[Geil's death had been sweet. He'd enjoyed it. It hadn't helped, not the way he'd thought it would-- but god, he's glad that bastard is dead. Even now, with his own grief renewed, with Sherry's memory still sullied by the things he'd done to save Reimi, he's content in that knowledge.]
yeah
[It occurs to him that this is the first time Bruno's ever used his first name, and it's noticeable for a couple reasons. The first: he's starting to become attune to these kinds of things with Bruno, for reasons he's still not quite ready to articulate, much less acknowledge. It's there, yeah, a spark of a thought ready to be probed, but just as he had the night they'd been drinking, Polnareff pushes the thought away. Not yet. Soon, but not yet.
The second reason: people so rarely use his first name nowadays. Jean, which has become a sort of shorthand for when people really mean what they say. I won't leave you alone, Jean, that's the last time he heard it, a fervent text from Jotaro that had meant the world to him.
He likes it. He liked it then and he likes it now, coming from Bruno.]
anyway so if you ever need a cool one-liner you know who to talk to
[It is meant to encapsulate more or less exactly that degree of sentiment, so it would seem that it is just a special occasion, a means of connecting on a human level through somewhat impersonal means. But the question does give Bruno pause enough to rethink it and evaluate a few things for himself. He'd always defaulted to Polnareff partly because that's simply what he's heard everyone calling him and always assumed that was his preference, and partly because Bruno just didn't know him all that well and there's always something a little intimate about first names.]
[There is, of course, still a chance that it's his preference. Bruno wouldn't hesitate to respect that. But the latter reason, not knowing each other well enough, that seems a lot less true nowadays. Not when there seems to be a developing undercurrent of understanding between the two of them where it seems every now and again, certain things are left unsaid but still mutually understood.]
I suppose it's only fair with how often you call me Bruno. Very few people ever called me that back home you know.
[Capo. Buccellati. Rarely, if ever, just Bruno. But that's largely only applicable to life back home and not so much here where Kakyoin's become the rare exception by calling him Buccellati. He doesn't mind it particularly, however, because usually when someone calls him Bruno around here, it's not all that different from calling him Buccellati back home. But the thing of it is, everyone's consistent in whether they call him Buccellati or Bruno. All except Polnareff, who mostly calls him Bruno, but he's said Buccellati instead a rare time or two, and Bruno wonders now if he maybe should have thought something of that sooner than now or maybe he shouldn't now.]
[Though the latter is somewhat moot because now he is thinking about it.]
[He has a feeling Bruno doesn't want-- but who knows? Both Jotaro and Kakyoin were particular about what names they were called. Buccellati isn't the sort to suffer quietly (at least, not like this), so he probably would have said something if he'd hated it-- but best to be sure.
It's a little bit of a game they're playing right now-- or at least, it is on Polnareff's end. He asks the question because he ought to, but really, after a few weeks working on the Boat, he knows Bruno won't mind. He knows quite a bit about Bruno now.]
well yeah you build a boat with a guy, its almost as good as being in a fight with him for bonding but i thought id make sure people are particular about names around here thats the first time ive heard jean in a while
I've personally never been that particular about it, but Passione under Diavolo was very concerned with formality and rank. So most of the citizens wouldn't have dared call me Bruno and even the members of my team that I've known for years referred to me as Buccellati even in private. Although it was probably a little different for the team than your average citizen.
It probably didn't apply quite as much to Abbacchio, but for most of them, it was probably easier to focus on whatever mission was in front of them with that distance there.
[Or at least the illusion of it. Because no one would have stepped onto that boat in Venezia if that particular kind of bond had been fostered instead of what was really there.]
[Huh. That . . . makes sense, really, and fits into the hazy picture he's painted himself, but he's never heard it, not even from Giorno. There's never been any you know, most people call me Don Giovanna-- but that's not really Giorno's way, not even in casual conversation. Maybe some of that is modeled from Bruno. Polanreff wonders-- and he knows better to ask this, at least-- what it's like in the future, what names he himself uses for Giorno, what people call him.]
you know i was gonna say something like "well you wanna look at it that way, we're both giorno's consigliere, we're the same rank, so jean and bruno works" but are we?? since im younger and you've been doing this a lot more i just want to be clear so i can pull rank on you if need be
[He hopes that successfully comes across as teasing. God, he does, and he stares down at the watch, frowning. It's all still a little unreal, this mafia business, and sometimes it's too easy to dismiss it as something from a dream. It's not that he doesn't believe Bruno, no, it's just--
It's all so hazy in the future. You will become Giorno's consigliere, you will help out Passione in ways you can't imagine-- it's all well and good to say that, but the truth of the matter is, Giorno will always register as his friend more than his don.]
