What do you mean "that can't be your name"? Of course that's my name! It's becau- ugh fine.
Gian Giacomo Caprotti di Oreno
Happy now? Yeah it's a lot so just call me Salaì ~ Maestro gave me that name after all.
You want to know a bit about me? Well if you ask Maestro he'll just tell you I'm a glutton, a thief and a huge trouble maker. What he forgets to tell you is how cute and irresistible I am~
That's not what you wanted to know? Well how was i supposed to know!
Hmph. There's a little button above that you can hit so that I can answer what you want to know. Anything about me, anything about Maestro, I have gossip on everyone in the mansion~ just name it~
(obvs run by @yanderepuck who else would be running this really.
I'm okay with anything from sfw-nsfw-simple flirting-asking for mansion gossip(headcanons basically)
I saw the Leonardo ask blog say something about how he and Leonardo are just simply maestro-apprentice so I am going to respect that but may occasionally post something on my own about their relationship.
Salaì is a flirt just like Arthur and Charles so please have fun with him. He's a little chaos gremlin who would love to kiss you.
If you want to know about him I do have this post that's mainly a cohesive info dump.
@weird-profiterole asked for some Salaì during the Renaissance time so how could I say no??? Most of this is during his first week there. But it's mainly just a few little snippets and how him and Leonardo act towards each other.
You guys will be getting more :3
“Gian.” pause. “Gian?” pause. “Gian!”
“Huh?” the tight red curls move like a blur with the turn of his. “Yes?”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I’m sorry. I got distracted,” he bites into an apple that seems much larger than what it is in his small hands.
Leonardo’s brow lifts in confusion. “Where did you get that?”
“The table.” he points to a table that they passed by on the way in. The fruit bowl is nowhere close to the edge. Leonardo looks at the table then back down at Gian. There is no way he is any taller than 140cm. How did he reach the fruit bowl?
He groans. “Nevermind that,” he puts a hand on his back and leads him into a small bedroom that is partially used for storage. “This is your room. After I move some things around.”
Today is the first day of Gian’s apprenticeship. Leonardo wasn’t exactly looking for an apprentice but he has been getting asked to do more and more work and there is no way he is going to be able to keep up, and he finally feels comfortable enough to bring someone on. But the first someone he happened to run into is a ten year old son of a man who works in his vineyard, Gian Giacomo Caprotti.
He isn’t sure where he got the supplies from, but Leonardo caught him outside with a sketchbook and a pencil. He watched him draw for a few minutes before realizing that he has a natural talent for it. It wouldn't hurt to have him under his wing, would it? It would only be for a few years, after that he would run out of excuses as to why he isn’t getting any older. How old should he even say he is anyway? The normal everyday person doesn’t see him enough where he can lie about his age a few times before it seems like he has been around for a bit too long.
“I get my own room?” he sounds shocked. Bits of apple nearly fell out of his mouth.
Leonardo chuckles. “Of course you do. You will be living here after all.”
Gian hurries into the room and looks around, then quickly eyes the piles of things Leonardo has stacked around the room.
“No going through things that aren’t yours.”
“I just want to see,” he inspects the piles but doesn’t touch anything, taking another bite of the apple.
“I will get most of this moved out by the end of the week. So in the meantime,” he walks over to him and crouches down to be more at his level. “No touching. Got it?”
Gian’s shiny grey eyes look back into Leonardo’s amber ones and nods. “No touching the piles. Got it!” He smiles brightly.
“Good,” he is hoping he didn’t take on too much. He doesn’t know what to do with a kid so young. He has younger siblings, yes. But handling siblings is much different than now having an apprentice. He stands back up and runs his fingers through his hair. “We will go out in the morning to get you some clothes, alright?”
“Why not now?”
“It’s too late to go out now. All the shops will be closed by the time we get there. I’ll get something figured out for dinner while you find your way around. Just don’t go into my room.”
Gian nods and takes another bite of the apple. He watches Leonardo leave the room before going back to looking at the things in the room. They are all things he has never seen before, things he doesn’t have a word for. He bites into the apple and holds it there while he takes something off of the pile, being sure that nothing is going to fall if he touches it.
Leonardo gets to the kitchen and looks around. In his 38 years of living he has never once had to worry about what to have for dinner, and now he is going to have to deal with this for how long?
