Yikes guys, sorry for the wait. I didn't mean for this to take so long. Life's been getting me this week. Lots of school stuff, and I'm getting a job, and computer problems are there to top it all off. I can't wait for next Wednesday. I think I'll finally be able to breathe again then. But hey, I do finally have a chapter for you guys! I hope you enjoy!

In a daze, I switch between the clothes Alluka offers to me, and one way or another she ends up shoving a stack into my hands with the declaration that this stuff is what I'll get. I stare blankly at it. I wasn't paying attention to what clothes I wore, but the colors do feel vaguely familiar.

"And I found this!" Gon holds up a large, empty black bag, proud as a peacock. Killua takes it out of his hands with bright eyes.

"Nice!" The two clap hands. The easy interaction takes any clarity I'd managed to maybe scrounge up and effectively scrambles it again. Alluka pointlessly complimenting what I'm wearing nonstop does nothing to help me focus and understand what to think. She keeps smiling and saying nice things, but her aura's comparatively dim, and the dissonance just serves to make things worse.

Even when Killua and Gon seem to argue when they hand all the clothes over to an unknown human behind a half wall, there's no malice between them. How come when they argue, Killua doesn't actually get upset?

Finally Gon slaps some money down on the half wall and states, "I'm paying for the backpack and that's final!"

"Why do you want to pay for it so badly?" Killua huffs. Then he also slaps down some money and tells the woman behind the half wall, "Fine, we'll pay separately. I'm paying for everything but the backpack." As the woman starts doing stuff with the clothes, Killua takes the stack Alluka gave me earlier and adds it to the pile already on the half wall. Then he says, "And he'll be wearing the shirt and shorts out."

"Would you step closer so I can read the tags?"

I follow the pressure Killua puts on my shoulder and approach the woman, who leans over and holds a device first near my neck, which I tense up at but allow since I sense no danger, and then near my waist before she straightens and starts fiddling with a clunky device on the half counter. Gon then pays for the backpack while Alluka and Killua stuff the piles of clothes into it. Whirling, Gon helps them finish stuffing it, zips it up, then takes it and shoves it into Killua's hands.

"Happy Birthday!"

Killua's stare goes momentarily absent, and Alluka gasps, "It's the seventh?"

Killua takes out his phone. "Oh, no, but it's the sixth! That's why you were so set on meeting!"

I feel the overwhelming urge to go find some crevice to sleep in.

"Yep! The backpack's your birthday present, and I've got an early present for Alluka, too!" When Alluka pries open the little box he gives her, Gon explains, "When I asked Bisky what a girl would like as a birthday present, she said it definitely had to be jewelry!"

"Thank you Gon!" The girl throws her arms around the boy over a head taller than her, and he beams.

Killua sneaks up behind Gon to look at the box still open in her hands. He sighs. "Her ears aren't pierced, you know?"

"I didn't think they were! These ones clip on, so you don't have to have pierced ears."

"Huh? That's a thing?"

"I didn't know either until Bisky told me."

Alluka busies herself fiddling with one of her ears as Gon and Killua talk about some Bisky person. On the other hand, although recently she's been staring me down less than at first, Naii's eyes are glued to me inextricably again. I wish she'd choke on that pretty cloth around her neck.

Suddenly Alluka pokes my arm, and I barely keep from startling. She shows me a little blue crescent in her palm. Hesitantly, like an abashed virgin, she suggests, "I'd...really like it if you'd wear the other one. Like, as a friendship charm! We can match!"

When I don't react immediately, Killua complains, "The guy doesn't know what friendship is. Don't be sad if he doesn't want it."

For some reason, his words swirl into a knot somewhere between my throat and my stomach. Maybe it's the way he said it.

Alluka purses her lips and continues to wait, more nervous than before. The little crescent in her hand...why does it seem like such a big deal? Why is she so invested in me taking it, and why did it lead to Killua saying words that make me feel sick?

After a second, I take the stone.

Alluka lights up and throws her arms around me the same way she did Gon. I stagger back unprepared. Pulling some hair behind her ear, she shows me the crescent sitting on her earlobe and says, "You wear it like this! Do you want me to help you?"

"...No." I study the thing for a moment, then pull the back away from the jewel and press it around my ear.

We spend the night in a place called an airport. The poison dart frog finally parts with us inside, and leaves on a bright note with Killua and Naii and with another hug from Alluka. I'm not even cheered up by his leaving. Even if he's gone, that doesn't change the fact he still has a strange effect on Killua. It's more than Killua's usual unnecessary care towards other humans.

Although as the evening progresses the light inside dims, the enormous building stays plenty bustling. Alluka falls asleep early, curled up in a chair with her head in her arms. Naii soon follows with her face propped in her hand. After fiddling with his phone late into the night, Killua leans his head back and also closes his eyes.

But even though the cold leaves me lifeless, I can't sleep. My fingers rub at the jewel on my ear.

