Chapter Twelve
The request took a moment for Makoto to take in, his mind having gone to the gutter and he expected Sousuke to request something less innocent and less… permanent. He didn't know how to answer but it didn't matter if he'd come up with anything as in walked Nagisa with the subtly of a freight train, distracting them from their sexual tension, Makoto stepping away and trying not to look as flustered and hot as he felt.
"Are you guys singing? Haru's refusing unless you guys do."
Sousuke folded his arms across his chest and gave Makoto a "look" that suggested he wanted an answer. And Makoto didn't really have one as a tattoo had not been something that had even figured in his mind. He'd not even really seen them in real life prior to meeting Sousuke but he had wondered how it felt when Sousuke was getting tattooed. He also had seen they were unbelievably beautiful when they traced the lines of someone's body – the way they looked on Rin and Sousuke. But Makoto knew they wouldn't look like they did on them on him but he supposed he could get something small. On a place few people would see. Plus they'd both had plenty drinks so Sousuke may not remember this bet the morning after or Makoto could blame the booze. Even if that was technically a lie and Makoto found dishonesty difficult.
"We're singing," Makoto said and he gave Sousuke a small nod to indicate he had agreed.
To the tattoo. To the deal. And Sousuke sent a smile Makoto's way that made him feel even more flustered.
They followed Nagisa out of the bathroom, the blond telling them both about the songs they had missed and Makoto only half listened as Sousuke offered him another drink which he readily accepted hoping the soothing burn of alcohol would stop the squirming feeling in his gut. When Makoto got back to their private room, Haru eyes narrowed on him and Makoto only offered an apologetic shrug as Sousuke returned, shots in hand.
Makoto wasn't the sort of guy to do shots but when Sousuke handed him one, he downed it, regretting it immediately as it tasted vile. He tried not to let it show on his face as he was being dragged towards the microphone, songs being chosen for him without his consent. He glanced over at Sousuke who had his arms folded across his broad chest and he came over to help him pick, flicking through the options on the touch screen and getting Nagisa out of the way. At least briefly.
Stopping on a song, Sousuke whispered into his ear. "You know it?"
He did and he knew it was a duet… "Yeah."
Sousuke's finger selected it, the opening strains of the song reverberating around the room and when the words appeared on the screen, one set in blue, one set in green, Makoto felt confused.
"I'm blue, you're green," Sousuke offered and Makoto blamed alcohol and the bathroom encounter for his lack of understanding.
The words that illuminated first were the blue and Sousuke sang them in the same raspy sexy tone Makoto had heard at the club. Makoto glanced towards the other's in the room who seemed fascinated by Sousuke's voice, just as Makoto had been and he felt a thrill at that for some reason he couldn't identify. Maybe Makoto liked that Haru was watching him closely, that Nagisa seemed excited by Sousuke's soulful voice, that Rei was probably calculating his pitch and vocal range or something. But when he stopped, Makoto realised he had to sing his part and looked in fear at the green words on the screen.
He couldn't compete. He knew he had a passable voice for shower singing but nothing more and he had to follow Sousuke but he felt a slight nudge and saw Sousuke smile at him and Makoto sang the line, his voice barely wavering. Then it was Sousuke's turn until the chorus they both sung together. By the end of the song, they were singing together well and when it ended, Sousuke leaned over to press their lips together gently, the taste of their shots lingering.
After the first song had loosened them up, there was more drinking and more singing, Makoto starting to feel the buzz of alcohol and the buzz of being close to Sousuke. They kissed lightly and kept their hands on one another during other people's turns and Makoto soon found himself losing track of the night, the drinks and the times he'd been singing. It blending together in the fuzziness of drinks and Sousuke's touch. He didn't even notice Haru depart, only realising he'd gone and asking Nagisa who told him he'd gone home as he was bored and sober.
The night was drawing to a close, Rei dragging Nagisa out as he seemed to want to sleep on the leather seating of the room rather than be taken home and Makoto saw Rin and Sousuke talking to one another, a spike of jealousy surfacing again.
"Want to get it done?" Sousuke asked and Makoto must've looked as confused as he felt as Sousuke laughed, walked forward and ruffled his hair teasingly. "The tattoo."
The word tattoo whispered against his skin near his ear and any rational thought seemed to have evaporated. He looked towards Rin who appeared pretty drunk, leaning against a wall as though it was the only thing supporting him and Makoto looked concerned. As he didn't want a drunk tattoo artist working on him even if he did have Rin's obvious talent.
"We'll get Ai," Sousuke explained, "Rin's apprentice. He doesn't drink."
Unsure still, Makoto nodded and they were leaving the Penguin Club, the doormen mocking Makoto's obvious drunkenness. It was clear they all had thought Makoto too much of a nice good guy to end up drowning in booze and so they found it funny. Makoto was tempted to flip them off as he left but he didn't as he realised he was mostly being held up by Sousuke's arm around his waist and he worried about moving too violently and falling over.
