Tattoo

Would Morgead ever learn? Make a bet with Jez, and you were bound to lose. And really, could he have made it any easier for her?

Veering across two lanes of traffic, Jez pulled into the parking lot of where she would win yet another bet and collect her payment. Cutting the engine on her bike, she sat back and waited for Morgead to catch up. Of course he was way behind her; he was always too chicken to weave through traffic like she loved to do.

When he finally pulled his bike in next to hers, Jez sat glaring at him until his swift movements slowed and he stood with his helmet dangling from his fingertips and staring at her with a guarded expression.

"What?"

"You're too slow," Jez accused viciously.

"Well," Morgead pushed hair from his eyes and hooked his helmet onto his handlebars. "sorry I don't have a blatant disregard for life like you seem to have."

"Ooh, look who learned to use big words," Jez mocked. "gimme a break, Morgead. You sound like Bracken."

"Whatever," Morgead growled. "let's just get started on this so I can collect." Morgead propped the door open for Jez to walk through.

"In your dreams, Morgy."

She stepped through the door and took a look around. For the only tattoo parlor this side of San Francisco, the shop was pretty empty. There were a few armchairs in a waiting area with some tattoo covered guys lounging in them, and the walls were dominated by tacked up rock posters and old records.

When Jez and Morgead walked into the entry, the laughing stopped, and a voice called out mockingly, "Oh, great, here comes another couples tattoo!"

There was a chorus of stupid laughter, and a bald guy in his late twenties hopped off the counter and sized up first Jez, then Morgead standing behind her. He narrowed his eyes and nodded to the door. "Was that you I heard comin' in on the bikes?"

"Does it matter?" Jez sniffed.

The guy raised a single greasy eyebrow and looked at his buddies. "Feisty," he laughed.

"Whatever. Can any of you dirt bags do any real tattooing? Or am I gonna have to find somewhere else to go?"

"You got any cash, princess?"

Jez scowled and folded her arms tightly. "Noooo, I was planning on paying with Monopoly money."

The guy at the front peered down his nose at Jez while and Morgead rolled his eyes.

"Jez…"

"Shut it, Morgead!" she snapped. "You already pissed me off enough today. Now," she turned burning eyes back on the guy in front of her. "about that tattoo?"

Morgead bristled behind her, but Jez ignored him. It was his own fault for deciding to mess with her bike earlier. He muttered something along the lines of, "You were asking for it…" but Jez decided it was best to ignore him for now. There would be plenty of time to beat the tar out of him later.

The guy snapped his fingers and barked, "Stevie! This one's all you." Jez half expected maniacal laughter to accompany the evil smirk he gave her.

A boy with too many piercings stood up from one of the chairs and sulked past Jez and Morgead. "Follow me," he sighed.

Jez gave Morgead a cynical look over her shoulder as she drifted after Stevie. Morgead growled and muttered something not particularly complimentary towards his best friend.

"So," Stevie nudged the door shut behind Morgead and motioned Jez towards the padded chair in the middle of the tiny room. "what're you looking to get?"

Jez perched on the edge of the chair and tapped her chin as she pretended to think hard. She could see Morgead watching her through narrowed eyes from where he stood broodingly in the corner.

"I was thinking something big," Jez mused. "maybe a dragon on my back?"

"Uh-huh," Stevie snuck a curious glance at Morgead behind him looking like he wanted to strangle Jez in the chair. What was with that guy? "so…do you have any design ideas?"

"I was hoping you might have some."

"Er, sure." Stevie paced over to his desk and started rummaging through drawers. He could hear Jez and Morgead talking not so quietly behind him as he dug through piles of paper.

Jez's voice dripped with honey-sweetness when she asked, "What's the matter, Morgy? You're not getting cold-feet, are you?"

"No, you're just apparently more stupid than I thought you were."

"How is this stupid?" she scoffed.

"Huh," Morgead sneered. "yeah, let me just think about that for a minute there. One: you want a full back tattoo. Two: Bracken's going to kill you. And three: you're doing this all to win a bet!"

"Not my fault you made the bet. Besides," she snorted. "no way I'm spending an entire two weeks kissing your filthy butt!"

