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 Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:31 pm
There were these moments of pure goofiness in Roch's life. Sometimes he just couldn't handle all the drama and his brain sort of... shut down for a bit while he gave into his more basic instincts. It was a good thing that the reaper boil was a living, walking, talking guitar for the most part. His idea of basic was rocking out under a tree somewhat near the school building, as hard as he possibly could. And that was jackin' hard. It was a good thing classes were over, because he probably would have been kicked out for interrupting. The rockin' riff at the beginning of Voodoo Chile rang out through the air, and would have probably gotten several people throwing things at him, if he wasn't just that damn good. Oh Roch, your ego. sweatdrop
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 1:43 pm
She'd gone for a simple walk. Nothing major. Just a nice quiet walk by herself with no real intention of interacting with anyone else, she was taking a self imposed break from interacting with other people. A small one and then she'd dive right back into trying to talk to people - that is what she promised herself. Her sister was with her now but that didn't mean she had to stop trying, right? Even if she did stop Needle would make sure she got out and interacted with people anyways, Lattice simply picked the path of least resistance in this case.
Now, however, it was time for Lattice to do what she wanted and that is what she did.
As Lattice walked along there was a sound - was it music? It was unlike anything she'd ever heard! Despite her attempts to just keep walking she found herself drawn toward it wanting to take a closer listen to the source and thus bare feet padded her toward where the Reaper currently was performing underneath the tree. Lattice tilted her head as she watched the shape pretty much perform the song.
A small smile appeared. This person must be having so much fun! Politely she waited for him to finish.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:09 pm
Unaware that someone had shown up (he was close enough to the forest that his ghost sense had been going off since he'd started,) Roch was doing it up. He was singing the lyrics, moving with his playing, pretending that he was on an honest to Jack STAGE. He finished the song, loving the riff at the end as much as he loved it at the beginning, and letting the last note linger on the air--
Then he saw her. "Um... hi," he said a bit stupidly, looking much like a kid that'd been caught doing something naughty. He shrugged it off quickly as he realized who she was. "Oh! Hey, you're Xiu's friend, right?"
The back of his head was itching, stronger than it had been before. He ignored it, Xiu would have told him this ghoul was a ghost, right?
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 3:52 pm
"Greetings," Lattice said in return as she watched him. Why did he look so guilty? He seemed to be doing wonderful. The ghoul didn't seem to understand why he seemed suddenly so abashed about what he was doing. Her smile faded a little but she nodded a bit in response to his question, "Yes, I am a friend of Xiu's and you are as well?"
From what Xiu had told her things were fairly dramatic between them at the moment but the Engraver decided to not bring it up to him at this juncture.
"I remember you from class. You said I had a hard core," Lattice blinked behind her mask and tilted her head. Such odd phrasings!
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:30 pm
"No, I meant that you WERE hardcore. Like... tough. I mean, I couldn't figure out how else to do those spikes," he said cheerfully. "It must have hurt like hell! Was it a hook? That's how they did my eyebrow, they threaded it through the skin--"
He looked at the spikes in question, shaking his head. "You ever wake up cuz you've stabbed yourself though?" he asked curiously. He'd probably kill himself by accident in the middle of the night if he had those.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:59 pm
The ghoul tilted her head and then nodded in understanding, "I see you are saying I am strong. I understand," she replied sounding a bit thoughtful at the concept. Lattice supposed that was very acceptable. Her clan approved of strength.
"Hmm? No they are hammered into our arms when we attain a level of skill in our art. It is a very sacred ritual. We are not allowed to do anything to lessen the pain or make it go away, we must bare it," Lattice explained with a bit of a proud lift of her head. Yes she was indeed very much 'hardcore'.
Lattice shook her head, "We...learn at an early age to be very careful. There are a lot of...accidents but we learn quickly," it was almost as if she was simply talking about the weather.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:06 pm
"Wow, I was right!" Roch said, grinning. "That's pretty awesome! Of course I would still probably kill myself tryin' to wipe my mouth or something equally stupid--not to mention if I was using a regular guitar," he said, wincing as he tried to imagine playing with spikes coming out of his forearms. "That would be seriously brutal."
A curious look crossed his face. "So is the nail hammering your art, or is it something else?" he asked. Jack, that stupid itch just wouldn't go away! But--
Nah... she looked really, really solid, right?
