Marc-André was living his dream.

And so was Rafael.

That's what they were talking about, sat on Marc-André's couch. They were watching that show about tattoos, and Rafael had started to explain to Marc-André how much this job was more than just a job to him: it was a real passion.

Of course, Marc-André directly agreed with him; after all, he could completely relate to that feeling. He couldn't picture himself doing something else than painting. He had to, at the beginning, and he knew that this part of his life was not written on his Wikipedia page. He had to do basic jobs when he arrived in Barcelona, because he needed to pay his rent and that his paintings were not very famous at the time. Rafael was surprised to hear that, but in a good way. It was breaking the myth that he had built around Marc-André. He was a human being, not a superhero, and he had to work hard to arrive where he was today.

It was reassuring, in a way.

"How did you react when Lionel told you that he wanted to get a tattoo of one of my paintings?" Marc-André suddenly asked, and Rafael smiled.

"I really didn't expect it. People usually have pictures of what they want, but a painting...that's completely new. I promised him that'll find you so he could get his tattoo."

"How sweet of you."

"I didn't know you'd be that implicated in this," Rafael laughed, and Marc-André raised an eyebrow.

"Do you mean my involvement with the tattoo artist or...?"

"No. Well, that too. But I mean...you wanting to see Lionel getting tattooed, those kind of things."

Marc-André smiled.

"You know...of course I care particularly about that particular tattoo because it is one of my paintings, and I really wanted to see the result of it as a tattoo, I don't know if it makes sense. But actually, it's more than that. It's just...the tattoo itself. I am a painter but I love all the different types of art, so I am really interested in tattoos. They tell a story. Even when people randomly decide to get a tattoo "just because they like it" ; it's already a story in itself. And I don't know what my paintings on Lionel's skin means, and I never will, but I've loved to be a witness of the creation of this tattoo. So thank you for...I don't know, for searching me instead of having told him immediately that it was impossible."

"It was not impossible. Complicated but not impossible. All the great stories are, aren't they?"

Rafael agreed. Because it was true. All the great stories are.

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