Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How do you begin telling stories?... Right! from the beginning, though I gotta say that the middle bit is far more interesting to tell. But I guess we have to do things the right way, although this whole “tale” is anything but right.

It starts with a girl and a boy, quite a straight narrative, but oh well.

Her name is Circe -yes, like the goddess that turned men into swine, poetic, right?- and oh, did she live up to her name. Like it’s told in epic stories and chants, Circe was a goddess, beautiful, smart, mischievous and manipulative; she had a tongue so sharp it could cut through your brain and make you putty in her hands, susceptible to her whispers that ultimately led to her bed or your metamorphosis; and if she doesn’t get you the way she wants to, she’ll do the impossible to get what she desires. Wicked, is one way to describe her ways.

And just like old Greece’s Circe, our Circe was magical. Her fingers could work in magnificent ways, her voice lured people in quite a siren-like way and her personality was something to talk about, she was sarcastic and a tease, but once you broke all of those additional layers you’ll find yourself facing a soft beautiful creature, worthy of love and appreciation.

When we talk physical appearance, your eyes seemed to be quickly drawn to her whenever she walked in a room and it wasn’t just for her dark hair and matching set of eyes, oh no, it had to do with the many beautiful tattoos that adorned her soft skin; a full sleeve of delicately drawn flowers lied on her right arm where you could distinctively tell apart the shape of a woman, a nymph of sorts; and hidden underneath her shirt, on the right side of her ribcage there was a hand and a rose, where said rose seemed to go through the hand, making it drip blood; if you were lucky enough to catch her in shorts you could also see the wonderfully done skull on her right leg, vines and thorns going through it and intertwining just so they could rise to her hip. To put it simply, she was a walking piece of art embroidered with smaller pieces of art.

When she walks in the vicinity you can help but wonder: “who is she?” It might come out of fascination or even judgement maybe even fright, but she’s got your attention, and she thrives off of it. She likes having people -not just men- wrapped around her finger, pulling them and pushing them as she pleases, toying with them, oh how she loves playing games where her winning is a sure thing. She took pride in the destruction she sometimes caused, she loved calling herself a hurricane of sorts, she loved the knocking on her door begging for more, she loves the power it holds to be the one pulling on the leash and not the other way around.

But how surprising it is to know that she craves for true love, no leashes involved, just… love. Admittedly it’s hard to find love in the ’80s, especially in the scene she seemed to hang around in… Rock and Roll, baby… I guess?

At the moment she found herself in the back of a random bar, a glass of vodka cooling her hands as she held it close to her, the bartender tried making conversation with her, though he soon realised it wasn’t that good of an idea, he knew her well and he could tell she wasn’t interested in human interaction tonight. She dropped a couple of crumbled bucks on the bar and left, finally making up her mind.

You see, she had found herself debating over a stupid idea. Just this morning she was surprised by one of her childhood friends; she had opened up her door, finally addressing the insistent knocking, but all she saw was a lanky tall man-child practically dropping to his knees begging her to go to his band's gig, he thought very highly of her and her opinion, hence his need to have her there. She couldn’t stop thinking if it was even worth it, she might love this man to bits but was there a need to prove it? Bands always screwed up on their first gig, rarely got attention, so she’d rather see them once they get better.

Despite her judgemental ways, she was heading to the place of the gig: The Starwood Hotel. How did Tommy manage to convince her to go? That’s something that not even god is sure of.

She ruffled up her hair as she looked in her car's window. Opening the door with a heavy sigh, she just plopped down on the sit, turning the engine on, hearing the lovely roar of her old man's Mustang. She huffed out a chuckle and drove to her destination, humming along to whatever song came up on the radio, turning it up slightly when she heard the sultry voice of Debbie Harry singing "Rapture", great fucking song , she thought.

The drive wasn't long, despite the liveliness of the LA streets at this time of night. Once she got there, she found herself a nice little place to park, making sure it was near the hotel but not quite. With yet another huff she made her way to the entrance of the hotel and headed straight away to the place where she assumed the gig was taking place. A question popped in her head: How in the hell did they manage to get a gig in a fucking hotel? Escapes my mind, clearly… Wait, wasn’t Y&T playing here tonight? What the fuck...

As soon as she found herself near the stage her eyes wandered around in search of the bar, hoping that a couple of shots and yet another vodka could make the experience of a first gig tolerable. She looked around herself, the room was kinda full, thanks to the promise of Y&T playing there that night. She could distinct well-established groups of people, that all at the moment decided that the place to be was nowhere near the stage as if it was the plague or something close to it; there were a couple of girls gathered in the other end of the room, clearly judging Circe’s choices, not just in clothes but maybe even in life, fucking groupies , she thought with a roll of her eyes; also, there was a group of burly men, that looked as if all they wanted was to cause mayhem, charming , she thought, nearly fitting .

The distant sounds of steps were the thing that broke her out of her daze, the band, she assumed. The first thing that caught her eye was the teased hair, then the leather attires and finally the heels, bold choices, all of them, but it felt… right. Just as Vince -a guy Circe met in high school- got close to the microphone to introduce the band, the room -the men, at least- erupted in screams, “fuck you” seemed to be the sentence of the night. Still, with a roll of his eyes, Vince spoke up:

“All right! We're Mötley Crüe!” looking to the crowd in front of him, that simple phrase apparently gave Tommy the queue to start their first song.

But just as Tommy was hitting one of his cymbals, it fell, making a horrible noise as it hit the ground.

“Sorry, dude”, he muttered, a soft pink tinging his cheeks, dear lord, someone help my child .

“Come on boys, let’s rock this hole!” Said Vince, trying to keep himself hyped up, and as much as Circe hated to admit it, she loved seeing Vince so frustrated and embarrassed, quite the contrast from his usual cocky attitude.

They started playing an original song, not bad , she thought, it had a good rhythm, and it instinctively made her bob her head to the beat. It all was flowing naturally and quite nicely, but the room still looked as if they had issues with the band, and to prove her right, one of the burly guys spit up quite a nasty phlegm to Vince’s perfectly white leather pants.

“Shit” was all Circe managed to get out before Vince threw himself on top of him, managing to get him on a headlock and right there, she could tell that Vince was no longer in control of his actions, he was seeing red and that meant violence, consequently he decided that punching the man was just about right.

It all happened too fast for her liking, she always liked watching fights go down, oh and this was a good one , it all looked nearly poetic at this point, with the bassist doing a great job on a couple of guys - wait, isn't that the guy from London? - , Tommy practically diving off the stage and to add the cherry on top the guitarist never stopped playing, coming up with some sick riffs; this was something out of a movie.

Once they managed to kick the asses out, three-quarters of Mötley Crüe got back on stage in a very awkward silence, which Circe decided to break with a:

“Fuck yeah! Mötley Crüe!!” Apparently, that was the right thing to say because that caused the people to get closer to the stage, clearly now more interested and excited than 10 minutes ago. In the distance she saw Tommy winking at her with a smile, pointing at her cheekily; Vince just shook his head, he could recognize that voice anywhere, and it always came with trouble; Mick huffed out a small laugh and fell back to his menacing look; and Nikki, well, his eyes lit up both in interest and mischief.

This was going to be a good night and an even better start of a story.

Chapter Text

After Mötley Crue’s set ended and Y&T’s started, Tommy was incapable of stopping himself from talking about his amazing best friend and how she was in their show that night, his mouth kept running on and on, as he looked at Vince with complete excitement hoping that the blond could do something to support his argument, yet Vince came empty-handed, it’s not like he doesn’t like the brunette, but he had no arguments that could aid Tommy’s. On the other hand, Nikki and Mick were only half listening to Tommy’s endless rambling, but they nodded along on the right bits, hoping that would make the young drummer feel as if he was actively being listened to.

Unfortunately, Tommy’s enthusiasm was cut short when he was faced with the cold reality of no-Circe. The tall man huffed out in slight annoyance and disappointment, he was really hoping for the band to meet her, he always found a way to bring her up in conversations, commenting something along the lines of: “she knows about music, she can give us honest opinions”, “ she knows people, maybe she can help us with getting a bigger gig”, “I wonder what Circe might think of this song… I bet she’d have some badass thing to say”; between other things. This much rambling showed how much he truly appreciated her and loved her, after all, they grew up being next-door neighbours, they attended the same schools, she taught him so much and she was actually the reason why he managed to find himself in Suite 19… she was like a sister to him, a weird, rebellious but lovely sister.

What happened the night of the Starwood Hotel seemed to repeat constantly, an event so regular that could be summed up in 4 easy steps:

Step 1. Circe shows up at Mötley’s gig, stays all the way through, bobs her head along to their original songs and she notes their interesting takes on some covers.

Step 2. Two songs before their set ended she’d ask for a napkin and a pen, preparing herself to write a small but encouraging note and before any of them could catch her, she left. The only proof connecting her to actually being there that night was said note.

Step 3. Simultaneous to step 2, the band is forced to go meet Tommy’s best friend, why hasn’t he thought of taking her to one of the band’s practice days instead of dragging them through sweaty masses of people, no one really knows.

Step 4. After the band is faced with the note mentioned in step 2. Feelings seem to loop: The spark on Tommy’s eyes dim, though, the spark was easy to return when he remembered he could just go pester her at her place the morning after, not like she minded, right? Vince and Mick seemed a little bit too uninterested on bumping into her, being that Vince knew what was sure to come, he’d get teased and turned down by the girl, he still thinks he’ll get her one day -he won’t-; and Mick wasn’t looking forward on meeting the drummer’s friend, thinking he might have to deal with another child-person and his patience was running short, he could only handle one at a time, and barely. Nikki, on the other hand, was indifferent in meeting Tommy’s friend, but what motivated him to keep up with Tommy’s excitement was his desire to look for the tattooed girl with the unruly black hair, poor guy, didn’t know Circe was both the tattooed girl and Tommy’s friend.

