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Shuichi messes with Rantaro’s ear while the adventurer tries to read, a lazy smile on his face. It’s early, too early for them to be out on the street exploring, which works out just fine for them. They’re in Canberra right now, Australia, and the hotel they’re staying in is pretty nice, but that’s to be expected, since they’re in the capital, and all. Their flight came in yesterday, so they haven’t had much time to look around, but that’s fine. Shuichi is reasonably excited about it; Rantaro hasn’t even been to Canberra since he lost a sister here, so it should be fun looking around.
Idly, he comments, “You have a lot of piercings.” It’s true, Rantaro has a lot of piercings. On his left ear, which is the one Shuichi is playing with, he has fine cartilage piercings, all of which he’s put little silver rings in. The lobe itself has a small stud, though he’s seen it traded out for a cute little plant stud in the past. His right ear also has a plain silver stud in it, though noticeably no cartilage piercings.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Rantaro agrees, shooting Shuichi a smile and looking up from his book. Understandable, seeing as the detective is still messing with his ear, and it’s probably fairly distracting. “I don’t have as many as Ibuki, though.” Ibuki is the Ultimate Musician, Shuichi thinks, one of their upperclassmen. She’s nice, though very touchy and very random. A bit like Kokichi, he supposes, minus the cunning and a lot more fun to be around. She’s got a lot of energy.
“Do you have any others?” Shuichi asks, his hand finally dropping from Rantaro’s ear. The adventurer nods, putting his book to the side, and sticks out his tongue. “Holy shit,” and it’s pretty uncommon for Shuichi to cuss- he thinks that kind of language is crude- but Rantaro’s got a piercing right there in the middle of his tongue. “Uhh, why haven’t I felt that when we’ve been…?”
“I usually have it out when we’re kissing,” Rantaro laughs, pulling his tongue back into his mouth. “But I have to put it in sometimes or else the hole will close up. I didn’t think you’d be in to kissing with a piercing, was I wrong?”
Shuichi’s face flushes and he coughs into his hand. “I mean, you weren’t right,” he allows. “But the jury is still out on that one.” Rantaro offers a coy grin and the detective feels tempted to ruffle his hair or something as revenge for the teasing but he doesn’t because he knows Rantaro’s hair will only fall back into place as nice as it was before. Dick. “Uhm, other than the one on your tongue, do you have any more?”
“I have another one, but it’s not in a place that I think you’ll be comfortable seeing yet.”
“Rantaro!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” The adventurer puts his hands up in a mock surrender, but when Shuichi glares at him, albeit playfully, he just starts to laugh. “No, I don’t have any more. I want to get one on my belly button but we’re working our way up to that.”
“You’re comfortable having one on your tongue but not your belly button?”
“These things take mental preparation as much as physical. I’m an innie, it’ll hurt.”
“To be fair,” Shuichi pauses. “As an outie, I don’t think it would hurt any less for me.”
“Ohhhh, you’re an outie, huh?”
“If you tickle me, I’ll destroy you.” Rantaro is laughing again, but thankfully when his hands curl around Shuichi’s waist, they do not tickle. So some things in their relationship remain sacred. “But, uhm,” Shuichi pauses, biting his lip. “Do most piercings hurt? I mean, you’re anticipating it hurting on your belly button, but…”
Rantaro shrugs. “I mean, they hurt more or less depending on where you get them.” He responds with a quick smile. “This buddy,” he sticks out his tongue again and points at it. “Hurt a lot getting it, but I live with it.” He pulls his tongue back in, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “And the cartilage piercings hurt more than the ones on my lobes, definitely. I still think I’d get another one, though, just for fun.”
Gaping at him, Shuichi traces the curve of Rantaro’s ear. “There’s barely any room for another one, though, would you really get one?”
“Well,” the adventurer considers the question. “I guess I could get one on my other ear.” He hums. “But I don’t know, it’s been a while since I’ve done it.”
“Ah, did you do your own piercings?” Shuichi tilts his head to the side. Rantaro smiles slightly.
