Chapter Text
It wasn't that Hisoka was vain (although he was), it was simply that he'd forget he was wearing a sheet of Texture Surprise to smooth over freckles and scars. Sometimes it wasn't until he already stepped out of the shower that it dawned on him that he hadn't -- actually -- undressed.
He'd forget when with Illumi, too.
"Hah? That's new. Hisoka, your knees have freckles," Illumi said.
Hisoka glanced down from where he was seated above Illumi in his big wrinkled bed. They were both mostly undressed, wearing sleeping pants and socks, and lounging among a plethora of pillows and blankets. They were playing Old Maid, but not very competitively. It had been a long day and they were both tired and moving slowly. "Ah, yeah. I freckle without sunscreen," he explained. "I've had those since I was little."
"I've seen your knees before," Illumi said, brushing a hand over the skin there. "I've never seen freckles."
"I cover them with nen. Texture Surprise."
"Why?"
"Sun protection. Added joint support. Vanity," Hisoka listed. "In that order."
"Hm." Illumi leaned in and kissed one knee cap. Hisoka went still and then grinned fangedly.
"Dear Illumi. You should be mindful of where you kiss. I'll get ideas." He then spread his legs, brows arching suggestively.
Illumi huffed, matching Hisoka's lewd stare with an earnest look of his own, and kissed the inside of his knee. And then the inside of his thigh. He glanced down, blinked, and sat up again. "Your thighs have them, too." He sounded genuinely surprised.
"Mmhmm," Hisoka said, his playing cards abandoned at his side, watching Illumi with rapt attention.
Illumi crawled up the bed and caged his arms around Hisoka's middle, looking down at him now through a fan of long black hair. "Your use of nen so naturally in your life is unusual."
"Are you irritated?" Hisoka asked.
"Show me," Illumi said. "You have freckles I have never seen. Show me."
"Only on my legs," Hisoka said. He smiled sweetly and tilted his head to the side. "I promise." He reached up, cording a hand through the soft silky mass of Illumi's hair, and drew him down into a kiss. "But I'll show you."
"It will be useful for your file that father keeps," Illumi lied, covering his needs like he always did, fitting the situation around his life's work of family devotion -- rather than to something as basic as desire. "To know your identifying marks."
"I'll show you," Hisoka said, and he laid back, pulling Illumi on top of him. "Because you asked so nicely."