action + text; open

[prontissimo]

WHO: Alberto e tu!
WHERE: Around town + network
WHEN: 1 March
WHAT: debut of a very smad Alberto "oh no" Scorfano...
WARNINGS: none. preteen abandonment issues?

🌊 a. arrival

[ A nightmare. That's surely what's happening. It's taken Alberto hours to come to that conclusion, but that's the only sensible explanation, and Alberto's not typically the type to err on the side of sensibility. He's dreaming that he's on his island again.

And again.

And again...

Every turn he takes, no matter if he leaps off the cliff, dives into the ocean, slips into the sea from the smooth-pebbled beach, or just runs around aimlessly... it lands him in the center of the wilderness of his small, uninhabited island — a place he's called home most of his short life, regardless of how much weight the word "home" carries, for better or worse. He's tried desperately to return to his new home with his boss at the pescheria, Massimo, in Portorosso, but even though the human town is just a couple miles off shore from his own private island... it's ever farther away, with every attempt to escape. He's trapped. Again. He's alone. Again...

And that's the real kicker. No one's gonna come save him from this labyrinth. No one can get in. He's not sure he can get out. This is just... his life now. Just like it was before. After hours of futile attempts to swim away, he's inevitably spat out by the sea, left ashore alone and angry. So after hours of wandering in what should be a perfectly familiar expanse of nature and nothingness that he typically knows like the back of his hand, but now has strange new paths he's not sure how to navigate, he keeps finding himself lost, arriving back in the same spot, or somewhere new, maybe leaping from one side of the tiny island to another with a single turn... Even for someone a bit saner than this strange child, it'd drive a person mad.

So after a full day spent this way, he can tell the sky is growing dark, bizarre as it is that it's still red and cloudless and alight in a way he's never seen. Surely, he must be dreaming. Can there be another explanation? So, the most reluctantly he's ever done anything... he retires to his tower. It's destroyed. Just like he'd last seen it, after quitting the triathlon, betraying Luca, Luca betraying him... after Alberto ruining everything... but before he fixed it. The last thing he wants to do is string up the hammock in his dilapidated lighthouse again, but for all his confusion, despair, panic— what else can he do?

Maybe if he's dreaming this nightmare, the way to get out of it is to undream it, if he goes to sleep while he's asleep... Big brain stuff, eh?

But not. Like, at all. He can't sleep but for a few minutes at a time, after such a distressing day. And that awful voice in the back of his mind tells him this is how it's supposed to be, as "Bruno" steals the sleep from him...

You're supposed to be alone.
It was too good to be true.
Massimo's better off without you.
This is your life, Alberto...
Alone. Da solo. Solitario.

...So deal with it. Even if he never recognized that he was actually in a maze, the mental effects absolutely felt like one. After a few hours of his Bruno off-and-on whispering dark thoughts to him, he decided sleep would not help. Maybe stars would, though. At the very least... looking at the stars makes him think of Luca now. And bittersweet as it is, that's a helluva lot better than whatever Bruno had to say.

So, just as dawn is breaking in this weird red, cracked sky, Alberto ascends his staircase to reach the top of his lighthouse, ready to start a fire and spend yet another sleepless night by himself, hoping to catch the last cascade of stars across the changing sky before they disappear to light, dreaming, escaping, silencing his Bruno...

But instead finds himself—
somewhere else?
A city.
A big city.

He made it out of his labyrinth alone. He could only make it out of his labyrinth alone — that's the real challenge for a child who's spent a bulk of the past fourteen years in some kind of solitude, plus the past two years in absolute total isolation. There's nothing Alberto prizes more than a sense of capability... and whether or not he should believe his father, he does, and still firmly believes he's old enough to take care of himself.

But finding himself in the city of Kaisou, his only experience of a human town being a small fishing village on the Italian Riviera in the 1960s...? Well, this throws him entirely for a loop.

He barely skims the instruction manual for his cell phone, doesn't even make it past the first few pages, and, uh, fucking wings the rest of it. Like he always does with anything in life.

