Hisoka smiled at Illumi and then took a sip of his drink, still taking in all the decorations. He noticed the table full of gifts. He laughed a little and looked back at Illumi

"Are all of those for me? " he asked, already knowing the answer.

Illumi looked at Hisoka and then the table, where a few small brightly wrapped packages sat. "Of course." He said, smiling a little. "Would you like to open them?"

Hisoka made a pondering gesture, stroking his chin and pursing his lips. He walked over to Illumi, staring at him, looking him up and down, and appearing to still be thinking about the question. Illumi realized what he was doing.

He sighed a little at Hisoka's stupidity. "I'm not the gift. You are not allowed to undress me." He rolled his eyes when he said this, secretly enjoying Hisoka's flirting.

Hisoka chuckled. "Ooo, that's a shame " He said as he walked over to Illumi, his hands brushing over his arms, and landing on his hips. He moved closer to Illumi, their bodies just a few inches away from one another. Hisoka leaned in, his lips brushing past lllumi's cheek and stopping before his ear.

"Are you sure I won't be able to undress you? You look far more appetizing " The hairs on Illumi's neck stood up and his heartbeat increased a little. He was excited at the feeling of Hisoka's breath on his ear, his proximity, and his words. He scolded himself a little for getting like this around Hisoka, but sometimes he just couldn't help it.

Illumi stepped back a little, quietly saying "Yes, I'm sure."

Hisoka chuckled and pulled away. He managed to steal a little kiss before he walked over to the table that held the gifts.

"Well then, let's open these gifts. " Hisoka said, sitting down at the table and looking at Illumi, who was still standing in the same spot. Illumi quickly joined Hisoka, watching as he pulled the biggest gift towards him and began unwrapping it.

Illumi quietly watched as Hisoka pulled out the bottles of sweet scented lotions and soaps, his face lighting up at the familiar gift.

"Ah, I'm so glad you got these, I was running low " he said, a large grin spreading across his face. He looked at Illumi, who was smiling in return, as he opened some of the bottles and began smelling them.

For as long as they had known each other, every time Illumi bought Hisoka a gift, it was some kind of scented body product. And every time Hisoka was pleased. So it just became expected that Illumi would give different scented lotions, sprays, and soaps to him as a gift. It was an odd tradition that happened over the years, and no one really felt like stopping it.

Hisoka moved onto the other two gifts on the table, which were smaller in size. One held a pair of boxers, brightly decorated with card symbols. The other held tickets to an exclusive fighting tournament, which Illumi managed to purchase with his ties to the underground. Hisoka was wonderfully pleased with his gifts and Illumi was feeling proud, once again.

"I know you probably forgot about getting me something, but I'm not upset." Illumi said with a small smile as he watched Hisoka enjoy his gifts. Hisoka immediately looked up from the tickets he was reading to give Illumi a smirk.

"Who said I didn't get you anything? "

Illumi was taken by surprise. "I don't see any gifts around here for me. Unless you've hidden something on your person, which.." Illumi gestured at Hisoka's body, looking him up and down, he was still in nothing but boxers, and it was plain to see there was no place to put a gift…. Well not a gift that Illumi was interested in receiving….

Hisoka laughed at Illumi's implication. "Well I could give you a different gift, if you think it's on my body " he said, leaning forward and wiggling his eyebrows.

Illumi frowned and shook his head. "I'm not interested."

Hisoka pouted a little and leaned back. "Well if you'd like your gift, just check your pocket. "

Illumi's eyebrows furrowed at Hisoka's words. In his pocket? Illumi reached down, first touching his left pocket, then his right, finding a small package there. How did he not notice that something was there? And when did Hisoka find time to put it there? He realized when it was, when he was looking back over his day. It was when Hisoka was being weird on their walk home.

"This makes me trust you less, you know." He said, impressed with Hisoka's skill, but a little unnerved by his lack of noticing. He began to open the loosely wrapped gift and revealed a small silver locket, oval in shape. He stared at it, it was rather plain, and had only minor engravings on the front, just little things that made it nice to look at. He looked back up at Hisoka, questioning his choice in gift. Since when did he ever wear jewelry….well ok sometimes, but not something like a locket…

Hisoka beckoned him to continue, still smiling at Illumi's uncertainty. Illumi looked back down at the silver in his hands and pulled open the little clasp, revealing the picture inside. Illumi's breath stopped. A pair of clear blue eyes were looking back up at him from the picture. It was Killua from when he was younger. It was such a clear and wonderful picture. He had an odd rush of emotions looking at it, thinking back of when he was young and Killua still looked up to him. He looked back up at Hisoka who seemed to be squirming in his seat from Illumi's reaction.

