Chapter Text
Lord of Malevolence Tattoos was one of those shops that somehow fit right in but stood out. It fit in among the book store, cafe and arcade that all managed to get crammed together along Dreamlight Boulevard. It stood out because of its dark, edgy aesthetic from the inside out; black bricks, white lettering, even the neon green light decorations inside gave a harsh cyber goth feel. The Red Heart cafe had a cute, woodsy aesthetic and the Viper Books store had a cozy, homely feel. The Lord of Malevolence employees sometimes wondered if they should've traded places with the Savanna Sunflower floral shop from across the street.
As if it couldn't get more strange, Sebek Zigvolt, one of the artists working at the shop was as clean as someone could be. Despite his line of work, he didn't have any tattoos or piercings. His coworkers, Malleus Draconia and Silver Vanrouge were absolutely decorated with silver piercings and black tattoos. It wasn't a requirement for the job, but Sebek always did feel the side eye from customers when he's the artist working on them.
His mint green hair was short, and combed back with a rebellious strand that stuck up in the shape of a lightning bolt. Malleus kept his hair uneven, short in the front and long in the back so he usually had to tie it up for work. Silver's hair changed so frequently it was hard to keep track of what style he was currently into. His hair usually was medium length but sometimes he'd buzz it short or grow it out long. It was usually a shining gray, but sometimes he'd dye it a bright red or an icy blue. Today his hair was long enough to be tied into a high ponytail and was dyed with horizontal stripes of black and green against the gray.
Business was slow, but it was a Monday. Not many people exactly rushing in to get a tattoo on a Monday when they had work or school. Silver napped in one of the client chairs, Sebek read a book he brought and Malleus gazed out the storefront window. His eyes shined because across the street was the Savanna Sunflower floral shop and out walked Leona Kingscholar, the owner. A lion beastman with his long brown hair tied into a brain dressed in black shirt and jeans with a yellow apron. He carefully watered the plants outside while his tail gently swayed.
"I need an excuse to talk to him," Malleus said. Sebek raised an eyebrow as he closed his book.
"Just go out and talk to him." He suggested. "It's better than staring at him through a window. He's going to think he's being watched."
Malleus looked at Sebek. "Please, as if he'd notice."
Sebek pointed out the window and when Malleus followed he saw Leona from across the street waving at him with a small smile. The fae's face flushed and he jolted out of his seat before running to the back of the shop. The beastman lowered his hand, confused, but went back to watering his plants. Sebek sighed, Malleus did this so many times it was amazing that Leona didn't already have a restraining order against him. He threw his book at Silver. The paperback smacked Silver's cheek but didn't wake him immediately. He grumbled and shifted before opening one of his eyes to see the book on his chest.
"What do you want…" He groaned.
"Get up, we're going to the bookstore."
"Why…"
"Because if you sleep any longer you'll end up in a coma." Sebek stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Come on, I'll buy you something for lunch too."
"Fine, whatever." Silver rolled out of the chair. He stretched his arms and shook out his legs with a yawn. "God, these chairs are really bad for sleeping."
"No, really?"
"Man, shut up." Silver picked up his jacket and the pair left the shop together. It was a nice spring day, not too hot but not too cold either. The warm sun paired with the nice cool breeze made Sebek smile. Silver squinted at the sunlight and rubbed his eyes. They walked a few feet down to Viper Books, it was right on the corner of the street. It was a cute little book shop with a dark red and gold storefront, there was usually a small chalkboard sign outside with dates for important events they were holding. It wasn't any different today; the little sign was out there in front of the shop.
Readers Anonymous Book Club! April 24th at 8pm!
It was written with bright pink chalk with doodles of cute snakes and hearts. When Sebek and Silver walked in, the doorbell beeped and one of the people behind the counter looked up and smiled. He had short, choppy white hair with big red eyes.
"Welcome in!" He cheerfully greeted.
"Welcome." His coworker barely muttered, scrolling on his phone. He had long dark hair tied back into a ponytail with dark eyes. Silver raised his eyebrows.
"I'm going to—" Sebek started.
"You can look around," Silver cut him off. He pointed to the employee on his phone with his thumb. "I'm gonna talk to that hottie behind the counter."
Sebek couldn't even muster a groan at that response, he just tightened his lips into a frown and shook his head. "Have at it." He said, then went to browse the shelves. It was slow for them too so really only Silver, Sebek and one other person were in the shop. The store was quiet apart from Silver chatting it up. Sebek went up the stairs in the shop to a level above the kids books that had cook books, encyclopedias and other book types that weren't the fiction being sold downstairs. Nonfiction books. Someone was already up there too so Sebek did his best to not be a bother. He was a tall wolf beastman with white hair, he was looking at the books on gardening. Sebek didn't want to be a bother, but there wasn't any harm in having a little peek. The beastman was wearing some sort of band tee with jeans and boots.