But he's definitely not dressed for this weather, walking around in a tank top and shorts, barefoot in the snow... The latter is the most problematic. So his first priority is to take shelter. He can't afford getting wet when he doesn't know where the hell he is... or what these humans here are like. The townspeople in Portorosso were hard enough to win over... and he has the scars to prove it. He's not taking any chances. Find him in town immediately after escaping his labyrinth, feeling some kind of way, stewing by himself, wandering very obviously hopelessly. Dai, Alberto, forza... ]


☕ b. buona fortuna e buon caffè;

[ His whole labyrinth experience has left him particularly grumpy, to put it lightly. There are some unseen sides to Alberto, behind the exaggerated but genuine charisma and whimsy, and the city of Kaisou has the unfortunate privilege of first meeting secret-smad Alberto. Bruno got the better of him in that labyrinth, and that pestering voice hasn't quite let up yet.

Find the child in a convenience store, the first place he finds, arguing loudly with the attendant at the counter. ]

I— told— you! I'll pay you back, okay?! I just want espresso! Es-pres-so!

[ The attendant retorts hotly, "Kid, I know what espresso is, but we don't sell espresso, and even if we did, you need money!" But Alberto just groans exasperatedly, dragging his hands down his face with some theatrics. He's... clearly having a rough time of it. Help a kid out? Or... not? He's gotta learn how the world works, after all. He was a big fish in a small pond, and now he's a little fish in a big sea... He doesn't even know what "North America" is, man. Kid was educated by a single narcissist with very weak commitment to his only son's betterment, even at the basic level. Alberto's wit is owed to his own merit. Kid still writes his Ǝ's backwards, though. The fuck does he know about the world? He ain't even got shoes... and winter here is quite unlike winter in Liguria. Just to see the child is disconcerting, let alone tune into the increasingly aggressive public problem he's instigating. ]

🛵 c. text; un: signorvespa

ciao a tutti
dont know how this Everrything Machine works
BUT
looking for massimo marcovaldo
bushy mustacehe and eyebrows
one arm
probly the biggest human ever?
mean cat macchiavelli
also has a mustache
but a cat mustache!

also looking for luca paguro
short with brownhair round face big brown eyes fishface
NICE GUY

and i guess giulia marcovaldo
red curly hair wtih lots to say HA

anyone seen thees people? and/or cat???

ciao
alberto scorfano

[ He attaches a couple photos of photos: he received a color photograph of Massimo, Machiavelli, and himself, as well as a black-and-white photograph of Luca, Giulia and her mamma. For someone who's scarcely used even his own 1960's technology... Alberto's getting the hang of the cell phone pretty quick. Even if he's... determinedly calling it an "Everything Machine." Education and intelligence have little to do with each other, at the end of the day, okay. ]

Comments

B.

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter does not like shopping. This was never something he had to worry about back in the Boiling Isles, not when he lived in the Emperor's castle. Living there meant all his basic necessities - food, shelter, even his clothing - were met without his input, which meant he never had to think about any of it.

... Which has its downsides, of course, but it freed him up to focus on the important things. Research, fulfilling assignments given to him by the Emperor himself. Important things.

And yet here he is, in a stupid human convenience store, picking out a couple boxes of cereal to take back to his apartment. He's got two boxes under one arm and is counting out money in his hands (he's still getting used to human realm money) when whatever is going on at the main counter catches his attention. He just stands there, watching for several seconds, before there's a little chirp that comes from inside his coat.

That's what prompts him to finally walk over.]

At this rate you're going to get kicked out.

[He's going to go ahead and put the cereal on the counter to pay.]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto wheels around on the other boy, glaring at him as he puts his stuff up on the counter, despite acknowledging Alberto's conducting business, ahem... ]

Ehi, ragazzo, I'm busy here — I've got this...! Wait your turn, eh?!

