Nico's eyes fluttered open when the bed mattress shifted under the weight of someone. He rolled over made eye contact with Emelia then fell back asleep. He was asleep for a good twenty minutes before the smell of smoke filled his senses and Emelia wasn't where she was before. He walked into the kitchen and saw Emelia dealing with burnt pancakes in a pan and the place was clouded in smoke. He sighed and took the pan away from her, threw the pancakes away and put the pan under the cool water of the faucet. Emelia stepped back as Nico prepared something else.
"Crack the windows please?" Nico asked.
Emelia opened a few of the windows just a smidge and continued to watch Nico cook.
"Whacha Making?" Emelia said elongating her g.
"Saucy Skillet-Poached Eggs," Nico replied.
Emelia whistled. "Damn Nico!" She said peering over his shoulder.
"Looks fancy." She noted.
Nico chuckled in response. The aroma of eggs and sauce filled the kitchen after a while and the smell of smoke dwindled. He made the two of them plates and they sat down at the island. They sat in comfortable silence and Emelia occasionally mumbled how she thought Nico's cooking skills were unfair. Soon Nico's phone began buzzing which was very rare if he were honest. He sighed contentedly as he ate the last egg and picked up his phone. Emelia studied his face as if she were looking for newfound tea in his emotions.
"So," She prompted Nico.
"A few friends forced me to download FaceBook and now people are congratulating me on taking one step into not being anti-social." He said shrugging. "Nothing interesting."
Emelia raised an eyebrow, mildly intrigued by this but didn't comment.
"How is Freckles doing?" She asked twirling her fork around on her empty plate.
Nico shrugged and took her plate along with his to wash in the sink. "He's good."
Emelia nodded. She looked at her phone and cursed under her breath.
"Time to break the news to Jina, I'm sure she won't care anyway." She said looking away from her phone.
Nico gave her the 'are-you-serious' look. She returned her signature 'i-don't-know-what-you-want-me-to-do' look and went over to hug him goodbye. Before Emelia walked out he called out over his shoulder.
"Return my PJ's, please." And Emelia rolled her eyes and chuckled.
Nico was left to the silence of his apartment and he continued washing the dishes. He scrubbed the dishes one by one and set them to dry. He worked on the silverware next. He accidentally nicked his finger but decided to put a band-aid over it. He dropped what he was doing and went to the bathroom. The cut began bleeding more than he expected it to. As he looked at the scarlet red blood drip down the sides of his fingers his vision began to blur. His breaths became quick and uneven the more he stared at the blood. He thought about how he had barely felt a thing, how the cut seemed to bring a sense of familiarity to him. He shook his head and wrapped a band-aid around his finger. Nico decided he could finish the dishes later. He walked over to the couch and just laid there for a while.
He unlocked his phone and opened FaceBook. He sighed as he scrolled through meaningless feed full of stuff people he knew were posting. Apparently, Caren, one of his old classmates had a baby. He was going to try to figure out how he got Carens FaceBook but remembered everyone went through his phone and added everyone Nico knew or they did. He continued to scroll through and saw that Naomi Solace, apparently he had hers too, made a delicious homemade Texas burger. Nico chuckled at this and commented on it. 'Looking good Naomi, can't wait to try them.' He sighed and closed his phone.
Nico went back into the kitchen and looked for snacks to eat. He ended up with a bag of chocolate chips, popcorn, and a tub of ice cream. He decided it was okay to let his healthy choices slip once in a while, even if he had ice cream last night with Emelia. He got comfortable on the couch and began watching 'The Office'. He watched as Michael casually offended everybody and claimed everyone had to work on a Saturday. He binge watched about 6 episodes before he decided to actually take a walk. It was warmer outside so he just wore a hoodie and jeans. All black of course.
He locked his apartment door and walked outside, going nowhere in particular. He ended up walking into the tattoo parlour he worked at and the smell of ink and anesthetics filled his senses. He walked over to the front desk and the girl sitting there looked up. She had dark purple hair and a few piercings. Two on her lip and three on her ears. Her arms were covered in tattoos and she had one of a butterfly on the side of her neck. She smiled and leaned forward in her seat.
"Hey, Zoe." He said leaning onto the desk.
