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Leone Abbacchio did not like being laid up. He was, in fact, a terrible invalid and the others would be inclined to agree with that sentiment.
The whole current situation was almost made worst by the fact that it wasn't even that bad—just a sprained ankle—but it was bad enough to cause him to need a crutch. And to stay home from the current mission half the team was going on.
"Take the opportunity to get some well-deserved rest," Bruno had told him with a hint of fond worry before he had headed out, leaving Leone to his own devices, feeling a small sense of abandonment. "And please try not to overexert yourself. Remember, Fugo and Narancia are here if you need anything."
Leone sighed as he tilted his head back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. Normally he would have been happy to have an excuse to linger in bed for as long as he wanted, but being forced to do it just wasn't appealing. That, coupled with the thought of Bruno and the others out on a potentially dangerous mission made him too antsy to rest.
A soft mrow and shift of the sheets hailed Eurydice jumping up onto the bed to rub her head against Leone's shoulder.
"And what do you want, little princess?" Leone murmured, scratching her under the chin as she started to purr like a little motorboat. Glancing over at the clock, Leone realized it was breakfast time and Eurydice was kindly reminding him of that.
Well, he'd been looking for an excuse to get out of bed anyway. "Alright, alright, I hear you. You're going to have to give me a minute."
The cat jumped eagerly off the bed, standing there, staring up at Leone expectantly as he swung his legs over the side and reached for the crutch that leaned up against the headboard. It was an annoying addition to his current routine, but he'd discovered the hard way the day before that his ankle couldn't support his full weight even after icing it and keeping it elevated for a couple hours. But he still refused to use more than one crutch. For some reason that made all the difference in his stubborn brain.
Eurydice hurried ahead of him as he opened the bedroom door and hobbled out. The stairs took some maneuvering (mostly hindered by the crutch) but he managed well enough and made his way slowly toward the kitchen where the cat had already disappeared.
Leone grabbed her bowl and tucked the crutch under his arm before rummaging in the cupboard for cat food.
"It's coming," he answered the impatient cat winding around his legs.
He looked for the can opener, but it wasn't in the usual drawer. Nor the drainer. Leone gritted his teeth. Narancia could never put anything away in the right place, mostly because he never actually cooked so it didn't matter to him if important tools were not where they were supposed to be.
Eurydice was getting more impatient and Leone was getting more frustrated when footsteps hailed the arrival of Narancia himself.
"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Narancia asked, pointing an accusing finger. "What are you doing on your feet?"
"Feeding Eurydice—speaking of, where the hell did you put the can opener?"
"Why would I put it anywhere?" Narancia demanded, stepping into the kitchen, instantly on the defensive.
"Because it was your turn to wash dishes last night?" Leone replied sarcastically.
"Hmm, okay, well, I don't remember where I put it."
Leone exhaled in a huff and went to make himself a cup of coffee instead, feeling sympathetic toward Eurydice as she looked up at him with a confused and sad mew when she realized her human had apparently moved on from fixing her breakfast.
"I know, I know, you're just gonna have to hold on another couple minutes," Leone told her, reaching down to scratch behind her ears. "Narancia's being incompetent again."
"Hey! There's a million drawers and cupboards to put things in in here! How am I supposed to know where every single item goes?" Narancia protested. "Besides, you should be nicer to me, Abba, or I'm gonna snitch to Bucciarati that you got out of bed."
"He doesn't care if I get out of bed, brat. I'm just not supposed to leave the house until I can do more than hobble."
"That's not what he told me," Narancia said and deepened his voice to mimic Bruno's commanding tone. "'Make sure Leone darling stays in bed and doesn't hurt himself any more or I'll be furious'."
Leone ground his teeth in annoyance, cheeks heating. "He did not say that."
"Okay, maybe not those exact words, but the sentiment was there," Narancia grinned and opened the cupboard usually reserved for plates and bowls. "Ah! Look at that, here it is!"
Leone snagged the can opener from him and opened up the cat food, placing it down on Eurydice's mat as she hurried happily over.
"Can I get you anything else? Seriously, Abba," Narancia added as Leone glowered at him.
Leone rubbed the bridge of his nose, fighting back a headache. It was still too early for Narancia. "I'm good."
"Okay, but actually please don't hurt yourself, or we're all in deep shit," Narancia told him as he grabbed a drink and left the kitchen, once again leaving Leone in peace.
He hobbled back over to pour his cup of coffee and make a bagel then sat at the table to finish his breakfast in Eurydice's company.
Once he was done, he grabbed his crutch again and hobbled slowly down the hall toward the office where he assumed Fugo was working.
The young man was indeed working in the office balancing books when Leone poked his head in.
"Need any help?" he asked.
Fugo looked up with some surprise. "Not really. Why? You should be enjoying having a day off."
Leone huffed. "I would be, I guess, but it's not as fun when you're forced into it."
Fugo snorted a laugh. "Why didn't you just have Giorno heal your ankle then?"
