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WHO: Hisoka and Chrollo
WHERE: Chrollo's home. Spider nest.
WHEN: 6/30; after this.
WHAT: Gift giving.
WARNINGS: Possible sexual situations and implications.

Per usual, it doesn't take him long to get there, but takes him a little longer because he purposely takes his time. While the situation should be touching it constantly pings him as annoying. Their deal is... not what it was before, obviously, but then either side is still holding their own. Hisoka with his own both because he said he would and because he personally wants Chrollo stronger, wants him to have more abilities, for his OWN gain. One day... or perhaps now. It's been filling him with a sort of pride each time he assists in filling that book, even if he's helping write his own 'ending'. Chrollo's abilities are... well, ridiculous can apply, right now. What he can do striking, terrifying, and yet he's so stagnant. Still does Hisoka feel almost shrouded and dazed by the other man's presence but it's annoying to see him do nothing with it all right now.

And annoying that he would want to decline a new ability he found him. Lapis-Lazuli's ability to shape shift could be perfect, exactly what they were looking for, what HE was. And yet Chrollo's own sentimental nature has him against it in favour of taking the ability Hisoka has been working on.

He sleeps around, he gets close, he flirts, he chats, he gets people near so he can subtly steal their likeness and often does he spend his time walking around as someone he isn't. Practicing. Always when he's given the time to. Because that's how he's always gotten better, his own perseverance and effort. And even then he'd rather Chrollo opt for Lapis-Lazuli if it was made available to them. Even the pride Hisoka puts in his own abilities isn't so blinding to make him think his version is better than hers. Nen is limitless and yet still... limited. and in this world Chrollo can arm himself with even more than the Nen abilities back home.

So yes.

Annoying.

He has a hard time feeling touched by Chrollo's gesture because of his own desires, and yet still, when he sees him he effectively calms and tightens up all the same. Per usual. He arrives and lets himself in, through a door, a window, does it matter? And easily finds Chrollo sat down where ever he may be. Annoyed as Hisoka is, looking at Chrollo, his calm yet impressive aura washing over him, even with how maintained Chrollo keeps it. It pushes some of that annoyance away, and replacing it is his fixation for him. As warped as it is now. Not that it wasn't ever a 'normal' fixation. Perhaps it's closer to normal now, making it warped from how it was before.

He steps in, silent, his face mostly expressionless, but it's difficult not to smile even a little.

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Fact: Chrollo's hunger for power is generally quite bottomless. Perhaps it isn't obvious - his calm demeanor can tell lies, and he rarely shows his passions on the surface, simply because that's not who he is, or how he presents himself. But even with that being the case, it's still true: Chrollo hungers for more abilities with the passion of a true collector. Natural enough - that is what he is. Even if the only things he collects to keep are abilities and people.

However, there is another fact as well, mitigating that. Simply put, he is also sentimental. Deeply sentimental. And he embraces his sentimentality without question or concern over it.

So all of this is, for him, quite natural. If Hisoka created an ability - at least in part for Chrollo's sake - why would he abandon it? Simply because another thing is more "powerful?"

Aren't there more important things than that?

Well. It's hardly surprising that Hisoka wouldn't think so. But Chrollo is, for all his power lust, also a man who always holds back, is always conservative in the use of his abilities. Perhaps that's another reason it seems less important, in the end - how often does he push the limits of his powers anyway?

...ahh, maybe Hisoka wouldn't understand that, either. Although really... Hisoka also holds back

In any event, Chrollo is still thinking about it, seated in the mostly-presentable-these-days living room, when he feels Hisoka approach... and then hears him there, as well. He looks up, a little smile on his face - subtle and a bit sheepish but there. And Hisoka's face is nearly blank, which is to be expected, but...

He's just going to ignore that, frankly. Ignore it and reach over to grab the edge of Hisoka's shirt and... tug slightly.

"That was a bit longer than expected." It's not a complaint, just an observation. He's not even surprised that Hisoka took his time.

Grabbed and pulled, and how different is it now that Chrollo's the one doing it. Chrollo tugs, and he follows, his gaze lowering to better see him as he gets close. Very different. How he pined before, and still does. And now Chrollo finally reaches for him, and he lets him. Because he wants it. It's amusing. How he'd look at this as his earlier self.

Though he doesn't deny he'll always be pulled by someone so influential. Has always been.

"I got lost." His blank expression curling into a small, impish smile. Close, one of his knees hit one of Chrollo's, he stays standing.

