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Giorno has always been one to keep in good check of his emotions; his stand usually never betrays his thoughts. Or at least that's how it's been for most of his life. He couldn't begin to figure out when this started happening, considering every time it happens, he never notices until it starts spreading, or someone points it out.
His biggest betrayal from Golden Experience, and something that has become a giant nuisance in his everyday life. He never considered himself to be romantic in any way; he had no interest in dealing with the concept of sex or marriage, and it didn't intrigue or interest him in any way.
That was, of course, a few months after Diavolo's downfall and the rise of Bucciarati, taking his place. Everything managed to settle down for the most part, and Giorno was able to breathe better without constant known paranoia of being hunted down, meaning he was able to think back on his own life, experiences, and the people he was now acquainted with.
Of course, that was conveniently the time he realized Golden Experience could go haywire, but at that time, he didn't know what was causing it, until it started happening more and more, and things became unbearable.
Giorno stood in the mini kitchen of a shabby motel in Florence, alongside Mista, who was blabbering on about nothing in particular. Giorno was currently spreading cream cheese over a bagel, seated on a paper plate. He wasn't really paying much attention.
Bruno had sent them on a mission in Florence, and they would have to stay here for a day or two before returning. Giorno didn't complain; he and Mista were basically siblings in a sense, out of everyone, he felt closest to him. For once, Giorno was glad it was him, and not Abbacchio.
"—And then there was that thing with Megan Fox too.." Mista continued his one-sided conversation.
"Since when do you keep up with celebrity drama?" Giorno chimed in at last, not turning his head away from the bagel. That shut Mista up rather fast.
"…I think I've been hanging out with Trish and you too much," Mista admitted, leaning against the counter.
"Too much? Is that supposed to be an insult? I think we're plenty of fun."
"Would it kill you to not sass somebody for three seconds?" Mista retorted. Giorno closed up his bagel and brought it to his mouth, giving nothing but a hum in response as he took a bite. He didn't focus on what Mista was saying, as he continued to ramble about something meaningless.
The sun was long since down, the only sounds in that shabby motel being the Blaring A/C that was always freezing every room up, or the voice of Mista, and the occasional clink of something when someone grabbed anything literally.
"—Ah, right, I remember Fugo talking about it actually, now I remember.." Mista continued, Giorno didn't know why, but when he heard that name, he zeroed in and focused at last.
"That weird street performance that happened in downtown Naples a while back." He continued, Giorno was about to lose interest again. "Fugo and Narancia went to see it. I think something was going on with fire, but turns out it was a stand user flaunting themselves to regular people for money."
"That's a stupid move," Giorno replied.
"Maybe they thought they were the only person with abilities; many such cases happen all the time. That's where most of Bruno's troubles come in with the mafia, really." Mista replied. "They weren't a threat or anything, so Fugo and Narancia mostly left him alone."
"I wonder if he got killed after that," Giorno said in response
"Probably."
"Was the performance good at least?"
"Fugo said the magic was ruined by being able to see everything that happened. He said rather than a performance, it was more like a guy showing his stand abilities for the public to see and painting a target on his back. Narancia thought it was cool, but it was mostly the display of what the abilities were that were cool, not the tricks."
"Sounds like him."
"Though Fugo did say that the vine trick he did was something you might have enjoyed."
"…He mentioned me?" Giorno piqued up.
"Uhm.. yeah? We're all friends here, of course, he talks about everyone. Anyway— What the hell is that?" Mista cut himself off, Giorno looked puzzled, and finally turned to face him. Mista was staring at him like he had grown a second head.
"That." Mista poked Giorno's cheek; Giorno's eye twitched in irritation at being touched so suddenly.
"Something on my face?" Giorno brought his own hand to feel his face, and sure enough, a patch of growth had appeared, covering his cheek.
"Why did you do that?" Mista asked dumbly.
