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Nocturne sang along to the song blasting from the radio. The drive wasn’t long enough to bother hooking up a playlist via his phone so the station that played golden oldies was selected. The short trip was part of the reason why he was in the Jeep instead of taking his bike. He’d taken it out a few times since spring had begun in earnest but this trip was better suited for the Jeep. There was a chance he’d stop to pick up some groceries on the way home, his arm might be sore and steering a proper vehicle would be easier on him, and there was also a slim chance a friend might show up and he could offer her a ride home or go out for a bite.

CJ was fascinating and perhaps a bit frustrating. She willingly chatted away through texts but never agreed to meet up again. She also either didn’t pick up on his hints that she could meet him at one of his activities he was going to or she purposely avoided it. Nocturne bet it was the latter as she seemed clever and he also wasn’t entirely subtle with it. But he never pushed her. After the second time asking if she was free to see him, he’d stopped and switched to occasionally mentioning his plans. His ego would have been bruised if it wasn’t for how engaged in conversation she was otherwise. It was refreshing and charming how benign it typically was and he felt they both needed that in their lives. Sometimes some flirting or trading sexy tales came up but usually just silly stories or discussing something utterly random. And cats. He’d have to bring CJ over one day to meet his furballs but that would require seeing her in person again.

Sitting in the parallel parking spot a few doors down from his destination, Nocturne waited until the end of the song before shutting off the engine. He was still early for his appointment so he took out his phone and brought up an image. It wasn’t like he was about to change his mind but it was a ritual of sorts after doing it with each tattoo he got. He liked to look at the drawing and think about what it represented and meant to him before having it become a part of him in a new way. He’d always wanted something that represented being a protector to his loved ones and knew a sword was an obvious and good choice but he’d never been inspired until stumbling upon an amazing artist. The lines were delicate and the style was pretty but there was still so much strength conveyed. Nocturne knew immediately that was what he wanted and contacted her to do a commission for his tattoo.

Initially he had wanted it done all in black as it was going to go on his left calf and the left side was his colourless side for ink. But the artist did jewels in such a way that Nocturne couldn’t bring himself to remove it from the design and was willing to add that little drop of colour onto the left side. But after they exchanged a few comments and Nocturne opened up about the meaning behind the tattoo, he was sent an image that blew him away and had him rethinking everything. She had added a string of forget-me-nots spiralling down the blade to further add to the meaning. He loved it and Nocturne realised while the sword would have fit down his leg perfectly, its new home would be on his right arm above the hourglass and on the opposite side of the claw marks.

A check of the time noted he was only ten minutes early now and figured that was good enough and finally exited the vehicle. As he came around the front and onto the sidewalk, a flash of pink caught his eye and Nocturne turned toward it to see a familiar and cute face that had him smiling. “Hey, Skittles. Fancy meeting you here.”

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.

Nocturne laughed and started shaking his head even as he pulled out his phone… so he could lift it up out of her reach. “Oh fine, a peek at the art won’t hurt,” he unlocked his phone and pulled up the image he’d been looking at just minutes ago but zoomed in so only the hilt could be seen. “Like the others, you can see the full thing in person,” Nocturne grinned at CJ and slung his arm around her shoulders so they could walk to the shop together. Given her greeting, he felt it was acceptable and not too far from holding hands like they had done on their last outing together so long ago.

He held the door open for her and then led her to the desk, greeting the staff that was around since it was the usual place he went to for his tattoos. The only difference was the artist he was working with that day since the design was far more delicate with specific shading on the gem that his others didn’t have. He introduced CJ as his friend and they followed Aaron to his room where he and Nocturne looked over the design on the transfer paper and discussed where to line it up on his arm. Pleased with how it looked, he took off his jacket, leaving him in a black tank top that said ‘I do what I want’ with an image of a cat knocking over a coffee mug.

“It’s going here,” Nocturne pointed to the bare skin but then showed CJ the other side with the claw marks that revealed the nebula and music notes beneath. “You won’t be able to see this one while he works so this is your chance to admire one of Brandon’s pieces. He did most of my ink. I’ll explain any of them if you’re curious.” He’d only given her little clues and snippets with the mystery photos when they texted as it was one of his many ways of attempting to entice her out of hiding.

