn't. Running off into a part of the woods far enough away nobody will see or hear and finding a clearing to teach him how to use a sword. Should you have been doing it? Absolutely not, and especially not so far from your house, but his only exposure to fighting can't be hunting forever.

You started slow with him, cautious. You probably didn't expect him to pick it up as well as he did, because you weren't putting that much effort in at first. You taught him proper form and how to swing it but not much else. There was no technique until he ran around bothering you enough times you got tired of shoving him off.

Unknowingly, you had ignited quite a passion within him.

You were much better than he was, able to maneuver and adapt to your opponent, solely because you had to experience to do so. You were no longer worrying about things like form or how you held your sword. They were memory to you while he was still having to focus to get it all right.

At first Capitano was embarrassed by your corrections, but they became pointers of where to improve and he decided instead to treat them like homework every time you'd reach around from behind him and adjust him a little, shuffle his hands a bit and fix his posture, finally tilting his head back to tell him to focus.

He focused so hard, to impress you and persuade you to come back instead of leaving him to practice alone until he irritated you enough about it to make you give in.

Did he enjoy doing that? No. You'd shoved him so many times he'd memorised what hitting the floor felt like. Capitano was desperate, however, to have something he could do with you. He idolised you so much, and finally he was getting your attention and favour. You were so busy and perhaps cared a bit more for people your age than your little brother who was immature and reminded you of your younger self but you were paying attention and that was what mattered to him.

Strangely Capitano didn't mind every time he hit the ground this time.

At the end of it all you would sit Capitano down and clean any nick and cuts he'd gotten whether from your recklessness of his unsteady way of handling that sword. He was not to move, or tell your parents unless he didn't want to receive another lesson.

You couldn't teach him as well in the winter, too busy with all the extra chores, but you did take him hunting. You never quite coddled him as much as he might've liked, but you took him to do something fun and spoke to him instead of running off to do it yourself. The only problem was that Capitano never actually got to do anything.

Animals don't linger for the winter, and unwilling to let him and everyone else in the family go hungry, you didn't want him trying. This wasn't a teachable moment. It was time to get food when there was not an abundance of it. Even if all you could get were birds, that was ok. Birds were still something to eat so that he didn't go hungry in your mind.

Ice fishing was the other option, and he was better at that, even when he was young. You'd walk him out to the lake, frozen over and carve out the hole for him to sit and fish in. If Capitano complained enough about the cold, you might lend him your coat and let him sit a little closer. If you got cold, you'd ignore it, but he was smaller and more fragile. He needed those fingers of his to fish and hunt, so losing them to hypothermia was not an option. Maybe that was how you justified letting him sit in your lap while you encased his smaller hand in your own to warm him as much as you could. It wasn't much, but the intention of it all made him giddy.

Of course, when he got overexcited as a result and tried to get you to carry him back, he was hit with a whiplash as you told him to walk. He should've expected that, though.

You collapsing into bed the second all work was done and sleeping like a baby for the next three hours despite it still being afternoon probably should've given away that you didn't walk as much as him. Winter was always too busy for you, and he never fully registered that at the time, only thinking he should wait impatiently.

Your mother asking him to check on you once or twice probably wasn't helping, as he'd always find you just as asleep as he left you. You never covered yourself with the blankets, though. There was no way you were hot, but maybe you were just that exhausted. Regardless, he would always climb onto your bed to fix the blankets for you and cover you up so that you wouldn't wake up from the cold.

Every time he'd tell you it was him who did it to make sure you were warm, he'd get a hug and a pat on the back.

He better not find his way into your bed, though, not unless you were already awake when he climbed in and asked you first. Otherwise, Capitano would wake up cold and on the floor. It wasn't uncommon for him to try to convince you by saying the two of you should pile all of your blankets together and share a bed. He was hardly subtle about the fact he just didn't want to sleep alone and sometimes even got scared when he did.

It was so strange to you when he up and decided he was joining the Fatui one day. Maybe he thought you would be proud or something. You definitely weren't. The exact words you said were something along the lines of how he wouldn't get far because they don't want pansies and wimps among their ranks. Capitano was neither of those things, and it stung a little, at least until it took him all of five minutes to realise you didn't want him to leave.

Of course you didn't, even though he got massively upset at the time. He'd been seeking your approval for years, it was no wonder why.

But in a way, it makes sense. Everything you did, as much as Capitano may not have liked it then, was ultimately because you wanted to protect him in a way that would allow him to protect himself eventually. You never wanted to coddle him too much but guided him and had a shocking amount of patience for his incessant whining and pestering. This was not part of that, letting him wander off to a place you couldn't teach him at a time you thought he wasn't ready.

How would you sit him down by the river and rinse his wounds before walking him home to clean them properly? You hadn't taught him that yet. His food? How would he align his bow perfectly if all he'd done for months was sword practice? Did he even know what it was like outside of your little world?

You were worried for him greatly, understandably, and that was not the kind of reaction he wanted. He wanted you to smile because you thought he was ready, but you didn't, and you might never.

Of course you would show it in that same crass way you always did.

Of course you would beg him, now tall enough to have to look down at you, not to go. The only time he has ever made you cry, as he was always curious if you did, was when you were faced with the prospect of your baby brother possibly getting in over his head and endangering himself with his ambition. He realised then that was what you really wanted, for him to be safe, and he cried with you.

Mind made up, Capitano wanted you to take care of yourself for a while without worrying about him. All he could do was assure you that he would be fine. Eventually, he would make you proud.

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