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It was a slow day in the shop. So slow that Daisy was going through her boredom routine where she tried to convince Fitz to let her give him a tattoo. Mack had already said no, Jemma had just laughed, and Fitz was her favorite to bother anyway. He was close to shaking her off, his shift having ended, when the front doorbell chimed and signaled the arrival of a customer, promptly putting an end to her teasing.
“Yours,” Fitz called to Daisy as he and Jemma put on their coats--Jemma’s shift had ended as well and they were headed out to dinner. Daisy jumped off her perch on the counter, sticking her doodle idea for Fitz’s tattoo to his forehead before sliding through the curtain to the front of the store.
Standing at the entrance desk and examining the piercing jewelry was a customer, his hands in his pockets and the slightest crease between his dark blonde brows as he looked about the display. Daisy couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate the man’s height and strikingly handsome face. She liked the line of his nose and the way the corner of his mouth naturally curved upward when he was thinking.
“Hi, I’m Daisy. How may I help you today?” she said, coming to lean her elbows on the counter. She shook her bangs out of her face and crossed her arms on the desk.
The man smiled and took his hands out of his pockets. “Hi, I’m Lincoln. I came in for a tattoo. You guys do walk-ins, right?”
“That we do, Lincoln. Do you have a particular design in mind or are you still considering?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, riffling in his jacket pockets for a piece of folded up paper. “I was thinking of something along these lines. Obviously looking less like it was drawn by a six year old, but something like this.”
Daisy laughed and took the paper he handed her. It was a crudely drawn compass with a forest landscape making up the face and leaves placed decoratively around the edges. About the page were little side notes he had made, stating how he had meant each part of the drawing to look. The overall design was relatively simple, but there were places that Daisy felt she could add interesting details.
“Feel free to be artsy with it,” he said, nervously rubbing the back of his head, “take all the liberties you want. As long as it’s a compass with a forest and north pointing to sunshine then I’m good with it.”
“I can do this easy peasy,” she said with a smile.
Lincoln’s face lit up with excitement. Daisy couldn’t help the little zing of excitement that went through her as well.
Once he had paid and they were all set up, Daisy having made a final sketch with Lincoln’s input and approval, the tattooing commenced. The tattoo being on his forearm, they sat face to face, making the conversation flow much easier than if it had been on his back or something. Daisy liked being able to look up and see his eyes.
“So, what made you decide to get a tattoo?” she asked.
“Lost a bet,” he laughed.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I was positive I hadn’t made it into med school. My sister thought otherwise. We made a bet and now here I am getting a matching tattoo with her. Well, not with her. She’s in another state, but she got her compass yesterday and if I chickened out she’d murder me, so here I am. Remind me I’ve got to call her when we’re finished.”
Daisy smiled brightly. “That’s sweet, you guys getting matching tattoos. And congratulations on med school. That’s incredible!”
“Thanks,” he blushed.
“Could never do the doctor thing,” she said, swiping a cloth over his arm, “Me saving lives, it’d be a shit show.”
Lincoln shook his head. “I don’t think so. You already have the bedside manner down, not afraid of needles. I wouldn’t count you out.”
Daisy giggled, ducking a bit closer to the tattoo to hide the pinkness in her cheeks.
“Now I don’t think I could do your job,” Lincoln said, nodding his head to the piece of art she was putting on his forearm.
“Why not?”
“I think that sketch I brought in says it all."
“No,” Daisy insisted, though her face betrayed the giggle she was trying to hold in, “it was cute! Very...whimsical.”
“So you think I have a future in art?” he teased.
“A bright one if you keep working at it. As my friend likes to say, The steps you take don’t need to be big. They just need to take you in the right direction. ”
He smiled. “Wise friend.”
“Truly,” she agreed. “Told her she should get it tattooed.”
“Did she?”
“Nah, she got a matching tattoo with her fiancé instead.”
“What of?”
“The scientific equation for the first law of thermodynamics. Yes, they are adorable nerds.”
Lincoln grinned before rejusting his spot in the chair.
“We can take a break if you need,” Daisy said, rolling her stool back a bit to give him a little room.
“No no, it’s alright,” he insisted. He placed his arm back in position. “My foot was just falling asleep. Keep going.”
She brought the needle back to his arm and continued with the tattoo.
“So, um, what tattoos do you have?” Lincoln asked.
“I’ve got a fair few. I’ve got a little plane for my mom. She’s a pilot. Got a globe for my dad since he’s a history teacher. I’ve also got this playing card one. My coworkers and I all have different suits. We got them once we had all worked here for five years. So, I guess Fitz and Jemma have two sets of matching tattoos.”
“The friends you mentioned work here too?” Lincoln asked.
“Yep! You just missed them.”
“Damn, would have liked to meet them. So, what suit do you have?”
“Diamond. Creative fire.”
“Very nice,” he replied. He had on that smile of his that had first caught her eye and now she was unsure what she would do without it when he left.
They talked for the next long while as Daisy finished up the tattoo. When they were done, it seemed to take him longer to leave than the average customer. They lingered by the door of the shop, still talking, and it was Mack reminding her that it was closing time that inevitably pulled her and Lincoln apart.
“Thank you for everything,” Lincoln said, standing in the now open door. “I love the tattoo.”
“I’m glad. Don’t forget to show it to your sister.”
He grinned. “Right, thanks for reminding me.”
“And if you ever want another be sure to give me a shout.”
“I’ll ask for you personally,” he said.
And with a goodnight, he disappeared through the door and down the street.
It was two days later when Jemma poked her head through the curtain into the back room. Daisy was on lunch break, eating her salad and sketching a face with a familiar smile.
“Daisy, front desk!” her friend said. There was a bit of a glimmer in the hazel eye that Daisy couldn't quite read. She could also see Fitz with a similar look just to Jemma’s left.
“Okay, I’m on lunch you know,” she said, “see, I got a salad.”
“Oh, should I tell this Lincoln guy to come back later then?”
“Lincoln guy?” Daisy yelped, nearly knocking her food onto her sketchbook.
“That’s what he said his name was. So, should I--”
“No! No. I’m coming.”
Jemma smiled and disappeared back through the curtain. After fixing the hem of her shirt and wiping her hands on her jeans, Daisy passed into the front of the shop.
The moment she entered, Fitz and Jemma both conveniently needed something from the back room, leaving her alone with Lincoln. Daisy was no longer as upset that Mack had told the duo about the other night.
“Hi,” Lincoln said as Daisy came to lean on the counter.
“Hi right back,” she smiled. “Already back for another?”
“Uh, no,” he said, “I came to ask you if you wanted to get dinner with me tonight.”
She was slightly taken aback, but the shock did not impede her happiness.
“I should have asked you before,” he continued, “but I guess I was nervous or---”
“I’d love to,” Daisy said, cutting him off. “My shift ends at seven. Meet me here and we can walk somewhere close?”
His blue eyes beamed. “Great! Yeah! That sounds great!”
The smiles he had given her before were nothing like the one he gave her then. It was like a lightning strike, electrifying and dazzling all at once.