"Tutto Finisce a Tarallucci e Vino" : "Everything Ends at Biscuits and Wine"

It's an Italian saying that basically means to say that everything will be alright in the end.

Flug had to admit, Black Hat knew how to make a guy feel special.

And he rocked that black apon. Flug wasn't even sure where he got a black apron, he'd never seen one before. Did he find it online? Did he just get a regular white one and dye it black, for some nonsensical reason?

Thinking about random things like that distracted Flug from how insanely out of place he felt in this penthouse apartment.

It had a very modern feel, architure-wise, supported by Black Hat's decor. It was like walking onto some movie set or something. It had large windows nearly as tall as the entire room facing out to, and providing a terrific view of, the city skyline and pitch black night sky. It was a shame that they couldn't see stars the likes of which they'd seen out in the middle of nowhere where Hatsville would one day stand. Flug bet that on nights where the moon was full and bright, Black Hat could just leave the windows uncovered and let the natural moonlight illuminate this whole place. Flug could imagine it pretty clearly and it looked amazing. Very film noir, with a sophisticated interior of reds and blacks and a nice variety of grays accented by a few flashes of tastefully arranged white. Easy on his eyes.

So, naturally, he felt very self-conscious about...well, just himself.

Black Hat had picked him up at 7 o'clock on the dot, which was really nice as it spared Flug the paranoia that came along with waiting for someone to show up. He liked his punctuality. And immediately Flug felt his outfit put to shame.

Black Hat had forsaken the trench coat, waistcoat, and tie and was wearing a red dress shirt that was a bit...different from his usual one. If Flug wasn't mistaken, it was embroidered with gold accents along his chest and upper back. As well as had little gold cufflinks, that were all fucking sparkling! He'd also left a button or two undone, showing off a bit more of his neck. Nothing far enough to reveal any of his scars, but it was enough to make Flug's face flush with the memory of them. And him. Shirtless. On top of him. At least Flug now knew he owned at least one other shirt.

Even his top hat looked like it had been spruced up for the occasion! Flug didn't know how exactly one spruced up a hat, but well, it looked like it had gotten touched up or something. The red band around it looked a bit brighter, the whole thing just looked a more lively shade of black, if there even was such a thing. Hell, even Black Hat's shoes looked like they had gotten a shine! The man pulled out all the stops for this and it left Flug feeling a bit...underdressed. Flattered, sure, but he felt like he really didn't compare. Or even come close exactly. Although Black Hat kept telling him he looked fine, he still worried.

Was he dressed appropriately? He'd thought this plain dark blue dress shirt and black slacks would be fine. Casual enough, but he looked presentable. Even if he stood out in a huge way against the rest of the color scheme in here. Now he worried that he looked too casual. Especially compared to Black Hat. Had he underestimated the amount of pomp expected of him here? Should his shirt be tucked in, or was it fine to just leave out like it was? Should he have worn a tie? How was his hair? He didn't really do anything special, other than actually wash it. His natural brown curls felt plain, kind of...unstylish. Not to mention all his split ends. When was the last time he got a haircut? Should he have put in some extra effort to fix it up? Should he have gone to a barber and gotten something more trendy? He didn't really know what was in style right now, he'd never paid things like that any attention before.

Then there was the matter of just himself as a person. Was Black Hat going to put on a similar air to what would be typical of a high end restaurant? Flug wasn't sure he could handle that, even if it was just the two of them. He felt a little overwhelmed. Which wasn't great. He hoped he didn't start getting lightheaded and have a panic attack again. Especially since attending this little dinner was in part to make up for that other panic attack he'd had the day before. And also in part (mainly) because, well, he was kind of interested to get to know Black Hat a bit better. See where he lived, talk a bit more personally. He'd probably be expected to divulge a bit more about himself as well but that was really the least of his worries. He wanted to know more about Black Hat, and it was only fair that he share a bit so that Black Hat got to know more about him too.

Flug just kind of wished that Black Hat had...toned it down a little rather than dial it up to 11. The man looked good, really good. A bit too good. To put it into perspective; if you look like a hundred bucks, and your date shows up looking like a million bucks, it kind of leaves you feeling like a twenty someone found on the sidewalk. With a bit of gum on it.

And then he somehow managed to look even more captivating as he actually made them dinner.

He explained that the whatever it was he was making them really didn't take very long and was best enjoyed freshly made, so he started cooking soon after they arrived. In a very sophisticated-looking and spotless kitchen. As mentioned before, he put on a black apron, which really made Flug take notice of the slight curves of his body and how they were accentuated by his wardrobe. He had rolled his sleeves up, to keep them clean of course, but it also served to give Flug a better view of his forearms. He was able to see the scars better than he had yesterday. As they went down to the wrist, they lessened in both deepness and frequency. There wasn't much chance that Flug could see to them being self-inflicted. Even though those parallel lines on his left inner forearm near the elbow did make him pause and wonder. There were mainly clean, thin scars, like one would expect from a knife. Given that the majority were on the outer arms, Flug would guess that they were defensive wounds. As with his chest, there were scars on top of scars, making Flug wonder again how old this man was and just how much of his life he had poured into crime.

