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Soft warm fingers traced each groove in his skin and each raised scar. Franklin huffed in amusement as Nancy leaned over to kiss one on his collar. She liked to listen to his stories, sometimes they seemed to blur the lines of reality. But she had to remind herself, that the line was of her reality. They lived two different lives before this; she lived comfortably besides for what had happened, Frank had lived in chaos and instability all his life.
Frank chuckled, reaching up to meet her fingers as he traced the scar himself. "That one is from another bar fight, don't remember why we were fighting but they got me damn good. Had to go get stitches and take some time off from lifting anything so I wouldn’t fuck up the stitching," A lot of the scars were bar fights, he was basically part of his legacy at this point with how many he partook in. But he enjoyed them no matter how bloodied and bruised he came out of them, it made him feel alive.
The brunette hummed, her lips twitching in amusement. She should have guessed, most of the scars she's touched were caused to some sort of bar fight or anything like it. "What about this one? This one down here on your hip," she moved her hand down his chest and circled it gently. It was raised and an odd shape, he had another one like it on his shoulder. Frank only had two or maybe three on his body, by far the least common of all the other disfigurements that littered all of him.
"Oh...that one. That's a bullet wound scar. Me ‘n’ the twerps were running around on mount Ormond, sometimes we would leave the area of the chalet and liked to run around like a bunch of wild animals. We were havin’ a bit too much fun, we didn't pay attention to the trespassing signs 'cause, ya' know, we were having a lot of fun and didn't notice. The land belonged to this gun-crazy conspiracy dude, I had a few run-ins with him before. He hated me. But anyway, dude comes flying at us on his four-wheeler after some time. Starts screaming at us and waving his rifle around,” Frank paused, shifting his body to sit up a little more straight.
“Something happened, maybe Joey startled the dude, or maybe Julie said something stupid. But the barrel finally decided to pick a target. So, I took the bullet. I mean, I had to get the barrel off Joey first, but then I got shot. The old man was stronger than he looked, not as strong as me of course,” he took a moment to flex, it was an attempt to lighten his mood or maybe just his mood. “I took the bullet. What else was I supposed to do? Let one of them get shot? I’m stupid, and I know that, but not stupid enough not to realize that I can’t just be a friend to them, ya’know? I’m the oldest and they’re just a bunch of naive and dumb kids, as much as they deny it. It’s my job to take care of them when they’re with me, my job to keep them from getting in too much trouble.”
Nancy watched the blonde talk, her hands had left the scar and were gently stroking the rough and calloused digits she loved so much. He called himself stupid, she knew otherwise. Maybe he wasn’t textbook smart but he was brighter than he gave himself credit for. Frank was also far kinder than he let on to anyone, gentler even. The ex-killer had his temper, flaws, and all his issues. But beneath all that and the layers of barbed wire and brick walls, he hid the softer parts of him. Nancy loved every part of him; each sharp edge and every bit he kept hidden. “What happened after that, after he shot you that is,” her tone was soft, nudging him with her head.
“Oh right, yeah. They ran, as you would after you watched the guy you thought of as a leader and a friend get shot. I got the gun away, threw it, and ran after them as I bled all over myself. Got dragged into the car by the lot of them and then dragged to the emergency room, you know the drill. Docs put me under so they could cut me open and get the fragments out. Not sure how long I had to stay at the hospital but it was long enough for me to get tired of free food. Had three sappy teenagers hanging on me and insisting on doing literally everything for me. It was at that point that I kicked them out-”
“I love you,” Nancy cut him off, a small smile worming its way onto her face as she noted the pink blush blooming on his ears and nose. “You’re stupid and reckless, yet caring and brave. You love your Legion even if you act like they’re a pain in your ass.” Slim and gentle hands reached up and brought the older man down into a tender kiss on the lips.
“Now,” the brunette smiled and locked eyes with the mismatched orbs that burrowed into her own, “tell me about this one.” A dull nail traced the gnarly one that cut from the bottom left of his jaw, over the slim bridge of his nose, finally stopping under his dark right eye.
“Well, it’s a pretty long story, so I hope you’re ready.”
“Don’t worry, Frank, we have all the time in the world. Now,” she curled up into him, resting the side of her head on his chest, “Stop stalling and start regaling!” A laugh rumbled the marked and scarred chest of the Legionnaire, the bare hint of a smile teasing the corners of his mouth. Nancy’s eyes fluttered shut as she let him ramble on as he told the story, simply enjoying and cherishing the moment of calmness in their life of chaos.