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megan-is-mia · 4 years

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One Night Only Chapter 1 (Poly! Giomis w/ Artist! Reader)

(more reposting, reader’s nickname is ember)

((the gangbangers names are a reference to the three stooges))

“This is nice” (Y/n) said to herself laying on the floor with her sketchbook open and a pencil in her hand. Her phone was unlocked and was displaying a picture she’d taken that morning. There was a light knock on her apartment door that was then followed by the handle being turned as her boyfriends let themselves in.

“Shit it’s been a long day” Mista groaned kicking off his shoes and tossing his hat and coat on the couch before sinking into the floor next to (Y/n).

“Hang your coat up Guido, at least be a courteous guest,” Giorno said clicking his tongue, he hung his coat up and put his shoes away before joining his lovers on the rug in front of the couch.

“Nope, too tired” Mista replied slumping back and using the couch as a back pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. (Y/n) let out a chuckle as she blew a kiss at her boys before returning her attention to the sketchbook.

“Whatcha drawing?” Giorno said leaning down to squint at the few lines of graphite already on the paper before glancing at (Y/n)’s phone for context.

“Don’t look! It’s not ready yet!” (Y/n) protested trying to swat him away. “It’s supposed to be a sketch of the Veiled Christ, but I’m having some trouble with drawing the fabric,” she said glumly. Giorno let out a soft hum before pressing a kiss to the top of (Y/n)’s ear.

“I think it looks nice,” he said with an affectionate purr that was answered with a light punch from the girl who’s face had turned pink with a blush.

“Oh shush, how would you know? You say that about everything I draw, you know flattery will only get you so far” (Y/n) mumbled with a serious expression despite her flushed cheeks.

“Oh? How far will flattery get him, Ember?” Mista chimed in his eyes dropping down as the pet name left his lips and he grinned at (Y/n). She rolled her eyes and sat up closing the sketchbook with a sigh.

“Maybe a kiss or two. Anyways it doesn’t look like I’m not gonna get any work done until you idiots go home” (Y/n) said getting to her feet and putting her sketchbook away in her bedroom. When she returned, Mista was still sitting on the floor but Giorno had moved into the kitchen and started preparing dinner in her brief absence.

“Since I told you what I did today, mind filling me in on what shenanigans my gangstars got up to since I last saw you?” (Y/n) said sitting down next to Guido and leaning against his shoulder. (Y/n) had learned that Giorno and Mista were in the mob very early into their relationship.

To be honest, it kinda bothered her, but she understood why they did what they did. Between the choice of having them in the mob and having them behind bars for their crimes... she’d always chose the former without a second thought. (Y/n)’s only rule was that they were as honest as possible with her about what they did as mobsters.

“Nothing much ran from the cops, shot some drug dealers. You know the usual” Giorno provided nonchalantly as he mixed something in a pot as a pleasant aroma began to permeate the apartment. When he was finished cooking he called (Y/n) and Mista to the table so they could eat.

Halfway through the meal (Y/n)’s phone began ringing loudly. With a bemused expression, she rose from her seat to answer it, walking to her bedroom so she could have some privacy.

Giorno and Mista exchanged looks, shrugged before continuing eating. They stopped eating upon hearing a mournful cry from the bedroom. Rushing to the door and peeking in to watch (Y/n) pacing back and forth with the phone pressed to her ear.

“Summer’s in the emergency room? She was shot ten times? In the head and spine?! The surgery’s been going on for two hours? Is she gonna be okay?! Yes, I want to see her! Yes, I’ll be over soon!” (Y/n) said before hanging up and shoving her phone in her pocket.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, lock the door when you leave. I love you!” she said throwing a passing glance at the boys as she went. Running as fast as she could down the street before hailing a taxi to speed her the rest of the way to the hospital.

Bursting out of the cab and sprinting to the front desk, (Y/n) slammed her hands down on the counter in front of the receptionist. The woman to her credit did not jump and instead looked calmly up at the frantic girl.

“Hello, how can I help you?” The woman said smoothly in a tone meant to put others at ease. But (Y/n) was not at ease as she panted furiously trying to catch her breath so she could speak.

“Which room is Summer O’Reilly in?! I’m her sister (Y/n), O’Reilly! I want to see her as soon as possible!” She babbled out still a bit out of breath. The receptionist, with a smile still on her face, looked down at her computer screen and typed something in. A few moments later she looked back up to address (Y/n).

“Officer O’Reilly is still in surgery but I can direct you to which room she will be taken too once the operation is complete,” the lady said helpfully and wrote down on a sticky note the location of Summer’s room before handing it to (Y/n) who uttered a quick thank you as she rushed towards the elevator.

Waiting for and then riding the elevator felt like an eternity to the girl who spun around impatiently. Once on the correct floor, she dashed to the room to find it mostly empty. The only person present was Summer’s patrol partner Officer Arabella Aramina who was slumped in a chair by the window.

“Well, it’s about time you showed up kiddo” Arabella said barely gracing (Y/n) with a glance. She kept her face neutral even though on the inside she was seething with rage and sorrow.

“The hospital just called me but they didn’t tell me much. Only they Summer had been admitted to the emergency room with multiple gunshot wounds” (Y/n) said dragging a chair over to Arabella and sitting beside her.

“Yeah gunshot wounds that’s putting it lightly,” Arabella said with a derisive snort. “It was more like those motherfuckers were trying to turn her into human Swiss cheese” she added with a growl. (Y/n) gave her an inquisitive look and she sighed deeply.

“Let me give you the facts before anybody tries to feed you shit. It wasn't supposed to get nasty yah hear. Me and Summer were scoping out a drug deal undercover. We were gonna find the perps and arrest them no pain no foul. But then a third party decided to show up. Turns out the deal was just a set up by Passione to clear out the bottom feeder drug dealers on their turf” Arabella explained her eyes darting around the room trying to avoid making eye contact with (Y/n).

“It turned into a firefight and Passione’s men slaughtered the dealers in a matter of minutes. I managed to get to cover but Summer didn’t and took the worst of it. Weird thing is they quit shooting after her sunglasses came off. And one of the thugs said something about them getting killed for injuring the Don’s member or whatever” Arabella said finishing her story and leaning back in her chair.

“What do you mean the Don’s member? And were they talking about Summer?” (Y/n) said more questions forming in her mind as she proceeded the details of Arabella’s story.

“I don’t fucking know, I couldn’t tell what they were saying! I was hiding in an alleyway. Though if I had to make a guess, I think they mistook Summer for a member of their Don’s inner circle” Arabella said with a sigh. (Y/n) felt her stomach twist into knots as she slumped down into the chair.

About half-an-hour later Summer was rolled in on a gurney and transferred into the hospital bed. Leaping out of her chair (Y/n) was by her sister’s side in an instant hugging the older girl lightly and crying.

“Sumi! You’re okay!” (Y/n) babbled using her sister’s childhood nickname as she pressed her head against the other’s chest. Summer raised a gauze-covered head to weakly ruffle the younger girl’s hair.

“Yup I’m okay, sorry for worrying you Emby” Summer said using her childhood nickname for her little sister in an effort to calm her. It didn’t help much as (Y/n) continued to sob against Summer’s hospital gown. The sisters remained embraced for a long time neither speaking until Summer began drifting off from all the drugs still in her system.

(Y/n) didn’t want to leave her sister’s side but the night-nurse kicked her out after about an hour. She began walking home to jittery to call a cab, her eyes darted mistrustfully down every alleyway she passed as she balled her hands in her pockets.

“Well, well, well what do have here? A little lamb wandering out in the night all by her lonesome” a creepy man’s voice said as he sidled up to (Y/n). His grin was rotten and half the teeth were missing from his mouth.

“She’s a real cutie ain’t she? What’s a fine young thing like you doing with a frown on your face?” Another man had snuck up on (Y/n)’s other side also grin unpleasantly. He had more teeth than his friend but his face covered in scars and bumps from brawls.

(Y/n) kept her head down trying to ignore the men, she even tried to walk faster to shake them off but they easily kept pace. The men (Scars and Smiles is what she decided to call them in her mind) were soon joined by a third man who walked directly behind the girl.

“Did your boyfriend dump you, sweetheart? I could be your new boyfriend sweet cheeks” this third man said, (Y/n) glanced over her shoulder and shivered at the sight of the man’s heavily tattooed skin.

