okay SO. you know how more than a couple of people have started getting ‘know no shame’ tattoos (which is just. amazing. im seriously considering having that be my next one). and that the original meditations is probably almost definitely burned either in miranda’s house or on the walrus.
…….. imagine james getting it as a tattoo. teaching thomas how to do the tattooing and thomas doing it. over james’ heart. and after it’s healed, every time thomas sees it he kisses it – it becomes a ritual between them. even when james is wearing a shirt and thomas can’t see it, he still knows it’s there. imagine him just. resting his hand on it while they’re cuddling. and when thomas kisses it, or touches it, he will sometimes say ‘my truest love’
Here have mini fic
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It took what felt like an age to finish, his skin sore and sensitive and he was aching. Thomas’ hands had stayed steady through the process and James had never been more grateful that the love of his life had such attention to detail.
When he had first presented the idea to Thomas it had seemed ridiculous, like a fantasy destined to be forgotten. But Thomas had gotten that look in his eyes, the one that said he would not rest until it had been fulfilled. They had bought ink and a set of needles the next day. Thomas practiced over and over on anything resembling human skin until he had perfected both the technique and the pattern. His memory had become patched, moments being lost both from long ago and recently, after his time in Bedlam. But that mark was as fresh as the day he had seen it, that much James knew.
It was, of course, the symbol on the copy of Meditations Thomas had gifted him so many years ago. James had mourned its loss and couldn’t help but apologise that he hasn’t been able to keep it. Thomas had shook his head and traced the pattern with a finger over James’ heart. “It’s in here,” he said, “with my love for you, and your strength. It’s never truly gone.”
James stood before the mirror after the pain subsided and gasped.
The ink was dark, a swirl of outstanding beauty against the paleness of his skin. Thomas came up behind him, kissed his shoulder, and traced a finger around the edge where it wouldn’t sting.
“Do you like it?” Thomas asked, uncertainty clouding his voice.
James answered him with a kiss.
Later, when the skin had healed and it wouldn’t cause discomfort, Thomas placed his hand over the tattoo and quoted their beloved text, breathing the words into James’ skin. He kissed the tattoo whenever he saw it. James felt a surge of love each and every time he did.
“Now it truly is part of me. I only wish I’d had it done before… then I could have touched this and thought of you, carried you with me instead of being alone,” he admitted.
Thomas hugged him tight, breathed in the salt and sweat of his skin and shook his head. “I’ll never be parted from you again. You are, and always shall be, my truest love.”
James fell asleep with Thomas curled around him, one of Thomas’ large calloused hands placed over his heart.
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Meg's Mumbles 