Marken frowned when she crawled out of his lap, curious to Ella's intent when she poured and drank another glass of alcohol. Suddenly, she dropped her outfit around herself, the dress and corset falling to the ground before his eyes. He wasn't given a warning to her stripping down to the barely concealing chemise. He barely had time to contemplate the reasons why she would do this, alcohol addling his mind as it was, he was still a man in the end.

When she turned around, however, the reason became apparent when the chemise was undone and the scars were made visible. His mouth open to say something, he closed it again at the sight. What she'd gone through... A hand fell to his chin as he considered it for a moment before sighing, standing up to walk towards her. A hand reached out to touch her back, tracing along one of the winglike scars. "Ella... I'm not going to lie and say they make you beautiful or something, I doubt you want to hear that and I doubt you ever wanted them to start with. However..."

His hand trailed around until both met around her waist, and he pulled her in close. "I can say that you're a very strong woman for having gone through whatever you did. They're part of you, and I don't love you any less for them."