The morning was slow. Rey had just settled on the couch with tea, Beans in her usual throne-like position on his lap, when Luca peeked over the newspaper and muttered, "He's here."
Rey blinked. "Who's—?"
BOOM.
The front door flung open—not broken, just… aggressively opened. Like someone meant business, but didn't want to cause permanent damage.
In walked Silvio Mysterio, coat slightly askew, brow furrowed like he'd been worrying for hours straight. He had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and what looked like a half-eaten sandwich in the other hand.
"Rey," he said, scanning the room in a second. "You okay?"
"Hi to you too," Rey replied dryly.
Silvio walked straight to him, crouched slightly, and looked at him like a detective assessing a crime scene.
"You look tired."
Rey sighed. "I am tired."
Luca didn't look up from his coffee. "We've been over this. Rey's alive. He's stable. I made him drink soup yesterday."
"Soup isn't a health plan," Silvio muttered, standing upright and setting the sandwich down with the same care one might use for explosives.
He looked around. The place was cozy but lived-in. A blanket draped over the back of the couch. A mug with a chipped rim. A bookshelf with new gaps.
He exhaled.
"I didn't come to lecture," he said. "I just... hadn't seen you. And I figured if I didn't check myself, Luca would keep sending vague text updates like 'he's fine' and 'stop asking.'"
Rey cracked a smile. "That does sound like him."
Luca raised his mug in silent salute.
Silvio dropped onto the armchair with a groan and ran a hand through his hair. "You know you could just tell me if you're not okay."
"I know."
"And I'd come running."
"I know."
"Good. Now someone make coffee."
"You walked into my house," Rey pointed out.
Silvio blinked. "Fine. I'll make coffee."
Beans stretched and padded over to him, hopping into his lap without ceremony. Silvio looked down at her.
"She still hates me?"
"She tolerates you."
"Good enough," he said, gently scratching behind her ears.
There was a silence, soft and comfortable. The kind only family could share.
Then:
"Wait. Why are you here?" Silvio asked, pointing at Luca. "I thought you had a meeting today."
Luca didn't look up. "Told my secretary I was on 'urgent emotional business.'"
"You said it like that?"
"Verbatim."
Rey blinked. "You two are seriously going to hover all day, huh?"
Both older brothers looked at him in perfect synchronicity.
"Yes," they said together.
Rey groaned. "Fine. But no board games. I don't trust either of you near Monopoly."
Luca smirked. "Uno, then?"
Silvio stood. "I'll get the cards."
Rey muttered under his breath, "This is how I die."
Beans purred like she agreed.