"I— I didn't, not on purpose at least," Giorno replied, feeling around his cheek, and sure enough, at the simple little embarrassing mistake, more started to grow, out of his clothes, out of his hair and face.
"Stop doing that??" Mista said, quirking his eyes.
"I can't!" Giorno said, panicked suddenly, which only made it grow more. "I don't think it's dangerous— just— Stop yelling at me! You're stressing me out!" Giorno suddenly yelped.
"It's growing out of the counters! GioGio! Stop! We're gonna have to pay property damage!"
"Stop shouting at me! I'm trying!"
The main house was quiet. Considering it was so late at night, or technically morning. It was 2 in the morning, and Giorno found it hard to sleep, not because of that incident, not really. That was months ago, and he assumed it came from Mista egging it on to the point where Gold Experience started to show visible stress.
It was simply just because he couldn't sleep, that was all. Insomnia always picks the most desperate victims. Giorno peeled himself out of bed, mostly due to the sound of clattering downstairs. In a state of boredom, he decided to follow whoever was down there.
Descending the stairs, Giorno waltzed into the only lit room, which seemed to be currently occupied, the kitchen.
"Fugo.." He greeted.
Fugo turned away from digging into the fridge, with messy hair and half-focused eyes, and he locked eyes with Giorno.
"Sorry, was I being loud?" Fugo said groggily.
"…A little, it's alright though, I wasn't really sleeping in the first place." Giorno said, "Are you looking for something?"
"Ah, just.. hungry, I guess." Fugo responded, "Looks like Narancia stole my leftover chow me in." He grumbled.
"How do you know it's Narancia?"
"He's the only idiot brave enough to steal from me specifically," Fugo responded, shutting the fridge. "I'm probably just gonna suck it up and go to bed, nothing really good to eat anyway."
"..If you want, I have an idea that might fill you up enough to sleep." Giorno offered hesitantly. He didn't know why he did.
"..I mean, sure, I guess."
"Alright, fine by me. Go wait in the dining room."
"What are you, my personal chef? Should I wait with a napkin in my shirt and with a fork and knife in my hand?" Fugo snickered before retreating to the dining room, leaving Giorno to just scoff and get something ready in the kitchen.
Giorno worked miraculously. He didn't understand why he felt so motivated all of a sudden; perhaps it was the boredom of being held up and unable to sleep at such a late hour, yeah. That had to be it, right?
It wasn't like he wanted to see Fugo's face light up when he ate something he liked; it's not like he was deliberately making sure Fugo had a good night's sleep; it really wasn't like that. He just wanted to do something because he was bored, surely.
A patch of flowers had seemingly grown under his feet. Where did those come from? He didn't tell Golden Experience to do that. He would never, considering they were tangling his legs to the floor. Upon realizing they were there, his stand seemed to relax a bit, and they dissipated.
The flowers growing all over his body didn't, however. They remained aggressively sprawled all over his skin and clothes.
'What the hell?' Giorno thought, lifting his arm. Inspecting the buds and petals that sprouted across his arms, he thought he looked straight out of a romance novel cover for a second.
He made Fugo A simple granola and berry yogurt bowl, with a tiny bit of flaxseed for digestive health. He always made one of these when he was feeling hungry and wanted something sweet, but didn't want to go out of his way to bake something.
He gave it to Fugo; he didn't know why, but he felt he had shakier hands than usual, not to mention that Fugo was staring at him strangely.
"I know you like covering yourself in flowers or whatever to look nice sometimes, but.. don't you think.. This is a little.." Fugo trailed off, gazing up at Giorno, who had plants coating most of his body, and a fucking trail of grass and wildflowers leading from the kitchen.
"Sorry.. Golden Experience is.. Being weird tonight, I didn't mean to do any of that." Giorno hesitantly looked back at the kitchen, which looked like an entire greenhouse by now. His heart was racing for no real reason,
Fugo took the bowl appreciatively, looking down at it and looking back up at Giorno.
