I'm Still Whole

Leonardo Cappelletti. Thirty-Six. Crowned Prince of Italy. Brother.

[leocappelletti]

gio:

“Careful with those promises, Leo, I might actually take you up on one someday. I like the idea of happily ever after with prince charming while demanding him to do my bidding.” A laugh came with his words as the Italian kept up with the banter, the boy leaning his arms against the counter while he waited for the food to cool a little.

He was grinning as he watched the prince do his thing. Leo still never ceased to amaze him sometimes and the impressed expression on his face was very real. He stood, clapping softly so he wouldn’t risk luring anyone else in the kitchen out of curiosity, before giving the prince a chef’s kiss. “Bello, il mio impavido leader. Non ti interrogherò mai più.”

“Say when and wear. I’ll be the one in a tux at the chapel.” Lord knew Leo could use a break from being a sourpuss now and then. It wasn’t easy to do, certainly wasn’t easy to find, but Gio fit the bill nicely. “Though you’d be the first to call me a prince charming.”

Catching he expression, Leo tilted his head slightly. “A cosa serve?” What had he done to deserve the applause, though he did bow deeply. “Vedi di non farlo e ti comprerò una macchina.”

[leocappelletti]

rebekah​:

The translator just looked uncomfortable as hell and to be honest, that alone would have made the these five minutes hilarious alone, but it was night that the other before her wasn’t scowling or judging her words. “I did after speed-dating, but not always successful after night’s out.” the fledgling princess made a face. “Uni bars and cheap shots are a toxic combination. My best friend used to always order us the worst shots too - what about you? Ever been to one of these before?”

He winced purely at the mention of cheap shots. “Ah, that hurts me just to think about.” Surely he was getting old if the idea of taking shots was painful. Pride shoved that idea away. “Mm, once or twice when I was younger. It’s still strange. Part of the fun I suppose.” He wanted to leave but with Paolo absolutely uncomfortable, Leo could stand a few more minutes. “Had any luck so far?”

[leocappelletti]

“Hypothetically,” Leo wondered aloud, willing to risk a bit of a migraine for the question, “I have to wonder, don’t you? What exactly is this supposed to look like?” Bundled as most if not all were, Leo studied his lumpy, uneven, and downright ugly attempt at a snowman. It was massive and that didn’t do any good.

To his thinking, it was better than pondering the offer that had come across his table, that was for certain.

[leocappelletti]

rosamie:

For a moment Rosa could feel the excitement building as Paolo translated what Leo was saying but she should have known better. Deflating once she realized he was joking with her, she cocked her head to the side and gave him a look, though there was a faint smile on her lips. “As much as I support all types of love, I doubt a prince would run off with someone who had a walker. Some of you are too shallow to look past age.” Oh, a rare dig from the Filipino that had her feeling a bit proud.

She raised her head smugly, giving a pointed look toward Leo and his aide. “I think I know you well enough to be aware of your little jokes, Leo.” Of course, if he was being serious she would feel like a fool. “You are…joking, right?”

Admonished, Leo put a hand over his heart and a wounded expression on his face. I certainly would never! Especially, he added and ignored Paolo’s sigh and eye roll, if she were as lovely as you. Without an ounce of shame, he took Rosa’s hand and kissed her knuckles, giving a quick, devious grin.

Which are you referring to? The compliment to you or the claim of a runaway royal and maid?

[leocappelletti]

aurora:

Aurora had a lot of frustration for being told what she was ‘not allowed’ to do, but it could not have blocked out her brother’s voice had she tried. Turning to him -her cheeks still flush from scolding the guard- Aurora looks up to him, “They won’t let me go to the village. I was in my room for a week because I was sick and now they say I have to stay in the castle for another two weeks for monitoring,” Aurora half signs in her frustration only to stomp her foot in a childish manner once finished, “I hate this!” she signs with fury, “I want to go home!” it was childish of her, yes, but being with Leo always allowed her the safety of regression without judgement.

