I-- what? [She calms down at his question, confusion all over her face. Did he really just ask her that?] Of course not!
[The answer is a reflex-- she's never even considered being scared of him. Killua's her friend.
He's killed people, though... she thinks back, to all the times she's seen him fight. Killua's strong, definitely. Like, way stronger than anybody she's ever met, and probably much stronger than any of the weird terrifying stuff she's seen in Gravity Falls. Even knowing that, though, she can't even bring herself to be nervous around him.
Mabel shakes her head forcefully.]
No way! I don't think you ever would, so I never worry about it. You're my friend, Killua-- I trust you!
[She says it confidently, like there's no other option. He's a good guy, case closed.]
[He watches his owm hands as she reacts, curling his fingers one by one. The answer was so immediate, but he can't say he's surprised by the answer. Worry lifts but an imprint remains in the back of his mind with the rest. Raising that hand, he rubs at his forehead a little, pausing when Mabel speaks those last words so confidently.
He looks over like he's caught off guard before blinking away to try and hide the smallest bit of blush at his cheeks.]
Y-yeah. Well, good! We're friends! [It's amazing to think that he can have people like this around him. How? He swore with everything in his soul that he'd never hurt a friend, but fear can linger when all the powerful adults around him press this into him. For now, though, he lets it fade away, a smile slowly taking over the sheepish look on his face.
He looks back to her now.] Let's hurry and have some ice cream before it melts!
[She smiles at him in return, full of relief. If he's anything like Dipper (and he is pretty fond of long-winded explanations of stuff, so yeah, they do have a thing or two in common) then he'll probably need multiple reassurances, but that's okay. Mabel's not sure if awkward friend hugs are a thing, but she might need to make it a thing.
And, privately, she promises herself if she ever meets Killua's brother she is going to give him a piece of her mind. The jerk!!]
Yeah! And then we'll do cool, non-dangerous and fun things. Since you're on vacation from school, you need to make the most of it.
[Mabel no... that's not a good idea to have in mind ever.]
Yeah!
[Building up from the optimistic excitement, Killua beams, himself. Sticking a spoon into each bowl, he helps finish up with the toppings before putting them away. From there, he grabs his own bowl and moves to the table, hopping into one of the seats there.]
Hmm. [Eventually, he's thinking, the spoon hanging out of his mouth and wiggling a little as idly lets one of his legs swing forward and back.] But what sort of things could we do? What do you usually do for fun, Mabel?
[Making a list in her head, she disregards most of the things she does on her own. Killua's good at drawing, so arts and crafts would probably be boring, and he wouldn't get the appeal of reading books about dreamy vampires. So Mabel takes an extra long time to finish off her bit of ice cream to give herself a moment to think about the kind of things a boy would want to do.]
Well, Dipper and I went to the arcade a couple times! That was fun. [Except for when the video game characters came to life and tried to fight everybody but eh, details.] And sometimes we make up things like rolly chair races and trying to tape each other to walls and stuff. I dunno, usually we just go exploring and fun or weird things happen out of nowhere.
[It could be that arcade games are more preferable, or maybe he got this wrong... But he blinks upwards in his thought, digging into his ice cream some more.] I don't really know if I want anything weird to happen here, either.
[The images of Hisoka and Kimblee respectively come to mind, and he makes a face. Well, they're both busy with other things, right... Right.]
Exploring is pretty cool, though. I haven't been around too much.
I don't like certain ones! You know, evil ones. [It's just hard to tell the difference between the evil ones and the not-so-evil ones.] I'm pretty good at racing games and dance games.
Me neither. [She stirs the leftover ice cream slush in her bowl.] It's hard to explore in Heropa since it's mostly stores and city and then swamp that's too wet to have much fun it. [With the exception of getting alligators in, obviously.] I wish we could get to California! Or Oregon. Then I could probably give you tours and we could go to all the fun places that I bet totally also exist in this world!
Evil ones? [He laughs, and he can't help but think of Greed Island. But they'd already mentioned that to Mabel, and she'd seemed pretty bothered at the state of both of their hands after that, so--]
That's right, you're actually from a world where these places exist! Weeeird... I mean, the map's kind of similar, though... [Seriously Togashi, please. Killua considers that for a moment before shrugging it off, nudging his empty bowl a bit closer towards the center of the table.]
We could always just explore and find fun places ourselves.
[She waves her hands in the air like it's just so complicated, but figures he knows what she means by evil video games anyway. After all, she hasn't forgotten about the adventure in limb-loss they told her about. If anyone gets evil video games, it's probably Killua.]
