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It is the middle of his shift and Eren is not having the best day so far. The client for the appointment he had scheduled for the day had canceled last minute, and although he usually used cancellations to take a break from his usual busy schedule, he could not do such a thing as Ymir had left for a break of her own not too long ago, leaving him to watch over the shop. With free time in his hands, yet stuck in the studio until Ymir came back, he scrolls through his social media watching random reels and short videos on social media from his place behind the counter at the front of the studio.
He is watching a rather funny video of a yowling husky and his owner, when the sound of the bell on the front door announces somebody’s entrance, yet he does not look up from his phone to welcome the newcomer who had just entered his –and Ymir’s– tattoo & piercing studio.
“Hi,” someone greets in a soft and quiet tone of voice that definitely does not match Ymir’s, and this time Eren does look up.
Staring back at him with beautiful bright blue eyes and dressed in a knitted baby blue sweater, light brown slacks, and white Converse, that made him look as if he had been taken straight from a Ghibi Studio film, stands the cutest blond Eren has ever seen in his life. His hair is short, and although he has soft facial features and skin, there is no baby fat on his cheeks, suggesting that he must be around the same age.
His breath catches in his throat, his heart accelerates almost imperceptibly, and he feels a mini-panic attack coming as he stands there like an idiot staring at the cute blond. Recklessly, and unfiltered, Eren is about to tell him that the famous bubble tea spot is next door when the blond speaks again.
“Is Eren here?” he asks and Eren’s heart practically stops altogether when he hears his own name pronounced in that soft voice
Good, he knows his name that’s introduction enough now all Eren has to do is ask for his number.
Get a fucking grip.
“That’s me, how can I help you?” Eren asks partly because does have some good etiquette when he is at work, but also because he actually is wondering what this nerd-looking guy is doing in his —and Ymir’s— studio.
“Hi, Eren, my name is Armin,” he smiles slightly and Eren almost misses the rest of his sentence trying very hard not to swoon right then and there, “I want to get a tattoo, a friend recommended this place,”
Eren does not let his surprise show, but he does blink at him before nodding like an idiot in an attempt to get a fucking grip on himself.
He has been in this business enough to know better than to judge someone by their looks yet the blond man in front of him certainly doesn’t look like his typical clientele. Not that he has a typical clientele. Nowadays people of all ages are way more open and tolerant of body art, and while he doesn’t even have a specific type of customer, this young blond man simply does not seem like the type who would get a tattoo.
Yet despite what Ymir might say, he does know how to behave with customers.
“Do you have something in mind?” he forces himself to ask as coolly as he can as he straightens himself and reaches for the art book, they keep behind the counter to show the clients their previous work and specialties.
Yet before Eren can open it the blond –Armin– nods, walking closer to the counter and stopping right before him.
“Yes. I do, I want a design about four inches in size in back ink on my ankle,” he says easily and confidently, and any ideas of this guy being lost were completely disregarded the moment he answered each and every standard question any tattoo artist would ask before starting the tattooing process.
Eren blinks at him before nodding once more as he discards the idea of warning him that ankle tattoos are quite painful and will require a couple or so hours depending on how intricate the design is. The way the blond talks and acts suggests that he has some knowledge regarding the process
“What’s the design?” Eren prompts. “I want an anchor” he informs him as he reaches into the left pocket of his sweater to produce his phone. Eren runs a hand through his brown hair to calm himself as Armin unlocks his phone and shows him a picture to give him an idea of what he is looking for.
“Something like this…” Armin says as he scrolls to the side to show him another picture.
Eren leans in to take a better look at the examples. The pictures are all black-and-white cartoons of the design he is looking and none of them is a picture of another artist’s tattoo. The designs all look simple at first glance for a relatively small tattoo; however, the details will make the process a little bit longer and more complex
“You want this much detail for a small tattoo?” Eren asks as he looks up from the picture on the screen to the blond’s blue eyes. Up this close, they look even brighter, like the summer sky.
“Yes. I am open to adjustments to the design according to your style and the tattoo’s style, but this is what I have in mind,” he says and Eren smiles at that.
First-timers usually aren’t aware that high detail for small tattoos is tricky and sometimes not even possible while others want an almost exact same replica of somebody else's work. Yet although Eren is more than able to do those if that’s what the client requests, as with the rest of the tattoo artists, the most unique ones come when the piece is discussed, and they are given a little bit of creative freedom.
