RP:Not All Tattoos Are Permanent

From HollowWiki

Part of the On Stranger Tides Arc


Summary: Khitti -finally- manages to get her sister to sit down and give her some fresh ink. Meri is informed that her nephew, Dominic, would also like a 'tattoo'. He wants a chicken, of course.

The Rebel Room: Art Gallery

Meri was hanging out within the gallery, more specifically the apartment portion of the gallery. Given all the drama that was recently occurring within Cenril, the front door of the shop is locked and the gallery has not been open for business for the last couple of weeks. It's fine, anyone who knows Meri knows this is not really where she gets a bulk of her income from anyway. This would not be a hinderance to Khitti, who was long ago presented with a key to the place so that she could come and go freely. She also would not have a hard time figuring out where Meri was, for since the gallery itself was not open...? Meri saw no reason to keep the front door to the apartment area of this building closed. It was wide open, a sure sign that someone had to be inside.


Khitti did use that key and once she got inside? She’d lock the door. And then she’d close the curtains or blinds or do -something- to cover the windows as best as she could. Even if that meant coating them with shadow-ice. And when she was done, she’d head into the flat, and closed that door too. It’d probably look a little suspicious that she did, to be honest, considering it’s not something she often does when the shop is closed. “Heeey,” Khitti said, offering Meri a faint smile once she found the blonde. “So, uh… I let Dominic help with the tattoo idea--and surprisingly, it didn’t end up badly at all.” She smirked at the thought, then pulled a bit of parchment out of the pocket on her dress before handing it over. Inside, it was a small landscape scene of three odd-looking animals running around in a circle, chasing each other and having fun. “I guess they’re called “Pocket Creatures”? Or something like that. He’s obsessed with these picture books.” One of the creatures look like a small black lion cub with a shock of red fur going up the middle of the crown of its head, looking similar to a mohawk. The second one was a bright orange chicken with its beak, a tuft of feathers on its head, its feet, and a bit of collar-like bunch of feathers around its neck a much lighter shade of orange. And the last one? It was a red fox-like being, with a big bushy light orange tail, a ring of light orange fur around its neck, and a bit of light orange fur on its head, looking somewhat hair-like because of it being slicked back. “I guess they’re all fire-based animals, with their own fire abilities.”


Meri definitely found it odd that Khitti was going so far as to cover the windows, thankfully there were blinds so she did not have to ice them. She found it equally weird that Khitti saw fit to shut the door to her flat as well? What the heck? Meri did not have it open for any particular reason, but it still strikes her as odd. Meri's blue eyes linger on Khitti for a long moment, ignoring the talk about this tattoo, while she tries to puzzle out why her sister is being so weird. She finally speaks, "You know I will ink you up with whatever you would like to be inked up with." She will eventually get up to see her nephew's art work, and find that...they are all really freaking adorable. Even the chicken. Meri's smile betrays this, but that grin does not linger on her lips for long. "But I will only work on this tattoo one...if you remind me of where I am supposed to be putting this? And most importantly...two? You need to tell me why you are being such a freak right now." Meri makes a motion to the front door. She must assume that Khitti is going to give her an honest answer, because the blonde is not stationary. She is trying to recall where she put her tattooing needles.


Khitti || “Jokes on you, I’m always a freak,” Khitti said with a smirk. The smirk soon faded and she just shrugged, getting to the more important point first. “I dunno. Stuff happened. I’m being followed by some weird shadow thing. I think it’s attracted to my magic. It’s not too long of a story, if you really want to hear it, but that’s up to you…” There’s another shrug and she plopped down in whatever spot Meri thought best for her to start inking Khitti. “Also, it’s going here--” She pointed at her right under-forearm. “--to mirror the mermaid sleeve. Same sort of setup, with the tail of the fireball being extended and turned into a frame, like the waves on the other one. But, this one will have to be a landscape, I think. Maaaaybe if I had orc-sized arms, it’d work as a portrait, but… I do not have orc-sized arms.” Khitti took her finger and outlined on her arm how it’d be set up, where if Khitti looked down at the inside of her arm, the tattoo would be right-side up and facing her.


Meri motions for Khitti to get comfortable. At this point in time, Meri did not really feel like she needed to give her sister any specifics instructions on where to sit or how to sit, this was not the first time that Meri has done work for her sister over the years. "Jokes on you, if you don't give me the story I want to hear...Who knows what I will tattoo on you." This sentence is punctuated with a wink, except...if Khitti knows her sister there is a high probability she will make good on this threat. For the time being, it did not seem like Meri would. The blonde appeared to be mixing up the proper colors for the piece that Khitti was requesting, although it is possible that Meri could change on the fly...! "It's probably a good thing that you don't have orc-sized arms." Meri smirks, but keeps any further playful jabs she might have on this subject matter to herself. Mostly because they involve jokes about how Brand may not think Khitti is hot anymore if she had orc-sized arms. We do not need to repeat that fight tonight. Meri has finished mixing up the various inks she will need and presumably Khitti is nice and settled by now, so the blonde approaches with a needle in one hand and a pot of ink in the other. "Story time. Better make it a good one too. Or else." Meri was definitely more professional when she was a paid artist, no question. At least she managed to keep all her sass to herself.


