ink master au
The first five people walked out. "These, are your human canvases." Coran said. "But that's only five. Who's the sixth?" Lance asked.
A sixth person walked out, and all the artists look shocked.
Several interview clips play. "Holy shit." Pidge says. "That's James fucking Griffin." Lance says. "He's HOT." Nyma finishes. "I know this kid from somewhere." Shiro says. Nadia and Keith both smile in theirs. "That son of a bitch." Nadia says. "This is gonna be fun." Keith says.
James grins. "My name's James Griffin. I'm an influencer, which basically means me and my friends get paid to do dumb stuff and use certain products while doing so, then post a video or picture of it on social media. I have never gotten a tattoo before, and I haven't seen an episode of Ink Masters since I was 14. So, I have no idea who's on the show, or what they've done so far."
James smiles and winks at the artists. "Hey." He says, purple eyes shining with amusement. "So, this week, our theme is memories. Many people get tattoos to commemerate events or for loved ones, and an tattoo artist has to be able to properly execute these tattoos. Now, Pidge, as the winner of our last Flash challenge, you get to pick the canvases for each artist. But first- Keith my boy, are you okay?" Coran asks, interrupting himself. "Your face is doing something I've never seen before."
Shiro chuckles at his brother. "He's smiling. It's a rare occurance." "And at James, nonetheless."
"Well, from what I understand, you two have quite the history." Zarkon says with a chuckle.
It cuts to an interview with Keith. "I first met James when we were 4 years old." He says, a picture of the two as little kids next to him. HIs arms are around James's shoulders, pulling him to his chest. Both have identical smiles on their faces. "We were in classes together all up until junior year, when he moved."
"Wait, you're /that/ James?" Shiro asks. "This is the ex-boyfriend?" "EX BOYFRIEND?" The other exclaimed. James and Keith grin. "Yeah. It was, what? 2 years?" "Give or take a month or so, yeah." "Wait, what happened? Why'd you break up?" Pidge asks. "Didn't want to do long-distance. Texas and California aren't close." Keith answers. "James, why didn't you tell me you used to date a tattoo artist?" Nadia shoots. "You know, I believe the mustached man was saying something." James says, redirecting their attention.
____ "Me and Keith dated for two years back in high school. Um, very few people knew, cause I wasn't out at the time. It went pretty well, I think the main reason for the breakup is neither of us wanted to do long distance. And Keith's less of a verbal affection and more "doing little thing to show I care" kinda guy. He mentioned being a tattoo artist, but he hated needles, so I didn't think he'd actually do it. But uh, I have a feeling he's gonna be the one doing my tattoo."_________
"Yes, I was. Now, you're going to be doing a tattoo for your client. They get to choose what it is, where it is, if it's color or black-grey, everything. And you can't change a thing, or try to change their mind. What they say goes. Now, Lance, assign the canvases."
Lance nodded and stood, stepping in front of them. "What's your name and what do you want?" He asked the blond girl.
"My name's Romelle, and I want a juniberry on my right bicep." She answered. "Why?" "My best friend Luca really likes them. I've known her my whole life, and having the flower would be like always having a part of her with me." Lance nodded, stepping to the brown haired man.
"And you?" "My name is Adrian, and I'd like a dragon on my left calf. My dad always loved dragons, especially the Chinese ones, and now that he's gone, I'd like to have one to remember him by."
Lance stepped to the third.
"My name is Anna, and I'd like a flurry of snowflakes around a snowman. My sister Elsa is a professional snowboarder, and we grew up in Chicago, and built a snowman every snow day."
"My name is Jordan, and I'd like a German sheppard somewhere on my back. I had one named Riptide, cause he loved the ocean, since I was a little kid, and he passed away a few years ago."
"My name's Elena, and I'd like to get a tiger on my back. I'm a zookeeper, and I work closest with the tigers."
Lance nods and goes to James. "You?"
