Flower Shop/Tattoo Artist
"You're joking."
Sobaku Temari offered a surly smirk with an air of satisfaction hanging around her. She folded her arms across her chest and cocked her hip to the side. "Beggars can't be choosers, bro."
"I didn't beg for this."
Temari's smirk dropped and she wheeled around. Her youngest brother had a good couple of inches on her but hell if that would stop her. "I don't want any of that attitude of yours, Gaara. If you'd have gotten your shit together early on, we wouldn't have to resort to this. Now shut up and be nice to Ino. She didn't have to do this for us," She chided him in that no-nonsense way of hers. Gaara scowled at his sister, lip curling as he turned back towards the cute, cottage-like flower shop. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Temari was right. God, he hated when she was right. Ino really didn't have to hire him to help her around her family's famous flower shop. Why, she even agreed, was anyone's guess.
But hey, helping out at a flower shop for 'community service' sure as hell beat wasting away behind bars.
"You could have at least worn a longer shirt," Temari scolded him, eyeing the edge of colorful tattoos peeking from underneath his sleeves.
"And I also could have not broken the law but here we are, Mari'."
Temari leveled him with a look, the type of look their mother used to shoot him and his brother when she was losing her patience. It's unnerving to see the exact same expression on his sister's face. "Just...go," She said after a long moment of just staring at him, unfolding her arms to shove him forward.
Ino was nice about letting him work there, her parents were on some vacation and she could use the extra help. She mostly kept him in the backrooms and yard, away from her customers. Not that he even minded. He wasn't sure what it would do to her business and reputation if she had his scary ass out front and center. Besides, he didn't mind doing all the heavy lifting and other chores if it meant not having to interact with people.
So he was doing just fine until one day when Ino needed to make an emergency delivery. Of course she couldn't leave the shop unattended. "It'll just be thirty minutes, Gaara, I promise. No one usually comes in around this time anyway. Just stay in the front, water the flowers and I'll be right back."
Not long after Ino left, the bell chimed.
Fuckin' liar, that woman was.
"Well who's the one who forgot the shit in the first place? Don't give me that bullshit, you twat. You're the one who forgot about her birthday, which makes no sense at all because you managed to remember mine. We're twins, for shit's sake!"
Gaara wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn't a vertically challenged woman, who despite her vulgar language, had quite the pretty face. Well, if he was being completely honest, her pretty face was a little odd. Not that she wasn't pretty. The combination of her features were just...something you'd read in a fantasy novel. There was something fairytale-ish about her.
"Goddammit, Naruto, I don't have to do this shit for you," the tiny terror growled. "You know what, Naruto, shut the hell up. I'm at Ino's and I'll get the goddamn bouquet, alright?" the pint sized devil stabbed at the phone, ending the call and promptly shoved the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "Yo, amazon, let me tell you how Naruto fucked up th—you're not Ino." She stopped short, staring up at him with wide eyes.
"No, evidently, I'm not," Gaara replied in a lazy drawl, leaning against the counter. The woman frowned, lips puckering into a slight pout. His shirt pulls, revealing an inch of tattooed skin. Her eyes are quick to rove over the bright colors but he caught the motion anyway. He waited for her face to twist up in disapproval. Her face would pull and she'd probably leave because hell if she would do business with some former tattooed thug.
"Ino's much prettier," She commented instead, mischievous eyes catching his gaze. A slight smile pulled at her lips. "I didn't know she was hiring new help."
"Special circumstances called for it."
"Don't they always?" She hummed, though it didn't sound much like a question. The woman stepped up to the counter, leaning against it. "So do you know how to put bouquets together or are you just here to look pretty?"
Was she flirting with him?
Well that was new.
"Not as pretty as Ino, it would seem," He answered around an amused smirk.
"No one is as pretty as Ino," She grinned like a Cheshire cat. That isn't true but it's not in his nature to butter women up for a smile or a two. "But that's okay, she'll be back soon, anyway. I'll come back later, can't be gone for too long from work. Boss'll get pissed. I just need a bouquet of white orchids and pink roses, can you tell Ino that when she gets back?"
"Mm," He flipped Ino's notebook open of all the orders recorded for the day. "Name?" He asked, tapping the pen against the paper.
"Xin," She replied simply. She leaned on the tips of her toes, using the counter as leverage for balance. "Want my phone number too?"
He's rendered speechless.
The woman—Xin (that's an odd name if he's ever heard one) let out a laugh that sounded like bells and fell back on her feet. "Kidding, kidding," She mused jokingly before looking back towards his tattooed biceps. "Swing by our shop, yeah?"
And just like that, she was gone.
Ino came back, somewhat amused that he'd finally met Xin. Apparently the girl was nearly infamous among the cluster of shops that took up the town's square. "She's...a character," the blonde said slowly, already arranging the apology bouquet. "Nice girl with a twisted sense of humor. You two would get along great, she works at the tattoo shop."