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:24 pm
Lattice actually chuckled with light amusement at Roch's reaction. To hear him so interested in the subject instead of scared or turned off was certainly encouraging! The ghoul nodded a bit, "Yes it takes certain things out of your experiences when this is done but I was born into this life so I do not know anything else."
In fact she looked forward to these rituals at a young age.
The ghoul shook her head, "No," she corrected, "as an Engraver I do tattoos for those within clans or for rituals," she explained. "I make art onto their skin."
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:31 pm
"Jack, you're a tattoo artist?" Roch said, looking stunned. "You aren't that old, either! That is seriously impressive!" he told her. "When did you start? I mean, it must have been when you were really little, right?"
Oh, just wait till he told his old man about this, he thought evilly. He could tell him he planned on getting a full body tattoo-- Oooh, that would be entertaining. Now if only this jackin' itch would go away!
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:51 pm
She seemed humbled by his words and when she was asked when she started she paused a moment, "When I was fairly young...Not TOO young but old enough to hold the needle and pierce my own skin with ink...My sister and I sat together and did tattoos along our own arms, using the design that is traditional in our clan. It is how we started to learn, by marking ourselves."
Lattice had no idea what was going through the other's mind and it was possibly a good thing.
"Oh...My name is Lattice by the way." The ghoul offered after a few moments. It hadn't occurred to her that he probably didn't know her name until now. Since they seemed to be getting along so well she didn't see why she couldn't tell him her name.
Tilting her head a question came to her, "How long have you been playing your instrument?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:56 pm
He got that she only tattooed her own clan, but that wasn't the important part! He now had a TATTOOIST friend, which was good enough to torment the hell out of the old man with stupid cracks about writing things on his forehead. Wait--
"My guitar?" Roch asked, looking down at it thoughtfully. "I didn't get this one until I was eight, but I started when I was six. Probably about the same time you started, y'know, where you can hold something without shaking. Hey... do you ever get called a prodigy?" he asked curiously. Maybe here was someone that understood his little problem!
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:31 pm
"You've been practicing since young? You are wonderful musician," she complimented easily. It wasn't like it bothered her to do so. He seemed to truly enjoy what he did in either case. Lattice paused at his next question.
She shifted from one foot to the other and shifted her shoulders, "It is a similar thing to being called a prodigy, yes. It has to do with my eyes." she answered quietly. "A lot is expected of me because I was...born blind." She explained further.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:37 pm
"Whoa," Roch said, his mind not going to the "Oh jack, she's blind!" problem, that didn't really bother him. It was the "Oh jack, she can tattoo blind??" that stunned him. "Wow, and here I thought it was pretty cool being able to play two instruments."
He sat down on the ground, only realizing too late that she wouldn't see his motion to join him. "You wanna sit? It's grassy, no rocks," he added helpfully. "It's just, y'know, they saw me playing at seven or eight and they called me a prodigy, but my teacher... he always said that bein' called a 'prodigy' made it seem like all your effort wasn't jack. Like it just comes naturally and all those months of bloody fingers never had to happen."
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:58 pm
Lattice smiled a bit as she shifted to kneel to the ground pretty much sitting with her legs tucked up under her and her hands resting on her lap, somehow she seemed to do this comfortably without poking herself with her needles. "Well I can see some things thanks to my mask just not very well, but Engravers like me will always see ink. Ink tattooed on skin, ink on paper, and ink on any surface or in some containers...We will always see it."
"I was simply ... lucky to be born without sight. We do not need our eyes. It messes with our ability to work with the ink." She said softly. Though she didn't mention that sooner or later her eyes would be gouged out.
"I think that prodigy or not you work just as hard for your craft as anyone else. You just can't rest or let yourself become weak in your craft, even the best need to practice their skills." Lattice said clearly not agreeing with the Reaper's teacher. "You must always be able to prove and show that you are the best."
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:03 pm
"Heh," Roch said, grinning crookedly. "That'd be easier to prove if I was trying to become famous for my guitar playing. I'm going to be a grim reaper. The only people that'll hear me playing then are humans, I guess," he said.
"But I think people that DON'T do something like we do, I mean, your tattooing, my guitar--art forms--they picture prodigies as bein' people that just instinctively know everything about it." He looked at her, cocking his head slightly. "You had to learn stuff, right? To practice new techniques?"
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