Time note: This fic takes place directly following the end of episode 62, in the couple-hour interim between the end of the TV series and the beginning of the first OVA. It's between chapters 102 and 103 in vol. 11 of the manga, but there Leolio's not in the "reunion in the park" scene. I'm going by the anime here, because it suits my purposes far better. *grin* In oh-so-many ways.
"Brats...!" Leolio was still whining, lamenting the ice cream stains all over his suit as Kurapika half-led, half-pushed him off towards the elevators.
"Gon! Kirua!" Kurapika called over his shoulder. "Meet us down here in the lobby when you've showered, okay?" He was practically beaming--a relief after the worry he'd caused them all the night before. His voice had changed completely from the grave tones they'd heard over the phone.
"Okaaaaaay!" Gon shouted back, overly loud for the the staid atmosphere of the hotel, waving enthusiastically. As usual, he was blithely unaware of the figure he cut, completely covered in ice cream and dripping onto the five-star hotel's marble floor. Then again... Kirua sighed as he looked down at himself. Not a bit better. Yuck...
"Hey!" Gon turned brightly to his companion. "Race you!" Kirua blinked, then took off after Gon towards the stairs.
"Headstart, no fair!" Gon blew him a raspberry. "Huh! If that's how it is..." Kirua put on an extra burst of speed and was at Gon's heels as he opened the stairwell door, planted his hands on Gon's shoulders and leap-frogged straight over him onto the first landing. He returned the raspberry, pulling down one eyelid, before taking off full-tilt up the stairs.
"Wah! Kirua~!"
Kirua smirked to himself. He never got tired of the way Gon said his name. Especially when he was annoyed. "There's only one shower, you're gonna hafta wait!"
"A~ah!! It's your fault I'm dirty in the first pla~ce!"
Kirua couldn't have said what was cute about extended vowels, but for some reason Gon's really were.
Their combined footsteps echoed off the concrete walls of the narrow stairwell, almost in time with each other. They had already come a long way from the Hunter exam, when Kirua could effortlessly have outdistanced Gon. Now he had to run his hardest to stay ahead, but the edge was still his.
"Kirua, ahead!"
"Geh?" Kirua looked up as he reached the fifth floor landing, just in time to see a member of the hotel cleaning staff, face obscured by the mountain of towels she was carrying, step out smack in front of him. "Dah--!" He swung himself to the side, turning his body to squeeze between her and the railing, but his flailing arm hit the stack of towels. She screamed as they went flying. "Ah! Sorry!" Kirua said, hopping to regain his balance amidst a rain of fluffy cotton. Before he had, a towel landed over his head, he received an abrupt and vigorous hair-drying, and felt a whoosh of air as Gon sailed over him.
"Hah! Be more careful next time!"
"GON!" Kirua growled, taking off after him, leaving the bewildered staffperson far behind them in seconds.
The door to the eighth floor burst open moments later, spilling Gon out into the hallway. He pulled it shut as he went, bringing Kirua to a half-halt to reopen it. Now lagging several paces behind, Kirua dashed down the carpeted corridor after Gon, approaching their room, nearly there--
"Haha~!" Kirua leapt as Gon skidded to a halt, keycard already in hand, and hit the floor with his arms around Gon's knees.
"Wahh!!" Gon's arms pinwheeled and he sat down with a thump on Kirua's back.
"Oof! Gon!"
"Haha, yourself," Gon said, smoothly sliding the keycard through the slot from where he sat. He half-stood, and pushed the door open as he fell in. He flipped over and sat up just inside the door, flashing a v-sign. "I win."
Kirua deflated. "Fine, fine," he said wearily, waving a hand at Gon from his position on the floor. "You go first."
"Soon as I catch my breath," Gon said, falling back onto his elbows and panting unabashedly. Kirua himself was breathing pretty hard, but trying to mask it. That was Gon for you, though, not a problem in the world with conceding--"You're so fast, Kirua! If it weren't for that lady, I'd never've beat you!"--something like that.
