dumbshow | don't stand so close to me

Doing the same thing day in and day out comes as a consequence of getting to keep the endless money and almost fanatical support from the rest of the family. It's give and take. And it does free up the rest of his time to go out and do this and the occasional odd things Hisoka contacts him about and assumes he'll show up for. That's give and take too.

But no. No he will never get a vest. This is the sort-of-friend you chose, Hisoka. Live with him.

"What for?" he counters the sleeve comment as he lets his hair fall back into place, reaching over to just take the purple coat and drape it with the ties. "They're heavy." He lifts one of the sleeves and wiggles it, to prove his point, like- like that actually proves he should really rip the sleeves off. What if he manipulated it to only have sleeves sometimes, like when he plays at being Gittarackur...? That works. But ah-

"If you want to see my hair short so badly, you might as well just show up." Like he said, these people aren't important enough for real disguises to matter, and Hisoka showing up might even be a helpful distraction from, well, himself. "Want me to text you the address?"

"If you want no sleeves, buy something without them." A sigh. "But you look better IN sleeves." Chuckling to himself.

"Unless you want to start working on those guns some more? You don't have much to show of right now." A laugh, rolling his eyes. "A sleeve is heavy?" Flits up a hand, eyes closed, cocky expression. "See what I mean?" Wow, sleeves are heavy? Poor child. And you carry around all that hair. Priorities?

A glance at that final comment. Show up? But then he'd need a suit. He could get a suit. Watch Illumi on the job, see how fast and boring it was- but- he has no plans. And free food, small talk, company- He could never pass down any of those.

"Time and place, I'll be your plus one." Grins. Just hope he doesn't show up in anything too flamboyant. If he shows up like he usually is dressed- everyone will be staring and they'll hit the top of the list for 'memorable'.

His hair is part of him, it's different. There's just something about sleeves he isn't a big fan of, what is the big deal? Just because his arms- he glances down at a bicep, mildly- aren't huge—he makes a point not to emulate his father, really, and muscle mass counts.

Or more likely, he's plain old not interested in bulking up or putting more thought into his appearance besides how serviceable it is. To wit- there are needles in his chest for safekeeping, because a belt or something would just look stupid. Another belt, with pockets.

Regardless. He gives Hisoka a look that might even qualify for 'done with this,' because come on. Only one of them cares this deeply about how good he does or doesn't look in sleeveless shirts and it's not him. "Hisoka." Hisoka. "We're not here to talk about sleeves."

Instead, let's talk about taking a plus one to an assassination. He moves past Hisoka to look at some other coats, like he isn't just going to buy whatever Hisoka holds out to him anyway. Ah, maybe he should wear the purple suit and Illumi will just fade into the background... "Well, I'll let you know. But don't go wild until I finish my job." Which he says not because he cares, but because he's extra finicky about doing his job properly and needs to ensure that he's the one who makes the hit he's actually hired to carry out. After that, well. As long as someone's left to pay him...

Still weighs a lot, and is pretty unnecessary, all those lovely locks, and how silky they are? They must weigh quite a bit. Some nice heavy sleeves could really do you some good too.

OOohh- don't- even get Hisoka started on your dad. Talk about dad-i-wanna-fuck. He's pretty sure he'd hop that as soon as he could- or wreck their entire how getting a fight out of the guy. Though despite any inclination towards daddy dearest, Hisoka's pretty aware of the only fights for money thing. How sad.

"We can have 'the talk' some other time then. It needs to really happen..." A pitying glance, lips peeling a little in a smile.

"But if I go wild no one will even notice you." GRIN. "Will they notice you anyway if I'm there?" Cause he's damn fine, get it?

Dad's a professional, which is really unfortunate. There's no love lost between them- family is family, but Silva and Illumi have long since lost the father-son relationship and behave more like business associates- still; it's professionalism he doesn't care to understand. He'll parrot the Zoldyck "rules" like he holds them up as law, but the kill only for the money one has never struck him as logical. Dad is so weird.

So, Hisoka can keep his daddy attraction to himself. Maybe try bringing it up around Killua instead (but don't, wow)- Kil actually values the man's opinion.

But anyway. He nods once, officially Over sleeves and whether he should invest in some. "Later." An agreement or a dismissal, then- "The target is mine. I don't care what happens to the rest of them, but you get carried away too quickly. You'd get started before I even tell you which one to leave alone, wouldn't you?"

Or: you're excitable and reject self control for shits and giggles. He knows.

Kill for the family too, right? Wow Illumi, so insightful, so smart, so wise. But looking at how far killing only for the job got his father- Hisoka's not questioning it. Killing whomever for whatever purpose leads to running around a lot, and enemies. Which Hisoka can easily attest to. So he understands Illumi's dad's reasoning at least. Illumi might too if all that money and power wasn't just given to him by being a Zoldyck.

