allthenotes | end of day/start of night

[ The moment Hibari actually reads this, there's a loud sigh, before he throws a pillow at Mukuro's face. You are such a troublemaker, you brat. ]

[ There's a quiet chuckle from him. He would retaliate but there are animals about, shhh. ]

[ Somehow, the responses have gotten even more out of hand since the last time he looked. Now that he's close enough to actually hit Mukuro himself, he reaches out and slaps the back of Mukuro's head, before levelling an unamused look at the man. ]

Stop writing these ridiculous lies. [ Hush, little puppies. This has nothing to do with you. Go back to sleep on Mukuro's legs. ]

[ There's a hurt sound from him (entirely feigned) and he rubs the back of his head as he smirks at Hibari. ]

What lies, Kyouya?

It wasn't a courting gift. Stop it.

[ He keeps up the look even as he slides careful fingers under the dove he'd bought and lifts the bird up to check on it, offering it several seeds. There is concern quickly replacing irritation in his eyes, obvious to anyone that knows him well, and he ends up leaning against Mukuro's side unconsciously, more concerned with the tired bird than anything else. ]

Where did I write that it was?

[ Lifting an eyebrow, he angles the pages of his journal towards the other man. The dovekeet fusses in his lap but doesn't stir. Look carefully, Hibari: there's not a single mention of courtship from him. It's all what other people have assumed. ]

[ There's a faint grumble from him as he flicks his eyes over to see that Mukuro is indeed correct. He's a sneaky bastard, that's for sure. ]

I don't see you correcting them, either. [ He settles the dove in his lap and feeds the seeds to it, one by one, stroking the grey feathers gently. He hopes you get better soon, little one. ]

If you feel so strongly about it then you can reply to them too, you know.

[ Something about his smirk dares Hibari to try. Letting the book rest on his thighs again, he reaches up to ruffle Hibari's hair. ]

You're more endearing when you're angry. [ This is whispered. He presses a kiss to the short strands in order to hide a softer smile. That is as close to calling the Cloud 'cute' as he will get. ]

[ His fingers still in their soothing motion against the dove's feathers the moment he hears the quiet words and the faintest impression of a kiss against his hair. There is startled confusion, then faint wariness at Mukuro's actions. Surely the illusionist had an ulterior motive? He never did anything without carefully planning it out, after all. Schemes on schemes, that was how Mukuro's mind worked. He knew that.

And yet that had felt... spontaneous. How strange. To cover his reaction, he huffs softly and reaches out to scoop the pups off of Mukuro's legs, settling them down carefully around himself before attempting to shove Mukuro off the bed. When all else failed, falling back on what he knew best - violence - was the best choice. ]

Don't call me that.

[ Hibari scooping the pups off him is fair warning that something physical is imminent. He surreptitiously sets aside his own bird right before the shove happens. As expected, Mukuro goes over with an "Ouch" and vocal complaint. From his sprawl of limbs, he extracts an arm and uses the mattress to pull himself upright. ]

Should I say 'beautiful' then? [ Ah yes, back to his usual humour. Perhaps that whispered comment really had been planned...? ]

Flattery will get you nowhere, [ he says tartly, carefully stretching across the bed on his side and encouraging the warm, fuzzy bodies of the various animals to crowd around him. It was an adorable picture, really, and he seemed entirely content to remain that way until he felt the need to move.

It also distracted him from the strange words Mukuro had said - and he wasn't running away from them, no. He just... had to think over them again, see what Mukuro had really meant by them. ]

I know.

[ He levered himself back on to the bed, gathering his little bird up again. Hibari's fondness for animals did nothing to soften his blows towards other human beings. ]

What are you going to name them?

[ Three wolves, four glass dogs, and one canary. This should be interesting. ]

[ He grumbles a little but shifts aside willingly enough for Mukuro to reclaim his place, wrinkling his nose when one of the wolf pups sprawls over his face. Rude, little one. Shoo. ]

I'll think of something, [ comes the muffled answer, even as he reaches up and pulls the pup away from his face by the scruff of her neck. She gets set down somewhere near his hip, where she promptly tries to crawl underneath one of Verglas' paws. ]

What about your bird?

[ While another intrepid pup attempted to crawl over White Fang's back - an activity the wolf bore patiently - Mukuro looked to his colourful dove. He'd only bought it because these were no typical dove's colours. Actually, that gave him an idea. ]

...Nijinko.

[ Yep. ]

Are you going to let me name one of the pups? [ Tiny smirk here. Let's not forget the deer naming incident. ]

[ As Mukuro might have expected, that earned him a look of disgust, but no scathing reply. Mostly because it wasn't actually that bad of a name. Nowhere near as bad as Cervix. ]

Only if you take responsibility for feeding them as well, [ he retorted quickly, jumping on the opportunity while he could. He'd have to start working double shifts anyway - there would be no easy way to feed all of these mouths now, though the guards might help - but with Mukuro contributing some money, it would be easier. ]

[ He sighed but, oddly enough, acquiesced without argument. ]

Fine. Will fifty copper coins a week be enough? I did spend most of my earnings buying you these animals, remember.

