Sawada Tsunayoshi || Vongola Decimo TYL (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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rebornfandom2019-06-17 06:27 am
warmskies) wrote in rebornfandom2019-06-17 06:27 am
Entry tags:
KHR Rarepair Week 2019
And today marks the first day of KHR Rarepair Week 2019!
For those who would like to post their works on here, whether that's fanfic, graphics, or anything else, please feel free to use this post! I can understand it might feel awkward to post it day after day, so feel free to use this post to put your contributions in the comments. You can also just post it in the comm itself if you want! Whatever makes you most comfortable.
I hope everyone has fun checking out all the different works that are on tumblr, AO3, and might even get posted on here!
For those who would like to post their works on here, whether that's fanfic, graphics, or anything else, please feel free to use this post! I can understand it might feel awkward to post it day after day, so feel free to use this post to put your contributions in the comments. You can also just post it in the comm itself if you want! Whatever makes you most comfortable.
I hope everyone has fun checking out all the different works that are on tumblr, AO3, and might even get posted on here!
Storm Day : Chloroform at 3 a.m. // Pet/Shapeshifter AU
M.M./Mukuro - Chloroform at 3 a.m.
1/2
Coincidentally, the man sprawled out on the floor unconscious is one of those types, and M.M. catches the flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye where Mukuro idly nudges the pig with his trident. He might be disgusted with the man or he might not be. With the types like Mukuro, everything is hidden behind an insufferably smug smirk a solid 75% of the time. "Oh, but not a boyfriend?" he says with a lazy drawl.
M.M. pops her lips, both in disdain and to make sure everything is clear of her skin. "We both know the only reason you have two is because they never had a chance to learn better," she says bluntly, turning her head to the side to cast a critical gaze upon her skin. There's no reason to wipe away any of the foundation. A little blush here, some eyeliner there, and she thinks this can be a salvageable look. "Isn't it lucky that you have a more worldly woman like me to know what you're really worth?" Digging through her purse, she pulls out a tube of brilliant red lipstick that's a lot more eyecatching.
From behind her, she can hear the click of Mukuro's obnoxious heels as he approaches her long before his arms slide against hers. For any other person, maybe this would be considered a pinning maneuver with the way his chest can just barely be felt at her back and his gloved hands press down against the counter. M.M. doesn't bother to be worried. Even with his eye able to enhance his own combat ability, she's more than confident she could twist his arm right off her if she was worried. Instead, as he leans his head over his shoulder, she uncaps her lipstick and offers it up him. "So what am I worth?" he asks, amusement coating his voice, before he obligingly purses his lips together.
She could rush it, because they're in the private suite of one of the richest corrupt businessmen in the world (which are most of them honestly), and any fucking around could have both of them jumping out of an extremely tall building... But she doesn't. Instead, M.M. patiently traces red all along Mukuro's mouth until it's a nice brilliant crimson. Only then does she say, "For tonight, $6,500 dollars, although I can convert that for you if you only have euros or yen on hand."
Laughing at her, Mukuro pulls away and leaves his trident where he'd rested it against a wardrobe. "So demanding," he says.
"Say the man who needs most of his pawns brainwashed into self harm," M.M. murmurs around her lipstick, somehow managing to speak without smudging even a little bit of red out of line. Frankly, she's quite proud of the fact that she's managed to get this far in their relationship without having that trident ever even touch her skin... or be tossed aside back into the slammer for being too useless. One would be annoying, but the other would be downright infuriating.
She's not about a life back in prison, which Birds and his two pathetic dogs have to deal with for as long as their no-doubtedly short lives will go on. M.M. wants the finer things in life: the good food, the extravagant hotels, the beautiful clothes, and everything else the world has to offer her. Life is short, and M.M. has never found herself to be a particularly religious type. If there's no guarantee on her life, whether from a random sudden heart attack or surge of cancer or a plane's engines failing... Why not?
Maybe if she'd ever forged one of Mukuro's little contracts with him, not much of her life would change... Maybe. But M.M. knows better than to hand that amount of power over to another person like that. After all, if she wouldn't date a man who'd insist on if she worked or not, or on what kind of clothes she could wear, or who she could speak with... Why would she let a man take utter control of her body? Better to keep things simple and upfront with cash.
