[Bruno intertwines his fingers together, resting them on his thigh once Polnareff's taken the pencil from him, but he only tightens his grip marginally at the question. He should be looking at Polnareff, but his eyes dart away to somewhere else instead as he thinks of what to say. If he should say.]
[Ci si sente come se ho perso il mio cuore.]
[That's what he had told Giorno shortly after it happened. A few days after that one day when Abbacchio simply was no longer there. And it still feels that way sometimes if Bruno lets himself think about it — which he doesn't. Not often anyway. And he tells himself it's because he's still holding onto the firm belief that he will come back. He follows Bruno everywhere, he'll follow him again here. No matter how long it takes or what he has to go through to get there. Looking at it from any other way... Well, Bruno simply won't.]
He probably would have hated you, [he says with a small puff of laughter, gaze dropping a moment to the floor before he looks at Polnareff again to watch his progress.] Which wouldn't really have been anything personal. He didn't really like many people, and hated newcomers most of all. So, he put them through hell to prove their loyalty. After a while, he'd back off, but he never really went out of his way to be kind to anyone. It's why he never really warmed up to Giorno. Giorno took all the shit Abbacchio gave him and didn't make a fuss out of it.
[And then he had more reasons when he came here, when he found out what happened to Bruno and Giorno took the brunt of the blame against Bruno's wishes to make things more comfortable for Abbacchio. If there was ever one thing that Bruno wishes he could do over...]
He was older than me by a few months, so he didn't really relate as well to the others, but it was obvious they looked up to him at least some because he stayed focused on the missions and followed orders no matter. [Bruno shakes his head a little.] But he wasn't some kind of mindless drone. Abbacchio was the only one on the team who ever openly disagreed with me.
[What Bruno doesn't say is that he was really the first one to follow because he was also the first to fall. The first to fall and Bruno had no other choice but to leave his body there for someone to find. Someone who didn't know him and never would. Someone who would probably look at him and assume he got what he deserved once the initial shock and horror died down. Someone who wouldn't understand the light that went out when he took his final breath. He'd have been carted off to a morgue to wait until Giorno came to collect him and give him a funeral service that Abbacchio probably would have scoffed and sneered at if he wasn't the one they were burying.]
[He was a good man and he had deserved so much better than what had been handed to him.]
He was never easy to like even on his good days, but I think you would have anyway.
no subject
[Ci si sente come se ho perso il mio cuore.]
[That's what he had told Giorno shortly after it happened. A few days after that one day when Abbacchio simply was no longer there. And it still feels that way sometimes if Bruno lets himself think about it — which he doesn't. Not often anyway. And he tells himself it's because he's still holding onto the firm belief that he will come back. He follows Bruno everywhere, he'll follow him again here. No matter how long it takes or what he has to go through to get there. Looking at it from any other way... Well, Bruno simply won't.]
He probably would have hated you, [he says with a small puff of laughter, gaze dropping a moment to the floor before he looks at Polnareff again to watch his progress.] Which wouldn't really have been anything personal. He didn't really like many people, and hated newcomers most of all. So, he put them through hell to prove their loyalty. After a while, he'd back off, but he never really went out of his way to be kind to anyone. It's why he never really warmed up to Giorno. Giorno took all the shit Abbacchio gave him and didn't make a fuss out of it.
[And then he had more reasons when he came here, when he found out what happened to Bruno and Giorno took the brunt of the blame against Bruno's wishes to make things more comfortable for Abbacchio. If there was ever one thing that Bruno wishes he could do over...]
He was older than me by a few months, so he didn't really relate as well to the others, but it was obvious they looked up to him at least some because he stayed focused on the missions and followed orders no matter. [Bruno shakes his head a little.] But he wasn't some kind of mindless drone. Abbacchio was the only one on the team who ever openly disagreed with me.
[What Bruno doesn't say is that he was really the first one to follow because he was also the first to fall. The first to fall and Bruno had no other choice but to leave his body there for someone to find. Someone who didn't know him and never would. Someone who would probably look at him and assume he got what he deserved once the initial shock and horror died down. Someone who wouldn't understand the light that went out when he took his final breath. He'd have been carted off to a morgue to wait until Giorno came to collect him and give him a funeral service that Abbacchio probably would have scoffed and sneered at if he wasn't the one they were burying.]
[He was a good man and he had deserved so much better than what had been handed to him.]
He was never easy to like even on his good days, but I think you would have anyway.