kaisou | text; un: signorvespa; ota

You've seen Machiavelli's photo — he's as tough as he looks. He's terrifying! He's Massimo's cat, he's gotta be, hah! I mean, once he's your friend, he's fine, he just kinda sits nearby and sleeps... or stares at you and randomly goes "mmmrow" all creepily, ha. But to start? A monster!

[ Alberto does his best to mimic the low, grumbling "meow" Machiavelli makes sometimes. Because how often does Alberto find the chance to meow, right? He's gonna take it! ]

I mean. He gives off as super grumpy cat vibe, sure, but terrifying?

Maybe I need to somehow experience him for myself?

[That did sound like a creepy meow though].

I mean, I can try? It'd totally work! I'll sneak into your room and hide under your furniture, so one night, when you think you're alone, you'll look over and see glowing eyes just watching you from the darkness...

[ He makes a menacing face, bringing his phone closer to his face so the camera zooms into his eyes, before pulling back to show his whole face again, now smiling again, light laughter laced through his next words. ]

It might not be as terrifying as a real Machiavelli experience, since Iiii'm not a cat and yooou're not a fish, aha — but I bet it'd still scare the scales off you, haha!

[Luz couldn't help but chuckle].

Ok, aside from the creepiness, how exactly are you going to be hiding under my furniture? You're a sea monster, not a snake! Also, can you actually make your eyes glow?

[These are legitimate questions Luz wants the answer to, Alberto]!

Nope, you're definitely missing that feline mustache effect that Machiavelli seemed to have going, but y9ou probably might be able to spook me pretty good anyway, scales or not!

[ There’s a slight delay before his next video message, but when he returns… he’s drawn a mustache on himself with a magic marker. Because of course he did. He already had his markers out from making Luca’s party invitation, after all — so why not… Nevermind he has school tomorrow; at least he probably won’t be the only boy in the eighth grade with a weird little mustache. ]

Okay, so. You were saying. For a better “Machiavelli” effect, hah. I could hide under your bed and scare you with glowing eyes and a mustache. Eh~? Even creepier!

[ Y-Yeah, Alberto, it is even creepier… ]

[Luz couldn't help but laugh at Alberto's antics. This was exactly the kind of thing she would have done to get a laugh out of a friend!

If she had one, anyway. Luckily, that wasn't a problem now]!

It is super creepy! But your mustache can't hold a handle to the cats'. And you still have to get your eyes glowing!

Okay, okay, so my eyes don't glow on land, but the markers work better on skin, all right? Mustache or glowing eyes, which is creepier, haha — take your pick.

[ He strokes his magic marker mustache, throwing a devious look at the camera, raising his eyebrows at her — which does kind of make the mustache a little creepier, truth be told... Funnily enough, this still probably isn't their most absurd conversation yet. They've duked out stranger topics than this. ]

That is true!

Oh, glowing eyes, definitely. Mustaches would have be pretty specific to get real crazy, after all. I ought to show you this one guy, Salvador Dali's mustache. It's the stuff of legends!

[And Luz is actually tickled pink by the gesture. She absolutely would have done this herself].

Charming! You should try that on Luca!

Hah! Luca's gonna love it. I can scare him, too, ha!

[ Luca's gonna love it until they realize it doesn't wash off the way Alberto expected it to. He's just stuck with a bad mustache for a few days. It's fine. He's fine. He'll be fine.

He does look up the name Luz drops, always encouraged by the directions she steers him in (even hippos...), and as usual, he is not disappointed. He sends back an image of Dalí's mustache, before sending another video message behind it to be sure they're on the same page here. ]

Is this the guy you wanted to show me? Because, um, that mustache is definitely the stuff of legends, haha. Holy sharks...

Edited 2022-12-17 02:38 (UTC)

Wait, he'll love it and it'll scare him? This I'll have to see.

[Oh boy. Luz is going to have to explain permanent marker to these two, isn't she? Yes, that sounded about right].

