INK! :: Tattoo Artist Klaine: Blaine is a tattoo artist working for Santana in California. Kurt is a nomad, living an working in a different city every few weeks, leaving behind nothing but a few tattoos and broken hearts.Until he meets Blaine.
(How they meet)
In which Blaine gets very obviously jealous:
It’s not uncommon for Puck to come into the shop. He’s Lauren’s boyfriend, after all. Even if he weren’t, he’s friends with all of them. He’s a funny dude, if a little crude. Blaine doesn’t mind goofing off with him when he needs some guy time. Plus, Santana has been close to Puck for what sounds to Blaine like forever. From what he hears, Santana learned how to tattoo by testing out her skills on Puck’s arms and back.
This is why it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Blaine that Puck had known Kurt forever, too.
As soon as Puck sees Kurt, leaning against the front counter and talking to Blaine, he’s wrapping his arms around Kurt’s slender torso and lifting him up into the air.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Puck struggles to keep the squirming artist in his grasp, “Stop wiggling so much, dude, it’s impossible to hold you like this.”
Kurt grunts, studded black boots kicking wildly. “Did it ever occur to you that that is exactly why I’m resisting so much, Noah?”
Puckerman laughs and puts Kurt back down on the ground, grabbing his shoulders and placing a wet, smacking kiss onto Kurt’s lips. “I missed you.”
At the earnest tone in Puck’s voice, Kurt’s expression softens. “I missed you too.”
They embrace again, this time consensually. Blaine looks on, too shocked to move.
Kurt’s not a very physical guy, especially when it comes to males. He prefers to avoid unnecessary touching with anyone who isn’t Santana, and Blaine has never once seen Kurt so much as shake hands with a customer. He always seems to take comfort in distance. The only time Kurt usually lets his skin come in contact with someone else’s is when he’s working; head bowed close to the skin he’s working on, blue eyes sharp in concentration, glove-covered fingers mapping out his canvas before pressing needle to skin.
It’s odd to see him so physically close with someone, especially since neither Kurt nor Puck have ever mentioned each other to Blaine before.
Santana comes to stand beside Blaine then, her uniform smirk on her ruby-red lips. While Blaine watches Kurt and Puck catch up, she watches Blaine.
“Envy green really isn’t your color, Anderson.” She says, and he jumps.
“How do you always sneak up on me like that?” He asks, glancing at her with his peripheral vision. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not jealous of anyone.”
Santana rolls her eyes, turning so that her entire body faces Blaine, her hip against the counter. “It’s not hard to sneak up on you when you’re always staring at Kurt with that baby-koala look in your eyes. And yes, you totally are.”
Blaine opens his mouth to retaliate, but then Kurt is laying one of his delicate hands on Puck’s muscled bicep, and he loses the words.
“...Right. Like I said: jealous.” Santana repeats. “There’s nothing to be jealous of, anyway. I mean once upon a time those two used to do the dance with no pants, but it was never an emotional thing. They just never got over the whole constantly-touching part.”
Blaine’s eyes widen, and he finally looks at Santana. “I thought Puck was straight.”
The Latina shrugs, focusing her gaze on her polished nails. “Puck’s sexuality is horny. He doesn’t have the brain capacity for much more complexity than that.”
Blaine takes a moment to let this new information sink in. “And Lauren doesn’t mind that they’re still so... touchy?”
Santana lets out a derisive chuckle, pulls a cigarette out from the neckline of her tank-top and lights it up. There’s technically no smoking allowed in the shop, but since Santana owns the place the rules don’t apply to her. “She doesn’t mind nearly as much as you apparently do.”
Blaine wants to defend himself against her implications, but he knows she can see right through him, so he doesn’t bother.
It’s just after closing time. Kurt and Blaine are tasked with closing up shop for the day, and Kurt has invited Blaine to go out for a smoke break before they start preparing the parlour for lock-up.
The shop is on the boardwalk, so they take their smoke breaks on the waist-high wall that divides the street from the actual beach. Blaine doesn’t smoke, but he likes to go out anyway just for the view. It’s beautiful, especially at this time of night just before sunset. The sky is just starting to bloom with pinks, oranges and purples. The ocean reflects the images back, and it brings to mind a scene of colorful silk scarves dropped into the water, billowing with the waves.
He and Kurt sit in silence for some time, listening to the waves, letting the warm breeze ruffle Blaine’s curls and carry the smoke from Kurt’s cigarette away.
