A/N: WAHOO! I FINALLY MANAGED TO FINISH THIS BLOOMING PROMPT! Seriously, I was this close to yanking my hair out and using it for confetti. But I did it. I finished the prompt!
All right, just so you know, this is a new universe of mine that will be showing up a good deal. Any of my stories marked AUHP 'verse are part of it. I really hope y'all like it! :D
And Fanfiction and I are still being standoffish to each other. It's their fault, not mine.
If you want to know what Lucy's galaxy tattoos look like, just google watercolor galaxy tattoos and you'll see the general idea. :)
GrayLu week Day 2-prompt: tattoo.
Gray really wasn't sure how he had gotten talked into going along with his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend to a tattoo parlor.
Seriously, it was weirder than the time he had walked in on Ultear and Yukino dancing to Party in the USA in their underwear. Yeah, he needed brain bleach after that encounter…
But anyway! Natsu had dragged him along while he and Levy went to get matching tattoos. To be fair, there had been a bribe involved (dark chocolate, which Natsu knew from their college days was one of Gray's weaknesses), so Gray really couldn't say no, now could he?
So there he was, standing awkwardly outside a surprisingly clean tattoo shop, as Natsu tried to convince Levy that she was going to be fine, nothing would go wrong, and everything would be okay. Gray sighed, running a hand through his hair. The bluenette was brave in her own right, but coming face to face with the reality of someone sticking a needle repeatedly in their arm was enough to frighten even the bravest person.
Eventually, Levy decided to go in, Natsu and Gray trailing behind her. Gray looked around cautiously. It was clean and looked well kept. A slim blonde woman sat behind the counter, thumbing through a magazine. She looked up with a smile and called out cheerfully, "Hi! Welcome to Ink and Iron! What can I do for you?"
Levy and Natsu went up to talk to her, while Gray hung back and observed the girl. She was young, probably mid-twenties. Her gold hair hung in loose curls around her shoulders. As she came around the counter, he got a better look at her attire.
And blushed.
She wore a loose green crop-top that barely covered any of her top half, short shorts, and a pair of plain black heels. She was showing waaay more skin than Gray was used to seeing on normal girls. And he said normal because there was no way on this earth that the women in his family were normal.
Her clothes also showed off her tattoos. She didn't have very many, but they were striking. A galaxy of stars adorned her abdomen. The colors swirled in a mesmerizing mix of gold, blue, and pink. Matching pink and purple galaxies seemed to drip down the backs of her slender legs. The fronts had the zodiac symbols entwined with pencil-like sketches of stars. Her legs alone were a work of art.
He had no idea that he would ever have found tattoos attractive, but he did.
Gray pushed those thoughts out of his mind and moved forward, in time to hear her voice. "All right, we should be able to do this on both of y'all. Let me get one of my coworkers down here and we'll get started." She smiled at the couple, glancing up to catch Gray's eyes. He flushed. What was she doing to him? "I'm Lucy, by the way." Levy and Natsu introduced themselves as Gray stayed silent, staring at her.
Lucy moved back to the counter and grabbed a phone. She tapped on it for a second then held it to her ear. "Hey, Gaj? Yeah, can you send someone down here? No, we don't have customers, I'm just calling you because I'm bored. What do you think, you great ninny? Okay, I understand that you're busy with Rain Woman. Just send somebody down here! Yeah, Macbeth is fine. Just keep the brat upstairs. I'm tired of dealing with him. Okay, later." Lucy ended the call and slid the phone into her pocket. "Okay!" She said cheerily. "My brother should be down here in just a second, so if y'all will just come back here?" She gestured to a screened off area of the room.
Gray panicked internally. What was he supposed to do now? He really didn't want to get a tattoo. And curse Natsu for dragging him along like this! Before he could continue freaking out, the woman spotted him again and smiled.
"If you aren't here for a tattoo, you can just take a seat there." She pointed to a chair off to the side, away from the screened area. Gray sighed in relief, moving over to sit down and observe.
