The Space Between

Chapter Thirty-One: "Otherworldly"

Mark touched Sean's wrists, asking a little nervously. "What do you mean?" Sean swallowed, softly replying. "Show me what you... look like. Please?" Mark pulled Sean's hands away from his face, uttering out under his breath. "No. Sean, I can't do that to you." Sean shrugged, retorting firmly. "Why not? If you're not going to hurt me than what is the problem?" Mark floated back from Sean an inch or two, avoiding his eyes when he answered. "I'm not going to hurt you. But I'm not sure your ready to see... me." Sean blinked at him, whispering to him a bit sarcastically. "Mark... I've just spent the last few days being around Logan. And let me tell you. HE scared me. He even tried to eat me!" Mark jerked his head up, locking hard eyes with him as he growled out. "What?!" Sean waved a dismissive hand, muttering out. "It's fine. We worked it out. That's not important." Mark narrowed his eyes on Sean with concern then turned his eyes to the door. Sean may not have seen it as a concern, but it was to him.

Sean touched his jaw, turning his eyes back on him. Mark reluctantly let him turn his head, staring into his eyes with his own fragile ones. He worked so hard to hide this part of himself that he was terrified to show it. Sean brought his lips closer to his, whispering to him lovingly. "Mark... I love you as you are. I always have. I understand why you hide this... All I'm asking is that you give me a chance to love ALL of you." Mark shook his head, mumbling out in a low tone. "I don't want to be seen as a monster in your eyes. My heart couldn't take it. Can't you just love me... like this?" Sean inhaled slowly, then told him sweetly. "I don't want to love part of you. I want to love all of you. Just as you accept and love all of me. My mistakes. My imperfections. My failures. I don't want you to be perfect. I want you to be mine." Mark exhaled, glancing at the open hatch. Sean released him, floating over to the door to close it. Shutting it, Sean turned the handle to lock it and then turned to look at him.

Leaning back against the hatch door, Sean pleaded out to him with bright blue eyes. "Mark...? I'm not going anywhere. Show me." Mark bit his lip, looking away reluctantly. He didn't want to do this. Every part of his body was warning him against doing this. His dad told him to hide this for a reason. He'd never shown another soul. He's hands shook as he raised them to unzip his thermal suit a bit. He felt like the fabric was choking him right now. Keeping his eyes fixed on the ground, he whispered out in a wispy voice. "Sean... You don't need to love all of me..." Sean straightened up against the door, telling him confidently. "I'm not going anywhere, Mark. I promise." Mark closed his eyes, licking his dry lips as he bowed his head. Hugging himself, he stopped suppressing his transformation and relaxed. He felt his nails extend out into black talons over his biceps and cringed. Opening his eyes a little, he watched the black veins run down to his fingertips. Around his knuckles shiny blue and red scales began to rise up from his skin.

The scales appeared in patches over his body, causing Mark to reluctantly pull down his thermal suit to show Sean his torso. His hands shook violently as he did it, revealing his white tank top. The scales rose up his arms in a thin line, coating him in small bright scaly stripes that stood out against his tan skin. They were mostly blue, but whenever he moved, they'd tinge to a bright red. Mark tilted his head back as the stripes curled over his shoulders and stopped short of his pectoral muscles. Mark turned his head, wincing as little horns sprouted from the edges of his ears. Then groaned as the scales broke out across his face like an eye mask and changed the color of his bangs to a glossy red. The scales rose around his eyes, before finally changing his eyes to a bright Reptilian red with icy blue veins. Mark turned away before Sean saw his eyes, showing him his striped back. Over his shoulder, he told him in a deep grim voice. "Happy now...?" Mark hugged himself, feeling self-conscious about the way he looked. His body had never been so relaxed. Normally, he was so tense from holding it back.

Compared to the other Reptilians, he was ugly. A half-finished canvas. Even his commander at boot camp was disgusted by him. Having seen his confidential birth records. Behind him, Sean said in a wispy voice of his own. "Mark... You look..." Mark glared over his shoulder, hissing out with bitter disgust. "Hideous! I know... I told you-" Sean cut him off to interject more warmly. "No! You are... There are no words to describe you. You are just... otherworldly. You know how much I love colors and Mark... you're stunning." Mark blinked a little caught off guard, slowly turning just enough to look at him to see if he was lying. Sean's eyes looked all over him with fascination. Mark put a hand on his bicep, rubbing it nervously. No one had ever looked at him for so long. He didn't smell fear from Sean. Sean grabbed the bar to the bed to float closer to him, chuckling out lightly. "Mark, I think you are beautiful." Sean extended a hand out to him, asking gently. "Can I touch you?" Mark dropped his hand from his bicep, before raising his arm to see if Sean would really touch him like this.