I looked up from the computer desk to see a tall man looking in the doorway of the tattoo store. The sunlight was bright enough behind his back that I had to hold up a hand to block the light, squinting at his silhouette. He walked closer to me and sighed deeply, a slight tremor in his voice.
"I want a tattoo."
I opened up our google doc scheduling sheet on the computer, typing quickly, "And what kind of tattoo would you like? We have a reference binder if you can't make up your mind."
He was staring intently at me, an icy blue gaze seeing through me. The hair at the back of my neck rose as I waited for him to say something.
The man looked...hollow if I could phrase it correctly. He didn't blink nearly as often enough as a normal person and his hair was so blond as to be white. It looked like an awful dye job. His brows were thick and dark along with his five o clock shadow.
"I want you to do it." He said quietly looking at me and then my hands, "I want a magic imbued one."
I hesitated, I wasn't officially back at doing tattoos yet. But I had been making some stencils...opening up my portfolio. Someone who would let me ink whatever I wanted sounded tempting. "Well, the magic imbued tattoos aren't cheap." I said, hoping he couldn't afford it.
He pursed his lips into a hard flat line still not blinking. "Money isn't a problem. Whatever you do I want it on my rib cage."
I flinched, "That'll be painful."
He blinked slowly, lips twitching in a humour I didn't understand, "I don't mind pain."
Okay. Was the money really worth it? There were a couple pain junkies who came in every now and then and I hated having to deal with them. They didn't want local anaesthetic and they always got tattoos in weird places. Ever since I'd created the temporary magic tattoos, some of them came in pretty often to get re-inked with the needle. I made Afi deal with those ones, at least they tipped nicely. For the most part though, Chrissa and I still got the big clients. I wondered if this guy would be a big client.
"Do you have anything in your portfolio that hasn't been done yet? I want an original."
I took out the laminated binder and handed it over to him, "the ones without any captions haven't been done."
He sat down in the seat, looking as much at the binder as much as he was looking at me.
"It's really great work you do." he said softly. "I'm excited to have your touch on my body."
This felt super weird. He looked up at me again, and pointed at the page, "I want this one." He lifted the book to show me a mechanical rib cage tattoo. It looked like an exposed view of a rib cage with metal and gears as opposed to bone and blood. If it were magic imbued the gears would turn beautifully.
#
Writer's Note -
An idea of the tattoo-> [source](https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/434245589052621327/)
But y'all know this story has magic so the gears would turn, and stuff, who knows maybe the papery edges flicker a bit like there's a breeze or somethin, idk.
#
That would be a nice tattoo. "Is this really your first tattoo?" I asked.
He nodded silently, putting the book down and staring at me, "I really want this one."
The guy was still sitting in his seat, looking weird. If he seemed cold before he seemed absolutely glacial when Chrissa came out from the back and approached the reception desk. He eyed her throat where her butterfly tattoo beat its wings slowly.
"Did you do that?" he asked.
"Yes." I said, even though I didn't remember it.
"It's beautiful." he said, looking at me.
Chrissa cleared her throat quickly reading the computer screen where I had written it was his first tattoo. "You really want this tattoo?"
He suddenly seemed breathless, "More than anything."
We worked out the details and just as we were finishing up Mike entered the shop. I waved hello to him and his face broke out into a wide smile. Fuck, why did he always look so good?
I got up from my desk since Chrissa was taking care of the details and went over to him. He leaned down to kiss me and inexplicably I turned away. His warm mouth ghosted over my cheek before he drew himself back. Mike hesitated, a hurt expression crossing his face.
I chewed on my lip, squinting at the ground, "Not here." I whispered, turning quickly to see if anyone had noticed and Chrissa was still making the guy sign things but I saw the man's eyes dart downwards quickly.
"I'll wait in the car." he said shortly, brushing his hands down my back, his soft gesture at odds with his hard voice.
#
I got into the car and Mike was already talking, "Are you-" he looked at me with a naked expression, watching me put on my seatbelt, "-Are you embarrassed to be with me?"
I froze, raising my head to look at him slowly. "What, Mike? Of course not."
