Stranger Things Have Happened: New York

by Willa Okati

  Rack brushes Daniel's hair out of his glasses. "You keep going on about this, and I'll be tempted to make you one of my first clients today." Something dark and hot flares in Rack’s eyes as he says this. "Would you like to be in my chair? Hmm?"

  Daniel feels an answering burst of something, but he's fairly sure his is lust. "I want more ink," he says definitively. "And I want to get something pierced. Something unusual. I don't think I could do a lip ring, but maybe a nostril button or some spools in my ears."

  "Those are every-day, love. For you, I think something a little out of the ordinary." Rack frowns. "How are your teeth? And how're you healing these days, by the bye? No trouble with the anemia?"

  Daniel blinks. "Teeth are fine, I think." He runs his tongue over them to check. "Yep. Nothing missing, just a few filled-in cavities. And I'm healing fine. I've gotten a few nicks and scrapes in the workshop that were gone in a couple of days."

  "Mmm." Rack's inching closer, and now Daniel suspects the look in his partner's eyes is lust of two different kinds. "Cheek piercings, then. We'll give you two dimples."

  Okay, so not what he expected. "Cheeks? Dimples? Rack, I'll look like a girl."

  "Pretty as one, you are. No, now, don't get your testosterone in a twist." Rack pokes Daniel's cheeks right where dimples would be, if he had them. "And I think you could have yourself a lip labret. I can see where a stud wouldn't do."

  Daniel can get behind the idea, so long as he gets to ride this adrenaline high. God, who'd have ever figured that he'd be such a junkie for the, well, needle? "And ink?" he asks eagerly. "Can you start some kind of full-arm piece?"

  Again with the eyebrow. "Just one arm?"

  "My left." At Rack's tilt of the head, Daniel clarifies, "I need my right one unbandaged so I can work. They're giving us another half-hour to get oriented, but then I have to report for duty."

  "Ah. I see." Rack smoothes his hands down Daniel's arms. "Keep forgetting you're here on a job as well. Suppose it's half on purpose. Want you all to myself, I do."

  Daniel feels himself melting like a pat of butter on a warm griddle. "You have no idea how much I wish I could be all yours," he says fervently. "But I've got to have some supplemental income with the workshop closed down during this tour. Otherwise I'd have to live off of you, and no, we are not having the argument again."

  "Dan, you know I could-- "

  "Uh-uh." Daniel lies a finger against Rack's mouth to stave off any protests. If Rack had his way, Daniel would be a kept man on this trip. And, okay, the idea has a certain charm, but not enough to overcome a lifetime of training and earning his own way. "I'm here to work, but I promise I'll spend every spare minute hanging around this booth."

  Rack gives a put-upon sigh. "All right, then, if you must. But no gettin' in the way when I have customers."

  "Mm-hmm." Daniel snugs their groins a little tighter together. "I thought you liked it when we got up close and personal. Besides, who's going to change your CD's and mop your brow?"

  That earns him a snort of laughter. "Oh, get on with you, eh? I can mop my own bloody brow if I need to, and as for music, I can work without music. No, don't go lookin' shocked. Things are a bit different at conventions. Can't get away with blasting the tunes like I would back home."

  "Okay, I'll give you an inch," Daniel relents, "but not a mile. I'm still going to hang around whether you want me or not."

  Daniel sees that flare again. Rack pushes against Daniel's cock, letting him feel the growing hardness in the blond punk's jeans. "Never a question of whether I want you or not," he informs Daniel. As if Daniel didn't already know.

  "Young love," a familiar voice interrupts them. "It's so sweet. Don't you think?"

  Rack recognizes the speaker before Daniel does. "Althea, love!" He jumps forward to give the roly-poly woman a huge hug. She chuckles and pats him on the back. "Things are good with you, yeah? Still making a go of it with Inkshout?"

  "You know my business has been cut in half since you opened up, you hypocrite."

  "Never!" Rack pulls away and places a hand on his chest. "Why, I send you half a dozen clients each day."

