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 Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:31 am
Kiran beat back the flush threatening to creep onto his cheeks. It wasn't that unusual for him to compliment someone. He complimented his sister on her art all the time. But it was rare for him to compliment someone he didn't exactly like. "It must be a shock to you that I may actually have some manners." He snorted. "But yes, that was actually a compliment. And yes, I'm very well aware of the needle you hold. I'm not that stupid."
His hands still clenched with each little poke from the needle. Though by now, he barely noticed the continual flexing of his hands. He would probably regretted that when this was finished and his hands ached from the constant clenching. But at the moment, that was the farthest thing on his mind.
"You can never be too sure," Kiran argued. "Some of them might not catch on like you did." But after Jianyu's demonstration with shooting the apple off his head, Kiran probably should have realized trying to steal from him wouldn't end well. He let a grin grace his face. Part of the fun was in trying to outsmart someone who was wiser than he. The scams against the dull minded neighboring kids didn't work any better, but they had the habit of tattling on him. Kiran pursed his lips in annoyance at that thought.
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Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:46 pm
Jianyu paused in his work for a moment, leaning over to look at Kiran's face. Raising one eyebrow, he said, with as much sincerity as he was able to "If that was truly a compliment, then I am grateful for your consideration."
This young man was a particularly confusing one. Kiran Tambe had tried to steal from him. He had been unsuccessful, of course, and the last time he had tried Jianyu had taken him back to the Qian Tattoo House to make him clean one entire room to make up for the fact that he had been trying to deceive him. However, he had let Kiran go after he had seen the utter fascination on the younger boy's face when he found him in the hallway, admiring the paintings on the walls. And here he was, back again, except this time to get a tattoo himself. Jianyu could not quite figure him out.
Setting his instruments down, Jianyu moved around to stand in front of Kiran, folding his arms across his chest.
"You...are quite maddeningly confusing." Jianyu said. "Why did you come here today?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 12:12 pm
Kiran grew more than a little self-conscious about the tinge of pink that managed to color his cheek as Jianyu leaned over him. He hadn't thought that his compliment would put him under such scrutiny. Even if they didn't get along well, he still respected Jianyu's skills.
A smirk broke across his face. Kiran felt a certain smugness to hear that Jianyu found him "maddeningly confusing." But the question took him aback. He frowned as he tilted his head up to look at Jianyu. "That's an odd question. My appointment with your father was scheduled for today." He didn't know quite what Jianyu expected him to say in response to that question.
He twisted his head around, trying to glance over his shoulder to check on the progress of his tattoo. But he couldn't get a very good look. "You do plan to finish it, right?" he asked, returning his gaze to Jianyu. He didn't think he had done anything so bad so far to warrant Jianyu kicking him out of the Tattoo House with his tattoo unfinished.
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:40 pm
Jianyu reached up, absently twisting a lock of his dark hair as he scrutinized Kiran Tambe. He was certainly not a large youth, not by conventional standards. He stood a good head shorter than Jianyu, and was at least several years younger as well. But he had a spark of fierce determination and stubbornness that surprised Jianyu, even impressed him. He had been somewhat conditioned to the weaker side of the Academy students he had glimpsed as of late, but Kiran was feisty and tough and did things that other students his age did not dare to. It was quite...refreshing, though Jianyu was not quite certain he dared admit that to Kiran. The brat had tried to steal from him, after all, which was not a good first impression, no matter how the situation was spun.
"You came to the Qian Tattoo House to get a tattoo, though you knew I might be here anyway?" he asked, somewhat suspiciously. This conversation was getting nowhere fast, and Jianyu sighed, all but throwing up his hands in resignation.
"Of course I'll finish it." Jianyu said, shooting an unhappy and somewhat incredulous look at Kiran. "I do not leave things unfinished."
Moving back around, Jianyu picked up his tools once more, bending down to finish the lines of the feather he had been drawing before he had stopped. After a few moments he asked "So, Kiran. Are you actually going to tell people that you were tattooed by the Legionnaire artist?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:03 pm
Kiran stared up at Jianyu, waiting and watching to how the Lunarian would react. He frowned at the look he was given as Jianyu twisted his hair. What was passing through the man's mind at that moment? Kiran generally thought he kept his thoughts well hidden. But he never wanted to gamble against someone like Jianyu. Trying to read Jianyu's expression was like trying to read a wall: it gave nothing away. It was actually one of the things that frustrated him about Jianyu.
"Well, I suppose I could have gone elsewhere," Kiran admitted with a roll of his eyes. He had seen a few other Tattoo Houses around and stopped in them. But in the end, he had decided to return to Qian Tattoo House, despite knowing there was a chance to run into Jianyu again. He thought he had done well to avoid him, but that had obviously blown up in his face. "But there really was no comparison. If I wanted a high quality tattoo, this seemed like the place to go."
Kiran was relieved with that answer. From the look on Jianyu's face before, he couldn't decide if Jianyu would finish the tattoo or simply kick him out for being far too annoying to deal with. The last time, Jianyu had told him to leave instead of forcing to go back and finish cleaning the room that he had been ordered to clean.
The question made Kiran pause, a slight tenseness working its way through every muscle in his body. He hadn't really thought about that. "Does it bother you to have a Noble bear a tattoo done by you?" he asked in return. He chewed on his lower lip for a while before another question managed to escape him. "Why are you Legionaries so loyal to the Emperor?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:15 pm
Jianyu moved the needle slowly, taking the time and effort to make the curve of the wing smooth and just right. Regardless of the individual person, Jianyu always made sure that his work was done to the best of his abilities, even if it meant drawing on someone that he was not particularly fond of.
