After The Eyes ~ A Leopika Story

Chapter 4

Kurapika woke up in his bed, which he didn't remember climbing into. He looked over, and saw Leorio sleeping soundly on his own bed. 

He tried to think back to the night before, and he remembered everything. Everything but how he got back to bed, were there parts of his memory that were missing? He stood up, and walked over to Leorio. 

He shook Leorio's arm, "Leorio...Leorio...Leorio!" he repeated. Leorio groaned, "Ugh... What?' "How did I get back to my bed?" he asked. "I put you there? Why, were you looking forward to sleeping on the bathroom floor?" Leorio asked, reaching aimlessly for his glasses. 

Kurapika handed him his glasses and shook his head, "No, I just didn't know if my memories were foggy." Kurapika said. Leorio nodded, squinting at the brightly lit up room. 

"That sleeping medication was supposed to put you out for a while, but it's eleven in the morning? That was only seven hours of sleep..." Leorio mumbled, looking at the time displayed on his watch. Kurapika scoffed, "Seven hours is what I get in a week, I've never felt this awake." 

Leorio rolled his eyes, "Let's just get breakfast." "It's lunchtime now." "I want breakfast."

The ship provided breakfast starting at eight, but since they were three hours late they got the leftover food, which was sad scrambled eggs and honeydew melon. 

Leorio poked at his plate with his fork, extremely disappointed in the food. Kurapika peered up at him, and raised an eyebrow. 

"Don't play with your food." "Sorry Mom."

Kurapika dropped his fork, intentionally creating a loud clanging noise. 

"You still hate that joke." Leorio said through laughs. Kurapika rolled his eyes, "It was fine when Killua and Gon would say it. I don't want to hear it from you." Kurapika said, taking a bite of melon. Leorio fake pouted, but knew he was going to gain no sympathy from Kurapika. 

"Why did Gon and Killua split up?" Kurapika asked, continuing the conversation from yesterday. "They didn't split up, they parted ways." Leorio said. "Why?" Kurapika asked. "Killua's taking care of his sister, and Gon found his dad." Leorio said. 

Kurapika looked at Leorio wide eyed, "What!" he exclaimed, food falling out of his mouth as he did so. "You missed a lot, Kurapika." Leorio said, getting more serious now. 

Kurapika nodded, and decided not to push his limits. "I still cant believe that Killua and Gon would part ways though, they were inseparable." Kurapika added. "So were we." Leorio muttered, passive aggressively. Kurapika glanced at Leorio's scrunched face, and decided to stay quiet for the remainder of breakfast.

Leorio went to work for most of the day, and told Kurapika he wouldnt be done till later. Kurapika decided to find the captain's room, and ask him if he needed any information. 

"I don't think so. We'll have more questions for you once we reach our destination." The captain said. Kurapika nodded, and turned to make his leave. He spent the rest of the day reading, and enjoying the silence. After some thought, he decided to leave Gon a message.

Kurapika:

Hi Gon, It's Kurapika. It's been awhile, but I wanted to check in so let me know how you're doing.

Part of him wanted to take a nap, just because he felt so good after sleeping a full seven hours the night before. But he knew he wouldn't be able to, so he continued to read and fill out some paperwork. 

The door opened a while later, a sound that brought joy to Kurapika's ears. He peered over his reading glasses, to Leorio in uniform. 

They were tight white scrubs, with a medical logo on the side. A typical hospital uniform, yet Leorio made it look attractive. He was carrying a plastic bag that carried an aroma that Kurapika could only suspect to be dinner. 

"Hey." Leorio said, placing the bag on the floor. "Hi." Kurapika responded, placing his book down. Leorio began unbuttoning his top, and slid it off revealing his bare chiseled chest. 

Kurapika immediately jerked his head in the other direction, hoping his blush wasn't noticeable. Leorio slid a tshirt on, and looked over to Kurapika. "Hey." he said, grabbing Kurapika's attention. Leorio tilted his head, and pointed towards the bridge of his nose. "You wear glasses?" he asked, walking over to Kurapika's bed. 

"Only when I'm reading or filling out paperwork." Kurapika said, looking directly up at him. Leorio carefully slid the glasses off of Kurapika's face, and took his own off so he could try Kurapika's on. 

"Woah." he said, squinting as he surveyed the room through Kurapika's glasses. Kurapika giggled, and stood up so he could retrieve them. When he stood next to him he realized how tall Leorio was, by at least a foot. He slid the glasses off of Leorio's nose, and put them back in their case. 

"I brought dinner." Leorio said, taking a seat on the floor next to the bag. Kurapika raised an eyebrow, "Are we eating on the floor?" he asked. "I don't see a table anywhere, why not." Leorio said, as he opened up the bag. 

Kurapika sat down across from him, and Leorio couldn't help but notice how good Kurapika's posture was. He subtly corrected his own, as he took out the two to-go-cups of chicken noodle soup. 

Kurapika breathed in the savory aroma, his mouth watering. "Thanks." he said, taking one of the paper bowls from Leorio. "How was work?" Kurapika asked before taking a spoonful. 

Leorio shrugged, "Seems like a whole bunch of people got sea sick last night, so it wasn't just you. But cleaning up after my patient's vomit was disgusting." Leorio said, scrunching his nose. 

Kurapika nearly choked, "I'm sorry you had to deal with me last night then." Leorio shook his head, "No it's different with you, I didn't mind." 

Kurapika tilted his head, confused by the statement. "You're my friend, I don't mind taking care of you." Leorio explained. 

"Oh, so I won the title of friend now." Kurapika sneered. Leorio rolled his eyes, "You're still an arrogant and selfish bastard, but yeah. You're my friend." 

"Selfish?" Kurapika repeated defensively. Leorio shot him a look that read a 'how are you not aware of how selfish you are'. 

Kurapika scoffed, "I haven't done one thing for myself since I was a child, Leorio." 

Leorio laughed, "Yeah right." he said sarcastically. Kurapika didn't respond, he instead stared silently at his food. Leorio then remembered that Kurapika wasn't lying, and he had actually been dedicating his life to his clan the entire time he's known him. 

"Im sorry, that was a dickish thing to say." Leorio apologized. Kurapika shrugged, "It's okay." he muttered, taking a bite of his dinner. 

Leorio watched Kurapika carefully, and noticed how delicate his features were. He could kill someone with his bare hands, yet he looked as fragile and elegant as a dandelion. Even his hair fell gracefully, the hair that was now dangling into his soup bowl. 

Leorio reached his hands out, and tucked Kurapika's hair behind his ears. Kurapika shot him a confused look, which left Leorio flustered. 

"Your hair uh... It was getting in your food." Leorio explained, leaning back to his spot. Kurapika nodded, taking a strand of hair in his fingertips. 

"It needs to be cut. I just havent had the time." Kurapika said, twirling the strand on his pointer finger. "I'll cut it for you." Leorio offered. 

Kurapika looked up at him, "That'd be great." he said, tucking the strand back behind his ear.