ArchivedLogs:Pretty Vague

Pretty Vague
Dramatis Personae Anette, Jax
In Absentia	2016-02-15 "Ion was right, you are the best."
Location <NYC> Inkline Studios - Lower East Side
The front room of Inkline Studio is small, and does not, particularly, look like a tattoo parlor at all. Framed surrealist oil paintings line the walls instead of the typical flash ink, although interspersed are a handful of tasteful, artistic photographs of various people displaying their tattoos that might give away the nature of this business. Black leather armchairs cluster around a low glass coffee table; large black binders that sit on the table contain portfolios of the past work done in the studio. A glass counter stretches along the length of one wall, a plethora of various body jewelry on display; the 'front desk' sits at the far end of the counter, computer and cash register and large file cabinet making up the work space. The piercing and tattoo rooms are in the back, brightly lit and sterile, with doors closeable for privacy. The shop is not quite as busy these days as it has been in pre-apocalypse times. There's a buzz coming from behind one of the closed doors in the back, but the other rooms stand open. The waiting room is quiet -- there's a young man in jeans and a button-down fidgeting on the couch, a pair of heavily pierced women looking over the jewelry beneath the glass counter; a young woman with a short-cropped shock of magenta hair and a wealth of tattoos is helping show them the wares. Jax is sitting behind the counter, not looking like he is paying the rest of the room a whole lot of mind just at the moment. Perched on a stool with a sketchpad on his lap, pencil in hand, busily drawing. He's dressed brightly -- enormous wide-legged jeans in black and lime-green mesh, the chains hung from them rattling as one leg bounces up and down. A metallic black tank top underneath a purple three-quarter sleeved fishnet shirt, /his/ bright tattoos still visible beneath the mesh. His short scruff of hair has been dyed jet black, the tips frosted in purple and lime green; there's glittery black and silver polish on his nails, black and silver-edged lipstick on his lips, huge mirrored sunglasses on his eyes despite it being indoors and eveningtime. The faster his leg bounces, the more the chains he wears rattle against his stool. Clank-rattle. Rattle. Rattttle. The door opens and inside steps a surprisingly piercing and tattoo-free woman. Granted, not much is visible with the knee length leather coat covering most of her body. Unlike some here, her color scheme is much more subdued - black coat and boots, grey jeans. Her hair hangs loose over her shoulders, nails and face undecorated. She pauses just inside the doorway, glancing around the room slowly with the curiousity of someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in tattoo parlors. Her eyes eventually drift to Jax behind the counter and she makes her way forward, her heeled boots clicking on the floor. "Hey Jax. Long time no see," she says, grinning as yellow eyes take in the burst of colors. "I might have a job for you. At least...I want you to take a look at something and see if there's anything you can do." Jax perks up when the door opens again, glancing up from his work. There's a faint tilt of his head, a lift of pierced eyebrows from behind his large sunglasses as Anette approaches. His smile is quick and warm, though. "Hey yourself. It's... been a while, yeah. I --" He leans forwad, resting his elbows on his knees. His pencil spins rapidly between his fingers. "-- guess we all been kinda busy, huh? You -- uh, been alright?" The twirl of his pencil grows quicker. "A job?" The surprise in his voice is clear. He catches his pencil against his palm with a snap, sitting up straighter. "Like what kinda a -- job?" Anette can't help but chuckle when Jax asks how she's been. "Oh, well, it's been up and down. Which is partially why I'm here actually." She stops just in front of the counter and begins removing her coat, revealing her wings but also, her shoulders. Wearing a blank tank top with thin straps, not only are her shoulders visible but, more importantly, the scar on her left shoulder. "During the zombie plague, I had uh...a bit of a run-in. I was hoping you could cover it up." The scar is distinctly bite shaped and a jagged one at that. However, unlike the human-sized bite marks some New Yorkers still sport, this one appears to be much larger, as if from a wild animal. The two women at the jewelry counter cease their conversation when Anette sheds her jacket, looking up with a sudden stark silence that slowly devolves into quiet discomfited murmur. The woman who is assisting them only raises her eyebrows, looks Anette over briefly, then turns her attention back to the case. Jax wiggles at one lip ring with the tip of his tongue. "Yeah, things have been pretty -- well. I'm glad you made it through -- uh." His brows furrow as he looks at the scar. "Mostly in one piece." He slides off his stool, propping his elbows against the counter as he leans in to look closer at Anette. "Oh. That's pretty -- oh. I could -- work with that," he answers slowly, "did y'have an idea of what sorta design you were thinking of getting?" Enhanced hearing has many benefits, including picking up on when people aren't talking. The sudden silence from the women looking at jewelry gets an amused smirk from Anette but she says nothing, listening to Jax as he talks to himself, leaning and positioning herself however she needs to to allow him a clear view of her scar. "I thought about keeping it but...well, I think it hurts the one who gave it to me more than it actually hurts me. Plus I've thought about getting a tattoo for years and I figured now is as good a time as any." She brings her shoulder back, propping her arms against the counter and leaning forward with a faint grin. "A week of googling and I've only decided what /not/ to get. I was thinking a phoenix, rebirth and all, but I'm worried it might be a tad cliche. And I don't know if something with wings is a good idea, considering..." She