Sally's Face

(2)

This plan heaved a mental debate onto Travis. He thought long and hard about it during church, he's been doing this for so long he has the sermons memorized. He worked on autopilot, speaking in his father's place. His father wanted him to lead the ministry one day, this was his practice. What would his father think if he knew during his sermons, he was instead thinking about the boy he was in love with. God knows.

Was this selfish, did he want Sal to be comfortable with himself or does he just want Sal to be comfortable around him, maybe both, he couldn't tell. And that idea of selfishness made him sick. He wanted to say he was doing this because he wanted Sal to be comfortable in his own skin, but this all started because he was bothered by Sal's seemingly lack of trust. Is the idea rooted in selfishness.

He of course understood why Sally Face may have not wanted to flaunt his face for all to see. He hasn't had the best reactions to what was under his prosthetic. Travis couldn't imagine what it has been like for him. 

Sal hated the way he looked, not just because of the memories and trauma, but simply because he thought himself to be ugly. Travis has heard handfuls of negative words Sal has used to describe his face, all very negative ones. Disgusting, hideous, terrifying, unhuman, sickening, and maybe worst of all unlovable. 

Sal use to explain how he never thought he would ever be in a relationship, go on dates, marry someone, simply because of his face. Travis fell in love with Sal before he even saw his face, he loved him for his personality, his kindness, his humor, and all the other amazing things about Sal. And when Travis finally got to see his face, his feelings for the boy grew. Sal was of course not conventionally attractive, his face was different, deformed, but its own way, it was beautiful. 

His dark scars trailed down the right side of his face, parts of his nose were missing, part of his upper lip was gone, and his jaw bone was deformed. But no matter what Sal said, Travis couldnt see anything but the amazing and beautiful Sal Fisher. His bright blue eyes, his soft light lips, his pale skin, the shine of his scars, the smile that made Travis want to do a cartwheel (though it would be a shitty one). 

Sal was perfect, like an angle from heaven, and his face did not change that, in fact it made him all the truer. To go through so much pain and sorrow, to have lived such a life, and still be so kind, so caring, it truly amazed Travis, a lot of Sal did. 

He was shown under the mask, Sal wanted him to see, felt comfortable enough to show him. That was a big deal. Especially because unlike others, Travis loved Sal not despite but because of his face. He swears the moment he was shown under the mask, he fell deeper in love.  

So, no matter what parts of his brain told him otherwise, he wasn't going to back down. He was going to help Sal, help him see himself for the beauty he really has.

~

Travis's plan started out very subtle.

 As adults and boyfriends, they of course had their moments of intimacy. Other than the obvious, him and Sal enjoyed on occasion a kiss or snog. It was often a little weird, or at least not as smooth as they would like it to be. Sal has to unclip his mask and take it off completely, if he were to only unclip the bottom, like when he was eating, Travis would awkwardly bump into the prosthetic. Sal would then have to take the time to put his prosthetic back on and fix it to be comfortable on his face, all in all it was a process. During more sensual times, Travis would take the time to kiss Sal's neck when he's busy unclipping his prosthetic, but it is not always the time for that. So, Travis instead took the rare chance of his mask being off before and after sleep to kiss Sal, something Sal seemed to greatly enjoy. 

Part of his plan was to first get Sal taking off his prosthetic more, giving him a reason to take it off. Kissing was the perfect excuse. Whenever free, Travis would gently tap the back of Sal's head, an indicator that Sal quickly learned meant for him to take off the medical device to kiss his boyfriend. So, whether it was when they were cooking, watching tv, cleaning, or getting ready, Travis took the chance to kiss Sal. Travis had never really been one to initiate the lovely dovey kind of stuff, it was always Sal. Travis of course never minded kissing, hugging, or hand holding, but he was often either too shy, or embarrassed. But Travis prevailed, pushing past any embarrassment to help Sal. Sal found this newfound eagerness from Travis to be very cute.