𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 |ᵗᵘᵖᵃᶜ ˢʰᵃᵏᵘʳ (on hold)

one

September 11, 2019

"You sure you wanna do this Nadia?" Xavier asks rubbing the sides of my arms trying to soothe me. I keep my lips tight and take in a deep breath. "I'm sure." I respond walking into the tattoo shop titled 'Mystic Ink'.

A tall light skinned man stood behind the counter "What can I do for you today?" He asks placing his tattoo-covered arm on the counter. Xavier places his hand on the small on my back giving me some sense of comfort.

"I have an appointment for 4:00," I tell him slightly rocking on my heels. He checks the clipboard on his right and sends me a smirk.

"Right on time Nadia. I'm Nick, I'll be tattooing you today. Follow me I have you're stenciling ready." I send a little wave to Xavier before following the man in the back room. "Now for the fun part," He starts snapping on some black latex gloves "Pick your needle." He says flipping back a display revealing rows. My eyes dance over all the gold and silver points. The first one that catches my eye looks like a fountain pen with a silver head.

I'm startled by the man's words "You found one yet ?" He asks stepping behind me.

"Yeah, that one." I point to the needle I've been admiring for a short period of time.

He nods with a smile "Nice choice." He says before grabbing the needle "Make yourself comfortable, take off your shirt we'll begin shortly." I nod and timidly take off my shirt and place it in an empty chair. I lay on my stomach and let out a nervous sigh. I feel Nick's hands on my back spreading some oil and alcohol to clean it. Nick explains everything he's doing from cleaning to placing and peeling the stencils on me. "Ok, here we go. Take a deep breath." I follow his instructions taking in a breath and blowing it out my mouth. "Just relax its gonna feel like a million little pinches in one place, but keep breathing." He warns me and gives a nod.

I hear the gun start to buzz, which makes my anxiety spike. I keep my breathing steady as I brace myself on the table. I feel him place something on my back and it feels like a dull fingernail lightly gliding on my skin. I lie there for some moments until I speak up
"Are you even tattooing me?" I ask in disbelief trying to turn my head.

He lets out a laugh "I've been going for half an hour now. I just started the second tattoo." I can hear the smile on his face from laughter.

"No way, I just got here you can't be-" I glance to my right to see a clock that read 4:32 showing his proof. I feel him wipe a portion of my back before he speaks again.

"You did zone out for a few minutes but I thought you were just in pain." He says continuing to do his work.
I turn my head away from the clock and squish my face against the table "No I barely feel anything." I say slightly worried.

"You have a high pain tolerance then Nadia,"
I continue to lie there for what felt like a few minutes but was actually another 30 minutes before Nick announces that he was done.

I get up excited and run over to the full-length mirror facing backward and crooning my neck around to see my new body modifications. On my lower back 'Keep your head up, legs closed, eyes open' was embroidered into the right side of my skin. Trailing up you could see the word 'Shakur' on the super left side of my back. I thank Nick tremendously while he patches me up. I slide back on my shirt wincing at the pain from the fresh tattoos. Nick gives me the rundown on how to wash it and care for my tattoo while walking back to the front of the shop.