Morgead was really at a loss of words. So instead of dignifying Jez with a response, he shook hair out of his eyes and sunk back into the corner he had claimed to stew in his own self-hatred. When he bet Jez twenty bucks, plus manual labor that she wouldn't get a tattoo, he didn't figure that they'd actually end up in a shop!

Laughing, Jez turned her attention back to the boy in front of her. Apparently while Jez and Morgead had been arguing, he'd found what he wanted and had been waiting patiently for them to realise.

"What've you got?"

He showed her two different sketches of black dragons. The first one, Jez wasn't very interested in. But the second…

"This is amazing! Do that one!"

"Let me see," Morgead inched closer to take a peek at the picture that would be plastered across his friend's back for the rest of her life if he let her go through with this. Was he really going to let her go through with this?

Stevie held up a beautiful dragon that seemed to be crafted of wisps of smoke. It arched gracefully around the page, talons bared and blurry fire spouting from an open mouth. The way Jez wanted it…the way it was designed…

"Jez, that'll cover your whole back!"

"Shoulder to waist," she agreed happily.

"You'll have to take off your shirt," Stevie deadpanned.

"Great…" Jez mumbled. But none the less, she grabbed a fistful of fabric in each hand and tugged the shirt over her head. Unlike Morgead, who glared moodily at the floor while Jez undressed, Stevie made no move to look away. Just the thought of this guy's eyes and hands on Jez for the next couple hours was almost enough to make Morgead call off the bet and drag Jez out of that place all on its own.

Jez straddled the chair and chirped, "Ready!"

Stevie dragged a chair close to her and started tracing lines thoughtfully with his finger all across her back. Jez watched Morgead twitch out of the corner of her eye.

Obviously, Morgead was more nervous than Jez. But, really. When he dared her to do this, he never thought she actually would!

Stevie was prepping the needle now.

Without really meaning to, Morgead blurted, "Jez, are you sure about this?"

Stevie paused and looked at Morgead ruefully, while Jez just looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Of course I'm sure."

"And what about when Bracken sees it? He'll burn you alive, you know."

"Yeah? Well this was your idea, so he'll hold you just as accountable for my giant, permanent tattoo," Jez sounded too smug for Morgead's liking. "so he'll probably skin you as well."

"Are you getting this tattoo or not?" Stevie sighed.

"Yes!"

"No."

"What?"

"You heard me," Morgead growled. He tossed Jez's tank top at her and instructed, "put that on and let's go. I'm not letting you."

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, you weren't the boss of me!"

"Look Jez, you win alright? I'll give you the money and fix your bike and everything! Let's just go."

"No, Morgead. I want this tattoo."

"What the hell, Jez?" Morgead nearly yelled. "I'm not letting you get a god damn tattoo like this!"

"Screw you, Morgead!"

"So are you getting the tattoo or not…?" Stevie asked again. Apparently that boy was oblivious to the two furious vampires in the room with him.

Choosing to ignore the tattoo artist, Morgead growled, "Jez, I swear to god, put your stupid shirt on already!"

"No!"

"Fine!" Morgead threw Jez's leather jacket at her chest, and while she went to catch it, he picked her up off the chair and slung her over his shoulder.

Kicking and screaming, Morgead totted Jez back through the tattoo parlor and past the artists lounging by the door. They all stared with their mouths agape as Jez let out a string of curse words so foul that the devil would be proud, and pounded relentlessly on Morgead's back with her fists. Despite landing a knee to Morgead's jaw, he managed to carry her out to her bike and throw her onto the seat.

The second Morgead let go of her, Jez clutched her jacket to her chest and screamed, "Morgead you cunt! What the hell were you thinking! I'm not even wearing anything!"

Morgead calmly mounted his bike and looked at Jez. "I told you to put on your shirt."

Leaving Jez to wrap her jacket around herself as inconspicuously as she could, he revved the engine on his bike and tore off back down the highway.

Even if she'd technically won the bet, Jez had half a mind to go back into that shop and get that tattoo just to smite Morgead! But instead, Jez pulled her jacket over her nearly bare chest and kick started her bike. Flipping off the guys from the shop who were watching her from the window, Jez decided she would break every speed limit until she caught up to Morgead, just to see if she could knock him off his bike in front of an eighteen wheeler.

thanks for reading :) review please!