risorto | {ic inbox}

Thank god.

[He lowers the liner for a moment to meet Bruno's gaze.]

I'm getting good at the whole leave-presents-in-front-of-a-person's-door jazz for their birthday, since apparently half this house likes it better that way, but I'd hate to do it for you too. I would, but I'd rather do it in person--

[And back to the eyeliner it is, and he glares a little as he keeps going. There's a jarred line in the middle, but whatever! It's fine, it's fine.]

I understand both sides of it. [Not everyone has enthusiasm for their birthday for legitimate reasons, but it's also a little awkward just leaving a present outside a bedroom door.] It's good that you're willing to listen to what they want though. No amount of good intentions would probably smooth that over if you did otherwise.

Yeah, and Giorno's one thing, but Kakyoin really might break my nose if I did shit for him.

[Which, actually-- he gets why Kakyoin doesn't want a huge celebration. He doesn't agree with it, he'd be the opposite if their positions were reversed, but he understands it enough not to push the issue. But it's easier to say he might break my nose than the real reason.

Anyway. Eyeliner semi-successfully navigated, Polnareff blinks a few times.]

How come so much makeup is wet, Christ--

[It's not really a question. And now that his hands are free, he digs into his pocket and pulls out--

Two barrettes. They're metallic black ones, the kind you snap into place, each inset with a small emerald. They sit in the palm of his hand, offered with a little smile.]

[Bruno's smile at the commentary about makeup fades a little into an openly surprised expression when Polnareff reveals the barrettes. For a brief moment, he makes no motion to take either one of them and seems almost content to just look at them or perhaps like it hasn't registered somehow that they are for him. But then Bruno does take one of them to inspect it a little closer, running his thumb over the small emerald and his smile starts to grow again. Wordlessly he then reaches up to take out one of the barrettes already in his hair to replace it with the one in his hand.]

[He reaches for the second one in Polnareff's hand, closing his fingers around it, but he doesn't immediately take it out of Polnareff's palm. Instead, he leaves it there for a few seconds as he smiles at Polnareff in a way that's almost a little shy, but no less sincere.]

They're beautiful, Jean. Thank you.

[And then he takes his hand back with the new barrette to finishing replacing the barrettes in his hair.]

Yeah.

[His fingers linger there, in Polnareff's palm, for just a few seconds. It's nothing, really; Bruno's just pausing to focus the entirety of his sincerity towards Polnareff. And yet his fingers linger there, warm and noticeable, and his smile is sweet, and--

Oh, boy, Polnareff thinks. The words flash into his brain, bright and loud, unmistakable in their noticeability, a jolt that floods his entire system. Oh, boy, and even as his heart starts pounding harder his smile doesn't fade, not a bit. This isn't something to be feared. It's a complication, certainly; it's confusion and worry and potential grief and a lot of crossed lines, it's going to make everything very much for a while, and god, but he's going to have to talk about this with Jotaro and maybe Kakyoin too, it's going to take a lot of thinking and maybe panicking, and god only knows how it'll all turn out, maybe it's nothing, maybe nothing will happen and maybe something will, but--

He sees that smile, and he gets the same excited electric shock he once got from earning someone else's smile. And that's no bad thing.]

They look good on you.

[That comes out easily enough, though there's a panicky-excited knot in the center of his chest.]

Although that's me out of a birthday gift idea-- at least I've got til September to figure it out, right?

[As for Bruno, he remains oblivious to the shift that's just occurred for Polnareff. Bruno drops his barrettes into his makeup bag followed by his eyeliner. The mirror, on the other hand, is only going to be put back once Bruno's had a moment it look at what he can of his reflection to see how they look in his hair. He runs his fingers through the ends of his hair a few times for some minor adjustments. Polnareff's right, they do look good. He'll have to see about getting a suit with the right shade of green for accents that would match it better than any of the ones he has now.]

Well, if you really get stuck, [he says, closing the mirror and dropping it into his bag before zipping it up,] I'm alright with considering these a very early birthday present.

