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"How's everybody doing tonight? Everything tasting good? Martha! How are the kids?"
It was another busy dinner service, and Torino's Family Restaurant was packed to the gills. As usual, the man himself was out on the floor, schmoozing with guests. A bottle of the house red to the table of a regular couple, and a plate of Altadorian melitinias- just like Mama used to make- to the first timers. All on the house, of course. The pianist kept the mood light with a jaunty tune on the upright, and everyone was having a lovely evening.
"Excuse me, sir? Your appointment is in." One of the young waitresses tugged at his sleeve, clearly unsure of the message she'd been told to relay.
Torino just grinned and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, darling. Why don't you refill these waters then head out on your break?"
That was all the waitress needed to forget about the interaction entirely.
Meanwhile, Torino excused himself to the back of the house. Through the casual chaos of the kitchen's dinner rush, no one noticed him heading down to the basement. There, good old Pugsley was waiting for him. Pugsley was a hulking, muscle-bound skeith that didn't necessarily work at Torino's Family Restaurant, but he still did important work for the establishment.
"This him?" Torino thumbed toward a heavy steel door just behind Pugsley.
"One of them, at least," Pugsley said, shrugging. "The way he's talking, there's a few more of 'em."
"Oh good," Torino muttered.
What looked like the door to a second walk-in freezer instead opened into a shallow, tiled room with a drain in the floor. The room had a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling and a single chair under the yellow sodium glow. In that chair sat a young kyrii gentleman- early 20s, most likely- who stared down at the drain in the floor. His head snapped up when Torino entered the room, and the young kyrii willed himself into a more formidable pose. Shoulders back, chest out, hands trembling.
"So," Torino said, all joviality drained from his voice. "You think you're a real funny guy. Do you have any idea how much it took to get that window replaced same-day? I'm not going to have my guests staring at a piece of plywood all night, not in this restaurant!"
The kyrii scoffed and bared his teeth. He probably intended for this to be a threatening gesture. "A couple broken windows is gonna be the least of your worries once my boys catch wind of you pulling me in like this. You're already thin ice, acting like you're too big to pay your dues!"
"Your boys," Torino repeated in a slow drawl. "You fancy yourself a gangster then, do you?"
"Don't act like you never heard of the Black Hearts gang!" The kyrii rolled his sleeve up to reveal a tattoo of two black hearts on the inside of his arm. Again, this seemed like it was meant to hold some significance.
"Cute, very cute," Torino said, crossing his arms over his chest. "But I'm not interested in getting shaken down by some two-bit street gang. Besides, if I were the sort of man to pay for protection, I'd seek it from a more reputable source."
"You're definitely gonna need protectin' after my boys hear about this!"
"Right, right. I'm sure they'll have some very strong opinions about not getting any of my money. Well bad news for your boys, but they're going to need to find a softer target."
"That right, fat man?" The kyrii spat at Torino's feet in contempt. "You're just talkin' a big game 'cause you caught me unawares. Not gonna be so mouthy when you've got the full Black Hearts crew breathing down your neck!"
Torino sighed. "You're just not getting the picture. I'm giving you every chance you've got to save your flea-bitten hide, and you're just not getting it."
The kyrii's face pulled into an awful sneer. "What, you're gonna send your guard dog after us? Big boy out there?" He nodded to where Pugsley stood, just past the door. "You really think he can take us all? You're dumber'n you look!"
"Oh no, it's not about what I'll be doing," Torino said. "Your little gang ought to be worrying about what Mister Giordano is going to do."
That clearly took the kid off guard, because his retort died in his throat. He swallowed hard before the words came back to him. "W-what does he have to do with any of this?"
"Nothing yet," Torino said casually. "But he knows I've been having problems with hooligans causing a ruckus at my place of business. Lito hasn't heard of your little gang, not yet. But when he does? Well, I can't guarantee anyone's making it out in one piece."
"You... You know him...?"
"Oh, the two of us are quite well acquainted, yes."
It was only then that the little ruffian seemed to realize the danger he was in. Once again, he looked down to the drain in the floor, and all the color vanished from his face as the reality of the situation sunk in. At that, the young kyrii stared up at Torino with big, wet eyes. "What are you- What are you gonna do to me?" he whimpered.
