[for Rapunzel] ink

[and_survive]

Her first tattoo, she'd gotten alone. Or, not really alone, since the tattoo artist had been great and they were still friendly. But it had been her and the person with the needle, essentially. She was kind of thrilled to be doing it this time with Rapunzel. Both of their designs were personal, were about them, but getting them together meant there was that little point of connection, that memory that went with it. That was pretty good, she thought. It went with the spirit of her giraffe.

Of course, Rapunzel had designed hers, so there was that, too. It was almost kind of backwards, like Rapunzel had given her Ellie a gift for Rapunzel's birthday. (Which was why Ellie was going to insist on paying, because birthdays worked the other way.)

They were meeting there, so Ellie lingered in the waiting area, looking at the flash on the walls (for people who didn't have cool artist friends to do their tattoo designs, poor saps) and listening to a particularly squeamish customer make a pained noise every few moments. She wasn't especially concerned about Rapunzel having that issue. Punz was tough. If anything, given what Ellie had heard about ribcage tattoos, she might be the one that needed a hand to squeeze.

Comments

[fatesdesign]

Rapunzel joins Ellie by the wall of art, studying the different pieces with an eye that’s more appreciative than critical. Even if some of the pieces are a little strange. Or vulgar. Or both.

“I’m glad Pascal stayed home,” she says when someone in the back lets out a soft cry of pain. “He’d probably try and attack the tattoo artist if I made a noise like that.”

She isn’t really worried about the pain. Her body will heal it quickly enough, and she knows that she can endure it. What she is worried about is her hair glowing. It does that sometimes when she’s hurt, even without her singing. She’ll just have to try and keep her powers at bay.

“Which of us should go first?” She asks brightly, looking down at the sketches she had done up for them. It means so much to her that Ellie likes her art enough to have it permanently tattooed on her skin. That in itself is probably the best birthday gift of all.

[and_survive]

"Aw, man. It probably is," Ellie agreed, because she did want this tattoo and having the tattoo artist attacked by a small lizard would probably put an end to that, "but I would love to see that."

It was just a funny image, was all.

"Mine's probably going to take ages, so maybe you go first? That way if you get bored you don't have to sit around with me for hours or whatever."

[fatesdesign]

“I would kind of like to see it too,” she says with a laugh. Pascal can be so fiercely protective, and Rapunzel loves that about him.

“Ellie, no. I’m staying with you!” She reaches out to grab her hand and smiles at her. She isn’t just going to leave her friend and wander off somewhere. “I grew up in a tower, okay? It takes a lot to make me bored.”

She hasn’t really been bored since she came to Darrow. There’s always something to do, or someone to see. Something new to learn.

“But I’ll go first,” she says as the tattoo artist calls them back, pulling the purple sweater over her head to reveal the pale yellow tank top underneath, working her arm through one of the thin straps to leave her shoulder bare. “Come on, help me figure out the right placement.”

[and_survive]

"Okay," Ellie agreed, both to the order of tattoos and to helping Rapunzel figure out the placement. Both were entirely agreeable. "Are you thinking more on the back-" she sort of framed the spot with her fingers, "-or like on top of the shoulder?"

[fatesdesign]

“The back of my shoulder, I think,” Rapunzel says, turning her head to try and look. “Where your hands are.”

The artist is a woman with inky black hair and colorful tattoos coloring her skin, and Rapunzel grins at her as she takes a seat and introduces herself. “And this is my best friend, Ellie. We’re getting tattoos for my birthday! She can stay back here with me, right?”

“Yep,” the girl replies, walking them through the set up. Soon enough a decal of Rapunzel’s design is placed on the back of her shoulder, and the artist has different inks set up on the table. The first buzz of the needle makes Rapunzel jump, and she laughs a little as she holds out her hand for Ellie to take.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Rapunzel says with a nod, leaning forward in the seat and keeping her eyes on Ellie. “Easy peasy.”

[and_survive]

"As tough as you are, it will be," Ellie said, which wasn't empty reassurance or even trying to pump Rapunzel up that much. She didn't know that they would have been friends if Rapunzel was not actually super tough. She was that and sweet, which Ellie had previously kind of figured impossible. She didn't know how to do it herself. But it meant this was going to be a cinch.

Well, mostly a cinch. She did take Rapunzel's hand, because tough or no tough it was a needle being stabbed into you a bunch of times. There was something to tough out.

[fatesdesign]

Once the tattoo artist gets the okay to start, Rapunzel keeps her green eyes locked on Ellie’s face. The sting of the needle does hurt, but less than she was expecting. She takes a deep breath and focuses on Ellie, because she can feel the warmth of her magic unfurling as it reaches out to heal her on instinct.

A lock of hair at the front of her head glows gold at the roots, and Rapunzel squeezes her eyes shut as she tries to force it back down. Maybe the tattoo artist wouldn’t even be surprised. There are sorts of different kinds of people in Darrow after all, but she’s so used to keeping it a secret. The glow in her hair fades as she grips Ellie’s hand, and her eyes pop open as she grins.

