Archive of Our Own ^beta

Killua was not having a good day.

It began with the typical road puddle drenching, shortly followed by more drenching, courtesy of the harsh rain, then followed by the almost painful lashing of wind... If it wasn't centred around him, he would've found the pathetic fallacy amusing.

But it was happening to him. 

So instead he was internally cursing, often externally, at everything, far past caring about the weird looks that were tossed his way. 

What was worse was that he knew his day was bound to get worse; although his teeth looked relatively white, he could tell that the obscene amount of chocolate he regularly binged upon and the lack of willpower to move a toothbrush in his mouth for not even 4 minutes a day would mean his dentist's verdict would not be good.

Not good at all.

And now, the second he escaped into the temporary refuge, his ipod's battery had decided to die - just when a decent track had begun to play.

More weird looks were tossed his way; agitation rolled off of him in unapproachable waves, which he wasn't complaining about. If anything, it seemed to work in his favour.

Employees could only frown at him as he skipped the compulsory hygiene routine, all but slammed his appointment sheet onto the desk and collapsed into worn down furnishing. A clearly irritated clerk's mouth began to open to correct the behaviour but promptly shut again when greeted with a dark, verging on sociopathic, glare. After recognising that his 'fuck off' message was heard loud and clear, Killua slumped further into the worn down chair and gave a quick side glance at the clock chiming obnoxiously on the cream wall.

Half an hour to spare before the anticipated lecturing.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

He let out an annoyed huff whilst rummaging his pocket, through the obscene amount of scrunched receipts and used tissues, in a attempt to find his phone. Though he doubted that even the adorableness of Neko Atsume would be a distraction.

When he realised that he had left it on his bedside table, he wasn't even surprised. One of the few benefits of lowered expectations.

And so, Killua just sat and observed, earphones not taken out as an extra measure to avoid conversation.

Luckily for him, there was only one other person waiting in the room and they was too preoccupied, or at least trying to look preoccupied, squinting at an upside down magazine. They soon seemed to catch on with the impracticalities of reading it that way and flicked it around, face flushed a pink just a shade too dark to only be due to the cold. Round eyes flickered away from the page to Killua then, with much reluctance, back to the page again. Their eyebrows were furrowed, as if contemplating something ridiculous like the meaning of life, something way too deep to think about in a dentistry.

They were so easy to read it was almost laughable; yet at the same time Killua couldn't tell what exactly they were thinking...

Either way, sneakiness was definitely not their forte.

If Killua were in a better mood, he might have chuckled out loud.

As amber eyes clashed with azure, the man seemed to perk up a little. Instead of looking back down at the magazine, he set it upon the table and bashfully rubbed the back of his head, lips turned upward in a contagious smile as Killua blinked dumbly. The frown from (not even) minutes before was already ebbing off of Killua's face and, noticing this, he grumbled and tore his gaze away.

What a jerk - who did he think he was, spreading happiness around like that? Didn't he know that is was a basic rule in society to not to acknowledge an angry person?

Killua didn't realise how cosy the atmosphere was until it was shattered by a screeching ring tone.

Both men startled.

Noticing the revealing mistake, Killua tensed and quickly averted his attention back to the clock, rubbing his cheeks to try to will away the pink prevailing across them. He just missed the way the other's mouth softened into a more genuine smile.

Trying to be as subdued as possible, his eyes danced back to the tanned man answering his phone. Killua watched, bemused, as he jumped at the shout of his name from down the line. The caller seemed expressive, which Killua was thankful for; because of the voice's loudness, he had overheard the other's name.

Gon.

One syllable; simple, just like what appeared to be his personality, but it seemed nice to say. Killua barely repressed himself from saying it out loud, from testing how it rolled off of his tongue.

"Leorio! How are you?!"

Although he couldn't pick out much from the toned down murmurs, Killua could clearly hear the affection in Leorio's words. He wondered what he was to Gon - a father figure, a relative, a friend, a best friend... more?

"I'm good; at the dentists, arrived a bit too early though, got a bit caught up in the weather," He giggled at something the other said. Killua wondered how it was possible to be able to giggle with such a velvety voice and still sound attractive. "No no, I didn't get swept away, but I did forget my coat."

