italiano [closed]

[Clover]

• i t a l i a n o

<Athena> Athena was making her way home from Rion's ceremony when the thought entered her brain to have Cosimo meet Clover. After all, she was texting Clo anyway. Might as well, right? They were two of the most important people in her life and she was almost excited for them to meet. What worried her, truly, was Clo's personality and the vast difference that was Cosimo’s. Her optimist. Her sweeter than sugar man. But, they had to meet and Athena was feeling rather warm and fuzzy. Not that she'd ever admit to that. As her heels clicked against the cement, her phone in her hand, she made her way to Grosseto’s, not even certain that they both were free yet. She just made her way. With a smile, she sent them both the same text message. ‘Meet me at Grosseto’s?’


<Clover> Clover didn't want to move. She didn't want to leave. And, for once, she admitted that she was perfectly content lounging about, free from all distractions except those she deemed worthy. One of the distractions she deemed worthy was her cell phone. Clover had never expected to meet Athena's man, at least not so soon. The whole event seemed sudden. Then again, she had a bit of an impulsive streak about her, so she couldn't judge. The brunette forced herself off of the couch and made her way back to her Larch Court home to grab more appropriate clothing, namely a nice warm coat and a pair of jeans. Even after she'd changed and finally entered into the Wickbridge restaurant, she kept muttering aloud, "It had to be this shithole, didn't it?"


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi had spent the night at the apartment, fixing some of the damage in the walls. He'd gone to the nearest hardware shop and picked up all the things he needed to fix holes in walls - he'd googled it. Hours were spent teaching himself how to mix the putty, to seal it. To figure out the exact shade of paint - before deciding on just re-painting the entire place. It kept him busy. When he got the message, he had flecks of off-white paint all over his skin, stuck to fingers. He had a quick shower, that didn't quite get rid of all the paint, before dressing casually - slacks, t-shirt, and trench coat in varying shades of grey. Grossetto's was barely two blocks away, and didn't take Cosimo long to arrive - as soon as he was inside, he searched for Athena.


<Athena> Athena was terrible with direction. But, they knew this didn’t they? Athena was the last to arrive regardless that she had been the one to ask them to meet her there. The ever inconsiderate Athena. While she opened the door, she walked in, closing it behind her as she made her way into the busy restaurant. At once, she pushed her phone into the pocket of her tailored black blazer. The fabric was tight on her body, the ends meeting across her chest. Though hidden, it had buttons on the inside to connect it just where her cleavage was. It showed enough, if not a hair too much of her pale chest. When she saw them both the grin on her face brightened, her hands now dropping to her matching tailored slacks to give them a once-over to dust them free of nonexistent dirt. “Clover! Cosimo!” she shouted, smiling towards them both as she walked forward. The woman’s blonde hair had a new addition: a teal streak was running down the right side of her blonde hair. It matched the too tall stiletto blue pumps she wore on her feet. With every step she made they clicked on the ground.


<Clover> Clover had been standing there, waiting. There were other people there, other customers, so she admired their clothing and searched their faces. None of them were Athena. Clo took her phone from the pocket of her trench coat and checked the time. The last message had been sent some time ago; the woman should have already been at the restaurant. But Athena wasn't there yet. And Clover was. With every passing second, Clover felt more and more agitated. The noises and the people were starting to make her feel incredibly uncomfortable. She sent text messages to Jersey; she sent a text message to Jesse. She ran out of people she cared to text message. Her fists were clenched in the pockets of her coat. Just when she'd given up looking at the door, just when she'd stopped searching the faces of arriving and departing guests, she heard her name. More importantly, she heard Cosimo's name. Apparently, he had been waiting as well. "Athena," Clo greeted, her tone less enthusiastic. "Stunning, as usual. Where's your man?" She fought the urge to ask if they needed to destroy more than his apartment. She succeeded in holding her tongue.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi knew what Athena could be like. He had no idea how punctual Clover was, or if she was punctual at all. He had no idea what she looked like, either - instead of looking for a woman he didn't know, he made his way to a booth - their booth. The booth they'd sat in the night of the fadebeast attack. They'd fixed the place up since then, of course. He sat in the booth perusing the menu while he waited, even though he couldn't eat any of it. When he heard Athena's voice, he perked; he half stood, watching as she greeted the other woman. When they were ready, he waved them over - there were a few people around, and he didn't want to lose their place.