“It is my first tattoo, and it means a lot to me,” the blond admits as he looks away. There is a shy look on his face and a light red tint dusting his cheeks. Yet before Eren can lose it again, Armin looks up and stares at him with a serious look.
“Can you do it?”
It is not a challenge, but his tone suggests that if Eren’s art style can’t produce the piece he is looking for, then he will simply move on to another tattoo studio until he finds an artist that can.
Eren ignores the bubbly feeling in the pit of his stomach and he looks down at the picture on the phone once more. He leans forward and reaches a hand to slide a black nail-polished finger on the screen of the phone to take a look at the other examples once more. He switches back and forth through the examples as he pays more attention to the detail.
He straightens again and pushes the art book slightly out of the way. The design the blond is looking for is not a simple sketch that he can complete in only a couple of minutes, nor something he already has a pre-print for.
“Yeah, I can,” he looks up at the blond, “come back the day after tomorrow around the same time and I’ll have some options ready for you to see and schedule an appointment if you like them,”
“Sure thing, thank you so much,” the blond smiles brightly at him and Eren feels like he has been blinded for a second. Yet even if he wanted to, Eren knows he wouldn’t be able to look away.
The blond opens the door with one hand and turns on his heels to wave at Eren
“See ya’ around, Armin,” he says before the blond exits the shop.
It is not until later that he realizes that he did not mention anything about their non-refundable deposit nor discussed prices, yet Eren could care less. The short meeting with the cute blond turns out to be the highlight of his day.
Two days later, Ymir catches him staring at his reflection in one of the mirrors of the studio as he redoes the usual bun at the back of his hair.
“That’s the third time you redo your hair, and it does not look any different from the previous three times,” she notices in a teasing tone and Eren glares at her through the mirror’s reflection.
“So what?” He asks as he rolls the sleeves of his black tight shirt to expose his forearms and the black-inked centipede-like tattoo wrapped around them aiming for a good, yet casual look.
He feels ridiculous but the cutest blond in history –Armin– is due to arrive soon and he wants to make an impression. Even if he has only met him once and for less than ten minutes, the point still stands. Anyone would say that he is being obsessive, and kind of pathetic too, but Eren doesn’t care. As he said, he wants to make an impression.
“Does this have anything to do with you obsessing over that anchor design for almost a day and a half?"
Fuck Ymir for being the most observant and annoying lesbian on this side of the continent.
“Relax, tiger, it’s been a while since you have been this invested in an art piece especially one relatively small,”
She is not wrong, more often than not, small tattoos were simple and relatively easy, and Eren had sworn time and time again that if he had to draw an infinite symbol, a three triangle, or a butterfly on someone else’s skin, he would probably lose it.
Yet, despite always doing great pieces, he wants this one to be particularly good. Hell, he wants this one to be his very best no matter the size or the simplicity. He wants the piece to be as pretty as the wearer.
That’s right ladies and gentlemen, Eren Yeager, has been utterly and completely smitten.
The sound of the front doorbell ringing takes him out of his thoughts and Eren turns just in time to see Armin walking inside the shop.
This time he is wearing black slacks, and a button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to expose the unblemished creamy white skin of his forearms.
This time, Eren does not act surprised by the cute innocent-looking blond dressed in academic style that contrasts with the dark almost military dark punk style Ymir and him wear on a daily basis. Instead, he smiles at the blond.
“Hi, Eren how are you?” he greets softly as the door closes behind him.
Way better now that you are here.
“Hi,” he greets back and then resists the urge to tell Ymir to shut the fuck up when she tries and fails to cover her laugh with a fake cough.
He almost never says ‘hi’ but that’s the very least of his worries. He is way more focused on trying to not make a fool of himself in front of Ymir and Armin. Specially Armin. Ymir can go fuck herself.
“Not too bad, you?” He adds.
“I’m okay, thank you,” he says as Eren makes a motion for Armin to join him at the waiting area where two lounge black leather sofas for clients and companions take most of the space.
“Can I offer you some water or juice?” He asks because he actually does have some manners and this time he is not caught off guard by Armi’s beautifulness.
“Water, please,” Armin decides and Eren smiles at him before walking to the mini fridge to get the bottle, completely ignoring Ymir’s amused look.
