New Years Ink

[needleandink]

Adrian learned very early in his career that the best way to avoid starting off the new year dealing with pissed off people was to stop work by ten on New Years Eve. And by stop work, he meant door shut, lights off, and a huge "not a chance" sign on the door.

Even his usual system of capturing inebriated clients clearly requesting whatever drunken ideas they thought fabulous while wearing beer goggles didn't seem to help on New Years Day. Nope. Instead, he closed up and spent the night ringing in the new year in a much better way, to his mind anyway.

Which is why he was able to open the shop at ten on new years day, put out the sign offering ten percent off all new ink, and settle at the counter with coffee and a smile.

Comments

[annasun]

Bundled up in the world's thickest coat, Anna hurried through the door carrying a hot chocolate and coffee carefully between her mittens. Placing the coffee down on the counter for Adrian, she leaned across and brushed a chaste kiss against his lips with a small smile lingering on her own. Her cheeks and nose were cold from outside but that didn't stop her from smiling warmly.

"Momma said hello," Anna said. Having left Adrian's early to meet her momma for breakfast, Anna had made a quick stop to get coffee before returning back to Adrian's. Now, with a full day off she fully intended on spending the rest of the day in bed or practising her guitar upstairs. "Any new sober customers?"

[needleandink]

"Not yet, but it's early yet," Adrian smiled, taking the coffee and leaning over to peck at her cheek. "Most of the drunks from last night are still regretting their life choices and those that had quiet nights are gearing up for the promises they made to take charge and be daring. How about you? Have a good breakfast with you mom?"

[annasun]

"You mean they're still d-drunk," Anna said, reaching out and taking his collar as he pecks her cheek. Tugging him closer, she leaned across the counter, turning his head so his lips brush against hers properly. Taking control for once, even if she blushed at her boldness the entire time. Smiling, she let go of him and nodded. "Ahuh and now, now I get to spend all day in bed. She wanted to know when I'm m-moving out properly. I think she wants to m-make my bedroom into a gym or a trophy room."

[needleandink]

Adrian loved it when she took charge, even just to pull him closer for a proper kiss and the little moan against her lips was enough to tell her that. When he broke the kiss to look into her beautiful eyes, he smiled. "How about yesterday?" he offered with quirk to his eyebrow. "Then you can torture me every day by being up in our bed while I'm down here slaving away to earn our keep."

[annasun]

Anna's cheeks flushed a steady shade of pink at the way Adrian moaned against her mouth. Smiling against his lips, she nibbled his bottom lip a little before pressing three quick chaste kisses against his mouth. Just because she could.

"D-do you mean it?" Anna asked. She smiled as she leaned across the counter. "Y-yes, yesterday yes. And I c-can't spend all day in bed, I have work too. B-but my days off well, certainly. Or in the hot tub."

Naked. She liked being naked in the hot tub.

[needleandink]

"I mean it very much, darlin girl. Having you here most of the time is great, but I've started to hate the mornings I wake up and you're not there. I like being able to just reach over, pull you in close, and spend the first part of every day nuzzling at your neck." He leaned in to do just that, not even caring that he sounded like a complete sap. It was the absolute truth and he wasn't going to hide it behind some tough guy veneer.

"That hot tub was, without a doubt, the best decision I ever made."

[annasun]

"Adrian..." Anna murmured, blushing as he leaned in close and nuzzled her neck. She had never thought that she would like the tickling caress of his short bristles grazing at her skin but then before Adrian she had never really thought about having the nerve to let anyone do that to her. "I l-like spending the mornings with you too, it's n-nice. Even if you have made me late t-twice now."

She hadn't minded, though her father had given her a stern reprimand and told her not to let it happen again. And she hadn't, so far but Adrian could be very persuasive and seductive.

"The hot tub was the best decision?" Anna asked, smiling shyly at him. "You were mine."

[needleandink]

"Okay, second best decision," Adrian qualified, liking her answer so much if felt like his whole body warmed from her words. "The very, very best decision was deciding to strike up a conversation with a very beautiful, blush and stammer prone woman in a coffee shop."

