This is a series of related one-shots involving Reborn and Ronny Schiatto. Dedicated to TheSilverHunt3r.
Of Chaos and Paperwork (circa late 1940s)
- - - - - - - - -
With a very put-upon sigh, Ronny rolls his eyes at the thoughts pulling at him from two blocks away. He could very well give in and simply appear with a shit-eating grin and a drawling "you rang?" but he doesn't. Not today, when he's attempting to take a break from the chaos of the Family he decided to attach himself to out of curiosity's sake, no matter what anyone else says. The sandy-brown haired man with sharp, angled eyes and a gentleman's smile that was polite at worst strolls down the blocks with a cigarette between his lips to a corner cafe. A blonde haired man with closed eyes and fake smiles greets him with a wave, only to receive a raised eyebrow in return. Ronny simply looks at the man, cigarette now in his hands.
"You didn't have to project like that, Elmer. You knew I was coming."
Elmer, the smiling blonde, smiles wider as he claps the other man on the back. "Couldn't be sure if you were actually going to come or not. You're fickle when you want to be."
Ronny levels him with a flat look. "You're the one to blame for that and you know it."
The blonde feigns innocent. "Who, me? Why would I ever do such a thing?"
Ronny just sighs because there are so many answers to that question because in some ways, the two of them are so very alike but today he just wants some peace and quiet so he doesn't really touch on that at all. They sit and a waitress takes their orders, habit having the two men glance around for exits in less than a blink.
"The brat keeps giving me paperwork."
"Really, innocent and serious little Aile*?"
Ronny shoots him a weak glare over the rim of his black tea.
"He picked up the most chaotic little shit of a protégé, the same one that got the promotion. He was involved in that warehouse fire during the end of the whole Szilard debacle," the name is laced with derision, "and somehow ended up romantically involved with the man's homunculus. All on accident."
Elmer tries not to snigger but his face is red behind the sandwich he's holding and Ronny ignores him as he continues on, needing to get this out of his system.
"Plus, the kid has ties to Claire or Felix, whatever the kid is calling himself now, as well as those Gandor boys, which that one's a good thing at least because we're no longer at odds with them. But the boy is now an executive and in the middle of all of this, got ahold of the Elixir so now there's a new batch running around."
From his side of the table, the blonde man just hums in agreement as he swallows his food.
"You would be bored, otherwise, and you know it, Ronny."
"…"
"And you could've changed things if you really wanted to."
At that, he gives up the ghost and smiles at his companion. "But where's the fun in that. I was curious to see how the dominoes would fall."
Eventually Elmer leaves but Ronny stays, content to have his tea and avoid the other executives if he can help it because Aile is a very subtle troll in the fact that he purposefully let others think he was a coward, forgetting that he had to earn his position as an executive, only to turn around and borderline fillet the same doubters with his knife work. Or sic Firo on them because he was a fledgeling harbinger of mayhem in his own right, thanks to Felix or Claire or whatever name he was going by at the moment.
As Ronny stands to leave, his eyes catch on a man in a black three-piece suit with golden-orange accents, topped with a fedora and the most noticeable sideburns he's seen in a while. Curious though he maybe, he spares less than a second on the man and leaves. He knows Chaos thanks to his curious nature, is intimately familiar with its workings, and knows that this man delights in it. If it was another day, Ronny would have approached but not today. Today is going to be chaos-free and paperwork-free, because the two go hand-in-hand with his family.
His walk around the city only confirms his thoughts about the man when he encounters 2 high-speed chases, 3 explosions, a runaway circus animal, and at least 7 abandoned warehouses suddenly reduced to rubble. All in the span of 3 hours. And having spotted the suited man at over half of them but certain that he was involved in all of them.
He'd look the man up another day. The Daily Days had information on everyone.
Across the city, a man with black eyes sneezed.
*Aile- the name Maiza Avaro went by when he was the leader of a group of delinquent aristocrats called the Rotten Eggs rebelling against their parents and their city. You read that right: a gang of delinquent aristocrats.