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When she was seventeen she got her lip pierced. Her mother didn’t sign the form, she was far too gone for that. After her fourth or fifth Martini there wasn’t any getting her to speak coherently let alone write. No, Rose scrawled her mother’s name is deceptively awful script that looked as though it could only belong to the owner of at least two DUIs. She signed it with a black pen and a shrug at the tattoo artist behind the counter, hands stuffed in her hoodie pockets.
Though it wasn’t him who sterilized the needle. It wasn’t even the skinny boy in ripped up jeans too tight for his person who was sketching on the table in the back. It was a girl. She was tall and she was graceful and she only had two visible ink marks decorating her body. The Virgo symbol, surrounded by flowers etched neatly and delicately across her forearm grabbed Rose’s attention right away. It was a gorgeous piece and the color work was astounding. The other was on the opposite upper arm. It was that of an intricate, almost tribal design of a moth that seemed to dance across her skin to meet with the fiery lantern near her shoulder.
The woman was nothing short of attractive. Her short cropped black hair and her bright green lipstick sent shivers down Rose’s spine. That or maybe it was just the nerves from the needle the woman was currently taking out of the package to sterilize. The blonde felt her hands go into fists inside her hoodie pocket. Her stomach was in knots. The gorgeous girl exchanged words with the skinny jean-ed boy and her laugh made Rose think someone had slowly filtered their hand across chimes.
Rose had to remind herself what her name was when the girl called it. She had to call it twice. Rose couldn’t tell if she hadn’t heard the first time or if she just wanted to hear it a second.
"Rose Lalonde?"
"What? Oh. Sorry. Yeah. Thats me."
The woman chuckled and smiled gently. “You don’t have to be nervous. I’m a professional, I promise.”
She winked and Rose felt her heart rise into her throat. She gave a weak smile and followed the girl to the back of the shop. The black haired beauty motioned for her to sit in the empty chair and Rose obliged. She was putting on gloves and the blonde was biting her soon to be punctured lip.
"Alright then, Rose. Which side?"
The blonde blinked. She hadn’t thought about it. Partially the lip piercing was to see if she could get her mother to pay attention to something other than the vodka bottle and part of her actually did want it. Other than that though, she hadn’t even considered which side of her lip she wanted done.
"…Which…do you recommend?" There was that chuckle again and a teasing smile as the woman moved closer to inspect Rose’s face. The blonde couldn’t help the red heat that rose to her cheeks when the woman leaned in. And lean in she did.
Rose couldn’t tell if the tattoo artist was simply doing her job or actually trying to make her client turn a lovely shade of burgundy. She was inches from Rose’s face and the girl tried her best not to bite her lip again.
“…The right side.” She said with finality and paused a bit, her gorgeous green eyes moving slowly up to meet Rose’s violet, her bright green lips inches away… Oh how hard it was to not move.
When she finally pulled back, Rose realized she’d been holding her breath. She let it out without thinking and prayed that the girl hadn’t noticed. The black haired beauty was chuckling again. Rose chewed on the inside of her lip before she spoke.
“Since the form I had to fill out clearly gave my introduction for me…Might I ask your name?” She figured that was alright to ask, wasn’t it?
The woman rose an eyebrow before turning to set up the clamp. “You may, I suppose. I’m called Kanaya. Excuse my surprise, most clients don’t actually ask my name.” She smiled as she assembled the needle with practiced hands. “I get a thank you once in a blue moon.” She said with a small huff and a roll of her eyes.
When she turned back to Rose, though, she was smiling. “I suppose I owe you a thank you for asking, Ms. Lalonde.” Rose’s lip’s slowly upturned into a smile, which she swallowed nervously down at the sight of the needle.
Kanaya smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry. I told you there’s no reason to be nervous.”
Rose pulled her hands out of her pockets to lay them in her lap with a determined look. “I assure you I am anything but.”
She wore a fine mask, but was having trouble donning it in front of Kanaya. The girl reached out with slender fingers and took Rose’s chin in her hand. It wasn’t the needle making Rose nervous, that was for sure.
In silence, Kanaya attached the clamp to the girl’s lip as though she’d done it a million times. Which of course, she probably had. She kept her hand on Rose’s chin and positioned the needle just above her lip.
The blonde tensed and Kanaya leaned in, moving her thumb in slow circles against Rose’s chin. “Relax.” She whispered, her voice calming. Somehow, Rose felt that most clients didn’t get such an intimate pierce job. "Close your eyes. It helps."
It wasn’t as though Rose could actually see her lip anyhow. She did as she was told. After a moment or two of darkness and silence, she heard…no she felt…a small pop. It was more of a pinch than anything and Rose was surprised that was all. She felt the clamp being removed, the needle still inside her lip. She felt the tip of it drag through the new hole and the ring slide into place. And that was it.
When Rose opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Kanaya. “You did well. Very well. I told you it was nothing to fret over.”
Rose reached up to let her fingers graze over the metal in her lip, while Kanaya put things away. “You must be very good. I hardly felt a thing.”
The black haired girl shook her head and smiled. “High tolerance to pain then. Most people give a light ouch, while, some people scream their heads off. You were the portion that doesn’t bat an eyelash.” Rose hoped that was a good thing in Kanaya’s eyes. It seemed to be.
"You have very pretty eyes, by the way." Rose was crimson, once more. "You’re seventeen right?"
The blonde reached up to make sure her headband hadn’t shifted during all the excitement and grimaced. Kanaya couldn’t have been in her teens… "Yes. Unfortunately." Kanaya chuckled again and turned back to Rose, removing her gloves to reveal her bright red nail polish against ivory skin. "Two years younger." So Kanaya was only 19? Rose’s heart was fluttering again.
She pulled her money out of the pocket of her shorts, standing up from the chair.
“$35, correct?”
Kanaya shook her head with a smile. “Its on the house.”
Rose blinked, confused. “…Why?”
Kanaya hadn’t expected the blonde’s abruptness, you could see it in her eyes. She recovered quickly, however.
“Because you’re fairly cute and I would much rather see if I could get you to come to dinner with me after my shift on Friday. That’s why.”
Inside, Rose was screaming she was so excited, but on the outside she was the picture of composure. “…In that case, yes. You can certainly get me to accompany you for dinner.”
Kanaya smiled and led Rose back through the shop to the front. “Eight o clock?” She asked, her green eyes throwing Rose’s concentration off.
“Eight o clock for what?”
Kanaya blinked, confused. “Dinner…?”
Rose smirked, her new piercing twinkling in the light. “You didn’t ask me properly, only insinuated that you wanted to.”
Kanaya’s mouth fell open a bit and then she blinked and laughed.
"Alright then. Ms. Lalonde, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner on Friday around eight?"
"The honor is all mine."
They were both smiling when Rose turned to go. She stopped just before she reached the door and turned around.
“Oh and Kanaya?”
The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow.
“Hm?”
“Thank you.”
Kanaya grinned. Once in a blue moon a client said thank you.