Trust this loser to never show a single gram of interest in anyone and then get attached to someone he had only met once and is, by the looks of it, the complete opposite of him.
On his way back he also brings his art book.
“That’s Ymir by the way, she does tattoos and piercings too,” he says as he hands the bottle to the blond because as much as he is annoyed by her right now, he is trying to make a good impression.
“Thank you,” Armin accepts the bottle and then smiles at Ymir, “Hi Ymir nice to meet you, I’m Armin,” he greets.
“Hey there, blondie, first time getting a tattoo?” She asks with way much more cool and style than Eren had.
Eren’s eyes widen slightly at the teasing nickname, and before Armin can make a big deal about it, Armin speaks.
“Yeah, kinda nervous,” he says not sounding upset nor offended at the nickname.
“No worries, this dork knows what he’s doing,” Ymir reassures.
It’s an insult and a compliment at the same time, yet Eren does not fight her.
“Whatever, here I have an option of what can be done according to what you want,” Eren says as he hands the open portfolio to the blond and takes a seat on the other sofa.
He watches in anticipation as Armin takes the artbook from him to look closely at the sketch he had drawn. It looked simple, but the small details Eren had added based on the examples the blond had shown him, made the piece look great. He knows because he spent quite a while perfecting the piece.
Yet when the blond says nothing for a bit of a while, Eren starts to think that maybe that is not quite what the blond is looking for.
“If you don’t like it, we can make some cha–.”
“I like it. Would it be black ink only?”
“Yeah, grey and black, the white parts would be your skin and no ink would be added there,”
“Will it be on stencil?”
“Yeah, for the main shape, it will be, for the details it will be free hand,”
Armin nods and then smiles brightly.
“This is exactly what I had in mind… probably better,”
“Wait- really?”
The blond’s smile widens.
“Yes, can you tell me how much it would be?” Armin asks almost shyly in a way that makes Eren want to tell him that it would be free for him for being the cutest boy alive. Fuck, he would even pay for it himself if that meant being allowed to get his hands on the cute blond. Yet Eren has always taken the job seriously, and after he informs him of the sum, he is not surprised when the blond does not try to bargain, nor ask for further details. Instead, he nods simply.
“All right, my schedule is clear after seven on Thursday, it would take maybe three or so hours and we can divide it into two sessions as it’s a sensitive spot,”
“That works great, should I bring something with me?”
“Shave the area, don’t exfoliate, and use moisturizer daily until the appointment,” he says with a practiced chant, “dress comfortably too,” he adds.
Armin takes note of the recommendation and nods and stands up from the sofa.
“Thanks again,” he gives Eren a shy smile that almost makes him melt right there and then, “I’ll see you on Thursday then,”
“Anytime,” Eren says.
Literally anytime. Anywhere, everywhere, and preferably 24/7 for the rest of their lives.
After Armin exits the studio, Eren stays there like a love-fool idiot with a happy bubbly feeling in his stomach, Ymir finally speaks again.
“You’re drooling,” she says and Eren closes his already closed jaw so quickly that he bites on his tongue before glaring at her.
“I’ve never seen you get so whipped this badly and so quickly before,” Ymir teases, “who’d have thought that nerdy cute blue-eyed blonds are your type?” she laughs yet this time he takes no offense as he smirks at her.
“Like you’re one to talk,”
“Fair enough,” she clicks her tongue, “but my blonde is cuter,”
“You wish,”
He talks as if Armin is more to him than a client when he is not.
Not yet anyway. Not if he had any say on the matter.
Armin arrives on the day of the appointment wearing an oversized bright yellow hoodie that reminds Eren of Pikachu, knee-length shorts, and white socks with sandals. A look that Eren thought no one ever would be able to pull off until he is proven wrong. But then again, with a face and complexion like that, Armin could be wearing a trash plastic bag and Eren would still ask for his number and sign him up for the next Runway show.
“Hi, sorry I am late, I was finishing grading some papers,” he says with an apologetic look and cheeks slightly red that makes Eren feel butterflies all over again and wonder, for the briefest moment, how that lovely blush would look spread all the way down to his neck and chest while squirming in pleasure underneath him and on Eren’s bed. Yet before he can follow that trail of thoughts, he forces himself back into the present.
“It hasn’t been even five minutes,”
“Sorry,”
“It’s okay, Armin, you’re our last customer of the day, don’t worry,” Eren smiles, and Armin responds with a soft smile of his own.
