#its rude to sniff other peoples dogs without permission

[shadowywagontreelawyer]

I love rewatching my favourite power rangers episode and seeing just how much worse the costumes were than I remember

[tamakishoochie]

Zoo AU been on the dome lately

SOOOO….

Word Count: 3791

CW: animal hybrids :3

Part 1

Tamaki is the U.A zoo’s one and only snow leopard hybrid. His fur is a greyish-white gradient with black spots on his neck and back and an extra bushy tail to match. The hair on top of his head was a dark purple that blended well into the fur of his scruff.

As a hybrid male for his species, he grew up to 8.5 feet, not including his tail, and weighed about 265 lbs. He was found and rescued from the snowy mountains of the Himalayas when he was just a cub, the zookeepers assuming that the mother was run off by poachers. Since then, he’s been living at the U.A zoo with an enclosure all to himself.

Because of how slow his species ate, Tamaki was fed once every three days(it literally takes snow leopards 3 to 4 days to consume prey) and spent most of his time sleeping or hiding out in the cave that was built for him.

Tamaki was a shy, introverted creature who rarely came out of his hiding place to greet the guests that visited the zoo, to their disappointment.

“Every time we come here the thing’s always in its cave! Can’t you make him come out?” A snobby woman complained to Taishiro while he was in charge of the tours.

“M’sorry mam, but snow leopards like our best boy Tamaki here are timid creatures. We can’t make him do anything if he doesn’t wanna.”

Huffing, the woman taps a finger against the glass of Tamaki’s enclosure to try and lure him out.

“HEY! CAN’T YOU FUCKIN’ READ?” shouted Tetsu as he walked by the small group of people. Pointing to the large sticker on the glass, he reads it aloud.

“No tapping the glass, it makes Tamaki nervous! MOVE ALONG!”

He muttered a few curses underneath his breath as he walked away to tend to his duties. The woman was taken aback by how rude he was but Taishiro just shrugged it off.

“Let’s continue the tour.”

Kirishima enters the side door of the large enclosure with Tamaki’s lunch for the next three days slung over his shoulder. The large, red-headed man places the dead ibex on the ground before whistling.

“Yo, Mirio! Times up buddy. We’ve got other animals that need emotional support from you!” He called out and a large Golden Retriever hybrid pup peeks out of the cave before trotting over to him. Kirishima tosses a bacon-flavored dog treat to him, which he gladly accepts.

“T-times up already? But I was in the middle of grooming him..” Tamaki’s voice was muffled by his own tail that he held in his mouth. To this day his caretakers couldn’t figure out why he did that. Maybe it was comforting, like a human child who clings to a teddy bear. Who knows.

“He gets bathed and groomed every night, I promise.” Kirishima chuckled before sending Mirio on his way.

“Now, I’ve brought your dinner so whenever you’re ready to eat, go for it!”

Kirishima gives him a sharp-toothed smile that somewhat eased Tamaki’s nerves. He wasn’t exactly his favorite caretaker, but Tamaki appreciated him nonetheless.

“Permission to boop the snoot?” Kiri asked with his hand already stretched out. Tamaki didn’t know when this weird ritual started, but everyone seemed to love ‘booping’ his nose.

“Fine..”

Tamaki sniffs Kiri’s hand a little and with a swift motion, he pokes his cold, wet nose.

“Booping successful!” Kirishima cheered. Not wanting to invade Tamaki’s space any longer, he waves him goodbye before exiting the enclosure without another word, leaving the hybrid confused as per usual.

The sun began to set and the guests have all left, which means Tamaki is now out and about within his enclosure. Rolling around, playing with the purple ball his caretakers gave him to keep him busy, and munching on the ibex Kiri left for him earlier. He was a lot more active at night though he wasn’t your typical nocturnal animal hybrid.

As he gnawed on the flesh of his four day dinner, his ears twitched at the faint voices coming from the other side of the glass. It was Taishiro and Nemuri, two of his favorite caretakers.

They were talking amongst themselves before looking in his direction with a worried look on their faces. Tamaki cocked his head to the side.

“Just look at him, Taishi! I don’t think he’s ready to have a mate yet..”

“He’s well over sexual maturity, though. He tried mounting Mirio just the other day!”

They both look at Tamaki again and earn a low, affectionate chuff out of him.

“I already called Shiketsu, said they were willin’ to hand her over as soon as tomorrow.”

“You don’t think he’ll...be aggressive towards her, do you..? I know they’re very territorial..”

Taishiro places a hand on the small of Nemuri’s back, guiding her back to the staff room.

“Territorial with other males, yeah. But he’s never been around the opposite sex before. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

[hashtag-xolo]

The trip this weekend gave me some clear insight into the biggest barrier that Tzapo faces in public: big dogs getting in his face.

He is fine with dogs his size or smaller, and dogs that walk past him without any interaction. We can walk by other dogs, even dogs that are barking and lunging with no issues. He used to sometimes bark at a dog that was heavily barking at him but even that is gone now.

What he has a hard time with is bigger dogs getting in his face because he doesn't trust them not to knock him around even if the dog means to be friendly. And this is a thing I don't know how to work on. Because the thing is, a lot of dog owners don't pay attention to their friendly sweet dogs and then they can wander into other people and their dogs because "my dog is friendly so it doesn't matter!" So it needs to be worked on because people don't care enough to ensure their dogs aren't causing trouble with other dogs, regardless of if they're working dogs or not. But I really don't know how to approach making sure Tzapo knows he is safe and doesn't need to react to another dog shoving its face into his. (Especially because I too would be very annoyed in his case. I don't like it when people are rude and invade my personal space either, little friend) Any ideas folks have would be very helpful here.

I want him to know that he doesn't need to fear another dog getting in his space so if a dog does, he is calm and feels safe while I have time to make the other dog leave. I just... Don't know how I could go about that. Any advice on approaches would be highly helpful here.

Cause otherwise? Tzapo handled a hostel like a champ. No concerns about other people moving in the night. He adapted to a novel thing of being on a bunk bed with a curtain just fine. He did elevators just fine. Was polite on stairs. Perfect in restaurants. Listened when I redirected him urinating from a bad place onto a more proper location. Was fine when a small kid ran up and started petting him without warning (the mother of the kid very appropriately got her kid away and explained he can't pet dogs without permission and he needs to ask to pet in the future). He was perfectly mannered in stores and didn't sniff anything. Was well mannered in a garden and didn't go to the plants unless I invited him to sniff and examine them. Tzapo did amazing at all other public access things. That was just his one little issue and I'm a bit stumped on how to approach it especially when it's such a valid and not even actually rude response to tell another dog to get out of his space.

