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"Ow owowowowow oowww."
Lasko gripped Freelancer's hand tighter, and Gavin let the little laugh he'd been holding back escape.
"If it's so funny, then why don't you come do this part?"
"oowww."
"And give up this wonderful view? I don't think so."
He leaned forward, eyes never leaving the man's face, his elbows on the table and his hands coming to nonchalantly rest on Lasko's ankles. His arms reflexively jerked at the unexpected contact, and the tattoo artist groaned as she forcefully held Lasko's wrist to the table for the umpteenth time.
Gavin clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Now now Lasko, be a good boy and sit still for dear Cassandra. She's nearly done."
The redness that crawled from Lasko's neck to his cheeks was a reward in and of itself, but the noise that he made as the artist added the final shading…Gavin made sure to file that away for later.
"Alright." She sat back and wiped the extra ink from Lasko's arm. "It's done, have a look."
All three of them sat up at her words, leaning over to get a better look at the small tattoo of an elegant moth now adorning Lasko's forearm.
Flustered feelings seemingly forgotten, Lasko unlinked his fingers from Freelancers, and began hesitantly probing at the area around the tattoo. "O-oh my God! That's actually on my skin now, for real! It looks fucking awesome!" He moved his fingers away as Cassandra cleaned up the tattoo and bandaged it. "Thank you!"
She pressed the saniderm onto his arm, chuckling. "It's a miracle it came out this well with how much you were moving. Thank the Lord you didn't want it colored in."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."
Freelancer looked away from Lasko's arm, and met Gavin's eyes. "I want one."
"Another one?"
"Another one."
A soft smile grew on his face. "Take that up with your artist."
"You, I'll tattoo anytime. But you," Cassandra pointed a long finger at Lasko, tone playful. "Unless somehow you miraculously learn to sit still, I don't recommend this for you."
"Yeah that's…that's fair."
Cassandra stood from her chair, and the group followed her to the front of the shop. She told Lasko how to take care of his new body art as he paid, explaining the do's and dont's. Gavin listened closely, though he already knew how to care for tattoos thanks to his deviants ever growing collection of them. No sun, don't submerge it in water, showers were fine. No tight clothes, and no need to bandage it after today.
"Here is the paper version of all of that," she held out a piece of paper to the demon. "Take care of him, yeah?"
Gavin gathered the care instructions from the artist, giving her a dashing flash of teeth in thanks. When they exited the small parlor, he noticed Lasko still admiring the bandaged artwork on his forearm.
"Wow. I…" There was a smile in his voice, and the demon felt like he was floating on bubbles. "I can't believe I did that."
"You see, it wasn't so bad, was it?" Gavin brushed his fingers down Lasko's arm, from his shoulder to the start of the saniderm bandage. He allowed his thumb to play gentle circles into the skin there, pushing magic through to help with the residual pain. "You did such a good job."
"Uh, y-y-yep." He watched the elemental's throat bob as he swallowed, that blush returning to his cheeks. "Th-thanks."
Freelancer shoved at Gavin's shoulder, a grin plastered to their face. "Cut it out, he'll short circuit."
"Okay, I'll try to behave." The incubus laughed, letting his fingers linger for a second longer on Lasko's arm before dropping his hand. Lasko, seemingly able to get a hold of himself, finally took a steady breath. "But since the little breeze did do so well, maybe he'd like to choose where we get lunch?"
Lasko ended up choosing Max's. It wasn't really a surprise for either Gavin nor Freelancer, since the man had been raving about the new pasta bowls for a few days now. They had eaten at a small booth (Gavin insisted he sit next to Lasko, only to play footsie with his deviant under the table), talking about school or life in general. Gavin gave a comment here or there, but was content to just listen.
They left the restaurant a couple hours later, after Gavin had let slip that he, in fact, had never seen Star Wars, and would not watch it unless Lasko was there "to answer my questions, of course".
He didn't think Lasko had ever agreed to anything so quickly.
When they entered the apartment, Freelancer tossed their keys onto the kitchen counter. “I’m gonna go put these in the fridge, and I have to submit a quiz before we start the movie.”
A playful grin appeared on Lasko’s face. “It’s not late, is it?”
“‘No Professor Moore, it’s not late.” They turned to face him, the smile they had prepared to return fading as they glanced at the microwave clock. “So long as I go do it right now.”
Gavin reached for the to-go boxes, removing them from Freelancer's hands. “Then go get it done, my love. The movie can always wait. In the meantime,” He found space for the boxes in the fridge and then put his attention on Lasko. “Professor Moore and I will work on cleaning that tattoo.”
Lasko’s eyes grew wide and a nervous laugh escaped him. “Oh, r-r-right. It has been a few hours, h-h-hasn’t it?”
Freelancer giggled. “Okay, I shouldn't be too long. Be nice, Gavin.”
“I've been good until now, haven't I?” When they disappeared down the hall, Gavin extended a hand out to Lasko. “Let’s sit. We have to get the bandage off first.”
There was a moment of timid hesitation, but Lasko allowed the demon to lead him to the couch. They sat close, Gavin gingerly holding onto the arm with the tattoo, and Lasko trying to school his breathing.
“Alright, we’re just gonna take this nice and slow.” Tenderly, he let his fingers trail up Lasko’s arm to the top edge of the saniderm bandage, picking at it until a small bit pulled away from the skin. He felt Lasko tense underneath him, anticipating the pain of pulling off the adhesive. "You can hold onto me, if it helps."
Lasko glanced at him, nodding silently. His free hand went to Gavin's shoulder, moving around a few times before finding a good spot and squeezing nervously. Gavin moved in just a little closer, allowing the other man to lean on him if need be.