"Thanks, what's in this exactly?" Fugo peered into the bowl. "Besides the.. Obvious granola and berries or whatever."
"I used vanilla-flavored soymilk yogurt instead of regular. There's also honey and flaxseed. For digestive regulation, of course."
"Huh, didn't know you were a health nut."
"…I'm really not, I just like this specific recipe, I like having it for breakfasts or late nights, I thought you might appreciate the same," Giorno responded, hands still trembling.
"I do, actually, it's really good," Fugo said, after taking a spoonful into his mouth. The flower-based disease started spreading to the dining room. Fugo tried to ignore it, but it was a little hard with frogs and insects starting to bloom everywhere alongside the plants. If this was just a golden experience acting out, he didn't want to be rude about it, since Giorno clearly had the best of intentions.
Giorno didn't know why, but after that specific incident, he started making prepped meals for Fugo. Usually some for lunch and a side snack, leaving it in the fridge labeled with his name. Narancia tried to snag it at one point, but Giorno tore into him for it.
He didn't usually care when people stole each other's food; he stole others' food all the time as well, just not fugo, considering his outbursts were too much to handle for just a simple meal. But usually, he never stopped Narancia.
Bruno noticed, of course he did, he didn't comment on it. But he found Giorno losing control of gold experience more often. And more often than not, it was a hassle to clean up.
He moved to sit next to Giorno, who was currently seated at the dining table, alone with nothing but coffee. It seemed to be around 6 in the morning. Giorno was always the first to awaken in the mornings, Bruno always came next, and then it was always an interchangeable race of whoever else was next.
"Good morning, Giorno." Bruno greeted, "How are you doing so far?" He asked in a light tone, hand placed atop Giorno's head, fingers running through the golden strands of hair that had recently been styled. a common act of affection he did for all of the younger members of the team.
Giorno's eyes rested in response to the gesture; he was used to it, even welcomed it. He wasn't one for physical affection, but Bruno was an exception. Actually, that seemed to be the same sentiment everyone carried.
"I'm doing fine, but sleepy still. I'll wake up eventually," Giorno responded. Silently resenting the fact that Bruno had retracted his hand.
"I see." Bruno nodded before sitting further back in his chair and crossing his legs. "Gold Experience seems to be getting more active lately."
"Ah, you noticed."
"I hate to alarm you, but everyone has. Stands tend to betray their users' emotions, more so, it can be uncontrollable if the emotion is too strong." Bruno started speaking. "I wanted to ask if there's anything specific going on."
"…Actually, I don't know," Giorno admitted, wrapping his hand around the mug of coffee and taking a drink, before continuing. "I can't say I know what's causing it. It happened recently, and since then it hasn't stopped."
"Oh? If you're comfortable, why don't you tell me about it?" Bruno offered.
"..Sure.. Sorry, let me think." Giorno paused for a moment, regaining his memories. "Ah, right, I think the first time it happened was on that mission with Mista, where we had to stay in Florence for a bit. I can't exactly remember the topic, but Mista was talking about Fugo and Narancia."
"Go on." Bruno encouraged.
"…That's it, that's all I know. I can't even remember the subject of the topic, but when the plants started growing, Mista freaked out, and in turn, I freaked out."
"Do you think it had to do with either of them specifically?" Bruno leaned forward.
"What are you.. implying exactly?" Giorno blinked
"Well, you've been extra sweet to Fugo lately; everyone's noticed." Bruno tried to hint at something, but it flew over Giorno's head.
"..He's a good friend, but his diet is concerning, so I.. maybe.. thought I could help." Giorno was confident starting the sentence, but he seemed to doubt his own words midway through.
"..I'd argue and say Mista's is worse. You're closer to Mista, aren't you? The two of you call yourselves siblings now."
