Ayla's Supernatural Love Dungeon

Second Visit to Minty’s Shop

Minty peeked over the counter as the doorbell chimed to her shop as Nekros entered.

            “Hi! Ready to get assaulted by needles again?” she asked. She paused. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

            “She had to work today.”

Minty nodded in understanding. “What work are we doing today?”

Nekros reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his phone. He pushed a few buttons before he rotated his phone towards her. On the screen was a picture of a key rack.

            “My dad handmade this a few years ago.” Nekros paused and swiped to show a picture of a hand-drawn image. “If you can, I’d like these items hanging from the key rungs.”

Minty examined the image. Each of the rungs held various items. The first was a spatula with something on it that was dripping. Next was a single leather glove covered in something, followed by dog tags. After that was a wrench. The last two rungs that held items were a blindfold and a stethoscope. The very last rung was empty.

            “Do you want it in color or black and grey?” Minty asked.

            “Mostly black and grey. I’d like to have color on the spatula and the glove. Have the spatula appear like it just finished mixing brownie batter or something. I want the glove to look like it’s covered in dirt,” Nekros explained.

Minty reached behind the counter for a blank piece of paper and sketched Nekros’s tattoo idea. After designing the rough sketch, she showed it to Nekros.

            “What do you think?”

Nekros examined the work and critiqued the appearance of the key rack. After more designing, Minty revealed the stencil for the tattoo. Nekros nodded in approval.

            “Where do you want it?” Minty questioned as she set up her tattoo workstation.

            “My back,” Nekros answered.

Nekros removed his shirt. Minty scrunched her face as a familiar smell filled her nose. Nekros panicked at her expression. “What? Oh my god, do I stink?” Nekros turned his head and sniffed his shoulder. The only thing he could smell was his axe body wash. “I took a shower before I came here,” he groaned.

A weak smile appeared on Minty’s face as she waved her hand in the air. “Oh no, it’s not you. I’m just getting over a cold and my nose’s clogged. I can’t smell anything.”

Minty gestured for Nekros to sit down in the tattoo chair. Once he sat down, Minty began transferring the stencil onto his skin.

            “Does this tattoo you’re getting have a special meaning to you?” Minty prodded as she began outlining the tattoo.

            “Yeah. It represents my family.” Nekros paused. When Minty didn’t say anything, he continued. “The spatula is my mom. She loves to cook. Baking, however, is her favorite. Whenever I had a bad day in school she was always there with freshly baked cookies or brownies to cheer me up.”

            “Sweets are the best remedy for bad days,” Minty chimed.

            “The glove is my dad. He’s the hardest worker I know. He built the home I grew up in with his own hands. To this day he still runs the Knox family ranch. The dog tags are my sister, Maria. She joined the army with the best scores and records from boot camp. The wrench is my sister Penny. She’s a mechanic. She learned everything she knew about cars from our dad. My sister, Nickole, is a lawyer. The blindfold represents how justice is blind and you need a clear mind to be a lawyer.” Nekros paused again as the needle hit a nerve in his shoulder blade.

            “You okay?” Minty questioned, as she held the tattoo gun away from Nekros’s back.

            “I’m good. Just hurt for a minute.”

            “Ready to continue?”

Nekros nodded and continued to explain his tattoo. “My youngest sister, Eden, has the stethoscope because she’s in college to become an RN.”

Minty glanced at the reference images and noticed the last rung was empty. “What about the empty spot?”

 Nekros sighed. “That’s my key rung. As for why it’s empty…” his voice became strained. “I haven’t found my passion yet.”

Minty felt her heart twinge a bit. She continued to ink the tattoo in silence. The silence unsettled Minty to the point she fidgeted. However, she stilled herself not wanting to screw up Nekros’s tattoo.

            Minty squirted the bottle full of liquid onto a thick paper towel and wiped the tattoo of excess ink and blood. She inspected her work to see if there were any places she needed to touch up on or blood that needed to be wiped away. Everything checked out.

            “All right you’re done!” she declared.

Nekros rose from his seated position and hurried to the mirror where Minty handed him a handheld mirror so could see his new tattoo.

            “Oh my God…”

Minty squirmed as she concentrated on Nekros’s expression as he looked over her artwork on his skin. She didn’t notice that she held her breath until Nekros smiled in her direction.

            “It is perfect! Thank you so much!” he gushed.

Minty released her breath and smiled back. “Glad you like it.” She covered his new tattoo with a special plastic wrap before Nekros pulled his shirt back on. As Minty held the door for Nekros, she gave him her unsolicited advice.

            “Hey, don’t worry about the passion thing. You’ll find it soon before you even know it.”

Nekros smiled and thanked her again as he walked out of her shop.