Dueling Dragon's

[Aria]

Nika was finished and was a mixture of too many emotions that Aria had to put it aside. Sad, happy, proud, all too much for one girl at one time. Not to mention the three other people besides herself in the room. Lucas was as usual happy, helpful and comforting. Aria wondered if he was the same with any of his other 'customers', like he was with her. How many girls got the same treatment?

And the banter from his partner made the doubts grow stronger. Lucas smiled at her to disarm any of misconceptions with the banter. But Sergei's words hit the same notes she was feeling no matter how playful they had been.

Aria turned to Lucas and looked up into his blue eyes. The doubts faded. Whatever it was about Lucas Aria didn't know, but he made her smile even when she was doubting him, herself and the world around her.

But as usual her thoughts turned again and she knew she was on a slippery slop. Obsession, felt like this too. Dane had made her smile just by being close. Sadly, it was just an obsession, nothing more, and nothing would probably have ever come from it. Aria pushed Dane's memory away. He was in Mexico and far from where she'll ever be. May he stay that way.

Aria smiled playfully at Lucas, "So I'm not the first you've taken your shirt off for huh?"
The doubts before pulling at the edges, but she took comfort in knowing that he was at least there for her even if he was there for others as well.

---

Lucas laughed at her words. "Uhh...I'm not gonna answer that on the grounds that it might get me stabbed?"
Then he held his grin and winked at her. And then to play with her, at Thal.

---

Aria took mock offense. "Stab you? Who would want to do that?"
Aria jabbed a finger into his side. Aria felt the doubts rise again with the wink.

She pushed away the jealously, it was probably more dangerous than Dane ever could be to her. It wouldn't do any good and there was nothing to be jealous of anyway. It's not like they were together in any sort of way despite the mutual attraction. Aria took a deep breath and stowed her own emotions. She gave Lucas a gentle shove in the direction of his work station. Aria grabbed the work he'd drawn last night. "You ready?"


Aria whispered to Lucas, so only he could hear once their backs were turned. "We may have to stop in the middle. I don't want to hurt you, not even a little bit."

[Thalia]

At home she might have curled into the seat; probably she would have done so regardless were it not for the cumbersome boots on the end of her feet - which were also cold with melting ice, and would have made for uncomfortable and wet cushioning anyway. Her mouth opened to answer Aria, but by then her tattooist had finished with his customer and came over to introduce himself. She shook his hand warmly, grinning at the banter. "Thalia. Ancient client, actually, from years back."
At least five or six; time blurred a little round the edges, and Thalia flittered in and out of the lives of so many people. She only had a single piece, though it covered the entirety of her back, and her reasons for it had less to do with aesthetics and more with therapy. But art was art, no matter the canvas, her indiscriminate appreciation evidenced with the way her gaze skipped over the pieces on the walls.

"Aria, you haven't seen them? Oh, you should! Every year when the snow is thick enough, old Artbat is covered in them. It's tradition. Students, artists, tourists - everyone just goes to town. Practically a snowman army."
Her voice lowered, conspiratorial. "And it makes a great place for a date."
She'd have to be blind to miss the smiles the woman was shooting in Lucas's direction, like bold shafts of light after a storm. Honestly, it was nice to see; Aria had seemed almost ill the first time they had met, withdrawn and stressed; crushed by the unkind city of Moscow. So it was pleasant to see she'd survived her first day enough to flourish.

[Lucas]

Sergei looked at his completed drawing, the grin still on his face from joking with Lucas. He was a good guy and they had a good time working together. The drawing he'd finished was different, definitely something he'd never done before. The images were very stylized since little attention was paid to realism. The the idea or the story was the more important thing in Mayan art. Still, he was proud of the piece. He'd drawn a serpent with a bird like head, complete with a wickedly sharp beak and a mane of feathers- Quetzalcoatl, one of their gods, he thought- but he gave it a modern twist, the lines more sinuous and sleeker, the edges of the beak and feathers sharper, the eyes and mouth more sinister. It was colored in turquoise, red, black and green. From its mouth protruded a curled scarlet forked tongue. He thought about having it eat its tail- it was common in the old Mayan images he had looked at- but decided not to. He'd play with the motif again in other works.

He looked up in time to see Lucas and his not-girlfriend walking to his chair, probably to get started on her tattoo. It was a nice design. Lucas had a clean hand. Thalia had that pretty and open smile she usually wore and he smiled back at her. She still looked wind-swept, but it suited her. He remembered the hours and hours he had spent working on her back. He'd talked a lot that day, about nothing mostly. It was just to pass the time. At times she talked and at others was dead silent. It was a big piece, a mural of a girl surrounded by poppies in the Mucha nouveau style, with its clean sharp lines and bright vivid colors. But the pain had been considerable. He had had to ask her if she was sure more than once because this was not going to be easy. But she had endured it. Indeed, she had been so silent and still at times that he'd have to see if she had fallen asleep. It was ridiculous, he knew, and yet the way she lay there, eyes closed, breath even and relaxed, skin cool against his hand...well he wondered. In the end it was beautiful. It was one of the pieces he was most proud of.

He stood up and went back over to her, his smile remaining. He really did enjoy her. She reminded him of a bird flitting from flower to flower, sampling life at every opportunity."All right gorgeous. Let's sit down and you can show me your latest masterpiece."
He led her over to his chair and made room for her to sit down.