Tonight they were playing the Whisky a Go Go, and despite it not being their first time playing there, Nikki looked more uneasy than usual, considering that he was almost decided on catching the girl with the tattoos before she left even if that meant looking for her before the show started. And so that’s what he did.

He was on edge and slightly anxious, something so out of character, but his interest was picked, maybe it was her looks or the fact that she never seemed to want to hang out with the band afterwards, she must be a groupie, right? I mean, she’s been to all of our gigs, that must mean something.

As usual, Circe got to the place mildly early, settling in her favourite place, the bar. She knew that sitting there was a great way to get fast drinks, something that sometimes she desperately needed; she also knew that if she wanted to bump shoulders with people this was the place to be, considering that people had to walk there to get themselves a drink, it was the perfect place to search for that night’s victim. Tonight was no different, she knew that getting there early made it so much easier to catch her among the people that frequented the Whisky, she realised that arriving early made it easier for people to get drunker quicker and more confident to chat her up. Usually, no one ever wanted to strike a conversation with her when sober, most people needed to have a little bit more booze in their system to try and do such thing, and it was still pretty damn early for Sunset Strip; so imagine her surprise when she heard someone clearing their throat and leaning on the bar, their gaze clearly on her.

She turned around, a brow highly arched in inquiry, “yes?” She said, never dropping her characteristic attitude, even though she knew who was standing in front of her she wasn’t up for giving her sass up.

Her knowledge of him was scarce, but she never managed to get Tommy to shut up about him, even before he actually met him, his love for Nikki and his band London was practically endless. And that love grew bigger after meeting him when he auditioned for Suite 19, I think we can all imagine how much he adores him now that they play together.

“Dude, he’s just so good! And so badass, last time he broke someone’s nose” “He’s such a cool dude, you would love him, Ce!”

Fuck, she could practically hear Tommy’s excitement in her head, even when he wasn’t around she never managed to get some down-time from their conversations.

“Hey, I’m Nikki, Nikki Sixx I play bass in Mötley Crüe” he said with a confident smirk, his eyes ran up and down her body, stopping to examine her sleeve and her breasts.

“Cool” she said with a tight smile, turning back around to grab her drink, hoping he could just leave.

“Babe, I was wondering if you’d like to come to this party at my apartment after the show, I can introduce you to the rest of the band if you’d like, get you a drink, you mark the beat, babe…” He continued sounding confident or trying to at least after being considerably thrown off by her uninterested attitude towards him.

“Sounds nice, but I don’t drink, -clearly sarcasm, note the vodka in her hands- and you’re going to have to try harder than that, babe” she snarled back, mocking the “pet name” he decided to use on her. She had a nasty smirk adorning her maroon lips and a hint of mean in her dark eyes, if this dude thinks this is going to be this easy then he’s noticeably wrong, he doesn’t even want to know my name, jerk.

Don’t get Circe wrong, she did find Nikki attractive, but she has met guys like him before, they don’t care to call, they just want a nice lay, and she was so much more than a nice lay; maybe it wasn’t related as much to the they-won’t-call thing, no, it was mostly about the power that held saying an irony-infused no and having them try again, man did she love playing cat and mouse and right now she was the cat.

Nikki was about to answer her, but he was cut off by Vince nearly physically dragging him away from the brunette, muttering an apology to Circe before turning to Nikki and saying something along the lines we’re about to start, not caring to acknowledge the fact that Nikki was hitting on Circe.

Tonight’s set was really good. As usual, Circe found herself bobbing along with the beat of each and every one of their songs, they really were getting better. As they neared the end of the set she turned towards the bartender asking for a napkin and a pen, she was getting ready to write the band a note so she could leave the place calmly. Taking off the cap of the pen with her teeth she quickly came up with a nice thing to tell Tommy:

“Such a fucking proud mama, Tommy…. every time I see you, you seem to get even fucking better, keep up the good work, can’t wait till you have your first album out. Love, Circe.”

She turned to the bartender with a sweet smile, she pushed the napkin towards him, she didn’t even have to tell him anything, he already knew what was up, he knew Circe pretty well.

You see, this was her scene, music and alcohol were two of her favourite things so she was practically a premier client at the Whisky a Go Go and other places like the Starwood Hotel; meaning, the people who worked there knew her pretty well, hence why she got away with a lot of things, like not paying sometimes and returning the next morning to pay, or decking people on the face, etcetera etcetera.

Jumping off the stool she started walking quickly towards the entrance, already placing a cigarette between her lips. She ached for fresh air and she wanted to get away from the guys before they caught her inside, that would fuck her plans up. What she wasn’t accounting for was that Nikki rushed the guys to go outside search Tommy’s friend almost as soon as they got off the stage, he didn’t give a single fuck about Tommy’s friend but he’ll be damned if Circe kept the last word.

As soon as the guys reached the bar and the bartender handed Tommy the note he could swear he saw Circe walking out of the place, so with a quick mumble of an apology, he left the note on Vince’s hand and headed Circe’s way.

“Ce!” Screamed the drummer with joy, picking the girl up from her waist. Before she realised it was Tommy she tensed, but after she felt the way his arms wrapped around her and the voice clicked in her head, she was quick to relax.

“Fuck Tommy, you can’t scare me like that” she said after the tall man put her down, a hand over her chest.

“I knew it was the only way to catch you before you left! Don’t you want to go backstage with me and the guys? You can finally meet Mick, you’d like him too, he’s as bitter as you, if not more! Oh, and Nikki, I’m so sure you’ll love him, please come! Oh oh oh oh, and then! You can come to our place for the after-party” He said eagerly, drawing out the o’s in come and the n’s in then as if he was a child begging for his mom to let him go to his friend’s party.

“I’d love to Tommy but-” she started, but Tommy wasn’t taking no for an answer, so he started dragging her towards the band, not caring that they were almost halfway out and the cigarette was already lit up.

“Nope, you’re coming with me Circe” he said with a small frown, he had been waiting far too long to introduce Circe to the guys, he wasn’t up for any kind of discussion, unless…

“I- I already know Nikki” said Circe in panic, she was relieved to realise that that got Tommy distracted, making him stop in his tracks.

“What? You do? Dude, that’s amazing!” He answered with a huge grin that was quick to fall when he saw the look on Circe’s face, he knew that look pretty well, “oh no no no no Circe, you can’t do that with him.”

“As a matter of fact, I can, and he started it, not me!” Circe defended herself, crossing her arms over her chest, “I’m just playing along! And he doesn’t know who I am! Let me play with him, just for a bit, I promise this time won’t be as bad as others.”

Tommy huffed, he already knew that there was no way to make her change her mind, so he answered with a: “fine, I guess.”

“Oh, you’re amazing Tommy, I swear this is going to be better than last time, pinky promise, this won’t fuck up your friendship” Circe said with a grin, extending her pinky and looking up at Tommy with puppy eyes. With a small roll of his eyes, he intertwined his pinky with hers, he tried to hide his smile, but damn was it hard, he adored Circe but she was too crazy sometimes, the only thing that kept him optimist was that he trusted that they were going to be good for one another.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Ce, you can leave, tho that won’t stop me from dropping by your apartment tomorrow morning!” he shouted over the crowd at Circe.

“I know sweetheart!” she shouted back, waving a hand as she strutted away, finally taking a puff out of her cigarette.

Tommy strutted back to the guys with a satisfied smile, although he didn’t particularly enjoy Circe’s little games, he was beyond delighted of “bumping” into her before she left.

“Why the smile, drummer?” Asked Mick with an almost teasing tone.

“Just bumped into Circe, she apologizes for not hanging out with us, says Vince’s a pain in her ass” Tommy answered smoothly, making something up rather quickly, Circe might’ve not said anything but hell did he know her well, she probably thought of it.

“Isn’t he a pain in all of our asses?” Mocked Mick, earning an eye roll from Vince, “I like this girl already” he continued in a lower voice.

Nikki snorted out a small laugh and a smirk appeared on his lips to go with it, though the latter was quick to fall when he remembered his mission, find tattoo-girl and be the one to have the last word. So with a fast and unappealing apology, he headed towards the entrance, not expecting to actually find Circe not far from where he stood, a cigarette carefully dangling between her lips as she looked at the people passing by, clearly checking some out and judging others.

“I thought I wouldn’t find you so easily” he said, slightly startling her, something he took notice by the way she flinched and her hand discreetly moved to her chest.

“Fuck, what’s with people scaring me today,” she muttered to herself, her hand going up to her cigarette, taking in a breath before actually directing her speech to Nikki. “Well, I thought you wouldn’t even look for me in the first place, too many groupies inside the Whisky that actually want to throw themselves at you, why come looking for me?”

“Cause you’re not throwing yourself at me like other groupies… And I’m intrigued as to why you seem to come to every show yet you only come to the gig, never seen you at parties,” he quickly answered, placing a cigarette of his own between his lips, Circe almost instinctively walked up to him, getting close enough to light up his cigarette with the burning end of her own.

“I’m not interested in your parties… and I’m no groupie, babe” she answered venomously.

Circe looked up at Nikki, her eyes were challenging, and she could already tell that she got him wrapped up in her little finger, she just had to figure out how long she wanted to play out this whole thing.

