Let Me Bear Your Scars

What a view they must have made; standing outside of the grocery store as Iris chased Luke in circles in an attempt to get her one bag of groceries from him. Luke was wearing a confident smirk on his face as he continued to hold them out of reach, his bags of food sitting a foot away against the wall as they waited for the cab he had called. "You're being a child! How old are you, anyway?"

"I am twenty-six, I will have you know," he snarked back, keeping the bag out of reach even as Iris stood on the tips of her toes and stretched to the best of her ability.

"Then act like it!"

The honk of a car horn drew their attention away from one another, turning them to the road as a bright yellow cab pulled up to the curb. "Ha!" Luke cheered before he rushed over to open the back door, rain immediately pouring down over him as he placed Iris's bag in the back seat. The small woman let out a faint sigh before pulling the hood of her coat over her head and rushed out after him. "You get in, I'll grab the other ones," he assured, directing Iris into the back seat as the driver nodded to her in silent greeting.

Iris's lips barely twitched with a smile in return, her head bowing down in avoidance as Luke closed the door to her right. Luke was quick as he retrieved his bags from against the building and deposited them into the trunk of the cab. "Where to, miss?" the driver called back after a brief pause. "He said that you were being dropped off first?"

"Oh, yea," Iris stuttered a moment, before she rattled off her address. It was only a few minutes down the road, but the downpour that was pelting the car was a pretty good excuse for taking the cab.

She'd barely finished telling the driver when Luke opened the door on Iris's other side, sliding in as quickly as he could to avoid further rain. It was rather useless, however, because he was already soaked to the bone from the few short moments he had been in it. "Wow, cats and dogs," he gasped as he shook his head, water trailing down his face. At least his leather jacket had prevented the rain from getting to his shirt and making it all the more uncomfortable for him.

The driver pulled away from the curb in that instant, jolting Iris to nearly slide into the door. "You're dripping everywhere," Iris mumbled, reaching out to catch a raindrop that was a moment away from dripping off his nose. "I hope your door is close to the curb," she added on, glancing out the window at the rush of water that was caused by the heavy rain and wind.

"Yea, not really," Luke reluctantly admitted. "But, I've done this before," he assured with a smile, bringing out his dimples. "Not in an all-out downpour, though."

"I'd been hoping I would beat the rain. That didn't really happen."

"Bet you're happy you ran into me?" he prodded with a teasing smirk. Iris huffed a laugh as she reluctantly nodded. She couldn't imagine having to walk home while it was pouring rain outside. That paled in comparison to her having met her second soulmate in little more than a week. She never thought that it would happen so quickly.

She wanted to say a bit more to him, to express her happiness about meeting him, but it concerned her that they were in a car with someone they didn't know, even if he was the driver. Before she had any further time to think on the matter, the car slowed to a stop at the curb outside of Iris's building. The familiar white stones were her only warning before the driver glanced back at the two of them, as though silently bidding her out.

"I'll help you," Luke immediately offered, giving no room for Iris to argue before he had popped open the door and slipped out with her bag of groceries in hand. The small woman stuttered in surprise, getting a muffled chuckle from the driver as he quickly diverted his attention to the front window again.

"Thank you for the ride," Iris called up to him, her voice still timidly quiet before she turned to the door as Luke opened it for her.

"I'll be just a second," Luke assured the man before he helped Iris from her seat and helped her to rush for the entrance of her building, a supportive hand against her back while the other carried her bag. "I'm real happy I met you, Iris," he said as he leaned down to her level and tightened his arm around her waist. "Everyone else is gunna be jealous; I got to meet our soulmate."

"Don't brag too much," Iris warned with an answering smile. Taking her bag from him and wrapping another arm around his shoulder, making Luke lean down to her height so that she could hold onto him more easily. "I'm happy I met you, too, Luke. Get home safe."

"Promise," he mumbled back, leaning against the crook of her neck for a moment. Then he was pulling away, taking the warmth of his body from Iris as he stepped back, and rushed to the cab that was waiting patiently for him. Iris lingered at the door long enough to wave him off, then stepped into her building quickly to escape the chill.

Stepping into the stairwell, she was left with a smile brightening her features as she steadily climbed up to the top floor. One of her neighbours was making their way down passed Iris on her way passed the second floor entrance, giving her a strange look when she realized that Iris was smiling. There were very few people in the building that had actually met Iris, rushing or hiding as she normally was while inside.

The look of bewilderment wasn't even enough to dampen her happy mood or expression, letting the woman step into her warm apartment as her smile remained. The fatigue of the morning had faded, leaving her to thrum with energy as she routinely put her groceries away before moving over to the small bookshelf that held some of the textbooks she liked to read slowly. Because of the lack of sleep from having run from Barry, she hadn't even been able to find the interest to pick them up let alone take the time to read them.

