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IOU
by G Richmond
Story: IOU
Status: Final
Author: G. Richmond
Warnings: Slashy (Face/Murdock), mild blood
Feedback levels: UP TO LEVEL 1
Feedback requests: None
Author's notes: I'm not sure how this got written. It just kind of happened. Probably because it's a subject I'm really enthusiastic about, haha. And I've been writing angst recently, so something light-hearted is just what I needed. And they say to write about what you know...
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How had this happened? How on earth had he let Murdock talk him into this? It was ridiculous, they were too old to be doing childish things like this!
It wasn't that he was nervous, of course not. The fact that his leg was jumping up and down of its own volition and his mouth was dry was completely unrelated to the situation.
"You alright, Muchacho? You don't look good." The pilot was looking at him, grinning, and not sounding sympathetic at all. Needless to say he got only a weak glare in reply.
How had this this happened? Oh yes, it was about 2 weeks ago...
"Hey Face, I wanna call in that favour now." Murdock had come back into the hotel room they were sharing and sat down at the end of the bed, making sure the mattress bounced as much as it could and disturbed Face, who had only just awoken and was still resisting getting up.
"What favour?" His voice was rough and unamused, one blue eye frowning over the edge of the duvet at the pilot, still hazy with sleep.
"You remember...that time that girl you were seeing wanted a double-date, and you took me for her friend." He had crawled up further over the duvet to make sure Face was listening, settling over his hips when the conman finally obliged to lie on his back. Face looked up at Murdock with a sleepy frown.
"Murdock, you're going to have to be more specific." He half-whined, rubbing a hand over his face. They had double-dated lots of times. And besides, he was surprised Murdock was even bringing it up; he made it no secret he didn't like hearing or talking about Face's past conquests.
"You know, that one that wore the fishnets, and the platform boots." Murdock's smug but warning expression told Face that he wasn't going to like the outcome of this, "With the piercings, and the brandings," Wait...that sounded familiar, "And who wasn't actually a girl."
Face guessed that laughing at that point wouldn't be wise, so he fought it down and instead complained, "Murdock, that was 3 years ago! And besides, do I need to point out the irony of you getting so worked up because she was actually guy." Considering their position now.
"Hey, I distinctly remember you saying `I really owe you one, Murdock' after I didn't make a big fuss in the restaurant when she followed me into the toilets. And then again when I politely declined her offer to walk her home. Even though she was really insistent." And by insistent he meant she had dug her nails so hard into his arm she had broken the skin. "I'm just holding you to it." He stated with a haughty air, shifting back a little when Face finally pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking at the pilot suspiciously.
"Alright, fine, what exactly did you have in mind?" He asked with a sigh, leaning back on his hands.
"Well..." Murdock's grin was downright unsettling.
At first Face had thought the pilot was joking when he brought up the subject of piercing, just trying to really freak the blond out before really saying what he wanted.
Turns out the transexual date had made Murdock think about more than just his sexual orientation.
"What? No way! I'm not going to disfigure myself just because you weren't happy with your date three years ago." He was seconds away from pushing Murdock off the bed.
"Oh come on, Face." The pilot seemed to realise this and wrapped his arms around the blond's neck, grinning hopefully, "It's not a big thing really. And I could have picked a worse place..." He added slyly.
"I'm not getting my tongue pierced." Face told him bluntly, "If you like it so much, get yours done." He would never live it down. Something like that...well it said things about a man. Not to mention that BA and Hannibal would ridicule him relentlessly.
"But that's not the same. And I don't owe you anything." Murdock seemed to be really behind this idea, and that didn't put Face at ease at all. But it didn't matter, Murdock could do and say what ever he liked, there was no way on earth he would get Face anywhere near a piercing studio.
His resolve lasted all of 12 days, but sexual deprivation and Murdock being very insistent on the topic finally wore him down.
That had been two days ago, and Murdock had immediately scouted for reputable piercing studios. He had even agreed to pay for it. All Face had to do was turn up and hand over his dignity.
