"You promise you'll come back?" huffed a small child, his blonde hair shining in the mid-afternoon sun.
"Yes, I pinky promise," said the taller one as he knelt down to the other's height.
"Nu-uh, that won't do!" The boy shook his head furiously, his hair whipping around his face, "it has to be stronger than that."
"Stronger than a pinky promise?" the other boy asked incredulously as he tilted his head, the hair he had attempted to slick back with water falling loose.
"Yes! And it's only for the most super important of promises!"
"Really? Do tell."
"Well," the blonde looked bashfully away as he began to play with the bottom of his tunic. "My mama told me that for it to work you have to trust the other person, and not like a little bit, but like, a lot."
"No problems there then," the dark haired boy chirped, putting a fist to his chest, "I trust you one hundred and ten percent!"
"That's pretty big," the shorter one said in awe, but the shook his head of the number, "Then it'll definitely work! But first, you have to close your eyes!"
"Huh? What for?"
"It's so the magic can work! That way the fairies know that you trust me!" the younger one said, a smile on his face he informed him on the etiquette of his form of promises.
The taller boy started to laugh, complying to the blonde's wishes.
"Of course, how could I forget?" he asked rhetorically, wondering what it was that the young noble had come up with this time.
"Are you ready?" He heard the other whisper nervously after a slight pause.
"Kurapika," he called softly, not wanting to scare him away, "everything will be fine. After all, I trust you."
"But Chrollo, what if it doesn't work?"
He resisted the urge to open his eyes and just hug him, instead he opted for a clever retort.
"It can't work if we don't ever try." He heard the boy gasp in realization, like he had experienced the most enlightening epiphany.
"You're right! So does that mean you're ready?"
"Whenever you are." he replied, still not sure what to expect. This time there was no pause, and Chrollo then felt a small and fierce presence on his lips which caused him to snap open his eyes to look at the noble in front of him, whose cheeks were dusted red, a grin spread across his face.
"See? If a promise is sealed with a kiss then it's sure to come true!"
Chrollo couldn't help but laugh at the simple explanation, but accepted it nonetheless.
"Absolutely, now how about we spend the rest of the day together before I leave?"
The noble giggled ecstatically, taking Chrollo's hand enthusiastically and dragging him back towards the Kurtan estate.
Chrollo would miss spending every day here, but he knew it was important to do his part in rising through the family's ranks to reach his ultimate goal: protecting Kurapika.
