Machi raises an eyebrow when she saw Chrollo enter the room looking even happier than when he left. The man was covered in sweat. His usual sleek and neat hair was ruffled. It looked like he had just finished an intense training session.
Machi frowned.
"You were in there for over three hours," Machi pointed out.
Chrollo was genuinely surprised. He thought he was in there for half an hour or no more than forty-five minutes. Did he really get so entranced with Hisoka he hadn't notice how much time had gone by? Guess it's true what they say, time fly's when you're having fun. He smiled to himself, he had broken a personal record.
"I'm calling a mandatory meeting. Please gather everybody in the first-floor living room." he decided to play off the situation.
"Does it involve Hisoka?" she already knew the answer but Chrollo's grin confirmed it.
"Alright then" she stood up and casually stretched her arms over her head. "You might want to take a bath first. You smell like bubblegum." smirking she walked past her leader ignoring his dumbfounded face.
...
After a quick shower, Chrollo met with his Spiders in the meeting room. Feitan and Phinks were sitting near each other on the sofa and Machi was leaning against the room's back wall. Shalnark and Shizuku were both seated on the rug. A pile of cards was scattered between them. They must have been playing earlier.
Nobunaga was sat in the corner polishing his sword. The rest of the missing Phantom troupe had arrived earlier that day and were also spread around the room. When Chrollo walked in they gave him their full attention.
"Hisoka will be staying with us till further notice. No one is allowed to kill him or cause permanent damage.
"WHAT!"
"That's ridiculous!"
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"
Chrollo knew his spiders wouldn't be happy but he hadn't expected them to be so vocal about it. To think he had been feeling so relaxed and refresh mere minutes ago. Now his head hurt from thinking of ways to please his team.
"WHY!" was the main question asked.
"He's under the influence of a strong nen power. I'm sure Feitan has already filled you in on the details. I have personally interrogated him and have concluded that he poses no threat."
"It's dangerous to have him so close to us," Nobungo said.
"I have taken his nen so he is harmless"
"Hisoka is tricky. He'll find a way to cause trouble. And that whole losing his bravery shit, I don't buy it" Phinks growled.
"What about Uvogin and Pakunoda? That fucker is part of the reason they're dead." Nobunaga added.
"The chain user killed them"
"He helped. Our fallen comrades deserve to be avenged"
Chrollo sighed. He had been expecting all this and more.
"I won't kill Hisoka because I want his nen. It would be foolish to let him loose in the word. Even nen less he can cause trouble unsupervised. He will stay here where we can keep an eye on him"
"Hisoka can cause trouble anywhere" Snarlark chimed in. Machi covered her giggle with a cough.
"Hisoka will be staying with the group till further notice." he nearly growled."Anyone who had a problem with that can leave."
The room fell silent.
"Machi" he turned towards the healer. "Escort Hisoka to the third room on the second floor. It's the one with the frilly bed sheets."
"So, the one next to yours" Machi sneered.
Chrollo didn't blush but he made a convincing imitation.
...
After what seemed like half an hour Hisoka took his first timid steps out of the cell. The long dark hallway led to narrow stone stairs. Hisoka was only able to climb them because the fear of Chrollo coming back at any moment scared him more than finding out what was at the top.
His body hurt. Everything was sore. He had been put through worse pain but none were quite so intimate. Trying not to think about what had happened to him he focuses on climbing. His shaking legs made it no easier.
Reaching the top he entered a wider and well lite hallway. The bottom half of the walls were red, and the tops were white. A wooden border separated the two colors. It was an improvement compared to the dungeon he was just in.
It was just a coincidence that the first room he found was a bathroom. Hisoka had been searching for an exit but the risk of running into one of the spiders caused him to hide in the closest room he could find. Locking the door he let out a deep breath.
He eyed the shower. It was so tempting to clean himself. He wanted to wash every part where Chrollo touched. He should find a way out of here and worry about showing later. This bathroom didn't have a window so if he wanted to escape he'd have to go back in the hallway again. That was an even more unpleasant idea.
Giving in Hisoka stripped himself of his clothes and entered the shower. If he was going to hide in a bathroom for the rest of his life he might as well be clean.
The bathroom was well supplied with soap and shampoos. The cool water soothed his sensitive skin. Gently he washed away all evidence of what had happened to him. The only proof that remained were the dark marks littering his body. Those wouldn't come out no matter how hard he scrubbed. His neck and hips were especially bruised. Besides the obvious sourness in his rear, his shaft had been rubbed red from Chrollos rough hands.
Just when Hisoka had finished washing his hair the bathroom door squeaked open. Machi stood at the entrance with a hairpin in her hand. Hisoka turned off the water and poked his head from the curtains to greet her.
"Care to join me?" he almost managed to sound like his usual confident and smooth self.
"I'll pass but Chrollo might take that offer" she smirked.
Hisoka quickly closed the curtains and hid behind them.
His clothes were thrown over the shower curtains.
"Get dress, Iv been ordered to take you to your room.
...
Machi tied her threads around his hand and had led him to a rather plain and dusty room. The ceiling was covered in spider webs and the floor had several large crakes. They left the tile crumbling around them and between the cracks sprung up bunches of weeds. Once the walls might have been a deep red like the hallways, but time had made the paint peel revealing the cement underneath. What was left of the color had faded to a dull pink. The old fashioned dresser in the side of the room was covered in several heavy layers of dust.
The bed seemed to be the only clean thing in the room. The sheets and quilt were both pink. The large blanket had frilly lace borders and from the canopy hung a purple netting. It gracefully encased the whole bed.
"All the good rooms have already been taken by the others. You'll have to make due." the healer released him from her threads.
"The beds nice."
"Your lucky Shizuku and Kortopi went around cleaning all the bedsheets."
Hisoka opened the netting of the bed and collapsed into the sheets. They smelled like fresh lavender.
"Send them my thanks."
He heard Machi place something on the bed table. It was a small jar.
"Ointment for your injuries." she turned to leave.
"Thank you, Machi."
She paused. "I told you, you were gonna regret challenging Chrollo," she hissed.
"So you did."
"Why aren't you afraid of me? Am I not scary?"
"Your petrifying but I'm so tired and my body feels so numb..."
"Chrollo ordered the others not to kill you but..." she wanted to tell him that they would find a way to make him suffered. That they were very creative in torture. That death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to a person but she knew Hisoka was aware of that. Besides, for some reason, she didn't want to increase his fear.
So she left him alone in the old and dusty room.