For the most part the addition of four kids to the castle was more or less ignored after a few months. Mostly because the assassins learned that Teddy was firmly "off-limits" to the usual antics of bored killers unless you wanted a very pissed off Rosethorn in full on dragon mode about to flash fry your ass.
The Mist, Rain and Sun she had rescued were semi off-limits as well... their room definitely was if you didn't want to end up dead in increasingly messy ways by a pissed off Mist.
As Rosethorn had predicted, most of the Varia had quickly come to equate Mukuro with the same kind of leery respect they gave Belphegor. He was a murderous little psycho barely kept restrained because he respected someone more dangerous than he was, and if you set him off then you were on your own. It was made even worse because unlike Belphegor, Mukuro had actual minions who wouldn't hesitate to act as his back up and followed his orders obediently without question.
And this was all before one took into account the fact Mammon had taken a personal interest in the kid.
Ironically, the Varia was actually the best place for Mukuro and his little minions. If only because they knew better than to turn their backs on him or treat him like an "innocent" child. No one who could match Prince the Ripper's body count was "innocent".
Besides, he bore a weird resemblance to Daemon Spade, the Primo's traitorous Mist Guardian. If that wasn't a sign he was a dangerous brat worthy of leery respect, nothing was!
Between Rosethorn's slow but steady methods of gaining Mukuro's trust, and the fact she knew all too well some of the hell they had gone through, Mukuro and his friends were making the slow transition from "dangerously unpredictable" to simply "dangerous with major trust issues".
Teddy was firmly considered part of Rosethorn's "territory" and was off limits. The only reason no one commented on the fact there was a kid in the castle who wasn't a psychotic brat who could murder people on a dime was because he was usually kept occupied and out of sight by the officers.
Mostly Lussuria and amusingly enough Mammon.
It was rather pathetic how long it took Vongola Nono to hear about the 'strays' Rosethorn had brought into the Varia. The boys had been there for close to a year before Sawada caught wind of Mukuro and Belphegor playing "who can make the biggest blood splatter pattern" with some idiot hit men who hadn't had the brains to run like hell in the opposite direction when they saw the Varia Storm.
Iemitsu had promptly bitched to Nono the second he heard there was now a second child murdering on the Varia's payroll. One who was most certainly not an Officer, considering it was pretty clear the kid was a Mist and Mammon was very much alive.
Timoteo descended on the Varia castle with a heavily disappointed look on his face. He barely tolerated Belphegor's presence as Varia Storm.
"What do you want?" grumbled Xanxus, filling out his paperwork. With the missions being restricted, he had a lot less of it bothering his desk.
Most of the assassins had adjusted to the new schedule with the knowledge that they were being given permission to learn new skills, languages and to generally try out new tricks with their Flames and weapons. If they were actually productive with their new downtime they could earn the right to be part of the limited missions available.
Considering Rosethorn had made it her personal mission to make the lives of anyone who didn't find something productive to do if they weren't on a mission absolutely miserable through surprise training or hellish pranks, most found a way to occupy their time and fast. As a result, there had yet to be any serious altercations due to boredom.
And if things got too bad, the Black family owned a sizable plot of land which was more or less a magical sanctuary for rare and valuable creatures. Rosethorn was not above setting bored Varia Quality assassins loose to deal with the inevitable poachers... if they were stupid enough to try and break onto Black-owned territory, then they were too stupid to live in her opinion. And she'd give a bonus for every confirmed poacher "dealt" with in a permanent manner.
"I have heard some disconcerting rumors of late."
Xanxus paused in his paperwork to give him a flat look.
"If you're taking about Hexe's strays, then you can get lost. They're not on our payroll and the Mist brat is Mammon's apprentice," said Xanxus bluntly.
"Strays?" repeated Timoteo in disbelief. There was more than one new child in the Varia?!
"Some stupid fuckers kidnapped her godson. She retrieved him with extreme prejudice, and in the process adopted three strays who were with him. One works in the maintenance department fixing up the vehicles, one's training under Luss, and the third one was practically snatched up by Mammon the first chance the miser brat had," said Xanxus flatly. "None of which are being sent out on missions or have anything to do with Varia's day-to-day operations."
Translation: The kids are not your problem, so get lost.
"I find it highly unsettling that there are children in the Varia at all," said Timoteo.
Xanxus glared at him.
