Inks and Holes, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Unlike some people, Kathy had no intentions of attempting to pierce her own ears. The idea of doing it in a bathroom with--what, a sewing needle?--sounded like a terrible idea. So she'd called Inks and Holes to make an appointment to get her upper cartilage pierced a few times and, after with checking in with Anders during class, made one for him, too. She didn't want him to get sepsis, okay?

Especially since he hadn't even thought to ice his ear first, and he had ice powers.

"You sure your offer to hold my hand wasn't for your benefit?" Kathy teased, looking around at the parlor. Some of the 'Asian writings' on the wall were making her smirk. "I don't want you to be scared while we do this."

[Kathy's here for one, but it's open! And also extensively SP'd]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

Anders iced his ear! Just with an ice cube instead of his powers and yeah, he was an idiot.

"I've done it before," he reminded her, from where he was thumbing through a book of tattoo designs. "I'll be fine. I'm just worried about your delicate nature."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not the one who's looking particularly delicate right now," Kathy pointed out mercilessly. "Did you fail to commit mischief because you were too drunk to do any?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders, who was still a little green around the gills, groaned. "We were perfectly mischievous!" he claimed. "We got asked to leave by the bartender."

Because it was closing time. Stay hard, boys.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, such a terror," Kathy said, waggling her fingers at him. "Let me guess. You threw up first?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders thought back. "... no, that was after we left the bar," he said, then aww'd at his page in the tattoo catalog. "Kath, maybe I should get a tattoo, too. I think I need this one."

Even he wasn't sure how serious he was.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oooh, that is cute," Kathy said, glancing over his shoulder. "Not my name on your butt, though? Anders, I'm hurt."

[not_every_mage]

"How do you know your name's not already on my butt?" Anders joked, and showed Kathy the next tattoo. "This is even better."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Aww, but it doesn't have a heart!" Kathy protested. "The heart's adorable, it ought to be your Tumblr avatar." She flicked through another book, snickered, and showed him the symbols. "You sure you don't want this I'm not sure what they think it says, but it actually reads 'noodle.'"

[not_every_mage]

Anders laughed into his hand.

"See, that's why I'd get a cat," he declared. "I know what a cat means. If I got 'noodle' written on my arm it would be on purpose."

The piercer cleared her throat, as if to remind them they were there for a reason.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Right," Kathy said, flushing. She closed the tattoo book and slid it back in place. "Though, I think I'd like to get a tattoo someday, myself. Not entirely sure of what though."

Rainbows would probably be involved, though. For obvious reasons.

[not_every_mage]

"Not my name on your arse?" Anders asked hopefully, and turned to the piercer to see which of them she wanted to take first.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Have you been sneaking peeks at my butt?" Kathy teased. "Then you have no idea whether or not it's already there, do you?"

The piercer gestured Anders towards the chair. "What am I doin' here?" she asked.

[not_every_mage]

"Just the right ear," he said, gesturing at it. "I had it done before but it sealed over, see?"

She probably could see: In addition to the dimple from the original piercing, there were still some tiny scabs from his last try.

[spin_kick_snap]

The piercer just sighed. "You tried to do it yourself, didn't you?" she asked, sounding tragic about the entire operation. She had a nose piercing and fourteen earrings in her ear, including an outer helix in her right ear, and the tragus and a double forward helix in the left. "That's a terrible idea, kid. Always come to a professional."

"That's why I brought him here," Kathy said, looking innocent. "Because I didn't want him trying to pierce his ear in the boys bathroom again."

That was a long-suffering sigh being directed your way, Anders.

[not_every_mage]

"I disinfected things," Anders protested, feeling defensive in the presence of all this feminine disapproval. "Anyhow, I'm here now, and I promise not to let it heal over again."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good," the piercer said. "You want a hoop or a stud?"

She eyed Anders ear and made a small mark very close to where the original piercing had been, then held up a mirror. "Here good?"

Meanwile, Kathy had gone back to flipping through the tattoo book again. "Here's another simple one," she said, placing the book where Anders could see it without moving his head. "You know, if you really want one, we're already here..."

[not_every_mage]

"That works," Anders said to the piercer, than attempted to look at the sketch without moving.

"Hold still," she sighed at him, in a tone that suggested he might lose his ear if he didn't.

He winced an apology. "I'm not sure," he said to Kathy. "The sleeping cat spiral's got a certain elegance to it, doesn't it?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Speaking of elegance, check these--"

"Please don't distract him," the piercer said, picking up the hollow needle and preparing to make the hole. "Trepanning costs extra."

Kathy set the book aside and nodded. "It can wait," she agreed, leaning forward a little to watch. "It doesn't need icing?" she asked.

"No need," the piercer replied. "Take a deep breath and count to three," she told Anders.

She was going to stick him on two.

[not_every_mage]

Anders' fingers clenched the arms of the piecing chair. "One, two -- was that it?"

"It was," the pierce said, with a certain kind of matter-of-fact pride. "We use this,like, herbal numbing cream. Works great. Take a look in the mirror."

Anders looked at his reflection, and grinned at the golden circle in one ear.

"Perfect."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Looks good," Kathy said, nodding at him. "Even a bit rakish. Exactly what you need after a night of terrible life choices out with the boys, right?"