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Surprise

Peasley frowned a little as he examined the pile of immaculately wrapped gifts for the umpteenth time since the airship had disembarked from the Beanbean Kingdom. They were almost at the Mushroom Kingdom now and he still wasn’t sure if it was enough or too much or even if any of the gift items themselves were any good.

“Do they even celebrate Xmas in the Mushroom Kingdom?” he asked as he turned to look at his butler standing a few steps back and at the entrance to the cargo hold. His name was Cogsworth and he was a dour old bean who liked to suck the fun out of everything, Mother had insisted Peasley bring him though. “This’ll probably be quite awkward if they don’t.”

“Based off everything I know sir, they do. However, I still think you should call ahead to let them know you’re coming.”

Peasley had to hold back a groan because this was far from the first time it had been brought up. “That would ruin the surprise though and I simply can’t have that.” Also what would he even say? ‘I’m showing up at your house with a load of expensive gifts in hopes of convincing you to go out on a date with me?’ Luigi would say ‘no’ for sure if Peasley randomly called him up with that.

“I know but showing up at someone’s house unannounced and uninvited on a major holiday is rude, even if you are intending to court him. And another thing about that young sir, by doing this and showering him with a bunch of gifts, you’re putting a ton of pressure on him to say ‘yes’ to your courtship offer. I don’t think that’s right.”

Good old fun sucking Cogsworth. But also, he was right, wasn’t he? A large shower of gifts might make Luigi feel pressured to say ‘yes’ to Peasley asking him out on a date when maybe he otherwise wouldn’t. Which on one hand wasn’t so bad but on the other he wanted Luigi to want to go out with him. What should he do to fix that problem though? …

A bell rang way up on the uppermost deck, barely audible from down here, announcing that the airship would begin its descent to land soon. Which meant that they’d arrived and it was far too late to turn back now. Not that that would’ve been an option anyway, he could never show how unsure or nervous he was to his people.

“Gather up the gifts, make sure to be careful with them, some of them are fragile, I’ll meet you up top before we disembark,” he instructed Cogsworth before turning to leave.

 -

By the time he was finally ringing the bell to Luigi’s house, he was so nervous, holding still and not showing it took about all of his self-control. Cogsworth stood behind him, carrying the gifts piled atop a palette so high it didn’t look as if he could see past it.

A dog started barking on the other side of the door. That was likely Polterpup. Luigi had told Peasley about him in their private messaging conversations. It was absolutely adorable how someone so afraid of ghosts could overcome that for the sake of loving a dog.

Confirming that it was indeed Polterpup, the dog literally jumped through the door to bark at Peasley directly. It was a friendly bark though so, a big fan of dogs himself, Peasley reached out to pet him. It stilled his barking and earned a wag from his ghostly tail.

“Good boy. Now go tell your master to answer the door.” He pointed at the door.

Polterpup barked once more before jumping back inside. A few seconds later the door opened. It was Luigi’s brother who’d answered it though: Mario – Peasley only remembered his name because Luigi liked to talk about him a lot.

“Hello and Merry Xmas,” Peasley said with his best smile. With how much Luigi looked up to Mario, Peasley wanted to make a good impression on him too.

The look of surprise on Mario’s face morphed into a smile. “Merry Xmas! You’re here to see my bro, right? Come right on in.” He stepped back gesturing them in with his arm.

Peasley plucked the sole red wrapped present off the gift pile to hand to Mario as he accepted his invitation to step inside. “I got you a gift too since I knew you were likely to be here.” He hadn’t put as much thought into it as he had Luigi’s numerous gifts but he had gone out of his way to make sure it was good. Mario had assisted Luigi in saving the Beanbean Kingdom after all.

“Oh! Thank you,” Mario said as he closed the front door with his foot.

“Who’s at the… oh!” Luigi was poking his head into the entrance hallway. He looked quite surprised, a cute look on his face and exactly what Peasley had wanted to see. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Good, I wanted it to be a surprise,” Peasley said as he sauntered down the hall and into the living room.

Smaller than expected but there was still plenty of space for all of them to stand. Beautifully lit and decorated, the Xmas was centered by the window. Next to it stood what could only be Gooigi; Luigi’s goo clone. They weren’t as good looking as the real thing but in their own unique way they were still cute.

With a smile, Peasley turned back to smile up at Luigi. Up because without his flying cushion, he was significantly shorter than Luigi. Ugh, if he were taller maybe this would be easier. “I wasn’t sure what to get you for Xmas so I decided to just get you everything I could think of that you might like.” He timed his words and gesture perfectly as Cogsworth waddled in after Mario to put the palette piled high with gifts on the coffee table. Polterpup followed to sniff at the gifts but thankfully seemed to find them uninteresting as he quickly abandoned them to find other things to sniff, namely Cogsworth’s coat tails.

“I got Mario a gift too of course,” Peasley continued, pretending to ignore the shocked look on Luigi’s face at the pile of gifts. “And Gooigi too.” He plucked the light blue wrapped present off the top to hand to Gooigi as they approached upon their name being said. “I sadly forgot to get Polterpup something but the rest is yours.” The rest of the gifts in the pile were wrapped in green, the closest shade to Luigi’s preferred green as could be found in wrapping paper.

“Oh, I uh… I… really appreciate it but… I didn’t get you anything. I would’ve if I’d known you were coming but… I didn’t.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Peasley said, tossing his hair in the way he knew from practicing in mirror made him look more attractive. Unless he was lying to himself and was just a short ugly bean trying to hit on someone way out of league. “I don’t expect anything in return so a simple ‘thank you’ will suffice.”

“Oh uh… thank you and… Merry Xmas.” Luigi smiled, blushing a little. He was far too precious and cute. What would kissing him be like with that mustache? And that nose; beans didn’t have proper noses, would it affect the kiss any? Would his skin feel any different from that of a bean’s, warmer or softer perhaps?

As much as Peasley desperately desired to find out, he mustn’t stare. He was the prince of the Beanbean Kingdom so he must be proper about all this. He should ask Luigi out on a date or be old school proper and ask permission to court him. But… despite how much his soul burned to do so, he couldn’t find the words. And so, he just watched, barely able to keep his nonchalant air as Luigi walked over and awkwardly picked up one the gifts.

“Uh well…” he said, turning to look back at Peasley, “since I don’t have a gift for you maybe uh… you and uh… your butler might like to stay for dinner instead? If Mario and Gooigi are all right with that anyway.”

“We would love to,” Peasley said. “If they’re all right with it?” He turned to look at where Mario had wondered over to join Gooigi.

