My plan for this ended at about 3000 words and I ended up spontaneously deciding to add the next 1000 because it felt like you should get the whole story of this AU even if its drabble-y. So anyway, I hope you enjoy!
He wasn't huge on tattoos. Frankly, he just had a fear of needles and his girlfriend didn't like tattoos so his body remained a blank slate. So it was purely coincidence of circumstances that he ended up standing uncomfortably in a tattoo parlor called "Ink in our Veins", a shady looking building with florescent lights breaking the dark sporadically and a very unfortunate architecture job at none other than three in the morning. He'd been called in by a snippy woman on the phone asking him (not very politely) to get his friend who had been drunk when he came in and asked for a tattoo. He had demanded to know why they had given a man with an obvious alcohol impairment a tattoo but the response had been a less than friendly reply that if he had the money, they didn't care.
So there he stood, waiting for his friend's tattoo to be finished as he stared with wide eyes at the art that littered the walls. Inspiration for tattoos he was told. And when his dizzy, giggling friend was half led, half dragged out of the back room where the actual tattooing was done by a gorgeous blonde that stood a head shorter than him he really wasn't sure what to make of the situation.
"Lukey!" His friend cried out as he was passed over from the woman's shoulder to his rather roughly. He recoiled with a disgusted look on his face when he smelled the strong stench of alcohol on the man's breath.
"Hi, Zay. Bud, how much did you drink?" Zay snickered into his shoulder and looked back up at him with unfocussed eyes.
"Lukey it was only a couple'a shots, don't worry, I did a lot better than usual, don't worry." Lucas looked over his friend's shoulder and mouthed 'just as bad' at the artist, who snorted at the ridiculousness of the situation, though it wasn't unusual in her business.
"Whatever, Zay. When you sober up, we're definitely gonna have a conversation about this, but for now, just show me your tattoo. What's the damage this time?" Zay proudly pushed his friend back a little and turned to face the other way, holding Lucas' shoulder to steady himself. Displayed on his bicep was a two inch tall image of a stylized anchor with a rope wrapped around it. Lucas breathed sigh of relief. It was actually a beautifully done tattoo and it was all in black ink so it wouldn't show up too stunningly on Zay's darker skin.
"Alright, anchors literally mean nothing to you but this isn't too bad; its reasonably small, its in black ink and you can cover it up pretty easily. We can deal with this one." He looked up when the small blonde slammed her hand on the counter, her hip cocked to the side and her hand resting on the bone with a furious glare in her bright blue eyes.
"Excuse me? That anchor is a masterpiece. And who might you be to be discounting my art?" He blinked for a moment before realization crossed his face, followed quickly by alarm.
"Nononono! I don't mean the tattoo itself! Its a really nice tattoo its just… I…" He stuttered, trying to get his meaning across. She shook her head at him.
"Of course, I get to deal with the friend who doesn't know how to appreciate creativity, lucky me." He reached out and grabbed her shoulder as she began to turn away. She snapped her head around to face him, a snarky remark ready on her tongue but he didn't give her the chance to talk.
"No, I'm really sorry if what I said came across that way, but thats not what I meant!" He pleaded. She merely rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Well that what did you mean, Lukey?" she bit back. He internally swore at the fact that Zay just had to come on out with that nickname that no one had really called him since he was six.
"Well, a couple years ago, Zay was out drinking and he came back to the apartment with some kind of anime panda tattooed on his butt…" He had to restrain himself from laughing as the blonde's giggle bubbled up from her lips without restraint.
"Ah, that kind of bad tattoo. Alright, I'll let you off the hook. If this ever happens again just hope your friend here comes to this place, 'cause we don't give cutesy tattoos here." She turned again to walk away, still laughing lightly about the unfortunate man with a panda on his rear.
"You really are a great artist you know, Miss…?" He began, realizing he had never gotten her name. She didn't even look back as she walked through the curtain into the back room.
"Wouldn't you like to know."
The second time he walked into "Ink in our Veins" was strangely on purpose. Zay had wanted another tattoo (this time when he was sober) and he had really liked the design of the anchor that had found its way onto his arm. After asking Lucas (because Zay was honestly had no memory of the events of that late night and early morning) he sat in the same leather bound chair as the same beautiful blonde woman etched 'Vanessa' into his left forearm. Lucas remained out front, his fear on needles prevailing. But this time he was much more comfortable and began looking through the inspiration book on the counter, filled with sleeves and sleeves of intricate pen drawings. They were all signed in the bottom corner and he noticed that most of them had the initials 'MH' on the page. The designs looked similar to those on Zay's anchor so he assumed those to be the initials of the woman who had refused to tell him her name.
