Two weeks later

Romeo rushes down the stairs in his high heel boots. (they're not stilettos yet but hey, it is a significant improvement.) And throws on his leather jacket, tonight is the first time he has done his own makeup. He plans to be very proud of it (although when you first see it you might think he got his in both his eyes and he is sporting battered gay aesthetic tonight. Very common aesthetic for gay people who forgot that most alleys aren't quite our terrain, because the only catfights that happen there are literal ones.)

"Aurelio?" He says as he walks through the hallway, his heels making satisfying clicks on the marble.
"In here." He says shortly. Romeo follows his voice into the living room, he is quickly taken aback when he sees that he isn't clothed the way he normally is. He is wearing a light blue skirt and a loose fitting white shirt with long sleeves, even though it might look alright for anybody else it looks incredibly ill-fitting and badly chosen for the well-dressed person that encompasses Aurelio. He looks up, for the first time in these two weeks his hair is not slicked back but is hanging in front of his bright blue eyes, and he has a five o'clock shadow.
Romeo opens his mouth to say something but before he can Aurelio smiles and says: "Who did your make-up? Your two year old friend? I could to better than that before I could even spell my name."
"Well than you must have been illiterate for a very long time." He says as he sits down on the chair in front of him. (which would be rather atypical for an alphabet mafioso, it would not be very handy I suppose.)
"Wow, your first read..... I am proud of you." Aurelio says with a smile.
"If a read means a well phrased insult then period bitch..." He says with an attitude.
"And that was a bit too much Hun..." Aurelio answers. (But Aurelio is a bit too much all the time, so maybe life imitated art? Or Romeo imitated Aurelio....well that's basically the same right?)
Romeo looks at Aurelio's legs, they're strangely thin and full of tattoos. He squints and notices that all of the tattoos are of the paintings that are hanging somewhere in the house. Aurelio grabs a tattoo gun and folds his leg over the other as he starts tattooing himself.
"You do all these yourself?" Romeo asks.
"Yes, before I chose to become a professor and criminal I had other dreams."
"Like what? Becoming a mafia tattoo artist?" Romeo says with a smile.
"Aren't you a delight Loverboy." He chuckles. "No, I wanted to become a painter. But alas, didn't have the talent or money to waste. So philosophy it was." (which to be honest might've been a waste of money too but at least he became less pretentious because of it.)
He puts the tattoo gun down and wipes his skin, the replica of a falling Icarus is miniscule but still detailed. Romeo grabs the tattoo gun and turns it on.
"Can you give me one?" He says as he puts it near his skin.

Aurelio swiftly grabs his wrist and twists it to the outside so Romeo is forced to drop the device.
"What the fuck was that for." Romeo exclaims. Aurelio's hand still tightly wrapped around his wrist and his furious eyes staring at him.
"You fucking idiot." He hisses. "Always clean a needle before you stick it in yourself!"
Romeo frowns "How am I supposed to know? Why is that a crime? I'm not a germaphobe."
Aurelio grabs his chin tightly and brings his face closer to his. "Aids, you idiot.... HIV, need I remind you? If you do things like this you'll end up dead in two months." He releases him, like a father scolding a child that has gone too far.
"It's no big deal, you're the only one who used it." He retorts, offended by the notion he does not have any common sense. (although this piece of common sense was still missing when the golden boy mentioned it.)

The resignation is plausible on the young men's face as he chugs his glass of alcohol. Romeo studies the face that is avoiding all eye contact, his raised eyebrows, his cold exterior, his emaciated body, his red circles under his eyes, the abnormally high cheekbones.
"Are you sick?" He asks.
"I am in a wheelchair, do you really think I am healthy?" He responds sarcastically.
Romeo stands up and sits down beside him, he looks at the painting in front of him so they do not have to look into each other's eyes.
"Do you have aids?"
The deep breath that he takes is an answer in itself. "I haven't told Valentino..... I feel so ashamed. Have you ever seen the people dying from aids? They're like machines, hooked up to everything their loved ones could find and pumped full of drugs. I don't want to be a machine, I want to die by jumping off a roof or by throwing myself into a fire passionately... he stops himself. You should probably go.... You don't even really know me, I don't know why I am saying this.... You should go." He says as he seems to panic and he gathers the things on the table.
"Aurelio"
"Just go...."
Romeo shakes his head. "I won't"
"GO! You will not speak to me like that in my house! Know your place!" He says with tears in his eyes, his chest heaving in utter discomfort and panic.