Besides, while she's pretty sure they were like that long before any blood contracts were made, she can't imagine living in such slavish (and dirt poor) devotion as Chikusa and Ken. Ew.
By the time she's done applying her lashes and eyeshadow, Mukuro has freely rifled through most of what few business papers are in the bedroom proper. M.M. can see just the slightest pinprick down on their target's legs, right on the back of his calf where it's unlikely to go noticed. No one seems to know how Mukuro can worm his way into powerful organizations and businesses, learning things that should be the most closely guarded secrets- not yet at least. M.M. is fairly certain that it's only herself and a small amount of the Vongola for fairly obvious reasons. Well, and Mukuro's own group, of course. That should go without saying. Stepping over the body, M.M. leans against Mukuro's back with her elbow digging into his kidney. On purpose. Of course. "Find anything fun and interesting?" she asks, blowing into his ear so that his earring sways.
2/2
Asshole. The innocent floral dress and cardigan look really isn't her style, she knows that. M.M. puts her foot down as she turns around, hoping to nail him on his toes only to miss. If only it was that easy to be appropriately petty against him. When she really wants to strike, she has to be creative about it. "Of course not," she sniffs, pausing by his coat rack to dig around until she finds the guy's wallet. This will do as a decent enough tip. "I packed an extra set of clothes. Who the hell do you think I am?"
"A golddigger?" he offers, smug and sly all at once while he stretches his arms up over his head.
M.M. flips him off before leaning down over the unconscious body at her feet. He'll be suspicious if he wakes up like this, more than he will be already at having what looked to be some random girl steal his wallet. The least she can do is dump him on his bed. It will help the impression that she was only that, instead of the way in for someone much worse. He's a bigger guy than her, as most guys tend to be, but M.M. doesn't let that stop her. She's spent years building up her body, all the better to crack her clarinet into a person's skull with maximum force. A mere businesman isn't enough to even make her bust out a sweat as she hauls him up and tosses him carelessly onto the bed where he'd hope to get laid instead of laid out.
His eyelids don't even flutter. Those were some really impressive drugs she managed to slip him. Well, for the amount she paid for them, they better be.
("The amount" being literally any amount. M.M. has found that she can put her money to much more self indulgent uses, and it's more pleasurable to do so.)
"So you're taking me out to dinner, aren't you?" she asks plainly shrugging off her cardigan as she goes over to the slightly ratty backpack she'd walked in with that contains clothing worth more than some people's lives. She doesn't even blink as she reaches down to slide her dress up over her hips and then her head. There's nothing of her body that Mukuro hasn't seen before. If anything, they're both quite familiar with one another on that sense.
As a matter of fact, Mukuro seems more concerned with what she's said than that she's readjusting the hidden straps of her bra so that there's a slight criss-cross of them across her collarbone. "I don't believe that was part of our deal," he drawls before something seems to hit him. "Also it's three in the morning."
"Then it's breakfast," M.M. says offhandedly, sliding on a skirt that's just short enough to get her banned from most schools and a leather jacket which says she wouldn't care either way. Combined with a good pair of boots, and she's all set. There's nothing holding her back from walking over to Mukuro, a sway in her hips, and she smirks up at him with her arms wrapping around his hips. "As if you really have anything else to do in this city, Mukuro-chan." He smirks right back at her, the two of them leaning close enough for their faces to brush.
He blinks. "...Is that your hand in my pocket trying to steal my wallet, or are you happy to see me?"
With their lips maybe a centimeter apart, M.M. makes a couple kissing noises. "Your wallet is the only good thing about you, Mukuro-chan." But then again, her ability to lie, murder, and steal are probably the only good things about her.
No one else really can deserve either of them.
AO3 Fic Link
Sky Day : First/Blind Date // Harry Potter AU
Lussuria/Romario - First Date
no subject
"That horse is really employing some cowards these days," Squalo snorts, lowering his sword arm.
