Sweet Surrender [MxM]

Chapter 19

Varian ushered Venerra inside the house and to the kitchen where he set down her backpack and his own while she skipped to her chair and clambered onto it, pulling a couple papers from her bag.

"Stay inside while I go out and do some work Venerra," Varian said to her as he headed to his room to change.

"Nathan isn't going to help you today?" she asked.

Varian smiled to himself since he had his back to her. "He's been working hard lately. I decided to let him have today off."

"Oh. We'll see him later right? At Aunt Millie's?"

Varian paused and turned to look over his shoulder. "Millie let me have today off. I asked if that was okay. You should see him tomorrow though."

Venerra visibly deflated, her golden eyes almost instantly switching over to a hard green before lowering her gaze. Varian momentarily regretted his decision to ask for the day off. He hadn't known how much it would affect her.

"You really like him don't you?"

Venerra looked up with a smile. "He's nice. And you love him. So I should too right?"

Taken aback from her comment, Varian hesitated before striding over to her and bending down so he was closer to her level. "I don't want you to feel like you have to like him. I want you to really like him because you do. Not because I do."

Venerra looked puzzled. "But I do. I can like him too can't I?"

"Of course," Varian said gently, reaching out and pulling Venerra into a hug. "I just wanted to make sure."

She giggled and pulled away. "Aren't you going to work?"

Varian smiled before getting up and going to his room. Shrugging out of his outer shirt, he peeled off his inner shirt and headed for his closet to find a tank top so he could work in a material that was lighter than his everyday clothes. Rifling through the clothes he had, he sighed when he realized he'd left them in his bathroom. Why had he done that?

"What a stupid place to leave clothes..." he mumbled to himself before strolling in and flicking on the light. Why he did that when he could see fine in a dimly lit room, he had no idea. It wasn't until he walked past the mirror and turned to pick them up that something caught his eye. Or rather, lack thereof.

Pausing, Varian gripped the shirt he'd chosen and glanced in the mirror. Looking up had made him turn, so he twisted his torso to examine what he'd thought was surely a fluke of his vision. Only instead of the familiar lines of the scars marring his flesh, his gaze met with smooth, unaltered skin. Frowning, Varian twisted further, the muscles of his stomach and sides flexing in the process as he looked over his back again.

"What?" he asked aloud.

Reaching back, he ran his fingers over his skin and was shocked to find it like it looked. Smooth and unharmed. Suddenly his eyes widened and he turned so he could examine his back fully in the mirror, struggling to see properly over his shoulder. It was as he already knew. They were gone. The burn marks were gone. Not a trace of them were left.