"So then." Said as he lifts a hand, holding it out to him, exposing his wrist under a few colourful bands of jewelry. Trusting, whether it's directly acknowledged or not. The strange amount of trust he has either stems from his own confidence, or his connection to this man. Trust to let him bleed him, trust to let him copy an ability over another one.

Edited 2015-07-05 21:20 (UTC)

Things really do change, don't they? Chrollo has barely registered the change as it happened- though he thinks back enough to remember it clearly in retrospect. Looking back, it seems both long ago and only a few moments ago - time is strange like that, the way it warps and twists in one's perception.

And ah, that smile, that's much better. Even if Hisoka obviously didn't actually get lost.

In fact, the smile is cute enough - endearing enough, that he barely noticed Hisoka's outstretched and exposed wrist, much less the implications therein. And then he does, and... mostly he just. Blinks.

"I'm not going to cut you." Or rather, he doesn't want to cut Hisoka. Not in this context anyway. But that's another story. It might be sentimentality again, but really.

His turn to blink.

"What?" His hand pulling away a little.

Well... really, he could, if it came to that. He rubs the back of his neck a bit.

"Then again, I can if I have to. But..." But he doesn't actually like hurting the people he loves. Another difference between them. Chrollo glances up at the ceiling. "Then again... if it's you, I suppose it would be more cruel to take something you care for.... if there is anything."

That's the rub, really. Most of the time, most of his "victims," he doesn't really care whether they lose something important or not. But Hisoka... if there is anything he loves, anything that matters to him, it would be rather awkward to take it from him. In that sense, a cut would actually be kinder, wouldn't it?

His hand drops, watching him, feeling a little confused though his expression doesn't show it.

"I'm not like you, I don't collect and keep things I enjoy." So his own body, his blood, it's what made sense, it's why he had to be here for this, right? He watches him, unsure where to go from here.

He'll raise his hand again.

"Unless hair would work. Maybe-" Smiles. "No I respect your book too much to spit in it." A light laugh.

"Don't you?" Chrollo blinks. Because really, he does, doesn't he? Collect... potential victims, lovers... perhaps not as literally as Chrollo does, but then again--

...actually

Chrollo blinks a little, and then the book appears in his hand. And he looks at it, silently, and then at Hisoka.

"Ah. Perhaps I have an idea. ...yes, that... might be possible."

"An idea?" His response a little flat. Is Chrollo really that opposed to taking some of his blood? Isn't that the easiest option? But all right. He sets back, making to for that book. Hell stare at it with his usual wide eyed intensity but at the same time there's curiosity behind his gaze. Unsure what Chrollo is getting at here.

He is... and he isn't. In the end, he would have accepted - a little cut is hardly that problematic. Frankly, he's done worse under different circumstances. It's just the context that makes it seem... uncomfortable. And even then, only uncomfortable. It isn't exactly an uncrossable line.

...but this is easier.

Chrollo lets the book flip open to a blank page. He grabs a pen from the little table beside his reading chair, aura shifting even as he does so, altering the tip of that pen, sharpening it a bit. Strengthening it.

"...a part of the target's body. Or a part of something of importance to them." He looks at the pen for a long moment, and then drags the tip across his own other palm.

He's quiet, watching. His brows will furrow a little, surprise in his expression. He's- using his own blood?

Is he testing him?

And even then, does he want that to work? As if Abduxel's little game before didn't force it on Hisoka to look at some time ago, but this will act like another check. Forcing the reality of it in his face. Hisoka isn't a sentimental person. He sees what Chrollo does as a means to question his nature, not some gesture. Though it could just be... curiosity. he's guilty of that himself sometimes.

But no words leave him, and he watches the pen with a wide eyed expression.

Why does part of him want the book to reject the blood given to it... But is it so strange that he expects it to work?

Now who's overthinking things? It's neither a test nor a gesture nor anything else, really, just a way around an uncomfortable moment. Hasn't Chrollo always been willing to bleed for his loved ones?

So, practical. He watches his blood fall, silent and in droplets, onto the pages without leaving a stain. And as he watches, the pages flood with writing, and images.

Accepted.

...Chrollo's expression doesn't really change, at least not at first. He'd known it would work, by some definition of "known." It isn't as though he'd doubted Hisoka's affections. Even so... after a moment, when he closes his open palm and stops the blood flow, he smiles.

"Ah."

...

A glance away.

And that glance just kind of makes him. Blink.

"...Hisoka." What words are there, really? He frowns a bit. "I already knew."

His lips purse a little, puckering up high near his nose. Before he offers a rather stiff, meant to be nonchalant shrug.

