OPEN SEASON 2.

[crawly]

1. pick a character.

☛ optional.
☛ character list here.
☛ full list.
☛ specify in the subject line if you want one character in particular.

2. provide a prompt.

☛ image, words, music, whatever you want.
☛ i like to think at least one of my three tumblrs has something interesting. (be warned that all three blogs contain nsfw material, including porn.)

3. gotta go fast.

☛ not actually. this is a permanently open post! tag at your own speed.

previous post here.

Comments

[obscurant]

Very well.

[ hisoka steps closer, close enough to almost feel the heat of his body. ]

I was very discreet.

[specialization]

[that's...close. but Chrollo refuses to back down, or stand up from his seat on the couch. even if the height difference from this angle makes him feel smaller, and the distance between them makes him doubly aware of Hisoka's presence, he'll power through it.]

"Discreet" could mean a number of things, Hisoka.

[obscurant]

I won't bring you trouble. ♦

[ not when it'll inconvenience him too, that is. ]

It wasn't too interesting. Now, it's your turn.

[specialization]

If it's my turn, then you need to ask a question.

[calm even though he really doesn't want to do this. but if it's the only way to get information from Hisoka...well, he'd do worse.]

[obscurant]

Do you believe me?

[ hisoka thinks he does already, but it's an easy question to lead with. ]

[specialization]

I believed you from the moment you said it.

[that's the truth, pure and simple. he hadn't doubted as much as he'd pretended to - that had been for any eyes that would have seen them, overheard. he had to be a skeptic, not someone sanctioning murder.]

Your turn. How long has this been going on?

[obscurant]

For far longer than I've known you. [ darling chrollo. hisoka presses a sharp fingernail to the corner of his mouth for a moment, eyes curved in a smile. ]

Now, when was the last time you killed someone?

[specialization]

[skipping straight past have you into you have. again that defensive tension's in his posture, and the answer comes after a second.]

Years ago. [not so very many, but years all the same.] How did you find out?

[obscurant]

[ hisoka doesn't answer for a moment. though he'd known for a while, hearing confirmation makes anticipation spread warm and heavy through his chest. ]

You're subtle ♦, but I know a like soul when I see one.

[specialization]

My profession isn't murder.

[though the foundations of this second life were soaked in blood. and what haunted him was not that, nor how little he regretted and what a monster he was in all likelihood. just the concern that someone would try and take everything away from him. that he'd have to run away again and try to reinvent himself.

Hisoka looms, and Chrollo holds his gaze, steady and sure, even as he needs something to do with his hands and picks back up the wineglass.]

[obscurant]

And neither is mine.

[ murder is his art. hisoka watches his face, not even tracking the movement of the wineglass when he picks it up again. ]

Ask another question.

[specialization]

Hm.

[most of Chrollo's expression is controlled, but there's that faint unease in him, the minor twitches that betray how much he's smothering wanting to be defensive, or at least to tell Hisoka to back away so he has enough room to stand up. minor cracks in a well maintained mask.]

Why did you agree to come here? If we are "like souls", then you know I could be planning to kill you.

[obscurant]

You know... [ hisoka sees the cracks. to him they're something interesting, better even than the mask.

slowly, he leans closer. ]

...I would like that.

[specialization]

[Hisoka in his personal space sets him further on edge. the proximity isn't the problem, but the sensation of not having as much control over this situation as he wanted (the whole point of inviting Hisoka over was to keep the control in his hands), it unsettles him. only making things crack further while he stays still, unwilling to back down or away.]

The planning or the killing?

[or both.]

[obscurant]

I'd prefer the latter. ♥

[ hisoka hangs there for a moment longer, then draws back. he steps away, not looking even though he turns his back on chrollo. quietly, he walks to the windows and looks out. ]

[specialization]

[he's there, and then he's not, and Chrollo can fantasize about somehow silently getting his knife and dashing up behind Hisoka and putting it to his throat-

ah, but he's not stupid. he's not done it in years, and Hisoka was saying he'd done it just that morning. his own death would be swift and it would be his fault for it.]

Didn't you say this morning that I wouldn't replace you?

[saying back to him is as good as agreeing with it. but Chrollo rises from his seat all the same, coming up next to him to look at the view of the city. from up here, everything's quiet, calm. the noise and chaos of the world hardly exists.]

That you were valuable to me, and I to you. Do you think that's changed because of some disclosure?

[obscurant]

[ hisoka smiles, his reflection visible in the mirror, but he doesn't turn even when chrollo comes up to him. ]

Perhaps it was a passing wish. ♦ Nothing more, nothing less.

[ someone turns their lights out, below them. ]

[specialization]

[he lets that sit for a moment, silence speaking where he might. denial, agreement, all of it is possible in the space between, but he'll let it be unconfirmed. let Hisoka draw his own conclusions.]

...Your turn for a question.

[if you still want them.]

[obscurant]

[ hisoka has questions, dozens of them, but many of them amount to why not do it again, or why haven't you learned more.

he doesn't care much how chrollo learned to do it in the first place, just that he'll do it again. ]

Did you like it?

[ it could be anything hisoka's asking about, but there's a curve to his smile that isn't the usual one. ]

[specialization]

[for a long moment, Chrollo says nothing, instead stepping up to the window and resting his forehead against it, palm pressed to the glass, looking out but not seeing what's there. instead he sees the past, the exact wounds his knife could inflict on someone. and then, so soft it could be missed, he gives his answer.]

I did.

[why lie, when lying gave him nothing in this situation? when he felt like all but his most closely kept secrets could be unlocked and pried from him? oh, he did this to himself, certainly.]

[obscurant]

[ hisoka wants to reach out, right then, when chrollo leans against the glass, transparent and soft. so he did like it.

how beautiful. ]

I wish I could see that. ♦

[specialization]

Careful what you wish for, isn't that what they say?

[it's automatic, the reply, while he's mired in his own memories of what happened. how it had been the only recourse he could think of. how he knew no one would look at him, for him. the exact sound a person makes right before you cut their throat.]

[obscurant]

Will you grant my wishes, then? Chrollo.

[ hisoka draws his name out, even if it's not his turn to ask.

and when it comes to seeing it, chrollo expects he'll be able to get what he wants soon enough. this conversation is going well, in his opinion. ]

[specialization]

There's no reason for me to do it again.

[that one sentence is both a quiet not if I can help it as well as a small admittance. he did it for a reason, not for pure pleasure. something was behind it for him to move. as it is, everything in his life right now can be resolved without killing.]

I doubt that will change.

[obscurant]

[ he says that, but hisoka has no doubt that he'll be able to change it.

but he doesn't push it any more, simply steps away and goes back to his wine. he swirls it in the glass, not drinking. ]

Now, any questions left for me?