"NO," Romeo says as he stands up. "I might not know you. But you know me better than anyone I have met. In two weeks you know me, you are better than my father who didn't know me after 21 years. You are my brother. You told me community is like family, I do not plan to leave a family member in their time of need. I won't be like my parents." He reaches his hand to him.
"You have a saviour and a daddy complex I am afraid." He says as he sassily hits the hand. "there is no hope for me Romeo, not everything ends like a fairytale. Look at your namesake for god's sake."

"But.... You run the medicines, Guiseppe told me you are working with someone who has access to an experimental treatment." Romeo says, trying his best not to look at him.
"They do not know if they work yet, besides we do not sample our own stuff." He responds immediately, his tone resigned, as if it is not his own life he is talking about.
"You could at least ask to be included in the trial."
He shakes his head. "The young boys who didn't know better deserve it. The people with a life ahead of them need it, they deserve it...."
"Remind me Aurelio..... how old were you again."
He sighs and looks at Romeo, his smile crooked and strangely joyful as he shakes his head.
"You're foolish Loverboy." He says as he sits down in his wheelchair again. "don't get attached to me. aids patients are ticking time bombs.... Don't wait till I explode.... I will never be worth it." He says. "Oh and your ride is almost here.... Have fun at the club."
"You are worth it...." Romeo says. And although he will never know it, that did paint a skewed smile on Aurelio's vain face.

He turns around, and smiles.
"I am going to make you pay for this..." He says with a smile. "You know I know this is awkward, but since you have no father or mother to tell you this I think I have a duty to. Be careful, don't go home with sketchy people, don't be a bog queen, and take these. I don't think you need the talk but you know, consider this your big brothers advice, I have made enough mistakes for us both." He says as he hands him a small bag and winks.
"Firstly, You're younger you moron. And what is a bog queen."
"Imagine being slutty in a gross and moist place, that is a bog queen. And secondly, even if I am younger I am still higher in value you sucker." (Aurelio dearly hopes not literally a sucker anyway, I digress. Children grow up so fast don't they?)

"There you are!" Gianna says with a smile while Romeo enters the car.
"Yeah, I hope I am not late." He says as they start driving towards the bar.
"No, it's okay. You were rather punctual if I would compare you to Guiseppe, he likes to postpone his entrance to the last second, he says it makes an impression.... Yeah an impression of bad manner am I right?" She says as she pulls into the parking lot. "So spill the tea why did you think you were late?"
"I had a bit of an argument with Aurelio."
"Did you fall headfirst into his makeup drawer?" She asks with a chuckle. "Honestly, no shade but I am surprised he can even argue with the permanent double tongue he has. He has more in common with a snake than a person nowadays." She says with a smile.
"You're harsh Gianna." Romeo says, frowning as he tries to deduce if this is meant maliciously or sarcastically.
"Are you sweet on him boy? Trust me you don't want to ride an old bike the first time." She says with a smirk.
"No, stop it, and he is a year younger than I am, come on. I just think we need to take into account that we might not know the whole story."
"Firstly bitch, that he is young doesn't mean he hasn't had a roster of partners. He has twice the choice we have. Oh darling trust me a dandy like him would scream his story on the top of his lungs. He is camp enough to have a room dedicated to photos of him, why wouldn't he tell us something." She says with a smile as they enter the bar.

The aroma of the bar is filled with perfume and liquor. "One sex on the beach please, What do you want darling?" She asks Romeo.
"A blue lagoon, put it on the tab please." Romeo says to the bartender.
They grabs their drinks and walk to the table where wren, Elisabetta, and Guiseppe are waiting for them.
"Two full weeks for this young thang!" Guiseppe yells excitedly.
"I am not staying too long today." Romeo says with a smile as he sits down.
"Wren I still do not understand how you can be against MLM's when everyone you love is gayer than a rosebush." (Never knew rosebushes were gay, but hey, power to them I suppose.)
Wren hits him in the head. "Multi-level marketing schemes you "
"Mafia is basically a multi-level marketing scheme, you know that right? It's important to me that you guys know that." Gianna says as she takes a sip of her cocktail. (One of my favourite words. Both are a word or euphemism for a certain body part. It's probably Guiseppe's favourite word too.)
"Oh come on!" Wren exclaims. "I felt smart for one second!"
"Oh no, no one of us is smart but that little golden boy." Guiseppe says with a sneer.
"Wait.... What?" Romeo says.
"You haven't heard the tea?" Elisabetta asks with a smile. "Your roommate has always been Valentino's favourite, he's like a son to him. How do you think he got into the higher levels of the mafia at such a young age?"
"Maybe he is just smart?" Romeo suggests hesitantly.
"That bi disaster and smart doesn't rhyme, even if Valentino believes he is a Genius. As if we can't all solve the pyfagorean theorem." Guiseppe says sassily while trying to get some ice cubes from his glass and manspreading worse than the average straight man. (You'll rip your leather....)
Wren sighs and looks up from their book "You're aware that hate speech in not part of math normally?"
"What?" Guiseppe asks his head tilts so much that he is almost aligned with the garnishes in his drink (Well, he's just as fruity as them so perhaps he'll feel at home.)
"It's the Pythagorean theorem."
"That's what I said."
"No, you somehow interpolated faggot in there." Elisabetta says with a smirk, surprised she is smarter than the fairy sitting in front of her.
"But that all doesn't matter Guiseppe because we know you'd still be passionately making love to him if you could." Wren says with a smirk.

