[C] Unchained Melody

Dick's eyes slipped close, throat vibrating with a noise of approval. He sunk pleasently into the bed. The little kisses felt good along his skin. Soft and teasing. It almost made him want to drop the subject and forget about it.

Almost.

"Fleck, wait -"

He twisted a little out of Fleck's reach, so he was lying on his back.

"What was wrong? Really?"

Normally Fleck welcomed any advance Dick made on him, especially with how rare they could be. For him not to just seemed... Strange.

He pulled back as soon as Dick told him to wait.

His lips curled into a tiny wry smile when he pushed the subject. His boyfriend was like a little dog with a bone when he got something on his mind.

Usually he liked that. Dick was a determined person, and that was an admirable quality.

"I just don't like that part of my thigh being touched." Coming clean without coming clean. It was a tactic that he had been using since the dawn of time to smooth situations over.

"The rest of my body is free reign, but there?" He shook his head a little as he reached out to draw aimless patterns on Dick's clothed stomach.

Dick nodded at Fleck's answer.

"That's okay."

He himself was cagey about his body at the start - and even now. Alough he was better thanks to Fleck patience and gentle persuasion.

Under Fleck's hand his stomach muscles twitched. He curled his hands around Fleck's to stop it. Then held it there, biting his lip in thought. Fangs still drawn and jutting out over his bottom lip before hiding away in his mouth again.

"Just that part of the thigh, on that leg?" He pushed.

His hand stilled under Dick's.

"Just there," he confirmed.

His lips quirked upwards into a teasing little grin. "The rest of my body is yours to explore." Bar his lower legs, for the same reason as that part of his thigh, but he hadn't met many people that wanted to feel up their partners lower legs when they were making out with them, so he didn't bother making that point.

Dick hummed, looking up at the ceiling. Drumming his fingers clasped around Fleck's hand. He scraped his mind on all the times he has seen Fleck half naked, but there was nothing he could think of. He was always easily distracted by his large arms or how his back muscles moved, carefully avoiding looking any lower. Besides, he also wondered if he actually ever had the chance to see that part, easily covered by long briefs and shorts. It wasn't like he has seen Fleck in anything less.

He turned his head back to Fleck.

"Is it a bad tattoo?" His lips quirked as he said it, mostly joking.

Fleck gave a little snort.

"No, my skin's still virgin." Not a single tattoo as of yet, and no solid plans to get one. Though it was something that he definitely wanted to do before it was too late. He did love the look of tattoos.

"Any more guesses?"

Turning this into a game was making him a little mess worried about it, at least.

He turned back on his side now, hand falling back on Fleck's hip.

"Birthmark?"

If he let Fleck lift his shirt, there was one off centre on his lower back. Smooth to the touch, just a patch of darker skin. He didn't really care about it enough to like or dislike it. But he had met some people in his lifetime who were horribly embarrassed by them.

Fleck shook his head and pulled down the collar of his shirt.

Sat along his collarbone was a mottled patch of skin just a shade darker than his skintone. The patch was no bigger than his thumbnail, and barely noticeable, especially as it sat in the dip right between both clavicles.

"Try again."

Dick studied the patch of skin. Funny how he never really took much notice of it before. He set a little kiss against it. Then one against his jugular. Then another against his lips, shifting and stretching himself up a little to reach.

They were nose to nose. Dick could spot the little green flecks in his warm eyes easily.

"Is it a scar?"

His hand smoothed over the slight dip in Dick's waist as they kissed.

And he hesitated when Dick guessed right.

He gave a tiny, shamed little nod.

As soon as he got his answer he closed the gap between them to press a chaste kiss against Fleck's lips.

For the next moment he just laid there, quiet. Picking out the green in the humans eyes. He got the answer he wanted out of Fleck, now he was a little unsure on how to approach it. He chewed on his lip again, fangs gone.

"And you're... embarrassed by it?"

Fleck made a funny nose, a strange mixture of a grunt and a whine, clearly reluctant to talk much about it.

"It's just... not a pretty sight."

That was quite an unusual comment for Fleck to make. He was generally an accepting person, and he was likely to chew someone out if they even thought about being self conscious about a scar themselves.

But he'd never had anything pleasant said about that scar, and over time he'd come to hate it, and his other scars. he had little ones littering his forearms that he didn't cover, but the larger ones on his legs were almost always covered, and there was one particularly nasty puckered scar on his wrist that he always had covered with a bandanna or watch or a multitude of woven bracelets.

Fleck's unusual comment didn't go past Dick. His brows knitted into a frown. Fleck's reluctance to talk about and how - when he did - talk about it left him feeling uncomfortable. So used to hearing him be so accepting and open.

Lifting himself up and resting on one hand, the other smoothed over Fleck's hip to grip the hem of his trousers.

"Can I see?"

He hesitated again at the question.

