It was (Kurapika would later think, as he hunched over his kitchen table nursing the worst hangover of his life), a true testament to how drunk he'd been that he hadn't turned around and walked right back out of that place. It wasn't just that it was a tattoo parlor -- that he could have handled, although gods know he probably he have balked at even the most vanilla of establishments; no. Pairo had gone and taken him to one of the roughest, toughest, most notorious tattoo parlors in Yorkshin, the Inked and Slashed, where the only thing that ever managed to successfully overcome the smell of stale vomit in the air was the cigarette smoke that hung over the place like a perpetual cloud.
The Inked and Slashed was the place to go if you were …show more content…
He tasted strongly of peppermint liquor, and swayed a little on his feet. "I told you, I really don't know what I want to get..."
"Oh c'mon Kurapika," Pairo whined (well, slurred, since he'd had almost as many drinks as Kurapika). The taller boy placed his hands on Kurapika’s shoulders and urged him to keep moving. "We'll get you something small, okay? Sometimes you just gotta, gotta get out there! Do stuff! Make mistakes! You're far too practical for someone our age. I'm sick you watching you miss out! Remember what we promised everyone when left our hometown? That we'd have fun and enjoy ourselves?"
Kurapika flushed, allowing himself to be pushed along, toward a back room that, surprisingly, looked halfway decent. He did remember that promise...and had done absolutely nothing to keep it, burying himself in coursework and library hours, quietly refusing all Pairo's pleas to go out. It just...had felt like a betrayal, somehow, to have fun knowing his parents were gone. On some level he knew they'd want him to live his life, get out from other the shadow of their tragic deaths -- but that was much easier said than done. Still, he'd feel horrible if he didn't at least try; he couldn't very well to refuse to go out for Pairo's
The Inked and Slashed was the place to go if you were …show more content…
He tasted strongly of peppermint liquor, and swayed a little on his feet. "I told you, I really don't know what I want to get..."
"Oh c'mon Kurapika," Pairo whined (well, slurred, since he'd had almost as many drinks as Kurapika). The taller boy placed his hands on Kurapika’s shoulders and urged him to keep moving. "We'll get you something small, okay? Sometimes you just gotta, gotta get out there! Do stuff! Make mistakes! You're far too practical for someone our age. I'm sick you watching you miss out! Remember what we promised everyone when left our hometown? That we'd have fun and enjoy ourselves?"
Kurapika flushed, allowing himself to be pushed along, toward a back room that, surprisingly, looked halfway decent. He did remember that promise...and had done absolutely nothing to keep it, burying himself in coursework and library hours, quietly refusing all Pairo's pleas to go out. It just...had felt like a betrayal, somehow, to have fun knowing his parents were gone. On some level he knew they'd want him to live his life, get out from other the shadow of their tragic deaths -- but that was much easier said than done. Still, he'd feel horrible if he didn't at least try; he couldn't very well to refuse to go out for Pairo's