Blue Around the Gills
[DAY 25]
'WAA WAA WAA WAA'
"Stai zitto o ammalato. [Shut up or I'll kill you.]" He slurs to the alarm coming from the bedroom. Then he jolts, becoming fully awake. The alarm! He begrudgingly opens his eyes and sees Evan's upside-down sleeping face in front of him. Huh?
Giorgio had fallen asleep side-on in a sitting position at the couch's bottom, resting his head on a seat cushion. His partner, had more luckily, made it onto the couch mostly with just his feet and one arm dangling off.
He makes an annoyed face, as Giorgio shakes his shoulder to wake him. "Non… just give me… five… five more hours."
"Evan! We need to get ready! There's a graded team exercise this afternoon." The generally more responsible one ushers.
The blonde moves his lead-heavy head to look at the clock on the wall. "We have plenty of time… the grading is at 2pm… shit… why the hell is it 1:30."
While half an hour sounded like a decent amount of time to prepare, it was not when hangovers were involved.
"Oh my god... I don't think I've ever been this wasted." Giorgio comments, strain evident in his voice.
"I feel you, partner." Evan said woozily, with his poor head pounding like a SWAT team trying to break down a door.
The duo sported matching eye bags and were hardly as well presented as they normally were. Evan's pale skin in particular, contrasted very noticeably with the dark circles and his even darker eyelids.
Having spent a good portion of the morning and afternoon sleeping in, they had dressed themselves in a hurry and ran until they were comfortably close enough to the training grounds with a little time to spare.
Evan's hair was impossibly fluffier than it normally was, and there was a cowlick at his fringe of all places. It had also taken him a stupidly long time just to get into his jumpsuit in the morning. After going for the zip however, he had realised that it was inside out somehow and had to struggle back out of it in pure despair.
Giorgio's hair was mostly tussled everywhere, his collared shirt was lopsided, and the holsters around his chest and thigh were badly done up.
Alan and Wesley greet them happily, though they are curious at the condition of their younger counterparts.
"Hey guys!" Alan chirps, far too loudly for the pair.
Giorgio winces from his raging migraine. "Alan, Wesley. Morning."
"Yeesh. What happened to you two?" Wesley asks, noting their lack of good condition.
"We got drunk and slept together." Evan says in his second language, completely unaware how the sentence might sound to someone who wasn't there.
"WOAH WHAT?!" Alan and Wesley exclaim. It was roughly two weeks ago when their juniors were at each other's throats.
Giorgio is too hungover to spot the misunderstanding in what is also his second language. He merely chides his seniors for being loud. "Please... use your indoor voices, our heads aren't coping with mere existence right now."
"Anyway." Evan says rubbing his incredibly dark eyelids. "We have a graded team exercise very soon, we'll have to catch you guys later."
Wesley looks at Alan, eyes full of worry. "Will they be okay?"
"This is the second graded team exercise!" The Keith shouts. "As a team, you will clear moving targets in the range. Switch weapons, so that they are appropriate for your situation. Good luck!"
Günther and Sven are the first to go. The agents in the observation deck watch as the duo skilfully rotate through different weaponry to clear varying quantities of moving targets. After a little under four minutes, all the targets are cleared. A buzzer sounds and a green light on the wall lights up.
The agents exit through the door which has been green-lighted. As they enter the observation deck with all their peers, they receive an evaluation by senior agents Keith and Robert.
The monitor in the room lights up with their score, and they see that they've scored an A-ranking. Sven and Günther cheer and enthusiastically high-five each other.
After a few more pairs, it's Giorgio and Evan's turn to enter the shooting range.
Alan and Wesley stand in the observation room, having been allowed access. They've come in to observe, as are worried about their friends.
"They've been training together really hard, they'll be okay right?" Alan asks Wesley. "Right?"
Wesley stays quiet as to not jinx anything.
We've scored an S-rank on a harder version of this exercise, this will be easy. Thinks Evan as he and his partner ready their weapons.
The exercise starts and a target slides sideways into the range on a set of rails.
Giorgio lines up a shot and fires his handgun. The first shot rips through the target's head with an ear splitting—
'BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!'
