"What's your problem!? So you went out and made yourself a friend and he ended up dead! People die! Doesn't mean you have to come back here and be a jerk to the rest of us…. We didn't kill him!" Up until that point Casino thought he might be dealing with the switchblade that Chief had released into his palm and he wondered if he might have pushed things just a bit too far this time, especially since no one had followed them out onto the grounds. But the kid dropped his head and started mumbling. "Come on, out with it!"
Chief tried to find a way to put what he was feeling into words, but he'd never been very good at that. "I… It's just…" He made brief eye contact with his irritated teammate and then turned and walked away. Casino surprised him and came abreast and walked along with him, silent for a change, waiting for him to be able to say what he needed to say. They made it to the wall at the back of the garden, a favorite spot for getting off the grounds when they first came to live there. He leaned against the tree and Casino propped himself against the wall. "I guess when that guy died it hit me how much I depend on you guys… and how much worse it's gonna be if somethin' happens to one of you." He turned and pulled himself up into the tree, ending up straddling the large branch that arched over the wall. "I don't wanna go through that. I don't know how to not feel that…."
"Except by actin' like an idiot and shoving all of us away…." Casino cut in. He didn't wait for Chief to answer. "Look, I tried that when my little brother died. It doesn't work worth a damn." Casino climbed up into the tree too but ended up perched on the wall. "I'm gonna sound like my Ma here so don't give me a hard time or I'll knock you right outta that tree…" He waited until he could get a handled on his embarrassment before he started off. "The people that care about you are always gonna care about you. And you'r gonna care about them, even if you think you don't. The problem with the way you'r goin' about things right now is that if somethin' happens to one of them…one of us…, on top a feelin' lousy 'cause we're gone, you'r gonna feel rotten 'cause of the way you treated us."
Chief studied the leaves overhead as he considered that, then they just sat there together for a while. Eventually he slipped down out of the tree and stood looking up. "But how'll I fill up the holes?" The only one who'd cared about him so far was his grandfather. The hole he'd left almost swallowed him up sometimes. "Where I'm I gonna find someone to tell me I'm bein' an idiot like you do?"
Casino took a deep breath as he sat there looking down on a young man that reminded him very much of his younger brother right now. He pushed off the wall and landed in front of his teammate. "You made a friend outta that guy over in Italy easy enough. You fill up the holes with other people…." He let Chief drop his gaze and study his feet a moment before he slung an arm around his neck and started hauling him back towards the mansion. "And if you think me bein' dead and buried is gonna get you out of a good chewin' out when you deserve one, baby, you got another thing comin'! When you hear me yellin' inside your head that's gonna be me, not your damned imagination. That's a promise I'll make you right here and now!" Casino gave a snort of laughter when he considered that doin' it that way would be a whole lot safer too, because already bein' dead he wouldn't have to worry about that knife. When Chief turned with a question on his face he just shoved him off towards the house.