“Only the ones most recently, and not on my tongue. I don’t trust myself to be able to do that safely, so I went to a tattoo parlour. My first piercing was done at a jewellery store, which I think was probably just a beginner’s mistake. It got infected pretty quickly, and not on my behalf. They just don’t take good care of their equipment at places like that.” He shrugs. “But I did do the ones in my lobes, and this one,” he points to his top cartilage piercing, fingers brushing against Shuichi’s as he pulls his hand away. “Why do you ask? Are you interest in getting a piercing?”
“W-Well,” Shuichi is a little embarrassed by the question; he keeps his gaze on Rantaro’s ear so they don’t have to make eye contact. “A little bit, but I’m pretty bad with pain, and I’ve never been to a tattoo parlour before and I think it might be a little overwhelming for me-”
“I could do it for you!” Rantaro sits up, and Shuichi moves back, a bit startled. “I take my tools around with me in case I ever feel the urge to give myself another one.” That makes sense, Rantaro is a pretty impulsive person. “I mean, obviously you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I’d be happy to give you a piercing if you did…” And honestly, he looks like a puppy who was just offered treats. His green eyes are alight, all of a sudden, and his lips are pulled into a grin, and Shuichi knows he’d never be able to say no to that face.
Besides that… he would like it if it was Rantaro. “Is it, uhm, sanitary?” Shuichi asks, sitting up too. “I don’t want an infection.”
“Don’t worry, I have alcohol.” Shuichi’s eyes widen. “Hydrogen peroxide, not-” Rantaro breaks off, cheeks flushing slightly. “I don’t drink, it’s not like that, I just have the hydrogen peroxide so I can disinfect my materials.”
“I understand,” Shuichi assures, laughing gently. “Alright, then, I’d like that.” He agrees, smiling.
“Great! Okay, uh,” Rantaro slips out of the bed, turning on the lamp despite the morning light flooding into the room and beginning to dig around in his suitcase, expression happy but also focused. It’s nice seeing him like that, Shuichi muses, feeling his smile relax but remain on his features. He’s so lovely, it’s kind of hard to focus, but it’s nice to see him so excited about this, even if it is just getting a piercing. “So, I figure I’ll give you one piercing on your lobe, just because it hurts the least and it’s a pretty run of the mill place to have a piercing. Is it okay that I’m only giving you one for now? I know it’s asymmetrical but I think asymmetry looks nice,” yeah, no kidding. “And I want to give you time to get used to it.”
“Sure,” Shuichi responds with a nod, watching his boyfriend take out a metal box. It’s about the length of a ruler, but resembles a sturdy pencil case more than anything. Rantaro unlatches the front and opens the lid, rambling on about different kinds of piercings and the typical procedures for doing it. Shuichi is listening, of course, but he’s more absorbed with the way Rantaro’s fingers, thin and graceful as they are, dance over the equipment, looking experienced. “Have you ever pierced someone else’s ears before?” Shuichi asks when Rantaro takes a break for air.
The adventurer nods. “Yeah, a couple times. I pierced Mina’s.” Mina is one of his sisters- one of the oldest, if Shuichi recalls correctly. He smiles though, glad that the familiar flicker of sadness does not appear in Rantaro’s eyes this time as he gets up, materials in hand. “Can you take these into the bathroom and turn on the light? I’m going to get some ice cubes from the fridge.”
Shuichi takes the materials, nodding, and turns to walk into the bathroom. Rantaro handed him a number of things- a lighter, which is a little frightening, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a small bag of cotton swabs (less frightening), an unopened package with a piercing needle inside- is there a difference between those and regular needles? Shuichi suppose’s he’ll find out- a cork, and a small golden stud, not unlike Rantaro’s own silver ones. People have told him his eyes look golden before, which is weird because they tend towards green in the light, but whatever, he supposes he can see why his boyfriend chose the colour. Or perhaps it’s just what he had on hand.
He flicks on the light in the bathroom and hesitates before eventually just sitting on the toilet (cover on, of course) with the materials in hand. Rantaro didn’t tell him to put them down, so he doesn’t, because he doesn’t want anything to be contaminated. This all seems a very careful process.
