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“You should get that dragon,” Rain said, eyes wide as he stared at the art on the wall, the dragon as big as Sky’s whole chest. Sky knew he shouldn’t have brought Rain along, but casually mentioning anything to Rain was basically an invitation. And when Rain had been pestering him all morning about his plans, Sky had no choice but to tell him. It was really annoying when Payu was out of town and Rain turned all his pent-up energy on Sky instead.
“I’m not getting an entire dragon tattoo,” he said, glancing around the parlor. He knew exactly what he was getting.
“Maybe I should get a tattoo too!” Rain said eagerly, coming up beside Sky and grabbing his arm. Sky brushed him away, gazing up at the drawings covering the walls.
“P’Payu wouldn’t let you,” he said, ignoring Rain’s pout as he looked around for someone in the shop. There were a few people working on tattoos behind curtained walls. He could hear the buzz of the tattoo gun and he took a nervous breath.
“P’Payu’s not the boss of me,” Rain protested. “I can get one if I want.”
“Then get one,” Sky said simply, and Rain hesitated. Rolling his eyes, Sky smirked. He wasn’t surprised at all that Rain hesitated. For all his talk, he wasn’t as brave as he pretended to be. Sky doubted Payu would be mad if Rain did get a tattoo, but Rain wouldn’t do anything without knowing Payu would one hundred percent be into it.
“Isn’t P’Pai going to be home tomorrow?” Rain asked instead of answering Sky, changing the subject, and Sky let him.
He glanced up as a looming figure appeared in the doorway, a heavily-tattooed man leaning on the frame. The man was tall, intimidating, a scar across his eyebrow, but then he smiled and Sky felt the sudden anxiety in his chest ease.
“You must be my one o’clock,” the man greeted him, coming up to the counter, clicking on something on the computer. “Sky?
“Yes, Sky,” he agreed, nodding quickly. He hadn’t been nervous about this, not when he’d decided to do it, not when he’d made the appointment, not until he’d been standing outside on the sidewalk, barely listening to Rain babbling about how hot tattoos were.
“I’ve got some paperwork for you to fill out and then we’ll get started,” the guy said, handing Sky a stack of papers and a pen.
Somehow, Sky hadn’t expected paperwork, but he took it over to the chair by the wall, Rain trailing behind him.
“Did you see how many tattoos he had?” Rain whispered, as though Sky hadn’t been standing right there. “I bet P’Payu would look so good with a tattoo. You’ve never seen him without his shirt on, but he could get one right on his rib cage—oh! Or on his hip bone. That would be… yeah,” Rain said with a satisfied sigh, staring off into space, and Sky knew he was picturing it and whatever other dirty things that would come of it.
“Can you fantasize about your boyfriend in your own head?” he asked, chewing on his lip as he concentrated on reading the forms, the warnings and after-care information. It wasn’t getting the tattoo that was making him nervous.
He hadn’t told Prapai he was doing it. He hadn’t asked his opinion, not that he needed to, but he was nervous about it anyway. A tattoo was permanent, or at least mostly permanent without a lot of money for removal. It meant something.
Sky knew he didn’t need to worry. It had been over a year since he’d gotten together with Prapai, since Prapai had taken him home and he hadn’t left. Prapai had sold the condo not long after the incident, had never asked Sky to go back there. He would never make Sky to do something he didn’t want to. And Sky wanted to do this. For himself, for Prapai, for both of them.
Swallowing down the sudden lump in his throat, the anxiety thrumming through his fingers, he signed the bottom of the form and rose from the chair.
“All signed,” he told the guy, who took the papers and typed something into the computer.
“Alright, come on back,” he said, waving Sky and Rain past the counter.
They passed different booths, men and women getting tattooed. Sky couldn’t make out what any of them were, heard only clips of conversation over the buzz of the guns. His tattoo artist led him to a booth in the back, nodding at the chair.
“Make yourself comfortable. You sent over the design earlier, so I’ve got it all ready here. Have you decided where you want it?”
“Yeah,” Sky said, suddenly very self-conscious as Rain gazed at him in awe. He should have left him back at uni, but without Payu around, Rain was like a lost puppy. He’d be glad when both Payu and Prapai were back tomorrow. “Rain, stop staring at me.”
“Sorry,” Rain said quickly, looking up at the ceiling instead, and Sky rolled his eyes. But he felt a little better, even if Rain sneaked a look back as he pointed.
