Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

.Black Ink.

It was a strange line of work, the business came sporadically and unexpectedly. Most people immediately frowned upon his job title, they didn't understand, they didn't appreciate it for the artform that it was. Jou had, and that was saying something, consider how most people seemed to consider him less than brilliant.

Stupid was just such a crude word.

He always considered himself a people person, and being able to work so intimately with others was something that he considered a privilege. It was exciting, he couldn't explain it, but knowing that his canvas was a living, breathing, -bleeding- thing, just pushed him to work at it harder, to love it more. It was amazing, truly a feeling he couldn't accurately explain to anyone.

Now, most people know him to be a frivolous, not too responsible young man, and would not consider letting him anywhere near them with a sharp pointy object. He had experienced this kind of reaction upon telling his friends his change of job news. And he had to admit, a year ago, -he- wouldn't have let himself come near him with a needle if his life depended on it.

When it came to his work however, he found it all too easy to sink into a state of total control, focusing on and only on the task at hand. It became a new passion, it gave him a meaning to go on everyday, similar to the feeling he once held for duel monsters. One time Honda had come down to visit, he stopped by the shop to watch Jou work. Afterwards he had stared at the blonde strangely before telling him how scared he was to see him so concentrated and checked outside to make sure there wasn't any flying pigs.

Now, domino City wasn't all that of a tattoo hot spot. Most people were more interested in spending their well-earned money on some advanced techno gadgets that were always premiering every other week, thanks to Kaiba corp. That or duel monster cards, a phase Jou was glad he was getting out of seeing as it was such a money hog, also thanks to Kaiba corp. It seemed that the CEO could screw him over even if he wasn't trying, real talent that guy.

"Hey Jou! There's this guy who wants to get a large dragon tattoo done...I thought it might be more your thing." Jou was annoyed from the disruption, but still intrigued. He liked doing fantasy beasts the most, he supposed that rubbed off from his days as a duelist. He used to spend ages sketching out his favorite monsters as a hobby, and it sort of just grew from there. People say that playing games was just a waste of time, Jou had to disagree, it pretty much helped shape his entire character up till now.

Jou groaned, as he looked up from his current job, just finishing up the red lace on the edge of the fairy's tunic. "Can't this wait?" He asks, turning off the needle and taking the time to stretch out his cramped hand. The tattoo was almost done and he would have liked to finish it before he lost is stride. Too bad life usually had other things planned for him then what he liked.

"I'm afraid not, it's quite important." Replied the older man, his mentor to be exact. The one who had taught him everything when he had decided to become an apprentice, taking the art seriously. It had all started a little over a year ago, after he had graduated high school. All his friends we're going off to college or doing something meaningful with their lives. Anzu was off in America, taking her love of dance to the stage. Yugi had went to a good school in Kyoto, and Honda was working in some tech school, learning how to fix cars and getting paid at the same time or something to that effect.

That was hard on him, not only the fact that mostly all his friends had left him, but also the fact the -he- wasn't one of those ones that were leaving. Nope, still stuck in Domino, cramped up in a run down apartment with his less than sober dad. His grades weren't really good enough to get him into any decent kind of school, and even if they were, money in his household was almost non existent.

Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't want to waste good money on an education he'd probably waste anyway, he was never really a school person. I mean, what had he really learned in high school? Nothing really, except how to sleep while sitting up.

The summer before his friends drifted away went by fast, but it was filled with some of the happiest memories of his life. Not really anything extraordinary, just hanging out, laughing, playing games, and getting drunk occasionally. Once the fall came, things had died down, and Jou found himself completely lonely and bored, so he decided on finding a full time job, save up money, do -something-.

He had originally come into the shop, pissed off, afraid he would almost never get hired anywhere. Getting a tattoo was always something he had wanted to do, and what better time then when he was feeling like shit and wanted to get out whatever was left of teenage rebellion.

He never did get one though, not that day, or any of the others after that. He had an idea of what he wanted, where he wanted it, but it would wait, until he knew he was ready. Until then he decided to buy time inking up others. Many of whom were clueless teenagers just like he had been, not knowing what they were getting themselves into. Ready to throw whatever meaningless crap on their skin just to be in with the fad. It made him feel guilty sometimes, being the one to throw on a lot of the crap, but hey, it paid the bills.

Which is what he was doing right now, finishing up the last of an eight-hour shift.

"Alright." The blonde sighed and got up, obeying the command from the one whom he respected greatly, even if he was an annoying slave driver at times. "I'm sorry, I'll be back in a few okay? Why don't you just relax for awhile." Jou smiled down at the girl in his chair, one hand holding up the girl's left pant leg so that Jou could work on her ankle, the other squeezing a fluffy white teddy bear to her chest in an almost visible death grip.

"Ok, thanks." The girl smiled back, shifting slightly to that she could view her mostly finished tattoo as the blonde walked out of the room.

Jou pulled off his white plastic gloves and threw them in the trash as he walked into the front of the shop. He grabbed a cookie that was sitting on the counter in a basket, letting it hang half way out of his mouth as he nibbled on the other end. His boss gave him some sort of strange look, to which Jou raised his eyebrow at. "What? I'm hungry!"

The older man sighed and put a hand over the boys mouth, shoving down the chocolate chip treat none too gently. "Look professional for once, will ya? How do you expect to impress and important customer when you have food hanging out of your mouth?"

Jou only choked a little bit before he looked up to glare at the older man. "Who could be so damn important anyway?" He asked as he followed the man into a private office in the side of the store, one that he had only been in a couple times. Instantly regretting his words the moment he walked into the cramped space. He should have goddamn well know. He always had a way of jinxing himself.

"You have something on your..." The cold voice replied as he gestured towards the blonde's mouth, which was looking rather unflattering hanging open like that. He smirked slightly as the boy hurriedly wiped away the cookie remainders before taking a seat at the cluttered desk.

Jou cleared his throat slightly before he spoke, looking up at his mentor in hopes of some sort of encouragement, but received nothing but a blank stare. This was all up to him. "Mr. Kaiba, how may I be of service to you today?" He choked out in the most forced friendly manner he had ever heard himself utter.

TBC