A tall man with black and white hair appeared at the bottom of stairs Gray hadn't even noticed. And Gray Fullbuster, head reporter for the Magnolia Sun, noticed everything. Details were a reporter's life blood, after all.
"Okay, here we go." Lucy smiled at Levy, who gulped slightly and sat down. She pushed the side of her tank top up so Lucy could get to her shoulder blade. Levy yelped slightly when Lucy started, but quieted down quickly. The man had already begun Natsu's tattoo. The buzzing of the needles filled the small room. Gray closed his eyes, listening to it and absently planning his next article. He had been doing pieces on local businesses in an effort to bring greater awareness to the community. He cracked an eye open to look at Lucy assessingly. Maybe he could do an article on her business?
"So Levy, what is it that you do?" Lucy asked the blue haired woman.
"I'm a chemistry teacher at Fiore High."
"Really!" Lucy exclaimed, shifting slightly as she moved up Levy's shoulder. "I went there when I was younger. My Chem teacher was awful, Tempesta, I think was his name?"
"Ah! I had him, too!" Levy said excitedly. "What year did you have him?"
"Junior year, in X787. My brother Gajeel was a year ahead of me and my three older brothers had already graduated."
"Awww…" Levy pouted. "You were a year ahead of me." She frowned. "Wait, what's your last name? Gajeel sounds like a familiar name."
Lucy smiled as her hands moved skillfully, "Our last name is Heartfilia. And I'm not surprised that you recognize his name." She rolled her eyes with a laugh. "A big man with bushy hair and piercings is hard to forget. Hey, what's wrong?"
Levy had turned her head slightly to stare at Lucy, a look of shock on her face. "Heartfilia? As in, Sting and Rogue Heartfilia?" Lucy groaned and the man across the room laughed quietly as he continued his conversation with Natsu.
"I apologize for them. I don't know what they've done, but knowing Sting, it's probably pretty bad. I'm sorry." Levy smiled, even though Lucy couldn't see her. Gray was quietly listening in with a slight smile.
"Well, they honestly can't be any worse than Natsu. Put that boy near chemicals is just asking for an explosion to happen. I'm sure you heard about the Salamander when we were in school?" Lucy nodded the affirmative. "Yeah, that was Natsu Dragneel. It's a good thing he didn't become a chemistry teacher, or else Fiore would have burned down years ago!" Lucy laughed along with Gray. Startled she glanced at him for a moment, then back at her hands.
"And you? I don't think I ever caught your name."
Gray blinked, startled. "Oh, Gray Fullbuster, reporter for the Magnolia Sun." The blonde blinked, a faint smile twitching up the corner of her mouth.
"A reporter, huh? That's neat!" She paused what she was doing and studied Levy's shoulder. "I wanted to be a reporter for the longest time when I was a kid." Lucy shrugged. "Then I got my first tattoo and piercing and I was hooked." She shut off the tattoo gun, handing Levy a hand mirror and pointing toward a full length mirror. Levy oohed and aahed while Natsu admired his matching tattoo.
Lucy smiled at the unlikely looking couple while cleaning up. She gave Gray a sidelong glance. "Sure you don't want to get inked?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I'll pass. But I would like an interview." Lucy looked startled.
"You sure?"
Gray stretched and said, "Yeah, I am. Your shop is amazing and I've been writing about local businesses lately. I think it'd be a great story." She smiled up at him.
"I'd like that," she said softly and he grinned back.
"Next Saturday at one?"
"Sure!"
As he walked toward the exit, following his cousin and cousin's girlfriend, Gray paused at the entrance. He turned to look at Lucy.
"Actually, I think I've changed my mind. I will get a tattoo after all."
A/N: And we're off to a grand start with this 'verse! Tune in tomorrow for another installment of the 'verse, with Day 3: meeting the family/parents! It's, if I do say so myself, quite good. ;) You'll get to learn more about Lucy's family and Gray's. It gets crazy...
Hope you enjoyed it!