Hey, my little cinnamon buns! So I know things are a little crazy right now with this virus but I just wanted to emphasize the point of coming back to the things that we love and just not letting the fear and uncertainty ruin everyday life. We still have so much to be thankful for and I for one, count you guys among those numbers.

So yeah, I hope that this chapter brightens your day and know that you all are in my thoughts no matter if you're across the world or living in my neighborhood. I cherish everyone who has stuck here with me from day one and who continues to read my work. You guys are constantly on my mind (most of the time it's because I'm wracked with guilt over not updating but that's beside the point.) Much love, Lovely

Wonderinspirit: I will! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Jummper: Completely don't mind! That's what google translate is for. And I love it when people enjoy my writing style. Honestly one of the biggest compliments I could get.

Marie: He's such a dynamic character that I just love writing for him. Plus it's nice to have this moment to kind of give them time to feel each other out.

RainbowMaze: Aw that's so sweet of you to say. They're one of my more combative couples so it's always refreshing to write for them.

hourhercrevan: I'll try to get that second chapter up soon, I promise. *cries pitifully in front of my computer*

Chancellor S: Not going to lie, your photo completely freaked me out lol! But thank you for the kind words. It means a lot.

Slimesan: It's awesome that you came over here! I think that I've actually finally updated this story on archive enough that they have the same amount of chapters. I'm kind of following a chaotic sort of rythmn when it comes to updating over there.

Smalllittlecagedbird: Love, love, love your photo. Ugh gender-bent Loki is the best. And thank you so much for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 13

Gentle hands were turning my own over, separating my fingers to examine the raw flesh there. A sweet smell like… like chocolate or sweets - carnival food, I realized, something sweet and doughy. I had never been to the fair before. Only looked at it from afar, watching the glitter of lights and listening to the screams of joy that filtered to the surrounding town.

But I had never forgotten the smells, my childish mind clinging onto the buttery smell of roasted popcorn and sugary, bubbling drinks. And more than that, the cinnamon almonds and yeasty, fried dough drenched in pillowy clouds of powdered sugar.

Against my head, Minoru gave a snore, his flank expanding, pushing me a bit closer to the looming figure gently moving my hands this way and that.

"You smell like a carnival," I whispered groggily, still dazed from my deep sleep. I was half drunk off of the feeling of having my first sleep after nearly 14 hours awake and moving. I blinked, my eyes fighting against the action as the dimmed lights of the hall finally filtered in.

Hisoka was sitting cross-legged in front of me, his long fingers working my hands this way and that as he tried to get a better look at the ripped skin. They were almost torn completely in half, the skin at my palm sawed through to create a disjointed, bloody picture. Beside him, sat a small white bottle, a pile of cloth, a needle, and thread.

The rest of the hall had seemed to reach a lull, the contestants remaining at a solid for the last hour or so. It had taken me the first two hours of falling in and out of sleep to realize that I was safe with Hisoka. More than safe, I was cocooned. No one drifted nearer to our small, dark area of the hall. Each person only daring to glance in our direction before nervously avoiding us.

For his part, Hisoka played cards, his hands moving in methodical sweeps even as he performed the most outlandish tricks. He seemed thoroughly unfazed by the stares, his face slipping into a bored sort of diligence as if he were forcing himself to go along with the program. Which I supposed he was, in a way.

Not for the first time, I wondered why.

"You always watch me with the most penetrating expression on your face," he mused now, his voice a low murmur even as he kept his eyes on my hand.

"I would have thought that you were used to being stared at by now," I answered immediately, my senses slowly waking up. And with it, my pain. My whole body ached - some sharp and others a dull thrum from over-use. I had more than one bruise. I could see them swirling along my legs, the tones creating an oddly beautiful web, like the nest of a spider.

Slowly, one corner of his lips tilted up into a thin smile. "Yes. I am rather handsome."

"I didn't say that," I grumbled, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of thinking that I found him attractive.

Unwilling my eyes roamed along the fox-like curves of his face. The way that his hair spiked up, creating an unruly red mess around his face. There was a sly-ness to his features that made him seem infinitely amused at a joke that no one else was in on. Was that why so many found him unnerving? I could see it in the way that they all shifted when they saw him. As if they were trying to seem strong and yet subservient, a weapon that Hisoka could use if only he would speak to them.