“S-s-sorry, I’m not interested. I already have boyfriends, but thank you for the gracious offer” (Y/n) said her stomach flipping like a fish. She quickly dubbed the third man Tattoos as she tried to get away.

“Aww the little lamb is so flustered she can’t even think straight” Smiles groping (Y/n)’s ass and chuckling cruelly when she let out a squeak.

“I bet that pretty mouth of hers can make lots of other cute noises when it’s wrapped around my cock” Scars growled and smacked his lips loudly before grabbing at (Y/n)’s ass as well. Unlike Smiles though, he didn’t let go and continually squeezed the girl’s rump like a stress ball. Without thinking (Y/n) swung her fist and slugged him in the jaw. Scars released her ass to grab his face while Smiles and Tattoos stared dumbly.

Not wasting a moment (Y/n) began running as fast as she could. If she could make to her street she’d probably be safe but that was eight blocks away and the men chasing her were closing distance fast.

One of them took the lead and threw himself on top of her slamming her to the cement. Her hands were torn up by the friction of the concrete against her flesh and her nose was broken on impact.

“Gotta now you little bitch” Tattoos hissed and leaned down to lick (Y/n)’s neck having been the one to tackle her as Smiles and Scars finally caught up.

(Y/n)’s head had hit the ground pretty hard so it was understandable that her ears might be ringing a bit and her vision might be cloudy as a black limo pulled up to the curb beside her.

“Well, what do we have here? If I’m not mistaken it’s Liario, Elmo and Ricci~” A familiar voice said as the limo window was rolled down. “Weren’t you three already warned that the Don won’t tolerate this behavior anymore” the man in the limo went on in a bored tone.

“Help me! Please!” (Y/n) croaked spitting out blood that had trickled down from her nose into her mouth.

“Shut up bitch the men are talking!” Tattoos snarled slamming (Y/n)’s head back down against the ground. She let out a howl of pain which was answered by the sound of a gun being cocked.

“Please don’t shoot me! I don’t wanna die! Please, my sister’s in the hospital!” (Y/n) blathered the blood running into her eyes now as the limo door was opened and the man inside stepped out before slamming the door shut behind him.

“I told you to be quiet!” Tattoos roared bringing his hand back to strike (Y/n). She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the hit but when it didn’t come her eyes popped open in curiosity. The man from the limo had grabbed Tattoo’s wrist mid-swing before pressing a pistol against his temple with a grim expression.

“I wouldn’t hit her again if I was you Ricci” the man from the limo said coldly. “I really wouldn’t, do you know how many times you just insulted the Don just now?” the man said in a low tone his eyes dropping down to look tenderly at (Y/n) before returning to gazing at Tattoo with an icy gaze.

“What the fuck is going on?” Scars muttered massaging his still sore jaw as the man from the limo clicked his tongue.

“By my count that was two acts of physical assault and two acts of verbal abuse against the Don’s property,” the limo man said his brow furrowing in annoyance. “Of course it had to be four, absolutely unforgivable” he added which rung a faint bell of recognition in (Y/n)’s pain-addled mind.

“I don’t think you even deserve a second warning for this heinous crime. No one disrespects the Don of Passione or his prized Ember” the limo man said firing a bullet through Tattoo’s brain killing him instantly. Scars and Smiles received similar punishment even as Smiles tried to run yelling “Please Capo forgive us! Have mercy Capo Mi—“ but he was dead before he could finish the plea.

With all three thugs dead, the limo man pulled (Y/n) up from under Tattoo’s corpse and off the pavement into his arms. He opened the limo door and gently placed the girl inside before sliding in himself. Blinking weakly (Y/n) felt her heart skip a beat as she realized there was a second man in the limo.

“Well, I didn’t expect you to get out to scold them Guido, or kill them for that matter. They must have really ticked you off and—” the second man whose voice had been causally bored came to an abrupt stop when he looked down at (Y/n). The girl felt herself blushing under the blood on her face and tried to sit up but the first male put a hand on her chest to keep her laying flat. The second male gently cupped her face in his hands with an expression of concentration.

“Stay still Ember, this is going to hurt but please bear with it” the second male said his golden curls of hair resembling an angelic halo to the bewildered girl’s unfocused gaze. A moment later sharp pain shot through (Y/n) and she began moaning out in pain. The first male had taken up petting her sides and mumbling encouraging words while his partner fixed up her wounds.

The shock of the fix-up was too much for (Y/n) to handle and she passed out before it was over. When she next woke up somebody was dabbing a wet towel against her face. Her eyes flickered open to see an unfamiliar girl with a determined expression dipping the towel back into a bowl of warm water and continuing to clean up her face.

“I’m Shelia E” the girl provided before (Y/n) could even open her mouth to ask. “The Don and his right-hand man brought you in about an hour or so ago” she added answering the second question (Y/n) had planned on asking as she looked at the room around her: it was a very ritzy looking bathroom.

“You were covered in blood and your clothes were filthy so they were throw out” Shelia E went on moving the towel to clean behind (Y/n)’s ears. At the mention of clothes the girl’s eyes darted down and she blushed when she saw all she had on was a silk bathrobe. Even her bra and panties had been removed making her shift uneasily as she became aware of the sensation of the air on her nethers.

“Hold still, I’m almost done. I had to cut part of your hair off because of all the blood and dirt. Hope you weren’t too attached to it” Shelia E said sternly as she finished cleaning (Y/n)’s face and surveyed her work with a satisfied nod.

“Let’s get you dressed,” Shelia E said pulling (Y/n) to her feet and herding her out of the bathroom into the small sitting room attached. (Y/n) sank into a large comfy looking loveseat that took up a quarter of the room trying to process what was going on.

“Wait what? Why do I have to get dressed?” (Y/n) said confusedly as Shelia E dropped a large box with a bow on it in her lap.

“Well I don’t want to judge but I think you need a little more clothes than just a robe. I don’t think the Don would like want your first introduction to his underlings to be so racy... but hey that’s your decision, not mine” Shelia E said with a shrug. Blushing vividly (Y/n) opened the box to find a beautiful red dress made of crushed velvet. Lifting out it out of the box, the bottom of the dress fell to the floor and the shoulder straps tied behind the neck.

“Where are the undergarments?” (Y/n) said turning the box upside down with a perplexed expression, a throng dropped on her lap but there was no matching bra. Shelia E shrugged and gave (Y/n) a nonchalant look.

“Great he’s a pervert just my fucking luck. I hope my boyfriends never find out about this, they’d never let me hear the end of it” (Y/n) grumbled and untied the robe dropping it on the floor. She slid the panties up before letting Shelia E help her into the dress which zipped up the back and fortunately had a build-in bra so her boobs were under control.

She refused Shelia E’s efforts to style her hair or put makeup on her face. Tying her hair back into simple braids that wrapped around her head like a circlet before joining into one braid that ended at the nape of her neck. Then applying some light make-up before turning back to Shelia E with a nervous smile.

“Okay, I’m ready to meet the Don... I guess” (Y/n) said allowing Shelia E to lead her out of the sitting room and down a set of carpeted stairs into the bustling club below. (Y/n)’s heart pounded and she kept her eyes down as she was led through the crowds of people talking, drinking, and laughing.

Until a familiar laugh caught her ears and made her head shot up to look for the source: Giorno. Once her eyes locked on him it was like everyone else in the room faded away as she sprinted towards him. She bumped into people and almost tripped in the stupid shoes she’d been forced to wear but it didn’t matter.

“GIORNO!” (Y/n) squealed and threw herself at the blonde. Giorno barely has time to react to his girlfriend launching herself into his lap but he managed to wrap his arms around her even as his chair tipped and toppled under the sudden movement.

The Don’s guards hadn’t been able to react in time to the girl throwing herself into the Don’s lap and knocking him over but they quickly swarmed in ready to remove the intruder. Giorno put up a hand to signal there was no need to act even as his face was covered in kisses by (Y/n).

“Hey don’t I get some sugar too?” Mista said squatting next to (Y/n) and Giorno. Without a single word (Y/n) eases her waist off of the blonde so she can tackle-hug the brunette and shower him with the same intensity of affection.

“God I’m so happy to see you! I was hoping I’d have a chance to... before I had to go see the Don and his lieutenant and thank them for saving me from some thugs” she said half-laughing and half-crying from the stress. Her head dropped to press against Mista’s chest as the laughing devolved into just crying.

