Work Text:
Most people came in for progress checks maybe a month after they made their order.
Sonnellino only waited a week.
It was close to closing time again the next time he came in. Axel was busy cutting the fabric for his vest when the bell above the door jingled. They had to remind themself not to jump for joy when they left the workshop and saw him.
“Mr. Sonnellino! Fancy seeing you this soon!”
Was it bad that they'd been hoping he'd come back sooner than most? He was nice. Hell, he was normal toward them. He spoke to them like a real person, instead of just another person to provide a service.
...And also they'd forgotten something.
He smiled a little at their greeting, and they thought their heart would break right through their ribs and splatter onto the floor. It was insane, they thought, how easy he could spike their heart rate.
“Evenin’ there, Axel. How's that leg doin'?” He gestured vaguely to their bad leg. They looked down at it for a second, as if its condition was visible.
“It's… better.” She leaned on it a little for emphasis. And in truth, it really was a little better than it had been the last time they'd seen each other. There was only a dull ache in it today. They could have even ditched the cane for the day, if they wanted to. But they didn't, just in case it decided to turn around on them. Maybe she should have, though. Maybe if they had, he would have forgotten about it and not brought it up. And then Axel wouldn't have to be confronted with the reality that other people could see it.
“Anyway. You here to check on your suit?” They asked, tilting their head to the side slightly.
“That I am.” There was a slight hesitation, though, between their question and his answer. What, was there something different he wanted to say?
… Or maybe he hadn't expected Axel to ask. He was here without an appointment. Of course he was here to check on their progress. Duh-doy. Axel nodded, gesturing toward the workshop.
“I'm currently cutting pattern pieces right now. Nothing's ready to sew, but you're more than welcome to come in and look.”
He immediately nodded and started walking forward, prompting Axel to start skedaddling into the workshop. The two of them stopped at the workbench, which was strewn with pinned-together pattern pieces and chalk-marked fabric.
“I am also the absolute worst, I completely forgot to ask you a bunch of questions about your suit jacket. I am so sorry-” They started looking beneath the fabric on the workbench for their notepad as they rambled. They froze, though, when he raised a hand a little.
“‘Ey, it's fine.” He lowered his hand, slipping it back into the pocket of his trench coat. “I figured you'd end up rememberin' at some point anyway.”
Most other people would have gotten pissy about it. Getting a different reaction felt weird. The sigh of relief she let out was audible. They nodded, finding their notepad again. They'd grabbed a new pen this time, thankfully, so hopefully they wouldn't have to wake it up mid-writing important stuff down.
“Right, right… thank you for understanding.”
It went by mercifully fast. The Don, thankfully, didn't want anything insane. Single-breasted, stepped lapels, jetted pockets, double vents… it was all very average. Very normal. And they were quite happy about that.
The minute they had everything they needed, they slid all their fabric to the side and sat down to set to work on making the pattern for the jacket. The Don watched over their shoulder, which… definitely made them nervous. Being watched while they worked always wigged them out a little. It felt like she was being scrutinized.
“What'cha starin’ at back there?” They asked, the joke more of an attempt to alleviate their nerves than anything.
“You- uh, your work.”
They glanced back toward him briefly. Had she caught him off guard somehow?
“I can talk through it if you're interested.”
“You can if you'd like to.”
And so they did. For much longer than they expected to. They were in the middle of explaining how they determined seam allowances when they saw the Don check his watch. They leaned in to check too, craning their neck just a little to properly see it. It was an hour past time to close. They opened their mouth to tell him that he could stay, that they didn't mind, but he was already heading for the door. So they just walked with him, saying their goodbyes to him and (only halfway) jokingly telling him he should stop in tomorrow.
The lock clicking somehow sounded louder than usual that night.
_______
He didn't come in the next day, but he still came in within that week. There was some other big event going on in the city, some sporting event or another, and they had no appointments, which usually meant the shop would be dead for the day.
And that meant they'd have all the time in the world to sit in the back and work. Maybe even the entire day! Score. Maybe they'd even get to put their headphones on and really lock in…
They were deep in their work by the time the Don actually came in. Headphones on and all. They even had their bangs pulled back with one of their big old plastic hair clips, which looked stupid but nobody would see them anyway. They'd blasted through the last steps of a few projects, and they were working on yet another now. They had turned slightly in their swivel chair to grab their scissors when they saw him out of the corner of their eye.