Oh yes, yes it is. And his art was amazing, so I figure it's only natural that he looks a bit odd. I have to show you the kind of stuff he actually painted!

(( OOC: Dalí was a regular at my grandmother's clothing and accessories shop. He would always come in with an entourage of men in black suits, and would whisper in their ears what he wanted to say when spoken to, and the men would relay it, "Mr. Dalí says..." But he came in so often that like apparently they still formed a rapport this way lmao. My father and grandmother used to go to parties of his. Weird fun family story haha! ))

Oh, yeah, for sure. I don't wanna say Luca likes being scared, buuut— he's very good at it, haha.

[ Alberto winks at the camera, grinning — like he always is when talking about Luca. His interest is grabbed by Luz's talk about this weird mustachioed painter, though. ]

Show me some of his paintings! I like amazing art, and I like odd stuff. Sounds great, ha.

[[OOC: Honestly that is awesome. He was actually one of my favorite painters when I was younger and still is, though I think I'm more partial to Frida Kahlo now. That is still an awesome story though]!!

Heh, nothing wrong with that! I kinda like being scared a bit myself!

[And don't think Luz didn't notice how much happier you were when you mentioned Luca, Alberto. Luz knew that look: it was the same one she had whenever she talked about or mentioned Amity].

Oh sure. I have a few good ones I reference!"

Edited 2022-12-24 07:28 (UTC)

(( OOC: Kahlo is great, too, and also probably would appeal to Alberto. Luz can absolutely show him all the painters hehe! His guide through human culture~ ))

Eh, not me. I'm hard to scare.

[ Alberto is hard to scare in life-threatening situations where most logical people would be terrified; he can't say he likes being scared because, more precisely, it's that he likes doing scary things... But in fact, he's far more reactive and theatrical than Luca, someone so cautious and apprehensive who, turns out, can handle haunted houses like a pro and ingest horror films by the dozen; in that sense, Alberto is actually rather easy to scare. But he'll never admit to that, will forever refuse to see himself that way, and will never own up to how jumpy he gets just watching scary movies. If Luz or Luca were to pull this hypothetical cat/mustache (/cat-stache???) prank Alberto's imagining on him instead, his soul would leave his body. He'd love it, too, after a minute — but it'd sure scare the scales off him.

That said, though, like Luca, he is intrigued by the unnerving psychological element in horror films, and seeing some of Dalí's work Luz shares strikes a similar chord in him. He finds himself pleasantly on edge looking over every detail of each painting she sends, having never really seen much fine art before, at least not deliberately. It's mind-blowing, for sure, and hard to tear his eyes away even just to look at the next picture. He went so far as to search for more Dalí paintings himself, a slight delay in his next video response as he peruses the search results. But with it, he attaches an image that stuck out to him, though far simpler than a lot of Dalí's other works... The imagery resonates for, well, rather obvious reasons. ]

These drawings are incredible, holy sharks... I found more, look. They're all amazing, look at this one. I wanna show Luca! He's gonna love this guy!

[ Because his first instinct, any time he discovers anything new and cool he enjoys, is to show Luca. ]

[[OOC: That is good news! There is no way Luz wouldn't be into Kahlo, with how she lives art, exploration of the self and the living situations around her, and the fact that Kahlo was bisexual herself]]!

Really? Hmm. I might have to take on that challenge!

[She wouldn't, probably. Alberto was certainly a strong kid, but she was not going to purposely try to scare him, he had probably been through enough that he likely wouldn't need to be thrown into all of that. Luz was more than happy to tease a little, but she was REALLY happy about the idea that Alberto would find art as engaging as she did]!

I know, right? He really knew how to push the buttons when it comes to taking ideas and atmosphere and pushing the boundaries of what we see and HOW we see it!

(( ooc: Love that headcanon. Full permission to expose Alberto to Kahlo, too, hit 'em with everything, Luz~ ))

Hah! Good luck~

[ But in truth, if Luz tried to prank Alberto and give him a nice little scare, she'd have wild success, and probably earn a hilariously over-the-top reaction...

