Nina |18+|

10

THEO

"Please," I begged, though it came off more as a statement than anything else. "Stop moving."

"It hurts," the man whined, his eyes squinted shut and a pain-filled scowl on his forehead. His fists were clenched, pressed tightly to his sides while I tattooed his girlfriend's portrait onto his shoulder blade.

I swear if I have to tattoo another person's face ever again...

I sighed, turning my machine off for the tenth time since his session started. Hunter was a middle aged man—approaching his fifties and decided it would be a good idea to have his twenty five year old girlfriend plastered on his back. I didn't judge—but he was making my job incredibly difficult by squirming and whining.

I miss Nina, and her ability to stay completely still.

"I know," I muttered, reaching for a few napkins and handing it to him. He wiped his sweaty forehead, his face flustered and tears pouring down his cheeks. "We can continue this next week?"

Hunter shook his head ferociously. "No. I'm done. I can't do it."

"You're done?" I asked, my eyes darting from his face to the quarter-finished tattoo. "I'm not even halfway."

Everyone's pain threshold was different, and Hunter seemed to be leaning to the lowest of the lowest. I couldn't understand it. He was covered in tattoos, ones that seemed to be on a lot more painful spots. Including the elbow. How he managed to sit through those was beyond me, but also none of my business.

"I'm aware," he blurted, his head snapping to look at me as if I had offended him. "But it's too painful. She'll just have to accept it the way it is until I'm ready to try again."

"Alright," I nodded, proceeding to clean the area and wrap it up. If he wanted to walk around with a half-done face on his back, who was I to change his mind?

Soon after Hunter left, Brian walked into the room with his signature cup of coffee and unlit cigarette. He was snickering, shaking his head at the man who had barely just exited the shop.

"What a pussy," he commented, throwing himself down onto the stool. "Guess what I just found out?"

I didn't say anything and continued cleaning my tools, waiting for him to speak because I knew he would. Brian could have a conversation with himself all day long, especially if I was quiet the entire time and let him speak his heart out.

Alice could be heard having a conversation over the phone, and I heard another appointment being added to my roster.

"Hunter that just left," he continued, leaning closer and I looked at him curiously. "He has to have his tattoos done under local anaesthesia. He just told me."

I scoffed a laugh, snapping my gloves off and getting rid of it in the bin. "That's allowed?"

"Apparently," Brian shrugged, slurping his coffee. "God, the ones who can't stop moving are the worst and it's my fault if I fuck up. Doesn't make sense."

I nodded, silently agreeing with him. After a few beats of silence, I found Brian's lack of conversation a bit...odd.

I lifted my head to gaze at him, finding a Cheshire grin on his face and my own contorted into a look of confusion.

"What—"

"You didn't need to worry about that with Nina, though. Did you?" he interrupted me, the same leer almost reaching his fucking ears.

My expression dropped into a glare, my shoulders slumping as I stared at him blankly.

I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth. "Alice!"