NYCM Prompts:
Genre: Romance | Action: Reading a newspaper | Word: scar
[R1: did not place]
CW: reference to self-harm scarring (highlight block to reveal)
I’m looking for my muse. That was what Vincent had declared when Myla first met him at a local kintsugi ceramic exhibition. His twinkling eyes and bashful smile had confirmed the remark for the playful pick-up line it was.
Yet it was almost the end of their relationship before it even began. Muses were not like her: there was no delicate porcelain skin beneath her deliberately chosen long sleeve tops and turtleneck sweaters. Yet Myla couldn’t deny the way her cheeks grew warm at his attention. She agreed to a date.
They spent the evening reading and dissecting the outrageous reviews of the exhibition in the local newspapers. It was the oddest first date Myla could recall. Yet somehow, amidst the snickering and flirting, Vincent passed a test Myla herself didn’t know she had set.
But firsts of any kind can be terrifying. That first undress… She baulked.
“I’m sorry,” Myla sobbed, naked and exposed. “I wish I could be beautiful for you.”
He only shook his head. “Let me show you what I see.”
With a fine-tipped paintbrush and a pot of gold paint, Vincent followed the line of each self-inflicted scar until her skim glimmered with swirling patterns.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured.
He gifted her a soft smile before turning her to face the mirror. Only then did Myla truly understand, the sight making her gasp. A glittering goddess stood before her.
“You are beautiful.” Vincent corrected, pressing a soft kiss against her shoulder. “Every part of you.”
C.A. Raine 