kaisou | [Action: Open]

Entry tags:

luca paguro

[Action: Open]

WHO: Luca and you!
WHERE: Somewhere in the city
WHEN: Right after Luca's arrival
WHAT: He just got out of the labyrinth, found a weird device with directions on how to use it, and he's trying to figure out what's going on
WARNINGS: Fear of extreme isolation and mentions of whale carcass

Luca doesn't know how he got here. One moment he's on Genova, the next he's suddenly deep underwater. He's never been to the part of the sea he finds himself in before, but he instantly knows where he is, because it's exactly how he pictured it. The Deep.

It's dark. Completely pitch black, nothing to see. Nothing to hear, either. It's quiet, incredibly quiet, enough to make him feel alone and isolated because clearly there aren't any other sea monsters around. He doesn't even hear any other fish or sea life around to catch his interest. There's just...nothing to see or do, just endless emptiness with nothing to engage him but his thoughts...and the smell of rotting whale meat that seems to permeate the water.

Why is he here? He was in Genova, on land. His parents had gone back on this, they weren't going to send him here. He shouldn't be here!

Terrified, not of any imminent threat because there certainly doesn't seem to be one, but of being trapped in this place while he slowly goes mad from the endless monotony, living off the bits and pieces of floating whale carcass that he feels brush past his skin as they float past, he screams.

"No! No, no, no, no, no! I'm not supposed to be here!" he yells out to no one, because no one's there to hear.

Luca then takes off, desperately swimming up to escape the Deep, even though he can't see any signs of even the slightest sliver of light piercing the darkness to indicate that he might be escaping.

He's in such a frenzied panic that he doesn't even know how he ends up reaching land, only that he finds himself in a new place he's never been before. He quickly shakes himself off to remove any remaining droplets of water, triggering his transformation back into his human form. Still trembling slightly from the sheer panic of thinking he'd be trapped in the Deep, he looks around and spots a nearby bench and decides to have a seat. That's when he notices the strange, rectangular device next to where he's sitting, and under the device is a little booklet with directions on it's use. Strange...why would something like this just be left here? Is it for anyone to just pick up and use? It must be, because why else would someone leave it with step by step instructions on how to use it?

Curious, Luca picks up and starts messing with the strange device, following the instructions to try and understand it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah! Especially since we're in the future so there's probably all sorts of future stuff we can learn about! And there's a school close to here, so I don't have to choose between school and being with you!

[Which hadn't really been a choice he'd wanted to make and he'd really wanted Alberto to stay with him, but he figures Alberto probably needed Massimo after...everything. But here that doesn't matter. That's in the past now, and now he has school and Alberto.]

[ Alberto's face lights up at that. ]

Ah! Great! So you heard! Fantastic, you'll go to school and I'll work, and we'll live here together~! Hah, and I'll cook for us, too. Heh... C'mon, let's eat.

[ He claps him on the back again, grinning the biggest grin he's grinned in months, then steps off to wave him along to the kitchen. He'd promised lunch, after all. Already like they're playing house... He starts pulling out jars of spices and glass canisters of pasta and whipping out garlic and lemon and tomatoes and just... half-emptying all his supplies, here, taking stock to see what they've got to work with. Maaaaybe because he's eager to show off to Luca. Ahem. He chats along excitedly as he putzes about, clearly comfortable in his own kitchen, even if he's just monkeying around pulling out half of every ingredient he owns. It's not that much, he's not rich, and most of the things he makes all use a basic same set of ingredients, but... it's still more than they need right now. But he's just too excited and scatterbrained and overwhelmed. He'll figure out what they want to eat first and then put it all back. Doing everything the hard way. For fun. ]

Haaah, Luca, this is gonna be great~! I still can't believe you're here!

Yeah! That sounds like a great plan!

[Everything he'd wanted all in the same place! School and Alberto! And now for food. Luca's impressed when he sees Alberto start to cook. When they first went to Portorosso, neither of them had even seen pasta before, and now Alberto seems to know exactly what to do to make it! Of course, Luca doesn't know that all these things aren't needed. As far as he can tell, human food could easily use this many spices.]

