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With Giulia and Luca home from Genova, Massimo insists on a big family dinner to celebrate their return. Which, he does every summer, but now with everyone from Alberto to Luca's family, this particular dinner will prove to be even bigger and more special than it's ever been.
Giulia and Luca, upstairs in Giulia's old room (now repurposed for Alberto), go through their bags to find fancy-dinner-appropriate wear. Which is anything, really. But they figured they may as well make the effort.
"Hm…?" Giulia makes a noise as she comes across something unexpected in her luggage. "Oh, ugh. I don't know why I packed this…"
"Packed what?" Luca turns from his own suitcase curiously.
Giulia holds up the offending piece of clothing. "An old skirt I never wear. Must've just grabbed it from the pile…" She ponders aloud, while the cloth catches Luca's eye. "I've been meaning to give these to Mamma to-"
"It looks pretty…" Luca cuts her off absentmindedly.
Giulia blinks at him. "You think so?"
Luca tilts his head, then seems to come back to his senses. "O-Oh, uh, yeah, I mean… I just think it looks nice. I can see why… people wear them. Skirts." A light blush brushes his cheeks, as if embarrassed that he said anything, and he turns back to his suitcase to rummage through his clothing.
Giulia looks between the sea monster and the skirt, now lowered in her hands.
"Do you wanna… try it on?"
Giulia sees the other's ears grow red. "Uh- Well- I didn't say that…"
"Well, were you thinking it?"
Luca grows quiet. His shoulders tense.
"You don't have to be shy, ragazzo!" Giulia insists, stepping over to kneel and place a hand on his shoulder. "Do you wanna try it on?" She asks again, gently, raising the skirt to his vision.
After a moment of silence, where his eyes scan the piece of clothing as if pondering a life-changing decision, Luca nods. "Yeah…"
Giulia smiles and hands the skirt to him, and they both stand. Luca wrings the fabric in his hands nervously, though careful not to completely ball it up. The boy takes one last affirming glance to Giulia, to which she politely covers her eyes with both hands, earning an amused huff when she does.
Giulia waits, dutifully keeping her eyes shut until she thinks it appropriate to open them again. She doesn't expect Luca to tell her when. As such, she peeks through her fingers at just the right time to see Luca take himself in.
The skirt falls just below his knees, where it fell above Giulia's ankles when she used to wear it. The cream color matches finely with his striped button-up, and perfectly with his muted appearance.
Luca gently brushes it with his hands, as if afraid he'll break it somehow. He likes the feeling of the cloth hovering just above his skin. He twirls. He likes the way the fabric feels as it spins around before hitting the sides of his legs and bouncing back in place.
A smile creeps onto his face, prompting Giulia's own to widen
"If you like it, you can have all my old skirts if you want!" She offers.
Luca's spirit seems to falter. "I-I can? But, they're… your clothes, a-and weren't you gonna give them to Signora Marcovaldo-"
"E allora, she was probably just gonna give them away anyhow. If you want them, that saves her the trouble at least!" Giulia waves her hand dismissively, with an encouraging look. She walks over and tucks his shirt into the waistband of the skirt, then stands back to admire her handiwork. "There!"
Luca stares down for a moment. He can't help the laugh that bubbles out of him, and soon him and Giulia are laughing together, excited by this apparent new discovery. Luca feels like a piece of a puzzle has been found, or something. It's a new and confusing feeling, but it feels right.
"You guys! You're so slow! Come on, Papà is wai-" Alberto comes into the doorway, nagging until his eyes land on the two. Or rather, on Luca. He goes silent.
"Ah- B-Beto… Uh…" Luca's face turns red, something not unnoticed by Giulia. The sea monster tugs at the clothing of attention, lightly swishing it. "Do you… like it?" He asks, not entirely sure why he needs Alberto's approval, but feeling it necessary anyway. Giulia has a pretty good idea.
Alberto doesn't realize he's been staring. He blinks himself out of his daze. "Yeah… Yeah! No, yeah, you look… nice. Good. You look good." He says pathetically, very poorly hiding the blush that starts to spread over his own face. "Now- Now come on! Dad's impatient and he'll be mad if you guys take so long!"
The other two both know that's not true, but Giulia nods and pats a timid Luca on the back before stepping forward. She meets Alberto in the doorway, nudging him knowingly.
"Shut up."
Giulia hollers.