"Risotto?"
The old wooden door creaked in protest. A beam of light shoved its way through the small opening. Then something obstructed it, the form of young child. There was a gasp before the door was pushed all the way open. A halt. The door was quietly shut.
He felt the weight of her, Arborio –the light of his life, climb onto his creaky bed. Where, in the corner of it, he sat with his knees up to his chest, staring out at the opposite wall. A small candle on his bedside table provided only dim lighting, not even enough to illuminate the opposite wall. Not that it mattered, there was nothing but a worn, off-white, wall to look at. Such was the theme of his small room, worn out and devoid of decoration. The size of the room, narrow and cramped off in the corner of the house. One window that only showed a pale white fence adding to the enclosed air of the space.
The bed whined as Arborio shifted closer, to inspect the reason for her being here. A prominent bruise on the cheek. Others dotted the along his arms. He knew these were painful to even look at for her, but he didn't so much as a stir and continued to stare out at nothing. Arborio carefully reached out and nudged her cousin, her brother's, shoulder.
"Risotto?" His body responded to the force pushed against it and shifted. "Risotto, what happened?"
He didn't respond.
A moment of silence before the sound of a plastic lid being unscrewed. Soft fingers applied cool ointment to the tender bruises that decorated his arms.
"You'll get in trouble for this."
"Only if mother catches me." Arborio answered softly, voice just above a murmur. Gradually her application of the salve slowed. It must've been painful for her see the damage done to him. "What happened? Why did she do it this time?"
"Same reason as always. I did something wrong." Risotto's answered, words empty and hollow. He didn't acknowledge the pained look his sister gave him. Despite the pain he felt, he had become numb to it. Detachment came easily to him now. Something he had to learn in order to keep going. Protection in the form mental distance.
Because I'm not her real son. His mind dutifully reminded him. For a time, he tried to deny it...that time had passed when he heard it from his aunt's own mouth, several times.
"Why am I here?" He muttered, tone dull and dismal. Eyes vacant, still not matching the gaze of his sister's blue ones. He wasn't wanted here. Why did he have to be here? Why did his parents have to die? It wasn't fair. "Why couldn't I have gone with my parents..."
A gentle hug disrupted focus on his dismal quandary. "Because we're meant to be siblings." Arborio pulled back and smiled at him. "We're supposed to be together. I'll always be with you and you'll always be with me. It-"
The sound of the home phone ringing brought Giorno to a small living room. As he stood into the cusp of the area he looked back towards Risotto's room, which was furthest down the hall. It was a bit odd that he hadn't answered it himself, he was usually very prompt. However, he had been working very hard on this big hit La Squadra had been given. Checking in with Sorbet nearly every day since and speaking with other members of Passione to get more infomation. Due to this, Giorno assumed that he was just sleeping more heavily and went to answer the call.
"Hello?" Giorno asked into the phone.
The sound of Gelato's voice responded. "Giorno?" He sounded confused. Likely having, understandably, expected for Risotto to answer the call. "Is Risotto still asleep?"
Giorno glanced back to the hall. "I'm not sure. I just got up. Do you need me to wake him?"
"Ah, no. If he's still asleep he must've been overworking himself again. He does that occasionally." Gelato's voice perked up with amusement. "You've more than likely noticed this by now, he takes his work very seriously. Bit of a perfectionist honestly."
Giorno thought back to the several occasions of Risotto spending days on casing for a hit or collecting information. This included sleepless nights, sometimes days in a row. Giorno had learned how to work the coffee machine in the kitchen to help him through it. At least in a little way. As expected, he liked his coffee black. Giorno replied simply. "Yeah, I have."
"Be hard not to, he's almost as bad as my Sorbet." Gelato amused continued before he returning to the reason for his call. "Could you check for me? If he's not awake just let him know I called."
Phone left beside the base, Giorno stood before Risotto's door shortly after. To his brief surprise, the light was on. Carefully he creaked open the door and poked his head in. Risotto's room matched his style, in that it was mostly themed in black and only had a few other dark colored hues. While he was generally frugal with the rest of the home, he did have quiet the collection of merchandise of various metal bands. Risotto himself was sitting on the end of his bed, eyes fixed on a framed photo he was staring down at.
The sight made him curious as to why he looked to be so deep in thought, but the current matter of the call caused Giorno to put that aside-for the time being. He didn't want to break his train of thought, but he didn't want to keep Gelato waiting either. Carefully, Giorno spoke up, "Risotto."
