Chapter Text
"Nicco, what the fuck? Why do you hog the bathroom? I need to take a shit!" Ildio yelled from outside the bathroom door.
"Bontà mia! Do you have to be so crass?" Niccolo Carpediem yelled back exasperatedly.
"Since when do you care?" Ildio wondered and scratched his exposed belly.
"Since I'm meeting my idol today and want to leave a good first impression," Nicco admonished and finally stepped out of the bathroom. Ildio whistled between his teeth.
"That's why you're all dolled up?" Ildio asked and let a strand of silky black hair glide through his fingers. Nicco batted his hands away in annoyance. He didn't spent an hour combing his long hair to perfection to have it messed up again by his husband.
"If the dude puts up with my idiot brother he'll adore you." Ildio rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to put so much effort into it!"
"Of course I need to put effort into it. Licht Jekylland Todoroki is the most prestigious and elusive pianist of our time," Nicco cried out indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah and you're his biggest fan or whatever. Now shoo, I still need to poo. Ha! Ya hear that? I'm an artist, too, a right poet," Ildio chuckled and squeezed past him.
"Why did I marry you again?" Nicco grumbled to himself.
"It's my good looks and my charm," Ildio said and farted.
Nicco sent a prayer to the Lord and all his saints and rested his forehead against the door with a thunk. The smell emanating from the gap under the door made him retreat hastily into the bedroom to try on a variety of clothes. He finally decided on a dark green silk shirt with a wide open collar and black slacks. Before he could change his outfit again Ildio threw a jacket at him and dragged him out of the flat that he had until recently shared with his brothers Kuro and Hyde. Ildio hadn't put nearly as much effort into his fashion choices. He wore a tight black t-shirt that left nothing to the imagination and revealed part of his toned stomach and bulky arms. Paired with the washed out jeans and flip flops of all footwear he looked like a cad. A violent and intimidating cad considering the black spiky ink that travelled from his hipbone to his neck.
It wasn't that Nicco was ashamed of Ildio, no, his partner looked as attractive as ever and despite his italian heritage he didn't care all that much about fashion himself. He even admired Ildio's boldness and carefree attitude most of the time. But leaving a sophisticated impression with the pianist whose music had carried him through so many points - high and low - in his life was important to him. And he wished that Ildio had realized that and had at least tried to make an effort - not for Licht but for him.
Ildio was pissed. Before he'd met Nicco being pissed and being bored were the only two emotions he'd allowed himself to feel. Now he was able to feel gradations of pissed: from slightly annoyed to majorly pissed off. Which he was now. Because that prissy pianist not only snatched Hyde from under his wing but also got Nicco all swooning. From the way Hyde was gushing about his bruises he was probably an abusive asshole on top of a potential homewrecker. But he would scrutinise this guy very closely to decide if he was worth the admiration of the only two people he cared about.
Shit, he probably had to add love and jealousy to his ever growing repertoire of feelings. Another thing to blame the oh-so-famous musician for, whom he had never heard of before.
Tiramisu parked their car in front of a high-rise. Ildio was so lost in his dark thoughts that he needed to orient himself for a second. Seemed like the pianist wasn't a fraud at least. He could see the Futako Tamagawa Rise close by and the apartment complex they parked in front of was modern and expensive looking. The guy must be loaded. That did not really improve Ildio's mood, especially since he was in between jobs after an altercation with his boss who had manhandled a female co-worker.
"Are...are you coming?" Nicco stuttered and nervously fiddled with his long hair.
"Sure," he grumbled and grabbed his husband's hand. Nicco held onto it with a white-knuckled death-grip. Ildio could feel cold sweat and a slight tremble. He hated that some piano monkey caused his husband such distress. Well, he was looking forward to taking him down a peg.
Licht was pissed. He had zero interest in cozying up to a patron who was probably completely talentless himself and thought he could buy taste in music. He didn't even really care about meeting Hyde's brother. He adored Hyde and from what he said about his family they didn't appreciate him the way they should.
Besides they sounded crazy altogether.
He'd already met Kuro and he was okay but only because he did nothing the whole time he was there and finally fell asleep on the couch while Licht played the piano.
He'd inofficially met Lily - the youngest brother - too when the sub introduced him to the kink club "The seven deadly sins". It had taken less than twenty minutes for the intrusive blonde to grate on his nerves.
