[html] quasi aw - insieme member(s) only, please
Back in Italy, Giuseppe had risen with the sun nearly every day without fail. There were some exceptions, as when Maria had first moved in with him or while Beppe was still a squalling infant. Now, even emotional upheaval and physical exhaustion could do little to alter his awakening with the first predawn bird call. This morning was no exception and a groan escaped from his lips while the rest of his body stirred. Damn the lusty thrush who was busily singing into the darkness - Giu had been hoping to sleep in and get some much needed rest.
There was nothing for it. Unconsciousness had fled; the day begun. Giuseppe rose from the pile of furs that were his makeshift bed, jammed his feet through his leggings and headed outside, wishing all the while for a cigarette. Instinctively his first act was to inspect the heavens which now began to lighten, hiding the moon, stars, and sun alike. The thrush was now joined by his brethren, and in the crisp morning air the young Dirigente found himself wide awake to greet the morning air. There were a thousand things to do that day, but for now he was content to walk along quiet forest paths and quite simply, breathe. [/html]
haaai 
[html] Antonella certainly wasn't one to raise with the sun everyday, but today was a special one. She had a lot of things to see around here, and her eagerness just wouldn't let her rest any longer. She was still caught up in the excitement this new place had to offer her, and the magnitude of essentially an entire culture swap had yet to set in. It would probably hit her in a few days, but for now, she opted to just pretend everything was perfectly okay. For now, she was happily soaring along, spirits high as a kite.
Little did she know that her brother in-law was already out and about, and traveling the forest paths just as she was. His scent wasn't really a surprise, but seeing him just up ahead was somewhat. Part of her wanted to speak with him, but she couldn't help but think that if she did talk to him, things would take a quick negative turn. She had secretly followed him here, and she was unsure if he knew about that or not, or how he would feel about it all. It had been a little shifty on her part, but dammit, she wanted to see Maria too!
Standing quietly, she finally decided to address him and simply hope for the best. "Giuseppe." she said softly, and offered a quaint nod of her head. She had never had a firm opinion on him, always having been rather indifferent towards him, but for all she knew, what followed her greeting could swing her opinion one way or another.
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Part of the appeal of the early morning hours was the quiet. It was a time to breathe, to think, and make some sense of the day up ahead. In crowded Italy, predawn offered a rare gasp of solitude before some relation or another invaded his space and time. Solitude and thought were not quite qualities one would expect to find in a ruffian like Giuseppe. He himself would be at a loss to tell you why he rose when he did. Yet he must derive something of importance from it, because the habit was ingrained deeply.
Giu was therefore surprised to find he had company (other than the spirited songbirds) and twice astonished to recognize a face he thought he'd left a thousand leagues away. "Antonella" he breathed, before the questions came tumbling "Che fa lei qui? Lei ha visto sua sorella?" It would seem that the surprises in this new land would never cease. [/html]
[html] Antonella nearly held her breath as she awaited his response. She inwardly wondered if he'd known about her following him here yet, and more importantly, if he was mad at her for that little fact. Just as she had never had a solid opinion on him, she'd never really known for sure how he felt about her. He had never really let on anything besides indifference in the past, as far as she knew at least. Naturally though, she couldn't help but think he'd have some kind of qualms against her for being part of Maria's family, in association with those that had essentially cast her out.
Well, he'd responded to her, and hadn't eaten her yet, so things were okay so far. But, she didn't get the impression that he'd known about her trailing him here from that little bit of speech. She really wondered whether or not she would tell him about following him here, because she had a feeling he would find out sooner or later, most likely from Maria. Maybe he would consider her simply telling him up front more noble..? "Sì, ho parlato con Maria. Mi ha lasciato vive qui. " she said calmly, mentally preparing herself for the explanation to come that could get messy. "Io il genere di l'ha seguita qui quando lei ha lasciato Italia perché ho voluto vedere Maria. " There. It was out. She'd told him, and could only hope now that he wouldn't think terribly awful of her now.
