It was raining on the day of our second date. That gave me the perfect excuse for where to meet up.

The thing is, at first, I couldn’t think about anything good for us to do on this next date. Dinner at a restaurant? A walk in the park? A hike?

I was laying on my bed in only my bra and underwear as I stared up at the ceiling. Never in my life had I ever been so lost.

But then, just about a half hour before the scheduled time for us to meet up, the rain started coming down in motherfucking buckets. I looked out the window, standing up to get a closer look outside, and my eyes caught on my reflection. Reflections of my tattoos, and a memory resurfaced.

A little over a half of a year ago, I had a mental breakdown. I don’t remember what it was about or why it happened, but I knew that it was raining just as it was right then. And what did I do when I felt overwhelmed or stressed or pissed in general? I got a tattoo.

So, that day, I ran out of my house as the rain came down on me with violence. I ran until I ended up in front of my favorite tattoo parlor. The Ink Palette, run by my buddy Axe. She always welcomed me with a listening ear and a sharp, quick needle.

And that was how I decided on that activity for us. For our second date, we’d get tattoos.

With a smile, I quickly found a thin and loose black shirt and a thick pair of black leggings, along with a padded black rain jacket and my signature black boots. I grabbed my wallet, keys, and phone before I bolted from my house and out into the rain.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. I had about twenty minutes left until four thirty in the afternoon, so I texted Lily.

Meet me at the cafe beside Glass Glory, I sent, and I patiently waited for her reply as I walked down the street.

It didn’t take long until I was back on the street line with the stores with Glass Glory somewhere in the middle. So, with my hands in the pockets of my jacket, I sauntered towards our meeting place, watching my feet evade the various puddles the sizes and depths of fucking ponds.

But then I felt eyes on me. I looked up. And there was Lily, walking towards me with her own black rain jacket and her own black leggings. I smiled and waved. I could tell that she was smiling, too, as she waved back.

She came up to the cafe a bit before I did, throwing back her hood and shaking her hair out. She looked so beautiful, like an angel from the heavens above.

“Ready for our second date?” I asked her as I came up to her. My hair dropped over my eyes as I looked down at her as she smiled back up at me.

“Of course,” she breathed.

I lifted my hands, one to push my hood away as I used the other to take her hand in mine. I wanted to kiss her right there, take her head in my hands and hold her to me. Violate her mouth for all the world to see, even if the world could barely see us in this weather. But I didn’t. Instead, I smiled and led her into the warm cafe.

I think I had been there maybe twice before? I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t exactly the kind of place with my kind of aesthetic, so I sorta avoided it. But still, I led us straight to the cashier, and I watched as Lily gave the man behind the counter a quick smile before turning her attention to the menu above us all.

I looked up at the menu, too, after a moment. I already knew what I was going to get. A green tea. The perfect hot drink for a cold, rainy day like this. So, after a moment, I looked back down at her face to see if she had made a decision.

And once I saw the look of satisfaction on her face, I smiled and asked her, “Ready to order?”

She turned to look at me, smiling, and my smile seemed to widen on its own.

We stepped directly up to the cashier and I began our joint order. “I’ll have a small green tea for myself,” I told him, watching as he immediately looked down at the screen in front of him and began tapping out my order. Then I turned to Lily and asked, “And what would you like?”

“I’ll have a small hot chocolate,” she said to the man at the cashier, and we watched as he tapped her order into the screen.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Lily open her bag and reach in to pull out her wallet, so I placed my hand on top of hers to stop her.

“It’s on me,” I told her when she looked up curiously at me. Then I turned back to the guy behind the counter and said, “So two small drinks, a green tea and a hot chocolate. For Raven.”

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that she hadn’t objected already, told me that she could pay for herself and that she was an independent woman, and all that, but it didn’t come. So I just flashed my credit card at the scanner and paid for our drinks before shoving the card back in my wallet.

“Wait-” I finally heard from the beautiful girl beside me, but we both knew that it was too late. So I just smiled and led us to one of the several unoccupied tables and sat us both down. She looked confused and angry at the same time as she tried to splutter her protest out of her mouth. “W-wait, I-I can-! I-I mean I sh-should-!”

