Participants:
| Scene Title | Inked |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The trio of females in Vegas get tattoo's |
| Date | May 7, 2010 |
Tattoo Shop, Las Vegas, Nevada
With this being their second to last day in Vegas, Melissa has been nagging, saying they needed to get tattoos. After all, they need something lasting. The fact that she's been wanting a tattoo for a little while has nothing to do with it. Honest. There was some glaring and finger pointing at Kendall, and he was left in the room with orders to not get arrested again.
It's one of the nicer tattoo parlors that Melissa ends up dragging Gillian and Abby into, and as they step inside, she's pointing out to the other two, "You know, I really envy you both. You get pain free tattoos."
"I actually don't want it, the pain-free thing," Gillian says, glancing over at Melissa with a shrug as she rubs her hands over the tattoos. "You wouldn't be there for the pain that comes after, anyway, so might as well get the whole thing and not the nagging burning that comes after for days. I think Abby's other tattoos were the only real pain-free ones that you can get." Since they didn't even need a needle, if she understood correctly. "So, just focus on Abby. This'll be my fourteenth tattoo, so it's not like I haven't been through it before. And the pain is part of getting one, anyway."
'That's cause my friend changed the pigmentation of my skin. So the ones on my back won't fade, and all that" Or dull, or do much of anything. "And they can be gone in a wave of a hand. Though, a real tattoo could too, too, if you change your mind" Abigail knows already what she's going to get, hopping along with the other two, a design printed off in hand. "But I will take that lack pain, thank you very much Irene. I'm a chicken"
Through the door they go, Abigail looking around to compare it to Xiulan's shop, cleanliness and fastidiousness of the shop. Last she wants is to pick up the lord knows what in Vegas from unclean equipment. "Besides, I'm going for bottom of the foot and that hurts a lot. I'll take the burn afterward, just.. you know"
There's a slight wrinkling of Melissa's nose at the new name, but she nods to the others. "Alright. And yeah, bottom of the foot is gonna hurt like a bitch. I'm gettin' mine on the back of my shoulder, I think. Maybe between my shoulder blades. Still iffy on that." But she pulls out her own design and glances around as well.
"I'm getting mine here," Gillian explains, touching a hand along her back near the side, kind of in the middle. "I got an idea on what I want, I'd actually been thinking of this tattoo for a while now." But things kept happening to keep her from getting it. Same as things happened to keep her from touching up her ruined tattoos. They've seen her near naked, so if they counted, she only has eleven in total, technically. Regen is a bitch on tattoos.
"WE're going to be here a while then" Abigail murmurs, stepping up when the person at the counter turns and leaves, apparently done what they came for and a fresh piercing there for all to see through a lip. That gets a wrinkle on the nose from Abby, but up she steps regardless.
Thus ensue's conversation with the fairly skinny and tattoo'd guy behind the counter as price and designs are pitched, as well as the time to be taken. They do have a teenager who got into trouble, being trusted to NOT get into more trouble. Abigail was already a little upset that Caliban went and did that, but at the same time, so very much relieved that he had stepped in and intervened with the teenager.
In the end, it will be ten minutes and two people can be done at the same time, two tattooist available and it's up to the girls to decide who will go first and second, then third and drawings/idea's are surrendered to the artists in question so they can prepare.
"What is it you're gonna get?" Melissa asks Gillian, then she falls silent a minute. "I can't go at the same time as Abby. Never be able to keep her pain gone while trying not to focus on needles stabbing me repeatedly. So guess I'll go after, but I'm totally watching," she says, grinning.
"A fairy with purple wings, kind of a goth fairy, I guess. It's a long story," Gillian says, unbuttoning the shirt she wore until she can pull it off. Tattoo artists are used to people having to disrobe, and despite her usual non-issue with undressing, she did wear the black bikini top instead of a bra for the least amount of inappropriate underwear showing.
There's a moment before she goes to lay down that she walks to Melissa, to hand her the shirt and the rest of her things, and she says, "I'm probably going to be augmenting you a little, it'll start small, no matter what happens, but I don't want to risk augmenting Abby off-guard." It's said in a whisper, so that the woman knows to expect it. "If I start glowing, though, take away my pain no matter what I said before. Even a minute should get me under control." And she'll hope the tattoo guys don't panic and turn out to be anti-Evolved and try to kill them. With that said, she walks over to lay down, her black and purple fairy design chosen.
