Rose Tattoos | H.S (discontinued)

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚

When my last class of the day was over, I headed straight to the parlor where I met with Harry who patiently waited in the waiting area occupying himself with one of our magazines that's out for the clients to look through.

I led him to the same room we were in the other day and had him sit in the reclining chair. I pulled my chair beside him and asked what kind of rose he wanted. Whether that be a rose bud or one that is slightly or fully bloomed.

While he was thinking about which type he wanted, I left to retrieve my folder of rose drawings in our office to physically show him the different types of designs so that he had a better look and idea to see what he liked most.

"I like this one," he pointed to the rose bud that was about to bloom on a stem with leaves coming out of it. "Can you add it to the first one you tattooed on me?"

I slowly nodded, grabbing the iPad from the table beside my station, I asked him if I could take a picture of his arm with the rose tattoo—to which I got his permission—and put the photo through an editing app to draw on the second rose to his liking.

The outcome of it resulted in adding a stem to the first rose with another stem coming out of it that is slightly curving with leaves attached and the top of that second stem held the rose bud that was slightly blooming its true form.

"Like this?" I asked, handing him the iPad.

He examined it and smiled, nodding in approval. "Like that."

"Great, I just need to make a stencil before we get started."

When the design got out of the printer I made a stencil out of it by putting it underneath transfer paper and traced the design with a pencil first then on hectograph paper where I place the transfer paper on top and trace it again, but this time i'm getting the purple ink on there from the hectograph so that when I place it on Harry's skin it gives me a guide during the tattooing process.

"Ready?" I asked. Giggling when he sat straighter, put his knees together, and rested his forearm on the seats arm rest.

I prepped his skin with alcohol then a small amount of green soap to clean it off and after that I went in with a stencil applicator and rubbed it into his arm. I let that dry before I put the actual stencil on there, pressing down gently on all areas to make sure I get all parts on there, letting it dry again before I get to the actual tattooing process.

"Is it suppose to burn?" he asked, making my whole body get chills when he said so.

"Does it burn right now?" I frantically asked him. Ready to remove the stencil from his skin and just quit the entire process.

"No, I was just joking." he laughed. Harry looked good up close, I wish I created a drawing of how he looked right now in art class. It was like he took away every negative aspect in this world just by simply smiling the way he does.

But it still took a lot in me to not whack him like how I would with my friends when they want to joke around with me like that. And Harry isn't my friend, we just met and aren't that close so I just rolled my eyes playfully at him and got my ink and rotary machine ready.

Before I started tattooing, I checked if the purple ink was dry before applying a light layer of vaseline on it.

"Okay, now are you ready-ready?" I asked looking up at him through my eyelashes. The needle of the machine was filled with ink and close to his skin, the buzzing makes everything much more intense in the moment.

Harry pursed his lips and stared at the design, clearly contemplating his decisions, but in a joking manner. "Yes ma'am, this man is ready."

I giggled at him again, his personality was pure gold. The needle of my rotary machine finally touched his skin, I started from the bottom of the stem and worked my way up that way the top of the design barely gets touched and smudged by me while I'm working.

Just like the last time he was silent, I wasn't too surprised or shocked at how quiet he is during the process. After all, seeing all the tattoos he has, he must have gotten used to it after the third or fourth one.

"I don't mean to be nosy," I said, my focus was still on tattooing but somehow my mind decided to drift a bit. "But, do you still feel the pain of the needle when you get tattoos? I mean. You have quite a lot of them, are you used to it?"

He laughed, shaking a little. I had to lift the machine slightly so that I wouldn't accidentally tattoo the wrong part of his skin. "I do, but, the pain doesn't compare to when I got a big tattoo of a butterfly on my chest."

I stopped tattooing midway and stared at him in disbelief, tattoos on your chest can be extremely painful. "How big is it?"

"Big," he exaggerated. "I'll show you after you finish up to prove it really is big." Harry winked.

I rolled my eyes at him and he winked again, but with the opposite eye. Harry really does know how to make anyone laugh, even if he or she is a complete stranger to him.