Scarlet stretched and yawned before resting her arms on the counter. Things had been going slow for the past week or so. She just wasn’t booking enough appointments lately. Didn’t people want ink anymore, even in this economy? Scarlet had been eating instant ramen for dinner two weeks in a row. If things didn’t improve, she might actually have to go to her parents and beg for money.

She sat down and let her gaze wander. Blue Rose Tattoo hadn’t originally belonged to Scarlet, so she hadn’t had any input on the layout or design of the building. Brick walls were littered with pictures of art and tattoos that she’d done. The dim overhead lights hummed endlessly. The customer chair probably needed replacing soon. She really should sweep the wooden floor. On the only wall made of drywall, Scarlet had painted a large stylized blue rose.

Nothing was stopping Scarlet from climbing the stairs up to her little apartment and getting some shut-eye. She didn’t have any appointments right now. And what were the odds of a walk-in anyway? Scarlet really should just… close her eyes… for a moment…

The chime of the door bell startled Scarlet awake. Someone was standing by the doorway, hugging the wall with his arms folded. When he saw Scarlet looking at him, he glanced away.

“Hello,” Scarlet drawled, trying to perk up. “Do I know you? You look familiar.”

The man nodded and pointed at his earlobe, turning his head to show Scarlet.

“Ah,” she realized, “I remember: I did your piercings. You can’t talk, right?”

He shook his head.

“Was it… Tyler?”

Tyler winced, but nodded.

“What can I do for you, Tyler?”

He took a deep breath and started signing. Scarlet tried to keep up, but she wasn’t very good at understanding ASL and was quickly lost. When Tyler finished, he was watching Scarlet for a reaction.

“Um… sorry, I couldn’t quite catch that.”

Tyler deflated. He reached into his pocket and fished out a small folded sheet of paper, handing it over without looking at Scarlet. Curious, she opened the paper up to see a small magic sigil.

“Oh. You want a tattoo of this, I’m guessing,” she said.

Still not looking at her, Tyler nodded.

“Sure. I can do that. But you’re aware that it’s going to have some kind of magical effect on you, right?” Another nod. “Then come take a seat and we’ll get started.”

Tyler sat down in the old customer chair and leaned back. He took a few deep breaths and struggled to relax. Scarlet started prepping her tools. Occasionally she made a small comment, but it was hard to hold a conversation with someone who was completely mute.

“Where am I putting this?” she asked.

He pointed to a spot on his upper arm.

“Alright. Lift up your sleeve and keep breathing naturally.”

Tyler was incredibly tense through the whole process. Scarlet kept giving him little words of encouragement, but most of her focus was on her work. Sigils had to be very carefully done or they wouldn’t work properly.

“Alright, I’m done,” Scarlet finally said, wiping the area clean. “I’m going to put on a bandage. Don’t take it off for twenty-four hours. Wash twice a day with soap and water, pat dry, then apply an antibacterial ointment. You should only need to do this for two weeks; stay out of the sun, don’t go swimming, and avoid hot water. You got it?”

Tyler nodded, not looking directly at Scarlet. He was blushing. It was clear that the poor guy had a bit of a crush on her. She understood why: she was pretty awesome. It was kind of cute, too, even if she was only really interested in girls.

“Good luck with whatever magic you’re getting yourself into,” Scarlet told him. “You’re good to go.”

*****

A few weeks later, Scarlet was out of the red and making a bit of a profit again. Normally, this time of year meant tourism and thus college students with money burning holes in their pockets. But with a pandemic on, that wasn’t going to happen this year. Fortunately, a group of girls had come in all wanting matching tattoos just a few days ago, so Scarlet had upgraded from instant ramen to TV dinners, at least for a little while.

As much as she wanted to be upstairs with her Playstation, Scarlet couldn’t afford not to be in the shop in case of a walk-in. Maybe if she got lucky, she could afford her medication for this month. She might even have a little bit left over to have someone check out the car; it was making a guttural sound every time it started up and she was afraid to know why. So Scarlet was downstairs, tossing a tennis ball around the room and repeatedly failing to catch it.

When the door chimed, Scarlet smirked.

“Showtime,” she muttered, finally catching the tennis ball and turning around. “Welcome to Blue Rose Tattoo, miss… ter… wait… Tyler? Is that you?”

Tyler’s nervous posture hadn’t changed, but a lot of the rest of him had. His hair was too long for only a few week’s growth, and his face was rounder and softer. His loose clothes made it hard to tell, but he seemed a little shorter than before, and a little more plush.

Scarlet honestly hadn’t recognized him at first. Was this the result of the sigil she’d tattooed onto him? Why would any guy want this to happen to him? She wanted to ask, but he was so nervous around her that he probably wouldn’t give her a straight answer.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, leaning up against the counter.

