Chapter Text
“I already told you, I really don’t want to do this, Trish”
“Ohh, come on! Just this one time, do it for me, pleaseee”
“I'm pretty sure you got enough female friends who could go with you. It doesn’t have to be me!”
“I think I've already told you that none of them are currently available. Also, you are my best friend, I bet it will be fun!”
Giorno shook his head, arms crossed and brows furrowed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. He really wasn’t interested in going to a stupid theme Café just because Trish wanted something new for her fashion and lifestyle blog. It wasn’t really the fact that it was a themed Café, he liked new and interesting concepts, but more the fact that it was a so called Butler-Café and the pure purpose was to make girls feel like a true princess.
He knew those type of Café’s existed overseas, like in Japan with the whole Maid-Café hype, but in Italy he never saw any of those. Sure, there had been those pop-up Café’s with quirky decoration and weird food just so that ‘Influencer’ had more material to post on their Instagram page. Those never lasted long though and sooner or later they vanished just to be replaced with a new trend. Giorno had visited those a few times with Trish and even if he would never admit it out loud, more often than not he had fun and also took some nice pictures. But this time was different.
He heard about this Café a while back when it first opened. Every girl went crazy over it, so it was no surprise that Trish had asked him to go with her. It now has been a few months since the opening and the Café was still running hot, fully booked everyday so you had to make a reservation weeks in advance. Of course, he looked it up online after Trish asked him and to his surprise the website seemed well maintained and the food looked not bad, even though a bit overpriced. The only suspicious thing he noticed was, that there were no pictures of the Butlers.
Like none, not even once.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know who would serve you? I bet the girls would love to know, being able to choose their favorite in advance and all that stuff. He also never saw any pictures online, not in any blog or review or social media post. Now that seemed extremely suspicious. The Butlers remained hidden like a well-kept secret, reserved only for those who visit the Café. Giorno wondered what the reason for this secrecy was. It can’t be that the Butlers were ugly, in every review and twitter post the girls were swooning over the handsome Butlers.
He can’t deny that this mystery over the Butlers didn’t make him at least a tiny bit curious. Though he wasn’t interested in being treated like a cute little princess at all. Were guys even allowed to go in? He didn’t read anything about this, mainly because only girls were interested in this Café in the first place. Maybe if he would pretend to be Trish’s boyfriend, they would let it slide and think he was being dragged in there by his girlfriend. Well, the being dragged in part wasn’t even a lie.
Maybe he was overthinking things way too much, just like always. Having anxiety really made his life unnecessarily complicated.
Giorno took another deep breath, uncrossed his arms and looked at his best friend.
“Ok, I will go with you, especially since you already booked.”
“Yes! Thank you, Giorno. I knew I could count on you, you’re are just the best.”
She hugged him tight, lifting him from the ground for a second, before letting him go. Giorno looked at her bright smile and thought whatever he must go through in that Café, it will be worth it as long as Trish was happy.
“Our reservation is on Saturday 2pm, so be ready. We will meet at the train station like 20min earlier, ok?”
“Sure, sure. I will be there. I gotta work now, see you, Trish.”
“Till Saturday, Giorno!”
And with a wink she turned and walked to the nearest train station. Giorno still had to work, so he made his way to the small flower shop around the corner. He loved being a florist and had his job for over 2 years now. He hoped that he could afford his own little shop in the future and bring joy to other people with a pretty bouquet. But for now, he had to work under the supervision of a strict old lady who liked to make him work extra hours almost every day. He needed this job, so he won’t complain. After all apartments in Naples are expensive as hell and he could barely afford a tiny one in the cheapest area. Though the beauty of the city made it worthwhile for him.
His shift was filled with him thinking about Saturday and what could possibly await him.
The more he thought about it, the more anxious he got.
He hoped for Saturday to come quickly and be over just as quick.
It was Saturday.
Giorno literally emptied his whole wardrobe on his bed and spread it all over the place. He probably tried on every piece of clothing at least twice now and still had no clue what to wear. Like what the hell do you wear for a Butler café? He can’t be too casual because he’s pretty sure, judging from many pictures online, that every customer there will be dressed in a cute frilly dress with pastel colors and lace and little flowers on it, sparkling necklace and earrings on top. So, coming in jeans and a basic shirt would draw too much attention to him, if he would even be allowed inside in the first place. Giorno got some nice dress pants and fancy looking tops, all hand selected by Trish whenever they went out shopping together, but he also feared looking too nice, like he dressed his best to impress any of the Butlers and to feel like a real ‘princess’ or in his case ‘prince’. He wanted to look like he didn’t go there because he was into it, more like he was just accompanying his good friend and being appropriate. Did that make any sense? Probably not.
