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He imagines what those hands would feel like, caressing his haunting, deformed face. He thinks maybe they'd be warm and somewhat smooth. He wonders if that touch would be enough, though. He admires them. He loves that person greatly. He would do anything for them.
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They don't fear him when they remove his mask. He falls to the ground, shaking. They take him in their arms and stay with him.
When they hold him, he cries. It doesn't matter to either of them that his tears have wet their faces and clothes. He's crying so much he questions how they still stay with him. And they hold him still.
The tears finally stop, and he looks down to his hands, embarrassed. ''How can you,'' he starts to say, before his voice cracks. ''How can you tolerate such a monster? How can you stay with your Erik and hold him?'' They are silent, and his mind stills.
Has he done something wrong..?
His heart aches at this thought. He almost cries again, but is able to control himself. He pulls himself up off the floor in a jerk and moves himself away from them, attempting an escape back to his room.
They reach to grab the sleeve of his suit as he tries to get away. He freezes. ''Erik, I never meant...'' they say softly as his body flinches from their touch. They notice this and bring their hand away from his. ''Erik, you know I love you. Please don't fear me.''
They slowly move their hand near his face. ''You want to touch this face? This monstrous, corpse-like face? The rotten flesh on the face of your poor, unhappy Erik?'' he chokes out. They nod quietly and run their fingers across his cheek.
He feels tears swell in his eyes once more, and shudders. Not from anything negative, but rather the simple feeling of their hand on his face. Unafraid. It was everything he dreamed of.
They loved him. He may not know how to react right now, but they will wait for him.