As much and as often as Leo’s life enjoyed a sudden change, there were a few lovely constants. Aurora’s temper was one of those constants and he knew better than to tease her and to interrupt. Honestly, his wasn’t any better, he was just a little more.. violently creative with his explosions. “Slow down, slow down, please,” he beckoned verbally and decided to speak to the guard when she was safely away. Understanding her temper, he continued to speak. “Come. Come, we will have something to eat and I will have someone get your paints for you. Will that help, little one?”

[leocappelletti]

niamh:

Her eyes found his when he adjusted her jacket and a smile spread on her lips. “Thank you,” she replied, surprised by how pleased she was with his closeness. Perhaps a marriage between them wouldn’t be too bad as she found that she enjoyed his company. I cannot promise I will not laugh. But only after I ensure you’re okay, she promised, taking his arm.

He wondered, not for the first time, what she actually sounded like and was reminded of the appointment he constantly put off by pride and fear. Dark eyes skimmed her features again before he nodded, stepped back. It was easier to be kinder around her, genuine. That made her dangerous, definitely dangerous to him. Then I can’t promise I won’t throw snow at you in retaliation.

[leocappelletti]

aurora:

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Aurora asks sharply. The guard before her looks particularly flustered at how the princess’s voice rose upon hearing the news. It was protocol of course after a royal had been sick to no allow them off the grounds for two weeks- but that meant nothing to Aurora. After being unwell for a week and then being told to keep to her room, the Italian was nearly out of painting supplies to keep her distracted. She was used to getting what she wanted and being told ‘no’ was a hard thing to handle. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself as she stood at the guarded courtyard with her bookbag on her back. “Listen, I just need to go and get a few paints from in town. I won’t be gone for than an hour,” she attempts to plead to no avail. 

Storming out of the foyer, Aurora blindly kicks a ball with incredible force, “Stupido, bastardo, regole. Lo odio qui.” (Stupid, bastard, rules. I hate it here.) she gowns loudly in her native tongue, not paying attention to where the ball lands. “Se fossi a casa questo non succederebbe.”(If I were at home this would not happen.)

While he couldn’t hear her, Leo could remember the sound of his sister’s temper. It was ferocious and to him, it was also hilarious. That did not stop the immediate surge of equally ferocious protectiveness, the snarl on his lips as he shoved passed the denying guard and chased, in his ever-uneven way, after Aurora. “Hey! What is going on, what happened?” He called out, determined to save the day for his little princess.

[leocappelletti]

feliks​:

starter; feliks.

Thick brows furrow over focused green eyes, taking in the limp leaves of his third favorite plant, a once lively little maiden’s hair fern. The harsh Russian winter was not the ideal climate for such a delicate species, and even with his diligent care and observation, the plant was not faring well, greying leaves contrasting poorly with the cheerful yellow and green speckled pot it resided in. Giving up on trying to acclimate the fern to his rooms, Feliks was branching out, now trying to see if perhaps the milder temperature of one of the main sitting rooms would suit her better. He was setting up the metal plant stand when he noticed someone enter the previously empty room.

“Oh, sorry, I will be out of your way, just relocating the girl.” he explains, nodding to the patiently waiting plant. “Too cold for her here…” he adds, frowning accusingly at the thick falling snow visible through the many windows.

Leo paused at the sighted and silently signed at Paolo, a question that was denied with a shake of head. Curious and with plenty of time on his hands, as it were, he waited and attempted to read the younger man’s lips, relying on the translation for the rest. No, take your time. What happened to it?

[leocappelletti]

rosamie:

“I can not believe I missed a speed dating event!” When she had emerged from her room to see the type of event the castle had held for them over valentine’s day, one of her favorite holidays in the world, Rosa had been as livid as Rosa could get…which, with her being her, wasn’t as hot tempered as most would think. “I bet a lot of juicy stuff happened that day. Tell me someone found the love of their life and they ran off to get married together? Please? It would make my day.” She knew the chances of it having happened were pretty much zero to none but she needed something to carry her through the day. And what better than a little romance brewing?