They let out a shriek that sounded right out of some C-list horror movie as they whipped their headphones off, completely startled by his sudden appearance. Or maybe it wasn't even sudden. Maybe he'd been standing there for a while and they'd just been sitting there not noticing him like a complete asshole.
“Holyfuckhowlongwereyoustandingthere-” They wheezed, leaning on the armrest of their chair as they reeled their soul back into their body. He was smiling slightly at them. Fuck, he looked so good like that. If they weren't at work (and also startled out of their mind) they'd probably be giggling and twirling their hair at him.
“Only about fifteen minutes. Sorry for spookin’ ya, I didn't mean to.” He had one hand placed very casually into the pocket of his trench coat. Axel swore they could see a dark, reddish stain on the bit of his sleeve that peeked from it.
They decided not to call attention to it.
“Man, you didn't have to just stand there and wait for me. You could have tapped me or something.” She let her head fall to the side and rest on the workbench for a moment while she let her heart finish getting itself in check. It was a position that most people would find uncomfortable, but their joints were made of goddamn liquid, so it actually felt kind of okay.
“Well, I didn't want to interrupt your work. It's neat, watchin’ you do all that.” He came a little closer, resting his free hand on the workbench as he leaned in slightly to look at the project on it. “What'cha workin’ on here, anyway?”
Axel straightened up when he got in close, only to realize that it put them even closer to him. With the way he was standing, their head was practically hitting his chest.
“This is a mending job.” They said, pointing at the spot on the dress they'd been working on. “This client is a kindergarten teacher, and one of her kids got a little scissor-happy during craft time while she wasn't looking.”
The Don leaned in a little more, like he was looking for the damaged area. Axel held it up a little higher, but the idea was for the mend to be invisible. So it was hard to tell.
“That's amazin’. You can't even tell anything happened to it.”
“Why, thank you.” Axel sounded quite pleased with themself. “Oh! You're probably here to check on your suit, once I finish this one up, I'm gonna start working on it again. It's almost ready for your basted fitting.”
They set the garment down, reaching for their scissors to cut the extra thread again when they noticed the Don's sleeve. There were little white hairs stuck on the fabric. It looked like something from a pet, but they couldn’t tell what.
“Er… that hair on your sleeve, is that cat hair? If it is, I'm gonna need you to step back a little, I'm allergic.” They said, chuckling a little nervously. Better safe than sorry.
Sonnellino lifted his arm to look, as if he hadn't expected it to be there.
“Ah. Nah, that's rabbit fur. Had to take mine to a vet appointment today. Yearly check-up, nothin’ wrong wit'im.”
“You have a rabbit?” This big, scary dude had a pet rabbit? That was probably the cutest damn thing ever.
“That I do. Little guy's spoiled rotten, too. Hang on, I got a picture of ‘im around here somewhere.” He immediately started pawing through the inner pockets of his coat, finding his wallet in one and flipping it open. It was one of those wallets with an insane amount of photo holders. They all unfolded as he turned the wallet around to show Axel.
No longer probably. This was the cutest thing ever. This scary ass mob boss had a pet rabbit. That he kept multiple pictures of on hand.
That was probably the most rabbit looking rabbit Axel had ever seen. Pure white, big old eyes, literally textbook. Like the thing was pulled straight from a children's book.
“Awwww, what a cute little guy!” Axel's voice went up at least an octave by the end of the sentence. They looked at each of the photos, smile growing wider with each one. Near the bottom, though, the photos stopped being of the rabbit and started being of…
“You keep pictures of your goons in your wallet?”
“Why wouldn't I? They're my best men, I'm proud of ‘em.”
Axel thought for a second, then shrugged.
“Okay yeah, that's fair.”
_______
“You know, I always wondered if all those shows and movies got mob life right. Like yeah, they're great pieces of media generally but are they, like… good depictions?”
This visit was actually planned, rather than the Don just walking in himself. No good suit without a basted fitting, after all. Seriously, why did anyone ever skip these things?
“I'm not, like, trying to get you to spill any secrets or anything, I just want the general consensus.” Axel pulled the jacket up onto Sonnellino's shoulders, standing up on the tips of their toes to actually get it properly in place. They then slid around to his front to pin the jacket together in the front. They reached up to smooth the lapel out properly over his chest, and they swore they felt him shudder a bit. They didn't have much time to think on it, though, because the Don was already giving them an answer.
“I ain't seen too many, but Goodfellas was alright. A little embellished, but I'd say it's pretty close.”
