AN: In which Perry bares some skin and shows off her ink. ********************* Nightmare of a Lifetime: Chapter Nine ******************** They were on the buses, again. Nicole was getting very sick of being stuck on buses with people who didn’t know her. Traveling with Ozz Fest was different. She had Kelly and Jack and even Ozzy, Sharon, and Fermented Pain, which consisted of Frankie and the guys. She had people who had been with her for her tattoos, and people who had encouraged her to get more. She was grudgingly starting to like the men from *NSYNC but she didn’t know them and they sure as hell didn’t know her. Not yet anyway- she hadn’t decided if she was going to give them a true chance to yet or not. “So, exactly how many tattoos do you have?” Perry looked up and grinned despite herself at Lance as he slid into the chair next to her. He blushed prettily as she chuckled. “How long did it take for you to screw up your courage enough to ask?” she said, a light laugh in her voice. He blushed darker. “Longer than I thought it would,” he replied gruffly, deep voice dropping with his obvious embarrassment. Nicole reached over and patted his arm comfortingly before thinking for a long moment. “Twenty four,” she replied after considering carefully. She laughed again as his eyes green eyes grew round and large. It wasn’t often you could surprise Lance. As business and detail oriented as he was, he was also incredibly laid back. And somewhat afraid of her. “What… do they all mean something?” She snorted and grinned, amused to be having this conversation with Lance of all people. She would have bet money Joey would be the first to ask her, or maybe Chris. They had all been staring at her ink with curiosity for the last couple weeks. They all had their own but Nicole’s were prominent and covered a lot more skin. Who would have thought Poofu was the one with the most guts. Perry flinched as the nicknames came easily to mind. She should NOT know *NSYNC’s pet names for each other. “Every tattoo has a story Lance. Its may not be a good story or particularly deep meaning but its there none the less… Let’s see…” She held up her left arm and flexed her fingers which each had one letter of the word ‘peace’ spelled out on the knuckles. “This one is self explanatory,” Nicole said cheerfully before pointing at the rose that started at the base of her left middle finger and bloomed up to her wrist. “The rose is symbolic of me I guess, beauty with thorns. Its something Ozzy always says when he sees me.” She turned her arm so the pale underneath of her left arm was bared. There were three butterflies, delicately inked and dark against her white skin. “These are because they were damn pretty and I thought why the hell not. I like butterflies cause they represent metamorphosis and that’s a damn cool concept.” Perry raised the sleeve on the arm to show off the intricate Celtic band that was tattooed around her upper arm. “It stands for bravery and strength.” Nicole showed him her right wrist where another Celtic band was tattooed around it like a bracelet. “Kindness and innocence,” she said and pointed to the flames that licked their way outward from the band. “Kindness and innocence tempered,” she amended softly. A coiled dragon began at the inside of her elbow and writhed itself intricately up her arm, covering the right upper arm with inked scales and spikes and wings that wound up the side of her neck and to her right ear. “Hurt like a bitch,” she continued, suddenly cheerful again. “Some people have an angel and devil whispering in their ears, I have a dragon.” And before he could react she squirmed around in the seat and lifted the hair off her nape so he could see the beautiful sun. “Sun,” she murmured before lifting her tank top up and off. Lance squeaked and she looked over her shoulder with a chuckle. “Its okay Lance. I’m wearing a decent non lacy bra and you’ve seen girls wear less at clubs and parties so chill.” Nicole wiggled and drew his rapt attention down to the small of her back. “Moon,” she said before twitching her shoulder blades and pointing vaguely towards the middle of her back, “stars. Don’t ask why but they look cool so I’m not arguing.” She turned so she was facing him and he swallowed. “You doing okay big guy?” Lance, with a furtive glance towards the ever present camera and Bill, swallowed and nodded weakly. Nicole patted