ᴀ x ɴᴇᴡ x ғᴀᴄᴇ
(^^ He looks so disgusted 😭😂)
༺♥༻
Walking down the street, Gon, Killua and Valentine were walking alongside the man; Zepile, who had just helped them from a scammer.
'Ohh.. so, you're Zepile'
They were carrying the items they had from before since they had gotten the treasure from inside the vault and they were about to go sell them.
'Thanks a lot, Mr. Zepile',Gon thanked.
Thanking the man, both Gon and Valentine smiled up at him, causing the man to grin down at them.
'Ah, there's no need to thank me',Zepile stated,'It's a matter of five and take. Say, twenty percent?'
Blinking in surprise and confusion, true four looked towards the man and hummed; while Zeus let out a small trill, in confusion.
'My cut of the profit when you sell the treasure',Zepile explained.
With a scowl pulling at his lips, Killua's eyes narrowed in anger and his eyebrows furrowed.
'Are you trying to rip us off, old man?',Killua questioned harshly, his eyes narrowed.
With his face dropping in shock, Zepile stared at the boy for a moment and slowly shook his head.
'Now that was uncalled for',Zepile said, his eyes wide,'Look, I've got to charge something for advising'
Turning towards the silverette, Valentine placed her hand on his shoulder and watched as he turned her way.
With a bright smile forming on her face, Valentine gave Killua a closed-eyed smile and tilted her head to the side.
"It's alright, Killua",Valentine reassured him,"He did help us out back there"
'It's only fair!',Gon added in, agreeing with Valentine.
Eyes of the ocean slowly softened at the bright smile on her face and slowly, Killua let out a small sigh.
'Give me a break, Val',Killua sighed out and slowly shook his head, before looking between the two,'We need to collect as much Jenny as possible, remember? We can maybe buy him lunch'
Perking up at the mention of food, Zepile turned his gaze towards the silver-haired boy and smiled in curiosity.
'Oh, yeah?',Zepile questioned and nodded with a satisfied smile on his face,'Sure, works for me'
Letting out hums of shock and curiosity, the three looked up towards the man and watched as he stared ahead with a smile on his face.
༺♥༻
The five of them were sat at a table in the restaurant and while Gon and Zepile were on one side, Killua, Zeus and Valentine were on the other.
Looking up at one another, Gon and Valentine guilt written all over their faces and their eyes shone with it.
'So, Mr. Zepile.. Valentine and I feel kind of bad so.. we will pay you a commission'
Snapping his head in the boy's direction, Killua looked between the two and furrowed his eyebrows in anger.
'You guys are such pushovers!',Killua yelled.
Smiling sheepishly, both Gon and Valentine reached up and itched the back of their heads, letting out small laughs.
Maybe they were, but it was better to possibly be a pushover in this situation and then possibly regret it later, then to not pay the guy for his services and feel guilty the whole time.
'Nah, really it's perfectly okay',Zepile stated,'Just tell me one thing and we'll be even. What was it that made you bid on all of these items? Something tipped you off'
Hearing small chirps of delight, Valentine turned her gaze away from the man and looked towards Zeus, who currently had a blueberry in the clutches of his talons, gently nibbling on the fruit.
Eyes widening in shock at his words, the three looked one another and wondered the same thing.
'Well, should we tell him the truth?',Gon questioned.
Shrugging nonchalantly, Killua didn't think that it was a big deal and agreed to it, in his mind it was better than paying him.
Which Valentine didn't really agree with, even if that made her a pushover.
As Gon explained to the man about the aura around the items, the four watched as Zepile nodded in understanding and let out a small hum.
'Ahh, Nen aura, huh?',Zepile said,'Well, if you're being honest that does explain why you purchased that statue. It was pretty obvious you had no idea something was hidden inside'
Gently sipping on her strawberry soda, Valentine slowly looked up at the man and her eyes of mystification shone with the color of a goddesses finest flower.
'So, why do you three need money so badly?',Zepile questioned and looked between the three.
Gently nibbling on his third blueberry, Zeus's obsidian black eyes looked up at the three and he let out a small chirp, before diving back into eating the delicious fruit.
'We can tell you, but not for free',Killua stated, still skeptical of the man,'You've gotta answer one of our questions first'
Agreeing to the terms, Zepile suggest that they went first and reached down, grabbing his coffee.