She removed her cigarette from her lips dropping it to the floor, letting it smoke for a bit before putting it out with the sole of her boot; then as if the director had yelled “action” she got closer to him, slow and teasing. She could tell how the tension appeared to rise as she got closer to him, now, she could finally make out some distinctive features, from the dark eyebrows to the olive coloured eyes that darkened quickly, though she couldn’t tell if that was from lust or the cocaine he probably snorted earlier that night. Then, she grabbed Nikki’s cigarette between her fingers as to make some space for herself, making her nose bump against his, she was testing the waters, she was willing to see how much he could take her teasing. She parted her lips as if to get acquainted with his lips, but instead, she took a puff out of the cigarette; Nikki’s eyes travelled to her round lips, as the smoke slowly escaped from the gap left between them, he was willing to kiss her, to take her to the back alley and teach her to behave, but he too was enjoying the game.

“Doll, are we leaving?” A voice suddenly broke the tension, Nikki’s expression contorted from lust and confidence to confusion as his eyes shifted between the man standing behind Circe and Circe herself.

“Yes, just let me say goodbye to my friend over here” she answered, her eyes never leaving Nikki’s face, she was having so much fun already and this man couldn’t have arrived at a better moment.

“Okay, I’ll go for my car and I’ll pick you up here, don’t move” he ordered, but Circe paid no mind, she only responded with a hum.

Nikki’s attitude took a 180° turn, it went to teasing to plain up confused and Circe was loving it. Nikki, slightly pissed off and defeated turned around not wanting to give any more attention to the tattooed brunette. But he couldn’t get more than a few steps before Circe pulled him by the wrist, forcing him to turn around to meet her wild gaze, he could tell she was having fun.

Circe’s hand travelled up his arm, finally finding its resting place on the side of his neck by his jaw, and like that she pushed her body closer to him than before, placing her lips right by his ear as she said:

“Goodbye, love…”

Chapter Text

Circe woke up with a groan, a hand immediately coming up to cover her eyes from the burning light that came through her curtains, every morning she seemed to realise how much she loathed the LA sun, especially when she woke up with a headache, a stuffy nose and a body both naked and sore. She removed her companion's arm from where it was lying on her stomach as she made up her mind to go pour herself some water and a glass of Jack, neat and on the rocks.

On her way out of the bedroom, she bent down to pick up her discarded panties and the red tube top she had worn the night before. She could care less about the man that was still sleeping on her bed, she had met him yesterday as he approached her halfway through Mötley's set and unlike with Nikki, she decided to give the poor man a chance, not like she was going to see his face ever again. Furthermore, she didn't even remember his name, it had slipped her mind as soon as it left his mouth, reason why she refrained from moaning his name -not like she felt like moaning out of pleasure last night.

Circe went up the stairs, her partner for the night - was his name Will? Or maybe Mike? Fuck who cares - trailing behind her like a lost puppy, his eyes noticeably glued to her ass, practically drooling and getting mildly hard from just the thought of getting to do what he pleases with that.

Circe wanted to have fun, but she could already tell that she had said yes to the wrong man, he reeked of selfishness under the 2 dollar cologne and cheap booze he had drunk that night; her last resort to help her have some fun was teasing, her expertise.

She took her time opening her door, not minding the insistence of the man behind her, in his intoxicated state he truly believed that thrusting upwards into her ass and kissing her neck was going to make her break, sweet thing he was just so painfully wrong, Circe pushed her ass back against him, earning a deep grunt, as she put the key in the lock, moving the key around before finally unlocking the door.

Once inside she didn't even mind turning the lights on, not like he'd let her, he swiftly -read aggressively- turned her around to face him, both hands travelling to cup her ass and push her forwards as to make their hips meet, making her feel his -disappointment of- excitement. This was going to be a long night and not one of the pleasing ones...

As she downed the glass of Jack in one gulp, she felt how a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her frame, a dissatisfied roll of eyes were her silent answer before she actually turned around to acknowledge the man before her. He was attractive, for sure, a strong nose, with a piercing set of eyes, they were a very common colour -quite like hers-, a dark shade of brown, but you could feel them on top of you as they held quite an intense flame to them; his lips were slightly pouty and a nice shade of rosé; and despite all of this nice characteristics she felt no real attraction to him whatsoever, what happened the night before wasn't meant to happen again, especially because she had no real fun, no orgasms, none, zip, zero , quite disappointing to say the least. So with an almost unnoticeable smirk, she broke the silence:

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up." Queue a slight bat of her eyelashes.

"You were? -cocky casanova eyes, ridiculous - Bet you want another go, right doll?" Airhead , she thought but kept her act up, her smirk becoming more prominent when she felt his hands travel downwards, tracing the small of her back and the curve of her ass as to rest comfortably there, both hands cupping, grabbing and pinching at will as he thrust upwards into her, Circe just faked a small moan.

"Yes, I was" she said, coming up with a small plan inside her pretty little head.

Looking downwards in false bashfulness, her hands trailing upwards from his chest to the back of his neck, playing with the messy hair that lingered there. Then she crooked her neck to face him completely, a small smile playing on her velvety lips; she leaned forward, her nose close to rubbing against his and as he moved to meet her halfway on a kiss, she moved her head back a bit, her smile transforming to an almost full Cheshire Cat grin, not like he actually noticed, such an airhead . He moved one of his hands to her hair, to coax her back in position; but Circe, having none of it, placed a single finger between them, laying it on top of his lips, ceasing his movements. Next thing, that same finger started to move south, pulling on his lip as she went; it crossed over his neck, down his chest drawing small figures on his sternum, then it moved down his stomach and as she reached under his navel she decided to stop, earning a soft hiss from the man.

"Aren't you going to do something, doll?" he demanded, but his voice broke in frustration, his eyes closed. Finally, her hand moved inside his trousers and as she closed in on him, she stopped once again, earning yet another groan of exasperation.

Before her hand had slipped underneath the clothing her face looked innocent, nearly angelic, but once he opened his eyes, he was almost certain he was gazing at the devil; she had a mischievous smirk on her lips and an equally wicked-looking spark shone brightly on her chocolate coloured eyes.

"I think it's quite late for you to be here...isn't it time you leave, sweet pie?" she said, a fake pout on her lips. She slightly tightened her grip on him before removing her hand and turning around, her back facing him.

"Are you really telling me to leave?" The man questioned in anger, placing himself in front of the brunette from, the countertop being the thing that divided them. He was clearly frustrated, his hard-on being a clear tell-tale of such fact this only made Circe feel better with herself.

"Yes, sweetie, I've got places to go to... and people will arrive here soon enough, I'm sure you don't want to give them the wrong impression" Circe said, the devilish smile never dropping from her lips as she placed a cigarette between them, lighting it up without breaking eye contact with the nearly naked man in front of her.

"You can come back some other day if you like..." she lied, as she started heading towards the man in front of her, her fingers dragging over the surfaces of the countertop and the walls as she made her way to him. She took a drag from her cigarette before connecting her soft lips against the man's, letting the smoke blow between their conjoined mouths, making a small moan drop from his lips.

"Fine" he answered as he broke the kiss, making Circe smile.

Circe then poured herself another glass of whiskey and sat on the couch in her small living room. As she watched how the man picked his clothes up from where they randomly lied on the ground, she switched between taking a puff out of the cigarette between her lips and taking a drink out of her glass; she laughed to herself enjoying the little show the man before her was putting up, his flustered cheeks and quick pace seemed hilarious to her as he continued his search. Soon enough she was met with an empty apartment.

She took that as the queue to pick up her own clothes and head to the bathroom, for she died to remove the dried sweat from her skin and whichever other dried fluid that lied on her. She decided to make a quick job out of it, not wanting to open the door for Tommy in just a towel.

Walking out of the shower naked not caring to wrap a towel around herself felt like a relief from the rising heat in LA, not really wanting the constriction of the fabric around her chest and aching to feel the soft breeze that managed to enter from her open window. She reached her closet, pulling out a pair of clean panties and a bralette out of a built-in drawer, then she picked out her favourite pair of overalls, the one she used whenever she painted. As she swiftly put on all of her clothes a knock on her front door made her rush even more, she was certain that she knew who was standing outside, Tommy waiting for his review of the previous night.

"It's open Tommy!" She yelled from her room, knowing the boy was soon to become impatient and she wasn't even close to the door to let him in properly.

"Hey, Ce!" yelled Tommy from the entryway, before closing the door behind him, "brought breakfast, thought you might want some."

"What did you bring?" Circe said as she adjusted her clothes, walking to her living room and as she looked up she found herself not only facing Tommy, but Vince as well, a small embarrassment infused blush crept up her face. "Hey, Vince."

"Hey" he muttered back, leaning over Tommy to take the food from Tommy's hands.

"Blueberry pancakes for me and waffles for you, you freak" Tommy answered Circe, earning a roll of eyes and a punch on the side of the arm.

"Waffles are better, just fucking admit it, you just have bad taste" Circe bit back, accepting the container that probably held her food from Vince's hands.

"Whatever, Ce" Tommy said, standing up in search of the maple syrup and forks for the trio.

"So... how did Tommy convince you to come, Vince?" Circe asked with a smile, "What was the cost? A Jack bottle? A baggie? Cause I know the price must be high."

"You don't actually believe that I wanted to see you?" Vince answered with a smug smile, draping an arm over the sofa he was sitting in. Just as Circe was opening her mouth to answer Vince, Tommy handed her a fork and wordlessly poured some syrup on her waffles.

