"You can touch me, if you want to."
He cannot look up when he hears the words. He shivers, full of need, antisipation. Full of fear. He is dominated in every way by the powerful man who towers over him. This man could take. But he doesn't, his touch is gentle and his words are tempting.
Rey has never been so thankful, so regretful of the mask. Now, it conceals the hot flush that stains his spoiled skin. All of his life, he has hidden full of shame at his deportment, but now, he wants. He wants so much.
"Oscar."
His eyes grow wet, he prays that the shadows will conceal them, for he can look at the floor no longer. His eyes make the long trek up the broad chest to the dark eyes above him. The white hat casts its own shadows, but within them, there is a flicker of light. Of hope.
Once more, he feels the soft caresses and words.
"Everybody wears a mask. Everyone hides something. Even me. You know that don't you?"
A soft gasp escapes him as the fingertips trace the outlines of his mask.
"I'll be me. I'll be who I am..If you will."
The hat drops to the floor. Now, he sees all. All in the other's eyes, in his face as he exposes every inch, every particle for Rey. The tie, the suit, the identity of the other joins his hat in the floor.
Now, he is only a man.
"This is all I am. This is all I have. Are you still afraid?"
Tears steal his voice, his throat tightened like a vice under the force of emotion. He can only stand, weeping, his arms, his heart, opened for the first time in his life....yet still he cannot remove his own mask.
"It's alright...It's alright."
It isn't. The other man has given everything and still he hides.
"I don't mind. Know me first."
He would give anything, anything in the world to know this man in the way he offers now. His hands tremble, longing to caress him in return, longing to show him...but still afraid.
"I'll wait on you."
He cannot hold back the desperate sobs, he cannot hold back. Not anything, not ever. Not the man behind the mask. Somehow, the other knows. The tender fingers intertwine with his own as together, they lift his mask away.
What is inside, no one has ever seen. No one but this man could find the strength to look.
There is silence in the small room as his protection drops to the floor. He awaits the horrified gasp he knows will follow. Then he feels. Soft fingertips where he's never been touched or seen.
"It doesn't matter to me."
He is falling, weeping, clinging. He is caught, he is saved, he is loved. Held, tight to the other's chest. Only now, can Rey-can Oscar-speak his name.
"JB..."
He is silenced with a touch. Then, in a moment, he understands. Here and now, and forever more, he is simply John.
The End