Whose Addiction? (Dave Navarro x Reader)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Everyone started shaking the judges' hands and greeted them, casually saying 'I'm a big fan,' or, 'I admire your work a lot,' or other words of praise. I knew some of them genuinely said it, but I could tell some others were doing it to only get some kind of advantage by getting the judges to like them from the start. I watched from afar as everyone started chatting with the show's hosts.

I really wanted to go and at least introduce myself, but I knew I would screw it up somehow. Plus, I wanted all of the judges to know me from the very beginning, so I naturally decided to stay away.

"Aren't you gonna go say hi?" Tatu Baby asked as she looked at the judges. I took a deep breath and shrugged.

"I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I don't want to give myself away ahead of time anyway. What about you? You're one of the biggest competition here, and I'm sure they remember you well from season two," I smirked as I mentioned TB's previous appearances on the show.

"That's exactly why I don't need to be chatting with them right now. They already know me well. They know my strengths and weaknesses. Jeez, I might as well consider them my friends," she exclaimed. I chuckled.

"You're lucky. At least you have that advantage," I mentioned. She nodded and sighed.

"But I might as well say hi, right?" She looked at me and smiled. "I'll be right back," And with that, she made her way through the rest of the crowd and disappeared within it. I sighed to myself and returned to the snack bar and rested my hands on the edge of it, staring mindlessly at the various snacks presented in front of me. Now that Tatu Baby was gone, I had nothing to do, and everyone else was busy interacting with the hosts.

I straightened up and went over to my tattoo machines case. I kneeled next to it and laid it horizontally on the floor and opened it. The first thing I spotted was my tattoo portfolio. I took it in my hands and looked at the cover page, which was a picture of my first tattoo. It was a simple skull with flowers growing out of it. It was such a simple yet meaningful piece to me. I even have the stencil and sketch at the very back of my portfolio. I smiled as I stood back up and started looking through my portfolio.

I really wanted to make sure I only included my best works, and works that I knew I could pull off if clients asked me to. As I looked through them, I started remembering my short, yet eventful career. I looked at the American Traditional tattoos section, then portraits, Japanese, black and white, old and new school, and everything else I had chosen to display in my portfolio. Minutes passed as I kept reviewing my portfolio until I heard a voice over my shoulder.

"Those are some really nice tattoos," The voice spoke. I slightly jumped at the sudden appearance of the person. I turned around and immediately froze.

Dave Navarro was standing before me. Dave Navarro just complimented my work. My work! What are you doing?! Say something!

"Th-Thank you so much. I-I really appreciate it," I stuttered nervously. I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment.

'Is that all you had to say?! You probably sounded like an idiot!' I mentally scolded myself. Dave replied with a smile, his dimples slightly denting. I noticed he wore a simple, black tank top with black leggings and combat boots; something you'd usually see Dave wear.

"Oh, and I apologize if I scared you," He said, his voice husky. My eyes widened a bit at his apology, a shy smile on my face.

"Oh! No worries! It's cool. You just startled me, that's all," I said, clearly anxious. He nodded in response. I was hoping he hadn't noticed my trepidatious behavior.