Chapter Text
This place appears incredibly nice. It looks like what I imagine a “punk spa” would look like, if such a pairing of words didn’t sound so antithetical to one another.
The door rings as I push it open. Two sets of eyes, only one familiar, meet mine.
“Teddy?”
“Howdy, Myra.”
“You’re the Theodore Aikawa I’m doing the tattoo consult with?”
“That’s my name.” I suck in air between clenched teeth. I hadn’t considered that she might be opposed to working on her roommates’ friend. “Is this okay? I wasn’t joking about wanting a tattoo.”
“It’s no problem,” she responds cheerfully. She moves away from behind the register and tosses a pair of gloves away. “I just didn’t recognize you by your full name. You prefer to do this out here or in my office? Either way I need to grab some stuff from there.”
“Office is fine.”
We settle into her office, her pencil and pad at the ready.
“Was there anything in particular you were thinking of, Teddy?” she asks.
Shit, nerves. “Uh, yeah, actually. I’ve gotten a tattoo before but it was standard normal shit.” I pull my shirt up slightly and reveal a tiger on my side. “It’s from before we met. I’m really happy with it but I wanted to ask about… coverups? Elsewhere! And not for another tattoo but for scars. Sorry if that’s not the right word; I don’t know that much about tattooing. I don’t have many particular ideas. I just want it hidden.”
Myra nods. We’re friends of friends but her presence is grounding. I think she realizes I’m not my usual bubbly self. “It depends on the kind of scars and where and when they happened but we’ve done stuff like that before here. Joe back out there has done a couple for guys post top surgery and we’ve both done over old cutting scars before.”
“Um, I’m not sure the placement of this scar means it can be covered up too well.” I tap my shirt collar and look up at her questioningly. “Show you?”
“Feel free, Teddy.”
I grab the neck of my shirt and swiftly pull it off, tossing it into my lap. I slowly pull off my bandages where my neck and shoulder meet, seething as it tugs on my flesh. Unused to such vulnerability, I distract myself by swinging my dangling legs back and forth.