Work Text:
“You’re kinda obsessed with my scars, you know.”
Dante smiled a little when he felt Ari’s hand fall away from his ribs. “Huh?”
The two of them were laid out in the back of his truck, the sky seconds away from turning black. It was something they always did; go out in the midst of the desert and just sit there - usually at night, usually with nobody saying a word.
The touching, however, was new - a habit.
A habit Dante had noticed quickly, a habit Ari didn’t know existed.
The part that really got him? Ari had a lot more scars; small and big, all over his body. The scars that peppered his ribs were small, almost invisible by now, and he knew in a few months they probably would be.
Ari lifted an eyebrow and it was an embarrassed, accusing look he was giving him. Dante knew he shouldn’t but he smiled. “Don’t tell me you have some weird fetish - not now that I’ve fallen for you,” his smile widened, “that’s unfair.”
“No,” he answered easily, “but if you want some new ones, I’ll gladly - “
Dante moved, his shoulder pressing against his chest and he shushed. “So why do you do it?” Ari glanced at him and Dante debated kissing him before deciding that was probably what he wanted. Ari wanted him to get distracted and that wasn’t happening.
No matter how beautiful he looked.
“I don’t know,” he answered, and there was a bit of honesty behind what he was saying. “It’s just something I do, I don’t think about it.” Dante watched as he curled his fingers; the same fingers that were always touching him. “I didn’t know it bothered you.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t,” he replied curtly and he was all but crawling into his lap. Ari was incredibly smart (despite him never thinking so) but occasionally Dante thought he might just be the dumbest person ever. Or maybe he just wanted people to think that about him.
But that wasn’t true, and they both knew it.
“I still think about that night,” Dante continued after a moment because he knew there was no avoiding it; the subject. He lifted his shirt just a little and even in the darkness he could still see the scars that danced around his ribs. “I have nightmares about it. It was months ago but it doesn’t always feel that way. It’s like it just happened some nights, like maybe a day ago and the pain is still - it’s still there, you know.”
He closed his eyes.
“I didn’t...” Ari was so soft as he touched him Dante almost thought he had to be dreaming. His arm settled around him, his fingertips softly brushing across his arm. “I was that way after the accident. In the hospital.”
Dante opened his eyes almost instantly.
How long had it been now? And despite it all, he still rarely talked about it.
But he was talking to him now and he wouldn’t let it be wasted.
“You were mad at me,” Dante whispered. “I realized that. I’m not dumb.”
He laughed, and despite the tenseness of the whole thing Dante couldn’t help smiling at him. "I never once thought you were dumb, though,” he assured him, a playfulness behind the words. “I knew you realized.” Ari was surprised when he felt the blanket being tossed over him. Dante pointed at his arms - at the goosebumps. Ari smiled before continuing. “I wanted to tell you I wasn’t but I was mad. I was, and I had no right to be.”
“I almost got you killed. I think that’s reason enough to be mad.”
Ari glanced at him. “But want to know something?”
“Always,” Dante replied because he always wanted to know more about him. He loved him, loved Ari like he was air itself and he’d suffocate without him. There was no denying that but there were still so many things he didn’t know about him. Dante knew the more he found out about him, the more he’d love him. He knew that.
“I was a lot more angry when those bastards did that - “ Ari gestured lazily at his ribs “ - to you.” He leaned his head back against the truck and licked his lips. “That made me angry, like truly angry. I felt like I was on fire and my skin was melting. I’ve never been so angry.”
Dante nodded slowly. “I want to show you something.” He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He could feel Ari watching him closely as he opened it. “The night Daniel approached me, I was drawing something.” He reached inside the wallet and his fingers immediately landed on what he was looking for. “I wanted to complete it but after I got attacked I just kinda... I shoved it in my wallet and never looked at it again.”
He looked up. “The day Daniel visited me - when you got so angry - he was dropping it off. Said that after you approached him, he knew I had to be missing it. He knew it meant something to me, and it did. I really want to complete it now.”
Ari stared at the folded piece of paper.
“I thought you didn’t like people seeing your art until it was finished.”
Dante smiled. “You’re not people, you’re Ari.”
After being handed it, Ari slowly unfolded the paper but a part of him knew what he should be expecting. It was a drawing of him, unfinished and a little messy but somehow still the most beautiful thing he’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. The night that started it all was also the night he’d been busy drawing him of all things - of all people. It all seemed so expected, so sappy. He kinda loved it.
“You would make a good model.”
Ari glanced up. “Sorry but I’m only ever modeling for you.”
Dante blinked, and in a way he knew that was his way of saying ‘I love you’.
“Okay,” he said, “I’d like that.”