Inked

"Tell you what," he said pulling out a pen. "I'll give you my number and if you want call me. Maybe we can discuss my lifestyle." This guy was all smiles and sloppy charisma, for some reasons she couldn't help herself. Holding out her hand palm up she let him scribble his name and digits on her palm. His hand was warm. The fingers long and smooth, his grip on her hand friendly, if one could say that about a hand. "Hope to hear from you," he said reaching for the carry case of coffee and juice he'd come to the store for.

Before she could blink, he was gone.

"Kale splash for Celly!" The barista called sliding the cup across the counter.

Blinking twice she reached out for the beverage with her dominant hand, realizing too late the condensation on the chilly green drink. Switching hands quickly and letting out a little curse, she peered down at the half-smudged numbers on her hand. With a sigh she walked to a table and took a seat, glancing at her hand a couple more times. Perhaps it was for the best, attractive men like him were simply trouble anyway.

Resisting the urge to wipe her hand on her jeans for only a moment she thought about the stranger who'd just inked her hand. Shamefully she'd come to this place because her current client had said they had good juice and when she'd seen him standing there wearing a stupid graphic tee-shirt. She should have bit her tongue and held back the quip about super heroes being out of style for hipster. He'd glanced at her then, and she wanted nothing more than to disappear into ether.

"What makes you say I'm a hipster?"

Taken aback there was rarely confrontation in her life. She'd made sure to avoid it since her older brother was all about it sometimes but the anomaly was genetic for all she knew. Looking him up and down critically she began her own personal assessment. The man wasn't at all unattractive, about a buck sixty he had to be six and a half feet tall. He was thin but not overly narrow, dark hair with what looked like a three day beard. Wearing ripped and faded blue jeans, wearing a canvas jacket despite the hot weather and square thick framed glasses perched on top of his head. She couldn't decide if they were real or if he was going to see a 3D movie. "Seriously?" The word escaped her before she could stop it, damn that confrontation genome.

He snorted again through his nose, "Rather stereotypical isn't it to judge me biased on my appearance. If everyone did that," he paused for a moment pursing his lips and giving her an overly obvious up down. "Well, you know."

She was sure her face was as red as a stop sign. Knowing there was nothing wrong with the way she looked her hand smoothed over the front of her white blouse as she shifted stance in the pair of black pumps. "I'm rarely wrong about the character of a person much less their lifestyle. Appearance says a lot about how a person thinks and feels." The words came out in a rush. She could barely contain them and found herself blushing even darker under his dark gaze. Then he'd taken advantage of the moment and wrote his number on her hand.

Gulping down a mouthful of her 'all the rage juice drink' she couldn't help but snort. Now that she thought about it he did have a sort of smug satisfied smile on his face when he'd left. Discuss his lifestyle, how ridiculous. Glancing at her watch she sucked down the remainder of her drink and tossed the ninety percent recycled cup into the garbage can. Celina Schezar was rarely wrong about someone's lifestyle, it was her job title for gods sake. Wiping her hand on her jeans it simply smudged the ink further into illegibility, all that she could read was the guys name now. Snorting once again she exited the juice bar, what kind of name was Gaddess anyway.

It was two weeks later and she had a meeting with a client in the same area of town. Figuring to hit the juice bar once more Celina never thought she'd see him again. She'd been studying the menu for more than ten minutes attempting to find a drink that didn't contain kale, when the bell over the door chimed. She'd decided on a strawberry smoothie, hold the kale and tried not to act all that shocked when she turned around to see his Cheshire cat grin. "Hello there stranger," he said with an almost ear to ear smile. "You didn't call, should I take a hit and say my lifestyle didn't jive with yours?"

Her heart actually sped up in her chest. She didn't think about him much in the last few weeks but seeing him here, in nearly the same cloths as last time she didn't know what to do. "Your number got smudged on my hand," she mumbled in a rush when she realized he was waiting for a response from her. Smooth Celina real smooth. He made a sound like he didn't believe her and waved to the barista.

"I didn't mean it you know," her voice was quiet, almost shy while she shifted from one foot to the other. "I was rude the other day and I am sorry for how I acted and what I said."

"Ha! It's alright," he said, waving his hand in dismissal. "I've been called far worse I assure you. I haven't seen you around here since that day a couple weeks ago. Don't work around here?"

"Uh, no."

"What is it you do if you don't mind me asking?"

Swallowing hard she couldn't believe her bad luck, really. "I-I'm actually a life style consultant." It came out as a half embarrassed whisper.

The bubble of laughter started with his shoulders, then built until he looked like he was about to burst. One corner of his mouth quirked trying with all his might to squash the urge. "You-you don't say."

Celina could feel the corner of her eye twitching. "And what do you do Gaddess."

He didn't miss the use of his name, "I thought you said it smudged on your hand."

"It did."

"Hmm. I work around the corner." He said hiking his finger in a general direction.

She thought hard, around the corner there were multiple offices. None of which he was dressed for unless it was a relaxed environment. What office around the corner had a relaxed enough environment for jeans and. It hit her in the face like a wet trout. "You work for …"

"The Google overloads," he said with a half smirk. "Yea, that's who prints my paycheck. It's not as bad as some of those buzz feed articles make it out to be."

"So you're not a hipster, you're a nerd," she couldn't help but tease.

"Afraid so. I'm no programmer though, I run accounts and crunch numbers all day. It's boring work but…"

"Gaddess and Celly your orders up!" The shout cut his explanation and he rushed forward picking up the five cartons of juice and an enormous bag of baked goods as Celina reached for her strawberry smoothie.

"Sorry we have to cut this short again Celly," he said in a teasing tone.

"Hold on a second," she said in a rush. Fumbling around in her pocket she pulled out her business card, holding it for him to see she reached forward slipping it into the front pocket of his jeans with a blush. "My card. You know, in case you want a consultation."

"Ha! You're adorable."

Celina felt her face turn as red as her drink. Nobody had ever called her adorable before, not since she was a child.

"I'll take you up on it," he said smiling and pushing the door open for her despite the load of beverages in his arms. "Just to be warned, I'll be calling you."

She laughed and for once it was one that reached all the way to her blue eyes. It left Gaddess staring at her with a look between dumbfounded and awe. "See you later Celly."

"It's Celina," she called after him, with a wave as he started walking away. She couldn't help but shout after him, "I'll be looking forward to your call!"

Less than thirty minutes later she answered her cell phone with a smile.

Hello Kittens,

I feel like there isn't enough love for Gaddess or for Celina (Cerena) out there as individual characters much less as a couple. But I have a soft spot for unlikely character pairings too.

I really wish this fandom would pick back up to its former glory.

There is another Dragons Dream chapter in the works and I've been fighting with it for a long while now so hopefully I'll have it done soon.

Review it!

Got an idea or suggestion? Leave it in a review or message!

Until next time,

BV-Smile