Peering around him, Bel's lips peel back in one of his usual mocking grins. "Didn't know you were so familiar that you could recognize Cavallone men at first sight, Vice Captain." Apparently, that's far too many mentions of Dino for their boss, and Xanxus forges ahead to lead his group on the way out of this needlessly annoying mafia get together with his lips curled in distaste. If Squalo weren't bristling to start with, he definitely is now.
"It's called having preemptive knowledge of the enemy, you shitty little brat!" Despite Squalo's yelling, all of them trot obediently after Xanxus, following the natural flow of things. It's Levi who notices Lussuria's acquisition first, unable to break past the united shitshow that is Xanxus and Squalo yelling at each other while Bel gleefully eggs things on.
His nose wrinkles slightly. "You're keeping that?" he asks, taking in a look at the bouquet Lussuria now has in her arms as she trails behind most of the pack, picking through the flowers with an idle but gentle touch.
"Well, of course," Lussuria titters, taking a whiff and sighing in delight. "Aren't they beautiful?"
With his idea of 'beautiful' being the six foot brick shithouse that was converted into a distillery with a temper management problem- that is to say, their boss- Levi apparently can't because he raises his nose in the air a little bit. "They're nothing special," he says, which is perhaps the nicest thing he could say about anything that isn't Xanxus.
Lussuria's sigh says she expected nothing else and, while it's a mystery to just about anyone, the chances of her eyes rolling is fairly eye. "You would say that." She ducks her head into the bouquet again, taking in a deep breath and curling one hand to her cheek dreamily. "One day, maybe you'll awaken to the classic beauty of a damsel receiving a bouquet from her lover."
Everyone screeches to a halt.
Well. Lussuria doesn't, sidestepping the sudden traffic jam in the hallway with a kickboxer's ease. Mammon also doesn't, now around the physical age of seven and able to keep up a little bit better these days. Around them, familiar faces are contorted in various expressions of shock. Levi in particular looks as though he's trying to solve a high level arithmetic problem to the dismay of his quickly combusting brain. Bel's is a little more subdued, if only because that's what happens when half of your face is hidden from view, and all he can do is glance up at Squalo and Xanxus with his mouth slightly agape. They, in turn... Either of them run on rage at any given time, so that there's even a hint of bewildered confusion trying to break through is impressive in its own right.
Mammon picks up the conversation with ease. "I thought that's what it was, but I didn't want to say anything right off the bat. That was a fairly clever maneuver, using a cowardly messenger in that manner so that he could discretely send you something. Did he tell you ahead of time he was going to do it?"
"Oh, no. But, you know, the last time we were able to get a bit of time for ourselves, he told me how fitting it was that I had a peacock for a box animal, because I look stunning in every color."
"What a lady killer."
Finally snapping out of it, the rest of the group surges forward to follow after, and Squalo points an accusing finger down in Mammon's direction. "How the hell did you know that Lussuria was dating anyone!?"
Much in similarity with Lussuria and Bel, Mammon's eyes also can't be seen yet they have ways of getting around that minor setback. For them in particular, they're an expert in the use of their particularly plush mouth, and they use it to great effect in twisting in the perfect way to radiate how unimpressed they are. "Because we talk," they state bluntly. "Regularly. Besides, I know everything about everyone in the Varia."
Squalo pulls his finger back. "Fair enough," he says disgruntledly, as they all take a moment to consider that Mammon could auction off their most embarrassing or deepest secrets if they ever though the payoff would be enough to warrant all of their rage. As it is, they're probably lucky that the illusionist is happy with hoards of cash and a quiet place separate from most of society so that they can conduct their research in peace.
That's all he gets to say before Lussuria glances back at him, one finger at her lips as she grins. "Now, Squ! Are you curious about how me and my dashing Romario met?"
Perhaps foreseeing more talk incoming on Dino's lot, Xanxus forges through all of them again with a grunt. "No."
Lussuria knows better than to stop him. She steps to the side instead, waving at their boss' retreating back. "I'll see you back at the base, Boss!" No one else gets to be so lucky. Still having gotten to the front of the pack, she casually weaves her way so that anyone trying to make their way past doesn't get a chance in hell. "Now then, so on how we first met properly, after that time in Japan..."
