More Than A Game

Chapter 28

Zack sat staring at his sketchbook, at the tattoo Dominik was wanting. He wanted to cover his prison tattoos. He had gotten them when he was nineteen, having been busted with the drugs he had taken from his brother and was trying to get rid of them, but because of the neighborhood he grew up in, no one believed him when he argued his case. Dominik admitted it didn't look good, and the fact he did already have petty theft when he was sixteen and habit of getting into fights that the cops usually broke up, didn't help his case any. He accepted his time, met some not so great people, that he made friends with just so he could survive because depending who you knew, depended on whether or not you had it easy. They gave him the tats as a kind of claim. Once he was out, he cut all ties and claims, wanting to avoid ever going back. 

When he has had interactions in the past with others, especially law enforcement, they could tell the tats origins and he hated them. He was thankful that when his Master learned, he accepted them, even believed him when he told him about how he got arrested. He never thought to cover them, until he saw what Zack could do. Which is why he had called him, asking to do it. 

The tattoos didn't cover his entire arm, just the underside of his left arm. The person who had given Dominik his tattoo had wanted people to see it, and with Dominik's dark skin, it wouldn't be noticeable, but his underside was slightly lighter. "The good thing is that the person didn't know how to make them so dark," Zack said as he looked it over. "They've faded as well, which should make it easy." "You sure you can do it," Dominik asked him. Zack nodded, "Of course I can. I do enough cover ups to know what I can and can't do. This is pretty easy. I once had to cover a solid black Nazi symbol, that hadn't faded in the slightest. The guy had gotten it when he was stupid young and got roped into this group that he left when he was in his twenties. He was stuck with the tattoo though. He came to me, wanting it removed because he was getting married and his fiancé hated it more than he did, and he felt he couldn't marry her with that mark on his arm and wanted it covered before he married her. It wasn't easy but at the end, he had an awesome sleeve that covered the top half of his arm. Since then he's come to me for a couple other pieces, and even brought his wife for a tattoo." 

Zack showed him the before and after photos as proof of the cover up he had done. Zack used Instagram to show case a lot of his work to try and bring in more clientele. It was a great tool that he used often.

Dominik nodded, confident that Zack could do it. They tossed some ideas back and forth before Zack had the final design. They then picked a day they were both available to do it. Zack didn't plan on charging Dominik. He wanted to help his friend get rid of this piece of his past he hated. He did what he needed to, to survive in prison, and now that he was out, he wanted to feel completely free. 

Dominik left with a smile and Zack looked down at the design. It was a steam punk inspired half sleeve that would cover the lower half of his arm. In the gears, and in the shadows of some of the gears, the prison tattoo will be hidden. Zack smiled softly and put the design away before leaving. 

He got home and found Ricardo and Rosalina asleep on the couch together. Zack smiled softly before going upstairs to change into his sweats and remove his shirt. He went back down and decided to start cooking dinner. 

The smell of food woke them up and they went to the kitchen. They saw the very sexy sight of Zack standing at the stove. He looked over his shoulder at them, "Rise and shine sleeping beauties." Ricardo chuckled, "If only you had been here to nap with us." Ricardo wrapped his arms around Zack's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder, "How was your day?" "It was great," Zack said with a nod and smile. "I'm really excited to do his tattoo." "What's he wanting," Ricardo asked him. "To get rid of his prison tats," Zack explained then he shared with them what they had talked about. "I'm looking forward to giving him this final thing he needs to really be free of his past. I'm doing it completely free too. He's my friend and I want this for him." 

Ricardo smiled, "I'm proud of you Pup." "Thank you Master," Zack said while turning his head to face Ricardo who kissed him deeply. Rosalina took this as a chance to sneak a photo of the two and set it as her back ground. 

When dinner was done they sat down to eat. "How long is this next job going to take," Zack asked Rosalina curiously. "Just a week, but it'll be mostly in the afternoon, so it's not going to be an all day thing because the models they're wanting to use are in college and have classes in the morning. After that, we have a few small family portraits and a couple other things like that." 

They loved hearing her excitement as she talked about her work. It was much different than how she had spoken about her past jobs. It was clear she was truly enjoying her work and to them that was the most important thing. 

When Zack was finished making dinner, they sat down and discussed some of Ricardo's projects. "My Lacy Doll project should soon be done. I have another one that I may have to fly out for, and if I do, I'll be gone for a week," Ricardo shared with them. Ricardo would have enjoyed having the two of them with him, but he didn't give Zack enough time to ensure he didn't have any clients, and he felt it too early in Rosalina having her new job to start requesting time off for a trip. So he would be going on this trip alone. 

Zack and Rosalina didn't like the thought of Ricardo going off on his own, but they understood why. Ricardo then went over what he expected from them if he did have to go. They would have to stick to their rules, but he wasn't going to be here to watch over them, and he had a feeling Zack's rebellious streak may poke it's head out of hiding and may encourage Rosalina to be his partner in crime. He would just have to wait and see. Who knows what kind of trouble they'll get into. With his subs there was no telling.