He almost asked 'do you really want to?'

Pulling away from Dick, he swallowed and moved to roll over onto his stomach, pulling both his jeans and his boxers down to his-thigh.

The scar was large, curving around most of his outer and back thigh. The skin was almost white and dimpled nastily. It was an old scar, clearly, but it was rough. It had been a bad wound when it had happened. The healing had been helped along with medical attention, but it couldn't save the skin entirely.

He crossed his arms and buried his face against them, waiting with dread for Dick's reaction.

Heat rose to his cheeks but he refused to let his eyes divert as Fleck pushed both his trousers and pants down.

He made himself look and it wasn't what he expected.

Lost for words he pressed cool palm against the back of Fleck's thigh, rubbing in a soft, circular motions. He hoped it was soothing. There wasn't a line he could trace. It was just a mass of scar tissue.

"How did you get it?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Whatever happened, it must of been nasty.

"I was playing with a dog when I was... eleven? Twelve?" He kept his answer quite vague. He didn't want to incriminate the dog that did this to him, especially since the family still had the dog and loved him dearly.

"The dog got a little too riled up."

And that was really it. It was just a bit of rough housing gone wrong.

He was tense under Dick's pleasantly cool touch.

He didn't stop the small circular motions.

It wasn't an answer he was expecting. Sure, it did look like a nasty animal attack. But he was expecting a story about someone else animal. Or a stray. Not one of his own.

Fleck didn't look even the slightest bit intimidated around them. Even the largest one. Always opening his arms to them and letting them jump about and on him. The idea that he was attacked by one of them was strange.

"We're you scared? After?"

"Scared? Of what? The dogs?" He snorted. "No, of course not."

His broad shoulders rolled in an awkward shrug. "He was just a puppy. A big one, but a puppy none-the-less. We hadn't trained him properly by then, and I was the stupid one for riling him up like that. I'm not going to be scared of an innocent dog for my own mistake."

Even at twelve years old, he had a strong sense of morality and acceptance.

"Being rushed to the hospital, though? Losing that much blood and being rushed into surgery was scary." He pressed his cheek harder against his arms.

He was feeling more and more tense and uncomfortable. Dick hadn't given any immediate horrified reaction like some others had. But that still didn't mean that Dick didn't care about the scar.

Dick shook his head. He didn't expect an answer any different.

"Why don't you like it?" He asked. "I mean, back in the day, men would be showing off scars like these as trophies."

It was considered a sign of strength. He had vague memories of his father talking about his scars. Thin ones along his arms. Normally from training, sometimes from battle. All before he was King.

"You went through something, and survived it. You still love those dogs unconditional."

"It's ugly."

He frowned. "And it's a pretty amazing mood killer." Plenty of times that scar had stopped fun in its tracks.

Now was a prime example.

The scar made him feel undesirable; not quite good enough. This wouldn't have happened if he didn't have the scar. Without the scar, their making out would have continued on.

"Fleck, your saying that to me."

He would often find something to fret about when things got a little heated. End their make outs suddenly. Either leaving them both frustrated or turning the mood sour. Or both. Normally thanks to those little things called anxiety and fangs.

He pulled his hand from Fleck's thigh it and looked. It wasn't ugly - but it wasn't pleasant either. Despite that, it didn't make Fleck any less attractive. If anything, more so; proof of how big his heart is. He chewed on his lip, a little unsure how to put it into words without hurting Fleck.

Maybe he didn't need to put it into words.

Tentatively, he leaned down and softly pressed his lips against the dimpled scar tissue.

Dick didn't have anything about him that physically repulsed people. Dick was such a flawlessly beautiful looking person. People didn't take one look at a scar that spanned a good portion of his body and recoil like they did with Fleck.

He stayed silent.

He did jerk, though, when he felt Dick's lips against the dimpled flesh. And he choked up. He could feel tears welling in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

What Dick had just done was something that none of his previous partners had done: accepting his scars.

Dick felt Fleck jerk under him and didn't miss the little noise.

He lifted his head slightly to look up. Fleck's face hidden between his arms, bleach blond hair splayed out across his broad back.

"Is this okay?" He asked, softly.

"Yeah." His voice was just a whisper.

He was worried that if it was any louder, then it would break. Something that he joked Dick's voice did more than his.

He tried to make his shoulders relax a little.

He pressed another lingering kiss against the scar tissue. One hand rested on the side of Fleck's thigh where the scar continued round, the other on the small of his back.

Then he kissed the skin again and again. Slowly, not rushing. Taking his time to show Fleck that he did love him, he did find him attractive and a scar wasn't going to change that any time soon. No matter how large and "ugly" it was.

He stopped, tip of his nose and a few loose stands of curly blond hair grazing the skin.

"I love you," he said, softly and quietly. Only just above a whisper. Even in his slightly tipsy state, he meant each and every word.