Chapter Text
It is Tecchou's day of opening the studio. As it is, he opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Nogami-san opens on Mondays and Wednesdays. Rei-san opens on Fridays and Saturdays.
The cigarette sits weightlessly between his chapped lips as he pushes the studio's doors open, letting the stench of ink mix with the bitter scent of the smoke falling in grey streams from his lips. He welcomes the smell nonetheless with a tight inhale around the filter, switching on the light that illuminates their open neon sign plastered on the glass doors.
Like routine, he makes way to the electric box and flips the lights on, shrugging off his leather jacket and hanging it on the rack, surveying the studio with bored eyes.
He's early. Not that that's a surprise or an inconvenience, there's barely any clients that come in before noon. Besides, he's already done with his usual morning workout and almost always has time to kill, so he heads to the studio on his days and opens up early.
Sitting down on the plush chair behind the receptionist's desk, he blows out the last bits of his cigarette before putting its end out in the ashtray.
There's still half an hour left before the studio is actually meant to open and the other artists begin rolling in.
He's booked to the bone today, mentally calculating the amount of time he'll spend hunched over random clients' bodies punching ink and holes into their skins.
He makes sure his equipment is ready, kicking his feet up on the table and crossing his ankles, boredly scrolling through his phone and nearly considering lighting another cigarette till he hears the sound of shrill chattering right outside the door.
He looks up without turning his head, toying with the barbell on his tongue behind the rows of his teeth as he curiously awaits the source of the noise to come into view.
It does, in the form of Tachihara and Chuuya.
When both their eyes catch the sight of a lax Tecchou, they momentarily halt their bickering.
"Good morning, Tecchou-san."
"Mornin'."
Tecchou nods and mumbles a grumbled "Good afternoon" in turn, rising to his feet to let Tachihara take his place and disappears into one the backrooms.
His day begins like any other day: customers begin shuffling in, he works hours and hours on end, using his two distinct half an hour breaks for a smoke outside or getting a snack.
The studio's waiting area is big enough to fit at least twenty people and they have three artists currently working on deck (including himself).
Nothing is out of the ordinary, except the fact that he notices his boss's absence.
"Hey, Tachihara," he says with a slight stretch of his long arms over his head as he walks out of one of the rooms, the gesture making the hem of his shirt hike up from around his hips. He groans when the action makes his spine pop back into place.
The waiting area is nearly full, filled with people waiting to get what they're anticipating, anything Tecchou is asked to do. They eye his tall, lean figure with wonder as he plants his hands on his hips, taking in the sight of black ink enveloping both his arms covered till the wrist in patterns that could only be described if observed closely, disappearing under his t-shirt that sits loosely over his broad shoulders.
He's tied his hair in his usual top-knot bun with a thin silver chain hanging around his neck, fingers adorned with black and silver rings. The black mask he was wearing whilst tattooing his previous client is still covering his mouth, concealing half of his face from their curious eyes and leaving just the three arrowheads tattooed under his left eye for them to see.
It's no secret that Tecchou Suehiro is an attractive man— he knows it too, he just never lingered over the thought because it was just that futile to him (even if he's worked himself into looking like a grecian god).
"What's up?" The young receptionist asks, blinking up at Tecchou's impassive glare attentively.
"Did Rei-san come in?"
"Ah," Tachihara's eyes widen as he slowly nods in realisation, chuckling half in embarrassment as if he forgot something, "she called and told me to let you know that she's heading to Tokyo to receive the equipment shipment and will probably be back by evening."
Tecchou cocks a brow.
"And did you tell Nogami-san this?"
Tachihara visibly winces and smiles nervously, all show of teeth. "She probably already knows."
He's right, she probably does. But Rei isn't in the habit of keeping her updated about her schedule, and it's one of the things that dangerously rile Nogami up; the woman can be a hassle when enraged.
Only Rei would be bold enough to deliberately trigger that temper.
Tecchou smirks knowingly at the younger man, "good luck with that, kid. Send in my next client."
He ignores Tachihara's silent plea for help as he walks away, flexing his fingers to ease his muscles.
He hears the call of a name but doesn't pay it much mind, instead focusing on peeling the plastic off the inkbed and wiping the disinfectant under it from a three hour tattoo session.
He doesn't mind the drag as long as his client is happy with what they get.
