Work Text:
When something catastrophic happens to a person, whether it’d be out of your hands or done through devastation, sometimes it leaves a mark. That mark may very well stay with you for the rest of your life. It becomes a part of you, and it adds another page to your life story.
Why not make it the best thing about yourself?
That’s exactly what Shiro proposed after being in the hospital recovering from a terrible accident from war. There were scars and marks that were permanently etched on his body, and there was a part of him missing that he would never naturally gain back. When he looked at himself in the mirror for the next several months, and even while he looked down at his new prosthetic during physical therapy sessions, he didn’t like what he saw. These reminders only spoke of stories of pain and suffering. And when people looked at him, they empathetically winced and profusely apologized when they stared at him too long. It was a fact that he struggled with for quite a while.
He didn’t want to think of these insecurities when he looked at himself anymore. That is why he now loves his tattoos. The worst parts of himself are now the absolute best parts of himself. And now when he looks in the mirror, what he sees before him is a storybook, illustrated by his battle scars.
He started an apprenticeship with the tattoo artist that helped him. He’d learned a lot of new techniques, and his mentor helped him deal with the skepticism people might give him for being an artist that was also an amputee. As it turned out, most of the people he worked with weren’t as weirded out about his prosthetic as either of them thought they would be. And after being able to get his license and work in a different parlor, Shiro truly felt happy and confident.
He’d worked there for a couple years before he came up with an idea. To expand further on his belief that people shouldn’t be looking at others with scars like his with a pained grimace or with scrutiny, he wanted everyone to feel confident in every aspect of their bodies. With his boss’ okay, he began to offer a half-priced discount for people that wanted to have tattoos over their scars. In his eyes, it didn’t matter how people have gotten them. They all deserved to feel special in their own skin.
So far, he has helped dozens of clients. Seeing the finished product at the end of their appointments even makes himself get emotional! Seeing that light in their eyes shine brighter than when they first walked in for consultation is what he loves about this job so much. Nothing in the world can top this feeling he gets when he sees that.
That is, until today.
His newest client walks in timidly, holding his arm while talking with Shiro’s boss at the desk. He’s very expressive when talking, he finds, but there is something about him that piques his curiosity. Despite this bright face and his happy smile, his body language hints at a tone of slight insecurity. But it might be just a hunch, Shiro concludes to himself.
He watches Allura point over to his room, and as the stranger walks over, his smile doesn’t waver once. Shiro can tell he’s excited. In kind, he gives him a polite grin and holds his arm out for a handshake.
Just as he is about to respond and shake, the stranger’s eyes widen when seeing the extended prosthetic. “Whoa! Your arm looks so cool!”
Shiro never ceases to get flustered when hearing people praise the aesthetics of his arm, but he does his best not to appear too flushed in the face. “Oh—thank you.”
“I mean, I know about it from you seeing you work here. But getting to look at it up close and in person, right in front of me, is… well, wow!”
He laughs while they shake hands. “Thanks again. Ulaz is a miracle worker, if you ask me.”
“Yeah, he’s really good.” He then blushes, seemingly from embarrassment. “Where are my manners? You obviously must be Mr. Shirogane. And I’m Mr. McClain! We spoke on the phone yesterday.”
“I figured as much,” he teases with a smile. “You’re early.”
“If that’s a problem, I can come back later,” he insists with a shaky chuckle. “I don’t mind, if you’re busy.”
Shiro shakes his head and takes him to his station, offering him a seat. “It’s alright. You’re my first client of the day.” He takes out a large sketchbook. “So, what exactly brings you here, Mr. McClain? What is your vision?”
He smiles while worrying his lip. He looks fairly excited as he interjects. “Is it alright if you could just call me Lance? Not annoyed, just formality’s not really my thing.”
“That’s alright,” Shiro insists.
Lance then continues with his train of thought. “Well, one reason is because I heard about your discount. The scar one, I mean. That’s not the only reason, but…”
When he hesitates, Shiro takes the time to jot down some notes for himself. He needs little reminders sometimes, especially when he has discounted customers. “Well, even if it was only for the sale, I wouldn’t judge. Would it be alright if you showed me where it is? It’ll help me determine how long it may take and what I’ll need to do to make sure it’s the best results possible. Or would you like to wait until the first session?”
