It’s not that Steve didn’t want a tattoo.
He’d wanted one for years. Just something to piss off his parents the way they pissed him off constantly.
Asking when he’d find a girlfriend (he wouldn’t, he’s gay), when he’d find a better job (he liked his job as a guidance counselor), when he’d move out of the tiny apartment he shared with that girl who couldn’t give them grandchildren (Robin gagged at the mere thought of any of that).
But Robin promised she’d go with him when he made this appointment a month ago and she’d just cancelled at the last minute. Something about a work emergency.
She didn’t have a work emergency. She worked at a Starbucks.
He knew what she was doing. It’s what she always did.
“I just wanna get you out of your shell! People should see the Steve that I see!”
Robin did get a different version of Steve, one that didn’t feel like he had to hide his surprisingly bubbly personality. His students got a calm, kind counselor. But everyone else?
They’d be lucky to get a smile during a conversation.
He wasn’t, like, an asshole.
He just had asshole tendencies.
Robin called him her Oscar The Grouch.
He allowed it because deep down, he knew it was true.
And now he was even MORE grumpy because he had to get this tattoo alone. In a place he’d almost certainly be the outcast in his glasses and business casual attire. With people judging him for not already having tattoos and piercings at the age of 27.
When he walked into the shop, he was surprised to hear classic rock instead of heavy metal. The front counter was covered in pictures of bands Steve didn’t know, tattoos he would never get, and signs that had enough vulgar words to fill up the swear jar he kept in the apartment for shits and giggles.
Nervous was an understatement.
A head popped around the corner, bright smile lighting up the face of a man who looked like he belonged here.
Steve didn’t bother to say anything because as soon as he started to respond, the head was gone.
He frowned, but figured the guy might be with another client and he was pretty sure they had rules about touching things with their gloves on. At least, he hoped they did.
He stared down at the picture on his phone.
It was small, simple. Something he wouldn’t even have to cover up at work.
One of his students drew it for him last year when he’d missed some work because of the flu. He’d only missed two days, but because he so rarely missed, his regulars were pretty worried about him.
His regulars being three students who sat with him during their lunch period to avoid bullies.
It was a sun, with beautiful yellows and oranges combining into a near perfect circle, small lines randomly jutting out and fading into nothing.
And he was getting it permanently etched onto his body.
He loved his students, what could he say?
The head popped back around the corner, interrupting his thoughts again.
“Sorry for the wait. I had a customer on the phone. How can I help ya?”
“Steve Harrington. Here for a 6:00 appointment?”
The guy beamed at him, nodding along.
“Perfect! You said you already knew what you wanted?”
Steve held up his phone to show this still nameless guy the picture.
“You want the colors like that?”
“If I can, he says! Of course I can! This is really nice. Did you make this?”
Steve snorted, but he wasn’t that amused. This guy was like a ball of energy and Steve was already exhausted.
“No. One of my students did.”
“That’s cool! So you, like, make sure the youths of today are on the right path? Keep them interested in the right things?”
Steve blinked at this man.
“I guess, yeah. So can we uh, get started…”
“Oh shit! I always forget to introduce myself to the newbies. Eddie.” He held out his hand towards Steve to shake. Steve stared down at it for a moment, knowing his face was doing that judgy thing Robin always warned him about, but not being able to stop it. “Not a handshake guy?”
Steve cleared his throat, finally reaching his hand up to shake Eddie’s.
The rings on Eddie’s fingers were cold against his own, his grip was strong but not the type of string that made Steve uncomfortable.
Eddie was smiling at him. He never stopped smiling, this guy.
It was kind of…cute. Steve would never admit it to anyone, but the way Eddie just seemed genuinely happy was really doing it for him.
When he finally remember to let go, Eddie was already turning around to grab a piece of paper from the shelf behind him.
“I’m just gonna have you send that to this email,” he pointed to the contact info on the piece of paper he’d grabbed. “And I’ll get it printed on transfer paper so we can get started.”
Steve nodded and sent the picture as requested.