[ The clerk rolls his eyes dramatically at that. Alberto's particularly irritable right now, unfortunately for Hunter, but... è la vida. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter absolutely does not wait his turn, and starts counting out his change while the clerk rings him up (because a paying customer is so much easier to deal with than a shoeless child demanding espresso).]

What, you want me to stand here all day while you have your temper tantrum? No thanks, I've got things to do today. They clearly don't have whatever it is you want here, so why are you bothering?

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto narrows his eyes at him, looking between Hunter and the clerk checking him out incredulously — as if the clerk is supposed to be on Alberto's side, now?! After they talked so much, they were bonding, the betrayal!?! Alberto grumbles, snatching his phone off the counter and staring Hunter down as he slowly steps away. ]

Fine. I'll take my business elsewhere.

[ He tries to speak smoothly and coolly as he glares at the clerk, as if this is some big loss that could have been prevented had he just obliged the boy with espresso — or at least a little more courtesy... Even the clerk can't keep a straight face at that one, though, letting out a loud "pffft" of a laugh before balking: "Kid! You don't have any business! You don't have any money!"

The truth is, Alberto's not even sure exactly what that phrase he just used really means, but he's heard townspeople threaten Massimo with these words... after, uh, many less-than-successful deliveries made by Alberto. Ahem. Which Massimo usually just gracefully and quietly apologized for. So when the threat doesn't land the way he expected it to, Alberto wheels around on the clerk and Hunter again, halfway to the door now. ]

Okay, well! When I get some money! I won't spend it here!

[ He's gesturing exaggeratedly as he speaks, body language increasingly animated, even as the volume of his voice rises. He spontaneously points to Hunter, though, rather accusatorially, though Hunter's technically done nothing wrong except getting on Alberto's already frayed nerves...? Caught in the line of fire, sorry, man. ]

And you—!

[ He doesn't have any words for Hunter... Just more exaggerated gesturing — though this one seems a bit, um... aggressive. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter stares back, finding this whole situation bizarrely amusing. He isn't intimidated, being taller and older and everything. It's occurred to him pretty quick that Alberto must be new, since he's never seen a human act like this before. He must come from a world that doesn't have convenience stores, or something. Like a fish out of water.

Which... he can kind of relate to. Enough that his grin fades a little bit when he hears the clerk laugh and sass the kid over being so clueless. He raises an eyebrow at the exchange, deciding to remain silent during it and grab his cereal and change. Maaaybe he should just go, though if this kid really is from a different realm leaving him to wander into traffic is probably a bad idea.

.... He still debates doing just that at the gesture. While he doesn't know what means he can certainly guess, though another chirp from the pocket of his coat has him pausing, and one very important exchange with an annoying human (I thought you might've been a good guy.) has him sighing. Okay, okay, he'll do the nice thing. He doesn't have anything better to do, anyways.

So he follows Alberto out of the store, not looking particularly impressed.]

How exactly do you plan on getting money, human? [Does he even know how to get money??]

a - in town

[nonmagical]

[Mirabel was about to head home, when she sees a small kid with no shoes and no winter clothing walking around in the snow.]

Okay, hold up - it's way too cold for you to be walking around like that.

[She's already shrugging off her own coat and scarf. She doesn't know this kid is new, not yet anyway.]

[prontissimo]

[ He's walking around really weird, too, at that... Every other step, he's seemingly checking on his feet, lifting them up to inspect them every now and again if he even gets close to stepping in the snow dappling the ground. If it means walking in the middle of the street, so be it.

So, yeah, a lanky, half-dressed, barefoot preteen boy, fuming and scowling to himself, walking down the middle of a usually busy city street, alone in winter in the middle of the day is... eye-catching?

He stops in his tracks when spoken to, turning around at the unfamiliar voice to see... an unfamiliar face. Welp. He gives her the once-over with a skeptical eye and a long silence, before cautiously accepting the offered clothes once she has them off. When she hands them to him, he takes them with a drawn out, uncertain: ]

...Thaaaank... youuuu...?

