A Little Pinch

The text came in at 4 in the morning. Hisoka had been staring at the wall in the hotel he was staying in for the week. A gut feeling told him who it was before he even unlocked his phone. He did only have a few contacts.

-Are you still out East?

-I might be ☆ Do you need something?

-Can you be in Kakin in three days?

-I am awfully busy, but I think I can spare some time for you ♡

***

He met Illumi at a small dark bar in the Empire's biggest city almost exactly 3 days later. The younger man was waiting with an open seat next to him and two glasses filled halfway with amber liquid.

"Well, if I had known you were going to buy me a drink I would have dressed a little nicer." Hisoka teased as he sat down.

Illumi simply tilted his head to the side as he examined Hisoka's outfit. It was nothing special, a black, skin tight tank with his favored diamond pattern in pink, black pants, and his favorite heeled boots. "You look fine to me." Illumi said, a tinge of confusion in his tone.

Hisoka resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and gave a soft sigh instead. Illumi was always a challenge to get to play along. "Right. This is business after all."

"Yes," Illumi confirmed. He nudged the drink in Hisoka's direction. "It's only polite to buy someone you're asking for help a gift. I didn't know what else would appeal to you."

With a slow blink, Hisoka picked up the glass and threw back the alcohol. "Maybe something fruitier next time."

"Done."

"What is it you need help with, Illumi?" Hisoka asked, leaning towards the other man with his chin resting on the back of his hand.

"A target of mine has three bodyguards." Illumi started. "They're from Meteor City and all three are Nen users. The target is also a Nen user."

"You'll have your hands full, then." Hisoka commented as the bartender set down a fresh glass in front of him.

"Right. Normally, I wouldn't call someone if there were only four. But there is no record of what the bodyguards' abilities are and the time frame is only 13 minutes. The target is stopping by his home between events and it has a robust security system that's monitored by a third party." Illumi paused to take a sip of his drink. "Milluki gave me a program that will black out the cameras and audio but since it's monitored it will be fixed. He gave me the 13 minute timeframe. The client also requires me to find an item somewhere in the house. There's too many variables I'm not entirely comfortable with."

Hisoka hummed as he ran the tip of his nail along the rim of his glass. "You need me to handle the bodyguards to give you time to take care of the target and find the object then?"

"Essentially, yes." Illumi said brightly, delighted that Hisoka had caught on so quick. "And since they have no records, you can handle the bodyguards however you want. I thought you might enjoy that part."

Illumi was right, he would enjoy that if the bodyguards put up enough of a fight. "Thinking of my pleasure, how sweet of you." Hisoka threw him a saccharine smile, though it was only met with a frown, quickly hidden behind a glass. "I did mention I'm busy, didn't I?" Hisoka told him. He would relent, but Illumi was being difficult, so he could be too.