When Zay returned with his latest girlfriend's name written in cursive on the inside of his forearm, Lucas was yet again amazed by the craftsmanship. After listening to Zay babble on about something or the other, he interrupted his friend.
"Zay, what do you think Riley would do if I came back with a tattoo?" This made his friend forget whatever he as saying and stare at the dirty blonde.
"Lucas, you're kidding right? I mean, you can't even handle needles and even if you could, Princess Dancing Sunshine would flip." Lucas rolled his eyes at the nickname. He looked at the artist when she let out a harsh laugh.
"You let your little girlfriend dictate what you do with your own skin? Thats pretty sad, Lukey," she said condescendingly. He frowned.
"I haven't gotten one because I'm not comfortable with needles, thank you very much," he retorted, mildly annoyed because sadly, what she said was true.
"Oh so you're a pushover and a wuss. Congrats." She shook her head when he frowned. "All I'm saying is that you should be allowed to do what you want with your own body and if someone is trying to control it for you, you should cut that kind of negativity out of your life. But hey, none of my business," she finished, hands held up in surrender. He grabbed a sticky note and a pen from behind the counter and began sketching out a design on the paper, a frown still on his face. He would show her. When he finished, he had a heart outlined by a rope, like the one his father had taught him to use for competitions back in Texas. When he handed the square of paper to her, she studied it closely and looked back up at him.
"Ah. So you're a pushover, a wuss and a cowboy. Just my luck. Alright, follow me then." She led him back through the curtain and his breath hitched as he saw the tattoo needle and realized what he was about to do. Zay followed him back muttering something along the lines of 'this is gonna be good'.
"Where do you want it, Huckleberry?" she asked and he stared at her quizzically at the nickname. She rolled her eyes.
"I don't know, I didn't feel like calling you Lukey anymore 'cause it sounds like something your mom or cutesy girlfriend would call you and I don't know your actual name. Plus you've got your little lasso thing going on there so why not?" He held out his hand.
"Well if we're going to actually do this, I think its time for us to be properly acquainted. Hi, I'm Lucas Friar." She grinned and took his hand.
"Pleasure to meet you Sundance, I'm Maya Hart." He chuckled when he looked down at her petite form, a grin splitting her face that could rival the Cheshire cat. All he could do was chuckle as she led him to her work chair and prepared her equipment.
"So, where do you want your ink, Ranger Rick?"
Needless to say, when Lucas returned to his apartment with the lasso heart over the spot where his real heart was, Riley 'discussed' with him for an hour about why she didn't like tattoos (because she really didn't) and how you didn't need to change yourself because you're perfect (because she really thought he was) and that it was cute but he really needed to think these things through (because he really hadn't). And he recalled what Maya had said to him but he and Riley had dated for a year and a half now and she really loved him and he really liked her so he didn't think this was nearly big enough for him to break up with her over.
The third time he stood in "Ink in our Veins" he rang the service bell on the counter an obscene amount of times before a man with a green mohawk and tattoos everywhere stepped out from behind the curtain with a scowl and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing because did he know how hard it was to keep your focus on someone's tattoo when some idiot is ringing the bell like that? He asked the man if Maya was here (after apologizing profusely because he really was) and the man told him he would have her come out when she was done with another customer's ink. So he waited out by the counter for twenty minutes, realizing that he wasn't uncomfortable here anymore and he wasn't all that scared of needles after feeling for himself that they didn't hurt too bad. And when she came out and promptly punched him in the shoulder, he somehow found that he wasn't surprised.
"You know I was this close to messing up my client's tattoo because of you with your crazy bell ringing?!" And again he apologized until she cut him off and asked what he was doing there.
"Well I uh… me and Riley we… we got into a fight. She was getting kind of controlling about something and I remembered what you said and…" A look of mild concern crossed Maya's face.
"Did you guys break up?" she asked and he shook his head.
"No, but I guess we're kind of on break now. I guess. And its starting to sound pretty stupid but I came in here all fired up to get another tattoo to make her mad but I'm reconsidering now…" She shook her head, a look of amusement on her face.
"Well do you want the tattoo or not, Sundance?" He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously.
"Kinda…"
"What is it of?"
"Well, I thought it might be cool if I got a barbed wire pattern around my arm or something…" She chuckled lightly.
"Such a Huckleberry. Well lets get to it, hm? I've got a good idea." And he followed her, realizing that he did in fact want this tattoo and it wasn't just Riley motivating him to get it.