“I’m a fucking mess aren’t I?” (Y/n) said between sobs. “Summer got shot by mobsters and I think she might have accidentally gotten involved with Passione’s Don because.... because” she was too distraught to speak as Mista scooped her up and carried her into a quiet drawing room with a couch at the back of it. He sat down on the couch with (Y/n) curled up in his arms like a puppy.

Giorno followed after his boyfriend and girlfriend into the drawing-room shutting the door behind them. He placed a hand on (Y/n)’s back petting lightly as he sank onto the couch beside Mista.

“Start from the beginning, all we know so far is that you left your apartment in a hurry and ended up on the bad side of town,” Giorno said in a soothing tone as he continued to pet the girl’s back.

“You’ve met my sister Summer right?” (Y/n) began and received affirmative nods. “And you know she’s a cop...” again she paused and again she was given the go-ahead to continue speaking. “Well while she was on a stakeout for a drug deal there was a firefight lead by Passione. And they stopped after hitting her cause they didn’t want to get in trouble for killing the Don’s member. She’s at the hospital now and in critical condition” (Y/n) managed to say without falling back into sobs.

“And then on my way home from the hospital I got jumped by gangbangers but a limo stopped and I guess the man erm men inside were the Don of Passione and his right-hand man. So now I owe a debt to the Don for saving me and I need to make sure my sister won’t be attacked by anyone while she’s in the hospital” this time she fell into sobs and Giorno and Mista let her cry until she regained control of herself.

“You look nice” Mista offered trying to lighten the mood. He hated seeing his girlfriend cry and he hated seeing her stress over things even more. He was hopeful that the flattery would trigger the normal response of brushing-off the words yet secretly accepting them as well.

“Don’t you even start Guido! I didn’t pick this monstrosity! Apparently, the Don had my old clothes thrown out and left this red eyesore as my only choice of attire” (Y/n) irritable said before Giorno’s nose pressed against the nape of her neck under where the dress was tied.

“So you don’t like the dress?” The blonde commented nuzzling absentmindedly at her neck. (Y/n)’s cheeks turned almost red as the dress as she let out a nervous giggle.

“Well okay, I guess calling it an eyesore is a little strong. It’s just... this dress must have cost thousands of lires. It’s too expensive for me and I’ve got practically nothing on underneath this thing” (Y/n) admitted quietly, noticing with some secret satisfaction that both boys looked hot and bothered now. Giorno has started kissing down the expanse of her bare back and Mista’s face had burrowed into her bosom to motorboat.

“Stop it! I still need to look presentable for the Don! I’ll come find you after my appeal and—“ (Y/n) was cut off by Mista’s head popping up from her boobs to crush his mouth against her lips playfully.

“—Nope, your appeal is happening right now” Mista said pulling back briefly then sticking his tongue in (Y/n)’s mouth and reaching around to untie the straps of her dress. Giorno has taken hold of the dress zipper in his mouth and began pulling it down. The drawing room’s door opened as Shelia E poked her head in. Both boys paused while (Y/n) scrambled to make herself presentable again.

“The car is ready and waiting out front Don Giovanna,” Shelia E said neutrally before shutting the door. (Y/n) stared blankly at the door before beginning to laugh nervously.

“Funny, that’s funny I could have sworn she called you Don just now” (Y/n) said still laughing uneasily when Giorno and Mista stared at her calmly her laughter began to fade into silence.

“Y-y-you’re the Don of Passione?” the girl said incredulously. When she received only cool nods, she felt her stomach twisting and her limbs became wobbly. If Mista hadn’t been keeping her on his lap with one arm around her waist, (Y/n) was sure she would have fallen onto the floor.

“I think I’m gonna faint” she mumbled as Giorno and Mista led her to the limo the blonde sliding in first before (Y/n) was set in his lap and the brunette sat beside them slamming the car door shut as he did. (Y/n)’s brain struggled to put all the pieces together but when it all came together her face fell into a grimace.

“Summer’s going to be targeted for being my sister isn’t she?” she said numbly. “I’m entwined with the mob now and that means I’ve put her in danger just for sharing blood” (Y/n) tearfully melting against Giorno’s chest desperate for the stability he usually brought.

“Don’t worry about your sister, I’ll have some of my men sent over to the hospital to watch over her. Nobody will lay a finger on her except for the doctors until she’s at full health again” Giorno soothed running his fingers up and down (Y/n)’s sides in a calming matter.

“Really? You’d do that for me? Th— How much will I owe you Don Giovanna?” (Y/n)’s tone warped halfway through her response going from cheerful relief to cold resignation. Giorno felt a painful pang in his chest at hearing his title leave her lips.

“There’s no need to call me that Ember. Giorno or GioGio will be fine” he said nuzzling her forehead and kissing her. “Nothing’s changed, I’m the same person I was a few hours ago” he added pressing a kiss to (Y/n)’s chin.

“But I’m not! A few hours ago I was just (Y/n) O’Reilly. Now I’m Don Giovanna’s hussy!” (Y/n) said as a troublesome thought started worming its way into her mind. What would happen when Giorno and Mista grew tired of her? Surely they wouldn’t have her killed right? But the memory of how Mista had coldly executed the gangbangers was still fresh in her mind and she shivered in silent terror.

“Don’t worry so much, everything will be fine. Believe me” Mista murmured into her ear reminding (Y/n) that he was present and slipped his hands under her dress, pulling at her panties so they slid to her ankles. “We’ll be home soon so we can resolve some unfinished business” he added with a purr and kissed her bare shoulder.

Despite these words sounding like there’d be a brief respite for the girl, the dress was already on the floor of the limo before the three reached their destination. (Y/n)’s shoes had also been lost somewhere in the car amidst the passionate chaos.

Mista took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around (Y/n) making her decent enough as he lifted her up into his arms to carry inside the mansion and upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Giorno. The girl hid her face against his chest which made his heart skip a beat excitedly. Once in the seclusion of the bedroom he set (Y/n) on the bed and began smooching up her neck before making hickies. However, he didn’t get much further before the sound of light snoring ruined the mood. Somehow, someway, (Y/n) had fallen asleep despite the romantic attention.

“Heh guess somebody’s too tired to get freaky” Giorno commented yawning and stretching as he began to undress. Mista threw him an evil look but also began changing out of his suit. (Y/n) continued to sleep sprawled out naked as a babe until one of the boys’ finally manned up enough to grab an old tee shirt for her to wear.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to talk business tomorrow then, maybe she’ll finally agree to move in with us” Mista mused as he tucked (Y/n) under the covers before sliding in beside her and pressing his face against her chest. Giorno made himself cozy against the girl’s back kissing her shoulders lazily a few times before resting his head on a pillow. Tomorrow would be a new day, and a new dawn would rise on the story of the Don, his Lieutenant, and their Artist Ember...

#yandere giorno giovanna #yandere guido mista #yandere poly giomis #yandere jjba #yandere jjba part 5 #yandere jojo's bizarre adventure #yandere jojo #poly giomis #giorno giovanna #guido mista #don giorno giovanna #capo guido mista #reader insert

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divineluce · 4 years

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Tickled Ink || Darwin & Luce

Timing: May 6th, 2020

Location: Ink, Inc.

Tagging: @wardinasrani

Notes: Darwin comes in to get an old tattoo touched up and Luce is happy to provide. Not a single heterosexual character was involved in the making of this chatzy.

Tapping her stylus against the edge of the desk, Luce stared at the design on her computer for a long time. It was as good as it was going to get, honestly. The design wasn’t one of her favorites, but the girl who had requested it was very insistent on it. She wanted a half realistic, half geometric butterfly with geometric pieces kinda flying off the geometric side. Had Luce argued with her that it would make an awful piece? No, of course not. She liked getting paid. But, it was going to be a fucking awful time. Booting up her printer, she set the stencil to start printing and wandered out of her room to the lobby. Rory was walking a client through paperwork, but she waved at him all the same. “Your 3 o clock, the butterfly girl? Yeah, she had to reschedule.” The receptionist said. Rolling her eyes, Luce sighed. “Figures. I’ve still got that booking at 6 though, right?” She said before confirming that her evening was booked up. Ugh. She’d put all that fucking work in just to have the girl flake on her. Better for her to get cold feet about it now than when she was getting it zapped away with a laser, though. As Luce scrutinized the schedule, the bell to the shop jangled loudly and she waved offhandedly.