Black Hat had apparently switched to a pair of white (or maybe just very light grey) gloves for cooking, which Flug hadn't seen him do and was a bit perplexed by. It was a nice change, as sometimes it was hard to remember that Black Hat was even wearing gloves, they were nearly the exact same color as his skin, but it made Flug come to a certain realization. He'd...never seen Black Hat take his gloves off. Not even when they'd wound up in bed together had he taken them off. Maybe he just had a thing about germs? No, that made no sense.

But when had he switched gloves without Flug noticing?

Well, whenever that happened, Flug was content to just watch him make them dinner. It actually was kind of calming just watching him work like this. It sort of reminded Flug of how he could get when he was building things, how he just went into his own little world and let his hands do all the work. He looked so skillful, like it was something he could do in his sleep. He was right, at the rate it was going, they'd probably be eating by precisely 8 pm.

"It's really a very simple dish," Black Hat said. "Just boil the noodles for about ten minutes and while you're doing that, melt down the butter and cream in the skillet on low heat."

"And the cheese?" Flug asked, eyeing the block Black Hat was currently grating. It was the second block, actually. Were they two different cheeses?

"These go in a little later, along with the garlic ." Black Hat stirred around the buttery, creamy mixture, spreading it along the pan. He apparently wasn't satisfied with it yet, because he left it to melt a bit more while he began mincing the garlic.

He mentioned he'd killed people before. How many exactly he hadn't said. Flug wondered in the back of his mind if he could cut people with this same amount of precision and finesse.

And have this same calm expression as he did.

"Hmmm, just about," He remarked as he gave the mixture another once over. Then he turned up the heat and added in the cheeses and the garlic, as well as salt and pepper. He stirred them with the perfected hand of one who'd done this same thing so many times before that it was just second nature.

"So, um," Flug said, trying to make conversation. As nice as it was just watching Black Hat cook, it was a bit weird to just stare at him silently like this. "You said you worked in a restaurant? In Italy?"

"Oh yes," Black Hat replied, not taking his eyes off the dish. "Not anything huge, it was mainly a front for the local mob, but Italians have a certain degree of cultural pride in their cuisine. Even if it's just to launder money, they don't mess around with the food. I tell you, there was no way that place raked in as much as it did legitimately. But they could make you believe they could with how good the food was. It was serious stuff." Oh it was starting to smell great.

"Did you already know how to cook beforehand?"

"Not anything spectacular. But I pretty much always had to cook for myself, so I was familiar with working with cutlery."

"Why did you have to cook for yourself?"

"My parents died when I was very young." Black Hat said. "I didn't have any family members who could take me in, so I was raised in an orphanage. And, let me tell you, that place was about the same as being on the streets."

The timer went off. "Oh, would you mind stirring this?"

"Uh, sure." Flug feebly took the wooden spoon from Black Hat and tried to emulate what he'd seen him doing as the man drained the noodles. God that was a nice shirt. Was it tailor-made for him? How expensive was it? He should really be focused on what it was he was doing but his eyes kept going back to Black Hat, just...doing his thing. Seeming to be totally in his element. And why wouldn't he be? It was his home, and a dish he was well acquainted with. And Flug was just...just kind of here. In a place that seemed out of his pay grade and league, and with a man who he was starting to think was probably way out of his league as well.

"How's the sauce coming?" Black Hat asked over his shoulder.

"Uh, it's, ah, it's coming." Flug awkwardly replied.

"Has the cheese melted yet?"

Flug looked down, the cheese was mostly mixed in with the rest of the sauce. It still had a few bits of gooey cheese that hadn't fully melted yet.

"Uh, for the m-most part."

Black Hat came over to see for himself. "Oh, that's fine." He plucked the wooden spoon out of Flug's hands and gave the sauce on it a little lick. He smiled and held the end out for Flug. Who opted to just swipe a bit off with his finger.

Oh.

Oh wow.

Oh woooooooooooooooooooooow.

Oh God that was yummy. No, he should probably say something a little more refined than just "yummy". Uh, delicious! No wait, delectable! Maybe scrumptious? Mouthwatering.

"Oh wow that's good." He said.

Black Hat chuckled lightly. "Glad you think so." He then tossed the cooked noodles in with the sauce and stirred them around until they were finely coated with the delicious creamy buttery savory garlic-y concoction.

Dinner was looking to be pretty damn good. Flug was happy he agreed to this little date.

And felt a small smile tug on his lips at the rememberance that he was, in fact, on a date.

With a man who kind of stalked him, kind of broke into his apartment, and ate his cereal without even asking yesterday.

Ok that last one wasn't too bad but Flug was still kind of peeved about it!

Now that the meal itself was finished, it was time to actually sit down and eat. Black Hat led him to a small (but very elegant) table set for two across from each other. And gallantly pushed Flug's chair in for him. And served him. And poured him some wine, which Flug didn't intend to drink very much of. He'd had wine once before, he didn't really like it.

His actual dinner however, he had high hopes for.

From the very first bite, Flug had to restrain himself from just immediately scarfing up everything on his plate. Holy fuck.

"So, you like it?" Black Hat asked across from him with a confident smile.

"Oh yes," Flug said eagerly. Maybe a little too eagerly. Screw it, this was fucking delicious. He was eager for a second serving already. "How long were you in Italy?" He asked, remembering that Black Hat mentioned he'd worked in a restaurant his first year.

"About three years," Black Hat said, eating from his own plate at a slow and relaxed pace. "It's a very beautiful country. I hated to leave. But, I couldn't stay any longer." He said wistfully.

"Why not?"

