Chapter 96 - Scars

The rooftop pool meeting adjourned and Legosi and Louis hastily made their way back to their place. It was painfully obvious that Legosi was excited about what Louis proposed earlier, as his tail was wagging the whole way back, and wagged even faster once they got inside.

The deer turned to him. "Regular or bubble?"

Legosi looked surprised that he was given a choice. "We...have stuff to make bubbles?"

"Yeah? Don't you remember?"

"...No?"

The buck began walking to the bathroom. "I picked it up awhile ago."

"Oh, okay." Legosi followed him.

Louis ducked down into the cabinet and began searching around. "I know it's here somewhere..."

"It's okay if there's no bubbles," Legosi assured. He needed a bath, that was certain to both of them.

"Well I spent money on it, so I'd like to use it."

"Well...what about the...you know...toy?"

"Toy...?"

"You spent money on it and we never used it...N-not that I wanted to!"

"That money wasn't wasted."

Legosi cocked his head. "Eh?"

"Um...Nevermind."

The wolf walked over and got on his hands and knees next to Louis. "There can't be that many things in there..."

"Ah, here it is."

Legosi watched his fiance pull the bubble solution out from the cabinet, as well as the surprise on his face as he noticed the wolf had already gotten undressed.

Louis blinked. "Um..."

"Hm? Yeah?"

"You're already undressed?"

Legosi laughed softly. "Well, you have to get undressed for a bath!"

"But you just...did it so fast!"

"Yup!" Legosi leaned back and sat on his bottom, his happy demeanor starkly contrasted with the state of his body. He had been recovering steadily, but dark bruises and scars were visible all across his naked form.

The deer frowned. "He really did a number on you..."

"I'll get better." The response was immediate.

"Well...Of course you will." His fiance started stripping down to join him.

The wolf stood up suddenly. "Candles!"

"Huh?"

"We can light some around the bathroom!"

"O-oh! Okay!"

Legosi almost stumbled out of the bathroom as he went to find what was left of the candles they nabbed the other day.

Louis began preparing the bubble bath for both of them.

A few minutes later, his mate came back with the candles, looking around for good spots to place them.

"Have you ever taken a bubble bath before?" Louis asked.

"Yeah. Grandpa would give me them." Legosi placed a candle next to the sink.

"When you were little?"

"Yeah. He used to see how tall he could make the bubbles on my head go."

"That's cute...You're too adorable." He moved his hand in the water as it continued filling.

"I'm glad we met Pina. Despite all that's happening, he seems to stay positive."

Legosi set another candle down on the floor and another at the edge of the tub. "I'm surprised by how friendly he actually is. When he first joined the club all the carnivores hated him. He did say that was part of his investigation, though."

"Yeah, it makes sense. Nice to know he isn't really like that," Louis sighed.

With all the candles set, Legosi began to light them one by one.

Louis was already climbing into the tub as he did so. "You love the candles, huh?"

"They're romantic..." Legosi hummed, with a dreamy gaze.

"It's true," Louis said, turning to him once he was in.

Legosi faced the tub, judging at which angle he should enter without disaster befalling both of them. Louis had moved all the way to one edge of the tub. Legosi reached over and turned the lights out, only the candles illuminating the room now. "Erm, lights on or off? I don't know how well you can see..."

"Off, it's fine."

The wolf leaned down over the tub, cocking his head and lifting a tentative foot up, hovering it over the water.

"Come on in," Louis smiled.

"The bubbles are hiding your body...I don't want to step on you!"

His partner adjusted his form. "Okay, you should be good."

"..." Legosi placed his foot carefully into the water, thankfully only feeling a flat surface and not a limb. He put his other foot in, standing in front of Louis. He proceeded to crouch down, and not wanting to be too far away from his beloved, he opted to lean forward, sliding his arms next to Louis' lithe body and placing his head on his chest.

Louis wrapped his arms around him. "Comfortable?"

"Mhmm." The wolf shifted forward a bit more. "Still want to do this in a larger tub one day..."

"I know...But at least it isn't painful, right?"

"It isn't," Legosi smiled, reaching his claw up slowly and bringing it to Louis's eyepatch, pulling it off gently.

The deer blushed. "Wh-what are you..."

"Do you ever wash under there?" his fiance asked.

"Occasionally..." Louis mumbled, feeling a bit vulnerable.

Legosi set the eyepatch on the edge of the tub. "Sorry, I should have asked if I could take it off..."

"N-no...it's fine." the buck sighed, looking at it.

"I hope we're through getting scars after this," Legosi laughed softly, gently scooping water onto the deer's shoulders.

The mention made the cervid's eyes move to the lines above his mate's right eye. "Yeah...me, too..."

Legosi moved to Louis' neck with the water. "Where's the soap, hon?" His response was a finger pointing past him. The wolf followed the hand, and then attempted to grab it while staying in the same position. It proved to be quite a challenge.

"You can move, Legosi," Louis whispered, looking at his eyepatch again.

The dog grumbled and quickly leaned back to grab the soap. Less than a second later he was back, rubbing the bar of soap on his lover's chest.

"Mmm..." His partner grabbed some bubbles and started piling them on the wolf's head.

Legosi looked up at his face, and then up farther to what he was doing. "Heyy..." His voice was soft and filled with mock protest.

"Hey what?"

"You're doing the thing..."

"Am I?" He kept piling soap on him.

Legosi retaliated, scooping up some bubbles and placing them on the deer's antlers. The wolf put a few more on before staring at Louis with a dead-serious expression. "...Tree."

"T-tree?!"

"...You look like a tree." The wolf's face soon contorted and he snorted, which soon turned into laughter. "You look like a tree with bubbles for leaves!"

"H-hush, wolf!" Louis swiped around his antlers to get them off.