Brat.

"Ah hoo~ Later." Flits up a hand. He's got it, sheesh.

Kill because someone is there, okay. Or leave them to die pathetically on their own, which is kind of the same thing- so. Wisdom. It's not as if he doesn't realize he invites retaliation by going for the kill before just incapacitating people after him, and that it only prolongs the cycle—but sooner or later, no one will be left to send after him. If anything, he's certain he's more resilient than the sorts of people who get caught up in seeking revenge.

But thanks for finally listening to him, he appreciates that. Now, back to the task at hand... Well, he's still drawing a blank. "Plain" is easy, but what actually counts as plain and boring when all of these suits are the same thing with a slightly different shape? Hisoka keeps saying one thing and then handing him purple velvet, too—

"Ah," right, then- "You need a suit, too. Unless you already have one." He doubts that. Somehow. Do they make crop top suits?

Right, kill more people after you kill people to fix the problem. Hisoka could tell you lying works just about the same and yet leads to more and more of itself while not fixing anything. But then- he'd be a hypocrite.

"Wait- are you going to be wearing the purple one?" He meant to get it for later, not for the job, people will notice a purple velvet suit.

Does this look like the face of a convincing liar? He'd need a shred of humanity for that. Which he might have deep down, but not in a way that's nicely applicable to regular people.

He has enough to look almost pleasant about the purple coat, though, right at this moment. It is nice. "Nope. I mean that we're already here, so look around. It would be too obvious to show up wearing the same thing." You know, for once- how's that for self-awareness.

Also- he'll pay for it? Bottomless wallet, and so on.

He has it to a degree. That protector instinct for one's family! That's a humanity thing. Hisoka doesn't even have that, you're good. You're people enough to echo out into the void like maw that is your soul.

"Hm." Honestly he did have a suit once. But he's the sort of person to not actually- live anywhere? So each new ensemble replaces the last which he just gets rid of or scraps somewhere if he ever wants to wear it again. So the suit he had? He- has no idea where it is now. Who actually OWNS things, pft.

After some contemplation he pulls up a dark grey suit and tosses it to Illumi. The picks out a black dress shirt for it, and tosses that to him too, pointing to him after.

"Wear the purple tie with it for a splash of colour." He could've chosen you a suit as soon as they walked in here and made this all not last NEARLY as long. But now he wants to look for a suit for himself. :)

Well, see- other people, still at a loss for anything but distant echoes of something more genuine. Murder mountain's fanatical family upbringing comes in handy yet again. For him, anyway.

Illumi catches the suit by its hook and the shirt over his arm, scrutinizing them as he shuffles everything he's holding now into a more manageable pile. Ah, so it was all a huge waste of time, that's not a surprise...

"Alright." Still, he's accomplished what they came here for. He's free to just wander away from Hisoka now whenever he wants, maybe drift away to look at hats until Hisoka's through - he isn't, he's still here, but the possibility is there. Although- since he prefers the purple tie anyway, he pauses for a moment to shuffle his would-be purchases around again and tug out the other tie to abandon on an incorrect shelf. It was a good effort.

Speaking of, "Are you going to wear that tie with the spades on it?"

"Should I?" A glance back as he lifts up a red suit.

Thankfully Illumi has already learned he looks trashy in red, so he can be mildly stunned by how red that suit is before he rethinks and reclassifies and decides, well, it's Hisoka. It's fine.

"Yes." He picks great ties, see. "With that?"

"This?" Huh, he never planned on it actually, it's- so red, but- looking at it now, maybe he will. Why not?

"Think I could pull it off? Won't I make too much of a spectacle in this?"

It is... really red. It's as if the concept of "red" took physical form as a suit- that's how red. Illumi looks at it again for a moment, then back up at Hisoka with one of his odd little almost-smiles. It's so fucking red-

"I'm the assassin, not you. Besides, making a spectacle is one of your bad habits." He waves a hand, like, it's going to happen anyway. If Hisoka could get someone to follow him around holding a spotlight, Illumi is pretty sure he would. One of the idiosyncrasies he'll never understand...

"It goes with your hair." No it- well- not really, but in Illumi's world, color theory just doesn't exist.

Hey- sure makes it easy to hide in the shadows when you're the one holding the light.

A laugh, moving to put the suit over and arm and use the now open hand to slide fingers through his hair.

"Oh, I'll dye it something else, believe me. Red suit it is~" Said as he strolls back over, smiling wide and then bowing forward a little. "To the register then?" And you'll- be paying- yes, of course.

Ah, someone who is not otherwise employed already as a shadowy lurker to hold a spotlight. Chrollo has nothing better to do these days, that's an option.

