Chapter 10: Finding x the x Good

Ages

Killua (25)

Elodea (4)

"Found you!" Elodea peered behind the sofa to find his dad crouching behind it. Gleefully bouncing on the plush cushions. Elodea was smiling from ear to ear, upon discovering his dad in their epic game of hide and go seek.

Killua huffed out, thinking he found a good hiding place that Elodea couldn't find him this time. The way the sofa was arranged in the lobby of the art show, Killua was currently working as a guard for, was positioned perpendicular to the corner of the room. He crouched down low, so even the top of his head wasn't showing. "How are you so good at this?" Killua looked up at his son, directly face to face.

"Not telling," Elodea laughed then kissed Killua on the nose. Then he scurried off, to find a hiding place for himself. Contrary to being a master at seeking in the game, Elodea was terrible in the other half of the game. Hiding. It was not his forte, nevertheless he played on.

They've been on the road ever since their encounter with Illumi. Staying at motels to hotels to inns, constantly on the move. Killua was currently hired as a security guard, dressed up in a fine black tuxedo with a light blue tie adding some flair to his dull attire, to watch over the auction in Spendmore Town. The art on sale in this exhibition was created by some of the world's famous artists, the bidding for each piece started in the millions. As the bare minimum. This event was all for charity of course, but he had to be precautious. Thieves were pruned to steal these kinds of works. Especially those of the phantom troupe. He was able to scare away amateur thieves and had them cowering for protection inside cop cars.

After Killua counted to ten, he already saw Elodea squirming behind the long curtain, with his neon blue shoes visible from underneath, for all the world to see. He held in his laughter then walked closer to the curtain, "I wonder where he could be?" He pretended to ponder.

Elodea giggled behind the curtain. The first of many obvious clues, giving away his hiding spot.

"Since when do curtains need to wear shoes?" He asked.

Elodea caught his little mistake. One could see his silhouette bending down to cover his shoes with the rest of the long fabric. Now his sneakers were covered and out of sight. Phew. That was a close one. Now his father won't be suspicious and he'll have to look somewhere else.

Killua smiled, all too amused. "I think Elodea is behind the curtain."

"No, he isn't," said the curtain, definitely not Elodea impersonating what a curtain could ever sound like.

"He isn't?" Killua pretended to gasp.

The silhouette behind the curtain nodded, enthusiastically.

"I was so sure he was here, I wonder where he could be." Killua stood back up and walked past the curtain.

Elodea proudly smiled, his hiding place was a success.

"I guess he just vanished into thin air. Poof."

Elodea's smile faded.

"I might as well leave, since he' not even here," he pretended to walk out of the room, making clumping sounds that got softer and softer until there was nothing left but silence.

Elodea's heart jumped, he swung the curtain away with his arms and ran out of his hiding spot. "I'm here daddy! Don't go." His hiding spot was obviously too good. He'll have to downplay it next time. Sniffles were running down his face.

Killua immediately regretted his harmless prank, when he saw his son saddened, running up towards him, clinging to his leg. "I'm sorry, I'll never do it again."

"Promise?"

Killua held his hand over his heart. "I promise."

Elodea smiled, he knew his father would never leave him. Suddenly, a man in a black tuxedo with a light blue tie knocked on the wall. Killua turned his head, staring at the tall man wearing rectangular glasses, another security guard. Killua thought his name was Arnold or Arnoldo? He wasn't really paying attention during the introductions.

"Break time is over, your shift is going to start," the man said, angrily.

Killua waved his hand at the man, "I know, don't get your whiskers tied in a knot." Elodea held Killua's hand while walking into the art gallery. He sat on a plush white chair, holding a coloring book and crayons in his hands.

Killua knelt down to see Elodea in the eyes, "Stay right here, while I'm working. I'll be right over there, where I can see you. Okay?"

Elodea nodded, "Okay."

"And don't talk to strangers."

Elodea nodded again, "Okay."

Killua kissed Elodea on the forehead than walked off to do his shift. Elodea sat on the sofa, coloring a picture of a bird sitting in a nest. He colored the sky blue and the bird bright red. He colored haphazardly, outside the lines. When he was finished he looked back down at his artwork, holding it at arm's length. He thought it was absolutely pretty! Then he looked at the paintings around him, and didn't really think they were so pretty.

He put down his crayons and coloring book, against his father's wishes, he proceeded to walk away from his seat and towards the paintings. First he looked at a painting, an abstract portrayal of nature's beauty. There were too many sloshes of dark colors. Then he put his hands on his hips and said out loud for all to hear, "That's gross."

