Seven Levels Below

III

Two pizzas, an obnoxious sing-along of the rest of Tangled, and a failed attempt to get Mitch to attempt to dance in the heels later, the three were collapsed in various stages of laughter as Kirstie gasped her way through telling the others about how she had been asked if she could dye someone's dog's fur the same atrocious green she had been dyeing the owner's hair at the salon she worked in.

Anthony fit in with the two like he'd been there for years and honestly, Mitch may be staring just a little. Kirstie kept glancing at Mitch every now and then with a little smirk on her face, but what could he say? He was just appreciating the fine art that was the solid chest in a form-fitting turtleneck in front of him.

Anthony had somehow managed to change the topic of conversation to the moon. Mitch and Kirstie had rarely been above the third level, and never late enough or with enough comfort to stop and appreciate the sky. Trips up to the upper-city that weren't for work were short excursions, usually in the relative safety of midday.

"It's just so bright when it's a full moon! It's so pretty, and you can basically see enough to read outside with it lighting up the sky. And all the twinkling stars next to it are just so peaceful..."

"I wish I could see it," Kirstie sighed wistfully. Mitch agreed, but—

"We should go tonight! I can't promise that it'll be clear enough to see, but at least you could try." Anthony looked so excited at the prospect of showing them the starry heavens for the first time, Mitch hated having to be the one to remind him about their different classes. Kirstie glanced over at him sadly and he knew that she was aware of it too.

"Anthony... Uh, we can't really do that. We can't just walk up to the first level to look at the sky. We have to show our purpose of travel to go to the top two levels, and there's no way they'd let us up there to see the moon, no matter how bright it might be tonight."

Anthony frowned. "Since when? I thought inter-city mingling was highly encouraged."

Kirstie laughed gently. "Sure, when it's you guys coming down to the fifth level, maybe. They don't want us dirtying up their fancy streets."

Anthony grimaced. "As much as I'd love to not believe you, that definitely sounds like something we would do. I'm really sorry guys. I'll figure out something."

"Meanwhile we still have to figure out how to get you into a tattoo parlour without making headlines," Mitch changed the subject to something a bit less depressing.

Anthony groaned. "I still don't know what I want to get."

"You don't have to get a tattoo," Kirstie said. "You're already breaking 'traditional stereotypes' by hanging out with us."

"No, I really want to," he nodded. "I wanna have a permanent reminder of down here, how it's a completely different world, you know? I just can't make up my mind about putting something on me forever. What if I hate it in like, a month? I don't want to walk around regretting it for the rest of my life. Besides, it has to be something innocent enough that I can't get in too much trouble for getting one."

"You don't have to show anyone," Mitch grinned. "You could get it somewhere no one would be able to see. Then it wouldn't matter how innocent it is..."

"Mitch!" Kirstie glared at him.

"What? We both have tattoos you can't see."

Kirstie squeaked. "That makes it sound bad! I swear it's just on my shoulder."

"Mine's not," Mitch winked. He didn't miss how Anthony's eyes glanced down.

Kirstie cleared her throat. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm still here and very much not interested in hearing more."