“I’ll show you now,” Lance nods and moves back to turn around in front of him. “It’s on my back.”
As he watches him, Shiro is aware that although Lance doesn’t seem like the nervous type, there’s hesitation in his movements to pull the shirt off. Maybe he rarely has it off in public, or maybe he has felt insecurities over it. It saddens Shiro to think about that, as well as whenever he’d thought about other clients with their scars. He only hopes that he can help him by going through this process with him, even if it only improves his confidence by a fraction.
He just didn’t expect his scar to be this large. It is ghastly and gnarled on his back, with thick scar tissue towards the center. Shiro knows that it’s going to take several weeks and a whole lot of patience, but he loves challenges.
“E-even the tattoo artist that’s supposed to work on it thinks it’s weird looking,” he laughs nervously.
“No, no,” he chides and moves away from his desk. “I’m sorry for the silence.”
“It was… supposed to be a joke. Believe it or not,” he teases. “I won’t lie. It can be a little embarrassing at times to show it, but I’m used to it.” As he puts the shirt back on, he takes deep breaths that drift periodically into shaky chuckles. “Wanna know how I got it?”
“I would like to, but that’s up to your discretion,” he assures him as they both get rearranged at the desk again. “I don’t have to know anything.”
“It’s actually a pretty interesting story.” Lance’s lips quirk up in a small smile. “If I did anything just slightly different during what happened, I would probably be dead right now.”
“Christ…”
He nods enthusiastically, now regaining some kind of lit up charm that has Shiro intrigued. “Right? It’s amazing.” Lance’s eyes divert to the empty sketchbook. “Well, anyways… I was twelve years old staying at a friend’s house. There was an electrical fire, and everyone was rushing to get out. And my dumb ass—” He starts to laugh in between phrases. “As the fire department was on their way, I thought it’d be a good idea to go back in the house. I wanted to get my stuff from inside, and I guess I figured I had enough time. I was running down the steps to get out of there when all of a sudden, there was this wicked flashover that messed up my whole back. I mean, everywhere! Even my calves were burnt up!” He shakes his head with a grin. “My back got the initial impact, so that’s why it looks like that. Just think. All of that could’ve been avoided if I’d just sucked it up and left my stuff inside the room. Pretty interesting, huh?”
“God… I think everyone would wanna go back for their stuff, so I don’t blame you all that much. And hey, it could’ve been a whole lot worse.”
“Oh yeah, it could’ve,” he grins. “You could be tatting up my entire backside right now!”
He can’t help but laugh at that. “And something of that scale would take forever to do.”
“Right?” Lance wheezes out some more laughter. “That’d be a catastrophe.”
“And because of the discount, Allura may very well have killed me,” he jokes while jotting more notes down. He’s never worked on burn scars before. That’s Ulaz’s forte, so he would be able to give him some insight. “Anyways, do you have anything in mind? Or do you need some help with designs?”
“No, I’ve got something in mind, Mr. Shirogane.” Lance takes a folded piece of paper out from a back pocket. He has a thumbnail styled sketch of what appears to be the solar system. Shiro sees some little notes jotted in. The larger circle towards the center of the thumbnail has a tiny “Neptune” label inside it in pen.
“Why Neptune?” he asks curiously.
He shrugs. “I dunno. I just thought that having the sun be in the center with all the planets around it as a tattoo design was too clichéd. Wanted to think outside the box. Plus, I like Neptune.”
“Understandable,” he insists. “Clever.”
Then Lance continues to talk about his idea. “I’ve always been interested in space, ever since I was real young and watched that one science Blue’s Clues cassette as a kid. Plus, I like the color blue. And Neptune’s blue.”
“Please, don’t tell me Blue’s Clues influenced your decision for a blue planet as your focal point.”
“God, no!” Lance breaks off into giggles. “I ramble sometimes, okay? Sheesh!”
