[ Alberto's certainly mentioned Bruno in passing before; he's known Katsuki nearly as long as he's known Bruno, after all. But probably it's been no more than an offhand mention that the man's apparently a friend of his, bragging vaguely about how cool he is, dropping relevant superficial details here or there, which is not so noteworthy at the face value he presents it. He's not one to get schmaltzy, not with words, as much as he does praise the people in his life behind their backs offhandedly. It's in subtle, candid, "kind-of-a-given" ways. Not launching into lofty musings about the symbolic roles they might play in his life and elaborating on why they're as close as they are. No, no, it's been more like, "My friend Bruno's great. He's the coolest. And his rats." Alberto's definitely described Bruno a few times to Katsuki in frames like this, but nothing more. Alberto tries to keep his hands clean, emotionally, in many ways. And unfortunately, one way is entirely bottling his feelings up and not telling anyone he's struggling, just pulling away from people and stewing in it. So by this point, well over a month since Bruno's been gone, there's a dwindling likelihood of Alberto spontaneously opening up to Katsuki to give him the full scoop on his deep love and mourning for Bruno Madrigal. The sense of loss has already started to harden, Alberto now yet another member of Bruno's family resenting his absence. And lately, for the first time since Bruno and Alberto became friends over nine months ago — fitting in far too well with the rest of the Madrigals now — he won't talk about Bruno.
So whatever unsettling, inexplicable vibes are hanging in the air about Alberto and his home, will just have to linger there, unspoken and unidentified for now. If it comes up, he won't lie about it. He'll talk about it. But he most certainly won't talk about it. He'll press onto whatever is the nearest exit route from a remotely vulnerable, emotional, uncomfortable conversation. That is not today's mood, regardless of whether he's able to actually shed that aura. It's likely not going to be enough to convince Katsuki that Alberto's okay, but that's okay — or so he tells himself. He's still all about the distractions at hand, full attention.
Katsuki's matter-of-fact but tongue-in-cheek response throws Alberto for a little loop. He looks from the cake to Katsuki, back to the cake, and back to Katsuki, brow raised confusedly once more. ]
Uh— Yeah, I kinda did. Is that a thing? Were we supposed to be paying you all this time? Cuz, uh.
[ He pointedly shuts the box and sets it aside on the table, back in the bag, then leans back into the cushions with his arms spread, crossing one leg over his knee, lounging in a relaxed, businesslike, confident pose. His tone and face are sarcastically rather flat, though. ]
We owe you a lot of cake, then.
[ That's... one way of expressing gratitude for all the help and lessons Katsuki has given the boys over time, yes. Acknowledgement, cheeky as it is. What else does Katsuki expect by now, though. This is par for the course for them both. ]
\o/
So whatever unsettling, inexplicable vibes are hanging in the air about Alberto and his home, will just have to linger there, unspoken and unidentified for now. If it comes up, he won't lie about it. He'll talk about it. But he most certainly won't talk about it. He'll press onto whatever is the nearest exit route from a remotely vulnerable, emotional, uncomfortable conversation. That is not today's mood, regardless of whether he's able to actually shed that aura. It's likely not going to be enough to convince Katsuki that Alberto's okay, but that's okay — or so he tells himself. He's still all about the distractions at hand, full attention.
Katsuki's matter-of-fact but tongue-in-cheek response throws Alberto for a little loop. He looks from the cake to Katsuki, back to the cake, and back to Katsuki, brow raised confusedly once more. ]
Uh— Yeah, I kinda did. Is that a thing? Were we supposed to be paying you all this time? Cuz, uh.
[ He pointedly shuts the box and sets it aside on the table, back in the bag, then leans back into the cushions with his arms spread, crossing one leg over his knee, lounging in a relaxed, businesslike, confident pose. His tone and face are sarcastically rather flat, though. ]
We owe you a lot of cake, then.
[ That's... one way of expressing gratitude for all the help and lessons Katsuki has given the boys over time, yes. Acknowledgement, cheeky as it is. What else does Katsuki expect by now, though. This is par for the course for them both. ]