"He was shagging him, not making love, it's a big difference according to Guiseppe here." A voice says emerging from the dancefloor. "Good evening everyone." Valentino says as he sits down in the booth and Elisabetta immediately rushes to the bar to get him a cocktail. As he sits down, his black silk shirt embroidered with roses that are bleeding dangling rubies, his eyes covered in a red eyeshadow and white and black eyeliner, he is wearing knee high boots with stiletto heels.
"So what were we talking about?" Valentino says with an intimidating smile as if he heard everything they just said. "That's what I thought..." he says with a smile. "Remember we are family, not competition, if you want to compete go to a ball for fucks sake."
"yes Valentino," Everyone says in unison as if they're all school children and he found out they were smuggling food inside the classroom.
"I see you took your first stab at doing your own makeup Romeo."
Romeo looks proud as he straightens his back. "I did, how did you know."
"Well, the artistry of a certain person we all know doesn't look like a wet raccoon cried too much. No shade, just advice..." He says with a smile as Elisabetta puts a cocktail in front of him.
"You do have an androgynous face, you'd be a great drag queen."
"Drag? But I am not a sissy." He immediately responds, hardly talking through the shock.
"Is anybody ever?" He says with a kind smile, the first one this night. He fiddles with his gold rings as everyone tries to find another subject.

"Is it normal to date amongst your friends in the community."
The room is filled with different answers.
"Well as a lesbian I can say that my best friends are mostly exes or old crushes." She says with a smile.
"Yeah but you are simple like that! You just want a cottage, a Subaru, sourdough bread, chickens and some other livestock and all the nature in the world and you'd be content. It's not as if you're very complicated or outgoing." Guiseppe says with a sigh.
"Then how does it work with you Guiseppe?" Romeo asked,
"Well, the last man I fucked claimed to be straight so that was interesting. I don't know if he mistook me for a girl and didn't mind the equipment or was still in denial."
"One night stands do not count Guiseppe." Wren complains.
"The only real relationship he has had with Aurelio..." Gianna says.
"Can you guys just give me a straight answer?" Romeo asks, running out of patience and clarity. (not that the dim mind of the young man even knows what true clarity is, but maybe I am underestimating him. Hey come on I need character growth too!)
"Our answers are the most straight thing about us. We can't go much straighter or we will revert to bad fashion sense. Like you had when you first arrived here." Valentino says as he lights a cigarette in a small pipe. "But to answer shortly. It's not uncommon, friends with benefits was quite popular I suppose."
"Wait a minute...." Gianna says with a frown. "When did you meet Ivo the first time."
"We became friends before either of us was out of the closet, he ran away when he was sixteen I came out at....18. So I first met him when he was 14. I think so.... I must know him for at least twenty four years now." He says with a smile and nods.
"Have you explored together?" Elisabetta asks, forgetting to put a wait in front of her lips as it has already slipped out.
You can see a strange unfamiliar expression on Valentino's face. "No comment."
"Historians will call them roommates!!" Gianna exclaims. (funnily enough the first apartment they owned was one they bought together so technically it's not incorrect. But hey, The famous polymath (And maybe polyamorist, I never had the chance to ask) had 'roommates' too, and hardly anyone seems to know that.)
"I don't want to be aware of this!!" Wren screams like an embarrassed child. (they're not talking about the da Vinci fact.)

