The downtown streets were dark and empty as torrential rain began pouring down unto the cracked soot-covered pavement. The flickering lights of shifty stores the only source of light illuminating the twisting alleyways of the shady part of town during this moonless night...
How long have I been aimlessly wandering for...? Wondered Keigo, barely registering his surroundings as he looked up from under his rain-soaked hoody for the first time in hours, his thoughts a swirling black hole of nothingness.
Numb. Completely untethered from reality or feeling he'd dragged one foot in front of the other since dusk. Trying to escape an abyss of pummeling anguish and heartbreak that he wasn't yet ready to face. He plodded along like a mindless zombie. Directionless. Unconsciously seeking anything that would somehow make him feel something again.
Keigo glared around for some shelter from the freezing rain as he was starting to shiver from its unforgiving coldness and eventually spotted a corner with a moldy protruding rooftop that covered the equally filthy sidewalk. "Good enough..." he grumbled under his breath as he quickly made his way over to the much welcome refuge from the deluge that had nearly chilled him to the bone.
Upon reaching the shady looking corner he quickly flicked off his hoody and ran his fingers through his dampened hair, pushing some wet strands off his boyish face. He restlessly shuffled underneath the small space as he breathed out warming air into the palms of his hands, attempting to warm himself up from the rainy cold. His eyes welled up with tears as furtive pangs of the hurt he didn't want to acknowledge crawled to the surface completely unbidden, perhaps as a result of feeling caged in by the storm that had begun to rage around him. Desperate to ignore it, he turned around to take a real look at the store he stood in front of...
The Azure Flame Tattoo Parlor
"What a dump..." Keigo scoffed to himself as he judgmentally scanned the old-fashioned looking neon-blue sign that was covered in a thick layer of black dust. The place looked like something out of a dystopian future from a cliched young adult novel.... Dark looking designs of mischievous demons, creepy looking ghouls and twisted villains haphazardly plastered all over the large glass window that provided small titillating glimpses into the murky interior.
Keigo moved closer to the glass so he could peer inside... Within, the parlor looked like a punk-rock bar that had been refurbished into a tattoo studio. The walls were covered in even more darkly alluring tattoo art that was truly eye-catching and made the heart-broken young man get lost in it as he admired the sharp angular lines of enticing tribal designs and the soft blurry edges of disturbingly beautiful artworks. Lured inside... like a lonely pirate following a siren's irresistible call he slowly pushed open the door to the parlor, setting off a rickety door chime that made him jump a little.
"Can I help you?" grumbled a sultry voice from behind a black curtain that separated the entrance of the store from the back, where the real ink work obviously took place.
Keigo gulped hard. Unsure of why he'd even entered the peculiar looking place other than a perplexing force driving him forward, perhaps to run away from the truth of what had made him trudge along mindlessly for hours in the rain... All the way to the unpleasant part of town. A burst of sudden adrenaline coursed through his veins as he took one more look at the nightmarish art decorating the walls and his lips parted without another thought...
"D-do you take walk-ins?" I-I'd like to get a tattoo!" he stuttered out, trying to sound confident in his own spur-of-the-moment decision that had blindsided the more logical part of his brain. The part that was usually more in control. Right now, he was raw and defenseless. Hungry for anything that would make him feel alive once more.
From behind the curtain emerged a tall, slender twenty-something year old man with spiky raven hair and hypnotically piercing blue eyes. He prowled towards the reception counter with a cocky arrogance as he slowly scanned Keigo up and down, almost like a hunter assessing his prey. Most strikingly, he was covered almost entirely in intricately macabre tattoos, making him look like a moving work of art or a beautiful nightmare brought to life.
Damn...He's kinda hot... mused Keigo, taken aback by his surprisingly soft features which stood in stark contrast to the inked-up body he was proudly showing off through a revealing black tank top. His overall swaggering demeanor obviously screamed 'fuckboy' but that didn't stop him from being dangerously alluring, his cold azure stare sparking a flame of licentious arousal deep within Keigo, making him suddenly feel dizzyingly hot despite being completely drenched in cold rain.
"That depends pretty boy. Are you looking for something simple or a three-hour Hokusai masterpiece?" the mysterious young man asked drily, resting his elbows on the reception counter.
He gave Keigo one more look over, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he examined him slowly from head to toe, shamelessly checking him out and making no attempt at hiding it. Keigo blushed bright red as he felt the hungry eyes savoring every inch of him and he froze on the spot, completely taken aback by such a blatant display of unabashed desire. " Pretty boy"... the words kept ringing in his head and it made his heart flutter within his chest. It took him a moment to compose himself internally before he could respond, pushing aside heat he felt bubbling within himself.
"Just something simple." he replied bluntly, pretending not to notice being so overtly lusted over by the roguish tattoo artist.
"Cool, what did you have in mind?" quizzed the black-haired beauty, tapping his tattooed fingers on the counter to the rhythm of a strange rock song playing faintly in the background.
"I... Uhhh... I'm not sure. To be honest, this is really out of the blue for me. Do you have any design portfolios or anything I could look at?" Keigo admitted frankly, looking around once more at the artworks adorning the walls to see if anything caught his eye but everything seemed larger and far more conspicuous than anything he was willing to commit to.
"Sure, here you go... these babies are all mine... Why do you want a tattoo anyways? Usually, when people come in, they at least have some idea what they want..." puzzled the captivating stranger, raising a slightly judgmental eyebrow at Keigo. The inked-up artist then ducked down below the counter and pulled out a tattered leather scrapbook and plopped it unceremoniously on the counter-top.
"Honestly, I just want to try something new. Do something that makes me feel... alive again" Keigo admitted truthfully, pressing up close to the counter and placing his hands on the rough leather of the old scrapbook, admiring its almost rustic charm.
"Riiight... Well at least try to pick something that means something to you, or reminds you of a thing you like" the enticing tattooist suggested, a sliver of smug annoyance in his tone. His inquisitive eyes roamed Keigo's face as he leaned in closer to examine the scrapbook, a ravenous flicker flashing across their blue depths when their eyes connected.