He settled into the chair and let Aaron get to work and offered CJ a reassuring smile and wiggled his free arm as permission to poke and gawk if she wanted. He hadn’t given her a chance to look at the hourglass below where Aaron was working but she would see it well enough with the way he held that arm to be worked on.

CJ frowned, half scowling, as Nocturne laughed at her and shook his head, moving his phone out of reach like she knew his passcode or something. CJ’s lips formed into a pout, her eyebrows furrowed grumpily. She didn’t like being mocked! Her whole attitude changed, however, when he said she could have a peek – everything brightened, and she lifted up onto the balls of her feet, one hand grabbing Nocturne’s wrist so she could, with some effort, drag his phone down to her height and she could look at the image he’d zoomed in on. Her eyes narrowed at him in disgruntled irritation, but what she could see of the image was really pretty!

CJ rolled her eyes dramatically as he put his phone away, but didn’t duck out from under his arm, instead slinging her own lightly around his waist, and pretending her heartbeat didn’t spike at the proximity of him. He smelt really nice, too, which was totally distracting, as she tried to figure out what the scent was. She rarely got to be around guys that smelled nice, she thought in bemusement as he let her into the building. Malachite was an obvious exception, but he was Malachite. CJ folded her arms under her chest as they went into the room in the back, looking around curiously.

Knowing that Nocturne wouldn’t let her get close to the design, she moved lightly around the small room, poking at thing she probably shouldn’t, admiring the photos and designs on the walls, and crinkling her nose at the odd scent that emanated from the place. When she turned back to the pair, CJ’s gaze drifted to Nocturne’s top, and her eyebrows furrowed together as she snorted in amusement. She met Nocturne’s eyes and shook her head at him, but was quickly distracted once more, this time by his tattoos.

CJ closed the distance between them with quick, light steps, and she brushed her fingers lightly over the tattoo, going around the edge delicately. “It’s lovely,” she said softly, awestruck. She’d never seen a tattoo that was so beautifully crafted; the colours and the line work were all wonderful. She didn’t know nor really care what the meaning behind it was for a few moments; it was so wonderfully beautiful all by itself, but the fact that Nocturne said all his tattoos had special meanings just made it all the more gorgeous. “What does it mean?” She asked curiously, looking up at Nocturne finally with a shining expression.

Nocturne studied CJ for a long moment. He loved how engaged she could be when she let down the shields and let her curiosity shine. But would the meaning be too much for her? He had started with it only because it would be the hardest piece to see while Aaron created the new masterpiece. But maybe it was a bit too deep for an opener? Still, he wasn’t going to disappoint her by not giving away any details now that she was there in person and fulfilling the requirements. “Underneath our skin are endless possibilities like space. The claw marks tore away some of the skin to reveal that. And I love music though it can also be linked to my name.” He left off the other reason for the depiction of space—that he was essentially an empty vacuum as well thanks to being a null. Nocturne was utterly convinced now that CJ was a mundane and while he could crack a joke about being empty inside and devoid of magic, the drama of the statement wasn’t needed.

“The hourglass,” Nocturne pointed below where Aaron was still doing the prep work so it was a good time to lean a bit closer before such a thing might be a distraction. The colours of the sand were the same as the nebula, carrying the colour palette down his arm, with the casing for the glass done in a black yet ornate design because he was feeling fancy the day it was designed. “Probably self-explanatory. It’s a reminder to not watch the clock or obsess over how much time is left but to enjoy what is there.” Because everyone died eventually but some had shorter life expectancies than others. But the thought of the image of the bottom right corner of the design being the teaser he gave CJ had him smiling again.

He let CJ digest the information given to her and continue admiring the piece if she wanted. Nocturne turned his attention to the start of the tattoo. He knew the pain to expect but the inner arm was a new spot for him and he still winced for a couple of minutes until he numbed and accepted what was becoming little stings. After a long stretch of silence that was only filled in by the buzzing of the tool, Nocturne looked back at his friend to see what had captured her attention—his old ink or the process of getting inked.

“Have you considered getting one?” Nocturne didn’t think CJ had one as she’d never brought it up and he had seen a lot of her body on display when they met last summer. “And pick the next story if you’re still interested,” he held out his left hand for CJ to take, giving her permission to turn his arm this way and that to inspect the two pieces if she wanted.