Singing softly beneath her breath, Iris placed the book on the counter and began the process of making a tea. The coffee she'd purchased was calling her name, but it was already too late in the day for her to submit to that desire otherwise she would be awake the entire night. Having met her soulmate assured her that she would be sleeping better, but it would be for naught if she drank a cup of caffeine.

Once her tea was finished, Iris pushed her pillows up against the headboard of her bed and shuffled around a moment to get comfortable. Just as she was about to crack open the history book she'd steadily been going through, her cellphone pinged from the nightstand to her left. Stretching over to retrieve it, the small notification of a new email made her blink in confusion and tap on the little icon.

At the top of her email list, Barry was written in bold in the subject line, signalling it as unread. Iris's lips twitched with a repressed smile as she quickly selected the email and waited as patiently as she could for the page to load. Barry had given her his email instead of a cellphone number, explaining that it was easier for each of the personalities to have a personal email account rather than a cellphone for each of them. They had one main phone that was registered in Kevin's name, mostly used as a means of emailing rather than texting or calling.

Immediately, the first sentence made her laugh once the page had loaded.

Luke won't shut up. He only got home a few minutes ago and I think at least one person is debating on smothering him with a pillow. I hope he wasn't too energetic; he's always been a bit more on the rowdy side. I am glad that he didn't let you walk home in the rain, though.

Iris found herself smiling as she read along, the happiness that came with the simple method of communication surprising her. There were few things that could brighten her mood so easily, so this was yet another thing about the soulmarks that were changing her life very suddenly, and very drastically.

I'm real glad that you got to meet him, though. Luke would do just about anything for someone if they asked. And you, Iris, deserve only the best.

I'll talk to you again soon; have a nice day off tomorrow!

-Barry

Iris licked at her lips nervously while leaning back into her pillows comfortably, tapping on the reply icon and staring at the blank page in thought. She had no idea whether she was supposed to answer back about Luke or not, since Barry had assured her that he wouldn't tell the others anything personal that she had told him unless it was what she wanted. He wanted her to tell them only when she was ready, just like what she had done with him.

Was talking about her time with Luke appropriate when she was speaking with another soulmate?

Sighing softly, she decided that pushing aside her second-thoughts and overthinking had worked for her so far, so she could continue to do so.

Good evening, Barry. I hope he's not getting on everyone's nerves too badly; although, he did seem quite excited about bragging rights. I think it was his way of getting back for having to do the groceries—which, by the way, you might want to hide some of because there was an awful lot of sugar in that cart.

Please thank him again for me about the ride home, I definitely would not have enjoyed walking through that storm, even if it's only a few blocks. If you guys keep this up, you're going to spoil me.

I promise I'll enjoy my day off. Have a great shift, and get a good night's sleep!

-Iris

Hitting send before she could let doubt creep in, Iris released the breath that she had been holding as she reread her message for any errors. Her phone alerted her that her message had been sent and she let herself drop the phone onto the mattress and turn away from it, knowing that there was no going back. There was no reason for her to second-guess the message; it was simple, friendly, and polite.

Retrieving the book she had put aside, Iris allowed herself to relax into the pillows again as the happiness from meeting Luke was joined with the content feeling of having heard from Barry.

Barry's expression was soft as he read Iris reply, his footsteps carrying him to the kitchen as he moved the email into his 'Iris' file, wanting to keep her messages private from the rest of his work/Fletcher related emails. Entering the kitchen with a smile as he slipped the phone into the back pocket of his pants, he moved over to one cabinet that usually housed their snacks and let out a laugh when he was faced with a shelf full of chocolate, chips, and other assorted candies.

"Luke, you suck at this, man," he mumbled to himself and began taking some of the packages out. He'd have to hide them temporarily and let Patricia know, she'd be a lot better at hiding them than him. A ping on his phone drew him to pause, however, and he immediately drew it out to see if Iris had perhaps sent him another email after the first.

Instead, Dr. Fletcher's name in the subject line relaxed his excitement as he selected the unopened email, reading over the simple message that she had sent, hoping him and Iris well and confirming that he was going to show up for their next session. She also asked if he would like for her to invite Iris over for another meeting with her; she was offering to better explain D.I.D to her.

Barry leaned against the counter as he looked down at the phone, contemplating whether or not he wanted for her to learn about their disorder from another person.

However, that was not up to him. Iris was a smart woman, she was probably already researching about the disorder on the internet. Typing back a quick response that said it was up to Iris, not him, he returned to his original task of hiding the sweets before Hedwig took the light and binged on them for the better part of the evening.

Heading for his room afterword, he made sure to set his alarm to be awake in time for work, Barry settled down at his desk as he pulled one of his larger sketchbooks over to him. This one in particular he always kept away from the others, and never showed to Fletcher. It was his personal sketchbook, one that housed the faces of the alters, or the animals that he drew at the zoo. This sketchbook didn't have any of the dresses or other articles of clothing that he normally drew.

