Work Text:
Ryuji shifted nervously on his feet as he stood outside of the door and peered in. A few people were sitting in the front waiting around, but it wasn’t awfully busy. He admitted to himself that this was quite the impulsive decision - it’s not something he ever really thought about doing, nor did he really have the desire to. But he had already dug himself into a hole when he told his teammates on his university’s track team that he would do it to prove he’s not a coward.
He took one last deep breath and pushed the door open, making a chime ring. Soon after a woman with short brown hair looked up from the counter a few feet to the left of the door and she smiled. “Hi, welcome in. What are you trying to get today?”
Ryuji scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, just trying to get a tattoo.”
The woman nodded and started flipping through some papers. “Sure thing, did you have an appointment?”
“Uh…” he trailed off. He was making it painfully obvious this was something he had never done before.
The woman chuckled to herself and put down the stack of papers she was looking through. “I see. Here.” She handed him a couple of other papers. He took them gratefully but looked down at them a bit confused. “I’m assuming this is your first tattoo, yes? Just fill this paper out for me. The top one is your personal information and some medical history, and then it’ll ask you to sign at the bottom. The second page is about aftercare. You keep that one, but please read over it before you finish the first page.” She handed him a pen. He nodded a silent ‘thanks’ to her and accepted it before beginning to fill out the first page.
He took a few moments to read over the aftercare page, taking note that it didn’t seem nearly as complicated as he thought it would be. Once he finished, he handed her the papers and she took his ID to scan.
“What are you planning on getting?”
The sudden question caught him a little off guard, “Oh, uh, just a spider lily, on my forearm. My mom’s favorite flower.”
The woman smiled. “How sweet. Well, since you’re a walk-in I’ll have to see if any of our artists are available right now. One moment.”
Just as she stood to walk to the back, a slender man peeked around the doorway to the back room. “Makoto, are you taking in a walk-in? My 3 o’clock canceled, so I am available.”
She clapped her hands together and smiled. “Yes, perfect!” She turned to Ryuji and smiled. “Mr. Sakamoto, this is Yusuke. He’ll be your artist today.”
Yusuke tucked a strand of his long blue hair behind his ear and gave Ryuji a polite smile. “Welcome in. What would you like to get tattooed?” Ryuji repeated his concept to the other man. “I see. Give me just a moment, I’ll have a design stenciled out for you soon.”
Makoto seated herself back down at the counter and began typing something as Yusuke pivoted himself to the back. Ryuji, not really knowing what to do in this situation, sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby, doing his best to not make eye contact with anyone around him.
He fiddled with the strings of his hoodie, honestly more nervous than he thought he would be. Despite him being known as the ‘punk’ kid in his friend group since middle school, he had never been one to desire tattoos or piercings - he didn’t want to admit it, but he was a bit scared of the pain. The most he would ever do was bleach his hair, which nowadays was relatively common anyway.
It wasn’t until one of his track teammates got a new tattoo that he was roped into a line of questioning about why he had never gotten one before. They all picked on him for being too scared to do it; they were correct, but Ryuji didn’t want the rest of the team to think any less of him. He already had a hard time making friends in high school. He didn’t want to lose his friendship with his team, as silly and unreasonable as it sounds.
He snapped out of his thoughts when Yusuke called him back. He hopped up, a little quicker than he meant to, and dragged his feet over to Yusuke, who held up two different stencil designs.
“That was fast.”
“Passion has no time frame.”
Ryuji raised an eyebrow at the other man, not really sure what he meant. “I have two options for you, depending on what you believe you would like more.” He looked at Ryuji expectantly before smiling when his finger hit the stencil in his left hand. “Ah, excellent choice. Then let’s head back.”
Ryuji followed Yusuke through a long hallway, passing by a handful of rooms where artists were working with their clients. They finally entered Yusuke’s studio, and he gasped as he gazed around at the beautiful Japanese-styled decorations. His room was definitely much more eccentric than the other rooms they passed on the way.
He sat down in the chair per Yusuke’s instructions and watched intently as he quietly prepared his station. As Yusuke took the razor to his arm to shave the hair, he started conversation, “So, what made you want to get a spider lily? It’s a beautiful flower.”
“It’s my mom’s favorite.”
