Turtle Girl (IC)

[Electra]

It was the very beginning of the work day at Knight's Ink, which of course mean that most businesses had been open for a few hours already. Strange hours were ever the domain of the tattoo artist. Almost as soon as the door was unlocked, a mousy young woman walked in, wearing faded jeans and a black t-shirt where a stick figure proclaimed that he was about to try science. With her hands cupped against her elbows, she hugged her arms to her chest and surveyed the shop through the few loose strands of dishwater-blond hair that had fallen into her eyes.

Despite her casual, near-slovenly appearance, the attention she paid the shop was very keen indeed. Before she spoke a word to anyone, she walked around the waiting room, checking out the trash cans, the license posted on the wall of the shop, and the portfolio book on the front counter. Only then did she look around for employees.

[Sandman XI]

An early customer, Wesley thought happily, well this is going to be a good day. He had just got the sweet smell of incense and sound of a light reggae beat to fill the waiting area and unlocked the door for the girl. Wesley smiled as she entered, "Good morning," he greeted her enthusiastically as he walked to the counter with, "Welcome to Knight's Ink. I'm Wesley. How are you today?" The girl looked as if she was being protective of herself, he smiled as he understood. Most first time visitors were like this. He approached the girl, not intimidatingly so, but more warmly, not in her personal space, but close enough to speak softly and empathicly, "There's no need to worry. You're safe here! Now tell me, what brings you here?"

[Electra]

The young woman's eyes darted over to Wesley as soon as he began speaking, and stayed glued to him the entire time, as though she were trying to look into his head and size him up. The look was quite at odds with the way she carried herself, but her voice, when she spoke, was soft enough to hardly be audible. "You're the proprietor here, right?" she asked, with no real doubt in her voice. "I want to get a tattoo."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley could barely hear the girl, but he could make out what she said. She was very articulate, just low voiced. He nodded happily when she asked of his position. She wanted a tattoo. He couldn't tell by strait looking at her, but it was pretty obvious that this was her first time. "Well then," he spoke trying to ensure confidence in her, "You have come to the right place, m'lady." He kindly offered her a seat in the waiting room, walking over to a chair and sitting in one himself to show her that it was OK. "First up," he said looking up to her and patting a chair next to him, "Please forgive me, I did not catch your name. I would feel very disingenuous if I kept calling you just plain old 'lady'. I like to feel that my customers are my friends at least. So, what would your name be?"

[Electra]

"My name is Gina Evans," she told him, taking a seat when he did. She sat like a lady, legs crossed at the ankle, and even though she wore jean rather than a skirt, she reflectively ran her hands over her knees as though smoothing a hem before folding them in her lap. "I've looked at your portfolio, you do good work," she told him. "I want to know if you can fit me in today for a small tattoo." The shop was empty now, sure, but that didn't mean it wouldn't fill up in another hour at lunchtime.

[Sandman XI]

"Very nice to meet you Gina," Wesley said with a nod and a smile. He sat in his chair a little more loosely, crossing his hands and twiddling his thumbs. He loved the word of mouth business modal. Sure it didn't bring in as much as the few advertisements he'd put in the local trade sheets, but it did bring in the more vocal and loyal people. "Now," he said sitting up a bit after she told him of the size of the tattoo, "is there anything in particular you want? If you describe it I can draw it down for you and you can see what it could look like in rough sketch and we can clean it up as you wish. How's that sound?"

[Electra]

"Yes, I do." She reached into the purse she had with her, an understated but quite expensive name brand messenger bag and withdrew a folded sheet of paper, handing it to him. "I'd like these, traced as precisely as you can." The tattoo was not of a picture or an abstract design, but instead was two lines of characters. The first line was her name, "Regina Elaine Evans," all in capitals and in a neat font with a slight serif. The second set, down on the next line appeared to be an equation. "I'd like it on my thigh. Can you do that?" she asked him.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley smiled and waited for her to get the paper. That really is a nice looking bag, he thought, where have I seen that before? Taking the sheet as it was handed to him, he unfolded the paper and listened to her talk while he looked at it. A bit of a confused look crossed his face as he wondered what the math problem was. "Of course, Gina, I can do that," he smiled, "if you don't mind me asking, what does this second line mean? Also, what does it mean to you? People's first tattoos are usually meaningful to them in someway, so I like to ask this question."

