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Pesci usually doesn’t pay much attention to when his squadmates say negative things about Giorno’s original group. A lot of them still resent their defeats, and though they’re allies now, they don’t all get along with the whole bunch, particularly with the individuals who beat them.
He tries not to mind too much when they say bad things about Buccellati in particular, but it’s hard not to get mad. Prosciutto seems to dislike him the most based on what he’s heard when Prosciutto didn’t know he was listening, but most of the time he holds his tongue around Pesci. Ghiaccio doesn’t like him, but Ghiaccio hardly likes anybody, so Pesci doesn’t take that too personally. Risotto thinks well of him. That’s one less person Pesci has to worry about arguing with.
He’s been having a problem with Formaggio for the past week or so. Apparently they had a tiff and now Formaggio brings up at every opportunity how much he dislikes Buccellati and wishes he was gone. He’ll get over it, Pesci knows his feuds don’t last very long, but it’s really annoying. Really, really annoying.
Pesci’s never been known for having a lot of patience. So when Formaggio starts to talk about Buccellati yet again over dinner, Pesci interrupts him.
“Formaggio, do you still have both your kidneys?” he asks, not raising his voice or looking up from his plate.
There is a moment of silence, only broken by Pesci continuing to eat as though he hadn’t said anything.
“I’ll shut up now,” says Formaggio, weakly.
“Thanks.”
Pesci probably would not actually pull out any of his teammates’ kidneys, no matter how irritating they were being. But if he did, it would only be if they had one to spare, so it’s good to ask.
Buccellati’s talent with threats might be rubbing off on him, and he didn’t even have to lick anyone’s face.
Pesci found out about the whole face licking thing from Giorno rather than Buccellati himself.
He can’t say he spends a lot of time with Giorno. The boss is usually busy, and he doesn’t have any reason to report to him directly. He sometimes sees Giorno in Buccellati’s office, but he just waits for him to leave rather than speaking up.
This time, though, Giorno engaged him first.
“You seem like you’re doing well.”
Pesci had taken a moment to realize Giorno was addressing him, even though he was looking his way. He gulped and nodded. “I, I am. Thank you, sir.”
“Buccellati isn’t giving you any trouble, is he?” There was a slight smile on Giorno’s face, one that Pesci didn’t know him well enough to read.
“No, he’s not. Really, the opposite.” Pesci glanced towards Buccellati, still sitting at his desk, before snapping his attention back to the boss.
“Did he ever tell you how we met?” asked Giorno, still with that thin smile.
Buccellati spoke up, a little rushed. “No, and I’d prefer if you didn’t tell him.”
Pesci looked between them, confused, as Giorno went on. “You wouldn’t hide something like that, would you?”
“I’m not hiding it, just… you can tell him, just skip over that one part.”
“Which part, the one where you licked my face?” asked Giorno, sounding more amused by the word.
Buccellati sighed heavily. “Yes. That part.”
“I still don’t understand why you had to do that.”
“It was intimidating, you were intimidated. That was the whole reason.”
“I was holding the evidence in my hand, you knew I was a liar without licking me.” When Buccellati had no answer to that, Giorno chuckled and started toward the door. “I have some work I should be getting back to.”
Pesci waited until Giorno was gone before turning back to Buccellati. “...You licked him?”
Buccellati rubbed his forehead. “I’m not proud of my intimidation tactics. And I usually don’t have to use them on teenagers. --I can get a good idea of if someone is lying by their sweat, but it’s not a trick I like to use often.”
“It’s a good trick to have, I guess.” Pesci fidgeted with his fingers before opening his mouth again, looking away. “Are you going to-”
“Probably not your face.” Pesci didn’t know how red Buccellati was at delivering this line, but if he was a third as flushed as he was hearing it, it was probably a lot.
Pesci coughed. “...So, uh, I have a report to deliver now… if that’s okay…”
“Right. We’ll discuss this some other time.”