For now, it's a good thing to let the issue rest in favor of how fascinating Alberto finds all this art stuff. He's marveled at most every bit of art he's ever seen, and no matter how long he's in Kaisou, the novelty still hasn't faded. He doesn't know much of symbolism and metaphor, but he's creative and clever and emotive naturally, so this sort of thing appeals to him. As he learns more about art, though, specific painters and styles and intentions, the meaningfulness will start to resonate deeply with him, probably not unlike how deeply it resonates with Luz. She's got herself a fellow art-nerd-in-training...! If Luz ever wonders about her impact on her friends, with Alberto at least there's no need to wonder. ]

That's so cool...! I wanna do that! I mean, I just draw whatever I feel like drawing, but it's not to do— all that... But I could try!

[ And fast forward a month, Luz will see his stab at just that in her Christmas card. Her influence rubs off on Alberto more than he lets on. ~~Like most his friends.~~ ]

((OOC: I'll remember that!
And I will never stop loving Alberto's doodles, they are the cutest thing and remind me of how my cousin used to draw!))

Oh, it's on!

[Luz wouldn't try to go too crazy, since she was very aware she'd seen some scary things in the Isles that would give regular kids nightmares. She'd told Alberto about seeing inside Phillip's mind, but going through Amity's memories and seeing how he looked for real was horror educing. No one needed that.

Maybe she's scare him with a mask or something.

For art, Luz was going to remember to try and show him other kinds too, like really awesome looking landscapes and how they made the paintings with people so much better. But she'd really like to see what types of paintings speak to Alberto, because that was something she'd love to talk with him about]!

Heh, that's fine! That's why I wanted to draw too, because it's fun! When I wanted to get better though, I started to learn about other artists throughout the years. They can make some of the most moving pictures you've ever seen! But art is mostly subjective anyway: just see what moves you!

((OOC: lol I'm glad you enjoy them!! I'm extra af and it's just... fun for me haha~ ))

[ The truth is Luz wouldn't even need a mask to scare Alberto. She could easily make him jump out of his skin just by jumping out from around the corner and yelling "boo." For all his bravery and recklessness, he's very reactive... ]

What're your favorite most moving pictures, then? I wanna see! I think the most moving drawing I've ever seen was thiiis, hold ooon...—

[ And with a tentative drawl to his voice, he gets up and shifts the camera around as he walks across the room, before zooming in on his rusty metal Vespa advert from home, bolted to the wall above his record player station and a motorcycle helmet displayed proudly beside it. ]

I found this back home. And the Spirit Realm burped it up here with me right after I got here! Cool, right? Buuut mostly cool cuz I'm moved by the real thing, but y'know. It's a great drawing, too.

((OOC: No, no, they're great and I love them, let no one tell you different!))

[Sure, Luz could do that, but that wasn't nearly as fun as specifically getting a reaction out of him! She wanted to be totally sneaky and secret about it, because that was what made it fun]!

Oh, let me see!

[And its a picture of...a Vespa? Huh. Luz was going to have to remind herself that he was from an earlier time in probably a pretty small village. She didn't know how early he was in twentieth century either, so he'd have likes that would probably seem really strange to her and vice versa].

I didn't mean moved in the literal sense, but you know what? This is cool too! So you're into motorized vehicles! In my world, redone versions of those are getting pretty popular!

[Even if Luz was far from every getting her hands on one].

[ Luz's interpretation isn't wrong, but makes him laugh, turning the camera back to himself again — though he keeps walking around his apartment, making his way into the kitchen idly now, multitasking as they chat and taking Luz and the camera on a field trip. ]

Pfft, yeah, I guess moved in the literal sense, ha! Good one. No, no, I meant emotionally moved. But that too! I love Vespas. It's my dream to have my own Vespa. Cuz of that drawing! "Vespa is freedom~" I've wanted one ever since I found that drawing a couple years ago. Sooo, someday! Soon, actually, heh! Next year, when I turn sixteen — I'll get my driver's license. Bruno said he'd go with me to pick one out together! He even got me a helmet already, ha! I can't wait...