[Electra]

"It's... it's the uncertainty principle," Gina told him, her voice getting even more quiet, if that were possible. "It's complicated, but it really comes down to the fact that the more you look at what something is doing, the harder it is to see where it's coming from. And if you try to see where it's located, you could let it speed away. And my name is... just my name. For identification." She shrugged a little bit, knotting her fingers more tightly in her lap.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley nodded sagely, "Very interesting." He looked at the drawing again and then back to her. She seemed very introverted. Unsure of herself. He made it policy to ask the next question to everyone who looked like they were unsure. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Sure he could go on and tattoo everyone that came in the shop, but he had ethics. "I'm not going to deny you this if you want it. You seem nervous though." He smiled warmly trying to look in her eyes, "Like I said, there's nothing to be worried about here. I would never let a friend of mine get hurt."

[Electra]

Annoyance flashed into Gina's hazel eyes, though it seemed mostly self-directed. "I'm not nervous," she assured him brusquely, deliberately raising her voice to a more conversational level. "Your license is current and your building seems clean. I'll of course ask to see the needle as you're unwrapping it, but I'm sure there won't be any problems. I have a very high tolerance for pain. If you don't mind, I do prefer you stencil the design on first so I can approve the spelling and layout. I'm not very comfortable with having it freehanded."

[Sandman XI]

"I'm sorry, Gina," Wesley said sincerely when she looked annoyed, "I didn't mean to upset you." He nodded to everything she said, "Standard procedure, everything you mentioned. Stay right there. I'll go get the sketch paper and you can watch the magic happen." He smiled to her and popped up. Quickly going to get the stencil paper. A few seconds later, Gina saw a group of tattooed and/or pierced people walk in (and one of them had very... unhuman features, of which no one minded). Wesley greeted them. They were obviously employees. One went behind the counter and the others went back in the back to set up their work spaces. Wesley popped back over to Gina. "And I'm back," he scooted the chair closer to her so she could see him drawing. He looked to Gina with a smile, "If you have any questions, please feel free. Now first I'm going to draw a rough draft then smooth it out." He looked to the pad and began to draw.

[Electra]

Gina shrank back into her chair as though trying to blend in with the wallpaper when the rest of the employees came in, but seemed to relax fractionally when none of them paid much attention to her. She kept a close eye on what Wesley was doing as he drew, watching as he added a tiny bit of artistry to the stark design in the form of balance and curve. It didn't look very different from the typed lines she'd brought in, but it did look like someone had put some care and thought into it. She nodded, approving the design on paper.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley was no computer. He couldn't match the typeset exactly, but for what he couldn't do with the sterility of it all, he tried to make it look appealing. When he was done he showed the design to Gina with a smile, "How's that?" He was glad that she liked it. "Now, we'll give it a minute or so to dry. When it gets done I can apply this to you temporarily to see if you like it. I can apply it to your hand or arm, or since you want this on your thigh I can take you into a work room and apply it there. Whatever works for you." He smiled and nodded matter-of-factly. "And if you like it we can set you up to make it more permanent."

[Electra]

"A work room," Gina requested, looking around at the employees and the customers beginning to trickle in. She followed him to one of the private areas in the back, which was a slightly more secure venue in which to remove her pants. Removing her shoes, she tucked them under a folding chair, then pulled off her jeans and folded them on top of the chair. Underneath the jeans, she'd had the foresight to put on boxer-style shorts, so she was still covered with perfect decency. She lay down on the work table on her side and closed her eyes, pointing to the area on the side of her left thigh where she wanted the tattoo placed.

[Sandman XI]

Wesley hummed along with the soft beat that wafted throughout the shop. While Gina took her shoes and pants off, he snapped some gloves on and began to cut around the design. "We'll have this done in no time," he smiled looking at his work then back to Gina. "Alright, I'll tell you everything I'm about to do as I do it, just to let you know what's happening. Just tell me to be quiet if I start sounding boring." Grabbing a bottle of green soap and giving it a squirt onto a paper towel, "First we gotta clean the area that we're gonna apply the paper to. This'll feel a bit cold." He lightly but quickly rubbed the area that she pointed to. "Now," he said taking a disposable razor, "even though you don't have hair their, we're gonna deep clean that area just in case." Again with the lightness he shaved, clearing the area. "If you look at it, it's very formulaic," he said drying the area with a clean paper towel, "Sometimes it gets to where you don't even know how much time has passed." He chuckled and grabbed a deodorant stick, "This is where we get a little bit of stick for the paper," Applying the stick to the area where the temporary tattoo would be, "Don't worry, it's unscented. No smell at all!" He stood, "Now for this next part I need you to stand. Reason being is that it'll move around. The design looks different from standing up than sitting down." When she stood up he knelt down, "Alright, just gonna lightly apply this. It may tickle a little bit." He lightly rubbed his finger across the design, "Gotta make sure there's no bubbles. YOu don't want it to look broken." After it was flat he lightly pressed his hand against it, "Now to make sure it's tightly on there. And then we pull it off." Lightly he pulled it off, "There we go," he said standing up, "Now we're gonna let that dry for about five minutes. You can't touch it or sit. That'll mess it up. But if you wanna look at it, we have a standing mirror."

