Set during Be All My Sins Remembered (2.14), while they were camped out on the Maru.
"I never asked you, Mr. Harper…why that tattoo?" Dylan inquired thoughtfully.
"Hmmm?" responded Harper, not really paying attention. "What's that boss?"
"Your tattoo – the yin/yang symbol. Doesn't really seem like your style somehow. What made you choose it? Something to do with your days on Earth?"
"Oh that. Nah. It was Trance's idea actually. Something about accepting the good along with the bad and balance or something. She thought it'd be good for me. Actually, what she said was that it sounded like 'fun.' How being poked with a needle for a prolonged period of time was supposed to be fun, I don't know. But that's Trance for you…well, that WAS Trance, back when 'fun' was a part of her vocabulary," he replied, sounding bitter towards the end.
"You got your tattoo with Trance?" Dylan asked surprised.
"Yeah, that was back before your time," Harper responded. "Beka dropped us off at Seneschal Drift for a couple days while she went to deal with some creditors. We got a little bored after the first day so Trance got…creative. Actually, considering it was Trance, I was lucky I got away with just this!" Harper smiled.
"So, that sun Trance had on her shoulder…"
"Yep, we got'em together. Trance said they'd be 'an emblem of our friendship' whatever that was supposed to mean." Harper frowned slightly and shook his head a little. The memory obviously made him uncomfortable. "So what about you boss? Any butterflies inked in places unseen?" he asked with a smirk.
Dylan could tell a plea to change the subject when he heard it. "Nope, but I've got a couple of scars with fascinating stories…"
oOo
Later, Harper watched Trance from behind, her deep red dreads swinging slightly, as they walked down the corridor towards their separate destinations on the Andromeda. So much about Trance had changed, that Harper hadn't actually given a second thought to her tattoo, but now he began to wonder. Was it possible? Might she actually still have it? They were supposed to be permanent, but then, so was your skin color. For that matter, so was your death!
Harper thought of the time Gerentex had shot her, back when they first met Dylan. He wasn't sure which hurt more, when he thought he'd lost her then, or now when she was still here but he seemed to have lost everything that had made them close in the first place. As much as he hated to admit it, their mutual tattoos had meant a lot to him, one more thing they had shared just between the two of them. Now he wasn't sure he shared anything with Trance anymore.
He was slowly getting used to this new Trance, learning to trust her, but he was lonely for their old camaraderie. He'd been too intimidated by this sterner, older Trance to get to know her, too afraid to find out if everything he had loved in his Trance really was gone beyond all recall. But this might be the way to find out – if she'd kept the tattoo – well, that would mean something. There was no way he could just ask her about it – they still hardly talked about more than work – and what if she didn't even remember? He didn't think he could take an answer that blunt. So how could he find out?
If only she didn't have so much darn hair in the way, he thought, exasperated. And the part of Harper's brain labeled "Schemes R Us" shifted into overdrive.