"So then why bother with my company for it? Such a waste." His hands drop at his sides with seemingly extra weight. Is he bothered, he isn't sure. He just feels odd about it. Chrollo knew, didn't he? So was it Hisoka that still internally denied it to a degree? Love was so intangible after all. You usually never had something so sure in front of you. There was no test for you to see if love was a truth or not. It was all belief.

But his blood. That book.

If seeing that was anything, it was a sort of test. He knew too, didn't he? Or did he just need reminders to jog him into the reality of this relationship. He's certainly not surprised.

Just.

Strange about it all. Ooh... He. Really is in this deeper than he's used to.

For Chrollo's part, on the other hand... well, he's not really sure what to make of that reaction. For him, it was a natural enough idea, and while the question is fair enough, it isn't as though he doesn't have an answer.

"I assumed you had some sort of trinket. But after you held your arm out, it occurred to me that you probably don't, yes. I apologize - I suppose I'm simply used to it?" Using sentimental objects that is. It's fairly rare that he uses anything else. "I don't see how it's a waste. I can always make more blood, hm?"

Still, even as he talks, he's watching Hisoka. Reading him.

"Are you embarrassed? Or simply uncomfortable? Or..."

Does he think it was some sort of gauntlet he had to to pass? Ah, or perhaps Hisoka hadn't fully believed it, himself?

Mostly.

It's embarrassment.

In fact, his lips flatten a little when Chrollo suggests it.

Ahh, there it is. Chrollo takes note of that flattened expression, and... that explains a great deal, while explaining nothing at all.

So, he's embarrassed. But why? There's nothing to be embarrassed about. That demon friend of his had already revealed it, more or less through similar methods some time ago. But.

Chrollo flips the book closed, and stands. And his fingers latch onto Hisoka's shirt, near his waistband.

"...then you embarrass too easily."

His eyes shift glancing to the side, stiffening a little but not stepping back as Chrollo closes the gap, as he stands. He's embarrassed because he feels strangely called out. Aware of it he's been for a while, yes, and he's had... reminders of how he's grown to feel over and over. This one merely feels like a larger one.

Embarrassed, he has no real reason why he is besides the unfamiliarity of the situation and his lack of experience to tell him how to react. Loves him enough that his book accepted Chrollo's blood.

Was there anyone else ever in his life that that would work with, aside from himself?

It... is embarrassing. And Chrollo calling it out again keeps Hisoka quiet, keeps his gaze low and to the side.

Well. Nevermind talking, then. Chrollo just leans against him, hooks his hands behind Hisoka's back. And his heart squeezes a little, even if he did know. It's not unlike hearing it in words for the first time. Or the second. Or the third.

So he leans against Hisoka, silently. And then tips his head back and kisses Hisoka's neck.

A breath through his nose. His eyes glance down, then over to him, staring at Chrollo as he dips in, feels those lips on his neck. Embarrassed maybe, but he still... likes this.

Wants this.

His eyes close and he relishes it for a moment before moving his hands down and grabbing onto Chrollo's wrists.

Tight.

Holds them for a moment before moving them up and placing them on his neck, near his face.

"So then, the name?" A light smile, his voice soft. "And I suppose the first likeness you can have is mine, if you'd like. I've already taken yours." A dark smirk.

That moment - when Hisoka grabs his hands - it's almost tense. It would be, if Chrollo weren't more curious than concerned. If he weren't interested in seeing where those hands will place his.

The new placement suits them quite well.

Better, yes, this is much better. He exhales, softly.

"Mmm. It should simply take on the name you gave it, assuming I don't change it purposefully. But even if I did, I would only name it after you." As is his custom - naming his captured abilities after those he cares for. Thus far, it's only been the Troupe.

"Lovely Mask," says one of the names, holding Chrollo's hands up still, over his neck, feeling them near his throat. He finally let's go, allowing Chrollo to slide them up and over his face to print his aura over him. Application if the ability is quite easy. It can be done close and literally, spreading hands over what you want to copy. Or projected from a distance, provided you can emit your aura well enough.

Then peel, if you like the gesture of it, but doing so is unnecessary. Once your aura is on the part of them you wish to copy its done. Simply spread your aura over yourself with the right person in mind that you've stolen from, and the right amount of concentration to properly recreate it all. Bam. Different person. In face anyway.

Hell stand still. Let him try it on him if he'd like. Though there is still some annoyance in his gut at all this. Stealing that girl's... The 'gem's' would be far better.

Lovely mask - an appropriate name. Chrollo slides his fingers against the side of Hisoka's face... and kisses the other side of it. And this close to his ear, he whispers, "...I don't remember saying you could copy my face! Taking liberties...all the time." He doesn't sound angry though... but then again, maybe he ought to. Considering how he reacted when Lin copied his appearance, however imperfectly, you would think that he would be.

