Reborn, Fon and Luce are in the kitchen making animal characters out of cut fruit, the creations held together by skewers. Lal is directing them and critiquing their work, but also Lal has been banned from helping twice at this point so no one is really listening to her.

Skull didn't want to be alone so he moved his large dog bed to under the dining table where he can curl up with Oodako in his helmet and nap. Colonnello, Viper and Verde are sitting at the table and watching, sharing the bowl containing Lal's horrifically ugly fruit creation.

"Look," Reborn says smugly, lifting his plate so the judges can see better. "Exactly like Leon, right?"

Colonnello lazily applauds.

Verde frowns. "I thought that was Keiman?"

"Why would I make your reptile when I have my own?" Reborn argues.

"Because Keimen is better?"

Reborn narrows his eyes. "Bite your tongue, heathen."

Fon feeds Reborn a grape to distract the hitman. "It was just a friendly comment." Fon smiles. "Because everyone knows Lichi is the best."

Luce tuts. "Only because you haven't spent time with my lovely Cosmo, the cutest squirrel you'll ever see!" She lifts her plate to proudly display the fruit creation.

Verde frowns. "You mean the crazy one we met last month that ate all the snacks and then threw up?"

Luce pauses. "Cosmo gets a little too enthusiastic sometimes."

"Um," Colonnello begins excitedly, sitting up. "COMSUBIN doesn't have a canine unit but we do have hawks, which are trained to circle over hidden ambushes or enemy camps." He smiles happily and taps on the table. "I just got a little partner and his name is Falco and he's white and he can carry smaller rifles in his mouth and he's great and-"

Viper vomits out a toad onto the table with a wet splat.

Everyone immediately experiences a visceral reaction where their hindbrain just rejects the triggering event so violently that it causes all of them to jerk backwards before they even register what just happened.

Reborn disappears into the cupboards and Fon quickly looks away. Luce holds up a hand to her mouth and tries not to think about it while Verde looks at the piece of rockmelon in his hand that he was about to eat and lowers it cautiously back into the bowl.

"So," Lal muses. "We should burn the witch."

"Yes," Fon confirms.

Viper scoffs like it was a joke and Lal didn't one hundred percent mean that. "This is Fantasma."

"I don't care what it is," Reborn says, partly muffled by the closed cupboard door. "Put it away, I hate it."

Luce shivers. "I'm sorry, I really need to know if that was an illusion or…"

"No," Colonnello interrupts. "No, we don't need to know that. I can live the rest of my life not knowing and I'd still die without regrets."

Viper pets the toad. "They can also turn into a snake."

Verde just looks confused. "Why?"

The Mist shrugs, keeps petting the toad and forcefully moves the conversation onward. "They can help me float, as an extra boost. So they're actually useful, unlike some other animals I could name."

"It's an animal?" Fon confirms. "A real one? That you found somewhere?"

Viper picks up the toad and holds it out. "Want to touch and make sure?"

Verde reaches out but Colonnello slaps the scientist's hand away.

Reborn peers up into the sky, keeping his hat tilted to the side with one hand to block out the sun shining down on the front lawn. "That's a seagull."

"He's a white hawk," Colonnello protests. "He could eat Leon for breakfast."

The last time Reborn pet another lizard, Leon ate it alive in front of the hitman as punishment. Leon has also eaten two cats, one dog and a woman's left hand.

Reborn hums at Colonnello, feeling merciful enough to not explain why Falco would lose that fight.

.

A/N: And we stop the chapter early because I'm still thinking about Viper throwing up toads.

Also, yes, Leon is low-key yandere.