"Well, I actually had an underling there. His name was Alberto, not a bad guy. Favored guns. Was a good shot. Someone I thought could handle himself. That turned out not to be the case."

"What happened?"

Black Hat got a bit of a dark look on his face. "He died, when the two of us were fighting this upstart hero."

"O-Oh," Flug said. "I'm...sorry to hear that."

"Don't be," Black Hat said with a wave of his hand. "I killed that shark myself for him. It's all in the past now."

Well...okay then...

"So, after that, I figured it'd be best I took my leave. I'd gained about as much as I could, three years is a long time to tour a country after all. I cut most of my ties and left with the blessing of the biggest crime boss of the entire country."

Flug paused. "You don't mean..."

Black Hat grinned evilly. "Il Ratto? Sì. The rumors are true, by the way. The man I met was, to my knowledge, the sixth rat to take up the mantle."

Well, Flug was impressed. The Rat was the head of the largest branching mafia centered in Italy, with connections across Europe and an underground network of members spread far and wide. Drug and sex trafficking, extortion, murder, the list went on. Rumor had it that the Rat himself was not one man, but an alias passed down as the bosses retired or died. Only those of the inner circle even met their enigmatic boss, according to the stories.

Was Black Hat really being serious, or was he just exaggerating his travels?

"You know what I really liked about him?" Black Hat asked, getting back into the conversation. "I liked the way he carried himself. After all the stories and rumors, I was expecting some condescending snob covered in jewelry and chain smoking every minute of the day. Someone who ruthlessly killed because he felt safe in the palazzo he inherited, of course I didn't know if he truly did just inherit the name back then. I was expecting him to be vain and weak, deep down. I thought the man himself might be disappointing, given the power behind him. I thought he'd be the type of guy who let his lackeys do all the work while he stayed safe and kept his hands clean. That wasn't what he was like at all."

"Wh-what was he like?"

Black Hat shrugged. "Just an ordinary guy." He took another bite of his dinner. "Who happened to have murdered his father and ran the largest criminal syndicate in the country."

Flug stared at him. "You know, I think we have different definitions of ordinary people."

Black Hat laughed freely. "Well, that was what I always thought of him before he revealed himself. And I saw him often. He looked perfectly normal, he was well mannered and even kind at times. Just a regular guy like any other you'd see."

"Why did he reveal himself?"

"You remember how I told you the restaurant I worked at was a front for the mob?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it wasn't his. All his fronts are far more high-end. It was just a small, local business. Their 'family', I mean. He would come in every other week, just because he could, no one knew who he was and he was always alone. And it happened that he found me in a...I'm a little embarrassed to say this, he found me in a rather compromising situation."

"What do you mean by 'compromising'?"

"Ehhhhhhh, he caught me killing a guy in a back alley."

"...How?" Flug asked.

"Strangulation." Black Hat said simply. "It was kind of sloppy on my part, but what can I say? I was having a bad day. So anyway, he sees me. I figure I'm going to have to kill him as well, but we get to talking. Don't ask how that happened. He tells me who he is and offers me a job. I don't fully believe it, until the limo pulls up and we get in and he takes me to his place. The whole ride over he's telling me all this stuff about how he came about ruling over his grandfather's operation and how he inherited it by killing the Rat before him and the ins and outs of the business, and I'm pretty sure after all that I'm not going to be allowed to leave without accepting, and I don't want to take my chances against all these guys with machine guns. Besides that, it was admittedly a pretty huge step-up from where I was before and seemed too good an opportunity to let pass me by."

"So, you were working for him after that?" Flug went to take another bite of the deliciousness on his plate, only to find that it was vacant.

"Would you like seconds?"

"Yes please."

Black Hat got up and served him another helping as he continued. "Yes, I worked for him the rest of my time in Italy. I traveled around frequently, became acquainted with a few other big names. None that rivaled his influence, though. That's actually how I met Alberto. After he died, however, it felt like it was time for me to move on. I had delayed my travels long enough. It took some convincing for Tom to let me leave, but, as you can see," He sipped from his wine glass as he sat back in his seat. "Here I am."

Flug froze mid-bite. "His name is...TOM?!"

"Yeah, why?"

Flug felt little chuckles bubble their way up from his throat. Which soon turned into full-blown rambunctious laughter that forced him to put his food down lest he choke on it.

"What exactly is so funny about that?" Black Hat asked with an amused smile.

"I don't know, it's just..." Flug searched for the right words, grin still plastered on his face. "It's just kind of...anticlimactic. It's not very intimidating, I'll say that. It's so...ordinary."

"He was ordinary." Black Hat said with a shrug. "On the surface at least. Kind of like you."

"Me?"

"Do you think anyone else would ever imagine you to be capable of murder?" Black Hat asked, grinning widely. Ok, how was it even physically possible for someone to smile that widely? Were those his molars? Why did they look sharp, that was not how teeth worked! The front teeth were sharp to cut food into smaller pieces and the back teeth were flat to mash food into nutrient-rich food-paste. Those weren't the scientific terms but Flug didn't much care. Why was that what Flug was focused on right now?

Was it because the mention of what he'd done made him just the teensy-tiniest bit uncomfortable?

"N-No," he said after an uneasy pause. "I guess n-n-no one w-would. Can you?"

"I can imagine you doing all sorts of things." Black Hat said, eyeing him from beyond his wine glass.