“So... You and Puck are... close?” Blaine asks, internally cursing the awkward tone to his voice. When he was a kid, his inability to be casual if he was hiding anything had gotten him into tons of trouble, but he thinks it’s probably even more of a hindrance to him now.
Kurt studies Blaine’s expression. His blue-green eyes narrow slightly, and his mouth presses into a firm line. Blaine feels like Kurt can see right through him, past the ever-changing canvas of his skin and straight into his chest, where a ball of insecurity rests like a heavy stone. “What did Santana tell you?”
Blaine blushes, embarrassed at being so transparent. “Just that you two had a history. She also implied it may have been more-than-friendly.” Blaine tries to make it sound like he knows less than he does. The last thing he wants is for Kurt to get angry with him for asking Santana about his personal life. They’ve only just started to get to know one another, but Blaine already knows he wants Kurt to like him. He’s always wanted people to like him. But he wants Kurt to like him really badly.
“You forget that I know Santana.” Kurt says with an eye roll. “She never just implies anything. She enjoys gritty details way too much for that.” Kurt takes a drag from his cigarette. He tilts his face toward the yellowing sky, holding the smoke in his lungs. His eyes are closed and there is a small smile on his face, the sun is just about to begin the journey downward to the horizon, and it casts a pleasant warm glow over Kurt’s sharp features. Blaine lets himself stare, suspended in the moment between Kurt’s inhale and when he finally releases his smoky breath into the air.
“So she told you that Puck and I used to fool around?”
“Basically. Yeah.” Blaine admits.
Kurt nods, stubbing out his cigarette on the wood beside him. “It’s not as interesting as she is probably making it out to be, trust me.” Blaine doesn’t say anything, just waits for Kurt to continue. “Puck’s interest in me was purely experimental. It was fun for both of us, but it really wasn’t any deeper than that. He’s my friend and I love him, but I would have to be an idiot to date that boy after knowing him for as long as I have. There are some things you see when you know a guy that long that just... don’t make romantic connections a viable path anymore. You know?”
Blaine nods, but he doesn’t know. Not really. He’s only ever had sex with one person and at the time he was sure that had been love. It’s not that he’s frigid or uncomfortable with the idea of casual sex, but he’s only twenty. He’s got plenty of time for casual sex, when and if he should choose to get around to it.
“So was there any particular reason you wanted to know about Puck? You’re not lusting after him, are you? Because as much as I’m sure he wouldn’t care, Lauren terrifies me and I’d hate to see you die so young.” Kurt smiles at Blaine, nudging Blaine’s shoulder with his own to let him know he’s just joking around.
Blaine laughs along. It’s easy to laugh with Kurt, Blaine finds. His presence puts him into a comfortable kind of ease.
“I was actually just... curious.” Blaine offers lamely. “And Santana seemed almost too eager to share the information with me. I think she found it entertaining.” Blaine recalls the look on her face when she caught him watching Puck and Kurt, and he knows that she’s getting thorough entertainment from watching him pine.
“Santana finds everything at other people’s expense entertaining.” Kurt comments dryly. He shifts on the small wall they’re sitting on, bending one leg up so that the heel of his boot rests on the edge of the surface. “And what is it about me that has got you so curious, Blaine?” Kurt asks, giving Blaine a knowing look. Kurt is leaning closer, his eyelids are low and the edges of his lips are drawn up in a coy smile. It’s almost like teasing, but with a companionable fondness to it. It’s almost like flirting.
Blaine doesn’t have a response; he just stares back at Kurt with a blank expression. A deer caught in the headlights that are Kurt’s bright eyes.
The silence drags on. It’s probably only a few short moments, but to a shell-shocked Blaine it feels much longer before Kurt’s face is breaking and his features are shifting into a bright smile. “I’m just messing with you, Blaine!” he exclaims, “But you’re adorable when you’re all flustered like that.”
Blaine sputters. “I... I am not adorable!” He insists, “I’m intimidating. Tattoos, piercings, I’m a parent’s nightmare!” Blaine jokes, motioning to the designs on his bare arms, revealed thanks to the way he’s cut off the sleeves of his band t-shirt. He even tries to growl like a pitbull, for the effect. He comes off sounding more like an injured Pomeranian.
Kurt giggles, patting Blaine twice on the head. “Aww. That’s adorable.”