Leo couldn’t tell which was funnier, the jump that Paolo had given, the animated woman saying something he almost wished he could hear, or the shocked, silent blink his interpreter gave at what appeared to be silence. Leo wouldn’t know, which made his low, quiet chuckle all the more genuine.

Ah, I heard that a lucky prince ran away with one of the maids. Well, sort of. He had to carry her and her walker. Lying through his.. well, his fingers, Leo guessed, but it made his eyes sparkle with suppressed laughter.

[leocappelletti]

niamh:

She thought about his question for a moment, fighting back a shiver. What did she want to do today? Humming softly to herself, she pursed her lips in thought as she tried to decide. Her signing was a bit off but she hoped that she was close enough to what she was trying to say. Would you like to take a walk around the gardens? And then perhaps have tea by the fire?

Noting the shiver, he moved closer and adjusted her coat, pulling it closer. The movements were automatic and despite himself and by association, her. His mind wandered, forever plagued by the joy of self-doubt and came back when she signed again. So long as you don’t laugh too hard if I slip and fall, he returned with a sardonic, if mostly genuine smile and offered his arm with a semblance of his smile still there.

Oh, he was definitely in trouble.

[leocappelletti]

rebekah:

How was someone meant to act as these things? The last speed dating she had went on was in University and there wasn’t just wine involved and definitely no food. “The last time I was at one of these things, it wasn’t sophisticated wine tasting and a cheese board, it was a tray of blue kamikaze shots and praying I woke up in my own bed.”

Leo was not in attendance for his own benefit, really. No, no, he did not need nor want friends and by all means he was betrothed so dating was off the table, at least to his mind; Niamh could do as she pleased and he would not judge. But it was absolutely hilarious to watch Paolo squirm and do his very best to avoid any interactions necessary. Leo wasn’t shy about his snickering either. “Did you?” Leo asked after Paolo translated.

[leocappelletti]

gio:

Leo’s voice broke through his concentration on the food, a small feat considering he was someone who lived for eating the way that the guard did, and he looked up at the prince with a bright grin. His mood had just gotten so much better. The words thrown his way had Gio throwing Leo a wink right back before he went to work on cutting the pizza, his head lifted so that his future king could read his lips. “In that case, I’ll have to give you demands more often. I only live to please you, my darling.”

A plate was set on the counter for Leo to take a seat in front of, his answer almost automatic. “Beer. I love my wine but for some reason I just can’t pair it with pizza.” Pizza cut, both plates sat on the counter for them, Gio looked over to make sure Leo didn’t need any help with the beverages. “You good?”

Unable to help it, the ever-sour prince returned Gio’s grin with his own. It was like when a child handed him a play phone, it had to be played along with, though he had never considered the guard a child. A laugh sounded as well, deep and rasping from a lack of use. “See to it and I’ll make you a happy, happy man.”

Snagging the beer bottles, two for each of them, Leo shook his head to the question. “Fine, fine. Here.” A twist with his bare hand and the cap was removed, tossed in the trash, the same for his own beer. “Applausi amico mio.”

[leocappelletti]

niamh:

@leocappelletti​

She stood beside him in the greenhouse, watching as the snow fell around them. Niamh was doing her best to get to know the man she’d one day marry. Turning to look at him, she did her best with the sign language he had been teaching her. It is pretty when it snows, yes?

If someone asked, if someone bothered to try, Leo would have fought tooth and nail to admit the truth. He didn’t mind the current betrothal, though the situation itself was less than ideal. The why and how he would never say, but the truth remained, thus his ever-sour mood, even when a smile dared to flick the corners of his lips up at her signing. Very, he agreed, careful to keep his motions slow enough for her to read. He wondered if actual teachers felt the same when a pupil did well. Is it as quiet as it looks? What would you like to do today, Niamh?