Shiro grins while he starts sketching out Lance’s idea, using the thumbnail as a reference. “Kidding. So, excluding any notion of blue cartoon puppies, what stemmed out from your interests?”
Meanwhile, Lance is still recovering from his fit of laughter. He has this flushed smile on his face, his eyes bright.
The sight is almost radiant enough to knock Shiro out of his chair.
“So, my love for space—I start my senior year of college in the fall, and right after I will be pursuing my Masters in Astronomy. I wanna be able to study what’s beyond Earth and observe the amazing phenomenon going on right outside our backyard. Yet we’re just a speck, and space is so vast. It’s something I think about all the time, and it’s just incredible!”
Shiro observes that Lance’s arms wave while he talks. He’s quite expressive in body language, and his words fluidly flow from his lips. He can only wish he was that well-spoken. And hearing him continue to talk about just what gets his gears going draws him further under Lance’s spell.
The bewitchingly lovable way he talks fills his mind up in the sweetest way. He adores when others talk of their aspirations and goals, but with Lance, it seems different. Maybe it’s the way his eyes widen slightly when he takes a pause to breathe before going on another tangent. Maybe it’s how his smile shakes when he laughs to himself, and Shiro knows he’s thinking about something he’s trying to let out of his head that he’s unable to see or predict.
Whatever it is, Shiro is hooked. He’s hooked to this feeling and wants nothing more than to give Lance everything he could offer to make this an even better piece for him.
--
Shiro starts to get nervous about working on Lance’s back as he goes to confide in his mentor. He’s never worked with anything on this grand of a scale, and realizes just how much work will need to be put into it. The last thing he wants is for Lance to get disappointed in the finished product.
Ulaz’s parlor is on the other side of town. He waits until he is off the clock and heading out the door before going to talk to him.
“Hey Shiro, great to see you again,” he grins as he meets him on the sidewalk. “What brings you here?”
“I need help on something… specific,” he sighs. “There was this man that came to me and asked me to do this challenging design on his back. He has burn scars. Usually that wouldn’t be too big of a problem, but he also has this thick scar tissue in different places.”
As Ulaz listens, he intently nods and beckons Shiro inside the parlor. He takes him to his station, going through some photographs. “Are you worried about screwing it up?”
“A little,” he confesses. “I want to be able to do it justice, but I’m afraid I’m going to mess up on the scar tissue. I don’t wanna disappoint this guy.”
Several pictures are now set down on top of his desk. He gestures to them so Shiro could look at them. They’re photographs of different tattoo pieces Ulaz has worked on. Some of them were completely covering burn scars with a flat design, but others were also incorporating the gnarled tissue into the art. Shiro is really interested in one where it looked like a reptile’s eye was peering through the scar tissue, making it look further away in the midground. Another has the same effect, but it was a bird in a cage.
“Wow…” he muses as he’s entranced by how well his mentor’s skills are.
“Takashi, there’s different ways you can create a composition,” Ulaz says as they briefly make eye contact. “It doesn’t have to be the usual way. People make designs where it appears like the tattoo is breaking through the skin more often than you think. And incorporating scars like these into it doesn’t lessen the effect in the slightest. In fact, I think these look better than the usual way. It feels more natural.”
“It does look natural,” he admits with a smile. “It would also be a lot less time consuming, I’d gather.”
Ulaz shrugs with a grin. “It depends.”
He chuckles. “I’m not sure if he’d go for it, though. It seems like he would rather have them…disappear. Much like how I’ve wanted it when you’ve done my tattoos.”
Realizing that may have just opened his eyes. Sure, he’s a lot more confident now, and it gives a much brighter look to areas where he once hated looking at. But he never considered what it might have been like if he’d done something like this instead. He knows just by looking at these photographs that they’re just as beautiful as they would be if they were covered. In fact, they’re probably a lot better than if they were done fully covered.
“You can always ask,” he assures him while he hands over a couple of the pictures. “Here. You can borrow a couple of these. Maybe it will give both of you the inspiration you will need.” He smiles as he hands the last one to him, which is the one Shiro had seen earlier that looked like a bird cage. “Just be careful with that one. I’ll need that back when you’re done.”