"H-how did you get this?" He asked, a little speechless. He had never seen this picture of Killua before.

Hisoka grinned. "I made a few deals, but don't worry, no one important got hurt " he said, closing his eyes and waving his hands around.

"…" Illumi kept looking at the picture, he felt sad and happy all at once. It was so odd for him to react in this way, especially in front of Hisoka.

Hisoka looked back at his face. Something like pity crossed Hisoka's face for a second, but Illumi didn't see it. He was still staring into those eyes, his fingers lightly tracing the silver.

"It will change if you use your nen." Hisoka said, suddenly. Illumi immediately put Hisoka's statement to the test. He touched the locket with nen covered fingers, and the pictures changed to another picture of Killua, this one a little older, and significantly more recent. Illumi's heartbeat sped up a little as the locket continued to change pictures. It was a little slideshow of pictures of Killua, as well as a few other family members, and then one of Hisoka, half-naked of course. Illumi stopped his nen and looked up at Hisoka. Hisoka was just observing Illumi, smiling slightly.

Illumi was unreadable. He set down the locket on the table and stood up. He walked over to Hisoka, leaned over, and hugged him tightly. It was Hisoka's turn to be taken by surprise, but he quickly recovered and hugged him back. Illumi slowly sunk down and sat on Hisoka's lap, just hugging him. Hisoka held him tightly and pet his hair a little. They were quiet for a while, just sitting there holding each other. Illumi breathed out a little against Hisoka's neck in anticipation of saying something. Hisoka's attention peaked, getting ready to listen, and Illumi just whispered "thank you."

Those small words struck a chord in Hisoka. No one had ever really thanked him before, at least not so intimately. He felt a small rush of happiness, and pulled Illumi closer. He smiled and responded "No problem. "

It was a strange thing for the both of them to act in this way, oddly tender, oddly caring, and yet, it was not out of place. Hisoka could feel Illumi softly kissing his shoulder and his neck. Illumi mumbled against his skin "You didn't have to…." Hisoka's hands travelled down Illumi's back and rested on his hips.

"I wanted to. " Hisoka whispered into Illumi's hair, breathing in his scent, wishing he could somehow get closer to him even though they were already tightly pressed together. Hisoka dipped his arm underneath of Illumi's legs and rested his other on his back and stood up, walking over to the living room.

Illumi twitched at the sudden movement, but didn't mind being carried, so he wrapped his arms around Hisoka's neck. Hisoka laid Illumi down on the couch, dimmed the lights, put on a Christmas movie, and laid down next to him. They were facing each other, looking into one another's eyes. Illumi's hand drifted up and began tracing Hisoka's face, softly moving over his nose, his cheeks, his lips. He scooted closer and kissed him, holding his face, moving his lips over Hisoka's. Hisoka sighed into the kiss, wrapping his arms around his waist, and moving their bodies flush together. Illumi brushed his tongue over Hisoka's lips and Hisoka opened his mouth a little, letting Illumi enter. Illumi's tongue softly caressed Hisoka's and his hands travelled down from his face, to his neck, and then to his waist.

Illumi broke the kiss, catching his breath, but Hisoka continued, kissing down Illumi's face, to his neck, biting a little as he shifted his body a little to rest partway on top of Illumi. Illumi's breath quickened and he tried to find Hisoka's mouth again, failing at first, but finding his target when Hisoka turned his head. They hurriedly kissed one another, as if they didn't have more than a minute to spend together. They were clutching each other, their fervent mouths passing over one another, biting at their lips, their tongues brushing together. They broke apart, breathing heavily.

Hisoka rested his head against Illumi's chest and Illumi held him tightly, running his fingers through his hair. They laid there for what seemed like hours. The movie ended, the television shut off, and the snow had finally stopped. Hisoka had drifted off to sleep at some point when Illumi was running his slender fingers through his hair. Illumi stayed away, watching Hisoka sleep, wondering why he felt so happy just to lay here. Illumi wasn't interested in finding the answer, and he didn't think he could, anyway. With the warmth of Hisoka's body, and his soft breath and heartbeat creating a soothing rhythm, Illumi fell asleep along with Hisoka, holding him, happy to celebrate a truly merry Christmas.