Crimson Academy

Tattoos

JADE

Walking into the tattoo parlor I'm nervous. I mean what if Finn really doesn't like what I've picked out for him. I mean it is a little feminine and I'm not sure he'll like it, but it was part of the bet right? I mean hypothetically speaking if I said he had to get a vagina on his antecubital fossa or as Phoenix would say his "elbow pit" then he would have to get it. Because he lost...to me.

Oh god he better like this tattoo.

I feel a squeeze and look down at my hand which is not shockingly connected to the man I love who's looking at me with too much excitement than he should when a permanent thing is about to go on his body, and he has no idea what it is.

"You do realize I could be screwing you over with this tattoo" I say with my eyebrows raised, waiting for some sort of nervous energy to flicker in his eyes.

"Nah baby I know you better than that, you wouldn't screw me over and even if you did, I would still love it because it symbolizes my women being a badass who beat my ass."

I smile at the goofy grin he has on and turn my attention to the receptionist who's talking animatedly with Lena.

It's not long until Finn is in the tattoo chair facing away from the artist as they start tattooing, and since he's facing away from the artist, that also means he's facing away from me.

"Okay Jade are you ready?"

I smile at the lady with ink covering pretty much every inch of her skin that I can see, excluding most of her face.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

I follow her to a station that's around the corner which now means Finn's out of sight.

"Is this your first tattoo?"

I look over at her and nod.

"Well, no need to be nervous, it may be more painful since its your first and you don't know what to expect but you'll do fine."

She gives me a kind smile as I stare at the tattoo gun she's started prepping. "I'm not really nervous about the pain part. My tolerance is pretty high." High is definitely an understatement.

She gives me another smile, this one holding a patronizing glimmer, "yeah a lot of people think that before getting tattooed, just let me know when you need a break."

I just give her a no problem as I look at the stencil on my arm, it's pretty and I of course like it. I just hope Finn thinks the same when it's permanently on his body too.

The needles make contact with my skin and my arm twitches at the touch of someone else but relaxes almost instantly after that. I move my eyes from the tattoo gun to the artist noticing the smirk she has on her face. I roll my eyes and look the other way, if only she knew that this needle feels like a small pinch to my skin because of everything I've gone through.

I close my eyes and just listen to the humm of the tattoo gun, aware of my surroundings but also being at peace in this chair.

***

It takes longer than I thought to get a tattoo done, so when she wipes it for the last time and removes her gloves I almost sigh in relief. I mean not that the process itself was necessarily bad, but I hate just sitting here waiting for her to be finished, so when she finally is and I get up from the chair I have to shake my legs a bit for them to wake up again.

I head over to the mirror to see my permanent art and can't help but smile at the results.

"You like?" she asks as she wraps my tattoo before heading back to her stuff.

"I love," I respond still looking at it.

"I got to say you proved me wrong, I haven't had someone sit that great for me in years, but I guess you can never underestimate a women's pain tolerance."

I smile as I turn to her, "men don't sit as well?"

She brings her head back to laugh, "men are the worst in the chair, not only do they try to micromanage the tattoo because I'm a woman, but they also need twice as many breaks and complain way more."

I laugh at that, "and yet we become the damsels in distress."

"Right! I mean I've never seen a women need as much help with life than a man does." She rolls her eyes with a laugh as she finishes packing up her stuff, "my ex didn't even know how to boil water, one of the many reasons he's now an ex."

I laugh as I pull my sleeve down to cover the new tattoo on my inner bicep, "thank you for not fucking up my tattoo."

She laughs, "and thank you for not making me fuck up the tattoo by moving every millisecond."

I snicker with her as we leave her station and head around the corner to where Finn was getting tattooed, or should I say is still getting tattooed considering he's still in the chair, but his artist isn't working on his arm anymore.

Hmmm I guess he decided to get another one.

I head to the counter to finish off the payment but learn it was already handled, not really to my surprise.

I can feel Finn's eyes on me and as I turn around and head over to his station, I can't help the grin on my face at the sight of his goofy looking one.

"Hey Babe, I have to say I love my ink," he lifts up his arm to show me and wow does it look exactly like mine.

I just smile at him as I try to move my head to see what his artist is doing on his calf but Finn tsks, "I don't think so princess, that one is a surprise so do me a favor and avoid glancing in that direction until its ready to be revealed."

I roll my eyes but shake my head up and down.

"Good girl, now show me what you got."

I hold my arm closer to my body out of instinct, "what makes you think I got something?"

"Well not only were you gone for a pretty long amount of time, but the total was a lot bigger than what only my tattoos would be. So, either you got something done or I'm being totally ripped off with the price."

I roll my eyes, "fine I got something but like you said it's a surprise and is also not ready to be revealed yet."

I give him a sinister smile as its his turn to roll his eyes, "fine, use my words in your argument but I will see it eventually sweetheart."

I give him a nonchalant shrug, "ehh, we'll see."

And with him unable to follow me since he's in the middle of being tattooed I turn and walk across the parlor to see what Lena is getting.

"Holy shit"

Lena turns and smiles at me, "it's pretty cool right?"

I give her the best smile I can, "yeah, definitely."

I leave quicker than I came and practically run to the bathroom.

Holy shit

Holy fucking shit there's no way

It's a coincidence...it has to be

There's no other option....none

Because the other option would mean I never got away....I just fell deeper.

I hope for my sake, Lena's, and every single one of my roommates that the raven on Lena's shoulder blade is nothing more than a tattoo.