#I still reserve the right to make fun of the one with the pristine pavement princess truck who always takes up two parking spaces

[i-want-the-rock-i-need-the-rock]

One of the small joys in my life was when my local theatre put on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, they bought add time on the Classic Dad Rock Throwback Not Like Modern Music Station that plays at my work and so I got to listen to the DJ squirming trying to sell this musical to thier presumed audience of Midlife Crisis Dudes Who Have Never Heard Of A Muffler for a few weeks and it was great

[miraizu]

Open Book - 4. An Informant’s Infamy

Open Book Ship: Chrollo Lucilfer/Reader Part: 4/?? [PREV] | [NEXT] Word count: 2,064  Warnings: None. Synopsis:  Everybody has to make a way of living. Some are hunters, some are thieves, some are just regular civilians trying to enjoy their lives. You? You're an informant, and in York New City, a city that never sleeps, you're about to find out just how much of a commodity that really makes you.

       "Hello, how can I help you -- no."

       Your face was a deadpan as you looked over at the new customer, unenthused as to who it was.  The man in question grinned coyly, spreading out his hands.

       "Aw, is that any way to treat an old friend, [Y/n]?"

       You snorted humorlessly.  "I could never see you again, Hisoka, and it would still be too soon."

       Hisoka Morow, 29 years old, and a transmuter.  If you had a physical list of people you hated, the top five slots would all be reserved to the annoying pain in the ass in front of you.

       Clearly unbothered by your remark, Hisoka casually strolled in, topaz eyes running over everything.  You were immediately on guard - whenever Hisoka was around, trouble always followed.  You didn't trust him at all, and were already at a huge disadvantage.  Your hatsu was purely for information, not at all suited for combat.  You had seen Hisoka's combative ability thrice before, and each time his opponents wound up mutilated and dead.

       He had a penchant for seeking out strong opponents and discarding the weak - it honestly confused you why he bothered with you at all.  Did he sense some hidden potential, or were you just really fun to annoy?  You didn't know the answer.  You weren't sure you wanted to know the answer.

       "I need some information."

       You nearly dropped the pen you had been holding out of shock, a rare occurrence for you as you met his eyes.  His face was serious, an expression that chilled you to the bone.  It bothered you almost as much as the fact that Hisoka Morow was coming to you for information.  A scenario you would have never thought possible.

       Blinking a couple times, you gazed at the man as if he had grown a second head.  "You....  Need information?"

       Hisoka huffed, striding forward.  "Is that so hard to believe, little informant?"  You bristled at the nickname, and his eyes twinkled in amusement at your reaction.  "I'm afraid I very well may need to find a nen exorcist soon, but unfortunately do not know of any."

       A nen exorcist?  A strange request, but not completely invalid.  If Hisoka had a nen curse placed on him, you would definitely leave him to die without a second of hesitation, but he seemed completely fine.  No, this nen exorcist was probably for somebody else, unfortunately.  However, a nen exorcist...  They were increasingly rare, a trade very few even pursued, let alone excelled in.  You had met one nen exorcist long ago, and you had seen him die yourself.

       You didn't like not having the information to help others, although the fact that it was Hisoka made you feel just a bit better.

       "I don't know of any," you admitted, meeting his gaze.  "Why, though?"

       For a moment, he stared at you, and upon realizing you were telling the truth he sighed and pulled back, clearly disappointed.  "I guess you'll never find out, little informant."

       He lifted a hand in a disinterested wave, already heading out of the door without any further conversation.  "Bye bye~."

       That was a bit...  Anti-climatic.

       Once you couldn't feel his presence, you had slumped, feeling drained.  You were always on edge around Hisoka, and every encounter with him left you drained.  It didn't help that, not even two hours prior had you dealt with Chrollo, and before that, Gon and his little merry band.  These encounters with familiar faces made your introvert self want to take a break from the entire world.  The only thing that kept you from completely doing that was the reminder that, once again, you had bills to pay.