Because of her reaction, he leaned in to nuzzle her neck again. "And I'll promise to not make you late anymore when you move in." The chuckle in his voice was enough to let her know that he'd probably end up breaking that promise sooner or later.

[annasun]

"I'm getting b-better," Anna protested a little, distracted by the way she could feel his mouth and nose rubbing against her skin. Flushed she protested feebly even as she reached out to tighten her hands in his shirt, in his clothes and keeping him where he was. "M-most of the time. I'm glad you did, talk to me- kiss me. You make me... want to be the best me I can be. I l-like that, no I l-love that. Adrian... stop that, what if you get customers."

Anna shivered a little at the laughter in his voice, full of promise.

[needleandink]

Adrian chuckled against her ear, adding in a little nibble to her earlobe. "If I do then I suppose they'll get an eye-full of me kissing my beautiful girlfriend and they can wait until I'm finished to talk to me about ink."

When he did finally pull away, it was with the most angelic look he could manage on his face.

[annasun]

Anna let out a desperate sounding sigh, her cheeks flushing red. Lips parted and glistening from where she had licked them, Anna looked at Adrian with a small smile on her lips as he tried to look angelic around her. Anna wasn't sure if she was blushing because she was embarrassed by the idea of them almost getting caught or because she was excited by the idea.

"You're t-terrible," Anna murmured, letting go of his shirt and coming round the counter. She was going to slip past him and up the stairs to his-their apartment but she did hover a little too long by him. Long enough for him to perhaps get the idea that she wanted to be caught. That the idea of making out with him even in the shop wasn't too terrible.

[needleandink]

Adrian noticed the lingering and, with another grin, indulged her by snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her in close against him, her back to his front. "And you love me in spite of it, don't you, darlin girl?"

He asked it while he nosed her hair out of the way and went after her throat with soft, open-mouthed kisses.

[annasun]

"Y-yes, of course I do." Anna replied, hesitating long enough for Adrian to catch her. Letting out a quiet squeak, Anna didn't try to pull away too much as he pulled her in close. Feeling his nose brush against her skin, nudging her hair out of the way Anna laughed softly. Her laughter dissolved into breathless moans pretty quickly. "Adrian... you have to work."

[needleandink]

Adrian laughed again, a low chuckle that vibrated against her back. "Do I?"

HIs hand slipped from her hip to span her belly, thumb just brushing the underside of her breast. "Isn't that the good part of being my own boss?"

[annasun]

"Yes, you do. I like your s-shop, I'm not letting you get b-bad reviews because I-" Anna began, her breath sucking in at the slip of his hand upwards. Feeling his thumb brushing against her breasts ever so lightly, light enough that had Anna leaning back against him and wanting so much what she was trying to deny. "-M-maybe if you're good, you can clock off early. We could have dinner in the hot- Adrian- tub."

[starsfallen]

Corrine's caught the last flight from LA to Maine on New Years day. She'd planned to arrive in time for dinner, though with who is another matter entirely. She'd thought she might be able to see Will. That they could start the New Year right together. But clearly hers was an obscene and naive hope, dashed by his changed phone numbers and the communication from the Cabot lawyers that unraveled her enough that she missed her original flight. Fortunately a black card can open up all sorts of flight options when you need it to.

It's late enough, by the time she's arrived at the airport, and the town car rolls up, that Siren Cove is nearly dark upon arrival. Which is not entirely a surprise, given the amount of hangovers and late nights likely being nursed from New Years Eve. When the car passes into the southern end of town, however, Corrine calls for a premature stop.

The Tattoo sign shines against the dark like a star. Calling to her to remind her she is strong. She is starting the year sober and new. In 2015 Corrine Flynn will be her own woman again, will reclaim her stardom again, will reclaim herself again. If only she hadn't had to break another heart to do so.

