binary ; tronnor

"virgo and gemini"

(that's what they look like cool)

they keep telling themself: it's not a big deal. it's not a big deal. but it really feels like an awfully big deal.

they had talked to connor about it only a few weeks ago, expecting him to laugh it off and drop the idea all together. but instead, connor's eyes lit up and he nodded emphatically. as he continued to love it, troye loved it less and less with each passing day.

what is it, you ask?

"well," troye sighed, sitting on the far emd of the couch, away from connor. "i thought we could get matching tattoos..?"

connor smiled and laughed a little as troye's cheeks heated up.

"what? why are you laughing? you hate it, don't you? oh my god, you hate it," troye frowned.

"i don't hate it!" connor assured them. "i love the idea!"

"you sure?"

"yeah," he smiled, patting the empty space next to him. troye scooted over and molded to connor's side, pulling their phone out of their pocket. "what kind of ideas do you have in mind?"

"well, when i started looking for ideas they were all awful and cheesey," troye explained, scrolling through the page of results for 'couples tattoos' on pinterest. there were gaudy and tacky tattoos, roses and failed portraits and overall very ugly things that someone had gotten permanently etched onto their skin. yikes.

"i couldn't find one that didn't literally look gross," troye said, snarling at the pictures. "but then i sort of had a thought."

"which was?"

"we could get each other's star sign constellation...? like, you get gemini and i get virgo, you know?"

"something really delicate, thin lines and all?"

"exactly!" troye beamed.

it seemed so simple at the time. easy and quick. connor made their appointment for the next week and drew the design for troye's tattoo on the inside of their wrist. troye did the same for connor, and smiled every time they saw it.

it was wednesday, the day connor had booked the little appointment for, and troye couldn't be more nervous. they had barely even thought about what a tattoo was, that is, multiple needles piercing your skin at the same time. the thought of needles made them squeemish is it was, but maybe the promise of an amazing result would make it hurt less.

connor drive them to the grungy tattoo parlor and held their hand tightly as they walked inside. there was an intimidating man standing at the counter to greet them. he had tattoos inking the entireties of both his muscley arms and a beard. he looked like he could be in a gang.

"hi," connor swallowed nervously, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"hey, boys," the man (joshua, his nametag said) greeted them in a surprisingly friendly voice.

"i'm not a boy, actually," troye corrected him. they were comfortable with openly telling people about their pronouns right off the bat, even if people didn't understand at first. it was so much easier than lying and feeling awful about it.

"my bad," the man said goodnaturedly, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "you're franta, right?" he asked, consulting the computer sitting on his counter.

"i am," connor smiled, stepping forward to shake his hand.

"what're you two looking for today? infinity symbol? cross made of feathers? those are just the favorites."