Piercing Needles

Burning

Stepping inside the tattoo place was like stepping into a different world. Here, Percy didn't stick out like a sore thumb like he did at school. Instead, I'm the one that sticks out all pale skin and blank slate.  

It feels amazing. 

"Percy! You ready for more already? What are you down for today?" the man behind the counter looks not much older than us, and about tattooed as Percy did. 

I am not ashamed to admit that I was hiding behind him a little bit.  

"I'm just getting my cheeks redone today. But dear Jason here," he pulls me out gently from my hiding spot. "is getting a few things done if that's good with you Tim? and go easy on him, its his first time." his hand holding onto my shirt comforted me a lot. 

"Oh no problem I love first timers. What are you thinking about getting?" He leans over the glass, looking into the displays of jewelry. 

"How many piercings can someone get at once?" I know this is not a good idea but I'm here so why not go big. "I have a few in mind." 

"3 is safest, but 4 is maximum like if you're getting sets of something like lobes. But we can look at what you're thinking and we can go from there, okay?" 

Nodding my head I guess I looked a little worried because Percy chimes in. "You can watch me get mine done if that would make you feel better?" the way he looked at me made me feel warm and safe. I'd do anything as long as he looked at me like that. I still manage a slight nod but I know I probably look so stupid.

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Since Percy ate recently he was sent to a back room to brush his teeth and clean his mouth in preparation. I was left with Tim to discuss. 

"I know I definitely want my tongue done and I asked Percy for some recommendations and he suggested uh, nipples?" I decided it would be best to not mention that I asked for his most painful recommendations, since that doesn't make me look particularly stable. 

As I'm talking Tim is pulling things out of the case, various bars of different lengths and thicknesses. Pushing one towards me he explains how it works with the balls and how the tongue piercing is done and how the bar he puts in now will be long to account for the inevitable swelling. He does the same with two smaller bars, obviously for the nipple piercings.

"Obviously we will have to check your anatomy to make sure the piercings would even be doable and safe for you. All of the jewelry we have here is implant grade titanium, we can use a special machine to make it any color you want though." 

"Yeah that all makes sense. Um, whats the piercing that goes through your bottom lip like the one Percy has?" Using my fingers I pinch the area hoping it would convey what I think. "Do you think we could do those 4? I know you said that's usually if they're in pairs." As he confirmed, I felt a weight being placed on m shoulder.

The weight happened to be Percy's head.

"Hey Perce, I'm all set up in there if you want to go get comfortable. I'm just getting his stuff out of the case."  he nods and again pulls me with him by the hem of my shirt. 

In the small room Percy takes off his over sized hoodie, revealing that he, in fact, has no shirt on. 

"Y-you're just getting your cheeks pierced why are you taking you shirt off?" My voice went up a few octaves causing him to laugh.

Tim comes through the door and answers for him. "He's a fainter, believe it or not. The no shirt helps him from overheating and makes the fainting a little better. That's also why hes laying down rather than sitting up." 

"Will I lay down?" he thinks for a second. 

"Lets do your tongue sitting up and if you feel like you need to we can lay you down. We have to do your nipples laying down anyway." 

he starts talking to Percy and marking his cheeks several times making sure they're straight and where he wants them. Then while placing the clamp on the right side Percy looks at me and holds his hand out doing a kind of little kid grabby motion. Taking a step closer I give him my hand and he clamps down on it. Tim then counts backwards before sliding the needle through his skin and his grip gets even tighter. 

Sliding the jewelry through the needle and placing the ball on top I can feel his hand begin to go limp and his eyes close. Very quickly I'm just standing there, holding his limp arm up and I can feel the heat radiating off his body in waves. Tim fills a small cup with ice cold water and waits patiently. after a minute or two Percy begins to stir, his body still burning.

the cycle repeats again on the other side and once he wakes up again Tim leads me to a chair adjacent to his after wiping it and the table down. After marking my tongue and clamping it, i shut my eyes and prepare for the needle, but a more overwhelming feeling came first. 

A hand, burning like fire grabbing my wrist and coaxing me to do the same. 

I didn't feel the needle, or any of the others. All I focused on was the burning hand keeping me in the world.