[ So what if he found some socks of coins during the day. He's still stingy with money. ]

[ That.. was not what he had been expecting. He frowned and really looked at Mukuro, poking the illusionist in the side to make sure that it was really him. Yep, nice and solid-- which meant that he was actually feeling generous. Or unwilling to argue - something which Hibari staunchly refused to believe. The man thrived on creating conflict. ]

Fifty per pup. [ He decided to push it as far as he could, still giving Mukuro an odd look even as he pushed himself upright and began to gently usher the animals around him away. He had other things to get at the markets... And maybe he'd buy Mukuro something in return for all of these little ones. ]

[ Now that got a frown. ]

That's three and a half silver coins per day or night, seven silver altogether, [ he argued. ] We only receive five and a half for our work.

[ How much are you expecting these dogs to eat, Hibari. B| ]

Meat is expensive, [ he huffed, reaching out and rubbing the ears of the pup snoozing under Verglas' paw. She twitched and batted at his finger in her sleep, but didn't wake. The adorable picture made a soft smile steal across his face, but it was gone when he raised his eyes to meet Mukuro's unimpressed look. ]

Fine. Wait a minute. [ He pulled a sheaf of paper from his trunk and a pencil and began scribbling sums and costs, frowning to himself as he wrote. Logistics never was his favourite thing to do, but it was a necessary evil. At least he'd had plenty of experience with it, having managed the Foundation.

So in the end, it didn't really take all that long for him to present Mukuro with a sheet of paper that laid out exactly how much would be needed from the illusionist. ]

If we split the costs evenly, it should be four silver from each of us to keep all the pups fed. [ Including the glass pups - and he left the sheet with Mukuro to slide under the bed and check on them. Pray that he doesn't get stabbed or something, Mukuro. ]

[ It felt like he was being served a child support notice. Not that he would know how that actually happened, but he imagined it would go something like this.

Mukuro read over the costs and found nothing contradictory to what he already knew. Sighing, he folded the sheet up and put it aside. ]

Fine.

[ Did he sound annoyed? He was annoyed. He liked sitting on a mound of coins. ]

[ A soft noise of satisfaction made itself known as Mukuro grumpily agreed to it, but he slid out from under the bed, devoid of injuries, and got to his feet, brushing all the dust off of himself. ]

I'm going back to the market. Watch them while I'm gone. [ And without waiting for Mukuro's agreement, he took off, striding purposefully out of the dorm room. It would be maybe an hour, maybe two, before he came back, shoulders carefully balancing several sacks of rice. His hands were holding something else, something delicate and distinctly egg-shaped, and he gave it straight to Mukuro before beginning to unload his purchases. ]

That's for you, [ he said, not looking at the illusionist as he arranged the sacks of rice on top of his trunk. ] The trader seemed to think it was a snake egg of some kind. [ Was he alluding to Mukuro's previously snakey state on Arcanarum? Who knew. ]

[ Hibari's sudden departure merits only a slow blink. It's nothing the man hasn't pulled before, so Mukuro turns his attention to the animals. White Fang and Verglas are tolerating the new pups well enough, which bodes well. He's never personally kept a bird before (the Mukurowl doesn't count) but how hard can it be? Hibari will spot anything amiss anyway.

When the other Guardian finally returns, Mukuro lifts both eyebrows in mild surprise. That's an awful lot of rice. And an egg. What--?

It's passed to him before he can utter a word. He stares at it in confusion. ]

...And you bought it because...?

[ There is a small sigh, and he turns to give the egg a pointed look, before looking at Mukuro proper. ]

You like snakes. [ Completely deadpan. He goes back to tidying the sacks though, resolutely not looking at the illusionist. ] If you don't want it, I'll take care of it. [ Is he regretting the purchase? No. But he is annoyed at himself for not being able to explain any better. ]

[ That has Mukuro frowning and curling protectively over the egg. ]

No, I can care for it. I'll use the stone you gave me.

[ Although this is...yes, this could be called a present, couldn't it? How thoughtful.

He's running a hand over the egg's surface now, apparently fascinated with the texture. ]

[ He huffs but doesn't push the issue. The bags of rice get one last pat before he climbs back on to the bed, gently pushing animals out of the way, and curls up beside Mukuro, pulling out a book from his bag and settling in to read it with a gentle rustle of paper. It looks to be a book on military hand signals, and he'll be engrossed before long, one hand busy with the book, the other absently patting whichever small animal has crawled into his lap. ]

end of day/start of night

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I'm so upset I don't have his side-eye emote uploaded

meanwhile he has all kinds of bitchfaces

rude man

he doesn't pretend to be nice

mukuro does =n=

and that's why hibari is the one with the bitchfaces

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