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Moonlight bounced off the mirror, black eyes vaguely flickering up to look at it before they focused back on their fixation.
The light was flittering through the small, circular window to the figure’s left, most of it getting drowned in the dark ocean of walls. The only pieces of furniture were the square mirror on the north wall and the bed, its duvet having been abandoned somewhere beneath it. Though by now, it was likely that it belonged to the entity.
Arlecchino’s hands sat on the bed, claws digging into the sheets as her eyes narrowed, the red in them quickly filling with disdain at the sight of them.
It’s not that she was insecure, of course not. She supposed that she would be considered as confident in herself, but the truth was that she never paid much thought to her any body, negative or positive.
Except for her hands.
Unlike a human’s, they were dark with black tattoos that went underneath her sleeves all the way up to her neck, with red claws that could rip a man’s eyes out if needed. Not that she would. Again.
Before meeting the twins, she had never thought much of them, seeing them only as a tool for the Fatui’s needs. And yet, when Freminet and Lyney had both voiced their discomfort at being touched by them, she felt something pull at her heart, claws drawing blood from her own hands. And when Lynette started cowering away from them, after Arlecchino had been granted consent to hug her, she started seeing them as filth.
During the Fatui’s meetings, she would allow herself sneak glances at the others’ hands, for even though they were wearing gloves, she could tell that they were normal human ones, that didn’t scare children. And everyone had some kind of family, except for Dottore, who often held their hands or kissed them in the case of Sandrone and everytime she stumbled upon such happening, Arlecchino’s head would began to pound with the undeniable sensation of pure jealousy.
That’s why she had accepted Columbina’s gift of her coat, the angel giggling at how her muscles relaxed when her sleeves covered up most of her arm. She had pushed away any words of gratitude, angelic voice telling her that she expected a different kind of debt. A shiver still ran down her spine whenever she recalled these words, but Arlecchino still clung to the coat, using it as a shield when needed.
The twins had been ecstatic when they had first seen her in it, Freminet joining in when he felt the fabric. And even though they all promised that they liked her hands, she would still rather touch them with the sleeves, smiling at how they all cling to them even when they were adults.
And if her heart skipped a beat when she saw the twins wearing gloves that matched her hands, that was no one’s business but hers.
A creak from the door pulled her out of her own thoughts, simply blinking at the redhead that stood in the doorway, eyes squinting to see her. Claws beginning to slip into the mattress, Arlecchino made a small sound to tell her when she was, still slightly upset at how Columbina had refused to pass on the gift of “Moon Seeing” to the Fatui’s companions, claiming that it went against her “angelic code”.
Arlecchino’s argument wasn’t helped by Childe chiming in, that wanker.
Nilou quickly made her way over to her, practically sliding across the floor as she moved with delicacy and grace, banishing all thoughts of the angel out of her mind. Her beautiful blue eyes were full of concern as her right hand slipped up to the Fatui’s right cheek, stroking it in a manner that only she was allowed to do so.
“What’s wrong?”
The words seemed to dance in the air like their owner, curling around Arlecchino in a comforting embrace, giving her the ability to let her head drop, brandishing her neck, closing her eyes and bringing Nilou’s attention to the objects of her frustration.
Her hands were half buried in the mattress, likely only visible to Nilou as clumps of rotten, rotten flesh, unworthy of her love.
And so, Arlecchino’s eyes flew open so quickly it hurt and her crossed legs shook with a tremor that ran up her spine as her partner placed her hands over them and pulled them out to interlock their fingers.
Wide eyes turned to calm ones as her mouth opened to protest, head turning to face the other before she was shushed and a cheek was used to make her look back down at their hands.
The moon’s light brightened and seemed to almost smile down at the hands, pale, unscarred hands sat atop dark, red tipped ones, fitting them like a glove. Both of them sat in silence as the bed dipped with Nilou’s added weight behind her partner and a quiet kiss was given to Arlecchino’s neck.
During the next Fatui meeting, Columbina smiled at how Arlecchino no longer watched the others hands and shared a look with Sandrone at the kiss marks on her hands.