CJ’s light touch faltered slightly at Nocturne’s explanation of the first tattoo, her eyebrows drawing together. His explanation sounded a lot like the gist of what Malachite had been trying to tell her his Cards were saying. CJ’s eyebrows furrowed, suddenly feeling unsure and a bit confused, as he glanced up at Nocturne from under her eyebrows, wondering (not for the first time) if the two men had been talking about her without her knowing. They did, after all, have direct lines of communication, and CJ was hardly around Malachite enough to know he wasn’t reaching out to Nocturne. The more confident and secure part of her knew it was silly; the insecure part of her worried nonetheless.

A shiver crawled down her spine when Nocturne continued talking like he had eaten Malachite’s damned cards, but it didn’t stop CJ from brushing her fingers lightly over the design, tracing it. His skin was smooth and warm, with the occasional freckle popping up around the tattoos. CJ brushed her thumb idly over the hourglass once more, before stepping back so the tattooist could start work. Glancing at him, CJ watched as he started the machine, her eyebrows furrowing slightly at the buzzing sound, and she watched as he seemed to literally draw with it. She had never been interested in following any of the other street kids when they went to get their two-dollar tattoos, that looked like someone drunk, high, or both had done the work. Especially compared to the amazing pieces of artwork that Nocturne had on his body.

At the sound of his voice, CJ’s attention shifted from watching the tattoo machine curiously, to looking at Nocturne with one eyebrow raised. “No,” there was soft laughter in her voice; the only tattoos she could afford she wouldn’t want to wear on her body, though she didn’t say as much since she figured it was kind of implied. “What is it with you guys, and body modifications?” She asked, almost rhetorically, as she gave Nocturne an amused look. “Malachite has been trying to get me to get piercings for years.” CJ rolled her eyes, but her expression was fond. She didn’t even have her ears pierced, and her best friend was trying to convince her to get needles shoved through her tongue and her nipples!

Taking Nocturne’s left hand in gentle fingers, CJ stepped a bit closer again, so she could examine first the tattoo on his bicep, tracing it, too, with gentle fingers of her right hand. She’d decided to keep holding his hand with her left, and studied it with a puzzled frown. “Is this one of your furballs?” She asked curiously, “or -- ?” she fell off, leaving the prompt open as an invitation to explain the curious tattoo. She hadn’t seen one like it before; it was definitely unique but also really strange. She decided, without saying anything, that she didn’t really like it as much as the other ones. Maybe it would have a meaning that would endear her to it, but in the mean time, she gently turned his hand over, the rest of his arm also twisting so she could see the tattoo there.

“Oh,” she whispered softly; the detailed, delicate lines and careful shading was a lot more appealing to CJ, and she set about tracing various lines of the tree with the tip of one finger, turning his hand a little this way and that so she could admire the tattoo from various angles. “Its beautiful,” she whispered softly. “But… sad.” She trailed off, still frowning down at the tattoo – she was pretty sure the tree that was depicted was dead, not alive and thriving. Perhaps if it had been, it would have been done in colours and not shades of black and grey. “What does it mean?” she asked, glancing up at Nocturne once more, still holding his hand in her own.

Nocturne grinned at the exasperation but he took a moment to study her face, not hiding what he was doing. “I think ear piercings would work well on you. A couple in each lobe, maybe even go all the way up one ear. Both if you wanted to.” He didn’t have piercings himself, deciding when he was younger with a couple of clip on tiny hoops that they didn’t suit him. But ink did to a degree. He didn’t think he would ever do full sleeves and aside from his left calf and maybe a couple of small ones to match with his sister or someone else, he felt he might be done with them. It was about inspiration more than a simple need to fill up every blank spot he had.

The lack of true enthusiasm over the left bicep’s piece wasn’t surprising. It was most people’s least favourite and he’d been questioned before about why he put it in such a prominent spot. He, obviously, liked it but also felt it fit that body part the best given its shape. “It’s not either of my cats but I guess they inspired it. It’s an enso, something from Zen Buddhism. It represents a lot but I resonated with how it’s done in a moment when the mind is clear for you to create. It’s about letting go of expectations and the beauty of imperfections. I drew it myself and liked that the circle didn’t complete in the first stroke and decided to embrace the teaching and draw a cat face in the space.”

