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Description
“Lemme see.” Jeff asked, pushing the sleeve up on my jacket. I grimaced as he pried at the clothing, exposing my skin to the open air. His fingertips immediately ran over the uncovered arm, tracing some line I couldn’t see. “There’s so many…” He mumbled.
“Oh really?” I asked, letting sarcasm drip from my words.
“Yeah…” He replied distractedly. “You’re beautiful.” He mumbled, still mostly distracted by whatever he was looking at. I stiffened at his words, my first reaction was to not believe him…. but, his mind was so open…
The tree branch we were sitting on swayed slightly as a stronger breeze flowed past. A chill ran through the air, signaling the approach of night. I turned my head to Jeff’s location at my right, trying to determine his features. He could see me, but I could not see him. Besides the general shape of his hands, arms, and torso, I did not know what he looked like. It was a mystery that hadn’t bothered me till very recently.
“Stay still.” I requested before lifting one hand to find his face. His thin fingers caught my wrist and I scowled. “I want to know what you look like.” I stated dully, unhappy we were not equal.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He explained, a smile in his voice. The fingers around my wrist loosened and they trailed down my arm, following patterns. “I’ll let you, but your mask has to be off.” He stated, seeming rather proud of his plan.
“You’ve already seen my face.” I replied quietly, hoping to keep it on for comfort’s sake.
“That doesn’t change anything, I want to see you.” He said, smirk in his voice because he knew he’d won. He knew it bothered me I didn’t know what he looked like. I’d been asking the others for a few days now and never got a straight answer, just a lot of laughter.
“Fine. It’s not like it is something secret anymore.” I mumbled, reaching up and pulling off the disk of wood in one movement. I fought the urge to tense up as cool breeze flowed past my face. I placed the mask precariously on the branch surface next to me, committing its location to memory.
Before overthinking anything, I reached up with my freed right hand and extended my arm till my fingertips brushed his shirt. I moved my fingers up, barely touching the fabric. My hand made it to his throat, where I leaned closer as I met the solidity of his jaw.
Jeff stayed still and silent as I explored, content in being the subject of investigation. I was adamantly recording the data I gained from the touch, making a blurry three-dimensional picture of the person I had come to like so much. My hand trailed up to his lips, noting they were thin and dry, cracked even. I ran my knuckles over the skin, determining their shape and rough texture before moving on.
My eyebrows pushed down as I noted the lips extended further than expected. In fact, the line continued up to his cheekbone. The line couldn’t be a continuation of his mouth – it was way too wide…
I pressed a little where the line was and I felt the gap widen. A laugh echoed into the air as Jeff extended his jaw, parting his lips all the way through his cheek. “You have scars too.” I breathed, reluctant happiness at the realized similarity. “Did you…?” I asked, nearly certain these scars were intentional. They were scary for sure, but also mesmerizing to me. I retraced the line, bringing my other hand up to mirror the pattern on the other side of his face. This was why he always sounded like he was smiling…
“Yes… but your scars are far more beautiful.” He replied in all seriousness. His hands lifted and moved forward till they rested statically on my hips. Thought slightly uncomfortable with the light touch, I was determined to continue my searching.
I left the ghastly scars around his mouth and continued up to find his nose. Though quite normal, it was a thin and dry part of his face. I trailed my fingertips up carefully to the bridge of his nose, defining the shape of it. Then, I let my hands wander up to his brow line, finding there was little to no hair. I trailed two fingers down to where his eye would be located… going slow and expecting to meet the folds of an eyelid… but there wasn’t any. I felt the rim of his eye, noticing it was wide and unable to close. BEN mentioned Jeff is always watching…
“Are you missing… eyelids?” I asked, confused about the missing facial feature.
Jeff hummed in confirmation and then went on to explain, “There was a fire you see…” He told me. “I have some drops and an eye cover for it…” He laughed quietly, “We both have eye issues, huh?” He stated.
I let out a genuine laugh, liking the change in atmosphere. “You got that right.” Suddenly, the light pressure on my hip disappeared and a new pressure arose on my face. I flinched slightly before recovering, pulling my hands back to my side. His thumb traced the cut through my lip, reaching up to brush under my eye. Then, without warning, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against the corner of my jaw. I shivered, but remained still and accepting.
Taking it as agreement, Jeff repeated the action before moving up to my cheekbone. Should I be still for this? No one had ever touched me before, not like this. But I found that I enjoyed the feeling… the warmth. I would have killed anyone else trying to do this, but Jeff was... different.
“I love you.” Jeff mumbled before pushing his lips to mine. I leaned into the contact and moved my lips in response, letting instinct take over. We broke the kiss together, though we did not scoot away from each other. Words bubbled in my throat, getting past the walls I had so carefully built.
“I think… I love you, too.” I whispered, shuffling closer to his warmth. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me ever nearer. His chin rested on the crown of my head and he hummed softly. We stayed like that for as long as we dared, content in the shadows of the night.

