Lucilfer (ChrolloxReader)

Chapter 28

*Chrollo POV*

My arm slowly dropped as I strung out the last chord of "Carnival of the Animals: XIII The Swan," and a deep sigh escaped my lips. The room had fallen silent, the reverberation of the ending note and (Y/n)'s quiet breathing hanging in the air. Turning my head, I looked down upon her peaceful face—she'd shifted in her sleep and laid propped on my thigh, her hands clasped together and pressed to her chest, her legs bent to fit on the small loveseat. A smile taunted the edges of my lips, and I set the bow off to the side, gently stretching to lean the cello up against the arm of the couch as not to jostle her.

All day, I'd been thinking about her. I was endlessly happy for her, glad that she'd made a friend and branched out, even just a little bit, but it worried me that this Kassidy was a Hunter. Well, I suppose I wasn't necessarily worried; I was suspicious. Of course, there were Hunters everywhere, be them few in number, but I didn't trust the Hunter Association. Shalnark only became a Hunter for the societal benefits and the information it could provide for the Troupe. It was based on an ulterior motive. I couldn't control her, though—it was why I'd refused to continue any conversation on the topic in the car on Thursday. If I'd heard anymore, I might have resorted to control. It was easier to control people, to manipulate them, a knee-jerk reaction almost, but I didn't want to control (Y/n).

I love her.

And I knew that she loved me. She understood that I was hers and that she was mine. Therefore, there was no reason for me to be suspicious of her, so I wasn't. If Kassidy was someone who couldn't be trusted, I had faith that she would've discovered that by now, or at least, she would soon. And she would come back to me—she always came back to me.

I was still for a moment, watching her chest rise and fall slowly with each sleepy breath, watching her beautiful face pinch up just slightly the way it did whenever she dreamed, and then it relaxed again. Trailing my fingers over her temples, I pushed some of her hair back into her head, allowing for a fuller view. Everything she did was so adorable, so perfect. Once more, I smiled absently.

With a long inhale, I forced myself to move, gently lying (Y/n) down completely on the loveseat. The time was probably somewhere past eight, and I was certainly not tired—my thoughts were everywhere, racing back and forth with the information I'd accrued about Gradensville, the make-believe city which housed human trafficking. Carefully, I lifted her body up and cradled her in my arms, carrying her out of the room and down the hallway, up the stairs. In her slumber, she shook her head and cuddled closer to my chest, sighing. I held her tighter to my body and made it up to my bedroom, shutting the door quietly and taking her to my bed.

As I laid her down on the pillows and began pulling up the blankets, though, I felt her hands shove against mine, and her pretty eyes flickered open. My face softened, and I stroked the pads of my fingers down over her neck.

"Chrollo?" she murmured tiredly. "I need to... change out of my jeans..."

A chuckle escaped my lips, and I nodded—I loved the sound of her rough voice, tinged with sleep.

"Do you want me to get you some different clothes?"

(Y/n) blinked and shrugged, sitting up groggily.

"It's okay, I can do it," she insisted.

"Alright," I whispered, holding her hand as she leaned on me to stand.

Amusedly, I watched her stumble just barely over to the wardrobe and pull out a pair of shorts. She turned and smiled drunkenly at me before shutting the door to the bathroom and changing.

Pretty, pretty (Y/n).

The mumbling sound of my phone buzzing on the bedside table caught my attention, and I reached down, opening the front screen and seeing a text from Hisoka.