Summary: Daemon Spade takes a moment to appreciate Dino Cavallone's tattoos.

Belated birthday gift for Takigawa Aki. Based almost entirely on his Daemon and an alternate-universe crackship he got me so heavily invested in. I do plan to write more for this AU, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do a full multi-chapter or just have a collection of drabbles and one-shots.

If I do decide to do a series of drabbles, I'll move this from 'completed' and the title will be changed. I make no concrete promises, though.

Still, I hope you enjoy.

And I hope Aki enjoys this. I admit, I'm more than a little nervous about how poorly I did, since Daemon isn't one of the characters I usually write. ldhxgibsfh

Dino Cavallone had met Daemon Spade several months ago at a quaint little café on his way home from work. He had had every intention of grabbing some coffee, a slice of confectionary, and settling down to get some work done; as in, grading his students' usually headache-inducing papers (he loved his students, really, he did).

Obviously, that's not quite how it had actually happened. He and the teal-haired bundle of chaos had ended up trying to order the same slice of cheesecake. This resulted in the strange, yet workable decision to split both the cake and the bill, while paying for their beverages separately. It was a completely bizarre arrangement, given that they were complete strangers at the time.

Though, Dino supposed that the whole thing had worked out for the better. He gained someone very important in his life, as much as he wanted to strangle the interloper of his life on some (read: most) occasions. Today, however, was not one of those ever frustrating days.

Today, Daemon was behaving surprisingly well. … Well, that was a little untrue. He was 'behaving' only in the way that Dino was far too distracted to actually reprimand the leech that had pervaded the entirety of his life. He loved Daemon, really, but this was ridiculous. As of the current moment, Dino had resigned himself to Daemon sprawled over him, examining his tattoos. The teal-haired man seemed almost gleeful to finally get to rove over Dino's collection of tattoos.

Honestly? Dino had been assaulted in the bathroom and dragged into the bedroom before he'd even gotten the chance to wrap the bandages around his arm and throw on a shirt to cover the artwork he was so ashamed of. There he was, lying in bed in loose cotton lounge pants and no shirt or bandages. His hair was still damp, too. Daemon wasn't so much on top of him as he was next to him, just lying there and tracing lines of the tattoos with childlike awe and curiosity.

"Why do you hide them, Dino?" The blonde was jostled from his thoughts by a gentle prod at his side and an accented voice (not that Dino had much room to speak; his Japanese was also heavily accented, though from a different mother language).

"… I'm a high school teacher?" Dino blinked turning his attention to Daemon.

Daemon scowled at Dino in return. That wasn't the answer he wanted, obviously. It made Dino laugh a little. The teacher continued: "I'm not sure why you seem so entranced with them, they were just a silly, drunken endeavor from college."

"You shouldn't hide them." The scowl turned into something akin to a pout. "I like them."

"…Ah, you would." Dino chuckled softly, closing his eyes. "Personally, I think they're an embarrassment. Most of the time, though, they're hidden because of my job."

"Don't hide them at home."

"… And since when did you officially move in, Dae?" The blonde arched an eyebrow, though his eyes remained closed.

"You won't move in with me, so." Daemon countered. The pout didn't dissipate. "I'm here to stay."

Dino laughed again. The blonde opened his eyes, shifting to look at his bedmate. Caramel eyes wandered over Daemon's lithe figure. "You aren't within walking distance to the school, Daemon. I don't drive, and I very obviously don't have the proper coordination to ride a bike. I can't even make it down the stairs without it turning into a near death experience. You know that. Besides, I like this little apartment. It's what I can afford, and you've done far too much work on this tiny place for me to just walk away from it."

It was Daemon's turn to laugh. "If it really means that much to you."

"We're also within walking distance to that café." Dino hummed. "The one where we met. I'd like to stay close to it. We met there, after all."

More delighted laughter from the teal-haired invader. Dino smiled, closing his eyes again, letting Daemon return to the thorough inspection of his tattoos. Expert fingers traced over intricate lines of ink. The blonde occasionally shivered when fingertips brushed over particularly sensitive parts of his torso. Daemon had forgone his arm and moved to the larger piece on his side. Dino sighed, strangely content with the barely-there distraction.

Normally, he'd be dressed and grading assignments. But, he supposed he could oblige Daemon, his curiosity, and his wandering hands. He was jarred from his thoughts again when the larger man was suddenly straddling him with a wicked, entertained expression on his face.

…

Yes, he could definitely oblige Daemon and his wandering hands. If this is the treatment Dino got for not hiding his tattoos in the apartment, he would definitely stop wrapping them up. Rational thought didn't last much longer. He did manage to get in a silent, mental apology to the neighboring tenants for the noise that was soon to permeate the unit.

It was a very good thing the bed was sturdy.

Hooray for crack shipping. I hope you enjoy, Aki. Apologies for the terribad writing u v u