“Right here,” he said, taking a breath, calming the anxious little butterflies in his chest. “I want to get it right here.”
The man nodded, turning to his table filled with little ink jars and needles in individual plastic packs. There was no reason to worry, Sky reminded himself. He wanted to do this. He wanted this to be permanent, just like his feelings for Prapai.
As the guy prepared his tools, Rain kept his chin tilted up at the ceiling, but his eyes darted down to Sky.
“P’Pai is going to ravish you,” he said, and despite the sudden blush on his cheeks, Sky shoved his shoulder.
“Shut up,” he said, but he couldn’t hide his smile as he looked away. That wasn’t why he was doing this, but if Prapai did, well, he wouldn’t deny him the opportunity.
*
Sky couldn’t help staring, standing in front of the mirror, stretching out the neckline of his tank top to see the delicate lines of ink on his chest. The skin was still a little red from yesterday, but he’d taken off the wrap and cleaned it gently this morning. It hadn’t hurt as much as he’d expected, had felt like a friendly little bee buzzing along his skin.
He stepped back, running into the bed, fumbling a little. He still wasn’t used to the new condo, much closer to his school than Prapai’s family home. But it was nice to have somewhere to themselves that wasn’t Sky’s dorm with Joy constantly on the hunt for new gossip, that wasn’t Prapai’s siblings constantly walking in on them just so they could tease Prapai about how whipped he was. Not that Sky didn’t enjoy the teasing, but sometimes, when Prapai was on his knees, Sky really didn’t want his little brother walking in without knocking.
Sky turned at the sound of the front door opening, rearranging his shirt quickly, smoothing back his hair. He left the mirror in the bedroom, heading out to the living room as he heard Prapai’s voice.
“Sky, baby, you home?”
“I’m home,” Sky replied, stepping into the doorway, smiling as he caught sight of Prapai.
Prapai had dropped his bag in the entryway, toeing off his shoes, hair mussed like he’d ridden there on his motorcycle. Sky would have thought he’d be tired of riding considering he and Payu had been gone for some event Pakin was putting on, all secret and probably illegal. Sky didn’t care as long as Prapai came back to him, and he always did.
“Come here,” Prapai said, not waiting for Sky to come to him, crossing the living room, pulling Sky into a kiss, hands on his cheeks, thumbs stroking his face gently. Too gently for the way his lips moved, how he pushed his tongue in Sky’s mouth, and Sky smiled.
“Miss me?” he asked in between kisses, Prapai tugging on his bottom lip, chasing his mouth with each word.
“Every second of every day,” Prapai replied, sliding his hands down Sky’s neck, one sneaking around his waist and tugging him in closer.
“Slow down,” Sky said, laughing, nudging Prapai back, just enough that their lips were no longer touching. He bit down on his lip as Prapai sighed, fingers stroking his hair.
“Sorry,” he breathed, brushing his nose against Sky’s, eyes open just enough to look at him, darting down to his mouth as Sky licked his lips and took a breath.
Sky could feel his heart beating faster, the way it always did when Prapai was like this, all eager hands, the warmth of his body pressed to Sky’s, like it had been more than just a couple days apart. Prapai was easy to read, especially like this, and it made Sky smile.
“Sorry,” Prapai said again, taking a breath as if that might calm him, as if Sky didn’t know just how much he wanted to keep kissing him. He always did. Instead, he moved back an inch or two, reaching up to sweep Sky’s hair from his eyes. “I just can’t help myself.” He smiled. “How’ve you been?”
Sky didn’t need Prapai to apologize, reaching up to cup his jaw, leaning in to kiss him. Softly, slowly, taking his time opening up Prapai’s mouth, tasting the slide of his tongue. “I’ve been fine,” he said, whispering the words against Prapai’s lips, feeling Prapai’s hand on his waist clench in his shirt, the slight buck of his hips. Tongue flicking out, he licked Prapai’s bottom lip, feeling Prapai’s huff against his mouth. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Prapai groaned this time, pulling away to rest his forehead against Sky’s. “Sky,” he breathed, as if Sky was torturing him by saying it. His fingers drew down the back of his neck, brushing against the short hair at the nape, and Sky shivered.
He knew Prapai was trying to go slower, knew he wasn’t very good at that. He appreciated the effort he knew it took for Prapai to swallow, not haul Sky into his arms and carry him into the bedroom. Not that Sky would mind, but he had something he needed to show Prapai first.
