Chapter Text
It was like any other night, after completing his daily duties Mista headed directly to the local bar. He had become a regular, the bartender going as far as to memorize his usual drink order. Though, tonight he had fully planned on bringing someone back to the villa with him. Turning his charm up to ten, he sat at the bar and looked around as he waited for his drink. Initially no one struck his fancy, just the usual patrons. The group of older men sat in their normal booth, a group of wine moms sat about three feet away from them, a couple of people drinking alone, and that was when he noticed someone new at the bar. He had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, she was breathtaking. And luckily for him, she appeared to be alone.
“Hey, what is she getting?” Mista asked the bartender, listening as he rattled off her order. “Cool, I want what she’s getting and I want to pay for her drink.”
The man behind the counter seemed to have caught on to what Mista was doing, offering him a knowing smile and proceeding to make him the drink he requested and bringing the woman at the end of the bar her drink. He watched as he leaned closer and the woman turned to his direction and sent him a kind smile before taking a drink from her glass. Mista allowed the moment to be savored before making another move. He downed his drink rather quickly before swooping in to stand next to the mysterious stranger. “Hey.”
“Hi.” she responded.
“So, what’s a pretty thing like you doing here?” He knew his charm was working when she hid a giggle behind another sip from her glass, she explained that she was here seeing a relative. Which meant Mista more than likely had some time to have his way with them. Let them know how good it could be getting with a Mafioso. The two of them chatted for a while, exchanging names and getting to know each other better. He didn’t outright state what his job was but he did let them know that he was in a position of power of sorts. Just as he was going to get more physical, a large man interrupted their conversation. “Hey buddy, back off, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
“And I don’t like when strangers lay their hands on what is rightfully mine.” He said, any other time Mista would have escorted him outside and taught him a lesson about messing with a Mafioso. But he was feeling kind tonight.
“Look, big guy, I don’t know where you’ve been but in the twenty-first century, it’s considered polite to ask someone out first.” Mista said, standing up and still falling a few inches shorter than the man on the other side of his conquest. He did his best to look as though he posed a threat to the other man but his calm expression never wavered. “If you want we can take this outside.”
Before the woman in between the two of them had the chance to intervene, the two men had already made their way outside. The bright light of the moon illuminated the street well enough for the two of them to see clearly. Now, Mista rarely had qualms about using his stand for simple things such as settling a dispute or two. But this time, the two of them were in the open and if Mista had simply pulled a gun on the other man and started shooting it wouldn’t end well for him. He surely wouldn’t hear the end of it from Giorno. Instead he relied on what he had learned before he had grown accustomed to his stand. He positioned himself to take the first swing but before he could, he was immediately knocked to the ground with a powerful blow to his jaw. He was almost certain he heard something crack but he wasn’t sure if it was the man’s knuckles or his own jaw, the adrenaline kicking in as he rose to his feet only to be knocked down once more, the man setting a foot on his chest to keep him pinned to the ground before he spoke, “I will grant you the mercy of seeing the light of day once more, but should I see you again I cannot guarantee I will be so benevolent.”
With his final words, he lifted his foot from Mista’s chest and went back into the bar. Mista got the message and took himself back to the villa, hoping that he hadn’t broken his jaw and if he did that the adrenaline wouldn’t wear off until he was able to get to Giorno.
***
“Yeah, he was some big guy and-”
“Mista, I know this is important to you, but can we put a pin in it? I need to make sure everything is perfect.” Giorno cut him off as he watched his lackeys hang the final blackout curtains over the windows, blocking out the early morning sun and leaving a few candles that had been lit previously as the only light sources until Mista turned on the light.
“But what if he was a stand user? Wouldn’t we want to know-”
“Mista, I promise, we can come back to this after my father has gotten settled in. Perhaps he might even be able to help, just, please.” Mista nodded, getting the point Giorno was trying to make. He hadn’t seen his father in years and so much had changed since then from what he had been told. If he remembered correctly it was his birth father that was visiting, not his step father. He had taken custody of Giorno when he was ten, his mother and step father seemingly disappearing from the face of the planet leaving his birth father to be his sole caretaker. He had never seen the man before but he guessed he would bear a striking resemblance to his boss. He continued to watch as Giorno fussed over little details that seemingly mattered little. That was until Mista was informed of a visitor at the door. He made his way to the front door to make sure that it wasn’t anyone who had possibly posed a threat to him or his famiglia he made sure that he kept his hand positioned where he could easily grab his gun if need be. When he had opened the door he was met with a familiar face.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” He spat, a hand already on the grip of his gun. It was the man from last night, though now he could see him clearly. His blonde hair fell in waves just past his shoulders and dark sunglasses covered his eyes. He was holding a black umbrella and Mista assumed he was making eye contact with him through his shades. He wasn’t dignified with a response before the man pushed past him and made his way deeper into the villa, closing his umbrella and setting it off to the side. “Hey! Asshole! I asked you a question!”
“I presumed it was rhetorical given you are in my son’s villa.”
“Your son?” Before the exchange could continue any further, Giorno had descended the stairs, his eyes lit up before running to the man that had treated Mista as if he didn’t exist. He watched as the two embraced each other, it would have been a tender moment and he would have been touched if he wasn’t filled with a mixture of anger and confusion. His attention was drawn away from the two briefly as someone approached him from behind and set a hand on his shoulder. It was the woman from the bar last night that was with
him
.