"It's kinda hard to believe" Circe answered, covering her mouth as to avoid little crumbs falling out her mouth. She swallowed the bite she took and proceeded, "it's not like you don't love me, I know you do, but you never come see me" a smirk prominent in her lips, a joking glint dancing in her eyes.

"You've never invited me here, all your notes are for Tommy, sweet cheeks, no Vince, it's like you've forgotten about me" Vince bit back, a spark lit up in Vince's eyes, mirroring Circe's look.

"Oh, boo hoo" Circe mocked as she took another bite to her waffle.

"Stop bickering, you're like kids" muttered Tommy, making both Circe and Vince burst out laughing.

"Us kids? Oh, Tommy, sweetheart stop" Circe managed to get out between laughs, Tommy snorted out a laugh failing at the job of staying serious, joining them.

After the laughter died down, silence took its place, the only sound in the living room was the trio chewing on their food and Tommy's leg bouncing uncontrollably.

"Well, -Tommy gulped down his last remaining bit of pancake- what did you think of last night's gig?"

"It was so good -Circe extended the o's in so to punctuate her point- you did a fucking great job back there with the drums, man. And you Vince? You're giving the groupies a show up there, got them drooling and shit, just fuck one of them already."

"Already have, Ce" Vince said casually, making Circe laugh a bit.

"Of fucking course Vin, who cares about your girlfriend, right?" Circe answered, mischief in her eyes, making Vince roll his eyes and flip her the bird.

"What about you, Tommy? Getting laid?" Circe continued not before flipping Vince back, a grin on her face. Tommy didn't care to answer verbally, he just laughed, and Circe took that as a 'duh, yeah.'

Silence. "Anyways... when are you putting the album out, I need some new shit to listen in the car, man."

"Soon, I guess" answered Vince.

"We haven't gotten around to finding a studio to record it, nor a record label" Tommy added, shrugging.

"If you want me to help you I can, just let me connect you to someone or some shit" Circe said, abruptly standing up from her place before being pulled back down by Tommy.

"Don't worry about it, we'll get around to it, on our own" Vince said, calmly might I add.

"Kay, just offering you some help, though you can make up your own record label for this kind of shit" Circe said, putting both her hands up in defence, catching both guys eyes.

"You got a new tattoo?" Tommy said, grabbing Circe's arm, examining the new ink in his best friend's arm, when did she get it and how did he not notice it?

"Yup" she answered, popping the p.

It was a very simple tattoo, a snake that crawled down her arm to her hand, the head of the snake barely reaching the first bracelet of her hand and its tongue meeting her destiny line, the snake's body wrapped itself around one of Circe's old scars.

"That's so fucking cool, dude" Tommy said excitedly, a giant grin gracing his features, his elbow hitting Vince's side as to make him say something encouraging to the brunette.

"Yeah Ce, that's gnarly, man" Vince said with an honest smile, not meeting Circe's gaze, his eyes still examining the ink.

"Thanks, guys... So - Circe finally stood up- I'm going to try and do some work but you can stay if you like" she said, dusting off her overalls.

"Nah, we'll leave you to it" said Tommy, dismissing her with a hand movement.

Both boys stood up from her places, saying goodbye to Circe with a kiss on the cheek before a light went off inside her head.

"Hey dickheads, put the forks in the sink and fucking drop the rest of the shit in the garbage" she yelled from inside the apartment, earning an annoyed groan from both boys who for a moment thought they'd gotten away with leaving things as they were.

More than just a few hours had passed since the two messy boys left Circe's apartment, leaving her alone to procrastinate on the work that was starting to pile up.

Currently, she was sitting facing the TV, a Roger Taylor interview playing on some random channel, she sighed quite loudly as she saw the blond man talking about his solo debut album, he looked quite strange standing up all alone in an interview, lacking the company of his bandmates, it was a strange thing to look at, to say the least.

With a shake of her head, she stood up to turn her TV off, finally deciding to address the things that were due to do. She went to the spare room in the apartment, an unfinished painting standing in the background of the room looking at her in judgement -almost. Yet another sigh escaped her mouth as she ruffled her hair, she headed back to the living room, bending down to the floor, deciding to put some music that could inspire her enough to finish her work. As she went through her vinyls her eyes were practically drawn to the bunch of Queen vinyls and the Fun In Space one, a smile slipped by her as she stared at the funny little alien on the cover reading a magazine of sorts with Roger's face stamped on it, she took it out of the pile as she made up her mind, the man was promoting the album, so why not play it and give it a chance. She slipped the vinyl out of its sleeve, walking to the player, her eyes quickly scanned through the selection of songs and as she lifted the needle to place the vinyl in place an insisting knock on her door cut her short.

As the knocks grew sharper and closer to one another Circe let out an exasperated yell:

"Coming! -then she followed it with an angry mumble- goddammit."

When she opened the door she was faced with a mess of brown hair and blown out hazel eyes, Tommy, again.

"Hey, Ce!" said the tall man quite excitedly taking a drink out of an uncapped bottle of Jack.

"Hey, Tommy, what are you doing here?... again" she said, snorting out a small laugh when Tommy practically choked on the drink from trying to answer her quickly.

"I'm here to invite you over to our party, you should come!!!" He replied, pointing at her with his index finger, the bottle tightly held by the other 4 fingers.

When Tommy moved his hand closer to Circe, she caught a sniff of the liquor he had been drinking, her throat quickly drying up and her mouth slightly watering at the thought of having more than a couple of drinks. Even though she had a bottle on top of her countertop she hated drinking alone and she wasn't up for buying another bottle anytime soon, the bottle of Jack she kept around was there for whenever she craved a small sip of a hard drink instead of a snort of coke, she drank it to help her artist block -despite it helping make it bigger, but who cares, right?.

"Oh, c'mon Ce!!! You can even fuck Nikki up or some shit" Tommy tried to convince the brunette in front of him, who's gaze shifted between the inside of her apartment and him.

"I don't know Tommy" she mumbled, she hated saying Tommy 'no' as much as she has been doing lately, but she had work to do and alcohol wasn't going to help.

"I-I-I can help you with your little game or something, please Circe" he continued, giving her his best puppy eyes as he started to wiggle the bottle of Jack in front of her face, mockingly almost. "I know you want some..."

"I do, but I need to finish this painting..." She weakly argued.

"You can finish it later, I've seen you do it before, c'mon Ce! Don't be such a bore" Tommy continued taunting her, finally she caved as she took the bottle from him, giving it a large gulp.

"No more drinks for me, I'm going with you for a bit and then I'm coming back to finish this shit" She said, walking inside her apartment, Tommy close behind her.

"Coke then?" He taunted with a lopsided smile, she just let out a laugh and a nod as she headed to her closet.

She quickly searched through the clothes, thinking about what to wear for their 'casual' party, taking in consideration the fact that Nikki was going to be there and if he was still up for a few more rounds of push a pull she had to look good to play the part. After a while, she finally settled on an old Generation X shirt that had gone under some alterations to make her fit her frame whilst being long enough to be considered a dress; Circe had cut off the sleeves of the shirt and the fabric around the neck, making it have a deeper neckline that showed a bit of her chest. Then she pulled out a pair of fishnet stockings and her high heeled ankle boots. To sum up her outfit she decided to go punk but glam, apparently.

After placing everything on her bed she turned to Tommy with her eyebrows raised high, who just stared back with a dopey smile.

"What?" He questioned, his smile never dropping.

"I have to change Tommy..." Circe mumbled in slight annoyance.

"So..." He teased, Circe just rolled her eyes, she knew she wasn't going to make him leave the room so she decided to undress with him on the room, it has happened before, so who cares, really.

"Like the outfit, Ce" Tommy mentioned as he passed her the stockings, not really minding the fact that his best friend was standing in front of him in just underwear. Circe just hummed and nodded in response while putting the stocking on.

The room fell in comfortable silence as Circe got dressed, Tommy handing her the clothes she required as he kept drinking from the bottle of Jack, soon enough Circe was done dressing up, deciding to put some make-up on her bare face. Heading to the bathroom she quickly came up with a simple look, not much had to be done, she was only putting on some black eyeliner to frame her eyes accompanying it with mascara, also she was going to brush up her eyebrows and paint her lips maroon.

"Done!" She said as she walked back to her bedroom, her hands messing up her curls a bit, adding a slight volume to them.

"Great, let's go" Tommy said, jumping off the bed.

As they both walked out the room and neared the door a thought popped in Circe's head.

"Want to do some lines before we head out, T-bone?" She said excitedly, grabbing Tommy by the wrist to cease his movements. At the mention of coke, Tommy's eyes lit up with a mischievous flame, a flame that mirrored Circe's.

Once they arrived at the small apartment complex near the Whiskey, Tommy opened the window and let her in before he did, making a reverence as she stepped through. As soon as Circe was inside Nikki's eyes were quickly drawn to her in an almost magnetic manner, his gaze trailing up and down as he examined every bit of skin exposed, catching a small glimpse of a vine and a thorn around her thigh; a smirk was quickly rising up his features thinking that the brunette had come around on her own, without the ass from last night trailing behind her.

Nikki's excitement was quick to fall when he noticed Tommy entering the room right behind Circe, his long arm quickly wrapping himself around her shoulder's pressing her against her side.

"Play nice" Tommy whispered teasingly to Circe before walking away, making her smile.

Circe looked around the room, taking notes on the kind of people that hung up with these guys, realising that it was mostly a female population, some accompanied with their boyfriends -clear mistake to bring your girl at a rock star's house- and other by their friends. Without much thought Circe headed to the countertop that divided the itched from the living area, looking around to see what they were offering for drinks.