Gillian is undressing but then again, she'd have to if it was on the back. Abby is hopping up onto a table, starting to undo the aircast so that where she wants her tattoo can be done. "Yeah, lets no augment me and make me manifest in here please" Her own voice low and a furrowed brow to go with the worry of manifesting whatever it is that she has, in this place.
"You'll be fine Gillian. If you want, we could wait till we get back to New York and the snow is all gone and visit my friend. She's a real tattooist as well" Kindly offering Xiulan's service to the others. "You'd like her. You both would" Toes are wriggled and the plastic and foam and everything else it's made out of is passed to Melissa to take care of. Bruises gone, just the black thread from stitches in short along both sides of her ankle. Those likely to be taken out once home again. "What are you going to get Mel?"
Melissa takes the shirt and cast and looks curious. "Glowing? I'm almost afraid to ask. And goth fairy huh? Two thumbs up for that. I pondered a goth she-devil holding a halo on her pitch fork. Sorta like the good angel, bad angel, with the good kicked out, but this…This works better." There's a pause, then a shrug. "It's a tribal design of a wolf howling upward, and the design sort of fades into a phoenix."
"That should be cool," Gillian admits, glancing at the cast foot out of curiosity, perhaps surprised that she wants it on that foot. Then again, she is already off of that foot, and she'd be forced to walk on the other one— so it makes sense. While at the same time surprising her. Settling down against the table, the tattoo artist asks what happened to her tattoos, and she lies in the best way she knows, "I did that on purpose." She so didn't get nuked on purpose… "Don't worry, I want this one whole."
Yeah, she'll need to see Xiulan one day if she ever wants to fix these tattoos of hers.
"Oooh" To both designs, that is the sound that Abby makes as the tattooist come in, thus eliminating conversation for a small spate of time as place's, designs and all that are set into place, transfers of outlines laid down for the two of them.
"She glows, all purple. Or well, where she's touching you. She made me glow white, my hand at least. Was the first time I'd ever seen something like that with what I had" Abby offers Gillian a smile, getting comfortable herself, offering a grin to the two female tattooists who are their company for however long this will take. "What's yours supposed to mean, if anything Mel? I know Gillians"
Melissa finds a spot to sit where she can watch both tattoos. "I'm hoping it will be. It…well, the wolf stands for strength and survival, the phoenix, rebirth. Sort of a reminder to myself, not to let anyone break me, because I can just come back again, better than before." Pause, shrug. "Or that's the idea, anyway. Started lookin' for somethin' with that sorta meaning after…stuff."
"I almost got a Phoenix about a year ago," Gillian says, closing her eyes as it starts, trying to focus on one tiny little thread of energy rather than the knot in the back of her head. If it has somewhere to go, it may not take as long. "I had it all picked out. Tribal, matched the dragon." The one on her breast. "I was going to get it on the other boob. But never got around to it. There are a bunch of things I never got the chance to do." Cause she never got herself a vacation. Until now. Thanks Abby.
Thank Caliban really. Vegas would not have happened if other things hadn't happened. She'd still be in New York. "I couldn't imagine a tattoo on a breast" She really can't. her toes splay when the woman takes to her foot, ready to start in on the simple design, less colors, and it takes all her willpower to not burst out laughing at the tickling - sans pain - that the tattoo being created causes. This is going to be funny if the smile on her face is any clue. "Keep it up Mel!" Sing songed. "Oh heavens… Okay, I prefer the other way. Quicker, less tic- Oh sweet heavens" A hand clamps over her mouth and she looks over at Gillian then Mel.
Melissa looks amused at the reaction Abby's having, and shakes her head. "Want me to tone it down? So it tickles less?" she asks, leaning her head back. "And I can imagine a boob tattoo easily enough, but then, I got my nipples pierced a couple years back. Figure nothin' can hurt that bad."
There's a laugh, or what might count as a laugh. It's more like hissing the way it sounds, since Gillian's not getting the pain free reaction. So much to laugh at, but it's hard to laugh. "It hurts, but not as bad as the Latin text I got. That's one of the few tattoos you guys haven't seen. Someone has to know me real well to see that one." A slow inhale, and then she continues, already raspy voice a little raspier. "How's it feel having friends with all the wild you're missing to make up for it? I was never much into piercings, though, just tattoos."
