" A tattoo," Remus repeated. "Exactly how drunk was I? You know I hate needles, and a tattoo means a needle going in several thousand times, and I can't."
"That's not what you said yesterday, when the tattoo artist offered you his book of designs," James sniggered.
"I don't already have one, do I?" Horror filled him at the very thought of having so many needles piercing his skin while drunk.
James patted Remus on the shoulder. "Nope. Today will be your first time."
Remus glared. "Because that's comforting. I'm sure you're the one who talked be into it in the first place."
"You've said exactly the same thing for the last three weeks," James sighed. "It's time you finally went to go get your tattoo. It's not as bad as you think."
"Because you've got tons of experience, James," Remus said sarcastically. "Oh, wait. You've yet to get a single tattoo yourself."
Rolling his eyes, James pushed Remus through the door to the tattoo parlour, and pulled out the receipt that Remus had tried his hardest to lose.
"You're finally back!"
"Not willingly," Remus muttered.
The man who stepped out from behind the counter wore a sleeve of tattoos that made Remus shudder. One was already one too many, and entire sleeve would force Remus to go into hiding from sheer terror.
"Regulus is in the back, so I guess I'll be doing your tattoo. Any idea what you would like?" The man steamrolled Remus's protests, and placed a large folder in Remus's arms.
"Uhhh. I don't really..." Remus started, but a design of a single, unfurling blue iris caught his attention. The blue iris was his mother's favourite colour, and Remus could see the little iris flower patch his mother had maintained every year.
"The blue iris, huh? I've never really had someone ask for that particular one before. Other than me, of course, but I have all my designs on my body somewhere." The man winked.
"Great! I'll leave you two to it!" James said, sounding relieved. "I'm going to go meet with Lily."
"James, no!" Remus hissed, but James had already shut the door behind him.
"I'm Sirius. You were probably too drunk last time to remember my name," Sirius said, after a moment's pause, probably to make sure Remus wasn't going to run out of the tattoo parlour after James.
"I'm Remus."
Sirius laughed. "Nice to meet you, Remus. Last time you introduced yourself with 'I'm drunk' and your friend, James, couldn't stop laughing."
Remus groaned. "I'm never getting drunk again."
"You were rather funny. Although, you did choose the same tattoo, even absolutely drunk," Sirius admitted. "But I had to make sure you would still want the same tattoo sober."
"I did?" Remus followed Sirius into the backroom, but hesitated at the chair. There was nothing outwardly sinister about it. The needles weren't even placed near it yet, but Remus was still weary.
"Yeah. Where do you want your tattoo?" Sirius watched Remus shift from foot to foot in silence for several minutes. "How about your shoulder? You won't see the needle. Would that be okay?"
"I-maybe," Remus mumbled, still not entirely convinced.
Sirius smiled. "I'll just go get everything ready."
Remus nodded.
When Sirius returned with the needles, gun, and ink, Remus froze again. Sirius put the equipment on the table next to the seat, and Remus took the opportunity to grab the man's hands, squeezing them tightly between his own shaking hands.
"I can't. I can't. I just can't," Remus whispered, embarrassed and terrified.
"How about I have Regulus come and do your tattoo, and I'll just hold your hand through it? I could offer Regulus' hand, but I doubt he'd agree."
"Would you? I mean, if you don't mind, that is. I don't know if it would work, but it might help, and it's going to be an awful inconvenience on you, isn't it?"
"It would just be a little unusual for Regulus to do one of my designs, but he's a good artist. I promise," Sirius reassured Remus. "I'll go check if he's done and call him over."
Sirius left, and Remus was allowed to wallow in his embarrassment. He couldn't believe he had asked that of someone – to hold his hand to hold his terror at bay.
The man Sirius brought with him could have passed as his twin if it weren't for the man's height and the fact that his tattoo sleeve was on the left, instead of right like Sirius' was.
"This is Regulus," Sirius said, pulling a stool to the other side of the chair. Regulus nodded in greeting, looking a bit smug as he set up.
"I'm going to take the both of you out to dinner as thanks for humouring me like this," Remus mumbled after the sound of the tattoo gun had filled the room for a while.
"Regulus is busy," Sirius said quickly. "Besides, most food from outside upsets his stomach. He has a very sensitive stomach, but I'll definitely take you up on that."
Regulus snorted somewhere above Remus. "My brother hasn't stopped talking about you since you came in weeks ago. He's been thinking up ways to ask you out, all of them more idiotic than the last. Please, as amusing as it would be to Sirius make a fool of himself, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near Sirius."
Remus opened his eyes to catch Sirius' embarrased expression. "My offer still stands. As long as I survive the tattoo."
