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 Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:53 am
Nodding agreeably, Kekipi finished the linework of the tattoo and began to fill in color. Since he'd started working, he'd seen a fair share of both types: those who wanted meaning and those who were just following fashion.
"Truth? They never helped me either," Kekipi laughed as he thought of the one time he'd tried to navigate the self help shelves at the bookstore. "Just muddling along seems to be the method that works best for me."
Pausing briefly to refill the ink, he considered her next question carefully. There were quite a few tattoos that he'd really enjoyed working on, all for various reasons.
"Hrmm, I don't know if I can narrow it down to just one favorite. But I can say the one I've had the most fun with in the last month was some dudebro who came in and wanted a cutie mark, I think he called it, put on his hip. Dude swaggered like he owned the place and was doing me a royal favor by showing up. Wasn't even that big of a tat, y'know? Just this little rainbow lightning bolt. He screamed like damn animal being slaughtered."
Pursing his lips thoughtfully as he added a bit of shading to Orah's tattoo, he found himself grinning sheepishly before continuing.
"Now, please don't think that I thought his pain was amusing. But I wish you could have seen him. Big, hairy dude, clearly thought he was uber-manly. But he really wanted that cutie mark thing and when he wasn't screaming kept trying to chat me up about ponies. Weird and fun all rolled into one."
Pausing again, this time to dab away some blood so he could examine his work so far, Kekipi smiled. Just a little more color and Orah would be all finished.
"Want to see what you've got so far or wait til I'm done?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:09 pm
Orah couldn't help it... the description of the 'dudebro' and his tattoo was so amusing that she couldn't contain herself. A giggle started low in her throat and before long the young woman was trying to keep her shoulders from shaking and messing up the work he was doing. She pressed her fingers to her mouth as she turned her head to the side, gasping in a breath when the giggling allowed.
"Oh, goodness... that's hilarious." She said breathlessly. It was a good distraction... beyond worrying she'd shake his hand as he tried to draw, the laughter had done a lot to take her mind off the pain.
Hearing that it was almost done, Orah shook her head with a small smile. "No, go ahead and finish it. I can see it when you're done, that's okay. I'm sure its worth the wait."
It was nice that Kekipi was chatty... it felt nice to just talk to someone about something inconsequential. Too many things had been far too serious lately, or upsetting. Light-hearted talk was relieving, easing some of the stress she'd been carrying around for far too long.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:31 pm
Grinning hugely at her reaction, Kekipi continued to clean away blood and to refill the colored ink. Once Orah's giggles had died down, he gave her a friendly wink and went back to work. Really, she was in the home stretch at this point.
"The lady is always right," he quipped cheerily. A little shading here, a dab of highlight there and....
"Well, Orah, I'd call this done. Take a look and let me know if you need anything else done to it."
He stretched to reach for the mirror and place it in her hands. With an impish grin, he continued chatting.
"Told you the purples and golds would pop."
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:02 pm
The lack of a buzz against her sternum was almost strange, making the newly inked skin tingle numbly. It was exciting to know the tattoo was done and she took the mirror with a grateful smile. Angling it downward just right, her lips parted at the stunning rendering of the knot on her chest.
"Oh wow... that's... gorgeous." She said as she traced the lines and highlights, gold standing out brightly against rich purples. "Its even better than I thought it would be... you do really nice work."
Orah grinned as she offered him the mirror back, feeling a new uplift of her spirits. Its something, to suffer for something good. To come through pain with something lovely to show for it. It would be nice if life was like that too... equal parts good for all the bad. The thought dimmed her smile a little, but she was still pleased with her new tattoo, pleased that she had done something spontaneous and daring for once in her life when she wasn't wearing her fuku. It wasn't Ida that had sat here, it was Orah... and she was proud of herself, for once.
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:10 pm
Standing up and stretching out a bit, Kekipi grinned down at Orah and gave her an odd little bow from his waist.
"Why thanks. And may I say you've just put yourself in my top 5 customers list. Thanks for being so good about everything."
Taking back the mirror, he turned to put it away, noting how pleased Orah seemed. He was proud of her. She'd admitted to being nervous and had been an absolute peach of a customer. And he had his own ways of rewarding awesome people.
"Ink's on me, today, y'hear? You're not allowed to argue either," he shot back over his shoulder. Turning back around, he shook her hand firmly and went to open the small gate between the work-spaces and waiting area for her.
"Take some tylenol when you get home and keep it nice and clean. It'll scab up and be sore for a couple days. Just use mild soap, no washclothes or loofahs since they'll be too rough on the skin. Be careful if you use perfume too for the first few days, okay? Any questions or worries and you call me and we'll sort it out, right?"
He offered her another grin, leaned against the front counter and gave her a small wave.
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