Max sat down at the computer to check her email. It had been a few weeks since she'd entered her photos into a handful of contests. A couple had already been decided, for which she'd received 'Thanks for your entry...' emails. She couldn't help but feel a little disappointment at them when they came. Like her pictures weren't actually that special. Today there was another judging. Nervously logging in to her email account, she immediately noticed the message at the top.
From: SnapHappyMedia, Subject: Congratulations.
Max hurriedly opened the email and read the contents. "Holy shitballs!" she yelled, jumping up from her chair and causing it to fall backwards. Chloe, hearing the excitement in Max's voice, closed her notebook and ran over to her girlfriend.
"Talk to me," the older girl said eagerly, grabbing her partner's hands.
"I won," Max said in disbelief. "I...won!"
"Told you so!" Chloe said exuberantly, hugging her young friend. "Well done, my sweet."
"Thanks, babe," Max said, still dumbfounded. "I couldn't have done it without you."
Chloe smiled warmly at the younger girl, "I told you, don't sell yourself short, Max. Of course you could."
"No. I mean I literally couldn't," Max grinned. "It was for a single shot and the theme was 'Blue'. Obviously I sent the one I took of you in the spare room. I don't know how I could've lost, really." Chloe laughed out loud. "Plus...not that it's important, of course..." Max was struggling to contain her excitement, "But we're three thousand dollars richer!"
"Holy shit dude. That's awesome!" Chloe said, matching Max's enthusiasm.
"You know what this means?" the younger girl asked.
"Does it mean I don't get to be your sugar momma any more?" Chloe gave Max a sorrowful look.
"It means we have to celebrate," Max said, happy to be the one to suggest it for a change. An idea came over Chloe, and Max saw it in her devilish grin. "What?" she asked suspiciously.
"I have an idea. But it's gonna mean I have to duck out for like half an hour," Chloe said without providing any details.
"Well in that case I don't like it already," Max said both jokingly and truthfully.
~oOo~
When Chloe returned home she opened the front door and called out, "Hey Max. Can you go wait in the bedroom for a minute.
"Hi babe. Sure." Max said as she got off the couch and headed out of the room. She'd spent the last forty minutes without her lover and she didn't much like it. Beyond that however, she was also incredibly nervous at what was to come. She knew time and time again when Chloe had 'that look' that it was going to be something that took her way out of her comfort zone. When her partner disappeared from sight, Chloe entered the room and placed a black duffel bag on the floor. She picked up her notebook from the table and joined her friend in the bedroom.
"Hey, lover," she smiled, walking over to sit next to the brown-haired girl on the bed.
"So...what evil plans do you have in store for me now, Ms. Price?" Max asked cautiously. Chloe flicked through her notebook, stopping when she got to the desired page and passing the book to Max.
"What do you think?" the older girl asked.
"Chloe, it's beautiful. It so...lifelike!" Max stared at the blue butterfly on the page. The shadows behind it's slightly raised wings making it seem to be fluttering right there on the paper. Delicate veins played with the light, refracting it to make the colour dance.
"It's for you, babe," Chloe smiled. "Congrats again."
"Oh, thanks hun! I'm going to frame it and put it on the bedside table." Max said looking over to where she pictured it sitting.
"That's not what I meant," Chloe said standing and taking the younger girl by the hand. "Come on." She led Max out to the dining table and picked up a piece of grease proof paper. "This one's for you." The paper held a traced outline of the butterfly in blue ink.
"Chloe! I-" Max began.
"Are we going to do this again? Really?" the older girl interrupted before Max had barely uttered a word. She knew what was coming. "You're an award winning artist now, Max. Live a little."
"That looks way more painful than this tiny one," Max said pointing her right wrist outward. "And this one hurt like shit."
"The shoulder is way less sensitive than the wrist," Chloe reassured her friend. "Plus we can have a few painkillers while we do it." She winked cheekily. "You pour, I roll?"
"We? I'm not sure you should be having too many," Max said sternly.
