ᴛᴀѕᴛᴇѕ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍɪѕᴇʀy

A comment that would have normally entertained Paige went completely over her head, because she was only focusing on the very first and very last parts of his statement.

She shifted in her seat like she was about to teach class, preparing as much information as necessary because, well, she hadn’t really ever explained this to someone in one sitting and she wasn’t sure how it was going to come out.

“Unpredictable. Exactly the problem. See, my mother died when I was young. It was a sad horrible thing, but I was able to mourn and move on and continue to miss her the rest of my life. But just a few – well, I don’t know if you heard, um – my father was essentially torn to bits by a mermaid.” And even drinking, Paige was struggling to get those words out normally. So, in order to try to keep from having an emotional explosion all over this guy, she started speaking faster… Increasingly faster…

“Something that I was sure I could eventually get over, because, well, that’s what people do, but it was like… I was there. Well, I wasn’t really there. I didn’t see anything. I felt it. Have you ever heard of people feeling someone else’s death? It was awful. And ever since I haven’t been able to shake this terrible sadness and fear and loneliness, and it’s one thing that it’s affecting my happiness but it’s affecting other people’s, and I can feel other people’s, you know… I, like, know what their feeling and it’s really weird and scary and I don’t know how to control it and on top of that I’m still feeling my feelings and I can’t make any sense of them because they are all jumbled together so I have these big breakdowns that I can’t control-and-I-think-I’m-losing-my-mind.”

Eyes grew larger in size when the small blonde begun to ramble to his surprise. Onyx did his best to keep up but she wasn’t only speaking fast, she was talking about something that he didn’t know anything about. Death was one thing, but he had never come across someone who felt what others did. Perhaps she was one of a kind and that was at least something he could relate to.

When she finally came to a stop, he cleared his throat and attempted to process the words that had been spewed his way. 

“Right — so, I can’t fix you,” he finally spoke to clarify that there was no chance that he could sort out all of her problems. “I definitely can’t do anything about feeling other people’s feelings ‘cause I’ve never heard of it. But I should be able to ease the pain of your loss and maybe that’ll help you make sense of things.”

For the amount of food Bluebelle ordered for lunch one would think she had ordered for another person, but when she sat down and began chowing down on everything she ordered almost simultaneously, it took her a moment to realize she had company. “Oh I’m sorry, did you want something?”

Onyx had finished his meal only minutes ago, now tending to the beer he had ordered alongside it. He was in no rush and it looked like he was in for some entertainment when a woman sat down at the table beside him with food enough to feed at least two people.

“Nope, just admiring the show.”

Her eyes scanned over any visible design while she listened to him speak about it. The general color changing properties and other basic abilities were interesting enough to her, but when he began to talk about emotional effects, Paige’s demeanor completely changed.

She straightened up in her seat and looked him dead in the eye, all friendly and good-humored behavior left behind as she weighed the words on the tip of her tongue.

“So you… Could they, say… Ease someone’s grief? That sort of thing?”

It wasn’t hard to notice the change when he mentioned the emotional effects and he knew right away that she was going to sit down in his chair to get a tattoo. He hummed in thought, never done anything in regards of grief but in theory it would work.

“Yeah, that’s a possibility but I usually don’t recommend anything that changes something of importance. It’s one thing to stop a receding hairline but — but emotions are unpredictable.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed and she rested her arms on the counter as she leaned forward again, as if asking about a secret. “.. What kind of magic?”

He tried to stifle a laugh when she leaned forward to ask about the magic. How very ominous of her. “Well, it’s magic so — so you have bioluminescent colours, they can change color, shape and certain motions too. Another version is that they change shape or color through experience.”

He paused, not sure whether to continue or not. People had a tendency to abuse the stronger magic tattoos had to offer and put up fights when told no. Luckily for the blonde, she looked harmless.

“And lastly, certain tattoos can physically or emotionally affect the wearers. Increase fertility, higher stamina and so on.”

“I think that’s a great idea. We should–”

She had been so caught up in the thought of kicking his ass that she hadn’t realized his intentions until it was already too late. A shriek, more cat-like than human, interrupted her statement as she was thrust into the water. 

When she reached the surface again, gasping for air, she was ready for war. 

