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the clear goblet was daintily placed back on the counter, the unmelted ice clinking softly against the glass.
‘another one, if you would.’
hisoka raised an arched eyebrow at the dozen—no, dozen and a half—of glasses in front of the patron, each and every one of them emptied of its contents, leaving the ice no time to melt into nothingness. hisoka had offered him a taste of every spirit available in the bar: scotch, whiskey, brandy, hennessy; you name it. even the heaviest drinker would have stopped by six glasses, but this customer gulped down every single drink hisoka handed him without any inspection and asked for another without even batting an eye.
hisoka offered a thin-lipped smile. ‘what would you like…’
‘sir.’
‘sir?’ he looked straight at the customer, inspecting his appearance once again. he’d never seen hair so smooth—on a man, at least; and when he looked back at hisoka, you could see how hollow those eyes were. pitch black, like a void. hisoka felt intrigued; he hadn’t met someone this intriguing in a long time. every now and then, he’d catch tales about mafia disputes and political ploys from drunken customers, to which he sold as information, but they disinterested him.
he looked down on those clinging onto materialistic desires and those in pursuit of power; he could easily have the world if he wanted it. but what for? he wouldn’t do anything if he didn’t have fun in the process.
‘anything would do.’ the patron spoke, his voice strangely amiable as contrasted to the complete devoid of emotion on his face.
‘oh? are you not drunk yet?’ hisoka knew it was a dumb question. but he loved to see exasperation on people’s faces after expressing his so-called stupidity.
unfortunately for him, the customer just stared at him with a blank look. ‘no. i can hold my alcohol pretty well.’
didn’t even notice, hisoka thought to himself. he grabbed the half-full bottle of brandy and poured the remaining contents into the previously used glasses, tossing the emptied bottle like a juggling pin afterwards.
the customer took a glass and downed it like water. hisoka almost frowned; it felt like someone was eating spaghetti with their toes in front of him. he certainly wasn’t an elitist when it came to alcohol, but the way this man clearly had no regards for it stirred up something between annoyance and amusement in him. how long had it been since something managed to tick him off?
‘i don’t think i’ve seen you around before.’
‘yeah, i’m here for a job.’
a job? the customer was dressed strangely, with a sleeveless purple coat cropped crisply right above his cinched waist. the shirt underneath it baggy and loose, with pale, slender fingers dancing underneath the sheer fabric. his hands rested neatly on the counter, cleanly cut nails not moving an inch. hisoka felt an urge to hold them, to scrutinise them, to see if it was as smooth as it looked like.
‘that’s a strange job you have,’ hisoka quipped, eyes narrowing as the edges of his mouth stretched into what he called his ‘friendly’ smile.
the customer was unperturbed by hisoka’s attempt to poke fun at him; rather, he seemed to have taken it quite literally. ‘i don’t usually meet with people anyways, this is what i deem comfortable.’
‘interesting.’ hisoka wanted to laugh at the man’s blunt take of his words. most of the things he said were pondered upon and doubted by people, but this man with a weird outfit and even weirder eyes actually didn’t seem annoyed to the very least. ‘may i ask about this...job?’
‘i don’t think you would be very pleased if i told you,’ the light tone of his didn’t manage to mask the obvious caution behind his voice. hisoka grinned, the tips of his nails drumming on his chin.
‘do humour me.’
‘i refuse.’ he took another swig, emptying the second glass.
‘drinks on the house.’ hisoka didn’t dare think about the bill.
the man stared at him. the dark eyes bored into him, like black tar seeping through every nook and cranny. his senses told him to run; but he enjoyed the adrenaline rush of defying his instincts. he raised an eyebrow, ignoring the fervent shake in his hands and tucking them behind his back.
‘you realise that i’ll have to kill you if you knew, right?’ the man’s voice was as amiable as ever, porcelain fingers lifting the last glass up to his stoic face. such doll-like features and doll-like mannerisms. if only he was obedient; he’d make the perfect plaything. he bit his tongue holding back a grin.
‘assuming you can kill me.’ every fibre in hisoka’s body was tense except the shit-eating grin on his face. the bloodlust given off by the man in front of him was terrifying, the aura oozing off him suffocating as ever as time seemed to stop.
‘that’s funny.’ hisoka could hear again, the roaring in his ears receding almost immediately as the terrifying air around the customer dissipated just as fast. a thin-lipped smile lingered on his face, horrifying paired with those eyes that didn’t reflect a single bit of light; yet so reassuring. hisoka felt his shoulders slacken. he was forcibly making him let his guard down. what the fuck was this kind of control? blood rushed to hisoka’s head, making him dizzy with excitement. he had got to know more about this man.
‘well, thank you for the drinks.’ the man stood up, just a few centimetres shorter than hisoka. his step was steady, without a single sign of intoxication. ‘yorknew is pretty popular with my clients. i may be back in a month or two.’
‘i thought i at least deserved a name?’
‘perhaps so.’ he was already at the door. ‘you can call me illumi zoldyck.’
zoldyck. the alcohol tolerance, the bloodlust, it all made sense now. the back of hisoka’s neck was slick with sweat, the adrenaline starting to wear off as it was replaced by a dryness in the throat.
‘and if i paid you to kill me?’
hisoka didn’t even get to finish his sentence as something grazed his cheek. the clang of breaking glass was heard behind him.
‘i recommend checking the price first.’
and he was gone, just like that. hisoka looked down, the amber liquid flowing around his boots earning a grimace. something caught his eye as he crouched and grabbed the wink of gold among the glass shards, the edges opening up slits of vermillion on his fingertips.
a needle.
blood dripped onto hisoka’s hand. his cheek must’ve been cut from when illumi threw it.
hisoka laughed. he’d found a big fish this time.