“Vittorio?“ Wesker called, as the man was flipping through the pages of a book in the archive.
They had first met in a trial, Wesker obliterating the survivors as he had become used to doing in order to serve the entities bidding. When everyone else had been sacrificed only Vittorio was remaining, injured, fatigued, and drained of resources. But rather than running away in an attempt to find the hatch, he had approached him and simply given up. “Do what you must, just make it quick.” Whether it was the utter hopelessness on the man’s face, his willingness to surrender, or the unusual glowing tattoos catching Wesker’s eye, he couldn’t tell. But Wesker had hesitated.
He had a chance to take a closer look at the tattoos when he grabbed him, had noted it’s oddity with how the glow seemed to move through them like a flowing liquid. Wesker had then done something he'd never done before – he let the man go. He still remembered the look on Vittorio’s face when he had carried him to the hatch – Vittorio hadn’t even struggled – and dropped him next to it, telling him to go before he changed his mind.
Since then, they happened to meet several times in the archives, both sharing an interest in research it seemed. Wesker wanted to understand the realm, its powers, how to harness them – and ultimately escape, if at all possible. Vittorio, having been trapped in this place for over 6 centuries, had a bit of a head start with his research and the meanings of the sigils, and he was eager to share his findings, apparently having been able to use them to travel the realm. He was cautious around Wesker at first, but they both quickly started appreciating their shared interest in figuring out this place. And Wesker had to admit, he enjoyed Vittorio’s company, even though he didn’t like that he felt himself caught off guard when Vittorio leaned in a bit too close when they compared findings.

“Vittorio, how does the ink of your tattoos glow? And how does it move through them?” He asked him now as he noticed the glow creep up the lines on Vittorio’s neck. “How does it work?”
“To be completely honest with you, I’m not entirely sure.”
“How come? Aren’t these sigils that you used to travel the realm?”
“Indeed, but I did not ink myself. I was… attacked? Blessed? I’m not quite sure what to call it. I don’t have control over the ink, and the sigils keep spreading over my body”
“Hmm…” Wesker’s interest in Vittorio’s markings was piqued again. If there was an unknown power flowing through this man’s skin, he wanted to understand what it was.
“How does it feel? The glow, the spread. Does it hurt?”
Vittorio walked over to Wesker and pulled up his sleeve. “I honestly don’t feel the sigils spreading across my body, I sometimes notice that new ones have appeared. As for how it feels, I’m not sure how to describe it, but perhaps like a tingle? I assume it’s some arcane energy.” He replied as he held out his arm for Wesker to examine.
Wesker pulled off a glove and traced his thumb across the lines as they lit up. He could feel the difference of the tattoos glowing compared to when they were resting as black ink against Vittorio’s skin.
“How curious. And you say you keep getting new ones? How do you keep track of the sigils on your body?”
“Aha, I’m afraid I don’t really. There’s many in spots I can’t see, and a mirror can only provide so much help.”
“May I trace them for you, then?” Wesker asked. Vittorio looked a bit flustered at the question.
“You… want to trace them?”
“Yes, I’ll draw them in a notebook, and then you can have a closer look at the symbols on your body and decipher their meaning and purpose. Though if they truly cover your whole body, it will take several sessions to do so.”
Vittorio still had a flustered look on his face. Of course, Wesker understood what his offer implied. Vittorio would have to undress the areas that they were working on tracing. But Wesker had worked with human test subjects back when he was still a ‘Virologist’ at the time, so he’d become used to looking at naked bodies. Though the intimacy of tracing someone’s skin for several hours would be unfamiliar.
“Yeah, sure, that would be quite helpful.” Vittorio replied after considering for a little while. “Do you plan on starting right now?”
“Not quite, we’ve been here for a while now and I have a certain quota to fulfill with the trials. As I’m sure you do too.” A grim reminder of the deity they were each forced to serve, whether as henchmen or as sacrificial cattle.
As he said this, a look of disappointment briefly crossed Vittorio’s face. Wesker had barely noticed it before Vittorio asked when he planned to start. They agreed to meet up again after the trials and after Wesker had taken a bit of a break. Wesker had offered Vittorio to come to his quarters, to allow them a bit of privacy if Vittorio had to undress parts of his body. He also promised him protection from the other killers and would escort him there and back. As he was preparing to pick him up, he decided to ditch his leather suit for a more comfortable turtleneck.

When Wesker brought him to his quarters, Vittorio took a brief look around. Wesker had been provided with equipment to do experiments as rewards for briefly satisfying the entity’s hunger. Most of the test tubes had been dedicated to experimenting on the blight, a serum from what appeared to be a flower, not unlike the Virus that coursed through Wesker’s veins. The blight had frenzied several killers who disobeyed, but none as much as Talbot Grimes, a scientist who experimented with the serum on himself and who simply had become nothing more than a mindless slave to it.
Wesker noticed the curiosity on Vittorio’s face, but he caught himself when he noticed Wesker looking expectantly at him. “Right” he said and took off his shirt.
When Vittorio said that the tattoos had spread all over his body, Wesker hadn’t anticipated that he was completely covered in them. His impulse was to grab Vittorio and examine his skin closer, but he caught himself. This was exactly what Vittorio had come here for.
“Where… should I –“
“You can lie down on the couch. Considering how big this tattoo is on your upper back, I think it’s a good idea to start with this one.” Wesker said, studying the markings covering Vittorio as he walked around him.
Vittorio did as he was told, and lied down on his stomach, facing away so Wesker could see how the tattoo on Vittorio’s back connected to the lines on his neck. Wesker pulled out his notebook, sat down on a chair next to him, and gently placed a hand on Vittorio’s back. He had opted not to wear his gloves, to also study the feeling of the glow better.

As Wesker started drawing the tattoo in his notebook, he gently traced it with his fingers on Vittorio’s skin. Several minutes passed as Wesker focused on getting all the little curves and hooks right and making sure that the spacing matched what he saw and felt in front of him. Only then did he notice something. Vittorio’s breathing had changed. Perhaps he was just nervous, he was in a place where survivors should never go after all, and fairly exposed. He was putting a lot of trust in Wesker, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing to do.
But then he felt Vittorio shudder. Ever so slightly, but Wesker noticed the goosebumps going down Vittorio’s back. He traced his nail over the spot on his spine again, and sure enough, the little shiver down Vittorio’s back happened again. Was he enjoying this? With a bemused look on his face, Wesker gently placed his hand on the tattoo. The glow that was flowing through the tattoo felt a lot more intense now, like a tingle. He felt Vittorio’s heartbeat, how fast it was. Or was it his own?
Oh no. He realized it was that same feeling as when Vittorio lean