Oh God was that meant to sound as sexual as it did?! Was he hitting on him? Was this was being flirted with was like? It had been so long. Flug could feel his face heat up and downed most of his wine without really thinking about it. Ugh, that was dry. He was not a fan. He wouldn't be asking for a second glass. He wasn't even sure he'd get to finishing the rest of this one.

"Don't like it?"

"Ah, no, sorry." Flug said. "I don't really like things that are so...bitter."

"Funny, I can't stand things that are too sweet."

"Huh," That actually was a little funny, how opposite their preferences were. It explained how he could stand to take coffee black, which Flug could never do. He loved his dark bean life-juice, but it freaking needed something to sweeten it. "So, where did you go after Italy?"

"After that, I didn't have any real direction, so I spent a year in France. I mainly stuck to the south, working my way across the coast. I wasn't in any big hurry to get wrapped up with other people again, so I laid low. I moved constantly. Then I burned through Spain-" Flug wondered if his time there coincided with the many huge and destructive fires that raged the country a few years back. "-and ended up in Portugal for the better part of two years. I don't know, I was in a mood I guess."

"And, how was Portugal?"

"Oh Portugal was wild. I killed so many fucking people in Portugal. It wasn't the exact same orderly and organized crime vibe you get from Italy, there were times where it was just a free-for-all. Or maybe it was just the people I ended up getting involved with. Maybe they were just loons." Black Hat stood up with his empty plate and got himself another helping. "A lot of my time there is kind of a blur, I don't even actually remember leaving."

"What? How?"

"Me and this little group of no-name criminals had just pulled off this big job. We mainly smuggled drugs in and out for the bigger fish out there who couldn't risk getting their hands dirty, and this was about the biggest load we'd ever done together. For them, it was a huge deal. I was more or less used to stuff like that already, but it wasn't as if I wouldn't celebrate with them. We may have gotten into the stash," Black Hat looked away. "And when I came to, I was on a boat and one of the guys, Jose, tells me we're headed to Brasil."

"Whoa." Flug said with wide eyes. That did sound wild.

"Yeah, I didn't take it all that well. I threw him overboard."

"Jesus!" Flug exclaimed.

"No, Jesus died back in Portugal, the same night I apparently agreed on a one way trip to South America. I have no idea how, I heard it from Jose and Mimi and their memories weren't the most trustworthy."

"Before you threw him off the boat?"

"Nah, after. Jose could teleport. So tossing him over the side of the ship didn't really accomplish much. No matter how many times I did it."

"Why would you even keep throwing him over if it didn't kill him?"

"I wasn't trying to kill him. After the first time." Black Hat said. "I was just mad he dragged me onto a boat. I get seasick easily. And we kind of stowed away on it so, that wasn't fun."

"Why did you even have to sneak on?" Flug asked.

"Because I was with a bunch of idiots." Black Hat snapped. "Jose did at least get my stuff onboard, so that was nice. He couldn't teleport people besides himself, only objects, so I was basically stuck there until we reached Brasil. Where I promptly ditched the four of them."

"Well, that sounds...inconvenient." Flug said awkwardly. Ugh, he felt like such a fool. Couldn't he at least try to say something more than Damn, that sucks ?

"Yeah, I didn't spend much time in Brasil anyway. I figured, hey, I might as well put that English I learned to good use, and booked a flight to the United States within the week."

"Any particular reason? That you picked the United States?"

"Eh, I had always wanted to go. And I was closer than I'd even been before. Seemed like the right time to just...go for it. I spent the longest time in that country, I think I visited every single state. I tell you, that country has more costume criminals than anywhere else in the world. They don't have the highest success rate, in fact it's probably one of the lowest worldwide, but there are just so many nonetheless. It's inspiring, in a strange sort of way."

"And that's when you met Dr. Morte, right?" Flug asked. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in hearing about the guy who gave Black Hat the means to own his soul.

"Eventually. Which reminds me," Black Hat finished the last bite of his meal and rose. He picked up his plate, and Flug's empty plate, and took them back to the kitchen. Uh...ok...it reminded him...to clear the table? Flug got up and was about to follow him when he came back and wordlessly took him by the hand and led him out to an expansive living room, and sat them both down on a comfortable red sofa.

Black Hat got himself comfortable; facing Flug, leaning an arm around the back and crossing his legs. Flug was a bit too timid to do more than just sit back and try to relax. It was a bit easier to do that when he was listening to Black Hat talk, when he had something else to focus on. Like great food. It was far easier to relax with a warm meal and pleasant conversation lulling him into a false sense of security and pulling him out of his mind. Now, when all he had were his own thoughts to occupy his brain, his constant fears of inadequacy crept back up.

Did he really look fine? Had he been too eager to dig into his dinner? Was anything stuck in his teeth? Was he sitting weirdly? He felt stiff. The more he tried to relax the harder he tensed up. Was it showing? Did Black Hat think he was making him uncomfortable? That, that wasn't the issue! Well, maybe it was a little bit the issue. Black Hat had really went all out; from his wardrobe to his home to his cooking, and maybe it did make Flug feel a bit...lesser in comparison.

"Would you like to meet him?" Black Hat asked.

"M-meet who?" Flug asked nervously.

"Dr. Morte. Would you like to meet him?"

