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“I don’t think I like your attitude.” Niall harrumphs, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. “It’s not as nice as your face.”
“Complain all you want. It’s not going to change my mind.” the brunet with the nice face, though he prefers to call himself Harry, replies casually, leaning onto his elbows and smiling playfully at Niall. “Not only is it a horrid idea, it’s actually illegal.”
“It’s my body. I’ll do what I want with it.” Niall grumbles, swaying wildly from side to side and shimmying his hips as if to prove a point. “I can do as I like with this arse, and that includes getting your name tattooed on it because I want you to own it. It makes perfect sense.
“Trust me on this, it doesn’t.” Harry chuckles. Niall’s eyes widen in a way that tells Harry that the blond probably didn’t mean to say that out loud. “It’s just a really terrible idea that I won’t help you bring to fruition.”
“Say that again.” Niall giggles.
“What?” Harry asks. “Fruition?”
“I like the way your mouth moves when you say that.” Niall grins. “You have a very pretty mouth.”
“How original.” Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. “I hear that line a thousand times a month. You’re going to have to try harder if you want me to ‘own your arse’.”
“That’s the point of the tattoo.” Niall smirks. “Bet you don’t get that a thousand times a month.”
“No, I have to admit that is a fairly new approach.” Harry chuckles. “It’s also absolutely not going to happen while you’re inebriated.”
“’M not that drunk.” Niall argues, but the way he slurs the ‘drunk’ renders him fairly unconvincing. “I only had a few beers. And a couple shots. I don’t know. It wasn’t that much though. I’ve had a lot more to drink before.”
“That’s a terrible counter-argument.” Harry laughs. “Just because you’ve been more drunk than you are right now doesn’t mean that you aren’t drunk.”
“It means that I can make my own decisions.” Niall huffs.
“Actually, according to the law, you can’t. Not this one at least.” Harry tells him. “And even if the law didn’t say I couldn’t, I still wouldn’t do it. It’s a terrible decision, and you’ll definitely regret it.”
“No I won’t.” Niall says firmly, a little pout sticking out that makes Harry’s resolve waver for just the slightest of seconds. “Have you seen you? You’re perfect! My arse officially belongs to you and nobody else. You need to mark your territory. Like a dog or summat.”
“Dogs urinate on things to mark them Niall.” Harry points out.
“Ew. Please don’t wee on my arse.” Niall giggles. “I’m not into watersports.”
“What if I am?” Harry muses. “You don’t know anything about me Niall. You could be relinquishing your arse to anyone with any number of interests. For all you know, I’m not even a top. Or I could only be into one night stands. Or I could be into S and M, and would leave it so bruised you couldn’t sit down for days. That’s just one of the many flaws in your idea.”
“Most every guy is a top if you give him the opportunity.” Niall giggles. “And I could imagine worse things than you spanking me with those big beautiful hands of yours. And as for one night stands, well- You won’t want just one time with me. I’m very good.”
“Cocky.” Harry scoffs.
“I have every right to be.” Niall hums. “It may not look like much, but I know exactly what I’m doing with it.”
Harry has to disagree with it not looking like much. Niall’s arse is downright delectable in those sinfully tight jeans he has on. It’s truly tempting to do the tattoo just to get a better look at it. But Harry likes to consider himself a decent person, which means he has to keep refusing the requests Niall is making. “I’ll make you a deal.” Harry offers. “Come back tomorrow, sober, and if you still want my name tattooed on your arse, then we’ll talk.”
“I’m going to hold you to that you know.” Niall beams.
“Honestly, I doubt you’ll even remember any of this happened.” Harry chuckles. “But I’ll keep up my end if you decide to come back.”
“I will definitely be back.” Niall grins. “Now how about we get out of here and I show you what I was talking about?”
“Not tonight Niall.” Harry laughs. “But we can discuss that tomorrow too, if you show up. I’ll call you a taxi.”
“Don’t bother. I live just down the street.” Niall shrugs. “I’ll walk.”
“How far?” Harry questions, already reaching for his keys.
“Couple of blocks.” Niall hums, half out the door. “See you tomorrow Harry.”
“Wait- Shit!” Harry calls after him, tripping over his own feet as he gets out from behind the counter. He stumbles out the door, turning around and locking it because he was the only one in the parlor. “Niall!”
“Decided to reconsider my offer?” Niall asks, turning around with a confident smirk painted on his face.
“No, I just thought I would walk you home so that nothing happened to you while you’re drunk in the middle of the night in London.” Harry tells him.
“You’re such a goody-two-boots.” Niall huffs, pivoting on his heel and marching down the street.
“I prefer to think of it as being a decent human being.” Harry counters, jogging the first few steps to catch up with Niall’s head start.
“I prefer to think of it as boring.” Niall scoffs. “You look much more exciting than you act you know. With that hair, and the half unbuttoned shirt, and the weird tattoos, I always imagined you’d be more interesting.”
“We met fifteen minutes ago.” Harry points out.
“But I walk past that tattoo parlor every day.” Niall hums. “We’ve only met tonight, but I’ve seen you lots more than that.”
“Oh really?” Harry asks, barely suppressing a cheeky grin.
“Yeah.” Niall nods. “But now I know you’re boring.”
“I’m not boring.” Harry pouts.
“Hate to break it to you Harold, but you kind of are.” Niall giggles.
“I’m not boring, I’m just willing to push different limits than you are.” Harry insists. “I’m not going to break the law for someone else’s pleasure, but that doesn’t make me boring.”
“But do you live Harry?” Niall asks, eyes trained on the sky as he walks. “Do you do what makes you happy, even if it doesn’t make sense to the people around you? Or do you lock yourself down with the weight of other people’s expectations? When’s the last time you did something purely for yourself, with no intention of anything other than making your own life a little better?”
“I don’t know.” Harry admits. “What about you?”
“It was supposed to be tonight, but someone boring, who for the sake of saving his dignity I will call Barry, took the wind out of my sails.” Niall hums.
“Maybe Barry was just trying to stop you from making a mistake.” Harry laughs. “In my personal experience, any decision made after midnight, helped along by alcohol, is one you end up regretting.”
“But what exactly is the point of regretting any decision?” Niall asks. “Everything we do, regardless of the end result, is part of our story. Our stories aren’t supposed to be all good. That’s boring. The tattoo may be a reckless decision, but it would just be another part of my story, and it certainly wouldn’t be a boring one. Why would I regret that?”
“You’re a very philosophical drunk.” Harry chuckles.
“No, I’m just done being the kind of guy who walks past a tattoo parlor every day, wishing he could gather up the courage to go talk to the cute artist, rather than the guy who actually tries to go for what he wants.” Niall hums, coming to a stop. “This is my building. Good Night Harry.”
“Good night Niall.” Harry returns, watching as Niall makes his way inside without another word. And he does consider going after him, of giving into desire just long enough to press Niall against a wall and kiss him roughly, to wreck him just enough to assure that the blond remembers him in the morning. He doesn’t though. He’s just not that kind of person. Instead he has to settle for hoping that Niall will come back tomorrow, regardless of whether or not he wants the tattoo. He'll definitely be watching from now on to catch Niall when he walks by the parlor. Tonight he may not have the courage, but maybe one day that will change.