Chapter Text
“Why do we have to stay with him?”
“You know why, Fugo. Where else do you suggest we stay? Hm? Winter is approaching soon and we don’t have the necessary time and materials to build a proper shelter.” Bruno lightly cupped Fugo’s small cheek with his hand. “Listen. Leone is a wonderful man and has agreed to let us stay in his home. We can’t afford to turn down a kind gesture such as this. Ok?”
“But he’s one of them! ” Fugo refused to follow his papa further toward the human’s cottage. He
dragged his heels as Bruno pulled him along the trail.
“He’s a human! You said they can’t be trusted!”
“I know I did, but that was before… well. Listen, situations and perceptions change over time and we have to be willing to adapt to that.” A look of sympathy brushed his eyes as Bruno sighed. “If you won’t do it for me, do it for baby Giorno. We both know he can’t survive like this much longer. Please?”
“I’m saying this because of Giorno! What if he- he does something to him!? We can’t trust him!”
Bruno tried to remain calm, but the offending comment Fugo made had caused his antennae to stick up.
“Fugo, please! Leone would never harm any of you!”
“How would you know?”
“Because I trust him!”
“Or maybe it’s because you're so- so… so infatuated with him!” Fugo screeched back, puffing his wings out to emphasize his point.
Bruno was about to reciprocate the younger one’s challenge, but found himself deflating at the sight of little Giorno curling up in his pouch. Their yelling had scared him and his soft whimpers could be heard in the silence that followed. He pulled Giorno in tighter as an attempt to reassure him that everything was alright. Then his gaze went back to Fugo. “You can stay out here if you wish, I’ll even ask Leone to place a few blankets outside for you. But, no one will object if and when you decide to join us inside.”
With that, Bruno trudged back to the cottage with little Giorno in tow. If Fugo was going to be stubborn, then so be it.
It took three, long and stressful days to finally convince the stubborn fledgling* to enter the cottage.
On the first night, Fugo refused any and all support they had given them. The stubborn child had sat up against the side of the cottage, refusing to even look at the front door. Whenever Abbacchio or Bruno would step outside, he would only offer them a glare full of contempt before finding a new side of the building to huddle up against, out of the human’s view.
Narancia offered to sit out with Fugo, but when night fell Bruno insisted that he stay inside with the rest of them. As such, during the day Narancia would cuddle up next to the angry fledgling and start describing all of the cool human objects in Abbacchio’s house. None of this worked and only seemed to aggravate Fugo further.
Everything about the human rubbed Fugo the wrong way. Narancia had listened to Fugo explain over and over why he hated the man so much. He pointed out how the man had always presented a scowl on his face, unless he was with Bruno… That it was sickening watching how easily their papa fell for his deception, couldn’t Bruno tell he was being used? Fugo hadn’t exactly figured out what he was being used for exactly… but nonetheless it only furthered his suspicions of this ‘friendly human.’
While Narancia humored him, he didn’t exactly see what the big deal was. Fugo was just being paranoid, nothing new.
On the second day, Abbacchio tried to have a chat with the kid. It went as well as one might expect. The moment the two made eye contact, Fugo would release a barrage of nonsensical clicks and hisses at the poor man.
Bruno insisted that Fugo should apologize.
He refused.
The third day however, it was Mista who managed to convince Fugo to go inside.
Bruno had left for the day in order to hunt down a proper meal for the six of them, which left baby Giorno in the care of… the human. Giorno almost never left their papa’s side, Bruno’s satchel was practically glued to the parental moth, so it came as a shock to find out that he had willingly left the baby home.
It didn’t take long for things to go so far south they may have well have ended up in egypt.