“Of course,” Mario said. And with a nudge from him, Gooigi nodded too, holding a thumbs up. “You did fly all the way from the Beanbean Kingdom after all so feel free to stay as long as you like.”

That settled it, Peasley would be spending the rest of Xmas day and Xmas dinner here. Which was wonderful in a multitude of ways not least of all because it would give him time to figure out how to ask Luigi out on a date. If he decided to ask today at all. He didn’t have to, he could choose to just enjoy the day and let whatever may happen between them happen.

[symbiosisqueen]

With Great Doggo Comes Great Responsibility | Part 1 [1/2]

Pairing: Symbrock

Universe: Family AU

Overview: V is determined to give their kids the best they can. They’ve heard that having pets works wonders for children and so when they and Eddie come across a friendly stray dog they’re absolutely positive that it needs to join their family. 

A/N: First of two parts. Enjoy the obligatory pet adoption fic!

Next

Read on AO3

Previous Drabbles:

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night

Cookies and Cream

Next Drabbles:

With Great Doggo Comes Great Responsibility | Part 2

Eddie crouched down before the excited creature before him, running his fingers through its short fur while it huffed at him happily. “Teach them responsibility, Eddie!” came the excited voice of his Other, “Good for them!” they added. The symbiote was determined to get their human partner to agree, they’d seen many sections on the benefits of owning pets for both adults and children alike during their late-night television marathons.

“We don’t have the room, dear,” Eddie tried to reason, trying to not let the animal’s sweet face and loving licks get to him, “We certainly don’t have the money to feed her, and who will look after her?” he tried.

The large Pitbull, an older female, had been the only witness to the battle that had just taken place and while she had at first been nervous around Venom, she seemed to have taken to them quickly. She had bright blue eyes and her coat was white with large brown splotches all over. Her tail was wagging so quickly that her whole lower half was shaking rapidly and drips of drool dribbling from her wrinkled face.

“We can walk her, Eddie, share meat with her!” his lover continued, “Our children, they can help look after her.” There was little way that they would be convinced that taking home the stray animal was anything other than a great idea.

Eddie sighed softly, giving the dog a final pat before he straightened up, “And what if she doesn’t get on with the children?” he asked, frowning at the long stretch of silence that followed. The answer was obvious, but it seemed that his partner refused to acknowledge it. As far as they were concerned it was an excellent idea, but without the approval of their currently more rationally thinking husband they would drop the issue, albeit with a touch of disappointment.

It had grown late, and the pair began on their way home, stepping out of the dark of the alleyway and out onto the main street. There were very few people still out and those that were were headed out to early morning shifts. The sun would soon rise, and like baby birds, their spawn would wake, hungry and full of energy. Once they were home they would begin cooking breakfast so that everything would be ready for when their children awoke.

Thanks to the very little amount of sleep his Other needed, Eddie found that he could easily run on their combined energy and spend less and less time resting. This meant that they could take some time to rest in the afternoon to the early evening when crime was usually low before they would head out and spend the rest of the night on the prowl for danger and gathering food.

They had walked a few blocks, and Eddie was quick to notice that a certain four-legged friend was following their every move. He could feel the smugness that radiated from his Other, and he glanced backwards, spotting the dog a few feet away. She stopped the moment Eddie stopped, perhaps trying to keep her following discreet.

“Wants to come with us, Eddie,” V tried to reason, and Eddie could feel their smile, even if they currently possessed no physical form.

Eddie looked away, continuing their walk. He could hear claws on concrete, it was a sound that he was very familiar with. He tried to ignore it for the most part, but it grew more and more difficult with how his lover grew increasingly more pleased with themselves. It was only when they reached the door to their apartment building that he finally turned around again.

The large dog was still stood just a few feet away, her tail beginning to swish slowly as she cautiously lowered her head as if asking permission to approach. “Followed us home!” the symbiote hummed, absolutely giddy, “Can’t turn her away, Eddie, must help. Dog is innocent, needs shelter, needs a home.”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing softly in defeat, “Alright, alright. But only a few days, until we can find her a home.” He finally resigned himself to his inevitable fate – it seemed as though he was destined to have an ever-growing family – he pulled his keys from the pocket of his jacket, pushing open the door as soon as it was unlocked.

He looked back over to the dog who had tilted her head in interest. “Come on then,” he called. The moment he spoke the words the dog practically jumped forward into a run, her mouth splitting into a wide, grin-like smile. Once she reached them she jumped up, placing her front paws on Eddie’s chest before pushing off of him and racing inside.

Shaking his head briefly in amusement, Eddie followed the dog inside, pausing to lock the door behind them. He gave the dog another call, and she was quick to follow him up the few flights of stairs up to their floor. As soon as the door to their apartment was unlocked the dog raced inside, her nose pressed to the ground as she sprinted around, trying to sniff every inch of her new territory.

Eddie took a moment to remind the symbiote that it was only temporary and that the dog would have to go soon. His lover, of course, knew that it wouldn’t take much pulling on Eddie’s heartstrings to get him to cave and accept their newest addition to the family, even if he would try to deny it vehemently, to begin with.

The children had taken to sleeping in their parents’ bed when they went out for the evening, finding safety in the familiar scent covering the sheets and pillows. The door to the room had been closed before they left, and so the dog and children remained separate for the time being.

Eddie’s other reminded him subtly that they still needed to prepare some breakfast, and so the two of them moved to the freezer, producing a packet of hash browns that he promptly opened and placed on a baking tray. V materialised from his back, reaching over to the fridge to gather up some bacon and eggs while Eddie placed the potato in their small oven.

They both moved in complete synchronisation as they worked on the meal, even if they had to now learn to step over the canine who was eagerly sniffing at the food as it cooked. They almost seemed to move on autopilot and it felt only like a few minutes before the hash browns, eggs and bacon were all cooked.

Simple as their meal may have sounded, each of the children had their own preferences on eggs. Carnage liked his eggs scrambled, he seemed to enjoy the fact that it was rather messy and all over the place. Scream and Agony liked their eggs sunny-side up, so they could see the pretty yellow of the yolk, but their siblings Riot and Phage liked the opposite. Lasher and Sleeper loved their eggs boiled since they enjoyed pulling the tiny bits of shell off them. Fortunately, the hash browns and bacon were far easier to cook.

Once they were done, Eddie filled an old bowl with water before placing it on the ground for the dog who eagerly lapped it up, her tail wagging gently to signal her gratefulness. He then placed down a plate with a few rashers of bacon, letting her have a share in their breakfast. She chomped down on the food, swallowing the meat and licking her chops.

