Merfolk Mating Rituals Are Confusing

CH 9

"O-oh my goodness, Giorno!" He flinches when you throw yourself into his arms, shaking as you're letting out small, semi-hysterical giggles. "Yo-you scared th-th-the life out of m-me!"

His chest bounces with an affectionate laugh, causing butterflies and honeybees to dance around in your stomach, his surprisingly strong arms gently wrapped around your lower back. His face gently presses against your head as he mumbles into your hair, "Ah, my deepest apologies then, sirena. I didn't mean to scare you like that."

You feel the bed behind you shift with the weight of the other occupant, and you suddenly get incredibly anxious as you realize that you were in the same bed as Giorno and a mystery individual.

"Mm, che succede Giorno? In cosa consisteva tutto quel movimento?" You melt a little in relief, much to Giorno's amusement, when you recognize Bruno's deeper voice. He's speaking in his native tongue, clearly a bit dazed from the earlier harsh removal of his hands, and your startled shoving. Giorno murmurs something back, also in Italian. Whatever he says makes Bruno sit up and pull on the back of your tight fitted shirt, suddenly concerned. "Are you feeling better? Is your head sore at all? What abo-"

"Wait! Wait, stop talking!" His jaw snaps shut obediently, teeth clicking, and eyes wide in worry as you try to wiggle around and face him. Giorno doesn't loosen his grip immediately, so you peer backwards at Bruno. "Okay, okay first of all, we're gonna need to take th-this one ques-question at a time because m-my head hu- hurts a bit... Okay?"

You pry yourself away from Giorno's embrace to twist your upper body around and rest a hand on Bruno's bicep... And immediately turn bright red when you realize they are both very much topless. "Starting with; WH-WHY YOU TWO ARE SHI-SHI-SHIRTLESS!?"

You try so hard not to let your eyes stray downward, or let your mind linger too long on the fact that you just had your face pressed against Giorno's very bare (and surprisingly smooth) chest, so you maintain eye contact.

Bruno is the one that actually seems a little embarrassed - ou always pegged him for a confident kinda man - shyly looking away and reaching up to fiddle with his displaced hair clips like a scolded child. "Ah, well... We fell asleep on the chairs, but uh..."

Giorno leans over you, unabashed, finishing for him, "We must have moved over to the bed while half asleep. We're used to holding onto others while we sleep, you see." Your face flushes at the implication, trying not to think about how cute it is that they're so used to sleeping together that they felt uncomfortable being apart. His breath tickles the shell of your ear, making you squeak in alarm and duck away from him. The smirk he flashes you should be illegal.

Gathering your scattered wits, you dryly reply, "That doe-doesn't explain th-the-the lack of said sh-shirts." Giorno just shrugs, while Bruno also gives you a sheepish look. Okay, they didn't quite know when or why the shirts came off either, good to know.

"Now, onto our original question: are you feeling alright?" Bruno leans back into your personal space when Giorno says that, all shyness and embarrassment gone in favour of checking on your wellbeing right now. Hah, he kinda reminds you of your Mom when he does stuff like this.

How cute.

Giorno gently nudging you snaps you back into reality, "Uh? Yeah, I th-think so? My h-head just hurts a lo-lo-lot, so I'd like an explanation for th-tha-that." You grin cheekily, attempting to lighten the mood. "Unless you want me to continue th-thinking you guys got tired of w-waiting for me to date you, and ju-just decided t-to roofie me, haha..."