Corrine asks the towncar to wait, slips her driver an extra $50, and peers into the tattoo parlor. It's quiet, and late, but lights beckon in.

"Hello? Are you still open?"

[needleandink]

Adrian looked up from his monitor with a smile. "If the light's on the shop's open. Come on in and let me know what I can do for you."

[starsfallen]

Corrine smiles graciously. Even if she doesn't feel it, she always puts her best face forward, be it in case media should find her, or because she never knows when it might be a fan whose day she can brighten.

"Thanks and Happy New Year." She steps in, eyeing the art along his walls. "Well, I'm interested in a tattoo. I guess that's obvious. But I needs to be small, easily hidden. Can you do that? It would be personal for me, not really for others." Corry figures it worth elaborating. "For when I'm on screen. It would need to be hidden or easily covered with makeup."

[needleandink]

"That's quite an order you've got there," Adrian grinned as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "Let's take this step by step and see what we can come up with. First of all, where were you looking to have the ink placed? Arm? Hip? Forehead? Knuckles?"

He threw the last two in as a joke but, really, you never knew.

[starsfallen]

"Well, I was hoping you could help me with that." Corrine wanders over to one of his gallery books, highlighting clear masterpieces and skill he has bestowed upon others. "Where would be the best place for something personal, unlikely to be too showy to others?" The obvious strikes her and she feels the need to clarify. "Not... somewhere that private, mind you."

[needleandink]

"Well, hell. There go all of my prurient fantasies for the night," Adrian laughed, then flipped the book to some of the work he'd done with white ink. "If you're looking for one primarily for you, white ink might be something to look into. Still there for you to see, but much easier to cover up or camouflage with simple foundation no matter where it is, so long as it's not, you know, covering your whole back or something. As for the where, again, that will depend on the ink if you'd rather not go white also on your pain tolerance levels, since some spots on the body hurt hell of a lot, some places aren't as bad."

[starsfallen]

"Mmmm." Corry is barely listening, flipping through his art and trying to picture it interlayed with her own skin. "Maybe the inside of my wrist? Can you do something small there?" She wants it where she can see it, small, subtle, but forever a reminder to be true to herself. She will not allow herself to be so lost again. "I'm not worried about pain." She's caused enough, she may as well feel it.

[needleandink]

The woman wouldn't be the first masochist to come through the doors, and wouldn't be the last, but Adrian didn't get that kind of vibe off of her. Regardless, it wasn't down to him to psychoanalyze the whys of tattooing his customers. His job was to make sure they were informed, plusses and minuses, and take them through the process from ink to aftercare and send them on their way.

"I can do that. Do you have a design in mind, or do you want me to leave you with the books for a while to look without me hanging over your shoulder while you do so?"

[starsfallen]

"Actually, I was thinking about this one." She points to a delicately inked mermaid with flowing red hair like her own (http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/007/9/a/mermaid_tattoo_by_tarafleming-d5qrcle.jpg). And what truer way can she convey a reminder to be herself than that of the siren form she only so recently learned to control. In fact, doing so was the first time she'd truly felt in control since she'd left rehab.

"But some gold in her tail. And - the scales should extend and curl with the curves of her chest. It seems more natural." More natural being more true to true siren forms of reality and outside of sexualized fantasies - or at least true to her own siren form and those she's seen of others. Around the chest the scales lessen and shift, mixing with skin until there are mere traces as they reach the neck and beyond. "You can leave off the shell and hair decoration - I want her to look free. But can you do the background as a star? Just plain and yellow?"

[needleandink]

Adrian looked at the image, mentally tweaking it the way she indicated. "If you want this small and on your wrist, you're going to lose some of the detail, unless you're looking to carry her from wrist to forearm."

He picked up her hand and turned it over, tracing the area the ink would cover, from wrist to nearly her elbow. There wasn't anything overly sensual about it, his touch was more like a doctor's examination. "I'd pick somewhere else for a design like this, like your back, down from shoulder along the scapula, she should be free to spread her fins, her hair, without being cramped into a small space."