While Eddie watched the canine eat, his symbiote crept away and opened up the door to their shared bedroom, slithering across the floor and towards the bed. They looked over the mattress, smiling fondly at the pile of aliens that were all curled up together, sleeping soundly, buried under the blankets and some soft pillows. They reached out with a handful of tentacle-like extensions to prod softly at their resting spawn, slowly waking them.

Carnage perked up immediately, grinning when they saw their parent before jumping onto their siblings, “Vivi’s home, Vivi’s home!” they chanted, scrambling over the others as they race towards the older symbiote. “We have food?” They ask, ignoring the disgruntled groans at being so rudely disturbed.

The Venom symbiote gave a nod of their serpent head, “We have breakfast ready, and a new friend for you to meet.” Their words catch the attention of some of the other children who are quick to look up.

“New friend?” Scream asked, shimmying across the bedsheets with an excited squeak. Their other siblings galivanted quickly to their parent’s side, bobbing up and down as they all unleashed a flood of questions about this new companion upon their parent. They merely laughed at their children’s enthusiasm, gesturing for them to follow with an inky tendril.

Carnage was the first to jump from the safety of the bed, barrelling across the creaky floor and through the door into the next room. They were quick to skid to a halt, only narrowly avoiding slamming into Eddie, who had come to greet the rest of the family. At his side, the dog tilted her head, looking down at the bright red creature with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

She took a step forward, sniffing at the strange blob, watching as they extended a red tendril in their direction. With a few pokes of her nose, the dog seemed to realise that Carnage was of no danger, in fact, she went as far as to give the symbiote a lick to the side of the face, earning a surprised squeal in response.

The Pitbull’s tail was thrashing about as she started huffing happily as she began to attack the alien’s face with doggie kisses. By then, Carnage’s siblings had all appeared and were spread out to surround the animal as they watched the interaction with interest. Once they saw that their older sibling was perfectly fine, they too drew close, petting the dog gently with their tentacles like they’d seen people do on the television.

They knew that dogs were not for eating, they were friends that needed to have lots of snuggles and pets to be happy and healthy. They were all fascinated, playing with the strange texture of the canine’s fur, exploring its strange shape. Fortunately, she seemed to somehow know that they were only young and was tolerant of their invasive jabs and touches.

“Who is puppy?” Lasher questioned, looking up at their Vivi while they wriggled about.

They glanced up at their husband who was happy to answer for them, “We’ll be looking after her, at least until we can find her a home,” Eddie explained, “She doesn’t have a name yet, though, what do you think little darlings?”

A chorus of voices rang out, “Killer!” Carnage shouted.

“Spot!”

“Doggy!”

“Biter!”

“Fluffy!”

Sleeper, while unable to actually add any suggestions, was loudly chirping along with their siblings, not entirely aware of what they were all saying. However, the sound seemed to catch the dog’s attention and she approached the youngest member of the family, licking Sleeper’s face as she would a small pup. She seemed to have a true motherly instinct, already caring for the new members of her pack, different as they may have been from any descendant of her own species.

“Those are all excellent names, children,” Eddie laughed softly. “What about you, Lasher, what do you think we should call her?” The green symbiote had stayed oddly quiet throughout the conversation, preferring to simply pet their new friend, but now they looked up, seeming to spend a long moment in thought.

“Lassie!” they trilled happily, seeming to gain confidence when several of their siblings voiced their agreement. Recently, the children had been watching an old television program about a dog of the same name and it seemed that they had all taken a liking to the heroic character. “Lassie! Lassie!” chanted the excited younglings, jumping up and down.

“What do you think, V?” Eddie asked, trying to keep down the fond smile that kept trying to take over his face. His lover hummed a soft affirmative, not bothering to hide their entertainment as they were rewarded with cheers from their tiny spawn.

“Still think Killer is best,” Carnage mumbled softly as they reached out to their father, clambering up his arm once Eddie held out a hand to them. They were far too old to be watching such a silly children’s show, they didn’t enjoy watching it at all. They just so happened to be there coincidentally at eleven thirty every weekday.

“Aww, won’t you be a good older sibling and let them have this, Carn?” Eddie teased, grinning when the symbiote pouted slightly.

“Fineee-” the alien groaned loudly, tilting their head back dramatically, “Only because I’m best sibling,” they assured him. They looked down silently, watching as their younger nest mates continued to play with their new pet.

“You certainly are,” Eddie agreed with a smirk. “But you must be hungry,” he suddenly said, watching as Carnage’s eyes lit up again, “does the best sibling want their breakfast?” It was rather adorable the way his face split open into an unnaturally wide smile at the mention of food.

“Yes! Hungry!” Carnage wriggled around, somehow managing to stay perched on his precarious position on Eddie’s shoulder whilst doing so. “Want bacon, lots of bacon, and eggs! Can squish all the eggs and crunch the crispy bacon with my teeth!”

Eddie merely nodded as he wandered over to gather the children’s meals, already planning the inevitable clean up that would be needed after the chaos that was breakfast. 

[kashmiresims]

A Moment of Peace

First Post | Previous Post | Next Post

Orion couldn’t go back to Cain’s place after what he had witnessed. He figured it would be better to go back to the house and try to settle his thoughts at the fact that his main squeeze was a dealer. As soon as he saw Cypress’s car parked out back, her knew his friend was home, however Orion still felt an uneasy anger toward Cypress after hearing his song being played publicly on the radio and he knew Cypress would become silently judgmental if he learned that Orion was gone all night because he had stayed with Cain. He didn’t know why Cypress cared so much about Orion’s love life--it was Orion’s choice! It was the first time in a long time he’d been able to be with Cain and didn’t regret it.

He entered the house, grabbed the stair rail, and climbed the steps with a frown on his face until he got to the top.

That was odd, the door to his room was open…he could have sworn he had closed it when he’d left the night before. As he approached he stopped cold because he found Cypress sitting on his bed, his face resting on his fist and a look of complete and utter disappointment in his eyes as Orion came into his view.

It caught him off-guard but before he could defend himself, thinking the expression was because of Cain--he noticed a few of the empty Tranquilicis bottles were pulled out of his night stand and placed on top of it. 

“What’s going on?” Orion asked, growing uneasier by the second.

“I could ask the same of you. Why do you have all these pills?”

“They help with my anxiety,” Orion told the truth and refrained from pointing out that technically, there were hardly any pills left from those bottles.

“Okay, but Tranquilicis isn’t something you get over the counter. It’s something a doctor has to write a prescription for. Do you have one?”

