santa mozzarella!

"New York was always a good time," he reminisced. "Though, that was more the company I went with that made it so." And that company was gone. In one way or another. There was no more popping through a portal to meet up at a lounge in Brooklyn just for some drinks after a successful mission. There was no one to pat on the back or console or chastise for being too careless.

"Perhaps that's why I've been so content to start building a life here," he chuckled. "None of the other places I've been have had much of a draw to them. I guess that also leaves me open to try to find new places to travel, yeah?"

"That's exactly how I feel." Giulia said, smiling faintly. "There's good company here, but... I'd like to move on at some point, I think. See a bit more of the world."

It would have to wait. For now, it felt a little bit better to focus on his friend. Maybe he wasn't entirely useless if he could help her too until things got a little better for them both.

"Thank you Giulia. And if you ever want to come over to my house, you can. There's always someone awake. Between two elves and the robot cat, there's always someone who can keep you company. Promise." Even if Giulia didn't know their housemates that well, Luca had no problem volunteering them. Giulia should get to know she had people here too.

"So, we still have to cut out all these fish right? For the feast? Where did the feast of the fish come from? I want to hear all about it."

She was glad that Luca had people around them to help take care of them, too. As much as she might've liked to be there, she knew she wasn't always around, her work schedule keeping her out late every other night. But she wanted them to know that they could count on her, if they needed her. That she would be there, if they needed her to be.

"Ah," She smiled warmly, always ready to tell a story. "It's a bit of a mismatch, really. In Italy, Christmas Eve is la vigilia - we don't eat meat on la vigilia. An old Catholic thing," She waved a hand non-committally. "But my Mama read an article once about America, and their Feast of Seven Fishes and my Papa was a fisherman, so every year we would have... well, as many fish as he could catch, really."

"I was never much of a fisherman." Giulia added. "But I do like cutting out paper fish. Makes for a nice alternative decoration." She added with a wink. It was a nice piece of home, and a nice way to spend time with the people she cared about, too.

She had been amused by his evident surprise at the revelation of somewhere smaller than Swynlake, because to her, Swynlake was actually a decent sized town. Small, yes, but given some of the villages and hamlets that she had grown up around, it felt quite civilised, quite gentrified.

"I'm from Baia Foca, in Southern Italy. It's a village right on the sea. It's not the type of place that can grow because of where it is, you see, so it's always been tiny, and it'll always be tiny. I think it has a charm to it, though."

"That sounds lovely," he said. "I spent so much of my life outside of London, then right in the city. I also did traveling to New York and Amsterdam, so coming here really felt like I'd finally found some small town. But I guess it isn't that tiny."

It was strange how much he both liked the small town living and missed being in more populated areas. He liked being in a place that felt so surrounded by nature but there was something familiar about the busier places he'd lived. Like all the constant noise and movement kept his mind busy. Never giving him a chance to stop and think for too long.

"Do you miss it? Baia Foca?" he asked, head tilting to the side just a touch.

Even though two years was a long time, she wasn’t sure she had an opinion on cities. She found the hustle and bustle equal parts exciting and terrifying. Striking out on her own somewhere like that… well, she had chosen Swynlake for a reason.

“Every day.” She answered John without hesitation, her accompanying smile small and bittersweet. “But I had my reasons for leaving and one day I’ll go back. Do you miss any of the places you’ve travelled to? Did you have a favourite?”

“It is. Makes one feel like they’re never alone,” he said with a small grin. John raised his glass to hers.

“To getting to know new people,” he replied, “and to being a little less alone.” He smiled as their glasses clinked against one another, bringing his drink to his lips.

She had been amused by his evident surprise at the revelation of somewhere smaller than Swynlake, because to her, Swynlake was actually a decent sized town. Small, yes, but given some of the villages and hamlets that she had grown up around, it felt quite civilised, quite gentrified.

"I'm from Baia Foca, in Southern Italy. It's a village right on the sea. It's not the type of place that can grow because of where it is, you see, so it's always been tiny, and it'll always be tiny. I think it has a charm to it, though."

Taking Giulia's hand, they gave it a small squeeze in return. "I - I mean, I can't go to a normal doctor. But Laurel knows a lot about elves and I already got given some medicine. I just have to be careful. Rest. Not touch more iron and not work in my lab for a bit."

