Title: Insignia

Theme: #19 Red

Fandom: Nanatsu no Taizai/Seven Deadly Sins

Pairing: KingxDiane

Note: Spoilers (I guess...?)

Disclaimer: I don't own Nanatsu no Taizai or Kiane. I do now own a poster of King's gorgeous mug though. I stare at it far too long for my husband's comfort.


Insignia:


"So what made you finally decide to do this?"

Her features were amused, lips turned up in silent laughter. Her fingers were not gentle as they probed his skin but he hardly noticed. He kept his head turned away, the expression on his face unconcerned. His childlike looks could almost be called petulant, the tilt of his upper lip, the way his mouth pursed ever so slightly. His cheeks were spotted with rosy patches that glowed from beneath narrow eyes. With the dull sheen of amber in his irises he studied the formidable bookcase against the wall, roving the titles he saw there, reading but hardly taking any of it in. He winced slightly when her long nails scraped skin. A passing thought of his was the lack of apology that she offered but he had grown accustomed to her brusque mannerisms in the short time he had come to know her. She was a lovely woman, for only a blind man could say he did not see beauty before him, but her personality tended to make a person wishful for a more subdued experience.

The curtains were drawn over the arched windows of the tower, the reinforced metal door firmly shut to give him the security of privacy that he had come to favor. He breathed in deep, his shoulders sagging forward as he slowly released the air in a dramatically drawn out breath. His fingers tightened into small fists against his thighs, the knuckles colored pink with the strain as she began her work. Her movements were methodical, precise, and she crafted quickly with clear skill. She appeared completely unaffected by his lack of response. Her dark hair fell over a shoulder, gleaming by the light of the several glittering orbs she had littered in her study. The chamber was a circular high-ceilinged structure at the top of one of the several towers in the castle. There were a random assortments of clutter throughout, from haphazardly piled tomes and books to a round table overflowing with glass bottles, alembics, mortars, and curiously colored instruments that he didn't bother troubling himself over the use of. Dust settled over the lesser touched items while cobwebs collected in the rafters. It was truly the image of what a magician's workshop should appear as. There was even a pillow sitting atop of a dangerously stacked pile of books that served as the resting place for what could only be a magical wand from the way subtle power radiated from it.

He returned his gaze to the books with a bored expression and there was a flaring of pain along his skin before it receded into a twanging numbness. "I was brought into this to serve the remainder of my sentence with the rest of the sins." He finally spoke, voice barely above a whisper, a delicate strain in it's tone. "We are all marked by the nature of the sin we have been charged with so I figured what was the point in delaying the inevitable."

Her brows rose with the mirth that showed in her smirk. "Ah? You are the last of us to do so. Even if you say so I have the feeling there is another reason to it." Her words were laced with knowing and he felt the edges of his ears color with a flush that extended down his neck. He coughed lightly and opted for silence. She laughed good-naturedly at his response.

"It matters little." The ebony-haired woman murmured. She paused for a moment to lean back and study her handiwork. He took the reprieve from pain gratefully, rolling his shoulders to work out the stiffness that had settled from sitting in the same position for too long.

She returned to her task before he could prep himself and he yelped when he felt her begin again. He glared at her as he noticed that seeing his reaction amused her. It wasn't the first time that he wondered about her state of mind. As brilliant as she was her motives were sometimes questionable and she wore the mask of a person who knew far more than they would ever tell. Despite initially alarming him he now viewed her with only the barest suspicion, finding that she had little desire to bother him over what he would view as personal matters. He suspected everything she wanted to know had already been discovered without him having to utter a single word and so he contented himself with the camaraderie she had shown him. The King of Fairies could see that she was not someone who dwelled. In contrast, his ability to drown in his sorrows, his tendency to lapse into maudlin depression, were noticeably and completely opposite of the woman that focused so diligently on whatever lay before her.

She toiled at an even pace until the booming strike of the central clock of the city was heard with resounding clarity. She dusted her hands in smug approval. The soreness in his back protested as he craned his head to admire her finished creation with mixed feelings. Stark against the paleness of his calf was a symbol that now marked him until the end of days. The representation of his crime, the effigy that detailed his wrongdoing to the world, reflected in the scarlet of the emblem. The Grizzly Sin of Sloth was now branded by the open maw of a bear, feasting in its slovenly dismissal of the world around him. It pained him to see such a blemish upon his body but it was deserved and that was a truth he could not escape. He had chosen his path just as he had chosen where he wished for the omniscient brunette to taint him.

"There you are now." Her satisfaction was clear. He knew she had every reason to be. It was her who had done the same procedure on the other members of the Seven Sins, including herself. Despite their negative connotations the tattoos could be seen as captivating, with their glossy surface and fine design. Indeed, they were rather alluring for he recalled seeing a similar symbol on another Sin, a coiling serpent, marring the flesh of her voluminous thigh. It was with great fortune that he had seen her that day, when the sins were brought together by the recruiter of their merry band, before she saw him. He had yet to appear before the others and with a single look in her direction he had shrunk back into the halls of the castle they had been gathered to. Quick thinking on his part had found him in the form of an especially rotund human, the magical energy required for the guise exhausting but worth it to avoid the chance of being identified by the now grown woman. He had not seen her in hundreds of years but needed no more than a moment to ascertain her name. Until then he had found the telling symbol on the Captain's arm gut-wrenchingly ugly, knowing that he was expected to sport such an image on his person as well. After seeing her own marking, he had been besotted with the idea of having his own placed in an allied position, matching characters that would bind them together in fate. He would take any opportunity to feel closer to the large maiden who could never know who he really was.

Harlequin looked up to see Merlin eyeing his leg with a critical eye. He shook it self-consciously before levitating off the ground and calling his newly acquired weapon Chastiefol into his hands. "Thank you Merlin." The Fairy mumbled over the green patterned pillow. The Sin of Gluttony chuckled and gave a wave. King left soon after, feeling the sting on his leg with sharp awareness.

The rest of the Sins were gathered in the courtyard, outfitted in their specialized armor. King halted in the shadows, gazing at the thirty foot armored form that towered over the rest of them. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He felt the tattoo along his calf, pulsing with a dull ache and thought of the Serpent Sin of Envy's own tattoo. A pleasant blush washed over his cheeks. With a mental nod to give himself confidence King entered the courtyard in his other, larger, form while calling out crossly to Ban who was already drunk, and inwardly smiling at the thought that something connected him to Diane without him having to say a word.


-OWARI-


This one was inspired by one of the sentences from my fanfic Framents of Time. I love the idea that King got his mark on the same leg that Diane got her's on just because. Took a couple liberties with the kiss in this one. Sorry. Next update by April 28th and will be a lot longer. Lol.

Only eighteen more to go!