The only person who is perhaps even genuinely interested in the whole tale she regales them with would be Mammon, and Lussuria knows better than to assume it's from any sort of kinship. They're only there until, in the middle of raising her voice over Bel's complaining, Lussuria slides the illusionist her credit card to charge as they see fit. That's when Mammon subtly slides out of sight back to the main gathering, disappearing with no trouble. Everyone else gets to deal with Lussuria's purple prose ridden tale of the time Romario first took her out to a date. Sure, sometimes she has to speak over Squalo's yelling... and Levi's threats... But it wouldn't be very Varia Quality of her if she let little things like that stop her from doing things.
By the time they all step outside, Squalo is look exhausted for some mysterious reason, and Levi is more stiff and awkward than Lussuria has ever seen him. Even Bel manages to be slouching a little bit in a way that he never did when they tried to use various punishments and trials on him when he was eight. Lussuria radiates a quiet smugness as she hangs back, watching them react to the fact that Xanxus has taken their main form of transport. At least that seems to perk all of them right up... but she's not really paying attention to that. Rather, she's waiting for the tell-tale cool feeling of Mist Flames rolling over her to hide the truth from sight. And this particular truth is...
Romario's hands are warm and calloused as they rest along her arms, and Lussuria's lips curl into a smile as she feels the bristles of his mustache accompanying the kiss he presses to her jaw. "I take it you liked the bouquet?" he asks, eyes sparking from behind his glasses. Just like every time they meet, including their very first date, he manages to look so distinguished.
"Oh, you know I did," she says, kissing him back. "I liked it so much that I ended up telling everyone about our early days of romance. I thought Squalo would appreciate it more, since he's the romantic type who promised never to cut his hair for Xanxus. Well, at least I enjoyed it." Leaning back against him, she looks over to see Squalo still swearing loudly while Levi seems to have a look on his face as if he's debating hotwiring a car. Bel is the only one with his phone out, because at least they raised their youngest to have the common sense to call another car over.
"Well, there's no accounting for taste," Romario says. "I hope you put me in just the right light."
Lussuria's grin gains a mischievous tint. "Well, I didn't say anything too inappropriate, but I may have swooned a little bit when I was describing how you took care of that ruffian who accosted us on our way from dinner. How you gave me the choice to take care of him if I really wanted, but you thought I looked so wonderful in my outfit that it'd be a shame to mess it up..." She laughs again when he kisses down to her neck.
"I wasn't wrong. But we should go out for another date sometime. I've heard Grenada is wonderful, if you can arrange things..."
She taps his cheek. "I'll see what jobs are available and get back with you, handsome. In the meantime, it looks like we might actually be going soon. Take care of your boss, now~." They share one last kiss before Romario pulls away, allowing Mammon to guide him back while illusioned so that no one else is any the wiser. Adjusting her coat, Lussuria lets herself daydream. Grenada, huh? A beautiful place in the tropics that are almost guaranteed to have gaudy trinkets like Hawaiian type shirts. Maybe even matching couple designs. So garish and sappy... She loves the idea already.
AO3 Fic Link
Sun Day : First Kiss // Time Travel AU
Dino/Lancia - First Kiss
no subject
Dino doesn't answer him for a quick second, having bent over slightly as he pours a bottle of water over his head. The past hour, give or take a few minutes, has been full of nonstop fighting right out of a den where a secret meeting was supposed to be held. But what does he get for his trouble? An attempt to double cross him so that the Cavallone could be weakened and taken over. It was kind of an embarrassing try, honestly. Some people just don't seem to understand that he was trained by the world's greatest hitman, and that training probably threatened to kill him a couple of times. They really need to do better. Putting the bottle to the side, he rights himself up quickly, flipping his hair back and helping it with a quick run through of his fingers. "I mean, it could have been worse," he say, a grin matching his tone. "If they really wanted to kill us, they should have used explosives to bring everything down on our head, but then I guess they would have had to deal with the police interest on that one. That should have been their first clue not to bother trying at all."
A light snort that is a tinge amused leaves his bodyguard, and Dino glances at him from the corner of his eye. Lancia has been working with his Family for a few months now. It had been a hell of a chase, trying to find the man. Dino can understand why, after all. Thanks to Tsuna and Reborn, he'd been able to hear a lot on what exactly Lancia has gone through. Not only a pilgrimage to visit the places he was forced to execute so many without his own consent, but also... Well.
