[ The years could have been kinder to him, of course. He became consumed by his work most of the time, finding it easier to manage than dealing with anything else going on in his life. He got stronger, he got more powerful, and his work - it meant something to him. Still, through it, he had Caesar.
He had Caesar for so long in his life that it was almost shocking. That just didn't happen with him because of where he was from, the life he led, and the luck he seemed to attract. Ten years is so long.
But he was glad for it. He was glad he found happiness. He was glad for the two monsters that he called children. He was glad for their fascination with every bit of Louis. The questions, the attention, the everything.
He doesn't mind telling them stories or sharing tales. They're curious, and they listen when he talks, no matter how much he makes up. Every time one of them ask about his fight foot, or his antlers, or how he got to be like he is - it's a different story.
His extended stay here had kept him from ending up in a similar life at home - marriage and children. And though they were not things he would pick for himself, he was glad for Caesar getting to have it. ]
My work permits because I say it permits.
[ Being the boss means he makes the rules sometimes, and the rules today were that he can stay over and get his ears talked off in the morning. He reaches over and takes a wine glass. ]
I'll make sure to have a really good story by morning for them. They're getting so big, so fast. They have the energy of fifty highly motivated men. I'm not sure how you do it.
It would be a trial some days without Leone. I don't know how my own father handled five of us alone.
[There is a huge contrast between raising his many siblings to this. That had been a matter of life and death. Find food, find shelter, find safety-that was it. They were on the same page, near the same age, and their only goal was to survive every passing day.
This is different. Far different.
Because his children will never know that kind of lifestyle-he never wants them to. They will never have to taste a single bitter moment without their fathers, without a supportive extended family, without friends. They won't know a day of hunger or have to worry about finding shelter on cruel city streets.
They're getting to be normal kids and that lifestyle is something Caesar isn't used to facilitating. They do have limitless energy and without a cruel world holding them down, they do get to be normal children. It can be taxing, but he wouldn't trade a moment of it. Doesn't want to ever see them not be able to just be kids.]
They never stop talking about your stories. Always asking which one is the truth-you truly fascinate them. I have to keep them from following you when you leave.
[They want to be detectives like Papa and what better mystery than the giant deer that visits their home with one wild story after another.]
One day you may find some children trailing your tail. I won't be able to stop them forever.
[ He says it like it's new information, though he's sure that it's not. ]
It was just myself and my dad and I was more than enough work. I can't imagine more than one child.
[ He was a lot of work. A lot of time. A lot of effort. A pretty, soft face picked because appearance matters. The wounds surrounding his own father are long since buried. There was never time to heal or dwell on it, so he just willed it away nearly ten years ago. He was always a difficult child - and he was only one. He imagines his father wouldn't have lived to the age he did if he had more children just as willful and independent as Louis had been growing up. ]
My real stories aren't kid friendly, anyway. They don't need to hear about getting eaten, roving gangs of carnivores, and illegal markets. So the more fantastical, the better. I think my favorite is trading it to a witch for a coat.
[ An amuse lift in his voice as he takes a sip of wine. ]
They're going to think I'm mean when I make them go home. [ That's fine, he doesn't mind having to be when it calls for it. ]
Anything that'd be fun for them to tell other kids, though. I can't say I've met a normal child before, but I'd say they're it.
You know, if I were home - and don't seem too surprised now - I would have been married with a kid or two by now.
[ He places the wine glass to his lips. ]
I know, I know that it's hard to imagine. Here is more the life I saw for myself. Are you sure Leone won't mind if I stay over tonight?
You underestimate them. Those children would sooner clean their rooms than say a single foul word about their Uncle Louis.
[Caesar's already stressed for the day those two wander out of his sight. They're young now-he has an excuse to keep his eye on them like the helicopter parent he never thought he would become, but once they're older-
Well, he's not going to think about it. He simply hopes that Louis is their target and they'll be easy to find should that day arrive.
But this-
This is new information. He would have been married with children of his own and somehow, Caesar can't see the blossoming mafia don living that domestic life.
Louis doesn't seem to miss them in any capacity-strange.]
I never knew you had a beauty waiting for you back home. [A pause, and-] And you're family. He won't care if you stay the night. [He waves a hand in the air, as if he can physically brush off that question.] Don't ask foolish things.
[And Caesar would go on for, what probably is, the 20th rant about Italian family pride Louis has heard, but the wine's more appealing. He swallows his words with a gulp of burning red liquid.]
[ He always has to ask, of course, given his career path. He doesn't want to create issues for anyone who cares for Caesar - his family. It's nice to find a family again, though. He never imagined that he would. He accepts Caesar's answer easily, knowing full well if Caesar says it, it's probably true. He knows it is a strange thought, but it is what it is.
He thinks about her back at home and then he shrugs. He shrugs because it is unreal sometimes to think about how different his life would be if he had been there.
Running a legitimate company with a wife and children - heirs, really. Ten years down the line, this would be all there is to it. ]
Ah - she's a red deer like me, but you might be able to guess that. She has a good heart. She's very... forward, a person, I guess. We were going to be married pretty soon, but then I returned here. We were already talking about kids.
