Duncan frowned. It did upset him, war and killing, but Duncan had been in combat too and he had the scars to prove it. As much as he hated it, he understood it. Duncan gently coasted his fingertips down Axels neck and around before gently settling on his shoulderblades. "What about these?" he asked softly.

Axel knew Duncan understood it. He was probably better at dealing with war than Axel was, in all honesty. Axel still wasn't quite sure how to put aside his weapons and settle down. But he tried to ignore those thoughts and focus on Duncan, just watching as the marks on his skin were traced with care. The muscles on his jaw jumped slightly at the scars duncan had picked next, wanting to tell him but not sure how. "Training mostly," he noted softly. "The commanders were hard. Lashings were a common punishment for mistakes." He paused then before adding, in a much quieter tone, "others are from my father's belt. I still don't know which situation was better." He had told Duncan he didn't get along with his father....but hed never told anyone the extent of how bad it had been.

Duncans eyes softened. "I'm so sorry you had to go through those things," he whispered, gently tracing the scars on his back with his fingertips. "You'll never be harmed here," he promised softly, leaning up and kissing him gently.

Axel just leaned into his touch with a soft smile, kissing him back gently before nodding. "I know," he noted softly. "As long as I'm with you, I'll be alright," he added, just curling in a little bit more.

Duncan smiled softly and nodded. He moved his hands again, down to the collar of his shirt and fished out his dogtags and read them.

Axel was content to just relax there, watching Duncan as he fished out the dog tags around his neck. "I've had those forever," he noted with a chuckle. It might not have been a great place or situation, but he did find the dog tags special. It was a big part of his life, after all.

Duncan nodded, "I know," he murmured. He knew people from his military and they all had dog tags. He had to distribute them quite a few times to the new trainees. He gently tucked them back into his shirt and then fiddled with the silver choker around his neck. "Where'd you get this one?" he asked.

Axel hummed in thought when Duncan asked about the choker, giving him a somewhat sheepish grin. "That one I made out of a few sword shards I managed to collect from the armory," he noted. "I guess i like it because it became a symbol eventually... Kind of like the dog tags," he mused. He hadn't thought about it much. But it had also been a wa to take something that had killed people and used it to make something...good, in a way. Peaceful. He liked the idea of that.

Duncan smiled, "I like it," he hummed. "Your jewelry looks so nice on you," he noted lightly, gently moving his fingertips along the shell of his ear where his ear piercings were.

Axel hummed lightly with a nod. "I'm glad I can get away with looking decent with them," he admitted with a small laugh. He wasn't sure why he liked having jewelry like that, but he did. It wasn't like he was obsessed with what he looked like or anything - he wore whatever he grabbed off the floor and stuff, but he did like a fun stack of earrings and sharp eyeliner he supposed.