Then he turned to another portrait, featuring a man and woman basked in the moonlight in the nude. "Why are they naked?"

Then he turned to another painting with disfigured fish swimming in a filthy pool, "Ew."

Elodea proceeded with his harsh art critiques. His merciless rampage continued.

"Excuse me, Sir," said the gallery curator with an unpleasant look on his face. Killua stared at the man holding Elodea's hand, firmly. "Is this your son?"

"Hi daddy," said Elodea, nonchalantly.

"Yes, he is. Did something happen?" Killua looked concerned, he wondered if something happened to Elodea while he was looking away. He obviously didn't stay put in his seat. What did he do?!

"Yes, something did happen. Why doesn't your son tell you?" The curator accentuated and glared at Elodea, narrowing his eyes. "Tell your father what you said to the woman who was about to buy that painting." Killua followed the man's gaze, it fell upon a painting covered with thick brush strokes of green and yellow.

Elodea shrugged, not seeing the problem at hand here. "All I said was that painting looked like a giant booger."

The curator heavily let out a breath, he looked like he was going to hyperventilate, "Ten millions dollars. We lost ten million dollars because of his remark. Madame Lymph-seta was not all amused by his commentary. Please," the man passed Elodea to Killua, "keep your son away from potential buyers."

Elodea looked at the curator angrily stump off to go to apologize to the woman in the big red hat. The man was bowing his head so many times, he looked like a drinking bird toy.

"Elodea," Killua leaned down towards him, "you need to be careful about what you say. A lot of people worked really hard to create these paintings." Although, Killua did have a good look at these paintings and thought they looked ridiculous. Why anyone would want to buy one these pieces of art, dumfounded him. That painting Elodea critiqued did look like one giant booger. He thought Elodea just saved the woman from mindlessly throwing away ten million dollars. He did her a favor.

"I'm sorry," Elodea looked down towards the ground, disheartened. Regretting his recent outbursts. He wasn't thinking about anyone else's feelings, but his own.

"I want you to remember this, there is good in everything around us. Sometimes it may be difficult to find but we just have to open our eyes to see it." This was a rule that didn't just apply to paintings, but to life in general. This was something that Killua learned himself a long time ago, such as meeting Gon for the first time at the Hunter Exam. Gon opened up a world of light into Killua's eyes. Once again, when he found Elodea in Kukan'yu and adopted him, so much good entered his life. Every day with his son was a blessing.

Elodea nodded. Killua grabbed Elodea's hand and strolled up to a painting. It took up so much space on the wall, there were barely any other paintings around it. Elodea quirked up an eyebrow, confused. "It's so big. How can this fit through a door?"

"Big houses have big doors."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"I want you to tell me one good this about this painting," said Killua. Elodea looked at the painting from top to bottom. To be honest, it looked like something he would find in his coloring book. There was a total of six squares painted unto the canvas. There were two columns, each with three different colored blocks. It looked like he could play hop scotch on it. Elodea turned his head to the side. What should he say? Something nice, what good was there about this piece? Then he realized that he had crayons that were the same colors as the paints used in the artwork. He looked up at his father, with an answer in mind.

"I like the colors, they're pretty."

Killua smiled, "Great. The colors do look nice. Now, tell me one thing you don't like about this painting." Elodea looked perplexed, he thought this is what his father was trying to prevent him from doing, spouting nonsense without thinking. "The thing about critiquing is not about listing all the bad qualities. Your remarks should be helpful to the person, so they can do better, instead of discouraging them from never trying again."

Elodea racked his brain, what can he say that was helpful, but not mean. He looked at the squares painted on the canvas. They were each outlined with a thick black line, reminding him of his coloring book. The brush strokes were even visible from standing so low where he was. Nothing really stood out to him, then he thought of an answer. "Well," he took a deep breathe, "They could color outside the lines too, if they wanted."

"Explain."

"It's more fun to color outside the lines."

"So that would represent artists not being bound by their limitations cast upon them by society. They break free from these previously molded restrictions, by creating beyond their comfortable boundaries."

"Uh…yes." Elodea had no idea what his father just said. But it sounded good.

"Now," killua bent down towards Elodea and pointed towards the woman in the big red hat. "I want you to go back to that woman and use what you just learned."

Elodea nodded enthusiastically and walked towards the woman.

"Work your magic, son." Killua nodded proudly, pleased at his parenting skills.

The woman was staring at a painting featuring two doves in outer space. The painting was called Doves in Outer Space. Yes, very original. The doves were floating in the foreground with the blue and green Earth behind them. The rest of the background was pitch black, space.

