my favorite customer - punznap tattoo shop au

1 ~ new faces

The sound of the water splashing over the side of the pavement was loud, loud enough for the driver of the car to hear it behind him as he sped down the road. The rain had come down hard today, and though it had softened to a slight drizzle, it continued to fall from the sky. He took a hand off of the wheel, running it through his hair. The neons from the street lights and small stores that lined the narrow road illuminated his skin. His hand quickly darted back down to shift gears as he slowed, and carefully turned into a small parking lot in front of a familiar small building. He stepped out and shut the door, surveying the outside of the store. Nothing different than the last time, the same window art, the same pulsating neon and ambient buzz, and the same unmemorable names on the-

Something was different. One of the names was gone from the glass door. The employees that worked at the Tattoo shop had their names on the door, and if a customer was a returning or regular, they were assigned to a specific employee. And his was gone. He sighed and pushed the door open, realizing that that wouldn't affect him that much seeing as he would just get reassigned to one of the other employees. It's not like he got to know his last artist anyways, she was always talking to someone on the phone, immersed in conversation that lasted entire appointments, and probably carried on into the appointment next poor client after him. He leaned against the front counter, grabbing a pen from the mug that sat next to the computer to spin it between his fingers. He did a quick double take as he realized the mug was also different, possibly a new employee's. It was a... Minecraft TNT mug. It was also covered in sharpie doodles. A few colorful obscenities, a few smiley faces, and a peculiar reoccurring sketch in different sizes of a panda with a lighter. Loud shuffling in the back room behind the counter interrupted the man's thoughts, and he chuckled lightly as he heard a few soft swears and thuds coming his way.

An unfamiliar man stumbled out from the back room, and he strolled up to the opposite side of the counter as he noticed the patient customer.

"Well howdy there pretty boy." The employee smiled smugly and didn't even attempt to hide the way he looked the taller man up and down. "You got a name?"

"Luke." The customer smiled, and he tucked the pen behind the employee's raven hair. "But people call me Punz."

"Luke, Punz," The employee tapped his chin innocently. "I'll definitely be remembering those."

"What about you?" Punz ran a hand through his blonde hair again, letting it rest on the back of his neck. "You got a name? Or am I gonna forever know you as the cute tattoo artist?"

"Hm." He smiled, taking the pen out from where Punz had placed it and tapping it against a few keys on the computer beside him. "The name's Nick. But since we're also giving out our nicknames, you can call me Sapnap!" He slid to the right a little and tapped across the keyboard. He clicked enter with a swift movement and quickly circled the counter, leaning against it in a way that mirrored Punz. "And lucky for you, I'm your replacement tattoo artist and piercer!"

"You do piercings too?" Punz raised his eyebrows in suprise. "Impressive." Sapnap's face went slightly red, and he adjusted the white bandana he had resting on his forehead.

"Well, I dunno about that." He straightened up and motioned to the room to their right. "Ah, this way." Punz stood up and held back a chuckle when he saw how he towered over Sapnap, just a little bit. He slid into the chair and watched as Sapnap shuffled around his workspace, finding the right colours of ink and the right needles. Punz noticed that he had a sort of ambition. He seemed a lot more interested in the job, a lot more friendly and motivated than his last artist.

"You new to the job?" The blonde leaned over in the chair.

"Uh.. No not really." Sapnap seemed to be caught off-guard by the question. "I've been a tattoo artist since I was 15. But legally, since I was 20." He flashed a smile and arranged the equipment on the tray table beside them. "I started piercing around 17."

"Wow, a bit overqualified for a little job like this, aren't you?"

"Eh, I didn't like the big city all too much. I've got friends that live here and realized that it was a better fit for me," The ravenet leaned against the back of the chair, and motioned to Punz' chest. "The idea of a little parlor like this, familiar customers, eh it's something I enjoy." He stood up suddenly, and scratched his arm. "Ah, sorry for rambling."

"Nah, it's cute." Punz smirked and rested his face against his knuckles. "Don't apologise."

"So uh- you got the picture of what you wanted? I read the email already, but it helps to actually have a visual of it."

"Yeah-" Punz pulled a folded piece of paper out of his jeans pocket, and handed it to Sapnap. "Sorry for not sending it in email, I didn't even know that my old artist was gone 'cus she always used the company email, as most employees here do. She always told me to just bring a printed picture of whatever I wanted along."

The paper was unfolded to reveal a small doodle of a little cigarette broken in half, with the words "Fuck nic suck dick" in small letters. Sapnap chuckled a bit.

"What's so funny cowboy?" Punz poked his arm.

"Nothing! It's just like," Sapnap put the paper on the thermal-fax and gathered the colours he wanted. "That's so similar to a tattoo I've got on my leg, they might as well be the same thing."

"Oh, really? Sick." Punz laughed at the seemingly impossible coincidence, and started sliding off his jean jacket-hoodie. "It's like we were destined to be." Sapnap snorted at this, throwing his head back into soft laughter.

"I agree," He sat down in a rolling stool by the sink and pushed off of the cabinet towards the chair Punz sat in. "Whoa! You were hot with the jacket on but goddamn you're even hotter without it!" The blonde bit back a wide grin at the man's straightforwardness. It was entertaining how he spoke so confidently but seemed to fluster so easily.

"Maybe after you finish my tat we can go back to my place.. 'n I can see you without yours." Sapnap froze for a second before grinning stupidly and dipping the needle into the black ink.

"You, my fine sir, are funny indeed." He softly placed a cold hand on Punz' arm, and he shivered a bit from the contact. "You wouldn't wanna see that."

"Why do you say that?" Punz' voice lowered as Sapnap started on the tattooing process, taking some rubbing alcohol and cleansing the area Punz had already specified in the email. He slightly chuckled as he realised the blonde already shaved the finer hairs off of the area on his shoulder where the tattoo was set to be.

"I dunno." The younger male shrugged and pushed himself away from the chair and grabbed a stick of deodorant next to the machine, and grabbed the transfer paper. He pushed back to the direction of Punz. "I just don't think that'd be a good experience for anyone," He applied the transfer paper with low eyes.

Punz remained silent, suprised at the man's lack of self confidence. He chewed on his lip and noticed a small tattoo poking out from the others' sweater.

"Hey, forgive me for the odd question, but do you smoke?" Sapnap looked up unsurely, peeling off the transfer paper.

"Mm.. Depends, you gotta be more specific pretty boy." Punz narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, nevermind you totally know what I mean. I can like, sense the smirk you're holding back." The other laughed in response, pointing a finger at Punz' face.

"You can sense it?" He lightly pushed the glasses up the others face, sliding them off and putting them on himself. "Suuuure. Yeah, I smoke. Why?"

"Well, all joking aside... if you'd like to uh, come over later I just got some new rolling paper I wanted to try. It's watermelon and hibiscus flavored, you seem kinda like a watermelon guy." Punz looked away to the side a bit, waiting for a response.

"..Dude. Hell. Yes." Sapnap clapped his hands as he grabbed the tattooer and ointment. "Oh my god- as soon as I'm outside of my professional workspace I'm givin' you a hella big kiss." Punz smiled and looked back at him, noting how excited he looked. "Now then, I'm about to give you the best fuckin' tattoo ever. Hold still."

Word count: 1512