Khitti just blinked at Meri a few times, then smirked. “Geez, woman, you sound like my mother.” Okay, she really didn’t; Khitti’s mother was a bigger bitch and controlling, so. Once they got situated and Meri got started, Khitti did too. “So, Tessa and I had to hold a seance ritual. Long story short, things are really frakked up in the Mage’s Guild right now. The former archmage of the guild, Brenwyn, was possessed at one point and due to events I wasn’t part of, Brenwyn ended up getting his head cut off by Macon.” Yes, -that- Macon. “Anyway. Tessa and I did the ritual. I was doing all the magical aspects while she did the talking and I ended up calling more spirits than just Brenwyn--the -real- Brenwyn, of course. It was a whole horde, like the fight on the bridge.” You know, the bridge thing. Where she died. “I literally used up all of my magic and this -thing- found us. It scared off all the spirits and wrapped itself around my barrier that was keeping us safe. It just completely surrounded us in darkness and shattered my barrier trying to get to me. And when it realized my magic was gone, it got pissed and flew at me. And -through- me. Knocked me off my feet and onto my ass and it knocked me out. Tessa had to drag my ass back to the Syndicate headquarters and shove potions down my throat to get me up again.” Khitti sighed, pulling down the top of her dress a bit to show the blonde her chest. “It left this behind too.” The mark it left was nothing more than a big black splotch where the entity had gone through her, some of it had faded, but it radiated somewhat with the same sort of energy as Khitti’s shadow magic. “Haven’t felt fully warm since it happened. My body quit hurting because of the collision thankfully. I think it’s fading though? It’s not quite as strong as it was the day after. Or I’m just used to it.” After giving Meri a good look, she released her dress, and shrugged. “The problem is… I don’t know if this is a good thing or not…” She looked like she probably had more to tell, but she let Meri take in all of that first.


Meri :: Khitti was probably well aware when she began this story time session, that Meri would not really have that much to cotribute given the magical nature of it all. This was just not her area...Well, more like the psion did not see any point in learning any of this stuff, because what benefit did it really have to her? Limited, at best. Her limited knowledge did not mean that Meri was disinterested though, just that she did not have anything intelligent to say on the matter. Khitti would explain what happened in great length, and while she does so she'll find that her darling sister is repeatedly poking into the flesh of her arm with that needle. Ah yes, the work was beginning, starting with the outline. There would be times that Meri would of course have to give pause. Sometimes because she was surprised with what Khitti was explaining and other times to reference either the artwork or the mermaid tattoo. Meri is definitely soaking in all of the details of Khitti's story, and while she may not be as chatty as she normally is, she demonstrates she's listening by muttering, "I don't know. In my experience," you know, as someone who has spent most of her adult life by the sea save for recent years, "Black spots are never a good sign for whomever is the recipient of it..."


Khitti || There’s a frown as Khitti nodded in agreement with Meri, “Yeah… I read something about that while I was trying to research it. Something to do with pirates or something like that?” Once it had been clear that Khitti wouldn’t find her answer there, she’d moved on elsewhere and didn’t continue down the path of the black spot. “I thought it’d be bad too. Like an omen or something. But… a few days ago, I got stopped on the bridge by two kids that work for that Xicotl--the “god” that the Warrior’s Guild is trying to stop? They tried to kill me. Thought my shadow magic was all that I had. I don’t think they knew about my magic from Cyris. They certainly didn’t know about the shadow thing following me.” Crimson brows furrowed somewhat, that frown still remaining, “Meri, the thing -helped- me. I’m pretty sure those two would’ve overpowered me at some point--I’m certain they’re as strong as you or I, ability-wise. They were the ones that attacked Vigilanti Semper months ago and closed the Shadow Plane portal I’d opened. All that to say that… I think I would’ve lost, even if barely, if that thing hadn’t helped me chase them off.” She paused, dwelling on what had happened that day. “It came up to me and just stared at me after they frakked off elsewhere. Like it was taking stock of me or something. It was impossibly tall and had shadowfire for eyes…”


