So, um, Anna remember when I said I was working on something when we were talking about James and Sirius and you and me? Well, this is kind of it :3
It's a tattoo parlour!AU and it's way different to what/how I usually write so I hope you like it. I actually really like James here, and I hope y'all do too :")
Constructive criticism is always appreciated :")
Also for, Estonia- (word) exquisite
Halloween- Treat- idiotic
Word count: 3780
(31/10/17)
Anna took a long, deep breath as she stood outside the innocent looking brick building, a door with the 'Open' side flashing at her in front of her.
She had wanted this for quite a while, she had fought a lot to be here and while she had anticipated that she would lose her nerve once she got there, she didn't think she would lose it without even entering the goddamned place.
That thought irked her, and the extremely stubborn part of her mind huffed. Was she really going to back out of something just because she thought it might be bad and painful and something she'd regret later on?
Well, she'd do this, she decided firmly with a determined nod of her head, any possible regrets be damned.
And with a confidence that was previously lacking in her step, she pushed the door open and entered the tattoo parlor.
The inside smelt like how she imagined a hospital might along with faint traces of ink and a sort of musky feeling. After a second of some surreptitious sniffing, she decided she quite liked it.
As she took a step forward, a voice called out to her.
"Hello! How can I help you today?"
She turned towards the speaker and had to make a conscious effort to not let her jaw drop to the floor beneath.
Standing in front of her was a man around her age, with messy black hair that quite literally stuck up in all directions, defying the laws of gravity in every which way. His hazel colored eyes were adorned by a pair of round spectacles that Anna had never quite liked but on this man, they looked better than should have been legal. His right ear was pierced in at least 3 places, from what she could see. His lips, adorned with a pair of snake bites that were entirely too sinful in her opinion, were pulled up in a welcoming smile.
He was standing behind a counter, wiping his hands with a rag and from her angle, she could see he was dressed in a muscle tank that showed off his bulging muscles. Pale as fuck, but built like a damned machine. Exactly her type. She could see tattoos going down the whole length of his right arm, ending right at his wrist.
He was incredibly fucking hot.
And for someone who was such a self-proclaimed wimp, she sure did like this tattooed, pierced hunk of a man.
"Hello?" The man called again, sound a bit amused this time. His voice was a deep, smooth baritone and it was actually quite pleasant to listen to.
Anna flushed, "I-uh sorry, I was just...you know…" She waved aimlessly in his general direction, not quite sure what to say, which just seemed to amuse him more.
"That's okay," Thankfully, he let it go, "are you here for a tattoo?"
At that, her eyes took on the determined sheen again and she nodded resolutely. "Yes, I am. It's my first time, however, so I'll be needing quite a bit of guidance….?"
At her unspoken question, the man shook his head and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm James, James Potter." He held out a hand for her to shake, which she did so willingly. A little too willingly, if she was being honest.
"Anna," she replied. His hand was warm and calloused, and rough and her mind immediately went to places it definitely shouldn't be going to in the presence of someone she had just met, regardless of how attractive they were.
The man- James- smiled, "I'd be glad to help you in any way you want. In fact, you're in luck because I don't have any other appointments for today so if you're willing we can discuss what you want today, and if you think you're ready and have come to a decision, we can even get started on the actual tattoo today. What do you say?"
At his words, Anna's previous nervousness hit her in full force. Her palm started sweating so she quite hastily pulled it back from James' grasp, giving him an apologetic smile as she did.
"I'm sorry, I'm just...really nervous," she explained, a little embarrassed.
"It's okay, really," James said kindly, "It's normal to feel this way for your first time."
Anna bit her lip as the unintentional innuendo in his words hit her and by the way he closed his eyes as if in pain and shook his head in resignation, he had realized it too.
Before he could say anything, or before she did something to make the situation awkward, she quickly said, "I have a very rough idea of what I want, so how about we sit down and you guide me through this whole thing?"
James nodded at that and turned to shift a curtain to the side, revealing a little office behind him. He gestured for her to enter, and followed her in when she did.
Sitting down on a comfortable chair, she took another deep breath. She could do this right?
"So, what did you have in mind?" James asked when he was settled himself.
