Henna Time! (Levi)

[Takchawee Ominotago]

As much as Tak loved henna, there was only so much she could put on her skin at a time before she had to let it fade, which could take up to several weeks. She always wanted to try new designs and patterns, and it could be hard to wait until her skin was clear enough that she could do it again. Therefore, she had gone on a mission to find someone that was willing to be her model for times when she was itching to do henna, but was unable to do it on herself.

Levi had volunteered.

After their little meeting in the locked closet, Tak was surprised to find that they continued to talk occasionally, almost to the point of calling him a friend. Real friends came few and far between for her, and though he wasn't at that level yet, she could potentially see them becoming that way, if only because of their shared ability and how much she had already learned about him. And if she was completely honest with herself, she did enjoy his company. Not to mention he was just freaking adorable.

And so now, she finished mixing the liquid up and, after grabbing her supplies, left her room to go over to his. It was a quiet Saturday, and she didn't meet anyone in the hall on her short trip over. Once there, she knocked quietly, running her hand through her hair as she waited for him to answer. A light smile played across her lips; this should be fun.

[Levi Xu]

"Come in!" Levi shouted. He'd been racing around his room all morning, trying to clean it up. The common space in his suite was in good shape, but he'd really waited a bit too long on cleaning his own room, and most of the time had been dedicated to doing the laundry that had been piling up. He'd done it though, because he'd invited Tak to come over and practice her henna skills on his back, and he didn't want her to think he was some sort of caveman or something.

"I'm in my bedroom!" He called out again when he heard her come in. The room was almost unrecognizable because it was clean, and he was just finishing putting away his freshly-laundered clothes. The distinct smell of fabreeze masked that the cleanliness was pretty new.

Levi was excited to try the henna. He'd admired the patterns on Tak's skin, and he'd always thought tattoos were really cool. He couldn't get a real one though. "I'm ready when you are. You can do whatever, but it has to be covered by a collared shirt. I'm going to Evan's parents' house for Thanksgiving."

And he really didn't want them thinking he was any more of a delinquent.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

At Levi's shout, Tak opened the door into the common room. She hadn't been in this particular one before, but it looked pretty much like all the others she had seen. If she had known how much work Levi would put into cleaning up, she would have told him it didn't matter, but alas, she didn't know and he had done it anyway.

"Okay!" she called back, going towards the door that his voice had emanated from. She caught a whiff of the scent on the air, but thought little of it as she peeked inside. "Hey!" she greeted with a grin as she caught sight of Levi, giving him a wave. She lifted up her bag of supplies in the other hand. "Ready to be henna'd?"

When he confirmed he was, she went further into his room and set her stuff on his desk. "I had this dragon idea in my head," she told him a she pulled out a bottle filled with the brown liquid. It wasn't the prettiest of inks, but it left a nice umber mark on the skin after soaking into it for several hours; it would look beautiful on Levi. "I thought your back would be a good place to try it," she added, nodding when he mentioned that it needed to be covered. "That way it'll be covered unless you want someone to see it. And honestly, I'm sure you're going to want to show it off - it's going to look awesome."

Giving him a confident wink, she shook the bottle lightly, motioning over to his bed. "If you lay down, it'll be a lot easier for me to do. Get comfortable, relax. It might take some time - the design I have in mind is pretty intricate." Already her fingers were itching to begin.

[Levi Xu]

"Sounds awesome. Just let me feed Dragon first." Next to his bed was a small cage, obviously freshly cleaned. (Really, Dragon's cage was usually the cleanest part of his bedroom. The bunny wasn't allowed to run free in the room because Levi read that they liked to chew wires, so Levi made sure his pet's space was always clean.) He crouched next to the cage and opened the door, then filled the little food dish with pellets from a bag under his bed. "This is my baby, by the way. He's about a year old now."

When the rabbit was fed and safely locked in again, Levi stood and stripped off his hoodie. He was blushing a little when he went to the next layer, but he pulled off his tee-shirt as well. The boy was a little embarrassed that he was so scrawny--particularly compared to his boyfriend, who was ripped--but if she wanted to use his back for a canvas, he was game.