“I’m sorry for last night, he can get a bit possessive, I hope you understand, Mista.”
He smiled and told them not to worry about it, turning his attention back to his boss. The two men in front of him were no longer embracing each other and instead Giorno was stood in front of the larger man, smiling brightly at him. He took note of the larger man’s hands positioned on Giorno’s arms, still thinking him to be a potential threat. “I wasn’t aware that you allowed the local riff raff to be under your employ.”
“Papa. He’s my bodyguard, he’s been part of the famiglia longer than I have.” His boss explained, pulling his father’s attention to Mista. Now that he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, he was able to see his eyes. They were a deep crimson and sent a chill down his spine, something that told Mista he should be more worried than he currently was. Something deep down telling him that he should run. “Why? Did something happen?”
“Nothing that you need concern yourself with Giorno.” His voice was even, he kept his gaze trained on Mista for a moment longer before turning back to his son and prompting him to show him around. Mista let out a deep breath, watching as the woman who had arrived with the man from last night followed the two closely. Was she his bodyguard similar to the way he was Giorno’s? No, that couldn’t have been it. The man could clearly handle himself in a fight. Then again, so could Giorno. Or maybe…
Oh.
***
Dio rarely allowed himself to be openly cross with someone, yet that man from the bar last night thinking he had the right to mess with what was rightfully his sent his blood boiling. Metaphorically of course. Though he wouldn’t allow Giorno to be privy to the fact that his bodyguard had been flirting with his mother. If he got lucky, he would be able to dispose of him quietly and pass it off as an accident that, whatever his name was, had suffered. They would hold a funeral, and promptly move on with their lives. Currently the four of them were seated in the tea room, Giorno and his bodyguard on one couch and Dio with his wife on the couch opposite. Conversation had flowed easily between the group, with Dio remarking that he had grown into quite the refined young man quite a few times. It wasn’t that the passage of time had confused him, more so that it was affecting his son more than he was comfortable with. Perhaps deep down he had wished that he had the same curse that he had been burdened with that granted him eternal youth, the same burden that he shared with his wife. Yet he knew that if Giorno were to continue on the path he was currently on, he would not be able to sustain a life with such a burden.
“So, you and mamma have been taking care of yourselves, right?” Giorno asked as he reached for his teacup and taking a sip, holding the plate below it.
“Of course,” Dio began, changing his mind on his stance about Giorno finding out that his bodyguard didn’t know how to keep his hands to himself, “The other night we decided to go to a local bar for a drink.”
“Any comments on your name or was everyone too busy trying to figure out how you fit through the door?” Giorno joked.
“No, no comments on my namesake. Though, there was a pest who had decided to interrupt our rather peaceful night out.” That caught Giorno’s attention, Dio took note of how his head tilted inquisitively as Dio trained his gaze on his bodyguard. “A shame that he didn’t put up much of a fight.”
“Hold on, Mista, didn’t you say that you were in a fight last night at the bar?” There it was, he had connected the dots with as little information that Dio was planning on giving him. He was curious to see what punishment he had in mind for his subordinate, assuming that he would allow him to be under his employ after learning of his actions. “Did you see papa there?”
“Well,” Mista began, his hands fidgeting in his lap, “yeah I saw your dad, got a real good look at him. When he, when he socked me in the jaw.”
Giorno’s eyes widened, looking between the two men. The contrast in their expressions was stark, Dio wearing a smug grin whereas Mista hung his head in shame. “Papa? Is this true?”
“Your little friend doesn’t seem to know how to keep his hands to himself, it was either that or cut them off to teach him a lesson.”
Giorno looked to his father’s wife, hoping to glean a little more information from her but he found nothing. Her expression was remorseful yet he knew that there wasn’t much she could have done to stop his father from “teaching Mista a lesson”. He set his teacup on the table and rubbed his temples. Despite being three years younger than Mista, he felt as though he had to do a lot of the disciplining around. Disregarding the fact that he was the Boss. He shot a disappointed look to his friend. “What? She was into it.”
“She was being polite.” Dio pointed out.
“Yeah? How do you know?”
“How do you think, moron? She’s my wife .”
“That doesn’t mean-”
“If she was interested in you she would have reciprocated, yet she didn’t.” Dio cut him off. Mista knew he had a point, she didn’t reciprocate in the same way he had initiated. She spoke to him more like a friend as opposed to a potential fling. Though, last night it was a little hard to tell given his overzealousness had practically blinded him. “Besides, she’s far too old for you.”
“Oh yeah? How old do you think I am anyway?” Mista ignored Giorno’s silent pleas for him to stop before he got his jaw broken for real this time.
“Based on your lack of maturity I would have to say around sixteen.”
“Jokes on you, I’m twenty one.” He spat back with a smirk. “Besides, she can’t be too much older than twenty five.”
“Mista,” Giorno said quietly, “they’re not…”
“They’re not what?”
“Not human.” Dio’s wife spoke up. “We’re both well over a hundred years old.”
Mista’s eyes widened in disbelief, he shook his head and laughed. Thinking it was just some elaborate joke that they were all playing on him. Until he saw Giorno’s face was serious, there wasn’t a hint of amusement at all. When he stopped laughing he took a deep breath, turning to Giorno’s parents again. Then it clicked, the umbrella and shades, the blackout curtains, they weren’t kidding. He stupidly decided to break the silence with a joke, “Damn, you look good for a walking corpse.”
He didn’t have another moment to speak before Dio lunged over the table at him.