Hello, everyone :)
First of all, I'm very sorry for how long it took me to update this chapter. College continues to kick my ass and free time is hard to come by. Unfortunately I don't see this ending any time soon so next chapter will most likely take a good while to come by as well... I'm really sorry about that. :(
But, though I can't make any promises about when I'll be releasing the next chapter, I can promise this is nowhere close to entering a hiatus. Albeit slowly, chapters will come. ;)
Now, the most important: thank you very much everyone who reviewed to last chapter. CharitinaX, 5O5AAA, Maester Ta, patito, ItsLiz, Razorblade Mistress, Sailor Pandabear and Wavywavy for reviewing! :D
It was almost 6PM - three hours before Bleach and Illumi would have to leave their room to go and meet up with Eva Corsano in a restaurant where, according with the internet, the meal cost an average of 200.000 jenny, plus drinks and tips.
Why doesn't that woman go to a swingers club or something like that? It sure would be a lot cheaper than this shit.
Bleach sighed as she stared out the window through a large gap between the curtains, watching as the bright yellow sunlight illuminating the buildings and streets bellow her slowly gave place to the red and orange hues of dawn.
Holy shit. Have I been sitting here for the past two hours?
Absentmindedly, Bleach turned around to face the bed wherein Illumi was sleeping silently, not minding at all the sunlight invading the room even though he was lying on his side, facing both her and the half open window.
It sure took its toll on him, keeping the transformation for six hours straight without the help of his needles.
After their hour-long soak in the tub, both had been lead to another room, where two futons waited for them side by side. It seemed their couple package also included a couple's massage that would take almost two hours of their time.
By the end of their massage, Bleach could already note some droplets of sweat starting to sprout on Illumi's forehead and neck due to the strain of using his Nen for so long and it made her quite anxious. All the thief wanted to do was return to their hotel before he turned back to normal – as normal as he can be anyway – and blew up their cover.
But things could never go as she wished.
Both were back into their clothes and shoes and walking out of the Spa when none other than Eva Corsano herself approached them. She had finished her own massage and was about to get lunch. Would they care to join her?
They'd love to. And there went two more hours of their time.
"Look, man." Bleach had began once both she and Illumi entered the taxi. "You get us back in our hotel in less than 20 minutes and I pay you double."
He got both there in 15 minutes. By that time, Erik's fingers were already elongating into Illumi's and his hair was a shade darker; his shirt was drenched in sweat.
However, despite the obvious strain the whole thing was taking on his body, the assassin didn't show one sign of discomfort if he could help it. He kept his face friendly and smiling at anyone that looked his way, and his arm light around Bleach's shoulders as they walked to their room, not once using her as support.
Only when they were inside their room, safe behind closed doors, did Illumi allow himself some sort of reaction. And even that wasn't nearly as dramatic as Bleach expected. There was no fainting or even the slightest bending of his body as a sign of exhaustion; all the assassin did was sigh in relieve as his flesh and skin immediately morphed back to their original shape. He even took the time to calmly take off his shoes, shirt and pants, and ask Bleach to set up a wake-up call at 7PM before slipping in his side of the bed and falling into a much needed slumber.
Immediately, Bleach fell in a state of half-dreaming herself, allowing her thoughts to drift back to the bath they both had shared some hours ago.
"If I had known a nice setting was all it took to make you so calm and tender I would've brought you to a Spa like this weeks ago."
Sitting across Illumi's lap with her face buried in the crook of his neck, Bleach scowled. "First: I would never agree to come with you to such a place. I'm just here because I'm fucking obliged to so we can complete this mission." Despite the obvious disdain in her low voice, the woman's arms remained loose around the assassin's neck and shoulders and she made no motion to shrug off the hand that was caressing one of her thighs inside the water, nor the one around her shoulders, holding her close to the man. "Second: places like this are rather expensive and, as far as I remember, I'm barely worth the hour-price at a shitty motel."
Bleach was surprised when fingers suddenly stopped caressing her skin beneath the water-surface, as if her words had actually hit some sort of target inside the assassin.
"…You shouldn't take those words so seriously, lovely." Illumi finally whispered in her ear, raising his arm from the water so he could fully embrace the woman on his lap, pulling her to him in a hug that, if she were any less untrusting of the man, Bleach would've deemed apologetic. "I'd pay fortunes to have you in my bed again."
"I'm not for sale, you shit." The woman snarled, resisting the urge to push away from the man. "Never again."
Bleach felt in her cheek the man pursuing his lips, obviously frustrated at how aggressive was her response to something that was meant to be flattering. To add insult to injury, Bleach moved her body so now she was sitting on the floor of the ofuro tub, in-between Illumi's thighs. To anyone – aka: Eva Corsano – watching them from the cameras, it seemed the woman had just tried to get more comfortable, still keeping herself flush to her lover, however, if one was to look inside the water, they'd see a small gap between the couple's bodies. Only the back woman's shoulders was actually touching the man's skin, softly using his chest as support to her weight.
