Prince Kurapika and Sir Leorio [Leopika Royalty AU]

[10] Reunion [fluff]

My bad for taking a couple days to update but I also plan to maybe start a leopika oneshot book if you guys would want me to do that as well, that way I'll have other stories to concentrate on and it'll help be get back into the groove of this one after getting my other ideas out there. The top picture is what I imagined the ballroom floor to look like in the centre of the great hall, but with the side platforms to the side of the dancefloor being a lot bigger to fit hundreds of tables for the nobles to sit at. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's lowkey kinda different and a bit angsty but hope you guys like it :,)

TW / Mention of injury r*habilitation + m*dication + sc*rring

Leorio stood on the wall, the palace's patrol wall. It tended to be littered with guards 24/7, but today there wasn't a lot. Leorio was in charge of patrol guard for today due to some captains being off-duty due to injuries still from the ball.

Being put elsewhere while Kurapika recovered was so unusual.

After Leorio had visited Kurapika, the medics came in to find them asleep on Kurapika's bed. Obviously fearing for Kurapika getting injured while in close contact, they were moved, and majority vote of the royal guard decided that Leorio and Kurapika both need time to recover alone from what happened at the ball, not out of rudeness at Leorio, but rather out of kindness, trying to help them both think things over before Leorio continues his duty.

So for now, he was just back and forth on normal captain shifts. He'd been doing this for about 2 months while Kurapika was on heavy medication and rehabilitation methods in order to help him recover from his abdominal wound.

Soon enough, it proved boring. Standing there, like a patrol guard, just made Leorio think how the hell he would have kept entertained if Kurapika had never chosen him, and he'd became a normal soldier.

It also meant Leorio got more breaks since Kurapika was with multiple people while resting and recovering 24/7, so he'd go into town to see Aunt Mito, Gon, Killua and Alluka a lot. It was nice to catch up with them, and they really helped ease him when it came to his doubts.

Regardless, he's glad he got to talk to Kurapika like he did, but now, he's just terrified about what Kurapika wanted to tell him.

Sure, he said it wasn't a bad thing, but it's hard to not have those doubts still. Having not seen Kurapika for around 3 weeks now, it had become quite scary.

Kurapika's strong-willed, he can hold his own. Leorio knew that full well, but it didn't stop him from worrying about him. Every day, Leorio would take the long route to walk by the ward Hanzo was recovering on, so that he could ask him,

"How's the prince doing?"

He never failed to forget to do that ever morning before his shift since Hanzo was allowed to go and see Kurapika.

Hanzo also informed Leorio that he'd had a talk with Kurapika about how he'd treated him insensitively without realising, and how he promised he'd do better. That brought Leorio more ease than he wanted to express face-to-face, he was glad that Hanzo could accept his mistakes and truly come to realise it, and be willing to change. Atleast now, Hanzo wouldn't be on Kurapika's back as much, or, for that matter, he wouldn't be on Leorio's back as much either.

In terms of the perpetrators of the ball attack, two people were spotted by some guards, but no more information was known about them other than a rough appearance description from two beat-up soldiers, and after the prince was injured, they were reported to have retreated.

Leorio took it upon himself to assume that they'd just had their fun, and left when they thought they'd killed Kurapika.

Though, while being in the solitudinous breeze on the wall, Leorio had had the time to overthink, coming up with all possible reasons as to why they could have called off their attack so abruptly- another reason Leorio had great faith in was the possibility that one of the villains who was able to use the needles to control Pokkle had absolute faith that he'd succeed, and land atleast another hit on the Prince to finish him off.