renxoxo asked:

For Rukia's bday another prompt/request. Ik i have been sending quite a few.

As you said you could think about continuation of some of the AUs. I just wanted to ask if its possible to continue my prev request of "Dear Wormwood". Like how Renji here decided to save her from execution or how did they reconcile?

I don't mind if you show another oneshot of the Tattoo AU ️?. Like how both get together and all.

Happy New years Eve ?

You know, I got a request for a continuation of the Tattoo Artist AU in August, when I was doing Renji requests, and I wanted to do it, except that I had the next bit planned out in my head, and Renji wasn't actually in it. But Rukia is.

[If you want to read part one, it is Chapter 36 of Squad Six is Jerks, Vol I]

"In conclusion," Rukia announced, flipping to the last slide of her PowerPoint deck, "I have no idea which design to pick."

The final slide featured her own personal re-draws of the three tattoo concepts her tattoo artist had presented her with when she had met with him the previous weekend. Obviously, his renditions of grim reapers-on-skateboards were much better than hers, because he drew skeletons on people professionally, and Rukia oversaw market risk mitigation for a large financial services firm. A little thrill still went through Rukia's nerves every time she thought of Renji Abarai as her tattoo artist. She had followed him on Instagram for years before getting up the nerve to book an appointment with him. Rukia kept telling herself that the giddiness she was feeling was due to the fact that she was finally doing it- she was getting that tattoo she had wanted since college put on her actual body by an artist whose work she loved. The fact that the artist in question had turned out to be extremely nice and friendly and also impossibly hot was just a bonus.

Orihime pressed her fingers to her lips. "Hmm," she hmmed. "I like the one with the sunglasses."

"I can't believe you made a PowerPoint," Ichigo declared, stuffing a kale chip in his mouth. "I can't believe you brought your laptop to the Lettuce Feed You. Also, I feel like the sunglasses raise more questions than they answer. Why would a grim reaper wear sunglasses? They don't even have eyes."

"To look cool," Rukia said at the same time Orihime replied "Maybe they're prescription?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Well, my opinion is, do not get the one where the grim reaper is flipping the bird. Byakuya is gonna be pissed no matter which one you pick, but that one is gonna get you a very specific lecture."

"Yeah, I'd already sort of eliminated that one," Rukia admitted glumly. She screwed up her face. "And Byakuya's opinions don't matter. That is the whole point."

"I think you're having a hard time because you like them all," Orihime chirped with her trademark optimism. "Which means that you'll probably be happy with whichever one you pick!"

"Do you think it would be weird," Rukia said slowly, "if I emailed Renji back and asked which one he liked best?"

"Renji's the tattoo guy?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime chewed her salad. "He'll just tell you that you're the client, it's up to you. I can tell you which one he likes best, though. When you're drawing samples, you always try to draw the first one as close to what you think the customer wants as possible. The second one is where you draw what you, the artist, think is best. Then, on the third one, you go a little wild, just in case you hit on something cool."

"Oh!" Rukia replied. "Thanks for the insider knowledge."

Orihime tapped her chin with one finger. "Also, Renji loves sunglasses, he has, like, fifty pairs of them and he had an entire sketchbook full of skeletons wearing sunglasses. I'm not exactly sure he should get an opinion here, to be honest. You're the one paying him."

"Well, I really like his art," Rukia excused. "He's… you know… the expert."

Ichigo scratched his nose and squinted at Orihime. "This was the goth guy from your watercolors class, right? Who always drew sad anime girls in the rain and gave you a poem once?"

"No, no, you're thinking of Ulquiorra!" Orihime wagged a finger. "Oh, jeez, Ichigo, like I would let that guy give Rukia a tattoo! No, Renji! You met Renji!"

"I did?"

"Yes! You remember the time I tripped on the stairs and twisted my ankle? He was the one who waited with me until you could pick me up and take me to the Urgent Care."

Ichigo had been taking a sip of his kombucha and he had to swallow hard so that he didn't spit it out across the table. "The guy who showed you pictures of his bearded dragon on his phone to cheer you up? The guy with The Hair? And the tattoos? Oh, I guess that would make sense, huh?"

"Yeah, that was him!"

Rukia felt her cheeks going pink, not just because she'd started thinking about Renji's very good hair. She'd known that Orihime and Renji had been in the same MFA program, but she hadn't expected Ichigo to know him; he and Orihime hadn't actually started dating until her last year. There were many things Rukia liked about being best friends with Ichigo. She liked being co-workers and going to lunch all the time, and she liked that they had the same weird sense of humor, and most of the time, she liked having nearly identical taste in Hot People. Now was not one of those times.

Ichigo shook his head frantically. "I was confused! I did not realize we were talking about Super Hot Bearded Dragon guy!"

"He has a bearded dragon?" Rukia said blankly. He loved animals? Was it possible for the man to get any more adorable?

"It's name is Zabimaru, and it's super cute. I bet Renji would show you a picture if you asked," Orihime nodded.

"You are glossing over the fact that this dude is a certified smokeshow," Ichigo butted back in.

"I just don't see what that has to do with anything!" Rukia huffed. "I didn't know what he looked like before I made the appointment. He is a very talented artist."

"And now you've seen him and you're looking for excuses to email him." Ichigo leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and narrowly avoiding getting hummus on his jacket. "What I find suspicious is that you completely failed to mention his hotness. You had a slide with excerpts from his portfolio and assorted Yelp reviews, and yet nothing, not a single bullet point about how he is over six feet tall and has supermodel hair?"

"Your girlfriend is sitting right there."