Legosi laid his chin on his chest. "The antler tree sheds its bubbles in the autumn..."

"You're ridiculous..." Louis mumbled as he brushed the rest away, then looked down at him.

Legosi looked up. "How's the bubble hat?"

The deer's eyes moved back up. "Cute. You're too cute to be kept alive." He made a finger gun and pointed at him.

"What, Riz sent you to finish the job?"

"He did. Now I have to take you out."

"Hmm, such a scary deer." Legosi rubbed his large hands up and down Louis' back and butt. "I hope you're more gentle with me than he was..."

"No promises." He poked the tip of his nose with his finger.

Legosi blew it away with a snuff. "Guess we should start washing before the water goes cold."

"Mmm...Okay..."

The soft, flickering light illuminated the two lovers as they washed each other, taking care with each others' scars.

"Why did you take off my eyepatch...?" Louis asked.

Legosi continued to clean him. "I don't want you to be ashamed of how you look in front of me."

"..." He looked to the side.

"...Plus, you do need to clean out your scar."

"I don't like taking it off."

"...sorry." The dog reached over to it and held it in front of him. "Here."

Louis took it and put it back down. "I...can learn to be with you without it."

Legosi leaned in and they kissed. It was, gentle yet passionate.

Louis kissed back, feeling as exposed as he ever had. Last time Legosi had looked under it, the eyepatch was still on his head, now it was completely off.

The larger animal retreated, pulling Louis up and into his lap as he moved into a sitting position. He went back in, continuing the kiss in the new position.

Louis huffed against him. The fact that Legosi had even more scars now was a little alarming to him. He swore he couldn't let him get any more.

Legosi pulled back again. "Think we're clean now..."

The deer took a moment. "Legosi...Do you think this will really work?"

His ear twitched. "What will?"

"My plan..."

"...It has to."

"And if something happens? I can't stop thinking about it."

"I'll protect you."

"But he hurt you already!"

Legosi grumbled. "Only because he played dirty. But now we know that fact about him..."

"I'm...getting more anxious."

"It's only natural. It's like the opening night of a play is coming up..."

"That's...right. I used to tell myself that failing in acting meant death. Can you believe how dramatic I was?"

There was a beat before Legosi's response. "Yes."

"...Oh. I guess everything felt like it was on my shoulders, back then."

"And now..." Legosi lifted Louis up slightly from under his arms. "You have me to help."

"I...I know, but in a way...this makes me have that same feeling."

"It'll be over soon," the carnivore assured.

"But what if it's not? What if something happens...What if you get hurt again?"

Legosi looked Louis straight in the eye. "I won't."

"You don't know that!"

The canine hugged him tight. "I won't get hurt again! I promise."

"But you can't promise anyone that! You have no idea what's going to happen. I keep thinking about it..."

"We know who it is now, though! That was his best advantage. We'll get through this alright. We have to."

"I just...I don't know. If he...killed you...I don't think I could live with myself."

Legosi huffed and rubbed his face into Louis's chest. "I think we should get into bed and watch something to get our minds off this."

"But my mind can't get off this...I need some sort of distraction, but it's just hard, it's almost all I think about. I have trouble sleeping sometimes..."

Legosi reached behind then and pulled the plug out. "I'll take care of you tonight, okay?"

"Okay...okay..." He huffed again. "And I can keep my eyepatch off..."

"Only if you want..."

"If you want..."

"...It's probably uncomfortable wrapped around your head all the time, right?"

"I get used to it...Just tell me what you want."

"...Off tonight."

"Okay...I'll keep it off...I hope my eye isn't too horrible."

The wolf hoisted his deer up and out of the tub, reaching for the light switch. "It's as lovely as you are."

"So, very ugly…" He grumbled. "It honestly feels like something's missing. He looked at the eyepatch again. "Like, there's an extra chill where my left eye used to be. You get what I mean?"

"Don't say things like that about yourself," Legosi whined.

"Mmm...I was never really one that had looks, though all the girls thought so. Or, they thought they thought so."

"You have the looks!" his lover assured. "You could be a model!"

"A model? Pffft. I don't know where you see that. Is it because I'm unhealthily skinny like models because they are forced to be conditioned to be 'perfect'?"

"But you look so much better now!"

"I know...I'm just self conscious and don't understand what everyone sees in me."

Legosi shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Well, I guess you could start using what people think of you as proof. I mean, I finally feel good about who I am because of the things you say about me and how much you love me."

"Oh...Really? I guess it's different when it isn't you. I don't know, I guess I've just been thinking a lot, lately. It probably has something to do with you getting hurt..."

"Thinking about what?" Legosi slowly moved to blow out the candles.

"Everything, I guess. I feel like it's my fault somehow."

"No! Not at all!" The carnivore waved his large hands back and forth. "It was my fault for being careless!"

"I should have come with you!" the herbivore argued "I knew there was a murderer out there and I just...let you go? That's my fault."

"But you didn't know that I had tipped him off! We both thought I was safe!"

"Mmm..."

The two animals proceeded to dry off as usual. Some of the water in the bath overflowed so it had to be wiped up. Afterwards, they both walked into the main room with no intention of getting dressed.

Louis sighed. "Sorry if I ruined the night with my angst."

"Of course not! You could never." Legosi walked over to the kitchen, limp still visible. "Maybe leftovers tonight?"

"That sounds fine. Sorry."

The wolf wanted to tell him not to be sorry, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. He just wanted to enjoy the calm before the storm as much as he could.

"So...you were gonna take care of me?"

Legosi looked up from the fridge. "To sleep...yeah. It's still a bit early, though...unless you want to turn in early."

"No, let's just watch something and go to sleep after."

The wolf smiled slightly. "Okay."