[C] Black Dragon

Dick sat on Fleck's bed, hands in Sollew's fur as he waited for his boyfriend as patiently as he could. It has been a couple of weeks since he drunkenly insisted that he would pay for Fleck to get some new piercings. Piercings that he wanted for a while but never had the money to do since they've been together.

It is all that has been on his mind since. He couldn't help but keep bringing it up as subtly as he could; asking whether he has gotten in contact with Ti, as often and offhandedly as he could. He didn't know why he has become so transfixed on the idea, but he was. Not that he would ever admit it.

"I swear he is taking longer then normal," he muttered to Sollew.

Or maybe he was just being impatient.

For once it wasn't Dick's impatience making the time seem longer.

Fleck was leaned against the bathroom door, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for the time to go by.

He felt bad about Dick shelling out for these piercings. For the three of them it was going to breach fifty euros. That was a couple good dates between them. That money could go on way better things than enhancing his appearance for vanity's sake.

He'd been stood here for - he checked his watch - twenty minutes now. He had a ridiculous hope that if he waited long enough, then Dick would give up the idea of spending so much money on him. he knew that was stupid, though. Dick was a headstrong stubborn mule. He'd been as subtle as a flying brick these past few weeks, and his intensity only got worse the longer he left it.

It was time to step into the line of fire and get it out of the way. He could deal with the awkward feelings afterwards.

He nudged open his bedroom door and gave Dick a little smile. "Okay, I'm ready."

If it wasn't for the large cat laid out over his lap he would of almost lept up. Instead he had to gently lift him off before getting up. He made his way over to Fleck and laced his hands with him, his lips curved into a smile. Then a grin. He wasted no time tugging him through the house to the front door.

"Great. Do you have the directions?"

Was it weird to get excited about your boyfriend getting some piercings? He didn't know. Other then the fact that very much was.

"Uh, yeah. It's pretty much right next to the karaoke bar."

He followed after his very excited boyfriend without complaint. How could he complain about this when Dick was so excited about this?

He felt a little less bad knowing that Dick wanted this so much.

"Was it?"

He chewed on his lip as he pulled the the door open.

"I think I remember the way to go... It was by the theatre, right?"

He wasn't paying too much attention of where they were going or where they were that evening. But he did vaguely remember seeing a theatre.

"Not even close."

They had passed the theatre, but that was closer to the Tapas bar than the karaoke bar.

"How long have you lived in this city?" he laughed, ruffling Dick's hair. He turned to yell a goodbye to his family, and was returned with half a dozen responses.

His cheeks pinked a little. Despite how long he had lived here, he didn't know the city like the back of his hand. He spent most of his days at the mansion or just frequenting his regular places in town. Mostly because he he was a person of habit, partly because he sense of direction wasn't always the best to go exploring.

He just gave Fleck a shrug as an answer.

"You can lead the way then."

"Someday I'm going to get you a map of the city."

Maybe that would make him a little more knowledgeable about the city he lived in. And at this point he did live in the city more than the mansion.

He led Dick through the city, jokingly explaining the way to go.

When they got to the tattoo parlour, he stepped inside and was greeted by a couple people, tattooists and waiting customers alike.

Dick just hummed. He already had a few maps of the city would. It was just rembering to bring them when he needed them.

His lips quicker and he nudged his boyfriend every now and then if the joking got a little too ridiculous. But he did try and pay attention to the route they were taking.

Dick gave a small smile in greeting back. He scanned the room for Ti, but couldn't see the fellow blond anywhere. Maybe he was busy with another customer.

So he tugged Fleck up to recaption, glancing up at him. It would be a bit strange if he started listing off what he wanted then, then explain, no, it wasn't for him. It was for his boyfriend.

The woman at the counter looked up when the two of them approached. "Oh hey, you. Was wondering when I'd see you around here." She leaned over and stuck her tongue out. It was split down the centre, and both forks of the tongue were pierced. "Took you long enough with how long you've been wanting these."

Fleck gave a half shrug back. "Better late than never, Raf. Is Ti around?"