Flipping to a fresh page, the previous one housing a drawing of the tiger that he had done from the zoo, Barry pulled his tin of pencils closer to him and selected a simple 2H. It would be easier for him if there was a picture or the real thing to look at, but there was still a strong image of her in his mind. And Luke, too, had seen her. Somehow, that seemed to strengthen the memory of her in his mind.

Beginning with the outline, basic shapes of her hair and face; he made sure to get the correct angle of her cheekbones and the deep set of her eyes. He almost wanted to rush through the prep-work, just so he could get into the details of her eyes, her hair, her lips. He wanted to begin giving her true justice, but to rush through the beginning stages would hinder his work on the overall portrait.

He used the memory of her from their morning, smiling to him as she sat beside him while they were eating breakfast. Her hair had been slightly mussed from sleep, yet to be brushed, and the shadows from lack of sleep had lessoned drastically from the one solid night of sleep.

Once he was certain that he had gotten all of her angles correct, he pulled out a B pencil and began to work on the shading instead. Iris's eyes were the first thing that he started to work on, filling in the soft shadows around her eyes from how deeply set they were, darkening the crease from her eyes being open, and starting along the line of her eyelashes.

Starting from those mesmerizing eyes, she was beginning to come to life on the page.

If they weren't so new to one another, he'd have asked her if he could take her picture before he'd left.

Barry wasn't sure for how long he worked, but it was well past midnight when he finally put the last of his pencils back into the metal case from which he had gotten them. Iris's portrait was finished, her timid smile just as he remembered, when Barry finally leaned back and propped the sketchbook up to get a proper look at it.

Smiling in satisfaction, he wondered briefly if he should use her as a model for his later drawings. She didn't have to wear the clothes, but he could design them in a way that they would fit someone of her tiny frame.

Her thin arms and delicate joints were attractive in the proper clothing. It broke his heart to see her wearing the baggy, oversized clothes that hid her marks—and her form. She was left to swim in the clothing that she wore, hanging past her hands and draping at her shoulders. He'd only seen her in a few different outfits, the first time having been obscured by her coat, and he remembered that her shirts and sweaters almost always went down to mid-thigh.

It made him wish he could see her in high pants, accentuating her thin waist, and a tucked in blouse that would show off her arms—which were not nearly as weak as they appeared.

Selecting a piece of tracing people, Barry tucked it gently between the pages and covered over the drawing he had just done. He didn't want it smudging from closing and opening the book, and he was fresh out of fixative spray that would prevent any damage from touch. He didn't want to tarnish the drawing of her, if only because it was Iris, not some random woman that he had decided he wanted to draw because of their attractive bone structure.

Iris's bone structure put everyone else's to shame, of course.

Tucking the sketchbook back into place on the shelf, he sighed softly when he glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed. He couldn't bring himself to regret staying up to finish her drawing, but he knew that it was going to come back to bite him in the ass when he had to get ready for work in the morning. As much as he'd rather sleep in, enjoying a fitful sleep for the first time in a week, he knew he'd have to get out of bed when the alarm went off.

And then, after his shift was over, the light would be passed to someone else for the rest of the evening. He wasn't sure who, yet, but he knew that he couldn't keep denying Dennis and Patricia for much longer. He'd kept them from the light for the past two months after they'd convinced Hedwig of the fictional being they had created, and he could tell they were starting to get antsy to be back in the light.

He figured they must have learned their lesson, since they hadn't mentioned the Beast to anyone since Barry had reprimanded them for putting such beliefs in a child's head. And Hedwig, desperate for the approval of the others, had lapped up their stories like a sponge.

Dr. Fletcher had gotten Hedwig to draw the Beast after he had rushed into an explanation of it. Barry had mentioned his concern in the previous session, so when Hedwig went in for the next one she had immediately begun the slow, delicate process of calming him and coaxing out the information that they sought. Barry's main concern was that Hedwig was growing closer to Patricia and Dennis, especially after their tales of the Beast subtly scaring the boy into favouring them, and Hedwig was the only identity in Kevin's body that was capable of stealing the light from Barry whenever he wanted.

Hedwig had never disobeyed Barry before Patricia's whispered stories, her quiet promises of protection from the Beast, of praise for his work when he went again Barry.

They had not been rewarded for their behaviour, and Barry only hoped that the problem was now behind them. As much as he appreciated what Dennis had been able to do for Kevin when he was younger, taking over to make sure that everything was where it should be and hopefully protect them from a punishing beating, he did not know what to do with the man that Dennis was becoming.

Sighing softly as he began the routine process of changing into his clothes for the night, Barry tried to push the concerns from his mind.

They had met Iris now, and he only hoped that having her around meant that they would stay on their best behaviour in order to be able to meet her. She was someone who was delicate and sweet, too fragile for stories about a Beast that lived in the train yard. It was his greatest hope that Iris could draw them back to the peaceful, safe memories they had made together—leaving behind the nightmarish tales of the Beast.

She needed them to be safe, to be loved and welcomed with absolute devotion. They could not offer devotion to something else and their soulmate, as they were meant to do.