Kirua smiled helplessly. That was a big part of Gon's charm. "A win's a win," he sighed, propping himself up on one elbow. "And you were making me sweat for it even without her."
"Heh." Gon smiled widely at the compliment, making very obvious--
"Gon, while you had a towel in your hands, you could've at least gotten the ice cream off your face."
"Huh? I thought I did?"
"Here and here and here," Kirua said, pointing at his own face.
"Here?" Gon said, avoiding all three spots and scrubbing at the one part of his cheek that was entirely clean.
"No, there," Kirua said, pointing at Gon, now.
"Here?" Another miss. "Here?"
"Gah, no~! How can you miss it?!" Kirua got up and stepped inside, directly over Gon. "Right there!" he said, reaching for Gon's face. He stopped as Gon's upraised eyes met his and held them for a moment. "Right... there..." he said slowly, touching Gon's cheek lightly with his index finger and pulling it back.
"Oh!" Gon said brightly, scrubbing the right spot, now. Kirua's finger went straight into his mouth. "There we go."
"Gon..." Kirua sighed. "You just smeared it over the rest of your face."
"Oh?" Gon looked up at him. "Oh well," he said, springing to his feet. "I'm gonna shower, anyway." He started for the bathroom, unbuttoning his jacket as he went. "Coming?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at the bathroom door.
"Huh? Yeah," Kirua said, kicking off his shoes and pushing the door the rest of the way shut before trotting after Gon. Waste of good ice cream, he thought sadly. He would dearly have liked to help Gon remove it... but, of course... Restraint, he thought, hopping onto one foot and then the other as he peeled off his socks. I am the king of restraint. I don't kill anymore, and I don't... well... He veered away from that train of thought before it got too graphic.
Gon had already disrobed and was stepping into the shower when Kirua came into the bathroom. Thankfully he slid the marbled-glass door shut before he could see Kirua flush. Restraint, Kirua reminded himself, toeing the door shut and perching himself on the toilet. It didn't stop him from watching Gon's silhouette through the door, though. After all, Gon couldn't tell where he was looking. The faucet turned with a slight squeak and the shower started up.
"I'll hurry and let you go," Gon said, voice muffled by the sound of the spray against tile. "Don't wanna keep Kurapika and Leolio waiting."
"Ohh, I wouldn't worry about that," Kirua snickered. "If we hurry, we'll be the ones waiting."
"You think so?"
"Don't tell me you didn't notice? I mean, we've seen Leolio these past couple days, but the both of them? Moon-eyes and love-love from here to next week. Bleah!"
Gon's giggle came out as a gurgle. "So you had the same idea when you hit Leolio with your ice cream?"
"I had to spoil his cool," Kirua laughed. "It was just too funny!"
"Oh," Gon sounded surprised as he started lathering up his hair. "I figured I'd give Kurapika the opening, but I'm really not sure he'll take it."
"Eh?" Kirua said.
"He's been so focussed on the Phantom Brigade and all..." Gon's voice trailed off as he ducked under the showerhead to rinse his hair.
"No, wait. What...?" Kirua started. Gon was still talking, but the words were entirely garbled, and Kirua was stuck a few sentences back. The shower cut off.
"...would really help him relax." The door slid open and Gon stepped out. "What?" Gon said, reaching for a towel to wrap around his waist. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"Maybe I did," Kirua said, getting up and stalking over to his friend. He tapped Gon's forehead with his forefinger. "Are you really Gon?" Again to make sure. "Oi." Once more for good measure.
"Wha~at?" Gon repeated, swatting Kirua's hand away. "Quit that!"
"Huh," Kirua said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Let's just say I never expected to hear that from you."
Gon blinked, head tilted to one side. "Why not?"
"Uh... never mind."
"Anyway, hurry up and shower!"
