Sunflowers and Ink

Part 1: Chapter 8

The Tarot reading lingered in Meara's mind well into his lunch hour. He closed up shop at noon and went into the back where he kept the mini-fridge and the microwave and pulled out his lunch, just a simple sandwich and some carrots and hummus. He hadn't had much time to put anything together this morning. He ate the first half of his sandwich slowly, pondering Stacey's words, then stuffed the last half into his mouth in huge chunks like a man dying of starvation so he could get through it quickly and go over to the tattoo parlor. Josselin might very well be busy, he might be working on a client or doing paperwork -- because Meara was pretty sure he owned the place -- but he could always wave and leave a message with Sara. They didn't even have each other's phone numbers. He should leave that, too.

He locked the door behind him and entered the tattoo parlor. Josselin was talking to someone as he gestured toward the tattoo on her leg. Was she just finishing, or was she in for a touch-up?

Meara walked up to the desk. Sara looked up from her magazine and popped the gum in her mouth.

"Hey!" she grinned. "Welcome! What are you doing here?"

"I was just here to see Josselin, but it looks like he's busy?"

"They're just finishing up," Sara said, glancing over her shoulder at the two as they stood and started making their way toward her. "Hang on. Could you step to the side so I can ring her up?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Meara took a few steps back, bumping into a small table covered in binders. One got knocked to the floor and fell open. He picked it up, about to close it, but the art caught his curious eyes. Both pages were covered in watercolor style flowers, flowing and beautiful. Lilies with thin, wispy stamen; peonies with tiny leaves; cherry blossoms on long, elegant twigs.

"Meara? What are you doing here?"

Meara's head jerked up. Josselin was smiling. A good sign. He was welcome here.

"Hey," Meara said. He closed the binder and put it down. "If this isn't a bad time, do you have a few minutes?"

Josselin looked down at his watch. He nodded his head from side to side, then looked back up and said, "I have about ten minutes until my next appointment. Do you want to talk here or upstairs?"

"We don't have to go upstairs," Meara said. "But do... is there any place a little more private?"

Josselin looked over at his coworkers. All three were here. "The break room? I can't promise Dante or Christian won't come in, though. Sara won't; her break isn't for another hour. But they take theirs whenever they have the time."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Meara said. He wanted to do this somewhere private, but not at Josselin's place. The break room wasn't exactly neutral -- it was still Josselin's territory -- but at least it wasn't as loaded as his apartment. Meara had no reason to believe Josselin would say 'no' to his question, but he didn't want to have to do the walk of shame down the stairs and through the tattoo parlor if he did.

The break room was tiny, with a microwave and a sink with a dish strainer beside it, a single table and four chairs. Meara and Josselin each took one, across from each other. Meara reached out, as if to take Josselin's hand, but then withdrew and curled his fingers into his palm, resting his knuckles against his mouth.

"What's up?" Josselin asked.

"I was, um," Meara started awkwardly. He paused. The room was heavy with his nerves. Only the faint music from the main room on the other side of the door kept it from silence. "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve.

Finally, he decided it would be best to steel up his nerves and just say it all at once. So he clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and blurted, "I like you a lot and I'd really like to make whatever it is we're doing official and continue to see you on a monogamous basis and --"

"Yes!"

Meara opened his eyes to see a bright grin on Josselin's face.

"I'm sorry, I interrupted you. I... I'm sorry. I guess I got excited and got ahead of myself. What else were you going to say?"

Meara licked his lips. "I think I was just going to ramble and repeat myself until you interrupted me. So. Thank you for that." He stood, pushing his chair back. "I've got to get back to my shop," he said, "I open back up in about twenty minutes and I have some things to do first. But I didn't want to have to wait until Monday to see you, and --"

"I understand." Josselin smiled and took Meara's hand, following him to his feet. "Can we..." He trailed off nervously, then cleared his throat. If Meara wanted to be official, questions like this were okay and even expected, right? "Can we kiss on it?"

Meara grinned and leaned closer, pressing his lips to Josselin's soft, warm ones. Josselin's hand curled tighter around Meara's and he rested the other on the shorter man's hip, pulling him closer. Meara wrapped his arms around Josselin's neck and leaned into the touch. This kiss was different: it was a little firmer, surer, more confident, tongues and lips exploring new territory like they were laying claim to it. And, Meara guessed, if they were kissing on their agreement, that was kind of what they were doing.

He's my boyfriend now.

Meara smiled against Josselin's mouth and chuckled in pure happiness. Josselin pulled back and rested his forehead against Meara's. "What?" he asked.

"I'm just happy," Meara said. "This makes you my boyfriend, right?"

"I like to think so," Josselin replied.

"Just making sure we're on the same page." Meara pressed a kiss to Josselin's cheek, just at the corner of his mouth, and pulled away. Josselin's hand was still on his hip, loosely, like he was trying to keep him from leaving.

"I'll see you later," Meara said. "But I have to get back, now. Oh!" He pulled out his cell phone and continued, "I wanted to swap phone numbers with you. It's been almost a week and somehow we haven't done that yet."

Josselin laughed. "I'm sorry. I guess it didn't cross my mind, since you're right next door."

Josselin gave Meara his phone number and he sent Josselin a text that simply said, Meara's phone.

"I'll put it in my contacts later," he said, without taking his phone out of his pocket.

"I really have to go, though," Meara said. "I have a lot of plants to water and cut flowers to sort."

"Okay," Josselin laughed. And after one more kiss, he escorted his new boyfriend back to his shop next door, then went back to the tattoo parlor to ready things for his next client.

The watering can was out in the middle of the floor when Meara walked inside. The brownies had, again, taken it upon themselves to help with his chores.

"You're all the best," Meara said. "Which ones did you do?" The leaves of the plants over in the herb section rustled as if in the breeze, but the air was still.

"Okay. I'll do the rest. That was really nice of you." A 'thank you' almost slipped out, but he caught it before it passed his lips. The brownies and pixies in his shop were benevolent and he didn't think anything too bad would come of it, maybe nothing more than a scolding. But with all the fairies he worked with and all their different temperaments, it was a habit he couldn't get used to.