After a moment, Rantaro emerges, a pair of rubber gloves in one hand and a thing of ice cubes in the other. He offers Shuichi a smile and places the gloves and ice cubes on the bathroom sink before grabbing a clean hand towel from the cabinet beneath, turning on the sink and moistening the towel. Once it’s thoroughly wet, he spreads it out on the other side of the sink and puts out his hands for the materials, so Shuichi hands them over, watching with interest as Rantaro pulls a pen out of his pocket.
“What’s the lighter for?” Shuichi asks, intrigued. Rantaro glances over, smiling slightly.
“It’s for sterilising the needle,” he explains. “It’s in the package still, but it’s best to be safe. Which ear do you want me to pierce?” Shuichi points at his right, which is the one closest to Rantaro and the sink, and the adventurer nods, moving over and dropping to one knee as he brushes Shuichi’s hair out of the way. The tip of the pen against his ear tickles a little bit, but he doesn’t move his head as Rantaro makes a small mark there, likely indicating where he’s going to pierce. After that, he caps the pen and puts it to the side, thinking for a moment before getting to his feet. “Be right back, I’m gonna grab a hair clip,” he tells Shuichi, then slips out of the bathroom.
It’s all so careful, Shuichi thinks with a fond smile. It’s nice to feel cared for. Rantaro will probably tell him how to care for the piercing after he’s done, too, which is nice. A moment later the adventurer returns, a plain green clip in hand, and brushes Shuichi’s hair back again, this time holding it in place with the clip. It stays when Rantaro pulls away his hands. As the detective watches, Rantaro washes his hands, using a generous amount of soap and lathering up twice. He really is being thorough about this. He shakes off the remaining water and dries his hands on the hanging hand towel before pulling on the latex gloves that he grabbed and grabbing the bottle of hydrogen peroxide, as well as the package of cotton swabs. It’s already opened, so he just pulls one out with two fingers and uncaps the bottle of alcohol.
Curious, Shuichi asks, “Won’t the hydrogen peroxide wipe off the pen marking?” He tilts his head slightly and Rantaro pauses to look at him, perhaps thinking about it. Eventually he shakes his head.
“Well, it will a little bit. I probably should’ve cleaned off your ear first. But it won’t rub it off too much. I’m not going to be working to clean it off, after all.” He sounds calm, so Shuichi decides not to worry about it, nodding. Rantaro wets the swab he took out with the hydrogen peroxide before returning to the detective’s side and gently cleaning his ear lobe with it. The alcohol is cool, and leaves his skin feeling tingly, but it’s not an unpleasant sensation. When he’s done, Rantaro disposes of the cotton swab and recaps the bottle of hydrogen peroxide before picking up the package with the needle in it.
Shuichi’s eyes track his movements as he opens the package, carefully taking out the thin needle and resting it in the palm of his gloved hand. His other grabs the lighter and flicks it on with practiced ease. A small orange flame pops up, dancing on top of the lighter, and Rantaro rotates the lighter in it, eyes narrowed with focus. A moment later he’s done with the fire and places the lighter to the side, resting the needle against the bag of cotton swabs such that the newly sterilised tip is not touching anything. Rantaro picks out one of the ice cubes he took from the small refrigerator in their hotel room, moving back over to Shuichi and rubbing it against his lobe.
“Is that to make my ear numb?” He inquires, shivering at the feel of the cold, wet cube against his ear. Rantaro hums affirmation, smiling slightly. “I didn’t know this was such a careful process,” he remarks, partially because it’s true, and partially because he actually wants to hear Rantaro’s voice.
“It has to be,” Rantaro replies, and Shuichi can’t help but smile hearing him. “If I’m any less thorough you’ll get an infection, and I don’t want that to happen.” He uses the back of his free hand to gently caress Shuichi’s cheek, and it’s latex so it’s not necessarily as pleasing as it would be usually, but Shuichi still leans into the touch. “I don’t mind that it takes a while, though. I want this to feel okay for you.” Shuichi feels a surge of warmth at the words. He’s not used to being cared for like this.