He ignored the shaking of his hands. It wasn’t a big deal. It’s just a tattoo. Most adults have them. Robin had four. Eddie here seemed to have hundreds.
Eddie must have noticed his visible anxiety. He felt Eddie’s hand on his arm, squeezing gently.
“Nah. I’ve just done a lot of first tattoos.” Eddie pulled up the picture on his own phone while he spoke. “I promise it’ll be easier than you’re thinking.”
“I’m not worried about the pain.”
Eddie glanced up at him quickly, then back down at the phone in his hand.
“It’s just permanent, ya know?”
Eddie let out a laugh and held up both of his arms, fully covered in tattoos.
“I know. That’s what’s great. Nothing in life is permanent, but these are. Even when you’re long gone, these will still be on your body.”
Steve hadn’t thought about it like that.
Permanence was something he’d always struggled with. It’s why he was so standoffish according to the two therapists he’d tried talking to. His parents had never given him an idea of what someone staying around was like, his friendships all ended when he realized he wanted to be a better person than they were capable of being, and his only serious relationship ended when he was ready for marriage and she wasn’t.
He’d been through a lot of personal growth since then, most of it thanks to Robin and some experiences at the gay clubs she took him to, and now he felt better about who he was.
He just didn’t think anyone or anything would stick around.
Robin was proving she might, but only time would tell. Plenty of time for Steve to fuck it up.
“You can still back out, man. I won’t charge you the cancellation fee or anything.”
Oh, how nice. Eddie thought he was a wimp and wasn’t even gonna follow his own policy to let him back out.
That’s shameful. He was ashamed.
He folded his arms in front of his chest, trying to tone down the glare he could feel on his own face.
Eddie threw his hands up as he waited for the printer to finish.
“Alright. Just letting you have an out.”
Eddie looked over the few copies he’d printed, all slightly different sizes, and then lined them up on the counter facing Steve.
“What size were you thinking? Where’s this going?”
Steve pointed to the middle one, barely an inch wide.
“I was thinking my wrist?”
That little thing his stomach just did?
Eddie walked around the counter and gestured for Steve to follow him around the corner.
Steve found himself in awe of the room he was walking into.
He’d never seen such variety in anything. Some of it resembled the front counter, but there was also a Bob Marley poster, a rainbow flag, a whole wall of funny bumper stickers, and graffiti along the ceiling.
It was certainly a lot for the eyes to take in.
He quickly hid it away again when he heard Eddie hit his hand against the chair.
“Got it all clean already for ya. Just take a seat and get comfy.” Eddie reached over grab some gloves from a shelf before he sat in front of Steve. “Gonna put this on you first. Make sure the placement is good. Then I’ll shave that area and get all my stuff ready to go. The tattoo itself probably won’t take more than an hour, and most of that will be shading these beautiful colors. Need anything before we get started? Water? Bathroom? Snack?”
Steve’s head was spinning.
Eddie’s energy was relentless, and he had a smile on his face the entire time.
Steve couldn’t help smiling back at him.
Eddie nodded and started humming along to the song playing over the speakers.
He went through everything quickly, but still took his time explaining everything. Steve was kind of grateful he didn’t have to sit in silence; His brain wasn’t his friend when there was silence.
“Alright, sunshine. If you’re good, I’m good.”
Steve felt his face heat up, blush spreading from his cheeks to his neck.
It was sharp, the needles carving ink into his skin causing a new sensation up his entire arm. But it was also…good?
He’d expected it to be painful, maybe even go numb. He hadn’t expected the pain to feel like this.
He lost focus. Everything felt distant and blurry, but in a sleepy way, not in a pass out way. Steve felt himself smiling slightly, but didn’t have the energy to stop it.
He was watching Eddie work, but wasn’t really seeing anything beyond the way his fingers splayed his skin tight and the tattoo gun left ink behind.
His eyes closed at some point, but he wasn’t asleep, the faint buzz of the tattoo gun keeping him present enough to stay awake.
“Hey, sunshine. Doing alright?”