"Roxanne…" Illumi whispered in a scolding voice, laying his hands on Bleach's hips so he could pull her closer to him.
"Don't even try to force me closer." Bleach warned, laying her head back on Erik's shoulder and her hands atop his so she could dig her nails on his flesh beneath the surface of the water. "Eva only sees me trying to get more comfortable inside this tub, but if you push too hard, she'll see me getting out of it."
Immediately, Illumi's hands went lax around Bleach's hips but he didn't remove them from where they were. Instead, he started to slowly rub his thumbs on the woman skin as he buried his face on the back of her neck, releasing a warm breath all over the skin there.
There were many ways the assassin could take this. He could try and tease the woman further; he could apologize; he could try some physical seduction; he could even change the subject of the conversation entirely.
But he chose to do nothing at all.
Given enough time Bleach was bound to take some initiative and, in her current mood, the assassin believed that allowing her this little bit of control would be the shortest way into appeasing her. And, truth be told, he was a bit too tired to properly calculate his every word at the moment to have the desired response – keeping his transformation without his needles was starting to take its toll on his body; it was the second day in a row he had to do so. And, even when he was in top condition, Bleach's reaction was never certain.
"…Not that I'm complaining, but aren't you going to say anything else?"
The softly spoken question caused vibrations to spread from the woman's thorax into the man's chest and he had to hold back the momentarily urge to press Bleach's body into his.
"I don't know what you want me to say." The assassin admitted, moving his head so it was lying on Bleach's shoulder and he could stare at her profile.
Bleach sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't want you to say anything. I just… I don't know. Forget it. Just don't do anything to ruin my mood, alright? I want to enjoy the bath."
Illumi was quite satisfied when he felt the woman go completely lax in his arms, finally occupying that bothersome gap between their bodies. And even more so when her hands gently laid atop his bent knees.
"I could give you a massage." The assassin offered, increasing the pressure his thumbs were applying on the woman's back.
"You could." Bleach agreed, opening one of her eyes to stare at the man's face, seemingly staring innocently up at her. "But why would you?"
"You seem to enjoy those. And I enjoy making you feel good-" Illumi answered without hesitation, smiling warmly at the woman.
If that woman was Roxanne or Bleach, the thief didn't know - Illumi didn't allow her to know.
"-Also, we both could use a lessening in the stress levels around here. We are a couple relaxing, aren't we?"
Bleach smirked internally as Roxanne smiled lovingly to Erik.
"You do have such skilled fingers… It would be a waste not to put them to good use." The woman agreed, sitting a bit straighter in the tub and offering her scarred back to her "lover". "Just don't expect me to reciprocate the favour."
Illumi responded by laying his hands on her shoulders and kneading them deliciously, before slowly moving down, caressing all of the muscles in the thief's back. Not ten minutes into her massage and Bleach was already having to fight back moans of pleasure that were trying to leave her lips.
"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
The question was spoken in a whisper so low that, even though Illumi's lips were glued to her ear, the thief barely heard it. His hands working on the muscles of her lower back were making her quite dumb.
"Hmm… What is it?" The woman breathed out, head dropping to the side so her forehead was touching the man's temple.
"If I hadn't forced you on our first time together, would you have been ashamed of showing your scars to me?"
Tension immediately returned to Bleach's muscles and the only thing that kept Illumi from cursing to himself inside his mind was the fact that the woman hadn't pulled away from him – yet.
"…Why do you ask?"
Never stopping the soothing movements of his fingers, Illumi shrugged.
"I've noticed you always favour clothing that completely covers your back. However, you didn't hesitate in stripping to put on your bathing suit, even though you knew someone else was watching. It just made me wonder."
"My scars are quite showy and I usually can't afford to be easily spotted in a crowd, especially in crowds at expensive dinner parties when I'm most certainly up to no good. That's why I always keep my back covered."
That explanation didn't really answer Illumi's question but he thought prudent not to press any further. The woman's voice was mechanical and had a certain timbre of finality to it, making it very clear for him that she wasn't comfortable talking about this particular subject.
To his surprise, she continued talking even so.
"...Before, when I walked the streets, I hated these scars. Many men tried to cheat me out of my money, saying they had been played into fucking a whore so deformed. Others thought that meant I could take it as rough as they wanted; it was always painful."
Illumi's hands slowly stopped their motions and settled gently on the woman's hips. His eyes were fixed on the woman's profile, watching her scowling lips and glaring eyes with rapid attention.
"Then, when Harry first saw them-"
"Harry?"
"My first – and only so far – actual boyfriend. When he first saw those scars… I didn't hate them anymore. Harry didn't as much as flinch from them; he showed me that no man who used those scars as an excuse to pressure or take advantage of me was nothing more than a piece of shit. He taught me that where I've been and what I've done didn't make me any less worthy than any other woman in the world." Bleach sighed, allowing a small smile to curl her lips at the memory of the boy. Had it been really two years since she last saw him? "I didn't really sleep with many men after him, but I never felt ashamed of showing anyone my scars agai-"
Bleach gasped in surprise and her eyes widened when she felt Illumi's arms encircle her waist and pull her gently against him in one of the most comforting gestures anyone had ever offered her.
