Shadow Tales

by L. J. Hamlin

  Quinn grabs tissues and cleans them both up, removing the condom and wrapping it up in the tissue, then ditching it in the small trash can beside his bed. Quinn runs his hand over Tyler's chest and feels him shiver, then covers them both with a blanket.

  "I could get used to that," Quinn says.

  "Me too. You should come by the Tin Cat every day I work," Tyler suggests.

  "I'll end up getting you fired." Quinn laughs.

  "How?" Tyler asks.

  "I won't be able to keep my hands off you, even at work," Quinn admits. Now he knows he's allowed to touch Tyler, it'll be hard to stop.

  "Well, I get to do what I like during my breaks." Tyler grins, and then he buries his face in Quinn's chest. Quinn strokes the back of his hair.

  They talk for a little while before everything starts to catch up with them. They've both worked all day, then gone through the attack, survived it, come back here and come together. It's not surprising they're ready to sleep.

  Quinn cuddles Tyler close, and Tyler falls asleep on Quinn's chest. Quinn watches him sleep as his own eyes grow heavy. Doing the right thing had led him here. He'd turned away from violence because Tyler encouraged him too. He'd still ended up in a fight, but he hadn't scared Tyler off, and Tyler had saved him. Now, he's here, in bed, with his ferocious little mouse.

  Paw Prints On My Skin

  Zack is in the middle of cleaning his workstation when he catches a faint scent over the familiar smells of the tattoo parlour. The foreign scent has his wolf sitting up and paying attention.

  Intrigued and captivated by the scent, Zack leaves his workstation and heads to the front of the shop. The twins, Holden and Dawn, are on reception. Zack's not sure why it takes both of them to do the job, but he's not the boss, so he doesn't ask.

  Zack can tell right away, from body language and scent, that the twins are flirting with the customer. And the customer they're hitting on is the source of the fascinating scent.

  He's a cute little thing. Zack can see why the twins are flirting. He's average height, with brown hair and these huge, soulful brown eyes. He's handsome, with just slightly delicate features. He's toned and tanned, looks a little bit like the stereotype of the handsome college guy, but there's something about his wide, open, almost bashful smile that makes him look like more than just another good-looking college boy.

  "You're sure I can't convince you to get a piercing while you're here?" Dawn asks. She and her brother fit in well here, both pierced heavily and with their fair share of tattoos, like all the staff at Shifter's Ink Tattoo and Piercing Parlor.

  The customer is wearing short sleeves and has no visible tattoos. There's also no piercings, none Zack can see, anyway. He looks clean cut, but Zack has learned from working in Shifter's Ink that all kinds of people are into ink and piercings. There's no "type" when it comes to tattoos.

  "No thanks. It's taken me this long to get halfway to knowing what I want in a tattoo. It'd take me forever to work out what piercing I'd want." The guy smiles, and by his scent he's definitely a shifter of some kind. All the other smells in the parlor, from customers, staff, and other people coming and going, it's hard to tell, but Zack thinks the customer is a canine of some sort, but not wolf.

  "I could suggest a few places," Holden says, his gaze dropping below the customer's belt, which has the guy turning an almost alarming shade of red.

  "Need an artist?" Zack asks the twins, walking further into the front of the shop.

  The twins turn toward him, looking almost guilty, and Zack would bet good money they were planning to keep the man on the other side of the counter talking as long as possible. If they weren't so nice, Zack might have growled at them, but they're good kids at the end of the day.

  "Zack, hi. Meet Tobias Bone. Tobias, Zack is one of our most talented artists," Dawn says, and Zack is sure her hair was a different color this morning when he walked in. Now it's black, green, and pink in stripes down her back. Holden's hair is the same as it was the last time Zack saw him: longish, but above his shoulders and bright blue.

  Zack doesn't bother with fancy hair colors like a lot of his workmates. He has dark hair, but he keeps it shaved short. He's had lovers complain that it gave them nothing to grab onto. Zack doesn't care; it's his hair.

  He steps forward enough to shake hands, and he must have half a foot of height on Tobias, but then, Zack is six foot five in his bare feet, so this guy isn't small, per se, just smaller than Zack.

