dumbshow | answer your god damn phone

Leorio!

[Screaming his name did little to help, but he had never meant for him to show up at this scene. Backup had meant backup, not for him to run in here like an idiot. His fists curl tight as he thinks on it. Leorio was here to help him, was staying to help him, and was considering reworking his whole setup towards his own goals, all for him. He was the most selfless person Kurapika knew.

But this man?]

Don Paolo!

[There was no time to check on Leorio aside from a brief glance over. The index finger on his chainfree hand hooks into his tie and undoes the knot. With one smooth tug, he throws it to the side, and his jacket follows. This clothing was restrictive, nothing like the clothes from the Kurta. He'd endure it for missions and business, but for a fight? It would only get in the way.

This man wanted to collect things just for the sake of collecting. He didn't think about the people behind the items, or the suffering they'd had to endure. There was no care for the Kurta or what their eyes stood for, no care for himself and how he was still alive and shouldn't be collected, and absolutely no care for his friend, who had nothing to do with any of this. (Nevermind that, again, he ran in here like an idiot.) Kurapika wasn't going to stand for that.]

These are what you want? [With a gesture to his eyes, his expression manages to be completely unfeeling despite the heartbreak in his tone. It was too bad that it would have to come to this. It was a side he couldn't stand himself. A necessary level of brutality to fight for what he needed to do. What he needed to finish, to avenge. And maybe, he thinks, with a strange, lighter feeling that just barely brushes the edge of his rage, what he needed to protect.]

Then your fight is with me! Or did you forget? [This time, when his chains lash out, they're a lot more controlled. The nen behind them is massive compared to before, and quickly, it begins to turn one sided.] I'll engrave these eyes into your mind for the rest of your life!

[It's both amazing and horrifying, really, how quickly this fight shifts. Don Paolo, too, loses the glint in his eyes and the excitement in his movements. Each of his punches do little, and when he manages to deliver an actual explosion to Kurapika's left side, he summons a chain and heals it up.

There seems to be a heavy confusion from him on what nen category Kurapika could possibly be. It's exactly as he intends, and he uses it to his advantage. In just ten minutes, Kurapika has him on the ground, bloodied and covered in bruises from the whipping of his chains. He can't use chain jail, and so honestly, this is the most violent he's been (at least lately). Questioning his thinking the whole time (why do you do this without a care?!, don't you ever think of the people whose lives you're ruining to satisfy your own selfish desires?!, what do you feel when you kill someone for your rare collections?!), not a single answer he gets back is satisfactory.

He's forgotten about Leorio, even while being enraged for his sake. It's not that he doesn't remember he's there-- it's more that he's so lost in this rage, there's no concept of time. There's only the panicked urgency of questioning that continues to worsen the more answers he hears. He's yelling now, and his eyes are still so brightly red that he can feel the strain it's placing on him, but he doesn't let it register.

Instead, Judgment Chain readies itself, looming above the broken body of Don Paolo as he continues to smile wickedly like he's won. He told himself he didn't want to kill anyone other than the spiders, but that's forgotten as his clan flashes through his mind, as Leorio's selfless actions all come together and this man serves as a source for all of the blame, every bad thing that's ever happened, that he can project and deal with all at once--]

This is your last chance. [There's blood everywhere. On him, too. His face, in his hair.] I'm going to set two conditions. If you violate either of them, your heart will be crushed.

[This is too far.]

[Okay, Leorio would actually prefer getting punched by Hisoka again, all of a sudden. He's still running - like, yes, an idiot, he's looking forward to the shouting match they'll have later over this because at least that would mean they're not dead and on fire - and not paying any attention to Don Paolo paying attention to him, which— honestly, was the first mistake.

He notices it seconds too late, too wrapped up in watching what's going on with Kurapika to remember that he's not invisible in here, far from it- and so it doesn't occur to him that Don Paolo is going to change tactics and come after him as well until he's abruptly gone from where Kurapika is. Shit, Leorio thinks, and then Shit! when he catches movement in his periphery. He makes his second mistake: trying to twist and change direction instead of hope a burst of speed forward will take him out of there. The heat and force catch him at an angle as he's knocked back, acutely aware of his arm bending at an angle it shouldn't just before he hits the wall.