"Right, right," Kirua said, quickly slipping his shirt over his head. He paused with it over both arms. "Hey... let's bet on it, then." He grinned. "I bet you by the time we see them downstairs, they've done it."
"Heehee... are you sure, Kirua? You have a habit of losing the bets we make."
"Hmph." Kirua grumbled. "There's no way I'll lose this one. Whaddya wanna bet?"
"Hmmm," Gon looked pensive. "You still owe me payment on the last bet, Kirua."
"'S'right," Kirua remembered. He still had to 'obey one order from Gon.' Gon hadn't used that yet. "Double that, then. And if I win, you have to do one thing I say."
"Ri~sky, Kirua..."
"Ah, shaddup." Kirua tossed his shirt in Gon's face, dropped his pants and boxers and was in the shower before Gon had batted it away. "If you wanna know why I'm gonna win," he gloated as he switched the water on. "It's Leolio. The way he's been pacing around, all nervous, since we got here. Going out on those 'walks,' and you saw him after Kurapika hung up before he could talk to him last night. He's ready to burst. And the second he gets Kurapika alone..."
"Mmm..." Gon's voice from the other side of the door was speculative. "Yeah, but... he's been like that about Kurapika almost since they met."
"Ehh? Really?"
"Uh-huh! Much more now than before, sure, but it started way back."
Kirua paused, thinking back over the Hunter exam. He'd seen them bicker, and gradually gain respect for each other, but hadn't really noticed anything more. "Are you sure? How could you tell?"
"Hmmm..." Gon paused in the process of towelling his hair and Kirua saw him shrug. "I just sort of know."
"Uh-uh. Not your 'just sort of know,' again. How?"
"Hmmmm..." Kirua smiled, knowing the almost-pouty 'thinking face' that went along with that sound. "Body language," Gon said finally.
"Ah?"
"When animals are around others that they trust, their bodies are always relaxed, right?"
"Uh... yeah?" It was Kirua's turn to shrug. Made sense, but what did he know about it?
"That's what Leolio's like when he's around you or me. Relaxed. Well, when Kurapika and Leolio met, the first thing they did was fight. But they made up really soon, and became friends with each other and with me. Kurapika's body language got relaxed, like you should be around your friends, but Leolio was different. The closer he was standing to Kurapika, the tenser his body was, the straighter he'd stand, and the louder he'd talk."
"Now that you mention it... He really does, huh?"
"Yup! And that's the behaviour of an animal who wants to mate, but hasn't yet. And he's been doing it since they met."
Safely behind glass, Kirua had frozen, eyes wide. L-leave it to Gon to turn his friends into a nature walk. I didn't think he even knew about... Mating behaviour? Tell me I'm not doing anything he can figure out...?! "Is that so?" Kirua managed.
"Definitely," Gon said, not seeming to notice the pause. "So what I'm saying is, if Leolio was going to, well--"
"Of course," Kirua repeated, somewhat skeptical, and reluctant to let Gon be the one with a better knowledge of adults'... mating habits. "Well, even if that's true, he won't have to wait for him any longer. Maybe I don't know much about animals, or Leolio," Kirua snorted. One and the same? "But I can read Kurapika. And he's ready for move-making." Feeling sufficiently smug, Kirua switched off the water. He shook himself off, then slid open the glass door.
"Here," Gon said, transferring his second towel from his own head to Kirua's and giving him a repeat of the hair-drying ambush in the stairwell.
"Oi, oi, oi," Kirua protested, hunching down with each iteration to escape the onslaught. Unsuccessfully, because Gon was intent and followed him. "Sto~p!" he said, finally getting his hands under Gon's to shove at him. Gon stepped out of his way, laughing as he relinquished the towel. "Really," Kirua sulked, reaching to take over the task and finding his hair already dry. He started drying his back as he followed Gon out into their room.
"I need to do some washing," Gon was saying as he rummaged through his backpack on his bed. He fished out another identical jacket and shorts ensemble. "This is my last set of clean clothes."
