Work Text:
As any good older sibling knows a portion of their day is spent listening to their younger sibling ranting. Leone sat in the living room listening to Narancia do just that.
“Then Mista ate all my chips again,” said Narancia recounting the last few hours he spent with his friends. Or people he thought were his friends.
“Again,” said Leone.
“He’s a jerk like that, so I tackle him to the floor, of course, Fugo comes back at that time. He’s mad that we’re slacking off. Dude was pissed, I thought he was going to stab me with a fork.”
“That’s aggressive.”
“That’s Fugo, anyway we agreed to go to Coffee and Tea this Saturday.”
“What time?” asked Leone.
“One a clock, why?”
“Curious.”
The real answer was overprotective. In the past Narancia made some shitty ‘friends’ if they could even be called that. One ‘friend’ framed him for a crime he committed. In all honesty, moving to Sardinian was a blessing for Narancia. They moved about a month after he was arrested. It was a new start for Narancia, a chance to make better friends. Except, Leone wasn’t sure if he did that. Fugo had violent urges and Mista couldn’t stop stealing his baby brother’s food.
***
The next day Leone was impatiently waiting for history class to end. As soon as the bell rang he shot off to the library. It was free period and he knew without a doubt Diavolo would be hiding in a corner. He had to talk to Diavolo in person if he wanted to talk to him. The pink-haired teen despised phones or anything that left a trace really.
“I need you to help me this Saturday.”
“You know I might be busy,” Diavolo said putting down the book he was pretending to read.
“And what would that be?” Leone asked arms crossed.
“I’m practicing tying knots.”
“Of course, you are, how about you practice stalking with me.”
Diavolo raised an eyebrow, “I thought you were a rule follower.”
“It’s about Narancia, I’m worried he fell in the wrong crowd.”
“That’s hypocritical.” Right, because if somebody was going to commit murder it would be Diavolo.
“You wouldn’t get others involved in your crimes.”
"And that makes me a better person."
“Diavolo, please.”
“Fine, but you owe me.”
***
Coffee and Tea was a café known locally for its deserts. It had an outdoor area as cozy as the indoors. It was a bright and sunny day with a nice breeze. Naturally, Narancia and his friends would be sitting outside.
Which was good for Leone hiding in a tree with Diavolo. It was a big tree sitting in a line of big trees full of leaves. And to Leone’s constant shock, nobody noticed them. It was like they were sitting in a one-way mirror.
“I wish we could hear them,” said Leone. It was Diavolo’s plan to sit in this tree. According to him, it was best to be hidden where Narancia couldn’t see them. Leone was pretty sure that it was just Diavolo wanting to avoid seeing people.
“You should have hired a private investigator.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have a bug or something.”
“I’m working on it.”
“Meaning?”
“I need to get it without connecting it to my name so I’m slowly buying shit I don’t need as Luis Rucco to avoid suspicion when I finally buy it.”
“How many debit cards do you have?”
“At least three.”
“And none of them are in your name.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Diavolo said with a smug grin.
“Did he just hit Narancia!” Leone said going into overprotective mode. Diavolo grabbed his arm before he could jump down.
“That was a pat on the back.”
“What the fuck is that bastard saying,” Leone muttered, “Are they insulting Narancia.”
“Given that your brother is laughing I would he was making a joke.”
“Do you think they’re toxic to Narancia?”
“What makes you ask that?”
“Mista steals Narancia’s food.”
Diavolo glanced at the man in the ugly hat stealing Narancia’s muffin. Narancia looked offended but in a playful way. By the fact he was laughing a second later, Diavolo would say he was fine. “He’s fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“And you don’t know he’s not fine. Why are you so overprotective?”
Because he was the one to bail Narancia out of jail. He heard Narancia crying on the phone trying to explain everything in a minute. The week he refused to get out of his room that followed. Leone didn’t want to see his brother go through that pain again. “I want him to make good friends.”
“Who is to say they’re not good friends?”
Leone sighed gripping tightly on a tree branch above his head, “I don’t know, I just don’t him to get hurt.”
“We all have to face pain eventually.”
“Since when were you so wise.”
“I’m not, that is just one of the reasons I avoid people.”
“I forgot you were the most antisocial person on the planet.”
“How could you.”
Leone failed to respond. He was looking at Narancia and that big goofy smile on his face. Now he was thinking about it he saw that smile more and more than he ever did in Naples. Maybe his brother would be alright. He watched as the trio left Mista handing Narancia a muffin.
“Did Mista buy that muffin for him?”
“He did,” Diavolo actually had no idea, he was too busy staring at his friend.
As soon as the trio was out of view the duo climbed down the tree.
“I guess this was a waste of time for you, but thank you,” said Leone.
“It’s not a waste of time,” said Diavolo, “You owe me.”
“Oh god,” Leone had a bad feeling about this.
“Next week, my house.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is?”
“I’m going to keep it a mystery.”