Dazed, winded, he drops to the floor a moment after that, aware of only Kurapika yelling before the pain blossoms from his shoulder to all over. His sleeve is singed and burned through in places and he can see the nasty burns throbbing there, and something in his shoulder is either pulled or broken, but he's not down and out. It takes him a moment then, finally, to realize Don Paolo didn't hit him as hard as he could have or somewhere more vital because he didn't want to kill him instantly. He wanted Leorio to survive that? But—

Oh. Oh.

He is an idiot. One hundred percent liability on legs. Damn it.

He's on his feet now, barely, but suddenly can only muster up the strength to slump back against the wall and watch grimly as Kurapika takes Don Paolo down. It's not that he truly lacks strength- he hurts all over, but enough adrenaline courses through him to make up for it- but he... he's an idiot. Nothing he's done since coming here has helped Kurapika, if anything he's made it worse somehow by not letting Kurapika deal with it without revealing his presence-

And also he was briefly on fire. There's that too.]

Kurapika. [He speaks, but his voice is low enough that there's no hope of being heard over both the yelling and the sounds of chains. He picks himself up off the wall, hissing through his teeth at the pain in his arm and shoulder and gripping it with his other hand as he starts to move.] Kurapika, hold on...

[This is presumptuous of him, to an extent. This man is a killer, isn't worth any pity for the things he does, and yet Kurapika isn't. Leorio pointedly squashes the part of him that turns a blind eye to Kurapika's actions for the sake of his people and would turn one to this. Let Kurapika to just do it, for everyone he's lost.

It's simple - if Kurapika does it, it's going to be bad. For him. For both of them- Leorio can make a lot of sacrifices and he can excuse away Kurapika's behavior toward the spiders, but this is too much brutality for someone who isn't worth it. It's too much for Kurapika to come out of unchanged, too close to Kurapika slipping away from him again, and it's that thought that propels him forward.

Mercifully, it takes him significantly less time for him to think through all this than it takes Kurapika to get Don Paolo on the ground to set his terms, because Leorio remembers something much more immediately pressing and takes the last few yards at a stumbling run. He lets go of his own arm to reach out to grab onto Kurapika's and pull—]

Did you forget he explodes?!

[That JUST HAPPENED, KURAPIKA. He was on FIRE, more than one person was on fire!!]

[The man on the ground before him seems to smile wider at his suggestion, and Kurapika trembles in his anger. It's an unfortunate bit of timing when Leorio grabs him, since his anger is through the roof-- but it's probably just when he needs it the most.

Still, he pulls against it, resisting the tug backwards in order to raise his hand and his chain with it, pointed like a snake at the beaten man before them. Don Paolo has nothing to lose. Kurapika knows this could end in more violence any minute, and that only works to enrage him further.]

Shut up!

[Whether to Leorio or to Don Paolo's expression, Kurapika shouts it. His hand swipes out in his emotion, and he shakes his head a bit without thinking, bright red eyes glowing still, even with the amount of strain he's feeling on his body from them.]

This sick scene, and all you can do is smile?! Tell me, what do you gain from all of this! Why do you hunt people, why do you use their lives as if they're nothing!

[He's always the one asking these questions. It's something he can't understand ever since making his way into the outside world. Why were some people so cruel and so manipulative? Why did this sort of thing happen? Why would this man hunt him alive for the sake of collection, why would he harm Leorio to further this goal-- it doesn't make any sense!

All it is is disgusting.

And the only answer Don Paolo offers for that is laughter. Kurapika's face twists in reaction, and for the first time, he acknowledges Leorio is there by reaching back with his free hand to place against his chest.]

Stand back, Leorio. [If explosions are a worry, he'll handle this himself. He'll take care of this scum himself, if that's what he has to do--!]

[God DAMN it, Kurapika. Leorio barely manages to keep his mouth shut until he's finally personally addressed, at which point it's like a switch flips in his head and he's suddenly woken up. There's only one response left for him to consider—]

No! [He's as loud as ever, and realizes quite suddenly that on top of the guilt he feels for kind of, sort of screwing this up a whole lot more, he's angry. Don Paolo is one thing; he has an automatic disgust response for people like him, but he's actually angry at Kurapika for this reckless abandon. How many times does he have to say the same thing, how many times is Kurapika going to ignore him and do all of this really stupid stuff? If he's telling Leorio to stand back, then—]

Make me!

