Skull opens the door to show Verde waiting outside, the scientist followed by large blocky robots.

Verde immediately looks to Reborn. "I'm sorry I left you alone with these people."

Skull hunches his shoulders. "It wasn't that bad!"

Verde hums very judgmentally and walks inside, shoving Skull back to let his robots enter. One large robot sits down and opens up reveal tiny cleaning cubes that immediately scurry around. Another moves out to the backyard and starts eating the trashed kitchen equipment. The third unfolds into a whole laser cutter with the fourth carrying in slabs of wood and granite.

"Are you watching us somehow?" Reborn complains because it's only day two since the incident and Verde is already here with a whole renovation crew prepared.

"I put trackers on those two idiots and several cameras and microphones in this house," Verde easily explains.

Skull throws up his arms. "Reborn! Why aren't you kicking him out?"

The hitman shrugs carelessly. "Look, I don't know what I'm doing with this renovation, we might as well keep him around."

Colonnello has very quickly moved to stand between Verde and Reborn, arms crossed and flexing his muscular biceps to intimidate the scientist. Colonnello is usually the tallest one in the room so the giant that is Verde actually hurts Colonnello's pride. "Reborn, I'm going to need an explanation for why you're letting a traitor in, or I'm assuming he drugged you."

Verde spins around to the blond, excited at finally being validated because Reborn has never believed him about the potential threat of someone's mind being influenced by outside sources. "Thank you, exactly! It's a perfectly reasonable concern to have. Perhaps I did slip Reborn something to make him complacent."

Skull and Colonnello start to puff up in outrage.

Reborn rolls his eyes. "You are not helping your case." He glances between the other men and then glares at the burnt stove. "Verde said...that he wanted us to be partners, and I like that."

Skull splutters. "Partners? Boyfriends-!"

"Wait, wait," Colonnello cries. "You let him come crawling back because just because he said he wanted to be your Guardian? What, did he say 'pretty please'?"

Reborn looks away, body twisting slightly to try and hide. "Just. Not Guardian, like...because I don't run a famiglia so there's no need to act as if I'm a boss that you have to answer to."

Verde pushes up his glasses, clearly judging Reborn for that awful explanation. "Reborn despises the connotations that come with being a Sky, but he enjoys the bonds he has and doesn't want to lose the closeness. He instead wishes for a partnership where we are all equally decision makers and hold the responsibility together."

Skull hesitates. "Isn't that what we have?"

Verde scoffs. "You're a civilian. You don't know the first thing about navigating the Mafia or what it takes to survive with a title to your name. You can't help Reborn even if you wanted to." The scientist turns on Colonnello next. "And you, soldier. You've been looking up how to be a traditional Rain Guardian which is the exact opposite of what he needs."

Colonnello looks to Reborn for confirmation because he's not going to trust this stranger with something so important.

Reborn meets blue eyes. "I want you to stay in COMSUBIN, if that's what you want. You've been worried about switching between them and me, but I just want you to be happy."

"I need to be with you," Colonnello admits. "What if you get attacked again and I'm not here?"

Verde sighs in frustration. "Do you think that was Reborn fighting all out against Monster? Against someone he knew and admired?"

"I wouldn't say admired," Reborn quickly corrects.

"You want the beast as a Guardian."

"Please remove your listening devices and stop being a creep."

The scientist ignores this and continues with Colonnello's conversation. "Reborn is in the running to be the world's greatest hitman, he doesn't need help to take care of himself. He doesn't want bodyguards or subordinates because he is not your boss and sure as hell not your Sky."

Colonnello begins to protest but Verde cuts over him.

"Reborn is a hitman," Verde finishes with. "Who kills with exceptionally strong Sun flames. They are his primary, therefore by every naming convention the Mafia, he is and always will be a Sun."

After a long moment of hovering silence, Reborn clears his throat and quickly begins to leave the room. "I'm getting rid of your stalker cameras."

The other three are left alone with the robots.

Verde smirks.

And so Colonnello catches on quickly. "You. Lightning, you're courting him!"

Verde looks very smug. "Well I can't help it if my words just so happen to make Reborn happy."

Skull makes a distressed noise and runs after the hitman. "Reborn, he's tricking you! Don't fall for it!"

Colonnello jabs a finger at Verde. "You sly motherfucker, you're not worming your way into our bond that easily!"

Verde chuckles darkly. "A genius of my calibre against a soldier and a stuntman. Good luck keeping up with me."


Skull is waiting outside, kicking rocks out of the flowerbed and squinting from the bright lasers that shine out from the windows even through the shut curtains. Verde is laser cutting new tiles and he only has enough protective gear for himself and Reborn. Colonnello has actually stolen Skull's helmet and managed to argue it would do a good enough job, so Skull got kicked out.

A vague, blurred figure glides up to Skull's side. "I just need to confirm that the Storm was the attacker? He got shot?"

"Reborn fixed him up after." A particularly bright burst of light comes from the house and Skull squeezes his eyes shut. "Personally, I don't think we should let Fon be around Reborn anymore." The stuntman shrugs, eyes still closed. "But I don't know, Reborn wants him."

The figure hums. "Why is the Lightning here? Did they not have a falling out?"

"Yeah, they did. Verde came over a couple of days ago though, apparently they had a talk." Skull opens his eyes after the lightshow finally dies down. He kicks the next rock and it lands in the gutter on the other side of the path.

"Do they appear wary of each other?"

"Nah, they seem...good together? They snark a lot and get excited when they talk maths." Skull grins. "Reborn is cute when he gets all nerdy."

"Interesting," the figure murmurs.

Colonnello opens the front door and waves to Skull, stolen helmet in his other hand. "Come up! We're done."

Skull takes a step forward and then stops, feeling a bit light-headed. Was he talking to himself? He thinks he's forgetting something. Skull pats his pockets and looks at the ground but he hasn't dropped anything.

"What's up?" Colonnello asks.

Skull shakes his head. "Nah, it's nothing." The stuntman jogs up the steps and ducks into the house with Colonnello. "Yo, what is that awful pattern?"

"That's what I said!" Reborn cries.

Verde scowls at them all. "I have the laser cutter; I get to pick the damn pattern."