[not_every_mage]

Anders laughed against the back of his hand. "Which is probably why I shouldn't get a tattoo today," he decided. "I think I'm at my Terrible Life Choices limit."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Is this your way of saying you're not sure whether you got one last night?" Kathy was trying to keep a straight face. "Are you any sorer than normal anywhere? Like on your lower back, say?"

Yeah, she was picturing him with a tramp stamp and it was a glorious mental image.

"Though I suppose if you're willing to wait a little while longer, I can try my hand at designing you the perfect tattoo. With cats! I'd definitely put cats in it! You trust me, right?"

It would be the Lisa Frank of tramp stamps.

[not_every_mage]

Anders made a face at her. "Not when you ask me that way, I don't."

Smart boy.

[spin_kick_snap]

Now he was getting a poutyface and sad!Kathy eyes. "You don't?" she asked, complete with wibbly lower lip.

The piercer snorted. "Get up?" she asked Anders. "So I can get her pierced, too?"

You crazy kids.

[not_every_mage]

"Right, sorry," Anders said, genuinely apologetic, and poked Kathy in the arm on his way out of the chair.

"Didn't your mother ever tel you your face would freeze like that?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy, being the mature superhero she was, stuck her tongue out at him for the poke before taking his place in the chair. Apparently, her mother had never warned her about the perils of doing that, either. "Though now you've got me checking out terrible life choices of my own. Except for the part where my parents will probably kill me just for getting my helixes pierced, never mind a tattoo."

[not_every_mage]

"Would they see it if you got it on a shoulderblade or someplace like that?" Anders wondered aloud, studying the design. "And would you get them all, or just one?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Just one," Kathy said. "I was thinking maybe on my hip? I like the one in the top left or the one just beneath it. Keep the silhouette, but get the ribbon done in rainbows, you know?"

[not_every_mage]

"That'd be really you," Anders nodded. "I say you should do it. Make a terrible life choice for me."

The healer snapped the wristband of her glove. "You ready, hon?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm ready," Kathy said, and only the way she started rubbing her thumb over her palm gave away how nervous she was. Not getting her ears pierced, exactly, but what it meant. This was a direct rebellion against her parents, nerve-wracking and heady at the same time. "Three in one ear, two in the other? Umm, please."

The piecer nodded and bent over to make the marks, angling Kathy's head to the side. "Did you pick out the earrings you want in?"

"Uhh..." Kathy had been too busy helping Anders find ridiculous tattoos. "Not exactly? Just studs would be fine? Nothing too big?" Glancing at Anders, she mouthed, 'Help!'

[not_every_mage]

"Give us a second," Anders said, and went to the display of piercing earrings. "Do you want silver or gold? Or they have birthstones."

He said the last word as if he'd never heard of such a thing.

"Um ... December, right? Blue zircon, tanzanite, or turquoise. Turquoise is prettiest."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Gold. And turquoise is good," Kathy said. "And...a pair of all three, I guess? I'm getting five holes, I might as well go colorful all the way, right?"

"These holes look good?" the piercer asked, as she had with Anders. Kathy went to nod, caught herself, and said, "Sure. I think they'll look good there. Yes. Awesome. I can do this."

[not_every_mage]

"You can do this," Anders echoed with a nod that made his raw ear sting. "Are you all right? I was joking about holding your hand, but if you need that --"

It wasn't hard to tell Kathy had some nerves to overcome.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm--not scared of it hurting?" Kathy said, which wasn't exactly a no. "Just--I mean, it's dumb to think of this as some kind of huge step or something--I mean, it's just ears. Specifically my ears."

This sounded like an argument she'd been practicing.

[not_every_mage]

"Ah." Anders wasn't always the most incredibly insightful person, but it wasn't hard to figure out what Kathy was getting at. "And you don't think your parents are going to remember they're your ears when they see it."


The piercer suddenly remembered she had equipment to clean in a back room and bustled away. Loudly.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged in that helpful ways of teenagers when they didn't want to acknowledge the truth of something. "It took me years to convince them to let me pierce my ears the first time. I had to place in a meet before they'd even consider it and even then it was nearly a no because it wasn't a gold and my Dad declared that the original bargain had been if I'd come in first. They're gonna take this as a sign of...I don't know. That I've turned into some kind of raging tramp who drinks and does drugs and is throwing away her future or something, probably."

[not_every_mage]

"I'm sorry," Anders said quietly, and reached up to touch his earring again as he thought how lucky he was that, at least, had never been a concern. Even when he'd lived at home, his parents weren't quite so strict as Kathy's. "I don't know what to tell you about that, because I've never been through it. Mainly I think they're morons, and you shouldn't let how they feel affect what you do."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy frowned at him. "They're not morons, they're just...protective." The defense was instinctive. "And...I'm not, you know? I'm here, I'm getting my ears pierced, I'm just...concerned. About their reaction."

To the point where her palms were a little damp, but pssht, that didn't mean anything.

[not_every_mage]

Anders sighed inwardly. "Kathy, I'm not here to argue about your parents, all right?" he said. "They're your parents. I have no say in that relationship."

Even though it sounded massively messed up to him.

"Just tell me if there's anything I can do, okay?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Don't let me wimp out," Kathy said immediately. "I'm doing this. I want to do this. I'm not letting some stupid bout of nerves make me back down now."

[not_every_mage]

The piercer re-emerged, clearing her throat loudly.

"Ready?" she asked, and Anders reached to pat Kathy's shoulder.

"Moment of truth," he said. "You'll be fine. No wimping out."