"Well, well, well, Tommy finally made you show the fuck up" Vince teased, leaning on the countertop, offering her a bottle of vodka.

As Circe's hands went to go grab the bottle, Vince pressed it to his chest. "Nah-ah, you're gonna drink it from the bottle and I'm gonna pour it"

Queue, Circe rolling her eyes." Just fucking do it" she said as her head bent backwards, her mouth hanging open waiting for Vince to pour some vodka in her mouth -so much for not wanting to drink.

"There we go, baby" Vince coaxed as he saw the brunette drink what he had poured down her throat.

"Thanks, Vince" she said, whipping her mouth as she jokingly winked at him.

"I was told by Tommy over there about your game plans for Nikki" Vince said, inching closer to Circe's face, he was smirking triumphantly.

"Well, Tommy should shut up about that, and you too, understood blondie?" She threatened, her eyebrows rising, he just huffed out a laugh.

"A'right" was all he said before leaving, making Circe roll her eyes yet again.

With a shake of her head, Circe decided that she had had enough of being inside the Crüe's apartment and that she desperately needed to have a smoke. As she walked past the band's table on her way out, she caught a glimpse of some cut lines perfectly laid out on top of a cymbal, making her stop in consideration. Said cease of movement caught Tommy's eyes, who just signed her to approach him.

"Want some?" Circe looked at the drummer with playfull eyes and then she nodded, "then have some"

Circe moved closer to Tommy, taking notice on the three pairs of eyes that followed her every movement. One pair looked at her with a knowing glance -Vince's; another pair analysed her every movement and was quick to connect the dots between Circe and Tommy, considering that he actually paid attention to him every once in awhile -Mick's; and the final pair of eyes were challenging and underneath that, jealous -Nikki's.

Tommy pulled Circe onto his lap, making her push down a giggle -so much for not wanting her to play this game; Tommy then grabbed the cymbal, placing it in front of Circe who was handed some rolled-up bucks by Vince. Her eyes scanned the lines, trying to figure out which one she wanted, settling for the one on the left; she placed down the rolled-up bucks by the end of the line, then she bent down to get her nose closer to it, finally snorting the white powder. It burned slightly, but not as much as it did the first time she had done it, it was almost a pleasing burn especially since she was aware of the effect that came afterwards.

Circe stood up from Tommy's lap, looking around the table to see everyone's reaction, though their expression hadn't changed much from how it was before. Dusting off her made-up dress, Circe returned to her initial course, outside.

Once outside a sudden breeze of air hit her face, making the alcohol she had just drunk along with the coke she just snorted take a harsher effect. She breathed out hoping that it would help clearing up her head, but how do you clear your head when the music from inside the apartment was really loud and the walls were thin enough that she even managed to hear the rocking of someone's bed. With a shake of her head, she started to pat around her waist hoping to feel the outline of her pack of cigarettes somewhere around the elastic of her stockings, but she was just faced with the outline of her clothes, making her groan in frustration.

"So much for not being a groupie, don't you think, babe ?" A voice broke her out of her daze of annoyance, said voice dripped poison, but still offered her a cigarette, almost as if he had read her mind. Circe faced Nikki, both leaning on the railing of the 'hallway' as she took the cigarette, placing it between her lips, waiting for him to pull one out for himself so he could light her's up.

"Well, it is true, I'm not a groupie" Circe mocked, seeing as Nikki lit up her cigarette and then his.

"Are you sure? With that fucking show you put up inside I'd think otherwise" He mocked back, never breaking eye contact with the brunette.

"You call that a show? You ain't seen nothing yet, babe " Circe said with a smirk, breathing out smoke, "and I've only been here for not more than an hour..." She dragged out, earning a huffed-out laugh from Nikki.

"I'm sure of that" he added, taking a puff out of his cigarette, letting the smoke escape from between his lips, Circe's eyes drifting downwards for a second before locking eyes with him once more.

Nikki noticed the movement Circe's eyes made, causing a sneer to grace his features, it was his moment to make a move, it was his turn to play the cat instead of the mouse. He looked at the girl, his eyes slowly trailing from his face down to her exposed legs; the lack of proper lighting made it hard to distinguish her pupil from the iris- though it might also be from her current state-, he recalled from the night before that her eyes were a dark shade of brown, not chocolate-coloured nor coffee-coloured; her nose was mostly straight except for the slight crook at the very top, it was nearly unnoticeable but under deep examination, one could tell she had once broken her nose; her lips were painted the exact same shade as the last time he had seen her, a deep maroon shade that complemented her slightly bronzed skin and that gave the illusion of a fuller mouth, a mouth that he already desired to kiss and put in good use, not like he didn't enjoy the few words he had managed to get out of her, she was feisty and he liked it; when moving his gaze downwards he found himself looking at her chest a few freckles had been splattered on the skin, giving it a realistic touch, making it human; then his eyes moved to her left arm finally taking his time to look at the intrinsicate flower design that hid the figure of a woman, the flowers were of a strange combination, but the ones that he could actually tell apart were the roses from the others.

Nikki's gaze fell heavy on Circe's body, she felt naked underneath while being completely clothed and it thrilled her; she had an idea of what he was doing but that didn't stop the adrenaline from pumping through her system, expecting his next movement, knowing he was taking his time to take his well-deserved revenge on the brunette, she knew she was the mouse and she was willing to play, but she was still going to try to put up the fight -try being the keyword.

He moved off the railing, placing himself parallel to it, in front of Circe; then he walked towards her, Circe could feel her heartbeat accelerating as his hands were placed on top of the railing at her sides, his forearms grazing hers as she moved under his gaze. Circe removed the cigarette from her lips putting it out with the cold metal before throwing it out; her breathing that was once controlled by the intake of smoke was starting to become heavier, now she could take in his scent and it was intoxicating, he smelt like all things 'good', smoke, Jack and blood, he smelt like danger and she loved it.

Nikki removed his cigarette from his lips and mimicked Circe's movements, putting it off and throwing it out. Now, there was nothing between them, not like last time and it made her feel anxious, especially when he moved closer to her, their bodies practically pressing against one another. Nikki's face neared her's, he brushed their noses together and as his lips brushed against her's she took in a sharp breath causing him to let out a breathy laugh.

"What do you want me to do, babe?" Nikki whispered, moving from her face to her ear, rubbing the side of his face slightly against hers.

"What do you want to do?" Circe questioned back, trying to regain some power over this situation, reason why her hands moved up to Nikki's neck, her nails scraping the back of his head, pulling on the hair lightly.

Nikki didn't answer he just let out a frustrated huff, enjoying the feeling of her nails and hands were they laid, it was posessive, almost. He, then, moved his face back in front of her's, their gaze never braking and as he almost met her mouth, Circe closed her eyes, but the kiss never came, instead, Nikki nibbled on Circe's lower lip, a moan dropping from her before she could catch it.

Then he broke the trance they were in, pushing his body off of her's and walked back inside, leaving Circe heaving.

Two can play this game...

Chapter Text

“One drop on a teaspoon, followed by a second, then a third… So many, so little but they all fell until the small utensil was on the border of starting to spill.”

“One teaspoon, two teaspoons… Drink the oil, lick the oil; it’s expensive don’t waste it, use it, don’t abuse it and taste the velvet of the substance.”

“Lay down in bed sweet Circe and let your body work, breathe in and out, relax or your trip might take a different path. Ignore the ticking clock, I know it gets you nervous to think how long will this time last, so don’t think about time for it will only pass and before you know it nausea will settle in the pit of your stomach to kickstart the ‘dream’ as you like to call it.”

“Go on, run to the bathroom, empty what little is left in your stomach, the purge of the soul begins… Follow the path shown or pain will come through and ruin your travel in search of creativity.”

“Be careful Circe, only one thing can stain your clothes and the dirt of your soul won’t be it, its dark colour a bad omen, so stay careful before your heart picks up, your hands sweat and you lose perception of yourself.”

“Lock the front door, you know only few have keys that could open that door, those few characters well-aware of your rendez-vous, they won’t get scared; but make sure to leave the crumpled up note on the coffee table, let’s avoid conflicts.”

“Lay down on your bed Circe, before it starts, before colours dance in your head and behind your closed eyelids. Take deep breaths as sleep takes you as its prisoner.”

“Is it hot in here? Is the light too light? Too bright?”

“Focus! Keep your eyes closed as your melting body fades away, ignore the darkness of your eyes, colours will start to play, figures, situations.”

“What are you trying to say? What will be shown?”

“Paint.”

Circe woke up in a cold sweat, her body uncomfortably laying down on her floor right next to the couch, but she didn’t feel sore. Her hands travelled to her face, it felt strangely moldable and soft and although she couldn’t see her eyes she could swear that her pupils had taken over the irises. Then her hands travelled to her hair, it felt white, smelt like sunrise and tasted like pain her whole body reacting to it with disgust, making her hands feel heavy as they fell to her sides.

In an out of body experience she saw herself rise from the floor, her legs wobbly and her arms in constant motion, incapable of staying still. She was aware she was still under the influence of what she had taken, one of the clearest tell-tale was when she glanced up at the clock and it melted off the wall in a way Dahli would have been envious about and when she stared out the window she could swear that when her finger covered the sun the sky darkened and constellations appeared.

“Paint” a voice whispered in an almost commanding voice, it was her voice, her own command.

The one-worded sentence bounced from wall to wall, creating an echo in her head that was only quieted when her hands shoot up to cover her ears and her eyes closed shut.

