"Have you ever considered getting… tattoos?" Quinn whispered one night as the two lay in bed.
"What, hon?" Rachel asked. She turned around to face Quinn.
"Tattoos. For each other. Ever considered?" Quinn asked again.
"Like those idiots who tattoo names and then are stuck with it for life? God no!" Rachel replied, wrinkling her nose. "I don't need a tattoo to remember you. That's what the thousands of books all over the floor that nearly kill me every time I trip on them are for." She kissed her girlfriend, smiling as their lips touched.
"Oh, I don't mean names. I'm not an idiot," Quinn said. "Something to represent... each other. You've never considered getting a tattoo before?"
"Nope. Never," Rachel replied, and then thought about it for another moment. "Actually, I always said if I ever meet Barbara I'll have her sign my skin and then get a tattoo."
Quinn grinned. "Same for me, except JK Rowling. Or maybe Douglas Adams but seeing as he's dead that could be a bit hard to achieve."
"Do you want to get tattoos? We'll be like those cheesy lesbian couples with matching tattoos, ew."
"They won't be matching. We can each get something that'll remind us of the other. Or of our time together. Something small. Symbolic."
"I mean, I'm not against tattoos. But… what would I get? Maybe the words Harry Potter across my forehead," she grinned as Quinn shoved her under the blanket. "Yep, that should do it. In sparkly pink, just like those funny socks of yours."
"Hey, hey. Every exam I ever aced was done on a table right above those very socks, so shut it."
"Where would you want this… hypothetical tattoo of yours?" Rachel asked after a moment of silence.
"Dunno. I haven't thought about it that much."
"Liar."
"Okay okay. Somewhere on my arm? I want it small and visible – to me at least. Not on my back or something. Maybe here?" Quinn pulled out an arm from underneath the covers and pointed to a spot near the inside of her elbow.
"This?" Rachel asked, leaning in to kiss the spot she was pointing at.
"Maybe here," Quinn added, pointing to her inner bicep.
"That's good too," Rachel answered, kissing that spot as well.
"… Or here," Quinn pointed at her collarbone, a smile slowly forming on her lips.
"Even better," Rachel murmured as she pressed her own lips to the spot. "Personally, I prefer here," she added, tracing her lips across Quinn's neck and kissing her behind her ear. She wrapped her arms around Quinn, pulling her closer as she went from her ear to her mouth.
"I think here would kind of hurt," Quinn managed to say in between laughter and Rachel's kisses, which were really limiting her ability to move her mouth.
"I'm starting to like this tattoo plan," Rachel replied, going back to her neck.
"Rach, I think we've kind of gone off topic here," Quinn said.
"We do tend to do that, don't we…" Rachel answered.
"Yes, it's kind of a bad habit."
"I actually tend to enjoy it."
"Rach, really. What do you think about the tattoos?" Quinn asked for the third time.
"Ugh," Rachel replied, pulling herself away from Quinn. "I think it's… nice. Interesting. A bit less than what I was trying to do before you interrupted me but…"
Quinn frowned.
"Okay okay. It's a nice idea. We have been together for quite a while. And as long as it could be a standalone thing, like, as long as it would be a nice image even out of context. Do you have any ideas?" Rachel asked, quickly adding "of course you do."
Quinn reached up to the wooden headboard, feeling it for something and then briefly scratching the wood before pulling her hand back in between their faces.
Rachel grinned. She peeled the small golden star sticker and reached out for Quinn's arm, sticking it just below the inside of her elbow.
The two looked at it for a moment.
"Not bad," Rachel commented.
"Not bad at all," Quinn replied.
Another moment passed.
"You know, this wasn't actually such a bad place either," Quinn said suddenly, pulling off the star and sticking it on her collarbone instead. She grinned.
Rachel's lips were on the spot in seconds.
"Promise me you'll think about it, Rach," Quinn said quickly, knowing she'd be forgetting all about her plans in the next sixty seconds.
Rachel didn't even bother answering this time.