Chapter Text
…Humans. Such dangerous cretures, they were. Abbacchio never truly held an affection towards his own kind, let alone towards the creatures that roamed on dry land, so different from the deep blue Mediterrean Sea he always cherished and that was his home for most of his life. Yet, he had been forced to leave his home, his family and his friends (the few he had) to be displayed inside a large tank, under the curious gaze of thousand of puny humans. For what had he lost his freedom? To please the caprices of such selfish and foul creatures that plucked him out from everything he had known and loved till that day?
There was no way in hell, him, Leone Abbachio would ever change his views on the human kind.
Never.
-
After years of studying to become a marine biologist like you had dreamed for all your life, finally you could dedicate yourself to the defence and preservation of sealife. You truly loved the ocean and you always thought that it was mankind’s duty to study, preserve and protect sealife and all of its species. Truthfully, your fascination for the ocean and the various species it housed had deep roots. From your first day of life you had been close to the wide blue sea, manly because your house was very close to the shore. You always loved to get there and stare at the crashing waves on the shoreline, your breath synchronized with every hit the foamy tide provided on the wet sand. You always thought that there was something so enigmatic yet fashinating about the hidden reality that the depths concealed, so many mysteries and creatures that roamed the vast mass of water that were yet to be discovered and studied. You always felt like it was your job to defend the life that despicable human beings like yourself were so prone to destroy and pollute with their greedy hands. But not all humans were evil, you were sure about that.
Since an early age your mission was clear to you, mainly because a fateful meeting with one of the sea creatures you promised to protect had propelled your interest. It was a windy Sunday when your father had took you the neighbour aquarium, since you always wanted to know more and more about the ocean and its creatures. You literally begged him to take you to see the aquarium, because you thought that it would be a great experience to witness the beauty that the ocean held under his cold waves. You still remembered the enchantement of all the colors and the different shapes and forms of creatures you couldn’t even imagine existed, merveling at the variety of life exhibited in those large tanks. You were happy to discover so much beauty, yet you couldn’t help but having grief gripping at your heart, because when you looked in some of the sea creatures’s eyes you could feels so much sadness and pain for having their freedom stolen from them.
You had thought that this would be such a beautiful and interesting visit before entering the aquarium’s gates yet now that you were in the middle of the exhibit, your heart ached for the pain displayed in their gazed. Every direction your eyes turned, the more you found that look: misery, it was written all over their eyes from being captured and showed to so many gazes. You watched the other men and women who were in the same aisle you had stopped at with your father but you could find only the occasional curioisity in some eyes while other displayed no interest whatsover. You couldn’t find other worried eyes like yours, it was as if only you were being suffocated by the sea creatures’s pain yet nobody else could feel what they and you felt in that moment. It was such an inaudible cry for help that was haunting your senses, you didn’t know where to look without meeting indifferent human gazes. Were you the only one who was able to feel all the pain? Was it possible that the misery of so many other living creatures didn’t go past the thick glass of their cages?
Your mind was so bombarded by such feeling that you almost failed to hear a ushered whisper that came your way.
“Hello, Signorina” you heard somebody calling you. It was such a different language from the one you spoke. Was it some tourist’s speech you had happened to hear by accident?
You shifted your eyes up and for a moment you stood frozen in seeing the majestic vision that was bestowed in front your wide eyes. In frount of you there was a creature, so different from the ones you had been watching till that very moment. He was the perfect mix of two realities so different from each other, the proof that Earth and Sea could be, indeed, united in a single being. There stode a merman, the final combination of mankind and sealife, a mystical creature that you thought could be found only in dusty books, sat there in all his glory, gazing at you. His eyes held sympathy towards you and you must have been looked so frighned yet amazed to him that he felt the need to specify that he didn’t want to scare you. Seeing you being unresponsive, still starstruck by his presence, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’m Caesar” He introduced himself, placing his hands on the glass, as if to remind you that between you there was indeed a thick glass and he held no intent to scare you
“You looked so lost. Are you alright?” He asked in such a kind tone that you thtough an angel, not a merman. Only in that moment you regained consciousness of where you currently were at. You had left your father admiring the penguins and had gone further in your trip and you had been so overwhelmed by the new feelings that had been stirred into your young heart, that you hadn’t noticed where you had stumbled. It was a new exhibit that had been added recently to the aquarium, which displayed the mythical merfolk, a specie that was believed to be more than a legend than anything. But they were very much real and when their existence was proven to be real, it was only a matter of time before hunters came to kidnap and sell so many of their kind, just to present them in front of other humans in tanks similiar to the one Caesar was being held in.