       Being an adult truly sucked.

       Thankfully, throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening, as customers came and went, nobody else that you knew had come into your shop.  It was relieving - you would have lost your mind if you had to deal with anymore people.  Dealing with nameless customers who you'd never see again was one thing.  But with people you knew and were expected to have longer, more in-depth conversations with?  Forget it.

       Bidding a customer goodbye as he walked out with a dusty old GameBox, you allowed yourself to slump forward against the counter, using your arms to brace yourself as you hung your head.  You were exhausted, and only had one more hour until you needed to close up shop.  That hour, though, seemed to stretch on terribly.  Despite the auction starting soon, people came in and out of your store until the very end, and you wound up having to shoo people out as you went to go lock the door, flipping the sign to a close.

       The night may be young, but you wanted nothing more than to go to bed.  Not even bothering to count the cash drawer, you had gone upstairs, kicking your shoes off and collapsing on your bed in the corner in a heap, sprawled messily.  A nice long rest was just what you needed...

       And what you apparently couldn't get.

       You didn't know how long you had been lying on the firm mattress, tossing and turning, but your earlier sleepiness had faded away into an annoying restlessness.  Your mind wouldn't stop racing about everything.  The blond.  Gon and Killua.  Chrollo.  Hisoka.  Had it really been only two days since your first interesting customer?  It felt like ages, and you glared up at the ceiling in irritation as if it was the problem for all of your troubles.

       Apparently, sleep wasn't about to come so easily.  After a moment of contemplation, you sat up, running your fingers through slightly tangled hair.  Holding out your other hand you brought up your hatsu with ease, summoning your book.  First, you brought up Killua and Gon.  Both seemed together on the outskirts of town, by Hisoka of all people.  A part of you felt concerned, but the stronger part of you insisted that this was none of your business.

       Next, you brought up Leorio and Zepile, who were also together.  Go figure - you weren't surprised that those two would hit it off.  

       You pulled up a couple of others you often kept tabs on.  The people you were most interested in were in other countries, and finally, you wound up on Chrollo's page.  He was on the move, slowly but surely - right by the auction house.

       Glancing over at the clock, you hummed.  You probably weren't going to fall asleep any time soon anyways, so why not go and sate your own curiosity?  As much as you hated anything dealing with the mafia, you were more interested in seeing what Chrollo was doing.

       Rolling off the bed and onto your feet, you knew you'd have to dress the part.  You weren't great with formalities, so there was a lack of black-tie clothes, but eventually you found a dress that would work.  Eventually, you found a black qipao dress, and deemed it good enough.  It had been quite a long time since you had worn it, but thankfully it still fit like a glove, clinging tightly to your body in all of the right places.

       The dress itself was completely black and floor length - usually, the style would be a problem, but the slits on the sides ran up to your thighs, helping with movement.  You had black spandex under the dress to prevent any wardrobe mishaps.  The trim of the dress and collar were a metallic gold, and the dress was sleeveless, the collar wrapping around like a halter - it would seem modest, if the qipao wasn't backless.  Across the front of the dress was a golden dragon wrapping around ferociously, its red eyes glinting like two rubies.  It could fetch a pretty penny if you sold it, not that you would ever - it was a gift from a precious friend from his home country.  You'd never get rid of it.

       Pairing the dress with black heels so sharp that they could double as weapons, and strapping a wicked-looking dagger to each thigh, you deemed yourself ready to go out.  You looked elegant, almost ethereal if you didn't say so yourself.

       Okay, maybe you were just being a bit vain.

       Pleased with how well put-together you managed to look, you summoned your book, reconfirming Chrollo's location before you started to head out.

       While the area you lived and worked in was shady, in the darker recesses of York New City where the occupants were no strangers to crime on a daily basis, the locals knew you well.  Better yet, they knew not to mess with you.  In a city teeming with scum, it was a useful trait to have, and you walked with your head high down the sidewalk.  It would make your trek to the auction houses and other mafia-owned buildings go without a hitch.

