Lorenzo had taken a boat to this island. Hell, he hadn't even been given its name until they were over halfway there (and excuse him, but who took boats anymore? No plane ride? Seriously?). Christ, it had been a real fucking experience, that much he could say without a date. Most of the people who had come over with him were human (mostly), but there was some strange fucking shit going on around here.
Enzo had brought with him only two suitcases. No phone, because that had to be gotten rid of for reasons. Not that it mattered. He didn't have Angelo's number, and he was prohibited from calling anyone else in the family. No old friends. Nothing. Cut the fuck off. He'd been informed that Angelo would know to pick him up, but that was all. His father wasn't a fan of giving Lorenzo any details unless they were necessary.
He sat on a bench at the boardwalk as he waited, setting both suitcases at his side and leaning back with his arms crossed to watch people as they passed. It was somewhat cold, likely more chilly here because of the water. Impatiently, Lorenzo tapped his foot and huffed a few times. He took out the pamphlet he'd been given about this 'Manta Carlos' and read through the primary information, making faces the entire time.
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@Thoth
God, I'm sorry this took so long. @_@
God, I'm sorry this took so long. @_@
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Angelo considered himself to be pretty chill, as far as life went. He wasn't easily bothered by more or less anything. People could insult him and try and antagonist him all he wanted, and he'd be just fine.
But the moment he got word that Lorenzo was coming, Angelo stopped being chill. Lorenzo coming was like a nuclear bomb being set up in the middle of his life. There was no conceivable way that the situation was not going to blow up.
Did he go to pick him up in uniform? No, he decided--that'd just be antagonizing him. So Angelo took some emergency leave, put on a normal freaking shirt, and headed down to the docs to pick him up.
The information he had was equal parts slim and bad. Enzo had killed someone important. He needed to hide, or he was going to end up dead. Beyond that? Well, the don hadn't even spoken to Angelo in a long while, so the fact that he'd broken his silence to do so was probably not a good sign.
The first sign of Enzo on the dock made his stomach do a flip, but he simply braced himself and stepped up, stopping in front of him.
"It's been a while," Angelo said, his stomach attempting to crawl it's way out of his body.
But the moment he got word that Lorenzo was coming, Angelo stopped being chill. Lorenzo coming was like a nuclear bomb being set up in the middle of his life. There was no conceivable way that the situation was not going to blow up.
Did he go to pick him up in uniform? No, he decided--that'd just be antagonizing him. So Angelo took some emergency leave, put on a normal freaking shirt, and headed down to the docs to pick him up.
The information he had was equal parts slim and bad. Enzo had killed someone important. He needed to hide, or he was going to end up dead. Beyond that? Well, the don hadn't even spoken to Angelo in a long while, so the fact that he'd broken his silence to do so was probably not a good sign.
The first sign of Enzo on the dock made his stomach do a flip, but he simply braced himself and stepped up, stopping in front of him.
"It's been a while," Angelo said, his stomach attempting to crawl it's way out of his body.
Normally, Lorenzo might have sneered if someone just randomly came up and spoke to him, but he knew who it was. He looked up at Angelo, the expression on his face jumping from boredom to genuine excitement. "Angelo!" He called, standing, but not hugging his long-time friend.
"Shit, it's been forever." Enzo was honestly just glad he was going to be getting off this fucking dock. "So, hrm, the whole island is this way, huh?" he said with one quick glance around.
Wow, Angelo had grown. Enzo might have pelted his old friend with questions, but he didn't wanna look so pathetic. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and rocked a hint awkwardly from heel to toe, trying to come off completely casual. It was the same way Enzo had always acted when trying to express how cool his dad was, or when he'd really liked a girl.
"How have things been, Angelo? What's new? Never thought I'd get to see you again. Funny the way things turn out, huh?"
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Seeing Lorenzo after so long was having an unusual effect on Angelo. His memories of the other man were old, and the trick with such old memories was that he'd twisted them just out of shape. The Lorenzo he remembered had been larger than life, but this one was just a man. A man, not an entity, not some being that had all but ruled his life without even trying.
"Pretty much," Angelo confessed. "I'd say easily ninety-five percent of the island is some kind of supernatural. Human with powers, fairy, dwarf, sea monster, you name it. Try not to stare too much, you'll offend someone."
As if warning him that he'd offend someone was going to stop Lorenzo. He remembered that much as clear as day.
