paradisalogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Grandson and grandpa [or Tsuna and Giotto]
What: Tsuna recovering from EH. Family bonding time. Cuddles.
When: This morning
Where: Giotto's room
Rating: PG-13? (if tsuna flashbacks or something idk)

[Tsuna slept like the dead since he fell asleep in Giotto's arms. He was absolutely exhausted from the trip and had missed out on quite a bit of sleep due to anxiety, worry and grief. His sleep had been dreamless, and maybe blessedly so, because if he had dreams they would almost certainly have been nightmares.

When morning finally comes, his eyes flutter open, before fear suddenly floods in and he scrambles to a sitting position, jumping when Giotto's startled cat jumps off the bed. He looks at Gatta, and then he scans the room as his mind scrambles to think of what had happened last.

He remembers... the ship crashing. Him stumbling out and seeing Paradisa. Giotto finally came to him-- he was in the flesh, not a hallucination-- before Tsuna had fallen asleep in his arms.

That.... had actually happened, right?

Or was that a dream?

This looks like Giotto's room, and yet, he's spooked and uncertain if it really is. What if that had been a dream, what if his hallucinations had just gotten worse? Where was everybody, where was Reborn?

When his eyes land on Giotto, his expression remains guarded. Was he truly, honestly the real thing? Or was he a hallucination, and was he going to try and twist his position as the next Vongola boss, and tell him he should protect Reborn and Martel, protect Allen and Ino, those who were now his family, and get rid of everyone else...?

If Reborn or Martel or anyone he knew was there with him was nearby, he couldn't see or hear them. They couldn't validate if Giotto was the real thing, or if this place was the real thing.

His heart is racing.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Mafia is for protection. But not just the Family. Mafia Families claim a territory and the people and businesses within it pay for protection against common thugs and other families. If they don't pay...

[They don't get protected. He somehow doubts that's what Tsuna wanted to hear.]

... you don't protect them.

[The answer is quiet, a statement, not a question. He shouldn't have expected anything more, really. But, well, that was just business, wasn't it?

... he feels like he's missing something, or maybe Giotto isn't telling him all of it. But he'll remain quiet for now.]

We're less cut throat than most, and we charge differently depending on the situation, but...

[He looks at him and sighs, shaking his head.]

I'm not sure what you expected, Tsuna.

[He's not sure he totally believes him. Giotto was a man who'd pick a stray kitten off the street and take it in and take care of it. He didn't believe he would outright refuse someone protection just because they didn't pay, especially if the area they lived in was dangerous. Maybe that's what he meant by "less cut throat" and "charge differently depending on the situation".

And it did make sense to have people pay for it. The Mafia was as much of a job as anything else was. How else would Giotto get the money to support himself?

It certainly sounded bad and unnecessarily harsh on the surface, but Giotto was being vague and leaving out details. It was a bit strange that he wasn't trying to justify it or make it sound better, but Tsuna remembers the marks from awhile ago. The Vongola family-- and probably the mafia as a whole-- had been one of those regrets.]

What else?

[Giotto stares at him. He almost expect Tsuna to pull away, to be angry at him for saying that, but he hadn't. The way Tsuna seemed to hate his position with a passion...]

...In-fighting. Keeping the other Families in line. Even our allied Families, since they sometimes don't keep up their ends. And rival Families... [A sigh.] They want you territory, want to see how far they can push you until you snap back at them. The moment they sense weakness... They'll move right in.

[That's what happened with Elena. He was weak, he was afraid of all the power he had, and had gotten rid of it. He thought the name could keep them in line. he didn't want to be like the others who used force to intimidate the people and collect what was theirs. And then they attacked.]

[In-fighting. It was a constant struggle to keep their position. Tsuna remembers all the fights he's had with different families. The Millefiore, the Giglio Nero, the Simon... he even fought within his own family once, during the Scramble for the Rings.

But if there's one thing he's learned, it was that fighting didn't have to end in destruction. It didn't have to end in tragedy for someone. For all the families he had fought, he now had just as many allies. ...hadn't Reborn said that Giotto also had accepted people from other mafia families?

It sounds a little like Giotto's making things sound worse than they are again. He didn't doubt that there was a lot of fighting sine he's experienced it himself, but it's almost like he's trying to scare Tsuna into thinking he was this big bad Mafia boss.

... nah. That would be just silly.]

Is there anything else?

Edited 2013-05-10 21:13 (UTC)

[Yes, when they did accept. Other times they ended up right back where they started, or they ended up dead. It was just the way of things. You couldn't save everybody. He learned that one the hard way.