"We need to do something about your wardrobe," Kirua said disapprovingly, wrapping his towel around his waist. He jumped for his bed, landing in a deliberate belly-flop and bouncing across the well-sprung mattress to grab his own backpack on the other side.
"What's wrong with it?" Gon said, pausing in his search to turn a wounded look on Kirua.
"'S boring," Kirua said, munching on a biscuit fished out of his bag before he'd even lifted it onto the bed. "Your outfits are all the same!"
"So?" Gon shrugged. "I don't have to match anything!"
Kirua laughed. "True enough. But still, you'd look good in--" Kirua was distracted from that appetizing, green-wrapped thought by a second, more immediate one on the centre of his pillow. "Ooh." Kirua gave a fanged grin, swiped it, and leapt for Gon's bed. Gon had already realized what he was going for, and met him with one hand to Kirua's forehead, the other grabbing the chocolate mint off of his own pillow. Undeterred, Kirua brushed that hand aside and knocked Gon over, reaching for his other hand.
"Wah! Kirua~! Eat your own!"
"Done," Kirua said, flicking the emerald foil-paper carelessly away and munching as he spoke. Gon flailed and flipped onto his stomach, curling around the fist that held his chocolate.
"You eat too much candy anyway, Kirua!"
"I'm a growing kid!" Kirua grabbed Gon around the middle and heaved, tipping himself onto his back and Gon into the air.
"You're gonna get fat!" Gon threw his weight to the side and rolled them again.
"I get a lot of exercise." Another flip.
"You'll get diabetes!" Gon kept the momentum going and threw them for another loop.
"You take that ba--ACK!" Kirua yelped as the final swing of their momentum tumbled them straight off the edge of the bed and into a sprawl on the carpet.
Gon recovered first and skittered back on his knees, then flopped back into a sitting position, intent on the chocolate in his hands. A fraction of a second later, Kirua turned and made a second leap--
"TIME OUT!" Gon declared, one hand extended. Kirua stopped, blinking. "I'll give it to you."
"Oh." Kirua said, sitting down with a thud in front of him. "Uhm, okay."
Gon pulled both hands behind his back, then held out two fists. "Pick a hand."
Kirua rolled his eyes. "That one." Gon turned his hand over, revealing the chocolate. "Hah, I wi--" Gon flicked his wrist, tossing the chocolate back, and catching it in his mouth. "Gon!" Kirua growled. He paused, eyebrows unbalancing. "Gon, you ate it with the wrapper on."
Gon's expression revealed that move as a miscalculation. He made a face. His mouth twitched to one side, then the other. Then he turned to one side and neatly spit out the paper. He turned a smug expression on Kirua.
"Not bad," Kirua admitted with a sigh. He twitched as Gon stuck a chocolate-covered tongue out at him. Restra~int! his inner voice wailed.
"You didn't really want it that badly, did you?" Gon asked, large brown eyes suddenly contrite.
"Uh." Kirua floundered. It was devilishly hard, when faced with that particular expression, to say anything other than what Gon wanted you to. "'Course I did," he said, looking off. "Why else would I wrestle you for it?"
Gon made a noncommittal noise. "I dunno... the usual, I guess."
Kirua's gaze snapped back to Gon. "Usual? What?"
"Well..." Gon trailed off, earnestly fixing Kirua with eyes that now looked even larger.
I'm in trouble, Kirua thought instinctively, gulping.
"If I say, you'll be mad," Gon sighed, leaning back and letting the Puppy Gaze of Doom hit the floor.
"What? What? No I won't! Maybe... Gon, what are you talking about?!"
"It's nothing, never mind."
"It's not nothing or you wouldn't--Tell me!"
"No!"
"Grah!!"
"Oof--" Gon gave him a miffed look from his position on his back, with Kirua over him on all fours, pinning his shoulders to the floor. "Fine. This is the usual."
"Ah--?"
"Well?" Gon demanded.
