It's Anna's birthday. And maybe it's the influence of her newly developed friendship with an accomplished professional artist, or maybe it's simply Anna acting on impulse again. Whichever the case, she decides this is the year she gets a tattoo. Which only fills Elsa with dread.
"Maybe I'll get a mermaid," Anna mumbles, flipping through the art binder with big sparkling eyes. "Ooh, this compass looks dope too!"
"What are you, trying to become a pirate straight outta cartoon show?" Jack mocks from behind the counter, where he has a box open, and keeps checking tiny ink flasks and their contents one at a time.
Elsa peruses the walls, checking the wide variety of tattoos the parlor has birthed. "How long did you say it'd take?"
"Depends on the size. Small ones could take a couple of hours." Jack pulls his shirt's sleeve back so the picture of a wolf on his arm is visible. "This one took me almost thirty hours to ink."
Anna goes to him to inspect the drawing more closely. She nods, impressed. "Oh, that is a beaut."
"What's that one?" Elsa asks, looking at it from over Anna's shoulder.
"A wolf," he deadpans.
"Yeah, but what does it represent?"
"That I like wolfs." He rolls his eyes, growing slightly annoyed. "Why does it have to mean anything more?"
Elsa crosses her arms, mirroring his aggrieved expression. "Because it's an image permanently attached to your body."
He smirks, shaking his head. "Sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo, lady. Doesn't have to be that deep."
"To you, maybe."
"On that note…" Jack looks back at Anna before he does or says anything he'll likely regret. "Made up your mind yet?"
"Uh, I think so." She twirls a lock of hair around her fingers shyly.
"Cool." He glances back at his coworker Phil who nods at him in response. "Cuz I think we're done sterilizing the back room."
"Oh. Okay." Anna nods. She rubs her hands, psyching herself up with tiny jumps in place. "We're doing this now."
"Only if you're ready." Jack smiles softly as he stands up. "Like your sister said, whatever you choose is gonna be on your body for a while. And you know, it's gonna hurt like a bitch."
"No, I'm ready. Just a little jittery, you know?"
"Totally." He goes to the back hallway and holds the curtain to the side so the guests can go through. "Well, ladies first."
"Is it okay if I stay here?" Elsa asks, gently placing her hand on the glass counter and absently running a finger over the surface. "Not really comfortable with seeing my sister in pain. Even when it's voluntary self-inflicted pain."
Anna laughs. "Meet you back in a couple of hours, sis. Imma be a whole different woman when you see me next!"
"Okay then," Jack chuckles. Before he follows Anna to the back room, he glances back at Elsa from over his shoulder and winks. "Holler at Phil if you need anything."
"Will do."
The faint buzzing coming from the back of the shop continues on and on forever. At some point, Elsa gets tired of waiting and excuses herself to the nearby coffee shop for a warm cup of green tea. She gets a table and reads for a while, and upon returning to the tattoo shop, finds that the procedure is still ongoing.
With not much else to do, she takes a seat on the empty bench and starts looking at the tattoos binder again. The drawings cover a wide variety of sizes, from extremely detailed patterns to clean and minimalistic lineart; stunning accents of color to bold black strokes; letterings, geometric designs, cartoon characters, animals, all sorts of symbols in all sorts of styles… different people wanting completely different tattoos on their bodies. Elsa is mesmerized. She traces the smooth lines on the paper, obsessed with their shapes. Every turn of a new page pulls her in even more, to the point that she barely registers when Jack returns to the front of the store.
"Found anything you like?" His sudden proximity makes her jump.
Elsa immediately closes the book as if hiding a terrible misdeed. She deflects, "Where's my sister?"
He points with his thumb to the back. "Taking five. Girl probably underestimated how much skin three square inches actually covers."
She bites her lower lip, worry lines creasing her forehead. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine." He shrugs. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?"
"I'm good, thanks."
He nods. "I'm gonna go back inside then. We should be done in another thirty minutes or something."
"Thanks for letting me know—ah, Jackson!" Elsa suddenly gets up, binder tightly pressed against her chest.
"Yeah?" Jack looks at her with a questioning eyebrow raised.
She quickly flips through the pages until she finds the one she wants. With the book open, she points at a picture of a delicate lotus flower. The design is elegant, thin lines with subtle splashes of watercolor. It speaks to her in a way that surprises herself the most.
"How much for this one?"
"I cannot believe you got me to take my shirt off in front of you," Elsa mumbles, gripping the towel Phil had handed her earlier tighter over her chest.
He hums as he slides a cotton ball drenched in rubbing alcohol over her ribcage area. The coolness makes her flinch. The smirk could not be clearer in his voice. "Might consider taking your bra off too, It'll be more comfortable that way."
Anna snorts in the background, and Elsa glowers at her as much as her current seated position allows her to.
"How has this place not been sued for harassment yet?"
"Lady, I'm a professional," Jack retorts with an eye roll. His tongue sticks out as he focuses on stenciling Elsa's chosen design. "I don't make that sort of comment in front of customers."
"What do you take us for?" Anna huffs with her hands on her hips. Her right shoulder is reddened and completely wrapped in plastic.
Jack grins at the girl. "Eh, you're different. Practically family."
"Do you ask family members to take their undergarments off on a frequent basis then?" Elsa questions with a raised eyebrow.
For a moment, he says nothing and just glares at her. Then, admonishes with a low hiss, "Way to make it weird."
"You said it, not me," she mocks, shaking her head.
After firmly scowling at her for ten seconds straight, he rolls his shoulders back, relaxing his muscles, and readies his pen. "Let's get to work, shall we?"
Elsa adjusts her head with a hand behind her neck, trying to get comfortable. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, preparing herself for the first prick when Anna's voice breaks her concentration.
"So does that mean you're giving us the friends and family discount?"
They both turn to Anna at the same time. The girl smirks back and forth at them like a child waiting for her promised ice cream cone on the first day of summer. Jack glances at Elsa. Your sister is a nutjob, his eyes say. She doesn't argue back.
Shaking his head, he huffs, heavy, long, and pained.
"Fine, you cheapskate. Now shut up, I'm trying to concentrate here."
I gave Elsa a basic white bitch tattoo.