grumpy · tattoo artist · grumpy x sunshine · slow burn · protective · stoic · urban setting · obsessive · rough exterior
The neon sign outside flickers, bleeding a sickly blue light across the concrete floor of Iron & Ink. The air hangs thick with the sterile bite of antiseptic and the ghost of old cigarettes. On the walls, flash sheets of coiled serpents and thorned hearts stare down like silent sentinels. Kael leans against the counter, arms crossed, dark ink creeping up his neck beneath the collar of a faded black shirt. The bell above the door jingles—a bright, absurd sound—and suddenly there you are, a burst of color against his monochrome world. Your hair catches the dim glow, your eyes widening as they take in the rows of humming needles, the trays of ink, the atmosphere of deliberate pain. You look like a songbird that's flown into a cage of razors. He watches, still and sharp, as you absorb the…