Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter X Hunter, Kurapika, Leorio, or Senritsu. I do, however, own this story! Cross-posting between ChocolatteKitty-Kat on and Ao3 and maliciousbubbl3s on Tumblr.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Leorio yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. Damn, fell asleep reading again, he sighed. A glance at the clock on the wall above him told him the time and he reluctantly shut his textbook. At this point, if I don't know the material, I won't learn it in time for the test anyways. He stood up from the kitchen table and stretched. When he walked into the living room, he was surprised to note that the light in the bedroom was on. How did I miss Kurapika getting home?

Leorio had already started to head for the bedroom when he heard a noise from the bathroom and quickened his pace instinctively. Poking his head through the door into the tiny lavatory, he found his worst fear. "What the hell!?" he cried, jumping forward to grab Kurapika by the shoulder and spin him around.

Kurapika's skin was, somehow, even paler than normal, and his bright eyes were dulled with pain. The right eye was partially swollen shut from a large bruise around a long, jagged cut over his eyebrow. Blood was running down the side of his face from the cut. His lower lip was split as well, and Leorio thought he saw a bloodstain seeping through the sleeve of Kurapika's dark jacket. He grabbed for a washcloth and held it to the cut on Kurapika's face. "Hold this here and keep pressure," he ordered, lifting Kurapika's hand to the cloth. He jumped up and rushed into the kitchen, where he had left his medical kit, grabbed the bag, and raced back to the bathroom. Fishing out a pair of gloves, he pulled them on, then took Kurapika by the shoulders and maneuvered him to sit on the toilet. "I'll hold this, you take off your jacket and shirt. I want to take a look at your arm too."

Kurapika obliged, letting the bloody clothes fall to the floor. Leorio frowned at the state of his arm; the wound was small, but was oozing a fair amount of blood that started to drip down Kurapika's arm now that his clothes were off. Shit he swore to himself. He grabbed another washcloth and placed it over the wound on Kurapika's arm with his free hand. "Okay, now I need you to hold the cloth on your head."

Kurapika complied almost robotically. Once his hand was in place, Leorio set to work on his arm. He first knelt down in front of Kurapika, then raised the bleeding limb so that Kurapika's forearm rested on his left shoulder, elevating the wound over the blond's heart. He clamped his left hand around Kurapika's bicep, around the wound-Kurapika was small enough that Leorio's hand could wrap entirely around the widest part of his arm-and brought the other hand up to put slight pressure on the artery, on the bottom side of the upper arm and just under the shoulder.

"What happened?" Leorio asked gently. "I thought you said this would be an easy job. Low risk. Security guard, or something like that."

"Yeah…" Kurapika mumbled. "Third-party security for an underground poker game. But… one of the players felt that one of the others cheated and pulled a knife on him. I was fast enough to get in the way, but not to deflect him completely. That's when he stabbed me in the arm. He got my face with a second swing as I tried to push him away. I split my lip when I lost my balance and fell, so that one's my own fault."

"Damn," Leorio mumbled, lifting the cloth to check the bleeding on Kurapika's arm. "Well, my next question was going to be 'why didn't you go to a hospital', but if it was an underground game, I guess that would explain it."

"The organizer offered to call me a doctor on his payroll, but I trust you more," Kurapika's lips twitched in a smile.

"Well, in that case, why didn't you wake me up when you first got in?" Leorio felt a headache coming on.

"I was going to, honestly," Kurapika said. "But, then I didn't want to disturb you… I figured I'd clean the cuts first before I woke you up."

Leorio couldn't help but laugh. "That's some backwards logic if ever I've heard some."

Kurapika's smile widened slightly. "I can't argue with that."

Leorio checked the arm wound again. "Okay, this has stopped bleeding. Time to clean it out-because that's the order you go in. Get bleeding under control, and then you clean the wound."

"Got it," Kurapika laughed.

"Do you want to stand over the sink to wash it out, or sit in the shower?" Leorio asked, fishing through his bag for saline solution while he spoke.

"Shower might be better, I think," Kurapika admitted. "I'm not sure how steady I'd be standing."