Dino has had the good fortune to not have been targeted by Mukuro Rokudo. He could spitball a few theories on why. Maybe it's because his Family has been too close to the Vongola for many decades now, and it would have drawn further attention to the illusionist's vendetta before he was in the best position to counter it. Maybe it's just because the Cavallone Family, for all its illegality could never be denied, has never in its existence crossed the very worst of lines such as experimenting on children. Maybe they were just lower on the list of Families for him to take down.
Whatever the reasoning, Dino can say with relief that he's never had to deal with possession of either himself or any of his men. He can still imagine the damaging effect well enough. To kill everyone you cared for, the people you promised to protect... He can see why a man might not want to stay in any one place for too long, or get to know more people than he needs to. That kind of trauma can't make it easy to sleep with any confidence he won't wake up covered in blood again.
Tonight, he's not covered in blood. Rather, it's the same slick black suit that any self respecting businessman would wear. Sure, a little ruffled here and there, sort of torn in places where someone had made the ill-advised choice of trying to grab onto a man whose best skills are in close combat... But that's better than the alternative. He looks good, frankly, as the two of them take a breather in the small side street far away from where the action took place. Dino isn't too worried about any of their enemies catching up to them. Last he had checked, most of them were either unconscious or couldn't use their legs. By the time any of them recover, the two of them will be long gone.
But for now, they're here, and Dino can't help but admire the figure that Lancia cuts standing right besides him like the perfect bodyguard. Streetlights some distance away illuminate the strong shape of his jaw, dark eyes shining and alert despite the shadows underneath them. For all the fighting they've had to do- well, Dino isn't tired, of course, because Reborn has made sure that he could run a marathon and not be. However, he's one of the three people in the world who's trained under Reborn, and Lancia is definitely not. So it's really pretty impressive that he can stand there, hardly out of breath, a thin sheen of sweat stretched along the bit of throat peering out from his white collar-
Whoo, okay. Dino averts his eyes before he can get lost on the broad stretch of Lancia's shoulders (and too late for that too, damn). Nothing like a little bit of adrenaline to get the heart and other, uh, similarly throbbing parts of the body all worked up. "So how do you feel?" he asks, hoping to distract both of their minds.
Lancia glances back down at him, blinking his way out of whatever thoughts were taking up his attention. "Sweaty, unless you were thinking something more specific."
"I was actually thinking more-" Still slumped down on a bench, Dino reaches up to lightly knock against one of his temples. "-up here. I know this is the first job I've taken you along for outside of Cavallone territory." Well, away from the Cavallone headquarters, to be more specific. Dino likes to think he's not a complete asshole. Sure, he's a criminal, and sure, sometimes he messes with people for fun... But he's not such a bastard that he'd overwhelmed a man suffering from PTSD who hadn't had a home in years. It's been slow and careful going, which Dino had felt no need to rush. After all, there's always plenty to do even within the safer areas of his territory. The Cavallone are large and prosperous, which means busy as all hell in a lot of different areas. Even now, Dino isn't entirely sure if now was the right time to bring Lancia along with him on a little 'business transaction', for all that he thought it would be a good time to put the rumors to rest of him hiring a famous Family killer.
Heaving out a sigh, Lancia leans back against the wall and raises up a hand as if to rake it through his hair except his fingers stay buried right in there instead of moving on. "I'm going to sound like an asshole if I say it."
"I mean, I regularly interact with Squalo whether he likes it or not, so if you can out-asshole him, I'll frankly be very impressed instead of anything else."
That actually manages to earn a brief and almost surprised laugh out of the other man, enough for a smile to stay on his face just long enough to not be a hallucination. It's not the first time Lancia has smiled while under Dino's employ, but it's an incredibly uncommon sight still. Like every time before, there's something strangely fragile about the expression, not too unlike seeing a shattered sword or shield. Inside his chest, he can feel something a little more tender shimmer in his attraction. "I guess the Varia do make it a high bar, huh?"
"It's Varia Quality, or so I've heard."
"Varia Quality bullshit?"