I can't believe I'm here, either! I mean...mostly because I didn't even know here existed until today, but I can't believe we're together again already!

[ Alberto can make a handful of recipes, by no means the master chef he makes himself out to be. But even he stresses still that he's learning, if asked about his cooking. Mostly because things still sometimes catch fire in his kitchen... even though he has an electric stove. But it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to! Progress is progress. He steps back from the counter with his hands on his hips, surveying his lot, clearly giving it thought. It's really not that much... But it's more than enough, because in the end, he puts back everything, except the salt and the spaghetti. He grabs the large bottle of olive oil from the counter, tears off some sprigs of dried parsley from the bundle of herbs tied to the wall, and likewise snatches a peperoncino and a handful of garlic cloves from the braids hanging nearby. It's a very simple recipe, but one of the first things he taught himself to cook here. He knows he's perfected it, and it's one of few recipes he knows he can make purely from memory... that and trenette al pesto. But he'll save that for dinner, he figures. You don't play your ace right away, after all.

Luca's last line strikes a funny chord, and Alberto shoots him a slightly more wan smile over his shoulder, before he sets about mincing and chopping the garlic, pepper and parsley. "I can't believe we're together again already..." Alberto's been here about three months in total, accounting for weird Spirit Realm timezones — three times longer than he'd even known Luca, and six times the amount of time they'd spent together before Luca left for school. It's been so long for Alberto; but never did his fondness or esteem in Luca wane, nor has he ever imagined anyone else he meets here could ever be a better friend. He figured it was just a matter of time until Luca showed up, too — and he's quite used to biding his time, after all, so it didn't shake his hope terribly much. If he started to worry when (god forbid if) he'd ever see Luca again, well, he always shut that familiar and unwelcome voice right up. He just knew they'd be reunited someday — and he was right. So he wholeheartedly agrees, he can't believe they're together again already... but his "already" compared to Luca's "already" has a hint of bittersweetness he'd rather not comment on. He chats on happily as he chops and preps, then, the lapse in his pep barely a blip. Easy to miss, even. ]

...Y-Yeah-hah, I know~! Just like we wanted before— well, heh, not just like we wanted... But! A new kind of adventure we didn't plan for, hah...? Oh, and— [ He turns and points the knife at Luca, mindlessly gesturing — not nearly close enough to get anywhere near him, but probably still... a bit disquieting... ]

There are Vespas here, too. But they're crazy expensive, I looked it up. S'not like back home. Now that we're together again, though, maybe we can both save up our money for another one someday. An even better Vespa, ha! Ehhh~? Whaddya think~? Pick up the dream again? While you go to human school...~?

[ He returns his attention to the cutting board as he goes on, but when he comes to his grand suggestion, he starts idly waving the knife rhetorically again, wrist limp, flashing Luca a conspiratorial smile. It feels like it's all just gonna lay out perfectly. They may not ride to a new town every day on their Vespa if they can save up enough to get one, but Kaisou's a pretty big city — they could certainly get around town better. And indeed, Alberto has done his research, and even in modern-day America, by the time they've saved up enough money, he will be old enough to drive a Vespa. The dream's still alive, baby...! ]

[Of course, to Luca, being able to make any recipes at all is impressive. The only recipes he'd have any shot at trying to make are sea monster dishes, and even those he might not be able to make since he didn't do any of the food preparation back home. He watches, feeling a little baffled as he watches Alberto put most of the ingredients back, but Luca reasons that maybe he didn't decide what he wanted to make yet. He's too busy focusing on the steady chopping and trying to remember how Alberto does this whole cooking thing to catch the flicker of a change in his demeanor.]

Yeah! And this adventure will be even more fun than the one we planned before! Although...we might not want to go from town to town because you have such a nice place here...but we can still explore different places on our vespa in the area! Once we save up for it. And then I can go to school the whole time while we're saving up for it!

