Ink and Holes, Wednesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had been eighteen when she'd gotten her first tattoo, a silhouette of a gymnast with a rainbow ribbon above her head. It had been a tipsy nod to her alter-ego as Banzai, gotten with Anders on a chilly day in January. Tattoos two and three had been added a few months after she'd returned to the island: seven tally marks on the inside of her left wrist and a small circle on her right shoulder with names written in Hangul inside of it. Those were tributes to the fallen and reminders of what hubris could lead to.

Today was a sunny day in October, almost twenty-two months since she'd gotten her first and barely six months since she'd gotten her last, Kathy stood inside Ink and Holes, idly flipping through their books of completed piercings and tattoos. A piece of paper with the design for her fourth tattoo was tucked into her jacket pocket, but if she could find a way to improve it, why not?

[Kathy's here with one, but open to other customers or random passersby!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"Finding what you're looking for yet?"

Dante had no tattoos; they came right off his skin every time he healed. Didn't mean he couldn't poke around, snickering quietly at a picture of a badly-done duck tattoo before coverup.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy pulled out her drawing and passed it over to him. It was simple, five stars connected by four lines in a rough W-shape. Cassiopeia, Queen of the Night Sky. "I drew it the day after we talked about it," she said. "It's not a hard design. Though now I'm debating whether I should make it fancier or something. Some of these designs are really pretty."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sometimes simple is good," Dante said, taking the design and eyeing it. "Random shit's distracting."

[spin_kick_snap]

"But a smattering of smaller stars around it..." Kathy said, glancing down at a particularly gorgeous tattoo of a crescent moon.

Which, okay, would just obscure the meaning of her tattoo. But it was awfully pretty.

Maybe in a few years, she'd come and get a fifth tattoo, one that was just for decoration.

[rebelseekspizza]

"You're already getting a constellation, greedy ass," Dante teased, handing the design back.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I may have five polar stars but there are plenty of others orbiting in my celestial spheres," Kathy told him. Primly.

...And well aware she'd left that wide open for him.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Is there something me and Anders need to know?" Dante asked, barely managing to avoid cracking up. "I thought what we had with your orbital spheres was special!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's not my fault I'm surrounded by heavenly bodies that just fall into my orbit," she said, grinning back at him. "Don't worry though, Dante. It's nothing that's gonna affect your planetary alignment."

The tattoo artist sighed loudly from where she was cleaning her tools. C'mon, kids, she didn't need this today.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I think we're gonna have to check on our planetary alignment real careful," Dante joked back, ignoring the artist for the moment.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy glanced over, but seeing that the artist looked exasperated but not annoyed, didn't feel bad about doing the same.

Look, this was an indelible mark going on her skin. Wanting to stay on the artist's good side just made sense.

"You know as well as I do that it's outta this world," she said with a small laugh. "One could even say...stellar?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I definitely shoot for the stars," Dante said. Innocently.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm over the moon when you agree with me," Kathy said, clasping her hands over her heart.

That artist finished up her preparations and gestured to the seat. "You ready then?" she called.

Kathy looked at the design, still in Dante's hands. "I should stick with simple?" she checked.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah," Dante said, passing the design on. "You can always add other stuff later."

[spin_kick_snap]

"...That's a really good point," Kathy said. "I'd never even thought of that option."

Kathy could sometimes get tunnel vision, news at eleven.

Taking the design, she handed it over to the artist as she sat in the chair. "On my chest, please," she said, having been through this several times now. She started unbuttoning her shirt. "About that size, but with the third one over my heart." She glanced down at her chest and added, "Or, as close to my heart as you can get."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante smiled, wandering over to stand beside Kathy. He said nothing to the tattoo artist as she quickly and efficiently talked them through the process.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nodded, handing her shirt over to Dante as she listened. Most of it was the same as the other times she'd gotten inked, but she liked the refresher anyway.

"Will it hurt?" she asked.

The artist considered that for a moment. "Nah," she said. "Not as much as the one on your hip. That was right over bone. This'll sting, but it's small and simple. How do you want it oriented?"

Kathy drew an invisible line with her finger over her skin. "Like this," she said, kind of outlining the side of her left breast. "Third star on my heart, the other two over my rib cage above and below."

"Just stars?" the artist checked. "Nothing special in the design there?

"Oh god," Kathy snorted, glancing up at Dante. "I could put the initials and see what weird words I could spell out."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Think there's a bad word in that?" Dante asked, sounding both thoughtful and amused.

[spin_kick_snap]

"There's, uhh...reads. Dares?" Kathy said, arranging and rearranging the letters in her head. "I'm not getting 'dears' tattoo'd on my tit. Too twee."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Rades?" Dante said, then pulled a face. "Hm, no. ...Arsed?"

Ahahaha. Arsed.

[spin_kick_snap]

Both Kathy and the tattoo artist laughed at that. "Okay, no initials," Kathy told her, merrily. "Arsed is the best we can do and I don't need that on my chest."

"Sounds good," the other woman said, positioning Kathy in the chair. "So, I can't guarantee that the modesty cover is going to keep everything hidden, considering where this tatt is going. That all right?"

Kathy glanced over to Dante with a smirk. "You gonna be okay with that?" she asked him. "Or do you wanna preserve your virtue and step out to get us coffees or something for afterwards?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I dunno," Dante said, looking Oh So Very Thoughtful. "I mean, your tits are lethal."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And you might end up with an unobstructed view of one of them," Kathy agreed, Very Concerned.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm not sure I can take it," Dante said, making wide eyes at the artist.

[spin_kick_snap]

"He's really very delicate," Kathy assured her.

The artist did not look convinced. "You can use the other tattoo chair if you need a fainting couch," she said wryly, prepping the gun.

Kathy snickered behind her hand.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Thanks," Dante said merrily.

And then hopped up on the other chair, but mostly just to watch.