Orion wouldn’t outright lie to Cypress’s face, and besides Cypress had already probably found the scratched out name on the labels of the original prescription recipient. If he thought about it, he could have guessed Cain wasn’t doing things above board because Orion too, had found it odd the name was scratched out. He just didn’t question Cain because Cain was going out of his way to get Orion free pills.

“It doesn’t matter if I do or not, they help. That’s enough,” Orion grew terse and defensive.

“Are you sure you aren’t developing a dependency? This is a lot of empty bottles,” Cypress nodded to the side towards the bottles. He sounded like his mother.

Orion belted out a scornful laugh, “Yeah, like you have the ground to lecture me on becoming addicted to a substance.”

Cypress stood with frown and came closer, “Hey, we’re talking about something that’s technically illegal here. Besides, I won’t die from an overdose of nicotine.”

Orion rolled his eyes, annoyed that Cypress happened to conveniently forget all the other gross chemicals that caused health issues in cigarettes.

“I’m doing fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Orion crossed his arms with growing frustration that Cypress was hassling him about it.

Cypress looked a bit hurt at Orion’s abrupt dismissal. But it was Orion who should have felt hurt. Cypress had stolen his music.

“So why do you look so miserable?” 

“I heard my song on the radio,” he mumbled.It wasn’t the only thing that had made him miserable but it was the one thing that directly involved Cypress.

“Why would that make you miserable?”

“Because you stole it. You recorded it, aired it, and gave it to the station without even asking me permission. I wasn’t even done with it yet–it was a work in progress and now it’s in a final form as far as anyone listening is concerned.”

“You should be recognized, and since you’re not really playing live anymore how else is your music going to reach the masses? You should be thanking me for putting my neck out on the line for you!”

“I don’t want or need to be recognized for anything!”

“But you deserve it!”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t need anything like that – I have seen how recognition leads to fame that in turn results in an interrupted life. I am fine with just playing my music for my friends and maybe small audiences if I work up the nerve but I don’t want to be recognized for it—I just want people to enjoy it.”

“You can’t have it both ways. If you want people to enjoy it, you will have to be recognized. People don’t just listen to music in a vacuum and not want to know where it came from or who sang it, especially if they want more.”

Orion just looked at the floor, not believing he was having this argument with Cypress. They never argued.

“Besides, it was just a song about Cain, it’s not like it’s going to be your biggest hit,” Cypress couldn’t help but to seem to snark.

“Fuck off,” Orion blurted angrily. He grabbed his acoustic guitar case from the corner of his room with a rare, heightened temper and left. He stomped down the stairs while Cypress chased after him asking what his problem was and for once in his life Cypress was the problem. Orion knew he had to remove himself before he’d say anything else he’d regret.  

What would Orion do without an instrument? Without a way to make music? His prickled nerves smoothed over gradually as he strummed out some of his favorite melodies from where he sat on the park bench before surrendering to whatever music formed as an idea in his head and came out in between the strings.  It was still a brisk temperature, now slightly breezy and the leaves were starting to turn bright oranges and golds. He had to stop thinking about the feeling of betrayal. Cypress had been so rash and judgmental but if he would stop and open his eyes he would realize that Orion didn’t write that song about Cain. He wrote it to communicate his heartbreak about Cypress.

Cypress was the catalyst that made Orion realize he was attracted to men in the first place. He had been ambivalent to dating and romance in general, probably an attitude he picked up from Cypress’s asexual tendancies, but after that fateful day when he was sixteen and found Cypress’s hand in his, something just clicked inside him. It felt right.

A part of him still loved and longed for Cypress in ways Cypress wasn’t able to give to him. Maybe that’s why he tolerated such abhorrent behavior from Cain because as long as he had someone else to give his love to, he could suppress his desires toward his best friend.

Cypress had made it clear he couldn’t be anything more than just Orion’s best friend and Orion would rather die than lose such a cherished relationship, so being with Cain helped Orion in more ways than Cypress knew.

Cypress also didn’t understand how much Tranquilicis had been helping Orion manage his anxiety. It was hypocritical, for Cypress to chide Orion about the dangers of addiction when Cypress was smoking a pack of cigarettes a week.  

Orion closed his eyes and played whatever melody popped into his head, inspired by natural beats he could hear and pluck from around him—from the sounds of the city to the rustling in the leaves. This garden was a calming place, a place of refuge for artists who wanted to paint or play music. Orion had come here a few times with Nick perform for tips but that wasn’t his reason for being here now. He did it for the pure enjoyment of creation and solace. His poor brain needed a break.

His melody must have attracted a dog, for one trotted up and looked at him expectantly. A fluffy, black-furred animal that looked to be a somewhat exotic breed.

“Hi there,” Orion said, though the animal didn’t understand him. Orion felt himself smile and slapped the surface of his guitar to make a purposeful rhythm as he played and the dog sat promptly, seeming to enjoy the change by evidence of its wagging tail.

Orion couldn’t resist the dog’s fluffiness any longer. He sat his guitar on the bench and knelt down to pet it. It seemed fond of having its head rubbed right between the ears. He’d always wanted a dog but his father and sister were allergic to animal hair so all they had were birds in his family for pets.

“Sebastian!” the dog perked up at a call and Orion glanced up to see a man in a long, expensive-looking gray jacket smiling from down the path. The man said “come” in Takemizese and the dog stood and cantered over to its master.

“I’m sorry, but was he bothering you?” The man asked Orion in Simlish but there was no need. Orion was actually fluent in the first language.

“Not at all,” Orion answered in Takemizese and stood, “I ponder if he might be an admirer of music.”

His comment made the man laugh in delighted surprise and he continued to speak in his native tongue, “Sebastian has particular tastes, though I never knew he was partial to music. What name do you play under? Can I buy him an album to listen to?”

It was Orion’s turn to laugh, not sure if the man were joking or not, but it was apparent he didn’t listen to college radio, “I have not created any albums yet, but if and when I do you could find it under Orion Loche.”

“I should not keep you from your playing Mister Loche; thank you for indulging my dog though,” the man inclined his head and said to the hound, “Follow.” Orion picked up his guitar and started strumming it again, “I could indulge him to a greater capacity if that is acceptable to you; I have never had an animal as an admirer before.”

“I would be delighted if you would accompany us around the gardens,” the man smiled, “Sebastian would be too.”

It was only proven so as the dog began to wag his tail again with exuberance and sniff around Orion’s shoes.

Orion realized he was being rude and hadn’t asked the man his name, “Many apologies, but what is your name? I should have asked during our introduction.”

“It is no worry; I am called Yuzan Bao,” the man replied with a smile and then made a slight eyeroll paired with a chuckle, “Though we can continue our conversation in Simlish—I find my native language to be full of burdensome formality.”