[ He considers the other. ]
I don't think that life as for me. I wouldn't have been a very good husband or parent. I like being on my own. So I don't know if I want to return back to that life. Of course, I'll forget it all if that ever happens, anyway. So maybe I'd be fine with it there.
Who can say what that Louis would say. He and I are pretty different. I have a lot more -- crime under my belt.
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no subject
He had Caesar for so long in his life that it was almost shocking. That just didn't happen with him because of where he was from, the life he led, and the luck he seemed to attract. Ten years is so long.
But he was glad for it. He was glad he found happiness. He was glad for the two monsters that he called children. He was glad for their fascination with every bit of Louis. The questions, the attention, the everything.
He doesn't mind telling them stories or sharing tales. They're curious, and they listen when he talks, no matter how much he makes up. Every time one of them ask about his fight foot, or his antlers, or how he got to be like he is - it's a different story.
His extended stay here had kept him from ending up in a similar life at home - marriage and children. And though they were not things he would pick for himself, he was glad for Caesar getting to have it. ]
My work permits because I say it permits.
[ Being the boss means he makes the rules sometimes, and the rules today were that he can stay over and get his ears talked off in the morning. He reaches over and takes a wine glass. ]
I'll make sure to have a really good story by morning for them. They're getting so big, so fast. They have the energy of fifty highly motivated men. I'm not sure how you do it.
no subject
[There is a huge contrast between raising his many siblings to this. That had been a matter of life and death. Find food, find shelter, find safety-that was it. They were on the same page, near the same age, and their only goal was to survive every passing day.
This is different. Far different.
Because his children will never know that kind of lifestyle-he never wants them to. They will never have to taste a single bitter moment without their fathers, without a supportive extended family, without friends. They won't know a day of hunger or have to worry about finding shelter on cruel city streets.
They're getting to be normal kids and that lifestyle is something Caesar isn't used to facilitating. They do have limitless energy and without a cruel world holding them down, they do get to be normal children. It can be taxing, but he wouldn't trade a moment of it. Doesn't want to ever see them not be able to just be kids.]
They never stop talking about your stories. Always asking which one is the truth-you truly fascinate them. I have to keep them from following you when you leave.
[They want to be detectives like Papa and what better mystery than the giant deer that visits their home with one wild story after another.]
One day you may find some children trailing your tail. I won't be able to stop them forever.
no subject
[ He says it like it's new information, though he's sure that it's not. ]
It was just myself and my dad and I was more than enough work. I can't imagine more than one child.
[ He was a lot of work. A lot of time. A lot of effort. A pretty, soft face picked because appearance matters. The wounds surrounding his own father are long since buried. There was never time to heal or dwell on it, so he just willed it away nearly ten years ago. He was always a difficult child - and he was only one. He imagines his father wouldn't have lived to the age he did if he had more children just as willful and independent as Louis had been growing up. ]
My real stories aren't kid friendly, anyway. They don't need to hear about getting eaten, roving gangs of carnivores, and illegal markets. So the more fantastical, the better. I think my favorite is trading it to a witch for a coat.
[ An amuse lift in his voice as he takes a sip of wine. ]
They're going to think I'm mean when I make them go home. [ That's fine, he doesn't mind having to be when it calls for it. ]
Anything that'd be fun for them to tell other kids, though. I can't say I've met a normal child before, but I'd say they're it.
You know, if I were home - and don't seem too surprised now - I would have been married with a kid or two by now.
[ He places the wine glass to his lips. ]
I know, I know that it's hard to imagine. Here is more the life I saw for myself. Are you sure Leone won't mind if I stay over tonight?
no subject
[Caesar's already stressed for the day those two wander out of his sight. They're young now-he has an excuse to keep his eye on them like the helicopter parent he never thought he would become, but once they're older-
Well, he's not going to think about it. He simply hopes that Louis is their target and they'll be easy to find should that day arrive.
But this-
This is new information. He would have been married with children of his own and somehow, Caesar can't see the blossoming mafia don living that domestic life.
Louis doesn't seem to miss them in any capacity-strange.]
I never knew you had a beauty waiting for you back home. [A pause, and-] And you're family. He won't care if you stay the night. [He waves a hand in the air, as if he can physically brush off that question.] Don't ask foolish things.
[And Caesar would go on for, what probably is, the 20th rant about Italian family pride Louis has heard, but the wine's more appealing. He swallows his words with a gulp of burning red liquid.]
Tell me more about them.
no subject
He thinks about her back at home and then he shrugs. He shrugs because it is unreal sometimes to think about how different his life would be if he had been there.
Running a legitimate company with a wife and children - heirs, really. Ten years down the line, this would be all there is to it. ]
Ah - she's a red deer like me, but you might be able to guess that. She has a good heart. She's very... forward, a person, I guess. We were going to be married pretty soon, but then I returned here. We were already talking about kids.
[ He considers the other. ]
I don't think that life as for me. I wouldn't have been a very good husband or parent. I like being on my own. So I don't know if I want to return back to that life. Of course, I'll forget it all if that ever happens, anyway. So maybe I'd be fine with it there.
Who can say what that Louis would say. He and I are pretty different. I have a lot more -- crime under my belt.
[ Should he say it like that? ]
What would you tell the you at home?