[Electra]

Gina nodded and stepped over to the mirror. She frowned a little at the merciless view of her own reflection, then narrowed her focus to concentrate on the tattoo itself. After studying it for a long moment, she nodded. "Yes, that's how I want it to look," she told him. "And as dark black as you can make it. I want a high degree of contrast, so it will be very visible." She was sure the talented artist could do some very subtle shades that might suit her better, but vivid and obvious was the entire point of this tattoo.

[Sandman XI]

Stark black? Wesley guessed it was to stand out. Surely those others who would see it would find it very bold. He nodded and smiled, "Alright, Gina, we'll start on that as soon as it dries." Wesley tried to make a little conversation as he set up the equipment, but Gina wasn't much for small talk. Never say he didn't try. As he set up, he showed her the steps in doing so. He knew it eased some first timers to know what was going on exactly. The needles the machine, down to the vaseline and cleaner. He wasn't analytical about it, just enough to clear her head. "Now," he said as the prep was ready, "just hop up on the chair." He jacked his stool up to where he could reach her as she did. The buzz of the needle started "Here we go," he said with a reassuring tone.

[Electra]

Gina watched with extreme interest as Wesley prepared his materials, taking special interest in how he unwrapped the sterile single-use needle and applied it to his clean tattoo gun. Reassured that conditions were clean and sterile, she climbed up onto the table and turned onto her side, closing her eyes to wait for the tattoo to begin. "I'm ready," she told him, her voice soft, but resolute. Interestingly enough, her skin seemed to be universally pale all over, as though her face, hands, and arms saw no more sun than the skin normally covered by clothes.

[Sandman XI]

Rubbing some vasoline on the area that would be tattooed, Wesley began his work. Marking the first like on Gina, he spoke up, "You'll feel a little buzz against the skin." He traced and wiped as he went along, "but it's the noise that you feel really. Not anything of real pain. You get used to it after your first time." He smiled and chuckled, "The real doozy is coloring. That won't take long though." He hoped that his words were comforting for the first timer. Usually he and the one getting the tattoo would talk as he did his work, but Gina didn't seem the type for small talk. Oh well, couldn't hurt to try. "So, you doin OK? I mean, you're quite awesome for a first timer. Most are usually freaked out. But you? You're a trooper."

[Electra]

Gina didn't look as though she believed him, especially when he started the tattooing, but although she grimaced, she didn't flinch or protest. "Another reason not to use color," she said, keeping her eyes closed while he did his work. "Though I think you're going to have to include a few shots with the tattoo if you want people to believe the part about not feeling it. I'm just going to have to wait till afterwards for mine."

[Sandman XI]

Wesley stopped and smiled, looking to Gina. He spoke with a firm but relaxing voice, "Don't give up on me now. We're almost there." He looked around and fished up a stress ball that looked like an angry red Chinese dragon. Handing it to her, he nodded, "Here, let old Red take the pain for you. Just give him a squeeze when you feel it. Just try not to give him too hard of a time." He winked playfully and continued his work. "Got any type of music you listen to? I can flip that on. Anything to make you comfortable."

[Electra]

"I'm sure you haven't got any of the stuff I like," Gina replied flatly, squeezing the ball in her hand. She wasn't very strong, though, and didn't look to be in much danger of doing it any harm. "How long do I have to keep a bandage on this until it heals up?" she asked him. "Should I stick to loose pants or shorts until it's better?" She kept her eyes closed, but turned in the direction of his voice as though she could see him anyway.

[Sandman XI]

"Yeah, you won't be wearing pants any time soon," Wesley said nonchalantly as he started the retrace, "Well, at least tight ones. No, you gotta keep this from drying out. After I'm done, I'll show you in detail. Though you should stock up on vasoline and soap for the next couple of days." He looked up to see if she was OK. That poor stress ball, it didn't know what hit it. "Just a minute or so left. You can keep it up, right?" He worked on getting the finer parts done and, true to his word, it was done rather quickly. Well, in his eyes, he wasn't sure how long it felt to her. "There's we're done. Not so bad, is it," he said while cleaning up the minor spots. He grabbed a hand held mirror and showed her the work when she sat up. "Do you mind if I take a picture for my portfolio?"

[Electra]

"I'd prefer you didn't, since it's got my IRL powerword on it," Gina said dryly, getting up and going over to look at the tattoo. "My real full name," she explained, realizing that most people probably didn't speak internet nerd. "You've got far better pieces in your portfolio than some simple letters anyway. I researched you extensively before I decided to come here." She looked over the tattoo in the mirror and nodded. "Good. It looks like I wanted.