  Tobias has a firm handshake, and he doesn't try and pull any macho bullshit like being the one to grip the tightest. He just shakes Zack's hand and gives a small smile. It's adorable. He actually has dimples. Zack kind of wants to lick them. He takes his hand back and tells himself that he's twenty-nine. He's not some hormonal kid like the twins. He's not going to pant over some guy just for being cute.

  "Tobias is a tattoo virgin," Holden says with a wicked smile.

  "I heard this shop was the best for shape shifters," Tobias says.

  "We are. Do you know what you want?" Zack asks. The shop does have a very good reputation. Shape shifters can't just get tattooed anywhere. They need special needles and ink infused with silver if they want the tattoo to stay and not just heal over and disappear.

  "Kind of," Tobias says, pulling an apologetic face.

  "Well, I have some spare time now. Come back to my workstation, and we'll talk about it," Zack replies. He thinks he'd rather do this without the twins watching his every move, because he can feel their eyes going between him and Tobias.

  They really are good kids, but a little sex mad. Maybe it's their age, but then, Zack's sure he wasn't like that when he was twenty.

  "That would be great. I thought I'd have to make an appointment and come back." Tobias follows when Zack turns to go back to his workroom.

  "You got lucky. I had a long appointment that someone had to cancel, a piece that was going to take hours, but the guy's having family issues," Zack explains.

  Once they're in his room, Zack pulls out a chair for Tobias before sitting down himself. They sit at either side of a small table Zack has set, and he opens a book to a blank page so he can take notes and sketch ideas.

  "So what were you thinking of getting?" Zack asks.

  "I want something biomechanical on my back, sort of like a metal spine, cogs, kind of steampunk style?" Tobias says.

  "I like that style. Do you want me to try and draw you something up?" Zack asks.

  "That would be great, if you have time. Not like anything huge. It's my first one. If it turns out I'm a wuss about the pain, I want to give myself something I can finish," Tobias says with a sheepish smile.

  "That's a good idea. And I can design it so that you can get more added on if you like it and don't find it too painful," Zack says.

  "Awesome, dude." Tobias grins.

  "In case you end up getting anything done today, here are some forms to fill out, and I'll need to see your I.D. How old are you, anyway?" Zack asks while handing over the forms he keeps in a drawer.

  "I'm twenty-five. I've always wanted a tattoo, but it took me a while to choose even this much. I'm not very artistic, for a photographer," Tobias says, taking a pen and starting to fill the form in.

  "You're a photographer?" Zack asks as he starts drawing.

  "Yeah, I mainly do animal photography. It's a bitch when I get asked to do cats of any kind." Tobias laughs.

  "Can I ask what kind of shifter you are?" Zack asks.

  "I'm a dog. A chocolate Labrador to be exact. I'm thinking you're something with more teeth," Tobias says with a faint smile.

  Zack nods. "I'm a wolf." He tries to focus on his design, but a part of him is distracted. Tobias has a scent that really just does something for Zack. It's like someone took his favorite food and his favorite place, and took the smells from both and mixed them together. He wants to just bury his face in Tobias's neck and breathe in, but he's all in favor of not looking like a total freak, so he doesn't.

  "I can see
you have some piercings. Do you have tattoos as well?" Tobias asks.

  "Yeah, I have twenty-three tattoos in total, but some of those are small," Zack replies, adding details to his sketch. He's pretty pleased with it.

  "Wow, that's a lot. I'd love to see some of them, if you don't have to, like, get undressed or anything," Tobias says with a blush, and he really is cute. Zack likes the slight bashfulness.

  "I can show you some when I finish with this. I'm not shy," Zack says with a pointed glance at Tobias.

  "I'm not shy," Tobias protests.

  "I thought you were going to pass out when Holden called you a virgin," Zack teases.

  "Tattoo virgin," Tobias corrects.

  "I wasn't implying any other sort of virgin," Zack says with a wink. "Because I really doubt that." It's a little bit of a test as well. You can never tell when someone is going to be homophobic. Tobias might seem like a nice guy, but that doesn't mean he's not ignorant, and Zack would rather deal with this now. If Tobias doesn't want to be tattooed by a gay guy, Zack wants to give him the chance to say so now before either of them wastes any more time.

