Cloud AU's

Cloudsitter(s)

Basically the Arcobaleno treating Skull more like a loud manchild than a placement mistake.

In other words: 'try and make the mafia less threatening to the unfortunate victim of their group'. He didn't have a choice as much as them to be there.
He didn't have a threatening reputation or worthwhile resources that could've helped him rebel against the man in the iron hat. He lost his identity without being able to reclaim it. He lost his job, his joy, and even had a public death record on Wikipedia; Verde pointed it out to the distraught Cloud.

And he was a Cloud. An unbonded Cloud in captivity. Three guesses as to how that could go over for them if they didn't decide to take matters into their own hands.

Which is how 'Cloudsitting' came to be. Basically, whoever was closest to the Cloud, mainly on missions though also liable in the house, was responsible for making sure he was okay--- alive and as emotionally stable as possible.

Skull didn't think much of them occasionally dropping by the garage that'd basically become his primary hideout. Although he also visited Verde's lab occasionally, working with smaller machines, oil and mechanics he was allowed to touch (that wouldn't blow up). The scientist barely noticed him after the 6th time he wandered in, tinkering on experiments and tapping on the computer being a natural ambiance in his space. Occasionally he'd check on Skull through the monitor's reflection, if only to check whether or not he was even there and, if so, to make sure he hadn't strayed to the danger zone from his allowed pile of leftovers. He also checked his reaction when testing a new product, his... plainer way of thinking drawing connections he'd naturally abstain from.

Other times he'd just lounge around the living room, dozing at the ceiling, walls or TV. They all tried to avoid that: him losing track of his surroundings, even in their would-be home would be... The danger it could pose on the field aside, it was -would be- beyond bad for Clouds.
While their type is slow and may linger, they're never truly stagnant. A Cloud getting too stuck in their head just leads to problems, such as detachment from reality to avoid any form of restraint.

A Herald of Rage.

Since they couldn't quite let go of the job they were still doing, they made sure he wasn't staring anywhere for longer than ten minutes. If he fell asleep before that, that's fine, they'd let him be, but if he remained awake with a vacant look then it was obligatory to distract him, be that through conversation or training. Simply putting him to repeating tasks like dish washing, a rubix cube, chasing a pinball laser's light, fiddling with a fidget toy, helping them disassemble a gun or other mechanism, have him cook or clean, etc.

Whatever they could think of.

Reborn opted to antagonize him while Fon struck up easy topics, Skull liked talking about all kinds of jokes, entertainment and thrillers. Although food and cultural highlights such as new movies that were mainstream were also among his interests.
They'd regale stories of their youth, the little family they had - biological or not. Hence Skull knew Fon had a nephew while the other knew Skull had grown up as one of the last kids in his orphanage before it was shut down. No clue why it did, but yeah, he was pretty lonely as a child for those two months.

It was through all sorts of interactions similar to these that Skull was eased into the whole Mafia shebang.

So yeah, Cloudsitting was something the Arcobaleno did -- that they invented.

That they maintained.

A constant pattern even after the curse struck.

It was hard at first, discovering that they were betrayed and reduced to this.