“I’m still doing some prepping,” he lies.
He had planned that day down to a T. Starting from his outfit that morning which consisted of a loose sleeveless black shirt that exposed the scattered tattoos on his arms, and upper chest, black jeans, boots, and his classical messy and effortless bun that had, in fact, taken him more than ten minutes to actually get it right; and he had also chosen his favorite ear and tongue-piercing pieces. Moreover, he had also made sure he had all the materials needed which were already ready on one of the mobile tattoo tables in the backroom.
“You can wait here or come along to the back room?” Eren asks.
Armin smiles at him.
“Sure, might as well,” the blond says and the brunet smiles back before guiding him to the back of the studio and giving Armin a side glance as the other takes a look at his surroundings.
The backroom is slightly smaller than the front of the shop and there are two black-leather chairs, that remind Armin of the dentist, placed on each end of the room along with adjustable stools and photograph studio-like lamps. The light grey walls make the room look brighter than the front of the shop but the decorative art pieces hanging from them still match the same aesthetic of the front.
“It looks nice,” Armin compliments as he takes a seat on the closest chair to Eren as the other rolls the mobile tattoo table closer. Spread on the table, over something that looks like absorbent paper, there are sterile needles and tubes, ink bottles, and sheets of soft-looking paper Armin guesses are for cleaning the ink along with other different materials that he has zero clue what they are for.
“Yup, Ymir’s girlfriend is an interior designer she helped make it look cool,” Eren informs as he secures the table into place.
Once he is done, he turns to look at the blond. Despite the endearing curious look on Armin’s face, Eren notices that his shoulders are tense, and his back is perfectly straight, a very common tell that many clients get when getting their first tattoo. Fortunately for both of them and despite his unfiltered and at times aggressive nature, Eren is no amateur and he knows how to ease the vibe. Moreover, he is planning on making the whole ordeal as easy and least as painful as possible.
“Water or juice?” the brunet asks as he watches the blond kick off both of his sandals and remove the sock of his right foot before lifting his legs to the leg rest of the chair.
“Juice please,”
“Orange, mango, grape, apple, or pineapple?” He lists. They usually didn’t offer this many options, but if Eren had gone out of his way to buy more than one option to make sure he had one that the blond would like, it was nobody’s business.
“Mango,”
Eren smiles to himself and leaves the room to retrieve the item from the mini fridge they have at the front of the store. He hadn’t been wrong when he had assumed that Armin seemed to be the type to get mango or apple.
When he comes back, he finds Armin sitting on the chair playing with the short nails of his hands. It reminds him a bit of a kid in the doctor's office.
“Are you nervous?” he asks as he approaches Armin because despite what Ymir and the rest of his friends may think, he actually knows how to read the atmosphere when it matters.
“A bit,” the blond admits looking away and blushing once more, but Eren gives him a reassuring smile.
He takes a seat on his stool to get to the same eye level before his look turns serious.
“I am sure you know it is going to hurt as the location’s skin is thinner and closer to the bone, but it is different according to everyone’s pain tolerance,” he informs, “We can reschedule if you don’t feel up for it right now,”
Armin looks at him which makes him almost feel like the blond can see right through him.
“No, I do want it,” the blond says.
Eren stares for a little bit longer than necessary and then nods.
With a practice motion, he produces a pair of black nitrile gloves and puts them on with a practiced motion, taking a moment to lament the fact that he won’t be touching Armin without gloves.
Not this time at least.
“All right,” Eren says looking straight at Armin to inform him of the procedure, “we start with printing your stencil, then skin cleansing, stencil application, and after that comes the actual needle-to-skin time, the part that hurts,” Eren makes a pause, and the blond nods, “then cleansing again and bandaging,” Armin nods once more.
“Do you have any questions, Armin?” Eren asks using his name because he likes the way the shape of the blond’s name feels on his lips.
“No…” Armin says in an uncertain tone.
Eren clicks his tone in habit and wets his lips, playing with the piercing tongue in the middle of the wet muscle. He doesn’t like the unsure tone, and he will be damned if he proceeds if Armin is nt actually sure about it.
“Are you sure?” he insists.
“I-I,” Armin bits on his lip and clears his throat, “I am, but can you walk me through the process while you do it? It helps, and your voice is kind of reassuring,” the blond admits and Eren is so glad that the blond looks away shily and misses the way his face becomes red.
