[fic] Second Chance | D59, sorta
for mienai_hoshi. i'm sorry, this is probably a very old fic/doujin plot, but it only occurred to me recently and it demanded some ficcing XD;
(hugs len)
These were the very first things that Dino had noticed about the boy:
White gold hair.
And eyes like fire.
"Stop looking at me like that," the boy snapped at him. It made him sit up and blink.
"Like what?"
The boy's eyes narrowed. He pouted, seemingly without being aware of it. He might have thought he was scowling, which only made it all the more adorable. If it was indeed intended to be a scowl, it was the most unsuccessful scowl Dino had ever seen.
The boy tried to read again. But soon enough an annoyed grumble made its way up the boy's throat, as he realized he wasn't going to be able to read in peace. He wasn't in a position to tell his host to bugger off either, seeing as this was his library and it was his book the boy was holding in his hand.
"I'm not looking at you, Gokudera," Dino calmly assured him.
In answer the boy stood, tucked the book under his arm, and made his way to the balcony.
Dino didn't begrudge him that; it was brighter there, anyway. Dino liked to read there himself, if it wasn't too windy. It was a bit windy, but it didn't seem like that mattered to his young guest. What mattered was getting away from his pesky host and his host's pesky habit of staring.
But his host wasn't exactly glued to his seat either. When the boy left for the balcony, Dino followed. He stood, leaning back against the marble bannister, while the boy sat cross-legged on the cold floor.
The boy was pointedly ignoring him, as evidenced by his complete disregard of Dino's presence, while he fished in his pockets for a lighter and a cigarette.
"If you feel like I'm hovering, I'm sorry. The Ninth asked me to keep an eye on you," Dino said to the boy. And it wasn't a lie, exactly. The Ninth had asked him to put up the boy while he was in "sabbatical," also known as long-range attack training, back in Italy. Nothing was said about how much attention the boy had to be given.
"What for?" The boy lit the stick protruding from between his lips. "I'm not going to kill myself or anything." The flicker lit up his eyes briefly, and Dino had to smile.
"Is that a promise?"
The boy glared. "Why would I get myself killed NOW? I'm in training! The Vongola Tenth needs a good right-hand man!"
A right-hand man...
How passionate he was about his Tenth, Dino thought sadly to himself. How single-minded. There was so much more to him, and so much more to his life, but he was ready to give it all up, everything, for what he believed to be greater than himself.
Why would he want to get himself killed NOW? Why indeed. If he had been asked this question a few months ago, when he and the young Vongola Tenth had not yet met, what would he have said?
A right-hand man. It seemed that Gokudera Hayato's whole life was geared toward this purpose - this desperate belief. That he was important to something or someone else.
Looking at Gokudera Hayato, Dino Cavallone would find himself thinking of another teenage boy, from long ago, with white gold hair and eyes like fire. Another boy, whose whole existence relied on the faith that he was important to something or someone else.
"Dino."
The Ninth had looked at him and seen through him. His smile was the smile of someone who had lost something very dear to him as well, and knew how it felt.
"This boy will only follow his own heart."
Gokudera Hayato was no Superbi Squalo. And he would never be. But it was so strange, so strange...
"That is a good thing, this time."
...that Dino would feel like this when he looked at the boy.
He was so close. They would not be this close very often. But already he was thinking of ways to make himself more indispensable to this boy, this awkward foundling, and to whatever he had given himself to. Regardless of his other responsibilities, Dino would make sure that he would guide this one down the right path. He would do everything in his power.
And someday he would be able to stand this close without wanting to reach out and touch the boy's hair. Just to see if it would feel the same on his fingertips. Without wanting to lean down and whisper something tender, something the boy would never understand even if it was in his mother tongue:
Caro mio. Perdonami.
He didn't know why he was so afraid of this feeling. Of what it was doing to him.
He just knew he could never lose sight of it again.
Not again.
(hugs len)
These were the very first things that Dino had noticed about the boy:
White gold hair.
And eyes like fire.
"Stop looking at me like that," the boy snapped at him. It made him sit up and blink.
"Like what?"
The boy's eyes narrowed. He pouted, seemingly without being aware of it. He might have thought he was scowling, which only made it all the more adorable. If it was indeed intended to be a scowl, it was the most unsuccessful scowl Dino had ever seen.
The boy tried to read again. But soon enough an annoyed grumble made its way up the boy's throat, as he realized he wasn't going to be able to read in peace. He wasn't in a position to tell his host to bugger off either, seeing as this was his library and it was his book the boy was holding in his hand.
"I'm not looking at you, Gokudera," Dino calmly assured him.
In answer the boy stood, tucked the book under his arm, and made his way to the balcony.
Dino didn't begrudge him that; it was brighter there, anyway. Dino liked to read there himself, if it wasn't too windy. It was a bit windy, but it didn't seem like that mattered to his young guest. What mattered was getting away from his pesky host and his host's pesky habit of staring.
But his host wasn't exactly glued to his seat either. When the boy left for the balcony, Dino followed. He stood, leaning back against the marble bannister, while the boy sat cross-legged on the cold floor.
The boy was pointedly ignoring him, as evidenced by his complete disregard of Dino's presence, while he fished in his pockets for a lighter and a cigarette.
"If you feel like I'm hovering, I'm sorry. The Ninth asked me to keep an eye on you," Dino said to the boy. And it wasn't a lie, exactly. The Ninth had asked him to put up the boy while he was in "sabbatical," also known as long-range attack training, back in Italy. Nothing was said about how much attention the boy had to be given.
"What for?" The boy lit the stick protruding from between his lips. "I'm not going to kill myself or anything." The flicker lit up his eyes briefly, and Dino had to smile.
"Is that a promise?"
The boy glared. "Why would I get myself killed NOW? I'm in training! The Vongola Tenth needs a good right-hand man!"
A right-hand man...
How passionate he was about his Tenth, Dino thought sadly to himself. How single-minded. There was so much more to him, and so much more to his life, but he was ready to give it all up, everything, for what he believed to be greater than himself.
Why would he want to get himself killed NOW? Why indeed. If he had been asked this question a few months ago, when he and the young Vongola Tenth had not yet met, what would he have said?
A right-hand man. It seemed that Gokudera Hayato's whole life was geared toward this purpose - this desperate belief. That he was important to something or someone else.
Looking at Gokudera Hayato, Dino Cavallone would find himself thinking of another teenage boy, from long ago, with white gold hair and eyes like fire. Another boy, whose whole existence relied on the faith that he was important to something or someone else.
"Dino."
The Ninth had looked at him and seen through him. His smile was the smile of someone who had lost something very dear to him as well, and knew how it felt.
"This boy will only follow his own heart."
Gokudera Hayato was no Superbi Squalo. And he would never be. But it was so strange, so strange...
"That is a good thing, this time."
...that Dino would feel like this when he looked at the boy.
He was so close. They would not be this close very often. But already he was thinking of ways to make himself more indispensable to this boy, this awkward foundling, and to whatever he had given himself to. Regardless of his other responsibilities, Dino would make sure that he would guide this one down the right path. He would do everything in his power.
And someday he would be able to stand this close without wanting to reach out and touch the boy's hair. Just to see if it would feel the same on his fingertips. Without wanting to lean down and whisper something tender, something the boy would never understand even if it was in his mother tongue:
Caro mio. Perdonami.
He didn't know why he was so afraid of this feeling. Of what it was doing to him.
He just knew he could never lose sight of it again.
Not again.