|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:19 pm
Child on his hip, Devon stepped out the front door of Copper Dragon Designs with a sigh. Why he had to bring in the kid once a week was beyond him. Edwin was a nutjob to want a baby in a tatoo parlor. Not only was it probably against the law but Ignacio was still busily teething his way through everything that would hold still long enough for him to get it in his mouth. As if to prove the point, Ignacio squirmed in his hold and turned to pull a bit of Devon's t-shirt between his teeth.
Devon sighed again and took a step to the side towards the elaborate wrought iron bench place in front of the large picture window of the shop's front. With a long-practiced tug, he pulled Ignacio from his clothing and set him down on the seat. Then he fished a packet of hard biscuits out of the back pocket of his jeans, neatly shucking off the wrapper before handing one cookie over for merry gumming. Ignacio burbled his thanks. Straightening, Devon stretched until he heard various pops and cracks that signaled his bones were returning to their proper locations. He glanced at his watch. His next appointment wasn't for another thirty minutes. Plenty of time to flop around and try to wear Iggy down into a napping state.
First, though, Devon dropped his lanky frame onto the bench beside his child and closed his eyes. The hand closest to Ignacio shifted to rest on a small foot. Just a precaution, really. The kid wasn't doing more than rolling energetically yet.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:33 pm
(( I get the impression Devon won't mind Ashley too much, but I'll bring Eliot just in case xD They all have tattoos though, how convenient. ))
Eliot and Ashley were walking side by side, exploring their new world mostly. The decked out 'couple' were wearing mostly black, 'ripped' clothes with a lot of metal jewelry and makeup, giving the impression they at least thought they were some important punk idols. They had a child with them that was dressed much the same, only in considerably looser and more comfortable looking attire. Eliot had Harper on his shoulders, clinging to his ears. It was a bit awkward given how fragile and small Harper still was, but he proved fairly talented at keeping his balance and got a major kick out of it so it worked out well.
"Ashleyyyy, I don't have anything to do tonight, but I know some girls who-" Eliot began, while tickling Harper's bare feet. The little wings on the sides of his feet twitched slightly along with his wriggling toes and giggles.
"Ugh, Eliot, give me my kid before you... taint him or something." Ashley moaned, her lips pursing as she reached up for her son who batted her away with a sharp 'no!' So, Ashley hissed and gave up the gesture, only shaking her head at her two companions.
"Oh, he loves me! More than he likes you, that's for sure! Here we are, the tattoo place. Gonna get one?" Eliot asked.
They stopped in front of the parlor, rather in front of Devon and the boy, completely ignoring them and going on with their talking.
"Unlike you, Eliot, I have nothing I need to cover up." Ashley said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Harper had spotted Ignacio. Looking him over briefly, he free'd one of Eliot's ears and waved at the other boy. "HELLO. I'm HARPER."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:41 pm
The sudden intrusion of a loud baby-voice startled Devon into sitting bolt upright and he scrambled a bit. Ignacio watched his father compose himself, mouth still full of biscuit. Then, removing it, he started laughing. "Dude, not cool," Devon muttered under his breath to the child. Ignacio ignored him and looked up at the other little boy. He waved his cookie. "Bah bah, 'lo!" he called out.
Devon looked up at the couple and their child and somehow managed to school away the automatic narrowing of his eyes prompted by their get-up. Edwin would smack him around but good if he scared off potential customers because he pegged them as posers or something. Reaching up to run a hand through already ruffled spikes of hair, Devon nodded. "Hey," he drawled. Then he watched in mild awe as Ignacio violently continued to wave the cookie at the other boy. If he didn't know better, he would have thought his bottomless pit of a kid was trying to share.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:50 pm
Harper's mouth fell open. "He has a cookie!... I no have a cookie!" He quickly discovered. Frowning, he bonked Eliot on the top of his head and provoked an 'ow!' out of the man. Eliot quickly removed the child and shoved him at Ashley who just as quickly curled her lips and put the boy on the ground.
"He's sticky! Eliot, what did I tell you about giving him to me when he's sticky! Useless ape!" Ashley whined, wiping her hands off on Eliot's jacket.
Harper didn't waste any more time. Whether or not the other boy's daddy wanted him to (unless of course he stopped him entirely) he approached the other kid with a look crossed between a puppy begging and a good friend trying to manipulate you. "I have some?" He asked sweetly.