While she disinfected his arm before starting, he noticed that oddly enough, his sort-of-friend had no tattoos of her own. When he asked, she shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Never really found something that meant enough to me for it to be permanently on my skin, you know?" He nodded, understanding perfectly.
Eventually, he and Riley got back together (or rather Riley accepted him back, ink and all).
The fourth time he walked into "Ink in our Veins" he waited patiently at the counter until Maya was done, his t shirt barely showing the spikes of the barbed wire peeking out of his shirt sleeve. When she came out she greeted him with a hearty 'ha-hurr' to which he responded with only an amused grin and a shake of the head.
"What'll it be today, Bucky McBoing Boing?"
"Thats a new one."
"I got creative while you were gone. Now what do you want?" He bit the inside of his cheek and adverted his gaze. She raised her eyebrow in confusion.
"Hey, are you okay?" When he finally looked at her he let out an awkward laugh.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Riley broke up with me." Maya's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh… wow, I'm sorry about that. What happened?" He shrugged and bit his lip.
"Well, she told me she felt like I was becoming some whole other person. Like… she didn't really even know me anymore. Something about my life choices and my mood, I don't know. I don't think I was ever the Mr. Perfect she thought I was anyway." The blonde blinked at him for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Thats too bad, I'm sorry that happened." He shook his head.
"It's okay, it hurts, I mean we were together for two years, but I think we both needed to move on soon. I was her first boyfriend and I think splitting up now is best for both of us." She nodded as she took in his words.
"Well I'm glad you're taking it so well. So what do you need me for?" He tugged his v neck down so that the corner of his first tattoo, the rope heart, was visible.
"I was hoping to update this, a little, to fit me a little better. To be honest it wasn't really 'me' to begin with, I kinda just drew something that I thought Riley would want." She smirked as she led him back through the now familiar curtain.
"Way to take your life back. What were you thinking we should do with it?" He pulled out a faded picture of a ranch. He handed it to her.
"This was my Pappy Joe's ranch back in Texas, where I'm from."
"Sundance, I don't think I can fit this whole picture into that heart—"
"No, that's not what I wanted, don't worry. A couple years before I moved, there was a huge drought. The land dried up and everyone told him that the land was hopeless. It was cracked and split up and they said he had to move on, find a new plot of land. See, you can see the cracks in the picture." He pointed to a section of the photograph.
"So you want me to put the cracks inside the heart? Is that what you were hoping for?" she asked, her expression unreadable. He nodded slowly.
"Yeah, thats right. They told my grandfather he'd have to move but he didn't give up. And after a few years, he got the land back to being just as fertile as it was before the drought. You get it?" Understanding crossed the blonde woman's face.
"You want these cracks to say that you're hurting now, but you can bounce back from this." He gave a single nod.
"Wow, way to make that goofy little lasso heart meaningful. If you're trying to get a date, tell her about that tattoo. She'll be yours instantly, I guarantee."
The rest of the tattoo took only forty five minutes and when they were finished, Maya asked if he wanted to get a drink, on her since his week had been so crappy. He agreed.
One drink led to a second and a third and a fourth and soon Lucas had silent tears running down his face as he leaned on Maya's shoulder. But she wasn't surprised because she could tell he was holding everything in. So she let him cry while she picked up his phone and found Zay's (who luckily wasn't out clubbing that night) number and he came to pick them up. They both woke up the next morning with hangovers and complete memories of how messed up life was at that moment in time.
Lucas went into "Ink in our Veins" a lot after that. He had become friends with Maya by this point and they liked hanging out together, drinking, eating, or just talking. Everything came so naturally to them. But though he came into the tattoo parlor another sixty seven times, Lucas didn't get another tattoo and Maya still remained tattoo less. On the seventy first time that he walked into "Ink in our Veins" he was nervous. He had a feeling that the earth's cracks were healing by this point. So while he waited by the counter, he fiddled with a red rose in his hands, trying not to pick off the petals with his fidgeting. The blonde appeared through the curtain and smiled when she saw him and his stomach fluttered nervously.
"Huckleberry."
"Shortstack." (he had finally come up with a single nickname for her but wasn't creative enough to think of as many as she had) Maya's eyes flashed with something unreadable when she saw the rose and she looked at him strangely.
"What's with the rose, Hop-along?" His hand awkwardly shot out as he offered it to her.
"Its uh… its for you." A blush appeared on her cheeks and he was sure his own cheeks were dusted with pink as well.
"Wow, thanks, Ranger Rick. I don't know what to say." He shuffled his feet lightly on the faded gray carpet.
"You could say yes… 'cause I was going to ask you out." She looked up at him and a snicker bubbled up from her lips. His stomach dropped.
