I turn to Tris, "Sorry I blew up for a second there... Uh, good job." I scratch the back of my head, feeling a bit embarrassed that I shouted much like Molly did when we saw our scores the last time.
"No, it's okay. I understand, you were number one in the first stage, I can't imagine seeing me outrank you."
"It's a little annoying but I'll live. We're both gonna end up in Dauntless either way." I say, smiling awkwardly. I glance at Al and cringe, immediately diverting my eyes elsewhere, "I'm gonna... go."
Tris nods, "Okay." And I take my chance to get away from whatever is going on with Al and Tris as soon as possible.
I'm in the pit before I realize–I didn't even think about going there, I just went. Then I make my way to the tattoo parlor and see Russ is back here... again.
"Rita! That was insane, wasn't it?" He asks and I nod.
"That's certainly one way to put it," Russ nods me over and I sit beside the chair he's getting tattooed in, "What are you getting?"
Billie glances up and smiles, "The Erudite seal turning into the Dauntless one, shows he's changed both faction and mind."
I snort, "I don't think Russ can rid himself of his Erudite know-it-all-ness even if he tried."
"That's rude, Rita. And so Candor of you." I push his arm away, biting back a grin.
"Sit still or I'll make her sit across the room." Billie threatens, narrowing her eyes slightly.
We fall silent as I watch her work, Russ grips the armrest from time to time. The seal is right over his heart, I've not seen many shirtless men before. Especially not clean ones.
A lot of people forget how to care for themselves when they fall into depression. It's not like the government even makes it easy for the factionless to clean up. Running water is so rare that it's only available in the few public bathrooms they have set up around the city.
Billie finishes the tattoo up in about a half-hour. It's hard for Russ and I to stay quiet but we manage it. "Your... fifth tattoo now?"
"Yep." He says and I gape.
"Fifth? I only have two."
Russ dramatically drops his jaw and throws a hand over his heart before wincing. "Ow, shit. Only two? That's not very Dauntless of you, Rita!"
I shake my head, "I came here to get another one anyway."
"I'm gonna take a break because my back is killing me, but Tori's available if you wanna get tattooed by her?"
"Okay, that's fine."
—
Russ sits with me as I get another tattoo on my shoulder. I'm awkward enough having him around but it feels a bit weird having him see my shoulder exposed. Despite him usually picking with me, he's actually respectful and doesn't look at me for too long.
I'd rather not be here alone anyway.
"You could always hold my hand if you wanted," He jokes and I roll my eyes. "Or not, calm down–"
"Shut your face," I clench my jaw as Tori goes right over my shoulder blade. "I'm fine." That's a lie.
Tori chuckles at our banter, "You're doing pretty good for your third tattoo, Rita." She says, reassuring me.
I smirk against the pain, "See, Russ? I told you so."
The best rendition of a Fractured seal is being painted onto my skin for eternity. We're behind the cover of a wall because of the possible... negative connotations associated with me getting a tattoo that says I'm loyal to anyone but Dauntless.
Tori was a bit nervous about it but she said she understood. Where you come from never leaves you.
I had Tamino draw this a few years ago. It's of a similar style to the "real" faction seals but there's a broken skyscraper in the center of the circle. Then on visiting day, I had him draw it again... I remember when I saw it for the first time, I knew immediately he had somehow captured what we Fractured are.
Broken. In the most literal of ways. We're stripped of our humanity and forced to live off of virtually nothing and yet... we persevered. Broken into hundreds of pieces and yet still the most human of everyone. One factionless person has more personality than a hundred of those born and raised in factions.
It's something the faction-transfers don't even realize. How limited their understanding of the world is... it's sad, really. I wish we weren't painted as weak because the factionless have seen more pain than any of the factions alike.
"It is so nice seeing the newer initiates being anything but bloodthirsty," Tori says and it makes Russ and I look at one another.
"Funny you say that," I say through a wince. "Someone stabbed the previous second initiate in the eye two weeks ago."
Tori pauses, "I'd heard about that, maybe some of you are still a bit..." She trailed off but I understand perfectly.
"Some? More like one," Russ shakes his head, "If everyone does good but him, we'd get rid of him no problem."
"I don't like the idea of him becoming factionless either. If my brother realizes it was him I told him about..." I whistle. "There'd be no more Peter Hayes."
That makes Russ smile, "Better than having to see his stupid face every day."
I can't help but snort at him, "Dauntless cadence is growing on you, is it now?" He glares at me.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
