A/N: Hello and welcome! I'm finally dipping my toes into writing for this fandom, I know I'm way behind but it can be a bit scary breaking into a new fandom especially when I primarily write for something completely different. With that being said, most of you probably don't know me or my page so hello! My name is Len and I write way too much lol. I also normally do angst and drama/romance but this was inspired by a super talented artist's post on twitter and I just had to drop everything and write. Gay Sex Warning, if you don't like this pairing I ask you either read and dislike in your mind or don't read it and save yourself the anger. As I mentioned I have never written for this fandom so I apologize if the characters aren't as spot-on as they should be (I tried my best and I will get better as time goes on), my ONE TIME Disclaimer goes as follows: I don't own BNHA, I don't own the characters, and technically I don't really own this plot idea I'm just expanding on it with my own twists but I hope you enjoy anyway. This will likely be a multi-chapter fic since I am incapable of writing one-shots. If you're returning to my page because you got a notification for yet another thing that isn't a new chapter for MNIZ I'm so sorry, I promise it's coming I just need to get this out of my head for a little bit so please continue to be patient with me T.T other than that, again, I hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to let me know what you think. ~Len
Ch. 1: Lotus
'This is definitely the place...deep breath, now is not the time to get cold feet.' he sighed to himself, a hesitant hand was placed on the handle of the boarded-up glass door. He'd never been in a tattoo parlor before, this one had the best reviews in town. Even Todoroki mentioned it the work that came out of this particular place was well done. He hadn't made an appointment, really he was just here to check out the artwork and see if he could find an artist that would fit him with something so there was nothing to be nervous about. 'Boarded up windows and prison-like bars behind the glass are normal for these places right?' as though the name 'Murder God Dynamite Tattoo and Piercing Parlor' wasn't intimidating enough on its own, the giant blood orange X painted across the building front nearly made Deku turn around and head home. Clearly, this was not a place where people like him frequented. But, of course, that was part of the entire reason he was here. He'd never gotten a tattoo, his interest in body art wasn't spurred until a year ago when he ran into some former high school friends. Several of them showing off their ink, pieces with meaning, they wore them with more pride than any school name or diploma. Even Todoroki had one, it was a small coverable piece on his inner arm, a beautiful intricate mandala. Deku wanted something meaningful, something to remind himself of his accomplishments or maybe show off the pride he had in himself nowadays. He just didn't know what would look good or how to start that journey. This was the first step. A smile appeared on his lips, maybe they were nicer on the inside than the outside.
"Are you going to stand there all day you damn nerd? Open the fucking door!" a sharp bark came from behind him making the slim male jump, whipping around he came face to face with pissed-off red eyes and a hard scowl that dared him to open his mouth.
"S-sorry!" he yelped, springing out of the way to let the taller man pass. The first thing he noticed were the tattoos that blanketed the arm that carried a cup of steaming coffee, a collection of different images and symbols he couldn't entirely make out in both black and white and some in extraordinary color, they traveled up a toned muscled arm and disappeared until the black short-sleeved shirt stretched tightly over broad shoulders. If he looked hard enough he could see the muscles that rippled under the fabric. Deku knew he himself wasn't bad looking, he had taken up working out seriously once he got into high school and continued to do so every few days ever since to keep himself in good shape, but he was shorter than most guys his age and he was lean instead of bulky. Toned but smaller in frame, his presence wasn't intimidating but he was considered very attractive by many of his friends and strangers he met. Deciding it was about time he walked into the shop before someone else had to wait on his daydreaming, he followed the irritated man inside, blushing once he noticed that the taller also had a very nice backside. It was hard to keep his eyes off such a person.
"Ah! Welcome Katsuki-san, I didn't know you were working today," the friendly-sounding receptionist greeted the man in front of him.
"I wasn't supposed to but shit happened and here I am." came the grumble as the blond made his way down a hallway leading to some rooms. The receptionist smiled at him, clearly unfazed by the attitude, before turning her eyes on a now visible Deku.
"Hiya there! Welcome to MGD Tattoo and Piercing! What can I help you with today?" her kind demeanor and bubblegum pink hair contrasted the giant detailed skull impaled on a blade that ran the length of her neck but Izuku didn't mind, it was a cool piece and clearly done very well.