'At the auction, there's an item that we need to buy and so, we need money',Killua answered.
Humming in curiosity, Zepile's eyes shone with the emotion and he tilted his head, a curious smile on his face.
'Oh, which one is it?',Zepile asked.
Telling the man that it was their turn now, Killua leaned his arm on his item beside him.
'Three hundred million Jenny, that's how much you estimated this treasures worth',Killua explained and turned his gaze back towards the man,'So, do you think that's how much we could get for it at the dealer's market?'
Seeing that the boy wanted to find out the best offer, a small hum left Zepile and his eyes widened for a moment in curiosity.
'I don't know, they deal mainly in hard cash',The man responded,'So, if you show up early on, it's unlikely that you'll get a fair price for it'
Sighing in disappointment, the three deflated and their expressions dropped, frowns coating their faces.
'Now it's my turn',Zepile said, before asking,'I'll repeat the question. Which item are you looking to bid on?'
'It's a video game called Greed Island',Killua answered quickly, before either Gon or Valentine could even have to chance to speak up.
With a hum of understanding, Zepile slowly nodded his head and looked between them, confused as to why they wanted to buy such an expensive game.
'Ahh, you mean the one that's super expensive',Zepile realized.
'I'm real curious about the vase you bought',Killua stated and pointed towards the wrapped up item,'How much do you think that it's worth?'
Looking towards the wrapped up vase and raising his eyebrow, Zepile frowned before slowly shaking his head.
'What? This thing?',He questioned,'It's just a piece of junk. Totally worthless'
Eyes widening in shock, the three looked towards one another and began to wonder why he had bought it.
If it was worthless, why spend so much money just to buy it?
'I don't get why you'd want such an expensive game',Zepile stated and looked between the three,'Doesn't it cost, like, six billion Jenny?'
Not bothering to answer the question since Killua had taken the liberty of answering them all, Valentine sipped on her drink and watched as Zeus tried to fight a blueberry he had dropped, which was now rolling towards him.
She was tempted to grab the blueberry away from him, but she just couldn't look away and didn't want the small show that was happening to stop, it was quite amusing.
'Starts at 8.9',Killua stated and then pointed towards Gon,'Thing is we're trying to find Gon's father. We need to buy the game because it has a clue inside'
Eyes widening in shock, Zepile let out a small hum and looked between Gon and Killua.
'So, why did you pick that vase?',Killua questioned, gesturing towards it,'Well, you knew that wooden vault was the real thing, didn't you? So, you could've bid on that. But you didn't, you bid on that weird vase instead. Why?'
Looking towards the wrapped up vase for a moment, a small sigh left Zepile's lips and he reached up, itching the back of his head.
'Well, you see.. I sort of made this vase myself',Zepile answered honestly.
Gasping in shock, Gon, Valentine and Killua's eyes widened and they looked between the vase and Zepile.
He made it?
'"Sort of" because it isn't my original work',Zepile answered and untied the vase,'This is a knock-off. In other words, it's counterfeit. When I was poor, this was how I made my Jenny. Until.. I became an appraiser and started earning money. As soon as that happened, I quit all of that. But when I see how poorly made these things are.. oh boy, it's really embarrassing. I swore that I'd buy them back whenever I saw them at the market'
'Any clue what a really one would cost?',Killua questioned.
Holding up his hand, Zepile stopped Killua and told him that it was his turn.
A irk mark appeared on Killua's forehead as his eyes narrowed and Zepile ignored the silverette, pointing towards Gon.
'What does your dad do for a living?'
Immediately stopping what she was doing, Valentine froze up and slowly looked up, looking between Gon and Zepile.
This was going to end either of two ways; Gon would answer truthfully, telling the man he didn't know or it would make Gon upset and Valentine would go crazy.
Which would most likely happen.
'He's.. a professional Hunter',Gon answered truthfully.
'I asked how much a real one would cost!',Killua shouted, irritated.
Seeing that the boy was asking him something, Zepile waved him off and told him that it would be around forty to fifty k.
Letting out an irritated grumble, Killua watched as Zepile leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.
'Is that so?',The man asked Gon,'A pro Hunter, huh? There are a couple of them in the antiques community and not one of 'em is someone you would describe as 'normal'. Won't it be impossible for you to find him on your own?'
Watching as Killua silently seethed, Valentine winced and she looked between Zepile and Killua, making sure that he didn't throw anything at the man just to get his attention for him to answer his question.