You couldn’t help but feeling sadness washing overyou for the tragic fate that had invested the kind looking merman in front you. His expression held so many emotions and you could almost feel how much he longed to be let out of the cage he was forced to be in. And what an injustice this was. You had couldn’t do anything if not continuing your staring since you found him to be such an ethereal creature. He had long blonde hair that flowed with him in the water, granting him such a soft halo that you were even more convinced that he was, indeed, an angel of the ocean. His tail was white as snow, lean yet strong at the same time. It glimmered, shining with a delicate glow and reclecting the blue light of the tank he inhabited. He had two peculiar purple markings under his green shining eyes. He ven had a translucent membrane that connected his long digits and the occasional translucent scales that dotted his shoulders. What, sadly, you noticed the most, were the scars that run themselves on his body, both in his tail and in human torso. You couldn’t help but frown in looking at them, imaging how painful they must have been for the merman.
When you noticed you had nothing but stare and you fidgeted cutely, earning another chuckle from the merman.
“I’m so sorry, sir! I didn’t mean to stare! I’msosorrypleaseforgiveme”
You slurred the last words, shifting your bashful gaze to the ground, ashamed of your actions since you had kept staring intently at him like a weirdo for who knows how much time.
“Oh, please, don’t apologize little miss. I’m used to people looking at me like that. It’s no problem, really”
He chuckled again, tilting his head and closing his eyes, giving you a soft smile. You felt heartened he didn’t take offence in your constant gazing.
“It was impolite of me” you responded.
“I’m very sorry. I- It’s just I've never seen a merman before in my life and I was startled” You finished, relaxing more now that you were growing acquainted tohis presence.
“Are you an angel by any means?” You questioned, since, after all, you were still a young girl and the merman had really appaled you. Your curious question was meet with another chuckle from him.
“Oh, no, I’m afraid I’m not” He shrugged, amused by your question.
“I’m flattered you would think this, little miss. Nobody ever called me that, usually they think I’m quite the opposite”
“WHAT?!” You almost screamed, your eyes so wide they could almost pop out of your skull. Your quirky attitude was so entertaining to Caesar, he really find you to be a bright kid.
“Yes” he nodded to you “Do you see these?” He lifted his hands, showing you the webbing between his long fingers, motioning for you to fall his gaze. His eyes pointed to his sharp nails and then he opened his mount, full lips parting to let you see the pointy set of teeth he had.
“When people see these they think I’m nothing more than a monster” He continued, placing his hand on the glass, again, to remind himself of the whispers people would mutter while passing his tank. He closed his eyes and he almost could feel the fearful gazes some of the people who passed by his tank had directed to him. He couldn’t help but feel so distraught by it all. Not only had he been imprisoned in this hell, but the looks people who throw at him were anything but pleasent. He used to be so sociable and lively when he was among his kind, while now all he could unleash on people was their astonished and distraught gazes when he approached the tank.
“Many people come to see me but in their eyes I read more fear than anything” he continued on shaking his head “Yet when you stopped by I couldn’t sense fear on you. You seemed more pained if anything. That’s why I wanted to check if you were allright, little miss”
“They are so mean! How could they think this of you?!” You burted out, now outraged that people would ever think this of such a kindhearted creature. Nobody would take their time to worry about a stranger, you thought, yet Caesar had done a thing so human that even humans wouldn’t do. You were a kid, yes, but in your eyes was a fire who had li himself in seeing the pain that Caesar’s eyes held. He was such an angelic creature, he didn’t deserve any of the wretched gazes he mentioned. As if pushed by a force majeure, you tightly pressed you little hand on the same place he had placed his ebbe hand, taking him by surprise.