True to his word, his only protection was a green checked shirt and a black top. Killua was unsure why he didn't notice before - the rain had soaked his clothes so they were like a second skin, clearly accentuating the burliness of muscle beneath. It should've been the first thing he had noticed about him, judging by the lingering stares of the workers, it was definitely the first thing they noticed.

Specifically the woman behind the computer, even the wiry mess of black hair couldn't disguise how much she was checking him out.

Killua assumed that it was her lack of shame that sent his stomach in sickening knots.

"Leorio, how do you make moves on people?"

Gon's blunt words reminded him that the creepy woman wasn't the only person with no shame.

Then, the words were finally processed.

His mind was a mantra of a single question.

Who is it? Who?

Remembering to pretend not to eavesdrop, Killua began to tap his feet and nod his head to an imaginary beat that people assumed to be blasting down his ears. He barely restrained himself from making marks onto the floor from tapping his feet so hard, which was a difficult task when imagining the tapping to be kicking and the floor to be the stalker lady's face.

"I kno- Yeah I guess, but I really wanna WOW them y'know?"

Who? 

"No, I don't think they can hear me? Would it matter?"

Who?

"I can't use that one! That's creepy!"

Who the fuck-

Killua's internal screaming halted as he sucked in a breath at a warm grin sent his way. Gon chuckled slightly, seeming oblivious to the blush the sound provoked.

"They look like a cat that has just fallen into a bath tub, it's super cute!"

Oh... Oh.

"And their cheeks are so red and soft looking and I wanna just... Just wanna squish 'em y'know?"

He had a vague answer to the question now.

"I just thought of one! What about: Your eyes are blue like the ocean, and I feel lost at sea?"

Alright... not so vague answer.

"Cheesy?! But isn't that the one you used on Kurapika?"

Killua couldn't help but feel sorry for this guy, Leorio. He noticed Gon tilted his head slightly in confusion from the corner of his eye.

"How can a dick die anyway? And why would I want to bury it-"

All pity was lost. What kind of friend would recommend that pick up line?!

Idiot... Idiot! IDIOT!

Gon's sentence was thankfully cut short as Killua's name was announced by the ghost-like woman at the computer. She seemed disappointed, maybe even crestfallen, at the knowledge of her loss. Even so, her mouth still curled into the beginnings of a smile at Killua's reaction to the chance of escape; his chair was slammed back against the wall at the ridiculous speed he stood up, face aflame and a curtain of white hair flattened as an attempt to cover his widened eyes.

Despite this, he didn't get away fast enough.

Being so intent on his goal, he didn't hear the conclusive beep of a phone or the trampling of footsteps drawing nearer. He didn't register the approaching warmth emanating towards his hand before it was too late.

"Killua!"

There was no reason to run, no way to run, so he stood still and allowed the tug on his wrist to pull him around. Killua feigned ignorance as he pulled out his earphones.

"What is it?"

There was a long pause.

"My dick just-"

"IDIOT!"

There was an even longer pause. Killua sighed exasperatedly, realising that his shout may or may not have been misunderstood. He mumbled incomprehensible words to himself, something about 'why' and 'torture' and a lot of cussing. After a minute of being held by Gon's unwavering grasp and intense stare, he finally inhaled, preparing an understandable response.

"That's... That's not how you..."

Well, an attempt at an understandable response. He inhaled deeper.

"I'm free after this," He cleared his throat. "Gon?"

"Mhm! Yes! Definitely!"

Gon's nod was equally adorable as it was instantaneous.

A broad smile stretched across both of their faces.

"Look at the state of them! Aren't you meant to be an adult? You have the stubbornness of a brat!"

"It's because of people like this 'brat' that you have work,"

Killua's dentist tutted, lessening the tight grip on his cheek and shaking her head, blonde curls bounced almost whipping him in the process. Though he wasn't shocked if it were the intended purpose - Dr Krueger was a relentless dentist, slaps across the face and harsh pinching weren't unexpected happenings.