Oh lord, they're talking about piercing nipples. Raquelle out in the Mexican desert with all his hardware springs to mind and there's a nod to Melissa about toning down the pain relief, let a little through to counter the tickle. Which does help, keeping still as on and on it goes. "Okay, so, I know we won't be seeing the latin, but what does it say. And see, Mel, you have to get some Latin. Gillians got some, I got some, now you have to get some"
"I'm not huge into piercings either. Just got that and my ears," Melissa says, shaking her head. "And what does your Latin say?" she asks, glancing to both. "And I have no idea what Latin I'd get either. Only Latin I know is…uh…okay, so I don't know any Latin. Sorry," she says, lips twitching.
"Res nullius," Gillian says, though since it is a dead language it doesn't sound like other people might say it, but close enough. Not just cause she's biting back pain. Talking helps. Gives her something else to focus on besides the small thread of energy she's sending towards Melissa's Abby-painkiller. "It means nobody's property. I had a really possessive and jealous boyfriend at the time."
"Fides est lux lucis ut rector vos per obscurum" The youngest blonde relays, offering a hand out to Gillian but thinking the better of it. Touch would be bad for Gillian right now. "Faith is the light that guides you through the darkness" Mel's seen it along her side from armpit down to hip. Though the wings were missing at the Gala, but Gillians knows why and how.
"See, I don't have anything meaningful like that," Melissa says with a grin. "And right now I'd love any kind of boyfriend. Even a possessive one." There's a pause, then she leans towards them, voice dropping a bit. "You know…I've been with guys, but I've never had a boyfriend? Freakin' twenty-six and never landed a guy for more than a few nights. It's pathetic."
"I've had plenty of boyfriends," Gillian says, keeping her eyes closed so she doesn't even notice the offered hand. The blackness makes it easier to deal with it, allows her to actually almost see the thread that links her and Melissa, whether the other woman feels it or not. It's just the smallest flow, almost all the energy held back. "But I don't really want to talk about that." Emotional pain added onto physical pain isn't needed right now.
'Lets… talk about… how very cold it will be when we get home hmm? Where will we be staying, sounds like the Lighthouse still has electricity. But the rest of the city is out of luck with that regard" Her foot feels funny, but funny is preferable to holy crap what was I thinking, or giggling repeatedly. "Will you and Kendall be okay? I have to figure out where I'm going to go. Peter has Pila and Scarlett at his mothers but I am not going to drop in there. Heavens I don't even know where that is and I doubt Elias does either."
"I could tell you, if you really wanted to get 'em," Melissa says absently. "But yeah, it'll be freakin' cold. Probably won't stay at our house since it sounds like northern Staten is powerless. Prolly hit the Corinthian or somethin' until we get power back." Her lips curve a touch. "Where's an electrokinetic when you need one?"
Peter's mom's place. Gillian closes her eyes and tries not to think about that, but Melissa feels a sudden surge of energy. It tapers off after a few moments. "If you have a fireplace, you could probably hold out for a few days, that's one of the reasons if Lighthouse loses power we'll probably be able to stay there a while after anyway." Fireplace supplied heat doesn't need electricity.
Melissa glances at Gillian curiously, then recalls seeing her at the Corinthian bash, and Peter's comments about her. Oops. "Yeah, we've got fireplaces. But it needs a little work still." Like removal of the skeleton in the basement. "But we probably could make it work for a few days."
"I'd offer the Lighthouse, but we're reaching the maximum amount of people we can handle already," Gillian says quietly, trying to move away from talk of Peter and Peter's mom and all the stupid relationship stuff that's just going to upset her again. "You'd have to sleep on the floor. I'm not sure we even have any extra bunks left. From the sounds of it people actually took my bed while I was gone." She hadn't really wanted people to, but…
"I'll be going back to the Brownstone. I think that Teo and Francois are still there, they have ways to keep the place warm" Abby's fallen quiet, concentrating, listening and realizing that saying he who shall not be named's name, was probably not a smart thing to do. "We'll stop and get groceries before we go back. We can always have stuff mailed, that we don't need right away, back to the city, to cut down on stuff we're going back with"
"That'd probably be a good idea. I'll be shocked if any stores are open right now anyway. I mean it's like, below forty right now. God, just saying that makes me feel cold," Melissa mutters unhappily.
"Reminds me of Antarctica," Gillian says, eyes still kept shut, and despite the mention of the location, and specifically what happened there, she's able to keep from losing control this time. "Getting stuff mailed might be a good idea. We won't get it til the storm finally passes." Finally. It seems like it never will. If it doesn't… they might all have to move. "I shouldn't need anything. I'll call and ask before we go, though." Supplies are one of the things she was overly anal about since the storm started. They have enough to last a long time…
Alas, phones, they aren't working. Would wireless work this far out west? "I'm sure we'll be fine when we go back" It looks like Abby's tattoo is almost done, from Melissa's perspective and soon to be her turn under the needle.
