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" Hey, Noah? " Cody looked up at his boyfriend, resting his phone on his chest.
Cody was currently laid in his boyfriends lap, his legs kicked up and he was contorted in a way most would depict as nothing less than uncomfortable, but cody seemed to be at peace. And that was more unusual, due to his hyperactive, bright persona.
Noah had his hands rested on Codys head, gently raking his lanky fingers through his fluffy, untamed chestnut birds nest. The other was holding up a book, his thin, red glasses propped up against his hooked nose. He had been in content silence for the past ten minutes give or take, nothing out of the usual. Noah usually had on a stoic, serene face displayed matching his calm and quaint personality.
" Mhm? " Noah asked, not phased by the question. He just assumed it would be another one of Cody’s abrupt, out of context questions or just simply asking him to turn on the heather on in the cold, November air.
" We should get matching tattoos. " Cody said, a goofy smile appearing on his face. But it slowly faltered seeing Noah close his book and stare down at him in shock.
" What? " Noah took off his reading glasses, leaning forward and placing them delicately on the coffee table.
Cody sat up, kneeling beside Noah with a passionate smile, grabbing Noah by the shoulder and pulling up his phone. He shoved it in Noah’s face, displaying an image on Pinterest. Noah never understood Codys love and fascination for the app, he once revealed it took up five hours and fifty two minutes on his screen time. Noah had always preferred tumblr, anyways.
The picture was of minimalistic, simple tattoos on the hip bone. One was of a sun, eight small circles surrounding a circle. The other was a crescent moon, they were both simplistic and honestly, beautiful. Noah raised his eyebrows, casting his eyes up to Cody.
" You want us to get those? " Noah asked, pointing towards the image. Cody nodded enthusiastically, placing down the phone and cupping Noah’s face.
He had always been clingy, and Noah even knew that when they were ‘just friends.’ But now they were in a relationship, there was no moment where Cody wasn’t touching him. If it was holding hands when they walked down the streets of Quebec, if it was Cody hugging Noah from behind as he prepared lunch or dinner. If it was peppering delicate kisses along his face as he tried grabbing his attention from the book Noah was deeply interested in. Or if it was Cody tracing his fingers butterfly light around Noah’s features as he slept cuddled against his side, but that one was just for him.
" Noah, hear me out on this! I’ve said i’ve wanted tattoos since i was twelve, and i know you have this rugged, clean-cut look about you but this will be so sweet! " Cody’s ardent smile was gleaming as he explained how deeply he wanted this, and it was very difficult to say no to.
" I mean, maybe. But it’s permanent, you do know that right? " Noah wrinkled his eyebrows together, bringing his hands up to link around Codys wrists and lightly take them off his cheeks.
" Yeah! Isn’t that, like, the point of tattoos? Plus I think it’s really romantic, it’s basically like saying i wanna be with you for a really long time. I don’t want to scare you off or anything — " Cody started rambling, like he usually did, and it almost always ended up with Noah stopping him with a kiss.
And he did, unlinking his hands from around and wrist and held Cody’s jaw and pulled him halfway for a sweet, kiss. He melted into it immediately, his hands finding their way to Noah’s hips. He rubbed his thumb over the place a tattoo would soon be placed, smiling into the moment.
" Cody, we live together. I think we decided this was long term ages ago, sunshine. " Noah pulled away, leaving his hands cupping Codys face.
" Oh, right, Duh! " The goofy smile returned to his face, and a small one rose to Noah’s usually lined lips. " So, when can we go? "
Noah looked away from Cody — Even if it was difficult, he could stare at him until his eyes were strained. It was like staring at the sun, such a beautiful, magnificent thing. It brightens your day, it’s calling you to stare at it with his bright light. And you do, you stare until you physically can’t anymore.
" Well, it’s 3:48pm right now. We could go to the tattoo parlour down the street, see if they do same day walk ins? " Noah checked the clock, and if possible, Codys smile grew wider.
" Oh, my god! This is gonna look so cute! " Cody jumped up, rushing towards their bedroom to get changed out of his pyjamas he was once lounging around in.
Noah trailed after him, simultaneously changing out of his pyjamas. it was really just his boxer shorts and his plain white quarter-length shirt. He slipped on a simple deep teal button up, it was cold, but he wanted easy access to his hip so he didn’t have to fiddle for ten minutes trying to get in a comfortable, good position for the artist to tattoo. It was still nearing zero degrees, so he placed on a woolly hat and some fingerless gloves. he opted on not wearing a belt this time, again, for easy access.
Cody had the same idea, wearing loose fitting grey sweatpants and a light yellow jaw string hoodie. Cody also wrapped a white scarf around his neck, and pulled on ugg boots. As much as Noah wanted to mock and ridicule him for the middle aged white woman looking boots, they did look pretty adorable on him.
" Are you sure you wanna do this? " Noah asked once more, grabbing his wallet and phone from the table by the doorway. Once more, Cody reached his hands up and cupped Noah’s face.
