i've finally fallen into nostalgia hell

[sunsette]

Too slow, mundane.

[exCUSE you i only spent TWO DAYS trying to figure out a journal handle and icons for you that is NOT slow.]

[an impeccably indignant sniff.] You should do it in one day. Delays implicate hesitation and indecisiveness, neither of which are acceptable.

[don't you talk to me like that at least i didn't make you a BABY.]

If you had, I would blow up your room. [where did he get that blasting machine detonator from--]

[....you're going to do that anyway, aren't you?]

Oh, you know me too well.

[somewhere in the distance, an explosion. RIP in pieces.]

[reborn dusts off his hands. a job well done, that was.] Now, then... How should I spend this newfound freedom?

Comments

[honoraboveall]

[The smile across the knight's handsome, weathered face is small, but it makes a light glint in his bright blue eyes, creasing the laugh lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes.]

Well, I would hope, however you want. Otherwise, it's not really freedom is it?

[sunsette]

'However I want' is such a broad spectrum. I could do anything. I could do everything. [somehow it's unclear if he's just talking about activities in general or.. other types of 'activities'.]

Certainly not something to be taken for granted.

[honoraboveall]

[Idly, Symon crosses his arms, head tilting as he surveys the other man.] It certainly isn't. [Graves certainly knows about grasping opportunity.]

Of everything then, that you could do, what do you want most?

[sunsette]

I could take over the world. [musingly, and rubbing his chin.] But that's dull, I wouldn't know what to do with it.

Suppose I'll have to settle for having a full-sized mug of espresso for the first time in years. [that's right. a full mug. of espresso.]

[honoraboveall]

[Symon does not cock an eyebrow even though he wants to. That would be rude after all, and Symon is many things, but rude is not one of them. And so he keeps his doubts and derision to himself, the smile on his face not slipping.]

Bored by the world, but seduced by coffee. You're a man of...diverse tastes.

[sunsette]

[that's a pity... reborn lives for the outrageous reactions to anything he does or says.]

I am Italian at heart, and we love our coffee. In any case, I'm but a humble [haha what a lie] hired gun that gains little from owning the world. There wouldn't be anyone to pay me.

[honoraboveall]

[The urge to roll his eyes his rising.]

If you owned the world, that's all you would want to do? The same thing you do now? [The smile widened a touch.] You must love your job. [Now, if Graves owned the world, the first thing he would do, would be to put out Lord Tyrell's eyes. And then...go from there.]

[sunsette]

[perfect.]

I am the greatest hitman in the world- or my world, anyway. I take pride in that. There's very little incentive to stop being the world's greatest. [is he preening? he's probably preening. very discreetly.]

I imagine anyone else would have some grandiose deeds planned, some vice to partake in, but I try to take care of those on a regular basis.

[honoraboveall]

The finest hitman in the world? That is quite the claim. Is that by your estimation, or others'? [There is a strange cant to the smile on Graves' face and a muted glitter in his eyes. Curiosity curls through him, the sort of reflexive urge one feels to poke a hornet's nest, despite the consequences.]

What is your idea then, of grandiose deeds and vice?

[sunsette]

It's always a little bit of both, isn't it? Neither is ever enough on their own. [reborn returns it with a look of daring, open-ended. this, at least, is one hornet's nest that doesn't quite so mind being disturbed.]

Getting in with the strong and influential. No lack of jobs, just the right amount of danger to keep me on my toes.

[honoraboveall]

[For a spare moment, Graves' smile widened, something like approval sparking in his eyes.] I have always hated false modesty.

A wolf in sheep's clothing, I see. [His arms crossed as he surveyed the man before him.] You would like Westeros, I think; you've just described the life of most lords. Or, well, the ones that survive.

[sunsette]

[reborn waves almost dismissively.] I haven't a single modest bone in my body.

We're all wolves, where I come from. Not a single sheep among us. Except one with the wolf's pelt. [he cocks his head, not at all concerned at being so openly surveyed. even if he'd appreciate at least a little attempt at discretion.] I'm not overly fond of royalty... it's the other end of society that I tend towards. Less scandal and scrutiny. Much better than dancing around on one's toes, don't you think?

[honoraboveall]

All wolves? [Graves' voice is coolly neutral, and those who knew him (Lyr) would understand that it was the voice he used when he was seriously doubtful. But as he digests the rest of Reborn's words, there's a flicking look across his face, as if he were conflicted.] Perhaps less scrutiny, but no power. No influence. [He shrugs, a dismissive movement.] I've been on both sides, and I'll take the extra scrutiny. [And besides, Symon's mask was perfect.]

[fruity]

My, my. [ there's no mistaking this piece of work, especially in that sleek italian suit and unmistakable sideburns. ] What a mess you've made. Haven't you realised by now that subtlety and finesse can go just as far as a big, messy explosion? Mr. Home Tutor.

[sunsette]

It's not a mess I have to be concerned about. [not his department.]

I will admit that stealth and subtlety have their merits... But I see no reason to make an effort to sneak around on a regular basis, like someone. [hmMMMM.] What's the point of being in my presence if you don't know I'm there?

[but reborn, explosives are just not the way to go about that.]