  "Because you're overbooked, you rapscallion."

  "Rap-what now?"

  "Geez. Read a book, would you? Maybe one that isn't just pictures." Before Rack has a chance to get offended again, she hugs him a second time. "Hey, I heard you got hitched. Is this the lucky guy?"

  Daniel nods shyly.

  "I remember you," Althea says after giving him a once-over second to none. "Rack dragged you into my place to get your first piercing, right? A guiche."

  The piece of metal behind Daniel's balls tingles against his skin. Be damned, he can blush after all. Althea cracks up, presumably at the look on his face. "If I know Rack, you've got more than that pierced on you now."

  "I trust myself to no one else."

  "Stop by my place sometime, sugar. We could use the business."

  "Oi!" Rack protests. Althea turns to him with a blindingly innocent, "who me?" smile. "Dan's mine, he is. And by the bye, what are you doin' here? Got a booth of your own?"

  "Me? Nah. I'm not in your league," Althea says frankly. She wraps her arm around Rack's waist and hugs him close. "I just came to the New York convention because it was closest, and I want to keep up to date. Figured I'd give you a surprise."

  "It's been ages," Rack says almost wistfully. "We had some good times at Inkshout, didn't we?"

  "More than I can count. You feel like sharing a Coke and a smile and taking a trip down memory lane?"

  "So long as you don't mind if I finish settin' up here while we talk. And Dan gets to be included. Right, pet?"

  Daniel waves his hand. "Nah, you go talk shop. Once you get into various shadings and pigmentation it's all Greek to me. I'll go have a cup of coffee."

  "Daniel..." Rack warns.

  Daniel turns the puppy eyes on him. "Decaf. Please?"

  "Oh, all right. One cup, though, mind you, not a whole pot. And eat something like a banana while you're at it."

  "That's potassium, not iron," Daniel informs Rack. Then, Althea or no Althea, he tugs Rack back to him and grinds their cocks together, letting Rack know that he's equally hard. "As for eating something like a banana, you just wait until tonight in the room."

  Ah, now that's definitely the kind of lust he likes in Rack's eyes. "Might there be whipped cream involved?"

  "If you don't mind paying a dry-cleaning bill, sure. There could even be chocolate syrup."

  "Those little cherries?"

  "Now you're pushing your limits."

  "Oh, go on with you." Rack swats Daniel, but for all that, he seems reluctant to part. "Don't go far, eh?"

  Daniel glances around them, and sees a coffee kiosk just down the way, in line of sight. "I'll be right there. Sitting on a bench where you can see me. Fair enough?"

  "Deal." Rack kisses him to seal the bargain, then gives him a light push to send him on his way. "Althea, love, come on in and let me show you the latest bits in my portfolio..."

  Daniel grins to himself as he walks away. With anyone else that would sound like a pick-up line, something like coming to see someone's etchings, but he knows Rack is his body, heart and soul, and Althea is just a good ink slinging friend. He glances down at his tattooed ring and feels a surge of pride. When people see him and Rack together, no one will be able to miss the symbolism.

  He likes that.

  The girl at the coffee stand is friendly, and sympathizes when Daniel looks longingly at the "large" but orders a "small". She upgrades him to "medium" with a wink, saying it's late and what she's brewed would just go to waste anyway. Daniel adds two sugars in the spirit of celebration, drops a dollar in her tip jar, and takes his coffee to the bench he spied earlier.

  It's already occupied, however. A youngish man, maybe in his late twenties, is sitting there with his fingers laced together, pressing one against the other as if he's worried or thinking something over really hard. He looks lost in thought
, and Daniel figures he could just sit down, but then again he doesn't want to spook the guy and manners are manners.

  He clears his throat. When that doesn't work, he tries moving a little closer. "Hey, excuse me?"

  The man's head shoots up. "What? I’m sorry -- I didn't-- " He calms himself with a visible effort. "Oh. You didn't -- okay. Can I help you?"

  Start by switching to decaf, and stay there. "I just wondered if you minded sharing the bench with me," Daniel asks, keeping his face set in a reassuring smile. "I don't bite."