Giorgio grimaces at how incredibly loud that was, hangover be damned. Hell, even Evan's soft whimper nearby is loud in his ears. The sound of the one shot is ringing through their heads as they can somehow hear it echoing long after the sound has past. "Evan— bear with it. We need to score better than last time." He says through gritted teeth.
A cluster of targets come close, while targets near the back start flooding in. Evan readies a shotgun reluctantly, while Giorgio switches to his machine gun with dread filling his heart.
With the exercise in full swing they both scream as they fire at their respective targets with reckless abandon.
Up in the observation deck, Alan and Wesley wince in sympathy.
"Well, well." Says Robert, who looks bewildered at the pair who have just re-entered the observation deck. "That had a lot of unnecessary screaming."
"Bullets were largely off-mark vital areas." Keith adds. "Although, you did eventually remove all the targets."
"Accuracy was low, bullet use was high. Time was surprisingly the only good thing." Robert mutters as he clicks on his laptop.
Giorgio and Evan shoot each other nervous glances. Another E-rank score would cripple their chances for a passing team grading at the end of the month.
Alan and Wesley are tense as they wait for their friends' score to be revealed.
Keith hits a button on his laptop and their score is displayed on the screen.
[Area Cleared: Score D-Rank]
Giorgio and Evan turn their heads to look at each other.
"We…" Trails Evan. "We scored a 'D'."
As it registers to Giorgio, he brings his hands up. "We scored a 'D'!" He proclaims proudly.
"What." Says Robert flatly.
"We scored a D!" Evan cheers, as he squeezes his partner in a tight hug.
Keith has an eyebrow raised at the celebratory pair. "What the fu—"
"Ha ha ha!" Evan laughs, as he picks his partner up off the ground and spins him around happily.
After the shock has left Alan, he whispers to Wesley. "Guess they were that excited to get the D again, huh?"
"HA!" Wesley laughs loudly.
Keith and Robert are a mixture of confused and angry that a 'D' was being treated as a much, much higher score.
"A 'D' is a terrible score! Stop celebrating!"
[DAY 26]
Evan looks at his face in the bathroom mirror, feeling very refreshed and recovered from the hangover the day before.
'Somehow, you look really manly today.' Giorgio had told him after their small victory. The only difference from when Giorgio had said that to him, to any other day, was that he had dark circles around his eyes?
Well, with his youthful face and playful nature, he did have a childish aura at times. The dark skin around his eyes from his inadequate sleep had given him a few years to his appearance it seems.
Well, even if it makes me look only a little older… He thought, as he applied the eyeshadow to his eyelids. Guess I'll have to wake up half an hour earlier than him for the rest of my life.
They are heading to another supplementary lesson, apparently a D-ranking was 'too low to be satisfactory' or something.
Giorgio spots Agent D'Amato. He had shared case files with him before. This was a few weeks back when the agent stationed in Florence had come to Giorgio's territory of Milan to hunt down an escaping target.
"Buon giorno, Agent D'Amato." Giorgio greets, with a wave.
"..." The other man continues walking forward, mouth in a firm line.
Giorgio is confused at the lack of response until the other man roughly shoves past him, bumping into his shoulder as he storms right by. Ah, right. The mafia thing. I totally forgot about that.
"Hey! Watch it!" Evan growls with a frown.
Giorgio holds him back by the shoulder calmly. "I'm not so fragile, let's just go ok?" Although that's what he says, he does notice the looks he gets as they traverse the halls.
Not long after, he hears a dreaded laugh. It's Santiago again.
"I hope you're not too upset that the other Italian agents don't pay their respects to you, 'Godfather'." He jeers at Giorgio.
Giorgio gives him an unreadable expression.
Evan calmly walks closer to the man, and raises his fist suddenly.
Santiago jerks at the sudden movement, body still remembering what caused his broken nose.
"Hmph. Flinched like a little bitch." Evan says as he turns on his heel to re-join his partner.
"You fucking—" Santiago starts, as he steps forward.
