*** DISCLAIMER ***
I own NOTHING regarding the divergent series e.g. the books/the movies
The only things I own are my own characters that I've created.
Haylz93 Thank you for your review, I really appreciate the feedback! Glad you're enjoying the story and I hope this chapter is to your satisfaction. :)
"See something you like?" A man asked Nix as she stood looking at some images on one of the walls of the shop, he was taller than her...probably of average height for a man and almost every inch of his skin that was visible was covered in tattoos and piercings.
"I'm just looking." she replied with a quick smile as she looked him up and down, there were so many different shapes and patterns all over his body and as she looked at them she couldn't help but think that each one must hold some type of story, that mesmerised her.
Realising that she was now staring she quickly cleared her throat and turned her head to look at the images on the wall once more and as she did she muttered to herself, "I don't have a story yet...so I don't deserve one."
"You're a transfer from abnegation." the man said a beat later, it wasn't a question, Nix looked at him to see that he was regarding her curiously.
"How'd you know that?" she asked him and then her shoulders immediately slumped, "Let me guess...everyone's been talking about the STIFF that transferred, right?"
"Nope, I just have a good eye." he replied with a grin before continuing, "How about a piercing? Lot quicker than a tattoo."
Nix was about to answer the question but she hesitated, he then nodded his head slowly and said, "Let me guess, you don't deserve that either?"
She felt her cheeks warm as she realised that he'd heard what she'd said before and she waited a few seconds before she shrugged, "Well I do like them and they always look nice when I see people with them, like you...yours are cool but...I don't think they're for me."
"But you want a change right? I mean...why else would you have come here?" he asked.
"Well my friend wanted a tattoo, I came with her." She replied.
"That's not the reason, I've been in this business a long time and in that time I've learned how to read people...you're definitely looking for a change, something that really puts your old faction behind you." he said.
"Maybe." she replied with a smile after a brief moment of silence, she couldn't deny it.
"Do you trust me?" he asked after grinning at her and she glanced around where she was stood before looking at him.
"I don't know you." she replied.
He shook his head with another grin, "The dauntless answer is yes and you're dauntless now...come with me."
She watched as he began walking towards a door that was across the room and she hesitated at first but then she did eventually follow him.
He opened the door then led her inside and she was met by what seamed to be a little apartment, there was a small dining area with a kitchen and to her right there was a living area, there was also two doors across the other side of the room that she assumed was a bathroom and bedroom.
The door closing behind her had her suddenly uneasy, no matter how nice he seamed to be, she had just met the man...he was still a stranger.
Her thoughts were interrupted when he quickly moved ahead of her and grabbed a chair from the kitchen area, he sat it in the middle of the room and told her to sit, she found herself looking up at him with a raised eyebrow until he added on the word 'please', her legs then seamed to move on their own and before she knew it she was sat in the chair.
"Is this where you live?" she called out to him as he disappeared through one of the doors across the room.
"It is indeed." he called back as he re-entered the room a moment later, she turned to look at him and saw he had something in his hand.
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's clippers." he told her and she stared at him in a way that said 'what?', "They're for shaving."
She stared at him for moment more then said, "Shaving?"
"Shaving." he said with a nod.
"Hair?" She found herself asking aloud and she rolled her eyes at the question which made him laugh with a brief nod, she ignored his amusement and took note of his appearance once more, he was bald and he had no facial hair, "You don't have any hair TO shave."
"Very observant." the man said with a grin then he pointed at her with the clippers, "You have hair."
As his words registered Nix suddenly stood up and took a step back whilst practically growling at him as she did, "No way...there is no way that you are shaving my head!"
"Chill out sweetheart, I'm not some amateur...I know what I'm doing." he replied after laughing and then he pointed to the seat, "Sit down."
"No." she replied and folded her arms across her chest.
"You'll like what I'm going to do." he said with a smile, "Come on...you said you wanted a change."
"I said maybe and by change I didn't mean shaving my hair off!" she replied and he rolled his eyes.
"I'm not going to shave your hair off, I'm going to shave part of it off." he said.
"Well that's just so much better isn't it?" she replied sarcastically with raised brows.
"Oh come on...take a risk, you're dauntless now, not abnegation." he said to her, "Trust me...you'll like it."
"There's that word again...trust...I don't know you well enough to trust you." she replied.
"Again...wrong answer, I'm Mac." he said with a smile and held his hand towards her, she stared at it for a moment then took it and they shook.
"Nix." she replied and he nodded.
"Now you know me...therefore you can trust me." he said.
"It doesn't work that way." she told him and he nodded his head.
