The two bonds over a movie; Daniel is forced to hold back the floodgate of emotions.

The moment Daniel finished cleaning the shower, he steeled his nerves, opting to fake a smile rather than pretend absolutely nothing went on in that room. As much as he'd like to push those memories to the back of his mind, he couldn't…

He couldn't pretend he hadn't yanked the crank… well, rode the sex toy to climax, with only a mental image of Killua to fuel the session of passion.

It happened, there was no escape. As the days go by, hiding it will get harder.

Maybe the next time Killua goes at it, he could pretend the alien was calling out to him. He could use that as a stepping stone to get them to hopefully, reduce the volume of their enthusiastic fun time.

That, or he could always go out and exercise as Killua goes at it. Although, they might get suspicious of him leaving every time they want to masturbate. He'll need to think of a better solution to his dilemma. Until then, he needs to cross the first hurdle.

With the dildo cleaned and hidden in the towel, he left the bathroom "Bathroom is free. Sorry for taking so long."

"That's all good…" Killua gave the man a quick grin, now standing in the bathroom doorway "Although, the thought of having to smell myself for a second longer, makes me wish I had a shower before you did."

Daniel gave a nod before heading towards the laundry room, walking down the hallway without a word being uttered.

Killua tilted their head slightly, a little unsure about the man. On one hand, he said he was fine. On the other, he looked a little… reclusive perhaps. He hadn't said anything in response so clearly, something was going on… at least in his head.

Killua wanted to know what was going on, but given the man's personality, he might continue to shut them down. Although reluctant to give up, they sighed in frustration. They'll need to probe him a little at a time. They entered the bathroom, preparing the shower.

Daniel waited until he heard the shower running. He threw the towel onto the floor, quietly jogging over to his room. He put the toy away, hiding it in his normal spot before heading back to the laundry room.

Now that the evidence of his crime was once more hidden, he prepped the next load of washing so once the towel was done, and hopefully clean from Killua's release, he can throw it in the dryer. He dreads to think of opening the laundry door to be met with the smell that put him in the throes of lust.

Hopefully, it was completely clean so he could start the next load of washing. Otherwise, he might have to take a blow torch to that towel… or any towel Killua ruins with their essence.

However, that's the last thing he needs… to spend more money on towels because they're drenched in a substance that drives him crazy with lust.

Once the next batch was set up, the man returned to the kitchen, grabbing a satchel of popcorn. He threw the bag into the microwave, prepping it for when Killua was done. Searching through his list of movies, he decided to pick something involving horror.

Nothing like a good zombie-Esque film to get the blood pumping. So far, they've mainly watched Action movies, time to bump it up a notch. He wanted to know how Killua would go with horror elements. Would they be scared, or would they just question everything in the movie… including the actors' and actresses' stupidity?

The moment he heard the shower turn off; he started the microwave. Calling out to Killua, he wanted to get the alien's opinion on the idea first, before he puts it into play "How do you do with horror elements?"

"Horror…?" Killua walked into the living room with a towel around their waist and another rubbing at their wet hair. Daniel's eyes couldn't help but linger on the alien's physique.

Killua took notice, "Hmm… did I miss a spot?"

The man thought up an excuse, lest he wants to become a sputtering mess of words, all because he was completely infatuated with the alien's naked body. So, the man pointed at the one thing he hadn't noticed until just that second. The lack of a belly button. He had to thank his keen eyes for picking up on something he would've otherwise ignored because he was too busy checking them out "No, I just noticed you lack a belly button…"

"A what now?"

"It's useless right now, but when we're in a mother's womb, that's where the umbilical cord is attached to."

"Ahh… I assume you have one?"

"All humans do…" Daniel lifted his shirt slightly, pointing at his belly button as an example. It also gave him a reason to negate his earlier weirdness "One belly button."

"You can have multiple…?" Killua raised an eyebrow, eyes now staring at the spot. What else did humans have, that differentiated them from Valiskarians?

"Oh, no…" Daniel chuckled, "Get dressed in some pyjamas, we're gonna have a pyjama movie night. We're watching a horror film."

"About…?"

"Demons, specifically… Deadites. Evil Dead, number three, the army of Darkness. I rather ease you into horror just in case."

"Why…?" Killua raised a curious eyebrow. What exactly is Daniel easing him into?

"Horror is considered, scary… not everyone can handle horror."

