Just a few things to note before reading this story. This was inspired by the AoT meme that's been going around on tumblr, the one where the whole thing was actually a show ad everyone was just an actor in the real world. This is just going to be a series of drabbles revolving around that idea.
Obviously the characters are going to be very, very different from their actual personas, but I will try to keep their differences within reason. And with that, enjoy the story.
"Alright," the director called, clapping his hands. "Good work for today, that's a wrap!" He held both his hands up, flashing a thumbs up at the rest of the staff. He let out a sigh of relief as he walked off the set, hands in his pockets. The other actors let out sounds of relief and joy, some exchanging words of praise, others starting to head to the dressing room to get out of their costumes.
A white haired girl smiled, stretching her arms above her head and wiping the fake snot from her mouth. "Ah, I can't believe it's over already!" she said, opening her eyes. The man on the floor nodded in agreement, cracking a few bones as he stretched. "It's been great working with you Meruem! Hopefully we'll get to do something together again!" The man nodded.
"Yeah, hopefully I won't have to dress like an alien again," he said with a smile, getting up and offering her a hand. The two of them shared a hug. "You're coming to the celebration, right?" The girl nodded.
"Of course! Killua told me it was a tradition after every season!" A head of black and green hair, followed by a yellow black and red flannel, popped out from behind the open door frame. "Ah, Gon! Hi!" The boy smiled and waved at the two of them.
"Komugi! Meruem! You guys done yet? The others are all getting changed." Komugi gave the boy a nod.
"We were just about to head out."
"Sweet! Killua's dad promised to treat everyone under eighteen to ice cream! Hurry up, or we'll leave without you!" he said jokingly, putting emphasis on "everyone under eighteen". Meruem laughed a bit as Komugi rush out to go change. "Oh yeah, Meruem! Pitou said to meet the others at the front, she said something about an ants only party before the cast party."
"Alright, tell them I'll be there in a few. I have to wash all this crap off," he gestured to the green body paint as he took off his gloves. Gon gave him a thumbs up, running off with a "don't get wasted" as he went to catch up with the others.
Killua hummed lightly, adjusting his glasses as he waited for Gon and his cousin, Komugi to head back to their meet up spot. His dad, Silva, was already in the parking lot with the others, engine already alive, waiting for the last three passengers to arrive. He started to fiddle with the buttons on his vest, wondering just how long it took for a girl to change clothes and for a guy to find said girl.
"I'm here, don't leave yet!" a girl called, rushing over in a pair of short and a flowy white blouse. Killua looked up from his vest and sighed, smiling slightly.
"Komugi, you're late! You remember what papa says, if you're late in homeland, Russia, you don't get anywhere!" he said in fluent Russian, puffing out his chest and imitating his father's voice as well as he could. She groaned, waving her hand dismissively at her cousin.
"Yeah, yeah. Is everybody else here? I was talking to Meruem before Gon came in and reminded me." She looked around a bit. "By the way, where is he?" He frowned, looking behind her.
"I thought he was with you..." She shook her head. He sighed, putting a hand to his head. "I swear that guy is always running on Filipino time... Says five minutes, comes half an hour later..." he muttered, not noticing the person behind him.
"Hey Killua!"
"Gah-!" he squawked indignantly. "Gon, don't do that!" he whined, turning around. Koumugi laughed, in the background heading over to the car. "Geeze!" he huffed, crossing his arms and walking over to the car with him. "You're late! I told you to just go grab my cousin, where'd you go?"
Gon just laughed at him, patting him on the back. "Calm down dammit, it was just a joke!" The other frowned, hopping into the car. "Everyone's here Uncle Silva!" the tanned boy called, hopping in after his friend.
"Alright, seat belts. I don't want to get any tickets." The children just gave a noise to show they were listening, continuing their conversations with each other. Silva sighed, wondering how his son was single handedly able to convince him to drive all these kids to the ice cream parlor. At the very least, Chrollo was there to keep him company.
"They look excited."
"I don't blame them. They just finished another season and have another guaranteed." He smiled lightly, not minding the loud conversation behind them. "How is everything by the way?" He paused, getting out of the car once they reached their destination. The children practically ran out, heading into the shop.
"Hectic, to say the least."
"Sounds like it. I heard the on the news. Do you have family in that area?" The two adults walked in, paying for the children and themselves before distancing themselves.
"Yes actually, in Crimea too." He heaved a sigh, glancing over a his son and niece. "They're not directly involved, but it's still not a good situation to be in. At the very least, Komugi and her family were able to move here."
"But there are still others, aren't there?" the brunette frowned, moving his spoon through the melting cup of sherbert. Silva nodded, putting his head in his hands.
"Please try not to mention this around Killua or Komugi. I don't know how to approach him about this, but one of my brother was actually injured during a protest. He's in stable condition, but..." he sighed, "wrong place, wrong time."
"He's only, what, fourteen?" A nod.
