Well this is it, now. Everybody get down... [Open]

[requiem_no_ame]

Characters: Squalo and Bel, and anyone who wants to be a victim
Location: The Carnival
Rating: PG-13, probably going up for language. Or homicide attempts
Time: Last day of the carnival.
Description: Come along and meet the fruits of eighteen years of Squalo's nurturing talents.

Comments

[requiem_no_ame]

It was his job, to keep standing through everything. He was the right hand man, the one they looked at when Xanxus was gone. If Xanxus always carried himself impeccably, Squalo did doubly so, because he carried Xanxus' reputation on his shoulders and the morale of the entire family on him, when shit hit the fan. He never broke, so he could always kick shit and hiss at them to hold it together and move on.

God, it sucked to be him, some days.

Awkwardly, Squalo patted Bel's back some more, hopefully in an encouraging motion. The boy was being talkative alright, which struck at Squalo exactly how shaken he really was. He had to wonder, however briefly, if his oh so awesome older self had dealt with this too. Xanxus had done nothing but sing his praises - in that roundabout, violent, Xanxus-y way of his, anyway - and Squalo was starting to think that maybe he was out of his depth here. He would grin and bear it anyway, because that was just what he did, but it didn't stop him from noticing.

"He's not... he's not in a good place, right now." Because he was the loyal right hand man, and he always justified every single thing Xanxus did to anyone outside the two of them. Even the ones he disagreed with. No one would ever know what exactly went on between him and Xanxus, and Squalo liked things that way. Except when it sucked. "You know how he is, apparently ten years didn't make him into fucking Miss Congeniality." He rasped a dry chuckle at that, trying to perk Bel's humor somewhat. "VOOOII, you'll just stick with me, like always. I'll deal with him."

Like always. Grin and bear it, Superbi, what the fuck else is there for you?

[kirikizamuyo]

Bel understood something was wrong with the Boss, and he could understand just how hard it could be on the younger version of Squalo as well. As much as he treated the other just as he would his, their relationship had never actually changed. But Xanxus wasn't predictable like that. He was something you had to adjust and get used to. The prince knew Squalo would always try his hardest to match up to that now. Barely even thinking about it he started playing with the shark's hair, for once not with the intention of braiding it. "Hm... I could tell when I saw him. There's something not right with him now, probably something this place did to him. You don't have to worry, I've been in Varia just as long as you, I'll always follow him, even through his PMS moments."

Bel gave a small grin to himself, though even without seeing it Squalo could probably hear the amusement in his voice. "You need a break though. You've dealt with a lot, including today. And a prince always pays back his debts so~ I'll do something to help you relax when we get back."

[requiem_no_ame]

Squalo barked a laugh, tilting his head to the side to look at Bel with a risen eyebrow.

"Somehow," he ventured, trying to keep the tentative lightheartedness of the moment, "I don't find that too terribly comforting."

There was much Squalo had always kept from Bel. And from everyone, really. There were things they were just not meant to know, about himself, about Xanxus, about the way the Varia worked and why they did things a certain way. He liked things that way, even if he supposed it was a rather lonely way of doing things. It was how they were supposed to be.

"Leave Boss to me," he repeated, with more conviction this time, feeling a bit more comfortable now that Bel wasn't crying anymore. "Bitchy, PMSing bastard that he is, he'll keep trying to fuck with you if you don't stay away. It's just how he is." He smirked. "Besides, I'm sure the Prince has better things to do than needle him for a fight."

[kirikizamuyo]

Bel's grin returned this time. It was obvious there were just some things he wasn't meant to know, and he had accepted that in his own time a long while back. Didn't mean he couldn't still act like a kid and play around with Squalo a bit.