" Yes, Noah, I am. I want to get matching tattoos with you, so I’ll always have something that’ll remind me of you. i love you. " Cody pulled him in for another soft kiss, due to Noah being three inches taller than him, he got on his slight tiptoes.
Noah was the one to pull away, a content smile bestowed upon Cody. Noah kept his eyes closed, running his hands down Codys sides, feeling his breath still warm in his face as he didn’t pull away. Noah didn’t know what he did to get Cody, he always felt unloveable, somehow. Always felt that his personality drove everyone away, and in all honesty, it did. Blunt, sarcastic honesty wasn’t for everyone, but somehow it was everything for Cody Emmet Jameson Anderson.
Codys bright enthusiasm and persistent, terrible flirting mixed beautifully with Noah’s deep pessimism and a somewhat cool and collected vibe. Noah saw why Cody chose those tattoos for them, it was pretty obvious they were the sun and the moon.
The sun always shone elegantly over the green grass, reflecting rainbows in the rain, bringing happiness out of dark depressed souls. The sun made everyone active, basking in the sunlight and bringing smiles to civilians faces when it shone out of the clouds. Sometimes it was overwhelming and you wished for it to leave, wanting everything to be at peace for a while. It couldn’t control how happy it was, sometimes it got overexcited. But as soon as it goes away, acknowledging the hate, you long for it to come back and glisten on you for hours. That was Cody Anderson.
The moon sits comfortably in the sky, making brightness in the dark, it was a signal the day was over and to go inside. To leave the moon to sit on its own, waiting for appreciation for its shine, for its control over the waves, but everyone draws their curtains and shuts their doors, the moon is out, therefore it’s time for them to leave. The moon is only full for few days, and everyone loves when the moon is full. It’s whole and beautiful, it’s perfectly fine. But then the energy, the everything goes, and no one’s looking at it. No one cares until it’s whole again. The moon is beautiful, and everyone appreciates it. Only when it’s full and filling the void. That was Noah Mudaliar.
" I love you, too. I really do. " He mumbled, twiddling the strings of Codys jumper between his fingers. " Lets go. " He pressed another kiss to the centre of Codys forehead and opened the door of their apartment.
As they walked out the door, the crisp autumn air hit them in the face like no tomorrow. Small flakes of snow was falling from the fluffy clouds and landing on the tips of their noses. Their hands were held tightly, looking for the warmth they once had in their shared apartment.
Cody swung their hands as they walked across the pavements, streets and roads to get to the secluded tattoo parlour. Looking through the windows, Noah surmised they’d definitely accept the same day walk in. The bell rung as he disconnected their hands, pushing open the door.
" Hello, welcome to ‘Dazling’s Tattoo and Piercing Parlour’, how can i help you? " An unenthusiastic man with a like green mohawk sat at a desk, swinging a matching green tamagotchi on his finger.
" Uhm, we want tattoos? " Noah answered more as a question, making the guy look up and place down the old toy. Cody seemed to me in a daze, looking at all the old toys, game boys and even arcade games they had scattered around.
The man looked them both up and down before humming, spinning around on the chair and walking towards the door in the back. It seemed pretty empty, there only being one fifteen year old leaning against the stairway waiting for a piercing. Soon, out came another chick with dyed hair, clad in a corset and goth-esque boots and skirt. She had many jangly bracelets and Noah had to admit, she was pretty.
" Hi! I’m Gwen, me and Duncan will be tattooing you today. " She patted the table beside her as she wheeled across the room in her chair, and Noah sat down as Cody was still happily looking around like a kid in a candy store.
" Do you know what you guys want? " Duncan was washing his hands, placing on gloves, while Gwen was setting up, pushing carts over to Duncan’s side of the parlour. Noah swung his looking over at Cody.
" Cody? " Noah called, breaking the boy out of his dreaming. " Oh, yeah! " he smiled, taking one last look around the decorated store and sitting down on the table beside Duncan.
Once he showed the tattoos, the two artists shared a knowing look, smiling to themselves. Cody didn’t notice it, too busy swinging his feet and explaining on how excited he was for the tattoos, then began asking questions and ranting about some of the things they hung up in the store.
The two were on different corners of the room, so they couldn’t hear eachothers conversations with the tattooists. Gwen instructed Noah to lay down, her voice was nice and calming, and her fingers were delicate as she pulled down his trousers ever so slightly to get access to his hipbone. She did everything so sweetly it almost distracted Noah he was about to be poked with minimal needles over and over again. Ink seeping into his skin, his nerves, just to make his boyfriend happy.
" So, " she trailed on, using a razor to shave the tiny hairs off the area. " Matching tattoos with the . . . boyfriend? " Gwen hesitated, not wanting to overstep, but it was painfully obvious to her.