[Not that Kurapika can't, but it's the principle of the thing. Leorio has no convincing argument prepared to snap Kurapika out of it, instead falling back on the old tradition of just yelling at him. He'll give it a good try,]

Even if you go crazy and forget everything else, I'm still going to be here! So shut up and come on!!

["good try"]

[He's had Melody in moments of his deep rage like this before. She's yelled at him and scolded him and tried to snap him out of things, and sometimes it works. But having Leorio's booming voice right there is different.

It... distracts him. He turns back, shooting Leorio a look that's like he's caught between his rage and something more sad.

'I'm still going to be here?' 'Shut up and come on?']

Leorio--

[He's right. And he took too long to realize it. Judgement chain lowers itself and retracts back into his sleeve, but unfortunately, he doesn't get the time to relent in any way.

Don Paolo shifts, and Kurapika twists his body back to facing him, hand raising aggressively again. But no, he's not trying to move to attack. Kurapika had taken a beating on him a bit too much.

His nen was forming and concentrating around his chest. So he's willing to die rather than give in to Kurapika's demands, before they were even set--!]

He's charging up for an explosion! [Shit. Leorio was right, he was too slow, and now this put not only the both of them, but everyone upstairs (currently dealing with the rest of Don Paolo's men) in danger! He staggers backwards, gripping for Leorio's good arm. With a sloppy grasp, he tugs him, running for the stairs.

But he can feel the shift in nen behind him. A glance back tells him that there's no time to run up towards any cover.]

Quick, get down!

[Leorio was right, frame that, remember this moment if they don't burn to a crisp in a few minutes. He has no time to be relieved that Kurapika has come to his senses with the threat of explosion building right next to them, and stumbles over himself as he hastily follows Kurapika a pace behind.

There isn't time to think about anything else but running, actually. If he hadn't been thrown into the wall he might have been able to go a little faster, and maybe they'd have more time if they weren't both in less than ideal shape, and- get down!

Down? Okay. Leorio moves on instinct the moment Kurapika says it, speeding up to close the short distance between them and hook his good arm around Kurapika's middle so they both go down, thank you. It's a pity his suit isn't fireproof and neither is he, he thinks, because there's absolutely no chance of him not rolling just enough to shield Kurapika with his whole body.

Don't yell at him for this!!]

[He ducks and tugs Leorio with him, but the hand behind him comes closer all of a sudden. He can hear the explosion, deafening as it is, but the heat doesn't come at all. He turns his head just enough from their position, his heart dropping at the realization.]

Leorio, don't--!

[Everything happens slowly. After the initial boom of Don Paolo's death, the building shakes and flames lash out with a great wind. The Nostrade family guards, just finished with the last of Don Paolo's men, fumble in their footing and Melody has to cover her ears.

Kurapika is gripped by a fear more intense than he thought it could have ever been, after what he's already been through, and what he's already lost. But no, he can't, he doesn't want to go through that again, he doesn't want to lose someone so close to him again!

He twists uncomfortably under Leorio, trying to grab at the front of his shirt as the brunt of the explosion dies down into the aftermath that is a blazing fire. He can feel the heat now.]

Leorio! Leorio! You idiot, get-- [He's managed to twist so he's on his back now, both hands gripping at him as he shoves, tries to get him up so he can see his condition.] Get up!

[He has to be okay. He's still there, right?]

[Leorio is officially banning people who can explode from the types of people either of them are allowed to associate with. He ignores Kurapika's protests and squeezes him tighter - shut up - and can't think of anything more useless to do just before the explosion hits than screw his eyes shut and hope for the best.

But he does it anyway.

After that, he's pretty sure he blacks out for a couple minutes. For a moment there's nothing but heat and force and nen - he didn't expect to feel that, but there's just so much of it - and then he's being pulled and shoved and Kurapika is yelling at him. He's not dead?

For one glorious second, he feels fine—then he coughs, and pain spreads over him just as quickly. Doctor or not, it's easy to see he's in bad shape; the most obvious being the burns all down his back and some of his legs, and ow, he rolled over on his busted shoulder- but he's breathing.

