#cw.possessive behaviour

[samwise-writes]

The Gala: Cutting In

Part Two of The Gala!

CW: Hisoka; possessive behaviour

I didn't mean to leave it this long, but I travelled home for the first time in nearly a year after moving out and away for the very first time, so I have been a bit preoccupied with that!!

I hope you enjoy!

As always, Mairi is the creation of the lovely @crocworkships <3

Rea had to admit. She was surprised. The clown did know how to dance. In fact, he happened to be an incredibly good dancer (much to Rea’s annoyance) and a wonderful lead. Not once did Rea feel as though she was going to stumble – which arguably should have happened at least once if only from the proximity of their bodies to one another. There was silence for a good minute as they waltzed. She felt herself to begin to relax into his hold just the slightest.

“See? This can’t be as horrible as you thought it would be.”

His voice was teasing, and Rea stiffened again.

“Don’t push your luck, Hisoka.”

“My, my, addressing me by my name –”

“I can always go back to clown, if you would prefer.”

She felt, more than heard, the vibrations of his laugh, but there was no reply. They once again fell into silence, much to Rea’s relief. It didn’t take long for her to begin relaxing again, her mind wandering and eyes tracing over the other dancers. She finally found Mairi and Illumi after a few moments. She couldn’t see the assassin’s face, but she could see Mairi, and she could tell that, while her friend looked wildly uncomfortable, she was speaking to her partner, and the expression she was sporting looked particularly victorious. Rea let out a small breath laughing to herself – she certainly couldn’t wait to hear what was happening there.

Her mind slowly wandered back to her own dancing predicament, and her own partner.

“So, you do know how to dance.” The words were spoken softly, and Hisoka simply hummed in reply. She was hoping he would tell her where he had learned to dance, but he seemed to be content remaining noncommittal on the subject.

She tilted her head slightly to peek at her dance partner out of the corner of her eye, only to find him already gazing down at her. Not expecting to meet his eyes, she looked away quickly and began chewing on her bottom lip: the silence becoming more than she could handle.

How long was this song?

“You look nice, too.” She hadn’t meant to blurt the words out so harshly, but the silence was weighing on her and Rea felt a little bit bad she hadn’t complimented the man earlier.

She could practically feel Hisoka simper. “Why thank you, Dearest.”

She let out a small groan, “Don’t make me regret saying that, Hisoka.”

“Never.” Came his short but playful return.

Rea allowed her eyes to wander again. She was surprised by how willing Hisoka was to remain in silence with her – normally she couldn’t get the man to shut-up. It was aggravating how tolerable he could be when he really wanted to.

Rea was thankful that Hisoka wasn’t trying any particularly flashy moves that she would have expected from him. Not only did she not have to worry about making a fool of herself, she was able to look out into the sea of faces that surrounded the dance floor.

She stiffened again, eyes meeting a pair of all too familiar grey ones that widened in surprise in return.

Hisoka shifted them suddenly, redirecting her gaze to another part of the ballroom. She looked up at him again, only to find this time, he was not looking at her, but rather in the direction she had just been gazing. His face was hard, eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and his bloodlust rippled off of him to a degree that caused the other couples to unconsciously dance away from their general proximity.

After what was likely only thirty seconds more - but felt like an eternity - the song finally came to an end, and Hisoka, without warning, dipped Rea.

Should’ve expected it, quite honestly. She grasped at him a little more desperately than she would have liked, and he chuckled in her ear, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Once he righted Rea again, she took a small step away from the man slightly disoriented for the moment, and she craned her head to see if she could spot Mairi, when suddenly a gentle voice spoke from behind her.

“I was wondering, if perhaps, I could ask you for the next dance…” He paused, and Rea spun about to find Chrollo standing behind her, one hand tucked behind his back and the other extended toward her. His head tilted to one side, eyes gazing at her intently, before flicking to Hisoka, “Of course, as long as your… date… doesn’t mind.”

Rea blinked owlishly at the man before replying.

“Oh. Hisoka is not my date.” She could have smacked herself in the face for how blunt that was.

Chrollo only smiled at her more widely, “Well, then. May I have this dance?”

“Oh, uh. I suppose…” She turned briefly back to Hisoka, who was staring down at her impassively.

“Ah, thank you. For the dance… Hiso.”

He blinked at her a few times before he grinned – the nickname registered.

“Of course, Dearest! Anytime~”

She rolled her eyes as she turned back to Chrollo. She knew she was definitely going to regret that. She hesitantly placed her hand into Chrollo’s, and he brought her into a secure hold. It was different than Hisoka’s, just as sure, but something more calming in his touch.

Perhaps that is because you chose to dance with Chrollo.