Staring down the pile, he made up his mind and picked his best plain white pants with a light cream-colored button up which had a few stitched flowers around the sleeves and flowers as buttons. With it he selected his favorite crystal earpieces, also in flower shape (daisies to be precise), and a light blue watch.
Once dressed he took a good look in the mirror, spinning left and right, making sure everything was tucked in and in place. With a look at the clock on his bedside table he grabbed his purse and smartphone and rushed outside.
In the end he was late, about 10min late.
The blonde spotted his best friend in a mere second. Her pink hair, perfectly styled with a few pins and probably way too much hairspray, glossy red lips, sparkling rose eyeshadow and a light blush across her cheeks made her look like a real model. She wore a strapless pink top and the bottom was a just as pink gathered skirt which reached to her knees. It had some simple light pink and white hearts on it, fitting to her small heart necklace. She looked stunning all in all and if Giorno had any more than just platonic feelings for his best friend, his heart would’ve skipped a beat.
Trish looked up from her phone and glared at him with a frown on her face. Reluctantly he made his way through the crowd of students, businessman and tourist coming out of the station and spoke as soon as he stood by her side.
“I know I’m late and I’m very sorry. I…had some problems picking out an Outfit…”
She took a look at him from top to bottom and a soft smile replaced the frown.
“Well, at least the extra time you spend on figuring out what to wear was worth it. You look great, Giorno. Ready to impress some handsome men in suits?”
Giorno rolled his eyes at that comment. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid but Trish would never let an opportunity slide to tease him.
“I just don't want to embarrass you. You look great too, by the way. Just as expected from a fashion student.”
“I bet I do!” She smiled and hooked her arm with Giorno’s.
“Ready, best friend?”
“Sure, let’s get going or we miss our reservation.”
Gladly it only took them roughly 15mins to the Café.
It was a hot summer day and the Italian sun was scolding, leaving them both sweaty after just the quick walk. The prospect of sitting in a acclimatized Café made him look forward to it. They could see a group of girls in front of the store, happily talking about their experience in the Café. All of them dressed right out of a Lolita-fashion magazine, with fitting handbags and even tiaras, which were shimmering bright under the hot sun. It was quite a bizarre sight for any strangers, but he knew the reason for this get-up and already felt out of place, his nerves going paper thin and hands sweating uncomfortably.
Maybe this was a bad idea after all and he shouldn’t have agreed to it. Just knowing that he will be looked at with confused faces as they whisper things about him, made him feel sick. What would the Butlers think? They are used to serving beautiful girls who were happy that they’re being treated like princesses. Would it make them uncomfortable to serve a guy? They surely chose this job because they were excited about all the girls and the attention they would get from them. Which guy wouldn’t love to be surrounded by cute petite girls? Ok, there might be some who wouldn’t care, Giorno for example. But still! He can already picture them after their shift gossiping about him. ‘Hey, did you see that guys that came in today? What a sissy!’, ‘Haha! yes, I never had to serve a guy. But he almost looked like a girl, maybe he felt right in his element’.
His mind swirled around those ugly thoughts, his chest felt tight as if it was squeezed with great force and his throat closed up, making it even harder to breath. The lack of air only fueling his rising panic attack and his heart racing like he just ran a marathon. Trish noticed his distress and took his hand into hers, squeezing tightly to ground him.
‘Hey, Giorno, are you ok? We don’t have to do this, you know. If you feel uncomfortable with this, we can just go and do something nice. I can come back alone another time.”
She spoke in a soft tone, expressing her worry and making clear that she meant what she said. What a great friend she was, Giorno thought and he knew that even if he would bail out on this, she would hold no grudge against him. But this wasn’t just about her, he can’t let his thoughts take over him and just ruin everything. The blonde took a few deep breaths, counting each and squeezed lightly back, letting go of her hands.
“It’s fine, I can do this. Let’s go in and have fun.”
He put on his best smile and walked towards the entrance. Trish smiled back, shook her head and followed him right behind.
As both friends approached the front of the building the girls turned and looked at them. Confusion shortly flashed across their faces but then they resumed with their conversation. Relieve set in for Giorno and he took a good look at the sign right next to the entrance. The sign looked like a bronze plate with roses and other green draped around it. It said ‘Passione’ in big cursive letters, the writing very extravagant with delicate lines in a shining gold, just as expected of this place. Underneath it read ‘Butler-Café’ and then in smaller letters the opening hours as well as the website and phone number. A little smaller sign under the information told customers it’s reservation only. All in all, it looked very neat and professional.