       Every so often, while walking, you'd draw your book out to make sure he hadn't left your destination.  The click-clack of your heels on the pavement echoed throughout the quiet streets.  Everybody was either outside or down at the auction - not many were brave or stupid enough to walk in this part of the city once the sun set.

       As the tall, pristine buildings came into view, you swiftly made your book disappear.  Instead, using your next hatsu, you tapped the side of your temple, glasses slowly appearing.

       Another facet of your hatsu.  Years of being an informant had helped you figure out what was useful and possible with your nen capabilities, creating the last third of your hatsu ability as an informant.  Instant Sight: not the best for gathering information on people, but it had its uses.  By using an enhanced version of gyo over your eyes in the form of fashion lens, you could detect heat signatures over nen presences.  You could also pick out people in a crowd that you had used your ability on before - while you couldn't gain anything from a complete stranger, if you saw somebody who was already in a book, their information would come up in the bottom of your lens.

       What you also liked about Instant Sight was the zoom option.  It wasn't limitless, that would be next to impossible, but you could zoom from a couple hundred meters away, treating your glasses as binoculars of a sort.

       And honestly, as useless as it was...  You had made it possible for them to change appearance.  That part literally had no other use other than cosmetics, but you couldn't blend in if you wore an elegant dress paired with clunky, bright red glasses.

       Both parts of Open Book were best at gathering information on people; Instant Sight, however, was best for gathering the layouts of buildings and coming up with infiltration plans.

       Scanning over the crowd with your lens, you felt the edges of your lips tug upwards as a name seemed to float upwards in the air over the very person you were looking for.  He was walking indoors with a shorter woman with blue hair, and you hummed.  You needed to get past the checkpoint, and didn't have the proper identification to get through.  A minor bump in the road.

       Casually walking up to one of the guards at the checkpoint, you attempted to give your most charming smile.  It honestly wasn't the best, you weren't a very charismatic individual, and it seemed to fall short anyways as the guard's face lit up in recognition.

       "Hey, you're the informant woma-- gak!"

       At his outburst, you had quickly brought your hand up, striking him in the neck and causing him to collapse and choke on his words.  You caught him with ease, just as a car was passing by and effectively concealing him and you from the others.  Talk about sheer luck - you hadn't eve thought about that.

       Slipping through alongside the car, you made it in.  You didn't even look back as you heard shouts of confusion about the guard.  If you looked back, that would surely raise suspicion, and besides - you were on a bit of a time crunch.

       Making it into the building, you used your glasses to read the heat signatures again, unable to hide the excited smile that was starting to morph onto your face.

       Sleeplessness aside, you had a feeling this evening was going to be quite eventful.

[ciaossu-imagines]

can I ask B, C, F, I, K, U, V, W, X, Y for Alaude? thank you for the events

Thank you for the request and sorry for the wait!

B- Broken: what it takes to break them[An ice pick.]Honestly, being verbally assaulted or physicly attacked wouldn’t do anything as his spirit is so highly elevated that he could endure torture without a move for long hours.

Alaude is a loner and has a shell way thicker than a land tortoise’s, he doesn’t let anyone approach him to a point it could affect him, it’s only the case for very few, strong, people in his life and if something happens to them, it wouldn’t touch him much, or so he thought.If something did happens to them because of his life and behaviour like, a vengence of an enemy or something due to his implication with the mafia, he would feel broken.Not angry against the recipient, not sad he lost someone he care about, but distressed and broken because it would question his entire way of life and who he really is, or rather, how insignificant and weak he is, something he spent his life to run away of, trying to build who he thought he was.

