Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is the rightful property of Amano Akira. This is a fanwork written purely for both your entertainment and mine.

Written for istrill for my D18 Day 2011 drabble requests, and beta'd bycelen. Please enjoy!

"Stupid horse."

These are the first words Dino hears as he wakes up, his head throbbing and his left arm feeling as if it was alight with the hottest fire. It took him a moment to focus his mind enough to realise that the bed he was lying in was unfamiliar. He could hear the soft, strangely melodious sounds of machines beeping next to his head, and the strong smell of hospital grade cleaners and antiseptic filled his nose and made his eyes water. For a moment, everything was unfamiliar. He felt panic flare in the back of his mind and he lurched forward blindly, feeling something attached to his arm pull at his skin as he moved. A firm, familiar hand found its way to the middle of his chest a second later; Dino felt his heart rate drop and let himself fall back against the bed once again. His company must have felt that sudden change too, because the touch of the hand in the middle of his chest was gone as quickly as it had come.

Dino opened his eyes, blinked a few times to focus his vision, and smiled at the figure sitting next to him on the bed.

"Kyouya."

His voice was so rough that it didn't even sound familiar to his own mind.

"Cavallone," Hibari greeted in turn. He sounded calm, but the tension in his body and the dark circles around his eyes suggested that he hadn't always been as relieved as he was now.

"What happened?" Dino questioned, groaning as pain once again burned up and down the length of his arm.

"An attempted assassination on the way to your scheduled meeting with Sawada," Hibari replied, the displeasure in his voice the only thing that betrayed his true feelings on the matter. "A bomb fixed to the bottom of your favourite car, to be exact. Your consigliere was rather... displeased with the incident, and I doubt that the surviving men that were supposed to be guarding you will ever hear the end of it."

"It could've been placed any time," Dino said, groaning as he tried to sit up and the IV in his arm tugged uncomfortably at his skin. "I hope Romario wasn't too harsh on them."

"I think the only thing that stopped him from putting bullets through all of their heads was the thought of your reaction to the shootings. Though it took Ivan a while to dissuade him regardless," Hibari said. His expression changed for the first time, to something that was between dissatisfaction and anger. He, apparently, had wanted to make them pay for their mistake regardless, but knew not to overstep his boundaries within the Cavallone Family.

"He's the second most stubborn person I know," Dino said. Hibari sat in silence, apparently unwilling to speak his true thoughts on the matter. Dino decided that it was probably a good time to change the subject.

"What are my injuries like, Kyouya?"

"Burns to your left arm and legs. Broken ribs. Cuts. Bruises. You should recover from all but the burn scars within time."

"Ah," Dino replied, letting out a soft sigh as he looked over at the Vongola Cloud. "That's a relief."

"Don't be ridiculous, Cavallone."

"No, I am lucky. If I wasn't, I'd be dead."

"Your luck will run out one day, Cavallone."

"And when that day comes, my cousin's son will make the perfect Unidecimo. And they'll once again have a young, healthy, headstrong Cavallone Boss to deal with instead of a tired old man," Dino sighed. Hibari's lips curled in displeasure, but he didn't say anything more. Dino blinked tiredly, looked down at the bandages running along the length of his arm, felt the odd, searing stiffness of his legs and felt his chest throb with dull pain, and then looked back to Hibari, who seemed to be pointedly avoiding his gaze.

"There's no need to worry about me, Kyouya."

"You're still so herbivorous, Cavallone. You could have perished so easily."

Dino smiled, supposing that those words were the closest he would ever get to Hibari admitting his concern. "Like I said, I'm lucky. Very lucky. If I wasn't lucky, I certainly wouldn't have such a wonderful lover."

"Cavallone..."

"One who sits by my bedside and watches over me while I recover..."

"Cavallone. Shut up, or I'll give you another injury to worry about."

"Sorry, Kyouya," Dino murmured, then grinned. "I shouldn't tease you after all the kindness you've shown me."

Hibari kicked away from his chair with an irritated glare and stood up. "I'm leaving."

"I'm sorry," Dino said. He couldn't reach out for Hibari nor chase him if the apology wasn't enough, but it seemed that the Vongola Cloud was satisfied, because after a moment of hesitation he was back in the seat by the side of Dino's bed. "Please stay."

Hibari sat stiffly in the chair, and watched as Dino placed his good hand on the edge of the hospital bed in a silent request.

"I suppose, Cavallone."

Dino smiled, nodded, and shut his eyes. It wasn't until he was well and truly asleep that Hibari reached out to hold his outstretched hand, leaned over to brush the strands of gold hair streaked with silver away from the Cavallone Boss's face. A look of contentment brushed across Dino's face like a shadow, and Hibari couldn't help the brief smile on his lips.

"Stupid horse."

He'd been by Cavallone's side for thirty years. The idiot still didn't understand that he would always care, but he would never allow himself to show it so easily. But this... the warmth of Cavallone's hand, the happiness on his face, and the relief Hibari himself felt at the knowledge that he'd finally awoken after the assassination attempt... that would always be enough.

End.

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