[ Alberto beams at Luca's response, before turning his attention back to their meal. His chest is swelling with how excited he is by all of this. Easily the best day he's had since arriving here, himself. His face is probably gonna hurt from smiling too much by the end of the day — not like that'll stop him, though. ]

Haha, perfect~ Then that's that! That's our new dream life now, ha! And in the meantime, while we're working on it, we'll just have fun, heh~

[ He grabs a pan and starts heating up some oil over the stove, then abruptly hands Luca an empty pot sitting on the stovetop, pointing with his other hand to the sink, before shoving a big salt grinder at him. ]

Here— Fill this with water, okay? Then put this salt in it. Like— a lot of salt. Make it like the ocean, ahah~!

[ Because naturally, even if Alberto's holding the reins as he did when they embarked on their first adventure living in a human town, this is still a team effort. Every step of the way. He's keen to involve Luca on anything he does now — but especially something as enjoyable and necessary as cooking. Luca will pick up all sorts of kitchen tips from Alberto quickly enough — whether or not they're, well, sound, that's another matter... But if it tastes good, it tastes good, and if nothing caught fire, then... that's a success, in this home. ]

Got it!

[Luca's just glad he can help! And making a pot of water with enough salt to be like the ocean, that's something he can do! He knows exactly what the ocean's like! He fills the pot with water, and starts grinding salt into it. And more salt. Just...all the salt. All his experience with ocean water, of course, is based on the Ligurian sea, which is more densely salted than the more open regions of the ocean, so he'll just keep going until either there is no more salt, or until it's so salty that your hand will come out with salt on it if you stick it in. Whichever comes first.]

[ Alberto's too busy putzing on his phone to notice Luca over-salting the water. He's putting on some spirited pop music from his music app, playing at almost full volume from his phone's speaker, which he leaves on the counter to fill up the room. Alberto's eager to show off the cool new ("new") English music he's discovered here in this world, as much as he's found far more familiar sounding Italian music on his app, just the same. Music is an integral part of the process, whether it's pop, opera, jazz, whatever he plays. Massimo taught him to cook with music as a main ingredient — it makes the food taste better. A meal has more substance if you sing to it — or so he's come to believe now. He's never forsaken this habit even once since living on his own and putting what he observed in Massimo's kitchen to good practice. Cooking in silence would just be... creepy...?

He tunes back into what Luca's doing almost in time to save the pasta water. Just barely missed the Salty Point of No Return, noticing the the salt grinder is now almost empty... and bursts out laughing. ]

Hahah! Dai, that'll do, Luca, that'll do, hah~!

[ He comes over, leaning against Luca with his elbow on his shoulder, peering into the pot with a wide grin. He sticks his other hand in the pot to stir the water up some, examining the tiny beads of salt between the purple webbing of his now-clawed fingers when he pulls his hand out. ]

Hah, yup... Thaaaat's the ocean, haha~ Knew you'd be a good salter, heh.

[ He claps Luca on the back, shaking his hand dry, then shleps the pot of water back over to the stove to boil it. Thank goodness there are no humans eating this meal... or else it'd be enough salt to make their lips pucker. ]

Edited 2022-06-29 17:50 (UTC)

Luca enjoys having the music in the background. It really helps to make cooking more fun and exciting, and it even helped him get into a rhythm when he'd been salting the water! Though judging by Alberto's reaction, he maybe got a little too enthusiastic with the salting. He smiles.]

Heh. Well, at least it'll taste like home!

Edited 2022-06-30 13:24 (UTC)

Haha, yeah! It'll still be good, don't worry.

[ He pats Luca on the back encouragingly, before stepping off to start frying up the garlic and peperoncini in the heated oil. Like anything else he does in life, everything about Alberto's body language cooking seems to evoke like he knows exactly what he's doing. He chats on happily as he stirs the pan, splitting his attention comfortably to keep facing Luca, smile still stuck on his face. ]

Y'know, Massimo taught me some stuff — but I really learned how to cook from this guy in the fairy realm. Paddy. He worked in the kitchen; he taught me stuff after dinner sometimes. I asked to work in the castle — cuz, y'know, they gave me a fancy bed, and I ate three feasts a day, and the fairies were so nice...! I had to do something, right? It was great, though. You would've loved it, Luca. I wished you'd been there, actually— they asked me questions about sea monster stuff I didn't really know the answer to...

