Hey everybody! Thanks for all of the kind reviews; they keep me motivated! This chapter isn't as long as the others have been, but I still hope you enjoy it! And be sure to let me know what you think :) - Loopy

"So you finished the sketching?" Tobias asked cheekily as he followed Tris into her office. He enjoyed the way her face flushed red for a second and the way her eyes widened before she narrowed them into a glare.

She sat in her chair, her hand moving to the handle of the drawer where his designs were, but she didn't pull them out. "What makes you think you're that important?" she snapped, but it wasn't as harsh as she'd intended for it to be. Was she really that obvious? And why should it matter so much if she finished them or not?

It shouldn't. He's just another client.

Tobias let out a hearty laugh, surprised by her outburst. She was constantly surprising him. Her sense of humor was very dry, very deadpan, and it was very amusing.

Tris was still glaring at him. He could feel it more than he could see it, and when he opened his eyes, his suspicions were confirmed. "You just seem… lighter today. Freer," he explained with a shrug.

Tris stared at him, slightly alarmed, since that was exactly how she was feeling, too. Jesus, why am I so bad at keeping neutral? Why don't I just spill all of my deepest darkest secrets to him now, since he'll inevitably see them written all over my face in the next hour?

"Well. I don't see how my mood is any of your concern," she said, a bit lamely. Defensively. She didn't want him to be able to see right through her. His power over her was...unsettling.

To her surprise, he laughed again. "Well," he started, mimicking her tone a bit at the word, "if you're pissed and spiteful, I just might end up with that dick on my back." She couldn't help the lift at the corners of her mouth. "But if you're happy and pleasant, you'll give me the tattoo you envisioned when we first met, when you looked a million miles away."

His comment was meant to be admiring, showing her that he understood how she felt about her art. It was meant to make her remember why she was here, why they both were, and to make her smile.

But the smirk that had formed had now faded away. She looked distant again, but not in a good way. Stupid, he scolded himself. It was clear at that time that she was annoyed with herself for zoning out, for getting carried away. She was self-conscious about it, he supposed, though he didn't understand why. But she seemed very upset now.

Tris knew she shouldn't have become a tattoo artist. When she'd decided to pursue the career, she'd done it with the intent to help people through art, a medium that had helped her through a lot. But she was too selfish for this, too easily distracted by her own wants, her own passion. And Tobias saw that side of her. She was suddenly too ashamed to meet his eyes, to show him the design she'd previously been so excited about.

The look in her eyes, or the lack thereof, frightened Tobias. Her energy was apparent in the storms there, but he'd hit her in a place he could not reach anymore.

"Tris -" he started, fighting to find the words to fix this. He'd never been good at speaking to people, let alone cheering them up, but she didn't even give him a chance. She lifted her head to meet his gaze. Her eyes were steady.

"I think you should ask Tori about doing your tattoo. I'm not comfortable without an exact idea of what you want." Her smile was mechanical, rehearsed.

Tobias's mind raced. He struggled for something to say, fishing through things he'd noticed about her and trying to find a solution. She was always up for a challenge, that much was clear when he'd met her before. Challenges made her try harder, made her come to life.

He looked into her eyes. They were glazed, lost. Dead. He made a decision.

"So you're just going to give up?" he asked, a bit desperately, emphasising the words he knew would sink in the most. To his relief, energy flashed behind her eyes, her brow furrowing a bit. He kept going, determined. "Because what I asked for is too unreasonable for you?"

Tris was slowly coming back to her senses, very aware of the man in front of her and his questioning of her ability. She wanted to punch him. Hard.

"If that's true, then you're not who I thought you were."

And who exactly did he think she was? What right did he have to think anything at all about her and the way she lived?

Her hands balled into tight fists at her side, and she crossed her arms over her chest to cover them up. She fixed a glare on Tobias, whose expression was unreadable. "No," she retorted, pissed that he would her so weak, "I just didn't want have to deal with your infuriating ass." She stood, pulling the sketches out of the drawer and slamming them on the desk between them, face-down so he wouldn't see all of the details.

