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Verde thinks Skull is half(?) jellyfish.
Yes, he will elaborate.
Like any good mad scientist, Verde has absolutely looked into immortality.
When researching the origins of immortality, he stumbled upon an academic journal article detailing the possibility of discovering the secret from jellyfish genes.
He thought about it for half a second, scoffed and moved on.
When Verde sees Skull with Oodako, something in his brain takes notice, but he backshelves the thought.
When he sees Skull come back time and time again after injuries that should have been fatal, a tiny corner of his brain starts making notes.
On an ordinary Italian summer's day, two years into this Arcobaleno partnership, Verde sees Skull and Oodako playing in the large water fountain in the Arcobaleno mansion grounds and drops his coffee. He ignored the dramatic (as always) mourning Renato about spilling "the sweet nectar" and the way Viper had appeared after sensing the shock pulse in their formative bond. He couldn't stop staring at Skull. And the jellyfish way Oodako was moving. Alarm bells blaring in the back of his mind. He can't stop thinking about that article. About the line of research he started and dropped once their Arcoblano duties became more demanding. About how comfortable Skull looks in the water (like he belongs there).
(Later, he thinks that maybe Skull is half jellyfish, or at least descended from one. When he is five days sleep deprived, knees-deep in this thought he cannot get out of his head, watching Skull through blurry eyes as he puts a pillow under Verde's head, a blanket over him, and as Skull goes around Verde's lab, stopping any experiments that Verde really needed to tend to himself. Verde had the intrusive and erratic thought: maybe Skull is some sort of half-human jellyfish prince.)
But then they're called off onto another mission after mission, and he pushes it to the back of his mind. He allows his brain to think it over without his conscious input, so he can concentrate on keeping these reckless idiots alive.
He saw Skull nearly drown in the swimming pool of a mafia family in Russia, as henchmen after henchmen dive in after him, Killing Intent draping heavily in the atmosphere, and Skull's cloud flames multiplying in the water in his panic until only Skull was left. Allowed the thought process to peek into the control room window of his mind. But the curtains were quickly drawn shut because how dare they touch HIS cloud.
Plotting revenge takes his current priority.
Watching Skull easily shake off what could've been a nasty end (does Skull not understand what could've happened?! Their young, reckless cloud!) helps soothe the still tense-worry bond they all share.
Laughter and sun flames light up the sky as Renato attempts to "train" Skull to hide his concern (like he is fooling any of them), and Storm flames feeding from both Fon and Lal Mirch (and wasn't that interesting, storm from their rain), heavy in the air, hanging a protective environment.
Then the curse happens. They are toddlers. All other research is pushed to the side. The only thing that matters is breaking this curse. Researching until his eyes are dry and his fingers cramp. Seeing if there were others (there must have been, otherwise where had the prestigious title come from).
He is the lightning. He needs to protect his family. His flame-brothers. His bonds. He is the Da Vinci of his time. He will solve this.
Until one day, Skull, Oodako, Cayman, and Fantasma were play-fighting in the fountain. And. Jellyfish. "What about the jellyfish?"
The rest of the Arcobaleno think that he has snapped. That the curse has finally got to him.
Verde cannot help but regurgitate all the evidence his brain had put together while he had not been paying attention. The most the others could make out was Verde's mumbling of Jellyfish genealogy, which doesn't help their bemusement.
As Verde walks to the fountain and Skull tentively greets him, seeing the expression on his face, and Keyman rubbing against his arm in greeting as he reaches out to Skull, fully dunking Skull's head in the water. Ignoring Skull's spluttering and the Arcobaleno's stunned silence, he drags Skull away and starts zapping his flames into him, trying to get some sort of reading. Do jellyfish have readings? Why had he not bought one to test before? How do jellyfish live anyhow? Do they need special environments? Enrichment? Does Skull? He can't slow his brain, even as he ignores Skull's dramatic grasping of grass as he is pulled along, he ignores Oodako and Cayman swaped glances (Okay, Verde, old pal, maybe some sleep before experiments - their animal partners are not sharing glances at his expense), and ignores his flame-mates' gazes as he marches on.
Then, to the bewilderment of Skull and the rest of the Arcobaleno, come the experiments.
Dumping salt water on Skull's head, accompanied by the mumbling thoughts of a magical transformation? Like a magical girl? A werewolf in the throes of a full moon? A mythological creature?
Maybe garlic? - Adding sea salt to everyone's food (or maybe Skull's in particular), murmuring about salt purifying the human body and maybe a process of adaptation to sea-salt water.
Watching Skull be childish and trying to prank Reborn (-because it's Reborn now, because they're cursed and he needs to fix this. He is the Lightning and the Da Vinci of his time, and they're his and he has to fix this-).
Verde remembers how Jellyfish can regress in age if they become traumatised (how old is their Skull? Immortal and old, he assumed - but rather is it immortal and young?? How old until immortals are classed as ancient? How young is their cloud? Physically? Mentally? Immortal-ity?).
Verde watches Oodako cling to Reborns legs in an attempt to let Skull get away, he thinks that maybe Oodako should be part of his experimentation too. He blinks and sees everyone has gone silent and is staring at him.
Oops. Must have said that out loud.
Cayman comes out of the doorway and starts herding Verde to the sofa, Colonello following with a worried glint in his eyes and an easygoing grin to his face. With Lichi chattering near Verde's head, he closes his eyes, warm with the press of the Arcobaleno's flames surrounding him. Maybe a little nap will not hurt anything.
(Later on, when he remembers this moment, in the throes of another research frenzy, he has a half-thought if Skull and Oodako are half-brothers. Then he has another breakdown)