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Who: Hisoka & Open
When: IC Date: 6/9 || OOC Date: 3/20
Where: Cultural Festival, spilled out into the streets.
What: To blend in and creep on people, Hisoka decides to perform at the festival.
Rating/Warning: You never know with him, will update as necessary.

Notes: Prose or action is fine with me. Let me know if you want to fight him and we haven't already talked about it, just so I can tell you about his douchebaggery.

STREET PERFORMANCE
All in all, when he puts on his smile and showman's flair, there's nothing so terribly disconcerting about him. He is dressed like a clown with paint on his face, red in his wild hair. His balancing ball, juggling clubs, knives, and playing cards look completely at home with him. He is quite an accomplished acrobat, his tricks are well-practiced and performed seamlessly.

He balances on the large red ball with one hand, doing a coin trick behind his back with the other.

He juggles a multitude of items with his eyes blind-folded, and can even do it when they're on fire.

His has flowers and glitter up his sleeves.

"Ta-da," he announces dryly, smiling as he bows.

FORTUNE TELLING
When his acrobatics are complete, he can be found later sitting beneath a tree shuffling a deck of cards. A hastily scrawled sign hanging from the lowest limb of the tree says that he will read your fortune for you, for a small fee.

It never hurts to have a little extra money in a new town.

Wildcard
He'll be around doing cultural festival things, do what you do. PM me if you want to hash anything out.

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She sees him doing his tricks, and claps along with the rest of the crowd, but her smile is only polite. Vaguely distant, really, as the initial excitement wears off and she wonders what on earth she's actually doing here when there's much more to still do to get accustomed to this place. The world is still unsteady under her feet, and something feels...less than right about going from a place with long reaching goals to this.

But it's later when she sees the acrobat again and sees his sign, and it all seems to click. Being less certain about the future lent itself to asking for a fortune telling pretty well - he might actually have power.

"Fortunes as well as your performance? What can you not do, I wonder?"

Grell doesn't sit yet, but her eyes are drawn to his bright hair. Like hers, she thinks.

The clown does not immediately lift his eyes. He continues to shuffle his cards for a moment, very carefully controlling his aura and his excitement. This one has an interesting unnatural swagger to her. It is beyond his context, so he cannot quite put a name to it, but that is only all the more interesting. There were a number of interesting members of this colony, and he has been prioritizing his needs for them one by one, while disguised in the crowd, his nen pulled in and disguised to most. It was one of his better tricks, hiding in plain sight, a necessity to his personality. And a tenant of all his strategies with his bungee gum.

When he is ready he looks up at Grell with a smile.

"I have yet to find my limits," he tells her, his tone playful although he has not said anything false. He shuffles the cards, cuts and twists them, cuts and twists, and shuffles. "Let's not talk. The more chitchat the more skeptical clients become about their fortunes."

As if he is some kind of professional. Shuffle shuffle shuffle.

"All I need to know is what fortune you want to hear: Money, Love, Conflict, Self. Or a little bit of everything."

His smile is met with a polite one of her own as she sits down in front of him, only a well crafted fake to someone skilled in the art of deception. Untrained eyes saw nothing amiss, saw something bright and true, but actors know actors, and she's less in practice than she'd like to be. No matter, give it time and she'll remember all the old tricks. She'll remember how to isolate the self from the show, and then it will be so invisible she might even fool herself.

Category wise, it's simple. Money wasn't something she cared too much about, and as for love, that was already a settled subject. So that narrowed it to two.

"Let's try self."

Because conflict, she thinks, will rear its head soon enough.

He cuts and twists the deck once more, shuffles twice, and from the bottom of the deck hands her the card face up. As soon as she takes it, he deals out three more face down from the top of the deck. He smiles to himself, letting the cards settle before saying conversationally,

"I like to take from both ends of the deck, to appease the skeptics," and a chuckle as he flips the three face down.

The card in her hands is an inverted four of coins. The other three are the ace of coins, an inverted ace of cups, and the six of wands.

"You're moving on," he decides. "You've been in a state of stagnation, but..." a shrug, because being here in the colony was proof enough of it, the cards did not need to tell her, "Something new has come along. Not just anything... a new profession for which you have a flare. Pursue that for now, it's your best chance, and be sure not to fall in love with any of your coworkers, it will be a disaster."

There are a few other things he suspects based on this reading, but he is perfectly content to keep those speculations to himself.

Her smile fades momentarily, and she looks down at the cards. Of course, it could mean something surface-wise, but...looking at them like this, part of it felt like an affirmation. A reminder of the chains that had been broken recently - to view it not as a human, it was so little time at all that had passed. Something new, her moving finally, what else could it truly be at its heart?

It's your best chance. A skeptic would have said it was coincidence, that they were seeing what they would. But Grell believes in magic, in prophecy, and whatever this man has glimpsed in the cards, whatever power he may possess, it says enough to her to be the words needed. What was it that He had said?

Through time and worlds unmeasurable...

"A disaster that will never come to pass." And as she looks up, the smile is back as easily as it had left, the words said with enough certainty that her deeper meditations are all swept back to hide. "But sound advice all the same. You have my gratitude." And, of course, payment.

