Author's Notes:
RELATIONSHIPS: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight, Leorio Paladiknight/Original Female Character(s)
RATING: Mature
Chapter 3: Boss Battle
This has been Leorio's worst night in Wildin on record. He struck out, then struck out again, then struck out for a third time. All the while, a familiar pair of woodsy brown eyes may have been observing loss after loss after loss. Not for the first time, their owner has obtained a front seat to the heights of Leorio's humiliation.
What the hell is Kurapika doing here, of all possible places on Greed Island or in the world at large? Why is he sitting at a corner table of the speakeasy with his slim legs crossed and with his chained hand curled around the stem of a martini glass? With his suit dyed a deep blue, his tousled hair as golden as ever, and his lips more kissable than they have a right to be?
Kurapika raises the glass to those sumptuous lips and sips on a dirty martini. His eyes stay steady on Leorio's — challenging, almost, even though he indicates no intention of approaching or calling out a greeting after being apart for so long.
Leorio's legs, while stiff with shock, succeed in stumbling forward. He halts in front of his former friend's table, located in the shadows of the grand piano.
Leorio's words sound like the wisps of a dream when they float from his mouth. "Kurapika? How long have you been sitting here? Have you been spying on me?"
"Excuse me?"
Even as Kurapika's voice — that entrancing tenor — worms its way into Leorio's heart, a realization slams into his head.
Of course. How could he forget?
Kurapika's presence in Wildin on a night when Leorio misses him most ardently is too much of a coincidence. It makes zero sense for Leorio to have magically manifested his deepest desire out of thin air, regardless of how much absinthe he's ingested through the night.
The truth is this isn't Kurapika at all. Rather, this is a creature from Wildin's mythos who has flawlessly adopted Kurapika's appearance and personality to reflect the ideal romantic and sexual type of Leorio, as one of the players of the simulation.
"You must be the famous Chameleon," Leorio amends. "I — Dr. Leorio Paladiknight — am so honored to meet you. Rumors about you have been circling around Wildin, but actual sightings have been few and far between. Or so I've heard."
"The famous Chameleon," the man with Kurapika's voice echoes. "What makes you assume that's who I am?"
"You don't have to pretend. I know all about you." In an effort to dazzle, Leorio rattles off everything Zepile has sleuthed out about the Chameleon's mythology. He beams after he finishes this lengthy explanation. "What did I tell you? I've got it all figured out."
"Color me impressed."
"I'll tell you what else," Leorio continues. "For a character as rare as yourself, it stands to reason that the developer has imposed a formidable difficulty level. So I'm theorizing that utilizing a competent, confident, dominant, and straight-shooting seduction style will garner the most points with you."
"You're trying to win points with me, are you?"
"Obviously. That's how this dating sim works. So tell me, is my guess correct? Is my brutal honesty registering as a positive attribute according to your programming?"
Kurapika's double leans back against his chair. His slender fingers, swathed in chains, toy with the stem of his glass. He drains the remainder of his drink with a single swallow. "Keep the truth bombs coming. I have a soft spot for honesty and sincerity, I'll admit." Though he says this, his eyes don't soften one bit.
Rather than serving to discourage, this chilly distance between them makes Leorio's heart race. The double acts and speaks so similarly to the real thing.
Anybody familiar with Kurapika will understand that he tends to be a tough nut to crack no matter how long one has known him. It can take a while for the boundless warmth he keeps hidden to radiate. His tenderness most often reveals itself in glimpses. At rare instances, Kurapika will bestow a smile so beautiful that it will make Leorio's knees buckle. However, as the years have rushed by and as life has relentlessly beaten him down, these smiles have started dissolving almost as soon as they've begun.
Leorio wills himself to calm down before speaking once more. "Allow me to refill your drink at the bar. Another dirty martini should hit the spot, shouldn't it?"
"Let's both go."
Leorio offers his palm. The double, still seated, accepts his assistance in getting up.
As skin comes into contact with skin, sparks crackle unmistakably between them. Leorio shivers all over. The one other time his body has felt like this — all heated and humming deep inside — was when he last touched Kurapika. It's as if Leorio's every cell is harkening back to the pinnacle of pleasure felt during that one night stand. Every nerve beneath his skin is shrieking in anticipation for the unparalleled sensations promised by the long-awaited second session.
Leorio ushers the double toward the bar. It's only when they arrive at the counter that he tumbles from cloud nine and crashes back to earth.
What in the world is he doing in full view of everybody in the speakeasy? Thankfully, Basho and Zepile have left so they aren't here to witness Leorio mooning over a man. But there are other patrons too, many of whom are fond of pointing fingers and spilling secrets.
Leorio swiftly retracts the hand he's been pressing against the small of the double's back. He whips his head around. Nobody close by seems to be paying attention to him. One other couple is perched on the barstools beside them, but their lips are locked and their eyes are shut.
Leorio needs to exercise caution. As difficult as it may be, he has to keep his hands to himself until he can get the Chameleon alone.
The bartender stops wiping down the counter to throw Leorio and his companion a question. "What'll it be, gentlemen?"
"One dirty martini for my companion. As for me, I'll be abstaining for the rest of the night. I'm still suffering from the aftereffects of all that absinthe I drank earlier." Leorio leans across the counter now to mutter to the bartender, "Hey, do others perceive the person beside me as their own ideal type? Or does everybody else see him through my eyes while he's paired up with me? I know you can see him as a gentleman, but I was wondering if you were the exception, given that you're here in Wildin to work, not play."
