Smile lines

Illumi zoldyck's eyes shot wide open as the sharp sound of his alarm dragged him from his sleep, he was a light sleeper, so naturally the alarm was not all too loud, after all Hisoka Morow's snores continued to erupt from his chest, much to Illumi's annoyance. What hisoka had seemed to forget, was that, in the next few hours, they were to have afternoon tea with the rest of the zoldyck family, a rare occurence, they simply cannot be late, unfortunately, the magician didn't get the memo, as he lay still, fast asleep in bed.
Illumi knew better then to wake hisoka up, after all, Illumi would just leave without him, he wasn't even required to be there, Illumi invited him because he wanted to prove to mother that, despite his many, many....faults, he was still worthy of being Illumi's husband, his nose scrunched at the word, never in his life would he, nor his family expect him to be marrying a man, let alone that man, and yet here they were today, Illumi thought wearily as he trudged into the bathroom, only for his train of thought to be abruptly derailed by the sight before him in the mirror. It was no surprise that Hisoka was a distraction, and apparently, he had been too distracted until now to realise the slight wrinkles forming around his eyes and mouth, his porcelain skin displaying a few, incredibly faint lines, depicting the remaining traces of laughter and smiles he'd shared with Hisoka over the years. what a pitiful thing, Illumi thought to himself, that he could be so vulnerable around such an aloof and obnoxious man, yet, he just couldn't stop himself, as shown by the visible smile lines on his face.
Illumi hadn't known when, but he had let out a small yell of frustration which had led to Hisoka swiftly making his way into the bathroom, joining the assassin, Hisoka knew the sound of a distressed Illumi and if anything could wake him from his rest that would be it, no matter how deep of a sleep he was in, it was natural instinct after all. Hisoka pondered what his next move should be from here. as he composed himself, he turned to the icy cold man next to him, gently tucking his hair behind his ear and let out a smooth string of words, as not not agitate Illumi more.
"Is everything okay, my sweet?"
His voice was slightly husky and still laced with slumber as he spoke, but he knew Illumi wouldn't mind, as he patiently awaited Illumi's reply, he watched as the young assassin traced his pale, thin fingers over his face. *ah* Hisoka thought as a cog began to turn in his brain, so it's regarding his face. as far as he could tell, nothing was wrong with it, it looked perfect as usual, but maybe he's missing something, just as he went to open his mouth once more, he heard an unusually meek voice echo through the bathroom.
"My face. It's broken."
A rather unexpected reply, one that certainly caught Hisoka off guard, curiosity washed over him as he finally processed Illumi's words. Hisoka lifted his hands to lay atop the assassins, still draped over his face, he could feel his fingers twitching slightly, most likely a combination of frustration and just having woke up, the magician slowly pried his hand off of his face, careful not to be too rough with the assassin, he was strong, but this was a moment of vulnerability, and he didn't intend to ruin that. the seriousness of the situation was short lived as Hisoka realised the so called 'broken' face Illumi spoke of, was just the same as it was every day, dewy, porcelain skin, raven eyes, a slim button nose and lips that looked as though they had been kissed by the angels, he couldn't help but wonder what Illumi had meant by broken, so he inquired again.
"Illu, my dear, what do you mean by broken, I'm seeing the same beautiful face I see every morning, what makes it any different today?"
And as expected, a fast, blunt response from Illumi came almost instantly.
"The wrinkles."
Hisoka stopped in his tracks, he had to see these for himself, when he met eyes with Illumi he received an ice cold glare, indicating that he, in fact, had preferred it when hisoka wasn't aware of his wrinkles. a pair of golden eyes traced over his skin, as they had done many times before, never losing their gleam of admiration, he was caught off guard by the laugh that rumbled from Hisoka's chest, not understanding why, he cocked his head slightly, hoping to receive some sort of explanation for this obnoxious behaviour so early in the morning, it was clear that Hisoka had understood this look and offered an explanation.
"My fruit~ do not worry about such trivial things, they do not matter, I couldn't notice them so what's to say anyone else will, not to mention, they suit you, darling"
The extra pet name thrown in was clearly to avoid any sort of conflict between the two, but Illumi did not mind, he wouldn't let Hisoka know that though. The warm feeling brewing in the assassins chest, however, did not last long as it died out the moment he remembered that very shortly him and his lover would have to be dining with the rest of his family, despite Hisoka's reassurance, they would, without a doubt notice, especially his mother, she had a keen eye, especially when it meant the family business may be endangered, and this was exactly that, they needed a young heir, and Hisoka was not able to provide that, that's the way the family saw it. Now he just needed to find a way to remind Hisoka of this occasion without dampening his mood, he wouldn't want him to turn sour before he even got the chance to redeem himself in the Zoldyck's eyes. He decides it's best to wait a while, after all it seems as though Hisoka has busied himself with his usual extensive makeup routine.
After a considerable amount of time staring at the wall and Illumi mourning his once pristine complexion, an idea springs into his mind, his eyes flicker over to Hisoka, still doing his makeup, then over to his makeup and skincare bag, eyeing the wrinkle cream and concealer in there, finally, a temporary solution to his problem, however a new problem arises, how exactly will he put his pride aside and ask his beloved for his....makeup....
He decides to rip the bandaid off and just ask, from his observations, it seems that Hisoka loves him unconditionally, so he supposed he would be fine with it.
"Love. May I borrow some of your facial products, I need to be rid of these troublesome wrinkles as soon as possible."
Naturally, he avoided eye contact, he couldn't bare asking for such things, but this time it was a necessity, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Hisoka's smirk, a small amount of rage bubbling up inside him, he decides not to rise to it.
After rummaging through his many makeup appliances Hisoka finally finds what Illumi asked for, if he knows Illumi as well as he thinks he does, he's well aware that asking for something like this would have been humiliating to say the least, although Hisoka saw nothing wrong with it, he knew Illumi didn't see it that way, he saw it as yet another moment of vulnerability. in a way, he felt proud that Illumi had worked up the courage so ask such a thing, and he knew this whole ordeal was stressing the raven haired man out far more than what his face was showing, he let his index finger tap the assassins shoulder ever so gently, as soon as Illumi shot a gaze back at him, he enveloped him in his arms, squeezing him tight, Illumi was always so cold, and hisoka couldn't help but laugh, this was no exception, he knew Illumi took comfort in Hisoka's warmth, and his face was a telltale sign, his once stone cold expression had melted into a saddened look, he knew that Illumi was weaker than he made out to be, and so he squeezed him just a little tighter, laying a gentle kiss atop his head, he grinned after hearing Illumi's barely audible groan, expressing displeasure about hisoka almost soiling his hair, but the arms around Hisoka did not loosen, a sign that he wasn't at all bothered by the affection, he had grown used to it after all these years together. After a few minutes of holding each other and Hisoka whispering sweet nothings into his ear, he handed him the makeup he asked for and continued with his own extensive makeup ritual.
After the magician had decided his outfit and hair was finally adequate, he made his way into their kitchen, where he knew Illumi would be, he was relieved to see breakfast already on the table, courtesy of Illumi, of course. Eventually, once the two men and had finished eating, a silence grew heavy over them, there was never going to be a right time to break the news to Hisoka that very shortly they would have to set off for the zoldyck mansion, as it seemed that Hisoka still had not remembered, so he took a deep breath and simply hoped it wouldn't bother him.
"Dear. We are set to have dinner with my family today, we must leave after cleaning. You didn't forget, did you?"
He knew hisoka would melt at Illumi calling him any sort of affectionate nickname, so he was slightly less concerned about the mans pending reaction, hopefu-
"Oh, I know, ready to go then my love? I just finished cleaning, you needn't worry"
Illumi was completely speechless, of course he would underestimate Hisoka, in all that time he was deciding on the appropriate phrasing of his enquiry, Hisoka had not only already been aware of their plans the whole time, but completely cleaned the kitchen, he couldn't help but wonder how long he'd been thinking for. He decided it was unimportant and just decided to be glad that Hisoka had prepared himself, as they set off for Kukuroo mountain.