From his previous position when Bel returned a look to Squalo it was one of the overly rare moments where his bangs were almost completely out of the way. It made it pretty clear why he kept them covered, they were a mirror showing every emotion he usually hid with his grin. Only this time, they were actually amused so he had nothing to hide. Not like he could ever hide anything from Squalo but still. "Then are you saying you don't want a massage when we get back home~? It's not like a prince would offer something like that up very often you know~"

[requiem_no_ame]

"I'm saying," Squalo quipped almost sardonically, clearly relieved to see the little episode over, "that I'm wondering the price of such fine offer."

Bel was clearly shaken, though, and Squalo would make note about it and try to prevent something like this from happening again. Or at least from it happening in public. He didn't really like a very emotional Prince, though he supposed even Bel was human enough to have his moments. Bel was supposed to be the little grinning monster that Squalo had long resigned himself to have following him around all the time. That was what Bel was supposed to be, arrogant and whimsical and so very much a royal pain in the ass all the time. He dearly hoped they'd be able to work around this whole thing without having it bursting at the seams.

"Unless you're feeling generous?"

[kirikizamuyo]

Bel responded by tilting his head slightly in a grin, his bangs almost falling back into place, before pouncing and more or less glomping the shark despite their already close proximity. Not for any real reason other than to annoy the fuck out of Squalo for fun.

"So what if I am feeling a bit generous today~? You not planning on taking me up on it~? Who knows when I'll feel like being so friendly again after all~ Ushishishi~"

[requiem_no_ame]

Squalo went down like a bag of rocks, in a rather embarrassing display for a swordsman of his considerable skill. To his defense, he'd been standing rather loosely, and focused on something else. He glared up at Bel through narrowed eyes, his own mood shifting to fit the Prince's ever mercurial one.

"VOOOII, friendly is not the word I'd use."

[kirikizamuyo]

Bel's grin widened even more at his accomplishment. Even though technically he went down with Squalo in the process, his tiara hanging off to the side once more, he still felt amused as all hell at Squalo going down easily. Of course, he knew why and knew that if the shark had seen it coming it wouldn't have been as easy. Oh, he had no doubt he would have taken him down either way. This way was just faster. He sat there, perched on top of the poor swordsman looking highly pleased with himself.

"So~ What's it gonna be~? Are you gonna take me up on my offer or not Squalo~?"

[requiem_no_ame]

"...which answer is likely to get you off my fucking person faster?"

Sullen and irritated and snappy and really fucking freaked out, Squalo needed a few quiet moments to himself and possibly a nice cold beer to recover from the disaster that was his own damn family. Seeing how he wasn't going to get any of that, any time soon, he resigned himself to snarling and willing Bel off his person with his mind alone.

One of these days, it was really gonna work.

Really.

[kirikizamuyo]

Amused beyond belief Belphegor finally moved to get off of Squalo. He had given the poor shark enough hell to last him a week, and the day was only just beginning. After all, he didn't want to cause too much damage. Squalo was really the only lifeline he had in this place and he would be stupid to jeopardize that.

Surprisingly, Bel actually offered out a hand to help the fallen shark up. Either someone had secretly killed Bel and replaced him with a really bad double or the prince was just having fun fucking with Squalo's head a bit. Whichever way, that grin was still there. "I guess I'll just have to take that as a yes for now~"

[requiem_no_ame]

Squalo gave that hand a suspicious look before he took it, standing up without much hassle. He ran his hands through his hair, straightening the whole riot into more or less it's usual place at his back.

It was official, Belphegor was off his rocket.

Or rather, more off his rocket than usual, anyway. With a roll of his eyes, Squalo cracked his neck loudly and let out a snort. He then proceeded to fish out the cigarette pack from the depths of his pockets, because god damn today was just shaping up to be one of those days. Two whole days without smoking - admittedly, he spent one of those in bed, feeling miserable, and the other running around the damn carnival, buying stuff - and now this. At the rate things were going, he was going to go back to chain smoking before the month was out.

"You need to work on the whole goody-goody act," Squalo said dryly, cigarette stuck between his lips as he fished for his lighter. He lit it up and took a grateful drag of nicotine. "It's not very convincing."