I smiled at her adorable stammering, leaning back in my chair and crossing my legs over one another. I rested my hands on my knee, watching her amusedly as she continued to inarticulately say whatever it was she was trying to say. But then she suddenly stopped, so I took that as a cue to say something.

“You paid last time,” I told her, shrugging. “I just returned the favor.”

She coughed a strange sort of combination between a laugh and a scoff as she mirrored me. Leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed just like mine were as she slowly shook her head. She looked like an angel.

“Fine,” she agreed at last. “But that means that next time, I’m paying.”

This made me laugh. Of course I wasn’t going to let her pay for our tattoos, they were rather pricey. Besides, she had paid me hundreds of dollars in the past month or so when I whored for her, and she paid for our bracelet making two days ago, which cost quite a bit more than two measly drinks. But if it would soothe her mind right at this moment, why shouldn’t I indulge her?

“Sure, sure,” I said.

I knew she didn’t believe me, though. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned me, and her lips pursed in a way that told me she was thinking about what I said. Her face was so beautiful, though, that I didn’t mind that she knew I was lying about letting her pay.

“A green tea and a hot chocolate for Raven!” I heard from the counter, so I smirked and stood.

My legs uncrossed and my arms dropped to my side as I stood up straight (though nothing about me was actually straight) and I went to get the two drinks. I nodded at the man as he set the two steaming cups on the counter before taking them back to Lily.

I stopped beside her, holding out the cup with the words “hot cocoa” scribbled in permanent ink on the side. Speaking of permanent ink…

Lily took it from me silently as she stood beside me, and I led her out of the cafe.

We walked down the streets almost lazily even as the rain pelted us with cold water, and I could tell that she was just sort of following where I led, which was good because I was leading her to the tattoo parlor. And it was so nice just walking and talking with her that I almost forgot about the tattoos.

But at some point, we fell into a lull of peaceful silence. It was quiet except for the occasional rush of cars, the quiet murmuring of far-ish away people having far-ish conversations, and the pitter patter of the rain.

And then I saw, from the corner of my eye, that Lily was shivering. It was just one jitter that shook her entire body, and I noticed that she was only holding her cup with one hand. The other hand, the one closer to me, was hidden in her pocket.

She was cold, I realized, so I let my hand closer to her drop from my half-finished cup of green tea and let it enter her pocket. Gently, ever so gently, I let my fingers wrap around her cold palm and pulled her hand out of her pocket along with mine. And the entire time, I watched her face as she looked down at our now joined hands with surprise before turning her surprise up to look at my face. So, smiling, I pulled our hands into my own pocket, taking note of the way she looked away and blushed like sin.

We walked in silence the rest of the way, and I could tell from the way her eyes seemed unfocused and the blush that hadn’t left her face at all that she was still reeling from the fact that we were holding hands in my pocket. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but I could understand. Any sort of skin contact with her made it feel like electricity was trickling through my skin.

“The Ink Palette?” she asked all of a sudden, looking up at me with curiosity written all over her face. “Is that an art place?”

I laughed quietly as I looked back up at where we were going. “You could say that, I guess,” I decided to say as we slowly drew closer.

I watched her face as we grew close enough to see the actual store, and I saw the exact moment when she realized where I was taking her.

“A tattoo parlor?” she asked me, nerves dancing in her voice as it slowly grew higher.

I stopped us in front of the store, smiling down at my little angel as her eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at me. She was bathed in the light from inside the store, looking simultaneously like a model and a puppy dog in some way.

“Lily,” I said, smiling down at her as she blinked the drops of water out of her face. “Would you like to get a tattoo with me?”

After a quick beat, she nodded, so I smiled wider and pushed past the door.

The lights were bright and welcoming. The walls were just the same as the last time I had been here, with posters of bands and concerts, paintings done by Axe and those that were gifted to him. Even the leather couches and chairs were the same as before.

This place was a bit of a second home to me, other than the brothel. Here and the brothel both felt like places that were a part of my personality, and I felt so warm inside to be able to share it with Lily.

And then Axe walked in, in all his pierced and inked glory.

“Raven!” he said in his characteristically loud voice as he walked up to myself and Lily. “My girl, it’s been so long!”

“Yeah, man,” I agreed as I stood from my seat and laughed. “What has it been, almost half a year?”