“This shouldn't hurt too badly. Are you ready?"
Another nod. "Yeah. Get it over with."
He began to peel at the bandage, slowly pulling it downwards over itself, pulling only a little bit before stopping to readjust his grip on the bandage. Lakso wasn't squeezing his shoulder too hard, so he figured it didn't hurt much, if at all.
Before he could start pulling down again, he heard Lasko take a deep breath.
"Th-thank you, Gavin."
"Hmm? Oh, this is nothing. I help Freelancer with this all the time."
"No, no, I mean… for talking me into this in the first place. I never would have done something like this by myself. I'm…grateful that you both were there."
"Oh." Gavin slowly continued to peel at the bandage, carefully pulling it off the tattoo. "I was glad to be there for you, Lasko. I know that this was out of your comfort zone, and it may not be something you ever do again, but at least you tried it."
"And I'm happy I got to try it. I wasn't…great at doing new things when I was younger. I was afraid of failing, of messing up." He sighed, and Gavin thought somehow the elemental might've reached through his chest to squeeze at his heart. "You, being there, it helped."
"I'm always here, if you need help with trying new things." He meant it genuinely, no underlying sexual intent to mess with the poor elemental, no double meaning. Lasko seemed to understand that, because for once, no blush was found on his cheeks. Gavin, however, had to clear his throat. "Alright. This last little bit looks like it's caught in your hair, so bear with me."
"That's okay, just don't rip it off like a-SSHIT! Sh-Shoot uh-FUCK it. Fuck!"
Gavin looked at him with concern. He didn't rip it, or he hadn't meant to if he did. "Did I hurt you?"
"N-n-no. It was just…I-I don't know, it was r-really fucking s-s-sensitive, I'm s-sorry.."
From the other room, they could hear Freelancer’s laughter. Gavin cracked a smile, but Lasko just covered his face with his free hand.
“D-Don’t you have a quiz you should be focusing on?”
Another laugh, followed by a muffled “yes professor”. Gavin could see the blush finally making a home on the man’s cheeks, and he could feel his breath against face. He let Lasko's arm fall into his lap, and one hand came up to lift his chin, while the other gently removed the hand covering his face.
Their eyes met. "You did very well, Lasko."
"Oh! Um…I-I-I barely d-did anything! You - you're the one who helped me! I -"
Gavin let him ramble, content with just watching him. After a minute or so, Lakso calmed down and met his eyes again. Gavin let his knuckles brush against his cheekbone, feeling the heat there, and he saw the little smile that tried to tug at the corner of Lasko's mouth.
That floating-on-bubbles feeling appeared again, and Gavin couldn't help but chuckle at the sensation of it.
He understood the nature of his feelings, and yet, he was oh-so confused by them.
Oh, Lasko, what are you doing to me?
"G-Gavin?"
Gavin cleared his throat again, letting a small grin find a place on his lips. "Let's go wash you up."
A small, nervous nod from Lasko. Gavin helped him up from the couch, and led him to Freelancer's bathroom. He turned on the sink, letting the water come to a comfortable temperature before moving Lasko's arm over to begin the gentle wash.
He could feel the man was tense again, so he decided to fill the silence.
"Tell me why you chose this moth."
Lasko looked up at him, the question obviously surprising him. His eyes searched the demon's face, stopping briefly to stare at his lips, before returning to the tattoo. Gavin cupped his hand under the running faucet, focusing on wetting the tattoo and not on the feeling stirring inside of himself.
“Like I said earlier, it-it’s my favorite.”
“I know that. Why is it your favorite?” He grabbed the bar of soap on the counter, lathered it between his hands, and allowed a bit of magic to flow through his fingers as he tenderly washed the little moth. He traced the outline of it, the roundness of its small head to the flowy, elegant wings.
Despite the nervousness that was being portrayed on the outside, Gavin could feel Lasko relaxing under his touch.
"It's a luna moth. They're…supposed to symbolize transformation, new beginnings, change." He took a deep breath, voice becoming softer. Gavin rinsed the soap off. "I spent a long time believing that I would never be good enough to do anything, that I was the odd one out, the…the broken one. But I was able to get out of that, to grow out of it."
He laughed sadly, and Gavin felt something else pulling at his heart now. He picked a clean towel from the cabinet and began to pat Lasko's arm dry.
"I told you that I was glad that you and Freelancer were there for this. And I meant that. The two of you, and Damien and Huxley…you've all become my family, and this family was a new beginning for me. I don't know…who I would be without you guys."
Gavin dropped the towel on the counter and took Lasko's other hand into his own, now holding both hands tightly. "I could repeat that right back to you. This family has.. You've been-"
"Lasko!" Freelancer popped their head into the bathroom, eyes going to their joined hands before looking back at their faces. "Am I interrupting?"
Gavin found himself chuckling. He'd talk to Freelancer later when they were alone, organize his feelings and check in with his partner before saying anything to Lasko. It would be for the best. "It's okay. Finished your quiz?"
"Yep! Got a B, which is eh but ya know. Anyways, now I've got a question for Lasko."
The elemental perked up, and Gavin let go of his hands. "Oh?"
"Are we starting with Phantom Menace or A New Hope?"
Lasko grimaced. "Well, Gavin, do you want to watch the good Star Wars movies or all the Star Wars movies?"
Gavin grinned. "Whatever gives me more time with you, little breeze."
Lasko stared at him, fighting that little smile again, and Gavin felt a moth find its way into his heart.
"Phantom Menace it is."