"Conclusion, it's normal." Romeo said. "Aurelio and Guiseppe, I cannot fathom it. I thought you two hated each other to be honest."
"Oh god no! Guiseppe could never, right bitch. Seriously this torture only started 11 months ago, and they're still not over each other." Gianna says as she forcibly pets him over his head.
"It's all sexual tension." Elisabetta jokes, wiping her pink hair out of her face.
"You two were a good couple though." Wren says, a bit disinterested.
"Remember the time you two thought it was a good idea to go rock climbing in high heels?" Valentino says as he sniggers. "You shared one braincell during that whole relationship. Although you two did look very great in the pictures later. And Aurelio was surprisingly good at it despite the shoes."
"Maybe Aurelio is secretly spiderman?" Romeo says jokingly.
"A gay guy would never wear a fashion crime such as that spandex suit.... He's been stuck in the closet too long to decide to choose such an unfortunate colour." Valentino says. Almost as if he really is offended.
"Still I fucked up can we finally stop talking about this? I've relived it enough times." Guiseppe says.
"well you two are the worst perpetrators of it." Wren says with a laugh as they wipe away their hair. "I am getting another drink."
Romeo looks at the watch he borrowed. "Hey, it's late, I think it's time I go home. I am already tired." Romeo says as he bids everyone goodbye.

"I'm home." Romeo yells as he takes off his leather jacket. He doesn't hear anything for a second.
He shrugs and walks to the kitchen to grab an apple but something doesn't sit right with him. Normally Aurelio is waiting for him in the kitchen or living room with a glass of anything alcoholic. But today he doesn't even respond when he calls his name. He grabs and apple and walks back into the hallway as he goes further than the stairs he feels as if he is invading the privacy of Aurelio, (not that Aurelio values privacy, he is a professional over sharer about some things. (Not his health though)) He sees that one of the white doors in open, he enters the room and sees an empty wheelchair.
He frowns and looks down when he suddenly sees him lying on the floor, the way he is sprawled on the floor and he seems to hardly be able to blink. His face looks whiter than a ghost and the blood on his lip makes it seem even worse. His green eyes are zoomed out of life as he doesn't remember what life is. The water pooled in his restless make it seem like a master of art has painted this tragedy.

"Aurelio! Can you hear me?" Romeo says loudly as he rushes to his side and sits down.
A tear escapes the helpless eye as it flutters through its panic and the dry mouth opens again and again, trying to find the answer Romeo is looking for. An interpolation of breath and a positive answer escapes his mouth as he finally finds the word.
"Good, Have you taken any pills?" He asks immediately.
Aurelio manages to shake his head.
"What happened?" Romeo whispers.
"I can't feel anything...." Aurelio answers as he pushes the words out through every breath that takes too much energy.
"I am going to get you up alright?" Romeo says softly as he grabs the younger wise man under his armpits and turns him around.
"Don't..." He starts to protest.
"You can't do anything about it Aurelio, you need to calm down and sit in a more healthy way." He says as he wipes the blood off of his lip.
Romeo sits down against the wall and pulls Aurelio closer to him. His limp body resting on the other one. He wraps his arms around Aurelio's chest, making sure he is still breathing. He buries his face in the emaciated and bony shoulder trying to hide his tears of anger at the world.
"Timebomb." The simple word uttered by Aurelio anger Romeo, as if he knew he was giving up already. How did he know he was a time bomb? Why did he stop shaving? Why isn't he wearing his normal clothes? When did the real Aurelio resign?

Romeo takes a deep breath.
"I'm bringing you to the hospital." He says as he stands up and slowly lets his friend lean against the wall.
"I don't want to die like that." He answers.
"You can't stop me.... You deserve to die with more dignity than this."
"What kind of dignity does a white hospital gown give me? It's not as if it is made of silk." His voice croaks in an unrecognisable tone as he tries to chuckle.
"I'm bringing you there, so if you still want anything or if I need to know anything about this, tell me now."
"There's a pocket knife in that cabinet. I need you to cut into my leg.... I need to know if I can still feel pain."
Romeo sighs, it's not a request he had anticipated. "Is this something kinky?" He asks with a smile as he grabs the knife, trying to lighten the mood.
Aurelio shakes his head. "No, I wish it was."
"You know, I was with some of the others today, they kept calling you a bi disaster. Why do they think you are a disaster when you have everything the most under control?" He asks as he grabs the knife and kneels in front of the half dead young man.
"This is the worst time to ask that. I am not under control at all." He says as he smiles. "Their pity is pleasure for them. And pity is power for me. Always let them underestimate you, if you do a good job you'll surprise them, if not, you'll prove them right. Humans love both...."
"So you deceive the people you call family?" Romeo asks.
"Everyone does, we have a mask we put on for every individual person. Eventually we get tired. Maybe then we will finally know ourselves." He says.
Romeo cuts into white leg that is less lively than he remembered. Avoiding the tattoos masking the blue sore places or trying to walk. A tear forms into Aurelio's despondent eyes as he looks intently at the crimson blood flow.
Romeo smiles. "It hurts, you feel something."
He shakes his head.