Giorno went inside the building, cooled air hit his face and a pleasant feeling made its way through his body, he felt himself relax a bit more. He and Trish faced the elevator, looking at the floor signs, searching for the one that says ‘Passione’. Apparently, it was located on the 5th floor. After hitting the up button repeatedly, impatient as ever, the elevator door opened and they could go inside. Giorno pushed the button for the 5th floor, his hands still a bit shaky from his earlier panic attack. He tried to breath evenly, convincing himself that there was nothing to be nervous about and this will be a fun experience with his best friend. Knowing that Trish would leave any given moment if he felt too uncomfortable made him feel at ease, too. He was really lucky to have her by his side.
Giorno was ripped out of his thoughts when the elevator door opened and revealed a heavily decorated short hallway, leading up to a white door with big glass panels and a white lace curtain, hiding whatever was on the other side. He looked over to Trish who just shrugged and walked out of the elevator. It was just as cheesy as you would expect, maybe worse. A mix between a renaissance backdrop in an historical museum, Barbie’s Dreamhouse and the décor you find when you visit your grandma. They didn’t had much time to let the decoration choice sink in as they were already approached by a handsome tall man in fitting butler attire. He had black shiny hair, cut in a clean bob with a weird braid on top and gold accessories. His striking blue eyes were like a deep ocean you could easily drown in. Giorno didn’t notice himself staring until Trish lightly kicked against his leg, bringing him back into reality. The tall man started talking in a smooth voice, very fitting to his image.
“My princess, my prince, I welcome you to Passione, our humble Café.”
Giorno blushed at his words. Already feeling incredibly embarrassed by being called a prince.
“I’m the Head-Butler, my name is Bruno. Please allow me to guide you inside. After you’re seated, we will explain our rules and begin with the course.”
He opened the white door with the big glass panels and as the both stepped through the door, they were greeted with the sight of two bowing Butlers in front of them.
“Welcome my princess!”, said both of them in a loud voice, resonating in the room.
“Please let me guide you to your seat.”
The shorter butler made a hand motion, indicating that both should follow him. He was a bit taller than Giorno, but not by much. His strawberry blonde hair was rather long, falling in slight waves, long bangs covering his forehead. He stopped in front of a low table, a two-person couch on each side, covered in a hideous flower pattern that looked more like the carpet his grandma owned and a small white cloth draped over the backrest. Over the table was some sort of white net hanging down, engulfing both sides, giving some sort of privacy from the other customers.
“Please take your seat my princess, my prince”, the blonde Butler said, lifting the net to the side and helping Trish first before he changed sides to lifted the net again, helping Giorno this time. His attitude was rather cold, not as soft as Bruno's but still not really unfriendly.
“A Butler will come in a moment, please relax.” And with this he bowed again and left.
“Isn’t this fun already? Look at this décor!”, Trish whispered, voice full of excitement.
Giorno exhaled a breath he didn’t knew he was holding and took his time to look around. He thought the short hallway was cheesy but the actual Café was on a whole new level. Roses, white candles, naked babies with wings and lace everywhere. It was as bad as it was amazing. He never saw anything like this before and it overwhelmed his senses, not sure where to look next. Every table had giggling girls with tiaras, drinking tea out of fancy white cups, looking at the butlers or speaking with them. You could practically see the hearts in their eyes. Before he could look any more around the Head-Butler, Bruno, approach their table, bowing shortly before speaking to them.
“I welcome you again. Please allow me to explain our rules. Your stay will be 2h. In these 2h you will be a true princess and prince, so please act as such. You won’t be allowed to use your phone. You can ask a Butler to take a picture of you or your food, otherwise please refrain from taking out your phone. At your table is a bell, please ring the bell if you need anything or want to talk to one of the Butlers. Please ring the bell if you need to use the bathroom. We refer to the bathroom as ‘powder room’, please do so as well. Your stay will consist out of your meal and the entertainment provided by the Butlers, so don’t hold back interacting with them. Shortly one of our Butlers will come to your table and bring you free water and some refreshments. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Please enjoy your stay my princess, my prince”
That was a lot of information for Giorno to take in, his mind not really catching up with this whole situation, so he was just staring at the handsome Butler like he was an alien. Gladly Trish, ever the socializing pro, took care of this situation.
