BL ANIME AU, BASICALLY

[trypanophobic]

[You know what, maybe Blue and Killua had gotten a little caught up in their hubris here. Aside from where their gym activities intersected, the two didn't really interact much—there were curious, stolen glances from across halls and classrooms, but they'd never really spoken much, despite the two of them holding their own polar, lofty positions. And one of their matched positions at this school was in anything athletic. In these intersections, they finally talked—and it was a lot of shit-talking.

Killua didn't consider Blue a rival, exactly. Not even in sports. He couldn't lift as much as Killua, and was weaker in general—but he was pretty fantastic in cardio based stuff, and not many people could actually match Killua in much of anything. So it was fun to antagonize him. Killua never challenged him to stuff Killua knew he'd win; that just wasn't fun.

The school was more into their perceived rivalry than anyone. Swooning schoolgirls and nosy, rowdy schoolboys all had their own opinions about Killua Zoldyck, the mysterious transfer student who'd appeared out of nowhere to steal Blue's thunder. Not that Killua really had; the Oaks had deep roots (ha) in this city, but so did the Zoldyck's by proxy of some other big name ties—giving the two directly opposite reputations.

It was all rumor and hearsay, but it sounded like the Zoldyck's were part of the mob, if not a whole famiglia themselves. Some people joked that it was like Killua was the devil with his rumored roots, and Blue was an angel, with all the advances in science the Oak's had contributed. They were a charitable, hyper intelligent family, too. But the joke was that Blue wasn't much of an angel, himself—while not unfriendly quite outright, he certainly rubbed plenty of people the wrong way. But he was too dazzling for it to make a dent in his popularity.

Killua decided that Blue sort of annoyed him, that way—but embarrassingly, it pulled him in, too. He was curious about what that kind of kid would be like, even if he already had a strong, biased theory. Just some douchey, pretty boy with a lot of money... but then, so was Killua, and he was buried to his neck in his own skeletons. All the same, Killua wasn't really magnetized enough to talk to him like a normal person.

But sports? Different story.

And Blue was competitive as hell—the two had actually sort of gotten off path, so confident they could jog back onto the trail before their classmates had even caught up after their private race. But as luck would have it, it began to storm quite badly—Killua worried it may have been a monsoon, actually.

So now, their uniforms miserably clung to their bodies, Killua's standing under an old stone bridge with Blue, scowling as water drips from his sagging hair, a darker gray with its saturation.]

Tch, stupid rain! You'd think the damn teacher would've known about something like that before letting us run track outside!

[the weather had been so nice, too...]

I was close, too...

Comments

[blueser]

[Well, that was new. Blue glances up from his water bottle, mouth half-open in surprise, and then straightens up again properly.] --Sister, huh. And three brothers!?

....Jeez, your family sure is big... [Blue marvels with a hum, sipping thoughtfully. Then;] Guess that makes sense, though.

[Good for family business to have lots of arms (and options), right?]

[No wonder Killua had been interested when Blue had mentioned Daisy the other time, though.... Now Blue finds himself wondering, too, the other way around. Oh well, he probably shouldn't be nosy about the whole family thing, though.] Oh, you're into games and stuff..... I mean, I guess everyone is a little. But I have less time for them, I hardly pick up my Switch...

Or I didn't, before my ankle was busted. [He shoots Killua a look, but it's joking.] Whatcha play? Like, Call of Duty and stuff?

[trypanophobic]

Mhm...

[as predicted, Killua doesn't look particularly thrilled at the prospect of perhaps elaborating; his glowing feelings on the subject seem dead as soon as the spotlight is off his sister.]

—Oh, yeah. I like FPS, and some MMOs... Not that I have a lot of time for that stuff, but it's fun during the summer, sometimes. I play other random stuff too, usually cuz I'm bored, but I don't wanna sink a bunch of time into something.

What about you?

[how is he even having this conversation? it's so friendly? Killua feels immensely awkward, but... is also having fun...... Killua's lips idle on the soft plastic ridges of the calpico bottle, like he was prepared to take a sip but got distracted.]

[blueser]

Me? Mostly like.... stuff I can play in a short sitting. You know, to just do a couple levels or whatever when I feel like it. Racing games, or Mario games... Haha, I never remember the story of RPG's and stuff if I come back to them, so those're a no-go for me.

[Blue scratches his cheek slightly, grinning as he thinks on it. It was a better sounding answer than to just admit he liked a lot of 'babyish' games.... Killua'd probably make fun of him for it, if he put it like that.] I like tactics games but they take a lot of time to put in, so I don't really play them much anymore.

[He thinks on it for another moment, then looks back over at Killua.] Heh, you have a Switch or a WiiU? You should face me in MarioKart sometime. Bet you can't beat me there, either!

[trypanophobic]

[oh....

baby games. Killua wants to judge, but his favorite people sort of have that taste. it makes him wonder if there's a venn diagram overlap at work with certain qualities... Blue's already an animal lover...

Killua straightens, then blinks, his expression a little surprised. that would... require hanging out outside of school, right? so is Blue—asking him to? Killua feels his stomach clench and his chest flutter, and he glances away, his cheeks a little red.]

Mm, I have both.

[he scoffs and snarks, narrowing his eyes as he glances back at Blue through their corners, a shy, scarce smile trying to wear itself as cocky.]

