Scars

Scars

"Drifter? What are you doing here?"

  Eris opened the door of her apartment wider, admitting a wet haired Drifter inside.

  Eris wore her usual robes, but without the armor on top, maling her look somewhat more tranquil. Her hood rested over her head, concealing most of her dark hair save for a few wisps that hung around her eyes, the glowing green of her concealed pupils studying the Drifter as he entered.

  "You walked here through the rain?" She asked, noting the drops of water weighing his hair down and sparkling in his beard.

  "Yeah, uhh," he ran his hand through his hair, slicking it back. "I just happened to be in the area, so I figured I'd drop by."

  "You just happened to be in the area?" Eris asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

  "Yeah... hey, you got somethin' cookin'?" He asked suddenly, sliding past Eris and walking into the small cramped kitchen.

  "It is only instant ramen." Eris told him, pushing by him to stir the noodles bubbling in the pot on the single stove eye.

  "Instant ramen, huh?"

  "It is what I had lying in my cupboard, and I am not in the mood to go out in the rain to buy freshly made ramen."

  The Drifter shrugged. "Reckon I hear that. You can't say no to a good 'ol pack of instant ramen. Anyway, I'll leave you to your dinner, Moondust. Just wanted to drop by 'n say hello."

  He shot her a grin, sliding a hand along her arm before turning back to the front door.

  "Wait." Eris said just as his hand began to twist the doorknob.

  "Yeah?" He smirked. "You miss me already?"

  Eris looked down at the boiling noodles, then back at the Drifter. "Will you stay for dinner? I can put in another pack of noodles."

  The Drifter began to smile, but then stopped himself to ask, "you sure, Moondust?"

  "Yes. Stay. I wish for your company."

  And with those words she left the room, returning a minute later with a towel and another pack of noodles.

  "This is for your hair." She said as she handed him the hand drying towel, then put the square of hard wavy ramen into the boiling pot.

  The Drifter slipped off his bandana, letting it slide up his arm as he briskly massaged the towel around his head and through his hair.

  By the time he had his hair mostly dried, the noodles had been put into bowls, a sliced egg on the side of each.

  The Drifter set the towel down and slipped off his gloves, accepting the bowl and chopsticks that Eris held out for him, his forehead still bare.

  "Come, we may sit in here." Eris guided him to a nearby room, her own bowl of food in hand.

  It was cramped, just as the kitchen was. The room contained a bookshelf overflowing with books, a coffee table that was covered in many old and large volumes along with yellowed papers, and an old faded sofa.

  Eris sat on one end of the sofa while the Drifter sat on the other, both eating their dinner in silence, merely enjoying the sodium rich noodles and one another's company.

  The Drifter cleared his throat, having finished off the last of his food. "Thanks for the ramen, Moondust."

  "You could have made for yourself something far more appetizing and flavorful aboard your Derelict, I am sure." Eris pointed out, finishing the last of her ramen.

  "Eh, I'd rather eat pre-packaged food with you then somethin' else up on the Derelict alone." He offered her a genuine smile, his hair still a mess from when he had dried it earlier.

  Eris let out a chuckle.

  "What's funny?"

  "Your hair. It is a mess, quiet unusual from how it typically is."

  The Drifter began running his fingers through his mussed hair, trying to make it somewhat decent. Eris laughed this time, scooting across the sofa to sit beside him.

  "Here, look at me." She began to slide her nimble and calloused fingers along his scalp, smoothing out his hair the best she could.

  "This is why you are always wearing that bandana, is it not? So that your hair will not fall in front of your face?" She asked with an amused smile, brushing her fingers along the hair that had fallen over his forehead.

  "Don't mock me," the Drifter replied, grabbing his bandana.

  "No- wait," Eris interrupted him before he could slide it back on. "I like you without it."

  The Drifter opened his mouth, as if to give her some kind of clever comeback, but found he had nothing. He chuckled, turning his face away to hide his flushed cheeks.

  "It is curious," Eris finally began after a moment of awkward silence.

  "What?" The Drifter asked, meeting her gaze once again.

  "Curious that you, a weilder of the Light, bear scars across your cheeks. Why?" She asked with genuine curiosity, her eyes studying the jagged scars.

  "Oh, heh," he brought a hand up to run along one of his cheeks. "Honestly? I ain't gotta clue. Had 'em when I was rezzed." He shrugged. "Guess it's just somethin' from my old life."

  "Interesting." Eris reached out a hand. "May I?"

  The Drifter looked at her hand, then back at her with eyes full of trust. "Sure,"

  Eris brought her hand to his face, noting the way he eagerly leaned into her touch as she started at the tip of his scar and slid her finger down along it, taking in the difference of feeling between the smoothness of his skin, and the roughness of his beard.

  "You recall during when we had discovered a seed of the Tree of Silver Wings?" Eris asked, trailing down another scar.

  "Yeah. What about it?"

  "During that time when I was with the seed beneath Io, I had been attacked. Merely by a Hive's claw, but it left me injured for some time."

  "Yeah, I remember seein' you limpin' around." The Drifter said.

  "Indeed. My leg, healed, of course, but the mark remained."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yes."

  "May I?" The Drifter asked, taking his face from her palm, his gaze lingering on her knee before returning back to her regardful eyes.

  Without a word, Eris brought her hands to the bottom of her right pant leg, rolling it up with brisk neatness, the Drifter watching intently.

  She rolled it up to just above her knee, allowing the Drifter to view the scar that ran along the curve of bone and down her shin. She watched his trembling hand come closer, closer, until the tips of his fingers met gently with the pale cool skin of her scar.

  He slowly trailed his hand down the scar, studying it with an observant eye.

  "You probably got plenty more scars, huh?"

  "Quiet a few many. They trail down my arms, tear through my legs. Many have made their home across my own face," she brought a hand up to slide down the side of her face, over the blindfold. "They will forever huant me with nightmares of the past, of times that will never be forgotten. Of the dark, deafening caves of the Hellmouth, the putrid odor of the Hive, of bodies falling and rotting. The sounds as they hunted me through the everwinding darkness. Those days are unforgettable, as are the scars that have followed. Perhaps... one day I may show them to you."

  "I'd like that." The Drifter replied, meeting her eyes with a strange and rare intensity.

  "Then indeed," Eris nodded. "I will show them to you. One day."

Every Night ✨

😳😏💕

I have been in a particularly artsy mood as of late 😏 if yall got any Eris and Drifter art requests, send them on over! I'll take any excuse to draw more art of them ✨️

🖤They dancin'🤍

Drifter and Eris practicing stasis

They having fun creating stuff with Stasis 😆🧊 Thank you so much for the request! I've never drawn ice before, so that was a cool new experience 😎