AN: Zankoku na tenshi no you ni, Shonen yo SHINWA NI NAREEEEE
damn Evangelion song is stuck in my head TvT
"So naturally, I jumped from one wing of the plane to the other wing of the other plane!"
"Seriously?! Did it work?!"
"Of course it did! It was my plan after all!"
Killua relaxed against the booth, watching Gon and Ging exchange war stories. Or at least, that's what it may as well have been. Ging had a serious problem with overexaggerating his stories. Listening to him prattle on and on was like listening to an old man trying to glorify his boring life.
Although… seeing the light in Gon's eyes was worth all the trouble. Pariston seemed just as content as Killua did, though his eyes were on Ging rather than Gon. Killua wondered what exactly was going on between the two of them. Pariston was a Demon, so if he was following Ging around then that meant he'd been summoned for a specific job.
Then how come he wasn't doing much of anything? And on top of that, how come he'd been hanging around Ging for 19 years?! If Killua wanted to hear anyone's stories, he wanted to hear Pariston's. But Ging was currently holding the spotlight, and the Demon didn't seem interested in stealing the show at the moment.
"And THAT'S how I ended up owing the Desert Elven Republic 50,000 gold!"
"That's so crazy!" Gon exclaimed, just feeding into Ging's already bloated ego. "Did you ever pay it off?!"
"Yup! With money I stole from their own treasury!"
Gon exclaimed in surprise, "So that's what you did with all that money from earlier!"
"Right! Always plan ahead! As if I'd pay those bastards anything at all!" Ging shoved an enormous bite of pink verrah into his mouth. "You got a story to beat that?" Honestly, they'd been here for three hours already! How the hell were those two still eating?!
Okay, that was clear. It was because Gon and Ging were more focused on talking than doing what they'd come here to do. At this point they'd have to be kicked out of the restaurant before the poor employees were finally able to close.
Gon gave a wild grin, leaning forward across the table. "Oh, I think I've got something!"
"Oh really, what's that?" Ging taunted around a mouth full of half chewed verrah.
Killua sighed and shook his head. They were having a story telling competition. There was no prize, just the general agreement that whoever had the best crazy story would be superior.
"There was this one time that I earned 150,000 gold with nothing but my tongue!" Gon bragged, scooping more of that green plant goop onto his plate.
"Hah! Now this I wanna hear!" Ging boomed.
"I don't think I've heard this one before," Killua snorted, draining the last of that racka fruit juice. He then stole Gon's half empty glass, and started drinking it instead.
"Oh, yeah," Gon said, scratching the back of his head. "It happened when I was hanging with Meleoron and the others."
"Ohhh," Killua said, dropping the subject. He didn't wanna make it awkward. Gon still felt really bad about not telling him what had happened that entire year, no matter how many times Killua said it was okay. Gon clearly enjoyed telling those crazy stories he'd gotten from that period in his life.
It had been a really dark time for him, but Gon had admitted that telling those stories was his way of living up to Meleoron's memory. He was still really messed up about the guy's death, and since the four of them had always traded stories, Gon kept their memories alive by telling others about their time together. It was his way of atoning for what he viewed as a failure to save the three of them.
Honestly, Killua felt bad that Gon hadn't been comfortable enough to tell him all this crazy stuff until now. He understood why, but still. He'd make up for it now, and he'd do that by listening to all of Gon's wild stories. Even if no one else was there, Killua would listen to Gon's crazy stories a million times over.
Because these stories were Gon, these stories shared with Killua a side to his friend that he'd never met. A side that didn't exist anymore, but a side that had played an integral role in developing Gon into the guy he was today. Besides, Meleoron had been Gon's good friend. And even if he hadn't been the best of influences, he still meant a whole lot to Gon.
Killua raised his eyebrows at Gon, beckoning him to tell his story.
Go ahead, I won't judge.
A blinding grin split across Gon's face.
He cares so much about what I think of him.
Killua's heart melted. Seeing him like this… was so fulfilling. Gon was feeling confident enough and comfortable enough to be his full self without holding anything back.
I can't believe I reacted how I did at first. I can't believe I almost shut him down… I'm so glad I waited for him to finish telling his story. I tell myself I love Gon, yet the moment he fully opened up to me I almost iced him out.
What kind of friend am I?
Just because I had assumed he was some innocent angel and got freaked out when I learned he wasn't doesn't mean I can just… do that to him. I'm the absolute worst. The truth is that this is Gon. Honestly, considering how much shit he gets himself into, I should have seen this coming all along.
He's got a hell of a lot more street smarts than I do.
It's just so crazy, seeing this side of him. It's like looking back at childhood photos, seeing how Gon was at 17. I wonder, what it would have been like to meet him at that time? I mean, he's a completely different person now.
