closed starter from ... 𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙾𝙽
𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐; @moonhxven
shay’s forearm was the perfect canvas. pale, flat, and obligingly still. orion leaned over it, her dark hair falling forward to curtain her face as she dragged the felt tip marker across his skin. the black ink bled slightly into the microscopic valleys of his epidermis, tracing the curve of a skeletal wildflower she’d been turning over in her mind all afternoon. they occupied a corner of the tattoo parlor that smelled of green soap and rubbing alcohol, entirely content in a stillness that others often misread as tension. his brother was somewhere down the hall setting up a station, but here, the vibe was thick with an easy, unhurried understanding. neither of them possessed the energy for useless chatter. if there was nothing of substance to offer the air, they simply left it empty.
it was greatly appreciated on her end, especially the fact that he didn't question why she was using him as a sketchpad instead of a scrap of stencil paper. he just let her work, a companionable monument of meat and bone. "julian thinks i should put it on my collarbone," she murmured, voice barely cutting through the ambient hum of the shop. it was a casual admission, dropped without a flourish, yet it carried the weight of a massive internal shift.
a few months ago, the notion of julian having an opinion on her body, let alone her listening to it, would have been an impossibility. now, it was just a fact of her altered geography. underneath the heavy layers of her usual gloom, the thought sparked a foreign, dizzying spark of giddiness that made her stomach loop in a way she wasn't entirely sure how to navigate. "but i'm thinking i find some space on my thigh."
