Some time has passed, the boys' moods improving over the weeks.
Killua is at the final stages of his weapon crafting, all that's left is for Daniel to add the finishing touches, and Mikkel to piece the weapons together.
A\N: I count one, two… maybe three at most, chapters remaining for this Arc before I move on to the next two. It'll be the Trio's relationship either in the background or after Alluka's Mini-Arc.
Killua had almost finished the last piece of his Yo-Yo set. Scratching a few more lines, he made sure to make a few features bolder, stand out on the design. He was glad about how it worked out. The theatre mask mixed with the wolf, each one sharing a different expression, even when they were expressing the same feeling, he made sure both didn't express it the same way.
Like Alluka and Daniel in person, each of them expressed sadness, concern, happiness and even acted mischievously.
He was extra thankful for Daniel not demanding to see what he drew. It wasn't that he didn't want to show his partner, it was that he wanted to have a grand reveal on the final product, to show how it turned out.
Placing the etching blade on the table, he looked at each, individual, piece; smiling to himself as he looked over every expression, how one side always looked the polar, opposite to the other, while the second side will always mirror the other side's expressions.
He wrapped the pieces up before collecting the knife, heading down to where Daniel and Mikkel were working.
When he went downstairs, he found Daniel alone in the workshop "Where's Mikkel?"
"In front dealing with a customer…"
Killua hummed at the news, opting to place the covered pieces on the table with the other parts of the weapons that were finished. He brought his attention to his partner, moving over to lean over his boyfriend who managed to keep his posture straight, even with the added weight "How much do you have left to do?"
"I have to work the shaft…"
Killua snorted at the accidental sex joke. Sometimes he wondered if his partner did these on purpose, or he forgets just how much he loves to tease Daniel about these intimate situations "Do you now…?"
"Work ON the shaft…"
"Don't stop there… keep going… work that shaft to completion." Killua mocked with a childish grin. He could see his boyfriend trying to hide his embarrassment. Even though he's aware that Vastorie used to make sexual innuendos with his son all the time, probably even when he didn't understand them. It was only after he was old enough to understand them… did he start to develop a disdain for them.
Daniel has vented about it countless times, always complaining how horny Vastorie acted at times.
But when it came to him, for some reason, Daniel never got upset at him for making sexual jokes. He'd even blush if hit him with one at the right moment. His cheeks would redden… and he'll look away like he was doing right now.
Killua liked it…
However, if Daniel were to ever become uncomfortable about sexual innuendos, he'd immediately stop it. For now, though, provided it doesn't make Daniel uncomfortable, he'll continue to make them.
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Are you done with the too-" The boy stopped himself, earning a wider grin from his lover "The Etching blade… you perv." He kissed his partner on the cheek, managing to get Killua to blush from the small affectionate gesture.
"Yup, done." The boy held a hand against his reddening cheeks. Now it was his turn to blush out of embarrassment, "I'll explain how to use it…" He went over the details, showing Daniel the features, including how to use the Etching blade. Daniel quietly listened while he drew the sharp knife over the flat side of the axe blade, craving constant grooves that swirled along with the empty, space.
Looks like Daniel was almost done with his current task, "So, how much is left?"
"The Axe handle, the spear… shaft, which is what I needed the etching blade for, the Whip's chain, including the mechanism that connects it to the grip… and that's about it, at least for me. How about you?"
"Building it and winding up the string, then everything should be done…"
"Sounds good. So, we're almost done?"
"Yeah… then we'll be leaving Mikkel to go after Ashton Nieves, for Alluka's mental health… and for advice on how to help her. However, I'm gonna miss the guy, he helped us a lot… not just building the weapon, but giving us advice as well."
"He's been a better father figure to me… than Vastorie has been for my whole life…"
"To be fair, that's setting a really low bar…" Killua mocked the situation, grinning widely when Daniel's expression shifted into a smirk.
"I guess you're right about that." Carving off one final line, he blew away the flakes. Maybe he should ask Mikkel to smooth out the edges, seeing as Celium is incredibly sharp. He doesn't want to accidentally cut himself if he's going to be maintaining his weapons upkeep.
Killua looked over the Celtic design, taking note of some of the finer details. Mainly, the snake that was hidden in the random swirls, circling the one spiral image in the middle of the blade axe. It also had vein-like grooves that connected to the edge where the blade was sharpened to a point, "Looks good…"
"Thank you… I would say the same, but I haven't seen your workmanship, yet." Daniel joked, even though he was secretly curious about the finished designs. He wanted to see it, but unlike their connection which was built on the foundation of divulgence, he respected Killua's privacy.
It's not like his boyfriend planned to keep it a secret from him for the rest of their lives…
"I'm saving it for a surprise." The boy noted, noticing Daniel's expression didn't change. He must trust him, more than he was letting on right now "Anyways, it won't make sense if I show you now. The final product is how I want to present it to you, so, that the designs make sense." Killua smiled at his partner, "I'm sure you'll appreciate the sentiment."