'We'll be fine',Gon answered truthfully,'See, I'm a pro hunter myself'
With his eyes widening in shock, Zepile's mouth dropped open and his eyebrows pulled together.
'Wait— really!?',He questioned.
Nodding slightly, Gon smiled and pointed towards Valentine, who was playing around with Zeus; trying to snatch one of his blueberries as he keep knocking it out of her hand.
'Valentine is too!'
Hearing her name, the blonde looked up and seeing everyone looking at her, a small drop fell down the side of her head as she looked between them.
Valentine had no idea what was going on and wished that she had paid attention a bit more.
"What?"
'She's a pro hunter too!? But she's just a little girl!'
Feeling her eye twitch in annoyance, Valentine was tempted to grab the fork on the table and use it, but she refrained herself.
If she heard someone say that one more time, she'd go insane.
And she heard Killua quietly snicker, which caused her face to deadpan as she looked at him.
With a shocked look still on his face, Zepile turned towards Gon as he told him that it was his turn to ask a question now.
'Right, this one'll be my final question',Zepile answered,'Is there anything at all I can help you with?'
Eyes widening in shock, the three looked towards the man and gasped slightly.
He wanted to help them more?
'If you want to make money at an auction, you'll need someone with appraisal experience',Zepile stated,'You could say, that teaming up with the right appraiser could guarantee you a profit every time. You choose how much you wanna pay me, whatever you thinks fair. How's that?'
Looking towards one another, Killua, Gon and Valentine began to think over his offer and then, slowly looked back towards the man.
Who looked between them as if they were crazy since they had looked like they were all having a conversation in their heads.
"Fine",Valentine stated,"Then you have to answer our last question"
'What made you want to help us out?',Gon questioned,'What's in it for you?'
With his face dropping, Zepile looked between the three and huffed out a small laugh, smiling slightly.
'It just made me happy',He said, causing the three to let out noises of confusion,'It felt nice that someone was bidding on my work, even if it is just a worthless piece of junk'
Hurriedly standing to his feet, Gon slammed his hands on the table and caused a small clatter to echo through the air.
'It is not a piece of junk!',Gon exclaimed, causing the man to looked at the green haired boy in shock,'That vase you made.. it's overflowing with your Nen, Mr. Zepile. Aura's common and anybody can produce it, but it's incredibly difficult to control. Like, really hard! You have to concentrate and train for a really long time. Anybody can see how much effort you put into making that vase, I know I sure can! This kind of work takes talent!'
Slowly sitting back down, Gon guiltily itched the back of his head and smiled at the man, a drop of sweat falling down the side of his head.
'And I'm sorry for saying it was weird earlier',Gon apologized.
Taking a sip of coffee, a small sigh left Zepile's lips and he slowly looked back up at Gon.
'I can trust my eyes; they've never fooled me',Zepile explained,'When you appraise things long enough, you can't help but become a good judge of character. I look at the sellers and the buyers, not just the goods. If there's one thing I've learned after all of this time appraising antiques, it's that it's a lot harder to appraise people. When I saw you, the appraiser in me knew right away, that I really wanted to work with you. Truly. So, that's my answer. What's yours?'
Looking towards one another with smiles one their faces, Gon, Valentine and Killua nodded towards one another, having their answers, but they still needed one more.
Turning towards Zeus, they watched as he stopped eating and looked towards them, stretching his wings as a loud screech left his beak; if you looked close enough, it almost looked like the hawk was smiling.
'We're looking forward to it-'
'We'll decide on your fee-'
"Once we see what you can do"
Smiling at their answers, an excited chuckle left Zepile's lips and he leaned back.
'Great! Now that we've got that settled-'
'First things first',Gon spoke up, interrupting the man.
Humming in curiosity at the interruption, Zepile furrowed his eyebrows together and looked between them.
'Can you teach me the doctoring methods you talked about in the store earlier?',Gon questioned.
Surprised by his question, Zepile's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.
'You really wanna know?'
'Yup! Cauterizing and transplant and facelift',Gon questioned,'Is that it or are there others?'
Leaning towards Gon, an irk mark appeared on Killua's forehead and his eyes narrowed.
'You know something? None of that crap matters!'
'But they sound fun! Kinda like magic tricks!'
'Yeah, well, we're not here to have fun!'
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