<Athena> Athena couldn’t help but to perk herself when she caught sight of Cosimo. It touched her eyes, it tugged at the ends of her lips to make her smile grow. Her love so obvious, it made her face glow. But she recognized Clover’s tone and that made her purse her red lips at her friend. “He’s over there, Clo.” she turned her head to gesture then with a simple flick of her wrist. When she was sure that Clover would follow her lead, she pivoted on her heel and made her way to Cosimo. Only pausing to lean over and press those red lips of hers briefly over his before she took a seat in the booth, casually crossing long legs. “Clo, this is my Cosimo.” she smiled again, it touched her eyes. “Cosimo, this is Clover, my friend.”


<Clover> Clover had raised a brow, looking between her friend and her friend's boyfriend. There was something there that made her even more uncomfortable than the environment of the restaurant. When her phone buzzed, she replied to another text message and then quickly turned her phone on silent mode. "Great," she replied, some more enthusiasm in her voice. It didn't take any sort of beckoning to get her to follow after her friend, but she really wasn't in the mood for Cosimo, not after she'd just taken a baseball bat to the man's walls. No one made her friend cry. "It's nice to meet you, Cosmo. Athena has told me a lot about you. She really cares about you," she smiled, holding her hand out to him.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi cupped Athena's jaw as she kissed him, quick, before she was gone and seated, making her introductions. He glanced between Athena and Clover, before he took Clover's hand in a firm shake. He nodded his head in greeting, smiling knowingly. Did Clover know that he knew she had helped? "I know that she does," he said, accent thick. "And I care a lot about her," he said, pronouncing each word slowly. As if it was something that had to be said. Something that Clover had to know, before they could proceed. All the while, he smiled that dimpled smile, no malice in his eyes.


<Athena> Athena couldn’t help the little twinge of suspicion that she felt with Clover being so nice. She knew, that the woman could be anything but when she didn’t want to be. Where did that bland feeling from before go? But she didn’t question it too far. Of course, she would take whatever this was. After all, she didn’t want Clover to be mean to Cosimo. Not right now, not with them freshly made up and things sailing so smoothly. But as they talked, all she could do was look from each of them with that same stupid in love smile she had. She didn’t know why but this excited her. Them knowing each other. All of them in the same room. “Sit, Clo.” she said suddenly, wanting the other woman to be comfortable.


<Clover> Clover pulled away from the handshake first and immediately began undoing the buttons on her trench coat. She parted the jacket, revealing the black sweatshirt underneath, and slid into a seat. If it weren't for her friend reminding her to sit, she would have remained standing; Clo was the type that had no problems standing, especially when it made someone else awkward. Take that. "What are your intentions with my friend, Cosmo? Are you going to ask her to marry you? Is this some kind of long-term relationship with no end in sight?" Clover rested her forearms atop the table and leaned forward, already engaging Cosimo in conversation. "More importantly, what makes you worthy of her? Why can't she do better than you?" She had no hostility in her voice, but she fired off the questions one after another.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi arched a brow at Athena, his mouth slightly parted in a stunned kind of silence before he laughed. He shrugged his shoulders, then, and leaned forward, his posture echoing Clover's; arms crossed, as he held her gaze. "One at a time, si? My intention is to love her, as long as she will have me. Marriage? We have not known each other long. We do... live together, mostly. I would marry her, si, but that is not solely up to me," he said this without looking at Athena.