C- Can’t: one thing that they can’t do in life/refuse to do

There’s few little things Alaude would be reluctant to do, if there’s a dirty job to achieve and it’s something that follow his view of the world, he would do it without questions and if it’s something that could make it better, he goes head down on it.But he would avoid to hurt children, citizen and animals at all cost, it’s won’t do something that could break his own law to because it’s how he works.He would never betray himself by doing something against his ideals nor betray his friends and family.

F- Fitness: how often they work out and what they prefer doing for a workout

Alaude spends 30 minutes of working out just before his breakfast [only constituated with proteine, usually a bunch of eggs, scrambled, boiled, fried..] and as soon as he engulfed his cup of coffee.Mostly, push-ups, abs exercices and lifting some not so heavy weights he has in his flats then some stretching to begin a day in good shape.He also do few hours of combat sport during the week, either in the training room of an illegal street fighting club, or he learns some boxing training from Knuckle.

I- Ingenuity: how clever they can be in tough situations

Alaude is really impressive when it comes to react quickly and thoughtfuly in complex situation.With his experience and his natural way of prediction, he’s a man who doesn’t go unprepare to a fight, a mission or just to face a daily life, he has a backup plan in his mind for every opportunities life can reserved to him

K- Killer: how old they were when they first killed someone.When he was younger, if Alaude could jump into a fight, he didn't think twice about it, though’, he never really tried to kill nor wished for someone to be dead. Even if he beat them hard and let their bloody unconscious body on the pavements, he always took care to never gave any deadly blow or something that could injure them to the point they could loose a vital sens, well okay, he did broke some arms and legs, but always to teach a lesson!So, the first time Alaude did kill a man, it was in the first few years he joined Giotto , it was not an order to kill, nor something premeditated, but they fell into an ambush and he pulled out his gun without a second thought to shoot a man aiming at Giotto.

U- Unbelievable: one thing that they experienced that they still have a hard time believing was realSeeing how the cloud guardian of the Tenth Generation of Vongola is so much a reckless brat.

V- Vengeance: have they every wanted vengeance on someone

Alaude doesn't do what he does for vengeance.Even during his younger years, when he was far more violent and ruthless, he never let vengeance motivate him.He does what he does, using all the means at his disposal, because, during his younger days, he could and it seemed fun or a good way to blow off his frustrations and, during his adulthood, because he could and because his actions seemed the right or just thing to do to Alaude.

W- Waiting: how good they are at waiting on something/someoneAlaude may seems like a master when it comes to wait when he aged a bit but deep inside, it’s still complicated for him.

He’s far away from his temperamental younger-self who had to dive into the action as soon as he could create ones, the actual Alaude is way more patient because he learnt that it can be useless and too bothersome to act and that sometimes, things work out themselves.Even if it irks him a bit to await before acting, he knows he could collect more informations and planned things better the more he has time.

When it’s about waiting for someone, he can’t bear delay to an appointment, if it’s not interesting/important to him, he would leave ten minutes after the given time if the person is still not there, if he does need the appointment, he will wait, reading a book he always carries in his pocket then he won’t hesitate to state his displasure to the person when they arrived.X- Xenodocheionology (the love of hotels according to some): since they do some traveling, what their favorite hotel wasThe favorite hotel

Alaude had ever visited was in a tiny village in Ireland, after weeks of travel tor reach a contact and make some new deals, he finally arrived into a  fancy wooden building, cosy with a gigantic fireplace in the hall, it seems it was the only attraction miles away.

Breakfast were copious and the price included dinner, washing clothes and a little sign on which was written «Do not disturb», he couldn’t have dreamt of something better.The room weren’t very spacious, but the big window offered a view of a pristine forest, there was a good soundproofing, the only thing which could be heard was the water of the nearly waterfall and birds, plus,  the blankets were heavy and smelled good.

Y- Yield: one thing that will make them stop what they’re doing no matter whatThe song of birds.Few chirpings notes coming from a bird passing by and Alaude stops whatever he’s doing, reading a book, writing paperwork or beating a guy until he passes out