gho(st)²ories (yan/obsessive chrollo x reader)

Act 8, Chapter 8

you feel dizzy as you park at one of the employee designated parking spots at the supermarket.

you're nervous, anxious and already annoyed.

it feels like it has been forever since you've gone to work even though it has just been a week.

overall it has just been barely over a month since you moved here and two weeks since you got the job.

and already having been sick on your second day of work make's you feel miserable and as if you've left a bad impression.

you lock your car and get in through the back.

"Oh (y/n)! good to see you again!" your boss greets you happily and you relax a little.

a part of you had expected the worst, that he would be angry at you or something and you're more than glad that you were wrong.

"It's good to be back" you say with a smile.

your statement isn't a lie.

you were starting to get really bored at home even though you almost constantly had Chrollo around you.

"do you feel better? you definitely look better than last week" he say's with a smile.

"yes, I'm doing much better, thank you" you like him.

he seems like he cares and even if he doesn't, you at least appreciate the effort he puts into making you think that he cares.

but you wouldn't say he's a pretender, even though you don't know him that well.

he engages you into a casual conversation since you're early and gives you a quick run through of your tasks for today.

it doesn't take long until someone else enters the break room in which you and your boss are sitting and talking in.

a familiar head of red hair enters and you try your best not to drop your face into one of annoyance.

Hisoka.

he greets both of you with a lopsided grin, he's barely on time which you think is unusual for him.

your boss gives a quick glance to his watch before saying that the store should open now.

"(y/n), why don't you follow me so I can show you how to unlock the doors?" he say's and you're just about to nod and stand up as Hisoka interrupts.

"why the hassle? I have a key, I know how to unlock the doors." he says and the grin he flashes almost makes you shudder.

"well, if you don't mind Hisoka" your boss says and Hisoka say's he doesn't.

but you do. you mind.

you will probably already be having Hisoka stick to you half of the day, can't you at least get a few more minutes without him?

Hisoka motions with his head to follow him so you do.

'maybe he changed' you think.

he seemed so different when he came to visit you, though it was uninvited and still uncomfortable, and talked about the paintings.

you follow him out of the break room, out of the storage compartment and into the store.

"did you know that this town was once home to a cult?"

he talks so gently that you almost didn't hear him and his words are so sudden that you need a moment for them to reach you.

you are unable to tell him that you do in fact know before he speaks again.

"do you know what makes a cult leader a good cult leader?" he continues asking.

you're quiet for a moment, wondering why he is asking you something like that before you carefully tell him that you do not know what makes a cult leader a 'good' cult leader.

you follow him to the front of the store and he unlocks the door with his key, not even really showing you how but you figure that it can't be that hard to unlock a telescoping sliding door.

"there are four main aspects" he says as he checks if the doors work by triggering the sensor.

they quietly open and close.

"the first one is picking the right target. People who are the most susceptible to recruitment are stressed, emotionally vulnerable, have tenuous or no family connections, or are living in adverse socioeconomic conditions. some cult leaders may actually make their targets vulnerable, emotionally stressed and lose their family connections in order to recruit them."

you follow him as he speaks, going back to the storage compartment.

"the second is love bombing." he opens the door to the storage and gives you a box with stuff to put into the shelves.

he doesn't look at you once, neither as he speaks nor as he gives you something to do.

"love-bombing is more or less self-explanatory if you're bot completely stupid. Having identified a stressed, emotionally vulnerable target, cults flood that person with affection, flattery, and validation. A recruiter approaching the target and doing everything they can to make the target feel speciall and unique. They're quickly trying to convey the message that I am your new best friend, that I am all you have and ever will have.
This may even go as far as faking interests and hobbies to attract a target, to make them feel heard"

he holds the door open for you to get back into the store to do your work.

you mutter a quick "thank you" as you pass by him and when you glance up at him to express your appreciation, he looks down on you with an emotionless and almost dark face.

you walk past him the fastest you can without making it too obvious.

"the third is isolation." Hisoka continues and you let him walk past you.

"once they've enticed a recruit with approval or the promise of some fulfilling understanding of whatever they want, cultists then work to isolate the recruit. Not only are recruits physically isolated from friends and family members who might otherwise provide a reality check, but cults often isolate recruits from outside information, ensuring that the only reality the recruit gets to experience is the one presented or approved by the cult. A lot of cult settle on lonely islands, ghost citys or a mansion far enough away from a city to not have disturbances."

you follow Hisoka into one of the corners of the store, right where the contents of the box he gave you are supposed to go.

he leans against a shelf as you silently start to put everything where it's supposed to go, not daring to utter a word.

he leans there, relaxed, with his arms crossed, watching you attentively.