Anger Management [Meloghia]

Chapter 37: Admission

Ghiaccio walked about the house finding new places to sit and attempt to occupy his mind. He sat in on Illuso and Formaggio's marathon of the Alien franchise for a time before he got too antsy. He needed to pace. He walked up to his room in search of nothing. He opened his journal and flipped through the pages, then closed it again. He thought maybe changing into something more comfortable might put him at ease and decided on a hoodie and sweatpants.

Ghiaccio cleaned his room for something else to do while he waited for Melone to return. Yet, he had finished before the arrival of his partner and so he went back to the living room to continue watching the movie. He wasn't there long before he got up again to go to the bathroom, more out of restlessness than a need to actually use it.

After, he returned to the couch and stared absently at the screen. It was some minutes before he found himself chewing on his lips. It would be better if he were chewing on something else. Formaggio watched as Ghiaccio stood up yet again and walked into the kitchen. Ghiaccio grabbed a cup full of ice and walked back to the couch as he began to chew on a cube. This earned him a glare from Illuso. Ghiaccio liked the feeling of ice crunching into small bits between his teeth but it bugged the shit out of Illuso whenever he did it. One of those weird pet peeves, he supposed.

He glanced at Sorbet and Gelato who were unsurprisingly curled up on each other watching the movie. They always took up one whole couch between them. God, he fucking hated looking at them. They always had to be so fucking all over each other.

Ghiaccio's leg began bouncing as he crunched on another ice cube. He reached into the cup again and noticed it was almost empty. Already? When did that happen? He got up again to get more ice when Pesci and Prosciutto walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Ghiaccio," Pesci said as he walked to the freezer.

"Hey," he replied as he filled his cup again.

"So the Doc is settled. Is Melone back yet?" Prosciutto asked.

"No. He hasn't come back." Ghiaccio fiddled with the ice now in his cup, selecting a medium-sized piece, one that fit perfectly in his mouth and wasn't awkward to maneuver around with his tongue. Pesci looked sad and Prosciutto didn't say anything more. Ghiaccio began to walk out of the kitchen when Pesci stopped him.

"Hey, Ghiaccio, have you eaten anything for lunch?" Pesci's words stopped Ghiaccio in his tracks and he turned around. It was an unexpected question.

He hadn't. Ghiaccio shook his head as he sucked on the ice.

"I was going to make something. Do you want me to make you something too?" The smile on Pesci's face made Ghiaccio feel a bit self-conscious. He wasn't used to this sort of kindness. Pesci usually steered clear of him. He figured this must have been Pesci's way of repaying him for the pasta yesterday. It would probably be rude to refuse, and also he hadn't eaten yet. It could be one more thing to take his mind off waiting. He crunched into the cube to make it easier to talk around it.

"Uh, sure. Thanks." Ghiaccio smiled an awkward close-lipped smile and Pesci returned it with a large grin of his own. "Whatever you make just be sure there's no—"

"Mushrooms. I know." Pesci smiled and turned back to the fridge. Ghiaccio was stunned. Pesci knew he hated mushrooms. He honestly hadn't thought anyone paid attention to him enough to know something like that. Ghiaccio didn't remember complaining about that since it'd never come up before. Maybe Melone knew and told him, he couldn't be sure. He stood for a moment frozen to the spot. Prosciutto cocked his head in confusion at his staring. Ghiaccio quickly turned around and left the kitchen.

He sat on the couch again just in time to watch an alien rip someone apart. The ice crunched between his teeth and he sucked on the pieces. He liked sci-fi but only if it wasn't too outlandish. He was a bit on the fence here. He could be open-minded to the prospect of life on other planets but this Alien? Probably not. Also, he didn't believe that androids would ever be as convincing as Bishop. Still, it was fun to watch and even managed to distract him some. The vengeful xenomorph screeched on the screen as it wreaked its havoc on board the Nostromo. Ghiaccio was out of ice again before he knew it. He stood up one last time but not before Illuso groaned loudly.