According to Hyde those two were the most affable of his siblings and Licht could barely stand those for extended periods of time. Apparently there was a sister who was passive aggressive with a resting bitch face (something Licht could relate to), another younger brother who was just aggressive (probably because he was constantly hungry) and for some reason married to a classy Italian, and two older brothers who were complete assholes. A dwarf named Hugh (Licht wasn't sure if the dwarf was meant figuratively or literally) and a soldier/priest/super-kinky-motherfucker who constantly wore a hood. Licht was not sure what to make of them and was all too glad to not meet them any time soon.
Before he met Hyde he only ever had the company of his manager Kranz who was a saint and his parents who were more often away touring on concerts than not. Right now all three of them were talking all over the place - his parents via video-call and Kranz in person. Hyde put in his two cents excitedly every now and then which was honestly the only reason Licht hasn't slammed the lid of the laptop down. For whatever reason it was important to Hyde to leave a competent impression on his absent parents and he allowed his boyfriend/social media guy to shine for scoring an audience with Niccolo Carpediem even though the conversation about inviting him went something like that:
"Yo, Il."
"Yo, bro, whassup?"
"Is Nicco over?"
"Yup."
"Wanna come over and chill? Bring Nicco. I want to show off my new boyfriend Licht."
"Huh? Boyfriend? When did that happen?"
"You remember the dom from 'The seven deadly sins'?"
"Yeah, you won't shut up about him."
"That's my boyfriend now. And I'm moving in with him. Kinda already have."
"What? When?"
"Um, last week? Did you not even realize my stuff is gone from our apartment?"
"Well, I did wonder about the peace and quiet. How did you manage to get all your junk out?"
"Eh, Kuro helped."
"Kuro? Now you're shitting me. That dude's completely useless."
"Ah, let me rephrase that: Mahiru made him help."
"Okay, that makes sense. No - that doesn't make any sense at all! You're rushing things again! Only because the guy was a great fuck you're not boyfriends and you especially don't just move in with basically a stranger."
"We love each other."
"Oh my god, don't you ever learn, Hyde? Don't be stupid!"
"I'm not. This time I'm one hundred percent sure. Just move your lazy butt over here, bring your better half and see for yourself."
"You bet I will and then I'll kick his ass! I can't believe I'm gone for a week and some no-name bully steals you away!"
"You can try. But for real, Ildio, he means a lot to me. I feel like he could finally be the one. Don't ruin it for me, okay? I want you to like each other."
"No, promises, bro. I'll come over right away...Nah, wait, Nicco is hanging off my arm and is rambling something...yeah...okay. We'll come over when Nicco is ready - an hour? Okay, make that two. See ya!"
That was two and a half hours ago. Two and a half hours in which his parents constantly treated him like a little kid by instructing him on etiquette and how to woo a patron of the arts. Licht was itching out of his skin five minutes into the conversation. First of all he didn't need to woo anyone. His music spoke for itself. He was an angel and his music was divine - he didn't need something as mundane as money to be a successful artist. Secondly he was still a teenager but already more famous and financially successful than both of his parents combined had been in their entire career. Pissing off important people hasn't detracted from his fame yet and he would literally not play to anyone's tune. Thirdly his parents could shove their misplaced concern where the sun won't shine. It was not like they really cared about him. The only time they called him since he moved to Japan was when a video of him playing the piano naked went viral - and that was only to admonish him about the negative impact it could have on his career. It hadn't any, quite the contrary, thanks to Hyde. And now this crap.
"Licht? Licht, do you even listen?" His mother said in that reproachful tone he hated.
"Hm," he said non-committally.
"Your mother asked you to remember to hand Signore Carpediem the invitation to our next concert in Vienna. We think he'd really enjoy it. You need to pay better attention, Licht!" His father admonished.
Licht's eyebrow twitched dangerously.
"I'm sorry, Licht's mom and dad, it seems your hotel-suite in wherever you are is driving through a tunnel. The reception is really poor!"
With that Hyde made some ridiculous imitation of white-noise, slammed down the lid of the laptop and grinned towards Licht.
"Better, angel-cakes?"
"Yes, much."
"Licht, you should be grateful to have parents who care so much," Kranz admonished gently but actually rejected the incoming call from the Jekylland-Todoroki's on his mobile.
"It's not like they really care about me. They're only interested in my career," Licht huffed.