Jesus Christ. Armin will be the end of him he is so sure about that.
“We start whenever you say so,” the brunet forces himself to say and then Armin nods.
“I’m ready,” he says in determination.
Eren smiles at him and the blond smiles back.
“Okay,” Eren stands up to walk to the table where a special printer rests. He clicks on some buttons and once the machine is done, he brings the stencil back to Armin.
He sits on the stool once more and shows Armin the stencil. It has less detail than the actual design Eren had shown him yet before Armin can comment on it he speaks again.
“This is the stencil we’ll apply on your skin and which I’ll use to do the outlines, the details will be added by free hand,”
Armin doesn’t look at him, but rather, his eyes remain glued to the design. A soft sad smile tugs at his lips and although Eren knows better than to ask about it, he stops himself from doing so. People get tattoos all the time for very different reasons. Sometimes with personal deep meaning, sometimes just because they want to, and although Armin’s reasons are the former, he does not ask.
“I’ll adjust your chair and we’re cleaning first,” he announces while adjusting the height of Armin’s chair, keeping the back straight and bringing the leg rest up.
“This might feel a bit cold,” Eren warns as he grabs a bottle of disinfectant. He wets a gauze with the antiseptic and then presses it against the white creamy skin of the outside of his ankle. He gives the blond a couple of seconds to adjust to the temperature before he starts cleansing in one single direction.
“Feels fresh,” Armin says as he tracks Eren’s movements.
Eren hums in acknowledgment and when he’s done, he discards the gauze and reaches for a lotion.
“This lotion helps the stencil stick, and then I’ll need you to stand up and look in the mirror so that you can tell me when it feels in the right spot,” he informs.
Armin nods once more and after he applies the lotion, he helps Armin up to his feet and in front of the floor mirror. He crouches down to get the stencil to the spot where Armin wants it as he ignores the fact that he wishes this won’t be the only time he drops to his knees in the presence of the blond.
“Does this place look okay?” Eren asks and Armin watches at the spot on the reflection.
“A little higher,” he instructs and Eren adjusts the height above Armin’s ankle bone, “that’s good,” the blond says and Eren firmly presses the stencil against his skin.
“Take a look then, see if you like it,” Eren says as he stares right at the blond’s face in the mirror’s reflection as he watches what the tattoo will potentially look like.
Without his notice, a smile tugs at his lips when the blond smiles at the piece in a classic tell-tale of his approval.
“Wow, it’ll be so pretty!” the blond says excitedly.
Not as pretty as you, Min, his mind supplies because in his mind he has already a long list of nicknames that would one hundred percent fit the blond.
“It’ll look even prettier after the detail work,” he says instead as he watches Armin move this way and that, admiring the piece from different angles.
“Yup,” Armin says absently with his eyes still on his ankle.
Once Armin is back on the chair, Eren adjusts Armin’s chair higher and his stool lower to be at a comfortable height.
“Okay then, ready for the hard part?” he asks staring at Armin.
“Yes,”
Eren shows him the black ink he will be working with along with the needles packaged in sterile packets and other things he will be using for the process and soon after, Eren’s left hand rests on the blond’s bare foot keeping it in place, while the other turns on the tattooing pen. As soon as the buzzing noise fills the room, Eren feels the blond tense.
Almost on instinct, his hold on Armin tightens slightly and he rubs a gloved thumb on the skin of the instep of the blond’s foot.
“Relax, Min,” he says and he realizes a little too late that the nickname has left his lips.
With widening eyes, Eren curses himself for being an idiot and turns up to look at the blond’s face where a look of surprise is mirrored in his soft features.
Yet it is Armin the one who recovers first and the surprise on his face is slowly replaced by an amused smile.
“I like that one, it’s better than blondie, I’ll give you that,” he jokes.
Eren’s shock remains for a couple more seconds before he finally recovers.
There is no way the cutest and hottest boy on Earth is actually flirting back. Just NO way.
Is he?
“We can go through a couple of more while we’re at it,” he dismisses as smoothly as he can, ignoring the blush on his face and forcing himself to focus,
“We’ll start slow with the outline to see how you feel, just breathe and relax,”
He gives the blond some time to collect himself before he starts with the tattooing at the base of the design. With tunnel vision attention, Eren starts the line work and starts applying ink for a minute before stopping and looking up at the blond.
