fourteen - hendrix's kink

the art of hendrix's kink

- - -

Kareem, as promised, woke himself up at five am to drop me at the Bakery. I was still pretty elated following our discussion last night. Whenever my thoughts wandered, my stomach would flutter as if it was filled to the brim with butterflies dedicated solely to him.

The morning rush had passed quickly and everything began to slow down around Midday. I'd given Bodhi the time off so he could go and meet his sister in Brooklyn, and Sacha was apparently busy annoying Art students into creating a cover for the Demo CD. I was busy cleaning the tables up when the bell rang, almost groaning audibly when I realized who was entering.

I'd like to note that Hendrix showing up at the bakery with a hangover to gloat was a rare occurrence but then I'd simply be a liar.

So, as usual, the green-haired troll stumbled through the door with the largest pair of sunglasses that I swear I've ever seen on her face and her girlfriend guiding her to a chair as if she was simply incapable of doing so herself.

Drunk Hendrix might be the nice Hendrix, but hungover Drix is the person you avoid until the hellfire ceases. In fact, hungover Hendrix should come permanently with a hazard sign so all those who value their lives should avoid it at all costs.

So yeah, this part was never fun for me.

Hendrix's morning usually came in steps.

Step 1: Self pity.

"I'm never drinking ever again." She groaned, slamming her forehead down onto the table loud enough that the other customers started to stare. "This is your fault."

"Hendrix, you know that throwing a party every time I'm busy isn't a good idea."

Then maybe you should spend more time with your girlfriend then.

"You're scaring the customers away." I said, dropping into the chair facing them. "And at least it was a fun night. It's a shame you couldn't make it, Aaliyah."

For a split second, I watched how her jaw tightened before her expression evened out. She plastered a smile onto her face, "I'll try not to miss the next party my girlfriend has."

"Shut your holes before my head explodes." Hendrix muttered into the table, hair sprayed across the wood. She lifted her head and hit it again. "God, I hate my life. This is never happening again. I'm retiring."

Step 2: Smugness.

"Which reminds me," She pulled her head up, a smirk curving her lips up. "At least I'm not working. How busy has it been?"

"It's pretty quiet, in all fairness." I mused as if I was bored, checking my nails and crossing one leg over the other. "We had a few Instagram Vloggers in before and they wanted to photograph everything but that's it really."

Her smirk dropped. Point to me. "Including you?"

"Check my tagged posts." I sniggered as her eyes narrowed. "I've gained about three hundred followers so far on my personal, a couple more on the Bakery's page."

"You're fired."

Snorting out a laugh, I hunched over as my shoulders shook. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you? Ditching work for the lure of alcohol. Doesn't sound very responsible to me, Drix."

"Blame Jem," She mumbled, rubbing at her temples. "They suggested making Jello Shots. We both know that I can't handle them."

"And who actually ended up making them?" I pushed, already knowing the answer. "Jem's never perfected the art of the kitchen."

She pouted, leaning into Ali's side. "You could have some sympathy for me, Nick. I'm in pain here."

"Why would I sympathize with the person that insists on calling me that stupid name?"

Step three: Deflection.

"Regardless, how are you? I feel like I barely saw you last night."

I shrugged, "Meh, I went home early."

"Really? So did Kareem-" Hendrix gasped theatrically, "Did something happen with Daddy?"

I grimaced, my nose wrinkling as I almost gagged. "Please don't call him that, and no it didn't. We just went back to his home for a bit and watched Grey's Anatomy. By the way, Alex Karev is hot."

"Are you sure? Because Daddy material or not, I will kick his head. Don't underestimate me." Her eyebrows furrowed as she added, "Also, Cristina is the hot one in the series."

The first thing I learnt about Hendrix was that underestimating her would lead to my futile downfall.

"Nothing happened. But can you please stop calling my boyfriend Daddy? I don't like the fact you're incorporating your kink into my relationship."

"My kink?" Hendrix frowned, looking at Aaliyah horrified. "Did you hear that?"

Wait for it.

"Well-"

"I don't even have a Daddy kink. Daddy? What's that? That's not me, that's yo-"

"Drix."