"Mutual," he admitted. "I knew I was going to be going back to New York, and I didn't think anyone else would end up here, least of all you. I'd basically made my peace with that, although I'd considered sending christmas cards at one point."
Probably a bad idea, which was why he hadn't done it.
"Uh, not much," Angelo said, casually avoiding any of the fifteen possible subjects that could lead to an argument. "Doing fine on my own, basically. You'll be staying in one of the spare rooms in the house I live in, I already talked to the owner."
Angelo bent down, grabbing both of Enzo's suitcases himself, a vague feeling of nostalgia running through him. Just like old times, he supposed.
"Any idea how long you'll be laying low here?"
Angelo really hoped the answer was 'not long'.
"Pretty much," Angelo confessed. "I'd say easily ninety-five percent of the island is some kind of supernatural. Human with powers, fairy, dwarf, sea monster, you name it. Try not to stare too much, you'll offend someone."
As if warning him that he'd offend someone was going to stop Lorenzo. He remembered that much as clear as day.
"Mutual," he admitted. "I knew I was going to be going back to New York, and I didn't think anyone else would end up here, least of all you. I'd basically made my peace with that, although I'd considered sending christmas cards at one point."
Probably a bad idea, which was why he hadn't done it.
"Uh, not much," Angelo said, casually avoiding any of the fifteen possible subjects that could lead to an argument. "Doing fine on my own, basically. You'll be staying in one of the spare rooms in the house I live in, I already talked to the owner."
Angelo bent down, grabbing both of Enzo's suitcases himself, a vague feeling of nostalgia running through him. Just like old times, he supposed.
"Any idea how long you'll be laying low here?"
Angelo really hoped the answer was 'not long'.
Lorenzo tried his best not to stare. After all, Angelo was one of those magical human types, wasn't he? But Enzo had never seen Angelo as one of them. Angelo had been his childhood friend, nearly a brother. He puffed up one cheek indignantly. He continued to stare people down when they walked by.
"Yeeah," Enzo said, with an air of awkwardness as his free hand rubbed the base of his neck. "Good thing you didn't. Shit really hit the fan after a few years. Really really hit the fan."
Nothing new? Seemed everything was new to Enzo. For a second (and only a second) Enzo wondered what Angelo wasn't saying. He figured it must not have been important. "Owner. Right. Sweet." Lorenzo didn't say so, but he was enthusiastic to room with Angelo. They could spend time together, like the old days.
It should have occurred to him that nothing would ever be the same, even if both of them hadn't changed (for worse or better). Things didn't move backward. He watched Angelo pick up his suitcases, just like the other man used to do.
"Dad says indefinitely." Enzo was quick to move on from that, unable to not poke at Angelo a bit as they began walking. "Nothing new at all? No new girl? What do you do now, professionally?"
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He was staring. He was still staring. Thankfully the island was pretty ambivalent about staring--rude, but not something worth fighting over--so Lorenzo wasn't already getting into fights, even if he wasn't making any friends.
And of course he had to go straight for the proverbial jugular.
Angelo cringed, shifting both of Enzo's bags into one hand. Challenging for a human, easy enough for him, considering his strength had increased almost exponentially.
"Well, fuck, I was honestly going to hold off on telling you until you were sitting down, but if you're going to ask I'm not going to lie to your face. I play for the other team at this point," he said, realizing only after he said it that it was a double entendre. "I started working with the cops after I got here. Manta Carlos doesn't hold people accountable for the stuff they did in the mundane world, which is the reason you can hide here at all."
And of course he had to go straight for the proverbial jugular.
Angelo cringed, shifting both of Enzo's bags into one hand. Challenging for a human, easy enough for him, considering his strength had increased almost exponentially.
"Well, fuck, I was honestly going to hold off on telling you until you were sitting down, but if you're going to ask I'm not going to lie to your face. I play for the other team at this point," he said, realizing only after he said it that it was a double entendre. "I started working with the cops after I got here. Manta Carlos doesn't hold people accountable for the stuff they did in the mundane world, which is the reason you can hide here at all."
Lorenzo whistled low in astonishment when Angelo held both his suitcases in one hand. That was a good deal of strength. Was that some freakazoid power thing? Must have been, right?
Enzo's walking slowed for such a brief moment it was nearly undetectable as Angelo began to speak. His heart raced in anticipation. Was Angelo trying to tell Lorenzo he was gay? It should have been a relief that he wasn't, but working for the cops wasn't much better.