Well, he's mostly coughing. He was on fire, just now. The amount of smoke now starting to cloud the room isn't helping, either. As he comes to, his sense of urgency overtakes his actual ability to move, and when he tries to sit up he does it much too fast and nearly falls back down again. He finds his voice,] Ow ow ow ow—

[He coughs again, slumping onto his side and squinting at Kurapika.

Oh, good. He's okay. Leorio wants to say this and also helpfully explain that there's no way he'll be getting up without passing out in the next while and maybe Kurapika should roll him out, but what he manages is just,] —hurts.

[Those burns are terrible. His arm is messed up from before, from what he can tell, and he can barely manage words. He's alive, of course, and Kurapika knows he can use his ability to heal him the rest of the way, but it's too close. The room is on fire, the stability of this entire building is iffy, and his eyes have been red for far too long.

If he hadn't called... Maybe he could have dealt with this on his own. Maybe it was a mistake asking Leorio to stay. Of course he'd drop everything for him. He always did. But was this where it would take him?

The fear of losing Leorio still has him caught, and he realizes now that he's crying. He doesn't know when that started, but it hardly matters right now. 'Sorry' isn't going to cover it. Instead, he eyes their surroundings before deciding that he has enough time to do this, in this state, if he holds out for a little longer. On his knees beside him, he grips Leorio with one arm, slowly urging him to sit up and lean against him for support, and raises his chains with the other.]

Holy Chain. [He's done this for serious injuries one at a time before, but never for a whole body. Rather than try to push himself too far and risk it, he'll break it up-- one at a time. It should still only take a few seconds max per injury. The chain wraps around Leorio's chest, as those burns and injuries to his back seem to be the worst. The skin heals over completely, matched with a soft green glow, before his chain withdraws and he does his arm, next.

They're surrounded by fire, smoke, the shaking building, he's crying silently and his eyes are bright red and squinting in deep concentration, but he's not leaving until Leorio is better. There's no way he'd make it up the stairs in this state. So if he's going to heal him, it has to be now!]

[This hurts - it hurts staying still, pressed against the ground, and it hurts sitting up and leaning- heavily- against Kurapika. Leorio finds that he's in too much pain to say anything else, like urge Kurapika to just drag him out of there before the whole place burns down, and can only hiss through his teeth at the sheer pain of having to move at all.

Even the chain touching him hurts, until Kurapika heals the wounds in an instant. Spends more of his nen to heal the wounds in an instant, when they have to go, but Leorio shelves that with the rest of Kurapika's reckless actions he'll complain about later. He does appreciate it; it would have taken him an hour to limp to the stairs with his injuries still fresh.

It's a strange feeling, being healed instantly, and while he doesn't feel perfect he does feel considerably less like he's about to split open when Kurapika is done. He can make it out, he thinks, before he really does pass out and complains for days about "still being sore." It's then he notices Kurapika is crying, which makes something squeeze tight in his chest and he leans away from him to prove he can, that he's—better now.

And the building is still on its last legs, so unfortunately all the things he's about to say are going to have to wait. When he coughs this time it's only from the smoke, and then he speaks as he raises an arm to cover his mouth with his sleeve,] Let's go—

[Just give him a minute to sort of wobble to his feet, he's doing this.]

[Better. It's better, but he has no time for relief. There's no room for it in his heart right now. Letting his chains fade away with the color of his eyes, he stands weakly and turns to stare back at where Don Paolo had been.

Without bothering to wipe his face dry, he places a hand on Leorio's arm. It might almost be seen as an attempt to lean on him for support, first. But no, he caught that wobble. And while his own body could cope with the extreme healing he put it through, having someone else do it for you was startling.

Kurapika doesn't even have the spirit to joke about this. A hand comes around Leorio's back, and he has to duck just a little to bring that other hand away from Leorio's arm and under his knees, instead. Scooping him up, the image would be very comical if Kurapika didn't look dead inside and the room wasn't on fire.

He doesn't waste any time. He runs and jumps, heading up the spiral stairs at the highest speed he can muster right now.]

