"And their name is Spunk! Spunk! What kind of Side trait is that!?" Gender Expression said as they tapped their steering wheel. They were headed to the long awaited tattoo appointment. Patton wasn't sure how his friend wanted him to respond. They looked upset to be meeting their Side. And, after being with Deceit, Patton was starting to understand why.

He looked out the window and thought about his day; about the kiddos he loved to take care of, until he felt better. Then he said, "I think it's like 'funky'?"

"That's not better." Expression huffed. They stopped at a red light and glanced at Patton. "What if they're working?"

"You don't have to talk to them if you don't want to." Patton said with a reassuring smile, "And I'll be there the entire time."

"Right, right. It'll be fine. This is fine." Expression said, turning when the light changed.

"You're imagining that dog with the fire, aren't you?" Patton asked. He giggled when they nodded.

A moment later, they were pulling into the parlor's small parking lot. Patton took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. He was going to forget all about his horrible experience earlier this week. Tonight was about Expression, kittens, and permanent ink.

Expression entered first and immediately looked back at Patton with a pained expression. Patton hid his amusement as he peaked over their shoulder to see a Side that had to be Spunk behind the counter.

"Hi! Welcome back!" Spunk said, waving at them.

Patton returned with a wave of his own, grinning, "Hello! We have an appointment!"

"Yes, of cour-" Spunk didn't finish the word, as they suddenly started coughing when they looked at Patton. A moment later an a Side wearing a black beanie and more piercings than Patton could count, came rushing out to help Spunk. They patted their shoulder, and handed them a water bottle.

Expression and Patton shared concerned, confused glances. The new Side glanced at Patton and started laughing. They led Spunk to the back room and said, "Verge, your appointment is here."

Before the tattoo artist stepped out, Patton heard the Side from earlier say, "good luck".

Patton's hesitant smile dropped the second he saw his face. Involuntarily, he took a step back. He felt his mouth go dry and his heart started sprinting a marathon. Expression took his hand, and their firm grasp grounded him enough to realise that whoever this Side was, he wasn't Deceit.

His hair was purple, while Deciet's was blond, and both his eyes were the same color. Still, their faces were identical. Patton didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he was ready to meet another Side yet. He had only just gotten his heart broken, he needed time to heal before he got back on the saddle, right?

But looking at this other Side, there was something within him that was very, very happy. This was the second chance he needed.

Expression stepped forward and held out their phone, showing him a photo of their cat. "I was thinking of one of the kittens looking like this, is that alright?"

The Side looked away from him, inspecting the photo.

"Yeah." He said, hushed and out of breath, "Yeah, I can do that. One moment."

He disappeared to draw the tattoo and they sat down in the waiting area. Spunk didn't return from the back room, and Expression was watching the door like a hawk.

"This is weird." They said, gripping their knees.

Patton nodded, looking at all the drawings and designs on the wall. Some of them were really detailed, others were kind of scary. Patton didn't know if he would ever want a tattoo. He didn't think so. But that Side, his Side, had some on his arms. What did that mean for him? Was Patton not who he thought he was? Who would he be when he was Established? If he ever got that far. He'd have to fuse with Deceit for that to happen, and Patton would never ever let that happen again.

He sighed, holding his head in his hands. He made himself sad.

"Doing okay?" Expression nudged him and whispered. "You can leave if you want."

"No, it's okay." Patton gave them his biggest smile, and a thumbs-up to boot. "I'm just thinking about the kitties!"

Expression frowned slightly, but shrugged and agreed, "Alright."

Spunk came out a while later and asked Expression, "I was wondering, what's your Established name?"

"You can call me Gender Expression." They responded, with a tone that Patton would frown upon.

Spunk paused for a second, then rested their arms on the counter and said, "Okay, then, Gender Expression. May I ask what yours is?"

Expression hesitated, "I use they/them pronouns."

Spunk smiled, "So does my partner. I use she/her."

"Of course you do." Expression grumbled, too quiet for Spunk to hear from across the room.

"Huh?"

The artist arrived then, bringing his sketch with him. "Okay, how's this look?"

Expression stood up and crossed the room to inspect his work. They talked a little bit before agreeing on the design. Expression turned to Patton and said, "Ready for the magic?"

"Yeah!" Patton jumped up, momentarily forgetting his thoughts. He was going to watch his first tattoo session! He couldn't help but be excited. Expression and him followed the artist to the back area.

Expression took off their jacket and laid down on the table. They were going to get it on their back. They hiked their shirt up enough for the space needed. The artist worked silently, placing the tracing ink quickly. Patton confirmed that it looked good and sat still as they got to work.

Expression winced when the needle first touched them, but quickly got used to the feeling. The three sat in silence, except for the buzzing of the needle. Patton swallowed nervously, glancing up to look at the artist's face.

He was concentrating on Expression's back, his eyebrows pinched slightly. His skin looked soft. Patton ducked his head to frown down at his shoes. Deceit's skin was soft, too, and he was a meanie liar McLiarson.

Patton closed his eyes, forcing a slow breath out his nose. It wasn't fair of him to judge this stranger for something Deceit did. He should give the Side a fair chance, it was only morally right.