  The man colors dark pink. "Oh! Sure, yeah, I don't mind." He picks his own cup up off the floor and scoots a little further down, his hip against one of the armrests. Daniel eyes him a little warily, because to tell the truth the bench is big enough for more than three guys their size, and there would have been plenty of room before.

  But what the hell, right? People have their own quirks. One of Daniel's is to be friendly when he can. So, probably against the better judgment of many, once he's settled he holds out his hand. "I'm Daniel. Pleased to meet you."

  The man looks startled again, but he returns the gesture. His hand is warm and dry. He's cute in a boy-next-door way, with dark hair and eyes, and pretty built, which wins him points in Daniel's book from square one. "You too. I mean -- I'm Josh. I'm not usually this jumpy. I apologize."

  "It's okay. Trust me, my partner has enough bounce in him for a whole gang of Tiggers. I'm used to jumpy." Daniel realizes they're still holding hands. He pulls his away with a discreet cough, but Josh looks embarrassed again.

  "I saw you, earlier." Josh's voice is quiet. "I've been watching the booths. Your partner is the man with the spiked blond hair, right?"

  "Yeah, that's him. His name's Rack. Have you heard of him?"

  Josh shakes his head. "I'm sure I will, though. I'm following the tour."

  This is something new to Daniel. A tattoo groupie? He gives Josh a quick assessment, and doesn't see any ink or piercings. Not even his ears. "Are you part of the staff?" he hazards.

  "No. Well -- I mean -- sort of. Yes? I'm sort of a gofer. When they need me, they page me, and the rest of the time I'm on my own." Josh shrugs. "Right now they don't need me."

  "Good deal. Always nice to have company while you drink your coffee." Daniel lifts his cup and inhales. It smells rich and dark, like this is Arabica instead of the ordinary Robusta. "God, I haven't even taken a sip yet and I know this is gonna be a good cup."

  Josh actually smiles at the sort-of-a-quip. "You appreciate the finer things in life," he says, and it's a statement, not a question. "That's good." He takes a drink of his own with enough ease that Daniel can tell it must be going cold. "So is this. I mean --"

  "Take it easy." And Daniel's so used to doing this with the people at Rack's tattoo parlor that it's just second nature to lean forward and lie his hand on the man's leg. "Calm down, okay? I was serious when I said I didn't bite." He lets his eyes twinkle at Josh. "I meant it, too."

  Josh's eyes are drawn downward. "Er... your hand..."

  "Oops." Daniel pulls it back. "Sorry. I come from a touchy-feely sort of crowd. Didn't mean to offend."

  "No! I mean -- no. You didn't. Offend, that is." Josh looks into his coffee cup. "I'll shut up now."

  Which he could do, yeah, but now Daniel's curiosity is aroused. "So how does a guy get a sweet gig like on-call gofer? I'm a carpenter, and my partner is an artist. We're gonna be sweating all day if it's hot tomorrow."

  Josh half-laughs. "This is New York during the summer. It's going to be hot, trust me. And I got this job through a friend of a friend -- you know how it goes." He waves his hand dismissively. "I just got done with a tour out in Iraq."

  Oh, shit. No wonder he's twitchy. Daniel rethinks his approach and steps the enthusiasm for making new friends down a notch. He has nothing but respect for veterans -- his dad fought in Vietnam -- but he knows they're prone to getting a little edgy. "Do you want me to go away?" he asks, not fishing, just looking for an honest answer. "If you do, hey, no worries. I can leave you and your coffee in peace."

  "No." Josh looks up, and now that he's hunting for it Daniel can see a bit of the thousand-yard-stare in Josh's eyes. The ragged edges of a regulation buzz-cut growing out. The deeply tanned skin. "It's all right. My therapist -- I go to one, it's part of what I'm supposed to do now that I'm home -- anyway, she says I need to get out and talk to people."

