[It would have been perfectly feasible for Giorno to go the couch and coffee table route. That choice is open to him at any time. It just isn't one he's ever taken, even before his extreme plantification. There's a connection to be made between this fact and the momentary bemusement clear across his face at the idea that—]
Oh. Is that a nymph thing? It's not really . . . new, for me.
[Is that unusual? This part of it hasn't changed. If he'd had access to something like this garden at home, he'd have spent time there every day. There's a safety, a homeyness in it that feels like a part of him. He brought Riley here out of a sense of joy and a desire to share; there's some of that with Steve, too, but his sense of being wrong-footed is part of it, too. If he sits with this tree he helped to grow, roots touching dirt, he doesn't worry as much about things.]
[The setting doesn't quite manage to squelch the feeling of hurt, not really his, at Steve's glance at his watch. That shows, too, quick but not quick enough, and as he chases it off of his face and out of his mind he reminds himself he has nothing to worry about.]
[Then Steve hops around fighting his socks for a bit, which helps. As he finally sits, Giorno cocks his head, observing maybe a bit too closely.]
We do have baby animals. One or the other of them should be along shortly. [Shoulders pressed back against the trunk of the tree, he hums before abruptly shifting gears.] I can't tell if you're uncomfortable or just confused. I can tell some things more easily now, but not that. It's strange. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable.
[This is . . . one of those things. Something Haruno would have expressed, but not so clumsily, not in the same slightly-off way, like someone practicing casual conversation and hitting the edge of the target instead of the bullseye.]
no subject
Oh. Is that a nymph thing? It's not really . . . new, for me.
[Is that unusual? This part of it hasn't changed. If he'd had access to something like this garden at home, he'd have spent time there every day. There's a safety, a homeyness in it that feels like a part of him. He brought Riley here out of a sense of joy and a desire to share; there's some of that with Steve, too, but his sense of being wrong-footed is part of it, too. If he sits with this tree he helped to grow, roots touching dirt, he doesn't worry as much about things.]
[The setting doesn't quite manage to squelch the feeling of hurt, not really his, at Steve's glance at his watch. That shows, too, quick but not quick enough, and as he chases it off of his face and out of his mind he reminds himself he has nothing to worry about.]
[Then Steve hops around fighting his socks for a bit, which helps. As he finally sits, Giorno cocks his head, observing maybe a bit too closely.]
We do have baby animals. One or the other of them should be along shortly. [Shoulders pressed back against the trunk of the tree, he hums before abruptly shifting gears.] I can't tell if you're uncomfortable or just confused. I can tell some things more easily now, but not that. It's strange. But I don't want you to be uncomfortable.
[This is . . . one of those things. Something Haruno would have expressed, but not so clumsily, not in the same slightly-off way, like someone practicing casual conversation and hitting the edge of the target instead of the bullseye.]