Zoe balanced a pen on her nose. "Sup Neeks, what would you like?" She asked as the pen dropped.
"I want a tattoo, I was wondering if you could do one for me." He said tapping his finger on the front desk.
Zoe studied him for a moment before she said anything.
"You sure Neeks? I know that can trigger some shit or something." She said looking worried.
"I'm sure, just something small." He said.
"Great, head on to the back and I'll be ready in a second." Nico did as he was told and went to the back room.
He never actually got a tattoo before and he had only ever given few to people. He was in charge of drawing out stencils and the front desk ever since a while back.
After a few minutes, Zoe walked in with an evil smirk, most people would assume that meant she was going to either purposely fuck up their tattoo or go crazy on the tattoo. Nico knew it as excitement and that it was going to be a good ass tattoo. She took her seat and Nico rolled up his sleeves. She looked at Nico one last time with an uncertain look but Nico assured her he could take it. It wasn't that he was scared of needles or they hurt, it just might trigger something for him. She started off with a basic greenish blue before colour. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing because she needed no reference. Nico tensed slightly at the contact but otherwise was okay.
"Now close your eyes." She instructed.
Zoe wouldn't let Nico see the actual tattoo when it started to shape up. Nico waited 45 minutes until she allowed him to see it. He looked down onto his right wrist and saw a small ring and yang symbol with a small sun and moon beneath it. He thought it looked amazing.
"Let's get it wrapped." She said smiling. She didn't ask if he liked it because his expression said it all.
Nico walked up to the front desk and paid and left with a goodbye after thanking her. He walked home slightly tired. He started walking down the hall to his apartment when he got an incoming FaceTime. He unlocked the door and then answered it.
Emelia was crying hysterically and her nose was red. Nico was about to ask her about what happened with Jina but Emelia moved the screen back to reveal blonde hair. Fucking blonde hair. And it looked, how would he say, interesting. Not so bad but it looked bad because he was used to her black hair, or it was just bad.
"OhmyfuckingodNicoIdon'tknowwhatIdiditlookssobadwhatthefuckdidIdo?" She said gasping for air.
Emelia started crying again and Nico had to try and not laugh.
"Ohmygod," She said pointing to her head. "Look at it, it's a pack of yellow noodles, Nico." She said comparing her hair color.
Nico let go of the breathe he'd been holding in and laughed loudly.
"Oh my fucking god!" He choked out between laughs. "Your hair!" He said pointing at the screen.
"Shhhhhh it's not funny." She said wiping tears away.
"Yes, it is!" He laughed again.
There was silence for a moment and she was typing something on her computer, then she turned it around to show the screen and shoved it in the camera.
"I have fucking yellow corn hair!" She wailed. "I look like a piece of corn."
"It's not so bad, at least your not wearing green." He pointed out.
Emelia gave him a look at his outfit and he burst out in a roar of laughter. She was wearing a sage green dress with black tights, and suddenly wearing green all the time didn't seem like a good idea. She stepped back to let him see the full look and he burst out laughing. Before she stepped closer to the phone Nico took a screenshot and gave a smug look.
"Nico di Angelo." She said in a dangerous tone. "Did you just screenshot me?" And Nico nodded still unaware of how she knew.
"You know what," She said dropping it. "Your not gonna do a thing with it." She said smiling evilly, wiping away stray tears.
"Why is that?" Nico said in a teasing tone.
"I have that video." She said in a teasing tone back to him.
"You monster, you wouldn't" He gasped.
"I would." She said nodding.
"Hmph, fair enough," Nico said in defeat.
Emelia and Nico talked for a while and Nico would occasionally burst out laughing when he looked at her hair. Then she would mention the video and Nico would shut up. Emelia told Nico her and Jina haven't talked yet, but it didn't hurt as much since she knew she chose to stay with Jina after knowing she cheated once. Nico told her to try and not always catch the cheating fish in the sea and Emelia just accepted she needed to take time for herself every once in a while.
Snoring came from the other end and Nico looked to see a knocked out Emelia on the couch. He whispered goodnight and ended the FaceTime and got ready for bed, he laid on the bed for a while before he succumbed to his pillows into a deep sleep.