Kyrone turned his attention back to Jared. He was sitting with his sketch pad on his knees, with carbon paper at the ready to copy the design. He looked nervous as he blew air over his lower lip.
“You’re so pretty,” Kyrone whispered.
Jared arched an eyebrow. “Pretty? I can get on board with being called pretty.”
Kyrone leant forward and cupped Jared’s cheek in his hand. “This all feels very familiar.”
“Almost as if this is how we met.”
“Ugh,” Faye said. “Are you actually going to get a tattoo done, or are you going to carry on being sickeningly cute? If you are, you can both clear off somewhere else.”
Kyrone laughed heartily. “I’ve got a few days booked off work, so I’m definitely getting a tattoo. T-shirt on or off?”
“Off,” Jared said.
Kyrone waggled his eyebrows as he tugged his top off. Then he placed the scarf around his eyes, making sure he couldn’t see anything before settling back in the chair. “Go for it.”
He felt Jared’s fingers glide along his right-hand side over his ribcage. “I’m going to put it here.”
Kyrone nodded. There was a long wait, but he knew Jared was copying the design onto the carbon paper. He heard the snap of latex gloves being put on and then felt the warmth of soap and water as Jared gently cleaned the area he was going to put the tattoo on before patting it dry with paper towels. Next Jared smeared petroleum jelly onto Kyrone’s skin, and then there was the gentle tickle of the carbon paper as his lover transferred the design.
At about the same time, Faye brought another customer upstairs, and he listened to their chatter until he heard the buzz of a tattoo machine close to him.
“Ready?” Jared asked.
“All relaxed and breathing normally,” Kyrone said. “I’m ready.”
He felt the uncomfortable tickle of the needle shortly afterwards, which turned into short bursts of pain as Jared worked on the design. Kyrone had no idea how long it took. It was surprisingly hard to keep track of time with his eyes covered. Jared talked to him throughout the process, his voice gentle and calm, no matter how many times Kyrone hissed in a breath or uttered a curse as the needle struck a particularly sensitive area.
“All done,” Jared said.
Kyrone blew out a breath. His side was sore, but that was to be expected. “How long did it take?”
“A couple of hours,” Jared replied. “You can take the blindfold off now.”
Kyrone unknotted the scarf.
Jared was sitting on the stool, waiting with a mirror balanced on his knees. His expression was even more nervous than before, and he was chewing his bottom lip, something he hardly ever did. “Do you want to see?”
Kyrone snorted. “What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course I do!”
Jared obviously held his breath as he lifted and angled the mirror so that Kyrone could see the fresh tattoo. His skin looked angry around the dark lines, but it was easy to ignore as he took in the design. It was stunning. Jared had shaped the thick lines of their initials into a heart shape. Above the ‘J’ were three small silhouettes of seagulls in flight. Wrapped around the bottom of the ‘K’ was a chain that led to an anchor. The design was about the size of the palm of Kyrone’s hand, and he adored the way it represented them both. He was also glad that Jared had found meaning in the seagull motif again.
“What do you think?” Jared asked.
“I love it.”
Jared grinned. “I’m glad.”
“Now that you’ve tattooed your initial on my skin, I hope you’re planning on sticking around.”
“I moved in with you, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
“I’d better cover it,” Jared said, reaching for the cream and film.
He gently patted the cream into Kyrone’s sore skin and then covered the tattoo in film to keep the moisture in and provide a barrier against infection.