[He's on his feet, ready— or not? He starts to sway again and almost thanks Kurapika for the hand on his back until he realizes what Kurapika's actually doing and finds himself very much off the ground. The suddenness of it is dizzying in this state and he doesn't have enough wits about him to object, instead just boggling at Kurapika's face—

Not a good face. Damn—

And then they're on the move, and it's all he can do to hook an arm around Kurapika's shoulders at the last second so this feels somewhat less really embarrassing.

God, that mafia guy whose name he totally doesn't know is going to give him such a look (if he's not dead), he can't stand it. Maybe if he thinks about this, he won't think too hard about the look on Kurapika's face and how spectacularly he- really screwed this one up.

Just put him down to hobble weakly into a car and stare shamefully at the floor, please. Somewhere around the top of the stairs he says, too late to do much good,] Melody and those other guys are around here somewhere.

[Thank goodness Leorio hadn't come here alone. It was dangerous, too, but it meant that they'd get their help up here, too, while he was down there distracting Don Paolo.

He grips Leorio a little tighter, quickening his pace through the house. It looked like there had certainly been a tussle. He's about to say 'I'll leave you in the car and make sure the others are out' when Melody comes to a halt before them, looking both extremely worried and extremely relieved. She questions their safety, and Kurapika responds quickly enough.]

Leorio was injured, but he should be fine now. [He'll leave it to her to know that she shouldn't share he was able to do this. She stares for a moment (likely listening to their hearts) and then nods silently, gesturing out to the cars.

'Everyone's waiting.'

Unkindly to Leorio's poor pride, Kurapika doesn't let him drop back to his feet until they're right in front of the cars. He does it slowly, too, keeping his hand on him in case he wants to topple in any direction. Leorio was right. That one mafia guy does give him a look.]

Don Paolo is dead. [Kurapika informs the rest of them, glancing across to make sure they were all here. They were. All the ones left alive, still here. Thank goodness. He's still crushed, but he puts on a more official face to finish things here. They're relying on him, after all.] ...Thank you, everyone. Let's get back.

[Leorio is relieved to see Melody is alright; there's that much. He's more embarrassed then ever before when she looks at them and does his very best to seem calm and collected and not - sort of a mess. It doesn't work, but his inability to calm the hell down is a good enough indicator that he's mostly okay, himself.

He's quiet from there out to the car, both hoping no one will look at him too long if he doesn't say anything and in response to Kurapika's abrupt switch into business mode. (Well he does catch that look, and he tells that mafia guy to Shut up!!) He makes a point to stand next to the car without getting in, straightening the pathetic remains of his shirt and jacket as if he's not about to fall over.

Shut up, mafia guys.

Once Kurapika says the word, everyone starts to disperse into the cars. Leorio foregoes the lingering thought that he shouldn't do this, in case that mafia guy is looking at him again, and reaches back out of the car after he's gratefully slumped in to tug at the back of Kurapika's shirt. He'll make a loud scene about needing that healing chain again if anyone questions him, just come here.

He's feeling well enough to yell again! Great!

And really, he's not leaving without Kurapika crammed in the back of this car with him. Don't even try to go ride elsewhere, or drive into something. He will insist. At least be next to him while miserable.]

[It's a good thing he does it, too. Kurapika had been set on returning to the other mess of a car, and while he was in no state to drive, too... But Linssen gives them one last look (what the hell is this tall guy's problem, does he want to go???) before nodding at Kurapika. He can drive... he guesses.

Kurapika frowns the slightest bit, turning back to face the tug before giving in and shuffling in to the backseat of that car.

It has Melody, too. Is this really a good idea? But he'll keep quiet on that front and stare out the window, instead.]

Is everyone okay? [That's the time he'll speak, once they're driving, and a slow glance to Leorio tells him he's asking him, too. Maybe most of all.]

[Honestly, that wasn't hard to predict... Leorio's suddenly pettily angry at everything; the backseat of this car is not made for people who are this tall, his back still hurts, his clothes are ruined and he'll punch that one guy in the face if he keeps looking at him-!! It's all he can do to just slouch down in the seat and stare glumly at the back of the one in front.

But Kurapika is next to him and not trying to drive. (Leorio realizes dimly, then, why that car from before is wrapped around a pillar. Goddamn.) He doesn't say anything other than making an irritated noise of acknowledgement, but under pretense of needing more room for his mile-long legs he fidgets and presses his leg against Kurapika's.