[leocappelletti]

gio:

He hadn’t been able to sleep that night. It wasn’t much different than other nights other than the reason, really. So much had reminded him of home lately that his heart ached for Florence and the only way that Gio knew how to curb that pain was connecting to it the only way he could. His mother’s recipes had been something she’d taught to all of her children and had even shared with the Baldacchino kids after they’d promised to keep them a secret from anyone outside of the two households. Cooking something she had taught him was the closest he would get to Italy in a long time. So that night, long after dinner and at a time when he should have been in bed, he’d taken over the staff kitchen to make his mothers famous pizza recipe. It wasn’t his favorite, but it was the one that wouldn’t take a full night to make and the one he was able to find all the ingredients that it required. He had to skip her hand made dough but luckily the castle had some on hand. Besides, the dough didn’t make the pizza what it was even if it helped. 

He didn’t know how long he’d been in the kitchen when somebody walked in just as Gio was taking the meal out of the oven and setting the piping hot food on top of the stove to cool. “If you’re staying you have to eat. Mostly because, as much as I would try, I can’t eat this whole thing by myself.”

Insomnia had simply become part of his norm in the years since the incident that had changed him forever. It wasn’t uncommon for him to pour over books, letters, to wander the halls long after most had fallen asleep. While the world was silent to him, the reverberations from his cane connecting with floor told him he was not, though he tried. With his forever uneven gait, Leo wandered, following the other senses that had been left to him.

Smell brought him to the kitchen and he paused at the sight, relieved to have come across someone familiar and whose company was preferred, moving to see Gio’s lips move as he spoke. “I do love it when you’re bossy,” Leo returned with a grin and set to finding a drink that would suit the pizza. “Beer or wine?” he asked, willing to sacrifice a throbbing head for the sake of simplicity.

[leocappelletti]

aisling:

“Oh gosh…um…maybe like…a cup?” she offered, raising her shoulders in a helpless little shrug, a nervous laugh falling from her lips. “That could be really messy though…dining tables are probably good! They’d be bigger things to pick up.” She gave him another smile, her gaze flitting from his face to his hand as he signed. “Oh! Are you fluent in sign language? I’ve always wanted to learn!”

“A cup is good,” he encouraged, delighted and heading into charmed. “If there aren’t any consequences, then a mess wouldn’t be too bad, right?” Amused, Leo nodded and shrugged, signed again. “I’m deaf,” he explained and saw a sprinting figure out of his periphery. “And that.. would be my interpreter, Paolo. Brace yourself, he might be mad at me.”

[leocappelletti]

adelaide:

Addie was no stranger to his defensive reaction when he came back around. Calmly, she just gave him a small smile and shrugged. “You know what,” she mouthed without continuing. This had happened before, and she wasn’t going to go through another fight like their first time of bickering. Instead, she stood from her crouched position, dusting off her shirt and fluffing up her hair. Do you want me to take you to bed? she attempted to sign, however her hand motions mixed it up into: Do you want to take me to bed? She was still learning in her short time around Leo, and it was far from perfect. Her hands rested in a clasped position in front of her, awaiting his response.

While she straightened, he opted to sit, needing the cold, the very stark reminder of where he was physically. Deep breaths, even as he scowled up at his therapist and her brand of sass. Annoyed at himself and by proxy her, it took a moment for her signing to register the question. Even as a slow grin started to spread, he stood with some effort and tilted his head. “I do not fuck people I pay,” he countered, giving her the benefit of speaking. “Did you mean something else?”

[leocappelletti]

taurayi:

While being in Khatanga had its perks, it still left some things left to be desired. To start, he was still new to the palace and the social scene was lacking for him. It took some digging around to finally find himself at the Lilac, raising a brow at its shoddy exterior and the elevator that looked as though it could drop down to hell. Still, he ventured on, sharing the password to the bouncer. As soon as the actual bar was revealed, he stepped off the elevator and grinned, moving to the bar to grab a beer. “Ah… now this is more like it…”

There was something incredibly amusing about watching the oddities of bar patrons while hearing none of their jabber. Paolo certainly seemed amused, judging by his expression. Leo took that as a good sign and continued watch others, from the flirtatious to the less-so. Spotting the new patron, he lifted his own bottle of beer in greeting.