"Master, your pet is weird."
Mukuro laughed as he regarded the snowy white owl perched on the back of his couch. "His name is Mukurowl."
Teal eyes blinked before they focused on heterochromatic ones. "Master, you should name your pets better."
"Kufufu~" Mukuro strode towards the animal, reaching out to place his hands on a feathered head; while most owls would bite at anyone for touching them, Mukurowl was very placid towards his owner. "I wasn't the one to name him. He was a gift to me from a previous boyfriend."
Fran tilted his head. "What's a boyfriend?"
"It's when two males love each other as more than a friend." Mukuro understood that Fran was young, and it was no surprise he hadn't heard of a boyfriend before.
A sparkle of excitement twinkled in Fran's eyes. He approached Mukuro, lifting his arms into the air, a silent request to be picked up. He squealed happily as his wishes were fulfilled, resting against his new guardian's side as he wrapped tiny arms around the man's neck.
"Where is your boyfriend?" Fran questioned.
A sad smile crossed the blue-haired man's face at this question. "...We... don't talk anymore..."
"Why not?"
"Well... He found someone else he loved more than me." Mukuro shrugged, fighting back the pain the memories stirred. "I realised that he had... been seeing that other person behind my back, so... So I let him be with them."
Fran could sense the sadness Mukuro was feeling. He moved closer, resting his head beneath the man's chin. "I'm sorry, Master. I didn't mean to upset you."
"Hmm? It's not your fault, little one." Mukuro donned his playful smile once again, knowing a seven-year-old didn't have to know about his love problems.
"What was his name?"
"Kyouya. I think that's enough talking about him now, little one." Mukuro tightened his grip on the boy so Fran didn't fall, walking away from the owl and down into the corridor to their right. "I'll show you to your room."
"Your house is much cleaner than Bel-senpai's." Fran liked that there was nothing out of place in Mukuro's home, unlike Bel's that had had filthy clothing and dishes scattered all over the place.
"Kufufu~ I have respect for myself." Mukuro glanced down at the boy as he felt a tiny hand fist his shirt. "Do you like Belphegor?"
Fran nodded, the corners of his lips upturning in what appeared to be a strained smile, as if Fran wasn't entirely capable of forming one without effort. "He bought me chocolate."
Mukuro knew that was an odd thing for the blond to do – Bel really was a selfish person by nature, and it was rare Mukuro himself received things from his own best friend so why would a kid he just met get more attention...? Oh well, it was probably just the blond being unpredictable again. "That was nice of him, wasn't it?"
Fran nodded. He put his feet on the ground as Mukuro let go of him, stepping into the room he had been invited into. It was a bedroom, a single bed pushed against the wall in the middle of the room. A desk rested on one wall opposite it while a bookshelf filled with toys took the other wall. There was a closet a few feet away from the desk, and a small box of toys sat on the bed.
"How about you make yourself at home?" Mukuro offered. "I have a bit of work I need to do. If you need anything, I'll be in the room at the end of the hall."
"Okay." Fran ventured further into the room, wanting to suss out his new belongings; he hadn't been able to take anything from his grandmother's home as he had immediately been taken away and everything in the house had been either sold or thrown away. It was a painful memory for Fran, so he tried not to think about it and immerse himself in the toys.
Mukuro watched for a few more seconds before he turned and left the room, intending on doing a bit more course work for his university classes. He worked part-time at a store that specialised in a magic theme, but when he wasn't working, he tended to drown himself in homework, desperately needing to get a degree and find a better-paying job, especially with Fran here now.
The study room was dark, the drape having been pulled over the window, blocking out the sun. Mukuro lifted it, letting the light filter it. It illuminated the countless textbooks and loose sheets of paper with his handwriting that lay scattered against the desk tucked away in the corner.
Before he started, Mukuro made sure to pull out his stash of chocolate from the top drawer; he couldn't work without chocolate.
About an hour had passed by since Mukuro started working, and so far everything was quiet in the house. He was revising his notes on the roles many organs played in the human body, stopping only as his phone vibrated in his pocket.
With a sigh, Mukuro clicked open the message from his friend, frowning at the appalling lack of grammar that showed just how lazy Belphegor was.
'It would be nice if you could at least write "you" instead of "U", Belphegor,' Mukuro replied. 'You're a university student – how do your teachers let you get away with your atrocious habit of butchering the language?'
'Fuck up :(' Belphegor replied within seconds before his next text came through. 'Want to go out drinking tonight?'
'I am a legal guardian now, Belphegor'. Mukuro was calm as he explained things to his friend, knowing the older male was probably feeling a tad threatened by Fran's presence – Mukuro was all Bel had, after all. 'I cannot waste my nights away getting drunk anymore. If you want to hang out, by all means, come over, but I am refraining from any senseless acts such as going out and getting drunk from now on.'
'Can't U just leave him for a few hours? Put some food out for him and he'll live.'
'Belphegor, he's not a pet, nor will I leave him by himself for even a few minutes. What if someone breaks in while he's home alone?'
Bel took a few minutes to reply. Mukuro knew he was probably frustrated about sharing his best friend now.
'Well, can I bring a few drinks to urs tonite?' the blond asked.
'You may, but I will not be drinking with you, Belphegor. Apologies.'
'Asshole. I'm still going to get drunk at urs.'
'We'll talk later.' Mukuro threw his phone onto the desk as he sighed, turning his attention back to his revision. It was peaceful once again, and just as Mukuro melted into a world of biology, he was startled back to reality by Fran letting out a frightened scream from somewhere in the house.
