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Luca is incredibly happy in Genova. He loves the scenery of the city the new people, the new things, and the new animals he encounters. He’s started school already. He’s made a few friends, and he gets along well with the teachers. He’s learned so much. There have been a few water mishaps but other than that he has had so much fun.
Luca is incredibly happy in Genova, except he’s homesick. Sure, he writes a lot, he even makes a few phone calls to home, but it’s not the same as seeing his family and being at home. He has to hide his scales too. He only ever sees them in the shower or for a few minutes when he washes his hands.
He’s gonna have to figure something out soon because his homesickness is interrupting his schoolwork, and he loves his schoolwork.
It’s a few months later when Luca learns about nail polish. A girl enters his class with the prettiest rainbow nails; they resemble the scales of a Rainbow Trout in the light.
That’s when he gets an idea.
Luca works for a little extra money to purchase nail polish of his own. He buys a blue, green, and a bluish-green and works for a few hours to paint his nails. When he’s finished, they resemble his scales. Tears well up in his eyes.
He’ll wear his nails like this at school, and he’ll look at them when he’s homesick. He won’t forget where he came from.
Giulia notices Luca’s nails immediately. He keeps admiring them.
“You painted your nails?” She grasps his hands to look for herself. Genuine curiosity riddles her face.
“Yeah, I made them look like my scales. I’m gonna wear them to school so I don’t get homesick.” He smiles at her, but it drops when he notices the new worried look on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just that we have a dress code. You can’t wear nail polish to school.” She stops admiring his nails but continues to hold his hands for comfort.
“Why not? I saw a girl wearing nail polish the other day.” If it were true, someone would have told the girl the same thing, right?
“Well,” Giulia looks uncomfortable explaining this; she’s usually very straightforward when it comes to teaching Luca. “according to school rules, girls can wear nail polish, but guys can’t. It’s silly. I don’t understand what’s ‘wrong' with it, but they made it a rule.”
Luca remains silent for a few minutes before responding. “I guess,” he pauses, “I’ll just have to get that rule changed. I mean sea monsters aren’t allowed in school, yet here I am.” He puffs out his chest, trying to look determined. In his head, he tells his Bruno to be silent.
“No one knows you’re a sea monster.” Giulia is smiling now. She knows Luca can handle this. She’s just poking fun.
“I-I’ll work on that too! When I get there.” He mumbles the last sentence. He does want to achieve sea monster equality; it will just take more time than he’d like to admit. He’ll get there; he’s just got to start slow and build a good support system.
Giulia gives a lighthearted chuckle. “Alright, I’ll back you on that. Both things.” She looks back over at his nail polishes. “Could you paint my nails? It’s not really my thing, but It’ll look good for our fight against the school’s evil empire of injustice.”
“Yeah, come on.” Luca leads her towards the polishes.
“So, have you thought about trying more ‘girl things'? Like a skirt or something?” She sits on the floor and takes her hand out of his. That’ll be the hand he paints first.
“Mm, skirts seem a little drafty for me. Why? Want to break more evil empires?”
“You know it.” She smirks. “What about makeup? Ya know, the colors people put on their face?” She isn’t sure if Luca knows about makeup, so she defines it to be sure.
“What’s the point in that? I can’t see my face.” It’s his turn to be confused.
“I think it’s for other people to look at. I’m not sure. I’ve heard it makes people feel super pretty though.”
“I guess I can see that. No, but I’ll let you know if I find anything else I’m into. We’ll break any existing injustices on it.” He gives her a wink and they both chuckle.
“Just keep on being you, Luca.” She gives his arm a light punch when he isn’t painting.
They continue to smile and laugh for the rest of the night as Luca paints Giulia’s nails.
(v I painted my nails and I figured Luca's could look like this. :3)
( v They could also look like when he gets good at painting them. I found the image on the internet.)