“You BITCH,” she shouted, swimming toward the bank. She lifted one hand to raise a weed just beside his foot, making it grow to wrap around his ankle in an attempt to keep her target in place while she pulled herself out of the water.

Once she emitted the terrible piercing scream, Onyx stepped closer to watch his masterpiece. Dares were fun, but this was by far better. He knew he would pay for it but it was worth it and he could handle the consequences. 

He laughed loud enough for it to bounce off the trees and not even the feeling of something tightening around his ankle could subdue it. But eyes still fell down to see what she had done, twisting his foot around to take a good look at her work.

“Wha– That sounds awful. Why would you do that to yourself?”

“For various reasons,” Onyx shrugged, pausing to reach for the bottle even if it wasn’t his choice of poison. “Some for the art, others for the magic.”

Paige’s brow furrowed with an even mixture of confusion and intrigue as she leaned closer to look at this ‘tattoo’ of his. “No, not at all… How’d you get it?”

"How — well, it’s permanent ink that is essentially done by repeatedly stabbing a needle into your skin. “

“How precious of you to think I can’t,” she countered without hesitation, admittedly taking a good look at him as he got out of the water.

She looked down at her skirt again as he tried to persuade her into the river still. It was so soft to touch, and her lower lip puffed out in a little pout thinking about getting it ruined. 

“But you see, the wonderful thing about a reputation like mine is that, well…” she looked back up at him, “I just don’t give a fuck.”

"Suppose we should schedule a fight then, find out who’s all talk once and for all.” 

Onyx pulled on his pants, leaving the shirt for a while to dry off further besides, he had something more important to do. He took one stride before he scooped the brunette up and threw her with ease into the river. 

“Neither do I, kitty.”

She shook her head and hummed in disapproval at his weak attempt at a conversation topic while she took another sip of her drink. As her cup left her lips, her eyes fell on the dark lines peeking out from the collar of his shirt. 

“How about you tell me with that is?” 

His eyes followed hers and he let out a low snicker at the question, pulling down his collar further to show the rest of the tattoo. 

“People keep asking me that here, has no one ever seen a tattoo?”

“Good,” he answered before taking another drag from his joint. Taking his sweet his time to slowly exhale the smoke, he eventually spoke again, “Now did you actually need anything? Because if you’re looking to buy, I don’t have much on me right now.”

"I heard you were the man for the job in the oh so wondrous Wonderland but it appears that I’m not looking for shit then.”

What may seem crudely forward to some, Paige found humorous in her own way. It was true, after all. There were many different ways that could go, all of which she would have to decline. She was too in love to even consider that sort of thing. “I’m flattered, but my answer stands. I don’t suppose some friendly conversation would be a functional substitute?”

“I don’t have anything better to do at the moment.” He shrugged, emptying the glass of wine with a large swig before giving her the attention needed for friendly conversation. “How about the weather, ey?”

“I… ‘m not sure if that’s a compliment… But believe me, if I wasn’t already with someone I’d definitely be all over… that,” she assured him, gesturing to his, well, everything with that last statement.

“Under is always an option too, y’know,” Onyx laughed, not surprised by the comment that he had gotten too many times to count. Most girls changed their minds by the end of the night anyway. But he was only messing with her for the fun of it. “Upright isn’t too bad either.”

“If only I were in the presence of someone ‘pretty’.”

"Ouch — you wound me.”

Men…

A hum of discontent escaped her as she looked down at the clothes she was wearing. She really liked this skirt she stole from some bitch on her way to the Palace… 

“See, I would, but… If I mess up this outfit, I might have to kill you. And that would really cut the fun short.”

"How precious of you to think you could kill me,” he teased before wading back to the edge so he could climb up and out of the water. If she wasn’t joining him, he wasn’t going to stay. 

Despite his bare body, he didn’t rush to cover up and instead hummed, attempting to find another dare but the tempting thought of throwing her in was persistent. 

“You know someone’s gonna mess that outfit up eventually, you really wanna chicken out? It wouldn’t be too good for your... stellar reputation.”

“All right, sorry, that wasn’t working for me… Try me again. What were you saying?”

“It wasn’t? Damn, you look like the kind of girl who typically wants to fuck me but I suppose I’m off my game with this shitty wine.”

“If you have something to say, say it. No one likes a lurker.”

“You sure? I’ve had plenty of lurkers and as long as they’re pretty, I don’t mind.”