“Mr. Caesar, I don’t think you are a monster, at all!” He declared to him, earning another smile from him. You didn’t want to be an accomplice of the pain Caesar and the other sea creatures were enduring, if anything, it was as if his words and the sorrow in his eyes had awakened something in you. Something strong, something alive that would guide you for all your life. It could be seen as a mere promise of a little child, done just in the heat of the moment, but you knew that what you would swear to Caesar was going to be what would motivate you for the rest of the life. That day you understood that you had to defend who was a victim of harassment and abuse from indivuals who belonged to your kind. You would make the difference, you knew that.
“When I’ll become an adult, I swear I will free you and every other creature from here! I will save you!”
And you kept your promise. Over the years you would go to the aquarium just to meet with Caesar, to tell him about you decision, your studies and the life outside the aquarium, since he hadn’t the chance to know in the four walls that constricted his freedoom. While keeping him company, you had learned that those scars had been inflicted by the people who captured him and sold him to the aquarium and even inside his tank he had no relief. The people of the aquarium who had him under their care mistreated him and abused him to the point he had learned to obey to everything they said if he wanted to keep on living. Your company was the a light in his grim days, however he never addressed his own greif because he didn’t want you to feel pressured or sad about his own fate. Yet, even if the didn’t speak about it, his bruising skin would be a clear sign of what he would be forced to live, a constant remainder for you that kept you focused on pursuing your own goal.
You still remembered the bright smile he gave you the day he was finally able to put his pale fins again in the cold water of the open ocean. He had the brightest smile you had ever seen in your life and you knew that that would be one of the fondest memories you would trasure in your heart forever. In fact, after years of fighting with a group who fought for animals and merfolk’s rights, you were able to get the aquarium to be closed and finally their mustreatment had finally come to and end.
“You have really done it, (Y/N)” Caesar had muttered, his voice broken from the sheer hppiness of seeing the outside world again after so many years of living inside his glass cage. He kept similing through his tears of utter joy, mumbling sentences in Italian while he shook his head, as if he couldn’t still believe that the day he would be free had came. He kissed you on your forehead and embraced you so tight, you really believed you were right in thinking he was an angel. Now he finally could go home and stay with his family.
“Sei davvero una persona speciale” He had told you, gazing at your eyes with so much adoration and gratitude. He had just told you were a very special person.
“I will never forget what you did for me. Goodbye, my dear friend”
You cried too that day because he would return to the Mediterran Sea that had been his home for so long and you wouldn’t see him again, but the only thing that mattered was that he was finally free.
This was one indeed one of the things that you had done that you were the most prouf of. The second was having finally got a degree in Marine Biology and got to work with a team of very dedicated people like yourself, guided by the watchful eye of Mr.Jotaro Kujo. He was an excellent teacher, yet it was clear that he was much more skilled in studying sealife that interacting with people. Still, it was him who suggested for you to try to send an application for a very specific job, that he was sure you would get, because you were on of the most brilliant people he had worked it in his long career as a marine byologist. In fact, he had gotten words from one of his colleagues that a recovery centre for endagered marine wildlife was looking for a keeper for one of their recovering guests. Jotaro thought that your kind yet determined persona would be very eligible and so he suggested for you try to send an application. The job payed well and frankly, you had really needed some extra money since your mother had fallen ill recently and her medical care required for you to deal with huge expenses. It felt as if it was an opportunity sent up from above, you were quick to send an application for the job. What had surprised you the most was the fact that the application clearly stated that one of the requirements to meet would be, quote: ”High resistance to stress”, “A strong mindset” and “Patience”. You didn’t know why they needed to specify this, after all the main task would be to take care of the needs of a merfolk and in your life you had a great share of dealing with creatures who inhabitated the dark ocean depths. How bad would it be?
