The Amazing Technicolor Hairdo
Disclaimer - Hunter x Hunter does not belong to me, all characters and such are the marvelous product of Yoshihiro Togashi.
Notes – This chapter is just plan cuteness for the most part :P
Summary - Hisoka agrees to make Illumi an outfit for an animal-themed masquerade ball involved in Illumi's latest job. In exchange, Hisoka is making Illumi come with him on a quest to retrieve some mystical hair gel said to have the ability to 'make your head shine in all the colors of the rainbow if you apply it to your hair'.
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Chapter 3
While on their way to the airport, Illumi felt the stares and laughter coming from people as they looked at him. He was use to the stares, but the laughter was something entirely new to him. Shrieks of terror and whispered words, sure, those were things he dealt with regularly in his work.
A child of about five or so tugged at Illumi's sleeve as he was lost in thought. Gazing down at the child she asked if she could touch his ears. The child's mother swooped down to retrieve her child before the assassin could ask what she meant. Reaching up to feel his ears, Illumi did not find anything out of place. Hisoka was giving him the strangest look, but the man always gave Illumi odd looks, to which the assassin had grown accustomed.
Once at the airport, Illumi was stopped when the metal detector beeped as he was going through it. He was mystified considering his attire was designed to cover any trace of the steel pins he carried. As one of the security members moved a scanner over him it bleeped as it went over his hair. Illumi reached up to find a fuzzy pair of ears still attached to his hair. I must have forgotten to remove them. Glaring at the now hysterically laughing Hisoka, Illumi removed the ears.
Hisoka gasped for air after his outburst of laughter. "You were too charming with those on. I couldn't bring myself to tell you they were still there." He was not at all apologetic about failing to tell Illumi about them.
As they boarded the plane Illumi executed a well-placed kick at Hisoka's backside while the magician was still giggling. Upon being on the receiving end of said kick Hisoka only laughed louder. "It was worth it!" He yelled back as he scampered towards their seats. The assassin silently fumed at the other's back. He is fortunate I arranged for our seats to be far apart beforehand, else he might find himself a pincushion before the flight is through. Illumi spent the remainder of the flight ignoring the magician's giggles.
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The scheduled shuttle came to pick the two up when they arrived at the airport. On the ride to the hotel Hisoka pushed himself as close to Illumi as he could while the assassin got as close to the window as possible. Finally tiring of the way Hisoka was pressed against his side, he leaned towards Hisoka, one arm reaching around the magician's front.
"Why Illumi, I never thought you felt that way about me." Hisoka breathed as the assassin leaned in closer.
Illumi's searching hand found what it was looking for and pulled Hisoka's suitcase over to his side, placing it between the two of them. "If you do not leave me in peace I will toss all your cards and clothing out the window." Illumi popped open the lid to the case and picked out a deck, flinging it out the window to prove his point.
"You are so cruel to me!" Hisoka whined, but he retreated to the other side of the car, sulkily looking at the window.
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"Separate rooms? But what if I need you in the middle of the night for something?" Hisoka playfully stuck his tongue out at the other, assuming the threat on his property no longer applied outside the bounds of the shuttle.
Paying no attention to Hisoka, Illumi obtained the keycards to their rooms and tossed Hisoka his card. "Do not enter my room unless the threat of eminent danger appears. Not that I care whether you live or die, but I cannot let my client pass away before my job is completed." Illumi disappeared into his room and closed the door behind him.
Hisoka's eyes lingered on the close door. Unhappily he turned to find his room, thinking up ways to pass the time until tomorrow. Quickly locating where his room was, he studied the spacious area. It was nothing he hadn't seen before, he was accustomed to living in comfort when it pleased him.
Off in a corner of the room, where the bed was, he heard soft rustling. A rodent? He assumed it came from the nearby jungle, it was not so densely populated a place that such critters avoided the area due to the disturbance of noise. Hisoka noiselessly crept over to the source of sound, thinking he could catch it and show it off to Illumi. When he was close enough he reached out a hand and slowly lifted up a corner of the sheet which draped the floor.
It was a snake.
Hisoka back away in horror and was out the door a split second later. Dashing to Illumi's room he would have ripped the door of its hinges if Illumi had locked it. Hisoka slammed the door behind him and ran to hide behind the assassin who watched all of this calmly. He was used to the magician's quirky behavior.
"…What is it now?" Illumi asked impatiently.
"There's a snake in my room!" Hisoka peeked out from behind Illumi, afraid that somehow the snake would come through the closed door to get him.