"Uh, so I was thinking something really simple and minimal for the first time? Like, I don't want to get too excited and go overboard and then come to regret it, you know?" Anna replied, a little nervous.
"Ah, I get that. It's a good decision, actually. Most people get so caught up in the excitement of getting their first tattoo that they choose a design that really isn't ideal, and then they have all these regrets later on, it's really sad," James agreed, shaking his head.
Anna smiled lightly. "Exactly, I don't want that. I want to be able to look at my tattoo when I'm old and wrinkly with exactly the kind of excitement I have right now."
Shrugging at the slightly amazed look he sent her way, she continued, "I don't want anything written, at least not this time. I was thinking something related to my love for books maybe? What do you say?"
She could see he was mulling over her words thoughtfully. "That's not a bad idea, actually. Choosing something that's close to your heart is always a good place to start. It will almost always guarantee no regrets."
Smiling, Anna nodded. "So I was thinking something like a book that's open to a new chapter? I'm not quite sure how that'll work but it can signify a new beginning as well. Putting the past behind and all that."
All of a sudden, James beamed at her. "I've got the perfect idea. Wait just a second." With that, he got off the stool he was sitting on and went behind another curtain.
While he was gone, Anna looked around curiously. She was obviously sat in his office, if the semi-formal decor was anything to go by. Noticing some photographs on the table, she leaned forward to get a closer look.
Most of them had James with another guy who was just as attractive as him. He had raven hair, a nose ring, quite a number of tattoos and from the one picture where he had his tongue stuck out, a tongue piercing as well.
There were others too. A beautiful girl with fiery red hair and bright green eyes and a sandy-haired guy were laughing along with the other two in another picture. The last one was James, the raven-haired guy and two older people who looked remarkably like James, leading her to believe they were-
"My parents," James' voice startled her out of her thoughts as she reared back quickly, shooting him an apologetic look. "That's my parents, and my best mate, Sirius."
Anna bit her lip, but didn't quite know what to say to that. She was saved from answering, however, when James came to sit down in front of her and spoke.
"So, I was talking to Sirius some time ago, and he's really into books. He wanted a new tattoo so we sat down and came up with this design. I think this might be what you're looking for," he explained while opening a black notepad to the design.
"Oh, but if it's a design you came up for him, how could I take it?" Anna exclaimed, a little bit of dismay leaking into her tone because she had seen the design and it was gorgeous.
"That's no issue," James waved his hand, "If you don't mind having the same tattoo as someone else, then he won't either. I've already done this for him and it came out as pretty gorgeous, if I'm being honest. He told me I could use this for anyone who wants to."
When she still looked worried, James said, "Well, would it make you feel better if I called him up and asked him what he thinks? You don't have to worry about him saying something just to be polite because he's not the type to do that."
Looking hopeful, Anna nodded eagerly. She had fallen in love with the design. It began with around 4-5 birds in a 'v' shape which, as they came closer, turned out be books in varying stages of being open, finally tumbling down onto a stack of books.
She realized that were she to go through with this, it would mean a world of pain because it wasn't a small tattoo at all but she was completely up for it. This was exactly what she came for.
Looking amused, James took out his phone from a nearby drawer and quickly called Sirius, putting the phone on speaker.
Over the ringing noise, Anna quickly apologized to James, "I'm really sorry for making you do all this but it's just...I don't really want to steal someone else's design you know?"
James shook his head, "It's alright. I actually respect you more for this, actually. While I try my best not to do it, I know there are a lot of tattoo artists who willingly steal designs, even from people they know, and then show them to clients."
Anna smiled, and just then a deep voice that was not James' spoke.
"Prongs, you wanker!"
James immediately looked at Anna with something like panic in his eyes, which did not make any sense.
"Padfoot, not now!" he exclaimed into the phone. Anna assumed he was the 'Prongs' and Sirius the 'Padfoot'.
"Oh, it will be right now," the voice snarled, "how fucking dare you-"
"Sirius, you're on speaker!" James cried and this time the panic was coating his words. Even though she shouldn't be, Anna was highly amused at what was happening before her. It was quite clear that Sirius was going to say something, probably very incriminating, and James didn't want him to do it in front of a client.