[ After all, Alberto wasn't really raised with other sea monsters, either. He knew enough, sure, especially from things his father told him of his own experience with sea monster society, but there's only so much he can speak to without firsthand experience living in it. Besides — his father's opinion of sea monster society was not all that favorable... He chose to permanently live on land, after all — to even raise a child on land, unheard of...! Pretty drastic counter-culture flex. Alberto's not the best ambassador for sea monster kind. The fairies would have fawned over Luca. ]

A fancy bed? Even fancier than the one you have here?

[Because from the perspective of a boy who grew up sleeping on a bed made of smooth, moss covered rocks, then went on to sleep on the wood planks of a tree fort once he and Alberto ran away together, the bed he'd seen when he was first looking around this place seemed pretty impressive. The idea that the fairies might have given him one that was even nicer seems downright amazing.]

Oh, I wish I was there, too. It sounds amazing.

[And if he'd been there, that would have meant that Alberto didn't have to be without him for so long. He thinks about what Alberto said, though, and...it makes him kind of sad that Alberto doesn't know about sea monster stuff.]

And...if you ever have questions about sea monster stuff, I'd be glad to tell you about it.

Yeah! Way fancier than mine. My bed's great, don't get me wrong, you'll see— and I've got more pillows on my bed, too. But their beds were more— liiike... y'know what seafoam looks like it should feel like...? O-Oh! Or! Like what a cloud looks like it'd feel like, if you touched it?! It was like sleeping in that. Heh~

[ Very excited over this ineffable softness... He was gung-ho about the beds in the castle, sincerely. He got very good at properly making beds and folding sheets, as per the fae staff's instruction, which he now considers an invaluable surface-life skill he takes pride in... but his own bed has too freakin' many pillows for it to even really matter. Just like Luca, he's charmed by the novelty of comfortable sleep stuff, period. He slept in a poorly strung-up hammock all his life or simply on the deck atop his tower, on warm balmy nights. Their refuge in Giulia's tree fort was barely an improvement: they each had one pillow, but no blankets... Later on, he enjoyed bed privileges at Massimo's, who kept himself relegated to the cot in the kitchen after Luca left with Giulia, just as whenever Giulia visited, sacrificing the only bedroom for Alberto to have... a detail Alberto still hasn't exactly put together in hindsight. He was so excited to have a bed, once he'd slept in it; if he'd realized he was "taking it" from Massimo, he would have felt bad. Which is something Massimo was probably keenly aware of. So Alberto just relished in Massimo's modest means, as if they were rich. They might as well have been. He knows no better. His bed in Kaisou is even nicer than the bed in Giulia's room, considering modern mattress technology and all, but it's far from a luxury mattress. Zodiac provided it, standard issue; it came with the apartment. So the fairies' decadently comfortable accommodations felt, indeed, otherworldly to him — when in fact, it probably wasn't even... magic... just an extra nice bed... and beddings with an impressively high thread count. He has no idea this kind of luxury is still technically available to him in the city, if he really wanted it. So for now, fancy beds are just another magical detail in the fairytale life he's been living here.

He plays with the herbs in the pan with his spoon as he talks, but looks up in delighted epiphany when he comes up with the cloud analogy. He points the wooden spoon at Luca emphatically when he makes that note; Luca will like that image, he's sure of it. He goes about plopping the pasta into the over-salted water, now that it's boiling. Luca offering to tell him more about sea monster culture strikes a bittersweet nerve with him, too, as the same realization comes to his own mind; it draws his gaze into the pasta water for a little bit too long of a silent beat... But shrugs his shoulders and goes right back to work with prepping the rest of the herbs and simple sauce in the pan. ]

...Beh...— I don't remember all their questions. They asked me what school was like for kids undersea. But pfft, I wouldn't know?! They asked me all kinds of stuff like that... About sea monster music. Superstitions. Folktales. History. Table manners — I dunno why they were really interested in that one... Just— Boh. Stuff like that.