[Because as would likely be anticipated, Bruno is probably the least likely to be all that fussed about needing or wanting anything for his birthday let alone be the sort of person who would demand and expect something to be given to him on the exact day. And he only says as much without any sort of explicit acknowledgement that he really doesn't particularly need or want anything because to him, it's really not about him or necessarily what he wants. He knew at the time that marking his birthday with something was important to Giorno and Mista, so he acquiesced for their sakes. Polnareff appears to be much the same way, so Bruno doesn't bother with protesting even if he's fairly certain that if he pushed it hard enough, he could likely make Polnareff abandon the idea at least temporarily.]

[Besides, it's not like Bruno doesn't understand what it feels like to do something for someone else and how important that feeling is. He'd be a hypocrite if he asked anyone to sit on that feeling against their wishes.]

Nah, nah, I can do better-- these are just a regular gift.

[He's intensely aware of what words are coming out of his mouth. He's a little giddy, reeling off his revelation-- and while he's not about to become some kind of tongue-tied idiot in front of Bruno, it's going to take a bit for his feelings to settle into something manageable. So, until then: very much aware of what he's about to say.]

Though if there's something you've always wanted in terms of jewelry, now's the time to say so. Since apparently that's what I can do now, make people earrings and barrettes and junk.

[Bruno sets his makeup bag back down beside him as he crosses his ankles on the floor in front of himself.]

So let me get this straight. [He holds up a finger to enumerate each item. He sure is going to have to make use of both hands.] You've perfected your skill at pool. You've been picking up little pieces of other languages. You've had time to teach yourself how to make jewelry, including earring and barrettes. I assume you're reading, [he says, gesturing the nearby stack of books.] You're learning how to put together a boat and you're learning how to pick on makeup that in all likelihood you might wear on a few rare occasions. And you've got time to come up with and make birthday presents for people whether they ask for them or not. But even with all that, you say you don't have much to do with your time.

[Bruno shakes his head with a small laugh as he lowers his hands, leaning back on one a little.]

No wonder Giorno and you get along so well. Neither one of you can sit still to save your lives.

[What is this slander, this libel, this teasing-- Polnareff stares at Bruno, caught between laughter and indignance. He's never seen this kind of teasing from Bruno before-- at best, he's heard a few jokes, quiet and wry, but this is something else entirely.

(Oh boy, he thinks again, giddy and terrified both).]

Hey-- hey! You're building this boat with me, you can't use that against me-- that's practically our second child, don't use the boat against me. The jewelry doesn't count, that was just-- that takes like five minutes, it's not hard. Besides--

[His grin fades into a smile, something a little softer.]

I haven't had this much free time in years. You want the truth, I don't really know what to do with it.

[Bruno raises an eyebrow like he might just challenge Polnareff on the boat or maybe the jewelry, but in the end he says nothing to the contrary to what Polnareff is saying.]

I think you're managing alright. [That he says a little less teasing and a little more sincerely, back to his usual quiet.] You're keeping busy and learning new things. The mind's a more terrible thing to waste than time.

Just stop me before I start taking up knitting, all right, I think that'd be about the last straw.

[Jotaro has the Den, and Kakyoin has his arcade, and Bruno--]

What about you? What do you do when we're not working on the boat?

Relative to everything you do, it'd probably seem like I don't do much of anything, [he says with a small puff of laughter.] I don't really like being cooped up inside, so I go for a lot of walks. I like spending time on the beach. I read. Sometimes listen to music, though the shop around here doesn't really have much of a selection most of the time.

[And most of what he has now is Abbacchio's, which means it's mostly opera.]

I try to take some of the kitchen responsibilities off signora Kujo's hands every now and again as well. Occasionally, I help Giorno in the coffee shop. I check in on Dio fairly frequently, too.

[Small touches of the life he used to have.]

Oye, yeah, I saw your record player-- what do you have?

[Because outside of Jotaro's occasional performances or his own whistled tunes, he hasn't heard any</> music in months.]

I, uh-- I don't know if the kid ever wants to start up again, but I used to teach him fencing. So if he does take that shit up again, you oughta sit in on a session.

Only if he wants me to.

[His smile flickers a little as his expression settles into something a little more neutral.]

It belonged to Abbacchio, [he says, straightening up enough that he's no longer leaning on one hand,] so I have mostly opera. I've managed to find a couple jazz albums that aren't bad, but...