But no. Maybe that's a showing of his trust, however unfortunate it is that he trusts.

Even if he shouldn't... it's undeniable that he does.

Well. He closes his eyes, lets his aura flow over Hisoka's face. A test drive, one might say.

And who knows...if Hisoka really pushes at it, perhaps Chrollo would relent on the other as well? Or maybe not. It's hard to say.

"Hahhh-" A smile, lids low. He turns his head a little, tucking his ear near his shoulder.

"I've wanted it-" Moves his hands up, grips at the sides of Chrollo's face light. "For so long, that face, this man, shouldn't you be happy I stole it?"

He closes his eyes, waits, moves his hands down to Chrollo's neck, his shoulders, and lets them rest there as the other man's aura washes over him.

How quickly the mood changes - Hisoka doesn't seem half so embarrassed now. Of course, he's always been that way. One mood in one moment, and the next the entire picture shifts.

In this case, the picture is much nicer, now.

"Should I?" He raises an eyebrow, eyebrow quirking up. And he looks amused more than anything else. "...ah, I see how this works. Interesting."

Because they've moved on. Maybe he'll think about it more later. Maybe he won't. But now they're close, and it's nice, and he can enjoy it. Why bother himself with anything else? It's always like that for him, quick to change. He'd rather not feel anything negative for long.

"Do you?" Tilting his head a little. How what does, the power? It's actually quite simple, though it does use more Nen categories than one would think.

Moving on is better than lingering for certain. No one wants to be maudlin. Even Chrollo... though he sometimes is.

But yes, the power - he feels it out, carefully, tentatively. Taking an ability does not automatically tell him how to use it to its best advantage, but admittedly Nen powers are easier to adjust to than others.

"Mmm, yes. I'm beginning to. Ahh, the feel of your handiwork."

"Give it another few years and it would've been better polished. But I'm sure you'll do well with it." A smile, his eyelids low, watching Chrollo's hands before looking to his face. He uses Gyo, wanting to watch Chrollo's aura gain a very familiar look, his aura shifting to look like his own aura. It's rather pleasing actually... Seeing him use it, seeing his aura take on such qualities.

"Stealing a person's likeness is the easiest. It's using the face and moving it upon yours in a casual way that can pose some difficulties. And creating your own likenesses that can be the most difficult." Closing his eyes again, his hands lift, playing at the front of Chrollo's stomach.

"It's better to think of it like an artist would with paint. It will not simply make the face you have in mind, you have to craft it yourself." Making the ability something that can be far more difficult to master than one would think. It won't just magically do what you think unless you're experienced enough to make it a reality. Though someone with a very artistic mind would do better with it than someone with a technical one. Simply pushing your aura over other people and stealing their likeness is just the first step.

"Ahh, that's actually more versatile than I'd realized." And more promising still. Which brings to mind the question of why he was so attached to it to begin with, but... well, that's a given, isn't it? The only reason there could be is its originator.

"As with all things... practice makes perfect, yes? Or less imperfect, as the case may be." Something like that. "Ahh, doesn't that imply you have an artistic sort of mind?" Actually not surprising, though.

It certainly has potential. Enough work and more than faces could be mimicked perhaps, more than faces could be built and crafted. An aura made suit of another person perhaps. And not only of other people you've met, but entirely new crafted appearances. Sorry Illumi, he's copied you a little but only out of necessity. Hisoka would have never created an ability like this in their world. He has no reason to put on a false face, to be someone else. Any anger or malice he insights from doing things he wants fully on himself. But this world... having his powers stripped from him, captivity, seeing Chrollo unable to do as he pleases... He's been given reasons to make such an ability, against his usual tendencies or not, he'll show himself when he can get away with it and reap the benefits or whatever ire it creates.

"Does it?" In Hisoka's mind, he's incredibly creative and technical. He's arrogant after all, his ego rather bloated. He's just not the sort to boast and brag. Hisoka's arrogance may be just that, but he's willing to let his abilities and strengths speak for themselves.

"Isn't it something of a hobby of yours?" Sliding his hands up, he'll feel at his chest, his neck, lightly placing his hands on either side of Chrollo's head as he raises his chin. "Creating things, conducting, filling pages. You're far more creative than I am." Nnnhh.... His eyes slim, gazing into Chrollo's eyes, feeling like he's plunging into those dark circles, his makes his heart skip. He holds him like that.

He's holding them.

He has him in his hands.

