A Lover's Ink: 1 of 2

[The Young Alcoholic]

AN: This story will be just a short two part episode. It was half inspired by TLC?s, Miami Ink, and the other half by my new best friend, insomnia. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don?t own Gundam Wing or the TV show, Miami Ink. What I do own is the concoction of a plot that putting these two things together have made.


A Lover?s Ink
Part 1
PG-13


I watched helplessly as another gorgeous blonde slyly placed her hand along his thigh. Her palm touched just lightly, seductively, and her manicured nails on the tips of long fingers curved upwards. The inked needles currently puncturing her skin stopped briefly. The babe only looked up innocently from her position on the padded table and giggled. The mood always seemed to be just right for her ?types?; laid out before him, just the way he wanted them. But in reality, never truly wanting them.

Not long after that did she commence her next stage of attack, doing exactly what all the others desired to do. She began stroking his thigh. Now her fingers curled a bit and her nails made contact, as if trying to claw through the material of his blue jeans. Each brush kept going farther and farther up until he finally ended her dreams, just like with all the others. He grabbed her hand roughly. A look of pain suddenly wiped off her silly smirk as he practically threw her hand back at her. And just like all the others, the remainder of the job was left in silence.

Good Lookin? sullenly left the shop after paying, leaving my business partner, Heero Yuy in a state of agitation. He violently pulled off his latex gloves and hurled them into the little trash can by the corner. I jumped, not by surprise but more by reflexes, as he kicked his chair out of his way and into my direction. Customers looked startled at the sudden commotion as they moved against the wall and out of Heero?s way. I was just about to shout at him, but he had already stormed out the door.

He?s been like this for sometime now. Of course the constant flirting had always been the same, but it just seemed to really get under his skin this time. He usually tended to ignore them. To say that it?s bad for business wouldn?t be a lie, but it isn?t necessarily a problem either. So he treated some of them a little coldly?Okay, so he does treat them coldly, but that doesn?t stop more and more from coming in.

Don?t mind if I say so, but my partner and I have the best shop right here in Miami. That?s right, Heero Yuy and I, Duo Maxwell, are the best tattoo artists Miami has to offer. Most of our work can be seen on mostly everyone around here. Business is good, whether or not he scares the ladies off. There will always be others who?ll try their best to seduce him, and each one will always fail.

And that?s because there has always been someone else. Someone else that has captured him into a bliss of joy and pain.

I heard a bell ring as Heero reentered the shop. He seemed to have blown off his steam as he calmly proceeded to clean up his work space and prepare for his next client. Wrappers were tossed into the trash and he quietly picked up his chair from its lopsided position as if nothing had just happened. He slipped on a new pair of latex gloves and grabbed a package of sterilized needles from a drawer on the bottom right of his station. Although he made no motion for his client to join him, the next young woman practically bounced to his side, bubbling with giddiness. I watched him pay no attention to her whatsoever while thinking back to a couple months ago.

Our last customer of the day quickly scattered out the door. I heard the bell ?cling? as she exited from behind me. I removed my black latex gloves with a snap and spun my chair around to face him, ready to launch out a sarcastic remark that seemed to fit the current situation. His head was buried in his hands, clenching his chocolate locks while leaning over the front desk. It had been another hard day that ended with another beauty trying to take him in her grasp.

He straightened up his back, grabbed his denim jacket and walked right out the door. I knew he was just going to stand around for a smoke, so I decided to join him. The air was cool; not too humid. I could just catch a glimpse of a couple of stars above me, and far off into the distance I smelled a sweet aroma of grilled Cuban food. Miami was beautiful out tonight. I made a mental note to share it with my wife when I got home.

Heero just stood there on the sidewalk against a nearby streetlight. One hand held onto his jacket draped over his left shoulder, while the other removed the cigarette from his mouth as he exhaled. We just stood there in silence for a little bit. I felt content just standing there watching him, trying to figure out what exactly he was thinking?But I got tired of that pretty fast. With my personality, I can?t stand silence. And being best friends with Heero made that difficult.

I had to shatter the stillness somehow, so I asked him what he was thinking about. Of course I got no answer; he just continued smoking. I asked him if he was going to say anything at all. Again, no answer. Frustrated, I threw my hands up in defeat. I told him how I would just go home and spend the rest of the night with Hilde, and turned to get my things back inside.

And then he finally spoke.

He called out my name. I was almost surprised to hear his voice. I looked back over my shoulder, leaving the door halfway open. He looked at me with that straight expression he always carried. His dark blue eyes were just so hard set. It was a typical Heero thing, but what he said next shocked me.

He mentioned a girl. Another puff of smoke filled the beautiful night as he brought the cigarette back to his lips. I closed the door and faced him. Heero and I have been best friends for a long time, and never in our long years of friendship did he ever talk as much as he did that night about her. We stayed out there for half an hour or so as he told me all about her.

Her name was Relena Peacecraft. She was the daughter of an aristocratic family in Europe and was spending the summer helping an international medical program with their nurse shortage. They accidentally ran into each other one morning on their way to work; the local medical center wasn?t too far from Heero?s apartment. So by an odd twist of faith, they met each other every day and slowly began to grow to attach on one another.

Just seeing the light shine in his eyes as he talked about her led me to believe that this was one special woman. Of course every man believes that their girl is one special babe, but watching Heero as he talked about her was different. I silently admired this lady for turning a lifeless robot like Heero into something more?human. If anyone could accomplish that, hell, if a woman could do that to my pal, then she was indeed a ?special woman?.

