Solangelo One-shots.

Tattoos.

Nico has never understood the art of inking your own skin. He'd sometimes bump into people, covered from head to toe in huge, swirly tattoos. People like that, they scared him. He found them intimidating, and quite possibly dangerous. 

Sure, maybe it had been the propaganda that people with tattoos that dominated their skin were considered as bad, or murderous. Nico's always been taught that he should never ever trust these kinds of people. Plus, why'd he ever want to go through such a painful process? 

"Nico." Hazel's voice startled him. 

"What?" Her golden eyes regarded him, as though it was debating internally whether they should question him. 

Hazel decided that it wouldn't be worth the trouble. 

"So, I've actually been thinking." She drawled, and Nico immediately knew that she was going to drop some kind of bombshell on him. 

"What?" Nico repeated, warily. 

"I want to get a tattoo." 

For a moment, Nico blanked out. Could she have read him that well; until she could tell what he was thinking? 

Hazel took his silence as disgust. "I mean, I'm old enough-" 

"I never said you couldn't do it. It's not my job to tell you what to do. I just, I was thinking about tattoos when you just.." He trailed off, and Hazel smiled preenly. 

"Neeks, don't judge someone by their appearance okay? They can actually be really nice. Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you'd come with." 

Nico shuddered when he imagined the sound of buzzing needles, the muffled groans of pain from the patrons, and even, the possibility of meeting someone whose skin were dominated by the inky black swirls. 

However, if those things were to happen, did he really want Hazel to go alone? 

"Okay." 

She beamed, and continued to tell him that she wanted a tiny rune tattoo, at the side of her wrist. Apparently it had come from her newest obsession, 'The Mortal Instruments.' Annabeth had recommended it to her and she was hooked. 

Nico nodded, the seed of doubt still planted at the back of his mind. 

###

"This is so exciting! My first ever tattoo." Hazel bounded a few steps ahead of him, Nico hanging back slightly. 

Nico's thoughts were still preoccupied. He just didn't understand! He didn't understand why someone would just...vandalise themselves like that, or at least to such an extent that not even a single inch of skin was distinguishable. It was all just...ink. 

The bell dinged, as the duo stepped into the shop. 

Anesthetic. The smell was overpowering, and Nico struggled to breathe. Hazel, completely ignoring the scent, rushed over to the counter, where a blond stood. Nico turned toward her, and his jaw dropped. 

Oh, holy, gods. 

Long, golden lashes fluttered gently as breathtakingly blue eyes stared in slight amusement at the girl in front of him, excitement pouring from her small frame in waves. Freckles dotted lightly on his cheeks, nose. 

Hot. Damn. 

The blond's white tee clung tightly onto his torso, leaving not much to Nico's imagination. Through the thin white fabric, Nico could see the faint scrawled, swirling black lines running against the chest, abs, finally, down toward the v-line. Nico's mind reeled. 

"Yeah, um, hi. I want a tattoo..where? Oh, over here, please." Hazel's excited chatter prevented him from hearing the blond's voice. 

Suddenly, those eyes lifted, and spotted him. 

Feeling out of place, Nico awkwardly cast his gaze downward. 

Gods, he hoped that this wouldn't take long. 

###

"Oh my gods...it's perfect!" Hazel oohed once more, eyeing her tiny tattoo at the side of her wrist. 

Nico rolled his eyes affectionately. Call him prejudiced or whatnot, but he stuck to his view about people who had large or scary tattoos were mean. At least Hazel's was innocent, sweet, even. 

"Hey...it's you two." 

Both of them glanced up, and Nico instantly recognised the blue eyes. Despite Nico's opinion on 'those people', his heart started speeding up. 

"Hi! Thanks so much for this, Will." Hazel hefted up her hand. 

Apparently his sister and him were on first name basis now. 

"Yeah, no problem. Take care of it, alright? You can always come back if something goes wrong." His tone was sincere, and kind. Nico momentarily felt confused. 

This. This was new. 

###

A week ago, if you'd told Nico that he'd be on a date with a guy that ran a tattoo parlour, he would've slapped you. And yet, here he was, his mouth in a small smile, as he laughed at a joke. 

"You know, I used to think that, um, people that...were like, heavily tattooed were mean." 

Will looked at him fondly. "I get that a lot too." 

Nico blushed. 

"Tattooing is my art form. It helps me forget sometimes, like the way other artists use paint to express themselves. Some of my tattoos remind me of certain occasions. Like this one." Will gestured to the large tattoo of a dragon on his bicep. "My father has always loved Dragons. Said that they were brave, beautiful creatures. When he died, I wanted to remember him. Or even this one." 

Will pointed to the quote on his forearm. "Aim for the moon, and if you can reach it, aim for it again. Don't settle just for the stars. I know the common one is aim for the moon, because the stars will be there if you don't get the moon. But, this...this one's better. My mom always reminds me to never give up." 

Nico smiled, and gently pointed to another one, asking what it meant or what it stood for. 

Will breathed a laugh, and quietly started to explain. 

Now, he understood. He understood why someone would ink themselves. 

The tattoos were never meaningless swirls or shapes. They always had a meaning to them. They almost always had a story behind them. 

Now he got it. 

Tattoos were like images of a story. 

End. 

Author's note: Yo! Please don't kill me for being MIA for so long. AHAHHAH *nervous laughter* Rate and comment, please, I swear I love you all so much, I've just been super busy. 

Love, K.