Before the bartender can respond, the double cuts in. "That's enough. I beseech you, Mr. Bartender, to hold your tongue. This guy beside me has been going on and on about the Chameleon's lore. If he learns any more, he'll have all the material he needs to release an exposé about Wildin and its plethora of secrets. We don't want that, do we?"
"Certainly not," the bartender answers. "Here's your dirty martini, Mr. —"
"Kurapika," the double finishes, taking the glass. "Apparently, this is the man Dr. Leorio Paladiknight sees. It's the name he called when he first caught sight of me."
Leorio looks toward the barstools where the kissing couple sat, but they're no longer there. He then casts glances at everybody in the vicinity. Like before, no one shows the slightest morsel of interest in either the Chameleon or himself. So when a chained hand reaches for his own, Leorio decisively laces their fingers together.
Another jolt of electricity. Leorio is no longer confident that he can exercise the self-restraint needed to refrain from escalating the contact between them.
Luckily, the corner table to which they return is right behind the piano. In this area, they're shrouded in shadows.
As they sit on adjacent seats, Leorio lays his right hand over his companion's lap. Though this is the type of brazen touching that most NPCs reject early on in the conversation, the double not only lets it happen but also encourages it.
The double rests his left palm on the hand spread shamelessly over the midnight blue fabric covering his thigh. His fingertips rub repeatedly — tantalizingly — over Leorio's knuckles. Those exquisite fingers, they're leaving little frissons of pleasure with every forward and backward motion over Leorio's skin.
Leorio is torn about what to do next — should he snatch the Chameleon's face and kiss him senseless, onlookers be damned? Or should he transcend this plane of existence and hurtle straight toward heaven?
Before either of these options can occur, the double distracts Leorio from his plans. With his chained hand, the double extracts a pink cigarette and a matchstick from an inner pocket of his blazer. He lights up, breathes in, then exhales a white plume.
Wreathed now in rose-scented secondhand smoke, Leorio starts musing aloud. "My Kurapika was in the process of swearing off cigarettes forever. I was vocal in my support of this endeavor. If the manifestation of my ideal is still a smoker, does this mean that deep down I never wanted him to quit?"
"I'm not your Kurapika," the double reminds him. "I'm just a man enjoying this moment alone with another man, however brief."
"Hey, have you ever projected a form like this for a patron other than me? I've often wondered whether there was somebody else here struggling with problems like mine. But I was always too afraid to ask around."
"You're not alone. I can guarantee you that much."
The double's response is so simple, so matter-of-fact. So why is Leorio blinking back tears as if he's a little girl? To cover up his sudden show of emotion, he forces out a laugh. "So there are others in the speakeasy with wrists as weak as mine? I wonder who."
"Please don't misunderstand the import of what I said. I never meant to suggest that you or any parts of your body were weak." The double lifts Leorio's hand from his lap and smooches the inside of Leorio's wrist. He murmurs his next words against Leorio's skin. "Indeed, I've verified just now that your wrists are the strongest I've ever encountered."
The mouth pressed against Leorio's wrist is smiling. Leorio can feel it though he can't see it. His brain, unequipped to handle such sweetness from somebody with Kurapika's face, promptly short-circuits.
The double relinquishes Leorio's wrist. As Leorio remains motionless, the double tucks his rose-scented cigarette into the groove of an ashtray, then tosses back his martini in a single go.
The moment he feels himself unfreeze, Leorio heaves out a sigh. "The developer sure wasn't playing around when he programmed the Chameleon. At this point, I can't tell if I'm winning you over or vice versa."
"Does it really matter?"
"It matters because I'd happily give up my right arm to get you alone. My left arm too, probably. And both my legs. I've never wanted anybody in Wildin so badly, and my game is the worst it's ever been."
"You're not anywhere close to the worst I've seen," the double assures him. "I mean, I gave you a kiss. That alone should let you know you're not blowing this."
"Does that mean I have a chance? Damn. I still can't forget the night we had together."
"The night we had together. . . ."
"Forgive me," Leorio says. "I'm referring to my Kurapika. My ideal type. Everything about his body and soul and story enticed me effortlessly and kept me enthralled. He and I shared a bed only once. How many years ago was that now? But even after all those years, my mind stubbornly holds on to every detail. I still dream about him on a regular basis."
The double crosses his arms over his chest. "And what am I supposed to do with this information? Even if I was your ideal man, I wouldn't be the same person today that you favored all those years ago."
"Maybe not, but I have a feeling you can still make my dreams come true, over the course of a single night. The real Kurapika rocked my world once before, and as his double you must be capable of doing something close to that. I truly believe that."
"And what am I getting out of this? Will you rock my world in return?"
"I'll test your limits like no other player can," Leorio promises. "The developer himself dubbed me as his favorite for a reason. So why don't you and I leave this place together? I'm dying to get to know you in private."
More Author's Notes:
I made a playlist for this story. Enjoy!
1. YO — L-Vokal (Acid Jazz Version)
2. Jigoku Tengoku — TWINKIDS
3. New Person, Same Old Mistakes — Tame Impala
4. Night and Blur — The Bilinda Butchers
5. A Lover's Haze — Isaac Winemiller
6. Serotonin Serenade — SuperKnova
7. Cure for Pain — Morphine
8. Leaves Fall — Mansions on the Moon
9. F*****g Up What Matters — Tegan and Sara
10. Cigarette — Kennie ft. Jetlag & Ari
11. Animal — Miike Snow (Mark Ronson Remix)
12. Make It Good — Poetically ft. Vita Schmidt
13. Replacements — Chromeo ft. La Roux
14. Sana — Up Dharma Down
15. Bloodshot Eyes — DWNTWN