[ Luca's question was not for the fairies' sake, Alberto; it was for yours... But far be it for Alberto to openly admit to not knowing something even as he's detailing exactly what he doesn't know. They've been forever so focused together on learning about human stuff; flipping the script is not unwelcome, but... uneasy. He's technically had more exposure to human culture than sea monster culture his entire life, barring the fact that the only people he'd ever met were sea monsters, and he didn't meet any humans until mere months ago... yet that really is where his expertise lies by comparison to his own kind, and even he knows that expertise is shakier than he makes it out to be to others. But it's still leagues beyond what he knows about sea monster society. And that's a weird feeling to sit with for him, too. Where to even start...? ]

Wooow...

[He half whispers that, caught up in Alberto's description, fantasizing about this magical fairy bed and wishing he could somewhow sleep in a bed like that himself. But when Alberto goes on, listing all the things he didn't know...Luca wishes he could have been there for another reason. So that Alberto could have heard about all those things. It makes Luca sad to think that Alberto was so completely separated from all of that, especially since he now knows he didn't really know that much about the human world, either. The thing is, Luca doesn't really care about telling the fairies those things, or what they wanted to know. He wants Alberto to know.]

Alberto...do you want to know those things?

[ Luca's directness gives him pause, nervously fidgeting by pushing the herbs in the pan around with the spoon. After a long silent beat, though, he takes the pan off the heat and sets it aside before responding, moving on with the meal as if he were just very focused on this step in the recipe, you know... He replies with his usual forced nonchalance as he leans against the kitchen counter, waiting for the pasta to finish boiling. ]

...I mean, yeah, sure. If you wanna tell me, you can.

[ Right, right, flip it on Luca... He's full of it. But after a second, he flashes Luca a funny, coy smile that says at least Alberto knows he's full of it. And just like that, that little smile flips his backhanded response into more of a subtle, tongue-in-cheek joke. Luca knows better than anyone that Alberto's ego is about as soft as the clouds and seafoam they'd been imagining; but for all the airs he puts on, his heart is just as soft, and just like Luca, he means well and loves to learn... even when he's embarrassed by just how much he needs to learn, apparently. ]

[When Luca sees that smile that lets him know that they both know Alberto's full of it, he grins back and starts to tell Alberto all the things he couldn't tell the fairies.]

Well, we don't really have school. That's why I was so excited when I heard about Giulia's school. Our parents and other people in the village teach us about everything. For our music...a lot of our music is just singing, but sometimes we'll click together oyster shells if we want a more percussive sound. And our table manners are...well, pretty much what yours are already. We eat with our hands. Of course, it's pretty easy because we mostly eat stuff like chopped up fish wrapped in seaweed and oysters and stuff like that. And we have a lot of superstitions and folk tales. Do you want me to explain fish grave yards?

[ The way Luca lights up to inform him draws a far fonder smile on his face. His smile just widens as he goes on listening. Some of it he already knew, but that doesn't matter. He's missed Luca so much and he feels it swelling in his chest, having him here beside him again chattering on excitedly to expound information on Alberto in turn. By the end of the night, he already can tell his face is gonna hurt from smiling all day. ]

I know a little about the fish graveyards... I know where they are, I mean. ...Do you really think they're haunted? Have you seen ghosts there?

[ Alberto would say he's not so sure he buys it, had you asked him last week. But the night before last, he had his own run-in with a ghost here in Kaisou — he thinks it was a ghost, at least. He's still not totally sure. Hasn't mentioned it to anyone for sea monster-y reasons. But it put his natural skepticism in suspension a bit... ]

Well...no. I've never seen a ghost there. But the fish all avoid them and everyone gets a really weird feeling if they stay there too long!

[Of course, they're not actually haunted at all, but Luca doesn't know this, having accepted the explanation he got growing up, fully intending to hold onto the belief until he's given more information to make him question it.]

Is every fish graveyard haunted, or are just some fish graveyards haunted?

[ A fair question. Of course more interested in the fantastical element over the traditions themselves, though... ]

Edited 2022-07-11 16:48 (UTC)

I...don't really know. I guess just some are? Because there's some places where there are dead fish that are definitely haunted, but then when you use leftover fish bones to make fertilizer, that's not haunted, so it's not like everywhere with dead fish is haunted.