He shivers, smiling again as he closes his eyes, leaning in to press close, shoulders just barely shrugging up.

"I'm in there now, aren't I? A part of your book. Your masterpiece."

Frankly, Chrollo would not necessarily disagree that Hisoka is, indeed, both creative and technical. He's considered the uses of bungee gum, for example - the knowledge and creativity needed to use it properly. The way Hisoka thinks - nonlinear? Either way, it's fascinating. Just watching him work in itself can be fascinating.

...that said, Hisoka's ego, wow.

But that doesn't matter. Chrollo lets his aura fade back, though it still lingers faintly around him, and he leans a bit against Hisoka's hand, briefly. A little nudge.

"I do enjoy creativity, yes." Music and art, reading, even films from time to time, though they tend to pale compared to other forms. And as for that book... yes. Hisoka's work is there, now. Forever a piece of him, embedded inside the manifestation of his soul. He smiles his mysterious smile, eyes turned upward, meeting Hisoka's gaze.

"Mmm. That's why, in the end..."

Why he'd wanted it. Why he'd insisted, despite other potential options.

His confident is well placed at least, he has certainly come a long way. And while there are many formidable people that come out of Meteor City, it is just as easy to lose yourself and be overrun by feelings of weakness. Hisoka is yet another example of what can come out of that city, what people can still make of themselves even when they really have nothing in the world.

So he's arrogant.

But he's certainly done enough to keep him that way, and for a while. It's not often he tastes defeat, not anymore.

"Enough to take it often." A light laugh. Chrollo's ability is, after all, taking powers from people. And specifically- in their own world- taking powers people thought of and worked on themselves. Taking powers from people who put so much effort in them. How cruel, really. An art enthusiast, and art thief, so is he disrespecting the pieces he takes or does he appreciate them so much he simply must have them?

"You were-" A breath, looking down to him, he squeezes at Chrollo's cheeks with his hands, forcing him to make a slightly strange expression.

"Sentimental. Yes, I'm starting to realize how much your emotions truly drive you. I'm not sure if it's endearing or frustrating yet but..." Smiles, squeezing his hands a little more and puckering his own lips to kind of mimic the fish like expression Chrollo has now.

"It'd be hard to argue against it being cute."

You could call it a form of appreciation, really. But a brutal sort of appreciation - he's a thief, after all. What better way is there to show admiration for art than to want it for yourself? And Nen abilities, those can definitely be... art.

Hisoka's abilities are more than just art - they're performance art. Living and changing with application and interpretation. Fascinating. And like a dance, they'd be far less useful without the skill to carry them forward. It's one fo the things that drew Chrollo to him to begin with - that made him extend so many chances to the wildcard Spider who barely listened to orders.

Ah yes, and now, it's more appealing than ever.

...well maybe that's sentimental, too. Chrollo blinks at that squeeze, and kind of. Opens his lips and closes them again. Bloop bloop, fish face.

"Mrmmph. Try to aim for endearing, perhaps." He doesn't even break that hold, so it's just. All the more fishie. And his words slur and slide a bit, but well. Bloop bloop.

"Hm." Just a content smile at that. Hands lifting up, away, before he quickly grabs at Chrollo's face again. Different this time, fierce, cupping near his ears, clinging hands into his hair. Yanking him in to kiss him in a hurry and nipping at his lips to redden them.

It is kind of a thrill. Having Chrollo take a piece of him. His Nen. His life force. His soul. And ontop of that, the rush of trusting him to take only that ability and not the others connected to that strange texture he could make his aura. The rush from watching him bleed for it. For him.

He kisses him heavy and deep, till he feels this sort of rise in his chest, this heady rush in his skull from the sudden movement and energy. Until he pulls back, stringing silver liquid between their lips before licking his own. His gaze heavy, his chest rising and falling high.

"You can thank me now..."

If it's a thrill for Hisoka, it certainly is for Chrollo as well. Partially for his own personal reasons... to have a piece of this man he loves and, unlike with Pakunoda, for a reason far more personal than professional... that is its own sort of thrill. But there's another reason, too. Because as much as Hisoka protested, as much as his elitism with regards to Chrollo's abilities protests, Chrollo also thought...

...he might like it? Underneath it all. Because Hisoka can be so intense, and their lives so... inextricable. Why not make it more obvious, more... literal?

And he shivers from that kiss, not so different than the dozens, or hundreds, before it and yet still. Shaking him inside. As it always does.

"...ah. Thank you." He whispers, and kisses the side of Hisoka's face with a little smile.

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ugh typing errors on phone tags make me maaaad. Dangit

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