The Tattoo Artist || Rhea Ripley x OC

Chapter One: 24 Hours to Meet

Ghost's POV

I was in my shop, finishing up a tattoo that said "Brutality Lives Here" on top of what looked like a chain link fence. The bell on the door dinged, so I informed the person that I'd be with them soon. My small tattoo shop was owned and run by me and only me. No workers, just me, myself, and I. That was okay though, it's how I wanted it.

Anyway, as I finished the tattoo, and the man came out of the back room to the register, I took a glimpse of the woman who had walked in. Long, green hair, she had glasses on. Her outfit seemed punky, but also screamed lesbian, as she wore a red and black plaid flannel over a black tank top, tucked into her high waisted ripped skinny jeans. Now, I myself am bisexual, but I definitely prefer women. This girl looked to be in her twenties, probably following a whim to get a tattoo since I couldn't see any other tattoos on her, from anywhere else.

Looking back at the man, he paid and left. Walking up to the woman, I stood behind her. "Hello miss, can I help you?" I piped up as she looked at my WWE Dedication designs as I call them. Just a lot of designs that reference WWE wrestlers and would seem normal to any non-WWE person. She looked at me and smiled. "No, I'm just checking out designs for now if that's okay. My friend has a lot of tattoos and was thinking of getting one done here, so I'm checking it out for her."

Nodding, as I understood, I let her know it was fine. "If you have any pictures of her or some tattoos so I can get a feel for her style, I can suggest you some and make you a copy of it to show her, or you can take a picture of it. For a bit more money, I'll do custom tattoos, but she'd have to come in for that." I look over at the clock, checking the time. '6:30...an hour til closing.'

Looking back at the woman, I smile. "But you will have to hurry, we only have an hour til we close and time seems to fly when I'm helping out customers." She laughed and nodded. Showing me a picture of her friend's...thigh? Leg? I saw the tattoos. Nodding, I could tell she was more Gothic and liked creepy more than cute, and didn't get many sayings. "Alright, any limitations I should know about? Oh, and let her know that if she schedules an appointment with me, it'll be easier to make sure I can get it done when she wants. There are some days where I get so many appointments and then I can't take walk ins or I close as a walk in comes."

She nodded. "For a limitation, our profession makes it so they have to be in a place easy to hide. So, nothing on the upper body unless it is appropriate for any audience to see. Which, obviously, hers are most definitely not...anyway, it mainly just that. She prefers something small, too. So she has room to get more if she wants to." Nodding, I write down what she was telling me. "May I have her name in case she does choose to come in or schedule an appointment with me?"

The girl looked down. "Uh, Demi Bennett." Smiling, I wrote it down. "Alright, so, these three designs are ones that are easy for me to do small, and would fit the style she seems to go for. You can take these copies with you." I gave her three designs that I printed off.

One was a wave that said "Riptide", one was a grim reaper, and the last one said "This Brutal Nightmare is My Reality" in chain link letters. She smiled and thanked me. Looking at her, I bit my lip. "Can I just say, you look a lot like Shotzi Blackheart, or Ashley Urbanski." Blushing she took her glasses off. "Okay, you caught me. I can see you like wrestling." Laughing lightly, I nod and rub the back of my neck. "Are you not going to be on tonight? It is 7 o' clock, NXT starts in an hour." Shotzi had a look of 'oh shit' cross her face as she thanks me, quickly running out - with the copies.

Locking up after a little while, I walk up stairs to my studio loft and put some food in the microwave. Popping down on the couch, I turn on the TV just as NXT was starting.