"It does here, now please...sit down, I promise...you'll like what I'm going to do, maybe even love it." he said and she stared at him for a long moment before eventually sighing and sitting down, it couldn't be as bad as she thought it would be surely and after all, he did have a point...she was no longer abnegation.
He looked really pleased with himself as she moved to sit in the seat and he pulled her ponytail loose once she was sat infront of him, he then let out a whistle and said, "That is some length of hair that you have there, it's really nice too."
"That's why I don't want you shaving it off." she replied and he let out a sigh.
"Nix...will you please just let me work?" he asked as he gathered up most of her hair onto the top of her head then clipped it up so it stayed in place, she could feel part of her hair hanging down from behind her ears around the back of her head, "I need you to stay very still now okay?"
The sound of the clippers now switched on scared her and she wriggled in the seat, Mac held onto her shoulders so the clippers in his hand were right beside her ear.
"Still Nix." he said.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing? And I'd really like to know what that is!" she replied and he chuckled.
"Now that would spoil the surprise." he said and her eyes widened.
"For which one?!" she asked and her voice came out high pitched.
"I like you stiff." he said after laughing at her, "Now please, just trust me and stay still...okay?"
"Okay." she reluctantly said a beat later and then before she knew it the clippers were on the back of her skull buzzing away, when she felt a piece of her hair falling away she let out a whimper and Mac made an amused sound.
The vibrating feeling made her teeth hurt and it tickled her head too, especially around the side of her ears.
Mac moved his hand slowly over the lower part and then middle of her head for about maybe three minutes before the buzzing stopped, indicating the clippers were turned off.
"Done." he said and started to unclip her hair so it fell down her back once more.
"You're done? That's it?" she asked as she stood up.
"Yeah, unless you want more off?" he teased, "Hold on."
He halted her and lifted up her hair once more then he began to use what felt like a brush against the back of her neck before he let go of her hair again.
"Come with me." he said and led her towards one of the doors which turned out to be the bathroom, "Look in the mirror and tell me what you think."
He took a hold of her hair once she was stood infront of the mirror and held it up in his fist in a makeshift ponytail, she could see now that from behind both of her ears, her hair was shaved and it moved around and upwards slightly in a pyramid shape to the back of her head, there were also three thinner horizontal cut line that filled the shape.
She let out a quiet gasp and turned a little, he moved with her so she could look at it from the side.
"Wow...that's-" she began to say but he cut her off.
"Cool." he finished with a grin.
"Yeah...it is, I never imagined this is how it would look." she said as she lifted a hand up to feel her head, the hair that was left over was very soft.
"Here hold this up, I'll get another mirror for you to see the back." Mac said and she took the hold of her hair from him, he disappeared as she turned around to the other side to see and she smiled, this new style was so completely different to anything she'd ever had before and that was always just a trim and even then she'd always wore it up in a bun, she'd never have imaged herself with her hair styled this way.
She loved it.
"Here we are." Mac said as he returned less than a minute later with a small square shaped mirror, he held it up behind her so she could look at the back of her head, the whole lower part of the back of her head up to a point in the middle about a couple of inches above both ears was shaved and it looked great.
"Thank you Mac...I...I love it." she whispered with a smile and he smiled back.
"You're welcome...I told you that you could trust me." he replied and she grinned.
"I'm glad I did." she said and he put the mirror down.
"The best part is too." he said and took the hold of her hair from her and let it fall down her back, "It looks the exact same as it did before only now...when you tie it up, you'll see the shaved part."
"I think I like the shaved part better." she said after a beat and he laughed.
"You'll be coming back for me to shave it all off next time." he replied and she smiled.
"Well...let's not get ahead of ourselves." she said and he grinned.
"It really does suit you." he said as he left the bathroom and walked towards the chair, she followed him out.
"You think?" she asked.
"Oh absolutely." he replied with a grin as he moved to get a brush to sweep up the bits of her hair on the floor.
"Here let me." she said and made a move to take the brush from him.
"Nope." he said and held it away from her, "You get going, get back out there with your friends."
"Are you sure I can't help?" she asked and he nodded.
"Go and come back when you decide on a tattoo." he said and she smiled.
"How much am I due you for this?" she asked and he waved a hand at her.
"It's on me." he said and she began to protest but he stopped her, "No arguing, it's a gift...sort of like a 'welcome to dauntless' thing."
"Thank you Mac." she said with a smile and he returned it before ushering her out of the room, she gave him a wave before she left.
O
Once she was in the tattoo shop again Nix looked around for Andie and saw her being led around a corner of the room by a woman and they suddenly both disappeared from view, Andie's feet could then be seen peaking out and raised off the ground, she was obviously just getting her tattoo now.
