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Cyr sits with his head resting on his hand as he stares at Kos. Or more specifically, the tattoos on Kos’ face. “Are you aware you have a heart between your eyebrows?”
Kos smirks at him, his eyes lighting up with that too-rare mirth. “It’s adorable you see hearts when you look at me.”
“Of course I do. You stole mine, after all.” Cyr loves the way his returned tease brings a blush to flourish across his lover’s features.
“Oh…”
Cyr smiles, more than pleased with himself for earning the other man’s blush. “So. Those hurt more on the face?” He’s got some of his own that he did a long time ago, but he’s never gone somewhere so boney.
“Yeah. But it wasn’t really the pain I was focused on at the time.” Oh? “I… Was more concerned with other things at the time, so that helped.” Kos hasn’t told him nearly enough about his clan, but as much as Cyr wants to know more, he knows it’s hard for Kos to talk about them sometimes. “What about yours?”
“Huh?” It takes a moment for Cyr to process what he was asked when Kos looks like that. “Oh. Um… I suppose? Wasn’t really paying much attention since I was focused on, ya know, actually doing the ink.”
“You did your own?” There’s that curiosity in his gaze that Cyr loves so much.
Cyr grins. “Yeah! Sometimes when I was bored I’d find some animal skeletons in my explorations and eventually I got curious so I found some sturdy bones, sharped them, and went at it. Cyr shows him the mess he made of his wrist when he was eight. “It was supposed to be Jim. Still is, technically, but I’ve clearly gotten a lot better since then.” Jim preens beside him, still pleased with his sloppy attempt over a decade later.
“I wonder if that would hurt more or less than the way the Dalish do it…”
“What are the two of you discussing?” Em asks, strolling in the room.
Cyr’s gaze finally breaks from Kos as the Qunari speaks. “Cyr was telling me about how he tattoos himself with bone needles and I’m curious about how much it would hurt compared to the Dalish methods I’m familiar with.”
Em contemplates something for a few moments before answering. “Personally, I’ve found that the Dalish have the least painful methods, followed by most independent artists, then bone needles. The dwarves are the worse because most of their tattoos are for the Casteless. Though, notably, most surface dwarves go to dwarves trained in human techniques and have a much easier experience.” He… Cyr can’t comprehend what he’s hearing. There’s no way Em has tattoos, let alone enough of them to be able to list his experiences like that.
“Did you hear stories from friends? Read them in a book somewhere?” So he’s not the only one wondering.
Em smiles brightly. “Nonsense!” He starts unbuttoning his shirt. “I believe the two of you are working off of incorrect information. I was not always the charming scholar you see before you. I’ve gotten ink from all over.”
Cyrus can’t think straight. Not with Emmrich undressing before them. Not with Emmrich revealing that every inch of covered skin was covered in tattoos of varying shades of what Cyr assumes is color, influences, and age. The only thing linking them seems to be the general theme of death and Necromancy playing throughout the pieces. His eyes land on the only bare space in all that beautiful ink. Why doesn’t he have anything over his heart?
Em places a hand over that bare spot. “I’ve always found it easy enough to add something new, but nothing ever felt right to put here.” Oh no, he’s too much of a sweetheart. There’s no way Cyr’s ever going to get out of this with his sanity intact.
Kos swallows harshly beside him, his voice coming out raspy and uncertain. “Gorgeous…” Its more than Cyr can manage with the way his mouth is desert dry and his dick insists on making itself known.
He feels lightheaded. Is he lightheaded? He can’t really tell anymore. There’s nothing in his head but the image burning itself permanently into his mind.
“Dearests? Is something wrong?” Em blinks at them, but Cyr can’t find his words any more than he could minutes ago.
Jim cracks and shifts beside him. “Cyrus can’t… Speak. Emmrich… Too hot.” Em turns a pretty shade of lovingly embarrassed that only serves to make things worse. Jim ends up having to drag Cyr out of the room.