In the end you had got the job and let me tell you, it was bad. Very very bad.
The first day you had woken up with the best intentions, wearing your best confident smile and the most determined look you could muster. You were ready to deal with everything you would meet in your path and you couldn’t wait to meet the merman you’ll get to have in your care. Over the course of the years you had learned that there wasn’t only one type of them, but there were so many amazing and different species! Some of them were more easy to find, while others were very rare but every one of them had their details and oddities, all very interesting to know and study.
When you had entered the recovery centre you were left flabbergasted by the variety of merfolk and marine wildlife that were recovering into the centre. There were so many big pools that were serving temporary home for the animals who, after getting treated would go home. You had been greeted by a very polite and kind man, who went by the name of Bruno Bucciarati and that was one of the main reference points inside the centre. He had such a soft aura and he had that type of look in his eyes that would make anybody feel understood and totally at ease in his presence. You understood with just one glance that he was a very dedicated individual and that just like you he had worked for a better world. After introducing yourself to him, he had taken you right in front of a huge tank were your recovering guest would be. You really couldn’t wait to meet them, you were so exited! However Bruno’s words seemed to appease your exitement, at least a little.
“I have to warn you, miss (Y/N)” he had started, looking at you with eyes full of concern for the informations he was going to disclose with you.
“One of the main reasons we asked for a strong mindset and great patience, it’s because the one guest you'll be taking care of can be really an handful. He’s been under my care for the last months and I must warn you, he’s very hard towards anyone who isn’t me”
So he was a he and he was not very sociable. You gulped hard. Your situation didn’t seem bright and you hadn’t even met your merman already. You couldn’t help but notice the way Bruno was explaining you these facts, it felt almost as if he already excusing himself on behalf of the merman you were going to take care of. In fact you were there because Bruno couldn’t be his caretaker anymore, since he had to leave to take care of some private matters in his native land, which you learned was Italy. The mention of that name instantly made you remember Caesar. You only hoped this new merman you’ll meet soon was going to accept you as your dear Caesar had.
You were turning your back to the fish tank while Bruno kept explaining everything about your new position.
“He’s a very territorial individual” Bruno kept telling you “He’s very jealous of everything he deems his so the best advice I can give you is to not touch any of his possesions. Also, don’t accept his tea” He stated that more seriously.
“Why…?” You were growing worried by the minute.
“It is better this way, believe me, Miss (Y/N)” he scrouched his nose before continuing.
“His name is Leone Abbacchio. He prefers to be called Abbacchio though, from the people he still doesn’t know. Also, please note that he will be very wary and grouchy with you at the start but I can assure you that he’s a golden heart”
You noticed how Bruno’s lips rose up and from the smile he was giving you, he seemed as if he meant every word he was telling you. Maybe you were getting too worried?
“As the job conctract stated, you have two weeks for him to accept you and the job is yours, Miss (Y/N). I’m sure you’ll totally ace this! You seem to be a very smart adn sweet person” he smiled at you. So charming. This man was pure honey, you were sure about this. Oh and yes, you had a trial period of two weeks to have Abbacchio to accept you as his caregiver or the job would pass up to another person. You had rande first in the list of persons who had applied for this job and you were determine to get this full time job even if you had to spend all your time at work. What Bruno had told you had worried you, yes, (expecially the bit about the…tea? What was the deal about this infamous tea, anyway?) but you thought that you could do this. Merfolk had always been present in your life and you had learned so much about them that you felt secure in your abilities of dealing with their kind. Yet, for somebody like Abbacchio, you weren’t ready at all.
“Thank you Mr. Bucciarati. I will do my best!” You reciprocated his smile and you felt as if the sweet smile he had given you had granted you the power to face anything life would throw at you. Though Bruno seemed to look behind you, as if a presence had appeared while you were lost in your thoughts (and Bruno’s dazzling smile too, because, come on, who wouldn’t!)