The studio wasn't what he had expected. In his mind he had an image of some dingy, back alley room, with dim lighting and dubious characters. He had been watching too many movies apparently.
The reality was a nice shop on one of the main streets with the whole front wall taken up with a decorated window advertising piercings. It was all white walls with tasteful posters, and counters with various jewellery displayed inside. The receptionist (who also turned out to be one of the piercers) was a bubbly young man that greeted them enthusiastically and with whom Murdock happily chatted with while Face had to go sit down before his legs gave out. Everything looked very clean, sterile even, and the whole place smelled like a dentist office.
When a young woman emerged from the back and called them over with a pleasant smile, Face thought he was going to faint. He couldn't really be going through with this. Murdock wouldn't really let him, would he?
After an insistent tug on his arm, the blond followed the piercer and Murdock into a back room on autopilot, but he was sure he must have been white with fright, and his legs felt like jelly.
"This is your first time, huh?" The woman asked with a sympathetic smile after she had shut the door and told them where to sit. Face was sat up on an examination table like you would find in a doctor's office, and Murdock had a chair next to it, bouncing like an excited child.
"You mind if I ask why you're getting it?" She continued when Face couldn't even get a word out, looking to Murdock, who answered with a grin.
"He owes me." He provided, still grinning despite how the blond was glaring at him now.
It was only his pride that stopped Face bolting right out the door as the woman explained what was going to happen whilst she got out the tools she would need and placed them all in a stainless steel kidney dish.
"So the tongue is basically two muscles." She told them, holding out two fingers together to demonstrate, "And the needle goes down between them through the membrane, so we're not actually going through any muscles." She pulled on a pair of black latex gloves, "Tongue piercings do bleed more than others to begin with, but that's normal, and they heal really quick, usually within two weeks." Face didn't think the explanation was helping, but since he didn't think he could feel any more nervous or sick, it at least wasn't making him feel any worse. And he was fine with blood, he had seen more than enough of it after all.
"You probably wont be able to eat anything hard for a couple days, and I recommend staying on soup and icecream at least for today." She pulled over the little stool with the dish on and went to stand in front of Face.
"I like icecream, let's have an all ice-cream diet today." Murdock chirped up after listening to the explanation of the piercing with fascination, "We can even have your favourite."
"H-how generous of you." Face told him dryly, voice hoarse. He was trying to be really truly angry with the pilot, but he was too endearing, and he just couldn't seem to get really snippy in front of the piercer. He may have jumped the fence, or at least taken a seat on it, but he still couldn't help years of conditioning that told him to act cool and suave in front of women.
"Alright, you still okay?" She asked after laughing at Murdock, and the blond had to take a moment, inhaling deeply before nodding quickly. He immediately regretted the decision, but it was too late to back out then.
The piercer was quick and efficient, placing the clamp over his tongue, and then tightening it until it was pretty uncomfortable. Then she brought out the needle and Face had to look away before he fainted or vomited. It looked like the end of a hypodermic injection, but bigger. A lot bigger.
"Okay, on the count of 3." He already had his eyes shut tight, but he knew Murdock was watching with wide-eyed fascination. He wondered in his head if he should be worried about how enthusiastic Murdock was about causing him pain, and by the time that thought had ended the piercer had already reached one.
It hurt. It bloody hurt, and he was going to make sure Murdock knew it afterwards, but it wasn't as bad as he had expected, and once the needle was through he was surprised at how most of the tenseness flooded out of him. She had been extremely quick about it, and by the time he realised just how much it hurt it was already over.
He barely registered when she released the clamp, although afterwards he could recall just how relieving that was. He tried to pay attention as she cut the end off the needle, threaded the bar into it and pulled the needle back through, taking the jewellery with it, before efficiently screwing on the ball.
"There, all done." She said brightly, then moved back to clear away the tools. Face hesitated to pulled his tongue back in, grimacing a little at the pain as well as how long the bar was. He could also feel and taste that his mouth was quickly filling with blood.