"-u. The fuck am I supposed to do? Get called Daddy while I'm bein- Wait." She paused, breathing as her frown deepened. And there it is. Her eyes snapped to mine. "Boyfriend? Relationship? WHAT?"

Aaliyah looked at me with a smirk on her face, and I just shook my head. Mortified. And scared.

"Did I say that? I meant Daddy." I raised my eyebrows smugly, daring her to argue with me.

"One of these days, I'm going to kill you. My head hurts too much to do it right now."

"Well, that's comforting." I snarked, "Just don't do it in front of my boyfriend, Jimi."

Her eyes narrowed into slits. "You're not allowed to call me that. You've never called me that. Babe, tell him he needs to leave. He can't say that to me."

"He's only joking, Hendrix." Ali tried to calm her down as Hendrix flung herself at her girlfriend. Ali grabbed her naturally. "Stop being dramatic."

"That's like telling a fish not to use it's gills, or telling someone to close their lungs. It's simply not possible." Hendrix said matter-of-factly, "I can't believe I wasn't informed the moment you made it official. Do you not love me?"

"Not even a little bit."

She glared at me, "I hope your teeth rot."

"I hope you drop your phone on your face."

"I hope you get a fungal infection that fills your sinuses with urine."

My face scrunched up at the image. Who comes up with something like that?

"I hope Jem forms a spider sanctuary in your bedroom."

Her face dropped, lips tugging down as she blinked. "You did not just say that."

I winked at her. "I think I did."

She dived forward, fist clenched as Ali grabbed onto her waist, holding her back. "I swear, I'll-"

"Love you too, babe." I teased. "It was cute. He's taking me out later and we're spending a day with the band Thursday so you're on afternoon duty."

"That's fine. Can you cover Friday evening? Ali's finally got it off so we're going to go out in Central."

"Why don't you just cover every evening and Hendrix cover mornings?" Aaliyah suggested quite unhelpfully, "Surely that's easier than changing the schedule every five seconds."

"Because we both have lives." I blurted out before I could restrain myself, "Maybe if your work schedule itself was a bit more reliable, we wouldn't need to change our shifts to fit your life in the first place."

Aaliyah's eyes narrowed, "Well-"

"It's fine." Hendrix interrupted, hand outstretched onto Ali's arm. "It's fine. We've got a system that works for us and, Saint, you know Ali doesn't always have control over her shifts. So let's leave it, okay?"

Can she leave?

I swear I don't have the temperament to deal with disguised digs. It makes my skin itch.

But as usual, I stayed quiet. Aaliyah makes Hendrix happy and that's all I care about.

"I had such a good time tonight, thank you."

My body curled towards Kareem's warmth as I felt him brushing against my back. Our fingers interlocked, my skin brushing against the callouses on the top of his fingertips as I squeezed his hand.

"So did I," Kareem said breathily, hand sliding to spray along my lower back.

We'd reached the hallway outside of my apartment and I turned, pressing my back against my door. Sacha was home tonight with the band. I'd told Kareem that they often stayed over if they were over late, and I didn't want anyone to have to sleep on the couch so Sacha usually stayed with me while Isaiah and Bodhi took his bed. Right now, however, I was annoyed at myself for not forcing Sacha to take the couch so Kareem could come inside instead. I'd rather have him here than any of them.

"Thank you for the most amazing time, and for walking me home." My eyes dropped to Kareem's lips as his tongue dipped out of his warm mouth to wet them. I snapped my gaze back up to meet his. "You didn't have to."

Kareem's lips tilted up, no doubt knowing where my thoughts had escaped too. "Of course I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do this."

He closed the gap between us, his lips just mere inches away from mine. His arm tightened around my waist as my lips curved into a smile. Kareem pressed a soft, but lingering, kiss to my lips. I cupped his cheeks, not resisting the urge to run my thumb along the warm skin as a hum vibrated from him to me. He inhaled audibly.

My entire skin was flushed, addicted to the erratic buzz in my gut. I managed to murmur, "I wish you could come in." as my eyes fluttered shut, resting my forehead on his.

