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You're so pretty, Makoh'to had said with a gentle smile once upon a sunset.
Gaius turns the word over in his mind. Pretty. He understands what pretty means. What he did not understand was how he could be pretty. He had been called many things in his life: bastard, handsome, brute – hunky, even – but never... pretty.
He stood before the sink mirror now, turning his head slowly from side to side hoping to catch a glimpse of what prompted his partner to feel this way. The calloused tips of his fingers ghosted over the beginnings of his beard, leading his eye to trace along his jaw. The creases framing his mouth bowed outward when he frowned in confusion.
Without realizing it, he had narrowed his eyes to take in his image. Gaius caught the deep wrinkles of his brows come together in the reflection. Discolored patches of skin embelished his face. His eye bags had become more apparent over the last few days – the committee had been working tirelessly on carving out details regarding future Ala Mhigan trade – and the wrinkles that outlined them only served to emphasize his exhaustion. He had since sprouted new gray hairs. Not that anyone could discern them from the crown of grays he already wore.
Pretty.
Makoh'to is pretty.
Gaius stood back to look over his reflection once more.
Despite everything, Gaius turns away from the mirror as a small smile appears on his lips, he believes I am pretty.