He finds Armin staring at the ceiling with his lower lip caught between his teeth in an expression of discomfort that somehow makes him look hotter.
“How do you feel?”
“It does hurt, but it's bearable, I just, I don’t think I can look at the process,” Armin says and Eren smiles knowingly. He has had a client of two fainting during the process before.
“That’s okay, do you want to keep going?”
“Yeah,”
The buzz starts again and then he stops altogether.
He removes his glove and reaches for something in the drawer of the mobile table and produces a pain relief small ball.
“Here, this might help,” Eren says handing it to him before putting on a new glove on.
“Thanks, Eren,” Armin takes the ball from him.
“No prob, here we go again,” Eren says.
This time Armin does not tense too badly, and he keeps himself in place, yet a quick look confirms that Armin does press onto the ball with blunt nails.
“How was work?” Eren asks in an attempt to distract Armin from the pain.
“The usual, I graded some papers and then did some writing,” he informs in a strained tone and Eren runs an ink-cleansing sheet of paper in a soothing manner.
“Are you a prof?”
“Gosh, I wish, I am a grad student,” the blond snorts. Eren is not surprised when finds the sound endearing.
He smiles too, he hadn’t been wrong when he had assumed Armin was smart. Nerdy smart.
“It must be hard,” Eren says because he is clueless about what Armin’s grad studies are about, but he does not want the conversation to end.
“It’s mostly reading,” Armin says. His tone is still a bit strained and Eren lets him gather himself.
Eren hums in acknowledgment and they both fall silent for a bit.
“Are the art pieces yours and Ymir’s work?” Armin is the first one to break the silence and Eren stops his actions for a bit to look at him staring at the framed pieces of line art hanging from the walls.
“Yeah, mine are on black frames and Ymir’s are white,” he informs.
“Mhm yours are very pretty,” the blond notices Eren staring, and he smiles at Eren.
“Thanks, do you paint or draw?” Eren keeps going once more, and Armin keeps pressing on his stress ball.
“N-not really, I don’t have the talent for that” the blond snickers.
“What do you like doing then?”
Eren wants to know every single thing he can about the blond. So, sue him.
“I like reading,” Armin is in fact a bookworm, “although as of late most of what I read is for work,”
“What about you, Eren, what do you like doing?”
“You could say I made a job out of my hobby,” Eren says thoughtfully, “But I also hit the gym, collect vinyl records, and travel too,” Eren says.
“Mmh, I like traveling too,”
“Where to?” Eren asks already planning their first trip as a couple even though he is well aware of just how creepy that is.
Armin lists the cities he has been to, some of which Eren himself has been to as well. The blond also says he likes hiking and camping and it is easy for Eren to picture the blond in faraway cities or beautiful nature spots. From the beautiful beaches, forests, and nature parks, Eren realizes not for the first time that he is just too far gone.
“I like hiking and camping too,” Eren says, “the beach or the forest?” he asks then.
“The beach,” Armin says in a heartbeat and without a single thought. There is a tone of excitement there that makes Eren want to know more about that, yet he does not ask.
“My grandpa and I used to go there quite a lot before moving to Shinghashina,” Armin explains and the sad tone lacing his words does not go unnoticed, but Eren does not press on the topic.
However, he does wonder if there is a connection between that statement and the anchor design, he is currently getting tattooed. After all, Armin had in fact mentioned that the design was very important to him.
“The beach is fun indeed, I go there with my brother at times too,” Eren agrees.
Armin hums but he does not say another word and Eren does not say anything either. Except for the buzzing sound of the tattoo pen, the room remains silent for a while.
A couple of minutes go by and Eren looks up to check on Armin to notice that his eyes are closed and there is a frown on his expression. Despite the fact that the look of hurt is also ridiculously cute on him, Eren does not like it.
“Did you move here long ago?” the brunet asks once more trying to distract him.
“I moved around a year ago from Liberio,” he says.
A year is quite a long time to get familiar with a new city, but no way enough to know all about it. Especially not one as big as Shiganshina.
Eren will gladly volunteer himself to show the blond around.
He then asks how Armin likes Shiganshina compared to Liberio and he listens carefully to all of his answers. Time goes by and before he realizes it, an hour and a half has gone by.
