One Hour Tattoo

Tattoos, booze, parkour and paintball. Find it all at Serpentine—a unique establishment with the flare of the 50s. (Located at 21,31).
Post Reply
Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534)
Posts: 45
Joined: 29 Jun 2016, 16:01

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534) »

The man that welcomed her certainly didn't help get rid of her nervousness either. Though she wasn't able to put a finger on it, something about him made her feel uneasy. The way he stood, his appearance? Or probably her nervousness giving everything a negative tint right now.

Not giving any more thought to it, or rather trying to focus her thoughts on something else, Alice pulled a picture out of her bag. „I've searched a bit around, and I'd like to have this as a tattoo.“ she said while unfolding the paper and placing it at the counter.

Her hands were shaking a bit again. Nothing that bothered her anymore, but others usually took it as a sign of nervousness or fear. It's not like she was completely calm, but still not that unstabe to have her hands shaking. Still, there was no helping it. Yet she didn't like people seeing that, so she put her hands in her pockets after placing the picture at the counter.

Then her eyes fell on the artwork at the walls and the folders lying on the counter. „Unless you maybe have something similar to that, then I'd be interested in seeing it.“ Again a friendly smile.
______________Image______________
Jesse Fforde
Registered User
Posts: 3487
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 09:32
CrowNet Handle: Fox

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Jesse Fforde »

Jesse watched the girl with avid curiosity; he liked to see the different ways that humans reacted. It said something about their character. This one didn't even seem to flinch, even if her hands were shaking. She was either stronger than plenty of others, or she was very good at keeping on a mask. He dragged his intense gaze from the girl in order to look at the picture she slid across the counter. The tattoo was simple enough, and one that he could pull off without any problems.

"This is nice," he said. He didn't really have anything like it - most his flash drawings were Sailor Jerry themed, or were of neotrad design. If not that, they all had mythological elements to them, and though he had a couple of images of Odin's Ravens, they were of a different style.

"I can do this one, if you're certain. Is this how big you want it? Whereabouts do you want it? And do you want it tonight?" he asked. A lot of questions, maybe, but they were all pertinent.
Image
Image
FIRE and BLOOD
Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534)
Posts: 45
Joined: 29 Jun 2016, 16:01

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534) »

Alice was happy when he said the image was nice. Of course, she was well aware that this was just his work, but it was still nice to hear that someone agreed to her choice. Even if she was sure he probably didn't care about that at all.

„A bit smaller than in the picture, about this big.“ Saying this she showed the height she had in mind with her fingers, it being about two thirds of the original height of the picture. „I want to have it here.“ This time she pointed at the area directly below the left collarbone. She had decided to wear a top that only had a sleeve on the right side, so that she could get the tattoo without having to take it off.

Thinking about his last question, she considered backing off for a moment. She could simply say she wanted to ask about the tattoo and check out the place. But she discarded the idea almost immediately. Once she had decided on something, she never backed down from her decisions. „Yes, I'd like to have it tonight.“
______________Image______________
Jesse Fforde
Registered User
Posts: 3487
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 09:32
CrowNet Handle: Fox

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Jesse Fforde »

Whether Jesse was chatty or not depended on the night. Most of the time he didn't care -- he didn't care what the customer wanted or why. He was there to do a job, so he would do it and get paid and be done with it. Other nights, he remembered why he got into this job to begin with -- he liked art. And he particularly enjoyed the meaning behind art. Not all of his tattoos had a meaning; most were there just because they looked good. Others, however, were heavy with it.

"It should only take an hour. An hour and a half, maybe. I have time," he said, gesturing toward the hallway that led to the back of the parlour; there was a wall on one side, but on the other there was a glass floor, through which one could see the parkour gym below. It gave the space a more wide-open feel, even though it lacked windows beyond the front the one.

"Go and make yourself comfortable on that first chair back there -- I'll work on getting a stencil the right size," he said with an professionally encouraging smile.
Image
Image
FIRE and BLOOD
Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534)
Posts: 45
Joined: 29 Jun 2016, 16:01

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534) »

An hour and a half. That sounded awfully long. But thinking about it, she should have expected that. A tattoo was nothing that was quickly sketched onto ones skin. And the longer it took, the better the end result would be, right?

“Alright.” she simply answered to what he said, before heading over to where he gestured towards. As she saw the first chair, she sat down, though comfortable was not really the way she would have described how she felt. Actually, how she was feeling somehow reminded her of how she was usually feeling when going to the dentist. Though that was not too bad. Unlike others, she had no aversion to dentists. Going to the dentist was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and this was more or less the same.

While waiting, she took her time to look through the glass floor at the gym. The place seemed to be really nice. Maybe she should check it out later. If it was public, for she had not really been interested in the rest of the building until now and therefore didn't look that up.
______________Image______________
Jesse Fforde
Registered User
Posts: 3487
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 09:32
CrowNet Handle: Fox

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Jesse Fforde »

It took about fifteen minutes for Jesse to re-sketch the outline of the tattoo into a stencil. It was an image that he probably could have done freehand, straight onto the girl's skin, but the customers seemed to be comforted by the presence of a stencil, especially if they'd never been to him before. Especially if they hadn't done their research and didn't know what his style was like.

