AN: Yay, an update. I don't know. This isn't really the typical type of story I write. It's not as "pretty" as I normally try to make my fics. Hope like all two of you guys like this chapter! Haha. Please review/favorite/follow if you liked.
The sun creeps through my window and forces my eyes open like a nagging mother. I can practically hear her call my name. I blink a few times and try to remember what day it is. Wednesday? No, that's not right. Maybe it's Thursday? No, no, if it was Thursday then Terry would have let me off early yesterday. The days just seem to blend together now. When it finally dawns on me that it's Friday, I happily hop out of bed. Nothing is better than working a Friday. There's no better motivation to get work done than knowing that I can sleep in tomorrow.
With a cup of coffee in my system, I head to the shop. I open the doors and head towards my booth.
"Hey Sasha." My coworker, Jac, says. I kind of hate Jac. Well hate is too strong of word. I dislike, well I strongly dislike him. Maybe half hate is more accurate? I don't really have a good reason to half hate him. Maybe it's just because he's so perky in the morning? I don't understand how that works with people. It's kind of how I feel about vegans. I can't understand how someone can be so happy with just tofu. How does that even work? My dislike of him may also stem from his overall lazy attitude. It could also be the fact that no matter the weather he refuses to stop wearing a beanie and a white beater. Now that I think about it, there's a lot of reasons why I kind of hate him.
"Hey man. What's up?"
"Not much. Want a doughnut?" He points to his pink pastel box.
"Yuuuuss, you know me so well." I say with a huge grin. Sometimes, Jak is a-okay. Only when he has pastries though. Otherwise his chipper demeanor at eight A.M. is disturbing and mind boggling.
I snack on my chocolate doughnut and look over my schedule. My first client of the day is Mikasa. Oh right, awesome. Wait awesome? A sick feeling sits at the the bottom of my stomach.
'Mikasa Ackerman. Eighty dollar deposit made. Wants traditional Japanese dragon on ribs to mid thigh. 9:30 AM' I read my information on her aloud to myself.
"Yikes. That's going to take awhile." I continue to nibble on whats left on my pastry while looking over the rest of the paper. I have four clients in total today, and one of them wants a back piece. Arrrgh, it's going to be a long day.
"So in ten minutes she should be here." I mutter to myself while shaking my head. I load up my machines and prepare my booth. When I finally finish, I head to the bathroom.
I look at myself in the mirror. I pretty much look the same as I did in high school. I still rock a pony tail and dress casually. Although, my face is much clearer now and my hair has grown a substantial amount since then. It's nearly past my belly button now. I readjust my t-shirt and do a quick turn around in the mirror. These shorts make my butt look good. Feeling semi confident in my appearance, I walk out.
I see her. Her hair is still as black as a unlucky cat. And she still has those out of this world, cryptic, lunar grey eyes. They remind me of the moon, peaceful, wise, and somehow just above it all. Her eyes look colder than I remember though. They used to have this glint behind them. It was like they were waiting for someone to make her smile, so they could shine. Those bedroom eyes are now gone. They're ersatz buttons made by some slave child from a third world country.
Mikasa turns around. She must have noticed that the back door opened. I wave meekly and she returns my gesture. I walk up to her and her friend.
"Hey Mikasa." I say with a smile. Man, she's taller than I remember. She must be nearly two-three inches taller than me now.
"Hello."
"You're looking to get a tattoo, right? A traditional Japanese dragon."
"Yes." She says curtly.
"Perfect, do you have any references for me?"
"No."
"Okay, well do you want anything in particular on your dragon?"
"Teeth."
I laugh. She gives me a look. I guess that wasn't supposed to be funny. "Alrighty then," I head towards the back counter to get her paperwork. "I need you to fill this out, and I'll be back in ten-fifteen minutes with a sketch to show you."
"Hey wait, don't I know you?" Mikasa's dark haired friend chirps.
"Umm... You might." I say with a smile tugging on my lips. "I went to high school locally and have lived here nearly my whole life."
"Sasha, Sasha Braus! You were always in all those art competitions." The young man wags his finger at me.
I feel my cheeks light up. I did win first place every year in the country fair but I mean, who remembers that? I guess this guy has the memory of an elephant.
