helo ⟾ @dievoted
many have tried to urge him before, and they have failed. bellamy, raven, even harper. told him that it wasn’t his fault, and no one was blaming him more than himself. but none was enough to curb the drive to keep the scars concealed: to hide the time when helo was weak and succumb to the pain. but he could see that alloy was reaching, stepping out of her comfort zone. it was laced within the tenderness of her voice, the genuine sparkle held within her gaze, and her lithe like touch shrouded against his hand. but just as soon as she pressed further, she retreated. the walls that he worked so hard to break down was slowly starting to build back up, and he could see it within her tension wrought frame. immediately, helo exhaled a defeated sigh. ‘ no, no, it’s a good idea. i really appreciate it, i do. ‘ helo wished he could show her that, and know that her attempts gone unnoticed. that they held real impact. cue another terse sigh as a thought came to his head. crossing his hand over to the opposing, he tugged free from the leather fabric of his gloves that seemingly morphed to the anatomy of his hands due to the abundant use over the course of years. and immediately, the fresh air licked at the exposed dermis, contorted surface of his skin on both the back of his hand and his palm out for her to see. but then he tugged on the other glove and let it fall to his lap, suddenly afraid of her reaction. would she groan in disgust? would she pretend that they don’t look bad yet look away? what would she do?
if he had taken just only a few more moments to respond , she would have been up & said her hasted goodbyes just to rid herself of her own EMBARRASSMENT for proposing such a thing to rid him of her pressing helo to do something he was clearly not comfortable with. subtle hints were not her list of expertise , after all. but his words would STUN her in her place , making mocha hues travel slowly past furrowed brows to watch as he had actually begun to remove his comfort right there beside her. she wouldn’t quite know the level of TRUST that would take the amount of courage it took for him to perform a seemingly simple action after so many have tried & failed before. but if she had , the former assassin would feel racked with GUILT for not trusting him more in the past letting him in & revealing her past to the fullest extent sooner. . . or at least more in detail. but once the gloves were removed & the skin of his hands were left BARE , no signs of disgust would be shown no waver of the eyes as they stayed locked to the flesh with a softening gaze. hastily at first , her own hands would reach for one of his own ; taking it GENTLY before moving it into her lap as to further examine it. thumb gingerly tracing over the marred skin which covered the back of his hand before turning it to perform the same action to his palm. the stories he had told her , what he had endured. . . she could almost see it playing CLEARLY through her mind with every touch & it made her heart ache for him : yet another emotion that was almost entirely new to her. finally she would turn his hand back over so that her own digits would INTERTWINE with his , lifting his hand up so that the back of it would be met with a tender kiss of her lips. letting the embrace hold there for a few moments before letting their linked hands fall to her lap. then a soft SMILE as she would finally look to him , ❛ still looks like a badass battle scar to me. one you should be grateful for if you can come to manage it just a little bit. because it got you this far. ❜
