i am the fire that consumes me. @zekehcndrix - Tumblr Blog

❛ SAFIA GONZALEZ

Safia had taken the cowards way out. Despite knowing her actions would have consequences, she hadn’t found herself capable of sticking around to deal with the mess. A mere one night stand — a mindless act of revenge — had turned into an entangled mess of feelings and desires that were never meant to surface as they had. She had loved her husband but somewhere along the way, she fell for a man who breathed a new life into her. Zeke was unexpected, and in truth, far from anything she’d ever searched for. Light hues flicked upwards as his voice awoke every sense in her better than any shot of espresso could. “Zeke,” she began with a shake of her head, unable to think clearly in his presence much less formulate some kind of coherent sentence. What could she say? Admit that she’d ducked out like a coward, tell him that she had no plans to find him upon her return, or that she had hoped to avoid him for much longer? Not that he gave her any chance to explain further with his hasty departure. It took her a moment to gather herself, sucking air into her burning lungs while she contemplated whether to let him walk away. It would be selfish to run after him, but Safia had been far from a fair person. “Zeke!” She called out, shorter limbs working tenfold in order to reach him. Fingers pried at the material of his jacket in the hope of catching him before he entered his tattoo parlour. A space that held too many memories where the pair lingered after hours. A space where she had fallen for Zeke Hendrix.“Please. Can we be civil adults?!”

God’s honest truth? Zeke hadn’t expected that Safia would follow after him. A large part of him had felt relieved at that, in thinking he wouldn’t have the torture of enduring her presence. He may have loved her and loved her still but he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. There was a long history of abandonment in the Aces & Eights owner’s life and he had long ago accepted that he was meant to live a solitary life. The last thing that hd been expected was a visit between a hot woman’s legs to linger and develop into something more than satiating carnal desires and needs. Hell, he had woman for that --- Zeke had a hot body to turn to when his loins ached with need, but... Safia fulfilled far more than that. She awoke something dormant inside of him and now the wild in him had been tamed, which meant that the petite little thing owned him. She had power over him. Nothing infuriated him more than that --- the loss of control. “What?” He all but barked at her when he spun to face the sunkissed bombshell that had a mess of locks that matched his own. Zeke was quick to shake off the tug on his arm, he figured he could hold his ground as long as she kept her manicured hands off of him. “Civil adults? You’re asking me that --- the one who ran away like a child?” A dangerous smirk took shape, one that could only come from a thug like him who’d done serious years in prison. Polar opposites they were, as she stood there staring up into his baby blues in all her perfection. “What do you want, Safia? My time is valuable and you’re wasting it.”

#chat | safia.#safiagonzalez.

❛ MICHAEL BIANCHI

An easy rumble of a laugh stuck in Michael’s throat, nodding in acceptance that he might’ve waited to pick someone a little more obviously suited for this very sort of question. Instead, robbing the time of a young man who upon first impression didn’t seem much more whimsically inclined to the language of flowers than the ranger was himself. “Never know,” he shrugged. The advice to follow suit garnishing a bit of a humbly amused smirk. “Yeah– thanks” with a grimace, his own gaze skirted the fragrant selections. Yellow roses were the frowned upon ones, right? Surely that was a line in that ‘The Perfect Man’ movie he’d been forced to sit through with Darcy once upon a time. Michael was partly of the mind this afternoon was exactly why the universe had gifted him a sister and yet here he was accosting innocent bystanders. Perhaps if Melina ever made it back home he could add it to the petty list of growing grievances. “This shit would be easier if buying someone a good bottle of whiskey was a more widely appreciated gesture.”

The mere mention of whiskey brought about something of a smile on Zeke’s lips, he even breathed a short breath of a chuckle through his nose and shook his head. “Depends on the receiving party. Anyone brings me whiskey --- now that’s a true friend.” Something the blond didn’t have many or much of. By choice and demeanor of course, since it wasn’t as though his charming personality attracted company. “Maybe buy her one of those cactus plants. They’re into that shit these days, yeah?” Nodding his head slightly in the direction of the succulents, Zeke shrugged soon after. He only had one strong romance under his belt, even at his age, and he didn’t really do any of these sorts of things. Maybe that’s partly why things didn’t work out, but some part of him knew it was more than that. She was supposed to have been an unavailable woman, it wasn’t something that was supposed to linger. He just wasn’t the type to make these gestures and Zeke was fine by now of being alone. “That and get her a pack of those White Claws.” He couldn’t understand it but he knew that women generally went crazy for that stuff, it was low calorie yet could still give a buzz if you had enough.

