Empty swimming pools ✓

26. Tattoos together

"What now?" William's knee bounces with unusual anxiety. It's strange to see him lose his composure, maybe being in a small space with his past affects him as much as affects Lennon and he wants to get out of the car  as soon as possible.

"We wait. Just for a few minutes. Hopefully it will clear up. Sorry, I just hate bringing my bodyguard to every little thing."

Relieved to see the empty street, they silently agreed it's time to go. Lennon moves his gaze around the area one last time, both relieved and nervous about the quiet atmosphere, while he wipes his sweaty palms on his trousers.

Like most tattoo artists, Dom is covered in body art. But his is rather unusual. It is completely done in solid black ink. There is no shading or colours. There is not a single word, person, object, or animal in the design. His arms and neck, the only parts visible under his tank top, are covered with tribal looking patterns. Intricate line detail and symbols combined together to create a beautifully complex work of art. Lennon finds himself wondering how long it would take to sit for that much work.

"Let's get this started. "

Dom sat William down at his station. Dom made  a stencil from the sketch William sent him already and puts it in place. He places the stencil perfectly so all the elements are in just the right place as William had envisioned. As he sits in the chair so Dom could work on his chest, Lennon feels like he should go somewhere else because seeing William's naked chest and those defined abs splayed out on the reclined chair is more distracting than he wanted it to be. And what's with all that new ink, there must be at last seven or eight tattoos on his arms and torso.

"I'm gonna go look around Dom." he turns around with hands in his pockets looking at the wall full of photos of people who Dom tattooed before.

"Sure buddy. Help yourself with some beers? You know where the fridge is."

"Do you have tea? I'm driving."  And Lennon can hear William laugh at what Lennon said. His stomach drops. Lennon turns his head slightly and catches sight of William's smile.

"What?" he says a bit shyly.

"Nothing. Just Lennon I know would not refuse an alcoholic beverage when offered. " William jokes and both him and Dom laugh at that. Lennon really should have gone with a banter, it felt good to joke around, just mates having fun. But something just won't let him. Anger rolls over him like a blanket. He continues to walk towards the kitchenette to make tea.

"Well this is not Lennon you know anymore." he bites out.

"You good?"  Dom asks Lennon when he comes  back from the kitchenette in the back of the studio. He made three cups of tea and puts two cups on the small table next to Dom and William. The tiny needles of the tattoo gun are rapidly going in and out of William's skin and he instantly feels the urge to look closer.

"Does it hurt?"

"Umm, no not really. I always get unbearably nervous prior to getting inked. But the moment I feel that first bite, I calm down completely. The hard part is over. Now all I have to do is sit still and wait for him to complete the job."

Lennon just nods and blows on his tea. He feels the same about getting tattooed. The pain grounded him. He loved it, the process and what they represent. Tattoos on his skin are a wall that prevent others seeing what's inside. And no one really doesn't know how to read them. When the fans or journalists ask him he never explains what they really mean, yeah, some of them are stupid and purely aesthetic like a palm tree that he had done in Los Angeles. But others, like a large picture frame on his back, translate his past.

"Are you getting one too, Lennon?" Dom looks at him over the shoulder.

"Maybe. There is something I saw on your desk back there while I was making tea."