#and eeeven better if you’re the tattoo artist and he owns the flower shop

[cynicalmusings]

thinking about tattoo artist!dan heng who has a huge, intricate tattoo of a chinese dragon snaking up his back, shoulders, and down his right arm. he’s known for his art style which resembles traditional ink paintings, covering both landscapes and figures in his work, as well as his aloof but patient personality and undeniably good looks.

you’re mutually connected through march, who’s both you and dan heng’s close friend, though you and dan heng have never really met or interacted before. when you express interest in getting a tattoo, she wastes no time recommending him (and before you can even say yes for certain, she’s already texted him with your design ideas and told him to expect you soon.) not long after, he gets in touch with you and you both go through some of his designs before settling on a final choice.

a few days later, march drags you to the tattoo parlour and introduces you to dan heng in person. (she mentioned he was attractive, but not how attractive. a red streak of eyeliner brings out the cool tones of his eyes, you can’t help but notice as he glances over at you, not unkindly.)

you have a brief discussion after march finishes the introductions, before he leads you to a chair. as you make yourself comfortable and he cleans the area of skin you’ll get the tattoo on, he asks if you’re nervous; a little sheepishly, you admit you are. he hums, and tells you not to be.

‘focus on your breathing,’ he instructs calmly when you wince at the first bite of the needle on your skin. to your credit, you do try, but find yourself focusing rather more on his instead, because you can feel his breath on your skin as he leans over the chosen area and gets to work. (you hope to god your face doesn’t look as hot as it feels.) he works silently, and the silence is only broken by the buzz of the needle.

once it’s done, he patches you up, telling you you did well for a first-timer. it’s really pathetic, you curse yourself, that you’re getting flushed over that one sentence, but you can’t stop. march grins you a ‘congratulations!’ and asks how the experience (and her good friend) was; her face takes on a knowing look when you glance for a moment too long back at dan heng, and before you know it, she’s pulling you both out for ice cream despite your protests under the claim that ‘this is a big occasion and should be celebrated’. once there, she conveniently reports that she forgot about a piece of work she needed to get done, and leaves the two of you alone. (unbeknownst to you, she’s actually hiding in a nearby bush and watching you closely.)

it’s very awkward at first, but you slowly get into a discussion which starts about march (poor her) until it branches into shared interests. who knew the icy ‘cold dragon young’, as his web page dubs him, was such a nerd—and a nerd who shares some of your own nerdy passions, too?

after you go your separate ways, march texts you and asks how it went, and you begrudgingly tell her you enjoyed yourself, warn her to absolutely not do it again, and… i don’t know, my brain is fizzling out here. you probably find yourself stopping by the tattoo parlour in your free time.