He turned and saw Sebek who was looking around the mythology books.
"Kinda sucks they don't have books about cacti." He commented, pointing to the gardening books.
"They don't?" Sebek asked. He moved towards the gardening section and scanned the spines of the books. "That's unusual…"
"Maybe they sold out…" The beastman's ears lowered.
"Yeah…maybe."
"Oh, um, name's Jack. Sorry for interruptin' your shopping, it's just, uh—"
"No, no! You're fine!" blurted out the tattoo artist. "It's a slow day, I understand completely. There's no one else in here so…oh! I'm Sebek. Sebek Zigvolt!" He stuck his hand out for Jack to shake. When he touched his hand, Sebek felt something warm jolt through his body. Jack's grasp was firm during that brief shake.
"I feel like I've met you before, Sebek." Jack's ears perked up. "Do you work at that tattoo place?"
"I do. Lord of Malevolence?"
"Yeah, that's the one. I work at the floral shop just across from you guys, you get to work pretty early."
"So do you if you manage to see me clock in. I thought Savanna Sunflowers didn't open until 9am."
"It's kind of a routine thing, I get there early to make sure everything's clean."
"Same thing here." Sebek chuckled. "Mostly because my coworkers don't really seem to do it themselves."
Jack chuckled as well. "Honestly, if I didn't recognize your face sooner I would've never thought ya worked there. 'Cause of the…" He waved his hand over his face.
"The lack of piercings and tattoos? I get that plenty."
"Can't really say much, I get told I'm too tough to work for a flower place." His ear flicked. Why did Sebek find it…kinda cute? Wait, why did he find him kinda cute? Oh no. Oh no. Shit! Was this a meet cute? No. No way.
"Well, I should go but uh—"
"Hang on." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Can I get your number?"
What. Sebek blinked. "My what?" He asked like he didn't understand what he was being asked. Jack raised an eyebrow and even tilted his head. "I-I mean, uh, sure!" He snatched Jack's phone from his hand, hastily entered his number into his contacts then returned the device. "There! Okay, I should go now, my break's almost up! Bye!"
He turned heel and ran away almost tripping down the stairs. Jack watched, trying not to laugh at how weirdly awkward but cute Sebek was acting. Sebek grabbed Silver by his jacket sleeve on his way out, practically dragging him out of the shop. The two bookstore employees watched and tried not to laugh at the affair.
"Have a good day!" called out the white haired employee.
"See you around…" said the dark haired employee.
"Dude, what's your problem?" Silver jerked his arm away from Sebek. When he looked at his coworker, his face was entirely red. "Sebek? You okay?"
"Yes!" blurted out Sebek. "Great! I am great! I definitely didn't have a romantic comedy level meet cute in the bookstore with an employee from Savanna Sunflowers! That didn't happen at all!" If he could, he'd melt into a puddle right there on the sidewalk. Why was he feeling all mixed up inside to begin with? As if he wanted to vomit or cry or vomit and cry at the same time from euphoria? Could you even do such things in a euphoric high? Or was it mania? Why was his brain making such a big deal of this? All they did has have a short conversation, that was it. Jack said he recognized him and asked for his number. That wasn't a big deal. He shook his head.
He tried to change the subject. "How was chatting up that…guy?"
"I got his number but, are we surprised?" Silver bragged. He pulled out his phone with a confident smirk.
"I'm surprised he wasn't immediately repulsed by you."
"You say that about every guy I talk to."
"Because you're about as subtle as a fluorescent tracksuit at a funeral when it comes to flirting."
"But who were you talking to that got you all hot and bothered?" Why did Silver have to turn the tables? "You said he worked at Savanna Sunflowers."
Sebek swallowed a lump in his throat. "It was um…his name is Jack. He asked for my number."
"What did you say to him?"
"We talked about how we both clocked in early to work and…that was it."
Silver furrowed his brows and blinked. From his face he was actively trying to process the words he just heard but still couldn't believe it.
"All you did was talk about work and you gave him your number?"
"He seemed into it."
"Is it a perfectionist like you?"
"Oh shut up."
"I'm proud of you though." Silver pat Sebek on the back. "Maybe he'll ask you on a date…" He sang mockingly, leaning his face closer to his coworker's.
"I doubt it." Sebek pushed Silver away, but just then his phone buzzed with a text. He pulled it out and saw the Unknown Number first before reading;
???: It's Jack
???: The guy from the bookstore
???: I was wondering since you ran off, maybe we could grab coffee sometime?
"Son of a Draconia!" Sebek shouted so loud that Silver had to cover his ears with his hands.
"What is it?"
Sebek showed Silver the text.
"You know," Silver sighed. "There's a saying about speaking Hades's name and he'll walk in…"
"Ugh…I do not need this right now…"