“I over did it haven’t I?” he groans “It’s his first night. He’ll understand if it’s not the greatest meal.” He has some vegetables and bread, maybe the right ingredients to make a quick soup, so he gets started. “He better not end up being picky,” he huffs.
Once Gian finishes up in his room he starts walking around, looking at everything closely. He is going to have a lot of questions later. Seeing all the new stuff is a bit overwhelming. Small models made of wood. Tools that are used for building and painting are just laying anywhere. He finds the studio and is careful of where he steps, not knowing if the paint on the floor is wet or dry.
Leonardo didn’t say he couldn't touch anything in this room. He puts the nearly fully eaten apple down on a stool that is too high for him to sit on and starts going through some papers, looking at uncolored sketches.
After some time the soup is ready. “Gian! Food is ready!”
In the matter of seconds he hears the sound of a pair of feet running his way.
“Leonardo? You are my maestro right?”
“Yes, and that is how you should refer to me.” he gets the soup into two bowls and sets them on the table.
“Are you going to teach me to draw like this?” He holds up one of the original sketches of one of his paintings.
“What did I say about touching things?” He takes the drawing from him and sets it on the table. The painting isn’t complete yet so he still needs it for a reference.
“Not to touch any of the things in my room.”
Leonardo groans. He didn’t think he would have to be so precise. “For now on, don’t touch things without asking me first. Got it?” Gian nods and moves to the edge of the table to look at the drawing more. “But yes. I’m going to teach you how to draw just like that. Now sit down and eat.”
Gian sits at the table and watches Leonardo rather than eating right away. Leonardo sits down across from him. The only reason why he made himself a bowl was so he wouldn’t get questioned, he didn’t plan on eating much. He picks up his spoon and starts to eat. Gian tilts his head in confusion and slowly picks up his spoon.
Leonardo glances up and sees that he hasn’t started yet. “Is something wrong?” He breaks a piece of bread for both of them.
Gian looks at the bread and back at Leonardo. “Do you not thank God before eating?”
Leonardo’s eyes widened. He forgot all about that. He can’t remember the last time he had an actual meal with someone else where he would have to do this. He drops his spoon. “Oh shit,” realizing he swore in front of him he covers his mouth. “Fuck,” he goes instinctively, then rolling his eyes at himself. He takes a deep breath. “Do you do that at home?”
He nods. “But I don’t really understand it.” he picks up his spoon, not caring if they do it or not.
“Why is that?” Seeing that he is okay with it, he picks up the spoon again.
When he shrugs his curls bounce. “We did the work of growing it. Shouldn’t I be thanking miei genitori?” He takes his first spoonful of the soup and makes a happy noise. “That’s good!”
He happily keeps eating, making Leonardo chuckle. Until this moment he didn’t even consider the differences in beliefs. Hopefully this means he won’t have to be dragged into a church every week for service.
~~
“Gian!” he groans. “Where the hell is it? Gian!” Leonardo has made a mess of his room.
Gian comes to his room and stands in the doorway. “Yes?”
“Did you come in here last night when I told you not to?” He drops a coat to the floor when he turns to look at him. He shakes his head, but seems to hesitate. “Gian.”
“I-I came in for a moment. I didn’t know it was your room until I opened the door.”
Leonardo groans. He can’t argue with that. He told him he can go anywhere in the house and it’s not like he showed him which door led to his room. “Fine. But did you happen to see a pouch on the night stand?”
He shakes his head again. “I left when I saw it was your room.”
He lets out a huff. “Go finish getting ready.” Once Gian leaves Leonardo quickly picks up his clothes and opens the top drawer of his dresser and looks around. After moving some things around he takes out a different pouch than the one he was looking for. “I know I left that money on the table.”
He meets Gian at the front door. “Come on. I want to get there before it gets busy.”
Gian comes over beside him. “Are you so famous that people recognize you?”
“I wouldn’t say that. But I don’t know how easy it is to get clothes for someone your size.” He starts walking him to the market that is in the piazza.
“Mia mamma always made my clothes.”
“I’m not doing that for you, so you’re on your own if you want to do that.”
“She taught me how to sew!” he jumps excitedly. Leonardo looks down at him, a bit intrigued. It isn’t often that a boy will be taught how to sew. “I kept ripping my clothes when I would go out to play, so she taught me how to mend them so I knew how much of a pain it is so I would be more careful.”