Getting lost had become part of Darwin's daily routine by now. Inevitable when he was still so new to the town, but a hassle nonetheless. On the bright side, it often lead him to discover small little gems, and this time his wandering had led him to stand in front of a small tattoo parlor. “Ink Inc., mh? Catchy, if a bit uninspired.” Yet the place looked clean enough. Darwin lifted his shirt, just enough to glimpse at the faded tattoo on his hip. How long had it been since he'd gotten that protective symbol? Ten years? Twelve? Time, and one too many scuffles with stubborn demons who just wouldn't go back to their own dimension had taken their toll on the ward, to the point where now it had probably lost all its protective properties. Darwin looked at the parlor. “Guess it's time for a little update,” he mumbled to himself before opening the door and just strolling into the parlor as if he owned the place. Without sparing a glance to the woman in the lobby, his eyes drifted immediately to the drawings hanging on the wall. A good protective tattoo needed to be perfect to be effective, so Darwin took his sweet time studying the sketches and pictures. Good lines, a firm hand. Definitely professionals. Nodding to himself with satisfaction he finally turned to the woman, studying her with the same attention he'd given to the works on the wall. Lots of ink on her skin, too, which meant she knew her way around tattoos. His mind made up, Darwin waved at her with a dramatic flourish. “Greetings! I'm here for my appointment.” He had no appointment, of course, but someone probably did, and Darwin was willing to bet their design wasn't nearly as essential as updating his own protective ward.

Luce was no stranger to people coming in and straight up ignoring her-- usually it was because they were too nervous, sometimes it was because they were on their phone, which was hilarious and stupid. But this dude waltzed in like he owned the place, staring at the different art displays around the main lobby. Leaning against the reception desk, she watched as his eyes focused on a couple of her own designs. And when his gaze turned to her, Luce folded her arms across her chest, her sleeve tattoos on prominent display. She met his eyes with an unyielding, unimpressed stare of her own. If this was meant to be some kind of sizing her up thing, she’d been through this before. So many shitty big ass biker dudes had thought that she was some kind of hack, that she couldn’t handle being a tattoo artist. But, they changed their mind real quick once they were in the chair. At his words, Luce lifted an eyebrow. “Mhm, three o clock right? I’ve got your design all drawn up. You wanted the butterfly on the lower back, right, Julia?” She said, her lips curling into a grin.

“Yes, three o'clock, quite right, sorry I'm a little late. Glad you can accommodate my-” Luckily for once in his life Darwin actually managed to listen to what someone else said and he stopped himself in time. He couldn't help but frown a little. He could understand the Julia, many people had described him as flamboyant and Darwin himself had used worse fake names than that, but... “I like to think that if I ever were to get a tramp stamp I'd be able to come up with something more original than a butterfly. Maybe a Barghe-- A wolf skull, with flames coming from its eye sockets and an elaborate rose growing from its mouth.” Sarcasm and indignation wrestled on his face for a second, and then he settled for a short sigh as he took out his phone and glanced at it. “Well, it's already 3.15... I'm guessing Julia stood you up. Care for a replacement?”

“Oh, but it’s a very pretty butterfly. With shards of glass everywhere. Very cute. Sure to bring all the boys to the yard.” Luce said, her grin growing at the man balking at the idea. “Oh, yeah, something as original as a flaming wolf skull and a rose?” She said and tilted her head to one of the art pieces on the wall behind her-- the rose wasn’t growing from the wolf’s mouth, but the wolf skull had fiery eye sockets and was surrounded by roses. She’d done it for Ulf shortly after he’d told her about his wolfy heritage, just to keep it around. “Mhm, fair point. You got a name, not Julia? I’m Luce.” She said, holding out a hand for him. She liked the opportunity to work with someone who could be taken down a peg. Or, at the very least, someone who she could have an amusing back and forth with. Having a chatty client made it more fun when she stabbed them full of needles and ink.

Darwin glanced at the piece and let out a long sigh, burying his face in his hand. “Alas, there goes my new tattoo. Can't have something so similar to another one, imagine the embarrassment if we ever attended the same cocktail party.” After what he deemed an adequate dramatic pause he grabbed Luce's hand and bent down in what looked like a kiss to the hand. His lips never touched the woman's skin, but the smile he flashed up at her oozed charm. Or at least, that's what he liked to think. “Darwin Asrani, it's a pleasure.” He gently let go of Luce, but his eyes lingered once more on her art. “I like your style, and I'd hate to walk out without taking a little bit of your talent with me. Since my first idea was already taken could I bother you for some touch-ups instead? And perhaps we could schedule something new and original for my next visit. I'm thinking a well-dressed dinosaur drinking the blood of his enemies from a fancy teacup. That way people will know that I'm majestic, refined and dangerous.”

“Oh, no. I’m sure it’d send everyone into a panic to be seen with the same tramp stamp. Whatever will people at the country club think?” Luce said with an exaggerated fanning motion, as though she was some kind of fainting Southern belle. When he reached out to grab her hand, she stared at him, both amused and very much ready to knee this man in the face. But, he never kissed her hand-- which, good fucking thing. Anita, kissing her hand? Totally fun and gay and great. This rando? Sexual harassment. As he looked up at her, Luce pulled her hand away and shook her head. “Luce, can’t say the same.” She said, but her tone was joking. This guy was batshit, but in the fun kind of way. She could fuck with that, no hetero. As he continued to spout out bullshit, Luce couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like you’ve got a real winner of an idea there. But why not up the ante and make him drinking straight up poison out of the cup? You know, to show that you can’t be fucked with. Go big or go home, you know?”

“Can't say the same yet,” Darwin corrected her with a confident smirk. “I'm sure you'll find plenty of pleasure in stinging me over and over while I'm on that torture chair of yours.” Truth be told, he appreciated the woman's quick wit: it would be a great distraction. Darwin was no stranger to pain, but he wasn't too keen on it either, and he wouldn't be able to face himself if he started to whimper like a whiny puppy once she had her tools out. Good conversation would help with that, maybe he'd be able to leave the parlor with his dignity, as well as with a retouched tattoo. Darwin stroked his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Poison it is, but it'll have to drink it from a bendy straw. Otherwise all the boys will be too intimidated to really come to my yard, and that would be a tragedy.” He nodded solemnly, and quickly added “But that seems like the sort of design that would require a couple of drafts at least, we can't rush art. So for today I think I'll just have you work on what I already have, if that's alright?”

“Someone thinks highly of himself. But, you’ve got a point there. Not as sharp as mine, but a point all the same.” Luce said, matching his smile with one of her own, with a wink thrown in for good measure. “Oh, in that case, we should change it to a milkshake glass. Just to really make sure the boys aren’t confused.” When the conversation turned to the real reason he walked into the shop, she leaned against the wood of the desk and scrutinized him, trying to see if the art in question was anywhere visible. But, it didn’t seem like it was the case. With a nod, she drummed her hands on the counter top. “What sorta shit are you looking to get done? Cover up, touch up, extension of your piece? I can roll with anything, just know my next appointment is in a couple of hours. So if it goes long, we’ll have to schedule a second session.” She warned, knowing that some people didn’t like the idea of having to come in twice to get work done. But, that was the price of a walk-in.

“Cherry milkshake, then. It'll look like blood. Plus, it's my favorite.” Darwin said that last part as if he was sharing some deep personal secret. Which wasn't that far off from the truth, only Bertrand and a couple more were aware of his sweet tooth. Then his whole posture changed, and the hint of a playful grin on his face made way to a serious expression. “I need it to be perfect. Two, three, take seven whole weeks if you need to, but it has to be flawless. Matter of life or death.” Namely, his own life or death: relying on a defective protective tattoo had cost more than a couple hours of time to members of his family that were too careless to care. Quickly he lifted his shirt up, letting Luce look at the tattoo on his hip. The size of a closed fist, it was a protection symbol that'd been passed down his family for generation, each Asrani adding his own personal touch. Sanskrit symbols formed a small circle surrounding some other runes intertwined together. The Sanskrit prayer protected his mind from demonic invasions, the runes made it harder for them to interfere with his own magic during the summoning. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective, and any magic user worth their salt would recognize it was more than just some ice-breaker to use in a bar to pick up guys: while the full scope of the tattoo might be a mystery, it was obvious it had power. Or used to have: the black ink was faded with time, and a small scar that suspiciously looked like a claw mark had touched, albeit barely, the edge of the tattoo, interrupting some of the lines. “Do it well, and you’ll have my official permission to call me Julia till the end of time.”

