synopsis: hollis gets a lower stomach tattoo from roman and both are awfully distracted throughout the ordeal…
tags: unspoken homosexual dynamic, homoerotic friendship, unconventional tattoo session, no sex but HEAVY sexual tension, playful flirting
author's note: Not much to say here. I wonder what it would be like to get a tattoo from Roman..? I'd get too distracted
taglist: @romansbbg @peterpangirl777 (ask to be added)
The bell on the door jingles as it opens, and Hollis ducks his head as to not bump it on the top of the doorway as he enters the tattoo parlor. He's finally decided to get a tattoo— well, two tattoos, 2 stars above his groin, one on each side, just below his stomach. The idea is that they'll peek over his waistband when he's performing. However, to his surprise, a familiar face sits behind the receptionist desk…
"Roman?" Hollis's voice raises in surprise.
"Oh—" Roman begins, fixing his posture and stretching, hands grasping his knees. "What are the chances you picked today to come in.."
"I thought you were done with tattooing."
"I was. But my old mentor got super sick; I'm assuming if you were booked with her she would have mentioned it?"
"Well, yeah, she didn't tell me you'd be replacing her though.."
"Well, tough shit, do you want a tattoo or not?"
Hollis awkwardly sits in the tattooing chair, suddenly extremely nervous. He's never actually seen Roman do a tattoo before, only sketches on paper. He isn't sure if he is ready for the level of intimacy that came with getting a tattoo in the area he'd chosen. Not that he didn't trust Roman— but he was prepared for a stranger, someone who wouldn't think twice about tracing into his body, not someone who'd come far too close too many times over the course of their rocky friendship. He swallows.
"You comfortable with the design?"
"Yeah."
"Whereabouts is it gonna be?"
"Uh, just…" he looks down at his v-line. Fuck. "…Just below my stomach on both sides."
Roman turns and his eyes dart down to Hollis's v-line, which flusters him. He stares for a second too long before turning back around, preparing the equipment to sketch out and trace it onto the skin. "You're gonna have to lose the tank top and probably take the jeans off as well."
"Can I just pull them down a bit..?"
Roman's eyebrow cocks. "Sure, if it makes you feel better."
Hollis unbuttons his jeans and pulls them down just a little.. God, this is too much. He's never been so close to confronting this strange intimacy between him and Roman, and it was too late to back out now. He'd just have to hope nothing embarrassing would happen. At least he's not hard. Yet.
Roman brings a trolley and wheeled chair over to the side of the chair, adjusts Hollis's seat so he can reach better, and rummages through a prep kit and grabs a razor.
"Imma have to shave it and disinfect it first," he states, a thin glob of shaving cream now on his fingertips. Hollis clenches his jaw. Roman spreads it thin, across his lower stomach, and he intakes a sharp breath from the cooling sensation. Roman notices, but doesn't react, taking the plastic guard off of the razor. He leans in, forearm resting on Hollis's thigh, left hand pulling his skin taught, and gently drags the razor over Hollis's skin. It glides effortlessly. "Dude, you need to breathe."
Hollis didn't realise he was holding his breath and instantly gasped. Fuck, I AM holding my breath. And he noticed.
After his entire lower abdomen had been shaved, Roman puts the razor back on the trolley and wipes the excess cream off of Hollis with a damp cloth. Hollis watches Roman's hands carefully. He was being very gentle. He's not hard yet.
He wipes the area down with some disinfectant, slides a pair of black gloves on, and now Hollis is ready to be tattooed on.
Roman prepares the stencil and comes back over to Hollis's side. He hovers the paper over him, carefully choosing a spot to place it. "It's kinda like a tramp stamp, isn't it?"
"Yeah… kinda."
"You've always been that flashy type, haven't you, Holl?"
Hollis chuckles. How ironic, considering he has the confidence level of a wet dog in his current situation. Roman is right, the point of this tattoo is to show off to all of his fans, to be risque and sexy. Just like his entire artist persona. But its very clear that brave and flashy side of Hollis is nowhere to be seen right now.
"How's this look?" Roman removes the stencil paper, and Hollis eyes the purple lines. The placement is pretty much perfect. The vision is coming together— he nods.
"Yep. Should be good."
"Alright," Roman tosses the paper aside, "you should know that that area is super sensitive when it comes to tattoo needles. Just tell me if you feel sick or are about to faint."
"Okay, I should be fine," Hollis lies his head back.
"You have no idea how often I've heard that and it wasn't the case," Roman chuckles.