Yusuke smiled. “How nice. I would imagine she will be overjoyed to see it on you.”
Ryuji smiled back and nodded, unsure of how to continue. After Yusuke finished shaving the area on his arm and wiped it down, he coated the area with a Speed Stick and carefully placed the stencil, concentrating hard on making it even and straight. “What’s, uh, your mom’s favorite flower…?”
Ryuji mentally slapped himself. What kind of question was that?
“Hm? Oh, my mother is passed away.”
Even worse.
“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry.”
Yusuke finally smoothed out the stencil and carefully began lifting it up. “No need to apologize. You weren’t aware.”
Ryuji sighed in a bit of relief. The conversation could have gone any number of ways, but he was at least thankful that Yusuke wasn’t offended. He eyed every one of Yusuke’s movements after he finished peeling the stencil off. His hands seemed fragile and careful, but he knew that they must be strong to handle a tattoo machine. Yusuke’s face was content and relaxed, his long hair hanging over his eyes, untucking itself from his ears to fall with gravity. Ryuji noticed how pleasant his eyes looked - both imposing but at the same time, not intimidating in the least.
His gaze was brought back to Yusuke’s hands (where it should have been) when Yusuke stepped on the pedal for his machine a couple times to adjust the speed of the needle. Ryuji suddenly felt a profound sense of dread in his stomach the moment he saw the needle.
“Hm? Are you alright?” Ryuji met eyes with Yusuke, who was looking at him worriedly, machine in one hand and a paper towel in the other. He watched as Yusuke looked him up and down. “I see. This is your first tattoo, is it not?”
Ryuji nodded and Yusuke gently placed the machine down.
“I see. Forgive me for not asking. I assumed you already had work done, but I shouldn’t have. One moment,” Yusuke spoke, getting up and leaving the room. Ryuji was able to calm his nerves with a few deep breaths.
After about a minute, Yusuke came back into the room with a handful of items. “Have you eaten today? If not, here is a cereal bar. The sugars are important to keep in your body, especially since this is your first tattoo. I do not intend to scare you, but the shock can make you pass out. But do not worry, I will do my best to make sure that does not happen. And here is a bottle of water; I anticipate that we will be here for a while, so you should stay hydrated.”
Ryuji looked down at the cereal bar and the water bottle in his hands, a little shocked that he was seemingly being pampered in this random tattoo parlor he impulsively drove to.
“And this as well,” Yusuke said, holding a palm-sized ball out to him, “It’s a stress ball. It can help the pain be a little more tolerable, though please hold it in the opposite hand, otherwise it can cause scarring and blood to spill out.”
Ryuji, who was otherwise calm at this moment, looked at Yusuke horrified. “I suppose it sounds scary, but I assure you as long as we keep in touch about how you’re feeling, you should be just fine.”
Yusuke locked eyes with Ryuji and gave him a kind smile, something that made Ryuji feel even more uneasy, but not for the same reasons.
The blonde nodded and Yusuke nodded back, taking it as permission to continue. He sat back down and switched his gloves. As he picked the machine back up, he glanced back at Ryuji. “It will feel like a bad scratch at first, but you will adjust to it. If it hurts too bad or you need a break, please let me know.”
Ryuji winced as Yusuke brought the machine to his arm. The moment the needle hit him, his heart rate sped up, but he quickly calmed down when he realized it wasn’t anything like he thought it would be. Yusuke was right - it did just feel like a bad scratch.
“It’s… really not that bad.”
Yusuke smiled as he looked down, focusing on tracing his lines. “It never really is, is it?”
Ryuji chuckled as he watched Yusuke decorate his arm, admiring both the art and the artist. There was something odd about Yusuke - despite his eloquent disposition, his presence was comforting. Ryuji was so focused on him that he wasn’t even feeling the needle anymore.
“Ryuji, is it?” Yusuke asked after minutes of silence. Ryuji hummed back to him. “Thank you for allowing me to tattoo a spider lily on your arm. It seems silly to thank you for it, but spider lilies are my favorite flower as well. Your mother has good taste.”
His face grew a little red at Yusuke’s sudden - and rather casual - confession. “O-Oh, yeah, of course, man.”