Normally, if a dude decided to flash her in the shop, Luce would have wasted no time in kicking his ass out the door. And Ulfric had even let her get those brand new swords, just for that purpose. But, when her eyes fell on the intricate design, the symbols written in either Arabic or Sanskrit-- the two were difficult to distinguish between with her untrained eyes-- and the very distinct rune that the letters formed… Luce knew exactly what this was, even if she didn’t know the specifics regarding it. This was a rune of protection and a very well done one at that. Her eyes widened as she took in how intricately and cleanly the line work was executed. The attention to detail was exquisite. “Done. Come on in to my room, we’ll get started right away.” She said, leading the way back to her private room of the shop. Her room looked just the same as ever, neat and organized, the large rolling toolbox that she used to hold her equipment tucked in the corner. The walls were decorated with a few shelves that had a couple candles, a polished citrine crystal, and some of her artwork. A pinboard, refreshed with new stencils filled one wall, the prices written on the edges of each paper. Shutting the door behind her, Luce pushed up the sleeve of her t-shirt, showing him the intricate geometric pattern she had tattooed on her skin, the center of which featured a very specific rune, one of fire and power. “You showed me yours, I’ll show you mine. The line work is incredible-- where’d you get it done?”

Darwin was usually good at keeping his reactions under control. Or rather, he often overreacted, but that was a choice, not a mistake. This time though the flash of surprise hadn't been planned, nor was the deep interest as he studied Luce's tattoo. He even raised his hand, one finger extended to trace the symbol on her arm. Luckily, he managed to stop himself in time. “That is remarkable.” While he wasn't an expert on elemental magic, fire was often a component in his rituals, and as such he knew enough to recognize the rune for what it was: authentic. Darwin wasn't sure of the specific purpose of it, but he knew it was... Some sort of catalyst, perhaps? Either way, that rune meant Luce either was a magic user, or knew someone. “What does it represent, exactly?” After a beat, he realized that answering her question with one of his own would not satisfy her, so Darwin quickly added. “Mine is... You could say it's something of a family tradition, really. The design has been passed down for generations. I added my own personal touch to it, because I firmly believe that, ah... Tattoos should be tailored to oneself. Otherwise they're just scribbling on skin, absolutely useless.” Again, a brief pause, where he cleared his throat. “As an ice-breaker, I mean. Obviously.”

When Darwin moved to trace the image etched into her skin, Luce’s eyes narrowed. Apparently this dude was a big tactile kinda guy. Whatever. She could let it slide, just because he seemed to think it was impressive. But, he stopped himself. Good for him. “Thanks. Drew it myself, and had one of the boys do the work. It’s impossible to tattoo yourself from that angle. It’s one of my foci, I use it to give myself a little extra oomph.” She said, rolling her sleeve back down to cover that specific area of her tattoo. Even to those who knew about magic, she had designed her rune in a way that made it nearly indistinguishable from the geometric pattern that surrounded it. A person would have to be familiar with magic and the symbols concerning fire to understand. And, even then, there were more than a few normal humans who walked around with runes they didn’t understand tattooed on her skin. “Hm.” A traditional rune of protection? She could understand why some people would want such a thing. It didn’t tell her anything about what kind of magic he did, only that he was in the business of keeping himself safe rather than channelling additional power. Interesting. “Very nice. And you know I can understand that. Tattoos are an extension of yourself. Family tradition or not, you should express your own personality within it.” She said with a nod before returning to her more businesslike demeanor. “A touch up for that bad boy of yours won’t be easy, but I do good work. I can guarantee nice, clean lines.”

Someone who knew what a focus was and used the right plural for it. If Darwin hadn't been so gay he would have fawned himself like an excited school-girl. Instead he settled for an impressed nod and another smile. He was dying to know more about her, to learn how much she actually knew, what she did... But it was dangerous: for all Darwin knew his family would eventually look for him, and he couldn't just trust the first magic-inclined person he met. Well, second one, but Winston spoke like a newbie, Darwin doubted they had any ties to the Asrani. So, in order to protect himself, Darwin decided for it'd be best to bring the focus back on the reason he was here, and luckily Luce seemed to share that idea. “Oh, I don't doubt your ability. What's more, you seem to know how crucial precision is with this kind of design, so... Just tell me where you want me and please, be careful. I'm ticklish.” Not one to usually follow orders, this time Darwin got himself into the mind frame of listening to each and every instruction she'd give. Then again looking at the various tools in the studio reminded him of exactly why he'd put it off for so long. Stupid needles. A sharp ceremonial knife across his arm never scared him, the pain only lasted a second and then he had rituals to focus on and distract him from it, but the chair of a tattoo-artist meant he'd have to feel each and every single sting. Safety be damned, he needed the distraction. “So, an extra oomph. Amber stones just weren't doing it for you? Most practitioners I've met tended to favor something less...” Traceable? Recognizable? “Permanent to channel their magic.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Lie on back and I’ll get everything started.” Luce said, gesturing to the chair between them. “Take your shirt off too, can’t have it getting in the way.” She said as she got the needles, ink, and a fresh pair of gloves on. The business of touch ups wasn’t too difficult, not usually. But on something that was this precise, this delicate, she needed to make sure that she had everything just right. “Trust me, I know. It took a while before I found the right artist to do my sleeve and I made sure the guy’s hands were just as steady as mine. Precision matters for work like this.” She said as she pulled her long hair back in a ponytail. Snapping on some fresh gloves, she noted the apprehension on his face as she pulled out the tools of the trade, the individually packaged needles that sat on a sterile tray, her machine poised at the ready. Setting up her machine, she took out a spray bottle of sterile solution and wiped down the patch of skin that was to be her workspace. “Let’s get started, hm?” She nodded, switching on her machine. The familiar humming vibration filled the room and she set to work, tackling the biggest area of faded skin and ink first. “I’m not like most practitioners. Besides. My symbols blend in with my designs. I hide them in plain sight. Distract with the main design to keep the attention away from the purpose.”

Darwin did as he was told, taking off his shirt and carefully folding it before taking his place on the chair. He wasn't too concerned with the shirt itself, it was more an excuse to buy some time: just like the last time the sight of the needles made his knees a little weak and his face just a tad paler; he hoped she wouldn't notice. When she started the pain wasn't that bad. At first. But Darwin knew how these things went, it would only become worse, so he decided to just focus on Luce's words instead, drinking them in. “Smart. Misdirection is often a magician's best friend.” He tensed his stomach in discomfort, and he noticed that she seemed to anticipate that and stop her work, which put his mind at ease: she really was a professional. “Besides, in my experience the times you need... Ah, an extra oomph, as you put it, are often the times when you can't afford your focus to be swatted away. A crystal can be dropped, a tattoo... Not so much.” Again, he flinched, doing his best to hide the grimace behind another smile. “I could think of at least a dozen times that tattoo has saved my life, it's nice to know the bad things'll have a harder time getting into my head.” He bit his lip, suddenly deep in thought. Then he looked at Luce. “So, let's say I designed another one, maybe something to help with channeling... How much would you ask to make it all discreet and pretty-like? I got a feeling I'll need some extra power in this town, but I can’t give up on style.”

While she was focused on her work, Luce considered being able to read her client’s body language a part of that. She’d tattooed her own sisters, after all, and the two of them hated needles more than anyone she knew. Which is why she paused every so often, checking the man’s expression, making sure that he never went pale and that he remained alert. She nodded at his comment as she wiped away some of the ink from the skin with a paper towel, clearing the area so she could continue over the delicate, intricate letters and symbols. But, internally she frowned at the idea of being called a magician. That was Bea’s thing. Not hers. “Exactly. It’s always nice to have it on hand. Or rather, on shoulder.” She joked. She watched him flinch and paused, lifted needle away from his skin. She didn’t want to ruin his… rune. As she continued her work, his words played around in her mind. Dozens of times, hm? That explained the wear and tear on it. But, getting into his head-- what did that mean? Someone try to take his memory, like her sister did to August? Or did he mean something else. Hm. “Channeling? Depends on what kind of thing you’re channeling.” She said, pulling away to look at her handiwork from afar. Nice. “For the elements, I use the old alchemical symbols. They blend in nicely with my style. Sacred geometry.” She said, tilting her head to the pinboard with some of her designs were displayed. “For other things… I could hide it in a landscape, imbued with power. Or in the gilded edges of a neo-traditional mirror. It all depends on what you’re looking to channel.”