But he couldn't say anything now. Not while he's trying to focus and Expression is in pain. He sat ridgedly, hoping no one else could tell how scared he was. What if all of his Sides are bad meanies?

He was judging again, assuming that the Side was a bad meanie because he had tattoos. Maybe he shouldn't say anything. Clearly he wasn't ready, if he was still this upset about Deceit. Maybe this Side didn't even want to be with him, it would be rude to bother him with something as silly as fusion.

Maybe Patton was going to be alone forever after all.

"Done." The Side said, turning off the needle. Expression looked over their shoulder, but waited until the artist cleaned them off before moving. Once the tattoo was clean, they stood up and looked in the mirror. Three little kittens, one looking like Expression's current kitty, were in a cuddle pile above their hip. In cursive writing, the phrase "I am purrrfect" looped over the image.

Expression turned so he could see and said, "Whatcha think, Pat?"

"It's purrrfect!" He cheered, surprised by how much he liked it.

"Hell yeah." Expression grinned and they let the artist cover the tattoo in a warp. He explained the cleaning and healing process, never once looking at Patton while he talked.

Afterwards, he led them out to the front to pay. Expression gave him their card and determinedly ignored Spunk's stare.

Patton was quiet, watching his Side move about. He didn't look like he wanted to talk. Maybe it was better for everyone if Patton left.

Expression finished paying and walked out with nothing more than an awkward wave to Spunk. Patton mumbled "Thank you." under his breath as he followed them out. They stopped outside the door and turned to him.

"Do you wanna talk to him?" Expression asked. "I can wait."

"Gosh," Patton rubbed his arm nervously, "should I?"

"If you want." Expression gestured to their car, "I don't want to give Spunk any ideas, but if you think that guy would treat you better than He Who Shall Not Be Named; go for it. I'll wait in the car."

Patton glanced down at his hands, "He did draw really good kittens."

Expression started walking to their car. "Take your time!"

Patton took a deep breath, then another. In the end, he decided to trust his heart. In his heart, he believed his Sides were good.

He turned around and opened the door. The bell above the door jingled as he stepped in, and he saw that his Side was already standing alone behind the counter.

Patton approached, his heart in his throat. He felt his hands shake as he said, "Hi."

The Side swallowed, then said, "Can I help you?"

"I think we're Sides." Patton said, slowly stopping to stand in front of the counter. Only the tablespace separated them. He held onto the edge, his knuckles white. "My name's Patton."

"I…" The Side glanced away, chewing his lip. "...don't think this is a good idea."

"Me neither." Patton admitted. He covered his mouth with his hand, startled by his own words. The other Side's eyebrows twitched downward at that, and Patton quickly continued, "Because of my own things; not because of you! You seem lovely!"

"I'm really not." The Side said, although his shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Hey now, none of that!" Patton felt the tension ease from his spine. He pulled out his phone and opened the contacts app. He held it out to the Side, "If it's alright by you, I think I want to know you."

The Side didn't move at first, staring at him with wide eyes. Finally, he took the phone and typed in his name and number before handing it back. Patton glanced down at the name before pushing "save contact".

V. A. Side

Patton frowned, a nervousness tugging on his chest. He asked, "Um, what's your Side name?"

"Do you have to know now?" He asked, an edge of annoyance in his voice.

Patton swayed on his feet, thinking it over. He didn't want to be a hassle, but Deceit had refused to tell him his Side name, too. He didn't know if he was being paranoid or not, but if felt like a red flag.

Still, it was the first time they were meeting, and he knew from the kiddos he watched that a Side trait can be very personal…

"I guess not." Patton finally relented, stepping back from the counter. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a bother. It's just important for me to know."

"Yeah, if we're Sides." He said, he crossed his arms and added, "We could just look similar."

Patton nodded, a small, confused smile on his face, "Well, sure. But that doesn't actually happen."

The Side with lots of piercings came out then, pointing to something in the back, "Hey, do you mind cleaning your workspace right now, please?"

"Yeah, of course, Elliot." The tattoo artist looked back to him, "Anything else?"

Patton glanced down at his phone, then lower to his feet. Maybe he really was just a nuisance. His voice was quiet as he said, "No, thank you."

He caught a guilty expression on the Side's face, but he ignored it. He didn't know what he did wrong, but he wanted to go home and cuddle with his favorite teddy bear.

"Patton." The Side said.

Patton looked up at him, halfway to the door.

"You can message me." The Side looked away and added, "one way or another, I can help you find your Sides."

"Thank you." Patton said, leaving before anything else could happen.

Expression was waiting in the car, as promised. They raised an eyebrow at him when he settled in the passenger seat. "So?"

"I don't know if he's scary or not yet." Patton said, putting on his buckle.

Expression sighed and showed him their phone, "Yeah, me neither."

Patton read the messages, they were between them and Spunk. She had invited them out for a date, and Expression hadn't responded yet.

"That's the second time she's mentioned going out." Expression said. "I don't know if I like it. It's weird to be wanted."

Patton thought about Deceit, who he thought wanted him; and the tattoo artist, who didn't seem like he did. He wasn't sure which he preferred. They both felt weird to him.

What was he doing wrong?


Tell me what you think!