Pulled from his thoughts, Risotto looked up towards the door. Briefly, he seemed faintly surprised by the boy's presence. He glanced at the clock next to his bedside. His eyes widened a bit at the time. Looking back to Giorno, Risotto responded, "Sorry, Giorno, I got lost in thought. I'll get breakfast ready."
"Oh no, I'm fine." Giorno corrected. He'd just gotten up recently and could easily have made cereal for himself. He pointed towards the living room. "Gelato is on the phone and wants to talk to you."
Giorno watched as Risotto stood up and put the frame back beside his LED clock. "Must have found some new information." He said as he walked out of the room. While he walked down the hall Risotto asked, "What do you want to eat, Giorno?"
"I'll make myself cereal." Giorno opted. Risotto took the answer with no argument and went to pick up the phone. As he went into the kitchenette off to the side of the living room, Giorno inwardly hopped that the call would have some news about his biological father. Gelato hadn't said anything about it but he still held out hope. As he poured his cereal into the white bowl, Giorno kept his ears on the call. He couldn't make out what Gelato was saying. This was odd because he wasn't too far from the phone. A few feet at best.
"Any news Gelato?" Risotto questioned. There was a momentary pause with Risotto occasionally uttering a hum as he listened. Eventually a look of surprise crossed Risotto's face. His expression tensed before he exhaled through his nose. "We'll be over once we finished eating." Gelato spoke again and Risotto grunted. "See you then."
Risotto hung the phone up. He looked down at the phone base for a long moment, before he turned to Giorno. The hitman's posture seemed tense. Whatever Gelato had said, he wasn't happy with. "Giorno, after you finish eating, we'll be heading to Sorbet and Gelato's home."
"Okay." Giorno paused. Unsure if he should prod, he hesitated a moment. Hopefulness led him to give in, "...What did he say?"
"He found information on your father."
Giorno could hardly sit still during the car ride. Finally! At long last he was going to learn more about his father! He wondered what Sorbet had found. Where he was, what he did for a job, last sighting- anything, he'd take anything. Excited as he was, Giorno reminded himself that it could be something small. Expectations shouldn't get too high. He didn't want to inadvertently dimmish the work that Sorbet had put it into finding the information. Regardless, it'd be progress.
During the drive over to Sorbet and Gelato's home; however, Giorno couldn't help but notice the tention in the car. Risotto's silence seemed more stone hided than usual. He hadn't gotten perfect at reading the adult yet, but he had figured particular airs to him. At least, when he was tense about something.
Had Sorbet found out something bad? It was the only thing Giorno could think of. His excitement was effectively tempered.
For the most part, Giorno managed to quell the fretful anticipation in his mind. Though, his heart was another story. It anxiously fluttered away in chest without reprieve. His attempts to calm it were vaguely effective. The best he could do was distract himself by looking out the window, but if his eyes strayed back to the car's interior it'd be there to remind him of his anxiety.
At least he wasn't shaking.
Giorno could tell the Risotto knew he was anxious. Of course, he did. Thankfully, he said nothing to it as they got out of the car.
Gelato answered promptly, but the wait felt longer with his heartrate taking over his focus. He managed to return the welcoming smile shown to him. Giorno had hoped he didn't look as nervous as he felt, but that apparently wasn't the case.
"Nervous, hm?" Gelato mused after a brief exchange of greetings. His noticed caused Giorno to quickly straighten up. A faint flush of embarrassment gave him his answer. Gelato chuckled at the endearing sight before ushering the pair inside. "You are adorable. Come on in, Sorbet is waiting downstairs for us."
The secluded air of the downstairs meeting room seemed more oppressive than usual. Giorno sat on the couch while the pair of Sorbet and Gelato sat on their usual chair. Or rather, Sorbet was seated while Gelato leaned over the back, propped up on his arms. Risotto stood beside the chair his posture still tense. Giorno wasn't sure why, but it seemed like the three adults were eyeing him. It didn't seem bad, more like they were looking him over for something. He was certain he was clean but...it made him shift a little as he sat and wiped the side of his face just to be sure.
"First, allow me to get the disappointing news out of the way." Sorbet began. He sighed faintly as the boy's head drooped. There was no way around it, he continued, "I'm afraid I haven't been able to find the current status of your father- only that he was indeed in Egypt for some years. DIO, does seem to be his first name, but the validity of Brando I am uncertain of. Cairo was, in fact, the last place he was located- primarily out of circumstantial evidence I uncovered. I found no official record of residence."