Levi laid down on his stomach and crossed his arms under his head to get comfortable. He was sure the henna was going to look so cool, and he couldn't wait to show it off to Evan. "So I looked up what cuttlefish are. They're really cool."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

"Dragon?" Tak inquired, chuckling a little at the coincidence. When he bent down to give the bunny food, Tak followed the motion, letting out a small 'awww'. "He's so cute!" she exclaimed. She was such a sucker for small animals. Even if she had eaten rabbit before, back on the reservation. But pets were different. "I wish I could afford a pet," she admitted, resting her fingers on one of the bars of his cage. She was a little envious of students that had them.

Tak couldn't help but smirk a little as Levi took of his hoodie, then his shirt. For his sake, she pretended to be interested in watching Dragon eat while he stripped, but she did catch a few peeks out of the corner of her eye. He was very small, she noticed - smaller than she, even, and she wasn't that big. It just added to his adorableness.

She settled on the edge of his bed as he laid down on his stomach. She remembered her previous experience with Carter in a similar situation, and her smirk widened as she thought about how she had practically sat on top of him for his henna tattoo. He had been facing up too; something told her that would make Levi uncomfortable. Just a hunch. "Oh yeah?" she asked with curiosity, surprised and mildly flattered that he had gone to the trouble of looking it up. "They are! They're definitely underrated, in my opinion. And sooo cute." Testing the tip of the bottle, she went to work on the design, starting at his left shoulder blade. "It's gonna feel kinda wet and goopy, but you'll get used to it. It dries pretty quickly, too."

[Levi Xu]

"Evan was in the hospital for Hanukkah and my birthday last year, so he missed them. He brought Dragon with him when he came back to school. He works at the pet store in town, so he gets me the pellets really cheap." Since then, Levi had called the little rabbit their baby. He adored the pet, and frequently carried him around in the pocket of his sweatshirt when he didn't have classes.

Levi settled in quickly on the bed, and he tried not to squirm when she started applying the henna to his back. Wet and goopy described the sensation perfectly. It wasn't easy for him to stay still, but after a few minutes he could feel it start to dry and tighten on his skin. "Where did you learn how to do this? It feels so weird."

Maybe concentrating on talking would keep him from wanting to fidget. He didn't want to ruin the design, after all. "How long does it take to set?" Probably a question he should have asked before volunteering to be her test subject. Oh well.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak glanced over at Levi, her eyes softening slightly. She had heard what happened to Evan, though she didn't really know him; but losing an arm was a big deal, it wasn't some rumor around the school she had just ignored. She couldn't imagine the horror Levi's boyfriend must have gone through. "I hope he's doing better," she offered, rubbing her bare shoulder. "That's cool he works there, though. I've thought about trying to save up for a hamster or something small; maybe I could go in and look around sometime."

She smiled as he shifted under the touch of the henna. She remembered feeling similar the first time she had had it done; it felt weird to let someone apply such a weird, foreign substance to your skin. "My mom was really into henna," she answered, tracing a large arc down Levi's spine. "She used to do it for me, until I got old enough to do it on myself. I thought it felt weird at first, too, but now it's something I do to relax."

She bent closer as she added a few smaller details. "For the darkest results, it's good to let the design set for seven or eight hours," she told him. "But really, three or four is enough time to let it set. It just won't be as dark, or last as long." She tilted her head and paused, studying what she had done so far. "Once it dries, though, you can put your shirt back on. You just shouldn't bend your back too much until its off, otherwise the dry henna will crack and it won't look as good."

[Levi Xu]

Levi just shrugged. He was worried about Evan, who was sometimes really excited about going off to college or happy to go on a date, but mostly more quiet and withdrawn than usual. "It's been almost a year. The accident happened the first day of winter break."

At the time, Levi hadn't known what had happened. He'd thought Evan was just mad at him, because they had fought over something stupid just before the older boy had gone home for break. It wasn't until a few days later, when Evan was awake and lucid at the hospital, that he'd finally responded to the mountain of apology texts and messages Levi had sent him.