This time, Dino is the one who almost bursts out laughing, and he has to hastily press his hand against his mouth so that he's not so loud that he gives away their position. "I mean, I never asked for clarification, so maybe!"
Lancia shakes his head, smile a little sturdier for a brief moment before it gets lost to something quieter. A little more contemplative, maybe. "Anyway... I guess... I think I'm relieved." Hand swinging back down to his side, Lancia leans his head back against the wall until it hits brick. "I wasn't entirely sure I would be, fighting that close again. With a weapon, there's always that degree of separation. That make any sense?"
Attached to his belt, his whip digs lightly into the side of his leg. "Yeah, it makes sense."
"Up close and personal this way.... It felt real." Lancia tilts his head down, the light not able to catch his eyes exactly right this way as he stares down at one fist. "Probably one of the few times where it felt that way, not counting when I was working alongside the Vongola." When he turns his head to look at Dino, it's a little easier this time to make eye contact. "I think you helped with that."
Count that as one of the things he wasn't expecting to happen tonight. Dino raises his eyebrows. "Yeah?"
"If I wanted to just pick a fight, I could probably do that with any idiot in Italy," Lancia says, which is a solid point. There are frankly no shortage of hotshot idiots, in the mafia and out of it, who would be down for a fight that they would almost immediately lose. "But it's... different. To fight for someone."
"Now I'm feeling like I didn't pull my weight!"
"Please." Lancia shakes his head. "You know you held your own as much as I did in there, which I'm amazed to say considering that your weapon isn't built for those sort of close quarters." He tilts his head towards Dino. "Probably another reason why they thought they could possibly get the drop on you. Everyone knows about the Bucking Horse's whip."
"Trust me, I know all about what they say about me and my whip," Dino says dryly. There is an alarming amount of speculation on his sex life.
Lancia carries on. "But even if you can handle yourself even in difficult situations like that... You still hired me as your bodyguard. Protecting you, thinking about where you were and what you were doing so that I could still keep you safe while not getting in your way... I can't explain it. I suppose I'm just glad I can remember doing something, and being able to protect someone instead of..."
Yeah. Dino understands that. Pushing himself up onto his feet, Dino turns around to face Lancia with his hands rising to rest along his shoulders. There's no need for him to say anything else. It's fine. "As long as you're with the Cavallone," he says, quiet and earnest as he looks into those dark eyes, "then you'll always have a place to feel like that. I know you can't get rid of your past so easily, and that's fine. As long as you're alive, as long as you can still feel alive, then it's fine. Right? So stay with us. Protect us. I'll do the same for you."
Another fragile smile. "Do I look as though I need protecting too?"
"Everyone needs protecting some times."
"Even Varia Quality?"
"Varia Quality jumped straight into a giant great white shark's mouth, so I think he can shut his own on this sort of thing." Lancia lets out another huff of a laugh, and Dino smiles slightly. Good. Anything to help lift that weight off the other man's shoulders. The only things that should be weighing him down are things like this, where his own hands rest firmly down to keep him tethered to the important things, to living. He's not really thinking too hard on how close they are, at least not until he sees movement from the corner of his eye. It's Lancia's hand, moving past Dino's own shoulder and pressing tenderly into the wet length of his hair.
Anxiety is something Dino sort of left behind a long time ago, back when he was a teenager going through, well, a lot. Not wanting to inherit his father's criminal legacy, dealing with an emergency in their territory only he could manage, the death of his only immediate family... It had been a lot. Perhaps because it had been so much, combined with Reborn's ever demanding training, that anxiety had burned out its ability to stay in his body. Now he's glad to say that, for the past few years, Dino has been able to keep his cool in all sorts of situations. Right now?
Right now he can feel his stomach doing some very interesting maneuvers he didn't realize it could physically do, and he's suddenly extremely aware that it would only take a very slight movement to have his hands go from Lancia's shoulders to his very well developed chest. As he does his absolute best to keep his visible cool (internal is a lost cause), Lancia speaks up. "You've done a lot for me. More than I feel I can owe back, sometimes. If I had been left to wander throughout Italy, I have no idea what I would have ended up doing to myself. That you ended up hunting me down and giving me this chance means a lot. I want you to know that."