He tried to focus in on Eddie’s face. Eddie was very close. He was holding his wrist.
Eddie chuckled. “I’d say so.”
He continued, and Steve let his mind wander again. It was nice to drift. He’d never felt this relaxed before, not even during the massage Robin got him for his birthday last year.
“Alright, sunshine. You’re done.”
Steve looked down at the tattoo now covering his wrist.
It was beautiful, even better than the picture.
If he wasn’t so far gone, he’d probably be embarrassed or angry about it, but surely other people had cried after a tattoo before. Maybe Eddie would just ignore it.
“Oh, sweetheart. Do you not like it?”
“No. I love it.” Steve took a shaky breath, then another. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
Eddie was rubbing his back and smiling sadly down at him.
“I’m glad you love it. I just have to wrap it up and go over some care instructions, okay?”
Steve was never this vulnerable, not even with Robin. He was pretty sure she’d only actually seen him cry once when a student moved away.
His whole thing was that he didn’t show emotions. His job required it to an extent, though he was always caring to his students, giving them smiles when they came in to make them feel welcome.
But here he was smiling and crying to a stranger over a tattoo.
“Got you some water. I need you to look at me while I go over the instructions okay?”
He felt himself coming back down to earth as he looked at Eddie, a soft smile making Steve focus in on his mouth.
“That’s good. Keep this wrapped for four hours at least and longer if you’ll be outside. When you take it off, make sure you wash it with antibacterial soap gently and then use moisturizing lotion, unscented is best. If you need some, I can give you some. Make sure to keep it moisturized over the next week. It’ll peel a little, that’s normal, but if you see anything that’s a lot of color falling out or something, come see me and I can fix it. No long exposure to direct sunlight for at least 4 weeks, and use sunscreen on it if you think you will be.” He took a breath and smirked. “Got it?”
He handed over a paper with a laugh.
“It’s all right here. I just needed you to come back down from space. Drink your water and relax for a minute. I’ll go get the card reader.”
Steve did as he was told, enjoying the way the ice cold water helped him focus back in on his surroundings.
With the focus came the grumpiness. He was crashing from his adrenaline high, and his first instinct was to pout.
He didn’t think he was visibly doing so until he heard Eddie snort from a few feet away.
“Welcome back. Sorry to burst your bubble. If I didn’t have another client in 20 minutes, I’d probably have let you stay there for a bit. Seems like you needed it.”
“I. What do you mean? I was just zoned out.”
Eddie froze where he was typing something into his phone.
“Have you never…? Oh. Jesus Christ. Okay. Well. I don’t.” He looked genuinely concerned about what to do. “Okay. I don’t feel comfortable letting you be alone yet. Do you have someone you live with or who can hang out for a bit?”
“My roommate had a work emergency or she’d be here.”
Steve’s arms were crossed again, but the pull of the wrap around his wrist reminded him of the dull ache he was still experiencing. It made him shiver, but he couldn’t explain why.
“Okay. Can you stick around for a bit? I’ve got an office with a couch in the back.”
“Are you gonna tell me why?”
“Ever heard of sub space?”
“Yeah. Like the kinky thing.”
“I mean, I’ve heard of it. Why?”
“You just spent the last hour in it.”
Steve was usually pretty good at keeping a pretty stoic face, but his jaw dropped.
“Sunshine, you were gone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that deep from a tattoo before.”
“If this is just a way to get me alone in your office or something…”
“Steve. I know you don’t know me, but I would never do that. If I wanted to get you alone, I’d just ask you.”
“Exactly. So you’ll stay so I can keep an eye on you?”
Steve shrugged. He didn’t have anything else to do and Robin wouldn’t be home for hours.
Eddie’s eyes were practically glittering.
“Good. Go lay down, sunshine. I’ll bring you more water in a minute.”
So despite Steve having no idea what just happened, and barely any idea who Eddie even was beyond a talented tattoo artist, he made his way to the office and curled up on the couch.
Pout firmly in place because he was still Steve, after all.