“He’s here. Come and greet your new guardian, Leone. I didn’t tell you, he’s a-” said Bruno is such a kind tone.
So, finally it was time. You would meet Abbacchio and you would see for yourself if he would turn your life into a dream or into a nightmare. When you turned your head, you met the eyes of the most impressive and breathtaking being you had ever witnessed. His apperance took your breath away and you were totally stunned, too intrigued and fascinated to even try to move a muscle.
“A CECAELIA?!” You exclaimed. Never had you seen one of them. He was no ordinary merman, he was a cecaelia, which meant he belonged to one of the rarest specie to ever exist on this Planet. He was half man and half octopus and he was, by far, the most hypnotizing and mesmerazing merfolk your eyes had ever had the chance to admire. You couldn’t help but notice how huge he was and how strong his tentacles seemed to be. They kept twisting in every direction and his half was a rich deep blackish purple, a beautiful and distinguishing color that really complimented him, while the underside of his tendrils was a more lighter lilac color. The octopus part of his body shone into the light and you could notice that, in some parts, sat some black dots. His human torso was so brawny and toned that you coudn’t help but steal a glance to his chiselled physyque. His long hair flowed behind him like a silver courtain and he wore a dark lipstick who really made him stand out. He looked as if a sculptor had carved him out from a block of marble, he was truly a vision. The more you studied his appearance, the more you became aware of every detail, like the scars engraved into his pale skin. Those marks tore at your heartstrings because, once again, you were witnessing what mankind’s cruelty could inflict to innocent creatures just like Abbachio.
Your impression of him was quite positive, even if his golden and violet eyes kept boring holes in your soul. He was literally glaring at your with so much intesity you felt so tiny under his scrutinity. As they say, if looks could kill you would be already dead. Under his murderous gaze, you couldn’t help but shift your eyes to Bruno as if to silently ask him the reason of so much hatred.
“Leone, stop glaring at Miss (Y/N) like that!” Bruno was quick to reprimand him, almost like a mother would with a child. As an aswer, Abbacchio glared more, boring holes into your skull.
Bruno had also told you that unfortunately Abbacchio couldn’t talk. Or better, he would, probably to tell you he wished you were dead in that moment, but the abuse he had endured from hunters and the people who had sold him from aquarium to aquarium thanks to the rarity of his specie, had left him scarred and with damaged vocal chords. The only thing he could do to express himself were his eyes and writing on a little white board who Bruno had gifted him. If he tried to speak, his voice would be broken and only gluttural moans would escape his full lips. Poor Abbacchio, you had thought, so much he had endured. It was no wonder he bore so much hatred for humans, they hurt him in too many ways.
Another thing you wanted to achieve was trying to make him see that not any human was a despicable creature. It would take time, of course, but you were determined in at least trying to form some type of bond with him.
He couldn’t help but keep glaring at you. The more he looked at you, the more he hated the sweet smile Bucciarati was sending your way. You seemed to be such a bright and smart individual. And you could talk with Bruno, smile with him, laugh with him. Things Abbacchio couldn’t do because greedy human beings had stolen his ability to talk, sing and trust. He hadn’t always been a gloomy and moody cecaelia, there was a time he used to be so hopeful and full of life, yet everything he was had faded away when he was captured from his home. The second he had put his shining eyes on your form he knew, you’d be competition for him. He had attached himself so much to Bucciarati that the thought of him flying to Italy had him totally broken. And what he couldn’t bear to even think was the fact that he couldn’t do anything to stop his beloved Bruno, the only human he ever cherished, from leaving him. But he had no legs to stop him, he didn’t even had a voice to express himself. He had hated Bruno when he told him he would go and leave him in the care of somebody that wasn’t him. How betrayed he had felt. He wanted no other, he wanted Bucciarati, the only one he felt at ease with. Anybody who would come to look after him would be only a shadow of Bruno and he would hate them as he hated every human to roam Earth. He was hell-bent in making his next guardian’s life a true nightmare and that, sadly, was the fate that would await you. Would you survive to Abbacchio’s wrath?