"Fran?!" Mukuro jumped from the desk chair and ran into the living room, finding the boy cowering on the ground while his owl attacked him. "Mukurowl!"
The snowy owl flapped his wings, making disgruntled noises, before he flew away back to his perch, watching with wide eyes as Mukuro helped Fran to his feet.
"What happened?" Mukuro used his thumb to wipe away a bit of blood that dribbled from a cut on Fran's cheek.
Fran looked teary as he whimpered, pressing closer to his guardian. "...I just... wanted to play..."
"Little one, he's not a pet that you can just play with," Mukuro explained, using his sleeve to wipe at a few more deep scratches on the boy's face – Mukurowl had certainly done a number on the boy. "What did you do to him?"
"...I chased him, and... and pulled on his tail..." Fran hid his face in the man's chest, afraid that he would be in trouble now – he hadn't thought he was doing anything wrong; he had just wanted to play with the bird.
"Owls aren't like a cat or a dog," the blue-haired male explained gently. "You can't just chase one – and you especially don't pull on the tail of any animal because it hurts them. If you leave Mukurowl alone, he'll leave you alone, alright? He just isn't used to little kids."
"I'm sorry, Master..." Fran whispered, gripping tightly at the white shirt his guardian wore.
"It's not your fault – owls can be very dangerous, so maybe it's best you leave him be until I teach you how to be careful around him."
Fran nodded. His body was stinging, the bird having both pecked and clawed at him. He could feel a bit of blood seeping down his back, but it seemed Mukuro knew that he was injured elsewhere besides just his face; the man picked him up and carried him out of the living room, explaining that he would clean up the wounds for him.
~~XX~~
"Belphegor, did you drive here? Drunk?" Mukuro frowned as he stepped away from the front door, letting his friend step into the house.
"Ushishishi~" Bel nodded, giggling as took another swig of alcohol.
"Keys." The younger man held out his hand expectantly, slipping aforementioned keys into his pocket as they were handed to him. "How much have you drank?"
"Well..." Bel laughed again as he swayed on the spot, "...kinda lost count... after the tenth bottle."
Mukuro rolled his eyes. "Go sit down before you hurt yourself."
Bel moved into living room, finding Fran seated on the couch already. He took a seat by the boy, making sure to sit close enough to feel the younger's body heat. He smirked as he reached out, the tips of his fingers dancing curiously over the bandaids on Fran's cheeks.
"What'cha do?" Bel slurred, his mind running amok in his drunken state.
"The owl attacked me..." Fran wasn't entirely comfortable being around Belphegor in this state – it didn't feel natural to him, not like the nice blond he had met earlier that day. "...Master is calling me..."
"Ushishishi~" Bel ran his fingers against the boy's chest, ready to pin him to the couch and fuck him senseless here and now – the only thing that stopped him was that he wasn't coordinated well enough to catch the smaller male as Fran fled. He just smirked to himself; the chase had always been his favourite part.
In the kitchen, Mukuro was thawing frozen mice to feed his owl. He had asked for Fran to stay out in the living room while he did so, not sure if the boy could handle watching his guardian pull apart dead animals to get rid of what Mukurowl didn't eat.
"Master..." Fran curled around Mukuro's leg, feeling safe once again. "Master, Bel is acting weird..."
"He's drunk, little one." Mukuro would have patted his charge's head, but his hands were dirty. "Stay with me for tonight. You can sleep in my room with me."
"Okay." Fran hid his face in the back of Mukuro's thigh, hearing Bel laughing loudly and talking to himself about something on the TV. The blond was quiet for a few seconds before Mukurowl started screeching angrily again and Bel swore at the animal.
"Belphegor, leave him alone!" Mukuro scolded, knowing that his friend would come off worse if the older male dared go against his bird.
"Stupid thing... just flew at me...!" Bel replied. "Lucky it's tethered...!"
"Oh, yeah." Mukuro looked down at Fran, smirking as he did so. "Mukurowl doesn't like Belphegor at all."
Fran giggled softly at these words. He followed Mukuro back out into the living room once the man had finished what he was doing, only to quickly be shuffled backwards as the blue-haired male blocked his view of the living room. He tilted his head as he heard the same sounds from the man's house, looking up at Mukuro.
"Master?" Fran tilted his head. "Master, what's he doing?"
"Put it away, Belphegor," Mukuro said sternly, regarding his friend with a cold expression. "Show some decency with a kid around."
"He'll do it himself soon enough... Shishi~" Fran couldn't see what Bel was doing, but he heard the sounds of a zipper being moved before Mukuro let him back into the living room.
Mukuro sighed as he threw a dead mouse to his bird, holding a few more for the owl. He ignored Bel's words, turning instead to Fran. "Go and get ready for bed, little one; we'll go to sleep just as soon as Belphegor passes out."
Fran didn't question his guardian; he left for his bedroom to change into pyjamas, stopping only at the doorway as Bel called to him. "Oi, frog! While I think of it... call me Bel-senpai. 'Kay?"
"'Senpai'?" Fran tilted his head, not sure what that word meant, only to be ushered along as Mukuro came to join him, the blond having fallen asleep already.
"It's a Japanese honorific," Mukuro pointed out. "Now that he's out to it, let's get some sleep, alright?"
Fran nodded, just glad that Bel had fallen asleep before he hurt himself – it hadn't seemed natural at all the way he had acted, and he didn't understand what could have made Bel behave like that.
Perhaps Bel was sick? Yes, Fran decided, Belphegor must just be sick tonight.
What the boy didn't know was that while he had used the synonym to describe Bel being unwell physically, it was much more apt to have used it in a sense of mentality – because Bel was very, very sick in the head.