“Elements, huh? So I was right, you really are a Firecracker.” Darwin said with a small shrug, one that he immediately regretted. “For me it's usually safer to stay away from flames, but most rituals draw power from the elements, I thought I recognized something.” He grew silent, his brows furrowing. What was he looking to channel? Truth be told, the potential of a new tattoo hadn't really crossed his mind before now, but he had to admit, it was a brilliant idea: before running away he'd always had another ritualist to help out, but ever since he'd escaped he'd been on his own, and tangoing with demons was a dangerous hobby, one that took a lot out of him. If he could pick one thing to improve in his spell casting, what would it be? Finally, after a long pause, he murmured, more to himself than Luce. “Stability. That's what I need. An actual anchor for my power. Ever felt like you're a breath away from casting the perfect spell and then something goes wrong and all that energy you collected just slips away? I can't afford tha- Ouch! Careful, there!” Oh yeah, now he remembered: the part over the bone had been the worse, even when he first got the tattoo. He steadied himself and focused on the conversation again, humor the only coping mechanism he had left while at Luce’s mercy. “Whatever design I come up with, I'm sure you'll be able to fit it into our fabulous dinosaur. No one would look for a power rune there.”

“You know it.” Luce said, flipping him off, the alchemical symbol for fire on full display on her finger. For all he knew, she did other magic, focused in other spells. But, that had never been something she’d wanted. Fire was in her blood and it was all she wanted to study. All energy, all life on Earth depended on fire just as surely as it depended on the other elements. His mention of rituals, they didn’t give much away in the nature of what he did. Everyone did rituals-- the coven did circles and rituals all the time, to strengthen their ties to the earth and to the magic within themselves. But, stability. That was an interesting one. “Hm.” She said with a nod. She’d felt that sensation once before, only once. Messing with creating a fire so hot, so blinding, that it barely felt like the flames that she was so used to controlling. In that moment, power beyond her imagination was within her grasp. Only for it to slid away. At his protests, Luce laughed, “Don’t be a child.” She said, but used a gentler hand as she tattooed over his hip. Steady hand, steady pokes.“Mm, of course. I could work it into the scales of the dinosaur, or maybe even into the monocle on his eye. He’s got to have a monocle.”

“Easy to say when you're not the one being poked to death,” Darwin mumbled, slowly raising the hand on the opposite side of his tattoo to flip her off. Normally he'd never resort to such crude gestures, but he'd learned to adapt to the person -or creature- in front of him, mimicking their habits in order to better anticipate their movements, their attacks, their plans. Also, he was in pain, he was allowed a slip in style. Despite his protests, he stilled himself, doing his best to suppress every small shiver and tremor and, more importantly, every chuckle: flipping someone off was one thing, but going into a giggling fit would wreck his reputation as well as his tattoo, and he definitely hoped to stay in contact with Luce. “Of course he has a monocle, what kind of uncultured swine do you take him for? And I'll name him Bertrand II, after my...” Demonic pet? Too personal, too soon, who knew how she'd take it. “...Familiar.” Hopefully she'd mistake that hesitation for another reaction to the tattooing process, but even then, Darwin realized he wouldn't be able to keep twisting the truth without focusing 100% on the conversation, and her needle was distracting at best. “I refuse to burst into tears on your chair, so... How about some music? To take my mind off the damned buzzing? I'll take anything, as long as it's loud and I can sing along. Yes, I sing, feel free to swoon.”

“You say that like I haven’t sat in that chair for hours myself.” Luce snorted, gesturing to her elaborate sleeve tattoos. He didn’t need to know about all her other tattoos-- those were reserved for the lovely ladies she took to bed. “You can talk to me about being poked to death when you get a rib tattoo or three.” She said. A hawk and a peacock, for Nell and Bea. Though they wouldn’t know that. No, they just thought the matching tattoos across the sternum was all she had for them. The pause in his voice didn’t go unnoticed and Luce arched her eyebrow as she continued to trace the linework. “Your familiar, huh? I’m sure he’ll be touched by it.” Iggy new that she wouldn’t ever be getting a tattoo of him, that was for damn certain. “Gonna cry? This is so sad, Alexa, play Despacito.” She said, leaning back in her chair as the little gadget lit up and the musical stylings of not the Justin Beiber version filled the air. With a grin, she set back to work, humming quietly to herself as she drew. Darwin, huh? Just what kind of spellcaster was he? She supposed she’d just have to find out another time.

#p: ti #p: darwin asrani #//this was so much fun to write #wickedswriting

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ckm-writes · 5 years

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#Dissonance #triple treble #fanfic #Bechloe #Chaubrey #Mitchsen

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breeeliss · 7 years

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Nath/Nino + 'the fire alarm went off at 3 am and now the cute guy from the flat next door is standing next to me in his underwear’ AU ?

i’m…..suddenly so into this that i got carried away lol

words: 1409

Nino didn’t know what kind of an idiot could manage to trip off the fire alarm at three in the goddamn morning, but he was going to assume it was a special brand of idiot that he was thirty seconds away from chewing out. He needed to wake up in four hours to get to work on time. He didn’t deserve this.

He was about to grab his noise canceling headphones and listen to music until he fell asleep, but then Nino heard frantic knocking on his front door and cursed loudly in his empty room. God, that was probably the landlord trying to figure out which apartment the alarm was coming from. Nino grabbed a tank top and put on his glasses, hoping that this was just some moron leaving their gas burners on by accident so that Nino could just crawl back into bed.

So when he opened the door, the last thing he expected to see was a cute guy standing in the hallway in his underwear, bouncing on his toes and looking like he was two seconds away from having a panic attack.

“Hey!” he piped up a little too loudly. “Horrible hour. I know. Quick question. Are you good at putting out fires?”

Nino blinked. “Putting out fires? Is there a fire in your apartment?”

“Um, maybe?” his neighbor winced, speaking almost too quickly for Nino to understand him. “Kitchen, technically, but uh, yeah. I kinda panicked and knocked on the first door I saw.”

“Oh my God, you left your apartment burning!?” Nino exclaimed, propping his door open with a shoe. “Where do you live?”

The two of them jogged down the hallway to the next apartment over and Nino almost slipped on this stranger’s welcome mat as he booked it inside, following the grey smoke that was billowing out of the kitchen and making the fire alarm screech. Nino covered his mouth with the crook of his elbow and was able to see a small saucepan on the stovetop that was currently holding a small fire and burning whatever contents were inside. Nino put the cold water in the sink on full blast, snatched up a kitchen towel, and threw the pot into the sink to extinguish the fire.

Luckily, a fire extinguisher wasn’t necessary and the charred food – Jesus, what the hell was this dude trying to cook? – was immediately put out leaving nothing but an apartment full of smoke.

“Open your windows,” Nino coughed, pointing to the nameless neighbor that was wisely deciding his presence in the kitchen wasn’t about to make anything better. “I’ll try and shut this stupid thing off.”

It took four open windows and three fans to finally get all the smoke out, but eventually the air in the apartment was clear and Nino had managed to disable the fire alarm. All was well, he guessed. Way too much excitement for this late at night though.

His neighbor brushed his dark red bangs out of his eyes and awkwardly held out a hand. “Uh. Thanks for saving my ass. And sorry for walking you up. I’m Nathanael.”

Nino snorted and shook it. “Name’s Nino, a.k.a the dude that would love to know how the fuck you managed all this.”

Nathanael bit his lip and scratched the back of his head. “I just came back late from my studio and I was gonna make pasta real quick. The sauce was in the fridge so I thought putting it on for half an hour would be fine? But then it wasn’t fine and there was like, literal fire, and I’m sort of hopped on caffeine right now because my showcase is coming up soon and my brain just went. Boom! Panic! So I ran…to get…help. I’m not making myself sound too cool, am I?”

Nino burst into laughter and shook his head. This kid was a rambler. A little panicky too. A shit cook, too. But adorable. Very adorable. The kind of adorable that made it literally impossible to be pissed off at this guy. “Pro tip: sauce never needs to heat up for that long. Especially if it’s out a jar.”

“Yeah,” Nathanael sighed, and Nino had only just noticed that the ends of his hair were covered in black and purple paint. “Definitely have to write that one down.”

