#no clue about moons eye. i have not even finished my outline i am simply Vibing

[springcatalyst]

i reached 150 pages eveybody clap for meeeeee

[musicalravencreates]

You just reblogged that AU thingie and I got hit by inspiration. What if Dan is a tattoo artist and Arin gets tats sometimes and hes visibly in pain but he always talks about the tats hes getting and they are so important to him and Dan can only listen to him and maybe falls in love a little bit when Arin starts talking about random things like what he does for a living or something funny that happened to him that day.

Flowers For Mega Man (part one)

So here’s the beginning of this beast. Thank you for the amazing prompt, and I do hope I’m able to finish this au as I have lots of plans for future chapters/parts.

AO3

It was one of those days. Everything was out to annoy Dan. Not enough to make him angry, but just enough to throw him off. His toaster broke in the middle of making breakfast, forcing him to have cereal instead. His lip ring had gotten stick in his shirt collar, forcing him to wrestle with it as he tried to get his shoes on at the same time. And the uber he’d ordered had been ten minutes late, which made him ten minutes late. To top it all off, all his fucking hair ties had just up and gone missing, leaving him to deal with a stray curl falling into his face every few seconds.

At least his client this morning had been a bit of a reprieve. Simple, small design and absorbed in her own thoughts to boot. Probably for the best, considering Dan didn’t feel much for chit chat at the moment.

After his hair blinded him for the third fucking time since starting the outline, however, Dan was done ignoring the issue. He excused himself temporarily, making up some bullshit about needing a drink of water before he stalked his way to the front of the shop.

Dan practically threw open the curtain separating the shop, catching the attention of both Ross and the customer he had been speaking with. He didn’t bother to give the customer a second glance, his focus zeroing in on Ross.

“Okay, cough them up, O'Donivan,” Dan growled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve got a client to take care of, and I need my damn hair ties.”

A grin slowly took over Ross’ face and he leaned against the counter. “What makes you think I had anything to do with their disappearance?”

“I’m not in the mood, man,” Dan said, giving him an exasperated look. “Just fuckin tell me. I gotta finish up with Janet so we can both get paid.”

Ross sighed, loud and dramatically as if it were killing him to be nice. Dan rolled his eyes and waited, blowing another stray curl out of his face. “Fine. Baby.” Ross reached under the desk and started rummaging around. He probably knew exactly where they were, but he just had to draw things out to tick Dan off even more. Dan leaned back against the door frame, ready to settle in. He wasn’t backing down no matter how long that asshole-

“Dude, your hair is awesome,” He heard a voice say, and his eyes slid past Ross to the customer he’d ignored. The guy was staring at his hair with a sort of amazement, and Dan wanted to roll his eyes again. People were always weird about his hair, asking him if he was mixed race, asking how he washed it, or whatever else they felt like. But the guy actually surprised him when he added, “The pink looks really good on you.”

Dan blinked, a bit taken aback. The pink was faded, but obviously, still there. If he had done it right, it would have been purple and it would have actually looked okay. As of now, it was most certainly a mess of weirdly faded streaks mixed in with bits of bleached hair that absolutely did notlook good. And yet the guy was still staring, and Dan had no clue what to even say.

“There it is!” Ross exclaimed and Dan jumped, eyes flickering back to a very proud looking Ross holding up a palm-sized magnetic container. Dan shook his head, trying to ignore the weird staring dude as he walked over. He snatched the container from him, giving him another annoyed look. Ross just grinned at him, not even bothering with an apology. Typical.

He slid the container open to check that it held what Ross said it did. Every single one of his hair ties was crammed into the tight space, so much so that he could barely open it. He pulled one out and snapped it around his wrist. He then slid it back shut, tucked it in his pocket and immediately turned back for the door.

“Wait, dude, that’s mine!” Ross called back. Dan just flipped him off over his shoulder as he walked back behind the curtain. Sure, he’d give it back later, but no way was he just dumping his hair ties somewhere.

He pulled his hair back into a quick ponytail and secured the tie as he made his way back to his client. She was thankfully very polite about the whole thing, not even mentioning the argument she probably overheard every word of as he sat down and got back to work. However, as they resettled into the previous silence, Dan found his head buzzing with the new clients’ weird words.

It wasn’t like he knew the guy, so figuring out if he had been sincere or if he’d been fucking with him was a pointless endeavor. And yet Dan wanted to know. If he came back, Dan wanted to have some sort of upper hand on the guy. But as the minutes ticked on, he found himself stumped. Clearly, he needed to let this go.

So he switched to planning out how to next get back at Ross. Something to do with his inkwells would piss him off. Or his tablet. He got really ticked off when people messed with his tablet.

And so the next forty minutes went, Dan ruthlessly planning his assault on Ross’ things as he finished the client’s tattoo. The strange man from before was quickly forgotten.

—

“Ross, what the fuck is this?”

Ross barely even glanced at the sheet as he walked past. “The new client’s design,” He said simply, scooping up some honey roasted almonds from the snack table.

“Isn’t the new client a guy?” Dan asked, giving Ross a pointed look. Ross just shrugged.

“And your point is?”

“It says, ‘Fight Like a Girl.’” Dan pointed to the lettering and shook the sheet. “The fuck, Ross?”

“It’s what he asked for,” Ross said, stuffing more almonds in his mouth. “Don’t get on me for following orders.”

