Log: Getting Ink

[ambitious_muse]

Who: Sigma (Native) and Jersey (Original)
What: An accidental meeting leads to talking shop
Where: A tattoo parlor in the market district
When: Friday afternoon (15 January)
Warnings: none yet

Every time Sigma considers getting a tattoo to cover his burn, he gets the same warning: tattoos might not work on burned skin. Most parlors just tell him to come in and they can judge for themselves. Now that he has a free afternoon, he's going to try.

So. Here he is at the shop that's most highly recommended among his peers at the university. He likes the style, he supposes, but...what to get?

Comments

[the_deadeye]

He's been poking around the marketplace in order to get some space from the base and not wind up stuck up in some debate between the lowers about something ridiculous. However Jersey didn't imagine seeing the newest merc on the block standing around in the tattoo shop with the most clueless look on his face. Did this kid know what he was getting into?

"Didn't expect you here of all places," he remarks. "Fancy some ink?"

[ambitious_muse]

Jersey's here?

"Uh. Hi," he says. "Yeah. Thinking about it. But I had to make sure they can ink over scars, so I had to come in first." He clutches his brand beneath his sleeve. "Are you--do you have tattoos?"

[the_deadeye]

"Of course I do. Scar tissue? That might take an expert to do but it isn't impossible," he answers.

[ambitious_muse]

That's right. "You have a tattoo like Louisiana's, don't you?" Sigma should've known that. Frankly, he's too busy trying to muster the courage to go inside. He doesn't even know what he wants done, just that he wants the mark altered.

[the_deadeye]

"Similar but not the same," Jersey simply corrects. He gives a roll of his shoulder that bore the tattoo, opposite side of his partner's. "Do you know what you're going to be getting? It would make things on the artist as much as yourself."

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma smiles softly. "I don't know," he admits. He rolls up his sleeve to show his mark, one drawn in scars instead of ink. "I guess I was hoping for ideas."

Not like Louisiana's, since he doesn't work for Charon. But...something.

[the_deadeye]

He looks over the mark with a critical eye, reaching out to turn the other man's arm to get a better view. Still a nasty mess but it could be far worse. It was apparent that some treatment had been sought after.

That wouldn't go over well if found out. Still he's not one to blab off his mouth.

"Well it didn't kill you obviously," he states. "It made you stronger. So why not a phoenix?"

[ambitious_muse]

Every time someone touches his arm, he wants to recoil. This time, he manages not to. No matter how bad it looks. He wants to joke that this hadn't killed him, but... There's something not funny about it.

"A Phoenix?" He considers this. He never took Jersey for the mythic type. He wiggles his fingers but doesn't pull his arm away.

[the_deadeye]

His fingertips gently go over the marred tissue, trying his best to not be rough with him. He'll give it to the kid. A lot of people would've not been able to handle this sort of thing like he's managed to.

"Maybe have the head at top." His finger moves as he talks to show what he was thinking of. "The wings can be spread to cover a decent amount. Then the tail can twist and curl in case. Fierce looking, defiant, and fiery."

Jersey relents his hold to let him withdraw. "It would suit you. They rise from their own ashes. The whole resurrection thing."

[ambitious_muse]

"And the scarring isn't too bad?" Jersey probably knows scars. He could tell how bad it is, especially with the way he traces the old burn.

"A Phoenix. It does sound appropriate." He smiles. "I like that idea. Thanks." Now he just needs to find an artist who can create what Jersey has put in his head.

[the_deadeye]

"Seen a lot worse before. It should still take the ink and bonus is that it'll hurt less since the area has lost some of the sensitivity," he points out. His fingers run over the rest of his arm before retracting his hand away fully.

"No problem."

[ambitious_muse]

"Hurt bad enough the first time," he admits before he can stop himself. Embarrassed, he clutches his arm to him.

[the_deadeye]

That certainly causes him to raise a brow. "First time?"

[ambitious_muse]

"The... initial injury. My brother had to drug me before I'd let him clean it."

Is getting a tattoo going to hurt? Is this a bad idea?

[the_deadeye]

"Well yea. Burns are a bitch and half to deal with," he nods. "This won't be like that though."

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma laughs softly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to scare me."

[the_deadeye]

"There'd be more effort to it if I was trying to be scary," Jersey counters.

[ambitious_muse]

"Yeah," he says. "That's what I figured. But you know I won't let a little pain stop me. L taught me better than that."

[the_deadeye]

"That's good. She's a rather good teacher when it comes to that at the very least," he sighs. "Thing is did she also teach you to be brave enough for these sort of things?"

[ambitious_muse]

"She's a really good teacher," he says. "Well, what she didn't teach me, my family did. I'll be tough."

Better that than staring at the mark on his arm every single day.

[the_deadeye]

He gives a small shrug. "Well if you're so tough, are you going to actually go in and do it then? Do you need someone in there with you?"

[ambitious_muse]

"I'm going," he says, keying the airlock. "I just didn't want to abandon you in the middle of a conversation. You're welcome to come in too, if you'd like."

[the_deadeye]

"Well aren't you polite," he returns. However he was busy mulling over whether or not to take up on Sigma's offer. "I didn't think you'd want me around more than you should. You know, after everything and all."

[ambitious_muse]

"Your partner is practically my sister. We won't be rid of each other any time soon," he reminds. "Besides, I imagine it's a good idea to stay on your team's good side." Felix notwithstanding.

[the_deadeye]

"Fair enough." Jersey follows after Sigma into the airlock. "That would be for the best since you're not one of us or them."

[ambitious_muse]

"That's what I thought," he says. "If I'm dealing information, it's best not to alienate either side." He feels safe saying that here in the airlock where nobody can overhear.

[the_deadeye]

"To be honest with you, I'd rather deal with you than the overly cheerful blue one," he grumbles. At least this dealer hasn't buried more than one knife into him now.

[ambitious_muse]

"That makes two of us."

Just because he conceded to Florida over the Delta mess doesn't mean he's happy about it.

[the_deadeye]

Well that definitely caught his attention. What the hell did the blue asshole do to the rookie? "What did he do to you?"

[ambitious_muse]

"Not to me," he says. "He--got in a disagreement with one of my brothers and he refuses to let it go. My brother is too much of a martyr to stand up for himself, so it's a mess of ongoing bullying."

[the_deadeye]

"Oh so your brother and him are being the idiots rather than him and you," he states. "What exactly did your brother do? And better yet which one? I have a feeling it's not a small one."

[ambitious_muse]

"Yes," he says. This is so far from being his fault.

"One of my older brothers was dating...an associate of Florida's." Maybe he shouldn't mention Maine by name. "My brother broke up with him. Florida is convinced he never deserves to be happy again. Simple and stupid."

[the_deadeye]

"A For Hire? Well that's what you get sometimes when you date mercs in groups," Jersey shrugs. "However that doesn't mean that a vendetta needs to be had over it."

[ambitious_muse]

"You're telling me," he grumbles. "I tried to clear things up between them but they both jumped down my throat for it. I shouldn't have bothered."

[the_deadeye]

"It's usually best to keep out unless you're dragged in it. Regardless of it being family and all. Just sayin'."

[ambitious_muse]

"I've noticed." He sighs. "That's why I haven't told them about this. They're not dragging their opinions of what I should and shouldn't do into a tattoo design."

The airlock opens and he steps into the shop.