But why is Tsuna even talking about this? He though Tsuna disliked the Mafia and didn't want to be a Mafia boss. It made him slightly baffled and confused.]

Well, there's smuggling, but... Tsuna, why do you even want to know? I thought you weren't going to become the next boss?

... I'm... not sure.

[This is the first time he's ever openly admittedly to anyone that there might be a chance that could happen. Or, at the very least, that he hadn't completely written it off.]

Tsuna... [Giotto looks at him, and brushes his bangs out of his face and sighs.] Tell me.

[Tell him what you are thinking.]

[He winces slightly when Giotto brushes the hair out of his eyes.]

I still don't want to, I'm just... I'm not totally sure I won't end up doing it anyway anymore.

[A little sigh at his wince, realizing he's still quite jumpy, and Giotto runs a hand through his hair again to calm him. He's trying to think of what to say to that.]

I wish I could tell you that wouldn't happen, that you can choose what you wish, but... Tsuna, once you're involved in the Mafia, you can't get away.

... I thought that might be the case.

[He really could be stuck with the Mafia, really have to take his position. It suddenly makes him feel very uneasy, and he curls into Giotto more.]

[Giotto wraps an arm around tightly. he can't shake those feelings of guilt at Tsuna's position, because even thought he said it had given him friends and made him a stronger person, there was still the fact of what he had waiting for him. A job he didn't want, and even worse, a job as a criminal.]

...I'm sorry.

[And he could feel the depth of his guilt, the sincerity in that one-armed hug and in his voice. And it made Tsuna feel bad, because he knows Giotto would never wish something like that on him. He never meant for the vigilante group to affect his family and descendants in such a negative fashion, and yet, that was what ended up happening.

It wasn't fair. Not to Tsuna, and not to Giotto, either.

He lets his eyes flutter closed. But...]

Maybe it won't be so bad.

[There wasn't much he could do about it either way, even if he had never wished it on his direct descendants. It had already been done, and Tsuna was involved. And not only was he involved with the mafia, but for the ring as well. The thing that he had always guarded with his life, that possibly had picked Tsuna, if his similarities to Giotto was any indication.

Giotto vaguely wondered if he knew exactly what rested on his finger, but he wasn't sure if he should bring it up as it might scare him more.]

...Running the Vongola? It's stressful, yes, but... when times were good, they were good. [When they had been on top of the world.]

[Tsuna can hear the nostalgia and fondness in his voice. He remembers when he was a dog, and he'd watched Giotto open his watch to reveal the picture of his family inside.]

Can you tell me about your family?

[He glances over at him, and gives him a smile as he reaches back to pull out his pocket watch, feeling its comforting weight in his hands.]

Only if you tell me about yours, bambino.

Yeah, sure.

[Tsuna doesn't make any effort to move, however. He's quite comfortable right where he is.]

[And Giotto's perfectly fine where he is as well as he flips his pocket watch open, looking at the picture. He misses them terribly, and he's sure Tsuna can tell from the way he looks at this picture.

But well, Tsuna asked him, so he would tell him about them. It helped, in a way.]

I'm sure you know me, in the middle. Next to me on the right, with the tattoo, is G. He's my right hand, but he's also my oldest and dearest friend. [A little wry look at Tsuna.] He's also an idiot.

[A soft giggle at that.]

Your storm guardian, right? He looks a lot like Gokudera-kun. He was here for a little bit a few months ago, actually.

Yes, my storm guardian. [Giotto blinks at that information, though.] I thought I sensed something, but...

G looks like your storm guardian?

[He nods.]

Gokudera-kun doesn't have a tattoo like that though, and his hair's grey. It's pretty weird... all of your family looks kind of like mine does.

[...Well, there was no question of it in his mind now. The rings had somehow done it and chosen them. After all, isn't that what the Vongola Rings did? They passed down their time and their form, like a clam.

Giotto doesn't say that, though. He's not sure how to say it, really. Not sure how Tsuna would take it.] Well... It could be a coincidence.

Maybe. [Tsuna's not completely certain himself, but he doesn't feel like dwelling on that too much right now. They were talking about something else, after all.]

Gokudera-kun, he's... well, he can be a little grumpy towards other people. He thinks pretty highly of me, though. [Why, Tsuna will never understand.] He's pretty enthusiastic and sometimes it ends up getting us into trouble, but he always tries his hardest to do his best.

[A bit of a laugh.] G thinks highly of me as well, though not high enough not to play pranks on me. [If only that was the case.]

If you only knew how many times I've woken up with something inappropriate drawn on my face with ink...