"I'll be fine…" The alien left to get dressed and ready for a movie night, "Not much can scare me these days."

"I'll hold you to that!" Daniel yelled out as Killua left.

While they got dressed, Daniel prepped the popcorn in a bowl, sitting down to get the movie ready to start the moment Killua entered the room. Then he remembered something. He got up, grabbing two blankets. He sat down once more, expecting to wait a little longer before Killua came.

Much to his surprise, Killua came into the room the moment he sat down for the second time. The alien took a seat right next to him. He wasn't expecting Killua to sit right next to him. They could've been thinking it means they wouldn't have to over-stretch to grab the popcorn.

But to someone who just masturbated to them, being so close to them right now… was dangerous to his mind. He could smell the body wash on Killua and it made them smell so good. He tried not to focus on that, instead opting to grab one of the blankets.

He handed it over to the alien who wrapped it around their body, Daniel doing the same "Popcorn?"

"Sure…" They grabbed a few, popping them into their mouth, before grabbing a few more "So what's the movie about?"

"So, to not spoil the first two, even though the intro kinda spoils things at the start… A man was supposed to lock away the creatures called Deadites. Instead, he's basically sent back in time along with them… and now he needs to get back to his own time, but it's not as easy as it sounds."

"Sounds… interesting."

"This one is more comedy than it is horror… I'm sure you'd like it." Actually, it's one of my favourites… the man thought to himself, not wanting to spoil the alien's opinion on the movie.

Leaning forward, the man grabs the controller to start the movie. He settles back into the comfort of his blanket, smiling to himself. He hopes Killua likes the movie. They're allowed to critique it all they want, but he'll be sad if Killua calls it shit.

As the two settle to watch the movie in comfortable silence, side-by-side, Daniel secretly stole glances whenever he could as the movie progresses. He was acting like a total perv, but he couldn't help himself.

One part of his mind wanted to see the alien's reaction, no matter how subtle. If there was even a hint of Killua liking the movie, he'd be happy.

The other part… there was no denying it. It was for perverted reasons. His mind wanted to see everything, even though he had already seen everything when Killua walked into the room, with only a towel around their waist.

His mind couldn't just think about what they looked like…

It wanted a realistic image imprinted in his brain.

He was getting hard again. Fuck…

Daniel was thankful for the blanket wrapped around his body, hiding that evidence. He plied his eyes away from them to focus on the movie… that was until he heard a snort to his left. He leaned over picking up the controller to pause the movie. At no point in the movie, did Killua make that noise?

Not even when Ash pulled out his shotgun and blast the knight's sword into oblivion "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… why?"

"Then, did you just… laugh?"

"Laugh?"

"Ah… how do I explain laughter. You found Mr Ash getting swallowed by the false book stupidly funny?"

"I guess… It was… unexpected."

I hope I can hear them burst into laughter… I wonder what that would sound like. "Oh," the man smacked the controller into his palm before pointing it at his friend "you remember the scene when the hand flew out of the pit and stuck to the man's face? When it cut to the blacksmith's reaction, that was laughter."

"Oh…" Killua's eyebrows knit together, "Is it normal to laugh?"

"Of course…" Daniel held out his free hand out, reaching over to touch Killua's. In a split second, he so badly wanted to interlock his fingers with the alien's wanting to know what it's like to hold their hand under the comfort of a warm blanket.

As quickly as that feeling came, he pushed it to the back of his mind, instead, settling on resting his hand on top of Killua's "it's not only normal… it's natural."

"But you didn't laugh?"

"Oh, believe me… the first time I saw that scene, I died of laughter. Not… actually, died. Humans don't respawn."

"Respawn?" They tilted their head slightly, confused by what the human meant.

Daniel felt his heart flutter. Fuck, the way Killua tilted their head was so bloody cute in his eyes. It was like a puppy hearing a sound for the first time "Come back to life after dying."

"I know what it means… I'm just surprised humans would know what that is."

"Oh, my god… I'm going to have to explain some of the mechanics of DnD to you, or Meleoron is going to have a fit."

"So, I assume DnD involves respawn."

"Yes, but more on that later… wait, a second…" Daniel turned to the extra-terrestrial, now confused from what they said, "You, said… I'm just surprised humans would know what that is. What do you mean?"

"Well, we have a type of device that simulates your death. It's used for training purposes, mainly if you're going to be a fighter."