Well, yeah, most of them! Some stuff's in the wrong place. Like Disney World! But since that's in a weird place, there's probably all kinds of cool places I don't have at home. We can strike out on an adventure when-- ["When Gon gets back" is what she starts to say, but Mabel stops abruptly when she remembers that there's no telling when Gon might be back. Time to backpedal to keep Killua from feeling any worse than he already does!]
--uhh when the holidays are all over! Since I bet it's cold everywhere and that makes it less fun. So much less fun. [Smooth, Mabel. Super smooth save.]
[He's so distracted by Disney World being in her world too that he almost misses that slip up. In the end, he doesn't. Not even between wondering if he should ask what it's like or if he should leave it for the surprise if--
If Gon comes back. When Gon comes back?
It's probably just that this whole train of thought was accidentally set up wrong. He frowns for a split second, flicking the edge of his bowl as he slumps a little more over the table. But at Mabel's attempted recovery, he still smiles.]
You don't like the cold? [He's not sure if that's true, but.] I guess we could wait. There's nothing that's really standing out to me right now, anyway. Maybe by the time the holidays pass I'll have some ideas!
If it's still cold, you can just wear an extra sweater. [He likes to wear turtlenecks under his t-shirts so he finds this acceptable.]
[Mabel saw that frown, and for a second she despairs. She's off her game in the worst way. Right now she's sure that she's officially the worst at helping. ]
The cold's okay, but it makes it really hard to do stuff! Like find underground caves and search abandoned buildings.
--and you can't just wear a sweater over a sweater. [That's just crazy talk.] Every sweater needs its chance to shine! Unless you need an emergency sweater and you don't have a backpack then wearing two at once is just-- no. Killua, no.
[Okay, that actually makes him laugh shortly before he raises up one of his arms in a wide shrug. He doesn't get it!! Its chance to shine?]
What's so bad about it? If you're cold, you're cold! It's better than freezing! [Have you seen his fashion Mabel, he does not understand. Maybe when you meet his brother you'll see.]
[It's been a while since he's properly showed off, hasn't it? He doesn't count those spars where he kicked a bunch of teenagers asses. This is different! He's been hiding his powers from anyone he doesn't fight, and even some people he does, but Mabel...
He trusts Mabel, and there's no real way her knowing could cause a problem as long as he underlined it.]
Really? I could tell you, but you haaaaaaave to keep it a secret! [He leans in from across the table, one arm curved in front of himself as the other raises an index finger.] I don't tell anyone about this without special circumstances. This is a huge leap of faith! Promise you won't tell?
[Mabel's a little surprised he'd tell her something so secret, especially since she's been such a lame cheerer-upper so far.]
My lips are sealed! [She bounces up in her seat, leaning in and dropping her voice down into a dramatic whisper.] You can trust me not to tell anybody.
[It helps that he's a big show-off at heart who just wants to be a kid and sit and talk about things. Grinning a little more, he hops to his feet and steps a few feet away so it's like a show. He can't feel anyone coming closer with en, so he assumes his housemates will stay gone for the whole while. Perfect!
He raises one of his hands before himself, lifting it palm up.]
Hmm, you won't be able to see all of this, probably, but since I just charged up, I'll show you some of the real stuff. [As he says this, something begins audibly crackling. His hand tilts a bit, and he brings his thumb and forefinger together.
When they separate, electricity trails between them, crackling blue and white.]
I can turn my nen into electricity, and if I charge myself up long enough, I can use real electricity, too. [If she looks impressed, he'll even go the extra yard. He brings his other hand over, his fingers all touching the tips of the opposite hand before he pulls them back. The light show's a lot more impressive now, with both generic nen (that she can't see) and electricity (that she can, somehow, see-- both real and transmuted).]
[By now Mabel's seen enough from Gon and Killua that she's prepared herself for something incredibly cool to happen whenever they show off. She leans forward in her chair even more, and just as she's about to make a connection ("charging up"? static hair? wait a minute...) the electricity arcs between his two fingers.
She does look very impressed.]
No way--! [Mabel's eyes widen and she even gasps a little when he ups the light show. She's a sucker for spectacle, and the fact that this is all him-- no porter powers, no dumb amulets, no deals with an evil demon-- make it that much better. Mabel claps when he's done, resisting the urge to ask what's probably a dumb question (why keep any of that a secret when it's the most kick-butt thing ever?) in favor of asking a lot more questions that are only a little dumb.]
Wow, Killua! Is that why your hair was sticking up earlier? How do you charge? What's the part I can't see-- do you make invisible lightning?