[fruity]

I can't imagine who you're referring to. [ not him, right? nah. ]

Several reasons come to mind. Being spared of your actual company is only one of them. Need I go on? [ because he could. he totally could. ]

[sunsette]

Clearly your imagination is lacking. And at such a convenient time, too. [probably talking about hibari tbh, but who honestly knows.]

You've been woefully deprived of my company if you can say that. [dramatic, sympathetic sigh.] Oh, do go on. If you can.

[fruity]

There's nothing convenient about ailing mental functions. Really, you ought to be more considerate. [ like anything of mukuro's is failing besides his manners. ]

Please, don't feel obligated to grace me with it. I might be sick if you do. [ a p a u s e. then a laugh. ] Isn't discretion a calling card of hit men? Making a scene seems detrimental to your job.

[sunsette]

A lack of imagination is hardly indicative of ailing mental state. Unless it's yours. In which case, you're right; you have my deepest sympathies. [nnnnnot.]

Well that doesn't sound healthy. Maybe you really are suffering from some ailment... Perhaps we ought to call for a doctor? [like shamal. he'd be a big help, wouldn't he.]

If the client wants to make a scene, I won't be the one to deny him that front-page newspaper satisfaction.

[fruity]

How kind of you. Whatever shall I do with your sympathies? I don't think I'll be ever be able to return the sentiment. [ this asshole. ]

I'll pass, seeing as the only cure is already known. [ it's called never having anything more to do with reborn than necessary. ] Such professionalism. No wonder your reputation is unparalleled.

[sunsette]

I would never expect anything of you in return, Rokudo. Keep them close. And try not to lose them in the gutter. [these assholes.]

Developing a tolerance for it is certainly a praiseworthy endeavor. [you adopted vongola fool. you can't escape.] Please, you're too kind. I'll get embarrassed if you keep that up.

[fruity]

[ he's going to drop that sympathy into the deepest, dankest gutter he can. write him a sympathy card, reborn. come on. ]

My method involves more of a hands on approach, and a hole six feet in the ground with your name on it. [ if chrome signed the papers who's really vongola here. ] I'm sure your infamy only grew when you became cursed and stuck in the body of an infant for years.

[sunsette]

[you rude ass son of a palm tree. fine. he will send the most flowery, perfumed sympathy card mukuro has ever gotten. well, he'll have tsuna send one.]

I never would have pegged you for someone willing to get their hands so dirty. [that's why it's adopted vongola. honorary vongola. whatever it is that tsuna wants to consider mukuro as.] Oh, you have no idea. Word spreads quickly when an infant does the work of grown men. No need to go around having a massacre left and right to get your name out there.

[fruity]

[ shirking his actual card sending obligations!! lazy. ]

Aren't our hands already dirty? Yours just as much as mine. [ no, gross, he's allergic to even the idea of it. ] Well, to each their own. The results speak for themselves.

[sunsette]

[he's gotta teach tsuna how to send out sympathy cards somehow!! doesn't it feel better to get one from tsuna anyway. reborn would rather get a sympathy card from tsuna than from himself. he'd send awful sympathy cards.]

I don't generally play gravedigger to those I've killed. Bit too personal, for my taste. [well that's too bad isn't it, you're stuck and there is no escape.] I get my face plastered all over an entire island and you get a stint in the fish tank?

[fruity]

[ possibly it'd be more reassuring for most. wouldn't a sympathy card from reborn be the equivalent of "hey sorry about killing your [insert relation of choice here]". ]

Of course someone else would do the digging. Isn't that what henchmen are for? [ possibly the difference between them lies in the fact that mukuro definitely has cronies.

and wow, low blow. ] Being chased to the ends of the earth was flattering, in its own way.

[sunsette]

[he doesn't get paid enough to send those out, okay. that's an additional fee. no one wants to go through that sort of trouble.]

Oh, I wouldn't know. I'd much rather work alone. [reborn is too amazing for cronies. his cronies can't keep up with him. that's what tsuna is for.

oops.] I bet it was. I would have gotten tired of it rather quickly, though.

[fruity]

[ please, like reborn could be hurting for money. ]

You never did play well with others. [ but such is the life of a hitman, probably. not that mukuro would know anything about it, being a mass murderer of a different variety. ]

I'm starting to feel as though you're playing at disapproving relative to my life choices. Don't you have anything better to do?

[sunsette]

[it's not so much the money as the principle of the matter..... ethics... and.. such....... yeah okay maybe he's just lazy about expressing unnecessary sympathies.]

Explains a lot of things, doesn't it? [ :> ]

Oh, no, I would never do something like that. [look, he's hurt! that mock pain in his chest! it makes his heart tremble!] ...We could go run Tsuna into the ground.

[fruity]

[ lazy bastard, already confirmed.

here, mukuro pauses. what reborn's suggesting is practically like a peace offering, wrapped up and tied in a bow with a nice note attached.

(but mukuro won't forget this encounter, mark his words.) ] That sounds like a sure way to put him behind on his paperwork. [ excellent. ] Well, why not?

[sharktrash]

[ and then there's this asshole not one, not two but twenty-nine days late. ]

Heeey, it also implicates a lack of fucks given.

[ such valuable input ]