He let out a relieved sigh, starting up the car. "You just do all these little things sometimes and it worries me."
"What do I do?"
"We don't have to talk about it." His jaw was tight.
"Well-" I said sarcastically, "We are talking about it so you can just go ahead and tell me what I'm doing wrong."
He pursed his lips, "I don't want to fight with you while I'm driving, Derrick." But then he continued like he just needed to get the words out, hands tightening on the wheel, "I just tried to kiss you and you moved away, what is that supposed to make me think?"
I flinched, "I just don't like PDA."
"You've kissed me in public before."
"I didn't want Chrissa to see."
"Who cares if she sees me kiss you? It's not like she's watching me with my tongue down your throat. And it's other stuff, too, Derrick. I feel like maybe I'm insecure but I'm beginning to feel-" he shrugged instead of continuing.
"Feel what?" I pressed.
"Unappreciated. Sometimes-" he squinted hard at the road, "unloved."
I made a confused face, scrunching my features. "I already told you, you don't have to drive me all over the place, or cook for me. And I appreciate when you do those things for me."
Mike gave a small smile all the while shaking his head, "Not things like that. I mean, Derrick, are you, are you even attracted to me?" he swallowed, looking embarrassed. "You never initiate anything between us."
He continued slowly, "It's only easy to read you when you let your guard down but other than that I can't even tell if you like being with me. Do you?" He turned into the parking lot of my building and I didn't know what to say at all.
"You think I don't like being with you?" I said quietly.
"Sometimes, I feel like you just tolerate being around me."
I was horrified, "Do you really feel that way?"
He looked out the window, "Yes, Derrick."
I tried to swallow past the stone in my throat, "You think I'm not affectionate enough?"
"I don't want you to change, I just wish things were different sometimes."
"Oh."
He turned to me, "This is why I didn't want to talk about this. I don't want you to feel bad, Derrick." I didn't say anything and left the car, walking over to the doors to the elevators. Mike jogged over to me after, touching my shoulder lightly, "Derrick, don't shut me out."
I shrugged his touch away, biting my lip and staring at the ground. "What do you want me to say? You're basically telling me I'm a bad boyfriend."
"You aren't listening to me, Derrick."
I sighed, throwing my hands up in the air as I stomped out of the elevator and unlocked the apartment.
I got into the apartment first, thrusting off my jacket and stomping off my shoes. Mike came in moments later, quietly closing and locking the door. "Are you mad at me?" Mike said.
"I'm mad at myself." I said honestly. "I do...love you but I just have a hard time expressing myself. And fuck Mike, you're like the hottest person I've ever set my eyes on. How could you think I'm not attracted to you? Your face, your hair, your eyes, your jaw...Don't get me started on your body. And I don't initiate because-" I swallowed noisily turning away, and not saying anything. My entire face felt like it was burning, having to say all that out loud was so embarrassing.
Mike was staring at me like he was taking in what I was saying, "So you do think I'm hot?" Why that was the only thing he focused on, I don't know. But he had a small smile on his face, looking flattered and pleased at the compliment. I began to realize maybe Mike was a little vain.
"Can you just kiss me?" I walked over to him, closing my eyes and tilting my head.
Mike hesitated before cupping my face and kissing me. It was tortuous; slow and sweet and soft...so soft. He kissed me until I felt like I forgot my own name.
I moved my hands under his shirt, caressing and stroking his smooth chest and stomach, moving my hands down to play with the waistband of his boxers, a silent question there. "You're gorgeous, Mike. All of you, inside and out."
His lips moved to my neck, Mike nipping at my throat. "You're going to leave marks." I complained between sighing at how good it felt.
Mike gave me an especially hard kiss, "What's wrong with that?"
I moaned indecently, fisting my hands in his shirt and squeezing my eyes shut.
"Imagine everyone seeing you with all these marks left by me." Mike said in between kisses, "That would be fine, right?"
"I wish I-" tried talking but I forgot my train of thought when Mike started kissing me again, hands exploring my body fervently.
"You're so hot." Mike said against my mouth.