He's okay. Melody says something about how everyone's hearts seem to be in order, which must relieve the others more than those of them who know she's only slightly making that up. Everyone else's hearts are in order, at least.

And they can ride in silence after that. When they get back Leorio refuses to be carried again and loudly announces that he doesn't want to do anything but go to bed now, just in case anyone thought he was going to go help report to Nostrade even a little bit. Haha, no.

He really does need to just drop, though, which is where he'll be after he more or less abandons the rest of the group: face down on his bed, half asleep.]

[After all that fear, the leg against his own is comforting. It doesn't stop the intense guilt that comes for inviting him into this situation to begin with, but at least for now they can stay quiet and enjoy each other's company on the ride back. Well... 'enjoy' as much as they could, after that. He appreciated Melody's white lie. His heartbeat was anything but fine.

Leorio heads to bed right away, and Kurapika doesn't stop him. He must be exhausted, going through all that, and so he watches him disappear as he's finishing up handing out orders and explaining conclusions to everyone involved or important. He feels faint, himself, so he wasn't too far from heading to rest.

But once he catches up with things and gets to the floor with the rooms, he finds himself stopping before Leorio's door uncertainly. He wants to check on him. To make sure he's fine and then slip away, maybe. Because sleeping in the same bed again would be too much, after everything else. It would encourage all the wrong things.

He lets his fingertips slide away from the door and backs against the wall nearby, instead, sighing down to the ground.]

[Melody finds him only a few moments later. She'd been searching for him, really, curious about his and Leorio's state from the beginning. She can hear the latter sleeping behind that closed door, and so she takes it as a good opportunity for a talk, stepping forward with a small smile.

She's just glad the both of them are okay, physically.]

You're uncertain about what you should do. [Off the bat, she reads him like usual, but Kurapika still isn't used to blunt comments like this. He blinks in brief surprise, letting out a cut-off laugh as he looks towards his own door across the hall. Melody continues.] But Leorio was very certain.

[His gaze is pulled back to her, and she takes that to mean an invitation to explain herself.] I could hear it in his heartbeat. The soft but constant beating, gentle yet firm, moving forward without hesitation like a drum-- He doesn't want to be anywhere but here. ['With you' is what she really means here, but saying that would be too blunt for Kurapika.]

[He thinks he knows this. He's suspected it, at least recently, and now he's faced it. But...]

It's too dangerous. If he keeps getting into scenarios like this--

If he keeps following you into scenarios like this, and you regret it and worry about it, isn't it your reckless pursuing of things that should be changed? [It's not often she interrupts. When she does, it's a strong, concerned opinion that she has.]

Kurapika, just a day ago, your hearts were the happiest I had ever heard them. The uncertainty and the hesitation only added to that beautiful song. [Linking her hands together in front of herself, she faces him more directly, looking very serious.] I believe... the two of you form a melody that can't be made by just anyone. Please consider that before you decide anything else.

[She knows that's enough to make him stop in his tracks, and so she bows her head and excuses herself, hurrying off.]

[That leaves Kurapika thinking in the hallway for another good minute before he leaves Leorio's side of it completely and enters through his own door. Melody meant well, he knew she did, but was it really so easy as changing the way he went into things? He had a goal. Goals.

The two sides of himself clash as he tears off the last of his clothing and he manages just the pants of his pajamas before he falls into his bed. He pulls the covers over himself and exhales halfway into his pillow, fingers curling at the sheets of his bed. When did this get so complicated? Should he try to sort it out, or go back to ignoring that any of it exists?

Eventually, he does fall asleep with a fever and a frown on his face. Tomorrow... Maybe he'll know better tomorrow.]

[Leorio sleeps, but it hardly does anything for him. He falls asleep in his tattered clothes, on top of the covers, one leg not even on the bed all the way— but he sleeps. It's far from restful, and when he groans awake the next morning (sore, he knew it), the only thing sleeping has done is make him more awake to experience how bad an idea sleeping like that was.

And the rest. The rest was a bad idea, too. Mostly; as he peels off his burned clothes to change into something else, he realizes with a new day's clarity that it might have been stupid, but Kurapika is okay and that makes it worth it.