Her reaction to his words tells him plenty enough, an interesting mixture of honesty and performance. He scoops his cards back up without ceremony and shuffles them all together once more. He sits back against the tree trunk comfortably.

"You seem unsurprised."

It's rude to pry without asking if he can, but really. Fuck if he cares.

"Perhaps because your words fall upon me not as the unasked for visitations of a stranger, but affirmations that echo a well known acquaintance."

She holds back from saying friend, because it wasn't the closest word. Neither was there really one where the companionship was one sided, respect and fealty freely given but rarely an answer to come through.

"A reminder, not a revelation, and more welcome for it."

"As it should be," his comment wry, and he does not elaborate.

There were fortune tellers in the world, truly, but most were charlatans... like himself. Expecting a grand prophecy from any old stranger was naive, but it has been known to pay the bills.

"I think you should pay with your name."

"Are you sure it's a fair trade?"

His sign had said a small fee, but it had never specified credits. Still, a name...already she's thinking about what his could possibly be. Something she thinks she'd never be able to guess, from the looks of him - he might have a few different ones.

"It's Grell."

"It's fair enough."

Hisoka doesn't believe in fairness. Fairness is arbitrary, in the eye of the beholder, and yet some people insist on treating it as some undeniable social contract. He doesn't care if anything is fair, he wants what he wants, and that is what he will have. Although, he can imagine Gon striking a bargain such as this and spewing some fantasy about how vastly important is to make new friends.

He quirks a smile. "Making new friends is very valuable."

That's enough to get her to laugh a little, hiding sharp teeth with the back of her hand like a lady should. Friends? Let him think what he wants, call it what he wants. She'd hesitate to say giving someone a prophecy made them friends. New allies were valuable indeed, but she'd never brazenly say it in front of a stranger.

"And what will it cost me to get your name?"

"Hisoka."

It means nothing to him, anyone who has ever spent any time in his company knows it isn't his. He could strip it off and change it without looking a second thought, without looking back. One day he will, one day he will change his name and wear his hair down, every day clothes, and he'll walk past his worst enemy without being noticed, because it won't be 'Hisoka' any longer.

"A pleasure to meet you, Grell."

"The pleasure's all mine."

Hisoka. A name that struck her as something that fit this man's image as much as the makeup on his face. Out of all the strangers she's met today, there's something curious about him that makes him the most striking out of them. Something that makes her think that the backdrop could be different - another place, another world - and he would still seem to have appeared, showy and yet hidden by it all. Peculiar trait, in a human.

"But I won't tarry for its sake. Other customers will think you're busy."

Rising from her seat, she adjusts her bag on her shoulder, and nods before she begins to walk away.

"Until next time."

[This was getting ridiculous.

It wasn't as if Yusuke disliked festivals-- actually, any other time, he'd be hyped, eating all of the food and trying to beat the clearly rigged stands. But his first real foray into ViViD had drained him, physically and emotionally, and even if things didn't turn out as badly as he feared, he wasn't in the mood for all of this right now. All he wanted to do was pick up some food, head home, and rest, NOT try to pick his way through throngs of people crowding the street because of... well, whatever it was.

There were only so many people he could knock into before he snapped, and unfortunately, this unlucky bastard who bumped against him was going to get his wrath.]

MOVE, dammit! Stupid clowns and their stupid street-blocking habits...

[ Hisoka does not immediately respond to this blatantly rude act. It's best that way, to leave a false sense of safety hanging in the air. That has been the goal of this entire farce, really, to pretend that he is nothing with his nen pulled in tight around him, imperceptible to anyone who wasn't actively looking. It gives him the chance to rank and file all the other viable fighters in the colony. Luckily enough the boy is one. Maybe not quite to his full potential, but far from green.

Without missing a beat in his juggling, Hisoka throws a dagger after him. He utterly suspects the boy can dodge it if he chooses, but either way..

They have to get things started somehow. ]

[Yusuke senses it before he sees it coming.

Nerves coiled tight, he snaps a hand up in the air, catching the dagger between his fingertips before it could bury itself in his back. Glancing back over his shoulder, he casts a wary eye at the clown he had bumped into beforehand. Did that jerk do this? He was juggling things, after all...

With a quick flick of his wrist, he sends the dagger flying towards Hisoka, sinking into the dirt near his feet.]

You may wanna be more careful with that act of yours, pal. You might wind up hurting someone with it.

[The steely edge in his voice, however, makes it clear that he's suspecting this is more than a case of slippery fingers.]

[ The clown stops his juggling with an exaggerated bow... and as he stands and turns to face Yusuke, the knife at his feet flies back into his hands. That is the trouble with Hisoka, never quite easy to tell when he has and hasn't attached his very flexible aura to something... He's had years of practice at it, barely even thinks about it anymore, impressive when he can also keep track of all his little bundles of sticky gum.

He rolls the knife through his fingers the way one would roll a coin, fearless of its sharp edge. He places his other hand on his hip, a performance of nonchalance. The tone of his voice is subtly antagonizing, ]

Might I? What a terrible accident that might be.

