Work Text:
Renee flexed her shoulders, the wings shifting with the skin on her back, long white feathers gave her the convincing appearance of an angel—at least according to the people who did not know the origin of the tattoo. To Renee, it looked like a ghost. A promise of what had once been and a forewarning of what should never be again—those were the words she had told Riko the first time she’d shown it to him. It was one of the many ways they were alike, though their past came in different colors of the same bloodshed.
She turned, finally noticing him. “Oh, there you are.” she said. She’d texted him to come to their bedroom.
His eyes quickly landed on her chest for a moment, but they did not linger long before his gaze rose back to her eyes.
“Come over here and turn around.” she said.
He walked closer to her and leaned in for a kiss, but she pulled away. “Nu-uh, not yet.” She said, poking his nose, earning her a disgruntled groan, but he turned around. She put one hand against his shoulder and grabbed the hem of his shirt with the other, giving him ample time to protest as she started pulling it up. He said nothing and raised his arms to help her as she pulled it over his head and off completely. “Just relax, okay? I want to try something.”
Riko nodded his consent. He heard a weird pop, and it took all his self-control to not turn around and look. Something tickled against his back, and he shifted a bit.
“Easy, boy,” she said, and the sensation continued. She slowly made her way across his back and over his shoulders, the weird popping sound happening a few more times before something scraped against his skin again.
He’d almost grown used to the sensation when she finally stepped back. “All finished up!”
He looked over his shoulder to give her a confused look but paused when he caught a glimpse of his tattoo in his peripheral vision, where it spread over his shoulder blades. The dark outlines were filled with soft pinks and deep purple hues. When he twisted a bit, he could even see some blue.
Renee stepped to the side, leaving the mirror open for Riko to get a better view of everything. He frowned, trying to figure out what the meaning was. It was only when Renee handed him three other markers that he finally got it.
“If you want to,” she said. “I should have asked you first, I can help you wash off-“
Riko broke off her words with a stolen kiss. She let him have it this time.
“I’d like to,” he said, and she smiled as she turned her back to him.
Riko popped the cap off the blue marker. He was careful as he brought the brush to her skin, testing out the color with a single stroke. The color muted a bit despite the paleness of her complexion, but still stood out, contrasted, and vibrant. Riko flashed her a grin, catching her eyes through the mirror, then set to work. He colored in a few of the feathers successfully before the pen slipped for a split second. It was a split second too much, though.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “I went outside the lines. Do you think alcohol will clean it up?”
Renee giggled, finding joy in the juvenile worry. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “If you do it more, it’ll look intentional.”
Riko raised an eyebrow, which seemed to just amuse her more.
“Trust me, it’s fine.”
Riko wasn’t entirely convinced, but when he started again, taking the magenta marker this time, he put a little less care into it, letting the marker flow more freely, and left it at just a slight wince next time the colors bleed a bit outside of the lines.
He grabbed the yellow marker next, adding it to the already-existing colors. It actually looked quite pretty, though Riko supposed nothing could look ugly on Renee.
"Renee, why do you have the printer calibration test as a logo on your shirt?” He’d asked the first time he’d seen the colors together, shaped as a heart in the middle of her chest. She’d chuckled and explained. “Is that why it’s called pantones?” he’d continued, which had made her burst out in a full laugh.
Riko had certainly known the concept of being ‘gay’. There were very split opinions on that in the Nest, from acceptance to outright disgust. The word had never meant much to him, though. He wasn’t gay. He just loved Kevin, and that was that. Kevin loved him and Thea, which he later came to understand was bisexuality. He hadn’t understood back then, either, how unusual their setup was. The notion that Thea, if she adhered to the norm, would make Kevin choose between her and Riko. Wasn’t more love better? He was happy that Renee had agreed. Even if she wasn’t chasing the idea of more partners, she had accepted that Kevin would always be part of Riko’s life. Polyamory, she’d called it. It was something they should have discussed beforehand — before Renee had walked in on Riko and Kevin making out, at least—but Renee had been more understanding than the rest. Of Riko’s behavior and mannerisms, and that he didn’t always understand what was the right action to take in a situation that looked obvious to everyone else—and, of course, the fact that she had already expected Riko and Kevin to have such an arrangement.
After everything, he still didn’t quite get it—not the flags or the terms—but it apparently meant something to Renee, and so he found himself enjoying exploring it with her, even picking one for himself after she explained what polyamory meant.
“Things would be so different if we met there instead of here.” Renee mused when Riko drew another line along her back.
“You would have given everyone a run for their money,” Riko said.
“Even you?” she asked, as one of the few that dared.
“Don’t get cocky,” Riko grumbled. He was actually quite sure that she would. It was pretty normal for people to see Renee as weak; he knew that much. Both the Foxes and strangers treated her as a delicate thing, though the Foxes still held the utmost respect for her on the playing field. They knew her worth. But they struggled to understand just what they were dealing with—how fierce she was behind that sweet exterior that helped palpitate others. In the Nest, she wouldn’t have to live up to appearance; Nathalie would have been alive rather than a distant memory; Riko wasn’t sure if he would have fallen in love with her then, which was one of the reasons he didn’t wish for things to have gone differently than they did.
Riko had been like a feral animal when he first arrived at the Foxes, courtesy of Ichirou making arrangements. Riko still wasn’t sure if Kevin’s dad had had any choice in the matter, but whether or not he did, he did not show it. He treated Riko like one of his players; he caught flag when he made mistakes, whether on the court or in the social sphere, but unlike what he had come to expect, he got praise whenever he took a good shot or managed to make a well-executed block. He never knew the two simple words “good job” could change so much.
The next set of words that shifted Riko’s world view was a simple request. He hadn’t offered Renee much thought before then. She was pretty, sure, but pretty didn’t help on the court.
“Can you teach me how to cook?” she’d asked. People rarely bothered asking him for anything that didn’t have to do with Exy or the Nest because Riko’s world view was limited almost exclusively to those two, with Kevin being in both categories. But he could cook. Every Raven was taught how to cook meals that were nutritious and high in protein, a must-have if they were ever in a situation where the strict food intake dictated by the Master was not a possibility. Such a thing was not expected to happen, but uncle dearest lived his life according to the mindset that one could never be too prepared.
She’d had no trouble stealing his heart after that, as they bonded over her terrible skills that slowly got better with Riko’s guiding hands and words. It turns out mistakes didn’t grate on him as much when it was off the court, especially not when he earned Renee’s beautiful smile whenever he corrected her.
He finished off her shoulders with the last marker, finishing off the printer rainbow. He grabbed the small hand mirror from the counter and held it up to let her see the work.
She smiled, looking first at the work, then at Riko.
“You know, we could make this permanent if you want,” she teased.
Riko huffed. “It’s your choice but-“, he said, looking down on the marker in his hand and froze.
“But what?” she asked.
“I don’t think it is anymore.” He handed her the marker so she could see what he’d just noticed.
She leaned her head back and groaned. “We’ll tell the rest it’s intentional.”
“Intentional that you bought permanent markers?” he asked. “You’re about as good at this as you are in the kitch-“
It was her turn to shut him up with a kiss.
