As the glow in Ash’s eyes finally fades and his wings begin to shimmer and disappear as the illusion drops, Link reaches up to turn the lights back on. Ashton allows the magic to fade away completely but doesn’t do the same with the defiant stare he’s giving his ex.
“How—” Whitaker starts, but Ashton cuts him off, which pleases Link immensely and has him struggling not to yell, “you tell him, babe!” Just a guess, but it would probably not be appreciated at this particular moment, especially since Ashton seems to be on a roll with the speech-giving.
“Just so you understand,” Ashton begins, moving down the steps so that he’s face-to-face with Whitaker for the first time. “While Link did the vast majority of this remarkable cover-up, this transformation, Ichoseto keep the original mess you forced upon me. Ichoseto own it, to wear these scars, so to speak, with pride. I even accentuated them—remember the blue lighting that you and I created for my grace? The electricity you felt pulsing through the air just now?”
Ashton holds up his left hand and points to a black squiggle decorating the inside of his wrist. Link squints, craning his neck from halfway across the room, trying to decipher what the hell it is without it being obvious that he’s out of the loop.
“That wasme,Whit. Not just my choice, but my own charm, created explicitly for this purpose. I inked it on my skin myself, just now, while you were arguing with Link.”
“That’s impossible,” Whitaker scoffs. “There was no time for—”
“You’ve always underestimated me,” Ashton asserts, cutting him off and stepping boldly,fearlesslyinto Whitaker’s personal space. “You don’t know who I am, and you certainly don’t know what I’m capable of doing.” He holds up his hand once more and Link watches with interest, clocking the exact moment when Whitaker realizes that Ashton is telling the truth. That the tattoo on his wrist is as fresh as the one on his back.
“And, for the record,” he continues, “you didn’t break me. Not even close.”
“Yeah, you squashed cabbage leaf,” Link adds because he can’t help himself.
As soon as Ashton’s done speaking, his gaze doesn’t linger. It snaps away from Whitaker, sweeping the room with intention and swiftly finding Link's face. When their eyes meet, the change in Ashton’s expression and demeanor is both sudden and dramatic—another, final transformation. It almost looks as if he’s physically rolling the entire situation right off of his shoulders, shrugging it away in his wake. A relieved, pleased smile spreads across his face as he closes the distance between them and loops his arm through Link's.
“I believe we had an appointment,” he says, and that’s the end of that. Ashton doesn’t look back when he leads Link confidently out of the atrium and down the hall.
As they exit, Link can hear Sam laughing from the steps, her footsteps echoing as she finally wanders down. “Dude,” Sam says, snorting, “Pretty sure that was the most outstanding embodiment of the phrase ‘fuck you’ in all of recorded history. No, but seriously, get out or I’m gonna shoot you.”
Pressed into Link's side, Ashton just grins.
“What is that thing, anyway?” Link asks, gesturing towards Ashton’s wrist as they move arm-in-arm down the hall and Ashton interlaces the fingers of their hands.
“Hmm? Oh, the tattoo. Technically, it’s the letter for “C” in Enochian, the language of the angels. Same as the script on my ribs. Felt right to use for this particular effect, but it’s really just a vehicle for the charm.”
Ashton explains this so nonchalantly, so humbly, that Link honestly can’t tell if the guy understands how damntalentedhe is. He’s kind of dumbfounded, feeling compelled to clarify out loud what abigfuckin’ deal this actually is, and what an unparalleled success Ashton is going to be in the tattoo world, sooner rather than later.
What a big success Ashtonalready is,to him.
The thing is, seeing Ashton owning his shit and being so damn brave—it makesLinkwant to do the same damn thing. He needs to stop hiding, to stop using the way shitty people from his past have treated him as an excuse to not be proud, to not be himself, to not claim his accomplishmentsloudly.
Fuck his dad’s opinion oneverythingbeing about work and money. Fuck him for beating into his head that anything less is a waste of time. Fuck his ex, Kane, for thinking hisawesomesmut is lame or weird, for trying to talk him into being ashamed. Kane is justtwitterguy0127393, now, the hell does he know?And fuckLawlessfor trying to make him believe that he didn’t have anything more to offer than a pretty face and some basic ink. He’snota dog. He’s the guy who gave the man he loves his life back.
So fuck all of them. Link's over it.
He’s gottatellAshton, though, and doesn’t even know where to start. Ultimately, Link opts to keep the focus on him for today—Ashton’s earned it, and his revelations can wait until tomorrow.
“Ash,” he starts out, admiringly, “you’re awesome.”
“It was nothing,” Ashton deflects.
“Dude, I—Alright, let’s recap: this is a charm that you dreamt up, brought to life, freaking inked on the fly,onto your own skinafter your ex showed up unexpectedly to threaten you,justbecause you wanted to tell him off. You know, sunshine, I’m not sure if you know this, butmostpeople just go to the gym, get snatched, and then bang the douchebag’s best friend.”
Ashton comes to a dead stop, peering up at him, wide-eyed. “I was inspired,” he says, perfectly deadpan, which makes Link burst out laughing.
“Christ,” he murmurs, shaking his head and pulling Ash in close as they resume the walk toward his room. His room, where presumably, someone’s world is getting absolutelyrocked,because Link has never been this turned on in his whole damn life. He’s also going to need to see that ink in action like six or seven more times, preferably from several different angles and with way less clothing in the way.
You know, forprofessionalreasons. Gotta make sure it’s perfect.
“You are something else, sweetheart,” he says with a chuckle. “Don’t ever change, because I can’t fuckin’waitto see what you do next.”
“The feeling is mutual, Link,” Ashton replies softly, tugging on his hand as they step inside his room. Ashton stands on his toes to steal a kiss, and magic sparks between their lips as Link closes the door behind them.
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