“Fair enough,” Orion agreed and made the lingual switch.

“It’s not common to find a Kashmiri who can speak fluent Takemizese. Where did you learn?” Yuzan asked with amusement.

Orion plucked his guitar strings absent-mindedly as he explained, “I lived there when I was a child.”

“Really? Which area?”  

“Takemizu  Village. My parents had a home there. They were big into the Blue Jasmine Music Festival—did all sorts of shows for it so decided to just live there year-round and perform across the region for many years.”  He smiled remembering his youth. Takemizu Village was a small town nestled between the mountains and so when his parents played their instruments outside, the sound carried back and forth across the valley. It was pure ambrosia for the ears.  

“We moved back here when I was nine. So I had a lot of time to learn the language and I kinda had to because of school.”

Zan made an exasperated face of sympathy, “Unlucky, Schools there are so rigid. I hated the drilling—and the punishments for getting out of line.”

“I know right!?” Orion agreed, remembering how he was commanded to recite a poem from his readings and he stuttered the words, being too nervous to do it front of the class and then the teacher hit his knuckles with a yard stick for his bad etiquette. He momentarily stopped playing his guitar and flexed them, the memory triggering a ghosting sensation of pain.

That experience was probably one of the reasons he got so anxious to perform in front of people and why he was so anxious about the possibility of screwing up. This man was the first person he’d ever talked to who even could understand and related to Orion’s experience with Takemizu schooling.

Sebastian made a loud woof to remind Orion that the music had stopped. Yuzan frowned and snapped out “Rude” in Takemizese and Sebastian lowered himself onto his belly and turned over so it was exposed to Orion.

“He is apologizing,” Zan explained in Simlish, “If you give him a belly rub then he knows you have forgiven him.”

“Wow, you’ve trained your dog very well,” Orion mused handing over his guitar for Yuzan to hold while he knelt down to pat Sebastion on his belly. The canine immediately stuck out his tongue and started wagging his tail happily.

“It takes a lot of practice and discipline,” Yuzan replied, returning the guitar and then made an upward motion with his hand. Sebastian returned setting onto all four paws. Yuzan reached into a pocket of his long coat and withdrew a baggie of dog treats, opened it, and tossed one at the dog who caught it mid-air in one bite.

“You seem like to have plenty of it,” Orion smiled, and Yuzan regarded him with a raised brow and it made Orion blush a bit. Here he was, passing judgement on someone he’d just met and he felt like he was in second grade again while stumbling over his words, “What I meant is…that you look so…world class and formal and I thought…”

Orion clamped his upper lip over his bottom one and decided to play more of his guitar medley instead.

Yuzan started laughing aloud at Orion’s blunder, but it wasn’t one of ridicule—just abject amusement.

“I assure you I am not as formal as I appear—I suppose by Kashmiri standards it could be seen that way but in fact, any Takemiseze citizen would claim I’m not formal enough. It’s my curse in life.”

“Not the worst curse to have, all things considered,” Orion noted. He was thinking of his own curse, to forever be burdened by anxiety. Thank Plumbobs for that Tranqilicis and music. They were the only two things to seem to work for him anymore. Both men passed a under an arched trellis that had ivy and white flowers climbing it; where the petals were in the midst of falling off the vines and covered the path. Sebastian kept pace next to Orion, looking upward and almost seemed to be grinning with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

They passed a garden wall in front of a fountain and Orion took a lean against it and closed his eyes. He felt a slight thump next to him and opened one eye to see that Yuzan had joined him--his back against the wall and with his hands stuffed inside his pockets. Sebastian sat patiently in front of them though made no more barks of protest but only because Orion was still playing his music.  

Orion shut his eyes again and continued, feeling a deep sense of peace playing in the gardens on this autumn day, it was in such contrast to how he felt coming into the place earlier and the turmoil he had been through since he’d woken up. r He picked up the tempo of his song. The song wasn’t really a song, just a winding, improvised string of musical notes. He wouldn’t remember it all enough to write it down. It was like a wild animal that couldn’t be caught and tamed—never to be replicated again. Yuzan and Sebastian had the privilege to listen to it and ever know it even existed.

Eventually, Orion checked the time and realized he been out far longer than he had anticipated. He walked back to his guitar case and set it inside despite the heartbreaking whimpering noises Sebastian was making as he walked away.

“I’m sorry but have to go,” he said as he clicked the case closed and pulled it over his shoulder, “It was a pleasure playing music for you and your dog.”

“Do you come to these gardens often?” Yuzan wondered, following after Orion as he made his way to the garden exit.

“I come every once and awhile,” Orion shrugged and admitted.

“I visited it for the first time this weekend and I think I have  found it’s my favorite public spot in the city.”

“Why is that?”  Orion slowed his pace and Yuzan passed him, turning around and began to walk backward so they could converse face-to-face.

“The flowers,” Zan waved his hand out with a grin, gesturing at the blooms around them that were slowly wilting with incoming colder weather. First frost had yet to occur but they were hanging onto life.

“What’s left of them at least.”

Zan nodded, “Do you have a favorite?”

“Oh, the blue ones for sure,” Orion smiled in remembrance as he kept walking forward,  “They remind me of Takemizu. We had tons of them outside our house growing in giant bushes. My mother refused to have them trimmed.”

He noticed Zan had visibly straightened himself and his grin was ever broader, “I have them growing in abundance inside my home here in Memosa Bay where they will never wilt—you should come see them if you miss them once winter comes.”

Orion stopped walking, unsure what to make of Yuzan’s offer.  He usually wasn’t this talkative or open with strangers but he felt an agreeable yet uncanny connection with Yuzan. He finally nodded, “I’d like that.”

“To be my friend?”

He was so forward about it. Orion could understand however, why the question was asked in such a way. In Takemizese culture it was considered rude or even cowardly to be anything but straightforward with someone.

Orion had never just been asked directly to be anyone’s friend before. In his experience it was a gradual occurrence. He hesitated ever so slightly to think on it. Yuzan looked to be a few years older than himself though dressed more expensive and sensible than a college student would be. Perhaps he was already graduated with an office job somewhere in the city? Orion hardly knew anything about the man except he was from Takemizu, liked dogs and flowers.

“It is, after all, hard to make new friends when you move so far away from home,” Zan lamented, taking advantage of Orion’s pause and plucked a leaf that looked about to fall from a small hedge. Orion agreed. He’d had to start all over when he moved back to Kashmire. Luckily for Orion, on his first day of school in Kashmire, a boy name Cypress Wellington was tapping out the beats to a rock ‘n roll song on his desk that Orion recognized from his father’s album collection and it prompted Orion to ask him about it. That led to conversations about music, instruments, and the best friendship they had ever known. He remembered those times with Cypress fondly and had to forgive his friend for earlier because he realized there wasn’t a deceiving bone in Cypress’s body, and he really was trying to look out for Orion’s best interests. It seemed this man was looking for something similar.  