Taking Prapai’s hand from where it was pressed into his lower back, Sky tugged him over to the couch, pushing him onto the cushions. Prapai went easily, dazed as he looked up at Sky, hands immediately landing on his hips.
“I miss you when you’re gone,” Sky said as he climbed into Prapai’s lap, so easily admitted it in a way he wouldn’t have done a year ago. It didn’t even make him nervous to say it anymore, knew Prapai felt the same. Gazing down, he wasn’t sure Prapai could have responded from how distracted he seemed to be with Sky in his lap.
Prapai’s eyes scraped down his body, shifting up so that Sky slid closer, hips pressed together, his hands pushing under the back of his shirt.
“I hope you didn’t get into any trouble,” Prapai said, reaching up to tilt Sky’s chin down so he could kiss it. Sky’s eyes closed briefly and his hands fell to Prapai’s shoulders.
It was amazing how easily Prapai made things better. Even if Sky didn’t notice the change when he was gone, it was always a relief to have him back.
“I did all sorts of stupid things while you were gone,” Sky said, leaning in to press a kiss to the top of Prapai’s head, ducking down to capture his lips, drawing out the moment as Prapai chased him, pushed his hips up, a gentle canter to bring Sky closer.
“Like what?” Prapai asked, dragging his lips down Sky’s jaw, licking at his neck as Sky tried to stay focused.
Pulling away, Sky breathed in, deeply, suddenly nervous as he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He couldn’t take it back, if Prapai didn’t like it, if he thought it was stupid.
It took a moment, Sky gazing down at Prapai, waiting for him to notice. Prapai was looking at him the way he always did, half-lost in the haze of lust, half caught up in something that always made Sky’s heart skip a beat. Another second passed before Prapai seemed to notice, a twitch to his eyebrow as his gaze skimmed over his body, a tilt to his head.
“Is that—” His eyes went wide, mouth dropping open, and his hand seemed to reach on its own accord.
“You can’t touch it yet,” Sky said, catching Prapai’s fingers before he could slide them over the three little lines curled over his heart. He could feel it beating fast as Prapai stared. “Not until it’s healed.”
Prapai blinked, slow, before he tore his gaze away from the tattoo, the inked replica of the pin Prapai so often wore. Simple and understated, not loud but loud enough to tell everyone that he was Prapai’s and Prapai was his.
“When did you…” he asked, distracted, pulling his hand from Sky’s grasp to slide up his rib instead, careful not to touch the inked skin, seemingly marveling at the new mark.
“Yesterday,” Sky said, watching Prapai carefully. From his reaction, he thought he liked it, but his heart was still thudding loudly. He took a breath. “Is it… okay?”
“Okay?” Prapai repeated, vague, confused, tearing his gaze from the tattoo, up to Sky creasing his brow, the nervous way he bit his lip. “It’s beautiful,” he said finally, shaking his head as though Sky had no reason to be nervous. “You’re beautiful.”
The dam broke in Sky’s chest and he smiled as the relief washed over him. He hadn’t been worried that Prapai would hate it, but he couldn’t help always feeling anxious when he did new things. Hugging Prapai, he buried his face in his hair, feeling the kiss Prapai pressed to his chest, just on the edge of the tattoo.
“How long until I can touch it?” Prapai asked after a second as Sky pulled back to sink fully into his lap so they were eye to eye, and Sky smirked at the glint in Prapai’s eyes.
“Maybe a month,” he said, and Prapai groaned, leaning in to press a kiss to Sky’s shoulder, trailing them all up his collar bone to his neck as Sky laughed.
“You did this to torture me.”
Adjusting his hips, rolling them down as Prapai’s pushed up, Sky pulled Prapai’s mouth to his. “I have better ways of torturing you.”
That might have been true, but his heart still fluttered as Prapai’s kiss lingered, too gentle for how hard he was getting.
Sky closed his eyes, hands on Prapai’s cheeks as he breathed out. “I just wanted something permanent,” he said, felt like he was admitting a secret as he whispered the words between them.
“I’ll always be here,” Prapai promised, words pressed to his skin, gentle and quiet.
Sky knew he would, didn’t doubt it for a second, and he pulled Prapai back to his mouth as he settled on top of him, sinking into the comforting warmth of his body, perfectly content to stay there forever. And maybe he would.
*
FIN.