"Tattoo shop?" He parrots, armed with a heavy tray of potted lilies. There's a tattoo shop around here and Xin worked there? Maybe that's why she didn't react badly to his own tattooed arms.
"You never noticed it? Well it's farther down, next to the nail salon. Ink Old Blood, like in cold blood. I thought it was pretty clever. The owners are pretty nice and it's mostly guys. Whenever they mess up with their girlfriends, they'll send Xin over to buy some flowers," Ino explained with a twinkle in her eyes. Xin was an obvious familiar face, seeing as Ino didn't seemed surprised at all.
"It would be weird to see scary tattooed men come into a flower shop," Gaara mused. "She works the front desk or something?"
"She's a tattoo artist. I think she just finished her apprenticeship last year. From what I saw, she's pretty good too." The conversation about tattoo shops and fairy-like women end there, having run its course. They get back to work, with him eventually retreating to the backroom when customers begin to flood in.
A week later, Xin is back. Her lips are puckered in annoyance as she stalked towards the cash register. "Well, if it isn't the tiny terror," Ino sung at the sight of the much shorter woman. "Who screwed up this time?"
"Sasuke," Xin rolled her eyes, placing her elbow on the counter. She balanced her chin against her knuckles, looking every bit of bored. "Date night or some shit. I don't know, I wasn't listening. He doesn't want roses though. I think Sakura is getting bored of them," Xin shrugged careless shoulders. Ino hummed in thought, watching as Xin's eyes swept the shop. She would have chalked it off as Xin studying the colorful array of flowers but something told her it wasn't that. "Where's your new worker bee?" Xin asked after searching the shop.
Annnnd there it was.
"You mean Gaara," Ino supplied helpfully, fighting the smug smile that was pulling at her pink lips. "He's in the back. He comes off as a little intimidating so we agreed that he'd mostly stick to the back. Heavy lifting and watering the flowers."
"Intimidating? He seemed pretty nice that last time."
Before Ino could make a proper retort, Gaara stepped out from the back room. His arms were stretched above his head, allowing his sleeves to reveal the tattoos. Xin couldn't really tell what they were but she was positive the tattoos led to his back. "Oi, Ino—" He stopped at the sight of her.
"Hi," Xin smiled at him, watching as he dropped his arms back to his sides. She almost pouted but gathered herself. "Ino says you're helping out for awhile. That's nice. I never got your name that last time," She spoke with an air of innocence, smiling all the while. Her head tilted to the side, selling the innocent façade she currently wore.
Ino shot her a look but Xin brushed it off.
"It's Gaara."
Xin rolled her bottom lip into her mouth, sinking her teeth into it. She released it thoughtlessly a moment later. "Nice to meet you, Gaara. I'm Xin, in case you forgot, and I work at the tattoo parlor. If you ever want any new tattoos, I'm your girl."
Gaara gave her a funny look but nodded nonetheless, muttering about being done watering the flowers. "Thanks," Ino smiled at him. "There's actually some Gardenias that I need you to bring out front. But be careful, their petals bruise easily," She reminded him as he turned away with a quick nod. But not before noticing Xin waving at him as he left. Once the door closed behind him, Ino quirked a pale brow at the blunette. "Xin, about Sasuke?"
"Who now?"
Ino snorted and sagged against the counter, chuckling. "Could you be any more obvious?" She grinned. "Remember why you're here in the first place? Sasuke wanted flowers for Sakura? For date night?"
"Oh, yeah. How about peonies? Tulips? Tulips are nice. Pink, yellow and white? Sakura would like that shit, right?" Xin rambled in a distracted manner. "Course she would, Sakura likes that sappy shit."
Ino let out a laugh, jotting the order down. "Why don't you just ask him for his number?" She asked softly, brushing her fingers through flaxen locks. Xin steadily avoided Ino's gaze, finding her nails much more interesting.
"I don't know what you're talking about," She muttered just as the door swung open again. Gaara came stalking out from the back, armed with a heavy load of the fragile flowers Ino requested.
"You should start dating, Xin. Maybe then someone could buy you flowers instead of you buying flowers for everyone's girlfriends. Take someone home to meet your parents."
Xin snorted at that, absently picking up the pen Ino set down. She began sketching at the corner of the paper, filling it with abstract doodles. "My parents won't approve of anyone I date," Xin hummed in a distracted tone, making it a point to not look up as Gaara went about with arranging the flowers the way Ino had showed him.
"They approved of Naruto."
"Naruto is dating Hinata. She can do no wrong. Me, on the other hand," Xin took a moment, snorting at her own thoughts. "Well I did run off to become a tattoo artist, of all things," She said in the careless tone of hers. Ino frowned, watching as Gaara's shoulders seemed to stiffen. "There's no use crying over spilled milk, eh? Anyway, I need to get back. I'll see you around," Xin straightened up, setting the pen down. She twisted around, eyes flickering under the bright lights. "You too, Gaara. Don't be a stranger."
