Sunflowers and Ink

Part 1: Chapter 1

Meara was daydreaming again. It was easy to get distracted by the tattoo parlor next door; the wall between it and his floral shop was nearly solid glass. It was tinted, but still transparent. The building had once been a kitchen and his shop the open back of house where the patrons could watch the chefs at their work, but he'd ripped out everything but the coolers. He'd replaced the doors with clear ones and used them to store cut flowers and certain types of plant food. Rows upon rows of roses and sunflowers and baby's breath were lined up side by side in rainbows of color, but what his shop was mostly known for were his more exotic flowers. Cultivated wildflowers, succulents, cacti, herbs that were hard to find and harder to grow, hibiscus, honeysuckle, among dozens of other things. They were all piled up on staggered shelves against the front window and the walls. Even so, sometimes, if he stood on his toes and leaned a little to the right, Meara could peek through the leaves and blossoms and into the tattoo parlor on the other side, where the lanky, bespectacled man who he'd never worked up the nerve to introduce himself to worked crouched over his clients, coloring them with beautiful art.

Josselin turned off the needle and wiped away the last of the extra ink from Gabriel's arm. His sleeve was finally finished, after three sessions of work; one of line, two of color. He could usually get something like this done in just one or two, but Gabriel had had a very specific vision and Josselin had wanted to do everything he could to meet it. The French man was one of their best clients, after all, and other people would sometimes even commission him to design tattoos that Josselin later ended up doing. He brought them a lot of business.

It was in classic Ed Hardy street style, with flowers and koi and a tiger skull as the centerpiece on the inside of his lower arm. Gabriel flexed and flinched, then grinned brightly as he turned his arm this way and that to get a better view of his new color.

"I love it, chou," he said.

"Good," Josselin grinned back. The other artists were both working with their own clients, but all Gabriel saw was the new art on his arm. Josselin dropped the needle in the sharps container under his desk and put his gun to the side, then pulled off his gloves and threw them away. As Gabriel stood, Josselin rolled his chair back and pulled his long black hair out of its ponytail and back into a much cleaner one.

"You know the drill," Josselin said. He stood to lead Gabriel to the front desk where he could pay. "Keep it moisturized and keep it clean. If there's any sign of infection, see your doctor, then call me, okay?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Gabriel said.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be," Josselin laughed. "I just have to go over all of it, legally. Each time, even for repeat customers like you."

"Thank, you, cher," Gabriel said. "It's beautiful." He air kissed each of Josselin's cheeks and Josselin laughed, ushering him up to his assistant to pay for the work.

Meara looked away from the glass wall when the bell on his front door rang, the gentle, tinny sound of fake brass. A young man covered in tattoos walked in. Meara recognized him as one of the parlor's regulars, although he'd never come into his flower shop.

"Good afternoon!" he smiled. He shook his brown curls out of his face as he settled down flat on his feet and turned to the young man. The young man's left arm was covered wrist to shoulder with plastic. He must have just gotten it done.

"Hello!" He had a faint, but pleasant French accent. "I'm looking for something for my boyfriend. Do you have anything... hard to kill?"

Meara's mouth tightened as he tried not to laugh. He nodded. "I have some things," he said. "How hard to kill to you need?"

"Um." The young man scratched the back of his head. "Very."

"Okay." Meara finally did laugh, gently. "Do you want something cut or something growing? Cut flowers will all die within a week regardless of what you do, but as long as you care for growing plants correctly they can last indefinitely."