“Gonna guess you don’t cook often?”

Nathanael chuckled. “I usually just order take out. But I’m in between jobs at the moment and I gotta save the money for paints, you know?”

“Artist?”

“Sort of. Or hopefully.”

“What does that mean?”

Nathanael gestured to the seven or so easels that were propped up against the walls of his apartment. “Well, I’ve got a showcase next week that I’m hoping will get people talking. It’s in a bar and a total of twelve people have RSVP’ed on Facebook, but you’ve gotta start somewhere.”

“Ah, don’t worry so much,” Nino assured. “When I started out as a DJ I think maybe three people showed up to my first gig. It was in my garage.”

Nathanael snorted, his eyes hidden slightly by his bangs but his smile doing the work of lighting up his entire face anyway. “Humble beginnings.”

“Tell me about it.” Nino jutted his chin towards the fridge. “May I?”

“I-I mean. I guess. But just. Don’t judge.”

Nino stared over the door of the fridge. “You have a pack of tortilla bread, olives, and mayonnaise in here.”

“Huh. Weird. I don’t even like olives.”

“Dude.”

“I told you! I don’t cook!”

“Okay, Picasso,” Nino announced. “No offense, but I can’t be waking up to fire alarms at three in the morning anymore. You free tomorrow night?”

Nathanael furrowed his brows. “F-Free? Like…like free free?”

“Is there another definition of the word?”

“No just, uh….I guess. Yeah,” he finally said. “Yeah I’m free.”

“Cool. I’m bringing over pasta and sauce and we’re going to work up from the basics. My mom basically raised me with a wooden spoon in my hands. There’s no way I’m going to leave someone like you alone without any instruction after you burned pre-made sauce.”

“Oh!” Nathanael exclaimed. “You mean….free to come cook. Right….yeah, right. Of course.”

Nino bit his lip and smirked. “Did you think I meant something else?”

“Nope!” Nathanael laughed, crossing his arms and messing with the magnets on his fridge. “Forget it. I’m….caffeine. Like I said. Just. Crazy amounts of caffeine. I’m saying dumb stuff.”

“I mean….we can be fancy about it and I’ll bring over some wine,” Nino offered.

“Oh….oh cool! I’ll uh. I guess I’ll put on a shirt?”

Nino dipped his head and felt laugher bubbling from his chest again. “You’re a funny guy, Nath.” He pulled out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Nathanael. “So dinner tomorrow? I’ll bring wine. Shirts required.”

Nathanael looked down at Nino’s phone for a moment like he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with it, but his mind caught up to his limbs and he carefully took the phone to under in his number. “Y-Yeah, sounds awesome. I could use some lessons.”

“I’m a chill teacher, don’t worry. Besides, I won’t be able to live with myself if I knew you were subsisting off of take out. It’s the mom friend in me.”

“Well, I just moved in here a couple of days ago, so I could definitely use a friend. Mom friend or not.” Nathanael threw his phone back at him. “Text me when you’re coming over so I know when to clean up. There’s usually brushes and sketches around here more often than not.”

“No problem,” Nino shrugged. “Although, don’t be surprised if I text you before that.”

Nathanael smiled so hard the apples of his cheeks made his eyes squint in a way that was absolutely fucking precious. Nino was started to think he was becoming a goner. “Looking forward to it.”

“Uh, yeah,” Nino said, drumming his hands against his sweatpants. “This has been fun, but I’ve gotta get a few hours in before work tomorrow. See you around?”

“Yeah,” Nathanael said. “See you around, neighbor.”

By the time Nino had shut the door behind him and started walking back to his own apartment, he knew that there was no way he was going to fall back asleep anytime soon. Not with the shit eating grin that was still on his face.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #nathnino #ninath #nino lahiffe #nathanael kurtzberg #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #nathnino fanfiction #my writing #request #help-i-cant-adult #tumblr fic

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youllneverknowmysecretidentity · 4 years