But they didn't want her to feel bad. "But. Stuff like this is nice? Even if we don't do that much. It's nice to get to spend time with my friends and if I'm doing other things, the hours don't feel so long. I just. I like spending time with you. When you're happy and when you're sad."

She couldn't imagine not having any backup plan, though. So she was glad that even if it wasn't a full hospital with machines and tests and complicated words that Giulia couldn't wrap her head around, Luca had managed to get some care.

She smiled softly, her lips curving a little bit more as Luca spoke. They really didn't do this enough, that was true. But maybe they'd made a good point: it was things like this that helped pass the time. Giulia couldn't swim anymore, but she could fill her hours with other things. Spending time with her friends might help to cure the ache in her chest, even if it took a little while.

"I like spending time with you too." She told them. Her tone shifted a little, teasing as she added, "When you're sick and when you're not." Maybe she should get back to cutting out the paper fish, but instead, Giulia continued, "You're welcome here any time, though, you know. Whenever you like."

Though while the others were blackout drunk and couldn't recall the night the next morning, John was still relatively with it.

"Being around people is nice. And I have found that to be one of my favorite parts about coming here. All the people. And its a space where you can actually get to know the people you live near and interact with on the daily."

"I know what you mean." She smiled. "It's like that where I'm from - where I used to live, before moving here. It's a very small village, smaller than here, and everyone knows everyone. Which is sometimes annoying, I guess, but everyone takes the time to get to know one another, you know? It's nice."

With a pause, Giulia held up her glass for an impromptu toast, saying, "Here's to getting to know new people." She smiled. After all, wasn't that exactly what she and John were doing now?

It did change everything for Destiny. To know that she wasn't alone. Maybe her only friends that she'd been able to make on her own were also mercreatures (ha, at this point she felt she should even ask Cass, because who knew?)--

Maybe they only wanted to be her friend because they shared this secret and it was easier than being friends with anyone else...but they still had chosen her.

That mattered to Destiny, who didn't really have any friends at all.

She squeezed Giulia again. Destiny was glad that, at the very least, her magic couldn't be taken away from her. She only wished that her gift could help Giulia, that she could heal her and return her sealskin that way. But, she knew that it couldn't.

And it was still a secret she had to keep. So, really, how could she be angry with Giulia for keeping one?

"I know what you mean," Destiny agreed. "It feels good to know we don't have to worry about it with each other. I just...wish that I could help you get it back."

That was maybe the worst part of it: the loneliness. Because yes, she and Destiny shared a similar sort of secret, but it wasn't the same at all. No one could rob Destiny of her magic, the same with Maddy and Alana and all the other merfolk Giulia had heard of in Swynlake, though she may not know them directly.

To her knowledge, she was alone in this. In being a selkie, in having her magic taken from her. She was doing her best not to buckle under the weight of that, the crushing realisation of it, but it wasn't easy.

"It's okay." She said softly, another weak smile on her lips. "I know you'll help me through it. I'm just grateful for that."

After all, it was the most anyone could do for her now.

He didn't mind listening to her talk about herself, honestly. He did prefer it a bit to having to talk about himself. Because he was always reminded of how boring he was most of the time.

"Well, when the weather's better, I do spend a lot of time outside--thankfully I can do a lot of work remotely so I'll just go with a hotspot to a park or sit outside a cafe and work. Reading is also good--I don't read as often as I probably should, but when I do I enjoy it. Sometimes I go to the gym--especially this time of year when its harder to do stuff outside. It just keeps me active. I like movies as well." Had he rambled enough about himself yet? Was he boring her or over sharing?

"I also like meeting people. Being around people, talking, laughing, joking, gossiping... all that sort of stuff. That's more so why I enjoy a bar crawl rather than just getting wasted," he chuckled."

And she could agree entirely with what John said, because she was much the same herself. It was maybe one reason why Giulia had stuck in at her job for so long; because she enjoyed being around people, meeting them, learning about them. Talking tended to pass the time when the queue to get into Gusteau's was out the door, and she was quite sure it kept people from getting too upset about the wait.