Antsy cuz you still can't run at your optimal peak, huh?

[blueser]

[Maybe Blue isn't consciously thinking into it all that much, but.... He does think that, somehow, he wouldn't mind seeing what Killua was really like, when he wasn't fending off rumors and raising his hackles at everyone all the time. Underneath that all, probably, he seemed kind of ....cool.]

[He thinks he sees something a little bashful in the way Killua smirks towards him, but he's not sure he's seeing it right... In fact, he must not be. Much more likely he's just being coy and a little amused that Blue would ask, right? Blue bites the inside of his cheek, but rolls with it.]

--Hmph. That's why I've had so much time to get back to playing games! [Blue sighs, leaning with an annoyed look on the bikes again.] It's not what I'd prefer to be doing, believe me.

But, playing games with someone else is more fun than being cooped up, playing on my own. Yanno?

[trypanophobic]

...Sure.

[Killua blinks, wondering if Blue realizes... or maybe he's misunderstanding? it sounds like he's admitting he's lonely, more than bored. if that's true, it might make sense; Killua thinks of Blue as a pretty outgoing dude, and their physical courses are certainly pretty social... well. it is for Blue, at least. being competitive almost seems like that for Blue, on top of palling around with his peers. for Killua, it's only that way because of Blue.

he...

does he use gym to socialize with Blue? what the hell? and now that they can't really do that for the moment, here's all this stuff—wait. god. focus. shit. god. this is embarrassing?? WHY IS HE EMBARRASSED

Killua tries not to wear a scowl that'd reflect how irritated he is with himself as he pulls out his phone.]

When are you free?

[blueser]

[Blue feels himself raising an eyebrow, the more Killua seems to subtly balk at his offer, even as he cautiously accepts it. He almost seemed annoyed with his own answer. What the heck?]

[It's tempting to call him out for it, but Blue forces himself to let it go- even if he's definitely gonna be wondering to himself about that later.]

Schoolnights I gotta keep to studying time and other stuff, and Saturday I have plans already, but...

Tch, well, since I can't do any polo practice, or riding, or even much stablework-- [He rolls his eyes with a kind of disgust that suggests he doesn't agree with that at all!!] --I'm usually free all day on Sundays, now. That work for you?

[eletricks]

[Killua tries to bite back an amused smile at Blue doing stablework—it's clear he's passionate about that kind of thing, so it makes sense, but with his status and personality, it would otherwise seem pretty weird... sort of humbling.]

Yeah.

[god. why does he feel so anxious? is making friends that unnatural? truth told, upon reflection, Killua feels like he was... kind of getting used to it, when things were good with Gon.

so—what the hell?

ether way, despite his nerves, Killua coolly extracts his phone, then... less coolly, gives Blue a shy little peak, totally obfuscated under what most would mistake as steely indifference, his eyes partially obscured by the snowy shock of his hair.]

You got a time you prefer? Gimme your number.

[blueser]

[--Oh, right. Numbers... After a moment Blue also pulls his phone out, and it starts to suddenly sink in that this is.. a thing. He's getting Killua's number...]

[He can call him or text him at any time... Would that be weird?? Would he just block him if he sent him casual links or memes or stupid stuff like that? He's kinda hard to read, but maybe... Maybe after he sees how he plays games and stuff...]

Here, [He holds his contact page out for Killua to copy his number down.] Shoot me a text so I can add you.

...Um, probably the best time is in the afternoon or evening... I dunno what my roommate'll be up to, so don't wanna wake him up too early. I'll be all done with my schoolwork by then so it doesn't really matter how long we spend that day....

--Heh, so don't go leaving all your assignments to the last minute, alright? I won't let you copy.

[eletricks]

[that Killua trusts Blue enough to even give him his number in the first place is pretty much a go-ahead for all things related, but it's true that Killua is hard to read, and further, seems to be a skittish, slow burn when it comes to bonding.

Killua sends Blue a text with simply his name and his own number, so Blue can go ahead and add him from there. for some reason his face feels a little hot... maybe because it's been so long since this kind of thing has happened for something that wasn't purely school related. and even then, that had been a while.]

Pff, don't underestimate me. Like I'd ever need to copy someone's work.

[...though...Killua did sometimes let his work pile up to a tight deadline... but he was never late! and his grades were never bad!]

Anyway, let's maybe shoot for 3 or 4?

[oh no... how dumb.. he's excited. how embarrassing. stupid. ugh. WHY]

[blueser]

Hmmm, okay.

[Blue plays at skepticism, but it's only that, playing. It gets easier and easier to do that around Killua, every time they manage to talk like this..... It's almost like the open antagonism and standoffishness of their first lone meetings have almost melted away.]

[Weird. What a weird month it's been.]

[Blue adds Killua's number into his phone and leaves it at that, for now.... He'll have to be patient and not send anything overeager, he decides.] That's a good time, let's meet then. I live in the East hall, room 304... You can just come right up.

[Blue picks his bike up off the rack and swings his leg back over it, sticking the waterbottle in the holder along the body. Just a few more school days until the weekend... Would class be sort of weird, with plans made? He'd rather worry about it when he's on his own, so he makes to be off.] Well, smell ya later, then. See you in class tomorrow.