An Exception

Chapter Three

"I didn't wake you up for no-" Hearts smirked when he realized the god was no longer staring at his face. He sat there in silence for a moment, allowing Zamasu to eye him in awkward silence. "If you're that distracted by my chest, you should see the rest of me."

"Excuse me?" Scarlet quickly tinted the god's cheeks and ears as he snapped out of his daze and turned an angry eye back to the other man's face.

"You were staring, so I figured I'd offer up a little extra." Hearts leaned down over top of Zamasu, taking pleasure in the way the god's glare faltered and he looked more nervous than anything else. This was highly inappropriate, given last night's occurrences, but . . . he couldn't help himself. "Red looks good on you, Zamasu." There were so many vulgar things he could say and suggest, but he left it at that one comment as he moved a hand to caress the god's cheek.

Too close! Hearts was too close to him again! Who did he think he was? Leaning over him, making such a suggestive comment, touching his face like that! Touching his face . . . he had such large hands, much like Black. His hands were a little rough, too. The way he ran his thumb over his cheek bone . . . it was really similar, wasn't it? Was his skin still just as soft as Zamasu's skin had been? Did he find him just as beautiful?

Curiously, Zamasu didn't swat his hand away or yell anything at him at all. Instead, he reacted quite oppositely from what Hearts expected. Zamasu's eye went blank and the muscles in his face relaxed. His whole body seemed to relax, in fact. "Zamasu?"

"Am I still beautiful?"

"W-What?" What was with that question so suddenly? Why would he ask him something like that?

"Am I . . . still beautiful? Even though . . . even though . . ." Zamasu's eye narrowed a bit as his lips began to quiver.

"A-ah, wait . . . are you . . .?" As if to answer Hearts' unasked question, a tear escaped the Kai's eye and slipped down his cheek, onto Hearts' hand that still held onto him. "Hey . . ." Why did it pain him to see that? This proud and narcissistic god . . . why was he so self-conscious now? Was he really so worried about his appearance? No . . . perhaps it was more that his marred appearance reminded him of his immense failure to achieve his goal. "Don't cry, Zamasu. I'm not sure what to do . . ." What should he say? Should he just let him cry? Should he hold him? Should he leave?

Hearts pressed his forehead against Zamasu's, causing the god to widen his eye a bit. "I'm not sure who you're really asking. Are you asking me, or are you asking someone in your head? Who are you seeing right now?" The question had been so out of the blue. "Well, whether you want to hear these words from me or not. . ." Hearts wiped Zamasu's eye with his thumb, "Yes, you're still beautiful. I don't really know what you looked like before, but. . . right now you are beautiful. You are very beautiful."

". . ." Zamasu didn't say anything, but he continued to stare right into Hearts' eye as he slowly lifted a hand to rest it over Hearts' hand and hold tightly onto it.

Did he want to hear more? "Your skin is soft, your eye is like silver, your hair is like satin . . . your voice is smooth and sultry . . ." Why was he saying all of this? The words just rolled off his tongue by a will of their own. Zamasu was beautiful, so it was fine to tell him so, wasn't it? If this was what he wanted to hear, he could tell him all day long.

Zamasu lifted his other hand and hesitantly buried it in Hearts' hair on the back of his head. His heart was racing and his mind was a mess. He shouldn't accept such words from a mortal. He shouldn't allow a mortal to touch him and get as close as Hearts was right now. But his words were wonderful. His gentle touch was welcome. How could he push him away when it all felt so good?