prontissimo | kaisou inbox

[ Alberto's caught by surprise at first when she offers her hand to him, but he's not too old to hold her hand by any means. He's touch-starved and has such an out of touch concept of what maturity levels kids his age are at; but more than that, he'll eat up any bit of attention and affection, without hesitation. So while it catches him off guard, he takes her hand happily, thinking back on how she held his hand the first time she met him, too, when they were going upstairs together. He'd been surprised and touched by it then, but having grown closer to Pepa since, it's an even nicer feeling now. He's never been mothered, never had any adult women in his life closely. He's even never walked down a street hand-in-hand with anyone, besides maybe Luca briefly — but certainly never with his own father. There were no streets. There was no need to hold hands. But even if it's a bit unfamiliar to him — he decides he likes it.

So they'll walk hand-in-hand together on their way, Alberto's smiling bright-eyed up at her as they chat, already getting schmaltzy and enthused about this trip from the moment they step off. ]

I'm so excited, heh! I love shopping. That's basically my job here— I mean, before I started school, it was. I don't shop at stores a lot, though, cuz I don't usually buy a lot of new stuff... I guess, except at the Home Depot. And, y'know, groceries.

[ "Shopping" was his job...? Even as they get closer, the things Alberto says never seem to add up, no matter what. ]

You can make a job out of shopping??

[Okay, Alberto you have her attention. She's got no idea how to take that at all.]

I've been checking out a lot of the stores here since I arrived. There are a lot more than in the Encanto. Many more kinds. So many new things. The city itself is much bigger too. I have been lost a few times...

[ The limits of Alberto's hodgepodge sense of responsibility will always be shifting back and forth, Pepa. His job is shopping... but he's great at getting around the city. Go figure. ]

Mmhmm, I used to get lost sometimes, but now I know my way around great — hah, from shopping, actually. D'you take the bus, Signora? There's a thing on the Everything Machine that makes it really easy to follow the bus. And the magic map thing helps a lot, too, when you're walking.

[ He waves a hand in the air as if that perfectly illustrates "Google Maps." It... probably does not. ]

I use them both a lot — I go allllllll over town when I'm shopping. It's cuz I'm usually going to people's houses. For sales. Yard sales, garage sales, estate sales — that's where you really find the best stuff. I only go to the stores after I'm done shopping, though— to sell all the cool stuff I bought. Pawn shops, vintage shops, sometimes antique stores... Places that buy old stuff. Uuusually they'll pay me more than I paid for things, ha~ But if not, I just fix the thing up and take it to a different store — then they'll pay me more, heh! I've got a whole system. I've made a looot of money like this~

[ ........These are all secondhand curiosities and of very little value, so there's nothing criminal about what he's doing, but the fact that Alberto's come up with this reselling scheme on his own at age 14 with limited experience living in society at all is... kind of terrifying? And/or impressive? Is it moderately dishonest? Yes. Is it also endlessly fun and fascinating? Absolutely. The scales balance for him. And he seems very proud of this. ]

I am not sure what a bus is or how to find a magical map that would help me get around.

[Pepa has not discovered the glory of google maps. She mostly uses her phone to text. Which she finds delightful. But most of the colorful buttons on her phone's screen have gone uninvestigated as of yet. A mystery to be solved by Alberto at some point, surely.]

You can do something like that? Ay... buying something for one price and selling it for more... to think such a thing is possible. The people of this world are very strange. But I suppose the value is up to the buyer...

I'll show you later, don't worry! We can take the bus home, heh.

[ Alberto seems inordinately proud of his reselling scheme, puffing his chest out with a smarmy grin when she says the value is up to the buyer. ]

Yeah, it is! I think it's because the people selling a lot of this stuff are selling it for too cheap, because they just wanna get rid of it. Like at estate sales. Those are the best. Dead people have the best stuff.

[ ...Does Bruno need to have a talk with his boy, or is this harmless fun...? ]

Dead people?? Dead people are selling you things??

[Look. She had to ask. There were skeletons in the land of the forgotten and she had to fight one a little to protect her niece. She would not be surprised if dead people rising back up to sell things are just a thing in the city for some reason...]

No, no, no, signora. The dead people's families sell all the dead people's stuff at their old house. I've found some of my best stuff like that! You should go to one someday, signora, it's fun~

[ ...Alberto... Completely impervious to how morbid his nonchalance over this is. ]

[She sighs in relief. Good. No more skeletons please.]

That does make more sense. So it is sort of like a market?