"No, I get that entirely." She said with a smile. "I mean, I'm not going to say I haven't been known to get wasted, but I do prefer... I don't know. Something like this. Time to actually chat. And I suppose that's the nice thing about Swynlake - there's plenty of new people to meet."

"Sort of. I. Um. I've been working on my inhaler and I guess I was doing too many tests. I sort of made myself really sick. Hiro looked after me, and it should be okay. But. I'm not allowed back in the lab for the rest of the month until I'm better."

They casually skipped over everything Nick had to do to help them, not wanting to risk tying their names together while the other elf was still keeping secrets. It was all still true in its way.

Giulia chewed her lip, worry overtaking her. She didn't want anything else bad to happen, not to herself, not to anyone she cared about. She reached out to take their hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, glad at least that they'd had someone there to help them when they'd needed it.

"I suppose you can't really see a doctor." She sighed. Luca's predicament was similar to her own, in a way: she couldn't go to the police for risk of exposing who she was, and they couldn't go to a doctor for the same risk. After a moment, she asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

She was not expecting Giulia to say what she did next. Destiny's eyes automatically darted towards their laps. Hiding those rings. She felt her cheeks heat, though she wasn't sure why. Maddy had already seen them. And the Tritons knew...

It was a shared secret, but Destiny had never felt part of the community. After all, the cue for safety was visual and, therefore, Destiny could only be let in if someone else took the first step.

"I--well, I've kind of figured it out now...if you were telling me...about your sealskin. I'm...I'm glad you told me. Regardless but...it is nice to know. I don't. There isn't many of us. And my mother is always so worried about something happening."

Kind of like what had happened to Giulia...

Her stomach twisted, fear making her blood run cold.

"But--I...I'm glad we could share this."

Probably because there was no danger anymore. Or rather, she was in the eye of the storm, in the middle of a strange sense of calm. No one could harm her for her sealskin anymore, because she didn't have it to begin with.

Her mother had worried too. She had told her daughter so many stories, horrible, dreadful stories, about women forced to live on land and marry and have children, of entire families lost to poachers and witches and common thieves. Giulia supposed she fell into the latter, now. She hadn't heeded her mama well enough.

But the last thing she wanted to do was tell Destiny that her mother might be right, not from what she had heard about her mum. So instead she took a deep breath, smiled softly, and said, "Me too. I know it doesn't change too much, but - it feels a lot better than keeping it to myself."

“No, no, I’m definitely not a chef,” he chuckled. “My cooking skills are certainly lacking. To put it kindly toward myself.” He was a disaster in the kitchen, really. “But I do agree. Even though it’s not something I do to relax, I know it is something a lot of people do with passion. And at a level like Gusteau’s… that’s where you see a different side of passion. The competitive, bloodthirsty kind.” He shrugged. That was just the vibe he got whenever he heard about people working in kitchens.

“So when you’re not cooking or bar crawling, what do you like to do?” He asked, leaning an elbow against the counter.

She laughed lightly at John's description of it. She didn't know too much about the politics of the kitchen, but she knew that everyone had their job and their place - it probably did breed competition, especially in a restaurant as fancy as that. Hence why she generally liked to stay out of it, in the dining room, where the atmosphere was much more pleasant.

"Um-- well, I read a lot. I used to swim, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "A bit too cold to be walking around with wet hair." She finished, smiling lightly. "What about you?" She asked, becoming acutely aware of how much she'd been talking about herself. She smiled a little more brightly as she turned his question back around on him. "What do you like to do when you're not staying out of the kitchen or bar crawling?"

But they also didn't know what those ways would be. They'd try to think about it, maybe ask Nick or Hiro if they had any ideas since they knew so much more about the world. Maybe they could do some kind of research. But for now, they'd keep it to themself until they had something real to tell Giulia. If they had something real. They didn't want to make anything worse trying to help.

They went to lean against her again when they felt the familiar pull on their lungs. They had just enough time to pull away, turning their head into their arm away from her.

Then they began to cough. And cough. And cough. Finally, they felt the fit end and they blindly reached for their hot chocolate to take a sip. It maybe wasn't the best for them, but the heat soothed their throat anyway.

Their whole sides aches along with their ribs.

"Sorry. I was going to say that I'll miss it too, but maybe I wouldn't be any fun to swim with anyway."