“Listen, Baby Gio has been crying and screeching for the past thirty minutes, not even mentioning the general fussiness he’s had for the last hour. And don’t tell me you don’t know what I am talking about because I know you can hear him from out here! Please come inside and help calm him down! I’ve tried literally everything I can think of and it’s not working. Narancia went off to find that Abbacchio guy, who went off to find papa. So, for the love of Baby Gio, help a guy out here!” Mista pleaded with Fugo, practically begging the younger moth for his help only for Fugo to push him aside as he ran for the porch door.
“And you just left him alone in there!? What were you thinking!?”
“What? It was like, a minute, tops.”
Fugo dashed into the door, which was thankfully a push door, as he made a beeline for the small baby moth. The poor thing was curled up on a chair, blankets and pillows piled around him in an attempt to provide some form of comfort that their papa wasn’t there to provide. The older sibling immediately clutches onto Giorno’s small form as he attempts to imitate the way Bruno consoles him. Soft beeps and clicks were used in a feeble attempt at communication, as Giorno still had yet to grasp onto any language they tried, moth or otherwise.
Only minutes had passed before little Giorno’s crying dialed down to a slight whimper. Fugo couldn’t get the poor baby to stop shaking however, no matter how many layers he wrapped him in. “Mista, is there anything in the human’s… den we can give him? Foodwise?”
“Um… I don’t think so?” Mista stood up and began rummaging through the kitchen’s cupboards. “I know Abbacchio was low on food, hence why papa went off to get dinner. But I think there might be a few things in here. Oh!” The older moth grabbed some sort of glass jar and a metal spoon, tripping on his way over back to the small bundle on the chair. “Gio likes sweets! And, fun fact, humans like to store large amounts of honey to be used for later.”
“Right…” Fugo hesitantly accepted the jar from Mista and gave the honey a proper sniff, making sure the human hadn’t poisoned it. Little Giorno’s hands crept out from under the blanket, his tiny fingers stretching out for the golden substance in front of him. “Alright, here. But take it slow.”
Fugo scooped a small spoonful of honey from the jar and placed it in front of Giono’s mouth. The small moth in question immediately bit down on the end of the spoon in its entirety, leaving not a single drop of honey left when Fugo pulled it out a second after.
Mista sat on the floor next to the chair, one arm over its edge in order to pet the fluff on Giorno’s head. “He’ll be fine, right?”
They both sat and watched the little fledgling yawn and tucked himself further into his makeshift nest, small buzz akin to a cat's purr emanates from his small body. Fugo couldn’t help but feel… disappointed. He just couldn’t comprehend for any reason why their papa would leave Giorno alone, hell, bring a baby to a human’s home! A human who ran off the first chance he got when Giorno needed him. How did he deem any of this safe for him? What was papa thinking?
The sound of frantic footsteps coming from the front porch causes little Giorno to stir again, shattering the moment of peace they had just managed to obtain.
“Where’s Gio- Fugo? You’re inside?” Narancia snickered as his grin widened. The fledgling turned around and yelled out across the lawn. “Whoops. False alarm guys, Fugo’s got Giorno covered after all!”
His sudden outburst only worsens the mood as a new round of sad chirps erupt from the baby.
“Nevermind.”
Bruno rushed into the living room, followed by that man Abbacchio, both looked equally as exhausted. The younger moths stepped aside and allowed their papa to pacify the baby once more. Fugo used the opportunity to leave and shoved Abbacchio on his way out the door, making his general distaste for the man all the more clearer.
“Thank you, Fugo.” His papa’s voice switching from chirps to the human language, most likely a ploy to get him to speak back. Instead, he continued his way off the human’s porch, stealing one of the wicker chairs and dragging it behind him. He wasn’t going to stay in that house, but he’d be damned if he was going to sleep on the dirt for one more night.
“I don’t know what to do about him, Leone.”
“And you're positive this isn’t a normal, moth-child puberty thing?” Abbacchio takes another sip of his coffee as the two adults stand in the kitchen, away from the rest of the family. Minus baby Giorno in Bruno’s arms, of course.