Needless to say the first day didn’t go well. You had started the day full of positive energy and with a propositive attitude towards Abbacchio, trying to be kind and sweet just as Bruno had been to you. But Abbacchio was being so standoffish with you that you didn’t know where to start.
“Hey there, Abbacchio. My name’s (Y/N) and I’m your new guardian! How are you today?” You had tried to introduce yourself, only to receive a glare and he writing on his board:
“Go away already. You’re so fucking annoying”
“Ow…” It would be a looooong, long day.
“Do you want me to return later? We could hang out a little if you want”
He glared. At loss of words, you had tried to struck conversation again yet he didn’t want anything to do with you.
“Can I do something for you? Do you need anything?”
“Sì. Vai a farti fottere”
Your mood dropped even lower. Caesar had taught you Italian and you knew he had written this to you:
“Yes. Go fuck yourself”
That was everything you could pull out from him. Any proposition he would dodge and the only things he kept writing to you were insults.
“Where is Bruno?” He then wrote. There you understood his mind was constantly thinking about Bucciarati. He wanted him and every attempt you had made had been totally futile. In the end you had to get Bruno to make sure he ate at least one meal and took his medications, because he wouldn’t accept anything from you.
“Don’t take it personally, he does this with everybody” Bruno had said, trying to console you when you had told him about every one of your failed attempts at communicating with Abbacchio. You were sulking and you felt disgraced in knowing that everything you tried out with Abbacchio had backfired. He had kept you calling you names for all the evening, going from the occasional “Stupid” to the much harsh “Bitch”, but you didn’t gave up on him and continued trying to know more about him.
Abbacchio was surprised by your persistence. After six days of him denying you any satisfaction, you were still there, smiling to him when he shifted his gaze to you. Never once had you insulted him back, never had you stormed off when he had so blatantly wrote to you to go die somewhere and to call Bruno for him. You were really stubborn, yet he was more stubborn than you.
He would even smack your hands with his tentacles when you would grab something that belonged to him. For example, you had the idea of trying to get him to play with you with a ball, nothing more than an innocent game just to get him more accustumed to you. Yet when he had seen you with it, he surfaced in the pool he was kept on and literally smacked your hands away from his ball, that rolled in the water near him. He had watched you in such a cruel way that you felt like you had done something terrible to him. But everything you wanted to do was just passing him his ball, nothing more.
You even tried to stay near the opening of the pool without paying him no mind. It was a ploy to get him more used to your presence near him. Without you trying to interact with him, maybe, he would make him feel more at ease. But no, what he did in that case was steal the book you were reading and when you returned with another, he smacked it away from your hands and glared so intensely that you had to retreat empty handed.
A week had passed and no results with Abbacchio. He hated you with every ounce of his being and yet, your kindness irked him so much that the kinder and more understanding you tried to be, the more he glared and dismissed your attempts. You wanted nothing more than having him accept you, but all he did was call for Bruno and when he did that, you would do as he said, even if it tore you apart because he was openly telling you that you were no match for Bruno.
You felt miserable. How ever were you supposed to make things work with Abbacchio if he kept acting in such a bratty way? You understood his situation but time for you was running thin. You really needed that job. The bills of your mother’s cures were getting heavier by the day and while you had even started a second job, you had done everything in your power to be a positive influence in his life, yet he denied and ignored you and when he noticed you, he would insult you in any way he knew possible.
Ten days had passed and yet nothing new happened. Abbacchio was almost sure he would win and that you would go away and leave him in peace. Yet he found himself unable to stop his staring when you passed by. When you hang out with Bruno he wanted to destroy you, because you were stealing Bruno’s attention, which should have been only for him. He envied you with such an ardent passion because you had everything he hadn’t and the kind gestures Bruno would do for yuo ate at him, making his blood boil. How dare you steal his human? In his eyes humans were nothing more than merciless thieves. First his freedom, then his voice, then his darling human.
