Work Text:
Swipe.
Swipe.
Swipe.
“... It's not coming off.”
“I told you it wouldn't?”
CatNap drops the wet rag, looking at their boyfriend’s bare back with knit brows. They always found DogDay’s skin unique, and that was something apparently a lot of children also thought. Then again, CatNap hasn't seen anyone with two shades on their skin, minus “freckles”, but they aren't sure if that counts as “two shades of skin”...
A question for Bubba.
(“It's called vitiligo.” DogDay says, taking off his jacket and showing off the patches of lighter skin. “It's a skin condition. It's all over my body… Almost my entire face, a little down my neck, tips of my fingers, back, chest… It's just about everywhere.” He explains, and CatNap's head tilts.
“Does it hurt?”
“Nah. It’s fine. There's no cure, though, and new patches might just randomly spring up. They like to often spring up when I get hurt,” his brow twitches, and CatNap's head tilts at the subtle signs of anger, “so my fingers, feet, ankles, and knees are covered in it.”
CatNap tilts their head, looking at the other. “So… This part,” they reach over and touch the darker shade of DogDay’s skin, almost resembling a chocolate color, “this is your actual skin color?”
“Mhm.”
“And… And so this part,” CatNap touches a skin tone that's a bit closer to their own, but still has more color than their own skin, “is from the vi… The vit… The skin condition?”
“Vitiligo, and yes. Yes it is.”
CatNap blinks, furrowing their brows. KickinChicken and Bubba both have darker skin so… “Could Bubba and KickinChicken also get.. Vi… Vita…”
“Vitiligo,” DogDay sighs, “and they could, technically, anybody could have it. I’m just an example.”)
Can CatNap say the word? Still no. But it doesn't often come up in conversation, unless a child is asking about it. It almost seems like a sore spot for DogDay, which is probably why he started wearing gloves. Not that it lasted long, not on CatNap's watch, that meant their personal heater was no longer in use.
(“Can you take them off? Please?” CatNap whines, and DogDay raises a brow. “I don't feel the warmth.”
“You wanna be warm?” He mumbles, and CatNap rapidly nods. “Use a heater.”
“No. I want your warmth.” They cross their arms and pout, only stopping and smiling as DogDay takes the gloves off.
“God, you're worse than a toddler… Come here. Warmth, just for you.”)
Then again.
That's not the only interesting thing about DogDay's skin.
On his skin, overlapping the darker and lighter tones, is red. It's a picture, and no amount of swiping with a rag and water fixed that, it's permanent. “So what is it?” CatNap asks, eyes narrowed at said picture.
“Tattoo.”
Short answer, he sounded bored. Truth be told, DogDay isn't really paying CatNap much attention, laying on his stomach and playing his Atari and just letting CatNap do whatever. It's one of those days the kids decided that the fun house would be the best thing to rule over, the best thing to make into a kingdom, so the orphanage is pretty quiet. Which means it's a great day to bother DogDay, as they don't have to worry about him being busy with children, especially since Miss Delight has decided to make the schedule for the upcoming month instead.
Which means even more time with CatNap's favorite person. Experiment. Thing. Whatever DogDay is, he’s CatNap’s favorite! He teaches CatNap so many new things… Like this “tattoo”! Very intriguing!
“What’s that?” CatNap asks, eyes shining as they bump his ears with their head, but DogDay still doesn't really seem to look back, too busy with his game; dismissive.
“A tattoo is just… Something on your skin. Just a piece of art or a phrase, depends on the person.” He explains, finally pausing his game to look back at CatNap with a bored expression plastered on his face. “No matter how hard you scrub it's not coming off, babe.” He shifts, no longer looking at CatNap but the red art on his back, covering most of the skin, his eyes softening. “It's on my skin pretty much forever.” DogDay speaks casually, going straight back to his game. CatNap huffs, putting their hands on DogDay's legs and shaking him.
“Did it hurt?” They ask, ears pricked to attention, eyes wide. It's always fun to learn new things about DogDay, as he seems to mostly keep his past to himself. DogDay doesn't even need a minute to respond, an immediate, nope leaving him. CatNap’s eyes widen, curiosity burning in their veins. “Do you have a reason? What's it mean? What even is it? CraftyCorn said all art has a meaning, right? When did you get this? How come you never told me? Does anyone else have them?” CatNap asks all of the questions, tilting their head, and DogDay pauses his game once again and looks at CatNap with a raised brow.
“I got that tattoo, which is a type of dragon, when I was eighteen, for your information. In college, I knew someone that was going to college for an art major but did tattoos as a side job. He really wanted to do a big, major piece as well as try out new equipment and he asked me. I said sure, go crazy, and he used my back.” DogDay explains, and CatNap traces the large red dragon, humming in interest. “It doesn't have a meaning, not really. The pain distracted me from my bad situation—”
“I thought you said it wasn't painful?” CatNap points out the inconsistency, flicking their left ear a few times. DogDay cringes, sucking in a breath.
“... Seeing what I’ve been through recently, you know, becoming a character that would be seen in a goddamn anime; a regular human with dog ears, tail, great senses, black eyes, pretty much immortal and not aging? That tattoo was painless compared to all that, Kitty.” DogDay grumbles, irritated clear in his tone as he sighs, relaxing his tense body. “... But when I first got it, it hurt, yes. Why did I never tell you? I just didn't think it was all that important, babe.” DogDay props himself up on his elbows, looking back, and CatNap frowns. “And the only person that I know has tattoos, other than me, is CraftyCorn and Hoppy. CraftyCorn has a bunch of them scattered across her body, while Hoppy has a tattoo that symbolizes her illness.” DogDay informs. CatNap frowns.