He leans in, closer now, tattoo machine in hand, and starts to lightly trace the first line. Hollis instantly feels it— like a match igniting, sparks fly from his lower abdomen throughout his nerves all the way to the ends of his feet and fingers. He squeezes his eyes shut and balls his hands into fists.
"Bit of a burn, right?" Roman whispers, the warmth of his voice cascading off of Hollis's body.
"Yep," he mumbles through gritted teeth.
"You okay?"
"Yep."
To distract himself, Hollis tries to focus instead on the other sensations on his body instead of the pain. He can feel Roman's left hand pulling his skin taught— index, middle, and ring giving the most pressure. He can feel the side of Roman's right palm pressing against his stomach as he drags the machine over the stencil, delicately, with care. He can even feel the light breezes of air from Roman exhaling through his nose brush over his exposed skin.
Hollis opens his eyes. Roman has a deeply focused look on his face, eyes following the needle, eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly he feels weak, and not because of the needle. He feels this odd sense of admiration that exceeds normal levels; like he was looking at an angel of sorts, tending to his wound. His heart rate rises.
"You alright?" Roman asks again, eyes not moving, but he pauses his movement.
"Yes, I'm okay," Hollis mumbles. Roman gets back to work. It's true, the pain isn't distracting anymore. In its stead, he is hyperanalysing Roman's behavior, and it leads to his thoughts derailing. Roman was so close, and has his hands on him— for a split second, Hollis imagines the needle pain as instead insicions from sharp bite marks. His heart rises to his throat. Roman's dark eyes staring up at him as his sharp canines pierce through his skin. His bloodflow changes. He balls his fists so hard his knuckles turn white.
"I'm telling you, I can stop if you're uncomfortable," Roman mumbles.
"I'm not."
"Then quit shuffling."
It's extremely humiliating, and difficult, for Hollis to try and delay his growing boner, escpecially now that he can't move. He can't even remember how to breathe properly. With Roman so close, he was deathly afraid of his cover being blown. His tight jeans were once again, his greatest enemy.
Roman continues to work quietly. He notices every jolt and sharp breath from Hollis, and until now, chalks it up to the initial pain of a newbie's first tattoo. But Roman knows body language. This isn't pain. Maybe discomfort? But mild discomfort doesn't cause this sort of breathlessness and shifting, and tightly balled fists. Is Hollis turned on right now? His mind clouds, and he fights to keep out the visuals, as this is one of the only things he can't fuck up. He isn't just tattooing his best friend but a brand; an object, a sex symbol. He needs to get this right. Hollis is so distracting. He needs to stop huffing like that, and relax a little on the tensing. Roman adjusts his right arm, placing it a little onto his thigh, and Hollis grunts quietly. What the fuck, he thinks, but before the next thought forms, he feels an unmistakeable pulse beneath his forearm. He's resting his forearm on Hollis's dick, and it's actively pumping blood like an anxious heart. His lip curls. Huh… How interesting.
Hollis's breath hitches, trying not to release any more noise from the pressure of Roman's arm on his dick, and also the undeniable mood change that suddenly warmed the room. For a couple minutes, the only things making any sort of noise in the room are the low hum of the ink machine and the dull ticking of the clock mounted on the wall. Roman breaks the silence;
"Someone really likes getting tattooed, huh?", he murmurs lowly.
Hollis's body heats rapidly. He gulps nervously.
"It's not so much the tattoo, but… who's doing it."
Roman doesn't look up.
"Is that right?"
"Yeah…"
"You're doing really well, Holl."
"Stop it."
He knows what he's doing. He's grinning. Hollis's voice is wavering. His dick is pressing against Roman's arm, desperate for more.
"You're so good at taking it."
"Seriously, shut up."
"Holl.." Roman tilts his head and the two make eye contact.
"Can you cut it out?"
"You're the one who got hard in my tattoo chair."
"It isn't your tattoo chair.."
"…It is today. And you're in it, and your dick is pressing against my arm while I'm trying to give you a tattoo."
Hollis's cheeks flush and shame washes over him. "… I'm so sorry. I'm really embarrassed."
"It's okay, Holl. I just get to have fun with you until it goes away."
"I'm not sure if it will now, jackass…:"
Roman turns back to look at the ink. "We'll see."
A few excrutiating minutes go past as Roman continues to work on outlining the star on the side of his groin. Hollis waits in agony, waiting for some sort of tease, or encouragement, or praise. But Roman ignores the pulsing elephant in the room and continues to work as if it isn't there at all.