It's platonic. It's platonic. Dino tries to remember that, even as he smiles back at Lancia. "I'm not going to be the idiot who doesn't hire the strongest man in Northern Italy, even barehanded against Box Animals."
"I'm grateful for both the praise and that you aren't an idiot." Then there's a pause, where Lancia is just a little too close, a little too in reach, and Dino wonders for a second if the whole moment is reading like he hopes it's reading-
Off to the side on the main street proper, there's the low light of a car flashing on and off a couple of times, and their hands drop down from one another. "There's our ride," Dino says, wondering if he should be thankful for the interruption or not. "I guess we should get out of here before they manage to organize in any effective way." As he begins to walk over to the car, Lancia striding ahead to open the door for him, Dino figures he'll just be grateful. More time to plan and figure out if he's just being overly optimistic or not.
Lost in his own head about romantic problems as much as business ones, he misses the way Lancia watches his fingers rake back through his wet hair with water dripping back down along his neck.
AO3 Fic Link
Lightning Day : Age Regress/De-Aging // Deity AU
Rain Day : Mutual Pining // Social Media AU
Cloud Day : Crossover/Fusion // Flower Shop/Tattoo Artist AU
Mist Day : Sword Fights To Making Out // Wingfic AU
Earth Day : Accidental Murder // Mermaid/Pirate AU
Belphegor/Kyouko - Accidental Murder
Himeko Hariyama’s voice was the same laid-back cheerful and casual as it always was, but as she examined the corpse in front of her, hand on one hip, her sheepish grin and calculating look was all Belphegor. There was no one around to witness, thankfully—thankfully for more than one reason—but that still left her with a bloody mess on her hands. And in an outfit she didn’t want to get blood all over, too!
“Maybe I overdid that,” she said to the dead guy, “but it serves you right.” Following them around like that! Catcalling had been one thing, though Himeko might still have sought the guy out later for being such a creep to a couple of innocent schoolgirls, but when she’d noticed that he was following them she’d known she’d have to do something before Kyoko had noticed and gotten upset. That would have just ruined their date, and that was a possibility Himeko couldn’t forgive.
One other thing that might actually ruin it would be getting caught in a back alley with this pathetic formerly-living pincushion, though, so she did feel a tiny bit embarrassed about ‘scaring him off’ right in the subclavian artery. She glanced upward, thoughtful, and tried calling out quietly just in case.
“Hey. Mammon.”
No answer. That could mean a lot of things: that the illusionist was busy with other things, or only paying enough attention to keep up the Himeko illusion and no further, or just wasn’t deigning to answer her on this one. Clean up your own mess, Bel, she could imagine them saying in that unimpressed little voice, and a very un-Himeko grin spread across her face.
“Ushishi! I guess I’d better work fast, then. A prince doesn’t keep a lady waiting~”
---
“Is everything okay?”
Himeko smiled at Kyoko as she took her seat again, glad to see that she wasn’t actually looking too concerned or suspicious. “Yeah, there was a wait, that’s all,” she said easily. Slipping off to ‘use the bathroom’ maybe became a bit less of a good cover when it took half an hour, but still! She picked up her own menu, asking, “So what looks good? –Wooow, they have tiramisu, that’s so exotic!”
“Is that what you’d like, Hime-chan?” Kyoko asked, that openly friendly, guileless smile on her face.
Himeko grinned. “Shishi. That depends~ Do you want to try it, Kyoko-chan?”
“I kind of want to try their sakura and matcha cake! They’re only serving it for hanami. But their strawberry shortcake looks really good…”
“Strawberry shortcake sounds good,” Himeko agreed, setting the menu back down. “Okay~! Why don’t you get the sakura and matcha and I’ll get the strawberry shortcake, and we can share?”
Kyoko’s cheeks tinged pink. “That’s a good idea, Hime-chan.”
“I have a lot of good ideas,” Himeko teased. And when Kyoko’s eyes lit up at the first bite of cake, and she took another forkful and offered it out for Himeko to taste, Himeko let blood and corpses slip out of her mind and just enjoyed the smiling and the cake and the warmth in her own face instead.
She really did have very good ideas.
AO3 Fic Link