What a sad sack. How was he supposed to off a guy like this? It would feel like kicking a box of stray puppies left out in the rain. Torino cursed that big, bleeding heart of his.
"Tell you what, I'm feeling awfully generous today," he said, planting his hands on his hips. "I'm gonna let you walk out of here."
The kyrii breathed an audible sigh of relief.
"There's just one thing I need you to do for me," Torino said casually. He slipped a hand into his back pocket and pulled out a set of iron pliers. "Pick a tooth."
"What...?"
Torino dropped the pliers into the kyrii's hands. "You pick a tooth for me, and Mister Giordano doesn't have to hear about any of this. It's a pretty fair trade, you've got to admit. Then you can go back and tell all your boys about how generous I was. Sound clear?"
The kyrii stared hard at the pliers. There was rust on the hinges. "You want me to-?" He cut himself off, clearly hoping that he had misunderstood the situation.
"Just one tooth. You get to pick which one." Torino held his hand out expectantly, leaving no room for ambiguity.
Torino watched him deliberate. One of the front teeth would come out easiest, but would also look the most obvious. A missing molar would be easier to hide, but those things took some effort to wrench out.
In the end, the kyrii picked one of his lower incisors. Torino wiped the red saliva off with the back of his apron. A lovely present for Lito, who would surely get a good laugh out of the story.
The kid sat huddled in his chair, hand clamped over his mouth. Just a sad, wet puppy.
"Make no mistake, I won't be so generous if this happens again." Torino made a show of holding up the tooth to look at it in the hazy yellow light. "Alright, you little rascal. Scram." He stepped past to let the kyrii book it out of the room and up the basement steps.
The steel door closed behind him with a satisfying clunk, and Torino tucked the tooth into his pocket along with the pliers. He'd need to give his hands a good wash before he got back to the floor.
"Thought you said you wanted to make an example of this one," Pugsley said.
Torino twirled his moustache and grinned. "I guess I'm just a big ol' sweetheart, aren't I?"
"You're a real teddy bear, boss."
Brie cheese platter.............................................4,500 NP
Hummus...........................................................4,000 NP
Lemon butter and sweet corn scallops...................5,000 NP
Hummus...........................................................4,000 NP
Lemon butter and sweet corn scallops...................5,000 NP
Moussaka..........................................................5,000 NP
Altadorian cobb salad.........................................2,500 NP
Altadorian lentil soup..........................................2,500 NP
Altadorian cobb salad.........................................2,500 NP
Altadorian lentil soup..........................................2,500 NP
Well decorated meat.........................................12,000 NP
Grilled veggie platter........................................11,000 NP
Hero gyro.........................................................9,500 NP
Grilled veggie platter........................................11,000 NP
Hero gyro.........................................................9,500 NP
Lavender ice cream..............................................900 NP
Atadorian ambrosia...........................................1,000 NP
Pomegranate jelly................................................600 NP
Atadorian ambrosia...........................................1,000 NP
Pomegranate jelly................................................600 NP
Sun tea..............................................................500 NP
Briki elinikos.......................................................800 NP
Altadorian nectar..............................................1,000 NP
Name: Giuseppe Torino
Gender: Male
Species: Yurble (anthro / humanoid)
Color: Plushie
Age: Adult, middle-aged
Nationality: Altadorian
Profession: Restauranteur / Mafioso
Birthday: 19th day of Swimming
Build: Broad, stocky
Personality: Jolly, diligent, vicious
Most people who meet Giuseppe Torino would describe him as a jolly and charismatic family man who loves to entertain almost as much as he loves to cook. This is all true of course, but it leaves out an important aspect of his character: his astonishing cruelty. Torino's foray into the world of organized crime would not come as a surprise to anyone who knew what he was capable of.
Rumors have swirled that Mister Torino knows more than he lets on about ex-husband's disappearance, but it's hard to prove a crime without a body. Besides, he's far too busy providing Neovia with authentic cuisine from the old country to bother with hearsay and rumors. However, it's no secret that these days he's rubbing elbows with the Giordano crime family, so if those rumors about Mister Torino's "creative problem solving" weren't true before, they certainly are now.