Elodea thought this was going to be a hard one. There were already so many things he disliked about it. But he sucked in a breath and walked towards the woman and greeted her, "Hello."

Madame Lymph-seta, a.k.a. the woman in the big red hat, stared at Elodea through the periphery of her eyes. She didn't bother to turn her head. She huffed out an exaggerated breath, "What interesting feedback do you have about this painting? I hope it doesn't make my stomach churn."

Elodea looked at the painting with the white doves and examined it. Something nice, something nice. "The birds are cute," he said.

"Charming," she gurgled under her breathe, unimpressed.

Then he looked at the black space, completely empty. "But, I wish I could see the stars." The woman peered at him through the corner of her eye, turning her head, just an inch. "Doesn't space have stars and comets and meteors? I would like to see those things."

"What do you think the artist meant by that? Not painting in the rest of the cosmos." She turned her head towards Elodea, paying full attention towards him. Elodea sucked the inside of his cheek and wondered why the artist didn't draw the bright stars around the doves. Then he considered an answer.

"I think the artist wants us to really look at the doves." If there were so many stars and comets and meteors, that would be distracting to the viewer and pull their attention away from the doves in the foreground.

The woman nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. The artist made the white doves the focal point of the piece contrasting from the black space. With the earth shadowing the doves raised above them, it endows the message that world peace is universal."

"Uh…yes." Elodea muttered. He wasn't really sure what she said, but she was nodding appreciatively.

"Excuse me," she waved her hand towards the curator and he quickly flocked towards her. He spotted Elodea standing next to the woman. He looked like he was ready to start apologizing to the woman again, regretting losing more potential millions. She didn't avert her gaze from Elodea or the doves. "I would like to purchase this painting. This little connoisseur convinced my wavering thoughts about this painting. I love it."

"Y-Yes Madame Lymph-seta," he bowed like a drinking bird, "thank you for your continuous patronage."

She held her head up, Elodea could see the inside of her nose, and he saw a small, green booger. "I'm going to hang this painting up in the dining room of my summer house. It will look marvelous hanging over the fire place."

"Yes, it definitely would," he shakenly replied. The painting was 20 million dollars, double the amount of what the last one was.

"Well, go on," she barked, "bring this to my car."

"Yes, right away!"

Before the curator brought the painting into the woman's car, he escorted Elodea back to his father. This time, instead of a look that endowed constipation on his face, the man looked absolutely euphoric. He shook Killua's hand with vigor.

"He can walk around and talk to the other guests, if he wants to. It's no trouble at all," happily said the curator. If the child could convince more buyers of the value of the artwork than the entire exhibit will be sold out! Then he shook Elodea's hand, from one curator to the other, after a successful business deal. Then he waved goodbye and waltzed back to the Doves in Space painting.

Killua rolled his eyes. He brought back his attention to Elodea, "That was a fantastic job you did. I'm really proud of you." He patted Elodea on the head, lovingly.

"It's not so hard, finding the good in things."

"It takes other people longer to see even a glimpse," said Killua, truthfully. "What are you going to be doing now?"

Elodea looked back at his chair with his crayons and coloring book left behind. "I'm going to go back to coloring. Curating is tough stuff."

"Alright, enjoy," Killua smiled, "I'll be watching you from over here."

"I know." Elodea turned back towards his crayons and coloring book. He sat down on the chair, everything was the same as how he originally left it. He opened to a new page in the book, and this time the page was blank. Giving free reign to the artist's creativity. He could draw whatever he wanted to draw.

He held a crayon in his hand, but he was stumped. He didn't know what to draw. On the top cover of the page, a theme was typed out. It said to draw a hero. Examples included, police officers, firefighters, doctors and even Superman. All of those were nice options, but he wanted to draw someone else.

He looked at his dad, standing confidently in the room. Shoulders back and head looking forward. He was standing in front of mural of a city scape, filled with skyscrapers and buildings and a flag waving in the drawn wind.

The boy with the coal hair and amethyst eyes sat hunched over his chair, drawing.

HI! thank you for reading!

This chapter was shorter than the previous ones. I thought of combining it with the next chapter, ch11, but decided against it. So here it is, a snippet of Killua's parenting and teaching life lessons to his son, Elodea.

I really wanted to write the Hide and Go seek scene and then the art one, where Elodea is just insulting art pieces. Not belligerently...he's a good kid...Anyway!

The years have gone by and all is going well...for now...

Thank you for reading!