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“This tattoo I got in Vegas right after I scammed the casino out of a fortune!” Ace exclaimed excitedly, presenting Felix with the small tattoo he had gotten on his thigh. It portrayed a bird doing the tango it seemed. It was pretty cute, in Felix’s opinion.
They were sitting in their more secluded corner of the woods, where they were allowed to sleep and store all of their items. They elected to stay in their private corner of the woods today and… get to know each other better so to say.
It had come up so randomly. Felix had noticed a tattoo on Ace’s arm as he was changing clothes, nothing major, really. Yet it got them into hour-long talking, mostly on Ace’s part. Ace had a lot of very small tattoos with big stories behind them and Felix had been listening to him all this time, nodding along in obvious interest. It was sweet, really, to have someone that listened to him for so long and never grew tired of it.
“You mean the time where you used rigged cards and the casino didn’t notice?” Felix inquired and Ace could have melted at the question. Felix not only remembered all of his stories, he also knew exactly which one he was talking about. How did he deserve this man?
“Yes, exactly! You got it! Those guys were idiots, didn’t even realize I cheated despite their fancy security and cameras!” Ace laughed lightheartedly. He’d told that story a million times already, but Felix still listened to him every single time.
Felix chuckled as well, affirming: “Indeed. Maybe they should’ve hired you as security. You would’ve spotted it right away.”
“Aw, stop it, you! You’re gonna make me blush!” Ace boxed him in the shoulder affectionately, the two of them still grinning stupidly among each other.
“But enough about me and my exciting stories.” Ace purred, sliding a finger down Felix’s chest. “Do YOU have any tattoos I don’t know about? Come on, don’t be shy. Give me all the stories~”
The smile slipped off Felix’s face and Ace was worried for a second that he fucked up majorly. The mood shifted into awkwardness quickly as Felix simply stood and stared at Ace like he was a fish. Ace noticed with worry that hid gaze was almost…empty. His eyes slowly roamed downwards as he was no longer able to hold Ace’s eye contact.
“Darling…?” Ace attempted, starting to get concerned. He snapped his fingers in front of Felix’s face, but there was no reaction. He swallowed heavily. Did he really fuck up that bad? Felix seemed so far away Ace was beginning to wonder if his boyfriend would snap out of his daze any time soon.
“You know…” Felix began, his voice quiet and soft. His expression didn’t change. He still stared right through Ace. “I almost…forgot…about that…”
“Felix, you- you don’t have to tell me if it’s something bad…” Ace was scrambling to find the right words. He was still reeling from the whiplash caused by the sudden shift in atmosphere, he couldn’t even bring up an endearing nickname for his boyfriend as he wracked his brain for a way to make this right.
“No…no.” Felix mumbled, his hand reaching up to himself. He slowly began unbuttoning his shirt, like he was on autopilot. “You should know…you should. It’s for the best. It’s only…fair…you- you deserve… to know.”
Ace was starting to get increasingly more nervous and concerned, his lip beginning to twitch. He licked over his lips and began folding and unfolding his hands together in an attempt to calm his racing nerves. Each second became a little more torturous. It almost felt like hours passed in-between them.
Felix’s exhale was shaky as he finally shrugged off his jacket. He then began to slowly slip off his shirt. Ace could barely take the anticipation anymore. Felix’s pupils were like pinpoints and Ace could spot the slight tremor in his hands as he undressed himself. He was close to panicking as well, from the anticipation and concern alone.
Felix listlessly dropped the fabric, awkwardly standing in the cold air for a moment. Then, he turned around. Ace’s jaw dropped. For a moment, he was unable to comprehend what he was seeing, it was THAT absurd to him.
There, by his right shoulder blade, Ace saw a massive burn scar. No ordinary burn scar though, it was dark red, the skin around it irritated. And, worst of all, it had an intricate pattern, an I that spread into multiple vines and patterns, making it look like a symbol.