Daniel gave his boyfriend a courtesy nod, "I would…"
Mikkel came back, only to find Killua hugging Daniel from behind, "I see that you two are busy."
"Not at all…" Killua stood up straight, "So what's next…? I'm done with my part, so it's just the task of assembling the pieces, that is remaining."
"Good… then you can help me if the chains, seeing as you're not busy."
"Sure, how can I assist?"
Mikkel pulled out a series of chains interlinking with one another, connecting to a piece of rod, which he assumed was made from Oskianithil, "That's the Oskianithil?"
"Yup…" The man wrapped a piece of rubber around it, before reseating a plate of metal that laid on top of the rod, while still being distant to the chains, "Hit the chain with a spark of electricity. Remember… you're trying to test a feature, not charge a battery."
Killua rolled his eyes, "Alright…" Killua hit the chain with a spark, the man flinching from the action.
"Hmm… too close." He readjusted the metal plating a little, "again."
The man flinched once more, "No good… on sec Killua." Pulling the plate away, he moved the rubber past the rod, moving it up the chain link. He didn't mind if it covered the chain, he was just trying to find the right method, the sweet spot is the endpoint for him.
Moving the metal plate so it wrapped around the rubber, he touched it once more "Hit it."
Killua shot a spark of electricity along the metal links. Mikkel started to grin. He moved the rubber down, then the plate closer to the edge of the rubber, "hit it again." The man felt the tingling sensation so he moved the metal a couple of millimetres down along the rubber "again." He didn't feel anything.
Widening his smirk, "Step back, and hit the chain links with a bigger charge. Not enough to kill someone, so that they, technically myself, could feel it…"
"Are you sure?" Killua raised an eyebrow in concern.
"Yup, I made sure I couldn't feel the static. If I'm going to do this correctly, I need you to be somewhat serious. If I make a mistake here, at least I can adjust it now, without Daniel having to suffer the consequences later, because of my shoddy work. Hit it…"
Killua looked at Daniel, considering this would be his boyfriend's weapon. Mikkel would be right, a mistake here could prove to be fatal later. Electricity shot up into his fingertip, the boy pulling back his hand "Ready?"
"Ready!"
The boy flicked his hand out, a bolt of thunder launching off his fingertip, heading towards the interlinking chains. Narukami. There was a flash of light, a mini electric explosion going off that sent Mikkel flying into a nearby wall.
The two boys panicked, heading straight to the man's side.
Mikkel let out a soft groan, "Note to self… use better rubber."
Letting out a sigh of relief, the two boys looked over the man's trembling frame. If it weren't for his constant Ten defence, he might have suffered serious internal damage. It looks like he'll be fine, but Killua may need to check up on the man later, just in case he has internal issues.
Eventually, Mikkel got up, smiling widely, "I may need some adjustments…" He scratched his chin, hand still trembling. Maybe I should be setting the rubber not just under the plate, but curving under the plate-like an umbrella. Hmm… back to the drawing board for me, I guess.
"Uh… Uh!" Killua stopped the man, "I'm not going through that process again. Daniel, drop the idea."
"Consider it, done!"
"It's an easy fix…" Mikkel burst into laughter from the young boy's quick dismissal. Slapping a hand calmly around the boy's shoulder, he spoke with a softer tone, "I know you were holding back, which is good… but I'm not giving up now. I bloody made the handle, so you can bet I'm going to get this done and prove to you it's not only possible…" He shifted his attention to the other, "but my assumption of a six is invalid."
"But… you got hurt. I can't put you through that again, just so Daniel can have the perfect weapon… regardless of whether you want to prove yourself of being incorrect about your assumption of a single weapon out of three. What makes you change your mind about the weapon not being a six now?"
"Hmm…" The man scratched his chin, fingers no longer twitchy, "Call it intuition. I've taken note of how your relationship works… I've seen how you work off, of each other. Others may consider this a reckless move… but I'm now humouring the idea out of respect for you two. May I also remind you, that I stated, that the same process may not work perfectly every time… if, repeated multiple times. Practice makes perfect, except when it comes to a single method. Also, I told you that you're going to help me perfect the process… so give me a few days, I'll work something out, okay?"
Killua didn't like the idea one bit. But the man was refusing to give up. Wasn't Daniel the same… even when he was knocked down, he continued to get up? It's not that he doesn't want to give the man a chance, it's that he doesn't want to continue hurting him.
As if sensing the boy's internal struggle, the man spoke with an upbeat attitude, "Mistakes happen… so don't let this one slip through your fingers, just because you felt like it's not possible."
Killua felt defeated, "Fine… but I'll only hit it, as long as you felt you perfected it."
The man gave a nod, "Alright, I'll respect your decision with that. However, right now… I'm going to lie down for a bit first."
When the man left, the two looked at each other, Killua now crossing his arms "I don't like this one bit… but if Mikkel can get it working, maybe it'll still be a good idea to keep." The boy turned his attention to the chains, holding them in his fingertips. They still tingled in his hands, the charge barely sizzling out at this point.
"He probably realised he knows how to fix it… I wouldn't be surprised."
