In Some Other Existence

Batrisakapadiablog: I know this is really cliche and overdone: BUT An Amortentia Deamus fic? Maybe? What about an AU where Dean is a graffiti artist? I LOVE your work, by the way.

Originally posted Sept 26, 2017, on tumblr

16: Illegal Murals

"He did it again," Parvati said, spreading the newspaper over the table, making Seamus and Lavender move their coffee cups.

Seamus leaned over to see the article she was talking about. A photo of a graffiti-ed wall took up a section of the page, with the headline "Graffiti Artist Strikes Again" below it.

"Why do you assume they're a he?" Lavender asked.

"That's fair," Parvati admitted.

"I don't know why they call him - or her, or them - a graffiti artist though," Seamus said, peering at the photo.

Parvati raised her eyebrows. "Hmm, I dunno, maybe because he spray paints walls?"

"Yeah, but he's more like a….an illegal mural painter," Seamus replied.

Lavender began laughing and Seamus' cheeks reddened, but he stood by his statement. The graffiti - mural - in the photo was of a great, huge lion's head that looked as if it were staring into the camera. Its mane was flecked with color, and behind it colors swirled and faded into the tired plaster wall it was painted on.

"He's supremely talented," Seamus said firmly. He stood and grabbed his mug, turning to bus it to the dirty dish bin when someone suddenly collided with him. Seamus stumbled, but the person reached out and grabbed his elbows.

"Oh, terribly sorry," the man said.

Seamus looked up, and then had to look farther up in order to find his face. The man must've been a foot taller than him, with dark curly hair and chocolate eyes.

"N-No problem," Seamus replied. "Me mam says I can trip on nothing. Just glad I didn't drop the mug."

The man looked down at the mug, which was pressed against his chest from the way he'd stopped Seamus from falling. He let go and took a step back.

"Right. That would've been a tragedy," he said with a charming smile. "My name's Dean."

"Seamus." He cleared his throat, conscious of Parvati and Lavender staring with eager expressions. "D'ye, uh, come here often?" He heard them snicker and he blanched. "Sorry, that was corny."

Dean chuckled. "It's alright. No, this is my first time. A friend recommended it."

"Well, I hope to see you around," Seamus said.

"I do too," Dean replied, then smiled at Parvati and Lavender. "Afternoon, ladies," he said, then moved past them to a table in the back corner.

Seamus sank into his chair again, the idea of bussing his mug completely gone from his mind.

"I want to marry that man," Seamus said, eyes fixed on Dean.

The girls barely managed to stifle their squeals of laughter.

HPHPHP

"So, how's it going?" Parvati asked, leaning across the table.

"Is he the man you've been waiting for?" Lavender asked.

"It's only been a month! It's too soon to tell!" Seamus exclaimed.

"But…?" Lavender prompted.

Seamus sighed, resting his chin in one hand. "I really hope he is."

Lavender clapped her hands together, and Parvati grinned widely.

Yes, it had only been a month, but it had been a month of romantic dinners, deep conversations, and a growing personal connection greater than any Seamus had ever previously experienced.

Seamus noticed the newspaper tucked under Parvati's arm. "Anyway, what's our favorite graffiti artist been up to lately?"

She took the newspaper out and laid it on the table. "Just a bunch of small stuff. It's weird, his work used to be huge works of art, but now it's little things. And they seem totally random."

There was a photo spread of the artist's most recent works. They were mostly innocuous - a fox, a firework exploding, a feather on fire - but Seamus felt like they were targeting him. A fox was his favorite animal, he loved fireworks, and he once caught a feather on fire as a kid using a magnifying glass.

These were the early murals, ones that he brushed off as coincidence. But then they became oddly specific, and all were along routes he normally walked. A pride flag was on his walk to work. A coffee mug similar to the one he used was by his gym. And there was an Irish claddagh outside of the post office.

He hadn't told Parvati or Lavender. They would surely tease him for being oversensitive, but he felt like he was being stalked.

They chatted for a while longer, then left the coffee shop to go about their days. Seamus went back to his flat to prepare for a date with Dean. He was fishing his keys out of his pocket when he noticed a bouquet of roses was painted directly outside of his building.

Seamus' heart started pounding. He was being stalked. Some stranger was following him and learning about his life, and he really needed to talk to the police before he got -

"Shay?"

Seamus let out a yelp and clutched his heaving chest. He felt close to passing out. A firm hand squeezed his shoulders, and Seamus looked up at Dean.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, fine," Seamus said sarcastically as he straightened up, "except I'm pretty sure I'm - what've ye got there?"

Dean looked bashful for a moment, then pulled a bouquet of roses out from behind his back. Seamus stared at the roses, then at the graffiti, and back and forth as the pieces clicked together.

"It's ye!" he exclaimed. "Ye're the graffiti artist!"

Dean laughed. "Yeah! I've been trying to show you."

"I thought I had a stalker," Seamus said, lightly punching his arm.

"Not quite," Dean said. "Although I am crazy about you."

Seamus took the roses and laughed, giddy from relief that he didn't have a stalker and from how he felt about Dean.

"Why didn't ye just tell me?" he asked. "Why the song and dance?"

Dean shrugged. "Well, it is illegal. I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it. But I knew you liked the murals, as you call them, because I overheard you in the coffee shop the day we met."

"Ye did?"

"I was walking over to talk to you about them when you stood up and we ran into each other," Dean said.

Seamus stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Dean, smiling up at him. "Well I love them. And the roses. And you."

And I'm all caught up with the drabbles! Remember you can find these on my tumblr (kiconwrites), and you can send me fic prompts there as well. I always reserve the right to decline if I'm not comfortable with the prompt, but that's only kinda happened once.

Love y'all! Happy reading!

~Ki