"Huckleberry, I demand you try that again."
"…excuse me?"
"You just asked me out in the most cliché way possible and I'm totally fine with the date part, but would you please say it someway that doesn't sound like we're in a bad rom com?" He smiled slowly to match the grin that spread across her face and shook his head in relief.
"Miss Maya Hart, will you do me the honor of going out with me?" he asked, offering his elbow for her to take and over emphasizing his southern accent. She the full out laugh he had learned to really love and took his arm.
"Why, I thought you'd never ask, cowboy." And they walked out of the parlor to the cafe a few blocks away that had become their usual hang out.
Lucas came back to "Ink in our Veins" a lot more after that. The days added up and eventually Maya had a large vase filled with water set out that he would put a single rose into each time he came. They still had the same number of tattoos.
He came to the shady looking building with florescent lights breaking the dark sporadically and a very unfortunate architecture job a total of three hundred forty nine times before now and Maya was getting her first tattoo. She had finally discovered something meaningful enough to her to get it permanently etched into her skin. He held her hand the whole time because she was a little shocked by the sensation and he was a lot proud of her.
And when the tattoo was finally finished she turned around and showed him the single red rose on her right shoulder blade and he smiled and kissed her over her shoulder.
"It's beautiful," he muttered. "You're beautiful." And all she could do was smile.
They celebrated her twenty-fifth birthday on February 18th 2024. She felt old. He asked if she wanted a tattoo to commemorate the moment, but she didn't think she needed it. He tells her he doesn't want any more tattoos because all he needs is the artist. And when he got down on one knee and held out a black velvet box, she knows he means it. And she cries and nods her head and kisses him over and over. And he holds her in his arms and smiles because he's the luckiest Huckleberry in all of New York.
They have a small wedding. His whole family came from Texas to see his wedding and for once in her life both her parents are there to support her. And Zay came because when it comes down to it he introduced them. And Riley came because they still all managed to be friends even though it was sometimes a little awkward. And she cried through her vows and he grinned through his and she seriously thinks theres something wrong because she never cried so much until the day she met him and now she can't stop and all he can do is laugh because ever since he met her thats all he can do.
They're happy with the little things in life, like when whichever one of them wakes up first makes coffee and breakfast and when they walk in the park and the nights they spend together when they aren't asleep at all. Lucas has gone to "Ink in our Veins" so many times now that they've lost count, because they'd never tell each other but in their minds they were both keeping count of how many times he came in (but he's counted one more than her because before they were dating he came in a day that she was home sick. She wasn't sure how he knew she was sick but she didn't complain when he came to her apartment with can of soup and lotion filled tissues). Because when they have their hands intertwined and tattoos to kiss theres really nothing better for an artist and her canvas.
She's crying in an uncomfortable grey chair, holding his hand, wondering why the world would do something like this. He doesn't show anything, he just holds her in his arms.
On August 23rd 2045 the doctors tell her there's nothing they can do. He's going to die within the next year. Her rose tattoo hurt but she doesn't think anything has ever hurt this much. He still doesn't cry and she feels selfish because she should be the one comforting him but she can't stop the tears from falling fast and falling heavy.
She was sad and he was scared so every night before he fell asleep he placed her hand over his heart tattoo and whispered 'My body might be broken but you fixed the cracks in here.' And every night she cried a little and every night he held her tight.
Its September 9th 2044 and he's gone and she feels like her life is over. She's only forty two and she feels like nothing will be okay every again. Because now theres no one to hold her hand an no one to kiss her tattoo and no one's tattoos to kiss and no more visits to count (even if she lost count years ago and she was one off anyway). And she cries even harder when she sees Zay and Riley both dressed in black and as they hug her she can't help but think that no amount of hugs will ever equal one of his. And when she goes to sleep she realizes that the last thing she ever heard him say was 'My body might be broken but you fixed the cracks in here' and she starts crying all over again because she'll never hear him say it again.
The last tattoo she ever gets is a modification of her rose. She's left with a red rose with a barbed wire stem and the date he died along the straight of the stem. She realizes that this is the most meaningful tattoo she could ever have. She almost quits her job at 'Ink in our Veins' because it reminds her of him but she doesn't because he wouldn't want that. His vase is still there and there's always water but no roses.
She's 89 when she gets this feeling that he's right next to her. She can't see him but she just has this feeling and she knows. So she whispers 'My body might be broken but you fixed the cracks in here' with tears in her eyes and when she next opens her eyes they're young again and he's swept her up in his arms and nothing has ever felt so good as the feeling of joy just dancing under her skin like ink in their veins.