Lately I find… that I want to learn all there is to know about Gon… but not just stuff he'd tell his friends. Stuff he'd tell his family. Stuff he'd tell his… partner. What were his hopes and dreams as a kid? What was his first kiss like? Certainly different from mine…
Personal stuff. What he thinks at any given moment. How he… how he feels about himself. How he feels about others. I could listen to Gon talk forever, and to make up for how bad I almost screwed up… I'll listen to all he has to tell about that time in his life. Even if it makes me jealous hearing about that Jade woman… even if it hurts that he's been with so many people that aren't me…
"So," Gon began, already gesturing wildly with his hands. "I was hanging around Sea Star City for a while there with a few buddies of mine. We decided that we'd hit the casino, we were getting pretty low on cash, we'd spent it all on drugs."
Ging cracked a laugh. "Hah! You're hard core! You know, the more I hear from you the prouder I am to be related to you! You know how to party, kid!"
Gon laughed sheepishly, but seemed to gain a little more confidence.
Killua smiled softly. He was grateful to Ging for reacting that way. Obviously his reaction to hearing about his son blowing all his money on hard drugs was pretty alarming, but Gon had put himself through so much hell about what he'd done at that time in his life. Being able to look back on that time with a smile, was critical for him to fully move past it all.
"Yeah, I'm clean now but I've got a TON of wild stories," Gon admitted, though a little guiltily.
Ging cackled. "You'll have to tell me ALL of them! But ignore me, go on," he motioned Gon to finish his story.
"Okay, so, we weren't doing too well in the casino at first, cause we had only started out with like 5,000 bronze between all four of us."
"That's a tough situation!" Ging commented around a mouthful of those dumplings.
"And we ended up losing it all in one game, but didn't have enough money to pay back what we'd bet! Knuckle said it would be a good risk, but it ended up backfiring… After that we learned never to follow any of Knuckle's gut feelings," Gon chuckled softly to himself.
"But anyways, we were in a total fix! The guy was demanding that we pay up! He was only like a couple years older than me, so it was really pissing me off that he was treating me like he was so much better than I was. And just let me clarify that I WAS intoxicated at the time, but I asked him to call another bet…"
"What was it?" Ging asked, totally invested… especially now that he heard that Gon had been drunk at the time. Yeah… Killua had the same effect. Gon got into crazy enough shit when he was sober, so when he wasn't things just got exponentially crazier.
"I bet that I could blow him with only my tongue, and for every time he made a sound he had to pay 15,000 bronze."
Ging was dying laughing, "And he ended up paying you 150,000 in GOLD?!"
"Uh, yeah," Gon said, hand behind his head.
"Goddamn, the hell did you do to this guy?!" Ging snickered, earning annoyed glances from other customers.
"He told me that I 'turned him gay.' He tried to ask me out like five times over the next week! I kept telling him no, I think I traumatized him cause I was super drunk every time we ran into each other…"
Ging was wheezing at this point.
"Come on, it's not that funny," Gon whined, looking embarrassed. "He was the son of some super rich city dude, and it had been his first time doing anything like that–"
"-That's even funnier! You had some rich guy's son eating out the palm of your hand! If I had been in your shoes I would have kept him coming back, if you know what I mean?" Ging wiggled his eyebrows, and Gon winced. "The harder to get you play with rich types, the more expensive shit they give you!"
"I could never do something like that!" Gon exclaimed, looking appalled. "That would be so mean!"
"You're too honest for your own good, Gon! Learn to be a little tougher!" Ging exclaimed, having the time of his life. "Come on, how many people would be begging at your feet right now if they knew where to find you?"
Killua swallowed a growl. He didn't like that mental image.
Gon flushed. "Uh…"
"Exactly!" Ging chirped. "See, why choose only one person when you can have tons? It's more fun that way!"
"That's horrible!" Gon exclaimed, glaring across the table at Ging.
"It's ethical!" Ging countered with a wicked grin.
Killua rubbed his temples as the two Freecss men dissolved into a heated argument about how courtship should be carried out. So heated that they were asked to leave. Ging asked Gon to "convince" the waitress to let them stay, to which Killua punched him in the face.
"Damn, Zoldyck, you've got a fist of fucking steel," Ging grumbled, rubbing his cheek as they retreated to Ging and Pariston's room.
"Don't exploit your son for sexual purposes, and I won't be inclined to beat the shit out of you!" Killua exclaimed, turning several heads in the crowd.
Ging cracked a laugh, "Don't word it like that!"
Killua grumbled, Gon looking back and forth between Ging and the Valkyrie to try and see if he'd need to jump between them again.
"Do excuse him, he's a complete lost cause," Pariston chirped to Killua, patting Ging on the top of the head. The hybrid swatted the Demon's hands away, barking at him to keep his hands to himself. Killua sighed as the two of them forgot him and Gon were even there, too busy arguing to notice anyone else in the world.
Killua glanced over at Gon, who was watching Ging sissy fight Pariston with a fond look in his eyes.
"So, what do you think of him?" Killua asked.