"I'm just looking at some artwork today, trying to find a style that I like for my first. Any suggestions? I've never been to a place like this." he gave her a kind smile, taking a quick look at the art on the wall. Canvases of varying sizes lined a lot of the orange walls, Deku assumed they were done by the different artists that worked here.
"Ah! A virgin how exciting!" she smiled, clapping her hands as she turned and practically bounced over to some large photo books on a mahogany table. Oblivious to the furious blush Deku was supporting until he realized she was talking about being tattoo-free. He managed to control most of it before joining her on the deep sea green couch. "So, these are the books belonging to all of our artists, you're welcome to flip through them to find a style you like. Most everyone here is proficient in whatever is popular these days but we do have a couple of exceptional talents. When you find something you like let me know and we'll see if I can get you a consultation either today or within the week. My name is Mei, by the way, it's a pleasure to meet you!" with another big smile she left Deku to look through the albums while she returned to her place behind the front desk.
Most of the pictures were impressive, it was hard to choose a style since he didn't know the names, but he kept tabs on the images he liked. There were explosions, a zombie apocalypse, skulls, normal things he saw people get tattoos of on the internet. He didn't really want something so overdone though, then he would feel like a copy to others and he didn't work so hard for something like that. Flipping through the last book he took note that most of them were in black and grey like Todoroki's mandala, they were detailed and ranged from lifelike realism to abstract and intricate. Then his eyes landed on a piece that nearly took his breath away, a large back piece on a human model, beautiful wings in solid black framed by dahlias and lily flowers. The flowers looked hyper-realistic but the wings were more abstract, looping around, curving into tear-drop ends, Deku felt like he could stare at it for hours and still find something new about it. 'Gorgeous,' he wondered what he would look like with something so impressive on his skin, it was making him giddy just thinking about it.
"I see you found out where our reputation of being the best comes from, he's our best artist by far and actually co-owns this place," Mei appeared in front of him from nowhere catching Deku by surprise. She was oblivious to it, as well as her breasts nearly covering the side of his face, as she tapped the picture, a look of wonder and awe coming over her. "He mostly does black and grey tattoos like this one but he can do some color if you would like, the only thing Kacchan doesn't do is minimalism. Should I set up a consultation?" she continued, standing up once more. Deku nodded, only able to breathe properly again when she bounced down the hall. She reappeared after a few minutes with the blond-haired man from earlier only this time instead of a coffee he carried an iPad and pencil. Deku silently swallowed as the man approached, he glanced down at the still open page of the album, it was amazing that something so pretty came from someone that looked like he wanted to kill him.
"What do you want?" he growled out, he wasn't subtle about looking Deku up and down but gave no indication as to whether he liked what he saw or not.
"I, um, to be honest, I don't really know what I want. I don't know much about tattoos." the slightly nervous laugh reminded him of his more pathetic middle school days, they were going to think he was pathetic. Looking down again at his lap Deku didn't expect to get a comforting reply. What did he want, and why? Tattoos had meaning, they were permanent symbols, people had stories behind why they got them. Deku didn't have anything like that. An exasperated sigh came from above him shortly before the album was grabbed and tossed back onto the table.
"Come with me," it was ordered more than asked but Deku wasn't going to fight him on it, instead he stood and quickly followed the taller being. Long legs made quick work of striding past several doors until they stopped at one open stall, the same orange X design painted on it like the outside of the parlor. Katsuki was the name scrawled on the nameplate above the door.
"Got a new one today Kacchan?" a bright redhead with pointy teeth shouted excitedly, looking at Deku he smiled wide, ignoring the hard glare he was given.
"We'll see." came the bored sounding response, Deku frowned at that, he was a possible paying customer after all. What was this guy's problem? He didn't do anything wrong, he just didn't know what he was doing. "Are you coming?" the question was thrown at him, the door opened into a fairly large room with a table and a couple of chairs.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." he quickly slunk into the room closing the door carefully behind him and taking a look around. Black counters with various pieces of framed artwork lined the far wall under an open window, more paintings and drawings were on the walls. Deku took a moment to stare at a few of the impressive pieces before taking a seat, Katsuki pulled a stool over, iPad in hand.
"Where do you want it?" his voice was still hard but Deku took note that once he was beginning to draw out different shapes and patterns a calmness swept over the room. Maybe he wasn't as rude as his first impression gave off.
