The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

36. Necessary confrontation

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone." (Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy)

Everyone stood in tense silence. Fayez could feel his mates's worried gazes on him, but for once, he didn't pay them much attention.

He was too busy looking at the two persons standing behind Zeph and Ashur. They were half-hidden by the prefect's tall figure, but he would recognize them anywhere. After all, he had been around them for three painfully long centuries.

"Faye, darling" his mother finally said, her voice hopeful. She stepped inside the room, uninvited.

Fayez instinctively took a step back, making the woman wince. He felt a bit guilty for his unwelcoming reaction, but he wasn't going to apologize for how he felt about his parents.

He couldn't help it. His mother might have been a bit less distant than his father for the past centuries, but he wouldn't go as far as to say she truly loved her youngest son.

She tolerated him, at best.

"Mother. Father" he replied in a curt tone. "What are you doing here?"

His mother hesitated. She kept looking at his three mates, her expression now a mixture of uncertainty and wariness.

Fayez couldn't blame her. He was so used to his mates' presence that he had forgotten how intimidating they might look, for an outsider.

Of course, they would never hurt Fayez's parents, but his mother didn't know that and Fayez didn't intend to tell her.

"Can you ask your three bodyguards to leave us alone for a moment?" his father suddenly intervened, making Zephyr hiss, while Akhenaton put a hand on Fayez's shoulder with faked nonchalance.

Of course, the gesture didn't go unnoticed by Fayez's mother.

"Are you - are you in an intimate relationship with this man?" she asked, eyeing Akhenaton with curiosity.

"The three of them are my mates." Fayez replied proudly. "Mother, Father, meet Ashur, Akhenaton and Zephyr."

Ashur greeted them politely, his expression quiet and pensive. Zephyr, on the other hand, childishly refused to even shake their hands. As for Akhenaton, the man merely nodded in their direction. He was standing very close to Fayez, as if he expected his mate to be attacked any moment from now.

"C-congratulations" his mother faltered. "That's - unexpected."

"What is unexpected, mother?" Fayez asked bitterly. "The fact that I found my mates - or that they love me enough to remain by my sides, although I'm a freak?"

"Faye-"

Ashur didn't seem too happy to hear his mate referring to himself as a freak. On the surface, he looked as collected as ever but Fayez knew him well enough to be able to decipher his micro-expressions.

It's true, though, he thought. I'm still a freak, even if my hands are no longer cursed.

No you're not. Stop calling yourself a freak, if you don't want my handprints to decorate your bottom.

Fayez almost jumped when he heard Ake's voice in his head. He hadn't realized that he had projected his thoughts to the man standing next to him.

You're doing great, Akhenaton added. I imagine you must be feeling uncomfortable right now. Let me know if you want us to send them off. I can always talk with Ash and Zeph through our mental link.