Meet him? Meet another villain? An already established villain with a history of hundreds of years of evil-doing!? A necromancer, who rose the dead to do his bidding and was rumored to have cheated death multiple times? Meet the man who stole the souls of the desperate? The one who ripped the dead from the underworld and forced them to walk the earth as his minions?

"His birthday is coming up in April and he invited me." Black Hat said. "I wanted to know if you'd be my plus one. I don't want to go alone."

...Flug felt like maybe he had a tendency to overthink things sometimes...

"I could introduce you to everyone. Get you better acquainted with our future clientele." Black Hat said with a devious smile. "Besides, Morte always throws one hell of a party. Especially for his birthday. I was lucky enough to be around for it a few years ago, it was truly incredible."

"I-Is it true?" Flug asked. "How he's stayed around all these years?"

"Yes...and no." Black Hat said cryptically. "I do think he is still alive, in the technical sense at the very least. Whether or not he extends his lifespan by taking the lives of others, I can't say for certain. It seemed rude to ask about something so personal, especially after he'd already shared so much. I did see him remove a person's soul from their body once, and that was at the party I attended."

"Wh-what did it look like? The soul?" Flug felt certain his eyes were wide with wonder. And he may or not be leaning in closer to Black Hat. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if he was leaning closer or if Black Hat was the one leaning closer to him. Maybe they both were.

"Blinding," He said, letting the word roll off his tongue and hang heavy in the air, like that one word could weight down everything in the room. "There's really nothing else that describes it. Come with me. Let me show you what sort of splendor awaits us. I promise you, you won't regret it."

They were face to face, so close they could touch but they didn't. Flug felt he might've been panting, what from he couldn't say. The thought of seeing a soul, ripped from another's body? What might it look like? A blinding white light, so bright that it can't even be made out as a distinct shape? Would it resemble a silhouette? What was the man who could remove something so precious like? What sort of person was he? Was that someone he really wanted to meet? He wished Black Hat had continued talking about his travels, Flug would've liked to hear from him what Dr. Morte was like.

"Ok," He breathed it out in a sigh, nodding his head. "I'll go with you to his birthday party."

"Great." Black Hat said proudly. At which point he leaned back against the sofa again. It seemed all the intensity of the past minute evaporated. "Really, he throws fantastic parties. It's going to be a fabulous time."

"H-How old is he?" Flug asked, finding his voice. And how old are you for that matter?

"Oh, a thousand years old, or thereabouts? He looks great."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he looks as if he's in his forties."

"Oh, he really looks great if that's the case."

"Yeah, he should be on skincare ads."

Flug broke out into nerdy laughter. God, he was just picturing Dr. Morte's mugshots on one of those old joke ads online. "Dermatologists hate him. Is a thousand years old, looks 40! Find out how you too can look hundreds of years younger! Click here!"

Although he could only guess at what Dr. Morte's face looked like, and wondered if the skull mask he wore was an actual human skull. Flug wasn't sure if it was even possible to use an actual skull as a mask, unless the skull in question was unusually large it didn't seem feasible. Wouldn't fit comfortably over the head otherwise, it'd be all cramped.

"Well, as much as I love hearing myself talk," Black Hat said once Flug had calmed down. "I feel as if the evening conversation has been a bit one-sided." He moved in closer and leaned against Flug provocatively. His arm was still slung around the back of the sofa but it was dangerously close to wrapping around him, Flug felt. He stared down at his hands nervously. "Tell me about yourself."

"Heh, I, ah, I don't think anyth-thing about my life is r-really gonna be all that interesting to you." He said shyly. Yeah, he couldn't compare to Black Hat. No way. Why would someone who's travelled so far and seen and done so much want to hear about his boring, ordinary life? He'd never even been outside of Mexico before, the farthest he'd ever been away from home being when he joined the air force. And that was only really for a little over a year, before the incident. That was the only thing that would probably be of any interest to Black Hat, and Flug really didn't want to talk about it.

It'd probably bore him, to hear about all the nothing Flug had done in his life.

"Tell me about your family then." He said. "I have none. Tell me about all the mundane crap I missed out on."

"Oh, well...alright then. Where should I start?"

"How about your parents?"

It was a shaky start, but Flug told him about his parents. How his mother had been a stay at home mom and his father worked in an optometrists office. He told him about his mother's dinner and how they'd sit down as a family every night. Even when his dad was swamped with work, he'd make the effort to sit and eat with them and stay up into the night catching up on paperwork. His father was actually the reason his special lenses had been as cheap as they were, and how he'd gotten goggles with the same prescription lenses. A custom job from a close friend.

And then he'd let something slip about how at least he hadn't needed glasses back in high school, given how badly he was picked on they'd have gotten broken every other week.

"What made you a target?" Black Hat asked.

"Maybe it was because I had no friends?" Flug responded with a sad smile. "I've always been a kind of solitary person, I guess. I never really liked to go out and play with the other kids, I preferred to just stay in and read or build or just do something on my own rather than be around other people. My parents never forced me to go out, they encouraged me to pursuit my interests. They uh, they made it it's own game for me. If I read ten new books by the end of the week, I'd get ice cream. Whenever I managed to finish a model plane or car on my own they'd take me out to eat wherever I wanted. Sometimes on the weekends, or in the summer, my dad would help me build those little models. They weren't the simple little wooden ones, they were more complicated and had all these little plastic parts. It felt accurate to what an actual plane was built out of. I guess that's what really got me into planes, and inventing, in a way. I loved the feeling of getting all those tiny, tiny pieces into place exactly how they were supposed to fit together. The first time I built something new out of scratch the three of us had our own little party to celebrate the occasion." Flug smiled at the memory. They'd gotten chocolate cake, his favorite. They'd called all his aunts and uncles and told them about what a special boy they had. It was one of the happiest moments of his life.