[Yusuke's eyes narrow, watching the knife at work in the clown's hands. There was a faint trace of some sort of spirit energy on it, which all but eliminated any doubt of whether this was intentional or not. The last thing he needed at the moment was another person who could use their powers to send sharp, pointy objects flying at him. Dodging all of those knives with Sniper was a pain in the ass, but now, with civilians around? Much more of a hazard.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets and turns back around, walking a couple of steps towards Hisoka. Two can play at this cool and indifferent game, after all.]

Yeah, tell me about it. They might even revoke your clown school degree if they ever found that out!

[The joking attitude drops from his voice, however, as his eyes meet Hisoka's.]

So, how about we move this little act to a less crowded place, huh? That way you can keep your career after I mop the ground with your face.

You have a very rude mouth.

[ Inflection obnoxiously cheerful, anyone not actually listening to his words this conversation wouldn't sound so menacing at all. ]

I would be happy to break it for you.

[ His smile shows a hint of his sadism. Yes, happy is indeed the word. He motions to his right, away from the crowd and a direction where neither of them has to turn their back to each other. It's only fair. ]

Aw, but how else will I be able to deliver my excellent comebacks?

[He smirks a bit, not in the least intimidated by Hisoka's words, although there is a general aura about the man that was urging him to be careful. Not that could really read much (his energy was too closed off to pick up anything aside from vague impressions), but he learned the hard way that underestimating an opponent could get your ass kicked.

Yusuke follows in the direction Hisoka indicates, keeping a close eye on him all the while. Taking advantage of someone from behind wasn't Yusuke's sort of thing (despite all appearances, he had a pretty fair and straight-forward method to fighting), but after what Hisoka had pulled? Yeah, it was probably for the better to keep things as fair as possible. No use cutting the fight before it started with another knife to the back.

Once they reached a suitably empty spot, Yusuke whips off his jacket and tosses it aside, letting his energy flare up and out in a show of intimidation. If this guy was skilled in spirit energy stuff as he suspected from the knives, then this display should be enough to get the point across that he was not to be messed with.]

So, ready to do this? I don't think I've ever got a chance to beat up a clown before.

[ There is a point where Hisoka's menace cannot be contained, maybe the point where he grew so dark over such a trifling offensive, like a trap laid out in the open, waiting to be sprung for the fun of it all. Even without any understanding of the way nen felt, an intuition could pick up on that much, could feel the artificial sleeze of Hisoka's smiles and voice.

His utter relaxation in this moment is also obvious. Confident in himself or unpracticed? It would be hard to assume the latter with has already passed between them. ]

Ready and waiting.

[ It unnerves most to be offered the first strike, it can only be a trick, but what's to be done about it. ]

[Hmmm. This guy wasn't balking at his energy. He had to be really powerful, or really, really dumb, and Yusuke sort of hoped it was the former so this wouldn't be a total waste of time. The hair on his arms did prickle a bit, keen to the lurking danger in front of him, but he was a smart enough fighter at this point to read the signs and keep it careful.

Especially with an invitation like that. This guy already proved how sneaky he was with that knive trick of his, so it was hard to buy that he would simply stand back and let someone else hit first.

Keeping his guard up, Yusuke steps forward and slightly to the left, an awfully slow tactic considering how hot-headed he's been until now. After inching forward a foot or two, he's suddenly gone, moving quickly towards the right and towards Hisoka, fist cocked and aiming for a blow straight to the gut.]

[ The clown's eyes widen, not with shock but with delight and he lets the boy hit him. It sends his heeled shoes skidding, breath knocked out him sharply, but... he does not seem perturbed, merely excited. No matter what route you take, Hisoka always has a way of getting something he wants.

He wipes the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, smiling. ]

Better than I expected.

[ All he has to say before wheeling one of his long and flexible legs abruptly at Yusuke's head. ]

[Oh.

Oh.

If he had any doubts whether this guy was an experienced fighter or not, this firmly settled them. After all, how else would someone take a hit like that and still manage to act like a creepy asshole?

Before he had time to react, however, Hisoka's leg came crashing into the side of his head, sending him flying. He managed to shift his weight enough to neatly flip back on his hand and onto his feet, but his ear was ringing something awful from the impact and the taste of copper was already seeping into his mouth.

... despite this, though, he gives a little sneer and spits out some of the blood.]

Yeah? I can say the same--

[And now he rushes forward again, leaping up to deliver a few rapid fire jump punches to Hisoka's face.]

-- about you!

[ He's so very pleased with Yusuke's spunk. Not the most graceful fighter, but full of determination and spirit. And wasn't that really what counted? It was like having good bones, everything else could be refined from there.

The clown is quite aggravating agile, quick to dodge and quick to block and he soaks up damage without showing a shred of pain of exhaustion. Both are meaningless to him, and his coldness even when smiling is his danger.

Even when he is knocked off his feet, he's up again in instants like an acrobat, and always so chilly and composed. ]

Have you ever died?

[ Really he means here in this half-reality where death was meaningless, a suggestion that his mouth must get him into this kind of trouble all the time. ]

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fortunes.

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w-wildcard.....

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