Ah, Kurapika— Leorio only then notices that he's alone, that he woke up in much the same way he collapsed into sleep. Kurapika... Naturally, his first thought is Kurapika had better have gone to bed after all that, and then the vague discomfort of waking up without him at all gains traction and has him standing there, frowning at a pair of pants, thinking. He'd said they'd do it again - spend time together, share the bed, whichever - just a day ago and now a lingering feeling of he's not sure what is making thay feel like it was weeks ago rather than hours.

Kurapika must be angry, he thinks. Leorio would be- is, he is. It's harder to say now that they're all objectively fine, as much as he knows he should be nothing but furious.

... Well, he should get dressed.]

Edited (can't spell at 8am) 2015-01-15 16:04 (UTC)

[When he's made it to the hall, Leorio stops and frowns at Kurapika's door. He wants to go in, of course, but if Kurapika doesn't want to see him - or isn't there!! - then what?

It doesn't occur to him to stop and think about the choice he's made. Melody was right, of course; nowhere else but here. No one else but Kurapika. The heart can't deny it the same way words can (not that he's ever made a flimsy effort at all to try).

To his credit, Leorio knows it's... not the decision most reasonable people would make. But he's made it and he'll keep making it for as long as it takes for Kurapika to be free of all this. That's fine (relatively) by him.

So why the hell is he just standing there? He remembers with a sick jolt the look on Kurapika's face yesterday— he cried. He cried and then looked like there was nothing left in him after that.

That, more than the mafia and the violence, frightens Leorio. Kurapika is too important now- not just now, had been before too- for him to deal with losing him, especially like that.

So why is he just standing there? He should start with seeing if Kurapika is awake. Simple. Doable.

He smacks the door with his fist, because that's the surest way to guarantee his "Don't ignore me!" defense will carry any weight. Yeah.]

Kurapika- hey, Kurapika!! You awake?

[man what TIME is it]

[It's late enough in the morning that Kurapika should be awake by now. His annoying alarm that always goes off should have been enough, but oh, right, his phone was dead. And abandoned on the floor with his clothes.

The thumping isn't enough to wake him, even still. IT's Leorio's loud voice that has him shifting, squinting past the pounding in his head to sit up. He raises a hand to his forehead-- hot. Right, well, even with all of his training, he'd expected some sort of reaction like last time.

It feels less like he can't move. That might be good. Maybe because there was less rage overall? Or something else...

But oh, right, Leorio's at his door. He forgets momentarily that he doesn't have a shirt on, or he might make the poor man wait longer for him to find one. Tired, his voice will make its way through the door.]

Leorio? [He sits up further, looking around the room.] What time is it? I-- [Ah, he slept in. He slept in...] Come in.

[What time is it indeed. Leorio answers as he swings the door open to walk in-]

Late, I dunno. How long were you up after- [A beat, and he decides to abandon that question as he takes in the sight of Kurapika.

Jeez. The door shuts behind him as he crosses the room and immediately puts a hand on Kurapika's forehead to confirm he has a fever. He remembers the last time this happened, of course-]

You look terrible. How do you feel?

[Terrible, perhaps??]

and my job to play embarrassing levels of dramatic and make everything sad or horrible I guess

bathes in drama

ah, yes.... good, splashes it everywhere, look at my icons WORKING

is that ne...cessarily a good thing

I am done with you conan o'brien aLSO maybe. maybe... look at his drama faces, yes, anger

heaps upon heaps of drama, adds more

DRINKS IT UP

u thirsty

YEAH I AM SHUT UP

i'm not judging

good.............. good

i just realized kurapika's healing chain is kinda nodes, nodes chain

KINDA NODES............. help

it IS

nodes......

smells like a scene change

and with that comes me narrating an entire fanfic with myself, prepare

bc melody's fucking cute and ships it in this psl??? because she basically does in canon

no subject

also I MADE THIS DAMN ACCOUNT I'M GONNA USE IT

of course my lack of hooks is a problem, forgive me

i woke up 35 min before my alarm and thought, i'll do this

I'll write this 2 part tag of leorio having the same crazy loyal thoughts as usual, yes

i'm so proud, wipes tears from eyes

now I'm doing this at lunch, the thirst is real