[This is what he lives for. And it does temporarily wipe away all of his worries. He can be a kid, here, in this moment with Mabel. A lot of the time he spends with Mabel is like this, and he's appreciating it more and more. Unlike with Gon, who he tries to have this with and then always winds up in something more dangerous. Kidnapped by a gang of thieves or targeted by a bomber...
He tries to look 'modest'. Really, he looks pleased, endlessly.]
Everyone has an aura, or their life force, but not everyone can see it. I've been taught to be able to see it and control my own, and so that's how I make the lightning to begin with. The parts you can't see are me moving my nen, that's the name for the aura, to create the electricity and control it.
There's some electricity that's pure nen that you probably can't see. But yeah, I was charging up earlier! That's why my hair was a little funny, and why you can see so much of the electricity right now.
[The explanation sounds kind of weird (if everyone has this aura why can't everyone learn to use it to do things like shock people and grab sodas from across the room) but it does make a cool kind of sense. Mabel taps her fingers together absently while she thinks about it. ]
That's so cool... In my world they just talk about auras having different colors and moods and stuff. Can a lot of people from your world use aura powers [Probably not, if it's such a secret.]
[That sounds horrifying. That is too many tests, and some of them are secret? No. Hunters sound cool but she would never want to be one.]
Does it let everyone do the same thing? If it's a test it's probably got standard stuff that everybody has to be able to do, but... can everybody shoot electricity and stuff?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[The answer is a reflex-- she's never even considered being scared of him. Killua's her friend.
He's killed people, though... she thinks back, to all the times she's seen him fight. Killua's strong, definitely. Like, way stronger than anybody she's ever met, and probably much stronger than any of the weird terrifying stuff she's seen in Gravity Falls. Even knowing that, though, she can't even bring herself to be nervous around him.
Mabel shakes her head forcefully.]
No way! I don't think you ever would, so I never worry about it. You're my friend, Killua-- I trust you!
[She says it confidently, like there's no other option. He's a good guy, case closed.]
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He looks over like he's caught off guard before blinking away to try and hide the smallest bit of blush at his cheeks.]
Y-yeah. Well, good! We're friends! [It's amazing to think that he can have people like this around him. How? He swore with everything in his soul that he'd never hurt a friend, but fear can linger when all the powerful adults around him press this into him. For now, though, he lets it fade away, a smile slowly taking over the sheepish look on his face.
He looks back to her now.] Let's hurry and have some ice cream before it melts!
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And, privately, she promises herself if she ever meets Killua's brother she is going to give him a piece of her mind. The jerk!!]
Yeah! And then we'll do cool, non-dangerous and fun things. Since you're on vacation from school, you need to make the most of it.
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Yeah!
[Building up from the optimistic excitement, Killua beams, himself. Sticking a spoon into each bowl, he helps finish up with the toppings before putting them away. From there, he grabs his own bowl and moves to the table, hopping into one of the seats there.]
Hmm. [Eventually, he's thinking, the spoon hanging out of his mouth and wiggling a little as idly lets one of his legs swing forward and back.] But what sort of things could we do? What do you usually do for fun, Mabel?
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Well, Dipper and I went to the arcade a couple times! That was fun. [Except for when the video game characters came to life and tried to fight everybody but eh, details.] And sometimes we make up things like rolly chair races and trying to tape each other to walls and stuff. I dunno, usually we just go exploring and fun or weird things happen out of nowhere.
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[It could be that arcade games are more preferable, or maybe he got this wrong... But he blinks upwards in his thought, digging into his ice cream some more.] I don't really know if I want anything weird to happen here, either.
[The images of Hisoka and Kimblee respectively come to mind, and he makes a face. Well, they're both busy with other things, right... Right.]
Exploring is pretty cool, though. I haven't been around too much.
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Me neither. [She stirs the leftover ice cream slush in her bowl.] It's hard to explore in Heropa since it's mostly stores and city and then swamp that's too wet to have much fun it. [With the exception of getting alligators in, obviously.] I wish we could get to California! Or Oregon. Then I could probably give you tours and we could go to all the fun places that I bet totally also exist in this world!
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That's right, you're actually from a world where these places exist! Weeeird... I mean, the map's kind of similar, though... [Seriously Togashi, please. Killua considers that for a moment before shrugging it off, nudging his empty bowl a bit closer towards the center of the table.]
We could always just explore and find fun places ourselves.
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Well, yeah, most of them! Some stuff's in the wrong place. Like Disney World! But since that's in a weird place, there's probably all kinds of cool places I don't have at home. We can strike out on an adventure when-- ["When Gon gets back" is what she starts to say, but Mabel stops abruptly when she remembers that there's no telling when Gon might be back. Time to backpedal to keep Killua from feeling any worse than he already does!]