Nix moved towards where her friend now was but as she walked she bumped into someone topless who had just walked right into her path, the chest of this person was solid and she bounced off of it and into a tray covered in tattooing equipment behind her, she almost fell but the person grabbed her arm and yanked her forward and back into his hard torso, a torso that was sculpted in what could only be described as wonderfully captivating ripped muscles.
The chest she was practically stuck to was rising and falling fast and it was hot too, she waited a beat before she said, "I am so sorry, please forgive me for that."
"You should pay attention where you're walking next time stiff." The person replied.
She knew the voice and she knew who it belonged to, she looked up and was greeted by a glare from none other than Eric, she quickly stepped back from him whilst tucking her hair behind her ears.
"Sorry." she muttered without looking at his face but not looking at his face meant she was looking at his naked torso and she was thankful there was mostly darkness in the tattoo shop so that no one, especially not him, could see how red her face had gone at the sight before her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her as he began to pull his black t-shirt over his head.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" she replied quickly and she instantly regretted it because the look she got in return was an extremely cold one.
She couldn't help the way it came out of her mouth, she was annoyed, annoyed because he'd asked her why she was there in a tone that suggested it was illegal, she was also annoyed that the sight of him with hardly any clothes on could have such a deep effect on her.
"Wanna try that again?" he asked with a frown.
She waited a beat before replying to him this time, "Andie came to get a tattoo...she wanted me to come with her."
He stared at her briefly before he made an amused sound, "Thought as much...you don't seam the type that would get ink."
That irritated her.
She glared at him then asked in a clipped tone, "Why? Because I was a stiff?"
"Because you ARE a stiff." he shot back with his own glare, "You're not dauntless yet initiate."
"I will be." she told him matter of factly and he almost laughed...almost.
"I'll believe THAT when I see it." he replied and walked past her, bumping her in the shoulder roughly as he did so she was shoved backwards, she turned and watched him go with pursed lips before she continued on her original path towards where Andie had gone and when the girl saw Nix she waved and said, "There you are!"
"Sorry I disappeared." she replied with a smile.
"Where did you go?" Andie asked and Nix waited a beat before answering.
"I was getting a hair cut." she replied and Andie looked at her hair.
"Really...uh, it looks...the same but it's really pretty!" she said and Nix grinned before gathering up her hair then turning so her back was facing Andie, "Whoa! You got it shaved?!"
"Do you like it?" Nix asked.
"I love it! It's so different and...surprising." Andie replied with a laugh.
"I know, it was a spontaneous decision...and not mine." Nix said with a smile as she thought about Mac.
"That's cool." the woman doing Andie's tattoo said with a grin.
"Thanks." Nix said then looked at Andie as she dropped her hair, "So what are you getting?"
"It's just a little image of the Amity fields." she replied with a grin.
"That sounds nice." Nix said and watched as the tattoo artist held the black pad against the inside of Andie's upper arm.
"I just wanted something to remember them by." she said.
"I understand." Nix replied with a nod.
"Are you gonna get one?" Andie asked and she shook her head.
"Maybe...it won't be today though." she said and Andie nodded.
"I need to do something real quick but I'll be back, just lie there and relax, try not to move." the tattoo artist said to Andie and she disappeared.
"Does it hurt?" Nix asked Andie once she was sat on the stool beside her.
"Not really, it's just a bit tight." she said with with a slight grimace and Nix nodded, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay...my muscles have been a bit tender since we had dinner but I guess that's just because I'm not used to the physical training." Nix replied with a shrug.
"I meant after what happened with Eric? And the training will get easier." Andie said.
"I'm weak." Nix said after shrugging her shoulders and Andie shook her head.
"No you're not weak, don't listen to what he said." she said with a frown.
"It's true though...I could barely hold him off today." Nix replied.
"That's because the guy has like a foot on you and probably weighs more than double what you do! Don't put yourself down, it took a lot of guts to go against him...I don't think I could have." she said with a smile and patted Nix's hand.
"Well I'll be sure to come to you first thing tomorrow to test that theory initiate." the voice that was becoming a little too familiar to Nix suddenly filled the room and both girls gasped in surprise at his swift appearance, Andie's not surprisingly was a little more dramatic than necessary.
Nix turned her head and found him leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.
"That's going to hurt like hell when you take a hit." he said as he pointed to Andie's arm tattoo.
"From you?" she asked hesitantly and he nodded, "But...what if I block you?"
"Really?" he asked as his eyebrows shot up and Nix noticed the corner of his mouth lift up in a smirk, "You think that on your second day of training, you'll block me? I can hardly wait to see it."
"I do have some experience with fighting you know." Andie replied and Nix saw her trying to hide a grin.