"So, what… dodging weapons and energy beams?"

"Yeah… pretty much. You fail, it simulates your death, and then you respawn to continue training. Very effective after getting your head cut off several times."

Then the scars… Daniel wanted to ask, but he felt it was too soon "I want to ask about your scars if it's related to that, but I don't want to force that conversation open."

"It is… it's about failure. That's all I'm prepared to say."

"That's fine… you don't have to talk about it anymore." He gave a nod, appreciating that Killua was willing to say anything about themselves at all. He still wanted to prob, but the fact that they said anything at all, means they trust him a little more…

He's not willing to break the alien's trust over his curiosity.

So instead, the man smiled at his friend "We're watching a movie anyways… so I'd rather not divert too much from the movie. However, what I will say is, what I meant by dying of laughter, is I broke into tears of laughter." Daniel removed his hand, now blushing from having touched Killua's. Not only did it feel so… nice, to touch.

Killua was willing to share a little about themself…

He held up the controller, pointing it at the screen as he leaned over to smile at Killua, "Never force yourself not to laugh… if you find it funny… laugh."

"I'll remember that…"

The man thought he'd have to wait for ages before he heard his friend break into laughter.

The moment the movie character climbed out of the book, his extremely long jaw distorting his face; the alien broke into unexpected laughter. Daniel's jaw dropped slightly, watching in awe as the laughter continued. There were no tears, the kind you get when you're unable to stop yourself from laughing from the absurdity of the situation.

The alien kept going, unable to stop until Ash had returned to his normal face structure.

It was like the little kid part of Killua awoken; the discovery of childish cartoon mechanics having been the reason for what awoken that laughter.

To say the man fell a little that night would be an understatement…

The look of joy across the alien's laughing face was not only a shock but an expected reveal. In his eyes, Killua was no longer this neutral, deadpanned expressionless alien… they were capable of more.

They just needed something to give them a little push.

Daniel's lips cracked into a huge smile because this was a major win for him. It means Killua liked a part of the movie, that he has enjoyed for a long time. A giddy feeling washed over him, a need to hug his friend. He was unbelievably happy at this outcome.

The alien rubs under their eye, a gesture Daniel understood as wiping away tears of laughter. But there were no tears, at least nothing he could see.

Then the alien turned, facing their friend, only to get this new look… an expression they didn't understand. It was distant, as though the man were deep in thought. But those eyes were focused on them, smiling in a manner they didn't understand.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Daniel snapped out of his mind, a little confused "Like what?"

"You were… how do I explain it? Smiling? But it wasn't really smiling… distant?"

Daniel's mouth widened slightly; their mouth parted in surprise. Then his expression shifted, directing a warm expression at his friend.

"That one!" Killua gestured at the man's face, "it looked exactly like that."

Daniel blushed slightly, one hand now rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed from having been caught looking at Killua in that way. The movie continued to play in the background, the character screaming from being attacked. But none of that mattered to either of them right now…

It was understanding what was going on… what was going through his friend's mind "It's… because I'm happy."

"No, it feels different… it is different."

Daniel shook his head; not because he couldn't explain it… he could. It was just doing so meant he had to be raw, to commit to a path he wasn't ready to take "I am happy… I'm happy that you're enjoying something I enjoy."

"Happy to see someone like the same things you do, huh…"

"Exactly. Which reminds me…" Daniel leaned in closer to Killua, "Seeing you laugh and smile, seeing that smile makes you glow, not literary, but in a manner that makes me believe your neutral expression is being forced."

"Forced, huh… maybe." They shook their head at the absurdity of the request, "I'll think about it."

The two continued to watch the movie, that was until Ash's doppelganger was brought back to life after being buried alive.

Killua pointed that scene out "So, do you consider that respawning…?"

"Not exactly, that was more necromancy, if we follow DnD laws."

"The difference?"

"Necromancy involves the undead, respawn, or in this case resurrection involves the living. Although, the thing is more demonic than it is undead. It also wasn't dead, dead… as it was buried technically alive, in pieces. But given that it was brought back to life after being cut it up, it involves necromancy."

"That's so… DnD laws can be so confusing."

