Clexa One Shot (the 100)

Tattoo Artist AU

 Lexa stretched her arms far up above her head as high as she could, shoulders rolling up and creaking. Fingers threaded between each other and stretched with light creaks and pops. Lexa lowered her arms once more and rolled her neck, eliciting sounds akin to faint gunshots. She had been sketching at her desk for much too long and hadn't moved for a while. Lexa had turned the alarm off on her phone and settled in to finish up the piece she had been procrastinating on for the longest time.

It had been about three and a half hours since she had moved. Her favorite client was about to come in and she wanted to be in tip-top artistic shape for when Clarke Griffin got there. Together, they had been building upon this particular piece for the past two years, with session after session as often as Clarke could afford it. This particular tattoo was what kept Lexa inspired to improve upon her talents and keep making the piece on Clarke's upper arm better and better.

She paced the width of the small shop, waiting for Clarke to arrive, though she knew her actions made the other artists a bit anxious.

"We know you are a bit in love with this girl and her tattoo. We know you haven't seen her in a few months, but you really need to calm down or she'll think you're crazy." Anya told her with an affectionate glare.

"I am not in love with her." Lexa argued impudently. "I love working with her and I love working with the art she brings me." Lexa's tone was slightly irritated with their semi-constant teasing about what had developed into a little crush on her client.

"Whatever you say, young one." the older artist and Lexa's mentor laughed. "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

-----/////-----

Lexa was nearly crawling out of her skin by the time Clarke walked through the door, accompanied by the charming tingle of the bell. She did her best to seem as collected as she possibly could as the beautiful blonde approached her. Clarke grinned at her and Lexa felt a shudder run down her spine in response. Lexa swallowed roughly and tried to return her most tame of smiles. Beaming at Clarke would do nothing to assist her badass image she was attempting to cultivate with Clarke. Her facade didn't seem to be working all that well.

"So, do you know what you want to be working on this time around?" Lexa asked, putting her gloves on and taking her seat beside the chair. As was their custom, Clarke handed Lexa a photo. Lexa looked at it nodded and finished her sterile prep since she had gotten everything set up in advance for the most part. Lexa noted that several of her coworkers tried to covertly pass by and check out what was up next. "This is awesome. I'm not quite sure of where it will fit in."

Clarke looked sheepish and unsure of herself as she pulled off her long-sleeved shirt to reveal her tattooed arm and a tank-top. She wouldn't meet Lexa's eyes and was gnawing on her bottom lip incessantly. Lexa could see why. A new part of the tattoo had healed and Lexa had not been the one to do the work. Her sharp inhale alerted Clarke that she noticed. The bashful look on her face let Lexa know that Clarke had at least known enough about tattoo artist culture that Lexa wouldn't like how another artist had worked on a piece that Lexa had begun.

"So, this is how it feels to get your heart broken." Lexa sighed on a heavy exhale, her filter falling down on the job in the wake of her shock. "The work is good. It isn't an exact match to my style, but it is pretty nice."

"You've never had your heart broken before?" Clarke scoffed in disbelief. "I find that hard to believe."

"If this is my first time, I am glad it is you who did the dirty work." Lexa said darkly, though Clarke seemed to enjoy the look on Lexa's face a bit too much as the artist began to get to work.

"I'd be happy to show you how it works for real if you wanted to try it out the usual way." Clarke offered with an eyebrow quirk.