"And you stole from the cafeteria. Mr. Shadis caught you... then you offered him the potato! When he freaked out you threw it at him and tried to run away, right?! The whole lunchroom ended up in a food fight." He chuckles. "You're Potato Girl."
I hated that nickname. "I prefer, Sasha." I force a small chuckle.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that." He tries to backtrack. What an ass.
I smile politely. "I'm sorry I don't recognize you. Who are you?"
"Oh jeez, sorry, I'm Eren Jaeger." He puts his hand out for me to shake.
"Oh my God!" I say with genuine shock. He must have grown like at least six inches. "Eren, you're so tall now! What are you six one, six two?"
"I'm six foot even." I can see it now. He still has the same emerald eyes and full lips. He really hasn't changed a bit other than growing out a beard and his new found height.
"Are you here to support Mikasa or something?"
His laughter reverberates around the room, filling it. Eren's always had that sort of personality. "Ah no, I'm also getting a tattoo. I'm waiting for my artist guy to show up."
"Who's your artist?" I wrap my arms around my waist.
"I think his name is Jak, Jaq, or something like that?" I suppress a sigh.
"I'll go get him. He's in the back. Hang tight, Eren."
I walk into the break room. The smell of bitter coffee hangs in the room like an unwelcome guest. I spot, Jak, cigarette in one hand and the other with a cup of joe. I tell him his client is here. He drags his feet but eventually leaves, groaning the whole way.
I start to sketch out a design. I want to make sure that that tattoo has movement. I need to make sure it fits her body perfect too. My hands become wild birds. They do what is natural to them and sketch effortlessly. Eventually, I end up with a suitable tattoo. I think she'll like it, at least, I'm hoping she will.
I take my piece to Mikasa. She smiles.
"This is great."
"Really? Perfect. So there's nothing that you want to change?" I cant help this overwhelming feeling of pride. I feel like I found a lotto ticket worth a thousand dollars.
She looks me in the eyes and nods her head. "No, no changes needed. I am very happy with this."
"Cool." We share a moment of eye contact. I feel a blush creeping up on my cheeks. "Ahh, I'm going to scan this then apply my sketch to your skin. Then we can start. Okay?"
"Sounds good, Sasha."
"Oh, urgh" I rest my hand on my neck. "because the size of your piece, we won't be able to finish it all in one day. Your skin just wont be able to handle it. I'm thinking that that it'll take three sessions in total. I also suggest that we use the private room since your body is going to be exposed." I motion to my ribs and upper thigh.
"Alright, I understand."
When I first started inking, Mikasa, I noticed how fit she was. She literally must have like .000001 percent of body fat. I have never seen a flatter stomach before in my life. She makes me feel like a beached whale. Her thighs are perfect too. They're all muscular and toned. Mikasa must live the gym or something. I remember her always being athletic in highs school but this is more than that. This is like 'I run five miles and do three hundred push ups everyday' type of athletic.
I've lost track of time. That's what I get for being in my head so much. I don't know when I started tattooing her but it must have been awhile ago. Jak is already done with his tattoo and popped in here twice already. It's hard to say how long we've been doing this, maybe an hour and half?
Honestly, I feel inebriated by touching her skin. I didn't know that a person could be so soft. I didn't even know that I cared how soft a person was. It almost feels like a cardinal sin to engrave anything onto something so pure and delicate though. At the same time, in a weird way, I'm happy to the first person to give her a tattoo. At least, I know it's something of high quality rather than random scribble from a dude named chuck that's doing in it his mom's garage.
"Are you okay, Mikasa?" I wipe down the skin. It's puffy and bleeding. She's holding back another whimper, I can tell.
The ribs are always a difficult place to get tattooed. It's just such a sensitive and hard place to tattoo. There's no way to be gentle. And every time she lets loose a little whimper, no matter how small, I think I'm going to die. It kind of reminds me of trapped animal or something. I'm temped to make her take a break, but I know if I do that, she wont be coming back on my table.
"I need to hang in for another half hour, okay?" I say softly.
"Mmmh, okay." She grunts.