He cleans the ink off of Armin’s skin with the special paper as gently as he can and takes a look at his handiwork. Eren is almost done with the outline of the design and so far, he is pleased with the way it is going. Yet Armin’s skin had turned naturally red around it, a very common effect product of having small needles injecting ink into one’s skin, yet due to his pale and soft skin, it looks way redder than usual.
Eren sighs, turns the pen off, and leans back slightly trying very hard not to think about how a red trail of marks of bites and kisses would look on the blond’s neck, down his torso, and on the inside of his tights.
“How are you feeling, Min?” he asks, tentatively using the nickname once more.
“I’m all right,” Armin says finally letting go of the pain relief ball and taking a deep sigh. The stress lines smooth into a calmer expression.
Eren clicks his tongue and plays with his piercing tongue briefly as Armin gives him a funny look.
“Sure?” he insists.
Armin’s funny look turns into a shy one as he looks away.
“I-I I really am, it’s just the pain,” he says and Eren resists the urge to reach forward and kiss it all away.
Instead, he discards the gloves and reaches for his water bottle, he takes a long sip of water and runs a hand behind his neck.
“Can I stand up for a bit?” Armin asks and Eren nods.
He helps the blond out of the chair and Armin stretches his legs for a bit before reaching into the pouch bag of his hoodie to produce a bag of M&M's.
Usually, Eren would not recommend snacks into the room for risk of infection but deeming it safe and also completely unable to say no to the blond, he does not stop him.
“Do you want some?” Armin asks after popping a blue chocolate into his mouth.
Fuck yes, and your number and a date.
“Yeah,” Armin passes him the bag and he takes a couple.
“Hungry?”
Eren considers ordering Uber Eats before he remembers he doesn’t know what the blond likes, then again it doesn’t matter, he would order every single combo from every restaurant that is still open and have Armin pick whatever he prefers.
“I did have something to eat a couple of hours ago, but I brought this in case,”
Eren smiles at him.
They keep chatting comfortably until Armin’s packet of M&M’s is finished and then get back to work.
Eren puts on a new pair of gloves and the buzzing sound of the tattoo pen fills the room again.
The rest of the process goes as smoothly as they start discussing music and upcoming movies as Eren works as best as swiftly as he can all the while considering how unprofessional it would be if he asked Armin to watch a movie with him later that week. He does not even know what movies are playing in the theatres at the moment, not that he cares either way, they could go and watch the Barbie Movie and Eren would still have the time of his lifetime.
Another hour and a half go by and Eren is already done with the shading and adding the final touches. Yet despite how fun that has been an anxious feeling at the realization that his time is up crawls uncomfortably up his skin.
“Alright, Min, we’re finished now,” Eren says.
“What? So soon?” Armin says surprised and Eren ignores the sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Yeah, do you wanna take a look?”
The blond nods enthusiastically and Eren helps him up the chair once more. Eren stays close by as the blond takes a step forward yet before he can do it, he trips slightly as a painful look crosses through his face. Without missing a beat, Eren reaches forward to stabilize the blond, sneaking a hand behind his back as Armin instinctively places one on Eren’s shoulder.
“Woah, watch it,” he says, “walking might be a bit difficult for a day or two,” he says trying to ignore the warmth irradiating from the close proximity.
“T-thanks,” Armin says shily.
He helps the blond towards the mirror, staring at Armin’s reflection and how natural it feels having the blond this close.
With a hand still on Eren’s shoulder, he lets the blond jump on one foot and twists slightly to get take a look at the outside of his ankle as Eren’s eyes zoom in on the blond’s face.
Blue eyes widen at the sight and his lips take the shape of an ‘o’ before a soft smile graces his features. Armin doesn’t say a thing, but his smile grows wider and his eyes shine with a bright glint.
Eren doesn’t say a thing either as he watches the blond pivot this way and that as his graceful features turn melancholic.
“I love it,” the blond says, still staring at his ankle.
“I really do, this is what I had in mind,” the blond mutters and it’s not until then that he looks up at Eren.
Eren smiles brightly at him and Armin’s eyes turn back to the reflection.
He lets the blond shift this way and that to his heart’s content uncaring of the hour and treasuring the smile on the blond’s face.
“I am glad you like it,”
“Thank you, Eren,” he almost whispers and Eren is sure he could die right then and there and say he had no regrets in life.
Minutes go by and Eren tugs at the blond a bit.
