So much for a new life, it seems
I can't stop thinking how weird some interactions at Rhodes Island might be after I Portatori dei Velluti
(Thoughts in fic format below)
Poor boy Luchino just set up his new shop and is trying to get his life under control again and someday, at this new place, he just comes face to face with the one client that kinda led up to the whole mess that ended with his Nonno dead.
Not to say that he blames Lappland for it, not exactly. But it was still her order that lead him to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that lead up to him being stranded in the Venezia residence and because of that, Signorina Ingrid and his Nonno had to bail him out and stuff just got worse and worse and...
He tries to breath. It hurts. But Nonno taught him to be professional, and he'll be professional, even if his personal feelings make him feel uncomfortable with talking to that one old client.
Luchino is a hard worker. It doesn't take long for the new De Montano shop to become a well loved place in Rhodes Island.
One day he hears about a sewing club and the few people who are part of it. Not interested. Luchino kinda joined Rhodes Island because it seemed like a good place to start over, but... there's a throwaway comment that bugs him during his free time: "Oh, I didn't know that sewing was that popular with the Lupo youths from Siracusa right now. I guess times really do change, huh?"
And because of that comment, he finds himself standing akwardly in the sewing club, trying to not stare too much at the other Lupo cursing someone under his breath while fixing what looks like some kind of uniform.
He's never really escaping the mafiosi, is he?
(Later he finds out that Aosta is way busier keeping his pals out of trouble and is not â currently â part of a famiglia).
Luchino really wants to have a break from these kind of scares. Yes and thank you. But Fortuna has a thing out for him, it seems.
He's working in one moment, and in the next one, a Vulpo who looks way too familiar enters his workshop and now he's wondering if he's actually paying for all the times he didn't listen to Nonno in the past.
As much as he mistook Suzuran for Signorina Ingrid in that first moment, it's not really a big surprise when Suzuran enters his shop to pick up her order and Signorina Ingrid is with her.
He should really have an extra sanity fee, it seems.
But the Ingrid that enters his shop by her daughter's side doesn't even feel the same like the scary mafiosa who got him out of the Venezia residence in New Volsinii. That doesn't mean she's less deadly, and Luchino is keenly aware of that. He might have even forgot how to sew buttons again for a moment there.
A random visit from Ingrid is not even the worse scare he gets after setting up De Montano at Rhodes Island.
Oh no, the trophy goes to the Lupo girl dressed in red, who just stands there without saying a word and leaves just as she arrived: silently.
He later finds a doll ressembling his deceased Nonno right where the girl stood. His stomach twists in knots and he tries to ignore the small note in scrawly handwriting that came with it. He has no need of that.
In the end, he keeps the doll, but only because it reminds him of Nonno and of Nonno's wishes for him. He can't change the past or his childish wishes of being one of the big guys, but now he understands Umberto's feelings (at least a bit) and wants to make him proud.
Luchino gets his tools. His new life might not be easy, but he's willing to do his best with his craft. Just like his Nonno always wanted.