lifts her wings and gives them a light flutter for emphasis before returning them against her back. "I'm open to suggestions." Jax flips his sketchbook to a blank page, setting it down on the counter between them. "I don't think you can ever have /too much/ wings, honestly, but. Really it's gonna be down t'what really strikes a chord with you. I mean, this is gonna be on you for life, right?" His pencil twirls again, a quick blur between his fingers. "I usually feel like the ink people love the longest is going to be things that's /meaningful/ to them. Is there any things in your life that got a particular importance? Stories? Books? Songs? Places? A time or event in your life that's meant a lot?" Anette sighs softly and stares down at the blank page. "Now I remember why I haven't gotten a tattoo yet..." She takes a deep breath, pressing her lips together as thinks hard on the suggestions Jax offers. "Problem is, anything meaningful isn't anything I particularly want to memorialize on my body forever. I'd rather just get something with vague meaning that looks pretty." She suddenly furrows her brows and tilts her head, still staring at the blank page though...perhaps seeing something now. "What about something with...two phoenixes?" Despite her initial reluctance with one phoenix, it seems the addition of a second phoenix somehow adds a bit more confidence. "Ah --" Jax opens his mouth, then closes it again, his hand rubbing slowly at the side of his face. "Right. Sure. We can go with that." The thoughtful note has slipped out of his tone -- instead now just light and cheerful. His pencil stops its twirling, fingers curling tight around it. He doesn't touch it to the page, doesn't need to bother; the paper fills up with colour anyway. A phoenix in flight, wings spread; one composed near entirely of flame; a highly stylized pair of flickering firebirds circling each other; twinned fiery birds, one rising, one diving; one with wings folded and beak tipped up towards the sky. "Did you want two like -- on opposite shoulders or," some of the images shift closer to each other, birds moving to circle over and around each other on the page. "Both together on the same shoulder?" Anette leans back a bit once the paper begins to change, a soft grin on her face as she watches the phoenixes appear. Her eyes brighten as she watches, mesmerized by the sudden appearence of the art that it takes her a moment to remember to actually examine the artwork itself. "I like the second one," she says, tapping the one that's composed entirely of flames. "I...well, I'd like to keep it contained to one shoulder. I don't think I'm ready for that much ink yet." She continues to look over the examples, placing a finger on the ones circling each other. "Something like this. Maybe a bit more flame heavy? I feel like it follows the shape of..." She trails off though she lifts her hand to motion vaguely to the circular scar on her shoulder. Most of the other birds melt away off the page, leaving the examples Anette had pointed out. Jax glances back up towards Anette's scar, then down at the page. The circling pair of birds shift, their stylized lines fluttering outward and blossoming into a rich bloom of flames instead, dancing and flickering after each other. One of the pair is more brilliantly afire, flames burning hot and bold with wisps of smoke in its wake; the other -- following along the curve where some of the dimples of scarring are more prominent -- is coloured darker, less /fiery/ and more of a rich glow. Dying embers, its flames only a faint halo, a bird of living coals trailing sparks and ash behind it on its way to sputtering out only to be reignited in its circling partner. Jax taps the eraser of his pencil against the desk, looking back up towards Anette. "More like that, maybe?" Yellow eyes watch as the images change again, following them closely as they combine into one. Even once the image stops moving, her eyes flit about, examining every last detail, the shapes, the colors, how they fit with the scar. Suddenly, a grin begins to grow across her face and she looks up to Jax. "Ion was right, you are the best. I love it!" She leans up a bit and removes her arms from the counter, still glancing to the drawing periodically even as she talks with Jax. "I assume just doing this now and getting it over with isn't an option?" she asks, her voice a few degrees more excited than it had been when she first walked in here. "Ion's a perfect angel, he thinks /everyone/ is the best." Jax's smile is bright at the praise, though, a warm flush colouring his cheeks. "M'glad you like it. And no, unfortunately I've got a couple appointments booked already this afternoon, but I can set you up a time to come in some time soon an' get this done?" He pokes his tongue into the side of his mouth, looking at the scar again. "I should let you know right now when you're thinking about a good time for it -- for somethin' this size and detail the actual appointment's only going to take a couple hours of your day but. /Healing/ will go much better if you let the area rest as much as possible for the first week or two -- it'll heal way prettier if you avoid vigorous movement there as much as possible. So you'll probably want to schedule it some time when you can do without flying for a little while so it don't crack." "Yeah, but I think he was right for once," Anette says, standing up straight to swing her coat over her shoulders again, pulling her arms through the sleeves as she listens to Jax's warnings about healing. "I can make it work. Still, the sooner we do it the better, just to get the troublesome parts out of the way." Jax nods, slipping his camera out of his pocket to snap a picture of his sketchbook before the images vanish from it. He slides a business card from a holder on the counter across to Anette as she gets her jacket back on. "Definitely. I only work by appointment so just shoot me an email or something once you know what's good for you and we can work out a time." His smile is quick and bright as he settles back into his stool. "Be seein' you soon, then."