Not exaaactly? More like, whoever wants to buy the people's stuff just show up at their house whenever the people say the sale will start. If you get there early, like really early, you'll be in the front of the line, so you'll get to look at everything before everyone else buys all the good stuff. That's how you gotta do it.

[ He's got a whole method to all this and everything... He seems so smitten with himself, though, smirking as he brags about his "livelihood," even as he keeps holding Pepa's hand, slightly swinging their arms together as they walk in step. He makes an idle point to keep falling in step with her, like a little game by himself while happily chatting as they stroll along toward the toy shop. ]

[A nice little stroll and a nice little chat.]

You really put a lot of thought and effort into it, don't you? Working so hard at such a young age.

[She's feeling more and more sure about this trip. At his age, Alberto should still be having fun. Not just working all the time.]

I do. But this is fun work. My job back home was way harder~ In my friend's dad's pescheria. I was a fisherman, Signora! Did Bruno ever tell you that?

[ He swings their hands slightly, seeming more chipper to raise the topic. He hasn't ever mentioned it to her himself, but he has no idea what Bruno may share behind his back. Alberto talks about Bruno all the time, after all. ]

Si. He did mention that. He was very excited to introduce me to you.

[And nervous, because who could tell what would go down with Pepa and Alberto in the same space. She got stressed easily. He was... an experience.]

What was it like to be a fisherman?

[ Alberto's somehow surprised but incredibly touched and proud that, apparently, Alberto's time spent working in Massimo's pescheria is a detail Bruno felt was worth mentioning as an introduction to Alberto, before he met Pepa. Like that's a crucial fact about him. Granted, this was in May, now it's September; it hadn't been so long he'd been away from the pescheria back then. But all the same, he's happy knowing that's apparently an important characteristic of his... It puts a smile on his face. It's still interesting for him to hear how other people perceive him, after spending so much of his life alone. Gives him a tickle.

That said, he's more than happy to talk about fishing, and to brag about Massimo — always. ]

Oh, it was great~ We were basically the best team ever — me and my friend's dad. Massimo. Oh, and his cat, Machiavelli, hah. Massimo's probably the best fisherman in the world? I'm probably the second best, ha. We used to bring in huge catches~

[ ...already sounding like a fish story. ]

[Tall tales. Typical, at his age, honestly?]

Just the two of you? How impressive. I bet you ate well every day with catches like that.

[She'll indulge it since it's harmless.]

I have never caught a fish in my life. The worms for bait... aye. No gracias. They're so slimy!

Ah, see, Signora, we didn't use worms. We were catching hundreds of fish, y'know, to sell for the pescheria. So we used casting nets, not fishing poles. Plus Massimo only had one arm, so—

[ He tucks his left arm behind his back and waves his elbow at her. ]

Even more impressive, ha! But he could fish with a pole, too! Just not as easily. But Massimo could do anything — and he's the best cook ever. I mean— It doesn't heal your body, but, other than that, ha. Best human food ever.

[ Alberto prattles on happily beside her. It's clear, the more time they spend together, why Bruno took a shine to the kid. For all his brightness and high energy, when you get him fully in the spotlight for a moment, he just seems... lonely. Eager to have someone, anyone, but especially an adult, take interest in him and listen to him chat at length. That's all he ever had to do growing up with his dad, who ran out of patience for it; and something he never did with Massimo. It's no wonder Bruno must have seen right through him like this...

Wait, did he say "human food?" Wha—? ...Weird kid. Sweet, lonely, weird kid. ]

[Sweet, lonely, weird kid. Just like Bruno when they were little.

The lonely weirdos of any age need to stick together. She's sticking with her brother now like she should have all along.

She'll stick with Alberto too.

She smiles fondly at his exuberance. The way he lights up when he speaks of Massimo.]

That is very impressive, si. This Massimo... he sounds like an impressive man. One who didn't let anything stop him from the sound of it. I think that is a very noble quality to have.

[ Alberto beams at her, fancying himself similarly someone who doesn't let anything stop him — or at least he'd like to be... And it's most definitely an accurate way to describe Massimo, in Alberto's eyes, who still sits on such a high pedestal even without having seen him for so long. As far as Alberto's concerned, as long as Massimo talks, he only has noble qualities... He wouldn't even mind the rules so much if he just, y'know, said something. But knowing they're over that now — that if and when he goes home, he'll have conversation to look forward to... Like this. Like he has with Pepa and Bruno. ...If and when he goes home, yeah. He gives Pepa's hand a little squeeze, his smile still turned on her — just something a little softer in his eyes now. ]

Yeah. For sure.

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