Eric rolled his eyes, "I'm sure you do, Amity."
He used extra emphasis on the last word then glanced at Nix briefly before turning his attention back to Andie who was looking at her hands in her lap with a smile on her face.
Feeling suddenly uneasy Nix fidgeted on the stool she was sat on and swallowed as she thought to herself, what was happening?
It was as if she was intruding on a private conversation they were having and also she wasn't sure...were they...flirting, with one another?
She couldn't tell if they were or not...not that she knew what it was, she only really began to understand what the word meant when she joined dauntless and she'd saw it happen a few times in the day and a half she'd been there throughout the entire compound and in so many different strange ways, she'd never experienced anything like it herself or even seen it happen back in abnegation, abnegation don't even kiss in public, she'd seen plenty of that here.
Andie seamed like she was flirting, she was throwing back comments at him that Nix probably would have gotten scolded for which was annoying, what was more annoying though was that it was bothering her, she'd gotten the impression that Andie liked Bill yet here she was flirting with Eric and he didn't seam to be dissuading her in any way either.
How could she act like she really liked one person and then act the same way with another? How could she even act this way when she knew how much the man had terrorised her since she arrived?
She didn't want to listen to it anymore as it was becoming more infuriating to her by the second so she quickly stood up and said to Andie as she did, "I'm going back to the dorm."
"Aren't you going to wait with me?" Andie asked and Nix shook her head.
"Sorry, I feel a lot more tired than I realised...and sore." she replied, saying the last part over her shoulder with a pointed look at Eric who smirked at her in response, she turned back to look at Andie, "Early night."
"Okay, I shouldn't be too much longer here." Andie said with a smile and Nix nodded then turned to walk away, Eric's eyes followed her as she did but she didn't look at him, "See you back there."
Nix didn't reply to Andie, she just kept walking, she felt too exhausted and emotional to be feeling jealous towards her friend, not that it was jealousy, she wasn't even sure how that felt really because she'd never felt it before either, not really...there were a lot of new feelings she'd discovered that she was feeling since she joined dauntless, why would she even feel jealous?
The man treated her like a parasite yet he had the ability to make her feel this way by exchanging a few words with her friend, her only friend, was it because they seamed to...hit it off? Or was it because Andie wasn't being treated by him the way that she was.
Maybe it was purely because she wasn't a stiff and no one in dauntless or any other faction for that matter seamed to like stiff's, well, dauntless weren't actually too bad with abnegation...they were known to, like the other factions, to tease them but they'd never outright bullied them like erudite had.
The more she thought about that the more it seamed to annoy and upset her, Eric had mentioned Andie's tattoo to her after overhearing their conversation...a tattoo which was of the amity fields, her previous faction...something to remember them by, surely he'd heard her say that?
He'd told Nix not to even THINK about abnegation...yet the fact Andie was getting a tattoo of hers didn't matter?
Why was that fair?!
She headed for the exit of the tattoo shop as quickly as possible and as she neared it she spotted Mac with a customer, he spotted her also and called out to her with a smile, "Off already?"
She didn't stop walking as she replied, "I am, thanks again."
She pointed to her head and he gave her a thumbs up, "Let me see it again."
She smiled and lifted her hair up above her head then did a little spin for him and he gave her a cheer which made her laugh, she was surprised she managed to twirl whilst still walking without tripping up over her feet.
"Beautiful!" he called after her as she walked out the door, "Don't be a stranger!"
"I won't!" she called back over her shoulder and continued walking, the smile gradually faded from her face as she did and she sighed, why would she be feeling the way she was towards her friend and the man that had, since she met him, gone out of his way to intimidate her...well that may have been slightly dramatic, it had only been two days and he was probably only acting the way a dauntless leader would towards an initiate in hopes it would help them improve, maybe...or maybe she was just taking it to heart too much.
She sighed again and shook her head of the thoughts of Eric, it had been a long day and all she was looking forward to now was getting into bed, after having a shower to de-stress and rest her aching muscles first though.
At the thought of the shower she halted and stared ahead before she let out a loud groan that echoed throughout the tunnel and then she began walking again.
"What are you complaining about?" Came from behind her and she slowed down until she was once again halted and then she briefly closed her eyes with a long sigh.
Why was he always there?
"What now." she moaned to herself as she heard his footsteps approaching, he then moved to stand infront of her and when he did he was a little too close for comfort so she took a step back, however, he stepped with her.
She waited a beat before she looked up at him and when she did she found that he was glaring down at her and she rolled her eyes at him, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with him and why should she have to? She was on her way back to the dorm...she wasn't doing anything she shouldn't be.