"What was it?"

"Huh? What?"

"The first thing you ever made on your own." Black Hat clarified. "What was it?"

"Oh, heh, it was a little remote controlled plane." Flug said. He was more relaxed, leaning back into the sofa and looking Black Hat in the eye. "I loved those even more than the models, because I could actually fly them, you know? But, uh, I wasn't really all that good at it. My mom was, actually. She was good with those little planes and helicopters. She'd fly them with me sometimes, try to help me. No matter how much she tried to teach me the controls, I kept on wrecking them. Sometimes I'd be able to keep them airborne for a while, but then I'd always mess something up and it'd crash on the ground. And I'd crash them spectacularly. She said she'd never seen anyone actually break them into pieces before. I think it took me until I was in middle school to be able to fly them without breaking them. The one I built, I made it from the trashed remains of all the ones I crashed and broke. Took a lot of weeks skimming online articles to figure out how the wiring worked, and a whole month trying to figure out how to make this scrapped together excuse of a machine fly, but it was worth it. Until I crashed that one too." He laughed lightly. "That's some crazy fate."

"What is?"

"My name. Flugslys. It means 'plane crash'. Even though I love planes, I always seem to crash them."

Black Hat was silent and, as usual, quite a hard man to read.

"Ironically, 'Flug' is German for 'flight'. The one thing I can't accomplish. And yet it's what everyone calls me." Flug fell silent, getting lost in his own thoughts. He didn't even notice Black Hat's arm brushing against his shoulders. He'd wanted to fly so badly. Not commercially, as safe as it was it didn't hold any appeal for him to just ferry people around like a sky-chauffeur. He wanted to fly as freely as he possibly could. Since he didn't have the nerve to become any sort of daredevil pilot, the air force it was. Hey, it sounded macho on paper at least. The closest he'd ever come to something resembling stereotypical masculinity.

It did sometimes feel like a slap in the face though, that everyone called him "Flug" when flight was the one thing he always seemed to fail at no matter how often or how hard he tried. He couldn't get the toys to fly, he couldn't keep actual planes in the air, it was something he had no talent for no matter how much effort he put in.

"I'd say landing is where you have more trouble." Black Hat said bluntly.

Everything was quiet for a beat, as his words sunk in, before Flug started laughing. Small, bleak chuckles at first. Which quickly escalated to barking laughter which went even further to something that was almost a mad cackle that had Flug short of breath and leaning right onto Black Hat for support.

"Y-Yeah!" He forced out between gasps and laughs. "I g-g-guess you've got a point!" He held on to Black Hat's shirt until he was able to catch his breath again, his head bowed into the dark skinned man's chest. "Wh-What were we talking about?"

"You were telling me about your school. And how you were bullied."

"Oh, r-r-right. I, uh, I didn't have many friends. I was never very s-sociable or outgoing so I didn't have any close friendships. I also had skipped a grade so I was pretty much known as a huge n-n-nerd, and the youngest person in all my classes. Before, I had at least known the other kids, we'd all pretty much been in the same classes all our li-lives. All of a sudden I don't know anyone and n-no one wants to talk to m-m-me. Guess it made me an easy target, since there was no one to stop anyone from pi-picking on me. That's how this stutter started. No one would let me speak. Even when I was just answering questions in class, someone would cut me off. I was told whatever I said was wrong. Even when it was clearly right. They'd come back after class, shove me down, tell me I was an idiot. Everytime I tried to stand up for myself I got interrupted. They said that if I was so smart I should think before I spoke. It got to the point where I just started doing it to myself. I'd cut myself off before they even got the chance. It was such a struggle to get the words out, and then I couldn't get them out at all. Then they'd just make fun of me for stuttering. For how long it'd take me to get even a short sentence out. Made me so nervous about speaking up. I almost stopped talking entirely. I did, actually, after I killed all those people. I didn't say a single word for the longest time. Made my parents worried. I really haven't stuttered like this in years. After graduation, just getting away from it all, it really helped. It help put it behind me, maybe because I was literally putting in behind me, ha." Flug sighed deeply. "Wow, I didn't think I could say all that in one go."

"I'm glad you did." Black Hat said. "Have you ever told anyone else?"

"No." Flug said softly, resting his head against Black Hat's chest. Not fully true, he'd told Julio a bit about it. "Who would I ever tell? Why am I even telling you?"

"Maybe because you have no one else to tell?"

"Heh, maybe I did just need to tell someone."

"It is hard, keeping everything to yourself." Flug felt a reassuring hand at his back.

"Yeah, I guess you've had to keep a whole slew of secrets from everyone, haven't you? Probably left a whole lot out of what you told me tonight."

"Well, it's only the first date." Black Hat said, the smirk audible. "I don't have to reveal everything just yet."

Flug laughed gently. Yeah, he wasn't expecting to hear his entire life story. It wasn't as though Flug was being fully honest about everything either. There were some parts that he wasn't sure he was comfortable saying out loud just yet. It had little to do with what Black Hat would think of it, hell the man would probably enjoy hearing about all the intrusive fantasies Flug had had about his classmates, even if he'd never gone through with any of them. But, Flug wasn't fully sure he could trust Black Hat with those details just yet.

