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There were, Kyouya had long since noticed, both pros and cons to spending nights at the Cavallone mansion. The first and foremost advantage, aside from sex of course, was having a warm body to keep him from getting cold at night, and as Dino was always happy to be his personal bed warmer, this was often the point that tipped the scales. He also quite appreciated Dino's bed, soft and comfortable as it was, and the breakfast afterwards. Try as he might, he was yet to find kitchen staff for the Foundation's headquarters that would be capable of culinary feats of the level that Cavallone mansion's kitchen seemed to pull off every time he visited.
The disadvantages he could live with. There were always the subordinates who whispered and stared as he stalked out of their boss's room in the morning, of course, but that wasn't his problem; they were Cavallone's men, not his, so what they thought of him was none of his concern as long as they didn't decide to trouble him with their opinions. Of course, none of them were stupid enough to do that, so he was quite happy to leave them to their disapproval. At the end of the day, he was the one who got laid while the idiots stood in guard duty. He wasn't quite as indifferent about Sawada Tsunayoshi's knowing smiles, or the not so subtle hints that any visit he made to the Cavallone mansion took until the next day at the least, but those related more to the situation in general than any single visit. Besides, watching Gokudera Hayato's struggles at staying nonchalant whenever such insinuations were made more than compensated for the annoyance of Don Vongola's attitude.
The one thing he was still somewhat undecided on as to whether it spoke for or against his visits was Romario's morning routine of wake-up calls and mail delivery. The disadvantage was obvious; while the one who needed to be up was often Dino alone, the process of dragging him out of bed without fail forced Kyouya to abandon his slumber as well. The advantage lay with the latter part of Romario's visits: While the wake-up was in theory for Dino alone, unless otherwise agreed upon the night before, the delivery of mail also included Kyouya. He wasn't quite sure just when Kusakabe and Romario had come to such an arrangement, but whenever he stayed over, by the time Romario chose to wake them up all his mail from the Foundation headquarters had arrived to greet him amidst Dino's silken sheets. Knowing the distance between the two locations, Kyouya often found himself thinking with wry amusement about the poor courier who had to be breaking speed limits left and right to bring him the day's mail just in time for them to prepare for breakfast.
This morning was, of course, no exception to the rule. By the time Romario had managed to pester Dino awake, Kyouya was already sitting up, browsing through his own personal mail. There was nothing of particular interest, he decided, at least nothing that couldn't wait until after breakfast. Dropping the last letter into the pile, he turned to look at Dino just as he heard his lover gasp. "Something wrong?"
"Nothing wrong, no." As though he couldn't have told from the idiotic grin on the blonde's face. "But, look at this, Kyouya!"
"Hmm?" He leant closer, one hand settling on Dino's bare shoulder as he peeked at what had caught the don's interest. It was a simple envelope, he noticed, though made of very fine material, with fancy lettering on the address. It appeared to have come out of another envelope in Dino's other hand, the bigger one addressed to Don Cavallone.
Despite the unsurprising address on the outer envelope, the name scrawled on the inner one made Kyouya raise his eyebrows. Or, rather, names. With the same fancy writing, the envelope included Dino's full name and title – and, on another line, Kyouya's own.
"Someone sent an invitation to both of us," Dino stated the obvious, quickly opening the inner envelope. "And it's not from Vongola, either... let's see." Drawing out a formal invitation, he scanned it over with a quick glance. "Seems like Don Fabbro's daughter is getting married in two months' time."
"As though that's any surprise," Kyouya pointed out. "His daughter is five months pregnant already; if they waited any longer they'd have a ring bearer of their own by the time wedding came around."
"I'm not even going to ask how you know that," Dino said with a somewhat exasperated tone. "But, think about it, Kyouya! This is the first time anyone but Tsuna has sent us a joint invitation!"
"And it should be obvious even to you just why." Kyouya yawned, stretching himself a bit. "Fabbro's only daughter is pregnant, by one of her bodyguards no less if one believes the rumours. He's big enough that it's not considered outrageous for him to try inviting you to the wedding, but still so small that a scandal like this could destroy his family. His only chance is getting stronger allies who will keep him from sinking – allies who do not subscribe to the traditional set of values. Sending the joint invitation is as good as a request of alliance on his part."
"I know." Of course he knew. Dino could be an idiot sometimes, but he was well versed in the politics of the mafia. "Everyone knows about our relationship by now, but nobody aside from Tsuna has ever dared to give any indications of acknowledging it, because they can't be seen as condoning such immoral behaviour. Fabbro's taking a big risk if he's planning to let us attend as an open couple."
"Cavallone and Vongola are both big enough that people are willing to look the other way," Kyouya agreed. "The only reason Fabbro dares to make such a move is that if this fails, he'll be doomed anyway."
"Indeed." Dino looked at him. "So, how about it? Are we going?"
"You think it's a good idea?" Kyouya arched an eyebrow.
"Why not? I should have nothing on my schedule at the time, and you never plan that far ahead anyway if only you can help it."
"You're letting him manipulate you," Kyouya accused. It seemed rather obvious to him.
"No, Kyouya. I'm playing the game, just like Don Fabbro is," Dino disagreed. "He took a risk in making this move, subtle as it is. Alliance with him would not be unbeneficial, whatever the motivations. As long as it does not harm me, I'm willing to reward any gestures of acceptance regarding us." He paused, giving Kyouya an almost mischievous glance. "Or are you perhaps ashamed to be seen with me?"
"As though I care what anyone else thinks." Kyouya rolled his eyes. "Why does your rewarding him have to include me pretending to be social?"
"There's not much shock value involved in my showing up alone, that's why."
"I'm inclined to agree with Boss, here," Romario spoke up from where he was going through his other morning routine of opening the curtains and getting out Dino's outfit for the day. "Everyone knows about the two of you, even if nobody ever mentions it, so your reputations are not at peril. However, if you ever want to be able to stop sneaking around and pretending you don't fall asleep in the same bed half the time, you need to take every opportunity you get to be open about it."
"So now it's two against one, huh? Do I need to start taking Tetsu along with me?" Kyouya sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. I'll come to the wedding as your date, as long as I'm not expected to make small talk."
Dino's grin, he decided, was almost as good an advantage as the breakfast.