"You nervous? Need some water?"
The gentle, but uncertain tone in the young woman's soft voice snapped Dani out of her haze. She was sitting in the chair, paperwork finished, small patch of skin on her chest shaved, stencil carefully placed, and needle ready to go. It was time to lock in and do this.
Dani cleared her voice and managed to look over at her tattoo artist. "I don't need anything. I'm straight."
This made the other woman chuckle and smirk at her. "Oh, really? This is a pretty gay tattoo to be getting if that's true."
It took a second, but Dani realized what she had just said. Her peanut butter brown skin flushed in embarrassment. She'd already been struggling to make eye contact with Malaysia from the moment she walked into the shop. After having found her account on Instagram through the local queer events page tag, Dani had only scrolled her portfolio for a few minutes before sending a DM to book for the Pride Month special. She'd failed to actually do any research into the artist herself, so she was hardly able to hide her shock upon meeting her for the first time.
Malaysia looked like the quintessential Black pinup girl. Her 5'7" chocolate frame was deliciously plump with DD cups to match her shapely ass. Her jet black body wave curls danced down to her shoulders framing her alluring deep brown eyes and pouty lips. To top it off, she had a natural beauty mark on her chin that seemed to be an X to mark the spot for the perfect kiss. She could send anybody's heart to tremble, man or woman.
"Sorry," Dani finally replied, "I just meant I'm good. I'm okay."
"I know, boo, just trying to break the ice a little bit. You can let me know when you feel ready to start. No rush. You're the last client for my day. Thanks for choosing me to close out Pride!"
Malaysia smiled warmly at Dani and sat on the roller stool nearby before rolling an extra inch or two to be closer.
"Thanks for taking me. I'm ready now. I'm excited for this. Thank you." Dani wanted to make small talk with the beautiful woman more smoothly, but was still managing to repeat herself and talk in small circles. Malaysia just nodded and started up her buzzing tattoo machine.
"Yeah, of course. You're the only one who chose this design, so I'm geeked about finally getting to make it happen, too. What made you decide on this one? I see it's far from your first."
This question made Dani redden a bit once more. She was heavily tatted already. A Chipotle bag by anyone's definition. She had two full sleeves on both arms and a bit of a patchwork on her right thigh, only really having left space on most of her chest, back, and torso.
"I wanted the double Venus with tulips 'cause I'm finally ready to come out," she answered, her voice only barely loud enough to hear over the machine's steady buzz as Malaysia got started.
Malaysia's eyes went wide for a moment before she regained composure. "Oh, wow. That's great. Just not the answer I was expecting. Congratulations on joining us."
Dani now laughed as easily as the other had before and returned her smirk. "What makes that unexpected? I don't give straight girl?"
Malaysia grinned and shook her head. She answered, "No, not really, boo. I think there's a few things that might give it away."
She wasn't wrong. Dani was a short, slim, dreadhead with an eyebrow slit and a carabiner that dangled from her left belt loop. Still dressed in her work uniform of Dickies and heavy boots, she had stripped down to her dingy black beater underneath to allow Malaysia access for the new tattoo. Due to her small breasts and subtle muscle definition, she was usually mistaken for a teenage boy after a quick glance, despite her being a solid 25 years old.
"Well, I didn't know you were part of the 'us,' if that counts for anything," Dani shot back, without a hint of sarcasm.
Malaysia looked up from her work and scoffed. "You can't tell I'm a raging lesbian? Have you not been out long enough to develop a gaydar?"
"No, I mean, yes, but just that you're different from what I usually see. I, uh, was really sheltered. Any girls I knew who were out growing up were my basketball teammates in school. They all seem more like, uh, me?" Dani knew she had started on a stupid path. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to get back onto a less offensive topic of conversation to end Pride Month with. Sweat started to prick her forehead.
"You think I'm not like you?" Malaysia asked, now looking up at Dani and gazing into her eyes. There was a sparkle in them that sparked an ember of desire in her chest, not too far off from where she was currently tattooing her.
Dani gulped and found some words to string together. "My bad. I know lesbians come in all flavors now that I'm grown and in the big city. Just country bumpkin musings, I guess. I'm from basically east bumbafuck nowhere." She tried to give her a charming grin to help the apology land correctly.
Malaysia stayed silent and held her gaze an extra moment too long for comfort before returning her attention to the tattoo in progress. Dani took it as an opportunity to be released from the clutches of Foot in Mouth Syndrome and didn't attempt to restart the conversation.
After only about 20 more agonizing minutes, she was done. The warmth of Malaysia's elegantly long fingers radiated through her gloves with every second she spent laser focused on bringing the beautiful design to life. Dani's heart was beating so hard along with the sweat beading up on her back that she was certain the artist would notice and offer her that water again. By the grace of God, she did not. Dani had had the optimal amount of embarrassment today and didn't need more.
"Are you good if I take some pictures for my Instagram?" Malaysia asked as she was cleaning up her station and putting things away. Turned in the opposite direction, Dani was able to really take in the other woman's hourglass figure. Her full hips would fit nicely into Dani's strong hands. Images of Malaysia looking up at her with those mesmerizing eyes flashed back into her mind briefly enough to make her shiver and take a mental note to revisit tonight on her date with Rosaline, her trusty purple rose toy that had been keeping her company in the last year that she'd been in the city.
Moving hours away from home was no big deal for her since she'd been dreaming of it since she was in middle school. Figuring out how to date as a fully completely out lesbian at 25? That was much harder. Awkward fumblings with girls in the backseat or backroom while their baby daddies and boyfriends were away and the kids were asleep was much more her speed. She'd now broken a record for longest stretch without even so much as a deep kiss from another woman. Over a year and counting.
"Yeah, that works for me. Do you want me to pose? Or get a specific angle?" Dani stood and reached for the sky to get her blood flowing normally once more.
Malaysia finished her tidying up before taking Dani's hand and leading her over to the corner with the backdrop and various ring lights set up. Feeling the softness of Malaysia's hands without any gloves now, Dani breathed out a pained sigh and promised herself at least two rounds with Rosalina expeditiously.
