Author's Note: This was a prompt for DickKory Week 2017 on Tumblr, but I liked it and made a BBRae story out of it. Sue me :-)

-=oOo=-

Scars

"Do they hurt?" Her voice was a silky whisper, caressing him just as gently as her hands.

"Mmmmm," he purred, immersed in the sensation of her fingers gliding over the ridged and puckered skin on his back. "No. They're just scars."

He felt a feathery kiss on his shoulder before she spooned up to him and her arms snaked around him to pull him closer.

"I could heal them. Make them go away," she murmured in his ear. It twitched, tickled by her warm breath.

The bed creaked as he shifted and turned to face her. His arms enveloped her and he regarded her curiously. "Why?"

"No reason," she muttered, looking away. He frowned, observing her carefully.

"You can't lie to me, Rae. Just as I can't lie to you."

She remained silent. He scented her unease and heard the slight change in the pattern of her breathing.

"What is it?"

She tightened her grip on him, trying to hide her face in his shoulder. He brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead, then bent his head and kissed her just beside the chakra stone.

"Rae…"

"I'm… sorry. It must have hurt…"

His frown deepened. "It did. A lot. But it happened a long time ago, long even before I met you. It's in the past."

She was silent again. He sighed and tried a different approach.

He slid his lips lovingly over her ear and her cheek, leaving tiny kisses in their wake, inviting her out. Soon enough she turned her head, her lips seeking his. They kissed slowly and languidly for a long while.

The kiss ended. Her eyes opened and she looked at him, then shifted her gaze away. She bit her lower lip, then spoke quietly.

"I just… don't like the idea of you suffering."

He closed his eyes. He felt his chest tighten, his heart swelling so much it hurt.

"Do you love me?" he asked suddenly. He could feel her tense against him, surprised by his words.

He just had to smile when he opened his eyes and saw her expression. There it was, that well-known glow of exasperation mixed with love shining in those violet depths.

"That's got the be the stupidest, most idiotic question –"

He kissed her lightly, interrupting her. "Just answer it."

She stared at him for a few seconds more, then again sought to bury her face into him.

"Sometimes… Sometimes I feel afraid of how much I do."

It made him shiver. His fingers traced a comforting pattern through her hair.

"They are a part of me. Part of what you love."

"I know." Her voice was muffled, her face still pressed into his chest.

"We are the same, Rae," he hummed into her ear. "Just because you don't have scars on your body doesn't mean you don't have them on your soul. They make you who you are."

She lifted her head. There was moisture in her eyes.

"Do you love me?"

He chuckled. "Throwing my own question back at me? Not very original, love."

She rubbed her forehead on his shoulder. "Don't be coy. Just answer."

"You're the empath," he grinned at her. "You tell me."

She looked at him, her eyes dark. Suddenly he felt his heart hammering in his throat.

"I need to hear you say it, Gar."

He swallowed his heart down where it belonged. "I love you."

She squirmed deeper into his embrace. "Good. Because I would go happily through all of that again, just knowing you would be waiting for me at the end of the road."

"Raven…"

She pushed him on his back, into the pillows. Her body loomed over him. "No more talking," she whispered fiercely and kissed him.