Reborn is wandering down the dairy aisle with Skull beside him, the Cloud slumped over the handle of a shopping trolley and easily getting distracted by the pretty packaging.
There's an old woman holding a basket standing next to the section up ahead. Reborn automatically glances towards the almond milk brand next to her that Skull likes. Not because Skull is lactose intolerant, but because Skull likes the thought of drinking milked nuts.
Reborn lightly kicks Skull's trolley. "Quick, better hurry or that grandma will take everything."
"I'll just ram her."
There's no reply but when Skull looks over, Reborn is silently shaking with laughter.
A white cube robot rolls past Verde's desk, sliding over the ground easily with the small air holes on the base to allow movement like an air-hockey table. One side is flapped open, sweeping with a small broom.
Verde pushes his chair back to reach a hanging cable under the desk. The robot can't move in time and bumps into Verde's chair, whirls around in distress, then hits the table leg. Verde pauses and instead picks the robot up.
It pulls the broom in and the air flow stops as soon as it's picked up, obediently sitting in Verde's hand. Verde sets the cube on his desk, then places a black square on top of the robot to wirelessly connect it to the computer he's working at. He turns the robot's lights to blue, adding a voice file.
The robot spins around when he puts it back on the floor. It trips over a power cable and tips onto its front.
"Mother fucker!" the robot says in Colonnello's voice. "Who left this here?!"
The robot rolls over and zooms away, skimming another, larger robot and spinning out.
"I swear to God," Colonnello!robot begins. "You think you can take anti-tank bullets? Let's fucking test that."
Verde smirks and calls for another robot.
"I don't even carry knives," Reborn is saying in between nibbling at his muffin as he sits on a park bench and enjoys the cooling breeze. "She's always hated me, I'm not surprised I was the first one she pointed a finger at."
"But did you actually kill him?" Fon asks, sitting on the left with a half-eaten cookie in hand. Most of it eaten by Reborn.
"Well, yes, but not with a knife." Reborn huffs. "My argument still stands."
Fon hums. "Yes, how incredibly odd that she would blame you for something that you actually did. Wao. Someone needs to give her a reality check."
"Speaking of reality checks," Reborn muses, skipping straight past the heavy sarcasm emanating from Fon. "Do you think the COMSUBIN soldiers know that we can see them from this angle?"
Because Lal has been sending people to check up on him, and Reborn thinks it might be training for the recruits, but it's also probably to guard him as well which is rather insulting.
"Would you like me to talk with them?" Fon offers. He's always ready for a spar.
"Nah, I can scare them with some shots from here."
Skull wakes up with a jerk and almost falls out of his bed. The room is dark, the curtains drawn to block out the streetlights. Skull blinks a few times and huddles deeper in his blankets.
"Nightmare?" Verde asks.
Skull sticks an arm out of the blanket and after blindly failing around for a bit he finds the speaker/microphone set in the third drawer of his bedside table. He leaves the squat cylinder on his pillow and pulls his arm back in. "Where's Reborn?"
"Having a shower after the hit."
Skull makes a face.
"I don't have cameras in the bathroom anymore," Verde argues. "I heard Reborn tell Lal through the mic I planted on her."
Skull rolls over to face the device and his eyes droop with sleepiness. Verde connects the audio feeds and dials it up. Skull falls asleep to Lal rummaging through something and Reborn's faint voice in the background yelling at her to stay away from his gun safe.
Colonnello tilts his head, sitting opposite Reborn in an ice cream parlour with a huge glass between them. "Do you hear scribbling…? Oh. That man is drawing on the table."
Reborn licks his spoon and blinks because the apparently drawing man isn't facing Reborn so he can't tell. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Okay, so my next question is; can you see the man?"
"Colonnello, are you feeling okay?" Reborn asks solemnly.
Skull is holding onto the long train of fabric at the back of Fon's tunic, getting dragged along the sidewalk on his skateboard as Fon walks next to Lal.
The two men are just watching Lal get progressively more annoyed with the line of teen girls literally holding hands and blocking the whole path, walking slowly and bursting into giggles occasionally.
One girl stops so the whole line stops so Lal finally snaps.
"Would it physically pain you to move the fuck over?" Lal barks out.
The girls scatter like startled pigeons.
Skull exaggeratedly gasps. "Lal, don't bully the civilians!"
"I'll bully you in a second," Lal grumbles but reigns herself in.
"You know what?" Skull begins, puffing up. "I am emotionally fragile so it would be very effective."
Fon is reminiscing on his fight with the 'emotionally fragile' man. "Alright. Sure."
Reborn is staring intently at his mug. Verde leans over to look.
"I know you drugged it," Reborn complains. "But I also really want espresso."
"Tough decision," Verde muses. "Is coffee worth getting a kidney stolen?"
Reborn sips.
Fon perks up when he sees Colonnello coming downstairs with a duffel bag in hand. "Good morning."
Colonnello pauses because he came by Reborn's house to get some clothes he left a while ago and no one is supposed to be in here. "Do you…have a key? Who let you in?"
Fon lightly chuckles and avoids the question. "Would you like to spar with me?"
Colonnello opens his mouth, close it and then tries again. "Sorry, the wind is too loud, I can't hear you." Colonnello starts backing away towards the front door and raises his voice as if trying to speak over something. "Like I can't – I can't hear you. You're gonna have to speak up."
Fon looks around the closed, silent room.
"Uh, there's like a ringing in my ear," Colonnello hedges, switching excuses rather abruptly, one hand holding the duffel bag, the other flailing until he grabs the door handle. "Might have tinnitus or something. Anyway, I gotta go."
Colonnello slams the door shut after him and Fon purses his lips. One day Fon will get a fight.
Skull takes another brownie from the dish in the middle of the table, the last one, which means Reborn tries to snatch it out of his hand just on principal. Skull slides out of his chair but Colonnello is waiting for him under the table and when Skull kicks out, Fon catches his leg and they both go down.
Skull stuffs the brownie into his mouth and Verde's arm catches him across the stomach hard enough that he spits it back out. It lands on the floor in front of Lal.
Skull only laughs. "What, are you going to eat it now? I dare you."
Colonnello has never backed down from a dare.