[Bruno knows it's just teasing, but with Polnareff it's sometimes hard to tell when he's just teasing and when he's teasing while trying to get answers. He did express an interest in understanding the structure better, so...]
That's something that's more up to Giorno than either of us.
[But then there's a pause before another message comes through.]
But he's a bit of a mammoni, so I think I have the advantage.
[Sorry, Giorno. He's held out for as long as he can without taking the piss out of you. At the very least, Polnareff probably doesn't know what that means and Bruno isn't going to say? Some dignity possibly saved??]
[Fortunately (or unfortunately, in poor Giorno's case), the French word for the same concept isn't too different. Similar enough that he can guess, anyway-- and it's entirely possible Bruno will hear the sharp bark of laughter from Polnareff's room.]
UNFAIR he shouldnt choose between parents like this he should be entirely unbiased between the two of us besides which i gave him a TOY ROBOT
[Well, RIP Giorno's dignity. There isn't a chance that Polnareff will hear it, but Bruno does quietly laugh at the sudden laughter from down the hall and the message he gets back.]
He shouldn't choose, but now who's trying to turn it into a competition?
oh buddy it was a competition from day one i have jotaro and his giant toy store on my side
speaking of which have you ever seen that place? the den > the toy store but both are pretty amazing im getting pretty amazing at putting together toy airplanes AND shooting pool i was already p great about pool but with nothing but the boat to distract me ive had a lot of time to improve my skills
The novelty will wear off eventually and then what? Besides, I think I'm much more in touch with Giorno's aesthetics than you are and you know that's important.
hey HEY i have at least once put on eyeliner that counts
[That's more terrifying to admit than comes across text-- but then, right on the heels of that:]
you should come by sometime! ill show you it all its pretty great both bits i mean the toys there are fucking amazing but also its fun to shoot pool after supper besides if you come along we can team up against jotaro and kakyoin
It only counts if you managed to do an even line. I'd also be willing to award bonus points if you managed to wing it at all. But I think I'm still ahead when I'm wearing it more days than not.
Don't you think it's a little poor taste to beat someone in their own establishment?
(& i was hoping youd do it out of FRIENDSHIP) (because we're co-parents to our don) (because we've worked on a BOAT together) (i mean revenge works too but come on bruno)
just as long as its in the name of friendship thats all i ask
[Here's a story: once upon a time, when he was sixteen, Polnareff had quite liked a girl. Her name is unimportant. What is important is that she'd been very fond of gardening. For a whole spring, Polnareff had learned way too much about gardening in order to actually have something to talk about to this girl.
This is a little like that. He's aware of that as he gets up to open the door to his room, but so what? Just because something repeats doesn't mean it's inherently bad.]
[Bruno's coming down the hall with a small bag tucked under his arm. (Listen, it's not that he's allergic to color, he's just got an aesthetic.) He figured Polnareff probably didn't have any supplies of his own and if he did, they were limited.]
I'll do one eye and you do the other? [he asks, stepping into Polnareff's room. He only wanders a few steps in, but it's in the obvious direction of the bed to sit.]
[He gestures towards the space before him, inviting-- but gets up to grab something off his dresser. Whatever it is, it's small enough to safely be covered by his fingers, and then it's shoved in his pocket, so-- doesn't matter! And then he returns to sitting across from Bruno.]
So I'm guessing it looks just like it sounds? Like--
[He gestures with one finger, curving an eye-like shape before swooping out into an exaggerated line.]
[...Real casual, Polnareff. Bruno would never notice that. But even with as quickly as Polnareff runs over to his dresser and back, Bruno doesn't say anything about it. He just sits down on the bed and unzips his bag.]
More or less. The longer it is, the more dramatic it is, but I'd recommend starting out with something a little smaller until you get confident with it. [He pauses.] You don't have a preference between liquid or gel, do you?
[So it's your call, buddy. He bites back another sentence-- something like, I'm not exactly going to practice this-- because that would give away the (admittedly flimsy) game. There's a pretext for this meeting, and god forbid he destroy it with a clumsy misstep.