[ He throws a mocking grimace at the mention of using fishbones as fertilizer, but... well, it does make sense... Even in the shallows, there's a lot of dead stuff, and Alberto's well familiar, too. È la vita. He just shrugs it off after making a face, stirring the pasta curiously to check on it as they talk. He takes a hairpin turn back to another point, putting Luca on the spot suddenly. ]

Fine. What about music? Can you sing any songs? Just use spoons if you need shells... There.

[ He points to the silverware drawer with the pasta spoon, a stray noodle sliding off it and falling to the floor. He doesn't acknowledge it. In fact, he very obviously expects Luca to just— burst out into song on command... no restraint, no shame, no inhibitions. Ahem. Not everyone spent their whole lives in chronic solitude, Alberto... ]

Um...yeah, I guess I could.

[He's a little nervous, but it's not like he hasn't heard Alberto's singing plenty of times, so while Luca might be a bit more shy and nervous in his presentation than Alberto is, he's definitely going for it. He grabs a pair of spoons and starts singing. The song starts out slow and melodic, emphasizing melody over any actual words. After a while the tempo picks up, adding in the clank of spoons for rhythm and emphasis.]

((OOC: And I'm just winging this and wasn't able to come up with a sound clip to represent the second part, and obviously this is all in Luca's voice so not as good, but I hope it gives you a vague idea!))

[ Alberto is smiling coyly to himself as Luca finds his speed, but by the time the tempo picks up, he's grinning ear-to-ear, corners of his eyes crinkled with pure fondness. He's practically kvelling. By the time Luca finishes, he tucks the handle of the pasta spoon under his arm, and claps his hands in silly but genuine applause. ]

Bravo! Bravo~ Amazza, Luca~!

[ Applause and encouragement is all he can give, really; he has so little other point of reference to contribute anything back. It's all certainly out of his element, ironically, unfortunately. His dad taught him some little ditties... but his dad taught him mostly human songs he'd picked up along his way. Alberto really is farther distanced from his own kind's culture than humans', so a moment like this is particularly magical and fascinating. Nevermind that he's already on cloud nine just that Luca's here at all, after so long; but even after so long, it's as if they'd just seen each other yesterday... Delve right into engaging conversations about who-knows-what, creative off-the-cuff, perpetually in awe of something... As per their usual. So much has changed, and so much is unfamiliar... but not moments like this. ]

Thanks.

[He says this with a small, shy smile, pleased at the praise but somewhat surprised by it. After all, there was really nothing special about Luca's singing or his song from his own perspective, but he's glad that Alberto really seemed to like it.]

Maybe sometime we can go swimming and find some shells and we can sing it together underwater.

[That way Alberto can get the full experience.]

Heh, definitely~

[ He smiles at that suggestion, crinkling his eyes at Luca. He'd imagined it probably sounds better underwater. He doesn't care, though; doing things well doesn't matter to him — he just cares about doing things. And in any case, Luca could sneeze and Alberto would tell him he's the best sneezer.

He nods enthusiastically, checking on the pasta, then goes about draining it into a colander. A billow of steam erupts from the pot as he leans over it, drawing the barest hint of purple to his face like a tint. He rubs his hand down his face roughly, though, and it's gone in an instant. ]

All right, finito~ Luca, grab two forks, and two bowls from in there.

[ He points to the cupboard with the pasta spoon, then sets to tossing the spaghetti around in the frying pan to coat it with the sauce he'd made. Successful lunch, made just by them, no grownups, totally human-ing and adult-ing so well already on their own...! Look at them go — what a good omen for Luca's new life here. Now their independence just needs to pass the taste test... ]

Okay!

[He puts the spoons back in the drawer and grabs two forks and a couple of bowls, eagerly going over to the table and setting them out for the two of them. He can't wait to try Alberto's cooking.]

[Action: Open]

Super safe!

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you can go whichever way you'd like w this! Alberto's cooking runs a wide gamut of quality lol

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wrap?

Works for me!