"How about this…" As the movie continued, the two got lost in conversation, Daniel explaining away "If a cleric heals an undead creature, it hurts them… rather than healing them. It's like using the Inflict, or I believe Cause series of spells. Those do the same thing, except to living creatures. However, I believe it can be used to heal undead creatures… you're gonna want to ask a DM, a Dungeon Master if that still applies as I don't know all the rules."

"Alright… that makes a little more sense. Different mechanics for different situations."

"Although, I don't know who will be the DM of the game you'll be joining. I'll explain more about the game on another day, so at least you have a basic understanding. Don't want you to be a noob…"

"A noob?"

"Noob, sometimes also called Newb, is basically, an idiot that doesn't understand anything about a specific game, idea or concept."

"Humans have so many terms…"

"We do… we like to box ideas and shorten language as much as possible. You're lucky you didn't land during the texting era; you would've been confused as hell. To put it bluntly, what are you doing tonight, is… what, w-a-t, the letter 'r' for are, the letter 'u' for you. Doing is spelt d-o-i-n and tonight is the number two, followed by n-i-t-e."

"Yes, lucky…" Killua scoffed at the idea of having to read that kind of text format.

The two settled down in silence, continuing to watch the movie in mostly silence, a few chuckles or laughter breaking out at random between them.

"~"

When the credits rolled, Daniel turned to his friend "How did you like it?"

"It had its fun moments, I actually liked aspects about it. Could I give some critiques… certainly, but given how the Ash character was portrayed to be an idiot, I don't think I could… He could've done so many things better, but that's my opinion."

"Understandable…" Daniel's smile grew.

"Although, I fail to see how it's considered horror?"

"It's on a technicality because it involves skeletons… demons… and geysers of blood. Or in this movie's case… geysers of red water. The amount of corn syrup you would need to replicate that scene would be off the charts expensive."

"Corn syrup…?"

"It's an ingredient used in foods, mainly with lollies… surprisingly, it's also used in horror flicks to give blood that thick kind of look."

"Sounds innovative…"

"It is… speaking of which, I'm glad you liked the movie… it's very rare I ever get to watch my favourite movies with anyone."

"But… don't you have a lot of friends?"

"That likes horror? Nah, most of them are scaredy cats. They can't handle the genre. Except for Gon, who has nerves of steel… only two of my friends can handle it. Kurapika and Iason. You'll meet Iason at the DnD session… but Kurapika… he's like an enigma. Catching him on a day off is like winning the lottery. His husband, however, even though he's a doctor… and can be just as busy as his husband, that man cannot handle scary movies. And, he has sooo many nightmare stories in the ER. Like finding things you shouldn't be found in a butthole."

"Like what…?"

"Buzz Lightyear… a man got it stuck inside of him when the wings expanded. I would say they took to the infinity and beyond too far… but that would've been uncomfortable."

"I… don't know who they are, or how I should be reacting."

Daniel showed roughly how big the toy would've been after they expanded.

"Ouch…"

"You can say that again." Daniel then smiled at Killua, a comfortable mood settling around him. He felt so comfortable being with Killua and with each new concept he learns about his extra-terrestrial friend, the more his walls erode with time…

"Look about earlier, I want to apologise for acting weird. I can't say I won't stop acting that way…"

"Huh?" Killua looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Basically, I have some things in my head I need to sort out, so excuse my weird mannerisms for the moment."

"What things…? Is it something I did or said?"

"No, well… actually, no. It's more about what I did…"

"Which is…?"

"I'd rather not say, at least for now… I made a promise remember. To be a little more forthcoming with aspects of myself. But for now, all I can really say is… I'm confused about some things."

"Anything I can help you understand? At least with your situation…"

"No…" The man shook his head, "it's something I have to figure out on my own." My mind says one thing, but my heart says another… He didn't dare say that part out loud, he'd give away his internal struggle. But there was something he could remark about, a hint towards what he's feeling "As someone whose job it is to listen to others, to gauge what they're feeling… to come up with plans or ideas to help someone conclude what's the right thing to do… without giving them an answer, for once, I have gotten myself stumped."

"That bad, huh…"

"It's not bad, per se…" I hope… "I hope to better understand myself, on what should be the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do…" Killua hummed at the words, trying to gauge his hidden meaning. But Like Daniel is, they're also stumped by the situation. So, they did the next best thing, unexpected for even themselves. They smiled… not forced like their neutral expression. They smiled at Daniel for once in their life "I hope you can understand yourself better. So that I can learn more about you…"

"Likewise…"