“Bullshit,” Dan tossed the sheet back on Ross’ desk and crossed his arms. “Can’t you save your pranks for me or Barry? Leave the clients of it.”

Ross frowned, swallowing. “Dude, I never pull that shit with the clients. You should know that by now.” He pointed at the computer at the front desk. “Go on. Check. It’s all on records.”

Dan narrowed his eyes but Ross only jabbed more firmly at the computer. Rolling his eyes, Dan marched over to the computer and waved the screen saver away. He pulled up the client database, not having to search far to find the new guy. In a smaller parlor such as theirs, they usually fed off regulars and the occasional one-off drunk. A new client ordering a big piece stood out pretty fucking clearly.

The only new name in the system was one 'Arin Hanson.’ Dan scrolled down, scanning the information until his eyes caught on the order’s description. 'Full upper arm. Sailor Moon wand with the words 'Fight Like A Girl’ in swirly lettering. Maybe some flowers or sparkles surrounding it.’

He glanced back at Ross, who was busy licking his fingers off. Dan’s frown deepened. “You tinkered with the database too? Really?”

Ross stared at him a second, fingers frozen, before dropping his hand. “You- dude, that’s what he ordered! Fucking call him or something! I don’t know!” He snatched up the bowl off almonds and ducked into the back room, and Dan sighed. Great, now Ross was gonna be annoyed with him the rest of the day.

He turned back to the computer, eyes skimming the words again. Ross could have easily tampered with the system to make himself appear innocent. He’d done it before when he’d tried to convince him and Barry that Mike Hock was a real client. Not that they’d been fooled, but he’d proven himself willing to fuck with their system for shits and giggles.

On the other hand, Ross was being truthful. He’d never directly or deliberately fucked with a client before. The most he’d done was scare people entering during Halloween by wearing a werewolf mask. And even Dan had participated. But going so far as to design a tattoo as a prank? That was a bit far.

Dan’s fingers drummed on the metal as he tried to decide what to do. He could call the guy. Say he was confirming his appointment. It was still a few weeks away so he’d probably buy it. And doing so would give Dan more piece of mind than just speculating.

He scrolled back up, eyes locking on Arin’s phone number. He could just do it. Call him, ask, and be done with it. No harm done, right?

With a heavy sigh, Dan grabbed the landline from the corner of the desk and input the number on the screen. As it rang, Dan continued tapping his fingers, eyes scanning over the rest of his information. His attention caught on his address, which was less than a block away. He snorted. Talk about convenience over quality.

Dan heard the ringing end abruptly and a few seconds went by before he heard a quiet, “Hello?”

“Mr.Hanson?” Dan asked, leaning against the desk as he switched his voice to 'business mode.’

“Yeah, that’s me,” The voice said.

“This is Dan Avidan from Accept My Tat. I’m calling to confirm your appointment.” Dan snatched up a pen from the side of the keyboard and began twirling it between his fingers. Might as well act more like a fuckin secretary while he’s at it. “You scheduled an 8:30 am appointment for the 27th, correct?”

“Yup,” He paused for several seconds. “That it?”

“Just one more thing, Mr.Hanson.” Dan grabbed the mouse and scrolled back down. He described the tattoo listed in the description as he tapped the pen against the desk. “Is that correct, as well.”

“Yeah, that’s uh, what I told the guy anyway. Except for the swirly lettering, but that sounds pretty cool. He’s gonna add that in, right?”

Dan blinked, pulling the phone away from his ear to stare at the receiver. His eyes flickered to the computer, then back to the curtain Ross had disappeared behind. Well, fuck, he had been telling the truth. He couldn’t believe it.

After a few seconds of just staring at the phone, Dan slowly put the receiver back to his ear.

“Uh yeah, he’s actually finished the piece already. It’s very swirly.” Dan shook his head. Who the fuck even was this guy?

“Oh, awesome! I can’t wait to see it.” Arin’s voice suddenly picked up, excited. “I’ve been wanting to get this done for a while, and I’m so glad I can finally afford it.”

“If… If you don’t mind me asking,” Dan said, unable to stop himself. “Why exactly did you want to get this tattoo?”

When Arin went silent, however, Dan felt like smacking himself with the pen. Idiot. It was probably super personal, like a sister that died or something, and he just couldn’t keep his curiosity in check. Fuck, he was usually better about this sort of thing. Why was he so damn curious now?

“I just…” Arin started, pausing again, and Dan opened his mouth to apologize for prying and tell him he really didn’t have to answer, but Arin spoke again before he could. “I always preferred feminine superheroes and kick-ass characters as a kid. Still do really. And I hold my feminine side pretty close to my heart. So, I dunno, I just wanted something to reflect that, you know?” Arin paused again. “Uh, you still there?”

Dan shook his head, focusing his thoughts back from trying to figure out how the hell this guy even existed. “Oh, yeah, I’m here. That’s…” He took a breath. “That’s really something.” Not at all what he had expected, but damn if he wasn’t intrigued. “We’ll see you on the 27th, alright?”

“Yep,” Arin said. “See you guys then. Tell Ross thanks for doing this. I’m super fuckin pumped.”

Dan quirked a smile and glanced at the curtain again. “I’ll let him know.”

As he hung up, the thought of meeting this strange man went through his mind and Dan quickly found himself wondering what this guy looked like. He was willing to bet he was ridiculously burly and had a shaved head. Or a beanpole with a bad undercut. He glanced down at the phone, then back at the curtain.

“Hey, Barry! Wanna make a bet with me?”