Objectively, it was true. Giorno had made the mistake of leaning on Mista to sleep one time, and in turn, Mista declared himself an older brother dramatically, and has not left Giorno alone since. From camping and sleeping in his bed uninvited and getting crumbs everywhere, to randomly attacking Giorno in the halls or purposefully messing up what he's doing. Mista has been nothing but a weirdly endearing nuisance that Giorno decides to tolerate instead of shoving him off or yelling at him to stop.
"He can suffer from kidney stones for all I care." Giorno sighed.
"Of course, of course. But let me rephrase, why Fugo, specifically?" Bruno asked, Getting back on topic.
"..I don't know," Giorno admitted. "I just… want it to be him."
"Do you ever feel yourself wanting to get closer to him?" Bruno suggested.
"Are you.. trying to imply something specifically?" Giorno asked, genuine curiosity in his tone rather than accusatory malice.
"I want to help you. I have an idea of what's going on, and I want to understand if I'm reading between the lines correctly." Bruno responded calmly. "I want to help you discover yourself, if you'll allow me."
Giorno set his mug down, fingers tapping on the porcelain subconsciously. He thought long and hard for a moment.
"What do you mean by 'getting closer' exactly? Fugo and I get along really well already, besides Mista and me." Giorno responded.
"Well, let's say… " Bruno let his eyes rest for a moment before opening them. "Have you ever thought about something as trivial as hugging him? Holding his hand? Leaning on him on the couch as you do with Mista?" Bruno said he wanted to try something; he knows Giorno probably hasn't actually thought about it, but what happens if he does?
All of these things could be seen as platonic, but Giorno never engaged in any kind of physical affection with anyone other than Mista and Bruno.
"..No, I haven't. I'm not exactly a touchy person, and I doubt Fugo is either." Giorno responded.
"Think about it for a moment, Giovanna." Bruno fired back, still retaining that sweet and calm voice.
"..What?" Giorno blinked, confused.
"Close your eyes, and think about it. Just for a few moments, okay?" Bruno said. Giorno looked even more confused, but he didn't fire back or say it was ridiculous; he never second-guessed anything his boss said or told him to do.
He let his eyes close, and Bruno watched him closely. At first, nothing happened. But then, as Giorno seemed to find a scenario to fixate on, his brows furrowed, and his shoulders stiffened. Bruno tilted his head further and then gave a soft smile when plants started to emerge from Giorno's skin and the table beneath them.
He was correct.
"You can open your eyes now," Bruno said calmly, and Giorno did so, but the flowers didn't disappear; they were getting more and more intense, despite Giorno being aware of them now. Almost as if Giorno could no longer get those thoughts out of his mind.
"Wha…" Giorno stared down at his arm, confused, slightly shaky, and then looked towards Bruno like he had all of the answers to life itself, and he was about to demand them.
"You're doing just fine, Giorno. It's nothing worth getting stressed about." Bruno reassured quickly before Giorno could speak. "It's okay if you're not comfortable answering this, but I will ask just in case. Giorno, have you ever tried exploring romantically, or even sexually? I know you're a very tied-up person, and it may not interest you."
"..No, I haven't. I don't care about that kind of stuff, really; it never interested me, of course. Though.. I don't doubt things could change." Giorno hesitantly responded.
"Do you think maybe things are changing?" Bruno offered.
"I don't… know. I didn't think of Fugo in a romantic light at all." Giorno shook his head.
"You did, Giorno. You just didn't realize it." Bucciarati parried his statement. "And now that I've made it clear, I want you to think about it harder. You don't have to tell me any details, but I want you to try to open up your own mind a bit more, and see what fits." Bruno finalized.
"I.. See.." Giorno stuttered out, the flowers getting worse and worse, but Bruno didn't scold or look at him strangely. "I'll take your advice, thank you, Bucciarati," Giorno concluded.
Giorno didn't know what happened for things to end up this way; he didn't know what happened for things to take this direction. His bedroom was covered in flowers, tiny critters jumping off or running around, insects crawling or flying around the room; he had completely lost control.