I made an unintelligible noise, and Mike moved away. "What?" I said, not understanding why he'd stopped.
"You're really hot." He cupped my head, stroking my forehead.
I giggled, "so many compliments today."
He frowned, touching my neck, "Your skin is burning, Derrick."
Now that he mentioned it, I did feel warm. I moved Mike's hand under my shirt, "You make me hot, Mike."
He looked flustered for a moment before he kissed me on the forehead, "That's sweet of you to say, Derrick, but why don't you lie down? I think something's wrong."
It felt really easy to listen to Mike for whatever reason and I started taking off my clothes and tossing them on the ground.
"Hey." Mike said, bending down to pick up my shirt and pants. "Why are you taking off your clothes?"
I drew my hands down my chest, "It's so hot in here. Is it just me?" I cupped my face and tried to push my hair off of my forehead. "I'm thirsty." I said looking at Mike.
Mike gave me an odd expression, digging in my pocket for my cellphone. He looked for a number and then dialled giving me a concerned look. I touched my neck circling the marks Mike had left me. I hummed, secretly liking that they were so noticeable, wanting reciprocate with a few of my own love bites. I tried to count them but there were more than a handful and everything just felt so tiring all of a sudden. Why was it so hot in here?
I realized Mike was on the phone, "Yeah his skin is burning hot.....No we didn't have an argument." He hesitated, "We were just kissing but now he seems a little spacey, disoriented and giddy. Derrick is never giddy, and his skin is hot but he's barely sweating? Is this....Uh huh. Okay." Mike gave whoever the details of my apartment, "Something isn't right, what should I do until you get here? Okay. Okay. Got it. Bye."
Mike looked down at me on the bed, "Derrick, cariño, can you lie down?"
I huffed, lying down on my bed and spreading my body like a snow angel on the sheets. "Did I tell you you're hot?"
Mike laughed softly, "Yes, Derrick."
"I like when you kiss me and hold me and tell me you love me." I gave him a goofy grin. the words spilling out of me so easily. "Sometimes I just want you to hold my hand and never let go. Sometimes when you're sleeping I smell your hair, it always smells so nice."
He shook his head slightly, "Yeah the regular Derrick doesn't say any of this stuff."
"I am the real Derrick!" I said loudly, sitting up and pointing at the wobbly versions of Mike, not understand why there were two of him, "I just..." I lost my train of thought and laid back down. "Do you like me like me? Or just like me?"
"Where is this coming from?"
"What if one day you leave me?" I felt really sad, trying to stop my tears from falling, "I love you too much. What if I show you all the ways I love you and then you leave me and you'll have taken all my love pieces with you? I'd be lonely, my apartment wouldn't smell like sweets. Who would feed me?" Before Mike could reply I had another pressing question, "Are you trying to make me fat?"
"Uhm-"
"I knew it! Isn't being a skinny legend good enough for you?"
"Derrick, can you- just calm down okay? Rela-"
"I am relaxed. It's just so fucking hot in here, fuck." I turned over facing away from Mike. "I'm mad at you."
Mike laughed, "Now, you're mad at me?"
"Yes." I huffed.
"Okay..."
"Why won't you let me tattoo you?"
Mike hesitated at the sudden change in topic. "I have a phobia of needles."
"I'm so hot." I said, turning over and pushing down my boxers.
"That's what we're not about to do." Mike warned me.
"Why?" I whined.
"Because as cute as your ass is, Dr.Nguyen is going to come here to check on you, okay? He doesn't want to look at your ass. The only one who does that is me."
I pushed my boxers back up, pouting and turning away, "Fine." I closed my eyes for just a moment.
#
This chapter was going to be pretty song so I had to cut out/ add parts to the next chapter so it might feel like it ends in an awkward place.
What do you think is wrong with Derrick?
Does Derrick seem tsundere?
Do y'all even listen to my song recommendations? It's okay if you don't. :(
Remember I'll be releasing a new story soon, this is me trying to advertise. I have to learn how to do that on wattpad (sigh). It'll be a mature story, I'm trying out some different flavours of romance I guess. Regardless D&M will remain too priority.