--uhh when the holidays are all over! Since I bet it's cold everywhere and that makes it less fun. So much less fun. [Smooth, Mabel. Super smooth save.]
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If Gon comes back. When Gon comes back?
It's probably just that this whole train of thought was accidentally set up wrong. He frowns for a split second, flicking the edge of his bowl as he slumps a little more over the table. But at Mabel's attempted recovery, he still smiles.]
You don't like the cold? [He's not sure if that's true, but.] I guess we could wait. There's nothing that's really standing out to me right now, anyway. Maybe by the time the holidays pass I'll have some ideas!
If it's still cold, you can just wear an extra sweater. [He likes to wear turtlenecks under his t-shirts so he finds this acceptable.]
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The cold's okay, but it makes it really hard to do stuff! Like find underground caves and search abandoned buildings.
--and you can't just wear a sweater over a sweater. [That's just crazy talk.] Every sweater needs its chance to shine! Unless you need an emergency sweater and you don't have a backpack then wearing two at once is just-- no. Killua, no.
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What's so bad about it? If you're cold, you're cold! It's better than freezing! [Have you seen his fashion Mabel, he does not understand. Maybe when you meet his brother you'll see.]
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(Besides his brother and his parents and basically entire family, except for his little sister.)]
No, no way. [She shakes her head emphatically.] You can't layer statement pieces like that! It's a sweater betrayal. If you're cold you put on a hat!
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[He has worn hats before, though, and they have never been anything less hideous than double sweaters.]
I guess it would help a little, though.
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[There are some sacrifices that have to be made for fashion.]
Unless you have any heat making powers. Have you tried throwing fireballs ever?
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[Yes, he did have to phrase it like that. On accident. He looks so cocky about it, too.] I don't need any mittens!
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If you can't do fire stuff... what can you do? Killua, tell me!
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He trusts Mabel, and there's no real way her knowing could cause a problem as long as he underlined it.]
Really? I could tell you, but you haaaaaaave to keep it a secret! [He leans in from across the table, one arm curved in front of himself as the other raises an index finger.] I don't tell anyone about this without special circumstances. This is a huge leap of faith! Promise you won't tell?
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My lips are sealed! [She bounces up in her seat, leaning in and dropping her voice down into a dramatic whisper.] You can trust me not to tell anybody.
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[It helps that he's a big show-off at heart who just wants to be a kid and sit and talk about things. Grinning a little more, he hops to his feet and steps a few feet away so it's like a show. He can't feel anyone coming closer with en, so he assumes his housemates will stay gone for the whole while. Perfect!
He raises one of his hands before himself, lifting it palm up.]
Hmm, you won't be able to see all of this, probably, but since I just charged up, I'll show you some of the real stuff. [As he says this, something begins audibly crackling. His hand tilts a bit, and he brings his thumb and forefinger together.
When they separate, electricity trails between them, crackling blue and white.]
I can turn my nen into electricity, and if I charge myself up long enough, I can use real electricity, too. [If she looks impressed, he'll even go the extra yard. He brings his other hand over, his fingers all touching the tips of the opposite hand before he pulls them back. The light show's a lot more impressive now, with both generic nen (that she can't see) and electricity (that she can, somehow, see-- both real and transmuted).]
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She does look very impressed.]
No way--! [Mabel's eyes widen and she even gasps a little when he ups the light show. She's a sucker for spectacle, and the fact that this is all him-- no porter powers, no dumb amulets, no deals with an evil demon-- make it that much better. Mabel claps when he's done, resisting the urge to ask what's probably a dumb question (why keep any of that a secret when it's the most kick-butt thing ever?) in favor of asking a lot more questions that are only a little dumb.]
Wow, Killua! Is that why your hair was sticking up earlier? How do you charge? What's the part I can't see-- do you make invisible lightning?
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He tries to look 'modest'. Really, he looks pleased, endlessly.]
Everyone has an aura, or their life force, but not everyone can see it. I've been taught to be able to see it and control my own, and so that's how I make the lightning to begin with. The parts you can't see are me moving my nen, that's the name for the aura, to create the electricity and control it.
There's some electricity that's pure nen that you probably can't see. But yeah, I was charging up earlier! That's why my hair was a little funny, and why you can see so much of the electricity right now.
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That's so cool... In my world they just talk about auras having different colors and moods and stuff. Can a lot of people from your world use aura powers [Probably not, if it's such a secret.]
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[He taps his chin as he thinks.] Everyone who's here from my world can use it, though.
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Does it let everyone do the same thing? If it's a test it's probably got standard stuff that everybody has to be able to do, but... can everybody shoot electricity and stuff?
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