" Uh, yeah. It’s a spontaneous thing, he just randomly brought it up ten minutes ago. " Noah laid his head back on the comfortable chair, looking over at Cody talking Duncan’s ear off as he got the needle ready.
" I was just wondering because we get alot of couples in here who want the tattoo it’s just never . . . " She trailed off once more, grabbing a bacterial wipe. " Gay? " He finished off for her, making her laugh to herself. " Yeah exactly. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see. " Gwen explained, pointing to the little lesbian pin on her skirt.
Noah nodded, not really knowing how else to make conversation. He heard a loud gasp from the other side of the room, and he whipped his head around, thinking Cody was already getting tattooed. But, as it turns out, he was just gasping at the cold sensation of the wipe. Noah smiled, shaking his head and facing back to Gwen. He was going to do great.
Gwen got out the sheet of paper, starting to draw the moon shape onto it. She asked Noah for pointers, how big, what shape and asking him where exactly he wanted it place. Afterwards, Duncan came over and got tips on where it was placed, wanting it to be on the exact same spot on Cody to make it ‘more matching’ in his words. Noah opted on not getting the moon filled in, worried for his own sanity. Gwen placed on the stencil, transferring it onto his skin like a temporary tattoo.
She then loaded the gun with ink, he noticed she had many little tattoos on her fingers and some dotted around the visible areas of her body. He wasn’t going to ask if it was going to hurt, of course it was, he wasn’t dumb. Before she started he looked over at Cody once more, turning his back to Gwendolyn.
Making eye contact, Cody smiled lovingly at his boyfriend from the other side of the room. The panic Noah somewhat felt had been washed over, he visibly calmed down and smiled back at Cody. The book worm gave him an encouraging thumbs up, while the other just shot him his cringy, dorky finger guns. Noah rolled his eyes affectionately and turned around, slumping back down in his seat.
" You ready now, loverboy? "
" Yeah. Yeah, im ready. " Noah made a funny face to the nickname, squeezing his eyes shut as he heard the vibrating of the multiple needles going up and down before they made contact with his skin.
He flinched slightly, hissing and squeezing the side of the table. He knew his hipbone had a lot of nerve endings there, he should’ve spoke up to Cody saying they should’ve got it done on their wrist. But he seemed so enthusiastic and passionate about the hipbone, he didn’t want to burst his adorable bubble.
The pain only lasted six minutes — he knows because he counted — and it was definitely up there for top ten most hurtful things he had endured in his lifetime. Gwen wiped off the blood one more time before wrapping it up in the saran wrap and taping it down with medical tape.
" Okay, you’re all done. Don’t remove the wrap for thirty minutes — an hour for good measure, if you please — and make sure to clean it every day for two weeks and it’ll be okay! If it gets infected, just . . . go to the doctors. " Gwen patted his back as he sat up, remembering the pain of her first tattoo.
" Thanks, Gwen. " Noah got up, looking over at Cody who was still undergoing his tattoo. He walked over, doing up the button on his jeans and grabbing Codys hand from the table.
Cody had a pained look on his face, his eyes previously squeezed shut until Noah had grabbed his hand. Codys eyes visibly shelled over with happiness once he noticed Noah, his pained face turning into a happy one.
" Oh, Noah, let me see it! "
" Not now, sunshine. After. " Noah kissed the tuffs of his hair, looking down at his hip where Duncan was filling in the last of the triangles.
Once Cody was done, Duncan did the same as Gwen. Carefully placing on the wrap, telling him to clean and take off after a half hour. Noah pulled out his wallet, going to pay, seeing Cody distracted once more by the figurines displayed around.
" Thank you, by the way. " Noah mumbled, watching Gwen place the cash in the register. " ‘S no problem. " Gwen gave a light tipped smile, doing some salute as a goodbye. Noah laughed airly, grabbing Codys hand and dragging him away before he unconsciously robbed the place.
As soon as they got home, Cody started poking at Noah’s side to try get him to show him the tattoo. He gave in, pulling down his jeans and Cody smiled as bright as the sun and pulled Noah in for a tight, domestic hug. Gasping in shock, Noah wrapped his arms around Codys back as they tried to stabilise due to the impact on Codys hug.
" Thank you, Noah! It’s perfect, it’s amazing, it’s loving — i love you! It’s so sweet and amazing! " Cody pulled out the hug, peppering kisses all over his face. Noah’s face betrayed himself, a wide, goofy smile spreading across his cheeks.
" Cody! " He giggled, before his deep laughter was cut off by Cody pecking his lips over and over again. " I love you so much! " was spoke between kisses, overwhelming Noah in, somehow, the best way possible.
" I — I love you, too! " Noah cupped Codys face with added pressure, bringing him down to earth. Flattening out the brightness of the sun, shadowing it with small, thin clouds.
" I’m so glad you got tattoos with me. " Cody mumbled, leaning in for a much more calm, sickly sweet hug. Noah kissed his temple, rubbing circles into his back.
" Im so glad i’m with you. "