Work Text:
"Do you not know who I am? The Don has requested our presence - both myself and my lovely fiancé.”
The guards gaped at the two visitors, heeled and intimidating. One of them was slight at the waist, built in the arms, and wearing an ensemble of brightly-coloured silk that made him look like a jester in a tuxedo.
He wore a gleaming rapier at his side, too ornamental for proper use. No dagger accompanied it. Instead, within his lapel was an imprint of something square. Perhaps a napkin or a letter- it spoke of a gambler or a fool. A dangerous one, if the musculature of himself or his partner was anything to go by.
This guest was easily eight heads tall ; the other was taller. Her waves of blonde hair glistened, touching a blue gown with a slit at the side that revealed her muscular legs.
"What is the delay? The house de Moreau isn’t one to forget a slight.”
The guards got over their surprise and stepped out of the way as the woman beside him strode forwards, giving them a disdainful glare. Her partner followed, giving a smile that showed too many teeth. It was no bluff. The threat was sincere.
"I'm never going to be able to remember that name," she muttered to him.
"The more noble you are, the more names you have. It's a rule." The man said with a smile. Ever enigmatic, he did not confirm if the name he gave the guardsmen was legitimate. Or, indeed, the one Bisky knew him as for the entire year of their contract.
"Don't worry, we don't have to keep this up for more than one dance. The Don likes his parties - he'll be out showing off that necklace soon enough."
"Hisoka, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a ballroom dancer."
"Dancing is exactly like fighting with a polearm, except you aren't trying to kill your partner. And there is no polearm."
"So, not at all like fighting."
Hisoka took her hand and guided her through the steps. Clumsy at first, but with gathering confidence.
"There isn’t the feel of a kill, not exactly. But it's one of the few pleasures nearly as blissful. It’s about feeling the connection to your partner through their movements-”
A hand caressed Bisky's shoulder, built and soft with silk. Growing agitated, it journeyed down, nails quickly nipping her skin.
“-Guiding them with nothing but the touch of an arm around their waist."
They were very close together now, as they spun across the ballroom floor. Impulsively, she swept the smaller man off his feet and leaned over him.
"Surprisingly graceful of you… Did you know the man usually does that?" Hisoka said, hazy with glee. His eyes may well have been crossed - a frightening sight for anybody ordinary.
"You’re not a nobleman," she said with a smile. She doubted someone walking the backstreets in Hass, made up or bare-skinned, was. However extreme their arrogance. "And something tells me you don’t mind me taking over. I’m done with dancing - here comes the fun part."
The Don was coming down the stairs, resplendent in a dark jacket, the Blue Planet resting on his chest on a gold chain.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, your Grace." Hisoka stepped forwards gallantly. "I heard you've been on an adventure recently."
"Ah, yes. I picked up this little souvenir from a dungeon in Greed. To think, those savages were keeping such a beautiful artefact in a musty old tomb!"
"Oh, do tell us how you retrieved it. I'm a sucker for tales of derring-do and heroism."
Bisky watched in amazement as the noble chattered on about how he and his soldiers had committed murder and grave-robbing on foreign soil. Her partner was actually batting his eyelashes at the Don as he egged him on.
It was working. The odd man held every eye in the court - nobody noticed the warrior woman slowly shifting into position. Or, the speaker’s orange eyes and yellowing nails sharpening with bloodlust. It seemed the very signs any ordinary person would be able to spot, such as the guardsmen, were blurred in the face of nobles enraptured.
"But enough about me. I don't believe we've been introduced, Signor de Moreau. And do tell me who this lovely woman accompanying you is?"
"That would be Biscuit Krueger, Greed Island’s hunter of stones."
There was a glorious half-second of stunned silence. Immediately after, Bisky punched the Don so hard, he flew upwards.
Panic unfolded on the dance floor. Nobles scattered and guards began pushing forwards. Hisoka unsheathed his cards from their hiding-place while Bisky retrieved the Planet from the stunned Don.
"Which do you prefer, my beloved? Spear or halberd?"
"Call me that again and I’ll crush you. Halberd, please." The card flashed, flew in a clean arch, and a guard dropped his weapon with bleeding fingers. Hisoka kicked it over to the woman, a spectacle of silk, who picked it up and whirled it overhead before settling into a fighting stance.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's been an honour, but I'm afraid we must take our leave."
"What he means is, you can either let us leave peaceably, or I'll leave you in pieces."
The magician let out an uncharacteristic sigh. "Try not to bleed on the dress. I picked it out specially for you."
"I do like it. It gives me enough freedom of movement to fight in. Be a shame to ruin it."
She advanced with an easy confidence, halberd raised in a striking position, and the guards started to shake in fear. Hisoka followed in her wake, cards at angles that covered her blind spots.
"I know it's a daring cut. Forgive me, I wanted something that would show off your muscles."
"You say the nicest things." Bisky murmured. Her eyes flicked around the ballroom, assessing the battlefield with a soldier's eye. "Alright, south door. I'll clear a path. You take the guard on the left. Go!"
The two adventurers charged forwards, scattering the Don’s guards, and took off into the night with their prize.