"Good for you, then," Sirius muttered darkly. "How dare you cover all my pants with itching powder just before I had to go on a date huh? Have you forgotten The Code altogether or do you just not care?"
Forgetting herself for a second, Anna burst out laughing, both at what Sirius had just said, the mental image provided by his words and the extremely defeated look on James' face when he said it.
"Itch-It-Iching p-powder?" she wheezed out through her laughter, aware that the voice from the phone had quietened completely and James was staring at her in growing horror.
"Hello?" came Sirius' voice again, when she had managed to calm herself down.
"Who is this?"
"It's a client, Padfoot," James said tiredly, though Anna could see he wasn't really all that bothered, leading her to believe that he had expected him to do something like this.
"Ah, well, I'm not going to apologize to you if that's what you're after," Sirius said. "Although I am sorry you had to hear that, sweetheart."
Anna blinked when she realized he had spoken to her, "Oh it's uh, it's no problem."
"Judging by your previous laughter, I'll believe you on that," he replied dryly, though it was laced with amusement.
Anna grinned sheepishly at that, even though he couldn't see her.
"Right, anyway," James cleared his throat, "Moving past that. Padfoot, Anna here wanted to know if you'd be alright with letting me use that design we came up with a week ago."
"The ones with the birds transforming into the books?"
"That one, yes."
"Yeah, sure. I told you I wouldn't mind if you put it in your pamphlets."
"Well, Anna wasn't so sure about that so she asked me to ask you if you were truly okay with it."
Sirius laughed heartily at that, making Anna blush bright red. She did feel a little silly for making James do all this but she didn't regret it. She knew wouldn't have been able to go through with this if she wasn't sure Sirius was okay with it.
"Well, since you're on speaker, I'll tell her myself," he replied after a few seconds. "I really don't mind if you use the design, Anna. In fact, I would love it if you do. Maybe we can even meet up and compare it one day. I'll finally be able to prove that Prongs does my tattoos just a little bit more sloppily than he does for others." The last line had James glaring sourly at the phone.
Giggling slightly, she replied, "Thank you so much. It really is a beautiful design, which was all the more reason why I wanted to confirm with you."
She could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, "I'm glad you did. It's nice to know that you won't stand for using something that is someone else's hard work without permission. It's impressive."
"Since that's done," James cut in, looking at her, "I think we can get started on the tattoo, yes?"
Anna nodded quickly, the excitement creeping back into her.
"I'll see you later," James directed to Sirius.
"Oh, you will," he promised in a tone that said he was hiding something. James only rolled his eyes at that.
"Hope everything works well for you, Anna! Tell James to take a picture so I can see," he finished.
"I will, thank you so much once again," Anna replied cheerfully.
"It was no problem," he said, before cutting the phone.
As soon as he did, she looked up at James, waiting for him to tell her what to do next.
"Before anything else," he started, "I would just ask that you ignore everything that happened in the last 5 minutes. Minus the permission of course, because then we would have to call him again and that is not something I want to do."
"If you say so. You won't bring out the itching powder if I refuse, though, will you?" she teased, sucking her lips in to keep from giggling.
James groaned and lightly bashed his head on the wall beside him, "I swear to god, that idiotic man will be the end of me."
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. In the last five minutes, we just discussed the design I'd be getting and you convinced me that your friend does not mind me using it, correct?" Anna held her hands up in surrender, though her eyes were twinkling with amusement.
James shook his head ruefully. "Correct. Now, since you're happy with this, I think we can get started on the actual tattoo. It'll take about 5 hours in one sitting, or you could divide it over the next couple days. Which would you prefer?"
Anna cocked her head to the side, "I think I'd get it all done today. I can't trust myself to not chicken out if I had to come here two, three days in a row."
"I think you give yourself much less credit that you deserve," James commented as he stood up, motioning for her to follow him.
"And how would you know that? We only just met," she asked curiously.
"I've been doing this for some time now. I can usually figure out which ones will back off and which ones will stick through the pain. You," he turned to point at her, "are of the latter kind."
"You're going to bear the pain, if only because you're stubborn and want to prove a point."
Anna looked at him with her jaw agape and when she spoke, it was in a tone full of awe and wonder, "How did you-?"
