"I have a question.."
Illumi looked up.
"What is it?" He didn't like the way Hisoka was smiling in his direction. His face was more tolerable when he was keeping his eyes to himself.
"Do you have to use your thinner pins to change your figure when you wear such a skintight dress?" Illumi clenched his jaw, meeting Hisoka's golden eyes and giving him a look that had 'I'm losing patience with you' written all over it. "Asking's not a crime~"
"Keep your voice down. I have no intention of letting your carelessness get in the way of this job." Hisoka smirked, taking a sip of his wine.
"Tut tut.. No fun at all, are you?" Illumi eyed him sternly, adjusting the black evening gown he was wearing.
"Next time I'll shove you in a dress instead. Bet you'd have much more fun being fawned over." The other man laughed, twirling a strand of his red hair around his index finger.
"Does that mean there's a next time then?"
"Can you leave me alone? Is that something you're capable of?"
The bustle of the party they were subtly crashing was slowly dying down. It was about time to slip out of the ballroom.
"So, we're clear on the plan?" Hisoka —who'd been toying with his open shirt collar— looked up.
"As clear as I ever am. We ditch in the next five or so minutes?" Illumi nodded, hoping Hisoka's vague answer wouldn't result in him going off book. Most likely this job would be less get in-get out than Illumi preferred, but sitting by himself for hours at the party of a man he didn't know would have looked too suspicious. In addition to that, Hisoka was certainly not useless even if he might be a pain in the ass.
Illumi set his glass down, getting up and eyeing Hisoka to signal he should do the same. He led the way out of the —now sparse— clusters of people talking and through the double doors into an empty hallway.
Illumi took a moment to consult his memory of the house's layout. He didn't want to waste time opening doors looking for the master bedroom.
The clack of his heels echoed as the pair of them made their way up a staircase and down another, darker hallway before dipping into the second door on the righthand side.
"Alright.. we stay in the bathroom until he gets upstairs. No exploring, no purposeful distractions, nothing that is going to jeopardize this job. Are we clear?" Hisoka gave him a wink and a rakish grin.
"Crystal."
Once in the bathroom, Illumi took off his heels, stowing them in the corner of the bathtub and then stepping in himself.
"Get in here. I'm going to draw the curtain." The other stepped in, pressing unnecessarily close.
"Never thought I'd be sharing a shower with you, Mr. Zoldyck~"
Illumi decided not to dignify that statement with a response. Instead, he held a finger up to his lips.
They waited rather longer than Illumi had expected. That didn't bother him, but he could feel Hisoka beginning to get bored. The other man had taken to fiddling with the king of hearts. He'd flick it between his fingers before twirling his hand, card disappearing into thin air.
Illumi was just about to tell him to cut it out when he heard slow footsteps coming down the hall. Hisoka heard them too, pocketing the card.
It was dark enough in the bathroom that the two of them could see the light being turned on in the bedroom through the crack of the door. Illumi slid out a pin silently as he heard his target whistling a low tune. His footsteps had become more subtle as he walked around his room. Illumi assumed he had taken off his shoes.
The whistled tune stopped as a cellphone went off. The ring ended and a voice cut through the silence.
'Hello? Ah— No problem at all it's never a bad time to talk to you! I was just about to have a shower, but I can spare a couple minutes.'
The door to the bathroom opened and the lights flicked on as a low mumble came from the man's cell phone.
'The party? No, I just said my goodbyes to the last couple. Lovely people really- it was a pleasure to host.'
There was a rustle of fabric as the man took off his suit jacket.
'A real shame you couldn't make it! My wife was really hoping to meet you this time, but I'm sure we'll catch you next time.'
The man laughed heartily at something said on the other end of the phone.
Hisoka looked over at Illumi who nodded, prepping a pin.
'Yeah well if you ever want to come over for dinner feel free. I still have a nice bottle of red someone from the office gave me for my 50th. Yeah it was-'
The man's voice cut out abruptly.
Illumi's now empty hand fell to his side as he mouthed a goodbye,
'My apologies- I think I have to go. Catch up later?'
The moment the call ended, the man dropped his phone, eyes glazed over as he stared into the mirror in front of him.
As previously promised, Illumi stepped aside so Hisoka could finish him off. He watched the king of hearts slice it's way through the throat of a man who was already as good as dead.
Hisoka licked the card, eyes traveling back over to Illumi.
"Catch up later, mm? You really are cruel, aren't you Illu."
The man smiled at him, as he wiped a bloody hand on the target's crisp shirt.
Illumi merely shrugged, slipping back into his heels.
"You know me well enough by now to answer that question."
Once they'd cleaned up and made their way out into the night air, Illumi glanced over at Hisoka.
"You were much better behaved tonight than usual.. I expected at least one or two extra casualties."
Hisoka raised an eyebrow, meeting his eyes.
"Mm... Wasn't feeling all too inspired."
Illumi frowned, looking back ahead of him.
"I'll invite you to assist on something a bit more compelling next time then."
The other gave a soft sigh and Illumi could hear that he was smiling by the tone of his voice.
"Will I get to see you in a dress again next time?"
Illumi took a moment before responding.
"You'll be my next target if you don't learn to hold your tongue."
He heard Hisoka make a contented murmur at that statement, but the man was otherwise silent.
The night had been a success.