A worried look had taken over Bruno’s face as he stared down at his reflection in his own coffee. “I’d think I would know if this were normal! Sure, Fugo is a bit abrasive and has a hard time trusting others, but he usually means well.”
“He almost bit me.” Abbacchio deadpanned.
“Because he’s scared! He… just needs a bit more time to adjust… that is all. I mean, he can’t sleep out there all winter…” A tinge of doubt crept in, “Could he?”
“If he’s stubborn enough…” The man immediately wished to rescind his statement as he could see that it only brought more stress onto the moth man’s face. “I’m sure it won’t last too long. The weather’s about to take a turn for the worse anyhow, he’ll have no choice but to come inside. Tell him he can sleep on the couch if he’s going to continue whining about it.”
“I’ll let him know your offer next time we speak.” Bruno moved across the kitchen to stand real close next to the man. “Thank you, for everything. I know all of… this can be a lot to deal with at once. Your generosity means the world to me and my family.”
The sudden closeness and warm feeling that gripped Abbacchio’s heart caused him to awkwardly choke on his coffee, freaking out the poor moth man in his company.
“Leone! Are you ok? Tell me what I can do to assist you!”
After a moment of coughing, the man recovered quickly and smiled, “Nope. I’m fine….” He grabbed the nearest rag and began to clean the coffee that had accumulated on his shirt. “And you- you’re family is not a problem, even the brat outside.”
Their conversation came to a close as little Giorno awoke from his nap, begging for Bruno’s undivided attention. He had no evidence to prove this, but Abbacchio could have sworn the baby was giving him an evil eye as he snatched the moth man’s attention from him, as though he knew exactly what he was doing.
It was on the fourth day that Fugo decided he had enough being anywhere near that human who had somehow managed to bewitch their papa. No matter what he said or how logical his objections were, Bruno just wouldn’t budge on his stance.
The others were the same way, completely oblivious to the danger this human posed to them! If they wanted to blindly follow Bruno, then so be it! They didn’t give him much of a choice, he was going to leave with or without them.
He put his plan into motion that night, waiting for the house to fall into a tranquil silence as he snuck his way inside. As quietly and as quickly as he could, he fluttered around the kitchen and began snatching as many small food items as he could fit into the small bag he had stolen off the coat rack. He opened the human’s cold box and swiped a bottle or two of the drinks as well, to be on the safe side.
The fledgling tip-toed across the living room and over to the hallway. He found that one of the bedroom’s door hung open, revealing his family covering every inch of the large mattress, curling around one another. Thankfully, the human was nowhere to be seen, unable to ruin the moment of watching over them for the last time.
But then something caught his eye! Two tiny antennae twitched as a small bundle of fluff snuggled up further against Bruno, carefully balancing on the edge of the bed.
GIORNO!
He skittered over to the baby and softly scooped him up, afraid that he might have fallen off the bed otherwise. Little Giorno was still in a deep sleep, instinctually clinging onto Fugo once contact was made. The older sibling couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret when looking down at him.
Could he really leave Giorno behind?
Giorno was practically helpless without anyone to care for him, he has yet to grow since they found him with patches of his baby fur still clinging on him. If it were a week ago, Fugo would have no problem trusting Bruno with the little one’s care. But now, it seemed as though their papa was far too distracted with that human to keep Giorno safe! At least Mista and Narancia could at least take care of themselves if need be...
He closed his eyes.
And sighed.
Fugo slowly backed out of the room with Giorno balanced in his arms. The young moth scanned the living room until his eyes settled on a small, thin blanket hanging over the couch. Hastily, he placed Giorno down and fashioned a small sling like the ones Bruno uses to carry Giorno in. Once he found a comfortable enough angle, he positioned the baby inside, letting out faint chirps to keep Giorno content while he grabbed his bag of supplies.
As he walked out onto the porch, he gave one last look back into the cottage before the two disappeared into the night. Unaware of the light snowfall that had just begun.