After a few hours of driving and Illumi scoffing at his lover's terrible music taste, Illumi averted his eyes from the road to look at the magician beside him, driving them, some could say he was admiring him, but he himself would never admit that, he had apparently caught Hisoka's attention as he noticed the growing smirk on his face, typical.
"Something on my face, sweetie?"
".....no"
Hisoka could see that despite the concerning amount of cream and concealer Illumi had used, the wrinkles were still visible, along with the traces of displeasure on the assassins face, of course wrinkle cream would not work instantly, but he wasn't sure Illumi knew that, he couldn't help but feel bad for him. Hisoka was well aware of the growing creases on his own face, it was to be expected, he was in his late thirties after all, and his face was no stranger to a smile, albeit rarely genuine, those smiles were reserved for Illumi alone. But perhaps Kikyo never warned him of his unavoidable ageing, perhaps he thought his skin would stay taught and young forever, Illumi wasn't far behind him in age, not to mention after all this time being together Illumi had grown accustomed to smiling, only in the house though, and never around his family, that was forbidden. Hisoka's lips curled upwards as a feeling of contempt washed over him, that meant...that Illumi was happy, even if it wasn't all the time, hisoka knew that he had made one of the most damaged, stone cold men out there, smile, and those delicate creases decorating his face, were a trophy to him, a constant reminder of their love, despite how Illumi felt about them, he'd help him grow accustomed to them, and what better time to start than now.
"Illumi, my love, I know how you feel about your complexion recently, but I want you to know, those delicate lines tell stories of joy and love, of laughter and smiles, and if I can have it my way, by the time we say our final goodbye, your face will hold many tales of happiness and wonder~"
There was a rare sense of sincerity in those words, Illumi could feel it, he felt a small smile make its way to his face, however quickly letting it go, and returning to his normal expression, or lack there of. He simply couldn't shake the image of his mother's disgust, and his father disapproval at the sight of his smile lines. They would know.... they just would, and he can't bear that, however, even if he no longer has them, he knows he'll always have the incredibly irritating, handsome, loving magician beside him, whomst he just knows is adorning another stupid smirk right now.

Maybe his smile lines aren't all that bad.

BOOM THE END LETS GOOOOOOOO