Lorenzo breathed out slowly, looking away and wishing they could have been anywhere else but in public. All his questions at that point just came down to 'why?'
"The police, eh? Why the fuck did ya decide to work for them?" He hadn't meant to come off so aggressive, but fucking come on. After a long boat ride here and now all this! How was Lorenzo going to fit in here if the only person he knew was a cop? "Dirty cop?"
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Angelo was, in many ways, almost unflappable. He simply wasn't bothered by the overwhelming majority of things. He'd grown up dealing with tougher stuff than most, and it took something a lot more specific than calling him a fucking narc to get under his skin.
Something like Enzo--his childhood companion-slash-best-friend-slash-idol--implying he was a dirty cop.
"No," he said, far more forcefully than he intended. It was a damn good thing he hadn't picked him up in a fucking cruiser, and as he pushed Enzo's suitcases into the back seat, climbing into the driver's side himself, he gestured for Enzo to follow.
He waited until he was inside before he said anything more.
"I'm not a dirty cop," he said firmly. "I didn't have anyone when I moved here, I left all that behind. I started over, and I picked a profession that worked for me. I'm not dirty."
Alright, maybe a bit too defensive.
Something like Enzo--his childhood companion-slash-best-friend-slash-idol--implying he was a dirty cop.
"No," he said, far more forcefully than he intended. It was a damn good thing he hadn't picked him up in a fucking cruiser, and as he pushed Enzo's suitcases into the back seat, climbing into the driver's side himself, he gestured for Enzo to follow.
He waited until he was inside before he said anything more.
"I'm not a dirty cop," he said firmly. "I didn't have anyone when I moved here, I left all that behind. I started over, and I picked a profession that worked for me. I'm not dirty."
Alright, maybe a bit too defensive.
Lorenzo made a face at Angelo's forcefulness. He hadn't expected the aggression over a mere suggested. To Enzo, it would have been a bigger badge of honor to be dirty than clean when in the law enforcement gig.
"Okay, ya not dirty," Enzo said, much like a petulant child. He crossed his arms in a huff once he was in the passenger seat and leaned against the window. "That ya way of tellin' me to behave myself?"
Lorenzo tried to imagine where he would best fit in on an island like this, but he came up blank every time. He only knew crime, for one, and his only contact was a fucking clean cop. He gritted his teeth.
"Anything else ya wanna tell me that's changed?" he grouched, voice a tad challenging.
"The fuck am I even supposed to do here, Angelo? I don't wanna be cop, and I don't fit in with all these fuckin' freaks."
It didn't even register to Enzo that Angelo may have counted himself among them. To Lorenzo, Angelo wasn't one of them. He was a mafioso. He was a childhood friend and protector.
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Angelo had spent a long, long time with Lorenzo. He knew the other boy, even if it'd been years, and as different as things were, it felt a bit like slipping into an old glove to be dealing with him again.
Angelo was so calm and unbothered because he'd grown up dealing with Enzo, and it was so, so easy to fall back into old patterns to placate the old man, his tone even and unphased.
"Yes," Angelo said. "Your father sent you here so that you'd be safe. You don't want to deal with organized crime here--you're out of your depth. There are monsters here, real monsters, and if I let you get eaten by something with six mouths I'll have let your father down."
Enzo was going to regret asking if anything else had changed, though.
"I reap the souls of the dead," Angelo pointed out, starting the car and putting it into drive. "That's why I could do my disappearing trick. Turns out dad probably wasn't dad--my mom probably had someone on the side who wasn't human, since what I've got is genetic. If I can come to terms with learning that, you can learn to lay low on an island full of supernaturals."
Angelo was so calm and unbothered because he'd grown up dealing with Enzo, and it was so, so easy to fall back into old patterns to placate the old man, his tone even and unphased.
"Yes," Angelo said. "Your father sent you here so that you'd be safe. You don't want to deal with organized crime here--you're out of your depth. There are monsters here, real monsters, and if I let you get eaten by something with six mouths I'll have let your father down."
Enzo was going to regret asking if anything else had changed, though.
"I reap the souls of the dead," Angelo pointed out, starting the car and putting it into drive. "That's why I could do my disappearing trick. Turns out dad probably wasn't dad--my mom probably had someone on the side who wasn't human, since what I've got is genetic. If I can come to terms with learning that, you can learn to lay low on an island full of supernaturals."