Illumi's gaze drifts up to Hisoka's hair. "Again?" he asks idly, as if his track record for actually noticing when Hisoka's various palette swaps happen isn't something like one in three. Ironically, he'd notice immediately if it were dyed something reasonable, like black. The concept seems alien.

But yes, the register, and yes, he is going to pay. This cashier isn't nearly as star-struck-slash-deeply-uncomfortable as the one at the smoothie stand, so it won't take long. Illumi is halfway out the door when he pauses and says, "Oh, what about a hat?"

Hisoka has other plans for Chrollo, believe him. You don't want to know anything about what they are either.

Reasonable? And who are you to judge that? Do you even know his actual hair colour? Do you actually know anything about Hisoka? -Does anyone?

"No hat." Dismisses it with a wave of his hand holding the smoothie, other hand holding his bag. "You have to remove it as soon as you go inside anyway, do you think it'll rain or something?

Honestly, no... but only because Chrollo isn't one of his Concerns. Have fun with him. And—no again. Knowing anything about Hisoka other than how to get in touch with him and what various useful skills he has is also a little beyond Illumi's capacity for concern. He's certain that knowing wouldn't change anything for him anyway, so - that's fine.

But why can't he have a hat. Hats make everything more subtle. He sighs without any force behind it and continues out. "I'll send you the information. Try not to be late."

The information, as it comes later, includes a place, time, and a helpful reminder rounding it out at the end:

Show up on time
Dont try to go in without me

-which is entirely Illumi being a finicky perfectionist and not actually anything relevant to this job, because the time is of his own choosing and the place is a different building entirely. It is not, at least, a rooftop- his suit might get wrinkled- but a lobby of a recently abandoned building populated by the rare drunk squatter. It's great, really.

He'll just be waiting here, doing his tie. His hair is still its usual length, but you know, time limit. It gets in the way.

Edited (woops icon) 2014-12-21 00:54 (UTC)

Hey, as long as Chrollo doesn't become a concern of yours, they're good. The last thing he wants is for you to go after the Phantom Troupe leader for a job. He'd- have to stop you and that wouldn't be pretty at all. Though he wonders if you would not take the job knowing it would end any 'friendship' you and he have. Hisoka is QUITE useful, isn't he?

He gets the text with his hair soaked in toner and chuckles as he lifts it, moving to the shower of the hotel he's in, already close by the place of Illumi's job. Easy peasy.

Hisoka kicks back, nude, towel over his shoulders, sitting in the living room with the buzzing something on the news. He clicks it off, lifting his cheap track phone to read and reply.

wow so rude, but im ur +1 i have 2 wait 4 u. ♥

Whatever man, he won't question it. With that he'll toss the phone to the side and move to go shower. Sorry if you send any messages since then. Hopefully it's not important situation, but he'll be sure to meet you. Red suit, spades tie, nice white shoes, matching his new white hair. Red contacts in, matching his red suit.

"Oh Illumi, you make my heart skip a beat."

Edited 2014-12-21 01:20 (UTC)

If it came down to a job that meant going after Chrollo... Illumi would more likely just let Silva take it again. That's becoming a thing, anyway, and he does prefer as few complications as possible. The main one in this hypothetical case being Chrollo himself, but trying to kill him with Hisoka getting in the way would be way too complicated. So. That's good? It's nothing personal.

Standing around in this soon to be hovel, Illumi does have a reply to that text that will be piteously ignored-

Just making sure youre on schedule

His schedule, mind. His job, his schedule, his rules. His plus one- that part is probably frowned upon by at least ten Zoldyck rules, but oops, too late. Mercifully he has nothing important to say over text- that would be stupid, the real information is only delivered in person and in private, that's Assassin 101- and has just finished with his tie when Hisoka turns up.

Somehow, the suit looks even redder when it's being worn. Illumi briefly thinks his well-crafted dull gray subtlety is now shattered, but no, no—he'll dissolve into the background while Hisoka... is Hisoka. It's still fine.

"You look ten years older." That's for the choice of hair color. And as for his own hair, good timing- "Hang on."

Illumi focuses on his nen, looking straight ahead at nothing on the opposite wall. This modification isn't as creaky as molding himself into Gittarackur (or Hisoka, for that matter), but there is a faint kind of hissing sound as his hair seems to recede into his head. Once it's the length he wants, cropped short around chin length, he blinks himself out of his stare and reaches inside his coat. This probably isn't necessary, given how long this should take, but just in case - he takes out a single one of his needles. It's small compared to the ones he throws, but the shape is the same. He reaches up with both hands to pull his hair aside behind his ear and, without any ceremony, drive the needle in there up to its rounded hilt.

The line of his mouth twitches briefly into a frown, but one needle is only a precaution and not a precursor to being unable to control his body perfectly, so that's all. He smooths his hair back into place and looks at Hisoka. "Okay."