“Thank you very much. No questions for now.”
The Butler nodded, bowed and took his leave. Just as Trish opened her mouth to say something an extremely tall, white haired Butler came to their table and bowed before speaking. Apparently, they all had to bow when approaching a table and leaving. The Butler had long white hair, flowing straight over his shoulders and ending in tips that pointed outwards. His eyes were strict and cold, shining in an icy yellow. He wore…purple lipstick? Ok, that was a bit weird for a Butler, Giorno thought, but he was no one to judge. There was no smile on his face, actually, he looked like someone who wouldn’t smile lot in general.
“Welcome to Passione. My name is Abbacchio, I will be one of your Butlers today. Please have this water and wet towels for your refreshment.”
He set down two thick wine glasses, decorated with delicate blue and gold patterns and filled 2/3 with sparkling water. Next to the water he placed white towels for them to wipe their hands.
“Now please fill out these questions with our special rose pens, made for your enjoyment, and I will be back in a minute.” He bowed and left the table. He sounded pained while explaining everything, like he was forced to do so with a gun near his head. Seemed like he didn’t enjoyed his job a lot.
Trish leaned over the table, holding the rose pen in her hand.
“Wow, that last Butler was quite the mood killer, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, looked like he regretted every single one of his life choices.”
Trish laughed at that, trying to keep her voice down, after all she was a princess for now. Giorno took a look at the paper that was handed to him by the grumpy Butler. It was a simple A6 sized sheet of paper with some swirls and roses as pattern around the edges. On it were simple questions like asking for his name, his current mood, where he was from, why he came to the Café and where he heard from it. He grabbed the pen, a very cheap looking one in his opinion, and started answering each of them, making an effort to write as neat as possible. After a minute or so he was already done, placing pen and paper to the side and sipping on the water.
“Are you done?”
Abbacchio stood at their table, not even bothering to bow, looking down with judging eyes.
“Ah..y-yes” Wow good one Giorno, so confident, he thought.
“Yeah, me too.” Trish said way more confident and handed him her paper as well as the pen.
Abbacchio collected Giorno’s as well and read through them while messily scribbling something on it.
“So, you’re prince Giorno then, from Naples, huh.”
He looked directly at Giorno, a strained smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Glad to see you’re in a good mood. You’re here to relax? Interesting.” Giorno could only nod along.
“And you’re princess Trish, interesting name. Fits you.” Trish was grinning while the Butler tried his hardest to give a compliment, he was probably obligated to do so.
“You came here to feel like a princess. Great, then you will have a good time here. The next Butler will come in a minute to guide you through the menu. Have a good stay.” And with this Abbacchio practically fled from the table.
“See Giorno, this is not so bad, don’t you think? We will have some standard overpriced food, fancy tea and do a bit small talk with these guys and you will be surprised how quick the time will fly by!”
“Hah, yeah…I guess. This all just feels so…so MUCH, you know. I already know for sure I won’t be ever coming back. No matter how much you like it and want to come again!”
He leaned back, crossed his arms and pouted like a child. Trish just smiled at him, taking a sip from her water.
“Ok, ok, I won’t ever drag you here again. Now enjoy this!” She said in a jokingly harsh tone, as if she commanded him to have fun now.
“Welcome princess Trish, prince Giorno!”
The blonde sat up quickly, unfolding his arms as he heard the loud voice addressing them. It startled him that this Butler seemed to know their names but he probably just looked them up on the little papers they filled out. He had already higher hopes by the sound of the energetic voice, hopes that this Butler would be more fun than the ones they met so far, well except for Bruno, he was nice. As the Butler raised up from his bowing position to look at them, every thought Giorno had in his mind left his head instantaneously and was replaced with want.
In front of them stood probably the most stunning guy, he had ever laid his eyes upon. Tanned skin like bronze, a tight-fitted suit which pronounced his muscles underneath just right and made Giorno’s knees go weak (good thing he was already sitting) and a dazzling smile that stretched over his chiseled face. His eyes were a pure black, deep as the space, a void in which Giorno was being sucked into with no return. Short black curls framed his face, only adding to the perfection. Giorno couldn’t say why, but he was mesmerized by him and he apparently wasn’t alone with this feeling. The man smiled at Giorno like he was the sun himself, the best thing he saw all year and Giorno’s heart was beating a mile a minute, hearing it pounding in his ears. He was sure his face would put a tomato to shame, burning hot with every emotion.
A thought passed Giorno’s mind and it made him chuckle, considering what he just said to Trish.
I have to come back.