He’s drinking from the bottle, not at all caring that

the other is looking at him. Though when the man

does not stop staring, Zen smirks, and raises the

meme | accepting!

     Giotto’s skin was crawling as he paced like a caged animal in his office. Yes, he was supposed to be resting like everyone else that had fought today, but his injuries were far from the worst he’s ever had, and sitting still was beyond his abilites at present. Documents of varying importance littered the floorboards, and that which managed to stay on the desk was stained beyond recognition by the shattered inkwell. He should do something about the shards of glass that were still buried in his right hand, but he let the sting serve as the smallest of deterrents from tearing the room apart as he so desperately wanted to.

     Giotto knew he needed to calm down. He couldn’t start falling apart when their base–their home was in shambles and his men were bleeding, breaking, and dying from injuries he’d let them recieve. He was Vongola Primo–he needed to start acting like the leader he was supposed to be. He had to behave as if that ‘pep talk’ he’d given earlier was more than placitating words and actually start regaining control instead of acting like he hadn’t completely lost it.

     But damn it all she wasn’t supposed to die.

     It had been about an hour since the last brave soul had checked on the don since his composure started crumbling. He’d apologize later to the poor man that been on the recieving end of the blond’s heated glare. Giotto so rarely expressed such open rage that it was unsurprising that no one had attempted to disturb their usually gentle sky.

     It also meant that no one outside of his circle of guardians could tell when that anger was directed towards Giotto himself.

     When the door opened once more, Giotto knew to expect one of his guardians. He assumed it would be Asari or G–probably G, since the Storm knew how to handle Giotto better than anyone, and Asari probably had his hands full with Daemon–

     He glanced up with momentary surprise when he heard the voice of Alaude, of all people. The moment passed quickly, however, when the question registered. Giotto’s frown returned as the pacing began anew. ‘Happily ever after fairy tale’? Ha! Did Giotto really come off as that naive? Though, he supposed if he wasn’t they wouldn’t be in this situation, would they?

     He was not in the mood for this line of questioning.

     “Of course not,” he snapped. Part of Giotto knew that Alaude did nothing to warrent the tone–no one in this manor but himself was the cause of Giotto’s own irritability. But it’s not as if Alaude was unaware that Giotto was far from amicable at the moment. “Even I’m not that idealistic–though I suppose my judgement up to this point would say otherwise, wouldn’t it?”

     The itch beneath his skin grew worse and he could almost imagine the flame that was trying to flicker to life on his forehead as his irises flickered from blue to orange and back again. No–as relaxing as it may be, flying or even flying off the handle (even more than he already had) was not an option.

     “Maybe I never knew what I thought. I mean I knew the risks but I still went and did something as stupid as this. What did I think–just because I preferred peaceful methods of resolution, the rest of the mafia would abide by that? That’s  naiveté–no stupidity at it’s finest, I suppose.” A sharp pain in his hand reminded him why attacking furniture and walls was not a good idea, but looks like he’d forgotten that detail for a moment. Shaking his head, Giotto stepped away from the wall and reminded himself that the manor had suffered enough today–no need to damage it more.

     “Or perhaps it was arrogance? After all, it’s hard to recognize one’s own hubris before it ruins you.” Vongola Primo and his Guardians were strong. That was a fact as much as it was a deterrent for enemies to attack the famiglia. Another thought that had plagued him was that he was too complacent. He shouldn’t be relying soley on his Guardians’ reputation and skills. They were human too–they had been hurt today too, and lord knows Giotto asked so much of them already. But he’d taken it too far without meaning too–had let himself believe he didn’t need to be smart when they’d managed to claw their way out of tight spots before without losing many of thier own or any of their central fighters.

     He’d completely disregarded the safety of the men who weren’t like the Vongola’s top brass. And boy were they suffering for it now. Giotto’s pacing slowed to a stop as he finally looked at Alaude, eyes still flickering between colors as Elena’s face flashed in his mind’s eye. The guilt that had been making him feel trapped in his own skin returned, making his head swim and his stomach roll as it blended once more with the slew of negative emotions that he couldn’t seem to stop cyclling through.

     “I am an idiot. As horrible as it may sound, I was more prepared to face losing one of you six before…” He would hate himself (and he didn’t now?) if he ever found out he’d sent one of his guardians to their death on a mission–but it was a risk he was prepared for. As much faith Giotto held in their abilites, there was always a risk. A risk that put him on edge when sends one of his friends on a dangerous (or even supposedly safe) mission, and keeps him up every night theyr’e gone.

     But they knew the risks just as well as he and Giotto always made sure they knew it was their choice. No matter how ‘dire’ a situation, or how much sense it made to send one of them away, Giotto was not the kind to order his guardians away on a task they didn’t want to take.They all chose to put their life on the line with every battle fought, mission accepted, and enemy made.

     But Elena wasn’t a fighter.

     She was just as involved in the Vongola as any of them, and no one would deny that she was just as important to the family as any guardian–but she was supposed to be in the least danger of them all. If anyone was to survive all of this madness and violence it was supposed to be her–

“Um... Thank you, Alaude-san, for taking the time out of your day to help me get stronger...” Originally, Tsuna was going to ask Hibari for help with his training, but he couldn’t find the cloud guardian and figured he’d better not risk looking for him.

On the way home from the grocery store, however, he ran into Alaude and, after explaining how debit cards work and the benefits of them, asked him if he didn’t mind eventually helping Tsuna with some training.

Tsuna wasn’t expecting a response to it, considering he’s weaker than Hibari and Alaude has declined Hibari numerous times for that reason alone. He did get a response though, a yes, and a hand at his back telling him to lead the way.

Send a text to my muse on accident, whether it was a wrong number, wrong contact, or just supposed to be deleted.

[20:21] I’m surprised you don’t know my address already.

[20:21] I wouldn’t be opposed to going to your place.

@nuaridit

Another night, another productive day back at the office. Perhaps if Cirino had been less motivated and talented as he truly was, he would’ve given up long ago--but his tenacity had served him well, allowing him to claw his way to the top of the hierarchy and gain success after success. Though with success came obstacles, enemies, both physical and mental, and Cirino had long since learnt how to anticipate and deal with them.

He’d never learnt how to deal with this particular obstacle, however.

Curiosity.

Well, curiosity and lust.

Glancing at the man standing in front of his company building, Cirino couldn’t help but feel a piquing of his interest, especially by how the streetlamps illuminated his pale hair, and how the drastic cast of shadows across his silhouette only highlighted the delicate features of his face. That was a face that could sell for millions if marketed correctly, he supposed; he’d business sense enough to know when an investment was promising.

But he was digressing--if the man had the intention of attractive Ciro, he’d more than succeeded in his goal.

“Are you waiting for someone?”