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The Don of Passione counts himself lucky when he has a full day's worth of rest. His work usually piles up high in his plate and if the metaphor allows, spilling over and burying him to his knees even.
It is not without design that his workload has multiplied throughout the years from his initial take over of the gang. Diavolo, by virtue of his absolute anonymity, delegated the majority of his work to his capos. This work arrangement kept Giorno less busy during his first few years of his reign as the Don, but of course he had by now fully dismantled it in favor of a much more personal approach of leadership.
He wanted eyes on the back of each member of his gang, each report read and approved personally and each new member inspected by himself. No illicit activities shall be commenced without his permission, lest another drug circulation happened again. Not under his unrelenting watch.
"Mista, what agenda do I have for tomorrow?" he asked his right hand man while washing his hand. Monthly 'trimmings' has always been messy. While he has his own squad to take care of the general weeds of Italy, he plucks the internal ones by himself. Weeds who fell out of line one too many times, ones that has dangerous ambitions and enemy parasites that managed to fall through the microscopic cracks of his recruitment process.
And what a weed he had to pluck today, he would make an excellent fertilizer in his state now.
His right hand man shuffles through a small notebook filled with his agenda. After a brief pause, he made a surprised little noise in his throat.
"Oh! You don't have anything for tomorrow, Boss."
"Nothing? What about the meeting with Moretti?"
"Moved to next week, he's currently hospitalized because of a pneumonia after returning from Russia. The appointment with the minister of trade is also cancelled, he had to go to some kind of summit in Berlin. Mandatory attendance, you know how it is with government officials. And Fugo will also be not returning tomorrow, he had a slight issue with his current task. Nothing to worry about for now, just slightly delayed," Mista rattled off everything he had noted down in his notebook. "I think that's about it."
Giorno took a moment to recall anything scheduled for tomorrow and realized that Mista was right. With everything moved away to another date, he's completely free for tomorrow.
"Soo... a break huh? Been a while since you last had that," Mista says, breaking the blonde out of his thought. "Planning on going somewhere, Boss?"
"Hm, I believe I do."
---
Giorno did say to Mista that he had a plan. What he didn't tell him is that his plan only included him getting out of his office after getting breakfast and cleaning up his messy table. He's really grateful that he never let his mess pile on, otherwise that impromptu cleaning session would turn to a whole day ordeal and he'd waste his free day dusting off everything.
So now he's walking aimlessly on the streets of Naples, alone. He insisted on no bodyguard for the day and instead redirected Mista to get himself busy training new recruits. It's not like he's an easy man to kill.
His eyes scans the shops and restaurants just opening up for the day. He's already thinking about eating in one if his favorite restaurants from his school days later. Don't get him wrong, Libeccio's food is absolutely delicious but there's something nostalgic in getting a meal in the cheaper restaurant that he likes to visit after a stressful exam. He had to be sparing with his money back then, as he didn't want to speak with his parents if he could help it.
And now I have more money than I know what to do with, he thinks.
Though his musings were interrupted when he passed by a small bookshop that has something that caught his eyes. He stopped to stare at it, feeling a rush of happiness inside his heart.
Before him was a complete set of illustrated encyclopedia of plants and animals that can be found in Italy. He remembers staring at these from the windows of a bookstore when he was a child, following his mother around while she's going on a shopping spree. He never asked for them, as he knew deep down she'll never buy it for him. Or his step father for that matter. Before long his want was forgotten, even after the beating stopped thanks to the man that he saved.
But now here it is again, still as enticing as he'd remember it to be even if he's an adult now. His rational mind told him he doesn't really need it, but his hand is already moving to pick it up from the shelves and walk to the cashier. The cashier helpfully gave him a stronger bag to carry all of the volumes that he brought over, although he can just turn them all into butterflies if he wants to. But he doesn't and carried them all like a regular person.
He still couldn't believe that he bought it. Occasionally peeking at his bag, ensuring that it's still those pretty encyclopedias and not an accounting tips book or something. Even as he walked into the restaurant for his lunch, he immediately took out the first volume to read it like an excited child with their new toy.
What a bizarre sight it must be for people who only knew Giorno from his line of work, or crossed his path in an unfriendly term. The Don of Passione is reading an illustrated encyclopedia in a cheap restaurant, ordering pasta and chocolate pudding for dessert. Right now, one might mistake him for a teenager hanging out alone after school if it were not for the fact that its 12 p.m. on a Tuesday.
But it's his break, and he's free to do what he wants during his break. Under the table he tried to copy the insects he sees in the pages with scraps of tissue, wondering if he can make them as pretty as the illustration.
Soon, the scraps turned into a rose chafer and he's pleased with the green metallic sheen of the body. The bug took flight around the table before landing on the flowers planted near his table, blending seamlessly with the nature and seemingly undisturbed that it's adult existence was created mere seconds ago and could end anytime Giorno deems so.
But he did not disturb the insect and went on to finish his lunch instead. He thinks that if he still has room for more desert, he's going to get the gelato down the street.
---
Giorno arrived back at the headquarter at 8 p.m. with approximately a dozen shopping bags and at least two dozen butterflies and beetles of various color following him around. Nobody asked him any questions, but one of his underling did offer him a hand in carrying all of his bags which he refused.
"Hey, Boss! Welcome ba-- whoa! What's with the bags?" Mista balked at the sight. "And... bugs?"
Instead of answering, Giorno just handed Mista one of the bag which was received with even more confusion.
"For you," he said curtly before shouldering the door to his living quarters open. Mista followed after while he's rummaging through the bag of his gift.
Giorno dumped all of his bags onto his bed before going into the en suite bathroom to wash his hands and undo the countless pins setting his hairstyle intact. By the time he's done, he steps out of the bathroom to see Mista already wearing his gift.
It was a pair of leather shoes, very dressy and high quality. Just like what Mista likes. The price tag has many zeroes in it but well, what's the point of making so much money if you're not gonna spend it.
"How'd you know my size? This is a perfect fit," the older man said while walking in circles, testing the shoes' comfortability.
"I remade your foot when you lost it a few months ago, of course I know what size it is."
"Ah right," Mista grins. He walked over to give the shorter man a kiss on his temple. "You know me so well, Boss."
"Hmm, don't call be 'Boss' while kissing me."
Mista laughed at that and started peppering Giorno's face with more kisses until the blonde squeaked in protest. A minute later of endless smooches, Giorno finally managed to push Mista away to take a breath. His blonde curls are now messy with strands of hair sticking out here and there, truly an adorable sight.
"So, what else did you buy?" he asked after he's done giggling at his lover. "That's an awful lot of bags."
"Impulsive shopping, mostly," he answered honestly. "I don't really know why I bought them all."
Giorno rummaged through one of the bag and pulled out a ladybug plushie, from the another bag an antique chess set with intricate pieces. With each bag he dumps out, Mista's bewilderment grew.
Watching all of them splayed on the king size bed, it feels like he's looking at a garage sale of a house whose son has grew up, moved out of the house and now they're trying to sell all of the stuff that has accumulated while he's growing up to make space.
If Mista thinks about it for a bit further, he's sure that he'll get a reasonable answer for this behavior but he's not the type to think far. That's more of Giorno's specialty, and if he says he doesn't know why he bought them all, he's going to believe him.
So now Giorno gets to spend the last bit of his free time picking out space to display all of his new things with Mista. He even has the time to go through the encyclopedia again while pointing out all of the flowers and animal that intrigued him to the older man, who listens and nods along, before going to sleep.
FIN