[They're not exactly anything to write home about. That's what he's not saying.]

[Ah. Well. Perhaps not the best question to ask, but he's still glad to know.]

Not exactly what you want to hear, huh. What do you-- I mean, what . . . albums are your favorites?

[A beat, and then:]

I don't exactly know a lot about jazz, all right. The only thing I do know is that Jotaro's dad is a jazz musician, which is less to do with jazz and more to do with Jotaro.

[Bruno's smile doesn't exactly return, but something obviously in his eyes perks up at the question.]

Oh, anything by Miles Davis, even the albums I don't like as much as the rest, [he says with a small wave of his hand,] were still brilliant in their own right. I had every single one of his albums.

[It's not unusual for Bruno to sound proud, but it's certainly unusual to hear even a hint of it when it's directed towards anything to do with himself. But that collection of records is — was important to him.]

Bitches Brew was my favorite though. I can't even tell you how many times I listened to that over and over.

[Oh. That's cute, he thinks, and it's a word he can finally apply to Bruno. That's cute, that pride, and he makes a note of both that album name and the musician, just in case.]

If you ever find it, first thing you gotta do is let me listen to it with you, all right? I might as well pick up an appreciation of jazz while I'm at it.

[It's a joke, yeah, but it's also not-- he really will listen to the album, if Bruno ever gets it. Why not?]

That-- for me, it was Beggars Banquet. By the Stones, you know? It came out when I was a kid, but I picked it up when I was fifteen and I'd play it over and over. My papa-- he hated it, I don't know, he didn't like rock that much. So he got me a set of headphones, just so I wouldn't bother him.

[There's a start of a smile again when Polnareff says he wants to listen to it. It doesn't matter much to Bruno whether it's polite interest — which he doesn't think it is because Polnareff's simply not the type, he thinks, to put himself through something he doesn't like for the sake of manners — or because it's the friendly thing to do. That he offers at all is what puts the small smile on his face.]

[It widens when Polnareff shares his own favorite album though. It sounds like they managed to reach a good compromise with one another.]

I never listened to much rock. Though if Giorno had control over the radio, that's what he preferred to listen to. I didn't mind it if only because it didn't cause as many complaints with the others as Mista's easy-listening always did.

[Just one of the consequences of being a mom to rowdy children.]

Well, I don't blame them. Who wants to listen to the same shit they play in elevators? At least jazz or rock is actually music.

[A beat, and his grin returns. Not as shit-eating as some of his previous ones, but he's definitely amused.]

Kakyoin always used to-- well, actually, I don't think he minded the music, he just got pissy because I'd sing along. But we were driving all day, I don't know what he expected.

[It's obvious from Bruno's smile that he tries not to laugh at the elevator music comment, but the idea of Polnareff singing along with the music — and knowing him well enough to know that it'd be loud even if it was off-key and there was probably occasionally some percussion tossed in — is too much and Bruno turns his head a little, laughing behind the back of a hand.]

That's very brave of you to do something you know is going to irritate him in such a small, enclosed space.

Nah, that's the brilliance of it! He can't Emerald Splash when we're all packed in a car-- all he could do was pull a little face, like--

[He pinches his face, pulling an imitation of Kakyoin irritated. He's seen it often enough, it's not a bad imitation.]

And he always looks like that around me, I'm immune to it by now.

[Bruno's been with his team long enough to know that laughing always encourages that sort of thing. So, he knows better than to laugh at Polnareff's imitation of Kakyoin. But when it's that close to the real thing, what is he supposed to do?]

I can't imagine why he would.

He has to hide his love for me.

[It's always encouraging to see Bruno laughing-- and, much like Abdul, once he starts, Polnareff feels the need to keep egging him on.]

He says he's into Jotaro, but I know the truth. I mean, who could blame him, I'm five years older and way cooler, no wonder he's into me. The day I sang along to Madonna was the day he lost his heart.

[Fortunately, Polnareff doesn't seem to have to try all that hard once he gets Bruno started even if all his laughter is quiet and subdued.]

Madonna? Oh, well, [Bruno says with a small shake of his head,] then there's absolutely no way anyone could possibly resist you.

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