Scolex One-shots.

Ink

A/N - I'm back momentarily. This is a sad AU. That's all.

Scott sat on his fathers lap, tracing the fading black words etched into his skin. They had long since stopped appearing, but the harsher lies his once soulmate had said were still embedded in his skin.  The white lies ("I thought you had the keys?!" "I didn't forget!") faded quickly but there were untold mysteries too "he's my coworker!" and "I swear". 

These simple phrases his soulmate had said to someone, not him, were in his skin, and presumably his lies were on theirs - not his wife's. It hadn't stopped them from marrying though, and as soon as they had fallen in love new words had stopped appearing. Whether it was because they had replaced their soulmate, or had fallen out of love with the idea of the person, no one knew. Some said they stopped appearing when your soulmate died, whether that be in reality or metaphorically. Perhaps eventually his wife's lies would appear on his skin, but 10 year old Scott decided the universe had bigger issues.

Scott wouldn't experience the sensation of having lies semipermanently on him until he was 19, later than most and embarrassed at his ink free skin, other than his artificial tattoo.  He worried about the words appearing in the canteen and having to work out who had said them, or in a foreign country in another language, but in reality it had been much more anticlimactic.

He sat in a booth of a diner with authentic red, white and black retro decor. He smiled at the boy opposite him, Alex, whom he had made polite conversation with all evening, giggling at one another and worrying about disturbing the other costumers. The bill came and Scott stretched out to pay it when Alex's hand stopped him part way, "no! I'm paying" Scott rolled his eyes, reaching for it again, before being bat away again, "I want to pay!" Alex exclaimed.

But Scott wasn't listening. His eyes glazed over slightly at the feeling of his blood capillaries running close to the surface, as if he needed to cool down, followed by a distinct feeling. It was comparable to the reverse of getting a tattoo; it felt as though needles were pressing out from the underside of his skin and into the outside world. But it wasn't particularly painful. The subtle burn he felt on his rib cage stopped as soon as it started and Scott was snapped out of his daze to see Alex looking at him concernedly.

Scott took a shaky breath, "sorry. I just..." he stuttered before clearing his head and trying to play it cool, the last thing he needed was for Alex not to experience the same thing. He took a breath and said "the table's blue, right?" And laughed when Alex froze, mouth open.

"Did you? That's cool, also ow." He rubbed his shoulder and smiled over at Scott.

"So, you don't actually want to pay, huh?"

Alex pursed his lips. "You got me."

----

Alex smiled fondly at the memory. Those moments kept him going when their path seemed destined for failure. And right now he could do with any reassurance he could get.

He sat at the breakfast bar waiting for last nights left overs to reheat for dinner, looking at the clock.  Four nights in a row Scott had been out, each and every time it wasn't deemed "appropriate" for Alex to attend. And he hadn't minded at first, it was understandable and Alex had long since stopped looking at the words appearing on his skin. But yesterday morning he was hurt and tired from waiting up, so he examined his back in the mirror. It was a stupid mistake really. But once he started looking, he couldn't stop.

"It's for work", "it wouldn't be right if you were there", "I don't keep secrets from you."

He had stood shocked at first, but now he realised it all made sense. Disappearing off late at night for hours on end, lying to his face, getting back late at night tired and uncharacteristically happy. Alex shuddered. So as he watched the clock ticking round, he constructed his arguement.