Anyway, he's got better things to ask. Polnareff leans in, peering at the bag curiously.]
We'll start you with liquid. It's a little more precise.
[He says this more to himself than to Polnareff and pulls said liquid liner out as well as a pencil. He looks up at the question.]
Oh, I don't keep much. [There may or may not be an implied unlike some people. Can't imagine who he'd be referring to if there was though.] Mascara, a couple tubes of lipstick, some concealer...
[And if Polnareff does look inside, Bruno really does keep a minimal collection. Even his lipstick doesn't vary that much in color, most of them nude with only a single black lipstick as a noticeable difference.]
[It's not exactly the rainbow of variety that Giorno had pulled out, but he'd sort of expected that. He mostly wears black and white, Giorno had said, and Polnareff can appreciate that-- he likes the simplicity of a solid black top as much as the next man. But if you're going to wear makeup, you might as well be loud about it, right?
In his opinion, anyway, which probably only counts for half an opinion. Anyway, all this mostly-monochrome works out, because it makes what's resting in his pants pocket work all the better.]
'S it that common in the future, guys wearing makeup? I think you and Giorno are the first guys I've met who wear it so often.
[He says it and sits still, waiting for Bruno to start.]
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yeah
[It occurs to him that this is the first time Bruno's ever used his first name, and it's noticeable for a couple reasons. The first: he's starting to become attune to these kinds of things with Bruno, for reasons he's still not quite ready to articulate, much less acknowledge. It's there, yeah, a spark of a thought ready to be probed, but just as he had the night they'd been drinking, Polnareff pushes the thought away. Not yet. Soon, but not yet.
The second reason: people so rarely use his first name nowadays. Jean, which has become a sort of shorthand for when people really mean what they say. I won't leave you alone, Jean, that's the last time he heard it, a fervent text from Jotaro that had meant the world to him.
He likes it. He liked it then and he likes it now, coming from Bruno.]
anyway so if you ever need a cool one-liner
you know who to talk to
[A beat, and then, both teasing and not:]
so is it jean now
or was that a special occasion?
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[There is, of course, still a chance that it's his preference. Bruno wouldn't hesitate to respect that. But the latter reason, not knowing each other well enough, that seems a lot less true nowadays. Not when there seems to be a developing undercurrent of understanding between the two of them where it seems every now and again, certain things are left unsaid but still mutually understood.]
I suppose it's only fair with how often you call me Bruno. Very few people ever called me that back home you know.
[Capo. Buccellati. Rarely, if ever, just Bruno. But that's largely only applicable to life back home and not so much here where Kakyoin's become the rare exception by calling him Buccellati. He doesn't mind it particularly, however, because usually when someone calls him Bruno around here, it's not all that different from calling him Buccellati back home. But the thing of it is, everyone's consistent in whether they call him Buccellati or Bruno. All except Polnareff, who mostly calls him Bruno, but he's said Buccellati instead a rare time or two, and Bruno wonders now if he maybe should have thought something of that sooner than now or maybe he shouldn't now.]
[Though the latter is somewhat moot because now he is thinking about it.]
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[He has a feeling Bruno doesn't want-- but who knows? Both Jotaro and Kakyoin were particular about what names they were called. Buccellati isn't the sort to suffer quietly (at least, not like this), so he probably would have said something if he'd hated it-- but best to be sure.
It's a little bit of a game they're playing right now-- or at least, it is on Polnareff's end. He asks the question because he ought to, but really, after a few weeks working on the Boat, he knows Bruno won't mind. He knows quite a bit about Bruno now.]
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Besides, I think we're past the need for formality, don't you?
[Not that Bruno really felt there ever was a need for or the presence of formality between the two of them.]
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you build a boat with a guy, its almost as good as being in a fight with him for bonding
but i thought id make sure
people are particular about names around here
thats the first time ive heard jean in a while
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It probably didn't apply quite as much to Abbacchio, but for most of them, it was probably easier to focus on whatever mission was in front of them with that distance there.
[Or at least the illusion of it. Because no one would have stepped onto that boat in Venezia if that particular kind of bond had been fostered instead of what was really there.]
