Fran had been cooped up recovering in his room for two weeks and Bel was beyond bored. The boredom was excruciating, even. Xanxus had forbidden Bel from taking up missions on his own and there was no way in hell that he would allow himself to pair up with Levi, who in his opinion was a peasantly as a peasant could ever become. He mumbled darkly to himself as he watched the rise and fall of Fran's chest as the illusionist slept on, unaware of the blonde who had been by his bedside without fail for fourteen consecutive days. Fran who probably have denied this fact from being true if not for Lussuria who had been secretly documenting the two in a series of tapes by hidden camera – he had proudly announced to Squalo that this would be his "BELFRAN LOVE EDITION!~~~" and he was confident that the two would appreciate such material when they became lovers, as it that was ever going to happen.
Bel pursed his lips and wondered how long more it would be until Fran would finally decide to wake up. He decided that a few pokes who suffice and pounced onto the bed atop the illusionist – in a rather compromising position, that would certainly leave tongues wagging if anyone were to walk in and see the two – poising with knives in hand to begin his series of prodding and poking.
It was then that a pair of crystal clear, seafoam green eyes opened and stared directly into his blond bangs.
"…Froggy?"
"Yes, senpai?"
The prince hesitated, and then continued, "…Are you awake?"
"No, senpai."
"Hurry up and wake, then. You've kept the prince waiting long enough."
It was only then that Bel noticed the stupidity of both his statement and question and was fuelled with renewed anger as he resumed his previous course of action, only now he decided that stabs would do in the place of mild prodding. This, however, was once again interrupted.
"Senpai, can I have a glass of water?"
"…water?"
"Yes, the one you get when two molecules of hydrogen combine with a single molecule of oxygen. The substance that covers two-thirds of the earth and makes up almost 90% of a cucumber. The thing we drink everyday and the thing that's also used to flush our toilets and clean our floors. The one where-"
Fran was rudely interrupted by Bel who had shoved a glass of water into the illusionist's face.
"Thank you, senpai."
Bel unclenched his fist as he heard those few sacred words of thanks. He was glad that he hadn't yet lost control and decided to mince the frog into a bloody mess – after all, he only obtained permission to be in Fran's room by promising the commander that he would not lay a single hand on the illusionist while he was still 'recuperating', in the words of the shark. Although Bel himself would be the one who decided whether or not the frog had recuperated enough.
A lock of hair had fallen across Fran's face, blocking his beautiful eyes from the prince's vision and Bel absent-mindedly lifted up his had to brush it aside, only to meet with the questioning, probing irises of the twelve year old illusionist. He snickered to himself as he shifted to sit, cross-legged beside Fran.
"Senpai, how long have I been out?"
"Two weeks, froggy. You are weak. The prince is much better than you. The prince did not get injured at all."
The prince winced a little at the lie he told, but seconds later he decied that there was nothing wrong with bettering his own reputation and thus launched quickly into a blow-by-blow account of how invincible he was during the battle, of how the enemies had fallen upon their peasantly knees to beg for mercy as the prince graciously slaughtered them to spare them from their own patheticness.
Fran watched silently as he watched the prince tell his extravagant lie while contentedly sipping his glass of water. He had other more pressing questions to ask, but he had learnt the hard way that Bel did not enjoy being interrupted while he was in one of his story-telling moods. This usually did not dissuade him from doing what he wanted, though. If not for the fact that he did not want any more injuries in his current state, he would not have thought twice about letting loose a barrage of questions and insults.
So as the story of the Great Magnificent Mighty Prince Bel finally drew to a close, Fran finally piqued up, and asked, "What are you doing here, senpai?"
The prince frowned. Fran had asked an obvious question and he was not keen on answering to stupidity.
"The prince was looking after a sick frog."
"Oh." Another sip of water. "The whole two weeks?"
Bel nodded enthusiastically. Perhaps he could add nursing to his list of accomplishments, ignoring the fact that he didn't actually do anything at all.
"…then will you tell me a bedtime story?"
Bel was shocked. Was the frog sick in the head? Bedtime stories were for little children although he himself could not deny that Fran was indeed, still considered a child, since 12-year-olds were still able to buy movie tickets at the child rate in theatres. He decided that there was no harm in complying with the wishes of the peasant, thus he tucked himself beside Fran into the bed covers and launched into an atrocious account of how he, as a six year old child had single-handedly defeated a seven headed orc and a nineteen headed fire-breathing dragon that had been threatening his castle. Of course, both tales were completely untrue, but this was not something that the illusionist needed to know.
This soon turned into an exchange of stories between the two and Fran told Bel about his granny's horrible cooking and about the time where a grizzly bear had almost eaten Fran while he was fishing (unsuccessfully) in the river. The talk evolved into that of the utterly hysterical and perhaps, mentally inept as the two exchanged bits of information from their past; experiences that had become wonderful stories to tell.
"…so did you really eat the cheese, in the end?"
"Yeah," Fran replied, with his face in a nonchalant mask, as usual. "But the old man hit me really hard afterwards, and he never let me play with his cat ever again."
Bel snickered. Fran had certainly been through a lot of nonsensical episodes.
"Do you really like cats that much?"
"Yeah. I like cats. They're really fluffy and it makes me want to squash them. Granny once gave me a music box – but it's gone now – when you winded it up and opened it, it was like an opera house full of dancing cats. It was really nice."
"So what happened to it?"
"I dropped it in the river and I never saw it again."
Bel snorted. Fran would definitely be able to make a living as a comedian, in the future.
Their banter never ceased, and when Lussuria walked in hours later, he found himself cooing softly as he tucked in the two youngest of the Varia, who were curled beside each other in sleep. Bel had his arm swung around Fran's petite shoulder and Fran was tucked snugly in the crook of Bel's neck, with a look on his face that Lussuria had never before seen.
It was with a slight sense of deviousness that he whipped out his camera and snapped a picture of the two – a picture which they would definitely come to treasure in the near future.
A/N:
My first attempt at a proper conversation between the two! With proper dialogue and (hopefully) correct punctuation! I've always been horrid at dialogue.