Once she opened one eye to peek at her surroundings she faced a woman, it was the same nymph from her tattoo -Anthusae, a flower nymph, Circe recalled from their previous encounters- and she caressed Circe’s face in a comforting matter. Anthusae’s body was naked, barely covered by the fowers that bloomed around her; her smile was shy but had the devil hidden in it as she pulled Circe to the “paint” room by the hair.

As the door slammed shut behind Circe her eyes looked down to the floor. When sober the room’s floor looked as if a lot of accidents had occurred, for it was littered by dry paint stains, but when Circe found herself in her current state the usually static colours moved in alluring waves, a symphony of shades that could lull her to work. This time, the colours were matte and dark and moved to reveal a blurry picture, a silhouette of a man his only distinctive feature being a pair of sharp olive coloured eyes. The man smiled a wide smile, it looked rather strange on him, out of place.

Circe shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the image dancing on her feet. She begged for the return of the vibrant colours that usually appeared in front of her and after a few moments, they entered the scene, Nikki’s smile fading to the back of her brain. 

Circe fell to the ground as her legs moved too fast for her body to follow, her arm reached out to the forgotten canvas on the back of the room, hidden under a white sheet.

Placing the canvas in her easel her hand mindlessly grabbed her painting palette, squirting small blobs of paint on the surface and as her dominant hand reached for a brush she was no longer in control of her body -was she ever truly?- her hands moved carefully in coordination with the colours presented in her mind, trying not to lose focus as voices whispered in her ears -attempting to pull her to the dark, show her more pictures, painful pictures- but the colours were too alluring, too captivating so her eyes and hands stayed focused on the task at hand. Then, her brain shut down. 

When Circe finally woke up, her body felt limp and worn out, a feeling of relaxation settled on her body as she laid on the floor of her “paint” room, her eyes focused on the painting before her.

A sigh of relief left her, the painting turned out looking good, the strokes weren’t harsh and looked meticulously controlled. The picture before her resembled the active and lively streets of LA, bright neon lights with transiting cars, people running on the sidewalk or even running to the other side of the road; the colours had been amped on saturation and the image looked blurred out, there weren’t any distinctive shapes, just lights.

Finally standing up from the ground, Circe headed to the window wondering what time it was. She recalled from her daze that the Sun was still very much present in the sky but she also remembered stars and the dark indigo coloured sky. As her head peeked out the window and the hot breeze of LA hit her face she saw where sky and earth met and how the dark blue shade the night sky was known for started to warm up from the soft caresses of the sun - how long have I been out? She wondered.

Circe’s eyes never left the horizon, enjoying the view the rising sun provided -it was so strange to get some downtime in such an active city and she was enjoying it. She wasn’t sure how long had she been just standing there staring at the horizon, but her legs started to give up on her from how tired her muscles felt.

Circe parted from the open window and headed to her room, deciding it was time to face her reflection, aching to amuse herself with her looks, paint all over her body and clothes, her face also stained from paint she ad accidentally rubbed there when attempting to remove hair from her face. As she stared at herself in the mirror she noticed that the picture she had painted of her own image was staring back at her with a soft smile and tired eyes still, her hand reached for a cotton ball damp on some oil she had noticed helped when removing paint of her hands and face -sometimes even hair.

After rubbing off the last remnants of paint off her cheek Circe fell in a small trance, flashing images of a kind smile and green eyes kept popping in her head, making a shiver run down her spine. She was well aware that all that she saw and felt were the effects that came with peyote consumption, she knew it liked playing games with one’s head, some people swore they saw visions presented as cryptic messages and other’s said that through this plant they faced their greatest fears and traumas. She knew the story behind this plant’s use, she had been told that Native Americans used it as a way to connect to higher entities, their deities in search of spiritual guidance; Circe on the other hand usually just used it as a bridge for creativity, showing her pretty colours and awe-inspiring pictures.

Was Nikki an awe-inspiring image to her? The thought made Circe shiver once more, she felt as if her resolve was crumbling down, especially after his appearance in her head that night, but ever since their last encounter she had to constantly remind herself to keep her distance, not only did she knew of his reputation but she was enjoying the push and pull, she always did, she was just scared of the outcome this time, never had a boy appeared on her trip and she had never been so affected by someone, no one made her this reactive, no one but Nikki…

Circe’s thumb went up to her face, stopping a drop of Jack from tumbling down her lip, alcohol wasn’t inexpensive and she was damn sure she wasn’t going to waste any part of what she had paid for. She offered the bartender -Luke- a kind smile as she yelled over the music:

“I’ll pay later!” Circe leaned on the counter offering him a wink and a small wave, then she dropped her red leather jacket by him, Luke just laughed as he placed the jacket behind the bar knowing what the brunette meant.

Circe readjusted both her black sequin tube top and her leather pants as she made her way to the dance floor, ruffling her hair just a smidge to give the messy waves some volume.

The music was loud and easy to move along to, her hips swaying from side to side unconsciously as Circe let go of her inhibitions, deciding to just enjoy herself as she sang along to the songs being played by that night’s DJ. This wasn’t her favourite kind of music, usually more accustomed to rock, punk or pop-rock, but when she decided to just have fun anything would do.

Then a pair of hands tightly wrapped in leather slipped around her waist, tugging her to meet their body and as she turned around to tell the person off she was met with raven hair and green eyes mainly covered by how blown out his pupils had become, Nikki.

Circe’s face twitched with annoyance as she stared at the man in front of her, although she was facing a man she “knew”, she never enjoyed being pulled around like that. Her eyebrows were furrowed and one of them was starting to rise, not in inquiry but discomfort when a light went off in her head.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Nikki Sixx?” Circe teased, her hands trailing up from Nikki’s chest to the back of his neck, lightly pulling on his hair.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favourite groupie” Nikki answered, unable to use her name because he was yet to learn it.

“What brings the big rock star here?” She questioned, her head tilting to the side a pout pulling at her lips before it twisted to a mocking smile.

Nikki rolled his eyes at her playful teasing, his tongue darting out his mouth to wet his lips, then he pulled her closer to him, their hips meeting and chest brushing as he leaned in to whisper in her ear: “You…”

Circe’s face grew amused, barely being able to keep her laugh contained as she pushed him back, attempting to put some space between them. But, soon enough she broke character, a laugh slipping from between her lips, her hand barely making it in time to cover her mouth.

“Oh fuck, sorry, fuck -another laugh escaped her- is just that, you want me to believe that cheesy shit?” Circe yelled over the loud music, hoping that it would reach Nikki, who just snorted out a laugh.

“Sorry, sorry, my bad” he answered, putting his hands up in defeat, an honest smile present on his lips, making one form on Circe’s face as well.

“Well, it was nice seeing you, but I gotta go, so…” Circe said, walking away from the scene, a smile still very much present in her face, she had been entertained enough for the night, that one simple sentence was enough for her to live off until their next encounter, but Nikki wasn’t having any of it.

As Circe made her way through the club, stopping first at the bar to drop enough money to cover her bill, asking Luke for her jacket and then for a smoke outside, Nikki trailed behind her, not quite finished with her that night.

“You want one?” She asked Nikki once they both stepped outside the club, but she never really stopped to look at him, her step never faltering as she headed to the back of the club, where she had parked her car, not really expecting him to follow her.

He didn’t answer either, just taking the cigarette and the lighter from her hands as he walked behind her. No one bothered to fill in the silence that lingered between them, both busy doing their own stuff, Circe was pulling her hair up in a messy ponytail and Nikki, well, he was staring at Circe, his eyes trailing downwards, as usual, his gaze lingered longer in her sleeve tattoo before following the path her waist and hips carved for him, the leather material of her pants tight against her skin outlining the roundness of her ass. Nikki shook his head, images of how her naked body might look like flooding his brain, the taste of her a thing he craved.

A vibrant red colour shiny under the low lighting of the street made the sportive black lines of the car pop out also making Circe’s car easy to distinguish from others, it truly was a beautiful car.

Circe leaned on the hood of the car watching Nikki intently as he approached her slowly, the cigarette she had handed him hanging loosely on his lips. “Call Me” by Blondie sounded in the background and for a moment Circe felt as if she was in a movie and that song was part of the soundtrack, fitting to their situation, almost too fitting.

“Color me your color, baby. Color me your car” Circe sang to Nikki in a low voice, dropping her cigarette to the asphalt, her hand reaching out to pull him by his shirt once he was within reach.

“Color me your color, darling I know who you are” Circe kept on singing, her face angled upwards never breaking eye contact with the raven-haired boy in front of her as she removed the cigarette from his lips throwing it away next to her’s. “Come up off your color chart I know where you’re comin’ from”

Nikki appeared to be entertained, enjoying the soft sound of her voice as he pressed himself closer to her his hips taking the space between her parted legs, his index finger coming up to her chin before his thumb trailed the shape of her lower lip pulling downwards in soft motion.

“Call me, on the line, call me, call me any, anytime” Circe continued as Nikki coaxed her to stand up straight, his hand wrapping around her waist, tugging her forward their chest and hips meeting, no one considering on moving and soon enough the music truly became white sound, ignored and placed in the background.

Circe knew what was going to happen next, she could see the movie replaying in her head, Nikki would lean in, his gloved hand on her face pulling her forward as if to meet her lips, but then he’ll stop with a smirk in his lips and mischief on his eyes. It was the same old situation, and she was willing to change it this time.