"You know if the wind changes your face will stay like that." Her eyes widened the second the words left her mouth, words she could never get back...they were out there now and he heard them, she closed her eyes with a shake of her head and tried to come up with an explanation for not only him but herself as to why she had said that, "I didn't...I didn't mean to say."
She cut herself off from finishing what she was saying and opened her eyes to find he was staring at her with that glare still on his face, finding no way to explain herself she just shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm still waiting for you to answer my question...what are you complaining about?" he said a beat later in a scarily calm voice.
"Nothing." she replied immediately and he narrowed his eyes at her response which told her he was expecting an answer, "Well...I...I just...you know what, you don't want to hear about it."
She made a move to step around him but he moved with her and blocked her path, "Oh I really do."
"Well I don't want to tell you." she shot back and made a move once more to step around him but he grabbed her upper arms and stopped her, she looked up at him and found him looking at her expectantly, she stared up at him for a beat then sighed, he wasn't going to let her go without an answer, "Fine, if you really want to know...I was thinking about showering but then I remembered that the showers are open for everyone to see and Andie isn't with me right now and she said to me that she would hold a towel up to stop anyone from seeing and-"
She decided to cut herself off from babbling any further, her face had been heating up with each word she said and as she had spoken he remained expressionless and he remained that way after he loosened his hold from her arms which caused her to immediately take a step back from him.
She waited a beat then shook her head before she looked past him briefly, she did this just as he asked her, "Are you afraid someone will see you naked?"
Those words coming out of his mouth and to be talking about her had her cheeks suddenly burning, her eyes shot to his face and she swallowed before replying, "Well...obviously."
That clearly was the wrong answer because his face hardened and he took a step towards her so they were toe to toe, she looked up and saw him staring down at her, "Dauntless are supposed to be fearless."
She sighed and replied, "Well I'm not dauntless yet, I'm only an initiate, that's something that you love to keep reminding me of."
"And you never will be dauntless with that attitude." he said firmly.
"It's my first day...would it kill you to give me a break." she snapped, the irritation getting the better of her and his nostrils flared.
"Weren't you listening to what I said this morning? If I feel you're not trying hard enough I can get rid of you." he told her and clicked his fingers, "Like that...you'd be gone just like that and right now...I feel like you're not trying hard enough."
She stared up at him with a scowl then said in a firm voice, "It's my FIRST day."
He stared down at her with an equal looking scowl on his own face and said, "You're on extremely thin ice stiff."
"I've done nothing to be." she replied in a quiet voice and took a couple of steps back from him, he then moved towards her and didn't stop, he kept moving until she was forced to take more steps back and it wasn't long before her back was against a wall with nowhere to go.
There was a silence between them after that, a long and painful one, she didn't know what to do other than stand her ground and she did this by staring up at him.
He stared back at her briefly before his eyes began to roam over her face and then he raised his hand which caused her to flinch and he frowned at her.
"We're not in the ring yet initiate." he told her in a low voice.
"We weren't last night either." she replied and touched her lip where he had hit her.
He glanced at her mouth briefly before he touched it lightly with his thumb, the rest of his fingers seamed to float next to her cheek...never touching the skin.
It unnerved her and she stared up at him with wide eyes, presuming that he would tear her lips from her face at any second if she so much as moved.
He didn't, instead he moved both his hands to either side of her head so he had her caged in between his arms, her heart was pounding the whole time in anticipation of what he would do next.
He gradually moved his hands to her head where he gripped her hair in them and she squeezed her eyes closed, this was it...she was going to get her head smashed against the wall for being a nuisance.
However...that never happened, she only felt her hair being lifted up gently and then his big hand cupped the back of her newly shaved head.
She opened her eyes and watched his face as his hand gently rubbed the shape on her head, her breathing had slowed to almost the point where it was non-existent.
This wasn't real...it couldn't be.
"I like this, it's nice...suits you." he said after a beat and it was as if he was saying it more to himself than to her.
She made an 'o' shape with her mouth as she watched his face, a smile played on the corner of his mouth as he ran his hand over the shaved part and into the part that was held up, he then let the hold he had of her hair in his other hand go so it cascaded over his hand and down her back.
"Thanks." she managed to say back but it came out as a whisper and his eyes found hers, he stared for a moment before the hand cupping her head let it go and he stepped back from her whilst inhaling a deep breath.
Suddenly she could breathe again and her heart beat started to return to it's normal rate, he took another step back from her and swiftly turned to walk off but not before he quickly said over his shoulder, "The clothing store near the tattoo shop sells bathing suits."
And just like that, he was gone.
She stood where he left her against the wall wondering...what just happened?