Rea pushed the thought away and met Chrollo’s gaze.

“It has been a while. I hardly expected to see you here.”

He gave her a soft smile, before pulling her closer into him – if anything she would swear that he was holding her even closer than Hisoka had.

“I hadn’t expected to see you here either, although I would be lying if I said your presence was anything but a wonderful surprise for me.”

Rea blinked a few times. This was the first time the man had spoken so directly with her, about her. She was glad that they were so close, it prevented him from seeing the blush that had taken over her face completely.

“Ah, well. I…” She cleared her throat cursing her awkwardness, “… I have missed your presence around the shop. So, I am glad to have run into you here.”

Rea could have sworn that she felt the man’s grip on her waist tighten almost imperceptibly at her words.

“I have missed being at your shop. I quite enjoyed the routine of coming to see you.”

Wait – coming to see me? Rea had been under the impression that he simply enjoyed the very extensive collection of books she kept in the shop, she never dreamed that he could possibly want to see her.

She allowed herself a breath before asking her next question.

“How long will you be in the city for?”

There was a pause as though Chrollo was thinking of how to answer.

“For a few months at the very least. I have some… extensive business to see to here.”

Rea hummed in understanding. She wasn’t completely sure what it was that Chrollo did, but she knew better than to ask.

“Then, you must make sure to come visit me at the shop.”

Her words were confident, but her voice wavered as she spoke them, desperately hoping she wasn’t saying the wrong thing. When he didn’t immediately answer, she opened her mouth to come up with an excuse for being too forward, but she was stopped short by Chrollo pulling away from her ever so slightly and meeting her eyes directly.

“As you wish.”

She blinked and nearly tripped over her own feet; he steadied her with a smile.

“Was that…”

“From the Princess Bride? Yes. I quite enjoyed it. If you wouldn’t mind I would quite like to talk about it with you some time.”

Rea couldn’t help the smile that slid across her face. She really didn’t think the man would have read it, but something in her jumped at the fact that he had, that he enjoyed it. Funny how she had initially been annoyed at his interest in the novel.

“I think I would like that as well.”

He returned her to her original position, and she allowed herself to relax into him, taking a deep breath, inhaling his scent, which only pushed her to relax further.

Did he have to smell this good, too?

The fingers that were wrapped securely around her waist began to rub soft circles into the fabric of her dress and the skin beneath.

“You look lovely, tonight, by the way.”

Her breath caught in her throat at his compliment.

“Th-thank you.”

She scrambled for what to say in return.

“I would say that you also look lovely tonight, but you always look lovely, so I am unsure what the worth of such a compliment would be.”

His grip certainly tightened this time, and he pulled Rea flush against him, causing her to stumble just the slightest; Chrollo allowed her a moment before continuing their dance, much less formal now, taking on a new level of intimacy, their frame completely destroyed.

“If it is coming from you, it is worth hearing.”

Rea prayed he could not hear or feel how fast her heart was beating, and she was thankful he was still holding her steady.

a/n: I hope you enjoyed! I really had way too much fun writing this fic.

#cw.possessive behaviour #cw.hisoka #Hisoka Morrow #Hisoka #Chrollo #Chrollo Lucilfer #Chrollo x OC #Hisoka x OC #The Curio Cirque #Hunter x Hunter #hxh fanfic

[samwise-writes]

The Gala: A Dance?

Part one, because this got really heckin' long. I've sat on this for too long, so here, have a thing.

Follows A Promise and The Invitation so those might be worth a gander for context!

CW: Hisoka; stalking; Possessive behaviour

She was uncomfortable. The fabric that was draped around her body felt as though it was suffocating her - she was painfully aware of how the outfit restricted her movements and of the overwhelming number of blind spots in the room. She fidgeted with a lock of hair that had escaped the carefully crafted updo she had managed to wrangle her ginger strands into only a few short hours earlier.

She was brought back into a more present state of consciousness as Mairi took a step closer to Serena's side. She must have sensed the shopkeep's uneasiness, as when Rea met the other woman's gaze, sympathy coloured the Hunter's blue eyes.

Rea held back a cringe and forced a smile onto her face, attempting to ease her posture into something even just slightly less defensive (at least in appearance). It certainly wouldn't do for the entire ballroom to observe how uncomfortable she was - the last thing she needed was hundreds of Hunters and other highly dangerous people to mistake her discomfort as something more threatening.

"I wasn't being facetious when I told your clown that these sorts of events were not my cup of tea."

Mairi made a face of displeasure at the mention of the redheaded magician - "Not my clown."

Rea snorted and a genuine smile cracked across her face for the first time since they had stepped into the building.

