Adjusting the sleeves on his newly tailored shirt, he looked himself over in the mirror. He could see the stress on his features from refusing his habits, lines beginning to form at the ends of his cheeks. He’d of course been a master of makeup by now, having been sick off and on for many years and doing quite well to cover it. At this point it was almost a bragging right, but, rather than worry about his talents, he had to do something about that awful job he’d given himself over his left eye.
With a few dabs of foundation he blotted it against his cheek, blending it in with his wife’s green eye shadow to help mute the stark redness. It was almost believable by the time he was complete, filling in the marks from his brow in with more foundation, then black shadow and eyeliner. He traced his lower lids with the eyeliner as well, finding that he rather enjoyed how it made his eyes stand out. Plus, it made it less likely for someone to notice the coverup.
A few more preening moments of smoothing quills, trimming excess fur that looked out of place, and one almost couldn’t tell his struggles. He sat back and examined himself further in the mirror. One thing he’d noticed with all of this is the first few weeks he’d lost even more weight at first, but he’d suddenly started gaining weight rather quickly. His appetite was returning. Sometimes he felt better, but others he felt like the shit that someone would wipe off the bottom of their shoe.
He was somewhere in between right now, but he had to admit, he looked a lot better than he had in at least a few months. Tonight he was going to celebrate his five month sobriety mark. At least, for one of his vices. The other was still rampant, but he was fortunate enough to have cleaned the house thoroughly enough that there wasn’t any left for him to find. He deleted his dealer’s number from his phone and blocked it. He’d already told her to not contact him, but it was never too safe. He wanted his wife to trust him again. He’d try to call the blue hedgehog again after going out, to see if she was willing to return home. He missed her and the children dreadfully.
After checking a few more things around the house to ensure everything was in order, he put on his best dress shoes and headed out the door. Tonight would be a good night. No alcohol, no drugs, no smoking. He had to prove to himself he was responsible enough to keep up with this.
Akai the make-up specialist, what? But in all seriousness, it's always touching to hear someone conquer their demons to win their family back and prove to themselves that they can be better. :)
Akai the make-up specialist, what? But in all seriousness, it's always touching to hear someone conq
