Reborn blinks first and looks away from Viper's toad before poking Leon, who also shakes off the hypnotising stare. Reborn looks around, only to realise he's been locked in a staring contest for the past two hours judging by the kitchen clock.

Or maybe a day and two hours, who knows with Viper's weird pet? Things tend to get strange with Mist flames. Just the other day, Reborn caught Skull asking Viper for their last name. Which was rather odd because of course Viper doesn't have a last name.

Everyone knows Viper isn't a real person.

Oodako is wrapped around Reborn's back, tentacles curled around his shoulders like a backpack, bouncing slightly as Reborn walks around the wide, mostly wild garden that surrounds what has been officially coined the Arcobaleno manor while Leon naps in bed.

Reborn is barefoot and not suppressing his Sun flames in effort to try and heal all the damage done to the place from sparring, motorbike tires and various experiments hurled out of a window at the last second before the explosion and/or noxious fumes become uncontrollable.

So grass grows where Reborn steps, flowers surging up and blooming against the fabric of his pants, sometimes managing to sneak inside with soft petals brushing his skin.

The plants lean towards him as he walks past, trees flower and then fruit hoping to feed him, the wind rustles leaves and roots try to trip him over.

Reborn feels the life underneath his steps, feels it spread, voracious. It's spring now, it's hungry, to grow and eat and breed.

Kill them, kill them all, let us feast on their decaying flesh, the corpses of our enemies will make us strong, kill them, you will be our king, we will worship you as death, as you deserve, brings us our feast-

Oodako's frantic flailing of tentacles hits Reborn's fedora, tilting it enough that Reborn stops and readjusts it.

Reborn looks around and doesn't recognise where he is. His feet are cut up and bleeding from walking so far, over rough surfaces. There are vines interweaved with his now ruined clothes, dirt on his hands.

"Where are we?" Reborn asks Skull's octopus. Usually Leon stops him before he gets to this point so this hasn't happened in a while.

Kill them.

Oodako is trembling, and if octopuses could cry, Oodako would be crying.

"Huh," Reborn says and pulls back his Sun flames until he can no longer feel the staring of the forest around him. "We should probably head back."

Oodako clutches at Reborn's clothes with suckers and shivers.

Reborn finds a wooden box that Verde left outside his basement laboratory's door, with some science-looking name on the outside of the trunk.

Leon walks back into the room with his chameleon swagger, looking for Reborn because Leon's human shouldn't be left alone for too long. Leon looks around a bit in confusion because he didn't hear a door (or a window (or a vent)) open so Reborn must be in the room.

The wooden trunk's lid lifts slightly, just enough that shiny black eyes can peer out of the shadowed inside to stare at Leon.

Leon leaves the room and comes flying back in as a tiny helicopter, dropping the blanket he's carrying in front of the box.

The lid opens, an arm lashes out, and the blanket disappears inside right before the lid slams shut. Soon after is the sound of Reborn shuffling around, trying to make his nest more comfortable.

Shamal chokes on his water and turns away, leaning over the arm of the couch to cough up a lung, loud enough to drown out the explosions of the spy movie they're watching just to talk shit about it.

"I don't appreciate what you're implying right now," Reborn tsks, crossing his legs at the knee and making the bowl of popcorn wobble. "I made the orphans, surely I'm allowed to visit them. I'm practically the entire income of that orphanage right now."

Shamal wheezes.

"Anyway," Reborn says dismissively but does reach over and pat Shamal on the back because the coughing is getting concerning. "I'm still waiting for the day one of them grows into a fine mafioso and comes after me as revenge for their parents' deaths but I can be patient. It might take a while."

Shamal sits up, breathing still hitching a bit.

"I'm just a little confused because they seem happy when I visit and I've yet to get any attempted murder out of them. I told them I killed their mums and dads, and I even sometimes write their parents' names on the presents I give them –just to remind all the kids that they're unloved orphans, you know- but it just doesn't seem to be getting through to them."

Shamal sits back and sighs. "Maybe you should stop visiting and giving them presents."

"But then what if they forget their revenge?" Reborn complains, poking some popcorn. "I mean I'm clearly not going to get any challenge out of my generation since I killed all the fun people already, but I want some surprise in my life. I'm a big fan of surprise assassinations!"

"Most assassinations are meant to be surprises," Shamal points out.

"Everyone is just so boring these days," Reborn sighs, leaning forward to set the popcorn on the table and licks his fingers clean. "I don't know, I just want something horrible to happen so I'm not so fucking disappointed."

"Predictable isn't bad," Shamal tries, grabbing the remote and turning down the volume of the loud monologuing villain because this is getting serious. "You still haven't gotten into a car alone since the last time Skull…deviated from your plans."

"I don't have PTSD from the idiot's mild death," Reborn argues.

"I never said you did," Shamal mutters and shrugs when Reborn frows at him. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, let's not talk."

"Turn up the damn volume," Reborn orders.

Shamal watches Reborn's expression closely. "Any time though, I'm here." He raises the volume of the TV.

Reborn slumps over and takes Shamal with him. "You're too soft. But I guess you are my favourite pet anyway."

"Thanks. I think?"

.

A/N: I don't know why this came out so dark but it was also a lot worse before I edited again to be lighter.

Reborn's end speech turns swiftly into 'the honeymoon phase is over now, maybe I should kill the Arcobaleno before this boredom clouds my memories of them'.