By the time he was done explaining, CJ had already turned her attention to the oak tree and seemed far more intrigued by it. He smiled softly and gave her hand a light squeeze. How did he explain this one? It wasn’t a unique choice of tattoo outside of the artwork itself and he almost didn’t get it but the meaning drew him in and fit a lot of what he wanted to convey. “It is,” he agreed quietly, letting CJ take a little longer to inspect it at her own time. “Oaks represent strength and endurance, even bravery. A lot of that comes from the massive roots they lay down and let spread. The roots also are about family, like a strong foundation lifting you up.”

It was probably a little cheesy but CJ already knew how much he loved his little sister and his overworked Pops from some stories he shared in their texting. “My tree is dying, though,” he didn’t want to freak her out by thinking he had a terminal illness by mentioning his shorter life span but that had played a role in how the branches looked. The other major part had him giving another and much smaller smile as his friend looked up at him waiting to see if he would say why. “A dead tree means death but since my mom abandoned us and I couldn’t say if she lived or not, I went with a dying tree. It’s been weakened but it’s still standing. Still enduring.”

CJ raised her eyebrows as Nocturne studied her face, then snorted after he had spoken. “Well, that sounds better than his suggestions,” she said mildly, reaching up to touch one ear with her free hand. “He’s completely obsessed with nipples and tongues.” She snorted and looked away, back to the tattooist, not bothering to see what Nocturne’s face said about this new information as she instead focused on processing everything he had said about his tattoos, chewing absently on the inside of her cheek as she watched the tattoo artist drawing with needles on his skin.

“Does it hurt?” she asked curiously, eyes on the tattoo machine, though her mind was still mulling over what he had said about his dying tree tattoo. Her frowning face shifted, meeting Nocturne’s face, scowling slightly now. “Abandonment is a parental favourite,” she said bitterly, her left hand leaving his to unconsciously press against her lower stomach as she shifted her scowling gaze to the artist’s work. She’d been abandoned multiple times through her life, starting with her piece of shit birth mother, and ending with her string of foster parents. Though she herself had failed, abandoning the child she preferred to forget she ever gave birth to. Her devil spawn would be seven now, she thought with surprise. Hopefully she was having a better foster-run than CJ herself had had.

Before he could answer about any pain he was in, CJ’s expression darkened and his words had him frowning just the slightest bit as he tried not to react too strongly. She didn’t share much about her past and given how skittish she could be, Nocturne wasn’t going to pry for details now. He assumed at least one parent had abandoned her as well, maybe both. Had she grown up in foster care or had she been left with an abusive parent? Given the lack of details about family and so few happy childhood memories that didn’t revolve around being somewhere with a friend, he had to assume it was one of those.

Nocturne also did his best not to draw attention to the way CJ held her stomach. It would have been easy to assume she wasn’t feeling well, and that could still be true with bad memories, but in the context of the conversation—had CJ been pregnant before? Had she given up a child and she was comparing herself to his mom? Wondering if the child had strong roots and was enduring like he did? There wasn’t a polite way to ask, even if they weren’t sitting with Aaron working on his arm. CJ would be out the door before he finished the question and Nocturne wasn’t going to undue how far their friendship had come. He could wait until she was ready to fully open up to him and share the bad with the good she had let him see.

“A bit,” he confessed instead, ignoring the heavy topic in favour of her question. Nocturne didn’t see the need to lie when he was very clearly being stabbed over and over by a small needle. He checked in on the progress and smiled as he saw the outline nearing completion. “Sometimes it’s like being scratched or a trail of angry bees are marching along my skin. The tree and hourglass were the most uncomfortable, though. They’re closer to bone and there was vibration on top of the stinging.” That had been weird as it felt like even his teeth were starting to rattle. So far, the sword wasn’t bad. It was small and the pain rather minimal.

Aaron took that moment to announce the blade was done and he would switch to green to work on the vines next. Nocturne took back his arm for a moment to stretch it out so he wouldn’t get stiff from holding it like that for too long, though he was careful not to rub it against his body. The green wouldn’t take long, neither would the red, but switching everything around still took the same amount of time and Nocturne let CJ peek at the work in progress. “Not the prettiest thing at the moment, but coming along well.”

