A Little Dinged Up (gxg)

Chapter 9

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ava asked me.

"Absolutely!" I nodded vigorously. This was exactly what I needed. Something new, something that was still me and yet, not. "Are you going to be okay watching?"

She breathed in, and then blew out gustily. "I'll do my best. But if I puke, you're not allowed to show it!"

"Are you kidding? That would be the best thing for views ever! Starlet Ava Santos pukes on camera!"

Ava stared at me in shock. "No! No, it wouldn't!"

"Well then just breathe evenly, and you'll be fine. It shouldn't be bad." At least I hoped not. I mean, there wouldn't be a lot of blood, so Ava should be fine, right?

We walked into the Ink It Up Body Art studio and were instantly greeted by a panicked young woman with short spiky black hair and a host of her own tattoos. "Oh god! Ava and Lylah! Oh wow! You're here?"

"Hey, yep. Are you Liv?" I asked.

"Yeah, are you my 2pm appointment?" she started bouncing up and down excitedly. "I didn't even know you were the one I was emailing! I just hit like on that hairless pussy picture, that was the best thing I've seen in forever! That shit is blowing up! Holy crap, I can't believe you're here! Can I get a hug?"

I couldn't say no, her enthusiasm was just so adorable, so I quickly walked over and gave her the hug she'd asked for. Ava joined us within seconds, and I swear Liv was going to spontaneously combust! "Feel better?" Liv nodded quickly, a blissful smile on her face. "Right. I have the 2pm under Hunter. Do you mind if Ava stays and shoots video of you doing the work? We'll give the shop, and you, credit and everything."

"Are you serious? Fuck yeah! You still want that flower design?"

"You're getting a flower?" Ava asked, surprised.

"Yeah, but we're going to modify it." I showed her the belly ring that I bought the other day. It was black onyx set in white gold and would be perfect for what I wanted. "I want the piercing with this, and then draw the stalk of the flower coming up from it like it's a seed."

"That sounds amazing! Do you still want the last flower design?" Liv confirmed.

"Yep, that one was perfect. Just what I wanted!"

"Then let's get started!" Liv started prepping the space, making sure everything was sterilized, and then had me lay back on the table. "We're going to do the piercing first, since that has to be in a specific place. Then I'll put the stencil down for the tattoo. Make sense?"

"Hey, you're the pro. I'll trust you." I put my go pro camera on my head and started recording. Ava got a little tripod set up and put her phone on it to record from her end. In a perfect world, I could splice and edit both videos so that we could watch her reaction to whatever was happening to my body. "Ava, feel free to talk and ask anything you like while we do this, okay? You're a part of the show, so don't be static."

"I will, don't worry about that!" she assured me.

"Are you ready for this?" Liv asked as she sat before me.

"Yep, let's get this done!"

"Well, this should be fun!" Ava said nervously.

I just kept my eyes on her, knowing the go pro would capture her reaction, and that would be better than looking down at the piercing. I could see Liv with the forceps and the hollow needle and braced for pain. But it didn't really hurt! I'd read that it didn't hurt too much because you were piercing scar tissue from the umbilical cord being there as a baby, but I still thought it would be painful. Instead, before I understood what was happening, Liv was done, and my new jewelry was inserted.