"Circumstantial?" Giorno echoed, pulled out of disappointment for the time being.
"There seemed to be stand users working for him. Odd happenings, indicative of stand battles, were occurring in Cairo and leading towards it in a trail. One of the possible stand users mentioned him as "Lord DIO". I haven't been able to determine the identities of who they were fighting but it has something to do with the Speedwagon organization. An American foundation focused on medical research and environmental conservation." Sorbet hunched himself into thoughtful posture, chin balanced on intertwined hands. "I also can't say why all these stand battles were happening, in all honesty I haven't found much as of yet, but that isn't why I requested leader to bring you here today.
I believe that there is a chance that you have a stand." The look of surprise on Giorno's face prompted Sorbet to explain his reasoning. "Stand users are drawn to one another. The mere fact that you've ended up in all of our lives, in of itself, gives chance enough. If your father DIO had stand users working under him then he must've had one of his own. So, I'm going to administer a simple test."
With the chance of having a stand of his own placed before him, Giorno straightened up. "A test? What do I have to do?"
Sorbet tilted his head to the side, a faint but notable smile on his lips. "You don't need to do anything." He held a hand out to the side of him. "All I am going to do is summon my stand. If you are able to see anything- anything at all, then that means you have a stand or are developing one. Ready?"
Giorno nodded curtly. His posture straightened, shoulders squared, eyes focused.
"Very well then."
At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then, the air around Sorbet's shoulder began to shimmer as if light was being reflected off of something. Whatever it was, the thing was about the size of a dog. Eyes widened, Giorno keyed in on the apparition in hopes to better see it. This seemed to work, to some effect, he could pick out light blues and purples and a vague, indeterminate, shape.
"Ah, yes! There's something over your shoulder!" Giorno exclaimed, amazed by the hazy image. His hands enthusiastically waved around in the air above his corresponding shoulder.
"Wonderful!" Gelato cheered with a loud clap. The boy beamed a bright smile at him before he went back to focusing on where the stand had manifested. Gelato turned his attention over to Risotto. "Should we try and instruct him to manifest his stand?"
Hearing this, Giorno looked to his caretaker hopefully.
Risotto closed his eyes a moment. He nodded. There was no point in pulling back now. "Manifesting a stand is rather simple. It is best done under pressure of some kind, adrenaline rush, self-defense, things of that nature. In your case, try focusing on memories along those lines. Once you manage to summon your stand it'll become instinctual, reflexive."
Memories that trigger self-defense or an adrenaline rush...Giorno felt his body tense as his mind immediately flung his focus to several, far too many, memories. His step-father looming over him, belt ready to strike him. Other times it was a hand and yet still other times it was something else. His body instinctively seized up and trembled. Natural reflex was to pull away from these memories, focus on something more pleasant. Giorno, however, wouldn't allow the past to impede his progress. No, he pushed through. If this was what he needed to endure to awaken his stand then he'd endure. Memories were nothing like going through the actual thing. He focused hard as he could to make it almost real.
This power, whatever it would be, would be a valuable tool to achieve his goal.
Visions of someone long gone were a small price to pay.
"Giorno..." Risotto uttered, almost to himself. He'd picked up that when the boy trembled it meant his stress was reaching its threshold. Judging by how badly the boy was shaking now- it was concerning. He had little stomach for the idea of him being keyed-in on by the rest of the gang, Polpo had already taken notice of him, a Stand would make him a pending member. He readied to say something, but held back when Sorbet caught his sight.
His subordinate said nothing, but he knew what he was thinking.
This was for Giorno's safety.
He put his ideals aside.
No sooner than he did a golden aura bloomed around the child. This surprised Risotto. He hadn't expected Giorno to get a grasp on it so soon.
From nothingness a stand began to take form. Like many, it mirrored the form of its master, taking the physical appearance of child. The top of its head was like a scarab, small angel wings on the shoulder, and several ladybug emblems dotted its body. The most stunning aspect was the stand practically shined with how golden it was. In stark contrast it's lens-like eyes were crimson red.
Colors that were now reflected in Giorno. Black to blond, green to red.
Risotto had no words for what he'd just witness. His usual stoic nature hid his speechlessness well. No one noticed.
Somehow, things felt different now.
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