“I hate you so much” he kept writing to you. And yet you kept smiling to him. Why? Why did you act like this? Were you trying to deceive him and making him believe you weren't like the others of your wretched kind? No, you were no different. He knew that. Only Bruno was the expection to the rule. Yet there was a thing he didn’t displease of you. You would sing while doing something, humming such enchanting melodies. He had acted in such a way you wouldn’t notice, but he really liked hearing your voice. He remember him of when he used to sing so freely into the night, cherishing the joy to be alive. He had desired death for so many days now that such feelings being stirred in him again, would make him feel weird. You had that effect on him. He thought you were a code he couldn’t crack since you always surprised him in some way. Be it your voice or your positive attitude, the more you tried to approach him, the more he hated how beautiful and sweet you were. Almost as his Bruno. Almost.
The tension came to the point that he had started to totally ignore you. At first it was entertaining to him seeing you struggle so hard to get on his good graces but as the 12th day of your trial approached he had decided you would be anything else than a ornament for his pool, which meant, he would ignore you and so he did.
The 13th day had just passed and you had received a call from your mother. She had being more sick that she was the last week and her precarious condition had you endlessly worried, or better, desperate, over her decaying health. She would need more cures yet you still hadn’t acquired Abbacchio’s approval yet. Only a day separated you from the end of the trial, would you be able to get the job? With such thoughts burning into your mind, you had finally reached Abbacchio’s pool. The fire that had li your eyes the first day of the trial had burned out and feebly survived from the embers it used to be. You were worned out, so tired between keeping up with your job, your worries and with Abbacchio’s whims. Why couldn’t he accept you? Were you really so bad that he wasn’t willing to give you a chance? Why? Why he had to be so hostile?
Just…why?
“Abbacchio.. w-what do you want to eat?” You had murmured to him, weak voice to accompany every word you pronunced. Abbacchio noticed instantly. That was it. You were at your breaking point. You would leave, stop stealing Bruno’s attention from him and you would never come back.
And he would never hear you sing again.
Was he proud of pushing you to the limit? Yes, he was. He was, he kept repeating that he was, that there was no greater satisfaction to see an human suffer, all at his mercy. Yes, this what he had wanted from the start. You had crumbled and now, he could taste his sweet victory. Yet he pictured it to be much more… sweeter . Your grief enthralled him yet made him feel as if such a kind creature like you didn’t deserve to feel in this way.
“But she deserves it” He reminded himself. Yes, you deserved it for even trying to steal Bruno’s attention from him.
“But she’s a good person” Were you really? Could you be trusted?
“No, she’s just like anybody else” But you stayed when he kept insulting you without a single care in the world.
He was really struggling with himself. He wanted to be petty with you, yet another time he found himself unable to fully go further as he wanted to. He just wrote to you to go away.
“Ti odio” he wrote to you on the board. And those little two words who meant “I hate you” were the final blow to your tired heart. You broke in million pieces in front of his shocked gaze.
You started to cry so hard he didn’t even know what to do.
“I’m so sorry!” You yelled to him, hurt in your voice.
“…sorry? What?!” He had thought.
“I’m sorry I’m not what you want. I’m sorry I’m such a failure! I’m so sorry!” you kept rambling. You collapsed to the floor, crying your eyes out with such a force that Abbacchio stayed frozen in seeing such an intense outburst coming from you. You were always smiling to him and now, he saw you laying on the floor, with your head pressed on the cold ground. Why were you even apolozing in the first place?
“I tried so hard to be what you wanted me to be but I just can’t go on. I’m so sorry…” you kept going while you wiling in despair. You rarely cried but when you did you express all the emotions you had kept bottled up till that very moment.
“Mother.. mother…” You continued to call out “I’m so sorry but I can’t save you… forgive me…”
You cried and cried, your breathing uneven while you shallowed your tears, not even caring about Abbacchio’s presence. He didn’t know what to do, he just kept staring at you. He couldn’t look away from your crying form. One side of him justified itself saying that this was what you deserved for what you had done. Touching what was his is something he just couldn’t let go of. You and Bruno had a good relatonship and he had to make sure he would destroy it. Destroy you if he had to, but Bruno wouldn’t be yours.
