fine line.

5.4 - The Lake

Chapter 5
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Part 4

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Luckily, Hisoka does not kill you on your walk.

Or, at least, he hasn't yet.

"What should we do now?" you ask Hisoka.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you; I'm taking you swimming?"

The both of you are still walking, and your steps squish gently into the forest's lush, overgrown grass. The path that you'd followed in the beginning had faded away a while ago (it had been slightly overgrown anyway), but luckily, the ground isn't completely covered in sticks and bramble. Only every several steps do you need to take a cautious pause to avoid tripping. "Swimming where?" you finally put forward.

"A hot tub, of course."

"That couldn't be considered swimming." You frown sarcastically.

"Could it not?"

"For real. A lake? A pool? I don't even have a bathing suit with me."

"The former." Suddenly, Hisoka stops, glancing around with a horribly hidden smirk on his lips. "There should be a lake around here somewhere..."

"Around here somewhere?" you repeat, exhasperated. "Are we lost?"

"Of course not, darling dearest. I'm just not sure where exactly we are."

Your lips flatten. "That means that we're lost, buffoon."

"No. It just means that I need to climb a tree to get a better look at our surroundings."

"Oh my god." You pinch the bridge of your nose and close your eyes.

"Give me just a moment."

When you draw your hand away from your face and open your eyes, Hisoka is gone. For just a moment, you are stricken with fear; you are completely alone and lost, in the middle of the woods. Then you recall what Hisoka literally just said and take a look above you. To shield your eyes from the sun's glare, you have to hold your hand over your eyebrows. Your efforts are futile, though, because Hisoka's figure cannot be seen amongst the branches and leaves peppering the crisp air. He practically teleported to the top.

"If you could even call that climbing," you mumble.

Before you can make another move, there is a tmp! sound behind you. With an exaggerated gasp, you whirl around, facing the fresh foe who made such an intensely surprising noise.

Alas, it is Hisoka, returning down from the treetops. You exhale.

Without so much as another thought (or so it seems to you), Hisoka turns to his left and continues on. "This way, to the lake!"

You are still composing yourself from your terrible fright, so it takes you a few moments to get moving; you have to jog for a moment to catch up with him. "Are you sure it's this way?" you ask testily. Hisoka hums with affirmation, a sweet sound that you find yourself enjoying thoroughly. What a handsome fellow he can be when he's not being a jackass, you think, gazing up at him. "Will it be cold, do you think? Oh, and-I still don't have a bathing suit!"

"Probably a bit cold," he replies, completely ignoring your latter statement.

The two of you walk the rest of the way speaking with only idle chit-chat here and there. You audibly note a lone flower making an appearance in your gaze, and the way the air smells like moss, and how the breeze just died down some more. Hisoka nods along with your notations, as if he was put on this Earth simply to listen to you observe nature. Occasionally, he chimes in with some input of his own, like how a pesky fly just landed on his forearm.