Angelo wasn't sure where he wanted to go after finishing up trading intel with Dante, but he knew that he didn't want to go home. So when he found himself standing in front of Jose's auto-repair shop, he honestly wasn't surprised. Maybe he wandered here without realising it, but a part of him knew that he would end up at this place.
He took out his key to the shop and shoved it in the lock, turning it and opening the door. Stepping in, no bell alerted Jose to his presence, because there were way too many late night visits to keep it up. So Jose had taken it down long ago, probably having gotten annoyed by it, so now Angelo walked into the dark shop in silence; the preferred way.
Walking into the office on the side of the garage, Angelo saw that Jose was sitting at his desk and pouring over a circuit board for a car that was still sitting in the garage. Angelo wasn't sure what to say, and at first, he didn't say anything at all – so Jose spoke first.
"Rough night?" He gruffed.
Angelo stood there for a moment before he came up and sat down across from Jose at the desk. As he sat there for a moment, Jose stopped what he was doing and glanced up, watching as Angelo raised his hands.
Shared intel with Dante, He signed.
"And?" Jose hummed patiently.
Angelo hesitated before he slowly signed, He… accidentally touched my hand.
His mentor paused momentarily. "Oh?" He said. "Do I hafta kill 'im?"
No, Angelo signed quickly. I just… flinched.
Jose stopped, then set down his circuit board. He folded his hands together and set his full attention on Angelo, who continued to hesitate. Finally, after a while that seemed maybe too long, Angelo began to sign again.
Why do I do that?
His mentor blinked, staring at the table before he spoke up. His voice was soft and gentle like Angelo had never heard it before, and it was comforting. Like a parent soothing their child after their first argument.
"Because people don't touch you gently, kid." He was saying. "You were raised with a fist behind every I love you. A threat with every gift. Pain for every mistake. No one doesn't flinch after shit like that."
After he said that, Jose stood up and walked across the room. Angelo didn't look at him, but he could hear him working the coffee pot – pouring a cup, warming it in the microwave, and coming back to set it in front of Angelo. As he did, Angelo did something for the first time in years…
"You didn't."
His voice was raw and quiet. Contained, but ever so slightly shaking. Jose looked up as he froze at his spot, watching as Angelo spoke to him for the first time in all his life. Angelo was shivering, unsure how to continue – but he did.
"She didn't…" He said.
Jose blinked at him, his breath caught in a partial gasp – like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. As if just realising that he had spoken after his eternal vow of silence, Angelo glanced up, seeing the look in his mentor's eyes. Hopeful, shocked… warm. He looked back down, fiddling with his shirt as the voice faded, and he retreated back into his shell of sign language.
Everyone else did, He signed.
His mentor didn't seem to know how to react at first, and honestly, Angelo didn't expect him to. He didn't know why he spoke – he just did, and honestly, it didn't feel as bad as he assumed it would. His throat was sore, the surprise use of his vocals sending him reeling, but he felt… different.
Jose reached towards him – slowly, gently, as his hand hovered over Angelo's shoulder. Very briefly, all sense of that gruff, rough individual from before just faded as Jose placed a hand on him. There was no flinch, no desperate attempt to get away, just… warmth, and a presence that made Angelo close his eyes and accept, for once, that he existed in the same space as someone who wouldn't hurt him.