He was hoping to learn a bit more about the man himself, though. As much as Black Hat had talked his ear off, he really hadn't gone into much about his own self. It had been more about where he'd gone and what he'd done. While that told Flug a bit about what kind of person he was and the life he'd lived, it didn't really tell him much about him.

"Black Hat, can I ask you something?" He asked cautiously.

"Sure."

"Why don't you ever take your gloves off?"

He felt Black Hat stiffen up, just a bit. Flug took the second to think back and try to remember what gloves Black Hat had on right now. Had he removed the white ones he'd used when cooking? Was Flug sure those had been different gloves and they just didn't look different in the lighting or something?

If Flug was remember the past hour or so correctly, he was fairly certain Black Hat was in his usual dark grey gloves at the moment.

"It's not a problem or anything, it's just a little odd." Flug said. "Like, I don't think I've ever seen you take them off. Not even...yesterday..."

"Well, the thing is..." Black Hat said, a bit clumsily. "Remember how I said I had to cook for myself?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I wasn't always good at it. I...burned, and cut, my hands quite a bit as a child and they, well, they aren't a very pretty sight. They never healed properly, didn't have the money for any proper medical treatment at the time, and even now I don't like to show them. I've tried to have surgery, to fix them, but it...never really helped. Not in my eyes at least. They work fine, just not nice to look at."

Flug was torn between asking him to take the gloves off and show him his hands and respecting his privacy and letting him take them off when he felt comfortable. Flug could handle ugly scars, he could handle burn marks. He could handle...him...

Assuming he actually could.

Ultimately, he decided the most polite thing would be to just drop it. He asked, Black Hat gave him his reason, he could be satisfied with that. As he said, it was only a first date. No one should be expected to just bare their souls immediately.

Then he felt Black Hat...shift. Flug felt himself pulled closer and Black Hat wrap an arm around him properly. Should he...should he return the action? He wasn't fully sure where this was going or where he may or may not want it to go, and he really hoped Black Hat didn't expect him to put out on the first date. Just what kind of man did he think he was?

Flug chuckled lightly.

"What?"

"I was going to say take me to dinner first, but, well, you did."

Black Hat laughed back. "And how did I do? Did I do a good job of wining and dining you?"

"Ha ha, yeah. I do feel I know you a little better now. Do you...know me a little better too?"

"I'd like to say I do." Black Hat said as he ran his hands over Flug's legs, moving them to either side of his own. It was a bit weird, how Black Hat was kind of picking him up and OH SHIT THAT'S A HAND ON HIS ASS OK THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH THIS ALRIGHTY THEN.

"I, um, I'm glad I came." Flug said, beginning to realize the position he was in. In...Black Hat's lap. With Black Hat holding him. And his head still nuzzling into Black Hat's chest. It wasn't that he didn't like it, it was just, this was kind of...forward. Something he was starting to realize may just be part of Black Hat's personality. Straight-forward, very forward, really not very straight at all if the past two days were any indication.

And something he would greatly appreciate being dialed down a bit.

"I'm glad to have you." Black Hat said smoothly, giving his ass a slight squeeze. Oh God it was making his whole body break out in goosebumps. He may have made a little squeaking sound, he wasn't going to confirm or deny that that may have happened. But it did make Black Hat stop what he was doing for a second.

"Flug?"

"Yes?"

"If you don't want this, you can tell me to stop. It's not as though you owe me for dinner or anything."

Flug let go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He hadn't realized how much he needed to hear that again. "No, no, this is...this is ok. Not sure how much farther I can go with it but, just this? This is fine." Yeah, yeah he could be fine with this. He could be fine...straddling Black Hat's lap. As long as the farthest they got tonight was just more kissing and everyone's clothes stayed on, he could handle it.

"Would it be fine..." Black Hat pressed the two of them closer together. "...if I called you my Pet?"

Flug froze, and felt the heat rise in his cheeks again. Oh. Yeah. His Pet. Flug had said that. When Black Hat asked him what he was to him. If he was the Master, like Flug called him (Oh yeah, he'd moaned that out! More than once!), then what was Flug?

Dios en el cielo dame fortaleza.

"I realize that you may have said that in the heat of the moment," Black Hat continued, drumming his fingers along Flug's spine. "But, well...I like it." He said in a low voice.

Flug gulped. Goddamn the way his voice got deep like that. It was...kind of a turn on.

"Well, uh, I guess as p-p-pet names go, it's pretty literal, heh," He laughed nervously. And wrapped his arms around Black Hat's neck. "D-Do you want me to c-c-call you M-Ma-Master?"

"As long as you're alright with it." The man said as Flug slowly lifted his head up to look at him.

"M-Master," Flug said quietly, testing out how it felt to say it again. He'd honestly been trying not to think about it all day. How he'd called him his Master. He could feel something in his lower half perk up. He seemed to be more than just alright with it. God, he wondered what his face looked like.

"My Pet," Black Hat said in a whisper, closing the distance between their lips. It wasn't a true kiss, more of just a brush of contact. Perhaps he too was testing the waters, so to speak. Seeing where exactly the lines were. Seeing where he was and was not allowed to touch just yet. That's what Flug assumed from the hands lightly exploring his body. He was reluctant to admit that he wished he was being more...firm with him. Holding him tighter. Like he had before.