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you know i was gonna say something like "well you wanna look at it that way, we're both giorno's consigliere, we're the same rank, so jean and bruno works"
but are we??
since im younger
and you've been doing this a lot more
i just want to be clear so i can pull rank on you if need be
[He hopes that successfully comes across as teasing. God, he does, and he stares down at the watch, frowning. It's all still a little unreal, this mafia business, and sometimes it's too easy to dismiss it as something from a dream. It's not that he doesn't believe Bruno, no, it's just--
It's all so hazy in the future. You will become Giorno's consigliere, you will help out Passione in ways you can't imagine-- it's all well and good to say that, but the truth of the matter is, Giorno will always register as his friend more than his don.]
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That's something that's more up to Giorno than either of us.
[But then there's a pause before another message comes through.]
But he's a bit of a mammoni, so I think I have the advantage.
[Sorry, Giorno. He's held out for as long as he can without taking the piss out of you. At the very least, Polnareff probably doesn't know what that means and Bruno isn't going to say? Some dignity possibly saved??]
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UNFAIR
he shouldnt choose between parents like this he should be entirely unbiased between the two of us
besides which i gave him a TOY ROBOT
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He shouldn't choose, but now who's trying to turn it into a competition?
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i have jotaro and his giant toy store on my side
speaking of which have you ever seen that place?
the den > the toy store but both are pretty amazing
im getting pretty amazing at putting together toy airplanes AND shooting pool
i was already p great about pool but with nothing but the boat to distract me ive had a lot of time to improve my skills
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I can't say I've spent much time there.
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HEY
i have at least once put on eyeliner
that counts
[That's more terrifying to admit than comes across text-- but then, right on the heels of that:]
you should come by sometime! ill show you it all
its pretty great
both bits i mean the toys there are fucking amazing
but also its fun to shoot pool after supper
besides if you come along we can team up against jotaro and kakyoin
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Don't you think it's a little poor taste to beat someone in their own establishment?
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not wings though you got me there
i don't even know what wings area
and no
not when it's jotaro kujo
i lost a bet to him over pool a few months ago
after that all limits are off
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You should have told me that from the beginning. I'll definitely help you.
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so come teach me
(& i was hoping youd do it out of FRIENDSHIP)
(because we're co-parents to our don)
(because we've worked on a BOAT together)
(i mean revenge works too but come on bruno)
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Being willing to help someone get revenge is a great gesture of friendship.
[So what are you talking about?]
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[Here's a story: once upon a time, when he was sixteen, Polnareff had quite liked a girl. Her name is unimportant. What is important is that she'd been very fond of gardening. For a whole spring, Polnareff had learned way too much about gardening in order to actually have something to talk about to this girl.
This is a little like that. He's aware of that as he gets up to open the door to his room, but so what? Just because something repeats doesn't mean it's inherently bad.]
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I'll do one eye and you do the other? [he asks, stepping into Polnareff's room. He only wanders a few steps in, but it's in the obvious direction of the bed to sit.]
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[He gestures towards the space before him, inviting-- but gets up to grab something off his dresser. Whatever it is, it's small enough to safely be covered by his fingers, and then it's shoved in his pocket, so-- doesn't matter! And then he returns to sitting across from Bruno.]
So I'm guessing it looks just like it sounds? Like--
[He gestures with one finger, curving an eye-like shape before swooping out into an exaggerated line.]
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More or less. The longer it is, the more dramatic it is, but I'd recommend starting out with something a little smaller until you get confident with it. [He pauses.] You don't have a preference between liquid or gel, do you?
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[So it's your call, buddy. He bites back another sentence-- something like, I'm not exactly going to practice this-- because that would give away the (admittedly flimsy) game. There's a pretext for this meeting, and god forbid he destroy it with a clumsy misstep.
Anyway, he's got better things to ask. Polnareff leans in, peering at the bag curiously.]
What else you got in there?
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[He says this more to himself than to Polnareff and pulls said liquid liner out as well as a pencil. He looks up at the question.]
Oh, I don't keep much. [There may or may not be an implied unlike some people. Can't imagine who he'd be referring to if there was though.] Mascara, a couple tubes of lipstick, some concealer...
[And if Polnareff does look inside, Bruno really does keep a minimal collection. Even his lipstick doesn't vary that much in color, most of them nude with only a single black lipstick as a noticeable difference.]
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In his opinion, anyway, which probably only counts for half an opinion. Anyway, all this mostly-monochrome works out, because it makes what's resting in his pants pocket work all the better.]
'S it that common in the future, guys wearing makeup? I think you and Giorno are the first guys I've met who wear it so often.
[He says it and sits still, waiting for Bruno to start.]
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