"So that's a yes then?" the blue-haired girl said with a grin.
"It's more like a...'what choice do I have'?" Max smiled back, resigned to her fate, but at the same time excited to be getting ink from her lover. She wanted to be able to wear Chloe's art. To have it on her wherever she went.
~oOo~
The girls got themselves prepared, and happily anaesthetised. Max continued to drink, calming her rising nerves as Chloe set up the tattoo gun. A few minutes later a small, high-pitched buzz told her that it was ready. She finished off her drink quickly and poured another, her head buzzing to match the machine. Her mind went back to Chloe's words a short while earlier. I'm an award winning artist, she mused as her anticipation grew. "Ready, champ?" the older girl asked.
"Bring it on," Max grinned with Dutch courage. Chloe laughed at her gorgeous, tipsy lover.
"Sit there on the chair, backwards," the older girl instructed. Max turned the chair around, straddling it and leaning forward with her arms over the back-rest. Just like Chloe does it, Max mused, smiling to herself. "So I'm tattooing your shirt then, dork?"
"Shit!" Max laughed as she took off her T-shirt. Chloe unfastened her partner's black bra, letting it fall down into her lap. She let her fingers gently run up and down Max's uncovered back, over her slight shoulders. The smaller girl moaned quietly. "Chloe. You're either gonna have to stop that...or you're gonna have to finish what you started."
"Sorry hun," Chloe laughed, taking her hands off her lover reluctantly. "Just...you're hard to resist." She grabbed the stencil from the table and carefully placed it on Max's right shoulder, pressing the ink onto her pale skin. The gun buzzed again. "Ok babe, just relax." Max tried her best.
~oOo~
Chloe made sure to be gentle. Never once going too deep and drawing blood. Always even. The lines were light and precise as she adroitly traced the outline from the stencil. Max winced at the hot, scratching feel of the needle. What did I get myself into? she thought as she felt her skin burn. "How you doing there, rock-star?" the older girl asked, noticing the slight tensing of her partner's body each time the needle scraped.
"This still hurts like shit," Max replied honestly."Tell me it's nearly done."
Chloe paused to laugh, "Still a little bit to go yet, I'm afraid. Take a drink if you like." Max grabbed her whiskey and gulped down a couple of quick mouthfuls.
"Ok...do it," the younger girl said as her head spun from the drink.
~oOo~
After about half an hour, the gradual build-up of pain became too much Max. "Ow! Can we take a break for a couple of minutes?" she said flinching slightly.
"Of course, love" Chloe smiled, putting down the tattoo gun.
"I want to see it," Max said running to the bathroom eagerly. She turned on the light and turned her back to the medicine cabinet, looking over her right shoulder. "Oh wow," she whispered, marvelling at how it was starting to look. It was hard to distinguish the black tattoo ink from the blue stencil in the light, but the over-all look had Max excited. I can't believe I'm going to have something this cool on me, she smiled to herself.
"Oh, Chloe. It looks amazing!" Max yelled as she ran back into the room, topless and not a bit self-conscious. She sat on the couch and kissed her partner's cheek as the blue-haired girl rolled and sealed another joint.
"For you, my love" Chloe said, lighting it with a few short puffs and handing it to the younger girl. Max took a drag and handed it back. "One more for luck," the older girl smiled and inhaled deeply. "Here, the rest is yours," she exhaled slowly. "Let's do this."
Max assumed her seat once again. Placing the ashtray on the table next to her, she grabbed her drink and took a swig. Chloe picked up the tattoo gun and looked at her partner's naked, semi-tattooed back. The scene drew itself in her mind at once and she laughed heartily, "Mad Fucking Max! Getting' ink done with whiskey in one hand and weed in the other. What would your poor fucking parents think?" The younger girl felt a brief flash of panic, instantly replaced with her own roaring laughter.
