Chapter Text
Sendou blinked when he looked up to find his boyfriend, whom he’d now been dating for a little bit, walk through the door of the tattoo parlor. It was a bit early for their usual lunch date, and they hadn’t planned to meet up until then that day. He tilted his head. Was caught between a smile and a frown. “Hi?”
“Hey…” He rubbed the back of his neck, bowing his head.
“Lunch isn’t for another hour…” Sendou said in question.
“I’m not here to take you out.” He leaned on the counter. Smirked. “Just treat me like any other customer, little fox.”
Sendou blushed some. His eyes widened a bit, his heart skipping a beat. A customer? “You’re getting a tattoo?”
“Yes, I am.”
Sendou tilted his head. “Y’know what that means in this country, right?” he asked hesitantly. “Tattoos are still mostly associated with yakuza here, even if it’s a bit better now… You won’t be allowed in some places with one.”
“That’s fine. They don’t deserve me if they don’t appreciate it. Besides, I know this adorable tattoo artist that I would just love to do a little something for me…”
Sendou coughed, feeling his cheeks burn a deeper red. “Yes, well, uh… We’re a bit packed on the schedule today, so we should schedule you an appointment for sometime soon instead,” he said, trying to ignore the thumping in his chest. He’d been dating the man for, what, a month? Two? Time flew by too fast for him to tell exactly. He should be over these butterflies by now, in any case. It had been that long. “We should start by knowing what kind of piece you’re doing, so we know how long of sessions you’ll need, and how many…”
Aiku stared blankly at him. Sendou sighed.
“Where do you want it?”
“Oh, uh…” He frowned a bit before settling on his left pec, near his heart. “Does here work?”
Sendou frowned a bit. Wondered what the hell his boyfriend was up to. Aiku wasn’t the tattoo type. Why was he suddenly looking into one? “Chest tattoos hurt a lot. You sure you want that as your first?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“If you say so… do you tend to have sensitive skin?” It wasn’t a guarantee of how he’d react to the ink, but it could at least give Sendou a base idea to work with.
“Nah, not really.”
“Alright… Well, what are you looking to get done?”
Aiku removed his phone from his pocket. Unlocked it and began to scroll. He eventually settled on a picture in his camera roll. Showed it to Sendou. It was a red fox, curled up in mound of green leaves and white flowers. “Something like this?”
The romantic. A fox, just like he called Sendou. Plants that looked like the ones he grew. All drawn by Sendou’s own hand, immortalized on his skin. Sendou could almost feel his eyes sting a bit. “These things are permanent, you know…”
“I want it to be.”
Sounded almost like a marriage proposal, if he didn’t know better. (He did, of course, but he couldn’t help but hold onto the comparison. Maybe he was a hopeless romantic as well.) He smiled. “You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been sure of anything more than my little fox,” Aiku drawled, the double meaning between the tattoo and Sendou himself clear.
He blushed, leaned forward. “How does tomorrow at five sound for the first appointment? Two hour sitting, we can go from there.”
“Sounds good.”
“Wanna go get lunch?”
Aiku flashed a shit-eating grin. “Sorry, I got a guy already. A perfect little fox. Can’t be hooking up with some random guy just ‘cause he’s giving me a tattoo anymore, now that I’m a taken man, y’know?”
Sendou snorted, flicked Aiku between the eyes. “Asshole.”
“And proud of it.”
“Take your shirt off and lay down.”
Aiku shivered a bit at the sheer command in his boyfriend’s voice. Lifted his top with a lopsided, boyish smirk. “Damn, thought I was here for a tattoo, not to get laid. Not that I’m complaining—”
Sendou turned red and glared. “Shut up.”
Aiku laughed, throwing his shirt to the floor and lying down on the bench. Sendou adjusted his glasses as he sat down next to the bench, removing a sketchbook from behind the stool. He began leafing through it, the tip of his tongue poking through his lips. Head tilted in concentration a bit, brow ever so slightly furrowed. Smallest blush on his face, from having his boyfriend half-naked before him. Looked adorable. Aiku couldn’t help but admire the view, corners of his lips straining upwards.
“I’ve got a few versions drawn up, you’ve just got to pick one,” Sendou explained.
Aiku nodded. Sounded easy enough.
Sendou flipped through three sketches. They were similar, all depicting the same image of a fox lying in verdant vegetation and white blossoms. One was in a style more traditional of Japanese tattoos, while the other two took a different approach — one cutesy and the other more realistic. All three were well done. Aiku did double-major with art, he could see the way that Sendou had perfected shape language and line weight and, fuck, he was thinking of ways he could talk dirty with art techniques.
“Uh, this one.” He pointed to the traditional variation. Reminded him of a picture his mother had hung up when he was a kid, a traditional scroll of a kitsune. Good memories there.
Sendou nodded. “I’ll prep the stencil, then.”
“Will it hurt?” Aiku asked. Couldn’t help but worry a bit. Sure, he’d acted tough, but he’d never been the best with pain. Would never admit it, of course.
“The stencil? No. Not even a little bit. The tattoo will, though. You chose a bad place for a first time…”
Aiku grimaced.
“You sure you don’t want to move it?”
“Positive.”
Sendou sighed. “Alright, we’ll get to work…”
Sendou would be impressed by how well Aiku took the ink. Since he didn’t have another session coming in, he decided to extend it, able to get most of the tattoo done all in one go without major swelling and such. “We should be able to finish next time. You’re perfect to tattoo on…” he found himself musing, removing his glasses to clean the lens. “Let me bandage you up…”
“People do this multiple times? On purpose?” Aiku asked with a grimace, sitting up. “Are they masochists?”
“Probably,” Sendou said with a shrug. “There’s a reason I haven’t gotten one.” Though, he did sort of wish for one at times. Drew up designs for himself. He just hated pain too much to follow through.
Aiku smirked. “I’ll get all the tattoos you want if you give me something in exchange~”
Sendou blushed some, removing the bandages from under the bench. The offer was tempting, honestly. “I thought you just said you hated this process?”
“I’m sure my little fox’s art will look beautiful, though~”
“Flirt.”
“Only for you.”
Sendou sighed. Leaned forward and kissed Aiku. “I’m going to absolutely cover you in ink, you pervert.”
Aiku’s face split into a wide grin. Bit Sendou’s lip lightly, teasingly. “I love you, little fox.”
“Love you, too,” Sendou mumbled.