He'd been working at the Serpent's Tongue Tattoo Shop for three years, and never before had he seen someone like her walk in the door. She was all clean dewy skin, and pink perfection, and the minute she entered she made the entire dingy shop look positively filthy, and not in a good way.
He cleared his throat. "What can I do for you?"
He probably could have guessed that. "What are you thinking?"
"I don't care. Anything. As long it's somewhere I can hide it."
It wasn't the strangest request he'd ever gotten, so he set her up with paperwork. It was only then that he learned her name was Betty Cooper and she'd just turned 18.
He could recognize an act of rebellion when it walked right through the door.
So he set up his station and began to ponder what kind of tattoo a girl like Betty would like. A flower he decided, something thin and delicate right on her ribs.
In expert fashion he made sure her documents were logged, her ID was scanned, and directed her onto his table with her shirt pulled up. Maybe it was the way she laughed nervously, or the way she kept chewing on her lower lip, but her flower tattoo quickly turned into a crown.
A crown had always been his signature. He literally wore one on top of his head everyday, and he'd marked a complete stranger with it.
It was only when it was done and she exclaimed excitedly how much she loved it did he realize why he'd changed his mind in the first place.