“Huh. Neat. What about the Godfather?”
“Eh. They got the aesthetics right, but that's about it. The mafia really ain't as gentlemanly as they make it look- ey, careful with those pins.”
“Sorry. Every good suit needs a blood sacrifice.” Axel chuckled, carefully adjusting the pin they've just placed in the jacket sleeve. They'd need to pull that one up a little bit… “But tell me more, it sounds like you've got a lot of opinions on it.”
“And what's that supposed to mean, Axel?”
“It means I like hearing what you've got to say and wanna hear more, Sonnellino.” They moved back around him, looking at how the jacket fit around his waist. They needed to bring it in a little. She mumbled something about that to herself as she pinned up the part she'd be altering.
“...Giovanni.”
Axel's looked up from the fabric they were pinning.
“Whuzzat?”
“My name. It's Giovanni. You've seen me in my underwear twice now, I think that's reason enough to get to know it.”
Axel nodded.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good enough reason to me. That's why I tell my clients my first name right off the bat. I figure it feels less weird to know the person doing your inseam as Axel rather than Mx. von Nachtigall.”
“Sure does. Anyway, like I was sayin’, mobsters ain't always as gentlemanly as that movie wants you to believe. I make my boys be decent, but not a whole lotta other families do. And the Corleones refusing to deal narcotics made me laugh. Any made man worth his salt knows drugs are where the money is.”
Axel crooked an eyebrow at the Don, intrigued mostly by that last sentence.
“Really, now?”
“Yep. Drugs an’ gamblers.”
“I thought I told you I wasn't trying to make you spill insider secrets.” Axel said, giggling as they braced on their cane and knelt to check the fit of his pants. They let out a slightly disappointed hum when they realized they'd cut the legs a little too long. It was looking more like a full break than a medium. But hey, that was what this fitting was for. Goodness. Pins, pins everywhere.
“Dah, does it really count as a secret if everyone knows it?”
“Hm… Maybe not.” Axel shifted this way and that, looking over the legs again. They didn't see any more issues. They braced on their cane again, starting to rise when he extended a hand toward them.
Again?
They knew fighting him on it wouldn't get anywhere, so they fought back the urge to sigh as they reached for him.
But hey, it meant they'd get to feel the warmth of his hand in theirs again. It was probably– no, definitely– horribly unprofessional to admit, but she'd imagined really, actually holding his hand many times by now. As gross as being helped made them feel, at least they'd get to microdose on holding hands with him.
Giovanni pulled them to their feet with ease, again holding an arm toward their side in case he needed to catch them. How nice. Axel made sure their cane was stable, starting to pull their hand away when-
“Wait a minute.” Giovanni pulled their hand toward his face a bit, seemingly inspecting the pincushion strapped to their wrist. “I didn't notice your pincushion was a hedgehog. That's adorable.”
“Oh. Yeah, it is.” Axel smiled slightly, not making any move to separate their hand from the Don's. “I made it myself a while back. I make a lot of little animals, honestly. It's a good way to use up fabric scraps.”
“That's real nice. You got any more of ‘em to show me?”
“Not right now.” She shook her head. “I usually give them to kids when they come in with their parents.”
They should make him one, they thought. Maybe a rabbit. They had enough scrap fabric for one.
“Ah, gotcha. Shame you ain't got any on you, but at least they went somewhere good.”
Axel nodded and let the Don look at their pincushion for just a beat longer, before slowly sliding their hand out of his. They stepped back to look over the suit again, leaning on their cane.
“I think that's all the adjustments I'll need to make.” They leaned forward to pull the pin keeping the jacket together in the front. They did the same with the pins keeping the vest beneath closed. “Next time I call you in here will be final fitting, and then after that I'll do the finishing touches and get it packed so you can come in and pick it up and pay the last half.”
“Sounds copacetic to me.”
“Alright. Let me help you out of that so you don't stab yourself on all my pins.”
“I thought you said every good suit needed a blood sacrifice.”
Soon enough, he was out of the new suit and back in his usual one. Axel walked with him to the door again, during which the two were caught in a seemingly infinite loop of ciao-ciao and see you later and buona sera and you get home safe, now.
He stopped right before he walked out the door, turning back toward Axel. He leaned in, getting a little close to their face, then stopped like he'd rethought something at the last second. He just gave a short nod, tossing another ciao their way before quickly finishing his journey out the door.
Axel swore they could see a slight flush on his face as he turned away to walk toward the parking lot.