In response, Tyler pulled a small notebook out of his jacket pocket and riffled through it for a bit. When he was satisfied, Tyler handed Scarlet the little book. She raised an eyebrow before beginning to read.

“Hello,” it read in shaky handwriting, “I’m hoping you can help me. A long time ago, my friends pressured me into getting a tattoo that I don’t want anymore. I know you do cover-up tattoos. Could you do one for me?”

“Well,” she replied, turning her attention back to Tyler. “Let me see it.”

Tyler blushed furiously and looked down, folding his hands and squeezing them.

“What?” Scarlet asked. “It’s not in a private place, is it?”

He quickly shook his head and grabbed at the hem of his shirt. Shaking, he lifted his shirt to expose the skull tattoo sitting on his hip. Scarlet leaned over the counter to get a better look.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not you,” she said. “Let’s look for something that fits you better.”

She pulled out a book of artwork she’d done and started flipping through the pages. Occasionally, she’d glance up at Tyler to see if he was reacting to anything. He was still nervously fidgeting with his hands. Scarlet was a little worried that he wasn’t going to have the nerve to pick something.

Finally, she turned to a page and his expression lit up. She looked down, but wasn’t sure which one had made him react so strongly until he pointed at the picture. It was a small group of daisies.

“You like flowers, huh?” Scarlet asked, a playful smirk on her lips. “Yes, I can believe that. Let me take a picture of your current tattoo and I’ll spend some time planning what I want to do. Let’s figure out when you’re free to come in next.”

Once Tyler had left, Scarlet picked up her tennis ball and continued tossing it around. He was a strange fellow, but she did enjoy his company. There was a chance he only kept coming back to her because he was crushing on her, of course. She’d have to find a way to delicately nip that in the bud. Still, it would be sad if she lost one of her favorite customers.

*****

“Okay, so I may have gotten carried away,” Scarlet admitted when she pulled out the mock-up. “It’s a little bigger than…” Tyler’s face lit up. “You know what? Never mind. You seem to like it. Are you ready?”

Tyler nodded eagerly. Scarlet led him behind the counter and to the customer chair. She was trying not to stare, she really was, but it was hard.

So much of him had changed in just the week since she’d last seen him. He was shorter than her now, with hair that came down to his shoulders. His face was gorgeous. If Scarlet had only seen a portrait, she would have assumed he was a woman. He was even wearing perfume and it was fucking up Scarlet’s emotions.

What was she even thinking? Tyler was still a guy, even if he didn’t look like it anymore. Right? Going down this rabbit hole would only end badly for her. He wasn’t what she needed in her life and wouldn’t be able to give her what she wanted. Damn him for being so attractive.

“Let’s get started,” she said, plastering a smile on her face.

Like before, Tyler was really tense while Scarlet worked on him. Occasionally, she’d remind him to relax and his breathing would become steady for a while. Scarlet tried to give him a supporting smile, but she was really tense too. Her body was giving her every signal that she liked this guy. And that was ridiculous: Tyler was a man, wasn’t he? Why was her body betraying her like this?! She’d never been attracted to a man before. So Scarlet avoided looking Tyler in the eye while she worked.

About halfway through the project, though, she turned off her machine.

“Tyler, I need to ask you something,” she said solemnly. “And you have to promise me that you’ll answer honestly, okay?”

Tyler’s breath caught in his throat and he swallowed. He seemed to find the wall suddenly very interesting. Scarlet waited, though. Finally, Tyler nodded slowly.

“Are you… how do I put this? Tyler, are you actually a woman?”

He was shaking. Tyler crossed his arms in front of his chest and shrank down. Scarlet continued to wait, struggling not to squirm herself. Then, after a full minute, Tyler nodded again.

“Ah.” Scarlet relaxed a little. “Do you have another name?”

Tyler nodded, glancing down at the tattoo Scarlet was working on.

“Your name… is Daisy?”

She nodded, avoiding Scarlet’s gaze. Scarlet’s face was burning and her breathing was shallow. What did they do now?

“Hey…” Scarlet said softly. “I… um… What do you say we call it early and finish this up some other time? I promise I won’t charge you for it. I’d… I’d like to… Do you wanna come upstairs and… fool around a bit?”

Daisy’s face turned a bright red. She looked like she was about to start stammering. Quickly, she glanced down before squeezing her legs together and sinking down in the chair.

“Oh, you still have your penis. Is that right?”

A nod.

“That’s perfectly fine. I’ve slept with girls like you before.”

Daisy took a sharp breath and finally locked eyes with Scarlet. It looked like she wanted to say yes but was afraid. Scarlet took Daisy’s hands in hers and pulled gently.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she said softly. “I’ll take care of you.”

Daisy put up no resistance as she followed Scarlet.

QuillRabbit

Hey y'all, hope you're enjoying this premise. This story took a little longer for me to finish than I'd intended, but I'm happy with the results. Thank you for reading!

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