"Okay, I'm going to help you move," Leorio said, setting the saline aside. He slipped his free arm under Kurapika's, wrapping it securely around the smaller man's back. "Ready? One, two, three." On three, he lifted Kurapika up and half-dragged him over to the shower stall that took up nearly half of the tiny bathroom. He sat Kurapika down behind the low lip of the stall and helped him lean against the wall. "Seriously, you could have given me a hand there."

Kurapika let out a single barking laugh. "Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever," Leorio kept his tone light as he checked the head wound. It was still oozing blood, although the flow had stemmed considerably. "Keep that there while I do this," he instructed, pressing Kurapika's hand to the washcloth. "It's going to hurt when I start to clean it."

"I know. I can take it."

"Let me know if you need me to stop."

"I'll be fine."

Leorio nodded and picked up the saline solution. He took his time cleaning the wound, checking for debris. "Well, on the bright side," he said as he finished up, "it's a clean cut, and not deep. A little bit of glue to seal it up, and I bet you won't even have a scar."

"Good to know," Kurapika offered him a weak smile.

"How are you feeling?" Leorio asked. "Light-headed or faint at all?"

"Yes," Kurapika nodded. "And weak."

"You must have lost even more blood than I realized," Leorio grumbled. "Let me get this closed up and I'll get you some water."

Kurapika nodded slightly and leaned his head back against the shower wall. Leorio worked quickly to seal the wound, thankful that it was a small one. "Okay, that's done. Can you hold on to that washcloth a little longer while I go get you some water?"

Kurapika nodded again. Leorio stood up and peeled off his gloves, then headed for the kitchen. He filled a glass with lukewarm water from the sink and headed back. "Okay, I'm going to hold this up so you can drink from it. I don't want you to drop the glass." He cupped one hand around the back of Kurapika's neck to support him and lifted the glass to his lips with the other, careful not to rest the weight of the glass against the split in his lip. Kurapika sipped at the water, but pushed the glass away after only a few mouthfuls. "You need to drink this whole thing before you go to sleep," Leorio said sternly.

"Okay," Kurapika sighed. "Just not all at once."

"Fair enough," Leorio agreed. After pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, he checked the bleeding under the washcloth and found that it had almost completely stopped. "Okay, I'm going to clean this out now. Keep your eyes closed."

"Got it," Kurapika obliged.

Leorio folded the washcloth and held it just under the wound to keep as much of the runoff as possible out of Kurapika's eyes. He heard Kurapika hiss as he probed the wound gently, checking for debris. "Sorry," he winced. "Almost done." He glued the cut closed and sat back on his heels. "Okay, now I'm going to wrap up your arm," he said, changing out his gloves again. This process was the fastest so far, as he dabbed antibacterial ointment onto the wound and wrapped it neatly and loosely in gauze. Next was the head wound; another round of antibacterial ointment, followed by a folded-up gauze pad taped into place.

"All done," Leorio said, peeling off the third pair of gloves and tossing them into the trash can. He took a moment to clean up, sending the empty saline bottles, gauze wrappers, and other garbage after the gloves. After a moment of thought, the blood-soaked washcloths followed. "How are you feeling?" he asked, turning his attention back to Kurapika.

Kurapika smiled weakly. "Better. Less like I'm leaking."

Leorio laughed. "Let's get some more water in you, and then we'll get you up."

Once again, he cupped one hand around the back of Kurapika's neck for support and lifted the glass with the other. This time, however, Kurapika drank eagerly, draining nearly half the glass before pushing it away.

"Better?" Leorio asked.

"Better," Kurapika smiled.

"Ready to get up?" Leorio asked, already bracing himself to help Kurapika to his feet.

"Yeah," Kurapika nodded. He wrapped his good arm around Leorio's neck while Leorio slipped his arms around Kurapika's torso, easily lifting him up off the floor. "I need to take these off," Kurapika stared dully down at his pants. Most of the right leg of his pants had been soaked through by the saline solution Leorio had flushed the arm wound in.