The thief knew it was all just an act; all just so the assassin could slip through her defences and crawl all under her skin. The thief knew it was all just another well-planned move on his part so he could gain some of her trust and manipulate her again. The thief knew.
But the woman still couldn't help but lay her hands atop of his and relax in his embrace.
Now, hours later, Bleach had enough clarity to worry properly about that exchange. She had to face the facts: Illumi was slowly but surely breaching her defences, and she didn't find it in her to stop him. The assassin was the only one Bleach had ever confided the more painful and sordid details of her past, and, as much as it pained her to admit, it was… nice, to have someone to talk to about that stuff. And gods forbid she ever confided those sad details to Gon or Killua or even Elmsy; she cared too much about them to trouble their minds with such unpleasant matters.
Also, there was the matter of that unnatural and uncalled-for attraction she felt for the assassin; it always managed to take some - very necessary, mind you - points of her IQ away.
This isn't good. No matter what I do, I can't get anywhere near the bastard without something happening between us.
Bleach sighed tiredly, pushing the heels of her hands into her eyes. She just wanted this mission to be done and over with so she and Illumi could go on their separate ways. The bastard was already crawling too deep underneath her skin and she couldn't keep herself from trying to do the same to him. She liked teasing him as much as he did her and this reciprocity would undoubtedly go a long way in getting her fucked.
Literally and figuratively.
"You should try and get some sleep as well."
Startled, Bleach whipped her head so she could fix her eyes on the assassin's form. He was laying on his side, staring at her with scary intensity, as if trying to peel her flesh and bones and bare her soul to him. Never breaking eye-contact, he pulled the covers off the other side of the bed for her.
"Come here."
Alarm bells rang loudly inside the thief's head, begging her to forget the mission and just run out of the room and away from Illumi. Forever.
"I won't hurt you, Bleach. I just want you to be well-rested for tonight." The words were soft and reassuring. And they sent delicious sensations from her scalp, all the way down to her lower belly and groin. "Come. Lay with me."
"I'm good." Bleach answered in a low voice; mustering a will power she didn't know she was capable of at the moment to turn her gaze away from those deep pools of black ink.
She heard covers shuffling for a second and, next thing she knew, Illumi was standing in front of her, his legs almost touching hers but not quite so. She couldn't help but roam her gaze all over his body, appreciating all of the strong muscles his underwear-cladded form revealed to her before once again settling her eyes on those magnetic orbs of his.
"Come." He repeated, offering his hand to her.
Slowly and without words, Bleach reached out to take his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet and lead her into the bed.
When the thief started to build her barricade of pillows between their halves of the mattress once again, Illumi stopped her, grabbing her hands into his and pulling her body flush to his. She was still fully clothed, but that wasn't enough to dull the electricity that sparked between them at the sudden contact. All thoughts of claiming he was harassing her by touching her inside bedroom walls – something she had expressively forbidden him of doing – completely evaded Bleach's mind.
"Just sleep." The assassin urged softly, reaching out with one hand to push some strands of white hair behind her ear. "I won't do anything to you while you rest. You're safe."
"I'm never safe when I'm with you." Bleach retorted in a breathy voice, even though her tense muscles were slowly relaxing, revelling in the warmth that came from Illumi's body.
"That isn't true." He protested in a husky whisper, daring to move his hand from her ear to her lower back and press her form even more firmly to his.
Bleach felt one of the man's legs slip in-between hers and had to bite her lips to keep herself from moaning at the sensation of his thigh brushing lightly against her groin.
"It is." The woman insisted, shutting her eyes firmly in a desperate measure to cease eye contact with the assassin. "So let me go. Now."
Illumi felt a scowl threaten to make its way to his lips and, for a second, he considered rolling them over just to spite her. He doubted Bleach would be able to deny him now if he were to push things a little further; it was clear she wanted him to the point she couldn't think rationally anymore. She didn't have the strength to pull away from him now; this plea was the thief's last defence.
And, since he had to complete this job as well as set up the groundwork for a new and prolonged game with the woman, that defence would suffice. He'd have to allow her this small victory if he was to prolong their game.
"Let's sleep." Illumi proposed in an emotionless voice, slowly detaching his body from Bleach's.
"Yes." Bleach agreed quickly, rolling on the bed so she was facing away from the man laying so close to her. "That would be best."
She could feel the assassin stare at the back of her head for some moments still before the sound of him rolling and giving his back to her as well reached her ears.
Relief and disappointment filled the woman in equal proportions.
I honestly don't know what to think about this chapter. On one side we have lots of IllumixBleach moments and introspection from her, two things I honestly love to write; on another, we have close to no development of their mission. It is a important chapter, but I kind of feel that it is a bit of a filler as well. XPXP
Well, filler or not, I hope you all enjoyed it. And please tell me what you think about it. :)
Kisses,
RedVoid
PS: this chapter's name comes from a sort of tea I like from Twinings XDXD