CJ lifted an eyebrow as Nocturne presented his arm for inspection, eyeing the work in progress thoughtfully. “It looks promising,” she said mildly, having a little bit of trouble throwing off the pensive and dark mood she’d fallen into a few minutes prior, but working hard to cast it aside. The topic of pain didn’t really help, honestly, so she chose not to further comment on that. It was, after all, an obvious answer. Of course being stabbed hundreds if not thousands of times over and over was going to hurt. Silly girl.

“Does it take long to heal?” She asked instead, lifting curious eyes to Nocturne’s, her eyebrows still arched slightly, her lips pulled to one side as she chewed on her bottom one, mouth scrunched up thoughtfully. Obviously Nocturne wasn’t put out by the whole process, otherwise he would have stopped after the first one, but it wasn’t something that CJ had any personal experience with. It was like looking after the piercings that Malachite kept trying to get her to invest in. Sure, they would be fun once they were healed up, but the whole healing process sounded entirely unfun. How does one even eat when there is a great metal bar going through their tongue?

A frown claimed her eyebrows from their more normal relaxed position, drawing them down over her eyes. She considered Nocturne thoughtfully for a moment, and then asked quite seriously, “How do you know what to get?” She asked slowly, waving her hand absently at him, to indicate all his tattoos. Obviously, he put thought into them, so they meant something and whatnot – not just got whatever because the mood struck him or some such – but how did he know when the right tattoo would turn up? “What if you get one, and then hate it?” she paused again. “or what if you find one you like more for a spot already occupied?” It wasn’t like he could just use an eraser on them, after all!

Nocturne grinned at CJ as he settled back into place for the next colour. He knew it wasn't much to look at just yet but she seemed curious enough about the process that seeing it in various stages might satiate her some. It was why he didn't mind the questions either. Most of it could easily be looked up online but where was the fun in that when you knew a guy covered in them while you hung out together in a parlour? "What you see will take about three or four weeks to heal. It goes through some ugly phases until then," that was always the down side to tattoos but what did he expect when ink was being shoved into his skin? Healing and drying out were minor inconveniences compared to what could happen. "It takes a couple of months more for the deeper layers to heal but that's more just doing aftercare routines and nothing hindering me."

They were quiet as CJ likely processed the new information and thought about her next question. Nocturne turned his attention to the tattoo, noting the progress on the green and wondering which colour would come next. Probably the blue. Then the next question came, one he had heard more than once. He had just explained most of his tattoos so he knew she didn't mean that, not exactly, anyway. The follow up questions brought out another smile. "Then I guess it sucks to be me."

He took a moment to consider how else to reply as his gaze went over the ink he could see. "Sometimes I wonder why I have so many or why I got what I did but they reflect parts of me and I wouldn't change them. I can, if I wanted to. You can get them removed by laser." They told his story and reminded himself of who he was and what mattered most to him. Some might not be the exact image he would pick now but he still didn't hate or regret any of them. There wasn't enough time in a life for such emotions, especially on trivial matters.

"I take my time with these pieces. The sword is something I've wanted for a while but I was never inspired until I saw this artist's work." He gave a little shrug and reached for CJ's hand, drawing her a little closer to him again while Aaron switched to the next colour. "You just know when something is right, Skittles," maybe he was still talking about his tattoos, and maybe he was flirting. No one would blame him for that.

CJ’s nose scrunched up slightly at the required time to heal, and that the tattoo would go through some ‘ugly phases’. It honestly sounded like the whole process that went behind a bruise healing, how it changed colours and pain levels until it finally faded away and vanished. She supposed that a tattoo wasn’t too different to a bruise, except that when it was finally healed it wouldn’t vanish, but would live forever on the skin. She pursed her lips, nose uncrunching, and shrugged one shoulder slightly. “Sounds delightful.”

A bright, though short, laugh followed Nocturne’s next answer, and CJ shook her head slightly. “I guess so,” she murmured, shifting her weight slightly so she could better see what the artist was doing now, without crowding the pair of men. It really was all quite fascinating to watch, though she still wasn’t sure that tattoos were any more for her than piercings were. CJ was quite sure she’d had enough pain in her life, thank you very much, without self-inflicting it, even if it did do its thing to make her feel more beautiful or... whatever.