"Yeah, let's get those off in here," Leorio agreed. "That's not exactly sanitary to be dragging around the apartment."

Leorio helped Kurapika lean against the sink, supporting himself with his good arm, so that Leorio had both hands free to unfasten the belt and fly of the pants and slide them down Kurapika's legs.

"I feel like this process is generally more fun," Kurapika teased, lifting one foot at a time so that Leorio could pull his pants off.

"You know, out of the two of us, I never would have expected you to be the one to make that joke," Leorio laughed, tossing the pants into the pile with Kurapika's blazer and shirt. "Will you be okay standing on your own while I go grab you something clean to put on?"

"Sure," Kurapika settled his weight back against the sink. "So long as you don't take too long."

Leorio grinned and winked before ducking into the bedroom. He fished a pair of Kurapika's favorite joggers and a tank top out, then, almost as an afterthought, grabbed him a clean pair of briefs too. Back in the bathroom, getting Kurapika fully changed into clean clothes went surprisingly well, considering, as Kurapika proceeded to point out, Leorio was more accustomed to taking his clothes off than putting them on. Leorio rolled his eyes and bit back a smile as he helped Kurapika pull the shirt over his head.

"Okay," Leorio nodded. "Contacts?"

"I took them out before I tried to clean the cut on my head."

"Smart," Leorio nodded. "Do you want to brush your teeth?"

Kurapika agreed reluctantly, although Leorio could tell that all he really wanted to do was go to sleep. Leorio helped him turn around and held him up with both arms around Kurapika's midsection-although, at this point, the contact was really more for Leorio's comfort than Kurapika's assistance.

"Do you want a hand getting to bed?" Leorio asked gently.

Kurapika nodded slowly. His eyes were half-lidded, but Leorio suspected that was more from sheer exhaustion than anything else at this point.

Leorio sighed. He lifted Kurapika's left arm to wrap around his neck and bent down to scoop the blond up in his arms. "Is this okay?"

Kurapika nodded again and hugged himself close to Leorio, burying his face in Leorio's shoulder. Leorio had noticed Kurapika shivering earlier, but now that the smaller man was wrapped securely in his arms and pulled close to his body, he could really feel how badly Kurapika was shaking.

"Keep your head tucked in until we get through the door," Leorio instructed, turning sideways to squeeze them both through the narrow doorway. It was only a few steps from there to the bed, where Leorio leaned down to settle Kurapika in. "Come on, let go," Leorio teased, prying Kurapika's hand off of his shirt.

"I'm cold," Kurapika murmured, his hand falling away from Leorio's neck.

"I know," Leorio said soothingly, helping Kurapika lay back and pulling the blankets over him. He pressed a lingering kiss to the blond's temple, pulling away after several seconds. "I'll be right back. Do you want any more water?"

"Not right now," Kurapika mumbled.

"I'll put some here by the bed in case you get thirsty, okay?" Leorio said.

He stopped by the bathroom to grab the glass, checking to make sure he had cleaned up everything besides Kurapika's dirty clothes. In the kitchen, he glanced at the clock on the wall. 4 AM. I'm going to fail my test tomorrow… he groaned inwardly.

Back in the bedroom, he set the glass on the nightstand by Kurapika's side of the bed, then took a minute to change his own clothes, tossing the blood-spattered discards onto the pile with Kurapika's. He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, head in his hands, then reached for his phone.

.*.*.*.*.*.

When Kurapika woke, his head was pounding, and his eyes felt like they had been glued shut. He groaned and half-rolled onto his side before he remembered the stab wound in his arm and thought better of it. He settled for turning his head and forcing his eyes open. Once they started to focus, he saw the glass of water Leorio had left on his nightstand, along with a piece of paper propped against it. Had to go take a test. Call Senritsu for help. Be home soon. Stay in bed. A protein bar and his cell phone were set next to the glass as well. He groaned and sat up, brushing his fingers against the bandage over his eye. He reached for his phone and checked his messages; a notice of payment from a vaguely familiar name-he guessed it was the organizer of the previous night's game-and two texts from Senritsu asking if he was alright. He sighed and typed out a quick reply, then set his phone back on the nightstand and laid back down. He ignored the subsequent ding of an arriving text message and drifted back off into a fitful semblance of sleep.

