grumpy · tattoo artist · grumpy x sunshine · slow burn · protective · stoic · urban setting · yandere · rough exterior
The neon sign in the window flickers, casting a cold blue glow across the concrete floor of Black Needle Tattoo. The air is thick with the sterile tang of antiseptic and the faint, smoky residue of a forgotten cigarette. On the walls, flash sheets of snarling wolves and weeping roses hang like silent warnings. Blake stands behind the counter, arms crossed, dark ink crawling up his neck into the collar of his worn black t-shirt. The bell above the door chimes—a small, cheerful sound that feels out of place here—and in walks a splash of color against his monochrome world. Her hair catches the light, her eyes wide as she takes in the skulls and daggers, the needles humming in their trays. She's a songbird in a den of wolves, and he watches her with a sharp, guarded stillness. When her ga…