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Kurapika knows he doesn’t get enough rest.
He’s always been aware of that. Since the massacre of his clan to taking the hunter exam, and then starting his quest to recover his people’s eyes, so the times where he could truly relax and properly rest were extremely few and far inbetween, essentially nonexistent. It was only Leorio, god bless him, who would hound him on getting rest. Whilst he may have never picked up the phone to call him, Kurapika would always listen to the voicemails he left with a pained heart.
Whenever he found himself in Yorknew during his search of his clan’s eyes, he would greedily find his way back to Leorio’s apartment. Each time, Leorio would welcome him with open arms despite the pain in his eyes the two were aware of but never spoke about. It had all come to a head once when Kurapika found himself at the familiar door, shivering and on the cusp of a stress heat that had been triggered after a more painful recovery mission.
Leorio had brought him in and knew immediately what was going on. The alpha took care of him in his spare room, never crossing boundaries no matter how much Kurapika had cried and begged for him. All he would do is hold his hand and murmur words of comfort while Kurapika laid there unaware of how his heart kept fracturing with every unanswered plea.
After the week had passed, Kurapika had tried to leave without addressing the growing chasm between them, kickstarting the biggest fight between the duo. Through hoarse voices from yelling and many tears shed, Leorio managed to get Kurapika to promise to come back to him only when he was done with his personal mission to stop giving the alpha hope just to crush his heart mercilessly as he had done so many times before. The agreement was shaky at best, but it was all Kurapika could offer at the time.
He lies in his nest, pensive with the apartment quiet with Leorio and the boys gone, out on another random adventure. He gets many moments like this, usually unable to sleep as he always feels the need to do more. Leorio always gets on him for this habit of his, citing that he needs more rest to make up for all the sleep he’s missed in the years he spent searching for his clan’s eyes.
Kurapika shifts, finding a more comfortable position in his arrangement of blankets, pillows and the occasional plushie one of the pups gift him randomly. Suddenly hit with a wave of lethargy, he lets out a yawn and grabs the nearest plush that smells like both of them. He closes his eyes and sends out a quick prayer for easy rest as he finally falls asleep for a rare nap.
He comes to a little bit later, immediately aware of the new weight on his body. He opens his eyes to be met with a mess of white hair in his face. The nest now is filled with the warm scent of vanilla and honey- meaning both Killua and Gon have decided to join him in the nest while he was resting. He barely feels any alarm at not waking up the minute they walked in through the front door, his omega deeming his pack not a threat.
He feels Killua’s steady breaths puff against his chest and his nose brush under his collarbone, assuming that he probably stuck his face into his scent gland when he first came to join Kurapika and slowly slid down. He turns his head and spies Gon on the other side of the nest, switch in his hands as he plays quietly. Sensing Kurapika’s eyes on him he looks up and breaks into a smile as he crawls over to be scented by Kurapika.
As Kurapika rubs his face lightly against Gon’s ridding him of the trace scents he picked up as he was outside, mindful of Killua sleeping between them. He quietly asks, “When did you guys get back?” Gon starts to scent Kurapika as he answers, “Around 40 minutes ago? We didn’t hear you so Leorio told us to keep it down and then we found you in here so we decided to also come in while Leorio started on lunch, but it’s probably later lunch? Linner?” Kurapika huffs out a laugh at Gon’s long winded answer, chest warm at his pup’s demeanour. He runs a hand through Killua’s hair and feels the pup begin to stir as he continues to pet him. Killua greets him with a light nip to his scent gland before he fully gets up and stretches. Kurapika also rises into a sitting position, holding back a purr as he watches Gon and Killua scoot over to a corner in the nest and enter their own world as Gon grabs the abandoned switch again.
He stands up, back twinging just the smallest bit, and leaves the nest to go find Leorio. He finds the alpha in the kitchen as Gon said, seemingly finishing whatever he decided to make for their late lunch. He comes up behind him and wraps his arms around his lover's midsection. “Hi.”
Leorio turns around and leans down to press a kiss to Kurapika’s lips. “Hey. How did you sleep? The boys didn’t disturb you too much I hope?” He shakes his head, filled with love for the man he has in his arms, “No, not at all. Killua even managed to fall asleep on me before I woke up,” Leorio raises his eyebrows in shock, knowing that Kurapika is an extremely light sleeper. “That’s surprising. You sure you’re alright?” Kurapika pulls him into a tighter hug, letting out a sigh of contentment when Leorio wraps his own arms around him. “I’m alright, I didn’t get much sleep last night so that was my catch up, I guess.” The two of them slightly sway side to side, basking in each other’s presence since they missed each other for most of the day.
Leorio presses a kiss into his mate's hair, murmuring, “Can you go get the boys, love?” Kurapika nods into his chest and walks back to the closet that holds his nest, expecting the boys to still be there and is rewarded when he finds them both there, just in different positions than when he left. As he reaches the doorway, both heads turn to look at him and he lets them know lunch is ready with a soft smile.
The boys get up from the nest and follow Kurapika to the table where Leorio has already set the table and spotted them as he put the final dishes down. “Go wash your hands please,” Killua rolls his eyes, “We already know that, you don’t need to remind us old man.” Leorio starts to sputter at Killua’s snipe towards his age before giving up with a sigh and pinching his nose. “I swear that kid will never learn basic manners…” Kurapika chuckles at their antics before kissing Leorio’s cheek as he passes by him to go wash his hands as well.
“But you love and care for him anyway, so don’t stress about it,” the air around them suddenly blooms with cardamom, the alpha’s signature scent as he rolls his eyes in assent and goes back to the table. Kurapika continues on his way to the washroom, listening to the sounds of Gon and Killua bickering in their washroom and the clink of dishes as Leorio adjusts plates and cutlery. In this quiet symphony he knows as home, his heart sings along as he knows he could never abandon the harmony he’s created with three other boys.