The urge to write Enzo and Gaetano haunted by Il Merlo and freaked out by how unpredictable he is.
He was evil 99% of the time, screaming, punching, kicking, whipping.
But sometimes he was kind (no he was NOT, I just like to imagine he was</3) in a eerie way, standing in a corner and watching them sleep in the middle of night, he notices how they shake, how the younger miners shake with the freezing cold and walks away, returning with thin worn sheets or old torn tents.
He looks like a creature, something that pretends to be alive, pretends to be a man.
Gaetano senses movement and stirs, his eyes barely registered anything until he recognized the shape of Il Merlo, he woke up with a gasp and wide eyes. Damiano notices because of course he does, he sees everything, he eventually knows everything but he doesn't react, not how Gaetano expects at least.
Il Merlo looks back at him, green eyes so dead they look black in the dead of the night.
Gaetano pretends he didn't see him and lays back down, curling in a ball and reaching for Enzo's hand while he closes his eyes as tight as he can but he can hear the steps getting closer but Gaetano knows better than to play brave and look at him.
He waits for a scream, for a kick, for a filthy whisper
But nothing comes, he can tell he's standing near but he doesnt move, he can't hear Il Merlo moving.
Then he feels it, he feels something light falling over him and he almost breaks his shield of fake sleep but he stays strong, his strength is in his ability to keep his head down, he doesn't exist, he doesn't get caught, he's not seen, he's safe when he doesn't exist.
The flimsy raggedy sheet falls over his body and then he hears steps getting farther and farther away until he hears the door opening and closing again.
He waits for a couple of minutes, minutes that feel like an eternity before he opens his eyes and looks around, he can see some boys with sheets or tent pieces over their bodies, nothing more, no blood, no tears.
He doesn't understand, why would he do that? Why? He left some miners in the raw cold with no shelter more than once so why would he do this?
Not even Il Merlo knows, Ignazio saw him putting covers together and saw him walking out. They stare at each other and there's nothing in Damiano, no softness, no compassion, no kindness, nothing but endless darkness in his eyes, his face completely blank so he doesn't ask and just extends his hand to offer him a cup of tea and Il Merlo takes it.
He doesn't comment, he doesnt justify himself to Ignazio, only to himself, claiming it was better for business, better for the production to keep these rats warm so they don't catch disease and slow everything down.
There's no real reason behind it, no secret compassion or love, no genuine goodness but it's not fake either, it's something it felt like the correct action in his mind and nothing more.