Leone pulled a face. "The golden brat offered but it involved cutting my foot off and replacing it with a whole new one. A couple days with a crutch is a lot better when you think of it that way."
Fugo winced and nodded in agreement.
"Don't you have any paperwork for me to file or anything?" Leone asked half-heartedly, heading further into the office before his crutch caught on the edge of one of the rugs and he staggered. Overcorrecting, he put too much pressure on his bad ankle and he gasped, flailing for a minute before he caught the back of a chair.
"Abbacchio, are you all right?" Fugo asked worriedly as he got up and hurried over.
"Yeah, fine," Leone grumbled, trying to hide the grimace of pain that was tugging at his mouth. He was embarrassed at being so clumsy. Why was the crutch apparently more risky than going around without it?
"Why don't you go relax in the living room for a while if you're tired of being in bed?" Fugo suggested. "It would be a good idea to put your foot up and maybe you can catch up on some reading."
Leone mulled the thought over, and realized he liked the sound of that. "Actually, that doesn't sound too bad."
Fugo smiled and offered him a hand up. "I have some recommendations for you if you'd like?"
Leone made his way to the living room as Fugo hurried off to grab some books. Leone settled himself onto the couch and leaned back comfortably. Fugo soon arrived with a stack of books and a cup of tea and Leone looked through the titles before picking one.
A few minutes later, and he was starting to think that maybe being left to his own devices for the day wasn't that bad after all. Sure, he would have preferred to spend a day off with Bruno, and maybe away from the house, but it wasn't bad to have the opportunity to catch up on a little reading in the quiet.
Until it wasn't quiet anymore.
"Hey, mind if I join you?"
Narancia plopped himself down in the nearby chair with his Gameboy.
"Only if you're quiet," Leone muttered.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," Narancia replied absently as he was already enamored with his game, the music and sounds from it turned down but still annoying and distracting, making it hard for Leone to concentrate on reading.
"Aw shit!" Narancia gasped.
"Can you turn that down at all?" Leone asked in annoyance.
"Sorry," Narancia turned it down the tiniest bit and continued playing, exclaiming every once in a while.
Leone's brow pinched and his fingers gripped the book tighter, all concentration gone. Maybe if he could grab his headphones some background music would help—or just to use them for noise cancelation.
He looked around. Problem was, he didn't know where they were. He only knew they weren't upstairs, but he hadn't seen them since he'd used them on the car ride to and from their mission the day before so where had he put them after that?
He got up as Narancia's personal commentary got more animated, and started to look around. He refused to go back to his bed—it just made him feel too much like an invalid and he was fine he just had a sprained ankle. But he also agreed that it would be unfair to shove Narancia out of the living room just because he wanted quiet. He was trying to compromise here.
Unfortunately, his compromise wasn't going to work unless he found his headphones.
He slowly made his way around the house, looking in the kitchen, the table by the door, anywhere the headphone would conceivably be. He had thought he'd brought them into the house, but now he wasn't entirely sure.
Defeated, he returned to the living room where Narancia was curled in rapt concentration in his chair. Leone slumped back onto the couch in annoyance, snatching the book he had been reading and narrowing his eyes at it as he tried to concentrate.
"Oh hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Narancia crowed.
Leone snapped his book shut. "Can you tone it down or is that physically impossible for you?"
Narancia glanced up. "Sorry, Abba but if you'd stayed in bed like you were supposed to—"
Leone's incoming tirade was interrupted by the front door opening and voices filtering in.
"We're back!" Mista called out.
Leone felt a sense of relief seeing Bruno walk in the door, apparently safe and sound—even if he was shortly followed by Giorno.
"Bucciarati, Abbacchio got out of bed and I'm not responsible for it!" Narancia said quickly.
"Did he now?" Bruno asked with a teasing raised eyebrow.
"Just wanted some new scenery," Leone muttered sheepishly. "Hate being cooped up."
"I know," Bruno replied kindly. "How are you feeling?"
Leone shrugged. "It doesn't hurt that much or anything. I'm just trying to take the opportunity to relax."
The noise was ramping up again as Mista started to relate the happenings of the mission to Narancia. Leone winced and Bruno could tell it was becoming too much for him because he suddenly snapped his fingers.
"I almost forgot. You must have left these in the car yesterday. I only saw them after we had left."
Leone looked up as Bruno hurried back to the entryway and returned to lean over the back of the couch, placing Leone's headphones over his ears.
The sound dampened to a low, much more manageable murmur and Leone felt a little of the tension leave him.
Bruno leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before he put Leone's portable cd player on the couch next to him as well. "I have some things to finish up, but let me know if you need anything."
Leone relaxed back into the couch and plugged his headphones in, taking a second to close his eyes as he started to listen to the cd in the player—selections from Queen of the Night.
Something jumped onto his legs and he looked down with a smile to see Eurydice curling up across his lap, her purr humming through him and making him feel even more relaxed.
He closed his eyes again and continued stroking her silky fur. He actually felt more relaxed now than he had for…quite a while. Maybe convalescing every once in a while wasn't the worst thing in the world after all.