Text

There’s a god in the mountains

I used to look at the world as something that revolves around me, people walked around me and disappeared from the worlds equation when I put them out of view, I forgot that 7 billion hearts are out there thinking the same as me. However, we are so small and insignificant. The woods hold ancient stories, sounds, and reasoning. I always loved the idea of woods but was never a keen outdoorsman. I stayed in my room pretending I was meant to be something bigger. The day I entered the woods was the day I realized I was minuscule and powerless. The day was hot, muggy, and sunny. Foliage was active and colored. I remember being lost from exposed nerves and emotions, I must have been like a signal beacon to every supernatural power in the region. I hated the radio, playing the same noise with no experimentation or variety, just the same sex drugs and heartbreak message over again. I felt sick as it reminded me of utter loneliness and how lost I was in mother nature’s cavernous being. I remember the feeling of reality being altered as I opened the car door and stared into the trail head. The woods itself seemed to expand when I tried to look further down the trail, ignoring the feeling I packed up and walked. No matter how relaxing the forest may seem to be or how ‘helpful’ it would be for me to get some fresh air as my mother and father put it. I couldn’t seem to make my mind silent, too many memories of my past Friday played in my head on what seemed to be the highest volume setting. Visions of my friends seemingly becoming more and more concerned, visions of a past lover and toxic words spewed to the masses, the feeling of utter loss. I was now alone, before, I was happy with my friends and family and then a past soul decided his own little world was more important and cost me a few friends and a few nights I could have been sleeping. The past week has been compiled of me barely talking at my practices and throwing myself into work. I honestly could not remember the last time I ate a proper meal or even bothered to function on anything other than caffeine and the occasional bummed smoke off of one of the few friends I had left. I still remember the concern laced on Lauren’s and Grady’s face as I shakily inhaled from the cigarette. Before I knew it, I was crying in the middle of the damn woods. I didn’t realize my wailing could be heard a mile away. This is where the world truly became bigger. First it was the noise, it usually is loud and constant in the forest but the forest silenced and became dead; strangely enough the silence was calming and shut down my mind for a beat. As I walked deeper i noticed the second sign, the air had a mix of metallic and floral smell, as if someone put honey suckle and jasmine on a pile of pennies. The third and final sign was the breathing, it sounded like a powerful gust of wind, but as it continued in beats and was felt on my back, I knew it was breath from a powerful set of lungs. I stopped mid walk, too paralyzed to turn around. Growing up I believed in ghosts, monsters, and anything that could be terrifying. I never thought I would ever encounter one however. The breathing soon became quieter and less heavy but still ever present and hot on my neck. At the moment I did not realize tears were still falling down my face and dripping on the ground. The breathing figure seemed to notice as I felt the breath fan down as if the head had turned to watch the ground. This movement gave me the courage to do a 180 and see my worst fear. What I saw changed my life forever. Behind me was a mixture of creatures, as tall as a grizzly bear but with the head of a lion, wings on an eagle, and black fur adorning its powerfully built body. I was shocked but the size and energy it gave off. It noticed me turn around and looked into my eyes, my soul changed in its holder, blue eyes with hints of forest green that held eternity behind them. My soul felt lifted with this creature, like we had both floated in an endless timeless eternity, but not lost; instead held and whole like I had found a missing piece in my puzzle. It tilted its head and watched me with almost innocent curiosity. The power it exuded was like none other, that moment I knew I was only a small variable in a big universe. I felt worthless compared to this creature. So I did what any sensible human does when threatened with harsh truth, I ran. I felt the earth tremble and heard a deafening roar, running was my only purpose as I outran probably every Olympic record in existence just to get to my car and home. Seeing the trailhead made me release a whimper of excitement. Unlocking my car and hopping in I sped down the old road to home before even checking for oncoming traffic. The drive home consisted of my wiping my never ending tears and nearly puking three times. But, the farther I got away from the creature, the more detached I felt from myself, as if I lost part of me. I blame the fear and adrenaline but boy was I in for a surprise later on. That night I was plagued with dreams of a dark and deep voice saying my name, a strong hand reaching and a flash of eagle feathers on a necklace. When I woke, I had felt more refreshed than having slept for 100 nights. The drive to school was filled with unclean paranoia and everytime I passed even the smallest patch of wood, I felt as if I was watched. Finally parking and getting out of my car, I was calmly slapped by reality. “Hannah!” I turned to see my beautiful friend Lauren and her boyfriend Grady walking along side the girl. I smiled my best smile and greeted her. “How was your weekend? Grady told me you went on a hike to clear your head, I hope you feel better last week was shit.” “I guess, the walk was okay I guess, I stopped having issues sleeping so maybe that’s a plus” Grady smiled and quipped back, “good cause you owe me a fuck ton of cigarettes.” Our group laughed and it was almost enough to drown the sound of tires squealing into the parking lot of a not so friendly car, Lauren looked back and scoffed “god I hope he never drove like that with you in the car” I shrugged and looked at the car, “we should get inside.” She nodded and we began our trek to class. I was lucky to have shared several periods with Grady that day and a lunch period with the both of them as well. During my TA I caught myself doodling the creature, too much emphasis on the eyes, too much power in those paws. I felt a dirty presence behind me and breath on my shoulder. “So, you done being a bitch about what I said?” I turned around to see C. C was an ex lover, my first true boyfriend, my first sexual encounter, and the reason I vowed to never wear rose colored glasses again. “I’m not being a bitch C, I’m just simply being human. You should try it sometime.” He scoffed and sat beside me, “look Hannah, I was simply giving you advice, you need it, look at you. Also, eventually you’re going to have to stop being so rude and actually act like we’re friends instead of bossing me around and giving me a cold shoulder.” I laughed a poisonous laugh and turned to him. “Funny, last time I checked, we’re not friends, you’re not my captain, and you act like a half wit child so I have every right to be the way I am!” I turned and packed my belongings quickly but before I could make it past the table he grabbed my arm and I looked down to him. Most people would describe him as a typical athletic teen boy, tall, scrawny, blond hair, blue eyes, and a fake arrogance clouding his teenage lust and insecurities. To make things worse he was ridiculously academically smart, which got to his head enormously. “Hannah, remember that night we broke up? I told you I still cared for you and valued your friendship, please don’t act like this. It’s making me look bad.” All the rage of the heavens filled me, I ripped my arm from his grip and got uncomfortably close, “good, it’s about damn time the world knew what a fuckin jack ass you are.” Speed walking out I managed to bump into Ava on the way through, unfortunately causing some things to spill from my bag including the sketches of the creature. She quickly picked up my things muttering quick apologies and looked at my drawings. “WOAH dude! These are so cool! That looks like that one creature I saw in a book!” I looked at her and opened my eyes wide,” from where?” “A book on like mystical beings and stuff, it’s pretty cool, I got it at home. That monster was honestly the coolest one.” “What kind of monster is it??” She thought for a minute and ran a hand through her bright pink hair, “it’s a he, and I think he was like a protector of something.” She offered me a smile and handed me my book, “well I was just curious, I saw him online and thought he was pretty so I sketched him.” “Oh cool dude, also are you okay you seem kinda frazzled, is it C again?” “I guess, I stood up to him which felt good, I’m trying to not let him own me” “good, you’re better than him anyway.” I smiled a forced smile thinking of yesterday and how small I felt to the creature and his presence. I nodded and said a quick goodbye before rushing to my fourth hoping for my day to end fast. The drive home was filled with silence as I watched the road in front of me, protecter of what? Was Ava saying that THAT creature was supposed to be a protection god, I remember reading an article about protection gods. According to mythology they were supposed to be specific to certain types of things but often would have cases of them getting attached to certain objects or groups that had celestial value or power. If the legends are true, why would he be here? Arriving to my room I dumped my bag out and found my sketch, I eyed it before grabbing my phone and calling Ava. “Hey dude what’s up?” “Where was that creature we were talking about from?” “Oh that guy lemme check, it says it’s from Europe it’s a English god to be exact, which is weird because England was a Christian area but whatever. Why?” “Oh just curious, I kinda wanted to do more drawings and research it more” “oh cool! It’s name is chosantóiran I think it means protector, it’s Irish descent but the legend was strongest in England.” “Huh, thank you so much Ava.” “No problem dude, let me know if I can help with anything else” I said a goodbye and hung up, I stared at my wall “chosantóiran.” I now have my name, now to find the beast. A WEEK LATER The school week had passed and fall break was among the masses, horns honked, kids cheered, and my classmates discussed the final plans to their senior trips. I looked down at my shoes and thought, about my senior trip plans. Hunting a legend, he was out there and I didn’t care if I was going alone. I knew I was gonna find something. Behind me Lauren talked and Grady replied, “Hannah, earth to Hannah.” I snapped out of my daze and looked back smiling apologetically. She smiled and patted my shoulder,” get some beauty rest and relaxation for the break, and call us to hang out, you need to heal.” She patted my shoulder again and walked off waving. I looked back at the ground and gasped, sat in a puddle of crystal clear rain water was a singular golden eagle feather. Picking it up I examined it, it was way too big to be a normal eagle feather. My target was watching me. The following days consisted of endless computer research and writing, but, just enough downstairs time to not make my parents suspicious. “You know Hannah, I think you’re doing quite well considering what’s been going on.” My dad said over Monday breakfast, I habitually got up early to prepare for a day of studies but was met with my father putting food in my face and giving me a hefty amount of black coffee. The gesture was kind, so I took it. “Yeah I guess, just keeping occupied with much better things.” I replied before taking a bite of egg smothered toast. “Work is always good.” He then stood up and placed his plate in the sink before patting my shoulder and leaving for work. I stared at the door before I ate the rest of my food and moved to my room. My desk was covered in papers and sticky notes, I looked at them closely. I can’t truly find answers until I go to the beast itself. Piling my papers together and putting them in a neat pile I got out some gear before hopping in the shower and washing up. Hopping out and changing I heard my mom walk up the short staircase to my room “whatcha doing?” I turned to her and smiled, “I’m thinking of going on another hike today at round lunchtime, is that okay with you?” She nodded and then crossed into the laundry room to fluff the latest load. I sat back at my desk and wrote plans and side plans. The clock beeped and it was time. I packed a small bag and bid my mom goodbye and promised to be careful. I smiled while getting in my car, strict parents never failed in their habits. Driving to the spot was easy enough, finding the creature would be the hard part. I must have walked the woods for three miles never once feeling or hearing a sign. Then an idea bloomed. “chosantóiran” I chanted. The air changed, I chanted two more times and then another for good measure. Still no more signs but at least the air seemed different. I walked further and then I heard it a crunch. It sounded far but then another followed just behind me. I turned and saw nothing, turning back I was met with eyes. The green blue eyes of him. I felt my soul lift again but before I could run or be caught in a dangerous trance I shook my head and stared back attempting to give off the power he had. He tilted his head curiously and almost playfully. I felt humiliated, before I could give into instinct and run, he shifted. He stepped closer to me, he snuffed and then put his powerful nose into my air and sniffed. Leaning back the creature sneezed and blinked. “Glad I smell like shit.” He blinked again before I saw his skin shift again, I gasped. The skin then stared to shift and shrink. The creatures body balled up and changed. Wings disappeared and paws turned into hands. Slowly standing up, I saw my death. His eyes were the same, but his body was not, he was averagely tall, not too tall but taller than me, he was muscularly built, he had a strong thick beard that seemed well trimmed, his hair was brown and shaggy yet slicked back, his lips were plush and pink like the visual representation of temptation, he stood with an air that said sureness but still was gentle and non intrusive, finally his smell was the same as before but stronger and with a hint of musk. He was a masterpiece, I felt weak in my knees, then he spoke. “Why are you coming back to me?” A deep British accent that seemed aged like whiskey in an oak barrel. I felt my throat close but my mouth water. He raised his eyebrows, “oh, sorry, I just..... was i don’t know.” He tilted his head, his eyes held understanding yet patience and warmth. My knees got weaker. “You’re an interesting human, your soul is so powerful.” I nodded “sure, coming from a literal god” he chuckled and looked at his feet, “to humans im a god, to the other gods im simply a beast. My name is actually Mullen. The other name was just part of the tale.” I nodded and smiled, “my name is Hannah, my name is just, my name.” He chuckled, “ that’s what I like about humans, they get to start without a story.” I nodded and sat on a log. Minutes of talking turned into hours and eventually I had to go home, his eyes held sadness but understanding. I was sad to leave him but I didn’t want to face the wrath of missing dinner so I headed home. My evening later was filled with random moments of smiling and thinking back to the conversations we held so strongly. The vivid memory of us climbing and tree together and his body being close to mine for only a few seconds. I’m in trouble now.

#writing #my writing #creative writing #writer #author #I know it’s shit please don’t @ me #love #romance #drama

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