“How come?” He purses his lips while they step out again together.
“That’s my husband’s.”
“Oh.” They both share a laugh. “I think Thace would personally kill me if I lost this.”
He gives him a knowing nod. “Pretty much.”
That night after they walked home to their designated apartment buildings, Shiro stays up all night working on another variation of Lance’s design. It’s exactly the same as before, but with his photographic memory he incorporates where the thicker, gnarled sections of scar tissue were and adds it to the sketch.
He really likes what he’s able to come up with, but he knows very well that this is up to what Lance. If he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t mind doing the extra work to satisfy him at all. He just wants the best results for him, like he’s wanted for every other client. But the difference here is that he has an even stronger urge to please him. He doesn’t want to let him down.
He sees him again in three days. That’s just enough time to set up the stage and rehearse.
--
During their second consultation, they go through the original sketch work together. Lance keeps assuring him that they will not have to worry about pain during this process, but that still makes him wary. They both agree on intricacy, to make the piece really pop.
“So, you have… four brothers and sisters?”
They have been talking about themselves, and after hearing this unexpected fact, Shiro just has to know more.
He nods happily. “And I have one niece and two nephews. Carmensita’s gonna be a tattoo artist too, someday. She drew this for me.” He rolls his sleeve up, exposing a cute tattoo of a trident. “And her signature is the C on the bottom.”
“She did a very nice job,” he grins.
Lance laughs a bit, possibly from the memory. “She was so funny. She just went right up to me while I was talking to my brother, Julien. And then when she tapes the original picture on my arm, she looks at me dead in the face and goes, ‘I made this for you, ya better fucking wear it!’ And I couldn’t refuse.”
“And… did your niece actually say ‘fucking,’ or did you just add that in?”
“Oh, she said it!” he cackles. “My sister was so mad at me when she overheard us, and she thought I was being a bad influence and yanked on my ear.”
He laughs while shaking his head. “Your family seems like a lotta fun.”
“Yeah, they’re great!” Lance sighs thoughtfully. “God, just imagining how this tattoo is gonna look on my back is so great. It’s something to really look forward to.”
“Of course,” he muses and jots more side notes down in the margins of the sketchbook.
It’s quiet for a couple minutes. “So… what made you decide to offer this discount in the first place? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh, I don’t mind at all.” He smiles and glances at his prosthetic while hoisting himself up. “After I got hurt in the war, all I could think about in my head was how everyone was afraid to look at me. And whenever they would look, all they could see was my scars. I didn’t want them to be my identity. So that was when I first started going to Ulaz. My first tattoo was this one on my arm. Mind if I take this prosthetic off to show you?”
“You mean there’s more?” he gasps. “Then, sure!”
Shiro gulps as he quietly takes it off. He removes the suspension sleeve underneath to reveal the rest of the image. On his arm is a large tree, and what’s hidden by his prosthetic is hundreds of long roots leading down to the end of the stub. The roots are outlined from each and every portion of scar tissue from the surgery and stitches he’d needed.
“Holy crow…” Lance’s eyes widen. He looks mesmerized by it, and it makes Shiro grow flustered as he adjusts his arm to put the prosthetic back on.
He smiles at him. “I have a couple others. There’s a lion right here.” He points to his chest with a smile. “An eagle’s on my shoulder blade. That was a painful one. But the best one is the one along my side here.” He gestures to the spot and trails his hand up his ribcage and extends towards the center of his chest. “It’s a cherry blossom branch.”
“Can I see it?” Lance’s eyes practically sparkle, and Shiro sputters.
“Maybe another time,” he chuckles. He gathers up his thoughts again. “After seeing what a miracle worker Ulaz is in helping with my self-confidence, I decided that I wanted to do the same for others. He trained me, and when I was hired by Allura to work here, I was able to convince her to let me do this discount since it brings in long-lasting customers. I love my job.”