"I was thinking about a back piece or maybe a chest piece a-and my arms. I would like something on my arms...they're a little roughed up so I don't know how possible it is to tattoo them but..." he trailed, he didn't mind talking about his scars but he didn't wish to explain them either.
"You've never had a tattoo, I don't suggest jumping into a large piece that will take more than one session to do when you've never felt a tattoo gun before. Show me your arms." Katsuki hardly looked up from his iPad as Deku did what he asked. The smaller male was clearly oblivious to their world but god did Katsuki want to change that, flash images of piercings, blackwork, detailed imagery, even some color to contrast that deep sea-green hair would look good on the canvas in front of him. He needed to control his thoughts, they would need to start small, the kid didn't even have his lobes pierced for crying out loud and here Katsuki was imagining helix rings and tunnels on him. It wasn't every day someone walked into the shop he wanted to spend hours working on, transforming that soft blank skin into a masterpiece. Looking over he put the tablet down and took a hold of the other's wrist, there was some scarring from what looked like burns but the skin was still workable and soft to the touch. He was muscular but not bulging, Katsuki was a bit grateful for that, briefly, he wondered what the rest of the body looked like but mentally shook his head before he could get carried away in fantasy.
"Are they okay to work on?" Deku asked, worry mixing with curiosity and nerves as the blond continued to stare and examine them. Kastuki hummed but said nothing, pinning Deku's arm down as he took a picture before releasing it. He wouldn't say anything but he was slightly disappointed at the loss of contact. Katsuki turned on a speaker in the far corner and let music fill the otherwise quiet room, he didn't like to talk while he sketched. Thinking about the piece Deku had first landed on, black and grey chrysanthemums on traditional mandala-inspired black line wings, he wanted something that would flow well and contrast the hardness of the scars. Glancing over at Deku for a moment he decided angles would be too harsh on him, he was soft, a bit innocent but truthful. He had a good character.
'Like a lotus,' Katsuki decided, with the ghost of a smile crossing his lips he turned back to his iPad. "Let's start with your right wrist, we can turn it into a sleeve from there with a few more sessions." he voiced after a while, taking Deku's arm once more he placed it next to the lotus with minimal thick black line ripples behind it. It would reach from the base of his wrist halfway up his forearm, not the smallest tattoo he had done in one session but it would give the kid a good feel for what he would be in for. "What do you think?" he asked, honestly curious, as he let the other take a look at what he was doing for the first time in nearly an hour. He was known for his perfectionism and he definitely wanted the perfect tattoo to fit this specific body.
"It's beautiful, how did you come up with it?" Deku was amazed someone could come up with something that quickly when he had been thinking about a tattoo for nearly half a year and still didn't have anything in mind. Yet somehow Katsuki-san got it perfect on the first try. It was incredible.
"I judged you," came the simple answer with a shrug as though it was obvious, Deku wasn't sure what that necessarily meant or if he should be offended or not but he didn't really care. He was eager to have this artwork on him, to call it his own forever.
"I love it, should I schedule an appointment with you or at the front desk?" he wanted to know when he could get started, not only for the tattoo but he wanted to spend some more time with Katsuki-san. Maybe he could learn a little more about him. Katsuki glanced over at the clock then switched into his calendar skimming the page for a moment.
"If you have time we can do it today, it will take about three and a half hours at most," he informed. Deku felt his heart speed up a bit, was he really ready for this? Here and now with no other questions? Yes. He wanted this, he could do this.
"I have time today." he nodded a bit too eagerly, feeling weirdly energetic about a needle penetrating his skin. It felt even better than the adrenaline rush he got from working out at the gym. Katsuki nodded and directed him to the front desk to collect his ID and a waiver signature while he set up his work station.
A/N: Well, thank you so much for reading chapter one assuming you made it this far. I hope it was alright and like I said previously please don't hesitate to let me know what you think about it thus far. As for what you might be able to expect moving forward, I don't plan on dragging this out super long but I enjoy when a fic takes time to let a relationship develop so that's what I plan to do. I could say this might be a 3-4 chapter fic unless things go awry in my brain which does happen every now and then. Regardless, I hope to see you all on chapter 2 which will be out soon, have a celebratory New Year, a wonderful night/day, or whatever time slot you may be in, and remember to keep writing, keep reading and live creative. Until Next Time! ~Len