I'm nearly done with the outline now. I start to finish all the intricate details like the scales and claws. I think it's coming out great so far. I really don't think I could do anything better. The dragon fits the curve of her body perfectly. It flows naturally with her body. I run my pen one last time over to finish my line.
"Okay dokey, we're done for today."
"Thank God." Mikasa breathes out.
I laugh harder than probably I should have. "That bad, huh?"
She shakes her head. "Kind of. I was mostly just surprised. I didn't think that a tattoo would ever hurt that bad."
"It's just where it's at and of course the size of the piece. You know, Mikasa, you're got some seriously big cojones to get a piece like this from your ribs to your thigh. Especially, since this is your first tattoo. Most people get a little ole thing on their arm or something."
"Thank you?" She says unsure if that was a compliment or not.
"You're welcome." I laugh the words out.
"Hey, Mikasa, can you get up, hon?"
She grits her teeth. "Ugh, yeah. Give me a second."
Mikasa manages to raise herself up, although, I can see her struggling. I reach my hand out to her to help her off the table.
"Alright, let's have a looksie in the mirror then we'll have to cover this bad boy up for awhile."
Mikasa walks a few feet towards the full length body mirror. She turns to the left to see her tattoo in all it's glory. She's smiling ear to ear.
"I take it you like it?"
"Yeah." She manages to squeak out.
"Happy to hear that. I think it looks pretty great myself." I gently pat myself on the back.
She continues to fidget in the mirror and models her tattoo.
"Sorry but I'm going to have to bandage you up now, Mikasa."
"Oh right. Sorry." Her cheeks light up as she takes a seat.
I rub oiment on her. "You need to buy aqua gel or a similar brand and rub it on your tattoo regularly." I start to apply the bandage on to her. She flinches.
"Look, I know that it's going to be uncomfortable, but I need you to keep this on for at least six hours. If you don't, you'll risk getting infection which would be very, very bad." My fingers linger for a moment on her bandage. I quickly move them away. "I'll book you to come back in four weeks, okay?"
She nods her head diligently. "Okay."
"So umm... yeah we're pretty much done here, unless you have anymore questions." I gesture my hands towards her.
"I don't have any." She start to put on her shirt and pants.
"I have one" I raise my hand like I'm still a student. "but it's not business related." I quickly add.
"Alright." She sits back down on the table.
"Do you remember me from high school? I know your brother does." I awkwardly chuckle.
There's a glazed look over her face. "Yes I do." She nods her head again, agreeing with herself once more. " I remember you and Connie always making fun of the teachers and being the class clowns. I also remember how you would always draw on the back of your history tests, and how you never lapped Armin when you could have in PE. He appreciated that by the way."
I feel my lips curling again. "Wow that's more than I was expecting." I shift all the weight from my left foot to my right. "Thanks for not bringing up the potato thing."
She just smiles.
I scratch my head. "Well Mikasa, I certainly remember you, in case you wondering. You always had top marks from everything academically to athletically."
I clear my voice. "I also remember you always sticking up for Armin when he would get bullied. I also remember how you would be the only person to get between Eren and Jean when they would get into brawls." I look down at the ground staring my tennis shoes. "You were always a brave girl, Mikasa. Even the teachers were hesitant about getting involved in those fights."
Her bangs get in her face. "Yeah, well those did get pretty brutal." She runs her hand through her hair and pushes them back.
In a moment of confidence, I let my mouth announce the first thing that comes to mind. "Hey I know that it's been awhile but maybe, Eren, you, and me should go out for lunch or something sometime? Catch up and all that. It's been awhile."
Mikasa is quiet for a minute. Oh man, I guess that is pretty awkward to ask out of the blue. It's not like we ever really knew each that well. It's hard to catch up with someone you never really knew.
"We don't have too. I'm sorry I didn't mean to— "
Mikasa looks up. "No, I would like to go. Let me run it by Eren. What's your number? I'll call you to tell you a place and time."
"Awesome, hold on. I'll write it down." I scribble the number down on the back of one of the shop's business cards. "Here." I hand it over to her.
We both walk out of the private room together and she joins Eren.
"See you guys soon!" I wave goodbye to them. Eren waves back enthusiastically and Mikasa gives me a head nod.