Glaring at Ashley, Eliot sighed and nodded at the shop. "You're open, right?" Anything to get away from babysitting duty and madame diva. Besides, the group all had tattoos from a few years ago that were wearing out needed to be 're inked' or whatever.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:59 pm
"Yeah. I'm just on break." Devon's voice fell into the slightly mumbly, toneless range of things now but he had straightened his posture a bit and tilted his head to look at the adults a bit closer. A sudden jab in his side make him yelp, though, and all cool points were lost as he turned to glare at his son. "What the hell, Nacho?"
Unfazed, Ignacio held out his empty hand while displaying his soggy cookie. "Mmm," he hummed. "Cookie." Sighing, Devon surrendered the second and watched in growing amazement as Ignacio promptly handed it over to Harper. Then he watched the boy with alert golden eyes as if waiting for a suitable reply.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:09 pm
"Oh, cool. We can come back later, I guess... Though.." Eliot grinned and motioned toward Ashley, "Maybe I'll stay 'on break' with you, instead." Yeah, not that they were even remotely invited.
Harper watched the exchange and then stared at the offered cookie. He thought breifly if there was something he could offer in exchange, but he was already drooling, so if he actually got the cookie he would just have to think of some way to pay him back later. Thus, he grinned happily and reached to take it, while saying, "Yaaaay! Thank you!" In an enthused, thrilled voice.
"I hope that's sanitary." Ashley said pointedly at Devon while crossing his arms and glaring at him. "I'm not afraid to sue you if my son gets poisoned or something." Which was, you know, funny because most mothers would just not let their kid eat something from strangers...
"Oh, Ashley shut up. Guys who do things with tattoos know all about keeping things sanitary." Eliot said with a laugh, that faded a moment later. "Err, right?" He asked, sounding suddenly cautious and almost cowardly.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:22 pm
"Yeah." Devon trained his green-eyed gaze on Ashley and could not quite smother the smirk that appeared. "Go on an' sue me, lady. All you'd get is Ignacio here and he bites." He held up a hand and displayed a nibble-mark on his index finger. "Hard."
Ignacio, on the other hand, burbled his welcome and wriggled in his seat. Free of the spare cookie, his hand pointed at Harper's necklace insistently. "Shiny," he managed. Then he pointed at the space on the bench beside him. It was clearly an indication to join in on the lounging.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:30 pm
Harper quickly moved to the spot next to the other boy after shoving the cookie in his mouth. He was coating the thing in with drool while trying to look down at his necklace. Couldn't see it. His stupid chin got in the way. Bah! These things always seemed to happen to him.
He pulled on the necklace for a little but found he couldn't get it off, which was disappointing, because he wanted to give it to the other child as an offering. It was fastened with two bits of metal that slid into each other. Instead, he eyed his mother and beckoned for her. "Mommy come hur!" He commanded.
Ashley shook her head, "I'm sure he bites, if you're an idiot and let him bite you." She said, while taking a step to her son and bending down some. "What?"
Harper took the chance and ripped a cloth strap that was around mommy's wrist off. Came off easy due to the button clasp on it. He moved to give it to Ignacio. "You have it. Mommy don't need it she has too many." He said happily.
Ashley was.... well, turning bright red.
Eliot gave a happy sigh. "Funny, your kid looks kinda weird too. We keep seeing all these weird kids from the place we got Harper, I guess everyone on 'geia' is born funny." He said, still not pronouncing 'Gaia' right.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:15 pm
Devon raised an eyebrow. "I was born here," he replied dryly. "Nothin' wrong with me. Not even a low IQ," he added with a glance at Ashley. Seeing her change colors when her child stripped her of the bracelet, he smothered the urge to snicker and schooled his face to polite blankness. "At least Iggy doesn't just take," he observed. "And he came outta a cabbage so that's that."
Beaming from ear to ear and showing very white, very sharp little teeth, Ignacio accepted the gift from his new friend. "T'anks," he said. Then his attention turned to Ashley and his eyes rounded with something that could easily be interpreted as admiration. "Shiny!" He pointed at her.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:26 pm
Ashley, red from what was becoming increasingly obvious to be anger rather than embarrassment, growled at the two boys. "Give that ba-"
"Ashley! Don't take from the little boy! Sheesh, and you wanted to be a mother... Hey, you said cabbage? What a coincidence! That's how we get Harper! Seriously, think anyone in their right mind would ever knock her up?" Eliot grinned. He thought he was clever.