"It was either Hexe took them in, or let some unsuspecting famiglia take in a trio of kids who have every reason to hate the mafia and a Mist with enough skill to cause a massacre. Better to have that vindictive little shit under the watch of people who know how to handle it than some idiot who won't see him coming," said Xanxus bluntly.
"Kufufufu... you say the nicest things," said Mukuro, startling Timoteo greatly.
"And you're still a creepy little bastard who looks and acts way too much like Daemon Spade to be a coincidence," said Xanxus without hesitation.
"Belphegor's report," said Mukuro.
"Go get cleaned up. Mammon gets bitchy enough when you skip out of training to play with the prince trash," said Xanxus.
"Kufufufu..."
Timoteo looked rather pale. Suddenly his son's comment about letting that sort of child "loose" on an unsuspecting famiglia made far too much sense. The aura alone on that boy was deeply unsettling, and if you add on top of that the fact he was a strong and unhinged Mist... it was a recipe for disaster. It really didn't help that the boy did bear a rather strong resemblance to Daemon Spade.
"I see."
"Besides, it's not like we've let Hexe's godson anywhere near the more dangerous weapons," said Xanxus flippantly.
"...You let your Cloud keep her godson in the castle?" asked Timoteo in disbelief.
"The kid's a potential kidnapping target and she doesn't want to track him down a second time due to the stupidity of the magical enclaves. It's not like we're going to teach him how to kill people until he's past puberty. We have enough problems with Belphegor and the creepy Mist brat," said Xanxus bluntly.
The door opened up a second time, revealing a four-to-five year old little boy with some rather unusual hair coloring and different colored eyes.
(Teddy loved the idea of having mismatched eyes so much that he stuck with it, to the delight and amusement of Mukuro and Rosethorn.)
The boy scampered up to Xanxus, who didn't even bat an eye at his presence...though he did pause in his paperwork to pick the kid up one-handed and put him in his lap.
"He is now your problem for the next few hours. Some idiots hurt themselves in training so Luss is a bit busy for a while," said Rosethorn dryly.
"You owe me for this later," said Xanxus.
Rosethorn rolled her eyes with a smirk.
"Once the little wolf is firmly in bed then we'll 'talk'," she replied amused.
This was becoming the most surreal moment of Timoteo's life. His angry and often violent son with a child in his lap and treating the kid like his own. The little Mist child, happily sat in Xanxus' lap and babbled about everything and anything while his hair and eyes shifted through every color under the sun, with Xanxus making the appropriate sounds that he 'understood' what the child was saying.
He would honestly say he had never thought he would see Xanxus acting so responsible.
Timoteo left, his view of Xanxus having taken a rather strong hit. It was hard to equate the violent and angry child he had taken in with the paternal and responsible version in that office.
"Aren't you just adorable!" squealed Daniela.
Rosethorn had made it her personal mission to introduce Teddy and the older trio to Daniela. Partly to show Mukuro there were some decent mafioso out there, but mostly to get them out of the castle before anyone went stir crazy. Daniela was all too happy to stuff Ken full of food, let Chikusa raid her personal library, and tell Mukuro stories of blood and death from her experiences in World War Two...in between cooing at Teddy, who seemed to think of the older woman like another grandmother.
Rosethorn couldn't wait to introduce Andromeda to Daniela. It was sure to be hilarious, if only because there was a high chance the two would get along like a house on fire and make Timoteo's life that much more interesting.
Xanxus was just enjoying some time away from his paperwork. After seeing the way he interacted with Teddy the old man had started to filter a few more missions their way.
It didn't mean they were going to simply forget the fact he was the reason most of them had dried up in the first place.
"I've been meaning to ask... would it be too much trouble for you to babysit occasionally?" asked Rosethorn hopefully.
Daniela's eyes sparkled.
"You mean I get to spend more time with this little cutie?"
"And these three. Since they're not officially Varia members, for all that Mukuro is Mammon's apprentice, we have to do a rotation so we don't hear any complaining from your son."
"I'd be delighted to babysit them...and any future great-grandchildren you produce on one condition."
"What?"
"You invite me to the wedding," said Daniela.
"Wedding?" repeated Rosethorn, blushing. Mukuro's eyes gleamed with potential blackmail.
He was a very...attentive...student when it came to blackmail and learning how to make people dance like puppets on a string purely out of amusement.
Xanxus snickered at the look on her face.
A few hours later...
"So grandson, when are you going to properly propose to your Cloud?" asked (read: demanded) Daniela.