[Cosimo Alessi (DELETED 6612)]

<Cosimo> They hadn't talked about marriage. She had only just recently taken off her old engagement ring. "... as for worthiness. I think... you and she wrecked my apartment. You... really did a number on it. Any other man, he would run for the hills, would he not? I instead picked her up and took her to the bedroom," he said, now risking a glance sideways, grinning playfully at his lover. "Better than me? Perhaps she could. But that is up to her to decide."


<Athena> Athena turned her head enough to watch Clover sit. Just to wiggle then, enough to offer the other woman enough room to get comfortable. It was quickly then that she realized why she had been so suspicious of her friend. The questions came and Athena’s lips parted and slacked in her surprise. But really, she shouldn't have been so surprised. This had been expected. This meeting was too close to them wrecking the apartment. Too close for this not to happen. It hadn't been a good night for any of them. “Clo-” she started, but just as she started to try and scold her friend Cosimo responded. They were talking to each other and all she could do was sit back and watch in muted horror and slight amusement. What the hell, guys? It was the marriage talk that had her wincing. The topic hadn’t come up between them two yet and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Except now, that she felt her stomach fall straight to the floor. But was that a good thing? With a silent swallow she almost choked on. The bedroom, Cosimo? Really? Athena didn’t get embarrassed often but she did flush right in her seat then. Damnit Cosimo.


<Clover> Clover had completely ignored Athena while Cosimo answered her list of questions. She hadn't taken time to write them down or to go over them, but they were the basics. They were things she cared about when it came to her friend. Was he going to hurt her? Yes. Was she going to end up hurting his possessions sometime in the future? Probably. But she nodded at his responses, no smile or smirk upon her face. Each answer gave him another mark on her list. He looked sincere; he sounded sincere. "Mn, all right," she conceded, her rather pleased with him, "you have my blessings. I'm glad she has someone as caring as you are. And you're considerate enough to put up with the possibility of a shitty meeting with her best friend, the one responsible for redecorating your walls." Clo relaxed a little in her seat, but she kept throwing glances between the two lovers. It kind of made her sick. Was she destined to be that disgusting? To cover her own thoughts, she managed a small smile.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi wanted to laugh at the face Athena made. He shrugged, not at all ashamed by what went on in the bedroom. In fact, it made him grin like a kid at Christmas, recalling the fact that so much COULD happen in the bedroom, when for so long he had assumed he would have nothing. Ever again. He turned back to Clover, still grinning, and straightened up a little himself. He was glad that he had her blessing. It wasn't something he thought he didn't need. Friends' opinions were important. He held up his hands, to indicate the paint still stuck to the creases of his skin. "I thank you. I think that I like this shade on the walls better than the last one," he said. Classic Cosimo - seeing the chance of redecoration as a silver lining.


<Athena> Athena could only manage to roll her eyes at how brightly Cosimo's grin was, it covered his entire handsome face and she had to reach up to pinch the bridge of her nose for a moment. But, she didn't manage to say anything. Athena wasn't exactly ashamed, she talked about sex often, maybe it was more that she wanted to keep that between them which was just as bizarre as anything for her. When Cosimo's hands were offered to Clo to look over, she did as well, squinting just slightly as she attempted to picture the color over the walls in their apartment. As she did, she remembered where she had just been and felt a little prick of guilt. She had forgotten to tell Cosimo about Rion's ceremony, crap.


<Clover> Clover leaned in to get a better look at the color and then glanced up at the man’s face. Was he serious? The color was much nicer, but he seemed so enthusiastic, so very positive. Being around him made her want to recoil. She almost felt the need to retreat to her realm of doubts and suspicion. “Yeah,” she mumbled, leaning back in her seat, “it looks great.” She waited, allowing a long pause between her responses, and then opened her mouth once more. “Why are you being so nonchalant right now? You’re just so...different. Not bad. Unusual.” She didn’t want to insult him, but she felt the need to share that his personality was almost grating. No, she supposed, that was insulting him with nicer wording and fewer words.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi thought there was something refreshing about Clover. She had no fear, telling it how it was. Except for the fact that sometimes, his English was not so good. He repeated the word silently, sounding it out over his tongue. Thinking back... but he shook his head. "Nonchalant? I do not know if I know the meaning of this word. What does it mean?" he asked, glancing between the two women. Athena was pinching her nose, and Cosimo furrowed his brow. Was he embarrassing her somehow? He wasn't sure he'd ever really seen Athena embarrassed. But, she had said nothing, so he returned his avid gaze to Clover, waiting for an explanation.