And yet…
He found your pain to not be a prize to be enjoyed. He couldn’t hide his chagrin. He just wanted you to stop crying. He didn’t know if it was because you were too annoying or if it was just to not see you in pain anymore, but he wanted you to stop. No more yelling. No more tears.
He approached you in such a fragile state. He had the chance to finally enjoy your destruction yet he couldn’t stop his hand from reaching to you. He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. A side of him told him it was the right thing to do, to reciprocate a kind gesture, even if it was directed to one of the foul humans he hated so. He hated you less than the others, he realized. And thus, he brushed his talons on your hair as if to pet you. Such a soft motion that you didn’t register immediately, yet it made you stop crying. You were still sniffling when you raised your eyes to his harsh ones, just to discover his hand was on your head, since you were so close to the deep pool’s edge. He had approahed you, touched you and he was staring at you. Not with the same strictness you were used to see in his golden and purple eyes. No, it seemed to be more a mixture of concern and curiosity. He kept gazing at you, so much that his fierce gaze had you locked inside his mesmerizing eyes. You had always loved his beautiful eyes, he held a stare like no other. Abbacchio was really aknowledging your existence for the first time and you had obtained this only sharing your pain with him, not your joy.
With a look Abbacchio knew, there was no way you were faking it just to get on his good side. You had really cried your eyes out, you truly were desperate. In your grief, he could see his own. A look in your bright orbs was as if looking through a mirror, he saw his own pain and in your cries he saw his own. Nobody had consoled him when he had cried like you had. Yet he didn’t wish for you to cry alone.
He was really intrigued by you. He kept telling himself you were a brat and that he must not fall for your human tricks, yet he found himself deeply locked in your red eyes, so tired from your previous session of crying. You found both his hands encasing your face now. You were flabbergasted by his behavour. What has he doing? With his warm touch so close you couldn’t breath at all. It was as if he was exploring your face, studying every single detail of you. One of his hand, then, was placed upon your wildly beating heart, while he left the other one on your stained cheek. That hand he used, then, to take one of yours and place it on his heart. You could feel his heartbeat under your fingertips. Neither of you breathed while he proceeded in doing this. He didn’t even know what he was doing and why he was doing this. He just listened to the part of him that told him to reciprocate your kindness.
He knew there was a camera to monitor security and he knew that what he did would be watched and that now he had played himself since this gesture meant he had accepted you, but, at this point, he couldn’t take it back. It was done. Abbacchio, on the 14th of your trial, had caved in and accepted you. There was no turning back, yet he couldn’t bring himself to stop it. You seemed to be a good human, Bruno woudn’t trust you if you weren’t. Maybe he could try to give you a chance? Your beating heart told him no lies, you were truly agitated just as he was to see himself being so soft with you. But it was just as if a switch had bee flipped inside him. He hated you. He didn’t. He didn’t entirely hate you.
Then the enchantement was broken when he felt the door being opened and Bruno popped up from there, congratulating him for being able to supress his hate and to give you a chance. He then saw what he was doing and taken by remorse, he removed his hand from your chest in such a fast way that in a blink of an eye he was gone, back to the deep pool to reprimand himself for what he had just done.
“How could this happen?! How?! With that stupid girl?! How?!”
Yes, how did this happen? Not even you could find an answer to that. Strong (Y/N) had just broken down and in the same day Abbacchio’s touch had reached to her and made her feel whole again. You were dazed from his warm touch and you still remember how strongly his eyes were focused on yours, how fast his heart had beaten under your little hand. He truly was a code you couldn’t crack, like he had thought of you. Yet you couldn’t help but smile in remembering how soft he had looked, even if it was for a slight moment where he had taken his guard down around you. And, of course, you were happy because he had finally accepted you.
The job was yours.
Would Leone Abbacchio ever change his views on the human kind?
Maybe.