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Leorio glanced at Kurapika and then down at the cards he held in his hands. No way he wasn’t winning this now. He glanced up at Kurapika and bluffed as he’d never bluffed before, asking nervously, “Are you sure we have to do anything the other person wants us to do if we win?”
Kurapika sighed and rolled his eyes. “Leorio, it was your idea. We swore on our nen when we started this game that we would do whatever the winner asked, because that was the only way out of our situation. Now that’s down to us two, it’s not like we can back out. Look, I’ll even be nice and ask you to do something simple and small if I win. Nothing major.”
Leorio bit his lip and ducked his head, feigning nerves, even as he was rejoicing inside. The night had started out dicey enough, Leorio and Kurapika getting into a risky card game, staking their nen and lives so that they could get one of the Kurtan eye sets back, but now that it was just them two at the table, the eyes long since secured, Leorio could relax some. Not that he intended to lose—heck no, he intended to win—but the stakes were much lower. Hoping his bluff had payed off he waited for Kurapika to play his cards, then bit back a smile once he had. A straight flush. Good enough to win, but not good enough with Leorio’s current hand. Smirking, he laid his own cards out on the table, a royal flush, and watched as Kurapika’s eyes widened in disbelief then flared with irritation.
“What was that you said,” Leorio whispered as he leaned over to collect his winnings off the table, “It’s not like we can back out?”
Gritting his teeth, Kurapika nodded, clearly upset that Leorio had played him so well and no doubt worried about what Leorio would ask him to do. Once Leorio had spoken to the gambling den’s owners about how to collect some of the larger prizes he’d secured, the two left the premises and headed for their hotel across town. As soon as they were inside their room and the privacy nen shields had been erected, Kurapika spun on Leorio, eyes blazing.
“What do you want?” he growled. “That was underhanded, even for you.”
Leorio smirked, even as the words stung, and held up his hands placatingly. “Now, now, we had a bet. And,” he said more seriously, “it was touch and go there for a while. Both of us nearly lost in that fifth round. …Kurapika, you—we can’t keep doing stuff like this, it’s too risky.”
“So you’re going to ask me to give up my quest to reclaim my family’s eyes, is that it?” Kurapika asked coldly, eyes burning red, fists clenched at his sides.
Leorio blinked. “No, of course not,” he said, hurt that Kurapika would even think that he’d ask that of him. “I mean, I wish I could ask you to be more careful, demand it even, but we both know that that wouldn’t do any good. No, I have something much more important in mind for what I can ask of you.”
Kurapika tensed. “…what would that be?”
Leorio nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and then pointed to the bed. “Sit.”
“…what?”
Leorio rolled his eyes and took out his briefcase from under the bed. “Sit down on the bed.”
Kurapika eyed him warily, but sat down on the bed.
“Right,” Leorio said, opening his briefcase. “Here’s how this is going to work. My one demand of you, which is mine by right since I won, is that you submit to a full doctor’s physical which I will be performing right now, here, before you can weasel yourself out of it yet again. You will sit and will let me examine you and make sure you’re in good health and you will let me take as long as I need to do a thorough examination. I’m not kidding around here, Kurapika,” Leorio added when he saw Kurapika staring at him in disbelief, mouth agape. “You keep dodging appointments with me and I know you don’t trust anyone else to do a full physical because of your family’s history. So, now that I have you as a captive audience and your nen is bound until you fulfill my request, I’m going to perform a full physical. Because you need it and I need to know that you’re okay and not hiding more serious injuries because I know you have in the past and I can’t, I can’t keep doing—“ Leorio started to break down, his hands shaking ever so slightly.
Kurapika winced but nodded, clearly affected by Leorio’s emotions. “Alright then,” he said, voice low and raspy. “One physical. I…I can do that.”
Leorio looked up at him in surprise, shocked the other man had agreed even if technically he didn’t really have a choice, and then his eyes really did fill with tears, these ones of gratitude. He threw his arms around Kurapika in a big hug, weeping, then pulled himself together after a few minutes, Kurapika awkwardly patting him on the back to comfort him in the meantime. Wiping his eyes dry, he nodded once, then said, “Right. Let’s do this,” and for the first time, Kurapika willingly agreed and submitted to his care.
Leorio of course found old injuries as well as new that he yelled at Kurapika over, but at the end of the night, Kurapika was fine, living dangerously, but fine, and the relief that that brought to Leorio, the peace of mind, that’s all that mattered to him. Kurapika’s okay, he’ll be fine, and in two years time maybe I’ll get him to sit down and play some cards with me, so that I can verify that’s still the case, Leorio thought to himself as they prepared for bed. Lucky thing that he never learned I can count cards.