“That’s amazing.” He gets up from his chair, feeling a little more enthusiastic. “I can’t wait until I get this tat done. It’s going to draw eyes on me. A whenever I wanna go to the beach and take my shirt off, I want…” Lance grins while thinking to himself. “I want everyone’s jaws to drop to the floor. Because they’ve never seen anything like it! A-and, it’d just be so cool to see how it looks when it’s done!”
Shiro loves the way his body has these tiny tremors when he’s really excited about something. That spark in his eyes is back and shining brighter than ever. He wants this look to stay on his face.
He remembers the other page in the sketchbook, and his throat goes dry as he realizes that he should ask Lance about it.
“I-if I may, Lance.” He clears his throat and flips through the other pages. “I’ve been working on something based off of your design, that I think you should consider.”
He tilts his head and gives a slow nod. “I suppose I’ll have a look at it.”
“It’s almost identical to your design,” he insists and finally gets to the page. “I’ve done this from photographic memory. I remember areas of your back with thick scar tissue, and I incorporated it into this.”
There is overlapping between where he’s mapped out the scar tissue and where the planetary designs would be on his back. He also had measurements to try and be more precise, showing the scale from shoulder blade to shoulder blade. There’s a lot more detail to the planets, as well, with specks that represent the stars. And over top of them is the scar tissue surrounding and covering portions like tight knotted ropes and chains.
Much to his dismay, he watches Lance’s facial expression quickly change. He slowly frowns while looking at the sketches. He sighs and starts to feel the sketch. “Would this be… the way the scars on my back are, then?”
Shiro starts to nod. “Yes, it is. I’ve spoken to Ulaz to help me interpret your idea. He even gave me a few pictures of designs that will help give you an idea on how it would look when it’s done. Would you like to see?”
He looks nervous. Shiro doesn’t know if that is a good or bad sign. He doesn’t speak, but he watches as Lance holds his hand out. It’s shaking, even as Shiro graciously hands him the different photographs.
Lance skims through the tiny stack. He lets out this shuddering sigh that worries Shiro even further. But he does now have this thoughtful look in his eyes even when his body language states otherwise. He isn’t sure which signifier he should trust.
“I really like this one…” He holds up the picture of Thace’s tattoo. “It’s pretty cool. But… I don’t think mine will have that same effect if we did something like that.”
“Who says?” Shiro gathers. He looks at his version of the design again. “It could add some depth. Instead of outer space being on top of your skin… you could say that with this it will become a part of you. It’s who you are. And that is what I would like to achieve with your tattoo.”
Lance doesn’t have the same look of doubt that he had before, but his shoulders are still hunched over while he’s worrying on his lip. He looks at the sketch again, feeling the hard pencil lines. “I just don’t know if I’ll be able to pull it off.”
“I think you will. But if that isn’t something that you want, then we can do it the original way, with the tattoo covering your scars. Either way, my job is to fulfill your image to the best of my ability.”
“I know,” he chuckles, his focus still on the sketchbook. “And y’know what, I like this a lot. So long as Neptune’s the focal point.”
“No one will be able to stop looking at Neptune when you take your shirt off on the beach,” he promises.
“Sounds good,” Lance grins. “Okay. I’ll go for it.”
He smiles as they get ready to part ways again. “I’ll have the color scheme and palettes prepped for next session, and I will be able to start with the stencil.”
He nods as they shake hands. “Can I just… thank you, for doing this? I know we haven’t even started yet, but I’ve gotten a couple tattoos before. And this is just the most comfortable experience I’ve ever had.” He blushes and diverts his eyes. Shiro takes sharp notice of that. “N-not that I’ve had bad experiences, just you’re really nice and such.”
“I understand that,” he smiles. “See you in three days.”
Even as Lance leaves, Shiro has to quickly urge himself to clear his head. He has a client coming in within the hour, and he needs to stay focused! But he just can’t get Lance out of his head, no matter how hard he’s tried. He’s all that Shiro could think about since their first encounter.
--
The stenciling process has been going smoothly thus far. Shiro breaks in between to allow Lance to look at it from a reflection, just to have multiple checks. Ulaz was right. It’s a lot easier to work with this design without the worry of messing up on the thicker scar tissue.