<Athena> Athena was trying not to be in the middle of their conversation, she was trying to let them talk. After all, they were both a big part in her life but as Cosimo asked his question she laughed softly. Knowing already howClover would feel about it. However, she didn't answer his question at all. She told him exactly what Cloverwas thinking with her uncharacteristic nice wrapping. "She's saying that she finds your positive attitude to be annoying, Cosi." Her eyebrows raised then at him playfully. She wondered if that sounded at all familiar to him? Turning her blonde head, she squinted at Cloverthough the sides of her mouth were curved up as she attempted to hide her amusement. "Sometimes his English isn't so good, Clo."


<Clover> Clover had been the one to pinch the bridge of her nose. Of course he asked her the meaning of the word; he asked the one with a penchant for reading the dictionary and memorizing definitions. And of course she meant to say he seemed annoying, or rather, he seemed something very close to annoying. He wasn’t there yet, was he? “I wouldn’t go that far, Athena,” she interjected, a small huff following her words. “I would say he’s not someone I’m used to and it’s...well, yes. You seem to be annoying me. It’s fine though.” Clo waved it off, showing that she didn’t care if he were annoying. He meant the world to Athena, after all. “Cosm--Cosimo, nonchalant means you’re appearing calm and cool and collected. It’s a good thing. It also baffles me and makes it seem like you’re annoying. I guess I’m just used to a different kind of behavior.”


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi grinned. He didn't see it as an insult. He saw it more as a compliment, after he understood. At first, when Athena tried to explain what Clover meant, he was confused. He had no idea what he could have done to be annoying. It didn't bother him. He didn't see his positivity as a flaw. He gave a ... well, yes. A nonchalant shrug. "It is not that I appear to be calm and cool and collected. It is that I am those things. It is not... a mask. I do not see the point in being... sad, or angry. I have seen the bottom of the rock, and it is easy to find a silver lining," he said, before his smile faded. His palms reached across the table, almost as if he were going to take Clover's hands but he didn't. "I do not mean to be forward, but... is everything okay?" he asked. It seemed a pertinent question to ask someone who was startled by a bit of positivity.


<Athena> Athena grinned fully at the sight of Cosimo's grin, it tickled her to see him that way. As they cleared the air she could only roll her eyes just a tad at Clover. 'No, you're not annoying.' '..Yes, you're annoying'. Athena knew what she meant. After all, a bird of the same feather flocks together, am I right? It was when Cosimo's palms reached across the table that she thought she was going to flip it, throwing it at Clover and ultimately making a fool of herself but his words stopped her. She had tensed in her very seat and her reaction quickly shifted into one to protect Cosimo's skin. Her right foot thrusted out and she kicked his shin with her stiletto heel. "What the ****, Cosimo!" she shouted, almost to the point of freaked. Did he want to die? Was he really this naive not to realize this was the exact reason she had kept him away from her family? His positivity was more than annoying now. It was bordering on dangerous. “Shut up.” she snapped, her hand reaching up to pinch her nose roughly again.


<Clover> Clover wondered what sort of rock the man lived underneath, but she bit her tongue. She bit her tongue and tried to dismiss his positive persona as some sort of radioactive responsive to his own childhood or his own young adulthood. It was when he reached across the table that she jerked her hands back, her nose wrinkled in an expression akin to disgust. Had he been trying to hold her hands? She’d been focused on his forward movement, but his words. Oh, his words.

