doughtier:

The Predatory Wasp by @silvercistern // silvercistern

~62.k, Gon/Killua, post-anime (ie, no Dark Continent spoilers), Mature, in which Killua and Gon pretend to be in a relationship.

Five years without any contact was a long time. The distance had built new walls on top of old wounds. They were still best friends, maybe, but did they really know each other anymore? In an ideal situation, they’d spend some time alone, maybe go on a few small adventures. Take it slow. Rediscover what drew them to each other in the first place.

But Killua had officially decided that the situation was not ideal. In fact, it was so much the opposite that he was going to have an enormous hickey on the inside of his elbow.

Because instead of taking things slow, they were pretending to make out in a closet.

You guys. This is the fic that I consider the Killugon fic. This is the fic I’ve been waiting for for two years. Not because other fics are bad, because they’re not, but because of the sheer scope this fic tackles.

TPW doesn’t take shortcuts. It tackles head-on the problems between Gon and Killua, and the longer they ignore it, the more they grow. This fic acknowledges that something in their friendship/relationship/whatever just did not work and then tries to put into words why, and why it was essential for them to go their separate ways. It acknowledges that both Gon and Killua had been equally responsible to the direction their friendship went in, and it does so without making either of them unlikeable.

That + more – it explores the consequences of the Chimera Ant art; what it means for Killua to go into hiding with Alluka, and what it means for Alluka to be trans, and what it means for both her and Nanika to share the same body. It acknowledges the fact that Gon is a trainwreck who consumes everything that stands in his way and that Killua is incapable of saying No; how Killua keeps investing himself in other people until there’s nothing of his own self left, and how damaging it is. And yet, and yet, it sheds love and hope with every single word.

Add to that almost lyrical, incredible storytelling; the language use is fantastic and natural, but at the same time reaches for something more.

I am aware that I am probably Late to the Party, but on the off-chance you haven’t read it yet? Please give it a try, even if you’re not usually people who go for the Killugon. It’s very definitely worth it.