"Haven't found a proper ring yet. Been planning on it once Squalo gets back from his training trip," said Xanxus. Like hell was he letting anyone else snatch Rosethorn up.
"Would you like some of my considerable expertise...and my ability to call Talbot up for some ideas?" she asked grinning.
Xanxus slumped with relief.
"Please. If I conspire with you then she won't know what's coming until after I propose," said Xanxus. She had so few pleasant surprises in her life.
Daniela smirked.
Timoteo still had nightmares of the last time his mother had gotten bored and decided to liven up the Vongola's social circles. The amount of rumors he had to deal with alone gave him headaches, when she wasn't visiting to annoy him and see her other grandsons.
Daniela wanted to rub her hands together and cackle.
Helping her grandson plan a wedding and springing it on her son at the last minute without any warning was going to be fun. And considering Xanxus was still angry with Timoteo, he'd probably enjoy pulling this sort of thing on his adopted father.
Now, about those little ones Rosethorn had all but adopted...
Two days later...
Rosethorn took one look at what Daniela and the three older children were doing before turning around and walking away. Xanxus was relaxing while playing with Teddy, who found him endlessly fascinating. Apparently Daniela was already very well aware that her grandson was actually good with small children.
She did not want to know what the older woman was teaching those three and would happily plead ignorance so long as she was given enough warning to set up cameras for evidence.
As it later turned out, Daniela was introducing the boys to the fun world of paint bombs and delayed traps that allowed one to establish an alibi. Mukuro and Chikusa took to the lessons like ducks to water, while Ken just enjoyed the mess they made.
Especially since Xanxus came to the decision it was a great way to test the lower ranks on their situational awareness...if they couldn't find and disable to bombs in time then they got stuck with the clean up. Having the all clear to prank the weaker members had made Mukuro's day... he took perverse pleasure in adding little things like all-day itching powder and in one memorable occasion glitter dust to the bombs.
On the plus side, the mooks have never been more motivated to rise through the ranks... only those who fell below a certain point were allowed to be targeted with any consistency, so if they managed to work their way above that point they were left alone. Mostly. Unless Rosethorn got bored and decided to do the pranks herself.
It really was ironic, but bringing Mukuro and his friends in the Varia had done wonders as a sort of make-shift therapy.
Not only were the elite assassins far more aware of Mukuro's rather...delicate...mental equilibrium when it came to the mafia, but his rather terrifying friendship with Belphegor was actually helping him vent in a semi-healthy manner all the pent up rage and fury he felt about the experiments.
After all, the people Belphegor went after usually deserved it or were far from innocent themselves.
Add into the fact that Rosethorn was making great strides in helping Mukuro vocalize what he was feeling and actually understood him, and the boy was quickly becoming something close to stable. Or at the very least could fake it while coming up with some truly horrifying revenge pranks, since they were far more amusing than simply killing people who pissed him off.
Ken and Chikusa had adjusted quickly, once they realized Mukuro was actually calming down about what happened. That, and Teddy was positively adorable with the way he got his "big brothers" to play with him.
Rosethorn stretched at her desk. Taking over for Squalo so he could focus on improving his sword skills was a headache, but not one she disliked. It gave her an excuse to stick around the castle and keep an eye on the kids...most of whom had more or less be accepted as part of the very odd family that was the Varia.
Most people wouldn't see it that way, thinking the assassins were all bloodthirsty and cutthroat, but they were looking at the whole thing all wrong.
The Varia was actually one of the weirdest, most dysfunctional families she had ever seen. And in a bizarre twist of fate, it actually worked!
It took in those who wouldn't fit into society anywhere else, and gave them a place to belong. And with someone like Xanxus, who honestly did not give a damn about what he considered little things (like Lussuria's previous gender confusion or Belphegor's age when he first joined) so long as you could do your job competently, most infighting was kept to a bare minimum.
If anything Rosethorn could honestly claim CEDEF was the most dysfunctional and chaotic out of the Vongola's external groups. At least the Varia maintained their own strange sort of order.
CEDEF had been falling apart ever since that moron Sawada took over. That fool was not competent when it came to desk work and was barely tolerable at being a field commander. Why Nono thought appointing him External Adviser was a smart move consistently baffled her to no end.
She stretched at her desk.
Things had definitely taken a turn for the better since she infiltrated the Varia. She wouldn't change it for anything.