Raising an eyebrow in his perpetually impassive face Illumi could not possibly imagine the magician fearing anything, much less a snake. The assassin did recall how the other man avoided being anywhere near the snake charmer during the Hunter Exam. Maybe snake charming is a skill I should acquire. "I'll go dispose of this snake if it will make you stop twitching like that." Illumi stalked over to Hisoka's room with the other man following closely behind him.
"Snakes are such vile creatures with the way they lack legs and those eyes; I am going to have words with the management when it is gone." Hisoka shuddered.
Hisoka calling something else vile, never thought anything could disturb such a disturbed man, Illumi reflected as he entered Hisoka's room.
"There, by the side of the bed." The magician was ready to run off at the first sign of the scaly creature. He perched himself behind Illumi as the assassin steadily weaved among the furniture to the source of the other man's distress. Eying the corner of the bed, the assassin's hand darted and a pin struck something in the darkness.
"Is it dead?" Hisoka asked anxiously.
"Of course, I'm a professional." Illumi declared complacently.
"…Professional snake killer? Toss it out the window, I don't want that thing anywhere in here." Hisoka was still eyeing the corner of the bed as if hell itself were there waiting for him to let his guard down.
Illumi was tempted to just let the snake's carcass remain where it was. Agitating the magician was definitely a reversal of what he was used to, it wasn't so bad.
"Get rid of it, please?" Hisoka attempted puppy eyes and Illumi shuddered. He must really want it gone, saying 'please' was something Illumi had only heard from the magician once before.
"Very well." Illumi retrieved the carcass and threw it out the window. Hisoka watched it fall and sighed in relief.
Still looking at the window, Hisoka whispered, "Thanks."
"Eh?" Illumi was not expecting that.
"I cannot stand the ghastly things. You are my hero!" Hisoka's grin was back on his face. "I'll stay in your room tonight. I can't sleep here, what if there are other snakes around?" He asked, his eyes widening in horror, but the smirk was still on his lips.
Illumi considered getting a snake to ward off the other man. "Only because I still have a job to complete for you. I can't have you jumping out the window in fright." As much as that would please me, Illumi thought darkly.
Hisoka virtually squealed in happiness as he retrieved his luggage from where he had dropped it earlier. He dashed into Illumi's room as the assassin slowly walked in, not pleased that he now had to share his room with the deranged man.
"It is a nice big bed, enough room for both of us." Hisoka said shamelessly.
"You are not sleeping in my bed." Illumi was firm on this point.
"But didn't the costume I made for you please you? It is only fair that I at least retain a little comfort while you still have to pay me back. Besides, you were the one who choose this hotel with…snakes." Hisoka said the last word as if it were a dreaded plague.
Illumi had to admit that Hisoka had a point here too. Why does this magician have such a effect on how I think? "You are right. I will allow you to stay on the left side of the bed, I will be on the right. If any part of you crosses the middle I will cut it off. Understood?" Illumi wanted to make sure Hisoka knew he meant these words.
"I usually toss and turn quite a bit in my sleep." Hisoka walked off into the bathroom. "I'll be taking a shower now, don't you go peeking," the magician said cheerfully.
"I'm going to take a walk." Illumi said, removing himself from the room, deciding any more of Hisoka would drive him surely insane. The man had too much life in him, it threatened to reach out and pull the assassin in. He couldn't have that, as an assassin he could not let anything but his job occupy his thoughts.
Still, Illumi's mind lingered on how he had first met the man, not too long before to the Hunter Exam. Hisoka had taken an interest in one of the assassin's targets and from there they would call upon each other when one of the other needed something.
Illumi's nighttime stroll took him by a booth selling all sorts of boxes. He was drawn to one a glittering red box with a handle protruding out the side. Picking it up he turned the knob and it made a gentle plinking sound at each rotation. When the lid popped open he almost smiled at the colorful figure which appeared. It was a jester dressed in red and blue, with a diamond on one check and a spade on the other, a ridiculous three-pronged hat balanced atop the smiling face. As Illumi considered getting the jack-in-the-box for Hisoka, it occurred to him that Hisoka was the source of entertainment in his life. Illumi realized that this line of thinking was pure frivolousness, that an assassin had no need for such enjoyment. Carefully returning the box to its original location, Illumi continued on the path, willing himself to think of other things.
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End Note: Heh, attempting to further their relationship as friends/whatever is hard. Characterization is something I have issues with :P