Meri didn't fully understand the timeline of everything that Khitti was explaining, if only because she has not actually lived through and experienced any of this with Khitti. Was this séance with Quintessa before or after Brand disappeared? What if Viera had done something to Brand? And this shadow spirit is...Brand? The chances of Meri being completely off base with her assumptions here are high, but she doesn't want to ask Khitti. Not right now, this was the worst time ever for them to risk having a fight. See, Meri was doing this tattoo for her? These things always took a considerable amount of time, especially given the amount of detail that Khitti was hoping to have in this latest piece, but the outline of it all was progressing quite nicely. Meri crinkles up her nose and falls very quiet. It would be pretty easy to assume that it was because Meri was just extremely focused on her work. This was true to an extent, but she's always been pretty good at chatting and working. The small part of Meri's mind that was not fixated on the tattoo was dwelling over what the heck was wrong with her sister's life right now. Meri could not figure it out. Brand was gone. Who the frak was Viera. What the frak is the deal with this shadow thing.


Khitti || Her sister’s silence wasn’t really something Khitti noticed was out of place. She did just unload a lot of stuff on her while she’s doing the tattooing, so. “This is all really recent… I would’ve told you about it when we were in Rynvale, but there wasn’t time and I don’t really know Rilla and Penelope all that well.” Khitti fell into her own lapse of silence for a bit, those eyebrows of hers still knitted together somewhat in thought. “I have a theory of -what- it might be, but I don’t know why it wants me. I’ve never seen elementals from other planes here and I’ve never seen one in the Shadow Plane when I’ve been there. I know they exist at least? I’ve read about them. Each element has its own plane of existence and elementals are living creatures made of those elements. But like I said… I’ve never seen one over there. Or here. I don’t know how to communicate with it or if I should,” Khitti said at length, finally.


Meri :: "Mmmm," Meri responds, mainly to let her sister know that she was still at least listening and processing. Meri is still slow to speak though, but this time because she is wiping away black ink and blood from Khitti's arm so that she can inspect her work. Satisfied with the outline work she has done so far, she moves on to filling the tattoo in with colors. The black ink is put aside, for now, and Meri begins adding both warm and earthy colors to various 'pocket creatures' that Dominic has designed. Meri pays careful attention to the coloring, trying to get it just right so that her beloved nephew will approve the latest artwork that mommy has on her arm. As an artist, it was very important to do Dominic proud with this piece...but this was not exactly in the forefront of Meri's mind right now, even if it held true. "So, what do you think this thing is then...? A shadow elemental or something like that?"


Khitti seemed numb to the poking and prodding that was going on, but it really wasn’t the case. She did cringe briefly now and then, when the needle hit a particularly sensitive spot. She’d forgotten about the fact that tattoos hurt sometimes and that she wasn’t a vampire anymore that could just brush off the pain. But, much like Meri, it wasn’t in the forefront of her thoughts. “Yeah, a shadow elemental. I could see it being angry because it didn’t understand why I just suddenly had no magic. I don’t know how sentient elementals are in general. The Shadow Plane just constantly radiates shadow energy--it’s literally just a part of the plane--but it doesn’t do that here. If some of those spirits were stuck in the Shadow Plane, as they tend to sometimes, it could’ve followed them here. I don’t think people usually put that much energy into that type of ritual, but I didn’t want to take chances, you know? And we weren’t at the exact spot that Brenwyn died at because we couldn’t chance going closer to Xalious, so I had to give it a bit more oomph with my magic.” Khitti sighed and rubbed at her eyes, “Viera and Dominic have been very patient with me, because of my… uh… paranoia. Should I just… try to summon it? This can’t go on forever. I can’t work in the dark like I do when I’m paranoid and afraid of it. That’s going to hinder our work with the clan just a little bit…”


Meri has had plenty of practice when it comes to keeping her emotions to herself, most of the time. Sometimes her temper gets the better of her? In this exact moment though, she manages to not visibly cringe at the very mention of Viera. She also manages to resist the urge to bring up that argument again. You. Are. With. Brand. Khitti. "I guess, that this is probably a pretty likely theory..." Meri says, a bit distracted as she says it. It's fine, Meri was multitasking right now. "Just obviously not tonight, eh? I have learned the hard way that I do not do well fighting things that are not of...substance." Specifically during the time that Cal was almost strangled by a ghost. Meri pushes that thought to the back of her mind. During this portion of the tattooing session, Meri is having to pause more often to wipe the excess ink away. She needed to have a clearer picture to make sure the colors were being laid down correctly and blended together neatly. It took more concentration than outlining. "I think you might want to make sure you have the right...uh audience around to deal with the elemental? Just. In case...?" Unfortunately, Meri was not entirely sure who that audience might be...she sure is not about to say the name Viera.


