"So what does this flower mean?" Finn questioned as he traced the tattoo on River's forearm.
"It happens to be the type of flower which shares a name with my sister." River explained as she watched Finn's fingers softly move over the tattoo.
"A delilah." Finn pieced together. River hummed in confirmation before she continued.
"It's a type of dahlia." River added.
"You have a tattoo for each of your family members." Finn observed as he propped his chin up on her chest to meet her eyes as he recalled the two birds on her upper arm which she had gotten for her parents
"I do." River confirmed as she shifted her gaze from her arm to Finn who had been laying on her chest for the past hour whilst River explained the meaning behind each of her tattoos. "I even have one for Harley." She stated as she lifted her wrist to show off the small pair of dog ears which resembled Harley's tattooed beneath her hand.
Finn let out an intrigued hum before he began to trace the mark, his eyes trailing over it curiously. "What does this one mean?" Finn questioned after moment as he found a new tattoo he hadn't asked her about yet.
"It's a frog playing a ukulele." River said simply.
"But what does it mean?" Finn persisted, knowing that all of her previous tattoos had had deeper meaning than what they initially appeared as.
"That's it's a frog playing a ukulele." River repeated, knowing that it was the first tattoo she had given herself and that it didn't have a particularly meaningful story behind it. "If you want a better meaning you can pretend the ukulele symbolises my love for music or something." River uttered.
"And the frog?" Finn challenged, interested by the way River was improvising the meaning behind the tattoo.
That I'm a bisexual female?
"Since it's a cartoon frog it represents the movie 'The Princess and the Frog' which is the first movie I saw with Delilah in cinema." River answered, proud of the way she had made up a meaning for that tattoo.
or it just represents Prince Naveen...
the man is gorgeous.
"Impressive." Finn praised.
"And now we have the infamous stripe that I got when I was drunk at the ripe age of 15." River started after a moment, lifting the side of her shirt to show off the tattoos running along her side.
"There's nothing there." Finn said after a moment of scanning the bare skin on her side.
"What do you mean?" River questioned, "There are a bunch of letters."
"Those are soulmarks." Finn pieced together quickly.
"Come again." River requested as she tried to understand the term 'soulmarks '.
"They should have appeared to you when you reached the age that youngest of us was when we were turned." Finn started. "Meaning it would have appeared when you were around sixteen since that was the age Rebekah was when she was turned. Soulmarks are basically just the way of marking you as ours." He explained awkwardly, "They will only be visible to others once the bond is completed but until then they are only visible to you."
phew...
I didn't think I was ever more than tipsy at fifteen let alone drunk enough to invest in a fake ID and get a bunch of tattoos that I've never showed anyone but somehow I've believed that story for three years so...
(A/N: I know Henrik was actually like thirteen when he died but him being fifteen when he died fits this part of the story better.)
"Firstly, they appeared when I was fifteen not sixteen." River corrected. "Secondly, why was this not in Elijah's explanation?"
"I guess he thought you would notice five tattoo's appearing on your body." Finn assumed.
"Has he not seen how chaotic my tattoos are?" River questioned rhetorically. "Obviously I would notice but not care about six marks randomly appearing on me."
"There should be five marks." Finn clarified.
"There are six." River confirmed as she looked back to the marks.
"What?" Finn questioned.
"F.M. E.M. N.M. K.M. R.M. and H.M." River read aloud, "Definitely six."
... hold up ...
"Wait, H.M.?" River confirmed as she looked back to Finn whose expression had fallen. "Who is H.M.?" River asked. Finn recovered quickly, trying to conceal his reaction.
"I'm not sure." Finn lied, his eyes dropping from hers as his mind tried to piece together what River was saying.
"Finn." River warned, quickly acknowledging that he was lying to her.
"It's nothing." He reassured, not knowing how to explain that he knew exactly who H.M. was meant to refer to.
-----
"When will you let me sit in the passenger seat?" Delilah questioned, not looking up from the ice-cream River had just bought her.
"When you no longer need a car seat." River muttered as she she parked her car in front of their house. "Come on." River started as she got out of the car, grabbing her car keys, wallet, and phone before closing her door and opening Delilah's to help her out of the backseat.
"When will I no longer need a car seat?" Delilah questioned as she followed River inside.
"When you are no longer tiny." River answered simply as she closed the front door behind Delilah.
"When will that be?" Delilah asked.
"Never." River mocked as she reached to grab Delilah causing Delilah to run from her with a squeal as she was all too familiar with River's habit of using Delilah's small size to her advantage when it came to carrying her.
Delilah quickly ran into the living room whilst River entered the kitchen, putting her wallet and keys down on the counter as she saw her dad retrieving something from the refrigerator.
"Hey." River greeted, drawing her dad's attention as he picked up whatever he was looking for.
"Hey." He said simply as he opened the packet of carrot sticks which had been in their fridge for the last week.
"What time is your flight?" River asked, knowing that her dad was meant to be going away for work for the next few days.
"8:30." He answered, "But I'm going to leave in about an hour so that I can get some food at the airport."
right...
is this why I have daddy issu-
"Do you know where Harley is?" River questioned after she paused for a moment, noticing how she had missed her usual greeting at the front door which Harley provided every time River came home.
"I let her outside a few minutes ago since she was waiting at the back door." He explained as he placed the carrot sticks in the bin after he checked the expiration date.
River then opened the back door before she began calling for Harley, finding it strange that Harley didn't come up to her upon hearing the door open. When River still couldn't see Harley, she closed the door behind her and began walking around the yard, attempting to find her dog.
As soon as River took a few steps, it didn't take long for her to see Harley and piece together why she wasn't coming up to her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" River questioned as she narrowed her eyes at Nik who was seated on the ground next to Harley, his hand rubbing the fur behind her ear which was Harley's sweet spot.
Nik tried to fight the grin threatening his lips as he stood up, approaching her silently before he wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pulling her into him.
"A little birdy told me you have activated the bond with all of my siblings." Nik explained as one of his hands brushed the hair away from one side of River's neck. "And I believe they are correct." Nik continued before he pressed a soft kiss to the side of River's neck. When River didn't say anything, Nik pulled back before he continued speaking. "I believe we made a deal." He persisted as he cupped the side of her face, forcing her to meet his eyes as she grew increasingly nervous under his desire filled stare.
"Come over tonight." River proposed as she re-composed herself. Nik narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, his inner vampire already battling with the impatience of her first agreement. "I'm asking you out Nik not asking you to donate your scrotum to science." River stated after a moment of Nik's silence, "It seems pretty clear that all you need to say is yes."
"Why?" Nik questioned.
"Is it so crazy of me to want to activate the bond with you under better circumstances?" River challenged, her eyes circling the space around them which consisted of her elderly neighbour glaring at her and Nik from her window and Harley sniffing out the bunny poop from a nearby bush.
Nik let out a groan as he dropped his gaze, irritated by the point she had made.
"I'll see you at 8." River said as she backed out of his hold. Before River went back inside, she turned back to Nik as a question dawned on her, "How did you get Harley to be so nice to you after you jumped the side fence?" River asked, turning back to him.
"It's a dog thing." Nik explained vaguely.
oh.
so he fucking original-hybrid-alphaed my dog into being his bitch...
fantastic.