"I'm James, and I'd like wings on my back. My little sister always said once she was old enough, she'd get some, but she died from cancer five years ago, and was never able to. Also, my family calls me "Little Griffin"."
Lance nods, heading to the table with the skulls.
Interview clips. Nadia__ "I want James. I've been begging him for three years to let me tattoo him, but he's always said no. And the fact that he used to date one of my competitors? I have to find out more. And if he's under the needle, he can't dodge the questions." ____ "I was given a choice. Give Keith one of the other canvases, or give him his ex boyfriend. It was a very easy desicion." Lance says.__
"Alright, one by one, please reveal the name on your skulls." Coran says.
"Pidge." Romelle says.
___ "Fuck. Lance really screwed me over. I almost /never/ do flowers, and I don't think I've ever seen a juniberry before in my life."__
"Shiro." Adrian says. ___ "I've got this in the bag. Traditional Chinese and Japanese art is my thing, and a dragon? I know I can impress the judges with that."
"Nyma." Anna says. ___"Snow? I've never seen snow, how the hell am I supposed to tattoo it?"____
"Hunk." Jordan says. ___ "Yes! Animals are my thing!"___
"Nadia." Elena says. ___ "Tigers? I've done dozens of tigers. But this is going on a fucking zookeeper. If even the slightest line is off, they're gonna notice. Lance gave me a fucking animal perfectionist."
"Keith." James says. __ "I am going to kill Lance later." Keith says with a chuckle. "It's bad enough that it's fucking /wings/, which I've never done before, but he gave me someone I have history with. Hell, I knew his sister." Keith sighed. "This is not going to be easy."
"Alright, you have the rest of the afternoon to confer with your canvas. Tomorrow, you will have 10 hours to complete the tattoo. Go." Coran says.
Each artist takes their canvas to their station while the judges confer.
"Keith getting James was no surprise." Zarkon says. "Right. It was certain the second they said they knew each other." Coran agrees. "Lance is trying to screw Keith over. He knows he's one of his biggest competitors, and he's trying to get rid of him." Alfor says.
"What about Pidge?" Coran asks. "They're not a big "flowers and frills" type. This is definently going to be hard for them." Alfor says. "Yes, but it's also forcing them to expand their horizons and use different styles and techniques, which is what we want to see in our Ink Master." Zarkon points out.
"Alright, time's up." Coran announces. The artist and canvases come back to the center. "Now, tomorrow, you will have 10 hours to complete your tattoo."
Tomorrow
"Alright, and your time starts, now." Coran says.
Keith places the stencil on James's back. "Alright. You wanna check and see if it's good enough?" He asks. James shakes his head. "Nah. I trust you."
The cameras go to Pidge, who's already working on the outline of her tattoo. "Now, you said the colors were good, right? Cause one I put them on, there's no going back." Romelle nods. "I'm sure."
"4 hours left for this half!" Coran calls before the camera goes to Nyma. "I'm kind of panicking. I've never done snow before. This is an entirely new concept for me. But I think I can get it."
James is straddling the chair, chest pressed against it's back. "Does it hurt?" Keith asks. "Nope. You know, I wasn't sure if you'd actually become a tattoo artist." James admits. "Why's that?" Keith asks, wiping at his back. "You hated needles." "No, I hated needles going in my skin. I have no problem using them on other people." "I noticed. How's Krolia?" Keith shrugged, moving his machine. "Good. Charlie?" "As annoying as ever."
Hunk talks to Jordan as he works. "So, how are German sheppards? I've heard they can be pretty energetic." "Oh yeah. You need a big yard, otherwise they get mad and start shitting all over the place."
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1.Machines down." Coran calls. The artist sigh and set them down. "So? What do you think?" Keith asks as James looks in the mirror. "Keith..." he trails off. "It's amazing. Thank you." He says, hugging the other man.
"Nyma, I feel like you could've done more. You did the bare minimum here." Zarkon says. She nods and steps back.
