Recovery

Written in Scars Upon His Soul

Ryker

Ryker paused as Tim turned back to look at him, noticing that it was more than the vampire watching him.

It was an ageless, forbidding expression on the other man's face that chilled him for a moment. "You allowed her to drain herself far more than she should have."

"I didn't allow shit." Ryker forced himself to roll his eyes and maintain an air of not giving a shit, refusing to balk at whatever being Tim also was. "We just kind of talked. She said she missed tattooing."

"Why does she talk to you?" The being's voice echoed with power, though it sounded oddly confused, and the scent that Ryker could only describe as 'Tim' filled the room, far stronger than when it was merely his boss.

Ryker shrugged, reaching up to run his hand through his hair. "I don't know, man. Because I'm more fucked up than she is? Because she's not trying to protect my feelings?"

Tim quirked a brow, crossing his arms over his chest and opening his mouth to speak when there was a flash of pink and the rush of the smell of roses heralding the arrival of Meriwa and Samantha.

"Hey asshole." Meriwa gave him a smirk, as if she hadn't made him wait nearly an entire day in Tim's house.

"Where's Urdie?" Sam glanced around with concern before her eyes settled on the tattooing cart, confusion blossoming on her features. "Is that...?"

"She was tired." Tim offered gently, sliding his arm around Sam's shoulders, returning to being plain old annoying vampire Timothy. "She spent a great deal of time tattooing Ryker."

"You got a tattoo?" Meri had been moving to wrap her arms around him, and now took a step back from him, her eyes wide in surprise. "Show us!"

Sam looked up from the cart, glancing at Tim for a moment, and then over to Ryker. "She tattooed you?"

Ryker could tell by the look on Tim's face that he wanted to see it. He had since he arrived and figured out what had happened.

Even with Sam's pleading look on top of that, Ryker was half tempted to refuse, to maintain his veneer of asshole for posterity. "You're not allowed to tell Daryl or Carbry about it until they get to see it."

The red head beamed at him, making the motion of locking her lips shut, bouncing on her toes as Tim offered a solemn nod. The man was cautious, scared of something, scared of whatever he would see in Urdu's artwork, and Ryker felt a twinge of sympathy for him then, knowing he feared the same demons that Urdu did.

"They're going to be so jealous that I get to see this first." Meriwa grinned and stepped closer to him, kissing his cheek and sliding her fingers to the hem of his shirt. Though she paused, her eyes meeting his to make sure he was okay with it before she pulled it up over his head.

Ryker dutifully lifted his arms, then turned around and held them out to his sides so they could see his back and them together. He glanced down at the arm from his past, containing crumbling, ancient ruins and the dark forms of monsters and death, including the half sunken hull of a ship that went up over his shoulder and into the battlefield that was inked into his back.

There, angels fought demons, the bodies of knights were littered along with the rubble of a battlefield, broken weapons and skulls, though it faded into the scene of a group of knights, battered and scarred from battle, walking toward more peaceful looking forests and meadows that worked up over his shoulder to his arm.

There, she had inscribed the names of Meriwa, Daryl and Carbry, along with their two unborn children in demonic, amongst a twist of thorns, rope, barbed wire, and tribal flames that ran down his arm to his wrist. He had not asked how she knew the names, or what they were, and thankfully he couldn't read demonic. That was something Meriwa was deciding and he was happy to be surprised when she told him. 

It looked unfinished, but only because she had left room for any more family if theirs should grow.

"Oh..." Sam murmured softly, and he felt her fingers running gently over his back, tracing the artwork almost reverently.

It was beautifully done. It seemed darker, more shaded, somehow than the work he had seen on Tim or Bryn and Shiloh, though Ryker didn't know if that was about Urdu or him.

He let them look, blinking a couple times when he felt himself hugged from behind, glancing down to see that it was Sam's arms wrapped around his waist, her cheek pressed into his back. It was only when she finally released him that he turned, finding himself hugged once more by the redhead. Tim was looking at him with an oddly tender expression on his face and Meriwa was grinning.

"It's beautiful." Samantha murmured, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, before finally pulling back and moving to hug Tim tightly. "She... thank you."

Meriwa stepped up to his side, sliding an arm around his waist and kissing his cheek. Ryker just shrugged and let one hand slide around her shoulders, the other one moving to rest on her belly as he kissed her temple. "Ahhh, well, it was that or go hunt rogue demons. I figured this was a safer hobby."

"She wanted to go hunting?" Tim still looked stunned, upset, but not in his normal, furious way. Ryker half expected the man to start crying, if he were being honest with himself.

"Nah. I asked her what she did for fun." He paused, giving Tim a smirk. "Don't worry, she said your fun was off the table."

"Asshole." Meriwa elbowed him in the ribs, trying to level a glare his way. "We should go, though. I'm tired."

Ryker laughed and gave her a thoughtful look. "Oh. Now you're tired. Been gallivanting around, eating ice cream and cupcakes for a whole day, and now you're okay with spending time with me? We were going to watch movies and have popcorn..."

"I'll send you two back to the apartment." Tim paused, giving Ryker an odd look. "Thank you. Again. Whatever it is, you get through to her."

"She talked about her home." Ryker paused for a moment, frowning and watching the two of them. "Look, I get it, a whole bunch of assholes that you guys aren't happy with, but..."

Tim scowled at him. "They don't deserve her."

Meriwa squeezed him, her grip tight enough to remind him that it wasn't his place.

Despite that, Ryker shrugged. "Yah, maybe they don't. But she misses them. Our stupid broken planet is a lot different from all of the places she told me about. And they are also her people, and it's not really your place to decide who she sees and who she doesn't. She's given them up to make you happy, but not because she wanted to."

"Ryker." Meriwa kissed his cheek and squeezed him again. "They know."

Tim let out a slow breath, shaking his head and tossing Ryker his shirt, which had been put to the side. The moment Ryker caught it, they were jolted with power from the house to their penthouse apartment.

"Ok...It's time I talk to the grapefruits." Ryker grinned and turned to Meri, lowering himself down to his knees and kissing her belly. "Your mom thought she was being sneaky, making a playdate for a demon to eat me... but I'm still here to annoy you guys."

He grinned when Meriwa laughed and cuffed him upside the head gently, before running her fingers through his hair.