"She knows she has this locked down," Ichigo replied, gesturing to himself. Orihime nodded cheerfully. Ichigo picked up a carrot stick and twirled it in his hummus dramatically. "You know what I think? I think there was-" he bit into the carrot dramatically, "chemistry."

Orihime gave a delighted little gasp.

Rukia blew out her cheeks full of air. She made shrug arms. She blew the air out again. "Maybe there was. I don't know. You know me. I'm not really into dating."

"I do know you!" Ichigo exclaimed. "I know you work twelve-hour days and once a year, you go on an awful date with some hedge fund twerp you met through your brother. I honestly think it would be really good for you to go out with someone who can name a band!"

Rukia waved her hand dismissively. "I know I work too hard and I haven't really been good at relationships since college, but that's why I'm getting a tattoo! I'm doing a thing for me!"

"Yeah, a thing you can make an Outlook reminder for and list on your yearly personal accomplishment retrospective," Ichigo pointed out. "I mean, I'm all for the tattoo! I'm just thinking it wouldn't hurt to go for the tattoo guy, too!"

"You know…" Orihime added. "Renji really is awfully nice. I don't think it would hurt to ask him out for a coffee."

Oh, no. It was very easy to dismiss Ichigo's advice, even when Rukia knew he was correct. Orihime was another story.

"Didn't you tell me he drove a motorcycle?" Ichigo asked Orihime, in the tone of voice of someone who already knows the answer to what he is asking.

"He does, actually!" Orihime piped up. "That's why he couldn't take me to the Urgent Care himself."

Rukia scrunched up her face. Dammit, she loved a motorcycle. "Look, he's a professional! I'm paying him to do a service! It would be really rude to ask him out."

Ichigo and Orihime turned matching skeptical expressions on her.

"Also…he's way too cool for me," Rukia muttered.

"Aw, come on!" Ichigo protested.

"Rukia, you are so pretty and smart!" Orihime added, waving her fork for emphasis. "You have an amazing job and you've traveled all over and you met Lorde once."

"We were just in an elevator together! That could have happened to anyone!"

"Also, you drive a car that people put on their phone lockscreens," Ichigo added.

Rukia rested her cheek on the heel of her hand. "Yeah, but Renji is counter-culture cool. He's covered in tatts, and he was wearing a Dinosaur Jr. t-shirt, and he's really involved in his neighborhood and he draws skeletons on people for a living. I'm just…rich."

"What the hell is Dinosaur Jr?" Ichigo wondered.

"He's an artist, Rukia," Orihime pointed out. "People always think artists are cool, but we're not. We're just weird and awkward."

Rukia sighed. "To be honest, I tried to flirt with him a little and…he didn't seem interested."

"He probably just didn't notice," Orihime said. Her eyes darted over to Ichigo, and she lowered her voice as though this would somehow make him not hear her. "Artists are also kinda oblivious. Don't you remember when you had to tell me that Ichigo had a crush on me?"

"And I am good at flirting," Ichigo put in, unoffended by any of this. He jabbed a finger at Rukia. "You are bad at flirting. Very bad."

"Shut up!" Rukia howled.

"You shut up, you're gonna get us kicked out, and then where are we going to go for Vegan Wednesdays?"

"Where, indeed?" sighed Rukia, who only celebrated Vegan Wednesday because she loved Orihime very, very much, and would rather enjoy being banned from the Lettuce Feed You. "Look, I am just trying to pick a tattoo, here. I know you mean well, but I don't have time for a boyfriend and even if I did, he's not exactly the kind of guy I can bring home to meet Grandfather, you know?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Rukia, you can sniff out a weak balance sheet from a thousand paces, but you can't recognize an actual opportunity when it's staring you in the face. You didn't even ask Lorde if she wanted to get onion rings."

"Lorde loves onion rings and you are adorable," Orihime nodded solemnly. "She would have said yes."

"Will you drop the Lorde thing already? It was two years ago and I had a meeting to go to!"

"There's always a meeting! That's exactly our point! Look, you're closing up the Las Noches audit next week, right?"

"Yeah? So?"

"So I really think you should take a little time off! And by time off, I mean, work eight-hour days for a few weeks, like a human. You could catch up on your kdramas and cook yourself a meal and maybe- just maybe- you could ask a guy out? I'm not saying you gotta subject him to the Kuchiki Gauntlet of Approval, just buy the guy a beer and ask him if he wants to make out. I tell you, it will restore your soul."

Rukia sucked her teeth. It was no joke that she had been working herself pretty hard lately. In fact, Brother, (Brother! of all people!) had also suggested she might be due for a little break.

"I think it's a really good idea, Rukia!" Orihime added. "And if Renji says no, I promise, I will plan a bunch of fun stuff that we can do together! We can get mani-pedis or… or go to the trampoline park!"

"You do have to ask him, though," Ichigo insisted. "Don't be vague or beat around the bush. Say 'I think you're neat and I would like to go on a date with you.' Just pretend he's a CEO and you're telling him to sell off an underperforming asset." Ichigo glanced over and shot an incredibly soft look at Orihime. "It's embarrassing for about six seconds, but I promise you it's worth it."

Rukia absolutely hated it when Ichigo was right, but who was she to argue, when he was dating the most objectively perfect person in the universe? "Okay," she huffed. "I will ask him out after he has completed my tattoo and our business relationship has come to a satisfactory conclusion. But if he shoots me down, Ichigo, you have to buy me no less than three pints of good ice cream and you both have to come over and sob-watch Mystic Pop-Up Bar with me again."

"Deal," Ichigo and Orihime said in unison.