#should i add the rosa tag since this is related 🤔

[geddy-leesbian]

I was thinking about how Luis was the person who killed Salazar in my Winterserra AU and was looking back at screenshots I took fighting Salazar with a playable Luis mod to feed the brain worms, and it led to me expanding a scene I'd already half written to add something about scars Luis got during that fight :3

Just Ethan being a good fiance and helping Luis in the shower because he's pregnant with their ✨️magic mold baby✨️ and on the struggle bus, a little bit of an argument because Luis is a self sabotaging mess, and them talking it out and hugging because Ethan is hell bent on them being a happy family some day and refuses to let Luis push him away

Still a little shaken up by nearly slipping and wiping out stepping into the tub, Luis grabs the bar on the shower wall to steady himself when Ethan drops to his knees to start scrubbing the grime off of Luis's lower body. 

“Ethan? Are you done washing, or..? Not to criticize when you've already done so much for me, but I don't feel clean yet,” Luis eventually asks, after several moments of Ethan just kneeling, not moving the washcloth. Of course his stomach now protrudes out far enough that he can't see Ethan's facial expression, all he can do is take a wild guess about what he's thinking.  “I understand if you're getting tired of helping me,  you've done more than enough already. You can stop now and go wait for me in the bedroom. I'll figure something out to finish washing up by myself, it'll be fine.”

“Don't worry, I'll go until you're squeaky clean. I just got distracted. God, I can't believe you think I'm the type of guy that would leave his injured, pregnant fiancé alone in the shower trying to figure something out. That's not who I am. When I promised I'd protect you from everything last night, I didn't just mean I'd protect you from the BSAA and any other mad scientists out there that would be interested in the baby. I meant everything, including protecting you from yourself. You already almost slipped getting in, and you definitely would have hurt yourself if I wasn't right there ready to catch you! You're not showering alone, not until you've recovered more,” Luis doesn't argue further, because Ethan has a point. While injured might be a stronger word than Luis would use, even he has to admit that he's not doing well at the moment. Swollen feet and ankles, bruises all over his hips and shoulders from slamming into trees every time he lost his balance. And of course that was all on top of the normal, but no less annoying, aches and pains he was dealing with simply because he was pregnant. Trying to be independent now would only lead to him being even more dependent on Ethan, when he inevitably got himself an injury. “I stopped because I  got distracted by the scars on your thighs, I've never really seen them before now. It's always been too dim, or you positioned yourself in a way to hide them. You don't need to do that. I like the ones you don't hide. I like these too.”

Luis is a little surprised Ethan hadn't noticed the splotchy burn scars splashed across his inner thighs. He'd assumed Ethan noticed at some point and just didn't comment on it. But they are quite faded now, and Ethan is right that Luis tried to hide them, at least at the start of their relationship. There were plenty of times Ethan could have seen them, but it's not implausible he never noticed without something to draw his attention to that area. 

“I don't mind the scars on my upper body. There was a time I hated the chest scar from removing my plaga, I thought it was hideous. But Leon liked it, I didn't mind it so much after that. Most of the other scars I got after…” After I fucked up and killed Leon. “... After– After you know, I didn't mind so much. They weren't the ugly kind of scar, they're the kind you see on some pretty Hollywood actor to make him look a little tougher, a little rough around the edges, but not too rough. Just the right amount to look badass, not all hideous and deformed. But I don't like the ones on my thighs. They're not the handsome badass kind, just gross.”

“You are a handsome badass, and you're really exaggerating the thigh scars. They're not that bad,” Ethan affirms, beginning to move the wash cloth over Luis's skin again, gently scrubbing. “They look like burn scars… There a connection to this and you not liking fire? Sorry if that was too invasive.”

“It's fine. Good guess, but no. They were from someone named Ramón Salazar. He was always creepy as hell. Before transforming into a monster, I think he was actually creepier than he was after. He somehow looked 8 years old and 80 years old at the same time. But anyway, once he transformed, he was able to spray acid,” Luis realizes he has yet another reason to be thankful to Ethan: He's been through this same shit. Ethan understands what Luis means when he talks about someone transforming, he doesn't need to elaborate. “I did a good job dodging it and none got up on my face or upper body, but there was one spray I didn't move quick enough. It hit my thighs and just burned right through my jeans and into my skin, leaving me with a nasty chemical burn. Nasty enough to have one silver lining, no pain. Fried all my nerves, can't feel shit where the acid hit. Was thankful for that later that night when I was yanking arrows out of my legs. They all hurt like a bitch, except the couple that managed to hit the burns.”

“Nerve damage, yeah, that makes sense.”

“How so?”

“I tried kissing the insides of your thigh the first time I went down on you and you didn't react at all. I just thought it was something you didn't like and you were too polite to say anything. But sounds like you weren't reacting because you couldn't even feel it.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. Maybe I should have warned you, that normally is a sensitive place,” Luis blushes as he rambles. He's not sure why this has him so embarrassed. It is a little embarrassing, thinking about poor Ethan kissing his thighs and getting no reaction, wondering if he was doing something wrong. But in the past 24 hours Ethan has cleaned up his vomit, wanted to have sex even though Luis hadn't bathed in more than a week and was especially filthy from his poorly thought out Valdelobos trip, and witnessed Luis having a panic attack right under their goddamn bed after some candles spooked him. He should be developing some immunity to shame after all that, but somehow he's still embarrassed by the thigh kissing revelation. “I did like that kind of thing before, it's really just the nerve damage, nothing you were doing wrong. I'm sorry. I would have explained sooner if I knew you'd been thinking about it. If I could have felt it, I would have loved it. Sorry–”

“Hey, Luis, it's okay. You apologize way too much,” Ethan rises to his feet and stands on the tips of his toes to kiss Luis on the cheek. “And don't you dare try to apologize for apologizing. Not to play the I got my hand cut off card, but in case you forgot, I did get my hand cut off with a chainsaw once, and forgave and saved the person who did it. There's nothing you can do that I can't forgive you–”

“I haven't forgotten,” Luis interjects. “I also haven't forgotten that you were a married man when Chris brought you to me. You can say you forgive her all you want, but actions speak louder than words, and I watched you sign the divorce papers when Chris dropped them off, so you can't pretend like what she did had no effect on the marriage. You divorced her because she did something you couldn't forgive her for, and you'll divorce me for the same reason, unless I do something unforgivable before we even get married.”