Little old Gladys is Mr. Torino's dearest companion. She's older than his kids, she outlived his marriage, and if she had her way, she'd outlive each and every one of you. She might have been a sweet little gathow once upon a time, but now that she's older than time itself, her patience is wafer thin and her little heart is blackened with hatred. She hates noise, sudden movements, other petpets, children, adults, strangers, interlopers, exercise, being moved, being touched, being looked at, and the list grows longer by the day. The only thing she doesn't hate is her dear friend, Mr. Torino, who she absolutely adores. Likewise, he will tolerate no rude remarks about his sweet old kitty, because this is her house and she was here first.
Farewell, friends! Come back soon!
And behave yourselves out there.
Or else :)
Links
Friends from the old country / Fellow Altadorians
background from teahub
Character, art, story, etc by me
Briki elinikos.......................................................800 NP
Altadorian nectar..............................................1,000 NP
Name: Giuseppe Torino
Gender: Male
Species: Yurble (anthro / humanoid)
Color: Plushie
Age: Adult, middle-aged
Nationality: Altadorian
Profession: Restauranteur / Mafioso
Birthday: 19th day of Swimming
Build: Broad, stocky
Personality: Jolly, diligent, vicious
Sloppy
Quiet
Lazy
Serious
Mean
Quiet
Lazy
Serious
Mean
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Neat
Outgoing
Active
Playful
Nice
Outgoing
Active
Playful
Nice
Most people who meet Giuseppe Torino would describe him as a jolly and charismatic family man who loves to entertain almost as much as he loves to cook. This is all true of course, but it leaves out an important aspect of his character: his astonishing cruelty. Torino's foray into the world of organized crime would not come as a surprise to anyone who knew what he was capable of.
Rumors have swirled that Mister Torino knows more than he lets on about ex-husband's disappearance, but it's hard to prove a crime without a body. Besides, he's far too busy providing Neovia with authentic cuisine from the old country to bother with hearsay and rumors. However, it's no secret that these days he's rubbing elbows with the Giordano crime family, so if those rumors about Mister Torino's "creative problem solving" weren't true before, they certainly are now.
Lito and Giuseppe make quite the pair. They've bonded over the trials of being a single parent, and they share many common interests. For his part, Lito is very pleased to finally have a romantic partner who is as invested in the business as he is, while Giuseppe is enjoying the social capital this relationship affords him. With the combined machinations of these two lovebirds, no one can stand in their way.
Mr. Torino is the proud father to two wonderful children, Bella and Nico. They are intelligent, polite, and well-behaved, at least while their father is watching. Bella is especially protective of her little brother, and she has no qualms dishing out black eyes and bruised lips if she catches anyone picking on Nico. The pair often tag along with Mr. Torino to the family restaurant where they get into all sorts of mischief. Good thing they're so cute.
Antony and Giuseppe were married for over a decade, and they should have had a blissful family life. Such a shame that Antony couldn't stay faithful. The only thing Mr. Torino didn't win in the ensuing divorce was full custody of their two kids. Not long after, Antony "disappeared." After years of fruitless searching by police and family, he was declared dead in absentia. Mr. Torino does not seem particularly cut up about this.
What a lovely young lady! Edith? Emily? Something like that. Mr. Torino has certain arrangements with the Lockwood family patriarch, and in return for his services, the family provides Torino's Family Restaurant with nothing but the finest red wine Altador's vineyards can supply. In vino veritas! Edith herself is quiet and a little cagey, but smart as a whip and a real artist on that lyre. Mr. Torino will have to remember to send some flowers for her birthday.
Brutus was (was) Mr. Torino's nephew by marriage, but quite frankly, the two sides of the family don't have much contact these days. And in this case, it's for the best. One would think a spot on Altador's professional yooyuball team would be enough to make a guy happy, but the only championship to Brutus's name is being Neopia's biggest mood killer. And the kid is absolutely allergic to compliments. Good luck having pleasant conversation! Oh well, some people are just happier being miserable.
And behave yourselves out there.
Or else :)
Links
Friends from the old country / Fellow Altadorians
background from teahub
Character, art, story, etc by me