Raf's strange spiral eyes rolled. "He's in back, setting up for you. He'll be ready soon, if Rai hasn't talked his ear off. She's with a customer, too, thought. Like, those two have got really popular, and they're both so new. And taken by two really annoying guys."

"I wouldn't call Amr that annoying."

Raf snorted. "You're kidding? He's more annoying than Jay and Leo combined."

Fleck's lips pressed into a thin line and his grip on Dick's shoulder tightened a little. He was saved form saying anything unpleasant by Ti appearing from the back.

"Oh hey, you two are here! C'mon, I'm all set up for you."

Dick stared at her tongue as it poked out, not entirely sure what to make of it. It was fascinating - even if it made him a little uncomfortable.

He watched the exchange between the two. They knew each other, that was for sure. And Dick sensed things weren't all that plesent. His own eyebrows knitted into a frown as Fleck squeezed his shoulder. He swiftly decided he wasn't all that keen on her.

Nudging Fleck a little as Ti appeared, he encouraged him to walk away, snubbing the woman.

"Hi, Ti," he greeted back, plesent smile on his face, following him to where he set up.

Fleck did follow Dick, relaxing a little when he grinned at Ti. "Ready to shove sharp needles into my face?"

Ti laughed. "All ready."

He led them through to the back, and past a curtain. He shot out a question in Russian, and got two similarly happy Russian replies back.

"Okay, sit down here." He patted on the studio chair, and perched on the stool next to it. "So you want a septum ring, an eyebrow stud and a tongue stud, right? Which one are you wanting first?"

Dick turned his head towards the the curtain, eyebrows brought together. He was sure he recognised one of the Russian voices. He paid no mind to it and settled down on one of the spare stools.

"Why not go most painful one first?" Dick suggested. "Get it out of the way?"

"Tongue it is, then!" Ti chirped.

He jumped up to wash his hands.

"Yeah, yay," Fleck muttered. This was the piercing he wanted, but definitely wasn't looking forwards to. It was going to be an awful healing process.

Ti sat down on his stool. "Okay, stick out your tongue. Let's get a placement." He picked up a marker then put a dot on Fleck's tongue when it was stuck out. "I can go further back or forwards if you want. Mirrors just there."

Fleck checked out the dot in the mirror. "No, that's looking like a pretty good place."

"Great. After this one, we'll do the septum and then the eyebrow."

He picked up a pair of clamps and aligned them carefully on the tongue.

"Okay, hold on tight. This is gonna hurt a bit."

Dick watched Ti whizz round with routine practice. Shuffling his stool a little to the side to get a better look as Ti placed the dot on Fleck tongue. It was a little difficult to make out where Ti had placed from where he sat. But he wasn't prepared to shuffle to stool over and get in Ti's space.

"Need to hold my hand?" He teased as Ti aligned the clamps.

"Uh-huh." He reached out for Dick's hand.

He didn't like needles, and he didn't really like the idea of getting the tongue piercing. But he could get through the pain, and it'd be cool when it was healed.

Ti was quick and steady with pushing the needle through and, surprisingly, Fleck hardly felt it.

"At least you won't have all the mess of healing," Ti said conversationally as he pulled the needle out. "I can't let you drink his blood in here, so you'll have to wait until you're done with all of this and in private to do it."

He threaded the piercing through the new hole and threaded the ball. "Done."

He was surprised when Fleck really did. So he held it for firmly for him, both hands clasping it as he watched the needle go through with intrest. He has never seen something like this before. Despite that, Ti's was obviously well practiced with his quick and steady hand.

When Ti spoke colour flooded Dick's cheeks and he shifted uncomfortably in the stool.

"...Yeah."

He knew it was possible, but he wasn't on planning on sharing that information with Fleck. He could only hope Fleck's attention was too busy focused on the needle being shoved through his tongue then to take notice.

"Do you do these a lot?" He asked, trying the brush what Ti said under the carpet.

Okay, now his tongue was starting to hurt.

"What do you mean by not having the healing mess?" His voice came out a little strange. His tongue was definitely feeling something foreign in it. That was strange.

