Pein stood in front of his bathroom mirror, once again with a long, hooked needle and a ring in his hands. He was marking the spot on his eyebrow ridge he wanted to pierce with a Sharpie marker; silver, to blend in with the piercing, once it was in. Pein set the marker down and then picked up the nasty-looking needle, moving it up to his skin. He pinched the skin there, pulling it out a bit and gauging the amount of skin he needed to put the piercing through. Once that was done, he marked the entry and exit points of the needle, and finally began the piercing.
A deep breath in, a deep breath out. A slight pinch at the end of the exhale.
And he was done.
Pein made the transfer from needle to ring, and pushed the slightly-smaller metal ring through the skin as he pulled the curved needle out. There was minimal blood from the wound; the piercing itself stopped up the vessels and veins through which Pein had stabbed himself. The metal ring through his brow ridge served as a clotting factor enough. Pein set the needle down on the side of the sink, and capped each end of the ring in his brow. It had been too long since he had done this; especially to this body. It was, in Pein's opinion, decidedly lacking in piercings: his Deva realm body, the original.
"Pein?"
The door opened slightly, and Konan stuck her head in, glancing around and taking in the scene at hand. "Oh, Pein!" she cried, seeing the blood-smeared needle and Pein leaning over the skin. The area around the piercing was quickly turning red, and was even swelling up a bit. "Why can't you just stop? Please. For me."
Pein shook his head. "Konan, dear, you know I can't do that," he said. "You might be like my sister, and while I love you very much, there are some things a man just can't give up."
"I don't see Deidara or Itachi piercing themselves constantly," Konan shot back. "What are you, some kind of masochist?"
Pein felt a small smile, however sick it was, grace his finely chiseled features. "So what if I am...dead to the world, dead to its pain."
Konan felt shivers as she realized it was more a statement than a question.
A/N: For once, no Nightwish references. PHYSCE!! Ah you knew it was too good to be true. For those of you who haven't noticed, these chapters actually have titles. Holy crap, since when did that happen? And the titles are the Nightwish references. All song titles; it's the main theme...type...thing...and this was really short, too. So, reviews would be nice...