25. Ian #2
“No, but he is your shadow.” I’m not sure what’s going on there.
I don’t think it’s romantic, but I can often find Nico hanging out at Phe’s station in between clients.
Nico is . . . hard to read. He doesn’t talk much, opting to keep to himself and that’s fine with me.
He doesn’t seem to talk much when he’s sitting with Phoenix either.
Clients seem to love him, though, and he’s booked for months.
“Just need Miles to—” Our doors swing open, the bell rocking back and forth as Miles bursts through. “Never mind.”
“Greetings, earthly mortals.” He rips off his pink headphones with the cat ears and rests them around his neck. He shrugs off his coat revealing the same worn baby-blue zipped hoodie with the bunny ears he wears every day.
“Morning, Miles.” Julian smirks as he finishes prepping his station. “What’s going on today, man?” Julian has taken to Miles. I mean, most of us have. He’s hard not to love. He’s just . . . quirky.
“Well, there was a rare solar eclipse set for tonight, but it’s only going to be visible over Antarctica. Penguins are so lucky. Hey, where’s my machine?”
“I uh, meant how are you, but good to know. And I’m not sure.”
“I have it,” Phoenix calls. “Sorry, I just wanted to write down what model it was. I love it.” Miles walks over and hesitates.
“I didn’t use it, Miles. Just wrote down the serial number.
” She blinks at him. Her shoulders sag with her sigh, and she reaches into a drawer and wipes it down with an alcohol wipe. “I wash my hands, just so you know.”
He bows to her, taking the machine with his gloved hands. “Thank you, my lady. Hey, where’s Nico?” he asks her.
“Why does everyone think I’m his keeper?”
“He likes you best.” Miles shrugs.
“See,” I say to her.
“What do you have today?” Julian asks him.
“I’m starting a back piece soon. I can’t wait.
” Miles taps his foot to . . . I have no idea.
There’s no music playing yet. I still have to turn on our speaker.
“I hope to get the outline done today. He loved the design when I sent it. It’s a sick and twisted white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland holding a stopwatch.
The thing looks rabid. Ha! Rabid. Rabbit. I’m funny.”
“For someone who hates skin-to-skin contact, it’s a miracle you even tattoo.” Julian shakes his head.
“It’s not that—” Miles frowns. “It’s not that, you know. Everything here . . .” He waves a hand toward his station. “Is sterile. Just the way it should be. And I wear gloves. No touching human skin suits required.”
Oh, Miles. “Are there germs in space?” Phe asks.
“Why? Why get him going?” I shake my head.
“Well, yeah, I mean sort of. Not in the way you would think about germs, but outer space in itself is basically a no-germ zone. No air, extreme heat or cold. Intense radiation. Most microbes would die fast.”
“Interesting.” Phe smirks.
He walks over to her station more animated than before.
“No, what’s interesting is that humans take microbes with us when we explore space.
Space stations are full of germs. There are theories that microbes can survive inside rocks traveling through space.
No proof, but scientists take it seriously and sterilize a spacecraft to avoid contaminating other planets. Fun fact—”
“Doubt it,” Phe mutters.
“Microbes become resistant to antibiotics. Space makes them a little crazy.” He twists his finger near his temple. “Humans are gross.”
“You’re right. That was fun.” Phoenix flutters her lashes at him.
I walk over to Julian, who’s nearly done pouring ink. “Our children are weird.”
That makes Julian bark out a laugh. “Phoenix is older than you are.”
I look over at his station. “What are you doing first?” I drop into his chair.
He hits me with his pretty brown eyes. “My first tattoo is a raven.” He grabs his tablet and pulls up the image. Of course it’s gorgeous. The bird is mid-flight, feathers outstretched with the light hitting the tips in orange and golds.
“Beautiful.”
“Do you know who’s tattooing Elijah? He told me he has an appointment today.”
“Elijah. Yuck.”
Julian laughs. “I like that he still makes you jealous. Keeps you on your toes.” He kisses me quickly. As if he summoned him, Elijah walks into the shop looking as stupid and gorgeous as ever.
“Why does he have to be perfect?”
Julian just drops another kiss onto my lips. “God, jealousy is so cute on you.” I hear footsteps and see Elijah walk over, hands shoved into his pockets. “Hey, man.” He smiles up at Elijah, a little too enthusiastically if you ask me.
“Hey, guys.” Elijah smiles at me. “Still hate me, Ian?” Instead of answering him I grab Julian into a kiss then narrow my eyes on Elijah. “Good. I’m glad you’re being mature about this now.” He grins brightly.
“Who’s tattooing you?” Julian asks.
“I’m not sure. I was emailing someone at the shop.”
“Phe?” She peeks up. “Are you doing Elijah’s tattoo?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t have one until noon.”
“Oh, you were being sarcastic!” Miles comes back into the room. He freezes, seeing Elijah standing near Jules’s station. “Elijah?”
We look up and watch Elijah’s mouth drop open, then he looks at us. “Um, Miles. Hi. I didn’t know you worked here.” He hasn’t been by for a bit. Julian said he just finished moving up this way permanently.