Gon sighed, threading a hand through his hair. "Well… there's a whole lot of things I think about him."
Killua snorted, "I can imagine."
"But, more than anything, I'm… glad that I got to meet him. Even if he's totally nuts, and even if he's more of an adult friend than a father. Just… getting to know who he is, and see where I came from, it makes me feel a whole lot better. I mean, I could have turned out like that."
Killua barked a laugh as Gon pointed at Ging, who was in a bickering match with his Demon companion of 19 years.
"I mean," Gon continued, "At first I wasn't sure, but now that we've started talking and stuff, I feel a whole lot better around him. It may be strange, but seeing him as a friend instead of a father makes a whole lot more sense, you know?"
Killua hummed, nodding.
"It's just that, I never really wanted to find Ging so I could find a father figure. I never really… needed one, ya know?" Gon stared off into space, the torches reflecting in his eyes like little sparkling gems of amber. "I already had a perfectly good parental figure in Mito. She's more than made up for both my mother and my father… that and then some. So… this just feels better, in a way. So it's not like I'm replacing Mito or anything, not that it was ever like that in the first place. It's just… the way things are now, I'm not filling a role that never needed to be filled in the first place. Ging's a friend, and I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Yeah," Gon murmured. "Gon… you're really…"
The hybrid glanced up at Killua, and his breath caught in his throat.
"You're really kind. I don't know if anyone's ever told you that before. But you are."
Gon's eyes widened a fraction, and then his face melted into a soft smile. "Thanks, Killua. I don't deserve it."
Killua gripped his hand into a fist. He really wanted to take Gon's hand… but he couldn't do that. He didn't deserve it, he still had to earn Gon's affections. And he wouldn't have done that until he'd made up for all those uncalled for opinions he'd had.
"What do you think about…" Killua paused, trying to find the best way to word it. "About your blood? Now you know half of it. What's it feel like? Your life's goal is halfway complete," Killua ended on a whisper.
Gon's eyes lit up, getting that look in them again. "Now? I guess… I don't feel much different than I ever did."
"What's that mean?"
"Well… at first I was conflicted because of it… but now I've fully come to understand it. When Ging first told me… it wasn't really… it wasn't anywhere near the enormous revelation I'd been expecting."
"I know what you mean," Killua murmured, subconsciously walking close enough to Gon for their arms to brush with every step.
"Ging's half human… and half Terran Elf. That makes me 25% human, and 25% elven. But it's not like I'm Blood Shadow or Ice Pike. I'm just… Terran. I may as well just be completely 50% human. I mean, knowing for sure what 50% of me is, it's really nice. But still… if it's not anything big, it feels like the knowledge isn't even there… Doesn't that even make sense?"
Killua nodded. "A little. Your whole life you haven't known anything, other than the fact that you're part human. Even if part of you is elven, it's just Terran, so it's like you already knew that the whole time."
Gon's eyes lit up, he leaned in closer to Killua. Killua felt himself inching closer as well. "Yeah! Exactly! I was just so shocked when I heard it. I mean, I didn't really feel anything. My whole life I've felt like, when I finally learned my species, everything would just make sense. But when Ging took off the head cloth, and told me just like that? Nothing happened. It was all the same. That's why I was all froze up… it didn't make sense to me. Something was supposed to happen, but nothing ever did. I was totally weirded out, but now I've come to terms with it. I don't feel anything, I don't feel any different."
Killua nodded, relieved to hear that Gon was okay.
"Or at least, in regards to the part of me that's Ging."
The Valkyrie blinked, his heart speeding up. He could feel it, he could sense it coming. Suddenly Gon's face erupted with that blinding light, he grinned like a madman, face alight in such a glorious expression of positivity and determination.
Killua's heart lurched. This.
This was what he'd fallen in love with.
"The half of me that's from my mom? That's still completely up in the air," Gon stated. "Now that I know the part of me that's Ging, I know that all the weird stuff - the aura, the biochemical, the neurotoxin, the second form - everything, all that's from my mom. So… once we finish this mission? That's when I'll find out for sure. Yeah! Now? I'm even more fired up to figure it out than ever before!"
Nope. Killua couldn't hold it in any longer.
He whipped around, enveloping Gon in a crushing embrace.
Gods.
"Gon."
I love you.
"I lo– I. I'll help you finish this."
Crap, that was close.
"We'll finish this mission, and we'll find out who your mother is. I swear on my life."
Gon was frozen in surprise for a moment, but soon returned the embrace. He squeezed Killua back eyes shut tight. "Thanks, Killua. I can't… do it without you."
Killua choked on air. "Damn it! Don't say– don't say shit like that to me!"
I won't be able to hold myself back if you do.
Gon giggled. "Sorry, I guess I'm just too embarrassing~"
"You're an asshole!" Killua complained, shoving away from Gon and marching back after Ging and Pariston. The hybrid skipped on after him, smiling brighter than any star in the sky.
