Petra remembered clearly her last time at such a big convention. It's not just any event when you meet not only your biggest idol but also a role model for the first time.
It was hard to believe that it was only a few months before.
She was not popular enough to get her own stall in the hall with all the artists, but she still wanted to participate. After all, she was still a big fan of a lot of the people who were there that day. If not for the expensive prices, she would let them tattoo every piece of her body. Unfortunately, she could afford only one.
Deciding on where to get it was pretty easy. With a map of the halls in hands, she was wandering in the crowd of people, looking for the banner of Tattoo Parlor. Her heartbeat quickened when she saw the logo of black and white wings from afar. She rushed in that direction without hesitation.
It's been at least 20 minutes since she took her place in a queue to the appointment list. It started to worry her. It looked like she was not the only one excited about them being here. It was rare to see them anywhere other than their studio, since they didn't really need to make that effort in order to maintain their fame.
At least she could watch them work. Two tall men, Gunther and Eld, as far as she remembered from their Instagram posts, were currently working on two separate tattoos on some tough looking blonde girl.
She looked around, a guy named Auruo was helping people pick from available designs. There were also sign-ups for commissioned projects to be done the next day.
There was no sight of their fourth member. She let out a soft sigh. Of course Levi, their founder and boss, wouldn't be there. Rumors said that being able to book an appointment for a tattoo to him was like a miracle. He took only the project he personally found interesting and the prices...well, his masterwork was definitely worth any amount, at least to her.
When it was finally her turn, the straw haired man smiled nonchalantly.
She was bummed when she heard that their schedule was already full for that day. She was able to at least book a session for tomorrow, after they'll be done with all the commissioned designs.
"Petra!"
She turned at the sound of her name and saw a friend she made in the train on her way there. Her frown disappeared immediately and was replaced by a wide smile.
"Hange!" she only said before they embraced her with a tight hug. It didn't really bother her, Hange was the sweetest person she had a chance to meet. They had such a good(and chaotic) vibe to them.
"I'm so glad I ran into you!" they said loudly and straightened themselves. "I can't believe I forgot to get your number."
Petra laughed flushing a bit because of their height difference. She found them pretty charming.
They spent most of the day together walking around and checking different artists before Hange had to go back to their work as one of the staff at the event. They agreed to meet at the small after party at 8PM.
When she arrived, Petra was surprised to find that the party was mostly for convention exhibitors. Getting in was pretty easy when you were with someone as important as Hange.
It didn't change the fact that at first, Petra felt intimidated by all the big names around her. Fortunately, the liquor quickly took care of that. After some time, she excused herself from the group of people she was talking with, and went out onto a big balcony to get some fresh air.
"You know that you can change the "S" in the name now, right?"
"Tsk."
She heard two men's voices but didn't pay much attention to them. She walked to the railing and leaned on it to look at the few people in the garden below.
"Oi, girl, careful there." she heard after a while but ignored it as she didn't think it had anything to do with her. She was looking at this beautiful girl with long dark hair. She tried to figure out what the tattooed patterns on her bare arm were. She leaned out a bit more.
"Oi!" this time the voice was louder and closer, and then before she could react, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She lurched and squealed, surprised when her back hit something hard. She looked over to discover it wasn't actually something but rather someone. He was a tall blonde man. He had a concerned look on his face, but he was smiling. His thick eyebrows were something that caught her attention more than his expression.
She discovered then that the hand that just left her shoulder belonged to someone else. A much younger looking, dark haired man sent her an irritated look. He was much shorter, actually, barely taller than her.
The confusion must have been written all over her face.
"If you're this drunk just go to your hotel room or something."
"Huh?!" she could only express looking from one stranger to another.
"You were about to fall." explained the blonde one. "Let's sit down." he proposed.
After a short moment of hesitation she followed them to the bench they were sitting on before.
"I'll bring some water." the same man added. Petra noticed the confidence he was carrying himself with as he walked back inside.
She sat in the middle of the bench and looked up at the sky. Yeah, maybe she indeed drank a bit too much. The stars probably shouldn't spin like that.
Her attention was caught by the movement of the short man sitting at her right. He was lighting up a cigarette which made Petra wrinkle her nose. He wasn't really paying attention to her. That's why he was startled when she suddenly gasped and got closer to point at the tattoo on his arm.
"Oh my god!" she said loudly and went silent for a moment just looking at it. "This is Levi's work, right?! He's my favorite artist, how did you manage to get that?"
She looked up to meet his rather grumpy expression. He raised an eyebrow and brought his attention back to the cigarette.
"I guess I was just lucky." he said and smiled for a short moment.
She blinked at his sudden change of expression and got back to appreciating the art on his arm. "I think you don't realize how much." she huffed and turned his arm to see more of it, pleased that he let her.
"Uh…this is so unfair." she murmured, and he looked at her yet again.
"And who made those?" he asked pointing at her leg.
She leaned forward to take a look. "This one's mine." she replied with a wide smile and raised her leg to put it on the bench. "You see, when you're broke, it's much easier to just do stuff by yourself." she explained jokingly, showing the tattoo to him.
