DISCOVERY ➴ Chrollo x Reader

XLII. Odd

Once we reached the jeep, I dropped his arm and finally looked at him. Chrollo had changed his white button-up shirt for a black oversized t-shirt, and his black trousers for a similar style with more pockets. He looked much younger and rebellious with his hair down and his forehead tattoo on display. He took my inspection with a stunned silence, simply returning my gaze. 

I cleared my throat and forced myself to be the one breaking the awkward silence. "Are you ready to go?" 

"Yeah." His tone was monotone, and he didn't move a single muscle to get closer to the jeep. 

Why was he behaving so oddly? "Is there something wrong?" 

His eyebrows furrowed together, as if he was fully entrapped in a state of confusion. "...'s more like what isn't..." His mumbled response was nothing compared to the perplexed look over he threw my way, as if I was a puzzle box with three different sets of puzzle pieces mixed together. 

What in the fuck was going on? I returned his puzzled stare and that seemed to shake him out of whatever was going on in his head, his hand reached for the handle to the passenger's seat. 

I made my way to the driver's seat, winced as I heard the door slam, and pulled my seatbelt quickly over my body. It was ironic, really, to be putting on a seatbelt when travelling with a criminal. I huffed an amused laugh and stepped on the clutch, while starting the car up. My gaze fell again to my kidnapper turned travel-buddy. 

I couldn't suppress a tiny gasp of surprise to find him already staring back at me, as if I had grown an extra head and this wasn't the usual for the last few days. My head tilted to the side, and I couldn't hold back an annoyed "What?"

He licked his lips wet before parting them, yet no sound ever left him. I could almost picture a jam in the metaphorical cogs of his brain by the look on his face. It lasted but a second, and I once again got a mumbled answer back, a simple "Nothing." He turned away from me, and looked out the window. 

This was definitely... a different type of weird than before? What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he tell me? A sigh left my lips as I slowly drove off the car park. And here I thought he couldn't get harder to read and to deal with... I turned the blinkers on to enter the main road and blanked. "Hum..." How did I interrupt him? 'Not to try to spoil your brooding but...?' Ah! As if... I had that much confidence... If only it was all about a single switch on the brain... I had decided to change my attitude, but the old ways pulled me back. Could I get a bit of sarcasm coating my words? "I don't mean to bother but... Where shall we go?"

"Just... head for Blogreach." He mumbled without even meeting my eyes on the window's reflection. 

"Okay?" What was wrong with him? Had I done something to incite this treatment? I found the entry to the highway and stepped on the gas pedal. My thoughts seemed to accompany the cars newfound speed. What had we done? What had I said? When had it begun- Oh no. Was it the sex? Did he not enjoy it? Did he want to get rid of me? Maybe I should've stayed back... Was it too late? I was already on the highway! Damn it. 

I fidgeted with the wheel, feeling out of place, and jerked awake from my thoughts once the car started trembling and a sharp noise followed along. I had run over the guidelines, I swerved to the middle of my lane and took a deep breath. 

Thankfully, Blogreach wasn't too far, it was a small village close to the borders of Saberta... I wondered how we'd pass border control to the Republic of Nakkara... Only then would we reach the west coast of the continent... How far west did he want to go anyway?

It wasn't like I could ask with him acting so... cold. 

Gods, it had to be the sex. He hated it. He regretted it. 

I slowly stepped on the brakes, ready to slow down and leave the highway. The silence was unbearable... I had no clue what to say to fix this. There was nothing to fix, really... Nothing that I could fix.

We passed a large sign indicating we were now entering Blogreach, and Chrollo huffed before deigning to speak to me. "Left, then second exit on the roundabout, followed by a right turn."

I followed the instructions quietly. What else could I do? I had blown the best chance I had to escape. The road narrowed, and once I turned right, we left the smooth road for a dirt one. Trees towered over the car, cutting off the radiance of what would've been a very sunny afternoon. A shabby building appeared to the left, there were many cars for show, scraps, rusty carcasses and several stacks of tires. 

He seemed to notice my inspection of the building that drew closer because he simply added, "That's where you'll stop." 

Ah, yes, of course we'd stop at the shadiest looking building. How silly of me to think otherwise.

I jumped when I heard him wheeze, followed by a few coughs and a throat being cleared. I narrowed my eyes at him as I turned the wheel to get into the driveway of the large garage.  What was wrong with him? What was he laughing about?

"Grab all your things, we're walking." His voice was still cold, handing out a simple order with no taunting before he swung his door open and left the jeep to meet a tall, skinny man. I rolled my eyes, grumbling some nasty curses under my breath as I did as instructed.

I stuck a cereal bar between my lips as I took hold of my backpack, and threw every bag of chips and half full water bottle in the travel bag he had got me. I gave the jeep a look over and finally felt ready to abandon the comfort provided by the metal case around me. 

The skinny man was wearing large overalls covered in various dark oils and soot. His voice was shrill, and I only got to overhear him say he was pleased with the deal as he slapped a stack of notes over Chrollo's outstretched hand. Selling the jeep? Smart. 

I approached them slowly, stopping just a few steps behind Chrollo. He parted his ways with the buyer and ignored my presence, heading for the jeep and removing his own bags. 

Feeling unnerved now that my buffer between me and the honestly creepy older man, I simply followed him like an abandoned puppy. He never did look behind his shoulder to ensure I was following, he just walked out the driveway and ventured between the trees, making his own path.