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He traces the faint scarring on his captain’s palm, taking in the small bumps of the scar.
They had gone through so much; all that remained was scarring from Mark ripping the crystal out of their hand.
At first, it wasn’t something he could stand seeing. He felt his eyes water and his throat closing up at seeing the scar. His captain rarely took their glove off, only to sleep; they mentioned it was to help them remember they weren’t back in the loop.
Now, the scar helped remind him to trust his captain. Besides, it’s not all day he has to see it, just in the mornings and at night.
They lay in bed; it was early in the morning. The captain stared up at the ceiling, basking in the attention Mark gave them.
His eyes catch sight of another scar, just under their shirt that slid up, and hesitantly he places his other hand on their abdomen, feeling them flinch under him,
“Sorry,” He mummers, removing his hand.
“No, no.” they took his hand, placing it back, “You saw the scar?”
Mark nods, lifting their shirt to take in the scar in full. It was jagged, clearly a painful wound when it happened.
“It happened during one of the other missions I led. My first one.” They whisper, raising their hand to their head, rubbing their hair, “I was inexperienced.”
He glanced back up to their face, locking eyes with them, and nodded in a silent urge to continue. They hummed,
“I wasn’t thinking right and—” Breathing out, they shake their head, “It was stupid. I let the navigation make a bad choice, and we almost blew up because of it.”
His captain tapped their thigh, “I got hit here with a large metal sheet and the scar you’re touching… A… um, metal rod got lodged right in there. Pain to get out without bleeding to death, let me tell you.”
Staring up at them, his face full of concern, opening his mouth to speak, only for them to cut him off,
“Don’t worry, it was years ago, and I’m okay now…” they trailed, patting his head, “Besides, no one died.”
Mark frowned, “But you almost did.” his words got a laugh from his captain,
“Yeah. That’s the risk we take, no?”
“...Yes.” he sighs out, his fingers massaging the scar gently.
No words needed to explain how he felt; his face reads like an open book… to the captain at least.
Their hand ran through his hair, letting him continue finding more scars that littered their body.
“You’ve been through a lot…” His voice was low, lost in his thoughts.
Humming, “We both have.”
“No.” he shakes his head, his hand caressing their forearm, where another scar was, “Before… everything. I knew you became a renowned Captain, but I— I never knew just what all you did.”
“Well, a decade apart, we’ve both done and seen so much.”
“Yes, but—”
The captain’s alarm went off.
They both groaned. Mark shoved his head on the captain’s stomach, “Do we have to get up now?”
“Unfortunately, yes, I do not think the crew would be too keen with knowing their Head Engineer and Captain were canoodling in bed instead of working.”
Another groan came from him, muffled by their shirt. They ruffle his hair, “Well, best not to keep them waiting.” in a softer, more quiet voice, “I’ll tell you about my scars later tonight.”
Slowly, Mark pulled away, his cheeks slightly red from them calling this Canoodling , getting up to prepare for a new day.
His captain smiled at his back. They could get used to this.