No don't let Silva do it, he'd go through with it but also Hisoka would probably try and stop him. Either that would end in Hisoka dying or- Silva dying. Though honestly Hisoka gets a bit of what he wants in either situation. Still- he's rather sure Chrollo could defend himself were that silver haired bear to come after him, to be true. He just would want to make sure Chrollo didn't- he wants that fight, needs it- needs him.

Always his schedule, always. Illumi, for as apathetic as he likes to come across- or JUST comes across at times, he sure does like calling the shots.

He arrives and pulls on a smile that only turns to a heavy frown when Illumi says that. Ten years older, really? Glances up, twisting some hair between fingers. Well he won't do white again then- he thought it looked all right, especially as a contrast to the red suit.

Ah- oh well.

"Ten? Really?" Ugh, pushing forty?? Upset! But his frown is as fickle as he is when his eyes catch hold of what Illumi's doing next. Watches, and slowly smiles, finding it just as interesting and fascinating as always. "Your little anchor set in nicely then?" A smirk, eyes slim. He knows the needles tend to 'hold it in place' once he shifts it. Poor thing, such a test on his body but Illumi really knows a thing or two about discipline.

Hisoka steps forward, reaching out with a hand to flit his fingers softly against the now short strands of hair. pulling back his hand, he sets it near his cheek and cocks his head.

"Cyy-uuute~"

Well, it's always possible Silva and Zeno will finally make good on their little quips about the dough for Chrollo not being worth dealing with his fighting skills... Still, take it up with them. Illumi does not need Chrollo in any way, alive or dead; very much not interested.

Hisoka's ten years problem is the suit more than the hair, though— if he dressed the way he always did with his hair all in white, it wouldn't be so... Reserved is hardly a good word for a bright red suit, but given the way they both usually dress, it's something like that. Illumi shrugs in response, straightening his coat again when Hisoka brushes against his hair. Ordinarily he would move his head away, but the brief touch is as much an informal confirmation that his nen has taken hold as it is... whatever Hisoka gets out of it.

Ah.

He hums, tilting his head from side to side a few times to be sure he can thoroughly ignore that needle while working. The physical feeling of it registers as a dull weight behind his ear rather than a point of pain, so it takes a second. The feedback loop of his own nen takes a slightly longer second - he might have gone a little overboard, to practice - but he notes with mild satisfaction that it's a brief adjustment overall. Good.

Wait, what did Hisoka call it... "Anchor? Hm. It's a little strange." A good show, huh. He checks the time on his phone. "We have a few minutes. Let's walk slow and I'll tell you about the target."

You know. Inconspicuously.

Who has enough money to pay to down the head of the Phantom Troupe? No one, and Hisoka likes it that way. He especially likes when his interests do not cross. Illumi having no interest in going after Chrollo is good. Illumi not going after Gon that one instant? Good.

No tug away from his hand by Illumi has him smiling. He won't push his luck though, and doesn't try to push his hand into more hair, despite the desire to.

"Anchor, isn't that just what it is? Your pins are 'anchors' to keep things in place, hm?" Smiles, shrugging up his shoulders and moving to pocket his hands. Lead the way, Illumi. He really- doesn't care about the target at all, that's true. But he could care about him in the next moment perhaps. Maybe kill him with a stray card for shits and giggles? Who knows. Depends on how he feels. He doubts Illumi will run into any trouble with this job, so Hisoka will just take the opportunity to mingle and eat for free.

Ugh, Gon. That boy is trouble- do something about him already, preferably something that will edge him away from Killua. How annoying...

Illumi hums again, moving past Hisoka to lead the way out of there. 'Anchor' is an interesting term for it, he'll have to keep that in mind— his brutally utilitarian application of nen to make it do what he wants leaves ironically little room for finesse. It does what he needs and he's forcing his way through to perfection slowly but surely, but it's likely true that going through all of the steps to learn nen fully before hammering out a personal skill would, well, help. 'Anchor'— if he stopped to visualize more deeply, just calling it that would probably do wonders.

Thanks? Hmm. "Something like that." As they walk he recites the description of his target he was given by the client, businesslike; older gentleman, balding, likely going to have his young wife on his arm and gravitate towards a certain set of people at this event with more influence than the rest... It's honestly all very dull, but Illumi goes through it so Hisoka knows which paranoid old man to stay away from.

He does realize how this could backfire, yes, but that's the usual consequence of giving Hisoka information. Hopefully that red suit will get him enough attention to be entertained.

When they come up across the street from the event hall he pauses, watching the entrance and thinking. Although they've teamed up before, they don't usually do the actual work side by side... but if he's pretending to be someone else with a plus one, then- uh. Looking convincingly plus-oned is not his forte. To Hisoka, like he's totally repeated this all out loud and not just thought about it, he says, "Can you convince them?"

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time skip to the party/job or just cut the thread soon?

let's party

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