Kranz remained silent. He couldn't really deny it since he was more of a parental figure ever since he was hired as Licht's manager when he was only six years old than his biological parents ever were. Then he clapped his hands and said:
"I'm starting on dinner. Let's introduce them to the french cuisine."
Licht raised his eyebrows.
"Mom and dad told you to make lasagna."
"Ah well, but you only have shitty wine that's only good for cooking so I'll make coq au vin. That fits a lot better with melon for dessert anyway."
Licht smiled at his manager gratefully.
"Well, Ildio'll eat anything and Nicco'll probably not stomach anything because he's so nervous. So don't fret."
Kranz just tsk-ed and went into the kitchen. He took pride in his culinary skills. And the culinary superiority of France above Italy which he was about to demonstrate.
Hyde hugged Licht closer.
"Want me to blow you for stress-relief?" He suggested.
"Nah, I'll just play the piano for a bit," he said. Hyde wondered if he'd made a mistake by inviting his brother and brother in law over, but he genuinely thought that Nicco and Licht would get along fine. Before he could change his mind and un-invite them or Licht even reached the piano the doorbell rang. Licht hung his head but went to open the door. He was greeted with the sight of a bulky tattoed man with crossed arms. Another man with long black hair peeked over his shoulders and blushed scarlet red as soon as Licht glared at him.
"So, you are the prissy pianist, huh?" The former asked rudely. The man behind him squeaked.
"And you must be the hangry brother. Come in and eat something," Licht answered entirely unimpressed.
Ildio guffawed and pushed his way past him into the apartment.
The other man nervously fiddled with a strand of hair, then he looked up to meet Licht's eyes, looked down again, reached out his hand, retracted it again, fiddled with his hair some more, took a large gulp of air and said:
"HelloMrJekyllandTodoroki-san,it'sanhonourtomeetyou.I'mNiccoloCarpediem."
Licht glared at him trying to figure out what he'd just said.
"Hello, come in," he finally settled on.
Nicco scurried past him and set his designer shoes down neatly in the genkan next to Ildio's haphazardly strewn flip flops.
"We brought wine," Nicco said and shoved a bottle of very expensive Italian wine at Licht who kept glaring at him.
"I don't drink. Give it to Kranz," he said.
"Oh...oh, I'm..." Nicco stuttered nervously feeling inadequate for choosing the wrong gift.
"That's because he's a lightweight. He got drunk on liqueur-pralines once!" Hyde shouted from the living-room.
Licht scowled. Thankfully Kranz came over and graciously complimented the wine.
"Merci beaucoup, Signore Carpediem. This'll compliment the coq au vin perfectly. Why don't you make yourself comfortable in the living-room while I finish dinner?"
Licht walked ahead feeling a little out of his debt. Normally fans wanted to talk to him and critics or patrons would drone on and on about...well Licht didn't really know about what since he tended to tune them out. He was known for his music not for his social skills. He hoped Hyde would take over the conversation since he was the one who invited them over. He didn't need to worry because Ildio who sat on the couch with wide-spread legs immediately honed in on him.
"So I hear my little brother moved in with ya?"
"Yes."
"Where's his stuff then? All I see is your squeaky clean modern crap."
"Ildio!" Nicco squeaked.
"What the hell, bro? If you want to ask about my stuff, ask me! I threw most of it away because it was junk."
"It was junk you cared about. This is nothing like you. You're a guest here at best and a prisoner at worst."
"Bullshit!"
"Yes shit! Don't tell me you feel comfortable here!"
"Please stop, this is none of your business," Niccolo pleaded and looked close to tears. Ildio just crossed his arms.
"I don't answer to you, hangry demon. But Hyde, if you're not comfortable just re-decorate. I don't care about anything except my piano and my grandfather's ugly cuckoo clock. You know the apartment came pre-furnished. You can sell whatever you want and replace it. You have full access to my bank account, just buy whatever you want."
"He has what now?" Kranz called over from the kitchen.
"Don't worry I only ever used Licht's credit card to buy sex toys!" Hyde yelled back.
"I didn't need to know that!"
Hyde cackled. Nicco looked close to fainting. Licht and Ildio kept glaring at each other.
"I'll believe that when I see it."
"I don't care what you believe."
"Well, I'm gonna tell you anyways. I think you're an abusive, controlling asshole who lured my brother in with the promise of money, a career as an artist or a fancy lifestyle and now you treat him like your personal slave. You took his belongings, you hurt him and you use him for sex while you tingle around the world with your stupid piano tinkling."
