Page 125 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

We both laugh, the pause and levity welcome as I get to just stare at him being happy and handsome for a few moments. He leans his head sideways on the headrest as his eyes go soft. “Damn, I love you,” he says, like the revelation keeps taking him by surprise.

And I can relate. I really can. Because I keep being surprised by how much more I keep falling for him. It keeps happening in little moments. In the way he feeds me chocolate while he kisses little hurts away from a session of love making. In the way he listens to me while I explain some obscure metaphysical concept to him. In the way he moans compliments about my cooking. Little moments that, by themselves, don’t mean much. But in the wider context of us, they mean everything.

“Alright,” I finally say. “You win. Let’s go get pierced.”

“Fuck. Yes,” he says with a grin.

ㅤ

Is it weird to find your girlfriend adorable while she’s panicking about getting two hollow needles shoved through her tongue?

Rhetorical question. Of course it’s not normal. No, I am not the kind of sadist that actually enjoys watching people they love experience pain. But, fuck. Her “fuck-me” shoes (as Wren called them) are hanging off the end of the piercing chair, swinging nervously while she crushes my hand in hers with the strength of a professional arm wrestler, and Kim marks up her tongue for placement. It’s fucking cute. I don’t know.

“You can still change your mind, baby,” I tell her through a warm chuckle.

“Nn-nn,” she protests while her tongue is still out.

Kim chuckles under her breath. She’s a pretty normal looking gal if not for the huge swathes of koi tattoos all over her arms and legs that disappear beneath her tank top and denim shorts. “You guys are cute,” she says.

“Hank hoo,” Lillith says, having to shave some sounds off her gratitude thanks to her tongue being pinched between Kim’s fingers.

I already got my piercing. I let Lillith pick it, and she went for snake bites to go with my labret, which led to a hilarious discussion about her longstanding desire to kiss, according to her, “literally any emo boy” who had them, and her never actually getting to do it. I went first, and she held my hand—though I think she needed the contact more than I did.

Kim, frankly, is a pro. She’s fast and experienced; I barely felt it. I’m sure she’ll do a quick job of Lillith’s piercings too.

Kim finishes marking Lillith’s tongue and hands her a mirror. “Check that you like that placement?”

Lillith nods and looks at the mirror, turning her head this way and that. She wanted them placed relatively close together and picked out some cute bars with smaller balls on the ends of them. She takes in a deep breath and nods, handing the mirror back to Kim.

“Great, I’ll get everything set up,” she says as she sets the hand mirror down.

Lillith meets my eyes, and hers are wide as saucers as she exhales a tight breath. “Okay,” she warbles as she somehow squeezes my hand even harder.

“Alright. How can I help, baby?” I ask.

“Uhm... I don’t know. I’m really kind of freaking out.”

“Want me to tell you what to expect?” I ask.

“S-sure,” she says.

“Alright, so. She’s going to use a clamp—basically some fancy surgical forceps with a hole in the middle. That part is gonna suck a little, ‘cause it keeps your tongue flat and prevents you from retracting it when it hurts. Makes sure the needle goes in nice and straight, right where she wants it.”

I see Lillith’s eyes go to the tray as Kim sets two hollow needles down on a sanitary maintenance area. I cup my hand on that side of her face. “Look at me, baby. You’re all good. I’m here to take care of you. You know you can still back out, right?”

“I want the piercing,” she says.

“Yeah, so we’re gonna do this together, alright?” I promise her, my lower lip aching a bit when I grin. “Kim’s quick. Remember how fast she did the snake bites? I barely even felt it.”

She nods. “What happens if I can’t do both? What if I faint, or seize?”

“Then I’ll make sure you’re safe and if you have to take the piercing out, that’s fine,” I reassure her. “You’ll do uhhh—you’ll heal nice and easy. The mouth is one of the fastest healing places in the body.” That was close. I almost blurted out that she’d heal herself after she woke up. “How are you feeling right now? Any auras?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she says. “My heart is pounding, though.”

I use my thumb to draw a soothing path between the edge of her cheekbone and her ear. “Deep breath with me, alright?”

I coach her through some deep breathing, and by the time Kim is done setting up, the pulse that was pounding against my pinky finger has slowed just a bit.