"Sink's over there, with glasses for water. Just gently rinse your mouth out." She told him, and he nodded silently, quickly getting up and making his way to the sink to spit out the blood. It looked like a hell of a lot, but he guessed a lot of it was saliva as well. Someone was handing him a paper cup of water, and he looked over to see Murdock at his side. He took the cup and gave the pilot an `I'm going to kill you' glare before gratefully rinsing out his mouth with the icy water. And if Murdock was fazed by the look he didn't show it.
After that the piercer gave him a pamphlet on aftercare, explained when to come back to get the bar changed and then wished them well. She didn't seem offended at all that Face didn't even attempt to say goodbye. Speech seemed beyond him at that point.
In fact, he didn't even try to speak until two days later once the swelling had gone down. He had no desire to sound like an idiot, even in front of Murdock, so it wasn't until after dinner (noodle soup) the next day that he felt he had full control of his speech again. Murdock, for his part, was being very nice and gracious, although he had point blank refused to kiss Face after they had got out the studio (Face had only tried because he though the pilot would deserve it since his tongue was still bleeding a little and he couldn't get the taste of blood out of his mouth.)
"I think you owe me now." He grumbled slowly, feeling out the words carefully. Murdock looked delighted to hear him again, despite the words.
"Face! You're speaking to me again!" He said brightly, moving around to throw his arms around the blond, only to get held at arm's length by his face.
"I was never not sp-" The conman shut up quick with wide eyes, meeting Murdock's with a horrified expression. The pilot stared back for a few seconds before cracking up laughing, eventually laughing so hard he doubled over holding his ribs. It probably wasn't very fair for him to find it so funny, but Face's expression at realising that he was pronouncing his S's with a prominent lisp was priceless.
"Murdock! It's not funny!" The lisp on the `it's' only made Murdock laugh harder, until finally Face stalked out of the room, cheeks red in embarrassment.
After that he spoke as little as possible until the lisp had faded. It took about 3 days, and by that time he was back eating proper food and the sharp pain had settled to a vague ache. However, the bad side to his tongue healing and the swelling going down was that now the bar was about an inch too long in his mouth and he kept accidentally biting it when eating. Which hurt, and after a few days it had him cursing every time he did it. Not to mention it made anything like intimate kisses awkward and difficult until finally Face couldn't even be bothered to try. And he made sure Murdock knew it was all his fault.
But after another week, even Face was getting tired of guilting the pilot and was missing being close to him, and the day that they finally went back to the piercing studio to get the bar changed couldn't come quick enough.
Face had some reservation about getting the bar changed, wondering if it was going to hurt, or if the smaller bar wasn't going to feel right and this would have all been for nothing. Murdock had already agreed that if the smaller bar was uncomfortable, or he couldn't get used to it, then he was allowed to take it out.
As it turned out, it was all something over nothing. Changing the jewellery was nothing, just a little strange when the bar was out and hole through his tongue felt...cold was the only way to describe it. And at first the new bar felt tight and restrictive, but after 10 minutes it faded and Face was surprised to find that he could barely even feel it was there. With the large bar he had constantly been aware of it there. But now it was almost like he didn't even have it.
Murdock had thankfully waited until they were back behind closed doors before grabbing Face (he had at last learned that the conman got grouchy at public displays of affection). Face knew that Murdock was likely more interested in the piercing than the kiss itself, but nevertheless it was a relief after over a week of no contact. And it was also a relief that the bar was no longer in the way. Face could feel it, sure, but it fit snuggly against his tongue and wasn't trying to move independently, so he hardly even noticed it.
When they finally broke for air, the broad grin on the pilot's face made the blond roll his eyes. He obviously approved.
"I think this makes us even now." Murdock told him, pressing the conman further against the wall, but stopped when Face pushed him back and let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Setting you up with what I thought was going to be a lovely young woman so doesn't come close to what you put me through," He told Murdock, prodding his chest to get the point across, "No, Murdock, now you owe me."
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And the thing about the lisp was what happened to me. I had a really bad lisp for about a week afterwards.
Fun trivia: the man who pierced my tongue smelled like porridge.
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