"It's for the best," Kareem laughed almost breathlessly, sounding just as affected as me. "You have work early tomorrow and I've got to go for my leg check up. We'd end up staying up till dawn trying to get through Grey's Anatomy and we need sleep. Plus, I've got King to look after. Dog's can't feed themselves like Sacha can."

"Fine but, for the record, Sacha can't do that either." I muttered my acceptance reluctantly. He phrased it as if our Grey's nights were anything but fun. I was certain that I could perform my own surgery at this point.

One of the attendings was just finishing stitching someone back up when Kareem declared, at three am this morning, that we were going on a date today. I'd gotten up two hours later and headed to work but the moment I locked up, long after Hendrix decided to go home and torment Jem, Kareem was waiting outside with a bouquet of sunflowers and roses.

Kareem smiled, letting out a small giggle at my obvious displeasure at our separation. He kissed the skin just under my jaw, making my body fuzz with warmth. "I'll phone you, okay? Until we fall asleep."

"Your boyfriend privileges have been revoked until further notice."

His eyebrows raised, lips vibrating with a low hum of acknowledgement. "Really?"

"Yep." I diverted my eyes, focusing on one of my neighbours' doors as I took a slow breath. Kareem's woody and fresh cologne stuck to me as I crossed my arms over my chest stubbornly. "That includes freshly baked chocolate croissants."

"Oh, how will I live?" He exclaimed dramatically, shaking his head at me. "Maybe I should just come to Dexter's tomorrow after my appointment. I'm sure Hendrix will grant me mercy."

Kareem pursed his lips, knowing that he'd pushed at me where he knew I'd fold. Hendrix would feed him to push my annoyance, so this stance was lost. With a dramatic (but secretly content) sigh, I leaned in, savouring the lingering taste of Kareem's blueberry and lychee mocktail on his tongue.

"Fine." I crossed my arms, lips pursed in a pout as he laughed.

He leaned in for a quick peck before he squeezed my upper arm. "Tomorrow?"

Softening my stance, I nodded with a soft smile. "Tomorrow."

Kareem smiled brightly before he entered the elevator, waving as the doors closed.

With a huff, I headed into my unusually quiet apartment. Sacha must've taken the boys out to the Cafe down the street, judging by the fact my kitchen was still usable.

Noticing Jem sat on the couch, I shrugged off my jacket and hung it up. It wasn't unusual that any of my friends came over without pre-warning, but Jem had refused their visits since we met Kareem so it was certainly unexpected.

"Sacha said you were out." Jem started off, face giving nothing away as they paused the TV. I made my way over to them. "He's gone to the Diner down the street with the others."

Nodding my head, all too conscious of the press of Kareem's lips against nine and his hand against my hip just a few moments ago. "I was out with Kareem. Jem-"

"You're happy, right?" Jem interrupted, making my mouth run dry at the bluntness of the question. "He makes you happy?"

"Yeah," I let out breathily. There was a weight pressing down on my lungs, practically suffocating me as I nodded my head. "He really does."

Jem nodded again, face expressionless. There were dark smudges on their hands, no doubt ink from the endless essays that Jem tended to write, a slight frown above their brows and I love them so fiercely that it physically hurt. I needed them beside me, not against me. "As long as you're happy, Saint, that's all I care about."

Something cracked open inside of my chest, hope and anxiety spilling out. They were the closest thing to a family figure that I had beside Sacha. Their complete approval meant the world to me. "Jem?"

"All I ever wanted is for you to be safe and for someone to make you as happy as you deserve." Jem said, sounding awfully older than we actually were. "He looks at you like you're everything good in the world. You know that, right?"

My heart stuttered to an abrupt halt. Like the entire world has gone hazy and I'm stuck underwater, fighting to get my head above the waves as they rippled through me. My phone buzzed in my pocket and it felt like a confirmation of sorts. It was terrifying; Jem's words ringing in my ears.

My phone felt like saltwater in my hands as I pulled it out, throat convulsing as my mouth dried. I never wanted anything else now that I'd found Kareem. It was still so early and it was all so petrifying but it felt right. It felt true.

A/N:

merry christmas to all those who celebrate it!

as always, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

lots of love