The traffic of people fluctuates without rhythm. At one point when there's almost no one around, Killua stirs. I glance out the enormous window at the dark sky beyond the artificially lit grey field. It hasn't been that long, has it?

I'm still staring at the starless sky when I feel him shift to look at me. His voice is purposely quiet when he speaks.

"Can't sleep?"

I lie. "Not tired."

"Yeah right. You'd be asleep if you could be."

What makes him so confident? He's not wrong, but… "It smells too heavily of humans. Too hungry to sleep."

"Then let's eat." He stands. "It's still a couple hours before any of the food places here open, but we can at least get snacks from the 24 hour convenience store."

It's not like anything will change if I sit here doing nothing. I get up and follow him. The room we go to is brighter lit than the rest of the airport, and I have to squint my eyes against it when we walk in.

As Killua looks around, he says, "If it makes you feel any better, the place we're heading is really hot."

"Mm." I also glance through the stuff on the shelves. I can't really smell anything, though, because everything seems to have something wrapped around it, but it's not like I'm actually hungry, so it doesn't really matter.

With a loud sigh, he makes his way over to me and vigorously messes my hair. The action makes me shrink back slightly in surprise. Again with his touching habits! "You don't gotta be so down! Having a partner's not the only thing in the world. You'll figure that out sooner or later. Stop thinking about it and just find something to eat already."

I hesitate, and before I can figure out whether I want to push his hand away or keep its warmth there, he takes it away himself. I swallow what little saliva's in my mouth.

"Sweet or savory?" he asks looking back at the shelves with food.

"...Dunno." Not hungry.

"Sweet, then." He grabs a number of packages and bags and carries them over to the half-dead looking person behind the half wall. As the person goes through them, an occasional beep sounding, Killua grabs something already on the half wall and adds it to the pile. When he takes the stuff back, he tosses me something. "Here, take this. You know, you should be the one getting me a present today." He scoops the other packages into his hands and makes to leave. "Wow, I'm really a great guy, aren't I? Not only am I letting you off for not getting me a present, I'm getting you one! That's pretty magnanimous of me," he snickers.

I assume I just need to rip open the outer layer to get to the food inside, but since I don't really have an appetite, I just stare at the thing in my hand and do nothing. Slowly, I register the words on the package.

"Hand warmers?"

"I was thinking you could put them in your shoes. We're gonna be in air conditioning for awhile." I ignore the inconsistency of hands vs feet and instead start tearing the package. Hungry or not, I'm always in the mood for heat. "Just shake them and put them in, and they'll heat up after a few minutes."

I fall behind him to do as he says. The small grey squares fit snugly under the arches of my feet, not warm yet, but not uncomfortable to walk on. Killua scoffs, barely audible, when I hurry to catch back up.

The meal we eat when Alluka wakes up consists of strange textures, some fluffy, some smooth and soft, and some extra chewy like a bad bite of meat, but all of it's pungently sweet. The fluffy sweet things are by far the most satisfying to bite into. Even if my stomach isn't asking for food, I manage to swallow three of the white hand-sized things. The semi-clear package I get them out of calls them snowballs.

Naii doesn't touch anything. After disappearing briefly, she returns with something that reminds me of a hamburger, but longer, and occupies herself eating that. Then we and a bunch of other humans are escorted onto a giant round thing called an airship. When I see there's specific seating kinda like how the bus was, I hover close to Alluka, who seems all too delighted to have me hanging near her. Killua keeps an eye on me, but ultimately says nothing. I end up stuck between her and him, Naii sitting across a break in the chairs.

Warmth has started to gather under my feet. I sit with my heels on the chair and my hands around the shoes to catch the dregs of heat that escape. These hand warmer things are nice, but I really miss…

The material of my shoes dents under the pressure of my fingers. I can imagine it so vividly, stealing Killua's arm for warmth. Or even more unlikely, I could crawl on top of him, and he wouldn't push me off, and I could curl around him.

But he'd never let me. Especially after what he said. But I want to touch him. But then he'd be upset with me again. It wouldn't matter if he gets upset, but he always makes me feel awful whenever he does. I'd much rather he just continue feeding me and kept touching me like he likes too...except he never takes it anywhere and it's infuriating!

Forget it, I just won't think about it.

Then I discover just how impossible that is until exhaustion finally lets me sleep. When I eventually wake up, the warmth from my shoes is gone.

Btw, Hostess snoballs are spelled without the w, so Sera is not eating hostess snoballs here. Just alternate world snoballs. That're the exact same thing. But hey, we're starting a new arch next chapter! I'll do my best to get it out as soon as I can. Hopefully life won't be as insane as I'm worried it will be for a few days. In other news, I'm still rewatching HxH with my friends, and we're *this* close to the Chimera Ant arch and I am PUMPED. Hehe, they're in for a surprise.