“Wh- what is- this- this is-” Ace stammered uselessly, his hands raised into the air as if he wanted to touch Felix. He didn’t know what to do, he expected a lot, but he never expected this. He finally hurried towards his boyfriend, turning him around, demanding to know: “Who did this?!”
Felix’s eyes were still so lifeless, staring down at Ace like he was a doll. He hated seeing him like this, so devoid of anything, the sight made his heart twist painfully.
Ace reached up, cupping Felix’s face gently. He brushed a thumb over his cheek and finally he got the ghost of a smile out of his boyfriend. At least he showed that he was still present mentally. It was a relief in and of itself.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Ace promised, his voice nothing more than a hushed whisper. Truth be told, he was still reeling from what he saw. “But I would like to know, if just so I know who to despise from now on…”
Felix finally looked him in the eye. It was a small relief in the tense situation. Ace offered Felix his most assuring and loving smile, making sure he knew that he didn’t think any less of him.
“It’s a brand…” Felix began awkwardly, beginning to cough as his throat had gotten dry. “From- from the Imperiatti…”
Felix was tearing up, but Ace elected against speaking up. Even if it was just because he had to digest what was just told to him. He knew Felix grew up in a cult, he heard one story or the other from both him and Elodie, but a brand?! This was completely new, and quite upsetting to boot.
“Darling…” he finally cooed, still caressing Felix’s face lovingly, just trying to power them both through this. He brushed the occasional tear away with his thumbs or got up on his tippy toes to kiss hum reassuringly. He laughed shakily, admitting: “And here I thought the Imperiatti weren’t ‘that bad’ for a fucking cult…”
Felix looked at him with nothing short of sympathy. Ace wanted to laugh. Felix is the one that got fucking branded by a cult like fucking cattle and he has to be the one to cheer Ace up. What a horrible boyfriend he was.
“Are you alright?” Felix finally wondered. His voice was still so quiet, so sad. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you…”
“What?!” Ace exclaimed suddenly, pulling Felix into a hug as he assured: “Nononono, Felix, darling, you can tell me anything. I’m sorry, I just-...I didn"t expect this…Did they seriously…brand you? Those…” he couldn’t even get the words out properly. Just thinking about it made his throat feel dry.
Felix nodded solemnly. “They did it with everyone. Including the children. It was a symbol of belonging and it was considered a celebration when you got it.”
“The childr-” Ace choked on the word, sudden dread washing over him as he wondered: “How…old were you? when you- when you got your…brand?” It felt so absurd to talk about it, so absolutely insane. He almost felt like crying too.
“Mhhh, I got mine on my 8th birthday. You usually got them around that time, unless you joined as an adult or you had some kind of sickness." He was talking about it in surprising casualty now. But Ace’s heart ached, imagining a poor 8-year old Felix getting branded by the cult his parents were a part of, basically claiming an innocent child as their property. It disgusted him.
He felt his guts flaring up in anger. Did they seriously think they could claim ownership over Felix?! The notion was ridiculous. They were just sad lunatics. That his parents didn’t leave there and then soured Ace‘s opinion on them considerably.
His mind wandered, thinking about how Felix once told him that the Imperiatti were technically still around. But they were an underground organization now, with very few members left after some of their richest members disappeared and they ran out of funds. Ace almost laughed. If those fuckers dared to blip up on his radar, if they ever dared to even just get close to Felix, he would make them regret it bitterly.
“Does…does Elodie have one too?” Felix nodded mutely at the question. He seemed uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to admit it.
“Yeah…I’d rather not talk about that though…that’s for her to tell you.” Felix pleaded.
“Of course, of course. I just wanted to know if they spared at least someone, but I guess they really have no fucking integrity.” Ace sounded bitter, he hated how little he had himself under control in the moment. How he wanted to do nothing more than rip off the heads of every single Imperiatti member that decided to brand its members, especially children that never had a choice or could ever give consent. Fucking lunatics.
“Thank you for reacting so strongly about it…” Felix blurted out suddenly. He then swallowed, averting his gaze.