#chat | michael.#michaelbianchi.

lifeinpoetry

It is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.

Jorge Luis Borges, “A New Refutation of Time”

#caught up in a life in which I could ﬁnd no meaning | musings.

emlary

#my body gnaws at me from one side and my spirit gnaws at me from the other | visage.

friday, october 23rd, 2020 ; afternoon. → at anchor inn, fremont. for: frankie leon.

“Well, well, well...” Zeke mumbled around the cigarette hanging from his lips when he’d glanced over his shoulder at the sound of someone exiting behind him. This was the first time in a while he was seeing Frankie outside of their particular meetups, and part of him was surprised he hadn’t really seen her inside. Then again, Zeke never really cared much over who might be in attendance. His only reason for being there was for things he shouldn’t indulge in and show a little more restraint. The last thing he wanted was to end up like his dad. “Didn’t see ya in there,” he commented after pulling the cigarette away from his mouth and exhaling. Mostly, his reason for stepping outside was to avoid ordering another drink. “You would’ve been a lot better company than the fellow in there going on about his fishing woes.” Something close to a smirk took shape on his lips as he glanced back over his shoulder once more to catch Frankie’s face and reaction. “He didn’t say nothing about the game hassling him though. Been giving people a break?”

#chat | frankie.#frankielecn.

friday, october 23rd, 2020 ; afternoon. → at oswalds, myrtle rock. for: liam hayes.

Since he had no real family --- his mother disappeared for a better life a long time ago and his dad passed some years ago, Zeke made an effort when it came to Liam. He had a hard time when it came to being close to anyone; part of it was his personality and the other was lack of interest. The male across from him was the only family he had left though and that meant something to Zeke, even if he was shit at showing it. His menu sat unopened and untouched in front of him, the waitress brought him a Dr Pepper though since it was what he usually got on the occasions he stopped in this diner. “Been awhile. What’s been going on? Been real busy at the shop... come by some time.” Keeping busy also kept him away from the drink. Zeke knew by now that he’d never reach sobriety but he didn’t need to be anything resembling his dad though. “Safia’s back.” A simple statement with a lot of weight. It was only a six month thing, she was taken, he never expected to care. Then she disappeared without a word.

#chat | liam.#liamhayess.

❛ SAFIA GONZALEZ

@zekehcndrix

Cafe near his tattoo parlour

Safia made her way down the sidewalk towards Zeke’s tattoo parlour. Her goal was to signal her return before anyone else did so. But also, she was just curious to see what he was doing. Just as she’d been curious and sat in front of the hospital until she spotted her ex-husband. However as she inched closer, panic set in her chest cavity to the point that she came to an halt a few doors from his space. “Fuck,” she breathed beneath her breath before cowardly ducking in a nearby cafe. Her entrance had been hasty and clumsy, sending her colliding with an individual in line. “I’m sorry,” she muttered hurriedly as her gaze lifted to meet a familiar azure gaze. A few rushed gushes of air parted from her lips until her brain kickstarted and came up with some words after her shock and panic. “I —— I was in the neighbourhood. I just.. Fuck. I mean Hi.” Closing her eyes to let the embarrassment wash over her, she sighed. “This isn’t exactly how I expected to run into you. I had a speech planned for the day I’d bump into you and now I can’t remember a fucking thing.”

“In the neighborhood, huh?” Before he’d even seen her face when she peered up at him, Zeke recognized her soft figure the moment she crashed into him. How was a man supposed to ever forget that feeling? He knew her scent, from whatever the hell she put in her hair to the lotion she spread across her honeyed skin to whatever perfume she accented herself with. They had spent so much time so close to each other, there was no way he wouldn’t know. But his voice was low, his tone callous when he spoke to Safia. When she had up and left, something he had always known to be inevitable, it hurt a lot more than Zeke ever thought possible. It surprised him. He never knew he was capable of that much care and feeling. “Suddenly you’re back around the neighborhood...” That time it wasn’t posed as some question, just a bitter something statement. He wasn’t used to this. Everything she said sounded wrong, Zeke couldn’t really believe she had anything prepared to say to him. Part of he supposed there was nothing left to say. “That’s why you’re ducking into cafes when you realize you’re just down from Aces?” The only reason he was there was because of his need for a caffeine boost. An after midnight call left him with little sleep. “I can make it real easy for you...” With sharp blue eyes peeling off of her, Zeke moved around Safia.

#chat | safia.#safiagonzalez.