Flug took that final leap and made it into a real kiss. A slow one. One which made every small motion of their lips feel like a jolt of electricity through Flug's veins. It felt so nice. Even when Black Hat moved his lips down to kiss along his jawline, Flug just tipped his head back to grant him better access.

He moved onto his neck from there, a blooming favorite for the both of them. Kissing and sucking gently, occasionally running teeth and tongue along the marks from the day before. Flug might have a few new purple marks on his neck before the night was through. He...he wasn't sure he really had a problem with that. The way it felt, felt so good to have Black Hat sucking at his skin and reopening his bite marks. The way his mouth felt on his flesh. The way his tongue seemed to sizzle every inch it caressed. Mmmm, this was a brand new shirt that he got just for tonight. He hoped he didn't get too much blood on it. He didn't own a lot of nice shirts, he wanted to make this one last.

Black Hat held Flug by the hips, gradually getting tighter with him. The feeling of hands on him, like he'd been holding him yesterday, made Flug sigh softly. They should probably stop soon. Otherwise there'd just be a repeat of yesterday and Flug would feel horrible for ruining things again. He didn't want to stop yet, though. It still felt...nice. He wanted to enjoy being in his Master's hands a bit longer.

But when Black Hat tentatively rolled Flug's hips against his own, making the man in his lap let out a startled gasp, Flug knew he had to pull away. Even if deep down, he didn't completely want to. Even if, in all honesty, he really wanted Black Hat to do that again.

"I think you should take me home now." Flug said shakily. He knew that if he allowed this to go any further he was going to be losing some article of clothing. And he just wasn't comfortable with that being the kind of man he was.

"Alright."

The drive back to his apartment was uneventful. Flug and Black Hat made light small talk, occasionally falling silent to listen to a song playing softly on the car radio. Flug got lost in his thoughts a few times during those stretches of quiet, thinking about how he compared to Black Hat.

Wardrobe, totally outdone. Living space, not even in the same league. Culinary skill, no contest. Confidence, oh is there any question? Black Hat always seemed so put together and self-assured. He knew who and what he was and he embraced it, he stated he was a villain with pride and he spoke casually about murder and breaking the law. He was the exact opposite of Flug; timid, conflicted, kind of a slob, he was just barely taking care of himself on his own. He could think of vile, terrible things with the utmost ease, but the thought of actually putting them into practice was where he choked. When it came to putting pen to paper and taking the steps to really make something that would 100% guarantee bloodshed, he froze. The memory of his last villainous escapade hitting him like a bucket of ice water. He'd killed people, fully intentionally, without hesitation, and yet he couldn't even bare to so much as think about it for too long without scaring himself. The thought of what he'd done filled him with shame.

Don't even get him started on how behind he was compared to Black Hat sexually. He'd probably had dozens of partners, probably slept with exotic men and women of various countries who were far more skillful and open then he was. If he had slept with Black Hat, he'd probably be terrible at it compared to some phantom lover from his past. He'd probably only be able to lie back, leaving Black Hat to do all the work because Flug was far too inexperienced to actually participate like a decent partner would.

Flug shook himself out of these thoughts as Black Hat pulled up in front of Flug's apartment building. God, he was just going to spent the rest of the night wallowing in self-pity wasn't he? He and Black Hat should remain as employer and employee, the dating thing would just be their cover story. As Black Hat said, they didn't need to actually date or anything. This dinner was just to make up for the rapid pace of the day before and to get a bit of a better understanding between them. No reason to make it anything more. If Black Hat tried to touch him in a way he didn't want, he'd just tell him no. Black Hat had said he could handle being told no, and he better have meant it.

"Well, thank you for a great evening," Flug said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Actually, could I come up for a minute?" Black Hat asked. "There's something I need to tell you and I'd think it'd be better if we talked inside."

"That sounds...kind of...serious." Flug said. "Wh-What's up?"

"May we go upstairs?" Black Hat asked again.

They went up the elevator (when did they fix that?) and into Flug's apartment wordlessly. Flug wondered what it was that Black Hat had to say that was so important it needed to be delivered in the privacy of Flug's home. Was he going to say that he felt they should keep their relationship professional as well? Was he trying to let him down gently or something? Well, someone thought pretty highly of themselves. Oh, how surprised he would be to hear that Flug felt the exact same. Eh, he'd play along and be let down for a few minutes. Maybe a day or two. It was the polite thing to do.

Black Hat sat down on the couch. "Flug, I need to tell you something about Aurelio."

Wait, what?

Translations:

Il Ratto? Sì. = The Rat? Yes. (Italian)

palazzo = palace (Italian)

Dios en el cielo dame fortaleza = God in heaven give me strength (Spanish)

Notes:

You know, I realized something recently. This December, it's going to be one year that I've been writing this story. I feel like I should celebrate, or do something special for the occasion. I thought of maybe doing a Q and A on my tumblr, or writing a bunch of one-shots suggest by you the readers either from here or again from tumblr ( blog/fallinforaguyfelldownfromthesky), or drawing what I imagine some of the characters from this story (like Flug or some of my OC's) again, as people's requests.

So, follow me on tumblr, get weekly sneak peeks and previews of upcoming chapters, and let me know what you think would be a good way to commomorate the 1 year anniversary of Black Hat Org. (trademark pending)!