The sound of footsteps approaching catches his attention but he doesn't turn to meet them just yet, discarding the towels in the bin and slapping his hands like he's brushing off dust.
Someone clears their throat and then he turns around, stray strands of his bangs falling on his face from the gesture.
Tecchou's breath nearly catches in his throat.
A man with hair as white as snow stands at the entrance, one hand clutching the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and the other stuffed in his pants pocket. His bangs fall in silky wisps over his closed eyes, casting a delicate shadow over his equally as light lashes nestled over fair, puffy cheeks that sink inward as he clenches his jaw with a frown on his smooth lips, clearly at unease.
Tecchou surveys him shamelessly, taking note of how the ends of his hair fade into red tips that nearly look pink under the fluorescent lighting of the room.
He's dressed in a casual cream coloured sweater with a white collared shirt underneath with the top button popped open, loosely fitting his shoulders and torso. Under it, he's wearing fitted washed jeans and black converse.
It is a sight to withhold, but Tecchou is a professional so he doesn't bother staring more than he already has.
"Good evening, I'm Tecchou Suehiro." Tecchou greets and finally takes notice of a significantly shorter girl pop up from behind the shorter male.
She has light and long dusty red hair that's pulled into a low side ponytail, flowing down her front in wavy tresses and is dressed in a white, floral patterned knee length sundress.
The girl smiles at him and he returns the gesture till he realises he's wearing a mask.
"So, what can I do for you?" Tecchou shifts his attention back to the guy and raises a brow at how he shuffles uncomfortably in his place, his grip around his bag tightening.
Neither of them answer. Tecchou stares expectantly at them.
After a fairly sharp jab of the redhead's elbow into the guy's side and a murmur of what he can only assume is misplaced encouragement, he holds back a choke and clears his throat, forehead creasing under his bangs as he lets out:
"I've come for a piercing." He says smoothly despite his contrasting body language.
Speaking of body, Tecchou can't see a single tattoo or piercing on him, though the lack of them could be explained by his clothes nearly covering his entire frame save for his wrists and neck.
So out of curiosity, Tecchou can't help but ask: "First time?"
He hesitates and his friend snorts, "I guess."
He guesses?
Tecchou nods, pulling out the appropriate equipment, and waving a single hand at the inkbed behind him, "please take a seat."
He does, gulping thickly at the sound of Tecchou preparing.
"What piercing do you want?"
"Uh, an ear piercing?"
Tecchou huffs half in amusement, "which part of your ear?"
Undeniably, this guy is gorgeous. His long legs bend as he sits with them slightly parted, a single knee bouncing in anxiety as his friend stands next to him with her arms crossed, looking amused at her friend's misery. Even with him seated, she barely stands a few inches taller than him.
Tecchou ignores the way his throat bobs up and down before he answers, the stretch at his neck from finally looking up revealing the sharp collarbones under the collar of his sweater.
"On my lobe."
"One or both?"
"One." "Both."
Him and his friend answer at the same time, a certain tension rising between them as Tecchou raises a brow.
The lines of his patience are high, which is one of the reasons why he is one of the top rated artists of this studio.
"Jouno, don't be a coward."
"We bet on one!" Jouno whispers to his friend, eyelids wrinkling from the frown that graces his delicate features.
He looks so delicate next to Tecchou's tattooed, brazen self.
"No, it was changed to both."
"Wh— no it wasn't?"
Tecchou leans against the wall by his hip for this one, crossing his buff arms over his chest and watching his customers fight last second on their decision.
He glances at the clock hung up on the wall behind them and sighs quietly, observing their arguing with narrow eyes as the girl— Teruko, from what Tecchou has gathered— prompts Jouno into recalling something that the latter swears he doesn't remember.
"Ranpo will chew you out and spit you on the ground if you don't get 'em."
This seems to make this Jouno guy tense up impossibly more as he glares death into his friend through his furrowed eyes, light brows pinched together that overall makes him look like an angry cat.
He turns to face Tecchou's patient figure, smiling tightly at him with a death grip on his bag's strap that has his knuckles turning white.
"Both, please."
"Are you sure?"
A pause. "Yes."
"They will be permanent." Tecchou adds for extra emphasis on his client's consent, feeling dubious and slightly annoyed at his friend's persistence. "Unless you plan on removing them at some point in the future. If that's the case, then this isn't very smart."