"There it is," he breathed, his eyes still focused on my wounds as he switched to my other hand. Still, there was something ravenous in his eyes even as he continued his inspection, his smile turning hungry. "That stare. Like you're looking into a pool trying to see the koi." Finally, slowly, his gaze like melting honey met my own, his body looming over me as he slid a bit closer. "Tell me, poor little mouse. What do you see?"

What did I see? I mulled it over, my gaze running over the sharp cheekbones and strong jaw, the muscles of his biceps and forearms. He had to be very strong even without his little card tricks. My eyes scanned over his tapered waist and strong thighs. And incredibly fast. I had seen all that and more in the clearing though.

What did I see? Self-absorbed. Narcissistic. Talented. Smart. Too smart. It would have been better if he was a talented dumbass. I frowned, mentally bashing him as he smiled down at me. He allowed people to live even when he was easily able to kill them. Why? My stomach knotted. Because we were entertaining. His words drifted through my mind like the rustling of leaves. He had asked me to read him like I was his personal fortune teller.

I smiled a thin, cold flash of my teeth. "I see a sociopathic murderer who delights in the despair of his victims."

For a moment, I thought I had gone too far. His aura, pink and sugary broadened, pushing against me like a wounded child about to throw a tantrum. Something sharp and present flashed through his eyes. Something that looked all too much like...pain? No. That wasn't the right word for what I saw.

But then it was settling and Hisoka's face fell into a pout, his gaze slipping back to the wounds at my hands. "That was an easy one." Slowly, a smirk curls his lips, his eyes glinting devilishly. "You do have to admit that my company is more amusing than any other though. Normal people are so dull."

I rolled my eyes. "Ask me a more specific question next time," I suggested, relief at the passing of a possible attack making me sink back into Minoru as he gave a soft snort in his sleep.

"But really maybe I have coddled you too much," he mused, setting my hand down on his lap with enough gentleness to make me frown. I didn't trust his gentleness. It seemed to come with invisible strings. Slowly, he threaded the needle, cinching it tight before he brought it up to glint in the low light. His smile was positively unholy. "This may hurt."

It did hurt. A lot.

Not only did he seem to delight in my white-lipped, panting form but he kept chastising me every time I flinched. It was a religious baptizing, his method methodical and calm as he drenched my hand in something that stung and smelled like chemicals and then started the process of sewing my wound closed.

Hellish. The whole experience was something out of my worst nightmare, his eyes flashing with mocking sympathy as he hushed me.

"You look quite cute this helpless," he mused as he knotted his last stitch and snipped the thread with his nails. I panted, feeling the final zings of agony course up my arms, tickling my scalp. His tongue ran along his bottom lip as his eyes tracked a dribble of sweat that slipped down my throat. "You're a virgin, aren't you?"

I blinked, taken aback and a bit horrified at the flash of heat that was surely reddening my face. Gritting my teeth, I sent him a flustered glare. "That's a rude question. And completely impolite to ask."

He blinked, a bemused expression darkening his expression. "Is it?"

Slowly, he unwound some gauze and I briefly wondered how he had acquired it. An inside examiner? A friend? My eyes drifted to where the man with all the pins sat just a little to the left of us. His eyes were closed but there was a tenseness to his body that suggested otherwise as if he didn't need his eyes to see every inch of the room around him. Instinctively, I burrowed a bit further into Hisoka's side, making him grunt softly in his sleep, his head tossing to the side as he blew out a gust of steamy air.

Hisoka's striking gaze met mine once more as he smeared some salve onto the stitched wound, the sharp scent of comfrey leaves mixed with the duller smell of calendula flowers bursting through the air. For a moment, my hand gave a sizzle of discomfort, a clean sort of pain that felt almost religious.

"Only cheap blades with no blade guard would open your hands like this," he observed softly, his eyes filled with distaste as they lingered along the wound. "Are you poor?"

