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“Caesar, have you ever heard of Giachino Rossini?” Joseph asked, leaning back in his chair and taking a long sip of his wine.
Caesar turned his head abruptly and furrowed his brow. “That was… probably the most random question you’ve ever asked me JoJo. I mean yes, I’ve heard of him. He was an Italian composer who wrote operas. What in the world brought this up?”
“When I was younger, my grandmother took me to see my first opera with my godfather and I’m just remembering the name of the guy who wrote it. I think the opera was called, ‘The Barber of Seville’?”
“Oh, Il barbiere di Siviglia ! Yes, I actually saw that not too long ago. Suzie took me to see it for my birthday. But still, why did you ask if I had heard of him?”
“Well, I remember it being all in Italian, and I had no idea as to what was going on. Everyone around me was laughing hysterically, even my grandmother and godfather, and they don’t speak Italian. And I just felt, so left out and so confused. That’s kind of how I feel a lot here.”
Caesar smirked and leaned in closer to Joseph. “Because we can all speak Italian and you can’t? I have to say JoJo, you’ve picked up quite an arsenal of words in these past few weeks. All the profanity, of course.”
Joseph shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his glass of wine. “I guess that could be it, stronzo, ” he replied as he gave Caesar a wink. “But I think mainly because you, Lisa Lisa, and Suzie are all obviously very close and I’m just an outsider. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fit in here too well.”
Caesar’s smirk fell and he leaned onto the table. “You’ve only been in Italy for a few weeks. It’s going to take some time to get adjusted. Even when I moved here into the villa, I felt like an outsider and Italy is my home.”
Joseph sat upright in his chair and faced Caesar. “I guess you’re right. Also, I probably had too much to drink. I don’t hold my alcohol well,” he said as he looked at the half-empty bottle of wine that was full about 45 minutes ago. He then poured himself another large glass.
Caesar laughed. “Yeah, probably.” In the moonlight, Caesar could see Joseph’s cheeks were a soft red, a clear indication he probably did have too much to drink. He was on glass number three, if Caesar remembered correctly.
A few nights a week, Joseph and Caesar would sit outside on one of the balconies of Lisa Lisa’s villa, down a whole bottle of wine together, and just talk through the night. They started doing this a few days after Joseph arrived in Italy. Joseph, in trying to learn the layout of the massive building, had accidentally stumbled across Caesar sitting outside on the most secluded balcony by himself drinking and smoking. Joseph just sat himself down next to Caesar and took a huge sip from his glass. Caesar, of course, became annoyed, and Joseph, of course, laughed it off. After this, they would talk for a while before they would say goodnight. After this initial encounter, Joseph would walk by this secluded balcony every night to see if Caesar was there so he could steal a sip from his glass and annoy him. A few nights in, Caesar had brought out two wine glasses and invited Joseph to stay longer.
Caesar had no idea why he would let Joseph into his alone time. He had begun doing this when he first arrived at the villa because it helped him to relax after a long day of training and prepare for the next. He was able to collect his thoughts about how he was performing in his training and think about his goals in becoming a more skilled Hamon user. But whenever Joseph was with him, he could hardly collect any thoughts. Joseph hardly ever stopped talking. He was loud, interruptive, messy, and lacked common sense. Yet even still, Cesar let him stay with him. He would never tolerate anyone treating him the way Joseph did, but for some reason, he let it slide.
They sat in silence for a few moments, and let the sound of waves crashing, bugs flying around, and the wind blowing fill their ears. It was not an awkward silence, but rather peaceful and comforting. Caesar looked at the bottle of wine and now it was three-fourths empty. Joseph must have drunk yet another glass.
“I gotta say though,” Joseph interrupted Caesar’s thoughts. “Whenever I’m with just you, I never feel so lonely. I feel the opposite.”
Caesar chuckled. “What do you mean, JoJo?”
“Well,” Joseph started as he clumsily placed his glass on the table. “You make me feel welcomed, even though you constantly berate and belittle me. I know you don’t mean it. I know that’s just how you… show how much you care about me.” His speech was beginning to slur ever so slightly. “You even let me sit with you on nights like these. I thought for sure you would have avoided me at all costs but instead you practically invited me here, even though I totally invaded your space and annoyed you to no end.”
Caesar thought that wine had the effect of something like a truth serum on Joseph, as he would have never said these words sober because he had too much pride.
Caesar grabbed the bottle and poured the rest of it into his glass. “Well JoJo, I have to say, I feel the same way when I’m with you. You make me feel less lonely, too.”
“I’ve always felt like something was missing,” Joseph started, as he leaned onto the table. “I grew up with no parents. I had a lot of acquaintances, but very few true friends. My whole life I’ve felt so empty. But… well I guess you’ve filled that hole in me, Caesarino.”
Caesar could feel his cheeks beginning to burn a bit and all he could hope was that one, the darkness of the night would cover him and two, Joseph was too tipsy to even notice. Through an embarrassed laugh, Caesar replied, “Well again JoJo, I feel the same. You’ve filled a hole in me too.”
Joseph began to laugh uncontrollably. “That’s… what… she… said.” He laid his head in his arms and in a few seconds, Caesar could hear him snore.
Caesar rolled his eyes. Of course Joseph could ruin a beautiful moment between them. Even still, it did not bother him as much as he thought it would. In fact, it made him admire Joseph even more. Caesar finished his glass and sat for a few moments. He would try to wake Joseph in a while but in that time, he began to collect his thoughts and think of his goals. Funny, they were a lot different now that Joseph was next to him.