The journey to Rin's shop was a complete blur by taxi. Makoto remembered the bright lights sparkling and how warm Sousuke felt, heard a conversation on speaker phone between Rin and his sleepy apprentice and then they were there, the shop bolted and closed overnight.
Outside was a guy Makoto hadn't met yet which he guessed was Ai. He was wearing a hoodie with the hood up covering his hair which looked silver and sparkling which Makoto blamed on his drunken brain rather than on him being some kind of magical girl from an anime but he looked tired and annoyed at being woken at this hour. And Makoto wondered if he really wanted someone who'd just been woken up tattooing him but then he saw the way Rin was unable to get the key into the right place to open up his shop and Makoto was relieved it wasn't him.
It seemed a very different shop than the one he had been to during the day and some of the prints of the various tattoos looked more intimidating in the dark but soon the lights were on and Makoto was wondering what the hell he was doing. Sousuke had sung and he'd agreed to a tattoo. It made zero sense and Makoto took a moment as he heard Rin and Ai arguing in the back room while he stood with Sousuke looking at the designs.
"Why do you - " he started and Sousuke turned to him, walking towards him and bridging the gap between them in a few long strides.
"Because you're the good guy… the too good for me guy…"
Makoto wanted to ask more – a hell of a lot more – but Rin appeared, his head peeking out from the back room.
"Yo! Ready!"
Sousuke only sighed and Makoto felt his large hand on his bicep, stroking him gently through the khaki shirt. "You don't have to do this… it was only… nevermind."
"No… I want to," Makoto said and even though he hadn't even thought about it before, right now , he wanted to know how it felt. Maybe he'd understand Sousuke better if he understood what attracted him to the markings that adorned his incredible body.
"What do you want to get?" Ai asked when they walked through, the hood now removed and Makoto couldn't get over how young he looked despite the tattoos trailing up his neck and the larger holes in his ears than Sousuke.
"A star," he answered as to Makoto that seemed pretty neutral and it could be small. He also remembered Sousuke's and Rin's jokes about his own "wonky stars" and guessed that it was a common starter tattoo.
Ai nodded and it looked as though he understood. "Do a nautical one," Rin said, "put some colour."
"Which colour?" Ai asked and Makoto shrugged. He'd assumed a star would just be one black solid colour.
"Get green." Makoto turned to see Sousuke behind him who gave him another of those smiles that made his knees weak. "It'll match your eyes."
The next question was where but Makoto had already decided that and all he had to do was strip. Just as Sousuke had taken off his shirt that first "date", Makoto followed suit, removing his shirt and then t-shirt, feeling the gaze on his skin that made him hot. He only glanced over his shoulder to see Sousuke's eyes on him before he hopped onto the reclining chair next to Ai, preparing for the first feel of the needle.
"Here," he indicated to the side of his stomach, wanting the tattoo on the left hand side of his torso, low and near where the waistband of his jeans was. It could be easily hidden he figured and Ai nodded, running his fingers to his skin and the area he was going to ink.
Once he was settled and comfortable, Ai left and grabbed a stencil, pressing it onto his skin and it leaving marks for the silver haired guy to follow. Rin was looking over his shoulder to watch his apprentices moves and he could feel that Ai was irritated at it but he didn't question it, only turned on the tattoo gun and looked at Makoto in the eye.
"Ready?"
Makoto felt a moment of reluctance then as the sound of the machine was an insistent angry buzz and he wondered why in the hell he was doing it but then he felt Sousuke's hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw his expression and Makoto whispered "yeah" and he couldn't help tensing as he felt the first touch of the needle into his skin.
He couldn't lie – it did hurt. Though he did think it felt like a cat scratch, remembering one of the vicious strays near his home that he'd often tried to feed only to find it attack. But after the initial shock, Makoto closed his eyes, the sound of the tattoo gun a rhythm that made him feel sleepy.
A few times it felt like the needle bumped against his hip bones and Makoto winced only for a moment later for it to no longer hurt and he felt Sousuke's hand on him through the whole time.
"You're done," Ai said and Makoto looked down, his head spinning and he saw the shiny black and green nautical star looking back at him, the traces of blood on his skin. He moved to stand and suddenly felt dizzy, a nausea rolling over him and he felt his body sway.
He reasoned it wasn't a reaction to the blood or the pain or the new tattoo or anything, he was fine, but a moment later Makoto was on the floor of the tattoo shop with panicked voices surrounding him.
"Makoto!" he heard Sousuke say and in the background, Makoto heard Ai and Rin arguing about how Ai shouldn't have tattooed a drunk person and Ai arguing back that Rin had asked him to.
Makoto could hear all this around him but he'd closed his eyes and had his head on the cold floor and despite the fact it was a very hard and cool place to lie down, Makoto felt ridiculously comfortable and was going fall asleep. As right now that seemed the best idea.