“It looks great,” Lance grins as they take another pause for him to observe the progress. “I like it a lot better this way. It’s not as flat.”
“Think so?” Shiro smiles. “That’s great to hear.” He finishes up some work on his shoulder. “What are you thinking? Do you want this done in one go? Or would you like to do it in spurts? I highly recommend the latter, if I may offer a suggestion. It can be a grueling process, especially on the back.”
“Hey, you’re the professional,” he hums. “I’m gonna go with what’s recommended.”
“Good. We can meet twice a week, then, until it’s finished. I’ll work in sections, and I’ll add the intense detailing last.”
Lance nods, glancing behind himself briefly. “I can’t wait, Mr. Shirogane.”
“Please,” he then murmurs with a grin, “call me Shiro.”
“Okay.” He trails into a laugh before echoing his nickname. “Shiro…”
The stencil is finished a little bit later on. He covers it up after Lance agrees with the placing, and they shake hands before parting ways. Shiro’s pulse is still pounding in his ears. He’s quickly realizing that he’s falling for Lance.
--
Restless nights start plaguing him again. Shiro thinks it’s because of his anxiety in general, but even after taking his pills he still has this itch in his subconscious. It’s the strangest feeling. He lies in bed with his mind wandering, but for once it’s not thoughts of impending doom that are being invasive.
His eyes… his warm laugh… his smile. These thoughts soothe him, but at the same time they constrict around his heart, making him gasp for air each time these thoughts bind it tighter. The memories of Lance talking about his family playing in his ears and how much he talks about his friends during their sessions add more layers to his perfect personality.
He wants to get to know him even better. He would love more than anything to just take him out on a coffee date, just because he can. He’d love to go on long walks with him, talking about tattoos and their life passions. He wants to hear Lance continue to gush and ramble about space, because every time he does his eyes glint and reveal their own wonderful, blue galaxies.
Shiro just can’t get him out of his head, and he has no reasons why that should be a bad thing. Maybe he’s just more or less worried about the feelings being unrequited. After all, they’re on an artist-client basis, as of now. He should not be thinking about being attracted to one of his clients.
But again, he doesn’t think that this is a bad thing.
--
Shiro sanitizes his hands again and changes his gloves. He’s working meticulously on Lance’s back, while he’s relaxing under a fluorescent light and leaning against a headrest. He takes extra care to make sure that he’s feeling as little pain as possible, and Lance is rather quiet during the process.
“Are you asleep?” he teases when he resumes his work. This is their last session together. The tattoo is nearly complete.
He hears Lance snort while faced away from him. He doesn’t move, knowing that it could compromise the artwork. “Nah. How can I?”
Shiro grins while working. “It’s nearly finished, Lance.”
“That’s great.”
He stays focused on his work, knowing how crucial it is to stay concentrated on this one subject. That’s more or less the reason why he loves this job so much. It allows himself to clear his mind, and for once he’s not anxious or worried about anything else. All he needs to think about is his work.
His subconscious, however, can’t help but tease his mind over the idea of being with Lance, even further than being in an artist-client relationship. His feelings have been growing, the further that he got to know him through little discussions and light ice breakers with each other during the wonderfully long time that they’ve had together. It’s been a privilege to get to know this man.
“What’s your first name?” he suddenly asks. “I know this is a really weird question, after we’ve been seeing each other for this long already, but I’m curious. You only have ‘Shirogane’ on your nametag.”
Shiro pauses from his work and glances up, reloading the ink and sterilizing again. He smiles while he gets back to work. “Takashi.”
“Takashi Shirogane…” Hearing his name fall so graciously from his lips is flooring to him. “I like it.”
He blushes while he works on the finishing touches. “That’s great to hear, Lance.”
“Mhm.” His hum sounds thoughtful. Shiro tries not to dwell on it too hard.
Enough is enough, Takashi, he internally tells himself. You need to finish your job here.
Everything is complete within the next hour. He gingerly cleans up with a new pair of gloves on. “Okay… It’s ready. I’ll let you have a look at it before I bandage it up.”