Once he was done he meandered down the open hallway, holding out the stencil for the girl to take.

"Is this a good size?" he asked, moving over to one of the trolleys to set up some ink and the machine that he wanted to use. He only needed the black ink, and the two sets of needles -- one for the outline, and one for the shading.

"My name's Jesse, by the way," he said with a smile that was intended to ease, but which might have the opposite effect, depending on the person. A quick glance skimmed over the girl's neck, her arms, any inch of bare skin that he could see. "Is this your first tattoo?"
Image
Image
FIRE and BLOOD
Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534)
Posts: 45
Joined: 29 Jun 2016, 16:01

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534) »

Waiting time was something Alice was used to, so the fifteen minutes she had to wait didn't really pose a problem. She had always been able to have reality seemingly disappear and completely be focused on her thoughts. Only when the man came down the hallway, her mind was drawn back into reality as she looked to him. Taking the stencil she looked at it. It was really well made, which calmed her in a way. This man really seemed to be good in his work. “Yes, this size is perfect.”

Only when he introduced himself, Alice noticed she had never given her name either. Something she usually did, even though it was more because it was common courtesy to her rather than her being interested in it. The name doesn't define the person. Unless it was the name a person chose for himself. Those names were the names she was interested in. “I'm Alice.” she replied anyway. It was common courtesy after all. “Yes, the first one. But don't worry, I won't run away because it hurts too much or anything.” The usual smile followed this sentence. Maybe she was saying stupid things again, but as usual, she had talked without thinking again. And from what she heard from others, getting a tattoo could hurt quite a lot, depending on where you get it. So she just hoped she didn't say anything stupid.
______________Image______________
Jesse Fforde
Registered User
Posts: 3487
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 09:32
CrowNet Handle: Fox

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Jesse Fforde »

Jesse laughed. It was a low sound, more a breath of air than a laugh.

"Normally people don't run away. They pass out," he said. He'd a few of those; he'd had someone throw up before, too. The reasonable ones told him when they weren't feeling so great and he could sit back and allow them to take a break, get them a glass of water, allow their bodies to calm down a little before continuing. Those were the ones he admired most, really. The ones who pushed through regardless of how badly their body reacted to the pain. Jesse himself enjoyed the pain. There were a few who tried to claim they didn't feel it. A few who claimed it was pleasurable, even. But Jesse felt it, and reveled in it. It was a subconscious, peculiar kind of punishment. But also a point of pride.

As the ink was prepared - along with the cotton swabs and other bits and pieces - Jesse wheeled the cart over to the customer and reclaimed the stencil.

"Alright, show me exactly where you want it," he said.
Image
Image
FIRE and BLOOD
Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534)
Posts: 45
Joined: 29 Jun 2016, 16:01

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Alice Wilson (DELETED 8534) »

Luckily for her, Alice was the kind of person that usually didn't pass out, so she wasn't really worried about that happening now. True, she had been short before passing out before, but that was under extreme conditions. And even though the whole tattoo thing made her uneasy, the pain didn't really scare her. As long as pain didn't exceed a certain level, she was able to cope with it just fine. What made her uneasy was something else. First, there was some uneasiness she couldn't place, which had begun when she entered the place, but she just decided it was the new surroundings and everything. And the second thing was that she would be touched. She didn't have a problem with that, she just didn't like it. Alice had never been the person to like that. Not even handshakes. Her family being the only exception to that.

“Here.” she simply said, showing the spot again by pointing at it. Her stupid hands were shaking again, so she took them away right after pointing at the spot. Even though she was uneasy, she was determined to go through with it. Couldn't be that she would not be able to get a tattoo because of something as stupid as that. “Do many people pass out?” she asked, half out of curiosity, half to keep the conversation going. It's not that she had a problem with silence, but sometimes she felt like talking.
______________Image______________
Jesse Fforde
Registered User
Posts: 3487
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 09:32
CrowNet Handle: Fox

Re: One Hour Tattoo

Post by Jesse Fforde »

Jesse nodded -- the area was clear, and blemish free. There weren't any baby hairs to get in the way, either, so he would not have to attack the area with a razor blade. A cotton swab doused in cleaning alcohol was used to clean the area and disinfect it, before the stencil was placed over the top. A different swab sprayed with water was used to adhere the stencil to the skin -- just like a temporary tattoo.

"Every now and again," he said with a vague shrug. "I'll tell you what I tell everyone else -- if you feel light-headed, please tell me and we'll pause. I'll try a small bit first, just to give you a taste of what it's like," he said. Once the stencil was in place, he peeled away the backing paper and and tossed it into the near-empty trashcan nearby. Only then did he pluck a pair of surgical gloves from the box on the desk.

"Double check and make sure it's right? The angle, and everything. It's permanent, so we need to make sure it's exactly how you like it," he said with a barely-there wink.
Image
Image
FIRE and BLOOD
Post Reply