“Stop it, Luis. Stop trying to read my mind and put words in my mouth. Don't act like you know what happened between me and Mia better than I do, because you have no idea what the hell you're talking about, and I really don't appreciate you pretending like you do,” Luis flinches at Ethan raising his voice again. It still isn't yelling, but it's louder than the first time. Of course it's also completely justified. “I did forgive her. I still fucking loved her, and I forgave her for everything. I didn't choose divorce because I was mad at her for anything, we just wanted different things out of life. We weren't making each other happy anymore. Since you remember everything so well, I'm sure you remember that I cried after signing those papers, because I did still love her, and it hurt to finally close that door for good, even if I knew it was for the best. I might have still been with her now, starting a family with her, if she'd just agreed with Chris's plan and left the BSAA facility with me.”

Luis deserves the harshness. What he said did cross the line, and he has no right to be upset by Ethan rightfully calling him out. But that doesn't make him any less upset or stop the tears. If he hadn't started crying, maybe this would have been the end. Maybe Ethan would have realized he deserves better and dumped Luis. But Luis is crying, so every ounce of Ethan's anger drains away, replaced with pity. He drops the washcloth and envelopes Luis in a side hug, leaving him with a free hand to gently rub Luis's belly with. 

“Please don't cry, honey. I'm sorry. I could have made my point without raising my voice and swearing. If you can just take my words at face value, believe me when I say that I love you and forgive you, I'll never raise my voice at you again. And I'm a lot more sorry for saying that I'd be with Mia starting a family right now, I shouldn't have said that. Makes it sound like I'd rather be with her and settled for you. That's not true. The Baker Incident just changed us too much, we couldn't ever go back to what we had before. You're a much better fit for the person I've become since then. I'm glad I hesitated when Mia was asking to have a baby. I'm glad that I'm here having a baby with you, not having a baby with Mia while we were locked up in a BSAA facility where we were treated like lab rats, constantly arguing because she refused to acknowledge anything in our lives was wrong and thought my attitude was the only problem. You were exactly what I needed, someone that likes to dig into situations and excited to be given a problem to tackle,” The water starts running cold, so Ethan takes his hands off of Luis to turn the water off. Then he cradles Luis's belly with both hands. “I love you, and I love the baby you're carrying. And I know you love and care about me, or you wouldn't be trying so hard to push me away.”

“I do. I do love you,” Luis lets go of his death grip on the railing to wrap his arms around Ethan and put his head on his shoulder, and Ethan moves his hands to Luis's back. He can't press himself against Ethan as closely as he wants to, but he can't be too annoyed, because the obstacle between their bodies is his own pregnant stomach. Whether he deserves Ethan or not, he's having his baby. “If Chris hadn't brought you to me, I'd still be a shell of a person, barely eating, living in squalor, only continuing to stay alive because of my promise to Leon. You made me want to stay alive.”

“Good, because I like having you alive. And healthy. Now you gotta let me take care of you so you can stay alive and healthy.  It's not just about me and you anymore, we've got a baby on the way now, and they deserve to have both their dads in their life. No more feeling like a burden and thinking I'm going to leave you, no more of me raising my voice and making you cry, okay? We'll have a baby in a couple months, that's something to be happy about, so we're going to be happy,” Ethan stops hugging Luis, who reluctantly stops clinging to Ethan. “Sit down on the edge of the tub for a minute. I'm going to go get you a warm towel from the dryer for you, then I'll carry you back to bed. Don't try to get up on your own, it's not worth it.”

“I know, Ethan. I know,” Extra cautious, Ethan holds Luis's hand until he's securely in a sitting position. “I won't move a muscle until my knight in moldy armor comes back to sweep me off my feet and carry me back to bed.”

“And? There was something you promised me you'd do before we got in the shower.”

“Shit, that's right. I did. I'll keep my word, eat whatever giant breakfast you decide to make for me.”

“And maybe after you eat…” Ethan gets a mischievous smile. “I'll put some work in to find out if there's anywhere on your thighs I can kiss that still have enough sensation for you to feel it?”

“Easy there, mold man. Remember, the humidity hasn't done anything for me, just you. I'm still as tired as ever, feeling horribly unattractive, and just not in the mood. I wish I realized humidity got you so damn fired up sooner, I would have asked you to take a hot shower every time I wanted to take it rough…” That thought almost gets Luis in the mood, but the exhaustion wins out. He'll let Ethan explore his thighs eventually, just not yet. “I'm sorry, mi amor. It's not that I don't want you to do that, I'm just too beat right now and taking a rain check, got it?”

“No pressure. It won't be a good time for me if you're not into it,” Ethan throws a t-shirt on and presses a quick kiss on top of Luis's head before heading for the bathroom door. “Alright, I'll be right back.”