“Seven and a half months, to be exact, Raven,” he corrected me as I let go of Lily’s hand briefly to give him a hug. “And who’s your pretty friend?” he asked once we broke apart.

“This is Lily,” I told him as I held out my hand for her. She took it, a nervous and slightly scared expression on her face as I helped her stand. “We’re dating.”

“Oho!” Axe said with a wide smile, his eyes twinkling. He knew of my job and of the tendencies, habits, and… conditions, one could say, that came with the job. And being in a relationship most often was not a part of being a whore. “Nice to meet you! I’m Axe,” he said to Lily, holding out his hand for a handshake.

I looked down to see Lily smiling shyly as she… hid behind me?

I stifled a laugh as Axe chuckled, letting his hand come down. I dropped her hand and wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her into me and more into Axe’s sight.

“Lily’s new to this,” I told him.

“Of course,” Axe said, giving me a discreet wink out of Lily’s sight. I rolled my eyes as he finished his sentence with, “let’s do this.”

He turned and went to the counter, laying out several forms for us to sign. Just like usual.

I led Lily through the whole process of signing agreements and giving information, and then we got to move on to the fun part.

Choosing our tattoos, their size, and their placement.

We looked at several patterns and designs in silence as Axe entered our information into his computer. But then, she suddenly exclaimed, “I like this one.”

I turned to look at the one she pointed at and smiled. “Well, then,” I said, looking at her as she met my gaze. “If you’re doing that one, I guess I’ll do this one.”

I pointed at the one I had been admiring for the past minute. It matched hers perfectly, and I even knew where we should get them.

“And how about we get them,” I told her, the hand not wrapped around her coming up to gently touch between her collar bones, “here.”

I finished my words as my fingers trailed down her chest until they settled right between her breasts.

“Th-there?” she asked in a breathy sigh, and I nodded.

“It’ll look absolutely lovely,” I told her.

“O-okay, I guess,” she said, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed Axe watching us amusedly.

“We’re ready,” I told him, drawing my fingers away from her to push the patterns back. “She wants this one,” I said, pointing at the one she chose, “and I’ll have this one,” I said, pointing at the one that I had chosen.

He nodded as he opened a drawer and flicked through some files. He organized the sheets of tattoos before pulling out two sheets of papers. “These?” he asked.

I scanned them quickly before nodding. “Yes, and that’s the perfect size for the both of them, too.”

“Alright then,” Axe said with a smile, and I began to strip my top. I motioned for Lily to copy me as he led us to the back room, where the tattooing happened. Then, he asked, “Who’s going first?”

I looked down at Lily as I took both of our shirts, jackets, and bras and dropped them into one of the armchairs. She was watching Axe gather his tools fearfully, and I offered, “How about you go first?”

“M-me?” she asked as she turned her terrified and rather shocked gaze up at me.

I nodded. “Yeah, so you don’t get freaked out while watching me,” I clarified.

She slowly nodded, then began to walk over to the cushioned tattooing table, so I let go of her waist. I could tell that she was absolutely terrified, and I admired her bravery and her commitment to get this tattoo with me. For me. Fuck, what was this woman doing to me?

I listened quietly to the side as Axe and Lily spoke a bit more about the tattoo, and then it began. Axe pulled out the small hand shaver and began to rid Lily’s soft chest of any possible fuzz.

Her eyes closed, her lips trembling as she breathed shakily. I stepped up closer to her and took her hand. Her eyes flew open when I did so, her head turning so that our eyes could meet.

I bent down to whisper to her, “Don’t worry. I’m here.”

I only sat for a few minutes to watch, just until another tattoo worker became available. Axe was the best tattoo artist I happened to know, but everyone at this place was exceptional. I got Lucy. She was the one who did the beautiful dagger on my arm.

Luckily, there was a second bed in that same room, so I was still able to be with Lily as my tattooing began.

In total, it took about five hours with the total cost of $450. Lily didn’t know the cost, though.

After a long time of intermittent crying, napping, and silence, we were done. I paid with my credit card before going back to wake Lily from where she was napping, and I took her to the body length mirror.

We got tattoos to match our names. A blossoming lily for Lily. A dark raven with spread out wings for me, Raven.

“I love them…” she breathed.

I smiled beside her, my arm around her waist again. “Me too.”