Curious Concoction (Bel Plays Cupid)
It wasn't obvious how or why Bel managed to get away with a lot of his behavior in the Varia. Some idiots might think it was due to Bel's age. Those people were idiots. Age meant nothing in the Varia other than how close you were to retirement. Others might think it had to be because Bel was smart about when and how he acted because he was a genius. Clearly they'd never been around anyone with above average intelligence, because then they'd know that really smart people can be really dumb sometimes; like the time Bel and Mammon used one of Levi's umbrella's when it was raining.
It had honestly taken a while for Squalo to figure it out. Oh, he knew that Boss interacted differently with everyone, personalizing his attention and responses. Not in a dishonest sort of way, because Boss was still undeniably himself, but he did treat everyone differently.
Mammon was something like an adviser for the Varia and being an information broker only solidified that. So Mammon, outside of the Varia's personal space was frequently treated like that because Mammon appreciated the care that went into such a performance of misinformation. However, personally for Boss, it was more like Mammon embodied the conscientiousness, frugality and desire to move on to the future. Boss was always careful around Mammon, respectful without fear and considerate of all of Mammon's talents without taking them for granted. It was far from an easy thing.
Following that line of thought, Squalo knew he was something like Xanxus' sense of duty, personal pride, honor and so on; it was why Xanxus was hard on him and why Squalo was so hard on the other Officers and so on. They could always do better, especially since Boss was harder on himself than he was anyone else.
The others were less obvious. Lussuria was all the dark desires and a sense of nurturing as heavily disguised as it was on Xanxus' part. Not that Xanxus was into the kinky shit Luss was into but no one outside the Varia knew how well Luss and Boss' sense of sadism matched. The okama acted on his sadistic impulses a lot more than Boss did, since Lussuria's were frequently hidden by concerned and mothering behavior but Squalo knew the okama enjoyed making them twitch. Levi was harder but Boss liked efficiency and Levi was the most zealous about finishing his missions quickly. Devotion was also a key part of Levi's character, but also Boss' even though Levi's was only to Xanxus instead of the Vongola or the Varia like Xanxus' was. Squalo could understand Xanxus' distaste for Levi's behavior beyond the annoyance since such singular loyalty was easy to take advantage of. A good Mist could cause a lot of damage if they took advantage of that just right.
Which left Bel to be something like aggression, cunning, irreverence and worse. Bel was Boss' sense of whimsy.
And that was how Bel managed to get away with the majority of his behavior. Boss and Bel shared a sense of humor. Bel enjoyed his fun and Boss would generally find what Bel did was funny. Or maybe interesting, because Bel was pretty much the only one that could surprise the Boss regularly with what he found and brought back. Kinda like an evil cat that only liked two people and tolerated a few more while the rest were prey.
It was always worse when Bel and Boss collaborated, as Squalo knew. You couldn't really control Bel. Trying would be counterproductive unless you wanted to get dead. Trying to establish more than a few boundaries was a hopeless endeavor. The few 'rules' that Bel obeyed was because it suited him and his goals.
At best you could directed him, but that was only possible if you worked with him or if he respected you. That left only a few options and fewer still were inclined to try, instead of just going along with it.
But Boss? He'd do a few things like that for his own amusement. An idea here, permission there, some refinement of an aspect of 'the plan' at some point. Sometimes they'd really work together, but this like the Glitter War some months ago had all the hallmarks of Bel's personal brand of sabotage. It was only the sense of vindication that only happened when Xanxus was amused on a deeper level that made Squalo suspect Boss had helped beyond telling Bel how to get around the Vongola Mansion unseen.
Which explained why pretty much everyone that was Flame-active at the Vongola-mansion had gone a little crazy. They were made to and Boss had helped Bel plan it.
Some sort of love potion from Verde, except air-borne. Squalo didn't know how it only worked in those that were Flame-active, but the main points of interest was that it lowered inhibitions and caused a huge surge of certain hormones that were the love chemicals: oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine.
In short, it made all those effected very touchy feel-y and clingy by wrecking inhibitions. So like drunks, they quickly lost all sense of propriety and personal space. And then they 'fell in love.' It was very much like being drunk, as Yamamoto later explained, if a lot more coordinated and coherent so consent was still possible because they weren't that drugged haha. Idiots.
Yeah, that was not a mess you could pay Squalo enough to meddle in. Especially since the trash brat and his Guardians were having a meet-up with the Giglio Nero, the Gesso and his other 'allies' for a White Day celebration; arranged by the girls, who hadn't been hit by Verde's concoction in a nearly as high a concentration as the guys since they were outside awaiting their White Day Gifts.
That was a bunch of drama that Squalo did not want to even think or hear about.
Maybe if Boss and Bel were so bored they were messing with trash, they could do something like go on a few sabotage missions together.
Omake/Extra
"So what did happen?" Squalo asked after he lost a battle with his curiosity and Yamamoto proved unhelpful.
"Words won't do it justice. The Prince has video! It's why we skipped Valentine's day. It took more time to set them up than we thought, so White Day's love festival is available! Luss has even edited it for the best parts!"
Squalo was stunned a little speechless.