"My ex-wife actually lives in that area of Russia, if my memory's correct. I have no idea how he'd react to hearing how his mother may be caught up in all this. He already has enough pressure, what with school and the show."
"At the very least, he has Gon to help him."
"Can't say I'm much of a fan of him, but he's grown on me and him."
"Don't be so archaic. I know you were raised differently, but there's nothing wrong with it."
"I'm aware, but I don't think you've ever seen a protest made against that."
"True."
"To another successful season!"
"To getting another season!"
"To getting to be in another season!"
A chorus of laughter emitted at that comment.
"Cheers!"
A series of clanks and cheers rang through the hallways of the huge ballroom. The crowd started to disperse through the house, walking around in groups or couples. Friends got together for what may have been the first time since their character's time on the show had ended.
The children sat huddled in a circle, totally engaged in a never ending racing competition over handhelds. Their faces showed a variety of emotions, raging from the most frustrated and enraged (Gon), to the calmest and cockiest (Alluka).
"Fuck, fuck, fuck... Fuck!" he shouted, being beat out of first place again. He groaned, throwing his head backwards, nearly tipping the chair over in the process. Alluka laughed, jumping out of her seat and pointing a finger at Gon. Kalluto finished not long after Gon had, claiming third. Killua, Komugi, and Zushi came some time after, fighting it out to see who would be earning last place, which Killua had gotten to his dismay.
"God dammit Alluka! You just had to save that last damn item!"
"It's not my fault I play it smart! You wasted that last turn when you failed at the drift!"
"Shut up! I would've gotten it if Kalluto didn't fucking slam me with that shell!"
"You screamed when it hit."
"We got distracted by your screaming, that's why we took so long!"
"Zushi, I thought we were cool!"
They laughed, finding Gon's oral diarrhea with curse words to be the funniest thing ever. Despite his television personality, the real thing was actually the exact opposite. He was loud and rambunctious as people would see on the screen, but he had the mouth of a sailor and the mind of a gutter to top it off. It wasn't much of a deal to anyone now though. The first step to working on the show was getting over Gon's almost 180 personality switch after the director called cut.
In fact, the boy nearly gave Silva a heart attack when he first came to film for the second season. Being a man that was raised with old Russian principles, meeting a boy was was nearly abusing freedom of speech with his foul language and blatantly exclaiming his orientation as bisexual, it was almost like he was welcomed to America all over again. It took Killua a few good weeks to try and help him cope. He would often find himself repeating that this wasn't the same country, much like his father had done to him when they first arrived at the States when he was eleven, reaching twelve. It took almost the whole season for the man to adjust to his son's first new friend.
"His reaction to that blue shell was funny too."
"Not you too Killua! What happened to my shy, little Russian boy?" he whined, reaching over to grab the other's shoulders and shake him a bit.
"Too busy laughing at you to be shy," Kalluto cut in, causing Killua and the others to just laugh more. "Maybe we should take a break from this."
"Yeah, I'm sure Gon's had enough of second place."
"Haha, laugh it up all you want Alluka. I'm gonna get you next time!"
"Wanna go dance?" Komugi suggested. "The adults are starting to clear out."
"Uh oh, I think Illumi and Nobunaga are drunk again..."
Alluka and Kalluto sighed, seeing the elder singing very out of tune with, an also very drunk, Nobunaga to some old pop song. Contrary to popular belief, Illumi and Hisoka were actually really close friends before the show, with Hisoka being the more responsible of the two. It wasn't that Illumi did anything particularly bad, it was just the fact that his low alcohol tolerance and almost getting into a DUI accident in their college years can make a man worry for his friend.
Now, he did let him loose during parties, but he made sure that the Chinese man was let nowhere near a set of car keys and the streets.
They could see Hisoka visibly sigh, taking up responsibility for his actions as a drunk again. Alluka was just glad that he wasn't doing anything he'd regret, mostly due to the fact that she had seen her older brother actually do things (ie. break things, vomit, pass out). It wasn't that she was worried, it was mainly because Hisoka always seemed so worked up that it'd actually cause her to worry about him.
But, what more could a little girl do?
"...He looks happy..." Alluka said with a mental sigh.
"I'm sure he is..."
"Whatever guys, let's go! Killua, you too!"
"What?! Gon, you know I can't dance!" Despite his protests, the bespectacled boy ended up being dragged onto the floor. "Gon, let's just do something else! I don't wanna dance!"
"Quit being a baby Kil! I'll steal your glasses if you don't!"
"I won't be able see if you do that!"
"Then stop complaining!" Killua just pouted, holding onto the side of his specs just in case Gon decided to play another prank on him. The other boy laughed. "There's my shy, little Russian boy!"
"This country's weird, and so are you."
Gon let out a good laugh, hugging his friend from behind.
"Good luck with the new season. I'll come by and watch when I can."
"...Spaseeba."
"I hope that means thank you."
"It does."
