Scar Maintenance
Boy kicked his heels against the side of the sink. Some kids watched their older brothers shave, he watched his do scar maintenance.
Mostly just Jeff, who cursed and bitched the whole time he took a knife to re-open the wounds on the side of his face. It happened about once or twice a year, usually after a major fight and his healing boost from Slender went into overdrive. It not only wiped out any wounds and scars gained from the Hunt, but it would also try to blur and fade the ones on his face which was bullshit.
“Why the fuck do I have to put up with this? Why not Liu or Toby?”
“If Liu and Toby stood still long enough to get hit as much as you they'd be in here too. Besides, you're an asshole even to yourself,” Eyeless grinned behind his mask. “One day you’ll admit you’re a masochist and I’ll throw you a party.”
“Wasa masokist?”
“Nevermind. Just sit there and shut up.”
Ever since the time Jeff had cut too deeply, leaving him unable to speak for nearly a week as the muscles in his cheeks reconnected, Eyeless had taken over the task. And now he carefully spanned Jeff’s cheek with his fingers, thumb at the corner of Jeff’s mouth and forefinger where the scar should end.
Blood trickled down Jeff’s jaw and neck as the scalpel carefully split the skin. One side, the other side, done.
Jeff opened his mouth wide, testing the cuts at the corners of his mouth. “Fuck that hurts.”
“What about me?”
“What about you?” before Jeff used his hand to pull his lower jaw down wider, making the skin over his cheeks really stretch.
“I wanna keep my scar too!”
Eyeless carefully laid the used scalpel in the sink, on top of a towel to keep everything from clanking and chipping each other. He lightly gripped Boy’s chin in one hand and ran his sensitive fingers over the five year old’s face. “Mmm… feels fine to me. Maybe a little flat. Jeff?”
“What’s the harm? Just do it.”
“You can’t wiggle,” Eyeless told Boy seriously. “If you move while I’m cutting, it’ll be crooked and wrong. Think you can handle it?”
“Yes! I’ma big boy now!”
“Big. Riiiiight…” Jeff drawled. He got up from where he was sitting on the side of the tub and joined Eyeless in front of Boy. “Should I hold him?”
“Just in case,” Eyeless agreed.
Jeff plucked the tiny child from the sink edge and sat down on the toilet, Boy on his lap. He wrapped one arm around the brat’s waist and his other hand against Boy’s forehead to pin his head against Jeff’s chest.
“Alright, we’re going to do this in two parts. Ready?” Kneeling in front of them, Eyeless pressed a wadded piece of tissue against Boy’s right eye. “Hold that right there.” He then did it the exact same way as he’d done Jeff, using the fingers of one hand to pinpoint the start and finish of the scar, then sliding the scalpel between them.
First the part that went down Boy’s cheek, then (after nudging Jeff’s fingers out of the way) the piece that ran above Boy’s eye. The tiny V at the top was too small to bother with.
It was finished in less than a minute.
“All done. You okay?”
Boy blinked a few times, red eye still covered by the tissues that was quickly soaking up the blood coming down his forehead.
And burst into tears.