[Athena (DELETED 6736)]

<Clover> Clover’s expression changed, morphing into one of pure irritation. While she had withdrawn her hands, she had withdrawn in another way. Yes, he was being forward. Yes, he meant to be forward. What the **** was wrong with this guy? He’d been dropped too many times on his head. “You don’t ******* ask someone you just met that question. It’s none of your ******* business whether everything’s okay or not.” She turned her attention to Athena, “What the **** is this? Are you behind any of this?” Clover motioned toward Cosimo, thrusting a hand to sweep his hands aside.


<Cosimo> Cosimo Alessi lost half of Clover's response as he was kicked under the table, sure that he must now be bleeding due to the sharp heel of the stiletto. "Mio dio, che cosa?!" he hissed, instantly reaching down to rub at the spot. He should have guessed. He was slow on the uptake. But maybe he didn't think that all Athena's friends would be just like Athena. He threw his hands up in surrender. "It is not Athena," he said, giving his lover a truly perplexed look. He turned back to Clover, he still managed to smile, despite the fact that he was sure he could now feel blood dribbling down his shin. "I am... a challenge to her also, sometimes," he said with another shrug. He wasn't going to apologise for showing concern.


<Athena> Athena knew that Clover wouldn’t want Cosimo to touch her. That, she knew without a doubt but it pissed her off all the same. It pissed her off that Cosimo had almost tried and she made a mental note to scream at him about that later. Yes, he was a different breed of man that didn’t mind asking questions that he shouldn’t. Yes, he was also the type of man to actually care about the answers, too. However, Athena wasn’t the type of woman to give a flying ****. He tried to touch her and that’s all that she cared about. While she felt herself stewing she turned her gaze to Clover first, she was ignoring Cosimo for the time being. Let his shin bleed. “No, this is simply how Cosimo is.” she pressed her full lips together to make a solid line. Athena was trying hard, she had to tense her muscles to keep herself from crawling over the table to scream at Cosimo. But ultimately, she was still pissed that he’d be so bold. This was part of the reason why she had such a difficult time wanting to introduce him to the people who surrounded her. They wouldn’t react so well to Cosimo’s optimism. As if Clover didn’t understand that she didn’t have anything to do with it she made a gesture with her own hand towards Cosimo’s chest. “Yes, as if I’d want him to ******* touch you.” Athena gave Clover a pointed look, if anyone understood what she meant here. It had to be Clover.


<Clover> Clover looked back and forth between the two, her brows knitted. Her rising anger had been replaced by a sudden, overwhelming rush of uncertainty. No, it wasn’t uncertainty. She knew exactly what had happened, exactly what had shifted. Clo had a rush of understanding. Cosimo reeked of positivity, but Athena reeked of--was the woman being possessive? Was it because she didn’t want Cosimo touching another woman? “It doesn’t matter,” she said, relaxing in her seat. “It’s not a big deal. He knows not to touch me.” She spoke to Athena as if Cosimo weren’t even there. It seemed that she would go on ignoring the man, but she eventually shifted her gaze over to his face. He’d been shut down enough. Athena, more than likely, wanted to throttle the man, so Clo had no need to want to do the same. One throttling was more than enough. After all, he would be going home with the angry woman, while Clo would leave her distaste for his words and actions at the exit to the restaurant. “I don’t like being touched unless I initiate or I approve. I shook your hand. I initiated. You don’t try to start ****.” Clo went back to studying him, as if she were trying to gauge something. “And yes, I’m okay. Before this? I was fantastic. I was quite content ******* my boyfriend on the couch. I’m pretty sure I’ll have a repeat when I’m done here. I’ll text you and let you know how it went.” The blank expression on her face really communicated everything. When she looked back at Athena, she smiled.