So her hand reached up to his hair, tugging at the strands on the back of his neck, her other hand pressed to his chest, slowly drawing figures as it lowered itself to the edge of his pants. Circe’s lips brushed against Nikki’s cheek as her face inched closer to his ear, her fingers playing with the button of his skinny black jeans.

“What do you want me to do, babe?” She questioned, using Nikki’s own words against him, her breath hot in his ear and her teeth barely scraping the sensitive skin of his earlobe.

Circe pulled the skin between her teeth before lowering to bite at the pulse point just below his earlobe. Nikki bit down a shiver, a grunt replacing the motion as one of his hands moved down to grab at her ass before slapping it, earning a chocked up moan from Circe.

“Are you sure you should be asking the questions? I see you’re more desperate than you appear to be” Nikki noted, his sentence felt cut short from the lack of name usage, but still, he kept on with the game, pulling his face away from hers to gauge her reaction, but there was none, other than her smirk only growing larger.

“Mmmh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Nikki” She coaxed as her hand opened the button to his jeans just to place her hand down the clothing, her fingers lightly grazing his already hardened dick.

“Don’t play with me like that” Nikki answered a demanding undertone to his sentence and his voice, but Circe didn’t really care about either of those things, it only fueled the devious flame that burned her body and eyes.

“Or what?” She answered, her tongue placed between her teeth as her smile grew taunting, but said smile broke when Nikki’s hand reached up to her neck choking her only slightly.

“You want to know don’t you, babe? You want to feel what I can do to you, huh?” He answered, his voice rough as he held her by the neck.

Circe’s mouth was agape, her pride being the only thing that prevented her from moaning out, the pressure of his hand fogged her mind heavily as the cold of the leather gloves rubbed on her skin. Despite her hazy state her hand still on him, hot on his skin as she pulled it out of his jeans, resting it at his exposed navel.

“You’re one to talk, you’re the one with a hard-on here, babe” she muttered out a laugh falling from her lips. Nikki huffed and removed his hand from Circe’s neck.

Nikki adjusted his jeans and turned to leave before Circe mocked: “You’re just going to leave like that? No kiss?”

Nikki turned to her and noted how Circe’s face was lit up with fake innocence, he approached her once more, his lips neared her’s as his hand moved from the side of her neck, applying the slightest of pressures as it trailed down, tracing the outline of her collarbone and the edge of her tattoo; then, his hand brushed over her breast, his touch teasing and slow as goosebumps covered her chest; finally, his hand stopped at the front of her pants and despite the number of layers between them -from his gloves to her underwear- his touch was hot on her, a knot forming on her lower abdomen craving for release.

Nikki huffed out a laugh, his breath hot on her lip as he stated with a sly tone: “no.”

Circe’s body warmed up from the mere memory, the feeling of Nikki’s warm skin still very much present in her subconscious, but she had to take her time away from him, she had to rebuild strengths if she wanted to keep her game up.

“Man, I desperately need a cold shower” Circe mumbled to herself, her fingers running through her knotted up hair.

Circe removed all her clothes in her room, walking naked to her bathroom and just as she was about to get in her shower to get the water ready her reflection caught her attention once more, it appeared as if High Circe had gotten bored and designed a new tattoo on her right shoulder just under her collarbone. Running back to her room she got a hold of her black eyeliner, filling in where it needed to be, adding detailing as well; then she got a hold of her camera, snapping a picture of the drawing before it faded with the shower.

As she headed to her bathroom, her head turned to her living room, the sight of her record player making her detour from her original destination -again. She searched through her vinyls, settling for her most recent buy, “Mask” by Bauhaus. Finally, Circe got to her bathroom, the sound of “Hair of The Dog” fell into the background as she turned the water on, the cold droplets of water making their appearance soon enough and so, Circe jumped underneath them; the pressure that they hit her skin with was comforting enough, helping at easing the leftover tension that resided on her back and shoulder muscles coaxing a small sigh of content to escape her.

Circe started to hum along to the songs playing, trying to divert her thoughts from the owner of the most captivating pair of olive-coloured eyes she had ever seen. It was a hard task to keep up with, her mind naturally heading his direction making Circe make a disgruntled sound; she sped up the showering process and just as she finished showering as the side A of the album ended, she dried herself as quickly as possible, wrapping a towel around the top of her chest, heading to the record player to turn the vinyl to its side B before she dressed up. The sound of “Kick in the Eye” flooded small apartment, the lyrics naturally falling from her lips as she moved to the beat the bass marked. The song faded to an end once she got to her closet, she pulled out a pair of black high-waisted shorts, an old ripped shirt Circe had cut into a crop top thrown at her bed next to a pair of panties.

As she finished putting all of her clothes on and while lacing up her boots a knock pulled her out of her thoughts, a frown took over her face. She walked to the door, not caring to yell over the music to tell the person at the door that she was heading their way, she just walked there. And without taking a look through the window by the door nor through the peephole she opened the door, freezing at her spot as her eyes met his.

“Well, hello Circe…”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Fuck.

Was Nikki's last thought as he lead his blonde-haired company back to the couch. Circe was predictable in the worse way possible, he knew he had to figure out how to get around yet another round of her teasing after tonight's turn of events. Nikki was never good at keeping promises, but he excelled at making them sound realistic.

They never agreed they would interrupt their dynamic, but after the words they shared in Circe's apartment he knew he had definitely slipped and she was going to make him pay for it. He saw that characteristic glint of mischief shine brightly in her otherwise dark eyes, he just didn't know that was Circe playing with his doped brain.

As Nikki silently pondered on how to tackle the situation at hand -a scenario yet to be presented- Circe was coughing out smoke with a laugh, Nikki's slightly shocked and panicked expression engraved in her brain. It took her a couple of minutes for her giggles to settle, but once it did she heard Vince snort out a laugh by the window.

"What?" She asked the blond at her right, a smile sneaking up on her lips.

"You're asking me? You're the one laughing by yourself" He said with a knowing smile, Circe shrugged.

Then, Vince handed her her "Here, you left it inside."

"Oh, and to what do I owe this display of chivalry?" Circe asked the blond to her right, digging her elbow on his ribs playfully.

"Can't I just bring my gorgeous female friend her drink without her implying there's a bigger plan?" He teased back, swaying his hands as if to make him look posh.

"No, no, you can, but it's just so... what's the word... so not Vince-like."

"Thanks, tho." She said in a lower voice, her head now resting on his shoulder, Vince mumbled something back as he wrapped an arm around her frame.

Silence settled between the pair. As the wind blew, Circe's head ran through similar moments she had shared with Vince before, a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips. The peaceful environment around them was interrupted by the blond vocalist who cleared his throat.

"Well, just so you know, I came out here to see if you were kicking Nikki's ass over the blonde chick situation." Another nasal laugh left Vince, Circe turned to him and started to hit his shoulder repeatedly, causing him to break out laughing.

"You fucker." Circe said, dragging out the r as she chased Vince back inside the apartment, people parting to make room for the pair.

Circe had tuned out the voices around her, but she swore she heard Tommy encouraging her to hit Vince over the head and Mick laughing a little. Her focus left her as she bumped into someone.

She mumbled a half-assed apology, but this change in her path had made her lose sight of the blond-haired singer. With a defeated look on her face, she decided to take a seat on the band's table only to find her prey laughing at her.

"Haha, very funny jackass," Circe said a frown sketched on her face.

"Oh, c'mon you're gonna get wrinkles, dude." Vince teased, earning a smack on his shoulder by both Mick and Circe.

"Dude, you should have seen Nikki's face when you bumped into him." Tommy chimed in with an amused expression. Circe's eyes widened slightly, but a laugh still left her slightly parted lips.

Before she could gather her thoughts to answer Tommy, Vince handed her a cymbal with some coke lines cut up for her enjoyment. She leaned down to snort one of the two lines Vince had cut for her; then she straightened her back, scratching the tip of her nose as she tried to come up with something to say, dusting some of the excess coke in the process. Like Circe came with no logical response to Tommy's comment, she just shrugged and laughed again. Then she leaned back down to snort the second line, a good girl naturally tumbling out of Vince's lips accompanied by a pat on the back.

After that point the night seemed to slip through Circe's fingers, time passing by her as she engaged in conversation, laughing fits leaving her breathless and kisses shared with complete strangers in her smoke breaks were the only things that kept her entertained. As the apartment was quickly emptying, Circe was left sitting by herself in the dining table, a nearly empty bottle of vodka, music and the distinctive sounds of sex being her only company. She rolled her eyes as she drank what little was left of the clear liquid, dropping the bottle on the floor carelessly she headed towards the window, ready to go home unaccompanied when a hand grabbed her by her forearm.

"Hi" said the blonde girl Nikki had been chasing all night long.

"Hey" answered Circe with a small smile.

"You're leaving?" the blonde inquired.

"Yeah"

"Oh, okay." was her reply, a tinge of disappointment laced the two words. Circe smirked just a smidge, her hand came up to the blonde's chin, lifting it as to make her eyes meet.

"C'mon, doll." Circe offered her hand as she walked out the window, the blonde took Circe's hand in her own.

"Wait here, we'll leave soon." Circe said before peaking her head inside the apartment once more, her eyes meeting with Nikki's surprised expression.

"Sixx, if you see Tommy or Vince tell them I finished the vodka." And with that said, she parted with the blonde.

Both girls had been walking for a couple of minutes, their high heels were worn as bracelets by now. The silence was comfortable, no one really trying to break the calm atmosphere they had settled in, embracing the drastic change.

"You live nearby?" Circe asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't want to walk home alone."

"It's cool, sorry if I made you uncomfortable with the doll thing."