"Yeah, I get that." Jouno scratches the back of his neck with his free hand, looking annoyed himself and blushing a pretty pink under Tecchou's subtle reprimand. "I'm sure."
Tecchou flickers his deadpan glare between him and his friend who looks delighted, deciding whether or not he even wants to pierce someone who doesn't even want them in the first place.
He then decides that he doesn't give a shit, just this once, because his back is killing him and he doesn't have it in him to coerce an unwilling client out of something they don't even have a say in— presumably.
Rei wouldn't be pleased to hear about this, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her.
"Alright."
With that, he fishes out another needle and barbell, pulling on a new pair of gloves and sprays disinfectant on the equipment. After that he grabs the marker and advances towards his guest, popping the cap open and bending at his waist to get a better look at one of his ears.
"I'm going to mark your ear and you let me know if this is where you want it, okay?" Tecchou asks gently, bringing one hand up to Jouno's jaw to tilt his head for better access, feeling the man tense under his touch.
Jouno nods with his brows creasing together in confusion, though Tecchou doesn't notice the change in his expression.
With barely a brush of the marker, Tecchou pokes the tip against the centre of his lower lobe, moving back to give him space to assess the positioning.
Instead of him standing up and going to check the placement in the mirror, his friend steps up in front of him and tilts her head to verify if the marking is indeed accurate.
She hums, nodding at Tecchou in confirmation.
Then it all clicks for him and he damn near blushes from embarrassment from being so fucking oblivious.
Jouno is blind.
Though, Tecchou is still grateful that he didn't say something too embarrassing, otherwise he would die of shame.
"Perfect." Tecchou says instead after recollecting himself, taking note of how a hint of a smile etches up on Jouno's face and wonders if it meant to mock his lack of awareness.
Grabbing a cotton ball and the numbing spray, he places it in the middle of Jouno's ear and shakes the can, spritzing the spray onto his lobe and smiling under his mask when Jouno flinches at the chill of the liquid.
"What's that?" He asks as Tecchou removes the cotton ball, pulling his tray in closer to begin the process.
"Numbing spray." He answers plainly, grabbing the needle and hovering it over the marked spot. "Now, take a deep breath for me."
Jouno does, and by the time the needle pushes out from the other end of his ear, his chest hadn't even finished rising.
His eyes wrinkle just a bit when Tecchou pulls the needle out and leaves the tube in, reaching to grab the jewellery before he pushes it in through the tube and secures the ball on top of the bar.
All of which barely took ten seconds.
"There we go." Tecchou steps back and allows his friend to assess the new adornment, trashing the used needle and unpacking the second one.
"Ooh, that looks good." She muses, grabbing Jouno by his cheeks to tilt his face rather unceremoniously as she takes a better look. Tecchou duly takes note of how his face squishes up from being grabbed like that.
"Oi! You're gonna ruin it." Jouno blushes from the compliment, resisting his friend's tugs and pushing her away by his forearm.
A fat drop of blood beads around the jewellery which Tecchou is quick to wipe, squeezing the cotton over the jewellery so as to not irritate the fresh piercing.
"Didn't hurt, did it?" Tecchou asks quietly, noting how his blush deepens even further from his question. How cute.
"Not a lot."
"See? I told you it won't hurt." Teruko says with a triumphant huff.
"I didn't say it didn't hurt." Jouno corrects her and brings one hand up to feel the piercing.
Tecchou shields his ear with his own hand and tuts disapprovingly, gently pushing his hand away by his wrist. "No touching."
Teruko snorts at this as Jouno's brows pinch together at Tecchou subtly scolding him.
Repeating the numbing process on his other ear, he aligns the sharp tip of the needle over the approved mark and demands another deep breath from Jouno, pushing the needle through and adding the titanium jewellery all in under ten seconds.
Jouno winced at this one, teeth gritted under his pursed lips as Tecchou wipes at the tiny bead of blood.
"All done."
Jouno's shoulders drop in relief and he sighs, face relaxing into a smile.
"Thank you, Suehiro-san." Tecchou's skilled fingers nearly fumble with the used needle at the smooth voice that laces his surname.
Fortunately, Tecchou is a master of stoicity, which is why neither of them can tell that he's fazed by the mere mention of his name.
"You're very welcome." He smiles at him from under his mask and turns to fully face them both, "now, your piercing will be swollen for a day or two, so for the first two nights before you go to bed, I'd recommend applying a soothing gel on both sides of your piercings if the swelling hurts too bad."