She was sent careening out of her own thoughts as Nocturne’s gentle touch on her hand, and CJ gave his fingers a light squeeze as she allowed him to draw her forwards. His words were, to her great displeasure, met with a soft blush and CJ sighed, shifting her gaze back to the work the artist was once more doing, refusing to meet Nocturne’s eyes even as she mumbled a soft reply, though it wasn’t much for him to go on: “Hmm.”

Nocturne's eyes sparkled with amusement as he gave a slow smile to CJ. He caught the way she reacted to his flirting and that it essentially left her speechless. It was cute on her but he was smart enough not to point that out. He hadn't given her the nickname Skittles without reason after all. The amount of time it had taken to even get her to meet him somewhere had all been worth it. Not that he didn't thoroughly enjoy their texting over that time. But he wanted to keep her opening up to him and trusting that he really was interested in her so he had to play it carefully but not come off as manipulative either.

All of that was decided in a matter of seconds as Nocturne fell back to what seemed to work for them so far. Food. "It's tradition for me to enjoy something sweet after getting a tattoo," he announced, his flirty smile still tugging at his mouth. He'd let her think how many directions that comment could go for a few more seconds before adding, “please tell me you like pie otherwise it might make it awkward asking you to join me at the Pie Lady.” He was fairly certain she did brownies and cookies as well but the woman specialized in pies, even selling full ones if you went at the right time of day. Unfortunately, it was nearing the end of her business day so only slices would likely remain but that was all they needed.

CJ’s gaze shifted back to Nocturne, and an eyebrow arched just slightly at his comment. “Tradition?” she asked, her disbelief pliable as she glanced towards the artist, as if he might give away whether or not Nocturne was pulling her leg. As far as she could tell, the man appeared to be concentrating steadily on his work, which was probably a good thing, but she was also quite sure his lips were trying to twitch into a smile. CJ frowned at him, and then turned that frown back onto Nocturne. Her other eyebrow lifted, as he continued, and then they drew together. “Pie?” She glanced suspiciously at the artist when she was sure he snorted quietly, but his expression was once again smooth and full of concentration. Eyes narrowed suspiciously, CJ tilted her chin up, nose pointed upwards.

“You’re buying,” she said regally, flicking some of her pink hair over her shoulder and eyeing Nocturne as if he might disagree with her; as if she had any money to spare on buying pie herself, let alone for the both of them. She’d spent all her money that morning splurging on breakfast at McDonalds, not that Nocturne needed to know that, and certainly not the man inking his arm. Deciding if he was going to be a shit, she could play that game too, CJ’s lips twitched into a playful smirk. “And I want a hot chocolate. With marshmallows.” Even if it were the middle of summer, CJ was fairly sure she would enjoy drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Nocturne was amused by CJ's skepticism but managed to keep his smile rather neutral and open. He was mostly telling the truth in that he did always pick up a treat after getting a tattoo but he usually picked up something at the grocery store to bring home and share with Lyric. This was just sitting down with a different person, though he knew he'd still have to stop on the way home or face some Lyrical Attitude and he was in far too good of a mood with some slight pain to deal with that. "Of course I'm paying. I'd be a bigger bastard than usual to invite you along and then not pay." He ignored Aaron as he gave another light snort. his friend was enjoying himself far too much.

He still wasn't entirely sure about the life CJ still kept so hidden away but Nocturne knew without a doubt that her money was tight. It was whether or not she was living on the streets or simply constantly staying away from an unsavoury home life that had her hanging out in odd locations that had him stumped. But he didn't pry. Both situations were probably seen as embarrassing and something to be ashamed of but he hadn't found the best way to point out he didn't care. He liked the woman and the lifestyle or where she laid her head at night didn't change that. At least she still didn't seem to care that he liked dragging her places for food and treating her.

"Extra marshmallows," Nocturne corrected, his smile widening a bit more as he tossed out a fact he remembered about her from the last time they were together so long ago. They texted regularly and he learned some interesting random tidbits through there as well but it didn't hurt to show he did pay attention to her. Somehow he suspected that was a rarity for CJ.

He glanced at the tattoo and it looked like most of the colours and details were done so they'd be wrapping up soon. "Depending on the time when we get in, she might even have some Shepherd's pie for you to start with if you don't want to be a rebel with me and break the rules of no dessert before eating a proper meal. But in my defence, cherries are healthy--usually healthier when not doused in sugar and made into a pie but the point stands. I'll suffer through two slices if need be."