"Ildio, you complete asshole! I'm neither a damsel in distress nor a prostitute!" Hyde cried out indignantly.
"I'm so sorry about my husband," Nicco said and a tear rolled down his cheek. He never felt this embarrassed in his life.
"It's okay. Seems like Ildio cares more about his brother than Hyde knew," Licht said.
"Then stop behaving like one!" Ildio shouted back at Hyde.
"Excuse me?"
"Wake up, you moron! Why would a rich, talented artist give a poor starving barista the time of day? Because he's a fucking sadist and you let him trample all over you because you're so grateful for the scapes he's giving you!"
The absolute hurt that crossed Hyde's face told Ildio that he had overstepped but he needed Hyde to see reason. He needed to protect his brother. Before he could take back his words he found himself face to face with ice-cold blue eyes that were blazing with fury.
"You don't get to make Hyde feel bad about himself. He deserves the world and he'll get it from me for as long as he'll let me," Licht said in a deadly serious tone.
"It is probably better if we leave now. I apologize for causing you distress," Nicco said and bowed deeply.
Hyde shrugged non-chalantly.
"You're probably the most distressed of all of us, Nicco."
At that Ildio broke his glaring-contest with Licht and looked over at his trembling husband who still wasn't able to meet anyone's eyes.
"Shit, Nicco, I'm sorry. I know this meant something to you," he apologized contritely and tried to grab his husband's hands who pulled them away.
"No, Ildio! Don't touch me right now! You behaved like a stronzo! You insult our host, you hurt your favourite brother's feelings only because you transfer your insecurities about our relationship onto them. I'm very disappointed right now."
"Awww, Nicco, I didn't think you had it in you," Hyde mocked.
Licht looked at Nicco consideringly.
"You can stay as long as the hangry demon apologizes to Hyde."
"What are you callin' me?" Ildio asked between confusion and annoyance.
"Do it or I'll travel back to Italy alone," Nicco threatened. It was a bluff but he was good at bluffing.
"Fine. Sorry Hyde, I'm just trying to look out for you."
"I know. You don't have to be an asshole about it, though."
"He's a demon, it's in his nature."
"Oi!"
"Don't fret, I'll get you something to eat. Kranz!"
"What's wrong with him?" Ildio whispered to Hyde not wanting to anger his husband more. Hyde just shrugged with a wide grin.
"He's perfect, isn't he?" He said dreamily. Ildio just rolled his eyes but had to admit that he fit his brother rather well.
"What is it?" Kranz asked and came over with his braid over one shoulder and a dish-towel over the other.
"Do you have something to eat yet?"
Kranz hurried into the kitchen and came back with a tray of appetizers.
"Mais oui! Have some hors d'oeuvres."
"Proposal: Nicco and Ildio, go to the balcony, snack some of Kranz' strange little tarts and talk. Hyde and I'll do the same. Minus the tarts. Then I'll cleanse you with my angelic piano play and we eat. Then you get the fuck out of here and Hyde and I'll destroy all the furniture he doesn't like by having filthy, rough sex on it. Objections?" Licht glared into the round of people who looked at him with a mix of horror, shock and lust.
"I didn't need to know that!!" Kranz screeched.
"Me neither! And don't think I'll help you lug any furniture with questionable stains on them out of the apartment!"
"Santa Madre di Dio! I need a smoke!" Nicco honestly had negotiations with mafiosi that were less taxing and unpredictable than this conversation. What was supposed to be a family reunion that happened to include his musical idol quickly turned into a worse shit-show than the shootout in Palermo a couple of years ago. Well, when he thought about it that was a family reunion, too. He sighed and guessed that what they said about meeting your heroes was true after all.
"Come on, Ildio, let's have a smoke."
"Yeah, lemme grab the horse doves."
Nicco eyebrow twitched and he hurried on the balcony. The others could guess from his wild gestures that he was probably shouting at Ildio, but fortunately the apartment was soundproofed excellently.
"Hyde, bedroom," Licht ordered and Hyde followed him like a kicked puppy. He was reasonably sure that Licht was mad at him for inviting his brother over. He cursed himself for bragging about his connections to the Carpediem family in front of Licht's parents.
"I'll put some earplugs in!" Kranz yelled over from the kitchen but the younger men just ignored him. It wasn't like Kranz didn't walk in on them once a week or so.