Jouno nods in understanding, tucking away a few stray strands of his hair away from his ear. Damn, his hair looks really fluffy.
"No touching with unwashed hands, no twisting the jewellery, clean it with a warm sea-salt solution every morning and night for the next four weeks— you can buy it from our studio's reception. If it gets irritated or infected, please refer to me as soon as you can. Clear?"
Jouno's eyelids flicker like he may as well have just blinked at Tecchou, mouth parting as his brain processes all of this information.
The sight almost makes Tecchou laugh.
"Yeah." He answers eventually, nodding with a daze.
"Good, any questions?"
"No."
"Okay—"
"When's the earliest he can change it?" Teruko asks in his stead, tilting her head in curiosity as Jouno pulls his head back to face her.
"I would recommend waiting at least three months before you consider changing it." Tecchou supplies helpfully, peeling his gloves off his long fingers and unhooking the strap of his facemask from over one ear, unveiling the singular piercing on his nostril and on the side of his lip.
"Oh, that makes sense. And when will it fully heal?"
Tecchou finds it strange that Jouno didn't ask any of these questions and lets his friend speak for him, standing up from his spot to tower over her petite figure. Tecchou could easily tower over him.
"Roughly? Ear piercings take a whole year until they stop bothering you."
This makes Jouno's lids flatten in surprise. "A year?"
"Give or take, depending on the person."
"Fuck." He curses under his breath, looking like he may as well be regretting his decision. Well, not his entirely if they're being honest.
"Okay! Thank you so much for doing this Suehiro-san, it looks great!" Teruko scans the piercings and tattoos on his face for a brief second before she nudges Jouno, prompting him to grab her arm even at their awkward height difference.
Tecchou nods once in acknowledgement, loosely crossing his arms over his chest, "meet with Tachihara-kun at the desk and he will help you out with further instructions. Come back next week for a check up, I'll downsize the jewellery. No price included."
Jouno smiles tightly at him and waves goodbye, Tecchou returns the gesture, not realising how stupid he must have looked until both their figures disappear from his line of sight.
He winces in embarrassment through his teeth and goes to sit down on the inkbed, kicking his long legs up and lying down after a long day's worth of tattooing and throws his arm over his eyes.
—
"He was hot."
Jouno raises an irritated brow at Teruko, acting like a child cross with his parent from the way he's sitting with his arms folded and figure tilted away from Teruko as they drive away.
"I'm sure he was."
Teruko chuckles, sparing Jouno an amused glance as she takes a sharp turn, making Jouno hold onto the brace for dear life as his whole body shifts with the force. He ducks his head in embarrassment when the sound of another car's honking resonates loudly behind them.
Jouno never trusted Teruko's horrid driving and even told her to be more careful for the sake of his poor senses if not for casual pedestrians just trying to cross the road, for he grabs for anything in range when she turns as if she's on the run after robbing a bank.
He learnt soon enough to always wear his seat belt.
"How do you know who I'm talking about?" She teases him, smirking at the way Jouno blushes and turns even further away from her.
"There was no other he we met there, need I remind you."
"There was the receptionist."
"Uh huh."
"Why are you mad at me?" Teruko finally asks even if it's hardly empathetic, amusement lacing her voice as Jouno scoffs in disbelief.
"I'm not mad at anyone." He lies through his teeth.
"Right, is that why you're sulking?"
"I am not sulking." He lies again and Teruko sighs in defeat, opting to let her friend be to allow him to cool down.
"Whatever ya say, though you really do look good y’know."
Jouno hums in response, the compliment reminding him of how suave his piercer was. His skin still tingles from the touch of his gloved fingers over his jaw, and how his mere presence was prominent enough to not be missed when he strutted into the waiting room.
Even his voice sounded rich, thick and velvety with a raspy edge to it, almost like bitterness in dark chocolate. It reverberated soundly in his chest when he whispered in his ear, demanding he breathe for him. He smelt like nicotine, the foul scent lingering off of him with a satisfying mix of musk, ink and cologne. Normally, Jouno would distance himself from such strong smells, but the way that Suehiro was so consummately professional made him stay put.
Jouno can still feel his shadow lingering over his side and he tries not to shiver, opting to stay put and keep up his facade of annoyance for as long as he can.