his knee again and pointed to the dove tattooed above her heart, wings spread in flight, face serious. “Holy Spirit. I may not go to church every Sunday but I have my beliefs.” Liberal tattooed feathers decorated the firm rise of her breasts, very much hidden by her bra to his relief and mutual disappointment. His gaze was drawn down, down, downward to her firm stomach that was decorated with… with of all things, a peacock. It was Nicole’s turn to blush as she unconsciously touched the bird which was inked right below her navel. Feathers bloomed up her stomach like a colorful fan. “This, this was stupid. I was drunk as hell, too drunk to get inked but Fermented Panic has some good tattoo buddies… So yeah, peacock, thought it was a good pun and it doesn’t look too bad…” “Pun?” Nicole stared at him for a long moment and shook her head. “How long have you been in the music business?” she demanded. Lance just stared at her blankly and she sighed. “Never mind, I’ll explain it when you’re older and more corrupted. Okay, what’s next…” And before he knew it her baggy jeans were slipped lower to reveal the top of zebra striped underwear that affected him more than they should and… “Is that a blowfish?” Nicole chuckled ruefully. “Yeah, lost a bet with Jack Osbourne.” His already large eyes grew still wider. “What was the bet?” “It’s a secret.” Lance pouted and Perry rolled her eyes. “Fine, but what were the terms?” She grinned. “If I lost, a blow fish tattoo on my hip. If he lost, a naked man tattoo on his butt. He was really glad I lost and the fishie has kinda grown on me. And I have an Ozz Fest tattoo on my ass but you don’t need to see that. I get a new year added underneath it for every year I get to tour with them.” And then her boots and socks came off so that she could bare delicate right ankle where an ivy vine trailed half way up her shapely calf. “English ivy cause English people are cool and, these are cute!” She showed him the bottoms of her feet, the left had what looked like bird tracks on the soles, the right a deer’s. “Might get another one soon, if I get bored enough. Let’s see,” she ticked the numbers on her fingers, “animal tracks-two, ivy-three, blowfish-four, Ozz Fest- five, blowfish- six, peacock-seven, dove and feathers- eight through twelve, sun and moon and stars- thirteen through fifteen, dragon- sixteen, flames- seventeen, bracelet- eighteen, armband- nineteen, three butterflies- twenty to twenty two, rose- twenty three and peace, yup, clocking in at twenty four!” “Didn’t some of the larger ones hurt, like the dragon?” Nicole shrugged easily. “Not as much as some things.” Lance started to say something but was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. “Hello?” He watched quietly as her open and lively face became instantly shuttered and withdrawn. “Why are you calling me? I sent the money already Debbie. What do you mean its all gone? Dammit, what are you spending it on?! I don’t have anymore… yeah, I get a bonus at the end of the tour, if I stick with it. I’ll deal with this later, I can’t now. Can you just, just put Steven on.” Lance watched again with morbid fascination as her emotional face transformed from angry and distant to unguardedly open and loving once more. “Hay Steven sweetie. How are you? Is Mom treating you right? How’s school? God, its good to hear your voice. I miss you too munchkin. Call me if you need anything, ANYTHING. I’ll catch the next flight home if you need me. Okay, take care little man. Do your homework! Love you too.” She flipped the cell phone closed and he was surprised to see the tears in her dark eyes. Perry didn’t strike him as a crying woman. “Who, who was that?” he asked hesitantly, not wanting to intrude and yet, on some level, needing to know what could have made the normally unflappable Nicole Perry so painfully vulnerable. She stared at him for a heartbeat before replying, her voice soft and pain filled, “My family.” Lance didn’t say anything as she brushed past him and went to the back of the bus. Bill tried to follow, camera in hand, but Lance stopped him with a restraining hand on the cameraman’s arm. “Leave her alone for a bit.” Bill started to argue but thought better of it. He turned off the camera and the two men played Go Fish until they stopped for the night. Perry stayed in the back of the bus until then. When she emerged, red eyed, neither commented.