Yuzan still was waiting for an answer. He seemed so hopeful. Orion could understand the struggle at being a newcomer to the region and it wasn’t pity but understanding that made him nod in sudden earnest and stick his hand out, “Yeah, I’ll be your friend.”

Genuine happiness erupted across Yuzan’s features and he took Orion’s hand in his to give it a cordial shake, “Call me Zan.”

[shimmy-sham-with-the-fam]

Hunting X For X Bruises: Chap. 3

Prologue is here!

Previous Next

Alrighty! And here we have the next addition to the fic!

 I’m really excited to see what people think about this chapter! :) Have fun with reading!

Words: 2663

Rate: T

Summary:  An AU where the bruises and cuts of a soulmate appear on the skin. Gon becomes increasingly worried about his soulmate as he gets tattooed with new marks everyday, and hopes to find the person soon. Killua, on the other hand, has been brainwashed by his family to believe that the spots on his skin are a curse from the person who plans to target and kill him, as they believe learning about a soulmate would make him soft during jobs. 

Chapter 3: Animals X Love X Hunters

Killua tapped his finger repeatedly on the table of a cafe he lingered in close to closing time. Many of the employees, he had noticed, had been whispering amongst themselves. It seemed that it was unusual to see a child eating on his own at a restaurant, not to mention the fact that it was after dark. His server had asked him if he was waiting on someone to join him, to which he replied in subtle amusement that he was by himself. Eventually, the server sighed, took his order and left him to sip at the glass of water at his side. Killua ignored the whispers and stares. He had better thing to focus his attention on.

Killua had two major problems to figure out in less than two weeks. The hunter exam itself would be held in two weeks, and finding out how to get there was one of the two problems at hand. However, the larger and more pressing issue was applying for the exam. Since he was only twelve years old, it was required for a guardian to sign off permission, as the exam was known to be dangerous. In fact, the application even warned that in almost every exam held, at least one person lost their life during the process of the examination. If Killua would have known what going on a fieldtrip with a class was like, he definitely would have compared the rules to the simplicity of a “permission slip”. Of course, Killua had tried forging a signature, but the application was almost immediately sent back declined. The assassin child had figured that the association, with all of it’s ties and connections, had reached his family. It was probably a safe assumption that the application had fallen into his mother’s hands; who would have rejected it without a second thought. His second plan was to get someone else to act as their guardian, but he realized that this idea would have the same result as his first attempt.

The server, in all of his blond, concerned glory, appeared with a large chunk of chocolate pie with a side of vanilla ice cream. Killa’s face perked up when the food came into his sight. If there was one thing that could get him out of a miserable mood, it was chocolate.

A spoon scooped into the soft dessert, filling his mouth deliciously. There was a sensational melting taste of the chocolate in his mouth, which he savored for every second he could before wanting another bite. The boy could have admitted to anyone still lingering within the cafe that he was tasting the textbook definition of heaven.

After scarfing down half of his plate, the manager politely stepped her way over to his small corner table. “Excuse me…. Sir,” their voice fumbled at the word “sir.” Killua’s eyebrows raised with a slight grin, wondering what the woman had in her mind to tell him.

“Mmm?” he focused down on shoveling a not so large chunk of ice cream into his mouth.

“We have passed closing hours, sir. I’m afraid we must close up the restaurant for the evening.” Killua stared down at his plate, longingly. He wanted to finish his treat, but he couldn’t take it along with him. It would be a hassle to carry a box around.

“Sure, alright. Just gimme a sec,” His hand waved her off, as if to say “go away, I’m busy.” A vein seemed to have popped out visibly from the woman from his unintentional rude behavior. The poor woman, after all, just wanted to go home from a long day of work. Nonetheless, Killua ignored her standing presence and picked up his plate. In three gigantic bites, he finished the dessert and sighed out in satisfaction. “Here!” An empty plate was pushed into the woman’s hands as he stood up. He placed an inappropriate amount of extra money for the food on the table, to which the manager eyed in utter confusion.

But Killua paid no mind; it wasn’t important.

He had more pressing issues to deal with.

The city Killua had managed to fly to via aircraft seemed well accustomed to a divided line of poverty versus well off. Or rather, the “well off” was more “they could pay for necessities and still have a bit left just in case.” As he walked farther and farther away from the center, he noticed most of the buildings were not completely in ruins, but most of them were outlined in planked windows and haphazardly stacked bricks replaced old ones that had been broken away. Killua wondered if the state of the buildings were really because of the poverty line or if there was more to it. Even with the limited resources available to the people, for multiple houses to have broken brick walls seemed a bit unusual.

Killua decided that he needed to find a stable place to stay for the night. And the tenants of the shabby buildings were most likely not going to be welcoming a strange young teen into their house willingly. He’d either have to find a hotel or look for a stable alley way to spend his night. Or maybe he could find a steady tile roof to sit upon for the evening. A hotel would definitely be ideal…

An indistinguishable whine broke the boy’s train of thought. What was that? There wasn’t a person to be seen in any direction. The whine broke the silence once more, which Killua figured might be a dog. The whimpers seemed to be coming from behind him. His eyes turned over his shoulder, looking back behind him. There was a small pup shivering and smashing it’s nose into a small pile of litter on the ground. Killua paced over to the small puppy, and bent down at it’s side. The puppy would have looked gorgeous had it not been covered in a few layers of dirt. Killua figured it might have had white fur at one point, back before it was scavenging on it’s own.

“I take it you want something to eat, huh?” the silverette held out a hand for the animal to sniff, making its judgement to trust him. It reminded him of the puppy he had years ago. He had named it Wolf, and was one of the few pleasures he remembers having as a younger child. Unfortunately, his dog had contracted rabies, and his father had told him that the dog had no choice but to be put down. A flash of his own small friend’s blood staining his hands made him grimace.

The small puppy barked weakly at him. “I’m sorry, I really don’t have anything good for you to eat.” His hand scratched the dog’s ear, hoping that it might be enough. When he stretched back up to his full height, the small animal barked once more at him. “I hope you find something good to eat.” he replied.

He was almost all the way turned around when he felt a tug on his shorts. “Huh?” The puppy ran passed him while yapping happily at him. He couldn’t help but grin light heartedly. “So you wanna play, huh? Alright.” He ran after the pup, his laugh bursting out of him before he could think to contain it in the night. Both young lives raced through the halls of the city. The puppy was excitedly huffing out woofs every time Killua passed it, just for it run harder to gain distance between them again. It was such an exciting moment for him, he hardly noticed that he had ran to the outskirts of the town.