He helps him up, making sure everything’s tidy and organized again. Lance stands near the mirror facing away from it as Shiro takes the time to get another one so he can have a good look at it. He holds it in front of Lance, shifting it near his shoulder.
Shiro watches as Lance just… stares at the reflection, for a long while. His eyes mist over briefly while he does. And for the first time since Lance has been coming into the parlor, Shiro notices that he’s no longer shyly hunching over and is now standing upright.
Confidence.
Despite the tears, Lance’s smile beams through and through. “It looks awesome!” he laughs out, reaching out almost immediately.
The tight hug startles Shiro, and he is careful not to touch the tattoo as he reciprocates, his hands resting on the small of his back. Even while he’s laughing, he can hear the raw emotion bubbling through Lance’s vocalized praises. This was always Shiro’s favorite part of the process, and he feels so proud of him for coming to him and deciding to make his body a canvas.
Suddenly, there is a kiss.
Thank heavens, it wasn’t Shiro that initiated. He would’ve died right there from embarrassment and panic. Instead, oddly enough, it was Lance. His lips quickly pressed against his jawline. Once, brashly, and it ended as quickly as it happened. But when Shiro’s attention diverts from the momentary fog the attention caused by the now mortified expression on his face, he tries desperately to clear his head.
He wants to tell him that it’s okay, that he is more than happy that Lance decided to kiss him, even if it was merely out of impulse. But his silence lasts a second too long. Lance steps back to walk out, but Shiro takes a gentle hold of his arm before he can bolt for it.
“Lance,” he gasps as he watches the boy stare at him. “You can’t go yet. I need to bandage it up.”
“R-right,” he murmurs and goes back over to the seat. He’s shaking.
Shiro has to build up the courage to console him and ease his worries. He doesn’t want to nerve him ever further, though. As he’s finishing up covering the tattoo, he decides that he should wing it.
“Lance, I want you to change the bandages after twelve hours, and tomorrow you may remove them. Keep it away from sunlight for a couple weeks, or use a lot of sun screen. And you’ll need to put lotion on it while it heals. I highly recommend this.” He takes out a bottle from one of his shelves and hands it to him.
As he looks at it, Lance shakes his head. “No, it’s okay. I can get my own lotion. This stuff is expensive.”
He smiles. “No worries. I have three more bottles of it. Besides, I only want what’s best for you.”
“Huh?” He glances away shyly. “You give away lotion for all your clients, Shiro?” he stutters with a chuckle.
He shakes his head. “Only you.”
“Oh…” Lance looks up at him, and their eyes lock a few seconds too long. But instead of things growing more awkward between the two of them, neither of them find any hesitation in the other’s eyes.
It seems that they now have a mutual understanding.
“Are you… doing anything later?” Lance is slowly smiling once again while he asks.
He shakes his head. “My schedule’s clear after five o’clock.”
“Five, huh?” He grins while he gives Shiro his last payment. “I’m free all evening.”
“Great,” he smiles. “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee with me at, say, seven?”
“Coffee at seven in the evening?” he snorts as he quirks up an eyebrow. “You are an animal, Mr. Shirogane.”
“You think so?” he grins as he takes him to the door. “Then, what would you rather us do? Dinner? Movie? Do you like sushi?”
He shakes his head with a laugh. “I’m kidding. Coffee sounds great. And… maybe dinner another time?”
He nods as they then exchange numbers. “There’s a café next door that I like going to. I’ll take you there. My treat?”
“You sure?” Lance teases. “Because I have a great fixation for extra foamy lattes.”
“It’s all on me,” he presses with a smile. “I’ll see you at seven.”
As Lance steps out, he says one last phrase that keeps Shiro smiling widely for the next few hours before they meet each other later.
“It’s a date!”
--
When something wonderful and exhilarating happens to a person, whether it’d be by fate or done with a little bit of work put into it, sometimes it leaves a deep impression. This beautiful mark on the previously blank page may very well stay with you for the rest of your life. It becomes a part of who you are, and it adds another page to your life story.
Why not make it one of the best things about yourself?