Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter one hundred and fifteen

Ashton grows more and more nervous the closer they get to the tattoo parlour, getting easily distracted by things in the streets of Sydney. Carla notices but doesn't say anything, she won't even hold it against Ashton if he pulls out at the last minute.
"We're here." She announces, stopping abruptly in front of a small hole-in-the-wall sort of shop that fits all of the stereotypes of a place to get tattoos. Ashton screeches a little as he nearly trips over his feet and lands face first on the concrete. "Are you sure you want to do this?" She asks calmly, noting the way Ashton has frozen in his place.
"Yeah-"
"It's alright if you don't."
"No no, I do." Ashton quickly shakes his head.
"Well then, right this way." Carla swings the door open and Ashton takes a deep breath before walking in and up the stairs.

"Hey. Welcome to the best place for tattoos in all of Sydney. I'm Marissa. What can I do for you today?" A young sub with bright red hair and as many hundreds of tattoos as you'd expect covering her skin.
"I want my first tattoo." Ashton gulps nervously.
"Ooh! Virgin skin!" Marissa jokes excitedly.
"And I'm just here for moral support." Carla laughs.

"So did you have anything in mind?" Marissa turns to Ashton and his nervously shaking body.
"I want something for my dom. To remind me of him. Something small but visible." He answers quietly, looking at all the designs across the walls.
"That's cute. You could do his name, initials, a heart... There's a lot of options." She shrugs.
"Name tattoos are tacky." Carla says under breath.
"I guess that means I'm getting a heart then." Ashton rolls his eyes.
"Nooooo," Carla quickly protests, "you could get his name if you want. And I don't mind initials, they can be cute."

"I'll get a heart." Ashton says firmly, turning to face Marissa.
"Get what you want, forget I said anything." Carla insists.
"I like the idea of a heart. It's simple. Self-explanatory and can hold a lot of meaning. It's a little more subtle." Ashton replies, mulling over the different designs of heart.
"Then just decide where and what kind of heart." Marissa shrugs.
"I want it on my wrist. That's decided."

Ashton decides that less is more, choosing a very simple but solid red heart. It feels like the right thing to be his first tattoo, representing who he is as a person with his openness to love on top of his relationship with Calum. As soon as he shows ID to prove he's 18, he's led out the back and instructed to sit on the bench. Carla makes a passing comment about how she might get another tattoo.

Marissa draws the shape onto Ashton's left wrist and fills it in, just like Ashton wants. Ashton stares at it for the long moments it takes for Marissa to set up the tattoo gun. Carla nearly says something but she doesn't want to break Ashton's train of thought, it looks so deep and peaceful, instead she opts to just reach a hand out and grasp his right one. Ashton looks slightly startled as he looks up but smiles softly, seemingly grateful for the comfort and reassurance.

"All ready?" Marissa grins, holding the gun full of red ink with excitement.
"I can't believe I'm doing this and Calum has no idea." He mumbles quietly, taking a deep breath and sticking his wrist out for her to take.
"A surprise tattoo for the dom... on virgin skin. This keeps getting better and better." She chuckles.

Ashton glances down at the needle as it nearly touches his skin but he quickly looks away, grimacing when it first pierces his skin.
"Fuck." He hisses.
"Hurts less when you relax. Talk about something else." Marissa tells him calmly.
"Okay..." Ashton wavers, looking up at Carla who was still providing valuable release by giving him something to grip onto. "If you got your tattoo in Poland, how did you know this was where we should come?"
"This is where Calum and Michael have gotten all their tattoos done." Carla answers, Ashton nodding in understanding.
"Your dom is Calum Hood?" Marissa's eyes nearly fall out of head, but thankfully her hands stay steady.
"Yeah." Ashton blushes shyly.

"So where is he at the moment?" Marissa hums.
"Work trip." He mutters, not feeling comfortable talking about it with this complete stranger. "I thought Michael's parents hate tattoos? He got one anyway?" He diverts the conversation back to tattoos and talking to Carla.
"It's because they can't stand them. He got his first as a distraction."
"What?" Ashton furrows his eyebrows, semi-effectively drowning out the pain of the tattoo.
"His parents found out he and Calum were sleeping together and had such a conniption that Michael went and got a tattoo so they could be mad about that instead." Carla explains.
"Did it work?"
"Eh, sorta." She shrugs.

"That's all done." Marissa grins, instantly capturing the attention of Carla and Ashton, their eyes fixating on the red heart.
"I love it." Ashton breathes out in awe. It's small and simple but it's exactly what he wanted in retrospect. He can't wait to show Calum. Marissa cleans the wound and all around Ashton's wrist before covering it in plastic wrap, during which she gives Ashton a very long spiel about how to best take care of it.

Ashton pays and Marissa wishes him luck with telling Calum as he and Carla head out the door.
"So are you going to tell him as soon as he wakes up this morning?" Carla hums knowingly as they stroll through the city, deciding they'll grab dinner somewhere before they head back to Carla and Maggie's house.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to keep it from him." Ashton giggles, excited by the thought. He glances at the time and sees that Calum should be waking up and calling him any minute, which of course means Carla can also expect a call from Maggie. The two subs find a quiet and peaceful spot in Hyde Park, under some large trees protecting them from the spring sun, in which they can take calls from their doms.

Calum's video call to Ashton comes through a minute before Maggie's call to Carla but that's not a surprise. Calum had always been more of a morning person.

A/N: Ashton got a tattoooooooo and ofc I just made it what my favourite tattoo real Ashton has,,,, AND Calum doesn't know woah. This just hit 30k reads thank you so so much it's now my fourth most read fic, third most voted and second most commented. Thank you that means the world to me, love you all.

-Grace Williams xo