Kirua's expression dissolved into complete confusion. "Well what?"
"Are you ever going to do something?"
"D-do?" Kirua repeated, petrified.
Gon huffed impatiently. "You always grab me, you always toss me around, you always jump on me. You act like an animal who wants to--"
"Don't say it!" Kirua croaked, flushing crimson. "I--I--you..." He noticed! He knows! How long has he known for?! "You just ask for it all the time, and..."
"And...?" Gon prompted, an impish smile turning up the corners of his mouth. Kirua feared that smile. It meant Gon was about to win.
"There is no 'and'?" Kirua tried, unconvincingly. And I like to touch you. I can't help myself, when you're being so infuriating, but cute, and... don't make me say it!
"Kirua." Gon's expression went entirely serious. "My one order. Kiss me."
Kirua's eyes rounded. Gon... and... kissing and... lips and cute and... But I'm not supposed to-- Gon had closed his eyes, his chin tilted expectantly up. Hey! his inner voice cut in. He just told you to! It made an excellent point. Kirua bent down and carefully pressed his lips to Gon's.
"Mm~!" Gon flung his arms around Kirua's neck, bringing him down heavily over him.
"Uwah--Gon!"
"A~aah, Kirua, that wasn't it! You're not done, that wasn't a real ki--Mmph!"
Kirua grabbed Gon's face with both hands and kissed him again, throwing any thought of restraint to the wind. He'd never kissed anyone before, but he knew the principle, and he was nothing if not a quick study. Gon's lips under his felt soft, warm and just good. The way Gon was hugging him so close felt right, too. If only he'd guessed Gon felt the same way earlier!
Kirua started slightly when Gon's tongue nipped out to swipe his lip. Kirua followed it with his own--Gon tasted of mint chocolate. Their tongues curled around each other in a new and intimate caress, testing, then vying for supremacy. Kirua recognized the contest with a jolt of relieved pleasure. Just like anything else he did with Gon, it was a combination of cooperation and competition.
He could feel his face burning when their lips parted. Gon was grinning hugely even before he opened his eyes. When he did, they positively shone. "Cu~te," Gon giggled.
"Wha-?" Kirua's cheeks got even hotter. "I'm not the cute one." Gon grinned back. He didn't seem about to let Kirua go, either. Kirua relaxed a little, propping himself on his elbows so he could see Gon more easily. "You, uh, surprised me, Gon. I didn't think you knew--or at least, were interested in... this kinda thing."
"Mmmm," Gon gave Kirua another squeeze. "When I said we should stay together from now on, what'd you think I meant?"
Kirua blinked. "I..."
"I'm happy when I'm with you, Kirua. I don't want you to have to look anywhere else for your happiness. I mean--!" he added quickly, looking concerned. "We'll still look for what you want to do! But!" The Puppy Gaze of Doom returned. "Whatever it is, we'll do it together. Okay?"
"Yeah," Kirua found himself smiling as widely as Gon had been. "That suits me." The thought of eventually parting ways with Gon had soured the idea of finding his own quest since they'd come up with it. "That suits me fine." From now on, he thought again, this time with complete finality. It felt right.
"Good!" Gon chirped sunnily. "So let's move on!"
"Eh?"
"That kiss was pretty okay, I think, but we can do better, can't we?"
Kirua took all of a moment to be shocked. "You're damn right we can!!"
Leolio was sitting with his arm around Kurapika's shoulders when Gon and Kirua returned to the lobby, their backs to their unseen observers.
"Yo!" Kirua greeted loudly, and watched Kurapika scoot hastily to the other side of their couch.
"Ho~ you're late, you're late!" Leolio drawled, grinning at them over his shoulder. Unchanged to the casual eye, his expression was a good deal more relaxed than it had been before. "What kind of young people are you, slower than your elders?"
