Falling Down(114)

Lucy
We enter the tattoo shop and Jesse pulls me close. My hands are sweating and I'm sure I've got a bad case of crazy eyes going on.
"You know you don't have to do this," Jesse says.
"Yeah, I do. First, because I want the tattoos. Second," I say, cutting a glance over to Ben and Xander, "if I don't, you know how bad I'm going to hear about it from Thing 1 and Thing 2 over there?"
Sera snickers. "Thing 1 and Thing 2."
"I'll show you my thing," Xander says with an evil grin.
"Jesse, what's up?" a very large, very tattooed man in jeans and a Falling Down concert shirt asks--I forgot to mention the very large beard and very long hair. The man is a whole lot of "very".
Jesse and the "very" man do some secret handshake.
"Harley, this is Lucy," Jesse says by way of introduction to the big man. "Lucy, this is Harley."
I hold out a hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, to hell with that," Harley says and grabs me up into a really tight bear hug and I squeak in surprise. "I've got to give the girlfriend of this never-going-to-have-a-girlfriend jackass a hug. You tamed the beast."
I laugh and hug him back. He's just a big teddy bear--who's very scary on the outside.
"Well, I don't know about taming him…" I say.
Two more tattooed guys walk up--way less scary than Harley--and shake hands with everyone. These two are hot. Meggie checks them out and I grin.
"These morons are Bret and Hunter. They'll take care of the rest of you while I get Girlfriend Kingston," Harley says, throwing his arm around me and leading me back to his station.
I grin at Jesse and he just shakes his head.
"Lock the door, Hunter."
"Got it, Harley."
"What are we going to do for you today, GK?"
GK? Oh, heh. Girlfriend Kingston.
"I want to get two tattoos, actually three, but I think I can only handle two right now."
Harley grins and nods. "Whatcha got in mind, doll?"
"I changed my mind, Jesse," I tell him taking a seat in the victim chair.
He raises a brow.
"Instead of the butterfly behind the ear, I think I'm going to get a Blush tattoo for my upper back/shoulder area."
Sera squeals. "We need to have the same one!"
Meggie bounces on her toes and blows a bubble. "Count me in."
"The guys might be pissed," I say.
"Don't worry about it," Harley says. "I'll keep the design and they can come get theirs."
"You're such a sweetheart, Harley," I tell him and he blushes.
"Now tell me what you've got in mind…"
***~~~***
About thirty minutes later Harley's got a Blush tattoo designed and it's really freaking awesome--not that I got to see it. I may be pouting just a little bit. Sera, Meggie, Jesse, Ben, and Xander all got to see it along with Bret and Hunter. Yep, I'm the only one who didn't get to see it, but I feel kind of special because Harley said he designed it especially for me and wants it to be a surprise. It's a nice gesture, but what if I hate it? Jesse must sense my turmoil as I strip off my t-shirt and lay face down on the chair. He winks and squeezes my hand reassuring me I'll love it.
"You ready, GK?" Harley asks.
"Yep," I reply turning on my Kindle.
"There's no way you're going to be able to focus on that," Xander tells me.
"You have no idea," I tell him.
"Here we go," Harley says and I feel the needle.
"Ouch, mother effing SOB!"
"Suck it up, GK. It's always hard until you get used to it."
"I could do so much with that statement," I tell them, "but I'm busy being tortured by a giant teddy bear."