I didn't realize it said two sorry. How about Scars and Makeovers? I think that sounds interesting.
“Oh my Notch, you are ridiculous.”
Romeo can’t help it- he bursts out laughing right after Jesse says that. “Well, you are the one I suggested I get a makeover.”
“I was joking, you’re the one who’s supposed to get the makeover, and you’re the one who picked out a neon green tube top and these obscenely short shorts for me to wear. Where the heck did you even find these?” Jesse picks the tube top and the shorts in question off of the top of the pile, staring at it in amusement.
“I have my ways.” Mainly the way of wandering around the store searching for the most embarrassing thing Jesse could possibly wear. The tube top also ends at about the bottom of the rib cage, making sure Jesse would show plenty of skin while wearing it.
Jesse stares at the tube top for a moment, before narrowing their eyes and looking back at Romeo. “If I try this on, you’re going to try on a dress.”
“Fine by me. I’d look fabulous in a dress.”
Jesse lets out a huff of laughter and walks into the changing room, although not before swatting in the general direction of his head.
A minute passes before Jesse pokes their head out of the door, face having turned the approximate redness of a cherry. “This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done,” they mutter.
“You seemed pretty happy to have Lukas wear–”
“DO NOT SAY IT OR I WILL WHACK YOU WITH THIS SHOE.” Lukas’s voice carried clearly over the shop floor, the blonde’s head snapping up from where he was looking at loafers, of all the things. What does he even need with loafers?
“Well, you looked very pretty, Lukas,” Petra says, smirk obvious in her voice.
Lukas spins around, still holding the shoe, and begins to make his way over to where Petra is looking at t-shirts. (In the men’s section. What, the designs are nice.)
Jesse rolls their eyes. “I wasn’t the one making him wear that. Anyway, you’d better keep your promise of wearing the dress once you see me in this thing. I’m already getting chilly.”
Romeo nods sagely at that, a wicked grin still managing to sneak its way over his face. “Oh yes. Tell you what, you can pick the dress too.”
“Well, that’s a deal I can hardly refuse,” Jesse replies, just as drily, before sidling out from behind the door.
The moment they do, Romeo’s teasing grin fades.
When he’d… been Jesse (they tended to avoid that topic as much as possible), he’d never really changed clothes.
Yes, of course he noticed, up close, all the tiny little scars on Jesse’s face, scratches on the bridge of their nose, the way a bit of their right earlobe was missing, the tiny scar going through the corner of their lips, the crooked lines on their arms.
But he’d never really seen Jesse in anything other than a t-shirt, at the least. Never in a tank top, or anything shorter than capris.
So he’d never seen all of their scars.
He’d never seen the twin scars, almost like a crooked pause sign, snaking up to Jesse’s collar bone from their chest. Never seen the huge bit of scar tissue over Jesse’s stomach that snuck up under the tube top they were wearing.
He hadn’t ever seen the burn scars on Jesse’s legs, the hundreds of scarred-over cuts on Jesse’s knee, their shoulders, their collarbone, their sides, even a few on their thighs.
He hadn’t ever noticed the way one of Jesse’s arms was a little more crooked than the other.
“Romeo? You okay?” Jesse’s dry smile had changed to one of slight concern. Their green eyes rove over his suddenly very pale face, his slightly wider gold eyes. “Do I look that bad in this?”
Their attempt at a joke might as well not even reach Romeo’s ears as he stares at the network of scars covering Jesse, probably sneaking under the bit that’s being hidden.
Jesse blinks at the way he suddenly blurts out the question with a dry mouth, the question coming out as a slight croak.
He clears his throat and tries again.
“Where did… this…” He doesn’t finish the question, reaching up to his collarbone and tracing down to show what he means.
Jesse looks down at themselves, blinking in surprise. As if they completely forgot that they’re literally scarred for life. Their face shifts into a more self-conscious one moments later.
That somehow makes it worse.
“Uh, you– you know Mevia, right? Old Buil– uh, you know.” Jesse traces down the scar themselves, fingers running over bumpy scar tissue. “She axed me with two axes simultaneously in the Games.” They let out an awkward chuckle.
Romeo can’t stop staring at all of the scars. He tries to focus on one area and not look at the huge patchwork of scars that is Jesse’s body, but that somehow makes it worse. That scar looks darker than that one. That scar is larger than this one. Those scars cross over.
“And… all of the random…” Romeo taps one knee to indicate the scar on Jesse’s knee.
“Oh, PAMA smashed me through some glass in it’s core or whatever. A few…” Jesse hesitates as they glance back down at themselves, and then correct themselves. “A lot of the smaller bits of glass managed to sneak in through the bits of my armor that would let stuff like that through.”
A dry smile tugs at the corner of their mouth. “I had to take off my armor and clean out the glass for two hours.”
That’s all Romeo’s mouth can put out. He stares for a while, before opening his mouth slightly and then tapping the arm that seems to be a little more crooked than the other one.
Jesse glances down at their crooked arm and gives him a wry grin. “Uh, that was courtesy of the Witherstorm. It did nearly squeeze the life out of me at a few points. Broke a couple of bones, and… I mean, I did ask Ivor to help me heal them and everything, but then they set… well, awkwardly, to say the least.”
Jesse lets him stare for a little longer, before grinning at him awkwardly. The amused mood has changed into a more somber one. “Uh, why don’t I find a less awkward outfit and find you that dress, huh?”
“I…” Romeo clears his throat. “Actually, I… think this suits you.” He glances at the burn scars on their thighs. “Uh, although I think we need to find you something better than extremely short shorts.”
Jesse huffs a bit and puts their hands on their hips. “Yo, Romeo, eyes are up here.”
The former Admin snorts and looks up at Jesse’s face, meeting their eyes. “Why don’t you get the tube top, and a… less awkward pair of shorts. I’ll buy the dress you pick.”
“Are we going to make everyone burn their eyes out this Halloween?” Jesse asks drily.
Romeo smirks, and his voice adopts more of his usual pomp when he speaks again. “On the contrary, we’re going to rock everyone’s socks off. Just be serious when you pick the dress.”
Jesse snickers, the somber mood dissolving a little bit. “Like you were serious when you picked out the tube top?”
“In my defense, it actually looks very good on you. I have innate fashion sense.”
Jesse rolls their eyes. “Alright, I’ll buy the tube top and some shorts. And then we’re going to buy you a dress. I’m betting two iron that we make at least ONE person try to burn their eyes out at Halloween.”
“I’m betting that everyone will be jealous, and sure. I could use two iron.” Romeo’s smirk fades a little as Jesse lets out a laugh and turns back to the changing room. “Er, Jesse.”
Romeo’s eyes flick over the ‘pause’ scar touching Jesse’s collarbone before he meets their eyes again. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about your scars. They’re very…”
They tell a story about you.
Several continuations of that flash through Romeo’s head in the span of a few blinks, but he doesn’t say any of them.
He just gives a small, awkward smile, cupping one elbow with his hand and touching his own collarbone awkwardly. “They’re very you.”
Jesse looks at Romeo for a long time, still in that neon green tube top.
For a moment, it looks like they’re about to say something. Some sort of wall seems to be crumbling behind their eyes.
And then they blink, and the wall is back.
A playful smirk crosses their face. “I’m not buying you a red dress though.”
“Your hair is already red so it’d just look awful. You should just go for black or something complementary to the red.”
“As long as you don’t buy a green dress.”
Even as Romeo manages to fall back into the joking, which is more than he could’ve asked for considering what he did…
He still can’t help but wonder what walls Jesse is keeping up.
Oof this was fun to write.
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germansingergirl
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