"…When does this 'fun' begin?"— he really didn't want to mention it, out of fear of looking desperate, but he couldn't take it anymore.
"I was waiting to see how long you'd stay hard," Roman mutters, "I was thinking, like, maybe I could feel you go soft and then rile you up all over again. But nothing's happening."
Hollis lets out a shaky exhale. "What the fuck… Actually. Like what's wrong with you?"
Roman chuckles. "Not my fault you're enjoying this."
"And you aren't?"
He goes quiet. "This isn't about me."
"You're hard in that chair, aren't you?" Hollis whispers. Roman clenches his jaw.
"…and how does that concern you?"
"I bet you're trying so hard to stay focused on my tattoo, and not me," he continues, "I know my body turns heads."
"Sure it does, Holl."
"Don't act all nonchalant now, Rom."
He chuckles. "You're funny."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Roman's dick is rock hard and pressing against his jeans; he's just better at hiding the discomfort. It's also less visible as it's beneath the tattooing chair. Truth be told, Hollis's body did catch his eyes, frequently. With a creative mind like his own, it's no surprise that his mind would occasionally wonder, and he'd imagine how it would feel to run his acrylic claws down Hollis's long torso, how he would look beneath or on top of him, how it would be to touch his biceps as they tense while he flexes the muscles. He is vehemently distracted. But he can't. Fuck. This. Up. What a fun game they were playing.
"Hollis, you have to tell me before you move," Roman scolds as Hollis shifts beneath him slightly.
"Sorry," he murmurs playfully. He was adjusting his hips, now it was a perfect angle to…
"… Are you grinding on my fucking arm?"
"It isn't impacting the tattoo, is it?" Hollis whimpers between shaky breaths. Roman's mind collapses.
"You're fucking ridiculous," he utters, his right hand beginning to shake. "Cut it out. I can't afford to fuck this up."
"I don't think you will, Rom," Hollis coos, "you're such a good tattooist."
He grits his teeth and bites back a whine from his dick angrily pressing against his jeans.
"That's right, angel, keep going."
Angel is new. Roman can't hold back this moan, and the hot breath it releases against his skin makes Hollis shudder.
"Fuck you."
"Hm?"
"You're awful."
"You're so fucking good."
Roman's knee starts to bounce uncontrollably. He has to turn the machine off and pull away. He can't. But he doesn't. He continues to work. He loves this game. A little too much for his own good.
"I stand by what I said, earlier," Roman says, trying as hard as he can to formulate a sentance as Hollis grinds on his arm, "that you're doing so good for a tattoo virgin."
"Am I?"
"You are," he praises, "you take the pain so easily. I've never seen anything like it."
"I can't feel the pain anymore, my entire body is on fire," Hollis moans, and Roman's body shivers. "You don't understand how badly I need…"
"Need what, Holl?"
"I don't even.. know…" he whines. "But you need it too, don't you?"
"Mm.." Roman hums, closing off the final line of the star. "You could say that."
He lifts the machine and turns it off, taking a sterile rag and wiping the excess ink and blood off of the new tattoo.
"I'm gonna put some soothing cream on this and wrap it up," Roman states, his earlier lust now masked in his voice, "and we can finish this another time." He stands, and goes over to the cabinets.
"… Huh?" Hollis sounds almost hurt, "We're stopping here?"
"I didn't know you needed it that bad."
"Fuck you," he grunts almost angrily.
"Don't talk to me like that." Roman pouts. "It's for your health."
He stays quiet.
Roman comes back with the soothing cream and spreads it over the tattoo, the cooling sensation making Hollis wince.
"You're doing so good…"
"I'm mad at you now. Stop."
"Please, just be good for the last step," Roman begs, making eye contact, which causes Hollis to weaken. He's too easy.
After sealing the tattoo, Roman stands.
"You're gonna wanna keep this covered, wash it and put lotion on it, and do not pick at it. It will fall off on its own."
"Can I get up?"
"Yeah."
Hollis brings himself to his feet and immediately starts closing the distance between him and Roman. Roman holds his breath. The toe of Hollis's boot crosses over Roman's. They touch foreheads, and Hollis holds Roman's hips and gently brings their bodies together, and their crotches press together. Their dicks throb in unison, and they moan quietly for a couple seconds, panting for air. Then, he steps back.
"… I'll see you later." Hollis smirks and eyes him up and down.
"Matter of fact, I'll book you in for tomorrow."