"I can wait for eight hours. I don't need to be anywhere until tomorrow. Evan's taking me to see Wreck it Ralph and then we're having dinner at his apartment. I'll show him then." Levi planned on watching a movie marathon or something so he wouldn't move to much, and then planned on taking very good care of his new tattoo. It was going to look awesome.

He was finally getting used to the feeling of the wet and drying henna on his skin. "Thanks for doing this. I can't get a permanent tattoo because I'm Jewish. But this is better because we can change it."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak nodded along as Levi spoke. "Still, losing your arm is... Horrible. I don't even like to think about it." She didn't think it was anything someone would ever get over completely. "Are you, like, going to do anything on the day it happened?" she asked, curious in a sort of twisted way. Was that something one would have an anniversary for?

"That'll be good, then," she replied, switching from the body of the dragon back over to one of its wings. She couldn't help but smile at the way he talked about his boyfriend; she could only wonder what it was like to be in that sort of relationship. "Sounds fun! You'll have to tell me what he says. I love hearing people's reactions to my art." With a flourish, she finished the last tip of the left wing. It did, indeed, look awesome so far.

"Don't mention it! I'm just glad I found someone to use as a canvas when I don't have one myself." She chuckled, glancing down at her arm, which was covered with swirls and lines and dots. The fact that he was Jewish interested her. "You can't get body modifications of any kind?" she asked, frowning. She didn't like that; she loved tattoos and piercings, and the thought of someone not being allowed to do what they wanted to their body didn't seem fair. But, to each their own. "I have a couple of tattoos, and some piercings," she continued. The music note on her collarbone, he had probably seen, but the dream catcher on her back, along with the piercing at the nape of her neck, weren't very visible.

[Levi Xu]

"I'm gonna try to distract him from it. I don't want him dwelling on it." Of course, he couldn't make Evan forget the day he lost his arm, but he was going to try to keep him from sinking any deeper into his depression. Sometimes the stuff Evan said to him scared him.

He looked forward to telling Tak what Evan thought about his tattoo. Levi knew his boyfriend, and he knew he was conflicted over how attractive he thought rebellion was.

Levi was up for being a canvas whenever Tak wanted. Other than Evan occasionally doodling on him with markers--which hadn't happened since the accident--it wasn't like he was using his skin for anything else. "I'm not supposed to. They said it's because G-d created our bodies and so we're not supposed to change them. But it was really so in ancient times they could tell the difference between Jewish people and everyone else."

Back in Hebrew school, his teacher had been really practical about explaining they the laws were the way they were. That's why he stayed observant, even when it wasn't easy to be. Levi went to services every week he could, and he liked that even though he sat alone, he felt like part of the congregation. "I keep kosher and stuff because I like being Jewish. I don't follow all the really picky old laws, but I do the big stuff."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

"That's good. I mean, there's only so much you can do." Levi seemed like a very sweet boyfriend, from what Tak could tell. It sounded like he was doing what he could to make Evan's life as painless as he could. He sort of reminded her of Kouji in that respect; maybe that's why she had an easier time being friendly with him than most.

She started drawing some spines on the dragon's back. Tak had to readjust herself so her arms wasn't bent at an awkward angle, carefully sliding down the bed and trying not to disturb Levi. "I see," she replied, tilting her head to the side curiously. "That makes sense, I guess. I can't say I've been one to ever follow rules, though." Tak despised authority of any kind. She had grown up independent, and was determined to stay that way, without adults coming into her life and trying to tell her how to live it.

Tak's culture was her religion, and though she didn't necessarily believe in all the nature deities and follow polytheistic beliefs, she still had respect for the natural world and all of the resources that had been given to her. "That makes sense. I think a lot of the old laws in books like the Bible or whatever.... Some of them just don't seem to fit our society anymore." She shrugged. "I've never read it, but apparently there's some useful knowledge in it. I don't really know about Jewish customs, though." Wow, was she really talking about religion? Levi brought out a weird side to her that she wasn't used to.

"How does it feel?" she asked, changing the subject. She had a good portion of the tattoo done so far, which probably meant a lot of itching as it dried.