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"Oh," he found himself saying. Well, that explained why she was wandering freely on lands that were quite clearly claimed and if he would have taken the time to breathe properly he might have smelled the traces of their meeting. Perhaps he ought to say something trite like 'welcome home!' or something brotherly, but wasn't quite sure what to say or how to say it. He wasn't even sure how he felt about having one of Maria's sisters around, not after the family had kicked her to the curb after Beppe had been born. Giuseppe wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forgive them for that.
Surprise staved off any reply that might have been unpleasant and just might delay his anger long enough for him to remember that Antonella had been the one nice sister out of the lot. "Perché lei non ha detto qualcosa? Avrei potuto usare il suo aiuto." His tone was of general curiosity that darkened slightly at the end as he thought of the raw panic of the forest fire. He frowned slightly, although it wasn't directed at Antonella, not really. [/html]
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She had definitely been braced for harsh words, knowing that Giuseppe probably wanted nothing to do with her, let along her having followed him here like a sneak. But, those expected harsh words never came, and instead he said something she found almost surprising. She pondered quickly for a moment, wondering how to explain this in an intelligent way. "Non ho voluto che essere arrabbiato con me. " she said, albeit a little quietly with a tiny bit of shame to boot.
"Non ho pensato appena che lei vorrebbe qualunque di famiglia del Maria intorno perché di come male era trattata." she added, taking her eyes off the ground for a moment. That had always been her assumption, that he would simply want nothing to do with her or any of the other relatives because they, collectively, had acted like assholes. But, that much aside, she was curious about something.
"Il mio aiuto?" she queried with a slight cant of her head. What could she have done to help him on his travels? She'd been the one using him to get to where she wanted to go, as she certainly had nothing to offer to the situation. [/html]
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The Giuseppe of a few months ago probably would have been quite angry; hell, that Giuseppe probably wouldn't even be having this conversation - he wouldn't have given Antonella the time of day. But the times had mellowed him out a little, or at least taken the edge off of his coarseness. Plus, the morning air was particularly fine today, and his spirits were in high form. So instead of ranting and raging, he sighed rather heavily, one part frustration and two parts an attempt to control a somewhat questionable temper.
The next part was true enough, although it prompted a question of his own. "Non ho pensato che qualunque della sua famiglia fosse vicino consentito a Maria. Lei non sarà nei guai per è qui?" In an absurd and slightly selfish way, her presence here would be more acceptable knowing she would be at odds with her family, too. "Non ho saputo dove sono andati, quando hanno lasciato. Un'altra persona aiutando con la ricerca sarebbe stato piacevole." He left out mention of the fire. Those had been dark, terrifying days that he'd rather not relive, even in shadowed memory, if he could help it. [/html]
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Antonella suddenly felt somewhat...guilty for not showing herself when she'd trailed him. She hadn't realized it had been rough on him, and had just kind of assumed that he'd know what he was doing. Apparently, that hadn't been the case. Even though she certainly hadn't known what was up, maybe she could have helped a little bit. "Oh. Sono spiacente. Non ho realizzato che sia stato duro per lei." she said quietly. Hopefully he wouldn't hold it against her too heavily.
His question, though, reminded her of something she had done her best to just overlook for the time being. Leaving the family behind had been hard, but honestly, not as hard as she had anticipated it to be. It had just taken a little bit of getting used to, that was about it. The biggest shock she found was just not having the company all the time, not so much the idea of not having her family around. Maybe she had simply grown away from them, or something like that, because leaving them really didn't bother her all that much. "Probabilmente se scoprono. Non ho detto nessuno dove andavo..." she said with a bit of a shrug. Let them be mad, because as far as she was concerned, they would just have to get over it. Really, she was just hoping that none of them would find out because she didn't think it was likely for one of them to come looking for either her or Maria
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