Ear-Resistable [River]

Growing up, River was always a rebellious sort. In between his phases of obsessing over every hot rockstar on any poster, CD, or magazine, he also found himself wanting to look more and more like them. One thing he absolutely couldn’t get past was the piercings. Gold, silver, black titanium– all of it looked so cool!

 After desperately searching for a piercer that would accommodate his request, he came across one deep in the Burrowgatory he could trust. His friend Jackal! Certainly with her punk grunge style and own piercings, she’d be willing to do his… Right? 

 After one of their long, late night conversations at one of the local bars, River finally got the will to ask. 

“Do you think you’d ever, um, pierce ears? Maybe?” River asked, sounding a little nervous. Jackal tilted her head thoughtfully and rested her chin on her hand.

 “Depends who’s asking.” Jackal responded cooly. River nodded.

 “What about me? Just a few in each ear?” He said. Jackal cracked a small smirk at this. Who hasn’t wanted to stab their new friends with a needle before?

 “Sure. Yeah. Just let me finish this drink and we’ll find somewhere dark to work.” Jackal raised her drink and finished it off in a few gulps, then stood up and started to walk off towards the large unisex bathroom with her glass still in hand. 

 River followed behind, a little anxious. He had stopped at the store earlier and bought a few cheap piercing kits to keep the holes open after it was done, and they’d been bouncing around in his small crossbody bag ever since. As they neared the bathroom the bag seemed to weigh more and more on River’s body. It was finally time to complete his rockstar look.

Jackal pushed the door open with her body and set the glass down on the sink. River shrugged off his bag and fished through it, digging out the piercing kits to pass to Jackal.

“I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect you to be so ready. I thought you’d chicken out on the walk here, to be honest.”

“No, no, I’ve been thinking I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. “ River responded quickly, sitting down on the closed toilet and making sure his ears were both draped in front over his shoulders and uncovered. Jackal looked over the piercing kits, thumbing through their instructions, and finally nodded to herself.

“Alright, we’ll start with prep.” Jackal grabbed an alcohol pad from the kit and began cleansing the work areas. River bounced his leg and tried to focus on impups running through fields in his mind. Once the cleaning was done, Jackal picked the lemon slice out of her drink and handed it to River.

“Something to bite on while I work.” Jackal said with a grin, then picked up the needle and snaked it through the hollow temp piercing. Jackal distanced himself from the situation in his mind entirely, now picturing the handsome doll from the Burrow Cooking Network that always tried to sell him pots and pans. He closed his eyes harder as Jackal gently turned his head with a few fingers to pierce his other ear. The job was done in a flash.

“Okay, alright, don’t piss yourself. We’re all done.” Jackal said, standing up fully and taking a few steps back to stretch.

“Whenever you’re done shaking you can stand up and take a look in the mirror. Tell me how you like them.” River nodded, took a few more deep breaths, and stood up to look in the mirror. He loved them. He picked up his floppy ears and held them under the dim light of the sink. Not even a drop of blood, and the piercings were so clean and equidistant. He smiled in excitement.

“They’re… Perfect!” He said, staring at his own reflection in awe.

“Yay,” Jackal said, still in a deadpan tone, “Can we go back to drinking now? All that tension made me lose my buzz.” River nodded excitedly and stood fully, turning to Jackal. Even though he wanted to hug her in thanks, he reserved his excitement, and opted for a fist bump instead. 

As they went back out to the bar River mused over what kind of piercings he would replace the plastic temps with the next time he came out.