He smiled, the stud on the left side of his lip glinting in the light, "I told you; I can figure people out pretty well."
Anna looked at him with narrowed eyes, but let it go as she entered the room she would be getting her tattoo in. Taking a deep breath, she took in her surroundings and was pleasantly surprised to see it was customized to make one feel comfortable and relaxed.
The walls were a soothing light blue color, with black detailing. The chair on which she was to sit wasn't like one of those metal contraptions she had seen in movies and pictures, but something that looked really comfortable.
There was light music playing in the background and overall it was a really cozy atmosphere that almost instantly put her at ease.
"This is amazing," she turned to face James, who was setting up the equipment, "I'm actually amazed at how comfortable I feel in here."
"That's a job well done then," James grinned, making Anna's heart skip a beat at how fucking sexy he looked just then, "If I could even make one person less nervous, then well, I consider it a good day."
As he said it, Anna could see the passion and love for his work in his eyes and her lips lifted in a fond smile. She walked forward to sit down on the chair when he had finished setting everything up and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
James came and sat in front of her on a stool, giving her a nice, close view of his face. Well, at least she would be suitably distracted during this whole thing if he was going to be so close to her, she thought.
"Not going to lie, this is probably gonna- excuse my language- sting like a bitch," James warned her while rubbing alcohol over the length of her forearm.
Anna shrugged lightly, "That's what I prepared myself for."
"Atta girl," he murmured as he gently picked up the tattoo gun and placed it against her skin. It was quite cool to the touch and she had to stop the slight shiver that went through her at the contact.
"Ready?" James asked, his gorgeous hazel eyes looking into her her.
Taking another deep breath, Anna nodded.
Whistling lightly through her teeth, Anna gazed down at her arm in wonder. It had taken just under 5 hours for the whole thing to be done and she wasn't ashamed to admit that she had teared up a bit at the halfway mark when her whole arm was numb but burning at the same time.
But it was over now, and she had walked away with something that she was quite sure she'd never get sick of seeing even fifty years into the future.
She bit her lip to contain a squeal of happiness and turned to James, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and looking at her with his lips quirked up in a smile.
"This is fucking exquisite, thank you so so so much for this!" she beamed.
James pushed himself off the wall and made his way towards her, "It was an absolute pleasure, Anna. You were amazing to work with. I do hope you come back again for another one." He winked at her when he said the last line, making her blush and nod her head.
"Oh yeah, I think I'll definitely come back again. Despite the pain, this has been one of the best things I've done," Anna promised.
"So, I've told you everything you have to do to take care of this. If you stick to it, I don't think you'll have any problems but just in case you do, don't hesitate to come straight here okay? Even if you think it's nothing, it's better to be safe than sorry," James said.
"I will, don't worry. I have no intentions of neglecting this for a second," Anna replied, smiling down at her tattoo before she looked back up at James.
"I think I'll leave then. It's been a long time and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay up," she confessed, already moving towards the door.
Before she could open the door, however, James quickly moved forward and did it for her. When she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly.
"Only the best for my client," he said cheekily, making her shake her head at him. In the past so many hours, she had discovered that James Potter had a mischievous, playful personality and was just a pleasure to be around.
"You're going in a cab right?" James asked after a second, "You sure you'll be okay?"
"I'm sure," Anna assured him, "It's nothing to worry about. In fact, there's the cab right there." And she pointed at the car that had just come to a halt in front of them.
James nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets as he took a step back. "Well, I wish you the best of luck with your tattoo then. I hope I see you again."
"I hope I see you again too," Anna replied and before she could lose her nerve, she quickly stepped forward and gave him a one-armed hug, making sure to keep her freshly tattooed arm out of reach. She could feel she had startled him by his delayed reaction but when his arms did come up to wrap themselves around her, it was all she could do to not close her eyes and just go to sleep in his arms right there.
They were strong and cozy and gave her the most wonderful feeling ever and she felt like she didn't want to leave at all but she had to. So after a few delicious seconds, she stepped back, shot James an embarrassed smile and quickly sat down in the cab.
She waved at James as the car started, and smiled when he did the same. When they had rounded the corner, she looked down at her tattoo and her heart warmed at the amazing work.
She was definitely coming back here again.