"Hey...I took the fall for you with David, back in your bedroom. It's only fair that you should take the heat for my drink, drug and now tattoo problem!" Max grinned, deliberately pulling on the joint and taking a sip of whiskey, not so deliberately adding a slight slur to her words. She placed her glass back on the table. Memories came back of the first night she'd been horribly sick from drinking. She was already feeling quite numb and Max knew it was a fine line before going too far and so, made a conscious effort to slow down. Ashing the joint, she took another small drag before resting her head on the forearm that hung over the back of the chair. She sat there pondering how different things were for her. How adult her life had become in a few short months. An award winning photographer. As the tattoo gun hummed in the background she thought of her lover and smiled. Finally there was nothing left between them. No matter how often she'd thought about her life ahead with Chloe though, she'd never for a moment imagined a scene like this one. She grinned impishly and took another drag before stubbing the roach in the ashtray, careful not to move her right shoulder in the process. She rested her head back down on her arm, eyes closed and enjoying sailing through the happy thoughts that filled her mind.
~oOo~
The pain eventually came creeping back, waking her from her daydream. "Ow. That's getting sore," she said uncomfortably.
"Sorry hun," Chloe said softly. "You've done so well. Just a minute more and the outline will be finished."
"Really?" Max asked surprised. "How long has it been?"
"About an hour," Chloe smiled. "Don't tell me you fell asleep!"
"No, no. I just...I was like, lost in thought," the younger girl said lazily. "Maybe a bit trashed too," she confessed. She grimaced at the pain and reached her left hand out for her drink. Chloe let her take a swig before inking again.
"And we're done," the older girl smiled a moment later. "Good job, babe." Max sprang up from the seat, turning and kissing her girlfriend quickly. A flash of dizziness hit her at the sudden movement and Chloe steadied her in her arms.
"I have to see..." she ran to the bathroom again. The blue outlines were now all stark black against her light skin. Thick black surrounded the wings, bleeding inwards. Fine and detailed black around the body and legs. The veins gave the butterfly an ominous, skeletal look.
Max ran out to her partner, smiling radiantly. "You like?" Chloe asked.
"What do you think?" Max said, pointing at her smile.
"I think that's an invitation," Chloe smirked, kissing her friend. "Are you gonna be up for the colour too?"
"Shit, I don't know. It seems like a lot," Max said, remembering the increasing pain she'd felt as the tattoo progressed.
"That's cool hun. We'll have to leave it for two or three weeks to give it time to heal," Chloe smiled. "No rush."
"Bullshit! We're doing it today," Max said with semi-drunken gusto. "I can't wait weeks!"
Chloe laughed at her friend's enthusiasm, "Well the colour shouldn't take too long. It's not a huge area to fill. Plus, colour feels heaps better."
"Better? How?" the young girl asked.
"Well it's nine needles which cover a larger area," Chloe explained.
"Nine?" Max blurted, looking scared.
"Don't worry," Chloe laughed at her girlfriend's apprehension. "It spreads the feeling out. It's like, warm and fuzzy."
"A warm and fuzzy tattoo?" Max said dubiously. "I find that hard to believe." Sure enough it was. At least more so than the outline.
~oOo~
When the tattoo was finally finished, Chloe followed Max into the bathroom, smiling at her work as her partner walked ahead. Max turned and looked in the mirror, stunned at what she saw. "Oh...shit...oh my God..." the younger girl struggled to find a sentence.
"So, you like it then?" Chloe asked, urging the words from her friend.
"It looks real!" Max marvelled. The blue butterfly shone with a brilliant luminescence, wings seeming to flutter as it clung on to her skin, covering the outside half of the smaller girl's narrow shoulder. "It's so beautiful, Chloe. Thank you." Max hugged her girlfriend. Chloe, mindful of her latest work, wrapped her arms around her partner's waist.
"Sadly, my love, we have to get some cream on it and cover that bad boy up," Chloe said, knowing Max would be disappointed at the news.
"Shit!" Max complained. "Just give me another minute to stare at it." And she did.