Description
“Lemme see.” Jeff asked, pushing the sleeve up on my jacket. I grimaced as he pried at the clothing, exposing my skin to the open air. His fingertips immediately ran over the uncovered arm, tracing some line I couldn’t see. “There’s so many…” He mumbled.
“Oh really?” I asked, letting sarcasm drip from my words.
“Yeah…” He replied distractedly. “You’re beautiful.” He mumbled, still mostly distracted by whatever he was looking at. I stiffened at his words, my first reaction was to not believe him…. but, his mind was so open…
The tree branch we were sitting on swayed slightly as a stronger breeze flowed past. A chill ran through the air, signaling the approach of night. I turned my head to Jeff’s location at my right, trying to determine his features. He could see me, but I could not see him. Besides the general shape of his hands, arms, and torso, I did not know what he looked like. It was a mystery that hadn’t bothered me till very recently.
“Stay still.” I requested before lifting one hand to find his face. His thin fingers caught my wrist and I scowled. “I want to know what you look like.” I stated dully, unhappy we were not equal.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He explained, a smile in his voice. The fingers around my wrist loosened and they trailed down my arm, following patterns. “I’ll let you, but your mask has to be off.” He stated, seeming rather proud of his plan.
“You’ve already seen my face.” I replied quietly, hoping to keep it on for comfort’s sake.
“That doesn’t change anything, I want to see you.” He said, smirk in his voice because he knew he’d won. He knew it bothered me I didn’t know what he looked like. I’d been asking the others for a few days now and never got a straight answer, just a lot of laughter.
“Fine. It’s not like it is something secret anymore.” I mumbled, reaching up and pulling off the disk of wood in one movement. I fought the urge to tense up as cool breeze flowed past my face. I placed the mask precariously on the branch surface next to me, committing its location to memory.
Before overthinking anything, I reached up with my freed right hand and extended my arm till my fingertips brushed his shirt. I moved my fingers up, barely touching the fabric. My hand made it to his throat, where I leaned closer as I met the solidity of his jaw.
Jeff stayed still and silent as I explored, content in being the subject of investigation. I was adamantly recording the data I gained from the touch, making a blurry three-dimensional picture of the person I had come to like so much. My hand trailed up to his lips, noting they were thin and dry, cracked even. I ran my knuckles over the skin, determining their shape and rough texture before moving on.
My eyebrows pushed down as I noted the lips extended further than expected. In fact, the line continued up to his cheekbone. The line couldn’t be a continuation of his mouth – it was way too wide…
I pressed a little where the line was and I felt the gap widen. A laugh echoed into the air as Jeff extended his jaw, parting his lips all the way through his cheek. “You have scars too.” I breathed, reluctant happiness at the realized similarity. “Did you…?” I asked, nearly certain these scars were intentional. They were scary for sure, but also mesmerizing to me. I retraced the line, bringing my other hand up to mirror the pattern on the other side of his face. This was why he always sounded like he was smiling…
“Yes… but your scars are far more beautiful.” He replied in all seriousness. His hands lifted and moved forward till they rested statically on my hips. Thought slightly uncomfortable with the light touch, I was determined to continue my searching.
I left the ghastly scars around his mouth and continued up to find his nose. Though quite normal, it was a thin and dry part of his face. I trailed my fingertips up carefully to the bridge of his nose, defining the shape of it. Then, I let my hands wander up to his brow line, finding there was little to no hair. I trailed two fingers down to where his eye would be located… going slow and expecting to meet the folds of an eyelid… but there wasn’t any. I felt the rim of his eye, noticing it was wide and unable to close. BEN mentioned Jeff is always watching…
“Are you missing… eyelids?” I asked, confused about the missing facial feature.
Jeff hummed in confirmation and then went on to explain, “There was a fire you see…” He told me. “I have some drops and an eye cover for it…” He laughed quietly, “We both have eye issues, huh?” He stated.
I let out a genuine laugh, liking the change in atmosphere. “You got that right.” Suddenly, the light pressure on my hip disappeared and a new pressure arose on my face. I flinched slightly before recovering, pulling my hands back to my side. His thumb traced the cut through my lip, reaching up to brush under my eye. Then, without warning, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against the corner of my jaw. I shivered, but remained still and accepting.
Taking it as agreement, Jeff repeated the action before moving up to my cheekbone. Should I be still for this? No one had ever touched me before, not like this. But I found that I enjoyed the feeling… the warmth. I would have killed anyone else trying to do this, but Jeff was... different.
“I love you.” Jeff mumbled before pushing his lips to mine. I leaned into the contact and moved my lips in response, letting instinct take over. We broke the kiss together, though we did not scoot away from each other. Words bubbled in my throat, getting past the walls I had so carefully built.
“I think… I love you, too.” I whispered, shuffling closer to his warmth. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me ever nearer. His chin rested on the crown of my head and he hummed softly. We stayed like that for as long as we dared, content in the shadows of the night.