.*.*.*.*.*.

The next time Kurapika fully woke, it was at the sound of the apartment door opening and closing, and footsteps heading for the bedroom. He opened his eyes and turned towards the door just as Leorio opened it and stepped in. The stressed expression on Leorio's face melted away as soon as he saw Kurapika's eyes open and alert.

"Hey," he said softly, dropping his briefcase by the wardrobe and sitting on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad," Kurapika's voice was husky and thick.

Leorio glance at the nightstand. "Did you drink any water?"

"No."

"Okay, then, come on." Leorio helped Kurapika sit up and held the glass for him to sip at. "Better?"

"Yes," Kurapika's voice was already stronger.

"You really need to work on replacing your fluids. You didn't lose so much blood that I think you need a transfusion, but it was enough to make you light-headed and woozy. And any time you lose any amount of blood it's important to start getting those fluids back in you as soon as possible, so your body can get to work replacing what it lost."

Kurapika nodded, scooting backwards carefully to lean against the wall. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Leorio smiled softly, reaching out to cup a hand around Kurapika's cheek. "Just try to keep drinking for now. I picked up some orange juice on my way back; the vitamin C is important too."

"No, I meant… more about last night," Kurapika reached up to hold Leorio's hand. "I'm sorry for… well, for all of it. For scaring you like that, I guess."

"Scaring me?" Leorio scoffed, pulling away and standing up to start changing out of his suit.

"You hid it well, but I can also read you well enough to know that you were basically terrified," Kurapika sighed. "Because of me. Because I was stupid. There are so many things I should have done differently last night, but I just wasn't thinking straight. All that I wanted to do was get home to you. I didn't think about anything else."

"Well, to be clear," Leorio leaned against the wardrobe, only half-dressed in a pair of sweatpants, shirt in his hand, "I'm glad you came home instead of going to some kind of mob doctor"-

"I never said last night was a job for the mafia," Kurapika interjected quickly.

"Well, I heard 'underground poker game with knives and third-party security' and kind of made that jump myself," Leorio glared at him. "Anyways, I'm truly glad you came to me instead of some mob doctor you didn't know and couldn't trust, but I would have appreciated some warning so I could get ready. Even waking me up when you got in would have been better than…"

"Than what I actually did?" Kurapika supplied.

"Would you stop interrupting?" Leorio laughed. "But, yeah, that's what I meant."

"I am sorry," Kurapika said. "The way I was thinking, it genuinely seemed like the better course of action."

"Well, lesson learned: whatever your instincts suggest when you've lost a lot of blood, do the opposite. Unless your instincts are saying to go to a doctor. Then you should definitely do that."

Kurapika laughed. "Noted."

Leorio grinned and finally pulled his shirt on, then crawled into bed next to Kurapika, squirming around to rest his head on Kurapika's lap.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Kurapika asked, running his fingers through Leorio's hair.

"I emailed my professors and told them that I had a family emergency and wouldn't be in class today," Leorio explained. "The only one I went to was the one I had a test in."

"'Family emergency'?"

"I mean… you're the closest thing I have to one."

There was a beat of silence.

"How did it go?" Kurapika asked. "The test."

"Not bad," Leorio shrugged. "Better than I was expecting."

"What was it on?"

"Proper care and procedure for wounds, including stab and puncture wounds."

Kurapika laughed so hard that he doubled over, clutching his stomach. Soon, Leorio was laughing too, wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes. He sat up next to Kurapika and wrapped his arm around the blond's shoulders, pulling him close. He bent down to kiss his forehead and lifted a hand to stroke Kurapika's soft golden hair. "Seriously, though, if you ever do that to me again, I will definitely stab you myself."

Kurapika grinned and wrapped his arm around Leorio's back, pulling himself closer to the taller man and burying his face against Leorio's chest. "If I ever do anything that stupid again, you have my permission to stab me."

"Can I get that in writing?"