“I hope you come back again to let me tattoo you again. I know the art isn’t for everyone, but I think this fits you quite well,” Yusuke muses, sitting back to admire his own linework, which was about halfway done now.
“Think so?”
“I do. The red clashes with your hair, in a very appealing way. Red and yellow go together quite well.”
Ryuji smiled and felt his ears get a little warm. “Thanks, Yusuke.”
Yusuke simply looked up at Ryuji and smiled before looking back down to continue his work. Ryuji took this moment to look over at him, suddenly feeling the man’s hands on his arm more than the needle itself. Ryuji rolled his eyes at himself. Yusuke’s just doing his job, why was he taking every action and word so personally?
Half an hour passed as Yusuke worked mostly silently. Ryuji took the silence as the perfect moment to munch on his cereal bar and drink some of the water, only every now and then stealing glances of the tattoo (and of Yusuke). Yusuke eventually sat back and lifted his foot from the pedal, setting the machine down and removing his gloves.
“The shading and coloring is next. Just a warning, it does hurt quite a bit more than linework does, simply because it’s multiple needles and they go over the same spot multiple times. It will feel more like a burn.”
Ryuji nodded, feeling a bit too overconfident in himself. He relaxed and closed his eyes while he waited for Yusuke to switch out the needles, opening one eye a couple times just to take a quick glance at him. God, his long blue hair was so pretty.
His relaxation was interrupted with a loud “Fuck!” as the flat needle punched through his skin for the first time. “Was that too much?” Yusuke immediately asked, pulling the machine away from the blonde and scanning him nervously.
“No, it’s fine, just… wasn’t expecting it,” Ryuji responded. “I think it was more shock than pain.”
Yusuke simply picked the stress ball up from his desk and offered it to Ryuji, who gratefully took it. Ryuji nodded at him to continue.
Yusuke switched the glove on the hand he used to give Ryuji the ball and went back to it.
“Hey, Yusuke?”
Yusuke stepped off the pedal. “Yes? Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, ‘fcourse. I just wanted to ask. Uh, do people usually need this many accommodations when they get their first tattoo? I feel like a wuss.”
Yusuke chuckled and smiled at Ryuji, making his heart swell a bit. He leaned over with his elbows on his knees. “Yes, it’s completely normal. Getting a tattoo is no fun when you’re uncomfortable the entire time.”
“Even the stress ball?”
Yusuke picked the machine back up and rolled his chair to Ryuji’s arm. “Oh no, I found the stress ball specifically for you.”
Ryuji got a little flustered at the comment, unsure of what he meant. Did he think he couldn’t handle it? Or was he just being overly nice?
The needles touched to his skin again, this time more expected than before. He silently let Yusuke work. He was right - the pain for coloring was much worse than the lineart, but it wasn’t unbearable. He squeezed gently on the stress ball in his opposite hand, glancing up at the clock on the wall. He had been there for only about an hour and a half at that point. No other words were exchanged during the remainder of the process.
Ryuji studied the decorations on the wall before he felt a cold and wet sensation on his arm. He looked over to find Yusuke washing the tattoo, getting as much extra ink off as possible. The cold felt so nice.
“Well,” Yusuke sighed happily as he removed his gloves for the last time, “What do you think? Does it exceed your expectations?”
He looked down at his arm, admiring the lilies. “Oh, hell yeah, it’s incredible!”
“Was it as bad as you thought it would be?”
Ryuji shook his head. “Nah, but it might’ve been without the stress ball, can’t lie.”
Yusuke stood to clean his workspace up. “It’s actually my stress ball. I used it when I got my first tattoo. I kept it all this time, and I wasn’t really sure why. Sentimentality, perhaps. Though I’m happy you found use in it. You can have it. Bring it with you next time you come back to see me.”
“Next time…?” Ryuji looked at him dumbfounded.
Yusuke tucked his hair behind his ear again. “Yes. You are coming back to see me, are you not?”
Ryuji stared at Yusuke again for a moment, face growing a bit red, before reaching in his back pocket and pulling out his wallet. He fumbled around with it awkwardly, tripping over his words as he asked, “Wh-What do I owe you?”
Yusuke laughed and grabbed a business card from his desk and scribbled down a string of numbers. He handed Ryuji the card and smiled. “Just dinner.”