The flower shop is left in a comfortable silence long after Xin leaves. Despite that, Gaara had an odd feeling and Ino looked like a grinning bobcat.
The third time Xin comes back around, she's armed with a parcel of something. Ino blinked at the smaller girl, frowning as she stepped into the shop. "Who messed up this time?" She asked in exasperation. Really, the guys didn't often mess up with their girlfriends. It was normal to see Xin once, maybe, twice a month. Not three times in one month.
"No one," Xin smiled at her. "I baked some treats with my sisters last night but we overdid it. I gave some to the guys at the shop but I still had some left over so why not share with you two?"
"How thoughtful," Ino mused, coming from behind the counter. She waved Gaara after her, smiling as she did so. "I am on a diet but I'll make an exception since they're your cookies," She grinned at the sight of the cookies. Gaara stooped over Xin's slight frame, realizing just how tiny she was. The nickname, 'tiny terror' as Ino lovingly said, was really fitting of her appearance. She tilted her head back, inky blue locks falling away from her face as she offered both her smile and her package of cookies.
He could see why Ino would make an exception to Xin's cookies. They were fuckin' delicious. He didn't even feel weird about reaching for a second helping. Xin hung around while they munched on the cookies and continued working. Apparently she was finished with work for the day but decided to share the cookies with Gaara and Ino before she headed home. That's how he found himself in the back-area doing the heavy lifting while Xin busied with watering the flowers. She playfully griped about Ino putting her to work for free but it seemed like she didn't really mind it at all.
She's over by the daffodils when she speaks up. "How come you're so touchy about your tattoos?" her voice is light, serene almost. For some reason, he figured it was in her nature to go straight for the kill. Blunt as all hell. "You hide them all the time."
"Do you have tattoos?" He asked instead. She paused at his question, setting Ino's watering can down and turned towards him. She pulled the sleeve of her shirt up, baring her forearm. The somber face of Frankenstein's monster stares back. She reached for the other sleeve, pulling that up to reveal thin vines wrapping around her wrist with two silhouette of birds perched on it. Boldly she lifted the hem of her shirt, revealing a waning Crescent moon, a full moon and a waxing Crescent moon along the curving underside of her breast.
Much later on, when their relationship had blossomed into something more, she'll show him the weeping Geisha tattooed to her thigh, the dying Sakura branch on the back of her shoulder and the Skull with growing vines on her hip. But for now, she simply shows him just three.
"My tattoos are gang-related," Gaara murmured, waiting for the judgmental onslaught. Yes, they both had tattoos but he knew for a fact that a girl like her wasn't involved with gangs and organized crime.
"Are they?" She asked after a long moment. She adjusted her shirt, smoothing the wrinkles away cause by all of her tugging. "My Boss used to be in a gang. His girlfriend too. Actually most of my coworkers were in a gang too. They're some of the nicest people you could meet," Xin spoke in that same serene tone, carefully approaching him. She reached out slowly, gently skimming her nails against his arm. Her fingers curled around his wrist, pulling him towards her. "We all make choices that we might not be proud of later. That's okay, you know. I mean, society is very judgmental but there's some people in this world who wouldn't judge you."
He didn't say anything and Xin took that as the go-ahead to keep speaking. "You've been nothing but nice to me, a bit shy, but it's not you like know me. I would like to get to know you though."
Gaara snorted down at her but didn't pull away. "You just want to see the back tattoo and compare styles."
"Yes, among other reasons," She confessed, a sheepish blush smarting at her cheeks. The blush remained but a lip-gnawing smile returned. She took another step, stepping so far into his space that he could literally smell the ink still clinging to her skin from the tattoo shop. "I just think...that a thug-turned florist and a runaway tattoo artist would make a great friendship, don't you?"
A great friendship indeed and even greater romance, somewhere down the line.
TeeBeMe: I've been struggling with some heavy writer's block lately when it comes to Whispers in the Dark, SOC and Lucky Ones. That and a sort of...disinterest to write lately. I've been in a slump, I guess. I hate writing when I'm in a funk because the chapters become so wonky and I'm annoyed with it. So I took some time to gather myself and cater to my mental health because I haven't been in a happy state lately. I suppose I feel somewhat better now, better enough to write.
Anyway, I decided to do a series of oneshots with Xin and Gaara because I love them and they make me happy and just think of all the short little oneshots in different AUs. I'll probably look at fanfic prompts and whatnot but feel free to drop some idea. You guys come up with better shit than what I come up with half the time. Don't worry, this doesn't mean I'm leaving my other fics in limbo. I'm still working on chapters.
As always, hope you guys enjoy.