[ He'd normally say "I've got this, I'm fine," but the fact of the matter is: he is cold. He needs clothes. What he really needs is shoes, but he'll figure it out. This weird white water on the ground concerns him most. But he also doesn't necessarily wanna risk any humans noticing anything weird til he finds some shoes, sooo... once Mirabel's clothes are in his hands, he tips his head at her in a tiny nod of acknowledgement, raising his brows at her without a smile.

And then, uh.
Starts walking away.
With her clothes. Doesn't even put them on yet.
Just takes them and goes.

Um??? No? Kid, come back??? ]

[nonmagical]

[Mirabel watches him walk off, eyebrow raising curiously. She follows after him because this kid seems... not... okay?]

You should probably put them on.

[Helpful!]

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto raises his own eyebrow curiously back at her when she follows up. ]

Hey, thanks, I've got this.

[ He says a bit pointedly, only softened by his... smugness. Oy.

However, he spots a short stone garden wall a couple paces behind Mirabel, and his face lights up like he's had an epiphany, so he seems to walk toward her suddenly, before sidestepping and passing her, her clothes still draped over his arm. He plops down on the bricks gracelessly, but somehow still with the airs that it was incredibly graceful, unabashed, and... t-takes his shirt off? This is exactly, um, the opposite of what he should be doing...?

But he pays Mirabel no mind as he sets his yellow tank top aside, and shrugs her coat on over bare, tanned, freckled shoulders; the coat's a little short in the arms, Alberto being quite a bit ganglier than Mirabel, but it does the trick, he supposes. He doesn't bother to button it up just yet, as he crosses his leg over one knee and goes about wrapping his foot with the shirt he just took off...? What on earth is this kid doing...?

No, he's not okay, she's right. This kid is weird. Markedly weird. ]

B

[neverbreaks]

[ Luisa had just been dropping by the convenience store to pick up a quick snack on her way home. While she was still struggling to find some steady work, the odd job here and there did help her get a bit of money. And not having a full job also meant she wasn't working all the time.

She was trying to decide what to do with her afternoon when all the commotion catches her attention. She lingers back for a moment, trying to understand what was going on, and while she did feel sorry for the poor attendant - who was clearly just doing his job and did not ask for this today - she couldn't help taking note of the kid that was doing most of the yelling. His clothes are definitely not suited for the current weather in the city...he doesn't even have shoes.

She bites her lip, debating for a moment, before walking over. As much as she hated confrontation, she couldn't help wanting to help.

She notices the attendant spot her as she approaches, and she holds a hand up to let him know that she'll handle it. Then she clears her throat as she stands behind the kid. ]

Hey. There are actual coffee shops nearby if you really want an espresso. I can show you where one is if you want, but don't harass people for something they don't even have.

[prontissimo]

[ Alberto wheels around when he hears a voice behind him, and all but gapes at the sight of her... He stands pretty tall for his age, about 5'4", but this woman towers over him — hell, she'd even tower over Massimo...! And Alberto was pretty certain til now that Massimo was the biggest human ever, but— uh— now he's reconsidering...? He's willing to listen to her, staring wide-eyed up at her and immediately quieted, but at the promise of being led to espresso, he's totally on board, and nods in seemingly soothed, silent agreement, surprisingly pliant in an instant.

However, there is some slight twisting of words at the final bit, though: "Don't harass people for something they don't have." At that comment, he's quick to turn around and face the clerk again, scrunching up his face spitefully and waving both arms at Luisa as if to display her as an example of someone nice and sound... Take note, guy?! She's willing to help! Don't harass Alberto for money when he doesn't have any!

He gives the guy a pointed nod, as if Alberto just won this argument without another word, then stands straight with his chin in the air, and starts boldly strutting toward the door, taking long, over-animated strides, waving Luisa along nonchalantly over his shoulder as he leads the way out... ...but that's about as far as he can make it because he has no idea where they're going. So he just stands outside the door with his arms crossed, pouting, expecting her to have followed, as if they've teamed up against the clerk together defiantly.