"Maybe your right…" The boy paused, thinking about what he should say next… what he should do. Daniel will need time to work on his stuff, given that his design choices still needed to be implemented on the remaining pieces. So, he shifted the discussion "I'm going to make sure Mikkel didn't have a heart attack after being hit by a charged bolt of electricity."
Daniel let out a hum, acknowledging his partner's words. It's probably best one of them makes sure the toasted man didn't die in that last stunt, "Alright, I'll remain here and continue working then…"
"Alright, then after that I'll check on Alluka, see how she's going. She has been improving…"
"She has… you know it's going to reach a point, where you'll need to train her to fight."
"I know…" The boy sighed, now leaning his frame against the door, "I wanted her to not live that life… to be free to explore the world, without needing to feel like she'll need to defend herself."
"I want that too… to be strong enough to protect the both of you, without you needing to feel like you need to fight."
Killua snorted at the idea, "Even in a hundred years, you'll never be as strong as me…"
"I know…" Daniel's tone shifted, now expressing his sadness "I can't protect the one I love the most…"
"It's not always about being strong enough to protect me. We have an equal relationship, especially the levels of screwed up situations involving different family members. I may have Alluka… you may have Nathaniel… but most of our family is against what we want for ourselves. Strength isn't as black and white as we assumed. Provided we're stronger than X, we can always win. A simple miss-step could mess up our entire situation. You wishing you're stronger than me and you combined isn't going to help us… it's picking up where the other lacks… alright?"
"Understood…"
Killua rolled his eyes, "I can hear the sadness in your voice a mile away. Look… we have our strengths, which we should improve upon. But there's one thing that you and I could improve upon, which isn't related to making sure we're perfect everywhere…"
"That is…?" Daniel turned in his chair slightly, now looking at his partner.
"Stop trying to change the past… and focus on the here, the now… the future."
Daniel smiled, "You're right. Let's make life better for Alluka, and ourselves…"
Killua hid his features, a smile forming under his hair, "You're right…" Turning away, he continued to smile, "Let's make it better for all three of us…"
"~"
When Killua left, Daniel was alone, left to deal with his current task on his own. Eventually, he picked up the etching blade, doing exactly what Killua told him to do, when preparing the tool.
He filled it with the Bloodstone liquid, including the paint before mixing it. Once the paint was mixed, he got up, grabbing the shaft of the spear. Next, he sat back down, placing the shaft on the table.
Picking up the etching blade, he started to draw in a few lines, trying to draw upon the Roman heritage. He scratched in some lines, spirals, like two snakes interlocking with each other.
He aimed for a third of the way down, before shifting the pen, circling the shaft. He made two lines before drawing the same spiral between them. He made sure to have a cut-off point, so Rosalia had a point of reference, a place to shorten the shaft between. Next, he drew three more lines back up the shaft, trying to equalise the space between all four sides.
Once one side was done, he repeated the process on the other side.
Having completed his task, he leaned back, yawning loudly as he stretched his arms. Looking at the clock, his eyes widened in surprise. It's this late? The time stated eight O'clock? Why didn't Killua bother him?
Walking towards the door, he stopped himself, this time looking to his left. The door frame that led to the front of the shop. He wondered if the man locked up for the night. Entering the front, it felt eerily silent.
He walked past the cash register, heading straight for the door.
Flicking the lock close, he looked up. Noticing a blur blink around the corner of a building. Standing there for a few minutes longer, he looked at the corner he swore someone disappeared behind.
Unexpectedly, a hand came from behind him, grabbing his shoulder. The boy froze to the spot.
"Daniel?"
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Daniel turned to his partner "You gave me a heart attack."
Killua raised a single eyebrow, a little confused. Normally Daniel was hyper-aware of his surroundings, paying close attention to where he always was. He didn't think it was possible to surprise his boyfriend "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I thought I saw someone disappear around a corner."
Killua flicked his head in the direction Daniel was looking, "Did you feel like you were being watched?"
"No…" Daniel once more found himself looking at the building "nothing like that."
Killua hummed at his boyfriend's words, eyeing the corner of the building suspiciously "Alright… be careful though. We don't know if it's the same person that followed me back then, that followed us here… or a mere coincidence."
Daniel gave a nod, turning back to the same corner, "I'll keep an eye out." Turning around, the boy left for the back of the shop, heading towards the house section of the building.
Killua stayed for a little bit longer, looking at the same building. Eventually, he left, heading toward the back. He didn't feel a pair of eyes on him, but he turned one last time to look out the window. There was nobody at the corner of the building, not even a blur that disappeared behind it. Flicking the light off, he left to follow his boyfriend into the house.
Maybe it was nothing to be concerned about… just a person heading home via a shortcut.
But at least if there was danger waiting for them around the corner, they'll be prepared for it. He'll protect his partner and sister no matter what… Even if it was Victor standing before them. He just hopes when the time comes for it, no lives will need to be sacrificed.
Till then, he'll continue to watch the streets and corners, until he knows they're safe.