She was almost glad to have something to focus on that wasn't her own misery, but she wasn't glad to hear that Luca wasn't having a good time either. Had she known they were sick? She suddenly felt a tinge of guilt that she hadn't even really thought to ask how they were doing, too caught up in her own problems, her own sadness.

Letting her hand fall away from Luca's back, Giulia turned towards them a little more, her brow creasing. "What's wrong?" She asked. "Are you ill?"

“You know mulled wine is the tits!” He waved for her to follow him. “Let’s go grab some plums.” Roland had a bit of adhd but so what! They had two mixers in this giant ass kitchen and they could work in tandem! “I think you’re onto something here G! People don’t give you enough credit! Come back here and work with me more! Give up that hostess gig!”

"Nah," She said after a moment. "I quite like it out there. It's not a bad gig."

It was, essentially, easy money. And besides, it felt like the type of job where if she did want to pick up and leave one day, she wouldn't be leaving anyone too in the lurch.

"I think it's way more stressful back here once the dinner rush starts." She laughed. "I'll leave the cooking to you chefs."

But it was getting better. He had stable jobs now. Or, well, stable-ish. More stable than he last one at least. And safer. Probably. Jury was still out on how safe working with Cruella would be--since she did seem to slightly misunderstand what his purpose was and she definitely treated him more like an assistant. But, hey, money was money.

"What do you do there? At Gusteau's?" John asked.

"I'm a hostess." Giulia nodded. "It's quite nice, actually. Not as much stress as being a server, but you get to meet lots of new people, keep things organised."

It was the meeting people that Giulia really did enjoy. Making sure it was passed along if it was someone's birthday or anniversary, trying to get the best tables for the nicer customers. It wasn't the most stimulating job in the world, but she really did enjoy it.

"I like cooking. I love it, in fact. But I don't think I could do it professionally." She shook her head, thinking of the kitchens at Gusteau's. "Cooking is supposed to be fun, I think. I don't think doing it professionally looks fun." She paused, smiling slightly as she asked, "I hope this isn't where you tell me you're a professional chef?"

It didn't make sense. But clearly it happened. They could see how devastated Giulia was, washed out like she'd been resting in the shallows for too long until the sun had leached away the color. It didn't make sense, but there was much in the human world that didn't make sense to them.

Luca scooted around the edge of the table until they could wrap their arms around Giulia, trying to give her the best hug they could. It seemed like the only thing they could do in that moment. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She didn't know what to say to Luca and his apologies. Could they even really understand? Luca could go back to the water whenever they wanted to, no special skins required. Giulia was doing her best not to feel bitter about that, much like with Destiny. People who could go back to the water whenever they liked, no strings attached, just their true selves and the bottom of the lake or the open ocean, if they could get to it.

Giulia took a deep breath, and gave Luca a gentle squeeze. "Thank you." She said softly. "I think I need to... I don't know. Accept it."

What else was there to do? With no idea where he seal-skin was or how to go about getting it back, surely she just needed to move on. To make peace with this new life.

Giulia looked at the paper fish on the table. She reached out with one hand, running her fingers over the brightly coloured paper. "I'll really miss swimming with you, though."

"What about...a sorcerer? Like Howl Pendragon or...I don't know." She just thought...maybe if she ever had a problem, she would maybe try to go to one of the powerful sorcerers in town. She would trust another Magick before she trusted the Mundus law enforcement.

"I'm sorry," she said again, squeezing Giulia's arm. "I wish...is there anything I can do? Do you--want a hug?"

Besides, she kept remembering that story her mother had told her when she was little. The witch who had stolen all those pelts and ground them down for her potions. Maybe it was just a cautionary tale about not leaving your seal-skin lying around, but Giulia didn't really want to take that chance. She was sure most of the sorcerers in town were trustworthy, but could you ever really tell?

She smiled, watery and wobbly, when Destiny squeezed her arm. She lay her hand over her friend's for a moment, until the offer of the hug. "Yes, please." She murmured, not hesitating to move forward and wrap her arms around her friend.

And, close as they were, Giulia thought it only right that she say something. Omission was a form of lying. So, after a moment, Giulia pulled back. Quietly, she said, "You-- you know that I know, don't you? About you. The rings around your eyes."