Leonardo chuckles and pulls a cigarillo from his pocket, lighting it as they walk. “Maybe I’ll have you fix some of my clothes then.”
They get to the piazza and walk past some stalls. After walking a bit it occurs to Leonardo that Gian is much smaller than him and stops to make sure he isn’t having a problem keeping up.
“Sorry. I’m used to- Where did you get that?!” he shouts. It’s not like he meant to cause a scene but why does he suddenly have a small loaf of bread.
Gian points back at a stall while he has a piece in his mouth. “I paid for it. Do you want a piece?”
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth. What do you mean you paid for it? With what money?”
“Mia mamma gave me a bit of money before leaving.”
Now that he is looking, Leonardo sees a small pouch on him. It definitely isn’t the one he supposedly misplaced. But why would she give him money?
“Your mother gave you money?”
“Hm mh!” He opens it up and pulls out a few coins.
“Fine I believe you. Let’s keep going.”
He didn’t really believe him, but he didn’t have any proof otherwise. It was really just a hunch.
~~
“Gian! Why didn’t I ask his parents about him before taking him in?” he pinches the bridge of his nose. He doesn't hear anything and calls for him again. “Gian!”
“Right here, maestro,” he appears right beside Leonardo, making him jump.
“Shit!” he puts his hand over his heart and tries to steady his breath. Gian has been with him for a couple of months and he is already starting to believe this was a bad idea. “I asked you to go to the piazza to pick up some things. You didn’t get anything on the list.” He pulls the list he gave to him off of the table.
“Uhhh,” Gian looks at the list then back up at him.. “I tried to remember what you told me to get.”
“You didn’t have to remember. That’s why I wrote it down for you.”
He is quiet for a moment. “I can’t read.”
The two of them just look at each other for a while, not saying anything. All they can hear is noise going on outside.
“You can’t read?” the curls shake. “Then why didn’t you tell me this when I gave you a list?” he bitches his nose again, tilting his head back.
“I’m sorry! I have a good memory and thought I could remember. I couldn’t find anyone around that could read the list either.”
Leonardo’s eyes widened, realizing something. He looks back down at the list, giving it a good look. “Gian,” he takes a deep breath. “It’s my fault.”
“What do you mean?” he tries to get closer to look at the first, as if looking at it now would make him be able to read it.
“I mean, you still should have said something. But I wrote everything backwards.” Gian looks up at him confused, his eyebrow lifted because he is not understanding. “I have had people try to steal my research and frame me for things, so I write backwards.”
Explaining it to someone makes it sound stupid, but it really has been an issue for him. He has been writing that way for so long that he doesn't think twice about it. “How about this? When I give you a list to go shopping I’ll draw the item next to it so then you can start to figure out some words.”
“As long as you write it normally.”
“I will,” Leonardo ruffles his hair, pulling back right before his hand can get slapped. “Missed me that time.”
~~
“I’m tired of mixing paint!”
“That’s too damn bad. You keep mixing.”
Gian whines as he keeps mulling paint. “You haven’t even let me pick up a paint brush yet.”
“That’s because you haven’t deserved to.”
“What!”
“You need to know how pigments work first. There is something called color theory. Not only that but there are a bunch of different ingredients used in paint and the sealant so you need to know how it all works together before you can paint on a canvas.”
Leonardo is working on his own painting while Gian is making small batches of paint for him to use. “Besdies, you need to finish your sketch first. Your perspective needs some work. If you can’t do it with charcoal and paper what makes you think you can do it with paint and canvas?”
Gian groans. He understands what he is saying but that doesn’t mean he is happy about it. “I could be working on it if I didn’t have to do this.”
“Someone has to do it, and that’s part of being an apprentice. You have to do the annoying things.”
Gian pouts, but at no point does he stop. He knows he has to pay attention to what he is doing and that consistency matters. He complains about it but he has already learned a great deal. He learned the hard way that it is easy to mess up and ruin an entire batch, and when that happens you have to start all over.
Leonardo looks over at him, chuckling when seeing him pout and working hard. “You have already started to improve, bambino.”
“I’m not a bambino!”
“That pout says otherwise.”
That just makes him pout even more, but then he realizes what he said beforehand and stops. “Thanks maestro.”
Oh very closely. Hands on examination actually. We need to be very thorough. I need to get in real close so I’ll get on my knees to fit right up to you.