  "I do okay. Broke up with my boyfriend like a month ago." Tobias sounds almost defiant, like even with Zack's flirting he's worried that Zack might not like that he's gay.

  "Didn't you see the rainbow flag in the shop window? It's cool, man," Zack says, trying to reassure Tobias. He can sense Tobias's nerves.

  "Yeah, but I wasn't sure that meant everyone here would be cool with everything. No offence, but you're a little intimidating in a 'he's really hot, but I might get my ass kicked if I tell him' way," Tobias says in a rush.

  "No one who works here is homophobic. Everyone here is queer, from the owner on down. I'm gay," Zack explains, trying to not smile like an idiot at being called hot and scary.

  "I'm queer too, bi, and um, sorry for calling you intimidating. That's a little rude. You're just, you know, a big, strong wolf. I'm like a puppy in comparison." Tobias frowns a little, and now is probably not the time to tell Tobias that he looks adorable when he's grumpy.

  "You're not rude. I know what you mean. The twins out front actually call me the big, bad wolf, but that's mainly because I'm a little grouchy before coffee," Zack says. He's a tall, muscular guy, covered in ink and piercings and with the ability to turn into something with teeth and claws. He can see why he intimidates people, even though he's a pretty mellow guy.

  "The big, bad wolf. I like that." Tobias smiles.

  "They love teasing people. I wonder what they'd have ended up calling you if I'd left you out there with them?" Zack asks thoughtfully. He keeps working on his sketch as he talks.

  "My parents call me pup, and I get pup and puppy a lot. Not the best of nicknames, but I don't mind too much. Could be worse. I could be a teacup poodle or something." Tobias shrugs, and Zack snorts at the idea of this cute guy as a yappy little dog.

  "Pup's not so bad," Zack agrees.

  "You're picturing a man-poodle, aren't you?" Tobias accuses.

  "Yes, but it's your fault for saying it. Do you think you even get poodle shifters?" Zack asks.

  "I have no idea. I was always taught that you could get shifters of all breeds of mammals and birds." Tobias shrugs.

  "God, I feel sorry for some people, then." Zack laughs lightly.

  "Yep, thinking about it, I'm totally cool with being a medium-sized dog." Tobias smiles.

  "Shame you're bi and shy. I think you could use the cute puppy thing to hit on girls." Zack grins.

  "Who says I don't use it to hit on guys?" Tobias asks.

  "Good point. Does that work?" Zack asks.

  "Sometimes."

  "Did you ever think it wasn't the 'I'm a cute puppy' thing that works for you? But just that you're hot."

  "You think I'm hot?" Tobias asks.

  "You don't need me to tell you you're hot. You have to know that." Zack shakes his head.

  Tobias smiles, blushing a little and ducking his head. He really is kind of shy.

  "It's cute that you're shy, but it wouldn't be arrogant for you to realize you're a really good looking guy.".

  "Thank you," Tobias says, still flushing.

  "I'm almost done with your design. What do you think?" Zack asks, angling his sketch so that Tobias can see it.

  "That looks amazing." Tobias stares wide-eyed at it for a moment, then breaks into a grin.

  "You really like it?" Zack asks.

  "Yes! Of course I do. It's perfect. All the different cogs, they look like they're powering the spine. It's amazing. You're so skilled."

  "I just based it on what you wanted. It didn't take too long to draw up. If you want it in black and gray, I'd have time to get it done today."

  "That would be great. Now I know what I want, I want it done, you know?" Tobias replies, and Zack nods, because he knows that feeling well.

  "Well, take your shirt off and get in the chair, and I'll set up," Zack tells him.

  "Oh, I see. You just want to see me with my shirt off."

  "I'm certainly not complaining about it," Zack says as Tobias takes off his T-shirt, revealing a slim but toned stomach and chest.

  "You just like making me blush," Tobias says after a minute, while Zack goes to work putting the design on transfer paper.

  "Seeing you blush is just a bonus," Zack says. He sorts out the outline and then gets out the equipment he needs, keeping an eye on a squirming Tobias out of the corner of his eye. "You remind me of a puppy right now," Zack says, coming over to clean Tobias's back.

