Rosa Nera: Saving Grace (BWWM) | ✓

Heart.

"Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes."
~Roy T. Bennett

Ken entered the room with two trays of food, freezing for a few seconds to take in the two's position before further advancing to place the trays on the small coffee table.

He walked over to the side of the bed, tapping gently on Grace's shoulder. He wondered if he should wake Shawn up too, but he really didn't feel like it.

Grace stirred in Shawn's arms, eyes fluttering open. she rolled off the boy, which only woke him up in the process. "Your food is ready." Ken stated bluntly, eyes fixed on Grace.

Shawn sat up and drew his fingers through his rough hair, pushing aside the bangs that clung to his forehead and revealing the dried up blood that once held his bangs to his forehead.

Grace sat up as well, gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Smells good." She hummed pleasurably, taking in a long breath through her nose.

"Eat up." Ken mumbled, sauntering over to the couch that sat against the wall opposite from the bed. "You two need it." He finished stretching out on the sofa, resting his forearm over his eyes.

Grace hopped off the bed, rushing over to the food yet waiting for Shawn to join her before eating. The two settled beside each other and started to devour their meal, in the end Ken had to go get them more food since they weren't satisfied with their first meal.

"What does the tattoo on your arm mean?" Grace pointed at the exposed tattoo on Ken's arm, descending from the fold of his arm to his wrist, 卑劣な恐怖.

"Hiretsuna kyōfu, sneaky fear. My cousin chose it for me when I was in eighth grade back in Japan, the year I started becoming a part of the family Yakuza. Last year, though, I got to choose a tattoo of my own. It's on my back, wanna see?" He smiled at Grace, enjoying the private time he got with her- since Shawn was taking a shower.

Grace nodded, being unable to subdue her curiosity. Ken smiled at her and removed his shirt, turning 'round to show her the tattoo that he had on his back.

On his back was a perfectly drawn tiger, eyes blazing with red flames and teeth stained red. Above it were a variety of Japanese Kanji, 火, 愛, 嫌い and finally 恵み.

"What does this one mean?" She touched the first kanji, her fingers tracing the strokes on his back. "Fire." He answered smoothly, closing his eyes to savour the feeling of her skin against his. She then moved her finger to the next one, tracing all the many strokes. "Love."

After tracing that kanji, she moved on to the next, more complicated one. "Hate." He replied her unspoken question, eyes parting as her fingers moved onto the last one. He grinned a wide grin, his cheeks heating up slightly. "It means Grace, but I swear I got that Kanji before I even knew you, I'm not being weird or anything like that." He chuckled softly.

"So you got my name tattooed on your back in Japanese, but you didn't know me when you got the tattoo?" She narrowed her eyes questioningly as he turned around, her eyebrow arched.

"Yeah. I didn't know you last year. I got this on my sixteenth birthday, I swear it had nothing to do with you." He smiled at her, crossing his legs in front of her.

After Shawn and Grace's second meal, Grace had taken a shower first, leaving the two males in a deathly awkward silence. Neither of them made a move to talk to the other, Shawn didn't really mind but Ken found it extremely awkward.

After that, Shawn was the next to take his shower, leaving Grace with Ken. Grace wasn't as hostile as Shawn was, she was quick to make conversation with Ken and he didn't hesitate to respond.