"Meh, I didn't mind it."

As the pair headed to the blonde's place, Circe noted the change of behaviour but stayed quiet nonetheless.

"So Nikki? or Vince?" the blonde girl teased with a giggle, earning a breathy laugh from Circe.

"Neither."

"Wait, Vince?" Circe continued after a moment of silence, her voice clearly amused.

"Yeah! Quite a scene you made back there."

"That's just us being, well, us. Nothing beyond that." Circe vaguely informed her.

"If you say so." The girl said in a singsong voice.

"Anyways, this is me! Thanks for walking with me..."

"Circe"

The blonde girl repeated the name to herself in a lower voice. "Josie." Circe rose an eyebrow.

"My name's Josie" she clarified with a smile. "Well, thanks, Circe ."

"Anytime, Josie. " Circe answered, making a point by repeating the girl's name.

As Josie headed to her door, Circe cleared her voice, making her turn to face the brunette with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?"

"I kinda get Vince, but why did you ask about Nikki?" Josie laughed to herself at the brunette's curiosity.

"Instinct... question mark" Josie answered, unsure of herself. Circe stared at her in disbelief but decided not to push the topic, instead, she snorted out a laugh.

"I better go home, bye." 

"Bye."

And with that, Circe found herself alone one more time, not that she minded. The walk back to her apartment was short, not more than five minutes and she probably would have taken less if she hadn't bumped into an adorable stray cat or if she had actually walked instead of danced and sung all the way back home.

" No place for hidin' baby, no place to run " Circe dramatically sung in her best Paul impersonation, as she tried to open her door.

" You pull the trigger of my love gun. "

As those last few notes left Circe, her door finally budged open. Clothes and items were carelessly thrown around the living room, and Circe nearly fell flat on her face after tripping with the clothes she had brought home from work. Circe tried her best to navigate to her room in the dark, in the process bumping into furniture and even a wall, curse after curse falling off her lips. Once she found herself in her room, she let herself fall on the bed, her hand reaching under it to pull out a half-drunk bottle of Jack.

" You can't forget me baby, don't try to lie. You'll never leave me, mama, so don't try. I'll be a gambler, baby lay down the bet. We get together, mama you'll sweat " She restarted her singing as she took a drink from the bottle, then she laughed to herself, clearly amused at her attempt to sound like Paul.

She took another swing of the bottle, as she felt her body swaying, the same feeling you would get when floating in water. Her eyes were teary from the laughter, and her head started to pounce at the thought of work, but she didn't stop drinking. Despite the upcoming headache, she tried to keep herself focused on what she'd like to do with the clothes instead of letting her mind wander off to Josie's question. But before her mind could cave in, she fell asleep.

"Rise and shine, sunshine" a male voice, sung from her left. Circe's hold on the bottle tightened as she turned her body to the side, ignoring the man -whom she assumed was Tommy.

"Fuck off" Circe answered, her voice raspy and low, afraid that it would make her headache worse.

"Tommy sent you breakfast c'mon, Ce" At the mention of Tommy, Circe shoot up straight, something her body resented instantly.

"Here, take this" Vince handed her a glass of water, the blond far too relaxed, considering he had broken into her apartment while she slept.

She mumbled a quiet thank you to Vince and took a gulp from the glass, then asked: "What the fuck are you doing here, Neil?" 

"Athena came over, she left some food for you, so Tommy gave me your key me and told me to bring it over."

Circe stood up from the bed, holding the cold glass of water to the side of her head while taking a drink from the bottle of Jack. She placed both drinks on the floor as she started to remove her clothes, Vince in her room currently being the last of her concerns. She pulled from her closet her jean overalls and put it over last night's bandeau and panties.

"C'mon, I'm starving."

"Also, that's 10 bucks for the show" She added with a small laugh, then she took a drink from the glass of water before pressing it to the side of her head.

"Ass" the mumbled curse made Circe laugh harder.

Vince followed Circe out of her room, stealing the bottle of Jack in the process, then he flopped down on the couch, throwing his legs on the small coffee table. Circe, on the other hand, headed to her kitchen and decided to brew some coffee, in hopes that the caffeine would ease her headache.

"Bring the syrup, Athena sent you chocolate chip pancakes" Vince yelled from the living room as he made himself comfortable in the couch, taking gulps from the whiskey every now and then.

Circe nodded but huffed at the realisation that she had virtually nothing in her kitchen, meaning she had to eat dry pancakes, again.

"What? No syrup?" Vince asked without looking up, too busy picking some chocolate chips, earning a smack over the head from Circe.

"No, I haven't gone grocery shopping" Circe stole the bottle of Jack back from Vince, pouring some in her coffee. Then she grabbed the plastic fork that came with the pancakes and started eating, offering Vince a piece of pancake every once in a while.

"You know?" Vince wondered out loud. Circe hummed, waiting for him to continue.

"I thought I might find the blonde chick leaving or something."

"Nah, she just wanted someone to walk her home" Circe shrugged, a hand covering her mouth to prevent her pancakes from spilling out of it.

"Ah, man, I thought you had stolen Nikki's toy-for-a-night" Vince said, leaning back into the couch, his eyes covered by his hands.

Vince stayed quiet for a while, before saying: "So... no sex last night?"

"Nah"

"Wanna change that?" Vince teased.

"What? You offering?" Circe asked back with a playful smile. Vince shrugged.

"It's been a while, huh" Circe pondered.

"You had no tattoos back then, Ce."

"So like, a long, long while" Circe laughed a bit.

"Yeah" Vince laughed as well.

"Was it before or after I left my parent's house?" Circe asked.

"Really? Both, it was around the time I left my parent's house, and then you left your parent's house, so we kinda coexisted in Tommy's place" Vince answered, taking Circe's fork and a bite out of the pancake.

"Right" Circe mumbled, deep in thought before snorting out a laugh.

"You finished?" Circe asked, pointing at the pancake Vince was currently eating.

"Yeah" Circe offered her hand to take the container, but Vince took it upon himself to dump it in the trash.

"Hey, do you think Athena is still in your place?"

"Maybe, wanna go?"

"Yeah, why not" Circe answered, shrugging her shoulders.

"Just let me clean my face, I probably look half dead."

Circe made a quick job out of cleaning her face, mainly worried about removing the eyeliner that had smudged under her eyes and the lipstick that had somehow ended up all over her cheek. As she headed back to meet with Vince in her living room, she redid her bun.

"Ready?" Circe just nodded. As they made their way out, she took her keys and two packs of cigarettes, perfectly aware that she had finished Tommy's last night.

Closing and locking the door behind her, they headed to Vince's place. Halfway through Circe decided to jump on Vince's back, claiming she was too tired to walk and she felt sick, the blond man just rolled his eyes all too accustomed to her antics.

"Honey, I'm home" Circe jokingly sang at the sight of Tommy's little sister, Athena. Vince dropped Circe back on her feet, letting the two girls hug.

"Thanks for breakfast, I had nothing left to eat" Circe said. She pinched Athena's cheek before jumping on the kitchen counter.

"Thought so, I don't get how you can live off drugs and booze" Athena replied, directing her sentence to all four people. Tommy shrugged.

"A mystery" Circe and Tommy said simultaneously, then they high-fived earning a barely audible groan from an otherwise silent Nikki.

Tommy frowned at Nikki's reaction but decided to not address his sudden change in attitude. Tommy's gaze shifted between both his best friends, confused as to what had caused the shift in dynamics. Circe rolled her eyes at the sight of Nikki throwing a silent temper tantrum, not once making eye contact or directing a word to her since the day before. Circe decided to pay him no mind, directing her focus on Athena instead, unaware the younger Lee was soon to leave.

Athena pinched Circe's cheek, making her chuckle. "What?"

"You should go visit mom and dad, they've been asking about you."

"I'll think about it, 'k? Maybe I'll give them a call."

"You better, Ce" Athena said, patting her on the knee.

"I'd say this was a pleasure, but-"

"Fuck off" Tommy interrupted his sister with a laugh, "C'mon, I'll drive you home."

Once both Lee siblings left through the window, Nikki stood up from his place, taking long strides towards Circe only stopping once he was right in front of her.

"What?" Circe asked, uncrossing her legs as if to make room for Nikki between them. Still, she had a hard time pushing her smile down.

"Nice stunt you pulled last night." Nikki's words were laced with a tinge of bitterness.

"Which one?"

"Both."

"Huh, I see, you're all grumpy cause you didn't get laid." Circe teased, her smile nothing but sweet despite the jabbing demeanour of her words.

"Fuck o-" Nikki muttered, and Circe chuckled. Then, she pulled Nikki back between her legs by grabbing him from his pants belt loops.

"C'mon, Sixx. Chill, we said we'd play fair, didn't we?"

"You call that playing fair?" Nikki questioned, grabbing Circe by the waist pulling her closer to him.

"I wasn't the one with a pretty blonde on my lap last night, wasn't I? I was only trying to rise up to the occasion." Circe playfully pushed Nikki's chin up with her index before coaxing him to reduce the distance between them.

"I call that playing fair." Circe's voice was breathy, Nikki could practically taste the pancakes she had eaten earlier that day along with the Jack and coffee she had used to gulp them down.

Nikki leaned in to close the small gap that was left between them, but Circe pushed him off her.

"As much as I would like to see where this leads, I have work to do, and you definitely don't figure in it."

Circe jumped off the counter as she said those words, her smirk only getting wider as she spoke. Nikki was shocked and momentarily lost the ability to both move and speak, so as the brunette walked through the window and out his apartment, he stood still.