<Cosimo> Cosimo was a little taken aback. He fell back in his chair and had to just stare at the two women as if they were aliens. Athena was angry. Why was Athena angry? He soon realised it was because he had tried to touch Clover. A reassuring squeeze of the hand. Was she jealous? It wasn’t as if he’d leaned forward for a kiss. It wasn’t as if he had suggested to take her home. He had not flirted. He had merely shown concern. But that, apparently, was thoroughly frowned upon. All of a sudden, the meeting was awkward. The two women were not happy - they seemed okay with each other, but he was the male pariah. He glanced from Clover to Athena and back again. It seemed like Clover did not want to be there. That she’d never wanted to leave the house, or the fantastic time she’d been having on the couch. He could only nod and hold his hands up in surrender. No touching. He would not ever try to touch her again, though he doubted he’d ever be welcome in her company again. “I apologise,” he said with a solemn nod. It was all he could say. All attempts to brighten the mood had failed miserably. The urge was strong to excuse himself and let the women socialise without him; but he had a feeling that would get him in trouble more than the alternative. The alternative? To just sit there and keep his mouth shut.


<Athena> Athena wouldn’t say that she was being possessive. After all, she just didn’t ******* like the thought of Cosimo touching anyone. It didn’t matter if it was another woman. It was anyone, anything, really. Even their cat. Her blonde head nodded as Clover spoke, though, she didn’t seem to cool down or calm at all, really. Would nothing help at this point? She wasn’t sure. It was only when Clover spoke about ******* Jesse did Athena manage to sport a little smile. Laughing now, she turned her head to squint at her friend playfully then. “Well, how was it?” she asked, laughing again before she simply sighed out loudly then. Her shoulders shrugged. Maybe it was time to go home. Clover smiled at her and she managed to smile back. Hearing Cosimo’s apology, she turned to squint her eyes at the man again. It definitely was time to go home. What good could come now? “Well, Clo, I think you should go back to vigorously humping Jesse again.” Athena straightened in her seat, crossing arms under the curve of her breasts. “And Cosimo and I should get back home.” Her blues dropped over the entirety of Cosimo’s body. She was still fuming. Why did he ever think it was okay to touch another woman in front of her, especially? Athena didn’t care what this looked like. Athena was boiling, she was going to take Cosimo home to yell. She didn’t care if it was painfully obvious too.


<Clover> Clover looked between the two, taking time to study their differing expressions. Athena couldn’t have been more obvious unless she told Clover to leave. The tension ate at Clo’s insides and crept up her throat, rattling at her until she produced the words necessary to soothe the situation. But she couldn’t say that she was happy to have met Cosimo. Not yet. “I think I should,” she agreed, enjoying the flutter of butterflies in her stomach. The couch awaited her, welcomed her, and she showed no hesitation in buttoning the buttons along the front of her coat. “I’ll make sure to tell you everything over brunch.” Her words were teasing, more to poke at Cosimo than anything. Though, if Athena were interested, Clover might have shared every intimate detail, with a level of pride.

When her coat was buttoned, Clo stood from her seat. As if the movement jarred the words, she turned toward Cosimo and forced a small smile. “Maybe we could try this again,” she offered and looked between the two. Though she never would have admitted it, Clo felt as if she were responsible for Athena’s posture, for Athena’s simmering rage. She had to wonder what would happen when the couple left the restaurant. Hopefully, they would just have sex until Athena forgot all about the issue. Was that possible? There was a thoughtful expression on her face, her brows pushed together and her lips pulled to one side.


<Cosimo> Cosimo narrowed his eyes at Athena as she gave him her withering look; there was something in her expression that said it could light him on fire, if only she had the fuel. Regardless, he straightened his shoulders and returned her stare with a reckless kind of confidence. She could be as angry with him as she liked, but this was not a fight she was going to win. Not easily. He refused to agree that he had done anything wrong. The night had been one rife with overreaction.

Clover stood, and Cosimo sighed. He had been excited to meet one of Athena’s friends. To be given a glimpse into the inner circle - or the outer life of Athena. The one that he now knew she wasn’t hiding from him on purpose, but which he had felt hidden from nonetheless. And although he was partly responsible for the way things had happened, he thought that it was Athena’s anger that had pushed Clover away. He just nodded. “Si. It was good to meet you, Clover. To put a face to the name. We will try again,” he said with a smile.