Melissa wrinkles her nose. "I don't even wanna think about a place colder than home right now. And I don't think we'll need anything we'll have mailed anyway, so we should be good there."
Getting tattoos is an ancient art, and while someone may be able to make it less painful for others, it still takes some time— Gillian nods in agreement, despite still having eyes closed. "We'll be fine." After all they've been through respectfully… "What's the worst that could happen?"
Maybe not the best thing to say.
When Abby's tattoo is done Mel offers the shirt and cast back to her, then takes off her own shirt. Like Gillian though, she's got a bikini top on underneath, and she stretches out on her table. "Yeah, we will. Though I'll bitch about the cold until May weather is like it's supposed to be."
"No one can blame you for bitching a little about it when it's cold enough to freeze the tears on your eyelashes," Gillian says, though she's not crying or anything. It's just an example of the situation. The tattoo on her back isn't finished, as it took more space and requires a lot more filling in of black. They've finally started on the purple. At this point she stops supplying energy all together, concentrating on the knot in her head instead. With the woman getting a tattoo having to feel the pain, she doesn't want to risk pain being a trigger of lack of control.
"True. I know I won't be alone either. I'm just glad we were able to get away for a week. It's been nice being comfortable." Melissa lays her head on folded arms once the design is transferred to her skin, then winces as the needle first touches her skin. "Yep. This hurts. Damn. And you said you had how many Gillian?"
"I'm grateful that Abby invited me," Gillian admits, willing to bet that the chance won't happen again for a while, definitely not til the storm passes. If she's hoping it'll pass soon. "This is number fourteen that I've gotten." Number twelve that she actually has, though. "I've been getting them since I was fourteen, though, so it's a good round number. I did like having thirteen for as long as I did, though."
"God, don't tell Kendall that," Melissa says, voice a little tight, but she's not tensing up or wincing anymore. "He's already questioning why he can't gamble at sixteen. I don't need to add tattoos to it."
"Girls mature faster than boys anyway. He's got at least two more years before he's close to old enough," Gillian says with a grin, despite the pain. It's an old familiar sting to get, as it's been almost ten years since her first one, and rarely did a year pass she didn't get at least one more…
"Yeah, well, I'm not takin' any chances. I didn't figure he'd be in handcuffs after a month after all, yet there he went. Jesus." Melissa shakes her head and closes her eyes. "It's amazing though how quick I started thinkin' of him as family."
"From the sounds of it you want a relationship of any kind so bad that you're jumping on the ones you can get with everything you've got," Gillian says in her raspy quiet voice, saying it as she sees it, from what she's heard of the woman saying. "It's probably a good thing for him, at least."
Melissa falls quiet for a moment. "I…don't know about that. I mean I've had friends and all that. Parents are shitty at the job, but I've got friends. What I want a sixteen year old 'son' can't give me."
"Family is more than friendship. Lovers something different, but as strong as family," Gillian says quietly, biting back the pain as the needle works on the second of the wings. "Family's less likely to break your heart."
That gets a very unladylike snort from Melissa. "I disagree. My parents broke my heart. It's probably why I am the way I am. They ignored me whenever humanly possible. Makes me wonder why they didn't get rid of me or somethin'."
With the last of the wings done, Gillian immediately gets up instead of resting, and goes for her shirt. "I don't want to compare sob stories, but I'm not fucking talking about your parents. I'm talking about the family that you choose. My parents were murdered when I was two years old, and I didn't even know I was adopted until last year. But yeah, my parents treated me differently too. I'm going to get some air." And it's better she does this quickly, cause the knot is unraveling even as she walks out the door and pulls her shirt back on.
Melissa lifts her head, brows lifting. "What got your panties in a bunch, Gillian? Jesus fuckin' christ. You got a problem with the topic, say so. You got a problem with me, tell me straight out."
"I'm going outside," is all Gillian says, as she buttons up the shirt and completes the trek out to the street, and to go a block or two away. It's something much deeper than personal. And if it wasn't for the dangerous possibilities, and the public location, she might try to explain— but the more distance between her and it right now, the better.
Melissa shakes her head and lays her head down. "Startin' to have this fuckin' city," she mutters, eyes closing as the tattooing continues.