The area was lit in a sort of a dark purple color. It reminded Steve of a tattoo parlor, but the variety of symbols and the configurations of pirecings were considerably more diverse than Steve had ever seen at a human equivalent.
"Welcome to "Gaerok's", it's owned by a member of my tribe and his mate," Mina explained. "Piercings and tattoos are a big part of orc culture, so when we found out it was a thing among humans too, several of our best body-artists got into the business. Though the biggest cultural tradition we have is body-scarification."
"Body-scarification?" Steve asked, a little intimidated by the imagery that elicited.
She nodded. She lifted up her shirt, revealing her midsection. On her toned stomach was some kind of runic symbol, but instead of a tattoo it was literally carved into her skin.
"My tribe's symbol," she said proudly. "This one's a rite-of-passage every orc has to go through to enter adulthood.
"It's cool, but..how bad did it hurt?" Steve asked, a little concerned.
"Pfft, not that much, but we orcs have high pain tolerance. Here, feel." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach.
Steve fought back the bit of arousal he felt at touching her skin. She had impressive abs, smooth but very firm. he ran his hand over the tribal symbol, feeling the indents in her skin. He heard a sudden, soft growl and stopped.
"Sorry, that was me," Mina confessed, though she had a bit of a smirk on her face. She put her shirt down. "Aside from the tribal symbol, it's quite common for orcs to get a variety of different body-scars throughout our lives, similar to how human get tattoos. Gaerok's started to open the process up to other mythfolk, and even humans."
"Is he worried someone might sue him if something goes wrong?" Steve asked as Mina brought him inside.
"Anybody who wants one is given a paper to read detailing possible problems and the realities of a body-mod," she explained. "It's very blunt. If you read that, sign it, and still go through with it and complain, it's your ass."
"Fair enough," he conceded, though Steve wasn't certain it was something he'd do.
"Minatok, good to see you!" The voice came from a male orc behind the counter. He was a little bigger and burlier than Mina. His face had a more bestial countenance, with bigger tusks, but not entirely inhuman. "Who's your friend?"
"Hey, Gaer," Mina greeted back. "This is Steve, he's Kaya's neighbor."
"Nice to meet you." He put his fist out.
"Bump it," Mina whispered quietly to Steve.
"Likewise," Steve said, quickly catching on and bumping the larger male's fist. "You know Kaya too?"
"Oh yeah, her old man and I go back years. Watched her and this pain-in-the-ass grow up together," he said cheekily, shifting his head at Mina.
"I apologize for nothing," Mina said with mock defiance.
Gaer laughed good-naturedly. "So what can I do for you two?"
"Well..."
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