He arched an eyebrow at Kiran's question. "I have no interest in the Alliance of who I tattoo." he answered, finishing off another feather. "When a patron comes into this shop, their Alliance is null. This is a neutral place, where one and all can come, regardless of where their loyalties lie."
The basic outline done, Jianyu wiped Kiran's back done, preparing his tools to work on weighting the lines, making them thicker where necessary. As he bent over the youth again, Kiran's question caught him off guard, and he paused for a moment before pressing the needle to his back again.
"I cannot speak for the rest of my faction." Jianyu answered slowly. "However, my own loyalties are so strong because of my own beliefs. I am in full belief that the Legionnaires will come out the victor in this war, despite talk of the Nobles winning." he gave a small shrug. "But as I said, that is my own thoughts. Why is it that you follow the Nobles?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 6:54 pm
Kiran nodded his head as Jianyu answered. He guessed that answer shouldn't have been a surprise. When he thought about it, it made sense for a place of business to act as a neutral spot, serving anyone no matter their Alliance.
"I guess," Kiran said as he thought about Jianyu's earlier question. "If someone asks about who did my tattoo, I would tell them. Even if your family supports the Legions, that shouldn't matter when you have the best tattoos that I've seen."
Kiran picked at the skin of his thumbnail as he thought about how to answer the question. "Aside from bad experiences with some of the snobbier Legions I've come across? I guess I don't really trust the Emperor. Why doesn't he want us learning about stuff outside our culture? Haven't you ever wondered about what else is out there in the world beyond our civilization?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:28 pm
The right wing was almost done. Jianyu bent his head lower over Kiran's back, carefully filling in the necessary line weights around each individual feather, each little fiber. It was part of his work as a tattoo artist to make sure that as much detail as possible was set into the tattoos he created, in order for them to be considered true works of art. He had to do enough work to be proud of it, and to have the customer proud of it.
"I'm sure my father appreciates your sentiments." Jianyu said. "An artist always appreciates hearing that his work is respected. It is part of why we work so diligently on what we do here."
Finished finally with the entire right wing, Jianyu wiped off the excess ink with one of his cloths and moved around to the other side of the table, leaning down to begin weighting the lines of the right feathers. He was somewhat surprised at how well it seemed he and Kiran were communicating (if not a little concerned that there was an underlying motive for Kiran's niceties; the young man could not be trusted, after all), but for the time being it was relatively pleasant.
Jianyu gave a small shrug. "Not particularly." he said, curving around a feather's tip. "I am quite content with where I am right now. I have no desire to do things that are not entirely necessary."
He was done. Jianyu leaned back, admiring for a moment the design, and then proceeded to undo a roll of bandages, motioning for Kiran to sit up.
"I am finished." he said. "There is a mirror in the corner over there, and then afterwards I need to wrap the tattoo to prevent infection."
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 11:35 am
Kiran shook his head. He just didn't get it. There wasn't anything wrong with the way they lived. But he just wanted so much more. He guessed he was just the type that couldn't be satisfied without knowing what else was out there. But it didn't seem like there was much point in trying to reason with someone from the opposing alliance. If they were both set on their opinion, it didn't seem likely either would really listen to the other. Or at least, that was Kiran's thinking on the matter.
When he caught Jianyu's motioning, Kiran sat up, glad to be able to move again. After hopping off the table, he walked over toward the mirror and checked out the reflection of his backside to see Jianyu's work on his tattoo. He was impressed again by Jianyu's skill. He had done excellent work on the tattoo, and it looked just like the design that his sister had drawn up for him.
"Is there anything you don't excel at?" Kiran wondered curiously out loud. There was no sarcasm in his voice. Each of his meetings with Jianyu so far had shown off his talents. If they met for a third time, what talent might Jianyu display then? Kiran returned to the table so that Jianyu could wrap the tattoo.
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:51 pm
Jianyu let Kiran look at his tattoo in the mirror, folding his arms across his chest, his fingers absently tugging at the bandages in his hand. Sometimes Kiran confused him. The youth tended to be hostile, smart-alecky, and overly confident in both himself and his abilities - evidence of the fact that he had tried to steal from a Fighter when he himself was only an Academy student. However, there were times when he was strangely considerate; such as right now, when he walked back over to the table.
"Yes." Jianyu answered, wrapping the bandage over Kiran's back and chest and securing it tightly. He stepped back and opened the door to the room, indicating the end of their session. A small smile tugged at the corners of Jianyu's lips as he said "I find that I am incapable of ridding my father's tattoo parlor of mischievous youths. Have a good afternoon, Kiran Tambe."
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Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 4:55 pm
"Oh, not Mister Perfect then after all, huh?" Kiran questioned in a light, teasing manner. He knew if he prodded too much, Jianyu would likely make him regret it. He had little doubt on that subject. But for whatever reason, Kiran couldn't resist. It was like Jianyu had a big sign on his forehead screaming at Kiran to provoke him.
He waited patiently as Jianyu wrapped the bandages around him, half wondering how he would explain them to his mother. It wouldn't be surprising to her if he used the excuse of getting into a fight. She wouldn't be happy with that, but it would be better than having her find out about the tattoo. After Jianyu was finished, Kiran grabbed his vest and slipped it back on.
He grinned mischievously as he stepped out of the back room. "I guess you'll have to keep working on that then." Kiran didn't have any plans to get a second tattoo any time soon, but he wouldn't rule out the idea either. If he came up with a decent idea for another tattoo. "See ya later, Qian Jianyu." He still wore the grin as he walked back toward the front of the tattoo parlor.
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