Tease

{ A Little Bit Compromised }

The ramen tasted like heaven and salt on Killua's lips and he couldn't get enough. He scooped up a dollop of crinkly noodles onto a shallow, porcelain spoon painted white with blue flowers. Pinched between two chopsticks, he pulled it up to his tongue and slurped them up with a delighted sigh.

They were sitting at the bar stools nearest the shop windows, overlooking the dimly lit street outside feathered with snow. Killua's feet couldn't touch the ground, so he swung them forward and back against the stool spokes as he drank up broth that thoroughly warmed his insides. Under the yellow, tungsten store lights, he was at peace.

"I'm so happy right now," he said, crossing his legs at the ankles. He turned to Kurapika, who was typing away at his phone. "Thanks for bringing us here."

"Wow, a thank you? From Killua I-Don't-Say-Thank-You Zoldyck?" Kurapika droned.

Killua stuck his tongue out at him and went back to his bowl. "I just really like ramen," he said.

Zushi sat next to him on one side, and Gon was at his other shoulder, swiping through Snapchat stories that reminded Killua that they were, in fact, in public. The photos on Gon's phone were risque, to say the very least, and Killua couldn't stop staring at them when he finally realized what Gon was doing. They were mostly of women—people he'd collaborated with, or wanted to—and their stories were filled with lingerie sponsorships and girls licking dildos with plush, pink lips.

"We're in public," Killua hissed at Gon.

Gon glanced at him, and then over his shoulder, at the empty ramen shop. They were far enough from the front counter that the workers couldn't see from around Gon's broad shoulders. Gon turned back around and shrugged. "It's fine," he said, and swiped ahead to the next story.

"You're shameless," Killua giggled. "Who puts that shit on their stories, anyway?"

"They're all premium accounts," Gon explained.

When Killua rose his eyebrow, Zushi leant in and explained, "People pay a monthly fee to get access to those accounts. If you screenshot, you're banned from the account for life and don't get a refund."

"That's... kind of genius," Killua said, rubbing a hand under his bottom lip where broth dripped. He licked his finger and said, "You should make one of those, Gon."

"I already have one," Gon said.

Killua stared at Gon's reflection in the storefront window. Gon was looking at him, at Zushi, whose chopsticks fell into his ramen bowl. Kurapika was still typing away on his phone. Hesitantly, Killua cleared his throat and rasped, "You... already have one. How come I didn't know about it?"

"My Patreon is pretty lowkey," Gon confessed with a slight smile. "Only certain tiers get you access to the Snapchat account."

"I... see," Killua said, clearing his throat. "So when I asked for your Snapchat earlier in the year... and you said you didn't have one—"

"I lied," he admitted with a guilty smile. "If you... wanted to add me now, you could. I don't mind."

Killua thought long and hard about it, mostly because he was high and wanted to milk the crap out of Gon's Snapchat without paying a dime. The rational part of his brain—the moral part of his brain—knew he had to pay for it. He should, after all. It was Gon's livelihood he was exploiting.

He shook his head. "No. No, I'd rather pay for it."

"And why the hell would you do that," Kurapika droned from down the counter. Killua turned to look at him. Zushi was slurping on a Coca Cola, eyeing them all curiously and with a vague sense of wonderment. "Gon's offering it for free."