Asphodel

Chapter 5

     Morning sunlight streamed through the window, the sound of birds mingling with the sound of a kettle boiling and the chatter of a group of people preparing for the day.

     Giorno was curled up on the side of the bed, pushed there when Mista, in the middle of some dream, had decided to take up the entire bed and was now spread out with limbs askew. He was snoring softly, still fast asleep. Rubbing his eyes the florist sat up, groggily staring down at the sleeping figure stretched out beside him. His face was handsome, even in sleep, one cheek squished up from his position on the pillow.

     "Dumbass." Giorno muttered. Hopping down from the raised mattress, he went to see if he could find some hair gel and a mirror.

     Instead, he found Bruno and Abbachhio. They were in the kitchen, the mafia leader working on a kettle of tea while the other sat slumped over the table, his head buried in his arms.

     "He has a hangover." Bruno said when he saw Giorno had entered, turning from his work at the stovetop. "Drank too much last night. I warned him, but he never listens." making a tsk sound, he ruffled the top of the man's head affectionately.

     "Are you..?" Giorno didn't have to finish the question for Bruno to understand what he was asking.

     "Together? Psh, we've been together for years. I thought it was common knowledge." the kettle began to whistle and he hurried back over to it, checking the now-boiling water before dropping in a teabag. "Mista didn't tell you?"

     "I don't think he much likes talking about you and your team." Giorno said.

     Bruno nodded. "That's understandable. He must still feel quite a bit of guilt betraying Passione. They were the closest thing he had to family, you know."

     "But they're trying to kill him!"

     "And you don't think Cerniera wouldn't take action if a member betrayed us? We're a gang, Giorno. This is how we work, and that's often what attracts people to this kind of life. There's a beauty to it, a danger you can't find anywhere else." Bruno added a drop of honey into the kettle, stirring it with a spoon as he turned the heat off. "Ask Mista, I bet he'd tell you he doesn't regret a thing."

     "I thought you just said he regretted his choice?"

     "I said he felt guilt." he corrected. "Guilt and regret can be very different things. You still feel guilty after making a hard choice, even if you know it was the right one, no?" the man sighed, grabbing a ceramic mug from the counter and pouring the still steeping tea into it. "Emotions are a confusing thing. Nobody really understands them, especially not Mista. You're gonna need to watch out, and don't be too hard on him when he messes up. Abba, tea's done. You need to break this habit, it's starting to cost me money."

     Abbacchio groaned, raising his head a few inches to peer at first Bruno, and then at Giorno. He let out a grunt and shoved it back into his arms. "Just set it on the table." He said, voice muffled. "What's the kid doing here?"

     "He stayed the night, I don't know how you managed to miss that."

     "You're letting him stick with Mista? I bet there are much better options out there."

     "You need to stop the habit of judging people you don't know as well." Bruno said, aiming a smack at the back of his partner's head. Placing the steaming mug on the table, he smiled apologetically at Giorno. "Sorry about him, he never takes well to strangers. Didn't take well to Mista at first either, and now he's going off about 'how he wants the best for him.'" moving back to the stove, he gestured to the kettle. "Tea?"