"Oh, here's an idea! Why don't you and this imbecile go into his little shop of horrors and stab each other with needles for awhile, all in a futile attempt to gain some pathetic dose of manhood?" Ashley snapped. Not wanting to grace the conversation with ...herself any longer, she crossed her arms, 'hmphed' and turned away from the grown men so that she was more toward the children. Now, however, she was glaring at Iggy and looking rather cautious for that look he had given her.
Either way, Harper wouldn't let his mother be an indian giver. Nono. He nodded at Iggy and then shook his head at his mother. "Oh, no! You can't have my mommy! You no want her anyway, she's stupid a lot. But I love you mommy! What's your name? I'M HARPER." Harper repeated. Oooooh how he loved his name.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:38 pm
"Nnnnaaaa..."
"His name's Ignacio," Devon cut in neatly. Beneath his tanned complexion, the faint touch of a blush could be seen at his cheeks as he prevented his child from revealing the pet name. "He'll answer to Iggy, too." Reaching over, he ruffled the golden mop atop his child's head.
Which only caused Ignacio to reach up and swat him away. He growled at Devon but the noise held no threat, just exasperation. What he lacked in words, he more than made up for in non-vocal communication. Turning back to Harper, he nodded and pointed at himself. "Ignussee," he attempted. Pointing at Harper, he offered, "'Arper." Then to Ashley. "Mama."
Devon covered his face to smother a laugh. "Kiddo, she is definitely not your mom. Believe me."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:32 am
"Iggy huh? Not even sure if I could say his full name, Harper for sure.." Eliot said with a little shrug.
"Iggy!" Harper repeated happily, finally sucking the last bit of life out of the cookie he had received from the other. "You are Iggy's daddy? And he no have a mommy? I don't get it." When Devon was done, Harper went to poke Iggy's hair as well wondering what that whole hair ruffling thing was about. Nobody ever did that to him.
Rockstars knew better!
Ashley, meanwhile, sat down on the other side of her son and gave Devon only a blank stare for about three seconds before nodding at Harper, "Mhm. He's the same kind of kid you are, Harper. You should make friends. Just never let him or his dad come to our house. Seriously, are we going to sit here all day or are you going to get on with it?" She asked, mostly to Eliot. She turned her gaze back to Iggy and shook her head, "Asper." Ah, her vain need to go by her old stage name..
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:02 pm
"Aspa?" Ignacio mimicked, nose wrinkling in concentration.
Devon couldn't quite mask the faint smile that appeared at his kid's attempts at speaking. Before Eliot or (worse) Ashley could see it, though, he dropped his chin and pushed himself to his feet. Locking his fingers together, he pulled to stretch out various muscles. "So is someone up for a tat or what?" he asked. "There's me and two other inkers, y'know."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:17 pm
Ashley nodded at Iggy, satisfied enough with his attempt. At least she didn't have too high expectations... of the baby.
Harper, never appreciating anyone calling mommy anything but mommy, shook his head at Iggy but decided to let the issue drop without further complaint. "You have toys?" He asked, a shimmer in his black eyes at the notion of something to actually play with. Shiny jewelry could only get you so far, and little did he know the world of entertainment in the shop they sat in front of.
"No. Well, yeah, but nothing new." Eliot said with a shrug, pushing up the sleeve of his long bright red shirt in a gesture probably familiar to Devon. "It's faded, you know? Guy told me it might do that after a couple years, maybe because of where it's at, I dunno. Can you like, go over it again?" He said, flipping his arm up to show off a rather stupid tattoo on the bony side of his elbow. It was a colored thing, with what was once probably a nice red, and resembled flames circling around the base of said elbow. The parts around/on the actual bone were more faded than the rest, apparently that's what he was going on about.
"That is why whenever he wears shirts they are long sleeve." Ashley snorted, then gave a menacing grin at Eliot.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:37 pm
With an expression of pure professionalism, Devon neatly grabbed Eliot's wrist and adjusted the angle of his arm. His other hand went beneath the man's bicep as he squinted at the design. Clearly, the sulleness drained from Devon when confronted with ink. "Yeah," he muttered. "Red's a b***h to get right if you use the wrong ink. It fades quick in the sun and... Dude, this is a rough spot to let heal right. Did you do a lot of lifting and bending after getting it done?"
Ignacio tilted his head at Harper's question and then held up the wrist band formerly belonging to Ashley. "Mama," he burbled. Then he rolled over onto all fours and began edging himself back off the bench. "Toys."
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|