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"in a minute!" hisoka shouted, a bit moody. whoever's knocking on his door at an ungodly hour past midnight must have a death wish- they interrupted his beauty sleep. "in a minute!" he repeated, irritated and only a few steps away from the door. hisoka growled. "what?" as he pulled the knob back. he immediately took a few steps back, shocked at the sight of a bloodied and bruised-
"illumi?! what-"
"i'm sorry, i had nowhere else to go." illumi's eyes drooped dangerously low.
"hey, hey-" hisoka jumped to catch him, palms braced on shoulders; one was exposed from a ripped sleeve. just what in the hell happened to him? hisoka stared with something akin to panic, eyes blown wide. "illu, hey!"
with some struggle as hisoka briefly forgot any sort of logic, he finally had illumi tucked in his arms, feet taking him to the living room. over the sound of his quick steps on the wooden floor, hisoka observed the sleeping beauty in his arms. he was still breathing.
good. but he was bleeding, hisoka's hand directly pressed into an open wound on illumi's side. that was bad- definitely bad.
he gently placed illumi on his back, let him sink into the soft cushions. "what to do, what to do-" hisoka had to stop himself from pacing- there must be a safety kit here, right? he hasn't needed it yet but there should be one. in the kitchen, probably. he opened the cupboards and cabinets he hasn't opened in weeks- he usually ate out or had them delivered- with frenzied hands.
illumi was bleeding on his couch. hisoka had to fucking hurry.
but he's never had to dress up someone's wounds before... if he, himself, was injured he'd just use bungee gum- oh. how could he fucking forget. nearly tripping, hisoka rushed back to his injured friend, nen glowing its iconic pink.
his nen which had properties of both rubber and gum which could also act like a gauze. how could he forget.
illumi stirred lightly when he tapped each open wound- there were three serious ones; the one on his side, another on his thigh and a final one on the side of his head.
the former two were caused by guns, hisoka could tell by their appearance- something nen related probably. illumi surely wouldn't get injured from a normal gun. the one on his head might've given him a concussion, hence why he came to hisoka. he's never done that before.
"what happened to you?" he asked the sleeping figure, sighing into his palm as the bleeding stopped. hisoka checked the time. a few minutes before 2am. great- he felt more awake now than he had for the entirety of yesterday. only illumi had that effect on him.
hisoka stood, much more calm now, up to his bedroom to get the first aid kit he now remembered was there, along with some clothes. illumi wouldn't like waking up to a bloodied shirt.
illumi lied there motionless, so much so that for a moment he thought he'd stopped breathing. hisoka felt that spike of panic again, but a hand to his chest reassured him that the heart was still beating. he might grow grey hair too early with this height of stress.
again, only illumi had such an effect on him.
the ripped shirt gets torn off first. there were smaller grazes littering his pecs, hisoka smoothed a cloth over them and dressed them as best as he could. illumi wouldn't mind them, would wake up unbothered by them- he was sure of it- but hisoka felt the urge to do so regardless.
he finished tending to the injuries quite quickly; his handy work clumsy but good enough.
he left the bigger one for his nen to stop, he trusted his bungee gum more than he did these measly cloths. next were illumi's pants. hisoka was quick to patch up the scuffed knees- he must've fallen down along the way- and quick to put on him one of his many sweatpants.
luckily they were of similar build there, though hisoka's shirt hung loose on illumi's torso; the sight of it so endearing, if he forgot the fact that he came to him all beaten up.
as he treated the head wound he thought what- or who- might've possibly injured illumi like this. apart from himself, all other answers pointed to a family member- to a damned zoldyck, and hisoka detested the idea as quick as it came. once done, hisoka carried illumi to his bedroom, laying him down on the warm sheets. if he were anyone else hisoka would've slipped in with him.
but illumi looked so tired, so broken when he opened that door, and the feeling that the story ran deeper behind each bruise and each cut- too deep for hisoka to reach- made him think he'd want space. hisoka lied down on the floor with a spare pillow under his head.
he fell asleep to the sun's warm waking embrace, to the vivid image of illumi getting struck down by silva fucking zoldyck in a rage, to perhaps illumi's crying face trying to apologize- or a more heartbreaking expression of illumi's acceptance.
of his surrender.
illumi woke up to dawn's persistent light, in sheets he didn't sleep in last night, to hisoka's distinct scent on everything.
hisoka- he went to him last night.
hisoka... saw him.
where was he? illumi stretched to feel each wound out, assessing how bad last night was. they felt less painful than he'd anticipated. he palmed at his waist, he was bleeding from there last night. he could still feel his flesh open but nothing came out, and illumi soon realized it was hisoka's work. it didn't even hurt, was that hisoka's doing also?
he checked for injuries- found them all dressed and bandaged. clumsy but enough. he felt himself smile despite everything. illumi peeked down the side of the king sized bed, having heard hisoka's breaths, and felt his smile grow wider to the sight of him sprawled on the floor.
he made the right choice coming to him- hisoka could've left him to die but he didn't. even his family wouldn't have bothered, would have said he was strong enough to handle himself.
"thank you."
"wha- oh, illumi." hisoka woke from such a soft sound- or perhaps he wasn't truly asleep to begin with. "good morning."
"good morning."
"so..." hisoka stretched. "what do you want for breakfast?"
"...you're not even going to ask?"
"well, i've a feeling you aren't ready to answer. so? i think i have some pancake mix in the kitchen-"
"thank you." illumi smiled, small and shy and warm. "just... thank you."
it reached even the coldest depths of hisoka's heart. "you know, you can always count on me to be there, right?"