"Ah, don't worry so much," Kirua said as he and Gon plunked down on the couch facing their friends. It was easily discernible at a glance--Leolio was all smiles, his stained suit entirely forgotten, and Kurapika glowed with something that looked like health or happiness or a little of each. "I'm sure you two made good use of the extra time." Kirua smirked, shooting each of them a sly look.
"Wh-what?" Leolio sputtered as beside him Kurapika's cheeks turned a flattering shade of rose. "What are you implying?!"
Kirua's smirk widened. "Bingo. Nice job, old man. Finally got him in the sack!"
"He most certainly did not!!" Kurapika exploded, drowning out whatever Leolio had been about to say.
"Shhhh!" Leolio hushed, tugging his arm to get him to sit down again. "People're staring..." He was blushing slightly himself, though he couldn't come close to the shade of crimson Kurapika now sported. "Don't shoot your mouth off on subjects you know nothing about," he growled at Kirua.
"I know plenty," Kirua said unrepentently, though more quietly. "Didn't you guys do it?"
"No!" the pair said in unison.
Kirua frowned. "Truthfully...? Because you reeeeeeally look like it."
"For your information--" Leolio began indignantly.
"--All we did was make out," Kurapika finished, arms crossed, face scarlet. "Now shut up."
"Oh," Kirua said, crestfallen. "Are you sure?"
"You wanna die?" Leolio growled.
Kirua sighed. "Ahh... you're a disappointment, old man. Guess I lose my bet."
"Wha~t?!"
Kirua sighed again as Kurapika took his turn to calm Leolio. We're back where we started on that, then... Too bad Gon probably won't use that order for the same thing a second time, now that he knows I'd do it anyway...
"--Anyhow, Gon!" Kurapika's over-loud attempt to change the subject cut into Kirua's thoughts. "You look happy about something!"
Kirua looked, and immediately turned pale. Oh, no. Gon was positively beaming--he looked like he was having trouble containing himself, he was so happy. Oh no, oh no, oh no--Kurapika, don't ask-- Too late. Gon nodded eagerly and Leolio, immediately pacified by the innocent exuberance of the gesture, just had to ask--
"Did something good happen?"
"I had sex," Gon announced.
Gon glowed into the shell-shocked silence that followed. "I gave Kirua an orgasm. Twice. You should see his face when he has one, it's so--"
"QUIET!!!!" Kirua choked, launching himself at Gon to clap a hand over his mouth. "Y-y-y-you're not supposed to..." His face frozen in an artificial smile, Kirua turned slowly to Kurapika and Leolio. They were simply staring at the two of them, open-mouthed. "Eheh... heh... heh..."
"You..." Kurapika rasped after a long silence. "You're kidding..."
Behind Kirua's hand, Gon shook his head a vigorous no.
"You two... really...?" Leolio began, answered immediately by an equally enthusiastic nod. "I... don't believe it," Leolio collapsed bonelessly against the back of the couch.
"Somehow..." Kurapika said slowly, catching Leolio's eye. "I feel outdone."
"Well!!" Leolio said, voice rising far too loud for comfort. "That's youth for you! In just an hour?! If it were us, that's how long foreplay would've taken!"
"Oi--" Kurapika started, looking around at the looks they were drawing.
Kirua's hands dropped into his lap. It was his turn to stare at Leolio. Gon, who was the only one not red in the face by now, continued to sit there and exude sunshine at the rest of them.
"--twice in an hour???" Leolio was crowing. "That's a kid's stamina, no question about it! Now if it were me--!"
"Huh?" Gon said suddenly, glancing around. "Where'd Kirua go?" His question went unnoticed by Leolio who continued his boisterous comparisons of sexual prowess and Kurapika who was desperately trying to shut him up. "Kirua?"
Restraint! Kirua's mental voice frantically reminded him from the shadows behind Leolio. Restraint!
--Utopian Trunks
May 7, 2003
Note! A big thank you to my beta-readers! You are cute and taste good with--no, wait a minute... You are awesome and deserve cookies. ^^ I *snug* you. XD