[ He may also have to punch himself some years back, then, I'm just saying. Squalo thinks nothing more of it than minding his manners; he already enjoyed pushing lots of Xanxus' buttons, but some of them were more dangerous than others, such as anything putting his authority into question. Not treating him as a proper Don was sort of that. And with the last eight years having been stolen from them, he was still in the process of finding out how far he could go with what. ]

[ Of course, Hell and its illusion bullshit doesn't exactly help with that either. ]

[ Which means, Xanxus' momentarily baffled expression is likewise mirrored on Squalo's face, probably even more obviously as he's rarely bothered to hide his feelings. ]

[ He's... not angry. That's weird. He vaguely recalled they had gotten relatively chill in the future, but it was still... unusual. ]

[ On the bright side, at least he's definitely not shying away from Xanxus' touch. ]

Xanxus?

[ It's still making his head spin and his hair stand on end in excitement all the same, though, as if that feather-light touch was almost electric. He lifts his good hand and rests it on top of the older man's. Look how fast he learns. ]

You're... different.

[ And now he's also laughing that little ugly hyena pup laugh of his. ]

Last time we were in a room together, I thought I'd have to zonk you out with my Flames to get your bandages changed. [ And yet, even then, he'd let Squalo touch him more than anyone else, when he thinks about it. Not surprising, of course. Who else was good enough for him? ] Should've known that's your version of pulling pigtails.