Battlefield

A Pact With Lucifer

another chapter i struggled with, but i managed to make it ok i think. my lovely beta, lea summers, has officially outdone herself; she beta'ed this within two hours of me sending it to her. thank her for the early update. i'm leaving for the weekend and wouldn't have been able to post until monday if she wasn't made of awesome.

Chapter 4

A Pact With Lucifer

Kurapica followed the short Spider back to the Tower, his own apartment building. Some of his questions were answered when he saw the lift waiting for them at the base of the wall. Looking up, he could see the arm of a crane hovering above. That explained the vertical aura signatures going up to the roof. It was brilliant, really. Impregnable. Kuroro's apartment was on the very top floor, overlooking the city block. All of the structures around it had at most half the number of floors that the Tower did. As the lift slowly crawled up the side of the building, the Kuruta could see, quite some distance away, the very city centre with its proper skyscrapers, and all of the shorter buildings from here to there laid out before him. If the view had once impressed his shorter companion, he didn't show it. He didn't pay any attention to the blond either, opting instead for glaring up at the crane as if willing it to go faster and free him of his errand boy duty. Once they were on the roof, the man led him down into the building and knocked on a door, before opening it and motioning that Kurapica was to go in.

The apartment seemed to be insanely large, even more so than his own, but he couldn't be entirely sure, as the front door opened on a lounge absolutely overflowing with things. Tables were covered with artworks and jewellery boxes, old toys and books. Literary works were also piled up on the floor in crooked spires, some of which had clearly toppled over. Bookshelves lined the walls, but they too were filled to bursting. Some had large paintings leaning against the front, hiding the lower shelves. Here and there, a statue stood, with clothes thrown over it as if Kuroro had shed and thrown them without care as he walked through the door. The place was surprisingly dark, though Kurapica could see enough to try and pick his way through the mess.

The door closed behind him and Kurapica turned around to find that the short man had not followed him in. He had been left to wander the maze alone. Turning back towards the cluttered lounge, he heaved a sigh and picked his way carefully across the floor, heading deeper into the cavernous room. He could see that the windows were hidden behind panel blinds, sunlight spilling in through the narrow space between them, and some had bookcases in front of them. He paused near the middle of the lounge and glanced to his right, peeking down the hallway to the rest of the apartment. He wasn't sure if he would have to wander through the entire place to find one annoying Kuroro Lucifer.

"I'm here," a smooth voice said behind him, and Kurapica whirled on himself, heart hammering in his throat.

Kuroro was sitting in a deep red wing chair wedged between two large bookcases, dressed all in black and looking quite pleased with the useless drama of his appearance.

Kurapica huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Normally, people greet their guests at the door," he griped because if he said anything about the state of the apartment, he'd never shut up.

"I've little interest in conventions," Kuroro said, closing the book in his hand and setting it down on the side table next to his chair. How could he even have managed to read in this light? He must have been putting on a show, Kurapica decided.

The blond swept his gaze meaningfully over the mess. "Obviously."

Kuroro's lips twitched as if he were fighting a smile. He placed a hand on the book he'd just set down and waved Kurapica closer. The Kuruta still didn't want to go anywhere near the older man, who still made his skin crawl. It just felt so wrong, being in the same room with him, like being in a cell with a wild animal. He took a step back, and Kuroro beckoned him closer again.