"He’s a poor sap, but I suppose he might have been a handsome one. Who knows, I didn’t get a look at his face before I sliced it clean off." Squalo replied, the teasing tone to his voice as he danced around a compliment without quite giving the mutt the satisfaction of hearing one. Though, Squalo did think well of Dante, and in an odd way, he was showing it. There was no malice to his voice, and it was clear to anyone that what he said wasn’t meant to be taken at face-value. Perhaps they were both dancing around, acting like fools, trying not to be the first one to misstep since they’d never hear the end of it.
"Missed you… huh? Never thought of it like that." Squalo noted, turning that idea over in his head. He did actually miss the mutt when it was pretty easy to tell when a presence like this was absent from his life. Left an odd little hole that Squalo had never really found someone to fill in. "You’re a hard fucker to replace, I’ll give you that much. No one else out there with your… character. Or your failed attempts at wit and charm." There was a bit of a hum to the shark’s tone now, showing how comfortable he was. Normally when he threw banter back and forth against someone there was an air of bitterness, and his words became harsher than he intended. It was just the right balance with this man, because with Dante there weren’t any restraints. The day he actually managed to say something that pissed off the mutt would be a sad one, really. It would have meant Squalo failed in some way.
"Trying to keep up with what, old man." Another little chuckle, this time followed by a slight raise in the shark’s eyebrow. "After all, you’re just so many years ahead of me you’ve already got one foot in the grave. I’ll take it at my own pace. And I’ll stick to my own outfit. Since you’re right, I couldn’t work the look of a clown. Suits you fine, though. You must be really damn good at giving little brats nightmares." Someone stop the man, he’s on a role. Squalo honestly had to pause and shake his head, even he realized that if Dante let him keep going he wasn’t going to fucking stop. He might as well balance it out by playing nice for the remainder of the visit. Or at least until Dante baits him with a comment that the shark just can’t help but sink his teeth into and spit right back out at the mutt.
Some things never did change. Squalo was grateful as hell for that. And he almost let Dante know, but it felt too sentimental for the moment. Maybe that’ll be a good way to say goodbye. Squalo wouldn’t mind being teased on the way out.
"Alright, so I’m a little on the short side." Squalo gave him that one, since there wasn’t much of a backlash to something that was a physical property. "The hell have you been eating, though. I’d think a mutt like you was finished growing, but you’re a fucking beanstalk. Don’t fucking break the couch when you sit on it, big boy." Squalo motioned to the furniture as he spoke, the closest he’ll get to offering the mutt a seat. This was the headquarters of an assassination group, not a hotel. And Squalo didn’t have plans on playing the gracious host, but he wasn’t going to be a terrible one either. Dante had, after all, let him hang around the shop after paying the initial fee of battle. Since neither of them really needed any wounds to lick, Squalo figured that firing shots back and forth was enough of a payment for some hospitality.
Squalo opened his mouth to respond to the little bout about women, but the more serious topic caught his attention instead. He leaned back a big against the couch, sighing a bit like he was blowing out a puff of smoke from a cigar. If one didn’t know better, they would have assumed Squalo was the leader of this establishment. When he was younger, Dino used to tease him about looking just like a mafia boss from an old black and white movie whenever he got serious. “There’s… a lot going on right now. The Vongola is under a lot of pressure from an outside organization, and there’s talk of war breaking out between the two. With everything so tense, a couple of smaller fractions have been splitting off and some smaller scale arguments have escalated among partner famiglias. Since the Varia is run a little different than most, and since Xanxus is a man people don’t choose to cross, we’ve had less trouble within our borders.”
"But that doesn’t mean we don’t have what people want. Besides the Intel Organization that’s stationed in the main branch on the Vongola, the Varia has the biggest and most detailed gathering of information among the major mafia families. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they were after. If someone wanted to destroy the Vongola from the inside out, we’re the best place to look for a ‘how-to’ book." They’d used that intel to get as far as they had during the cradle incident, and if it weren’t for 9ths technique that froze Xanxus, they would have pulled it off. Just one missing piece of information had sent their whole plan crashing into the mud, but that didn’t mean the rather frightening possibility of the Varia pulling a full-scale uprising didn’t exist. That was one of the reasons people feared them. A case of ‘knowing too much’.
"It’s nothing I’m really concerned about, though." Squalo lied through his teeth. With full knowledge of the possibilities, and being a man of speculation, Squalo himself was behind most of the updated security and screening of new recruits. Perhaps he was just paranoid, or as Bel put it ‘being a punk ass bitch’, but if a war really did begin, if this ‘Byakuran’ really wanted to crush the Vongola— well, Squalo didn’t want to think about it. Not right know. They still had time, and the mutt’s visit wasn’t about all this mess, so Squalo quickly deviated from the subject, erasing the lines of worry from his brow.
"Che, you actually cleaned up? Must have been one of your coworkers, I would have thought a mutt like you was content with living in squalor." Right back into rhythm, like Squalo hadn’t even missed a beat. "Any swords among those weapons? I must admit, I was never really a fan of anything more than a traditional blade, but I’ve seen some interesting swords the past ten years after all those damn challenges I made. When you fight 100 swordsman, someone is bound to have a few cheap tricks. Though I suppose the weapons of a half-demon like you must be much more entertaining then some explosives stuffed into a blade."
Squalo leaned back again, completely relaxed, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen while mulling the offer over in his head. “I might take you up on that after things cool down. Would be nice to take a little vacation. And to me, even your hell hole of a universe is fucking paradise compared to here. Demons are a lot easier to deal with.”
Deciding to act on his hospitality, Squalo hoped to his feet, rolling his left shoulder a bit to ease the tension he’d built up. “Care for something to drink? I told you I’d treat you to some Italian wine at some point, didn’t I?”