There was a small shed located behind a house. The door was lightly propped open, with more whimpers and whines from within the small structure. He peered through the door, finding a mother dog with two other pups at her side. Killua eyed the small puppy that led him to his family. “Wow…” he gasped. “I guess it’s alright then, huh? For me to stay with you guys tonight?”

A hearty yap from the mother suggested that his stay was welcome. He hoped he wasn’t actually intruding upon someone else’s shed that just happened to be occupied by a family of dogs. It would be an awkward explanation to the person who opened the door to see a teenage boy keeping house in their shed.

Killua curled up in the farthest corner of the shed, warmed by the bodies of the dogs at his side. For the first time, Killua felt comfortable enough to sleep without worry.

The morning shined brightly in through the crack of the door, coaxing Killua to rise from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes sleepily when he sat up, realizing that he was no longer covered in a blanket of fur. Where’d they go? His mind wondered, groggily. He briefly wondered if they had decided to go out to look for food.

Oh, well, I guess I better get moving, He decided. However his thoughts were infiltrated by the sound of high pitched playful howls from outside. His grin intensified and he burst through the doors only to find a man leaning against the tree rooted next to the tattered shed. His heart skipped dangerously as they locked eye contact. Killua went on guard immediately. The man however, stayed perfectly calm whilst a puppy rubbed their head into his hand.

Before Killua could prepare to take action, the man asked him “Did you sleep well?” His voice was entirely gruff against the morning.

The addressed boy tensed his eyes over the man. He scanned carefully, but noticed no weapons. But the man wore many layers and sported a raggy hat. There were many places to hide a weapon on the human body, and Killua knew all too well from personal experience that it was just as easy to convert the body into a weapon as well.

“It seems these dogs really like you.” the man continued. The pup in his lap licked happily at the stubble on his chin.

From the structure of his body, the man didn’t seem to be all too tall, but his facial structure suggested that he was probably well into his thirties. From the bits of hair that he could see poking miscellaneously through his hat, it seemed that the older male possessed black hair, which was noticeably greasy. His thick strands probably hadn’t been washed in over a week.

“I guess so.” Killua answered consciously.

“You’re an overly suspecting kid.” The man gestured to the mother sitting upright. “I get not trusting a stranger, but you have enough distance between the two of us to run if I try anything. At least sit down, there. The mom’s getting uptight with all that tension you’re brewing.”

He was right. The mother was eyeing Killua, no longer a peaceful stare like last night. Killua obliged to the small male and leaned against the shed.

“So what are you doing by yourself?” The man started.

“None of your business.”

A snort followed Killua’s bitter reply. “You don’t entertain much, do you?”

“Never needed to. What do you want?”

“Well, I was the one who originally housed that shed. When I got back early this morning, there was another body in there. I figured I wouldn’t disturb you.”

Killua’s eyes widened. How had he not woken up at the new presence? Normally, he’d wake up instantaneously at the slightest movement of a new soul. How had he hidden himself? “Sorry,” he faked. “One of the pups led me here.”

“Eh, I’m not mad. But you seem to be a bright kid. How old are you?” Killua tensed at the sudden question. He felt a little creeped out. Not only could the man not hold a coherent conversation without changing the subject after every sentence, but he was asking such a personal question.

“Why the hell should I tell you?” Killua spat.

“Have you ever heard of a group of people called ‘hunters’?” The man changed again. That caught Killua’s attention.

“… And if I have? What’s it to you?”

“Well, like I said, you’re a bright kid. And this is a little known fact, but good hunters are usually loved by animals. The applications are due soon. If you don’t have any other plans, I suggest taking it.”

Killua finally burst out laughing at him. How ironic was it, that this man was telling him to do the very thing he was setting out to do. “It’s funny you say that,” he grinned. “That’s currently what I’m trying to do. Unfortunately, I’ve been having problems submitting my application. Since I’m underage and my parents are… not exactly accepting of the idea of me taking the exam. I actually ran away from home.” Killua suddenly felt entirely comfortable around the man.

“Sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure. Well, it just so happens that I might be able to help you.” The older male smirked.

“Really?!” Killua leaned forward. “How?! I don’t think you’d be able to sign for me. I tried to forge a signature and they declined it. I don’t really think you’d be able to act as my guardian.”

The man bellowed out a huge laugh. “No, I don’t think I’d want to, either.”

Killua huffed. “What’s that supposed to mean, old man?”

“Nothing, nothing. Anyways, another little known secret about hunters is this: a hunter over the single star ranking has the power to immediately pass any applicant to take part in the exam. It just so happens that I’m a double star hunter. So if you’d like, I can-”

“Yes!” Killua shouted. He realized he had gotten overly excited, so he cleared his throat and calmed himself. “Ah, yes. I’d like that a lot.”

The man finally stood up, revealing that he was only a couple inches taller than Killua. The young boy snorted at the man’s short stature. Killua finally stood to meet him and brought out the application from his pocket.

The man pulled open the form, and entered in his information. Before closing it out. The ding from the electronic piece confirmed that the application was approved, and that Killua was now officially an applicant for the exam. “There,” The short male confirmed.

“Thank you!” Killua’s smile was entirely radiant and sincere. This was an incredibly convenient turn of events.

“Also, you never answered my question.”

“What question?” Killua raised an eyebrow.

“How old are you?” the repetition of the question made Killua frown, but he decided to answer truthfully.

“I’m twelve.” He answered triumphantly. A hand was placed on his shoulder, and Killua realized that the man smelled as awful as he looked. He held back the comments, as the man was nice enough to pass his application. It was a bit of a surprise that a man like this could really hold such a high position.

“Ah, I knew it! You’re the same age as my son! … I think.”

“You think?”

“Well, I haven’t seen my son since he was a baby. It’s hard to keep track after the years go by.” The man shrugged, before starting to walk away.

“You haven’t seen him since he was a baby? You sound like a pretty damn terrible dad.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I probably am. Probably.” After that, the man had decided to take off. “Good luck kid.”

Killua smiled. He knew he had no room to judge in terms of terrible family connections. However, he found the man to be quite amusing. He also felt a little bit of sympathy for the old guy’s son. But overall, he thought about what his son must be like.

They’re the same age, and if his son was even a little like his father, from what Killua could tell, he’d bet anything that the boy would be a pretty interesting character.

Killua almost wished he could meet him.

It’d be nice to have a friend his age.