"It was one of the first I did on myself actually. I think I got a lot better by now." she said with confidence while her new acquaintance leaned in to judge it.
The other one just got back with a glass of water. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" he asked with a teasing smile. In that moment Petra realized how high her shorts pulled up because of the position she was in.
The Dark haired men snorted and leaned back.
She fixed herself and took the water he had handed her.
"Thanks" she said embarrassed and took a quick look at the other man. He got back to smoking, but she caught his glance and quickly averted her own. She took a sip of water as they opened their new beer bottles.
They were discussing their favorite tattoo art styles for quite some time when Hange finally found them at the balcony.
"Oh! Here is my plus one!" they said happily, approaching them. "You guys should've told me you wanted to share that small sweetie!"
"Hey!" Petra laughed, unable to pretend that it bothered her. "It's you who left me with strangers, I swear, you know everyone here." she said with a smile. She was in a great mood, still tipsy but sitting in one place definitely helped. She already wanted to get another drink, but when she had suggested it, they stopped her.
"That's kinda my job." Hange pointed out.
"So, you're one of the exhibitors here?" asked the shorter man at this new revelation.
Petra looked at him with a surprised look. He was mostly passive during the conversation they were just having. Only listening and sometimes adding some points between hers and blonde man's drunk blabbering. She had a feeling he was watching her a lot, but she convinced herself that it was only because she felt intimidated by his behavior.
"What? Hah, no, no way." she said quickly, but it flattered her ego nevertheless.
"Well, you definitely won't make it with this attitude." he stated looking her in the eyes with his never-changing cold gaze.
A moment of silence fell between them. Not that his friends were surprised, it's just that he always said stuff like that in the most unexpected moments.
"You know what…" Petra quickly started and straightened the way she was sitting to look directly at him. She didn't want anyone interfering or protecting her from that situation. "You're right." she said with a firm tone, making the other two look at them as well.
"I think... I think that actually I deserve my own stall here!" she could feel the blush coming to her face but continued. "My work is good enough, I know it. I will make it one day."
The man she was facing lowered his eyelids and took a sip of his beer.
"I might actually believe you."
Right after he finished his sentence Hange came closer to the bench, laughing loudly. They were proud of her response.
"That's my Petra!" they said patting her head just a little too hard.
Petra smiled at them and put her hand in the same spot on her head.
It was nearly 3AM when Petra reached her hotel room. After a quick shower she threw herself on the bed and looked at the ceiling. Surprisingly, she wasn't very sleepy, just tired.
In the end, she spent most of the night with her 3 new acquaintances. It was great hanging out with people that had the same amount of obsession on your favorite topic.
She had a chance to learn some things about them too.
Hange showed her all of their 15 tattoos. By the unfazed reactions of the others, she figured it wasn't something unusual for them. Nevertheless, it was a bit embarrassing to think about it now.
The tall one, Erwin, as Hange called him, was just starting his own business in the country across the sea. He did not hesitate to tell them everything on how different the life was there and how big his hopes were for success. Listening to his little speech, it was hard not to wish him the best. It was so easy to just believe he will make it.
As for the third one, she learned the least. He didn't really open up but definitely was more talkative than he had been previously. The arguing between him and Hange really amused her. It was obvious they were close. At one point Petra showed him some more of her works from her Instagram account, and when he took her phone to go through them, she moved herself closer to him to be able to see what he was looking at. She flushed at the memory of his smell and heat. She internally scolded herself for acting like some stupid teenager and took a deep breath to relax and closed her eyes.
Just then she realized she never learned what his name was.
Petra was brutally pulled out from her dream by the loud ringing of her phone. She reached for it with a grunt, not looking who it was.
"Um...yes?" she asked with a sleepy voice.
"Petra! Listen! We need your help." she heard a familiar voice. It was Hange.
"What? Something happened?" the question slipped out automatically. She slowly raised herself to a sitting position.
"It really sucks, Eld got sick, like, really sick, he can't even leave the bathroom right now, you're lucky you didn't see him. He looks like shit."
"...What?"
Petra was confused, and with the amount of words Hange sprinkled on her, it was hard to understand it in her currernt state.
"Yeah, anyway, we need someone to fill in for him. I know it's sudden but, like, you're the only one Levi's even considering, and I can't convince him that if you reject, and he doesn't let anyone else come, their whole schedule will go to hell and I will have to take care of that."
There was no response for a couple of long seconds.
"...Petra?"
"You said, who?"
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Petra nearly threw up when she got there and was led right to the stall decorated with the green logo of black and white wings.
Hoho!
I can't believe I actually wrote a whole ass two chapters.
I still have some more ideas for the future ones :"D
I know Petra getting the job this way is crazy but yeah, it's a fanfic, they are special snowflakes, that's the point.
Remember to not let strangers give you drinks at parties! She made a mistake, but she was lucky it was Erwin.
Also, if you are getting a tattoo, do not drink for some time before and after it's done because it might mess the tattoo up!
Thank you for reading