[ The mention of Bruno brings a strange falter to his smile, like a bittersweet undertaste, something just barely subtle around the corners of his eyes. There's a gnawing fear in the back of his mind today, as good a mood as he's in about the party-planning, about Bruno. It's unusual that Bruno hasn't responded still; he's never gone longer than a day without hearing from Bruno, and an invitation to Luca's birthday party is definitely something the man wouldn't ignore. Alberto doesn't want to think about that right now, though; he's been terrified of Bruno spontaneously disappearing in one way or another for the past month, ever since his kidnapping in October. He can't bear to entertain the thought yet.

So as happy as Bruno's promise to pick out a Vespa with him made Alberto, Bruno having gifted him the motorcycle helmet Luz saw under his Vespa poster to serve as a placeholder until then, the underlying promise was that Bruno would still be around by Alberto's sixteenth birthday next September, nearly a year from now. Alberto hasn't found out yet that Bruno did, in fact, disappear just the other day, which is what he's privately been afraid of, still waiting for a response to his texts. But he can't look that possibility in the face right now. So he lets that note hang in the air, just leaves it at that. He'd so much rather to keep talking about Vespas and cool art and mustaches, well— really, with that painful twinge as a reminder of the deep-seated worry he refuses to admit to, right now, for once, he'd rather talk about anything but Bruno. ]

[She had a feeling he was going to not quite get what she meant, and that was her fault- there were things she said that she knew Alberto would take at face value by the way it sounded. She had to make sure to explain what they actually meant in the current cultural context].

Good, ok, so you know what I mean. But you're fixated on a Vespa, not a car? Granted, you won't be able to drive those even with an adult for another few years. I get you though! I feel the same way when I'm riding a staff! It might not have wheels, but I usually don't have to worry about traffic, and there's something amazing about moving through the sky without a care!

[Luz was going to be Alberto support as much as she could when it came to Bruno. Sadly, Luz didn't get to keep tabs on the Madrigals as much as she might like, so when she'd find out about Bruno, she had an idea about how hard it would hit Alberto. It would be like her losing Eda all over again.

Moreover, she liked this version of Alberto, talking excitedly about his first taste of freedom. She felt that way too, once she was used to the Boiling Isles. She'd do her best to make sure he kept that part of himself].

Cars are cool, I guess, yeah, but not as cool as a Vespa. Cars are too big, and it's like you're inside. Vespas and motorcycles, you're like the wind, haha~ Buuut Vespas are cooler than motorcycles, too. Y'know what'd be the coolest, though?

[ Aaand we're on the move again, back to the living area, done putzing around one-handed in the kitchen. He flashes a grin at the camera as the background shifts behind him and the wheels of imagination start to turn... ]

A flying Vespa! Hah! What if we could go flying together, Luz? Maybe when we get our Vespa next year, you can help me and Luca and Bruno turn it magic or something. I dunno how all that works, ha. You and Bruno are the experts there. And me and Luca are the Vespa experts. The— ...V-Vesperts. Pffft...!

[ Alberto. Stop. At least he recovered quickly from that blip of worry over Bruno, but now he's... like this instead. A Vespert. ]

Cooler than a motorcycle? Really? That's kinda hard to top! Though I gotta say, I don't love the obnoxious noise they make when they go by. Just never been a fan.

[Luz was totally fine with that. Alberto was going to Alberto, and she was not exactly known for sitting still herself].

Man, that sounds a little difficult! At that point I think you're getting into Varian territory. Palisman are the reasons animals in the Boiling Isles are carved, and they have weight limits. If you can do it though, that would be pretty awesome!

[Luz let out a guffaw].

Ha ha! Yeah, you're totally right! Good one!