Evan stops and turns to face him again, with an eerily calm expression on his face. It's far too calm for someone like Evan— he's waiting.
After Santiago glares at the blonde for a while, he turns and leaves, muttering curses under his breath.
"Tsk." Evan clicks his tongue, annoyed that the jerk didn't take the bait and throw the first punch.
"Really, you are so cheeky." Giorgio says knowingly. Evan was on thin ice for their first fight together over the egg, and then for breaking the Spaniard's nose just days before. It was a smart move to wait for the other man to 'start' the fight.
"I would have wrecked him in seconds." Evan says, eyebrows furrowed as they continue walking.
"I know. He knows too, so that's why he backed off. Smartest thing he's ever done in his life." Giorgio mutters as they reach room 9-S. "Whelp, here we are again."
[Tchaikovsky - Valse Sentimentale]
Evan and Giorgio perform a somber waltz, mood in sync with each other. A vast majority of the other European Division's agents they've walked past have shot Giorgio judging looks in one way or another. The reality of how his comrades will treat him from now on, has finally sunk in.
"Messieurs…" Jean says sadly. His students are dancing perfectly, and they haven't complained even once today. But he found that he greatly preferred their whining and clumsy steps to this melancholic atmosphere.
"Leave them be, Jean." Drill Sergeant Bardi says. "They will overcome this as a pair, and their bond will be stronger for it."
Jean gives him a dejected nod. They had both been updated on the pair's run-ins with Santiago and the subsequent drama which had unfolded with Giorgio's mafia heritage being revealed. While he would love to give Santiago the scolding and drilling of his lifetime, in reality, it would not undo the damage done.
However, he was thankful that Evan was only given a slap on the wrist for breaking that prick's nose. An equilibrium of sorts, had been performed at the very least.
Evan has Giorgio in a comforting embrace, and Giorgio leans against the support of his partner as they perform the graceful twists and turns of the waltz across the floor. After the song ends, they gently break away.
Their eyes are locked, until they hear applause.
"Wunderbar! Wunderbar!" Günther exclaims, as he and Sven clap enthusiastically.
"Oh! Günther, Sven!" Evan exclaims in surprise. They were the top performing team in this year's batch of newly partnered agents he had heard, and they had proved it in yesterday's team exercise. "Did you guys get the wrong room?"
"Not at all." Sven smiles. "In fact—"
"—WE ARE TAKING THIS CLASS!" Günther gushes in excitement.
"Get out of here while you still can guys." Giorgio says with an eyebrow raised. "This is a remedial class. We are literally being punished."
"Oh ho ho~ Nein, nein, nein, mein [no, no, no, my] sneaky Italian friend. You will not be keeping this secret class to yourselves any longer."
"That's right." Sven chimed in. "We did the warehouse 3C exercise, and to our surprise we saw that the only team clearing it with an S-Rank was the two of you."
"Now we know your sneaky little secret." Günther grinned. "Now we can become closer to being—"
"Don't say it." Giorgio deadpans.
"—Über agents." Günther whispers.
"There it is." Giorgio says with an amused eye roll.
"Now, time for us to grab an instructor so we can beat our rivals." Sven smiles.
"Come again?" Evan asks innocently.
"You two are our rivals." Sven repeats.
While he is touched by the sentiment. Giorgio decides to rip the band aid off and tell them now. "Look, we're really flattered by the sentiment, but you two should stay clear of me. I'm not on anyone's good side at the moment... because it's out that—"
"You come from the Sicilian mafia." Günther finished a matter-of-factly.
"You knew?" Giorgio asks with surprise in his voice.
"Dah, everyone knows." He continues in a blasé tone. "You were born in the mafia ja? But it does not erase who you decided to be now."
Sven nods in agreement with a smile.
Giorgio is taken aback. "I… both of you… Thank you."
"We accept your challenge!" Evan exclaims happily. "From this day on, we're rivals!"
Günther pumps his fist into the air, as he and Sven cheer and whoop at the announcement.
"Well, well, well!" Instructor Romée says as he and Instructor Bardi join the two pairs. "If you two are to be rivals then…"
"It looks like we need a dance-off." Giovanni finishes.