...which is not what just happened. Luisa was going to make a purchase, um? What happened to that, Alberto? She has no bone to pick with this poor attendant! She doesn't want to deny him her business out of spite, probably...? The guy's barely older than Luisa herself, he literally just works here... The drama, though... Oof. ]

[neverbreaks]

[ Luisa can only just stare after him for a moment because that was...not at all what she had expected to happen. And she had no idea what was going on through his mind, but just seeing his expression tells her that he probably was not taking his words the way she had meant them.

Fortunately all she had selected was a granola bar, so at least making her purchase was pretty quick. She also left a bit of extra money in the jar by the register, because she knows that the poor attendant definitely did not ask for any of that and she feels a little bad.

As she heads to follow the kid, she shrugs her coat off and once she joins him outside she drapes the coat over his smaller frame. ]

Here. It's too cold for you to be walking around like that.

[ The coat is definitely much too big, and the way it hangs off him just makes him look even lankier. But it should still keep him warm. ]

[prontissimo]

[ He sees her coming from the corner of his eye, but he's a little put out and embarrassed that she didn't spite the clerk like he'd hoped... He thought they were a team...! So when she enters his periphery through the glass door, he turns his face away slightly, arms crossed over his chest. But suddenly— a big, warm coat is plopped over his shoulders. It gives him a start, straightening up as his eyes go wide, completely caught off-guard, and turns to her with an unusually doe-eyed expression, staring up at her, bemused and impressed and... clearly touched, yeah. He wasn't expecting that. He can't be sore she didn't participate in his stupid dramatics — aaand being given the coat for no reason after that just secretly makes his theatrics seem stupider, privately. It takes him pause to find words, and while he doesn't say "thank you" outright, something in his eyes says it way more than he could ever articulate... maybe even more than is actually due, for such a seemingly small gesture?

So instead, after a silent beat, he shoves himself off the wall, still just as exaggerated in his movements, as he stands straight again, drawing Luisa's coat tighter around him without putting his arms through the sleeves yet. Just wearing it more like a cape. And really, with their size difference, it's pretty much big enough to be more effective as a cape than a coat on him. He inclines his chin forward subtly, gazing up at her expectantly but with a hint of... humility, perhaps is the word, letting the rough edges he'd shown in the store be smoothed away slightly without owning up to the fact that he knows he was being rough. It's quite the contrast from the loud, boisterous, rather ridiculous boy she'd seen inside, now with a strange, transparent tenderness about him, maybe something deeper accidentally being communicated here. A lot can be said even without words, after all. ]

Ahem. So, uh— espresso...? You said there's a café nearby?

text: un: BRUNO

[wedonttalkabout]

[Oh no. Oh this sounds like a kid. A kid alone?!!]

sorry. i've not seen any of those people (or cat), but i don't really get out a whole lot so you'll probably have better luck with other people

are they your family? do you have anyone else here you know?

[Does this kid need help?]

text; un: signorvespa

[prontissimo]

[ Uh.

Forgive him for responding with some skepticism, un: BRUNO... It's better he's in text, perhaps, to not show the very strange face he's shooting his phone right now. ]

no and no
their my friends
and my boss
and my boss'ss cat

but i guess ishould probably look for my dad too, huh
hah
i dont have a foto of him tho.

[ That's... a weird set of priorities, kid. Looking for your boss's cat before your dad. Something's definitely amiss here. ]

[wedonttalkabout]

[Sorry, kiddo, sorry. He didn't mean to trigger all the Bruno Related Anxieties. Bruno certainly makes note that this kid is looking for his friends and his boss and the CAT before his actual father.

That...well, that sure tells a story and Bruno feels a twist of familiar grief in his stomach. Has he looked for Alma since he got here? Absolutely fuckin' not- and things are marginally better between them now. And he's an adult. This is... a kid.]

you don't have to look for your dad if you don't want to.

i'm sorry you haven't found the people who matter a lot to you yet. are you safe? do you have somewhere safe to live? how old are you?