Well, our Vespa is gonna be quiet. We already picked it out on the Piaggio website. It's got a cool future-y engine that's supposed to be super smooth and silent, and burns half the gas than the ones back home, since it's a 4-stroke engine instead of a 2-stroke. So that's better for the environment, too. [ Look at him, talking about being eco-friendly, learning things in school, who'd ever imagine! ] Plus I've looked up all the specs and it can go just as fast as the Vespas back home, maybe a liiittle slower, like 60mph, but!

[ He pauses his ~~dorking out~~ explanation abruptly, letting it linger for effect, and points dramatically at the camera, wearing a very serious and alert face, a level shift in his tone to match. ]

This one also comes with an adorable basket. And a rug. For Vespa picnics. So.

[ He lets another pause linger decisively for rhetorical effect, as if that settles that. A cute picnic basket makes all the difference... But as abruptly as he'd affected this facetiously business-like air about him, he drops the act just as quickly, smirking at the camera now, amused and self-satisfied. ]

Even if we can't make it magic so it can fly... it'll still be pre~tty cool on the ground~

Aw, that's so cool! You have a plan and everything! I don't exactly know why they go a little slower than the ones back home though: maybe it's BECAUSE it's more ecological? Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Besides, it isn't important for it to go super fast, right?

[She definitely didn't get what four stroke or two stroke meant, but she figured it was probably important for Vespas, right]?

A basket huh? Cool addition! Most people I know probably wouldn't care about that feature!

[Luz didn't add most boys Alberto's age would have even considered such a thing, but she'd leave out that bit of toxic masculinity. Alberto and Luca should have picnic times if they wanted them!

What the heck was a Vespa picnic though]?

Oh yeah, totally! If I didn't already fly, I'd probably want to drive one myself!

I mean, sixty miles per hour is still pretty fast, I think! I can't go that fast, ha, even in the water!

[ He's clearly not too tripped up about it. He's easy to impress. ]

It'll be perfect no matter how fast it goes. Our Vespa back home went, uh— ...well, it went, that's the point. Ha!

[ He crashes into the pillows of his bed, the camera bouncing as he does. He grins at the camera as he settles, then flips the phone around to show a sneaky view of Luca leaning over a book on his own at their workspace in the corner, presumably having had to shove some of Alberto's art supplies away to do homework. He doesn't seem to notice Alberto's cheeky spy-shot, before Alberto turns the camera back around to face himself again, continuing on with the conversation without comment, grinning still. Like Luz just got some exclusive look into something rare and exciting... A wild Luca in his natural habitat... ]

Me and Luca had a Vespa back home for, like, a night. Hah. It was pretty great, though. We got it with the prize money for winning the race! But this one's gonna be even better... We'll drive all over the city, and go on picnics at the beach, and take all our friends for rides, and every day we'll drive to school together~ It'll be perfect.

[ Clearly already making many dreams. The Vespa's just gonna carry all of it. ]

text; un: signorvespa; ota

honorary Machia icon I seldom get to use haha

I love that cat!

sob I'm so glad Luz and Alberto are so silly like this, cuz I'm gonna miss these antics post-Bruno

Luz is going to do her best to liven up her friend and preventing him from becoming her season 3!

Lol thank goodness for Luz, new character arc for Alberto haha, starting his own new season 🙃

They are going to be an interesting pairing of friends!

absolutely they are, I love how their relationship is deepening at a realistic pace~ ; w ;

They are slowly becoming best bros!

They are! Also ty Luz for introducing Alberto to Dalí. My dad was sorta friends w Dalí actually!

That is awesome, holy crap! I am actually a bit of a fan of his work!

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I had to make sure to avoid showing Alberto his more risque ones!

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sorry for the extra revisions! I realized I accidentally wrote against myself, my bad.

Don't worry about it! You know I always look forward to your Alberto!

❤️ ❤️ ❤️

In canon Luz is such a sucker for bad puns!

she found the right guy :V at least in my hands lol

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wanna start wrapping this one up soon too? sorry to keep cutting ours haha just rp spring cleaning!

Totally fine! We can end it here!