testing the content warning tag
When she had called it a night, CJ had gone to Malachite’s. He’d been working still, so she’d hung out with a couple of the younger kids that were still awake, before slipping off to shower and lay claim to Malachite’s bed for the rest of the night. She’d woken when he came home, because even in the comfort of his safehouse, she was too alert to sleep deeply. She slept deeper once her friend had climbed in and wrapped her up in his arms, CJ snuggling up to him with a sleepy murmur. When she’d gotten up early, showered (again) and began digging through her pile of clothing, she’d been startled into actually answering Malachite’s question of what she had planned for the day, letting slip that she was meeting up with Nocturne.Of course, then she had had to spend the remainder of the morning haughtily ignoring him and any attempt he made at conversation until he (seemingly?) gave up and left her alone. It took her a long while to settle on something to wear, mostly because she hadn’t gone thrifting for the new season, yet, so she only had the dregs from the year prior to work with. Some of the items weren’t salvageable after being nested in by vermin, but she did manage to dig up a cute floral summer dress, with a loose skirt and thin shoulder straps. She pulled on a faded denim jacket to keep herself from freezing – it wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t yet summer, either – and slipped on a pair of cute little flats. Not sure if she felt confident or awkward all of a sudden, CJ dug up her handbag, made sure her usual stuff was still in it, and left, giving Malachite the finger as she passed him. Cocky bastard.
CJ decided to splurge on a late breakfast as she got off the bus, more or less in the area that Nocturne had said he would be getting his tattoo, and looked around. She spotted McDonalds half a block away from her location, and made her way over to it. Deciding to go all out, she got a full meal – egg and bacon sandwich, a hashbrown, and a small hot chocolate. They didn’t have any marshmallows, unfortunately, but she wasn’t disappointed in the delicious brew. It probably wasn’t as good as the one Nocturne had bought for her that day, but the length of time between drinks dulled the memory and so she was thoroughly enjoying the one she’d bought herself.
After finishing her food, CJ took her cup of hot chocolate and left the building, looking up at the street sign and puzzling for a moment in which direction to walk to find the tattoo parlour. She wasn’t familiar with this area of town. After a moment of indecision, she retraced her steps, ducking back inside the McDonalds to ask the kid behind the counter the best way to get to the street she wanted. They didn’t know, either, but they had a phone and were able to draw her a really bad map that CJ thanked them for, and left again. Following the map wasn’t hard, as bad as it looked, and she soon found herself on the correct street.
Wandering down it idly, CJ wondered what the time was – she didn’t have a watch – and was browsing in the windows of the stores she was passing, curious and enchanted by some of the contents, when she heard a familiar voice calling a familiar nickname. She looked up, face brightening as she flashed a wide smile, before feeling self-conscious about her enthusiasm, and her expression faded a little, her smile more reserved though she didn’t stop herself from bouncing the last few steps to join Nocturne.
Surprising even herself, CJ leaned up on tiptoes to press a light kiss of greeting to Nocturne’s cheek, and then pretended fiercely that she wasn’t blushing about it. “Hi,” she said softly, twining her fingers together and looking towards the tattoo parlour curiously; she’d never been in one herself, though plenty of the other kids on the street had gotten tattoos since she’d been among them. “Can I see a picture of it now?” CJ asked, exasperated, and poking the pocket where she could see the outline of Nocturne’s phone.