[Levi Xu]

Levi might have been a little offended if he knew Tak was mentally comparing him to Kouji. Not because he had any real reason to dislike the catboy, other than being irrationally jealous. He was cute, athletic, and could turn into a cat. Levi was pretty sure Kouji was Evan's perfect guy.

He closed his eyes and just let Tak work on her art. He'd seen how her henna looked when she did it on herself, so he anticipated it looking great. Levi didn't mind what she said, either. He knew he was more devout than most of the other students at the school. "Yeah, but people still do them because it's tradition. So when the laws aren't obviously racist or stuff like that, I like to follow them."

When she asked how it felt, he moved his shoulder slightly, feeling the drying henna pull on his skin. Levi stilled so he wouldn't ruin it. "It's okay. A little itchy and kinda tight. But it's not too bad." He pointed at the cell phone on his desk. "Can you take a picture of it so I can see it so far?"

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak tilted her head, shifting once more in an attempt to get more comfortable as she drew. It was at an awkward angle again, so she bit her lip, pausing, before saying,"I need to put my hand on your shoulder - it's sort of hard to reach at this angle." Normally she would have done it without warning, but Levi had already shown discomfort at her physical closeness before, and she was feeling kind enough not to purposefully make him more uncomfortable without telling him first. Once said, she stooped lower, putting her left hand on his shoulder for balance, and continued drawing.

She nodded as he continued talking. "I can respect that. It's good to have a sense of morals, at least." Morals were probably something she could use more of in her life. Hmm.

As he shifted, she paused again and made sure he wasn't messing anything up. Fortunately, he didn't move much, so everything was fine. "Yeah, that's how it's supposed to feel. But just think how awesome it will look, and it will totally be worth it." At his request, she reached over and grabbed the phone, quickly snapping a picture of what she had done so far - about half of the body, the head, and one wing. "I just have the other wing and the tail to do, plus a few extra details," she told him. "Shouldn't take too much longer!"

[Levi Xu]

Usually, Levi had no problem with physical contact with his friends. He was best friends with Sammy, after all, and didn't mind when the pyrokinetic used him as a pillow during their zombie movie marathons. He'd only been uncomfortable with Tak in the closet because he couldn't see her and he didn't know her. Now that he did, he didn't mind her touching him. (After all, Levi had volunteered to be her canvas today.)

Evan, on the other hand, had some issues with it. He'd only graduated a year before, so he'd heard of his boyfriend's new buddy's reputation. He didn't approve.

"It's fine, Tak. I'm not gonna freak out or anything." If he was, Levi was pretty sure he would have done so when he'd first been asked to take his shirt off.

Levi held out his hand after she used the camera on his phone, eager to look at the picture. When Tak showed it to him, he grinned widely. Already, the dragon looked cooler than he'd expected. It was big, and the dark paste of the henna really stood out. He knew the actual design wouldn't be quite so dark, but he liked the look of it anyway. "Oooh. It's so cool! Thanks Tak!"

The boy carefully shifted so he was lying flat again, letting his friend keep working. "I wish I was a good artist. If I was trying to do that I'd end up spilling the stuff everywhere. I'd have an amoeba tattoo."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Hehe, poor Evan. Tak really wasn't planning on trying to seduce his boyfriend or anything - Levi was adorable, yes, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable by flirting more. And she didn't like messing with relationships anyway. That just wasn't her style.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't uncomfortable," Tak replied, smiling lightly as she went back to work.

Her grin widened at his reaction, and she beamed at the back of his head from where she was bent over his back. "I'm glad you like it!" she replied, starting the outline of the other wing. "You're so welcome. Thanks for being a willing canvas." Her lips curled into an amused smirk.

"It takes practice," she told him, carefully filling in more details. "I mean, I'm not really that great of an artist when it comes to pen and paper, but henna is just... Different. More free and loose, I guess. You never really know how something will turn out, and that's okay. It's more like... Coming up with it as you go along." She laughed at his last comment. "Hey, amoebas can be cool! But I get what you mean. It can definitely be a... Messy medium."

A few more strokes of the bottle, and the wing was almost done. "How long have you and Evan been together?" she asked curiously. "You seem very close."