"Since you two have had a head start in the waltz, we will pick a different dance!" Jean exclaims excitedly.
"Fair." Giorgio agrees.
"Let's do the rumba!" Evan exclaims.
Sven and Günther cheer in excitement.
Giorgio splutters. "NO. Let's NOT do the rumba!"
"But it's fun!" Evan protests.
"It's an overtly sexual dance with not even a quarter of the class the waltz has." He hisses. Hearing a whimper from the side, he turns his head to look at their northern European friends.
Günther and Sven are giving him kicked puppy looks, not unlike his own partner.
"Jean a little help here…" He turned to look at Jean, who was also giving him the same look. Giovanni just shrugs his shoulders, offering no help at all. "Ugghh I'm going to regret this. Fine. We'll do the rumba."
They are both sitting limply on the couch back in their suite.
Evan is staring out into space. "So that's why you didn't want to do the rumba…" He says blankly.
"Like I said… overtly sexual dance." We haven't even known each other for a full month yet, but somehow our crotches had to be in contact like that. I feel so dirty." Giorgio says, with his own thousand-yard stare. "You know what? This is completely your fault! I don't know how the hell you thought the rumba was some form of hip-hop."
"Uh huh." Evan agrees blankly. "Still... I can't believe Günther and Sven won the dance-off."
After being catatonic for far too long, Evan flicks on the TV for them and scrolls through their movie options.
"You know how Ass-face called me the 'Godfather' earlier? I actually haven't seen that movie." Giorgio says, wishing he had the context in order to come up with a snappy come-back.
"What?! No way, it's a classic!" Evan exclaims, taken off guard. "It's so iconic, let's watch it noooow—" He catches himself, realising that the mafia-centric movie may be taken as an insensitive choice at best. "I mean, wait no, how about... Ratatouille? You'll like this way better. He cooks, you cook. Boom, done."
"Let's do it." Giorgio says, unfazed. "Let's watch The Godfather."
"... Are you sure? I don't wanna bring up any bad memories for you." Evan asks worriedly. His partner already had headaches from Santiago, the last thing he wanted to do was to give him heartache on top of that.
"I'm sure. Besides, it'll be fun to see how accurate it actually is." He says, with an amused tone.
The pair watch the iconic film together. Giorgio shares fond memories of the Bruno Villa with Evan. It was always so lively with the sheer amount of people filling it, exactly like the start of the film with the guests celebrating the Don's daughter's wedding.
Evan has fun quoting iconic lines out of one side of his mouth in a terrible replication of Brandon Marlow's accent for Don Corleone. "You come into my house on the day my daughter is to be married, and you uh ask me to do murder, for money."
Eventually, they reach the part when a movie producer shows the representative of the Corleone family his prized racehorse, while the two men discuss business dealings.
The producer refuses to do a favour for the Corleone family and insults them with racial slurs.
"What?" Giorgio asks, confused. "The consigliere [family advisor] gets refused and insulted, but all he does is leave? That can't be right."
Evan grins. "Oh, just you wait."
The following scene shows the next morning, when the producer wakes up in his lavish silk sheets to find they are wet with blood. As he rips the sheets off, he discovers the severed head of his dear racehorse. In horror, he screams and screams, and screams.
Giorgio laughs in surprise.
Evan joins him in a sadistic cackle. When they both calm down, he locks eyes with his partner— a glint in his mischievous blue eyes.
[DAY 28]
Santiago stirs, morning light hitting his eyes.
What? He wonders why his sheets have this damp feeling.
He peels his blanket back slowly and red, thick liquid is revealed to be everywhere. THE FUCK?! He rips the sheets off himself, revealing the severed head of a My Little Pony plush toy staring back at him. Cotton, spilling from its stump-neck, is completely soaked from an extensive pool of tomato sauce. "AHHHHHHH! AHHHHH! AHHHHHHH!"
Author's Note:
-Consigliere: The Don's right hand man they have a high position in the family. An advisor to the Don, who also resolves internal disputes when they arise.
-Lili, I worked in the eyeshadow lol.