Tobias grinned as relief flooded through him. He felt as if he'd just performed some kind of surgery, even though all he'd done was feed her fire. She would've been fine without his help, but he was too selfish to let her be. He needed to see her alive again.

"But since you're so adamant," she growled, grabbing his arm and dragging him to her workstation, her sketches in hand, "it looks like I don't have a choice."

He fell into the client chair, assuming that's where he'd be instructed to sit, but she shook her head at him a bit. The anger was rolling off of her, but it was fading. She just needed a moment to cool down, and he'd give her that much, after what he'd put her through.

Tris motioned for him to lie down on the bed in the far corner of the room. That's where she usually did tattoos like the one she was doing for him, since it gave her more room to move and to reach the area on which she was drawing. He followed her instructions. She could feel herself calming down, both because she didn't like losing control of herself in front of her customers and because she couldn't really stay mad at him, despite how easily he could piss her off.

"So, this is pretty huge," she started, her voice low, quiet. He listened intently. "It'll probably take multiple sessions to do, and it will require a lot of sitting still and enduring pain, okay?" It was something she explained a lot, he could tell. She seemed bored, in a way, as she pulled out a machine and a packaged needle. Tobias nodded.

Grabbing the sketch she'd decided on, Tris told him she'd be right back, she had to make a transfer. While she was gone, Tobias pulled his shirt over his head and made himself comfortable on his stomach. He couldn't really complain. Multiple sessions meant seeing more of her, and that definitely wasn't a bad thing.

He'd been lying there for two minutes at most, his eyes drifting closed, when he suddenly felt moisture on his face. He yanked back, his eyes flying open, his arms up defensively. Beady eyes stared back at him incredulously. Scary, am I? What a wuss, they said. Tobias laughed, relaxing again.

"Poe." Tris's voice was soft yet firm, an order unspoken. The dog, Poe, turned to her and gave her a look that read Shush, shush, I'm leaving, woman.

Tobias laughed again as Tris settled herself in the chair beside him. His laughter stopped short as he realized how close she was to his bare torso, but she seemed to be unaffected, so he tried to remain calm. "Your dog is as sarcastic and spiteful as you," he teased. He was glad to see her grin. She wasn't mad anymore, at least not as much.

"Yeah, he's an ass," she chuckled, holding up a transparent paper covered in ink. She vaguely noticed Tobias looking away. He really trusts me to do this, doesn't he? Her hands delicately laid the transfer across his back, positioning it exactly where she'd envisioned it.

It looked as awesome as she'd hoped.

Tobias tried to ignore the static overwhelming his body at the feel of her hands smoothing over his bare skin. So did Tris. Neither of them mentioned anything, though both of their minds were racing.

"So," Tris cleared her throat, "It's obvious you've never gotten a tattoo before."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tobias interrupted, slightly amused at the playful judgment in her voice.

She laughed. It was a musical sound. "You're so…uncomfortable here. I can feel the awkwardness radiating off of you as soon as you walk in the door."

"Well," he said before he could stop himself, "that isn't just because I've never gotten a tattoo."

Tris froze for a moment. What was that supposed to mean? Was he calling her shop uncomfortable? After she'd worked so hard to make it inviting?

It took her a second to realize she was blushing. She turned away from him and busied her hands with preparing the machine.

"Anyway, if you need me to stop, I will. Just let me know." She placed a black ink cartridge in the machine a pressed her foot against the petal to test its mobility. The sound made her heart race, as it always had. "And this session will take a couple of hours probably since I have to do the outline around the main parts, so the rest of your today schedule should be clear."

Tobias smiled at the way her eyes lit up with the machine and rolled to his side a bit. "And if it's not?"

She smiled, too. "Then I guess you're screwed. Now hold still, or you're getting a dick."