Ti's eyes widened almost comically, and he turned his gaze to Dick, cheeks flushed a deep red. 'Sorry' he mouthed. "Yeah! Yeah, I do this all the time. Its my speciality. I'm getting better at tattoos, but I'm not overly artistically inclined so it's still pig skins for now."

He willed his cheeks to lose the redness in them. "Uh, lets get this septum piercing done. Lean back, let me take a good look."

Fleck's brows drew together but he did just that, letting Ti poke and prod at his nose.

If he wasn't currently sweating, Dick would have found Fleck's voice funny. He tried to give Ti a reassuring smile, thankful that he picked up on it and went with the conversation. It was like the whole thing with Giactinto again... Just less messy.

He nodded, watching Ti inspect Fleck's nose.

"How long have you been doing this for?"

He was going to keep this conversation rolling as far away from that statement.

"How long? Gosh, uh... Rai found me when I was nineteen," he mumbled. "So... three years? It's been longer than I thought."

He'd started at the parlour not long after Rai had basically hauled him into the mansion, so it had probably been just under three years.

That was pretty incredible.

"This may be uncomfortable, but breathe through your mouth until I finish the piercing, okay?" He cleaned up Fleck's nose, then reached for a clean clamp.

"This'll hurt more than the actual piercing," he told Fleck as he clamped his septum then reached for a clean needle.

Like with the tongue piercing, the actual procedure was done in a few short movements. "There you go, you can breathe normally again. Do you want a little break before I do your eyebrow, or should we just power through?"

"Let's get it over with." Better to do it all quick.

Found?

Dick began to wonder, but didn't push. Few people seem to come to the mansion for the fun of it. Most normally had some sort of skeleton in their closet.

He watched with the same fascination as he did the first time round. How quick and clean the procedure was.

When Fleck agreed to just power through it he tapped his hand.

"At least it will be the less painful one."

"Then I have to deal with weeks of pain." God talking was beginning to hurt. And the piercing was tapping strangely against the back of his teeth.

"You're not getting any kisses for a few days."

From what he had heard, he'd be dealing with a massively swollen tongue and being unable to eat for a while soon. Ice cream and liquids only.

Ti began the process of positioning for Fleck's eyebrow, asking Fleck a couple of times whether the position was right before they decided on the best one.

And then he began the process again, running through it quickly and methodically.

Then came the finishing off, cleaning the blood away and applying disinfecting ointment to the piercings.

If he was like someone else - like Amr - he would of whined and pouted and begged. But he wasn't. So he just let out a little "Oh." He didn't really take that into consideration. It would only be a few days, he reminded himself. For over hundred years he survived without kissing someone. An extra couple won't hurt.

"Can I look?" He asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

From Fleck's profile, the septum one looked good; a small delicate detail to his strong nose. The eyebrow piercing he couldn't see, sitting in the wrong side.

"Okay, piercing care. Your tongue is gonna be swollen for a little while. So's your eyebrow. Your nose wont look too swollen, but the piercing will look crooked for a little while, until it begins to heal. So don't freak out if the septum piercing looks weird for the next couple weeks. I know I got it in a good place, so it'll even out soon."

He was going to run through this as if there wasn't the potential for it all to be healed in just a few short hours. That was Fleck and Dick's business.

Fleck turned his face towards Dick at his request, to show him both facial piercings. The tongue piercing wouldn't look pretty at all so he kept it behind closed lips.

Ti ran down the piercing care routine slowly and carefully. "Did you both get that?"

Dick just nodded along to what Ti was saying.

When Fleck turned to face him it was very difficult to look anywhere but. Even swollen, they suited him well. Little accents to his face that brought out his features. The septum piercing, a little crooked as Ti said, looked just as good face on as it did profile. It drew his attention down Fleck's nose then over to his top lip. The eyebrow one added a nice, off centre balance in contrast.

His fingers itched. He wanted to know what it was like to reach out and run his finger along Fleck's eyebrows. Between the two metal balls and over the part that sat under his skin. He kept his fingers firmly clasped around Fleck's hand.

"Uh-huh."