"Pidge." "This flower is.. beautiful." Alfor says. "I feel like you've perfectly captured the beauty of the juniberry. And it looks so life-like." "I agree." Coran says. "This is definently my favorite tattoo I've seen from you thus far." Zarkon compliments.
"Keith."
He steps us. "Tell us, what was it like tattooing your ex-boyfriend?" Zarkon asks, leaning forward. Keith chuckles. "Um, it was defiently something. I wanted to strangle Lance." The others chuckle and smile. " But I kinda felt an obligation, you know, because I knew his sister, to do my absolute best and make this perfect. And the whole thing with his last name being Griffin, and me knowing the story or reason for the tattoo just made it that more important. I knew this had to be the best tattoo I'd ever done."
Coran nods. "Well, I have to say, this is the best I've seen thus far."
The screen shows a picture of the increadably beautiful black wings. "And the way you designed the wings is just amazing."
The screen plays a short video, and James rolls his shoulder and moves his arms, and the wings seem to move with the motions. "This is definently the best I've tattoo I've ever seen." Alfor says. "you can almost imagine him flying." Keith grins. "That's what I was going for."
"Alright. Well, Keith, since your making it to the final last year, where you lost to Pidge Holt, you've been very popular. Rumor has it you're, once again, dating James Griffin, social media influencer and celebrity." Alfor says.
"Well, people talk."
"Yes. how do you feel about losing to Pidge?"
"I'm actually fine with it. They're a great artist, and I think they deserve it. But I did do some kickass tattoos while I was on the show, and that's gotten me a lot of publicity, and I'm booked for months. I can't imagine what their schedule is like."
Alfor chuckles. "Ah yes, the price of fame. But what about those rumors surrounding you and James? Fact or fiction?"
"Well, um-" Keith chuckles. "- I can say that all those fanfics about us fucking all over the place are definently fiction. As for our relationship, right now we're not dating. He's still my ex boyfriend."
An aww went up from the audience.
"But you know, he's always telling me that's the worst way to tell people he's my fiance."
A gasp went up, followed by excited noises.
"That /is/ a terrible way to tell people!" Pidge exclaims. "When they told us, I was just about ready to slap James into next week." Alfor and Keith laugh. "So, Pidge, what have you been doing now that you're Ink Master?" Alfor asks.
"Well, I've been pretty busy. Business is booming. I actually gave Lance a tattoo a few months back. A big shark on his calf." "I saw pictures of that. Very well done. You've certainly progressed in your watercolors since you first started here. Well, enough chit chat. Today, you will be helping me judge our newest batch of contestants."
"Once again, Keith Kogane and James Griffin are trending. Largely because of Keith's recent anouncement on Ink Masters that they're engaged, but also his Instagram post the following morning."
The screen shows it. There's two slides. One with picture of a sunset, with the words "most people's morning view" the next was a picture of James, shirtless nonetheless. One of his arms is under a pillow, and the other is next to his chest. He's smirking at the camera, and you can see a blurry ring on his finger.
"Now, since this was posted earlier today, there's been an influx of requests to see the ring. So joining us here today, live, is James Griffin and Keith Kogane!"
The two men come onto the stage, holding hands. Once they seated, the host greets them. "Well gentlemen, you've caused quite a stir this past year. First with your own individual accomplishments, then with your bit on Ink Masters. Then the dating rumors, and now you're /engaged/? How?"
The laugh. "Well, when we broke up, it wasn't because of any issues between us, we just didn't want to do long distance." James says. "So there were never any problems with us. And after the show, we just kind of... reconnected. I mean, we were talking almost everyday. And after the show, he invited me to his place and... things just fell into place." Keith says with a smile.
"Can we see the ring?" The host asks. James holds out his hand, and the camera zooms in on the gem.
It's a slim silver band, with a small circular violet gem on it. "Wow." James chuckled. "I know, right?
They're kissing in the photo, James's hand behind Keith's head as the other holds his waist. "We were 16. Our lives were perfect. But then Cameron got sick.... my family had to move to Cali for her treatment. So we broke up."