“Wh-what do you mean?! Of course! It’s just- I’m so sorry this happened to you…”
Felix blinked at him stupidly, his breath hitching. He finally explained: “It just feels…affirming. Everyone in the Imperiatti treated it like such a wonderful thing, but- but I cried a lot back then and- and it hurt. It still does sometimes… I just didn’t understand why everyone was so happy about it back then… I still don’t.”
“Jesus christ, those guys are fucking psychopaths! I can’t even imagine how much it must’ve hurt.” Ace breathed, still trying to wrap the entire situation around his head. All he knew was that the whole cult business was MUCH worse than he initially thought. And he already assumed it was very bad. How could Felix’s parents even allow that?! It was inconceivable to him. And unforgivable. They could consider themselves lucky that they were dead.
“Thank you…” Felix nodded at the affirmation. He held his voice steady, admitting: “You- You’re the first I one I showed it to…I’m glad I did. I feel a little better.”
“Of course, darling. You can come to me and talk about anything…” He brushed Felix’s cheek with his thumb once again. He finally got him to smile again, which was a good sign. Felix leant into the touch, looking down at Ace softly.
“May I take a look at it? I know a thing or two about treating burns, even if they are old.” Ace suggested, his tone of voice establishing that Felix could say no if he wasn’t comfortable with it. He just wanted to see if there was maybe anything he could do to help out.
Felix nodded confirmingly, obediently sitting down on their sleeping mat with his back turned to Ace.
Ace swallowed, sitting down behind his boyfriend. Now that he finally got a good look at it, he was getting emotional all over again. It was a fat and ugly burn scar, even more so that it was done deliberately to a child, branding him like cattle. Disgusting.
Not only that, but it wasn’t even treated well. The skin around it was stretched with marks all around it, the skin was inflamed and the lines were bumpy and deep red. That was definitely a serious burn, even if it had been so long ago.
He gently traced one of the lines with his finger to gauge how bad it was. The gesture made Felix writhe and shudder, exclaiming: “God, it’s so itchy.”
Ace quickly retreated his hand in horror, ordering: “For the love of god, don’t scratch it! Did you scratch it before?!”
“Yeah-...” Felix admitted almost shamefully, looking down at the ground. “I couldn’t help it, it was so itchy! I just couldn’t take it…”
Ace was horrified, to be frank, but he tried his best to keep his voice level and even, assuring Felix: “It’s not your fault, hun. It’s the fault of those psychopaths, doing something so fucked up and then not even treating it…”
“You’re angry.” Felix concluded neutrally.
“Yeah.” Ace retorted.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so angry.” he then exclaimed. He sounded confused, like he didn’t understand what Ace was getting so worked up over.
Ace almost laughed at that. Instead he huffed at the ridiculousness of Felix’s words, countering: “Darling, how would you feel if I told you my father beat me every day, broke my rib and then locked me in my room without any treatment?”
Felix’s head turned so fast, his eyes wide. “He did that?!” his voice was a low growl, the anger in his eyes undeniable.
Ace leant forward to peck him, assuring: “Not to this extent, don’t worry. But you see what I mean now?”
Felix swallowed, confirming: “Yes. I think I do.”
They met for another kiss. It was drawn out and desperate, like they were afraid the other would vanish if they stopped. When they separated, Ace promised: “I’ll ask Claudette for some Aloe Vera and honey later. I’m sure she has some of this at hand. Don’t worry, we can get rid of it. Or at least make it fade.”
Felix smiled at the promise, reaching for his shirt once again. “Thank you, Ace…for everything. I wouldn’t know what to do without you sometimes.”
Ace found himself smiling, embracing Felix one last time before he would set out to get some remedies, assuring: “Don’t worry. You could show me anything, I will never leave. That’s what I’m here for.”
Felix returned the hug, holding him tightly. It was just what they needed after this heavy revelation. Ace could still feel his anger for the Imperiatti burning, but they would be safe, as long as he was trapped by the Entity.
Now, Felix was a lot more important. And Ace would make sure he knew how important he was. Always.