“Come on, we need to add the protective cream and you can keep looking at it again,” he says because no matter how much he loves the look and the blond the following steps are very crucial and Eren will die before he lets the blond get an infection all because he is infatuating over him.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to keep you this long,” Armin says and Eren dismisses it with a smile.
Once the blond is back on the chair Eren does a final wipe-down and gently smears the protective lotion mindful of the red skin.
“I’m putting this protective saran wrap to cover and protect the tattoo,” Eren says applying a special plastic over it.
“Keep it on for two days, it’s waterproof so don’t worry about getting it wet during the shower,”
Armin nods, and Eren enlists the rest of the aftercare instructions recommending washing the tattoo with antibacterial soap twice a day and covering it from the sun for two weeks.
Once he is up again, he helps the blond up once more, and before he realizes it the blond is hugging him.
Eren’s whole body goes stiff as his blood freezes in his veins and his heart completely stops. It lasts no more than a couple of seconds, but that’s enough for his brain to register the vanilla smell emanating from the blond and the softness of him at the proximity. Yet before his brain can catch up with it all and he can react accordingly, the blond pulls back.
“S-Sorry,” Armin says. His gaze is fixed somewhere on the ground and his cheeks are as red as the skin on his tattoo, “sorry, that was uncalled for, thanks again,” he says as he starts to limp his way out of the room, yet before the blond can make it that far Eren catches up with him.
Brazenly, one of Eren’s hands closes around the blond's wrist. He might be reading too much on the other’s actions, and he may be wrong too, but he’ll be damned before he lets the blond leave without giving it a shot.
Armin’s eyes widen as he stares at Eren’s hand around his wrists, and Eren quickly lets the other go before running his fingers through his hair.
“Listen, I-I…” Eren starts and makes a pause to force himself to get the words right as Armin looks up at him, “this may be very rushed, but this has been fun and you’re the cutest guy-I’ve-ever seen-in-my-life-and-you’re-great-to-talk-to-and-I-don’t-want-this-to-be-the-last-I-see-you-please-let-me-take-you-on-a-date,” he trips to his words and takes a long breath by the end of it,
Armin’s bright blue eyes widen and the heavy weight of rejection starts falling over his shoulders when the blond’s features turn into a confused frown.
“Sorry, what?”
Eren takes a long breath.
“I said I-“
Armin smiles at him in a way that could be considered a smirk before he interrupts him.
“I heard what you said, Eren,” the blond’s smile widens, “and I also heard there is a good bubble tea place nearby,”
It’s Eren’s turn to look shocked because there is no way that means what he thinks it means.
“I wouldn’t mind trying it soon with you, I am free tomorrow,” Armin prompts and Eren’s shocked look turns into a wide bright smile that even hurts.
“Yes!” Eren exclaims before lowering his voice a few decibels, “anytime tomorrow, I’ll pick you up”
Armin smiles.
The next time Eren gets Armin lying on his back in front of him it is not in the tattoo studio but actually in Eren’s bed. His red skin is not due to the tattoo machine, but for a very different reason, as moans and groans of pleasure fill the room.
Eren is not surprised in the slightest when he finds out that Armin Arlert in fact looks and sounds way better than anything else he has ever seen or heard.
And it is not until after three years, and several trips to distant lands and cities, that Armin finds himself back on Eren’s tattooing chair. This time he is shirtless as Eren leans over him tracing a different pattern on the unblemished creamy skin on the left side of his chest with his tattooing gun.
“I thought you said you’d kill yourself if you had to tattoo another bird in someone else’s chest,” Ymir says as she looks at the perfect outline of a Skua bird on Armin's skin.
“Fuck off, this one is different,” Eren says abstinently as he lovingly cleans the ink from the white skin. He now knows how soft it feels under his touch, how good it tastes, and how easily it bruises.
“This one is special,” Armin agrees and Eren takes a moment to smile back at his lover with a love-drunk smile that will probably stay there for the rest of his life and as long as Armin is there by his side.
Eren has a fair number of tattoos. Some of them are on his sleeves, a couple on the side of his neck and legs too, but his favorite, and the most special one he has, is the horse conch shell on the left side of his chest and above his ribs. One that he had Ymir do most of it before Armin took over to add some filling and shading following Ymir’s instructions.
To this day, even with his intimidating looks Eren Yeager is still, and will be, the most whipped man in history. Then again with Armin Arlert by their side, who wouldn’t?