Nimble fingers were laced tightly around a pencil, lightly moving the lead against paper in quick motions. Pierced lips curled in determination as Eren Jaeger sketched what he hoped would be the best tattoo design he had ever made yet. He had been at this all day, and crumpled balls of paper sprawled across his desk and on the floor from missed basket tosses to the trashcan were more than enough proof of that. He had drawn feathers, skulls, swords, and even a half-naked pinup doll with pouting red lips. But none of them seemed to be just right. As a proud owner of an ink shop, it was a responsibility of his to have some premade designs ready. Even if most of the time he had to make all of them for scratch because of the customer wanting something different. Nonetheless, he wanted to display just what his shop could do.
Pictures hung in the front window of various inked bodies; most of which were past customers and even a few of his employees. Almost all of them had some sort of tattoo. Eren worked alongside several friends, though some of them not as close as the others. There was Mikasa, who was tough but protective and kind. She chronically wore a red scarf that was given to her by Eren. She worked as a receptionist and took appointments, and worked on restoring old motorcycles in her spare time. Next, there was Armin. Extremely smart, a little on the innocent and naive side. His hair was long and blonde, and his facial features constantly got him confused for a girl. But, he rocked the whole androgynous thing pretty well as all things were considered. He took college AP courses when he wasn't helping mix up ink or sketching designs with Eren. Lastly, there was Marco and Jean. Jean was a complete and utter hothead who liked picking fights, but Marco kept him at bay. They were both roommates and did most of the actual tattooing, even though Marco had a severe fear of needles. Everyone worked together and (for the most part) in harmony, though with Jean and Eren occasionally lashing out and going for eachother's throats.
Eren breathed heavily through his nose, dropping the pencil on the desk. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh, raking his hand through his messy chocolate locks. This design wasn't his best at all. And it annoyed him to no end. Absentmindedly, he ran his tongue over the pierced part of his lip and reached up to lightly tweak the septum in his nose. Perhaps, he mused, he should be drawing this like it was for himself. But it wasn't like he needed more. He had full sleeves with skulls and shades, and even an anchor with a mermaid on his thigh. His obsession with the ocean had lead him to that. Eren heaved himself up from his desk, resisting the urge to crumple up yet another design but he restrained himself. He stretched, popped his back, and cracked his knuckles. He definitely needed a break. Walking out of the office type area in the back of the shop which he was currently in, he trailed down the hallway, partly glancing at his reflection in the mirror. There were at least a dozen in the halls, so people could run out and see their tattoos as soon as they were finished. A turquoise and honey eye stared back at him. He grinned cheekily, partly glad for the unique disorder. He ruffled his hair as he made his way to the front of the store.
Mikasa sat in her usual spot behind a clean desk with a laptop in front of her and a phone sandwiched between her shoulder and ear. She talked about what the shop had to offer, what times were open, and how experienced the tattoo artists were. She typed something quickly onto her laptop, glancing up momentarily with her solemn eyes at Eren in greeting. A small smile graced her pale pink lips before returning back to work. The young man waved slightly in response, walking past her towards the window. He adjusted the pictures there idly, deciding that more needed to be taken and soon. Mikasa's back and ankle tattoos were on display there, as well as Armin's henna design he had from his arms down to his fingertips. The designs for his lower half hadn't been planned yet. Marco's and Jean's matching puzzle piece wrist tattoos were there as well, and so was Jean's eyebrow and nose piercing. Eren's ink and metal were there too.
Something caught the young man's multi-colored eyes as he stared out the window. His mouth opened slightly in surprise. Armin, who just so happened to finish taking a few pictures of customers and their ink, came up behind the brunet. A questioning look was held in his blue hues. The blonde tilted his head slightly from side to side in curiosity, moving beside his friend just to see what exactly he was gaping over. Next to their happy little ink shop, the empty space beside them in the shopping center was being moved into. A short, stoic man with an undercut was busy kicking down the 'For Sale' sign, while balancing various potted plants in his arms. He pushed the door to his new space open with his hip, and disappeared from the duo's sights.
"Well I'll be damned," Eren said quietly after a moment. "I would've never guessed that a flower shop was moving in next to us." Armin nodded in agreement, and started to tape up the pictures that he was holding. "It's kind of unexpected... But at least we're not alone anymore, right?" The blonde smiled slightly.
"True, true." Eren scratched his head idly, still looking at the shop. Now that he had bothered to notice, a sign was already hanging up and it looked like the place was almost completely set up already. The shop name read 'Wallflowers and Other Socially Awkward Organisms'. It was odd, but unique. Eren had to give the guy credit for that. "Hey, think it would be a crime if I swung by there to say hi?" He asked Armin, momentarily tearing his gaze away from the flower shop. Armin was just finishing up taping the pictures. "It wouldn't be a bad idea… Maybe you guys could even collaborate! Flower tattoos!" The blonde grinned, stepping back to admire his work on putting up the photographs. Eren just snickered and rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. I'm gonna go," And, with that, the brunet walked swiftly out of his tattoo parlor and across the sidewalk area that connected the two buildings.
The punk tattoo shop owner stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, suddenly regretting his decision to come over. His pace had slowed dramatically; from a confident strut to something slow and awkward. His eyes were carefully watching the man emerge from his own store and walk to a car, which had several more potted plants inside. He picked up a heavy looking one and teetered on his feet for a moment, dangerously swaying and almost losing his balance. At the sight of that, however, Eren sped up, now running to the man's side.
Just as he was about to topple over completely, the younger man stepped in, lifting the other side of the pot and keeping it level. The shorter man grumbled to himself momentarily, before glaring over the top of the plant at whoever it was who decided to come and rescue him. Some soil sloshed over the side from nearly falling down, but the plant was still safe. Eren felt like he got punched in the gut when their eyes met for a split second. Well, fuck if the guy wasn't absolutely gorgeous. Even so, he mustered up some courage despite the gay attack he was having and smiled politely. "Hey! Uh.. Welcome!" A light blush dusted his cheeks as he became somewhat bashful. The other male unashamedly stared at him with dull, silver eyes. Eren tried to keep his composure and not get flustered, but to no avail. "N-need some help?" He choked on his words somewhat, but nonetheless; he got the message out correctly.
"It appears you're already helping. Why bother asking?" The older made a 'tch' sound at the back of his throat, rolling his silver hues at the younger one. "Whatever, just help me get this damn thing inside." With that, Eren nodded in response, and helped the male carry the heavy plant inside the shop. Once it was set down on the counter, he turned to properly face the man. The flower shop owner dusted himself off idly; smoothing down his crisp white apron and black khakis. Without doing much thinking, Eren suddenly thrust his hand out for the other to take, stupidly huge grin on his lips. "I'm Eren, by the way!
The flower shop owner narrowed his eyes and knit his eyebrows at the sight of the man's filthy, dirty fingers. But, he still took them and gently shook his hand. "Levi," He said back, small smile lightly appearing on his features. He let go and wiped his palms on his apron.