“Illness? I… I think I remember Hoppy saying something about being sick, vaguely… She didn't say a name though.” They murmur, wrapping their tail around DogDay's arm. They feel a thumb brush against their ear, bringing a smile to their face.
“We don't talk about it, baby. It makes her more comfortable to just act like it never happened. The only reason she became a Critter was to escape that fate. Just like that one guy… Thomas…? Was his name Thomas? I don't remember nor do I care to remember.” DogDay frowns, putting a finger to his lips. “But, listen carefully; don't talk about it, okay? It's a really sore subject, so just keep that in mind, okay, baby?”
CatNap nods a bit aggressively, and DogDay smiles at them. They look back at the dragon and shift, getting off the bed. “Can I color it in? The tattoo?” They ask, and DogDay resumes his game, laughing and nodding.
“I don't care, but just use washable markers, please. I rather not struggle to get it off my skin.” DogDay hums, tapping his fingers against the controller in a rhythmic manner. CatNap clicks their tongue, looking for markers in DogDay's room.
“We could take a shower together.” They point out as soon as they find them, uncapping a red marker and pressing it into his skin. DogDay lets out a laugh.
“... You're right. Color to your heart's content.”
And that's exactly what CatNap did. They color the tattoo in, mindlessly listening to DogDay mutter and grumble about not being able to beat a level, but other than that, it’s quiet. Even CatNap doesn't make any noise, though how DogDay is able to stay still despite having a felt tip marker on his back is a mystery to CatNap.
If that was them, they’d be across the room in a millisecond.
They try their best with the markers they have. It's not perfect, though these aren't art supplies like CraftyCorn’s who has markers that are able to blend and have layers, these are normal markers, so they can't do the cool blending stuff.
CatNap adores this tattoo. They don't know if they’d ever have any themselves, they probably will never get that privilege, but they love coloring in these lines.
“What kind of a dragon is this?” CatNap asks, tossing a dry marker and continuing to color, sitting on the back of DogDay's thighs, feeling his tail slowly wag, hitting their arms, and they smile.
They like knowing DogDay's tail is wagging. He's happy.
“Chinese dragon. Those are the really long ones, sometimes I think they have whiskers? I don't remember. I just wanted a lot of space covered.”
“So, wait,” CatNap pulls away, the mostly pink and red dragon looking a bit silly, but they like it, “you said your… Your skin does that change thing?” They tilt their head slightly, tracing the lines again. “Is the tattoo the reason why most of your back isn't your skin col… Is that mean to ask? Am I being mean?”
Their voice weakly breaks. DogDay shakes his head, softly sighing. “It's not mean if you don't have mean intentions. You're just curious, you're learning, you don't know a lot.” He speaks, stretching as a cutscene plays out. “If you have bad intentions in saying something, even if it sounds nice, then what you said is bad. You're kind of like a child in that regard…” He murmurs, looking back at CatNap. “You didn't even spend a full decade outside before you were trapped here. Obviously, you don't know much about the world. You're learning from the staff and us—the Prototype as well as me and the rest of the Critters—and at any point we could give you wrong information. I don't know if anyone else is trying to make you into a bad person, but I’m trying my best to make sure you have a somewhat normal understanding of the world around you.” DogDay explains blankly, and CatNap slowly nods. “So, your question?”
“Is the tattoo the reason your skin is… “lighter” on your back?” CatNap murmurs with a tilted head. DogDay shrugs.
“Could be. Like I said before, scrapes could cause my skin to develop more of those patches, so I wouldn't doubt the tattoo caused even more of them, especially because it was new equipment my friend was screwing around with.” He murmurs, pressing a gentle kiss to one of CatNap's hands, causing them to giggle.
“You used to be so shy about the… The thing!” CatNap says, tracing the tattoo design with a gentle touch. “Now you're a lot more open. You're showing more skin around me.”
DogDay… Pauses.
CatNap just smiles. The only time he's seen DogDay without a shirt is when the AC is either broken—his excuse being he runs hot, whatever that means—or that one time when DogDay was really sick.
Legs? Never seen DogDay’s legs, not really, he's obsessed with jeans—or maybe it's more insecurity, CatNap isn't sure, but they do love his skin! It's unique and beautiful. They know no matter how many times they say that to him, he won't believe them, but they say it a lot anyways.
“Your body is beautiful,” CatNap murmurs, shifting their position to nose into DogDay's collar, the male shifting to give CatNap better access. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” DogDay presses a soft kiss to CatNap's head. “Are you done coloring me in now?” He jokes softly, and CatNap hums, nodding into DogDay. “Such a good Kitty.” He chuckles, gently dropping the controller on the ground and planting kisses all over CatNap's face, the smaller of the two purring up a storm.
“About that shower…” CatNap slowly speaks, opening their eyes to curiously stare at DogDay before tilting their head. “Do you want to?”
“Do you want to?” DogDay fires the question right back at them. “You're much more cautious about showing your scars than I am with showing my skin.” He mumbles, and CatNap clicks their tongue, looking down at their stomach, the mention of their own scars slightly haunting them. “See?”
“... I'll do it. It’s more time spent with you.” They mumble, and DogDay huffs a breathy laugh, glancing at the title screen of his game.
“Then a shower awaits, my love,” he stands up, taking CatNap in his arms as he opens the door to his bathroom. “A shower awaits.”