[prontissimo]

[ "You don't have to look for your dad if you don't want to" is not the comforting sentiment it's intended to be, coming from un: BRUNO... A part of Alberto deep down would want to look for his dad; but a louder part of Alberto, not so deep down, knows that his dad wouldn't really want him to look for him, if his dad is here... and that same part of him assumes his dad probably hasn't been looking for him, either. So, in fact, "you don't have to look for your dad if you don't want to" is probably exactly what Alberto's dad would want him to hear. Which still hurts to be told, with this context in mind, even if he didn't plan on looking for him in the first place. He's still pretty dubious here... ]

its fine
i'll figure it out
im old enough to take care of myself

[ That is, like, the least comforting response...? And least convincing? Adults don't say things like "I'm old enough to take care of myself." Only children with something to prove say that. Children who... have done it before. What's more, he did not actually answer any of Bruno's questions. Is he safe? Does he have a place to go? Alberto doesn't know the answers to these questions yet, himself; he's totally just winging it. ]

C - I debated so long on if I should tag with the actual adult or not, but Bruno has that covered SO

[suzume_odori]

UN: SUZUME - TEXT

[These pictures prove pretty much Everything This Guy Says, Ever.

First, that is totally the biggest human ever, absolutely, hands down.

Second, THAT'S A CAT STACHE

...Well maybe everything he said is debatable. That picture of everyone else does not have a whole lot of color, that's definitely not brown!!]

Hello Mister Alberto!

My name is Suzume

:0

I didn't see anyone

:[

But there's no one from home so maybe there's no one from your home too?

Mister Cherry looked like someone from home but he's not the same

[Suzume, ultimately, is making a Very Big Guess. She's pretty sure though, that since everyone From here just complains about Libra being on their phone, while this person just called it something different, means that maybe he's not from here? Hard call, but she's also 5 and these are hard guesses!]

If I send you Muland will it help

He is a big dog with lots of fur

Also a big moustache!

:D

[Stoutland are magic.]

text;

[prontissimo]

piacere suzume

i dont need a dog with a mustache
i need a cat
a specific cat

but thanks anyway......?

if you see any of these peoplee someday let me know ok?
orr if you see a tall grownup guy who looks kinda like me ig uess
i'm the guy in the picture with massimoand the cat

oh and if you meet any sea monsters i wanna know about them too
no reason
just curious

text;

[suzume_odori]

[Since he said thanks, he's getting a picture.

Now that's a Dog.]

If they're not here is there no one here for you too?

Oh no

:[

Do you need Zodiac?

I'm at Zodiac!

[Wait, pause-]

What's a sea monster

Moon was in the water!

Just swimming

[prontissimo]

wowww che cane!
never seen a dog with a mustache

[ He's never met a dog without one, either... ]

but no
dont need anyone
just looking for my friends
let me know if you seee them ok?

oh and sea folk are people who live in the ocean generally
and of course the moon was swimming in the water
where else would it be?

[ He's pointedly still dubious about astronomy as a whole (sorry, Luca), so if this person is agreeing with him that the sky is water, then he's back on board in a flash. He just... likes being right. Even when he's wrong. ]

text; un: no

[dirtdevil]

can that guy even see
where are his eyes

[prontissimo]

massimo sees just fine!!! he has eyes!!

[ Thems fightin words ]

[dirtdevil]

i'll take your word for it

[ it's just that he only sees eyebrows... not that there's anything wrong with prominent eyebrows, of course. ]

haven't seen any of them, but i can keep an eye out
have you never used a phone before?

[prontissimo]

telefono
not this
called my friend in a city faraway
but it cost money so we couldnt do it often
and it couldnt write, we had to mail a letter int eh post to write like this, took soooooooooo long......
didnt get to talk long on the phone becaus it was too expensive
this is not a phone
its somehing else
a magic everything machine

[ He says with an air of expertise, even over text... ]