The reason he lost control, was sitting on his bed next to him, cupping his face and looking at the little blossoms that emerged from his skin.
"What about this one?" Fugo asked quietly, eyes fixated on a small patch of flowers blooming from Giorno's skin.
"F-fairy foxglove." Giorno uncharacteristically stuttered out, leaning into his hand.
Giorno had made the grave mistake of confessing his feelings to Fugo, and during the process, Golden Experience went haywire, and now his room was a greenhouse. Fugo never gave a proper response to his confession and instead took an interest in the chaos forming around him.
"Matches that school uniform you used to wear all the time when we were under Diavolo." Fugo brushed his finger over it, and Giorno froze up, squeezing his eyes shut before letting them flutter open again.
"Fu-Fugo.. You.. You're really…" Giorno stuttered out again. Fugo retracted his hand and placed it on Giorno's shoulder next.
"You look pretty," Fugo spoke without thinking, making the plants around him grow even taller. "—When you cover yourself in flowers, even if it's not intentional." He doubled down instead of shying away from the impulsive subject.
Giorno's heart was racing, his hand was placed over Fugo's, both parties trembling, both parties nervous beyond all hell for one another.
"Sorry.. I'm not good at this." Fugo admitted.
"Neither am I." Giorno nervously smiled, taking his wrist in his hand and removing it from his shoulder, and sliding his fingers up his wrist to intertwine their fingers together. Fugo reciprocated, squeezing his fingers around Giorno's firmly.
"I've always admired you, Giorno." Fugo exhaled with a shaky breath.
"Call me GioGio.." Giorno murmured
"..What?"
"Call me GioGio," Giorno repeated, more firmly this time.
"I've always admired you, GioGio." Fugo hesitantly rephrased, before speaking again. "Isn't Mista the only one who calls you that?"
"I like the way it sounds coming from you.. Mista is, well… He's Mista. It doesn't carry the same effect as hearing it from you." Giorno says.
Their grip on each other's hands tightened further, as if the other would disappear if they let go. Giorno even made a move to grab Fugo's other hand, so that both hands were intertwined with each other. Subconsciously, Fugo used that grip to pull Giorno closer.
"GioGio.. Can I.." He trailed off, as if too scared to say what he wanted to. "I want to…" He trailed off again.
Giorno looked at him patiently, giving Fugo's hand a gentle squeeze and release, but keeping them intertwined.
"Kiss you." Fugo blurted shittily. "I want to.. Can I…" He trailed off yet again.
"Of course.." Giorno responded, though his quiet tone did nothing to hide how crazy he felt like he was going; if anything, the sound of Abbacchio's loud cursing as he tripped over the growth that seeped out the door and into the main hall gave it away.
Giorno's heart pounded in his chest as they got closer. Lips connecting shyly, before taking each other in a little more, it wasn't open-mouthed or desperate, more like two teenagers with no experience trying to figure out what to do.
Lips would disconnect just to reconnect again, Their hands broke apart. Fugo's own found their way to Giorno's back, while Giorno's found their way to Fugo's shoulders. Neither of them could be considered a good kisser by any means, but it wasn't like they were giving it to anyone other than themselves, so regardless, they found it to be enjoyable.
When they broke apart, neither could speak first. They gazed at each other for a moment, Giorno's body still reacting and trembling, while Fugo's heart pounded in his chest. Giorno leaned closer and closer until his head rested against Fugo's own, and Fugo leaned back in response, bringing themselves into a hug.
Giorno's head slid down, finding its way to the crook of Fugo's neck. Lying there and snuggling with his newfound partner while surrounded by bugs and plants. He found himself beginning to relax just a small bit, some things dying down or returning to the objects they once were. It was quiet, so quiet. And just the two of them.
Neither of them disconnected that night; they stayed glued together, falling asleep on one another, and having Giorno's reactions die down slowly but surely as he got more comfortable.