"Hey, you brought that nuisance into my life, he is yours." She paused thoughtfully before smirking, "Anyways, he seems to be a bit of a package deal with your boyfriend... so, he's yours, no take-backs!"

Mairi looked confused for a split second before a look of realization dawned and transformed into a look of horror, "Excuse me? No? Illumi is not my boyfriend." Rea cackled at her friend's reaction.

"If he isn't your boyfriend then why is he always lurking around the shop like he thinks he's being stealthy whenever you visit me?"

Mairi blinked at Rea.

"He what?"

Rea was not expecting her friend's reaction to be... well, what it was.

She didn't know that he had followed her to the shop all those times.

Rea was thinking as quickly as she could; now was not the time nor place for frightening revelations, (as one of the Zoldyck family members following you tends to be).

"You are way too easy to tease, you know. He only seems to be around when Killua is with you, so you can chill out. Probably just being a creepy and possessive older brother, like you said he has the tendency to be."

It was a lie - he hadn't only been there when Killua was with Mairi, but she didn't want to send her friend into a panic. She paused, closely observing the other woman, but for once Mairi's expression was difficult to read. Linking an arm with the Story Hunter she started pulling her deeper into the room, "let's go find something to drink."

She hadn't realized how much of an effect her words would have. Although reflecting, she should have known better. She herself had had a similar reaction to the Story Hunter’s when she first noticed the assassin's presence. It had taken a while to even become aware of him (and if he was anyone other than a Zoldyck she would've accused herself of getting rusty).

The eldest Zoldyck child was very much the opposite of Hisoka - while the magician was more than happy to make himself known through his loud and dramatic behaviour, and by flexing his aura and bloodlust all over the place - the assassin kept a very tight control on his own: if he didn't want you to know he was there, you wouldn't, at least not until it was much too late. It was a coincidence that Rea had even noticed him - and it was very much thanks (unfortunately) to Hisoka. The magician had seemed to sense something when he was in her shop one day, and the flare in his bloodlust seemed to trigger the slightest slip up in the assassin's aura (it was, after all, incredibly difficult not to instinctively react to Hisoka's bloodlust). That day Mairi had yet to make an appearance, so the shop owner hadn't initially connected the assassin's presence to her friend. She had a moment of panic where she lost control of her own aura, thinking that the Zoldycks had finally figured out who she was - and she had to fight to retain her control. She wasn't quite quick enough, and when she dared to glance at Hisoka he was looking at her with a manically delighted look. She hoped that he thought her reaction was simply from the unexpectedness of the flare in his bloodlust; something in his eyes, however, told her that he knew that she too had become aware of the assassin's presence and that the ravenette was the cause of her momentary loss of control. Needless to say, he was very interested to know what the possible connection between the little shopkeeper and Illumi was: as far as he knew only the Story Hunter had met the assassin before. In an attempt to deescalate the situation, Rea had stuck her tongue out at him in the most childish manner she could muster and told him to: "stop looking at me like that, you creep."

After that, Rea had been able to pick up on the assassin's presence whenever he did make an appearance. He never came in, but the former-Hunter was able to connect the fact that his appearances often coincided with her friend's visits. While she was concerned for her friend, she felt herself relax in the knowledge that he wasn't there for her, and therefore the Zoldycks likely still didn't know who she was. She never brought up the issue with her friend, she had clearly wrongly assumed that the woman had known.

Despite the levity that Rea had attempted to introduce by teasing the other woman (because let's be honest that royally failed), there was something undeniably charged in the atmosphere of the room. It was making the back of Rea's neck prickle. She wasn't sure if it was due to the disquiet that had fallen over her friend, or simply her own unease of being at the gala.

Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as simple as that, and it didn't take very long to understand the true cause of the uneasy atmosphere.

The two women had managed to collect champagne flutes and were standing off to the side of the ballroom's dance floor, talking in hushed tones, both seemingly comparably more at ease than they had been just a quarter of an hour ago.

Suddenly Rea tensed up to a greater degree than at any other point during the evening so far. She stood stalk still as a certain aggravating presence loomed up beside her.

"Well, don't we just look positively delectable tonight," Hisoka purred in her ear. She could practically visualize the smug look the magician would be sporting; Rea had to fight every instinct in her body not to whip around and smack the man in the face. The women, in a controlled manner, turned to face the magician and another unexpected figure.

Rea thanked Mairi for what she did next because frankly, Rea had not expected Hisoka to look like that.

"What are you doing here?" Rea's eyes were going between a very normal(?!) looking Hisoka, her friend's quickly reddening shocked face, and a man with long black hair, a blank face and dark eyes that resembled pieces of the void. After she got past the initial shock of Hisoka's appearance Rea gathered enough wherewithal to discover that the dark-haired man was in fact the assassin who had been stalking her friend.