Khitti was well enough inside her own head that she hadn’t noticed Meri’s cringe--which is probably for the better. Where Meri still obviously remembered, Khitti didn’t recall their fight at all. Thanks, Viera. “Yeah… That’s a good idea. I wasn’t gonna do it here anyway. Don’t want your studio to get ruined if something bad happened,” she said with a faint smirk. “And maybe not here in Cenril either… There’s enough going on here as it is.” She shrugged a little, “I dunno. I’ll sort it out soon. I’ll let you know, even if you end up not helping. Just so, you know, if it decides to kidnap me or something. Things like to do that. A lot.” It’s true. Meri knew this.


Meri would have waived off the notion of ruining her gallery were she not a bit busy tattooing her sister at this exact moment. Her property was the least of her concerns, were someone else sitting in front of her? Meri's sentiments might be different, but this was Khitti. She did agree with, "Yeah, no, we got enough with the illness going on. I don't want have to deal with those zombie things in addition to some shadow elemental. I mean, at least one of them I can stab...?" Meri cleans the extra ink off of Khitti's skin once more, the colors being wiped away this time are predominantly oranges. Meri is not quite done yet, for the final stretch of the session? She is back to her black ink, this time to add a bit of shading or shadowing where needed to give the creatures a bit more depth. "But if you let me know when? You know I will do my best to be there." Even if Meri had doubts on her ability to handle a shadow elemental should things so sour. Meri forces a smile, despite her lack of confidence in this matter. For the last time tonight! Meri is cleaning up Khitti's freshly tattooed arm. This time she is not going for her needle again, rather she demands to know, "So do you think Dominic will like it?" Khitti knew where the Meri was. Circle back to the point that she was more professional when she was a paid artist.


Khitti nodded along with Meri, agreeing with the things she said. The zombies. The letting her know when, in case she was able to help out. Her sister shifted the conversation back to the real topic at hand and Khitti finally looked down at her arm, taking it all in. “I think he will. I think he’ll like it even more because his favorite aunt did it.” Well, his only aunt, but still. “He seemed keen on getting his own, too,” she said, with a smirk and a shake of her head. “He really likes that chicken, soI told him I’d think about it. I think he thinks it’s just going to be painted on, instead of done with a needle though. It’ll be a long while before he gets a real one. But I’m sure one of us could manage something similar with paints or ink and pen.”


Meri :: While Khitti was taking in the details, Meri was moving to stand so that she could not only stretch her legs but also flex her fingers. Look, it has been awhile since she has done a major session like this. Even if the art itself was as good as ever, her fingers were definitely feeling it. It was the only sign of how out of practice Meri actually was. Holding a paintbrush was not the same thing as holding a needle. "Mmmmm, well you know maybe we can do something for his birthday or something. It could be paint, but that'd wash off pretty quickly. There is also more temporary ink." Like henna! "I'll work on it, it'll be a fun little surprise for him." Never in Meri's day did she ever imagine she would be doing a chicken on something. Kids, yo. "But yeah, you can feel free to tell him the truth of the matter. Aunt Meri is not going to let him get a real tattoo done with a real needle until he stops growing. Once he's eighteen, I will take him out. Get him drunk. And send him home with some tattoo that you will hate and make me cover up later because what the frak were we even thinking?" Meri smirks.


Khitti || “Temporary ink is probably the way to go then. If we’re lucky, he may even forget before his birthday.” It was only a few months before his birthday, but… sometimes Dominic had the attention span and memory of a goldfish. He probably got those aspects from his currently missing father. Possibly. Maybe. Okay, fine, Khitti’s guilty of at least the attention span thing. Put food in front of her face and she’ll probably forget what was going on. Meri stood, and Khitti did too--she had her own legs that needed to get stretched a bit too. “It looks great, Meri. It’s like you never even stopped tattooing in the first place,” she said with a grin. “Want a drink?” Yes, she was going to be nice and get her dear sister some whiskey or something, seeing as how her poor fingers were all cramped up. Khitti’s arm might hurt like hell from being poked and prodded for awhile, but her hands still worked!


Meri :: Don't ask Meri, she'd blame both parents. Then again, Meri is not one to talk? Fleur has certainly picked up some of Meri and Callum's less positive traits. The blonde brightens at the thought of a drink, "You know it!" It was a no brainer when it came to Meri these days, sobriety was just no fun. She tried very hard, did pretty good for a long while. Drinking was not the only thing that the two would be doing though. See, Khitti and Meri made a little bit of a mess of the flat with this session. And since Meri is no longer getting paid for this activity? It's just for the sheer love of art and the people wanting the art from her? Khitti's going to be put to work, she'll get to help clean up while the two share a few laughs and a few drinks.