  "Well, so far so good. I'm people. And we're sharing coffee. So A+ for you." Daniel leans back. "You'll enjoy the tour, I think. Just hang out, take it easy, and watch out for those guys when they're wielding needles. They don't like being interrupted."

  "Needles." Josh gives a small laugh. "I was a medic. I'm used to needles. And concentration under fire."

  Literally, Daniel assumes. He takes a sip of his coffee before it goes cold, and closes his eyes briefly in appreciation. Fuck, but it is good. He takes a deeper drink, savoring the sweetness of the sugar and the bitterness of the coffee itself. It tastes like it smells -- truly good -- which is a rarity among kiosk coffees. He can feel Josh's eyes on him as he drinks, though, which is puzzling.

  Lowering his cup, Daniel asks, "Did you want to ask a question? That's allowed, you know."

  Again, the quiet laugh. "You and that guy Rack, you're... involved?"

  Okay, a pretty personal question, but definitely no cause for shame. "I guess you saw us flirting, huh?" Flirting being a mild interpretation of the events that actually took place. "Yeah, he's my partner. We're committed. Had a ceremony and everything." He shows Josh his ring. "See? Matching tattoos."

  Josh's eyes widen. "That's -- wow. Amazing. You must really love each other."

  "We do. And we know how lucky we are." Daniel takes a look back at the booth, and sees Althea leaving on the arm of another well-rounded woman with glossy black hair. Rack has gone back to setting up his booth. "Looks like my time's about up. But hey, if I see you around again, maybe we can have another cup of coffee."

  Josh goes pink. "Sure. I mean -- I'd like to. Have coffee. With you, I mean."

  God bless him. Daniel thinks he's just found someone to watch over during the length of the tour. The guy did his part fighting for the country, even if Daniel doesn't personally agree with governmental policy as regards the war. Josh deserves respect and needs to be gentled down from his high wire. The guy's wound so tightly he looks like he could snap, and Daniel decides it's now his mission to make sure that doesn’t happen.

  Rack looks up, and Daniel meets his gaze. At Rack's smile, Daniel feels a spear of love strike through his heart, and he thinks again about how lucky he is. "Gotta go," he says to Josh, keeping it easy. "Take care, all right? I'll see you around."

  "You have to -- oh. Your partner. I see." Josh nods. "Okay. It was nice to meet you."

  Daniel stands up, taking one last swig of his really good coffee before tossing it into a nearby trash bin. "Bye, now."

  "Bye." God help him if Josh doesn't seem so lost and lonely that Daniel wants to drag him back to the booth and tell Rack the guy followed him home, and ask if they can keep him. He really does hope he sees Josh again, often. A tattoo tour is quite possibly one of the worst places for someone who's got a touch of shellshock, and he has to wonder why the man is there in the first place.

  He'll have to tell Rack all about him. Just now, though, he has some previously unfinished business he wants to attend to. Loping away from the bench, Daniel spares one last thought for Josh and then focuses on Rack. Rack, who's got his arms open for a hug that Daniel's more than happy to give.

  "Did you have a good time with Althea?"

  "About as good as you did with your largish coffee and that lad." Rack looks over Daniel's shoulder. "God, he's a bit of a sad sack, isn't he?"

  "Rack, shush. He's a vet."

  "Works with animals?"

  "A veteran. Just got back from the Gulf. So take it easy, okay?"

  "Oi. Rough deal, that." Rack eyes Josh with more respect. "Why the hell is he here
?"

  "You got me, but he says he's following the tour as a gofer."

  Rack frowns. "Huh."

  "What?"

  "Just odd, is all." Rack doesn't elaborate, and Daniel doesn't push. For a moment. Then Rack shakes his head. "Daniel, tours don't have gofers. Individual convention centers might, but not the tour as a whole. We do for ourselves."

  Daniel frowns. "But I'm hired by the board as a carpenter."

  "Well, yeah. We need you lot. But gofers, no. Not as a rule." Rack frowns. "He's a mystery, this one. Reckon he needs sorting out."

  Daniel slips his arm around Rack. "I was hoping you'd say that. Can we keep him?"