She had the ability to read him like an open book, as he referred to it. He hated it, overcome with defeat of believing that he could hide himself from anyone. Her warm personality conflicted with his more reserved one and it puzzled him when he began to feel a need to be around her. Eventually, he admitted that he enjoyed being within her presence. It felt as if her very existence made him become a better humanitarian, and he never wanted her to leave him.

Suddenly, I began to notice a decline of light that once shown so brightly in his eyes as he continued on about her. Pretty soon I felt overwhelmed by the hint of loneliness in his vibe. I was beginning to understand the reason for it, but what made it more awkward was my nagging feeling that Heero was beginning to realize the reality of the situation the same time with me. Her biggest pleasure in life was to help people, and his was free-style fighting. She had soft toned skin, while he was covered in tattoos. Heero never had to go into full details since I could pretty much picture everything by myself. The two were total opposites, breaking the rules of attraction, but couldn?t help falling in love.

She had left earlier that morning to return home. It was back to her ideal world where she seemed to fit best at, though he spoke as if denying those words. I asked if he had given her a proper good-bye. He exhaled another breath of smoke and smirked at me. He mentioned that she had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I grinned. That?s my boy.

I watched him pull his cigarette out of his mouth and look at it for a moment, so spiteful. He glared at its now tiny form. He told me how she understood his passion for tattoos, but tried reasoning with him over his well being. He threw the bud on the ground and stepped on it hard. It was then that I realized that that was the first time I had seen him smoking in a long time. He truly was in love with this woman.

He straightened up his body and put on his jacket before returning his attention to me. I waited in silence for awhile longer. It felt sort of strange after hearing him go through an actual conversation for once in his life. And as if this night couldn?t get any weirder, he shocked me once more with the next comment out of his mouth, only this time I could feel the tinge of remorse in his words.

He told me how??nice? it must be to have someone to love you.

I don?t know why, but I told him that she hadn?t stopped loving him. It just felt so true and right to say it, like I knew her personally just from his descriptions.

I watched him stiffen before taking off in his car, leaving me to close up the shop.

The memory vanished as quickly as it came when I heard someone calling out my name. I looked up to see a middle aged, muscled-toned man standing before me. Ah, my next customer, willingly to allow my artistic creations plaster itself on his body.

I patted the chair next to me and told him to take a seat. I spun around in my own chair and grabbed a pair of gloves. With a snap they fit right in and I proceeded to attach a new set of needles into my tattoo machine. I looked to my left and saw Heero mentally analyzing where to apply the outline for the tattoo. His expert precision was a direct hit, as always, but he didn?t say a word to the sexy brunette occupying the chair next to him. She batted her eyelashes in a love-sick kind of way as he applied the stenciled drawing of a fairy on her lower back. And like always the man was as cold as ice.

I looked at my own client and scrunched up my nose, hopefully discreetly as I gazed upon his naked chest. Why was I always left with the muscled, hairy guys? If Heero wasn?t willing to accept the ladies, I would gladly replace my clients with his. I sighed and began placing my own stencil of a skull on the man?s right shoulder.

It seemed that business in our tattoo shop was following the same routine day in and day out, but all of that changed a week later when an unsuspected visitor dropped in.

[star fighter]

Oh my, can you blame all those girls? I mean, who can resist a tatoo artist Heero? Nice start. I wonder who the unsuspected visitor is... Can't wait for next chapter

[Aristale Wolf]

SWEEEETTTTT!!!!!!!!!! i'm all goose-pimpley(( aint a word but it works for the moment am i right?)) cant wait for the next part of it....hope its soon....

[takisha16]

OMFG!!!
I WATCH THAT SHOW, I LOVE MIAMI INK!
You gotta admit, the guys there are pretty hot!
I wish I could get tattoed by one of them.
I had been thinking of a concept like this for a very long time, I'm glad you thought
it up, it is pretty brilliant!
I can just see the differences those two share!
I wonder what will her family think?
That will certainly not be pretty!
I'm glad you included Duo in the plot, the fact that he's already wth Hilde is a bonus!
I think my fav episode was when a couple came to get a tattoo and they broke up b/c of it! I remember a girl getting a fairy once.
My fav tattoo was the girl who got a string of flowers done around one of her sides!
I'm glad Relena came back!
I can't wait for the next chappy!

[Morrighan]

Wow.... I <i>like</i> this idea.... And I'm certainly hoping that it's Relena who's decided to drop in.... Tee hee hee... Let the chaos ensue.

Can't wait to see the next part!

[Kainen]

This is spot...spot...SPOT on, girl!

Brilliant idea, and you accomplish it so well!!

Heero covered in tattoos? ...a little hard to get used to, but refreshing nonetheless!

Can't wait for the next chapter!

[lilac310]

Hearing about a tattoo artist version of Heero is definitely a first for me....I wouldn't mind having a tattoo if it's Heero who's doing it....lol

Anyway, I have a good guess as to who that unsuspected visitor could be...

[The Angry Angel]

This is _so_ different! I love the idea of a tattoo'ed Heero---it makes his bad-ass appeal even more appealing! But Duo and Heero....running a tattoo parlor....working with other peoples' skin....they're gutsy!

[Andrea]

Oh, this is great!! So sexy! I loved how you managed to place the characters on such a different reality from the show (a tattoo parlor is the farthest reality from a war held in space), and yet still manage to keep them in character.

Lovely start, I must say! Please, do keep up! I hope to see the conclusion to this lovely fic pretty soon!