At that, Rantaro puts down the ice cube, and Shuichi thinks that’s good, because his ear is thoroughly numb by now. He reaches over and picks up the cork from atop the towel, moving it over to the back of Shuichi’s ear and holding it there. With his other hand he picks up the needle, and at closer proximity Shuichi sees that it’s hollow. Likely for the earring to go through, now that he thinks about it. Smart. Rantaro hums, brushing his knuckle against Shuichi’s cheek again, as though to speak to him.
“Your lobe is probably pretty numb by now but I can’t guarantee that it won’t hurt,” he says gently, eyelashes fluttering in a serious way. Shuichi would nod, except that he should keep his head still, so he hums to let Rantaro know he understands. “If you need me to stop just say so, and I will.”
“Alright.” Shuichi murmurs, and Rantaro nods, then positions the needle in front of his ear. His hand is remarkably still. The detective looks away, though, because he doesn’t particularly want to watch the needle going in. Even though his lobe is pretty numb, he still feels it when the needle goes through. He can’t stop himself from wincing, but it honestly doesn’t hurt that bad, it just feels a bit like being pinched on his ear, which has definitely happened before. There’s the sound of things moving around, and then Rantaro brings something else to his ear, sliding it into the needle, before pulling the needle all the way through and out. The earring, however, remains in place, but Shuichi winces again, because that hurts more than it did with the needle. Rantaro murmurs an encouragement, pulling the earring in fully, and there is the sound of shuffling again as he grabs something and puts the back of the earring on, securing it in place.
Then his hands are pulled away, and it’s done.
“Ah,” Shuichi intones. “C-Can I touch it?” He asks, reaching up but not quite closing the distance. Rantaro nods, a small smile on his face, so Shuichi reaches up and feels the stud in his ear. It’s round at the top, like a dome of sorts, and smooth beneath his fingertips. Cool, despite the fact that it was just messed with. He stands up and looks at himself in the mirror, intrigued, and feels his eyes widening at the sight of the thing. When he turns his head, the stud catches the light and shines, a lot brighter than he was expecting. “Wow,” he utters, turning to look at Rantaro, who’s regarding him with an odd, lopsided smile on his face.
“You look good,” Rantaro praises, pulling off his gloves. “And you did really well, thanks for staying so still. The first time I got a piercing I cried like a baby.”
Shuichi laughs, because he’s seen Rantaro cry before but the imagery that brings up is of somebody throwing a tantrum, and he can’t really imagine his boyfriend doing that. He’s mostly laughing because of the residual endorphins from all that anticipation though, he’d be lying if he said it was for much else. “Thank you,” he coos, and before his boyfriend can start to clean anything he closes the distance between them and reaches up to cup Rantaro’s face, pulling him down for a kiss.
Rantaro hums against it, resting a hand on Shuichi’s back, but slowly pulls away. “You know,” he mumbles. “I still need to talk to you about caring for it. You need to keep that thing in for six weeks at least. And you’ll need to clean it every day with-” Shuichi leans up and kisses him again, smiling when Rantaro sighs into the kiss, perhaps resigned. “Shuichi,” he chastises when they’ve broken apart again. “This is serious, you could get infected-”
“I’ve decided I like the tongue piercing,” Shuichi tells him with a broad grin, and Rantaro’s cheeks redden again, and even though he looks a little exasperated it seems he can’t stop himself from smiling a little. “Also, I’m sure you’ll tell me all about the piercing later.” He hums, tracing Rantaro’s jaw with one hand. “Buuut I don’t wanna talk about serious stuff right now, so you’ll have to indulge me.”
The adventurer huffs, but his lips quirk up into a smile again as he leans forward, gently backing Shuichi against the bathroom sink. (Not that the detective minds.) “Fine, I’ll deal with it.” Rantaro murmurs, tone shifted to something lower, equally serious but perhaps in a different way. “But the conversation isn’t over, you know.”
“Of course,” Shuichi smiles, and Rantaro gives him a look, but finally leans forward and touches their lips together again in a deeper kiss. Yeah, he definitely likes the tongue piercing.