❛ ADIRANNA SOTO

@zekehcndrix

Location: In front of Zeke’s home

text sent to zeke hendrix: i’m outside, the pups are getting restless, rip your lawn. text sent to zeke hendrix: huRYY

“Ah! There he is. Go get him.” She told her dogs as she peered around and left them off the leash so they could run to greet Zeke. While her rescue pitbull, daisy, and black lab, diesel, were not vicious in any sort of way, she understood that not all dogs had the same temperament. After many months of research before fostering, Adrianna had learnt that small dogs could be just as vicious due to prior trauma or lack of training. Therefore, whilst in public, both her dogs remained on leashes for their protection. So no one could say anything and other dogs wouldn’t feel attacked by an approaching large dog. As her babies and best friend approached, she clipped both her dogs back on and handed over Daisy to him. Her grey pitbull who was especially affectionate for Zeke. “How’s your day been? Tell me you’ve got a good tattoo story because I need it. I’m mentally preparing for my sixteen hour shift.” It was during the weekend and that always proved to be challenging since they got the idiots who liked to party and do stupid

Beep, beep. A brief pause. Beep, beep. He’d just got home and the chimes coming from his phone indicating that Zeke has received a pair of texts made him groan. Having been at the shop all day was about all the socializing he could handle but for clients he had to mostly be on decent behavior so that his place could continue to bring in income. So with a rasped sigh and roll of his blue eyes his phone was fished out of his pocket. The notifications on screen actually were cause for his lips to twitch in it’s closest attempt at a smile ---something his face wasn’t all that accustomed to doing. Somehow Adrianna had earned a place with him, she made her way past his harsher layers and into a very exclusive inner circle. She was a friend, probably his best friend. Zeke cared about her. It was what it was and he wasn’t sure how it all had even happened, one day she was patching him up and the next he was foster dad to her pair of dogs. Now they each had keys to each other’s houses. Without a response his phone was dropped back into his pocket and Zeke made his way out the front door. Daisy was always first to greet him, and as much as he loved Diesel, she was his girl. The pittie had a way of running and leaping up into his arms and Zeke caught her every time, hugging and holding onto her as she licked whatever part of him she could make contact with while his face nuzzled against her. “How’s my girl?” As he put her down, mumbling a few more sweet nothings he nodded at Adri and greeted the lab. “I’m tired and hungry --- mostly hungry. You?” Zeke took Daisy’s leash of his friend’s hand and moved along down the sidewalk. “Let’s head in and grab a bite?” A motion of his hand directed toward town, which was a decent walk. “Sixteen hour shift ---” Zeke was incredulous for a moment. The life of a nurse. He shook his head, he knew well enough by now. “Nothing all that exciting lately. Unless you count the guy that came in for a Popeye tattoo.”

#chat | adrianna.#adriannasotc.

❛ MICHAEL BIANCHI

Where: Bloomers, Myrtle Rock.

Who: Open, @elisabethstarters.

The shop that Sunday afternoon was occupied by a handful of customers, enough so that the florist whom would usually help him in his pursuit was otherwise busy. There was a stark difference between being able to scientifically identify local wildflowers and having any remote idea what kind of arrangements were appropriate for someone as a gift. Dahlias seemed like they might be a bit much, carnations were generally a no – he knew that at least, roses seemed like a classic option but then there was the whole color debate. Michael stood looming among the displays looking a bit lost and disgruntled, only pulled from his turmoil when someone gingerly brushed by him through the narrow isle. “Pardon,” the man half turned after them. “You any good at–” he gestured in a broad hopeless stroke about the shop, “I could use a second opinion?”

Zeke and floral shops weren’t exactly bedfellows, but despite that here he was roaming the aisles and looking at everything with confusion and some unexplained mild annoyance. The only reason he’d stepped inside was to slip through the back exit and successfully avoid the cop on patrol. Zeke wasn’t in any kind of trouble but some memories never died and always seemed to resurface no matter how much dirt you threw on them in attempts to bury. He should’ve just walked through, and now --- well, someone decided to strike up conversation as he passed. Blue eyes narrowed some as the big man spoke, eye traveling from him to the flowers beyond him. “Not your best judgement call to ask me,” he responded, plainly. Though, that wasn’t entirely true. As a tattoo artist he actually had plenty of experience with flowers, at least when it came to appearance, impressions, and lasting effects. He’d just never given anyone flowers and Zeke assumed that’s what this guy wanted a second opinion on. “If it’s for a chick,” he gestured toward the displays lazily and with a sigh, “roses or peonies are your best bet.”