avalononline | [Text; UN: DemonsandSugar]

i know that NOW
he said i was old enough to take care of myself
and i CAN
so it's kinda funny
in the end i guess he was right.
cuz thats what ive been doing.
i guess i just always sortof hoped he was wrong...

[ Wait, wait, this sounds fresh... Not quite like an adult ruminating on his sad childhood. Ostensibly, this anon may still be a child? ]

Yeah, life isn't fair. The quicker you learn that, the better off you'll be.

But there's always something sweet to make your day better.

[He can tell that he is probably chatting with a kid. Childhood wasn't easy for him either.]

oh yeah always
it's a lot sweeter when there's someone else to share it with though
being alone all the time for that long was fun but boring yknow??
life got like 300x better when i met my best friend
he gott me off the island

Being alone is always boring.

Your father left you on an island? What a jerk. You must be tough, huh.

I grew up in a city. At least finding food was pretty easy - even if most of it was rotten.

being alone isn't always boring
i made my own fun after dad left
i just did whatever i wanted it was great
this is my first time living in a city and it's annoyig im alone again but can't always do whatever i want either
i can take care of myself better than ever now tho
after we ran away my friend's friend's dad taught me how to cook some stuff
definitely eating better here than i ate on the island HAH

Look... [Kids pull at his heart. Sometimes. When he's saner.] There's a man you should know. His name is Xiao Xingchen and he'll make sure you have everything you need. I'm living with him right now and I can help you too if you like.

look thanks but im not asking for charity
i just said i can take care of myself better than ever now
im FINE

[ Exactly what a child who isn't fine would say. He's absolutely keeping the name in the back of his mind. Alberto can't fight, refuses to go to school, none of the fish mongers or seafood restaurants in town will hire him to work as a fisherman because of his age... He's hard up on money and steals half of what he has. And he has... a lot. A lot more than he needs. But it's not what he needs, and it's no way to keep going on and he knows it. He's not living on a private island, trapped in Albertoland anymore; he's part of society now, and that shit doesn't fly. He's just too prideful for his own good. From the sounds of it, though, he's had to be so prideful, just to weather the storm. At least two years in isolation, abandoned, involuntarily self-sufficient... does something to a young boy's ego. ]

Mmhm. Look, kid, we all fall on hard times. My daozhang is the sort of man you can rely on and he wouldn't think of it as charity. He likes helping other people.

[As for him...well... It's not like he can say no to a kid who is probably in a similar position as his younger self.]

im sure
and thats great
but thats the kind of man i want to be too...
yknow?

Edited 2021-10-11 19:20 (UTC)

And you will be, but you gotta give it time. It doesn't happen overnight.

He could be a good teacher.

[ His mind goes to Massimo immediately; he misses his last "teacher" on how to be a good man. Not because he needed Massimo's help — which he knows he did, and still would, were the fisherman here — but because he respected him. The thought, the invitation of those fond memories, softens his reaction to Xue Yang's suggestion a bit. ]

fine
how do i reach him

You can reach him here.

[He's impressed with himself, okay. Magic has always excited him and this stuff is useful.

Also Xiao Xingchen is someone who should be respected. He's everything Xue Yang isn't.]

ok

[ There's a delay before his next response... a deliberative silence, before deciding, indeed, to hit this guy up. What's the worst that can happen, right? No one taught Alberto stranger danger, clearly... But he does at least know well enough to be kind to Xue Yang for trying to help. He's maybe not polite, exactly — but sincere. ]

hey
thanks

No problem! We'll see each other plenty if you get friendly with the daozhang. He's keeping an eye on me.

[For many, many reasons.]

really
why?
arent you a grown up??

And a criminal.

oh

[ There's a slight delay, but another text follows after a couple beats. ]

why

The world treated me like a dog, so I bit back!

[ Oh, god, Xue Yang, don't put it like that... Alberto is already walking a thin legal line in society... ]

ah.

and your uh
what is he called again?? the dao guy
hes helping you not be a criminal anymore?

[He might be an awful influence. No, he absolutely is. This is why Xiao Xingchen exists.]

He caught me and he is the reason I was put in prison. Can you believe that?

but i thoguht he was your friend

We're a work in progress!

ha!

[ He likes that response more than he can say... ]

yknow
i had a guy kinda like that back home
my boss
Massimo
i worked in his pescheria and he put me up in his house and taught me all kinds of stuff
made sure i wasnt getting into trouble......
well
or at least TRIED TO ha!!
i wasnt really the best employee but... whenever i messed up
we fixed it.

The kind of trouble I got into couldn't be fixed. But I've been pretty good here. I think he's beginning to like me~

[ALSO.]

What's a pescheria?

we were fishermen
he sold fish
id help him fish and then deliver the fish on a bike to everyone in town

i didnt think he liked me either cuz he never talked…… like EVER
and then i uh
burned his boat… i ran away cuz i thought for sure i was fired and hed hate me for ruining his business
but he stopped me
and we fixed the boat together
and he started talking finally
told me stories about his life
it was nice…

[ This is the first time Alberto’s told anyone here about his father — and while it’s not the first time he’s told someone about Massimo, Xue Yang is now the only person to get the full picture about their dynamic, the gravity of the contrast between the two men in Alberto’s life. And while he wouldn’t normally be so brave to be so frank about it, were he not under anonymous, too prideful, too much to prove… being honest and open talking about his life in Portorosso, without boasting, is also nice, in itself. More relieving than he’d expected it’d feel. ]

(no subject)

cultivatingsin - 2021-11-02 13:49 (UTC) - Expand

cw: Ciao Alberto spoilers (but nothing that'll ruin it once it's officially released, promise)

prontissimo - 2021-11-02 14:21 (UTC) - Expand