"You know, it is only good manners for you to return the compliment," Hisoka tore Rea's attention back to him, getting in her face with a smirk.

"You know,” Rea gave the magician a practiced bored look, “it’s bad manners to fish for compliments." She was proud of her acerbic tone. She would NOT give him the satisfaction of knowing how attractive he looked. He kept staring at her, a smirk growing wider - she could feel her own face slowly becoming more and more flushed by the second.

She gave a huff, and crossed her arms, trying to play off her affectedness with nonchalance, eyes returning to her friend who seemed to be growing tenser and tenser.

"You don't look like a clown for once: congratulations."

The assassin's eyes moved from Mairi for the first time since the men approached them, and fell to Rea, before quickly angling toward Hisoka; he blinked as though taking in the other man's appearance for the first time.

"She is right, you know."

Rea had to swallow the laugh that came bubbling up her throat at the ravenette's monotone delivery and oddly unobservant treatment of his companion. She wondered if he really hadn’t noticed or if he was just acting like he hadn’t in order to get under the magician’s skin.

The assassin returned his gaze to Mairi, his eyes drinking her in.

After a short pause, he spoke again: “To answer your question… I was invited.”

Rea watched her friend blink a few times face getting even redder, shifting ever so slightly under Illumi’s gaze.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, that makes sense.” There was a pause and Illumi seemed perfectly intent on continuing to stare at Mairi. Finally, she cleared her throat and began again, “Um. Right. Hello.”

Rea wanted to save her friend from the awkward situation but was also attempting to ignore Hisoka, who looked unfairly good in a suit and was staring her down as though she was his favourite dessert.

Rea slipped her arm through Mairi’s again, but this time pulled the other woman into her a bit closer, she proceeded to intertwine their fingers and gave the hunter’s hand a squeeze. Illumi’s eyes narrowing the tiniest degree, fell to their hands, before following Rea’s arm back up to her face.

Interesting.

“So, what, Hisoka,” Rea started, returning her gaze to the other man and inwardly cursing herself for doing so, her voice much breathier as she continued “I refused to bring you, so you annoy this guy into doing so? Wanted to dance with me that bad, huh?”

Hisoka took a step closer so that there were mere centimetres between them, and Rea had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes: they flicked down to her mouth momentarily before meeting her gaze once again.

“Is that an offer?” His voice was so low it sent a shiver down her spine. He grinned at her reaction – and then suddenly he had one hand clasped around the back of her neck, thumb stroking over her pulse-point ever so slightly. A small gasp escaped her lips – she hadn’t even seen him move. Fire spread over her shoulders, and up into her face – she could only imagine how flushed she was.

"Oh, is this why you didn't want me to be your date? Because you knew your undeniable attraction to me would be a distraction from the evening?" He had bent his head down, his red hair tickling her forehead, as his breath danced across her ear. That snapped her back into action. Using her one free hand, she pushed him away from her with a solid press to the middle of his chest.

She sputtered, "NO YOU CLOWN. Shut UP. Just. Leave. I'm leaving."

Then she tugged on Mairi’s hand, attempting to draw her attention away from the other man who was back to staring at her: however, to Rea’s dismay, she was met with a sight she hadn’t expected. Illumi had one hand extended to her friend – was he asking her to dance?

She saw her friend was looking at her with wide eyes, as though looking for an escape. Serena opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out, Hisoka stepped closer to her again, placing his hand now lightly at her waist.

“Dance with me.” His voice sounded in her ear again, this time more serious than Rea had ever heard him. She made an apologetic face at her friend. They were stuck in the situation, it seemed.

Serena redirected her gaze, opting to trace the pattern of the marble floor, rather than meet Hisoka’s too-close eyes.

“I don’t know how to dance.”

There was a pause and Rea finally met Hisoka’s gaze. It seemed he was waiting for her to do so, as his sharp grin spread further across his face.

“Worry not, Dearest, I won’t let you fall.”

She cursed under her breath “Sure you won’t.”

She heard him chuckle, assuming he had heard her, as he proceeded to guide the woman out to the dance floor. He stopped a reasonable way in, avoiding the other dancers who had already begun to gracefully move through the waltz and then turned to face Rea.

She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, as he rearranged them: taking her right hand in his left, and placing her left on his shoulder, before replacing his hand back at her waist.

“Wait – do you even know how to dance?”

He just raised an eyebrow at her for a moment.

And then he took the first step.

A/N: Frankly I had way too much fun writing this, and once again, I blame @crocworkships and our fantastic conversations for this.

#HxH #HxH Fanfiction #Hisoka x OC #The Curio Cirque #Rea #The Shopkeeper #cw.stalking #cw.possessive behaviour