"Again," I hissed, riled beyond belief as shame seared my face. A poor virgin, I thought hatefully, glaring up at Hisoka with rage. He may have been helping me but he was throwing as many insults in as he could. "Rude."

He blinked, looking slightly bemused at the information. A thin frown marred his lips, a look of mild unhappiness crossing his face. "I didn't think that was particularly bad," he admitted. "You are though. Poor. Your little launching device is handmade and marked from you constantly having to tinker with it because the parts are just scraps. And your daggers are cheap little things for street children."

I couldn't take it anymore. I yanked my hand away, ignoring the resulting pain that zinged up my arm. Snarling, I curled back and away from him, my back hitting the stone walls of the tower as he watched, looking like a wolf that had found a particularly amusing rabbit to play with. "Do you find it amusing to insult me?"

His brows drew together and for the first time, I thought I heard his voice dip with genuine honesty. "No." His eyes drifted to the side, that same confused mix of emotions shifting across his face, his aura had receded, lapping at the space around him like a chastised cat. "I always thought of life as a game of bad luck. When you begin abandoned, poor you only have an upward climb to complete. What do you have when you start from the rich?"

For a moment, I stared at him in stubborn silence. I didn't want to forgive him… but there was something about the sad flick of his aura that made my indignation crumble. Slowly, I held out my hand again, watching as he slid a bit closer, his eyes assessing as he gently took my fingers and splayed my hand across his lap once more for the gauze.

"You're forgiven," I finally murmured, my voice still sullen with ire. "But you can't go around asking people if their poor or - or street children and expect them to be okay with it. It's basic human decency."

His lips curled sardonically. "Human decency? That's entertaining." His smile became deadly. His eyes ran over me with a precision that flayed me. "What makes your way of acting any better than mine? What have the people in this room ever given you? What makes you think that they'll offer you anything besides a knife in the back?"

I frowned up at him, trying to work around his reasoning. He had a point, I realized grimly, catching the expressions of subtle hatred on each of their expressions as they cast quick glances in our direction. Hisoka's head bowed over my hands once more, his eyes attentive as he wrapped my fingers and palm tightly. They would kill me sooner than I wanted to admit, I realized. Coming in covered in blood and screaming had just made them view me as a unique opponent, one who they clearly thought would be easy enough to defeat. It would puff up their ego to see me wounded, validating their feelings for not only me but Hisoka as well.

But I wouldn't tell him that. Admitting it would only serve to make him preen about. "I usually favor those that don't threaten to kill my brothers and I on our first meeting."

Golden, honey-sweet eyes flicked up to meet mine, a smirk curling his lips as he seemed to entertain the criticism. "Would you have liked if I fawned over you, mousie? Have I not been paying you enough attention?"

I rolled my eyes. No. He had been paying me enough attention. A bit too much if the expressions on the other contestant's faces was an answer. I held my silence, focusing more on the dips and valleys of his aura as it swirled around him. It was odd, seeing such a potent mass of energy around someone and more than that… My eyes drifted to the pin-man and then to Ichihiro as he slept across the room. They both seemed to hold the same danger but I couldn't even see a wisp of aura. My eyes narrowed, fighting against the instinctive frustration of not knowing something that seemed to be so apparent.

"There," Hisoka murmured finally, his smile sharp as he moved my hands away. His head tipped to the side as he closed his eyes in a dangerous pantomime of humor. "You seem to be quiet a troublesome pet."

I blinked, pushing down the swell of fear as his aura pulsed around him. "Is this where you threaten to kill me because I'm so weak?"

His eyes opened to slits, the golden depths smug. "No. Believe it or not, your proving to be interesting. And…" He leaned a bit closer, his big body cocooning me until his bulky form was the only thing that I could see. "Your knack for… auras… is very interesting."

There was more to that. I could sense it in the way that he paused around that word - aura. Like it wasn't quite right. As if he wanted to say something else entirely. My eyes drifted along the strong line of his jaw and that wicked curve of a smirk. He could teach me a lot, I realized guardedly. I wondered what he would ask for in return?

How have you guys been doing? I hope you're all sanitizing and taking care of yourselves. Personally I've been reading and watching Bravo like a high schooler so my head is basically filled with nonsense 24/7.