  "I'm just a little nervous," Tobias admits.

  "It'll be fine. You're in good hands." Zack smooths his hands down Tobias's back, using sanitizing solution to clean it carefully, and then he pats the skin dry before carefully applying the trace.

  He's lucky, it comes out on Tobias's skin the first time, with only one little part missing that Zack fills in with a pen, which seems to really make Tobias squirm.

  "Pen tickles?" Zack asks.

  "A little," Tobias says softly.

  "Still nervous, pup?" It feels natural to use the nickname.

  "I could use a drink." Tobias laughs.

  "Alcohol and tattoos don't mix," Zack replies. "The outline's done, so you need to get comfortable," Zack tells Tobias.

  Tobias checks the position in a mirror and nods before getting comfortable. Zack gets everything set up and waits for Tobias to stop moving.

  "Are you ready?" Zack asks, tattoo gun in hand.

  "Yeah, I think so," Tobias says, taking a deep breath.

  "Just keep breathing normally, and if you need a break, just tell me," Zack says firmly.

  "Okay," Tobias says, only sounding a little nervous.

  "It'll be fine. I promise," Zack says, trying to sound soothing.

  The sound of buzzing fills the air, and Zack sets to work. He braces himself in case Tobias jumps when he first feels the needle going into his skin. He thinks Tobias winces, but he doesn't jerk or jostle Zack.

  "Feel okay?" Zack asks as he keeps going with the design.

  "Kind of hurts. Feels weird, mainly," Tobias says, and he's not the first to describe it like that.

  "Just stay nice and still like you are, and it'll be fine. We'll be done before you know it," Zack promises.

  They get through the whole outline without Tobias needing a break, and then Zack gives him one without Tobias asking while he changes needles so he can do the shading and coloring. He runs a damp paper towel over the tattoo outline, pleased to see it already looks mainly healed, with only small traces of blood. It's one of the benefits of being a shifter over being a human: the ability to heal quickly.

  "You're doing really well," Zack says as he gets ready to start again.

  "I think I was expecting it to be a lot worse," Tobias replies.

  "A lot of people say that. Ready to keep going?"

  "Yeah, I'm ready," Tobias says, and he doesn't sound at all hesitant.

  Zack goes back to work. They don't really talk because he
wants to concentrate on the design, and Tobias has to stay as still as he possibly can. It takes a while, but Zack has always been a perfectionist when it comes to his work, not only when he's working on a cute guy.

  His back and hand are aching by the time he's done, and when he sets the gun down, he has to crack his knuckles and his back.

  "Is that it? Is it done?" Tobias asks.

  "Probably. Let me clean it and make sure I haven't missed anything," Zack says pushing Tobias back down from where he's tried to get up. He really is like a pup, eager and excited.

  Zack cleans away the blood and smeared ink, carefully inspecting every inch of the tattoo, every cog, every gray vertebra. There're no breaks in the lines, no missing shading, and Zack takes his time looking at it because he refuses to ever work on a tattoo that leaves him feeling anything less than satisfied. If people are going to wear his art on their skin forever, then he owes them that.

  "Ready to take a look at it?" Zack asks.

  "Yes, I really want to see it," Tobias says, sounding excited.

  "Stand up," Zack guides Tobias over to a full-length mirror he has against one wall and holds up another big mirror behind Tobias so he'll get a good view of his new tattoo. The skin around it is slightly pink, but other than that, it doesn't look angry, and Zack really does love the benefits of working on shape shifters.

  "It's, wow, it's amazing. Seriously, Zack, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Tobias beams at him. "Thank you. Seriously, thank you so much," Tobias says, twisting and turning to look at his tattoo from every angle.

  "I have another appointment soon, so do you mind taking your paperwork and paying the twins?" Zack asks when he notices the time, putting down the mirror he's holding. He's a little disappointed. He was hoping to get more time to talk to Tobias.

  "Yeah, yeah, of course." Tobias goes to head back over for his shirt, but he stumbles. Zack catches Tobias before he falls.

  "Whoa, you're strong," Tobias says, steadying himself.

  "Wolf." Zack shrugs.

  "I'm sorry. I got dizzy," Tobias says, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on carefully.