She talks to Ellie almost constantly to distract herself from both the sting of the needle and the insistent press of her magic. It feels like hours have passed by the time the artist declares that she’s finished, wiping away blood and ink and handing Rapunzel a mirror so she can see it.

“Oh, it’s so beautiful. Thank you,” she exclaims, putting a hand over her mouth as she admires the work. She has a piece of Corona on her forever now, and she couldn’t be happier. After handing the mirror back, she turns to show Ellie, looking at her over her shoulder. “What do you think?”

[and_survive]

There was a moment where it seemed like Rapunzel's magic was going to kick in and it wasn't going to work, which would have been disappointing but also kind of interesting. It was sort of nice to think about, that Rapunzel's magic could heal things that happened to her, that she had that layer of protection.

Still, it was better that it didn't, that the tattoo artist was able to complete her work putting the star on Rapunzel's back. Ellie took a moment to examine it, resisting the urge to reach out and touch the design, fresh as it was.

Of course, Raounzel probably had to worry about infection a lot less than most people, so her powers went right back to being good and helpful.

"It looks great," she said. "It's perfect."

[fatesdesign]

“I love it so much. This was such a good idea,” she tells Ellie, giving her tattoo one last look in the mirror before turning away. The artist puts some cream and a bandage on it, which isn’t at all necessary, but Rapunzel stays quiet. She’s actually never had a bandage on before.

Once that’s done, she pulls the strap of her tank top back over her shoulder and hops over to Ellie, giving her arm a squeeze. “Your turn!”

The artist goes to clean up her station and switch out her equipment, and Rapunzel leans against Ellie while they wait. “Are you excited?”

[and_survive]

"Yes. Mostly," Ellie amended, watching the new equipment being swapped in. The needles. She could take it, she was sure, even if someone had told her that the ribs were especially painful. She had Rapunzel's example to live up to, anyway. "I'm like... part excited, and part psyching myself up to get stabbed a bunch."

[fatesdesign]

“Oh, you’ll be fine. You’re tough as nails,” Rapunzel assures her with a smile. They switch spots and Rapunzel reaches out to take Ellie’s hand, threading their fingers together as the tattoo gun buzzes to life.

“I’ll be right here,” she says with a bright smile. “Squeeze as hard as you need.”

[and_survive]

She'd done this before, she could handle it. Probably. She did take hold of Rapunzel's hand, though. The ribs might be painful and also unlike her sleeve, she had to have her shirt off for this, which added an extra layer of vulnerability to the proceedings.

"Okay, but this is going to take a while," she said. "So don't complain when you start losing feeling in your hand."

[fatesdesign]

"I'm sure I'll survive," Rapunzel says with a fond smile, clutching Ellie's hand as she settles back on the table. She scoots her chair a little closer, watching as the needle touches Ellie's skin. Rapunzel leans in closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

"And if you want that healed up really fast," she says with a wink, knowing how Ellie feels about being healed. "You know who to come to."

[and_survive]

"I know whach," Ellie said, squeezing Rapunzel's hand harder than she'd anticipated doing, and probably harder than Rapunzel had hers. No, pretty definitely.

It turned out that ribs stinging more thing had not been wrong. "Jesus. No, I'm fine," she said, waving off the tattoo artist's inquiring look, because she'd just started and wasn't going to chicken out now, also at all. "Okay, you gotta distract me, that stings like hell."

[fatesdesign]

Rapunzel winces at the painful noise Ellie lets out, letting her squeeze her hand as much as she needs without complaint. "Hmm, let's see."

She tries to think of a good story, but she really doesn't have that many. "Well, a little kid came into Dilley's the other day with his mom, but she wasn't really watching him." She laughs a little at the memory, nose wrinkling. "He got into a new display of oil pants and before anyone knew it, he had taken off all his clothes and smeared paint all over himself. His mom was trying to catch him but he was too slippery, you know, because of all the paint."

The tattoo artist pauses to wipe away ink and blood, so Rapunzel waits for her to put the needle back to Elie's skin before continuing. "So I lassoed him with my hair and saved the day. It took me a whole day to wash it all out."

[and_survive]

"...all his clothes? Oh my god," Ellie said, cackling a little, shifting a little before she remembered and stilled herself, shooting an apologetic look to the tattoo artist. She was torn between looking at the work as it was done and not. Not because she was worried about the blood, but because it was easier to let Rapunzel distract her from the pain if she was looking at her and not at the source.

"Just like shooting between everyone's hands? I wish someone had filmed it, that sounds hilarious."

[fatesdesign]

"Yes! Gosh, it was hilarious," Rapunzel says with a laugh. She holds onto Ellie's hand and tells her stories all the way up until the artist declares that she's done. Rapunzel blinks, surprised that so much time has passed, and lets go of Ellie's hand. "Come on. Let's see it!"

She stands up and helps Ellie off of the table, bouncing excitedly as they head over to the big mirror. "Do you love it?"

[and_survive]

Looking at it in the mirror, the giraffe running up her side, she found herself suddenly emotional. Remembering what it had been like, seeing them, and now having that on her side, a part of her. She had to take a moment before she could speak.

"Yeah," she said, resisting the urge to put her hand to it, just looking. "Yeah, I do."