[Rune]

Rune was late. Sooooo late! She sent Thalia a couple message from the train just to let her know that she was still actually coming. Everything seemed ok, and Rune breathed a sigh of relief.

The train slowed and she counted the seconds it took to come to a stop. That sigh of relief was cut short when she saw her own reflection in the glass door. Her hair was still that awful brown color that she assumed was her natural shade. On one hand it kind of looked like rich chocolate milk, but on the other, it seemed soooooo boring! Snooze fest! She'd done up her eyes extra pretty to make up for it. Black winged off the corners and purple and silver eyeshadow gave her boring brown eyes some extra pizazz.

For as girlie as she liked her makeup, Rune was all kinds of a walking contradiction. Her clothing was entirely functional for example. She had on black utility pants, a hooded sweater and tank top, but those were of course under a stout leather coat. She wore that with the collar up turned, not only did it look cool, but her neck was cold from the shaven hairstyle she preferred lately. The pink fuzz was gone that Thalia loved so much. "I hope she recognizes me."
And more, beneath those clothes were thick arms and broad shoulders.

It was a quick jaunt to the tattoo parlor. Rune shrugged her ever-present bag of goodies up on her shoulder and put her head down to make it the rest of the way. By the time she pushed open the front door, wetness pasted her hair across her forehead (she wasn't wearing a hat), and she stomped snow off her work boots.

The warmth of the interior instantly decrystalized the frost from her face and hair. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand and cast a good thorough look about the place. No monsters. No gods. No dead bodies. No horrible rotting violent smell. Then her smile turned wicked when she saw who all was actually there.

"You're shittin' me! Aria?! That you?!? Heya Thal."
She hadn't forgotten Thalia, but she had to appreciate the irony of the three of them meeting up together.

[Aria]

The door bell rang again, Aria didn't have time to turn to see who it was before the 'wild' American spoke "You're shittin' me! Aria?! That you?!? Heya Thal."
And now it seemed that her entire first day had come full circle. Except this time she was in control!

Aria turned around with a smile. The last time they'd seen each other wasn't a happy time. They'd made their peace with the whole drawing a gun thing on Rune. But that didn't mean they were friends. Aria didn't like the fact that the Rougarou had been kept alive, Aria couldn't remember if Tehya had actually said what she had wanted the Rougarou when she asked about it. She might have to ask again, when she contacted her about Commandar Vellas proposal to meet. Aria wondered where Rune stood on the issue, her god had gotten away, Aria wanted to know why he did. Maybe there was another ally there, but she couldn't exactly ask here in front of so many people who didn't know what they did. Maybe there was a way around that. But still idle chit chat about a reborn god was not easy to make.

"Fancy meeting you here too. Rather ironic for it's the same reason we all met the first time too. It's all about the tattoo."
Aria turned to see Lucas smiling and waiting. Aria took her seat next to him.

All of a sudden fear hit her, not only was Rune Furia and could smell the lives she'd taken on her. This was the first person who might figure out that she was not the girl she 'pretended' to be. But it wasn't the only deaths on her head. She'd killed monsters galore, and for once in her life, she didn't want to know what Atharim smelled like, she was glad she was not Furia. The horrid smells. Aria was glad it was all in her head those smells. But the downside was she was Sentient, a monster by all Atharim standards. Something to be put down. You don't tell a strange or even known Atharim that if you wanted to live. With Tehya it was different, they'd both shared a secret that could end their lives. It was trust that they other understood. Aria didn't know Rune, didn't know her stance on killing the human variety of monster. It all came down to why Jaxen Marveet was still alive. Aria had to find one way or another.

[Lucas]

Aria played along. ""Stab you? Who would want to do that?"
Then she jabbed him with her finger. Lucas laughed. He was glad she was playing along. They weren't dating or anything, though there was definitely chemistry between the two of them. At the same time, though, he was also helping her and didn't want to have her think that he was some skeevy opportunist using her problems to nail her. He wanted her to do well and get a handle on her problems before even thinking about taking it to the next level. If they were in the same place, that is.

She was ready so they started walking toward his chair. Aria whispered, "We may have to stop in the middle. I don't want to hurt you, not even a little bit."
Her comment only cemented how serious this was for her. And how careful she was being. He was encouraged. She was being careful of her triggers. He liked that...He also felt a bit overwhelmed by the depth of her need. But he'd said he would help her.

He nodded to her weapons. "You know, one of these days you're gonna have to tell me why a pretty girl like you needs to carry around a gun and sword all the time. Not much call for a ninja-girl around here."
He smiled at her. "But in the meantime, they need to come off. Got it girlie?
He made his voice mock-serious there at the end. When she complied he jokingly said, "Your shirt too."
He winked at her. Her shirt was short sleeved and he could get to her arm to do the work easy. Though he did admit, seeing her without her shirt would be very nice. Down the road maybe?

The door dinged and he looked to see a cute girl walk in. She looked over at Sergei's friend and went over, but not before saying 'hi' to Aria. He smiled. Sergei was definitely the man. And man, but it was a family reunion up in here. Seems like they all knew each other. He shrugged and let them talk for a few moments. She was a curious one. Was definitely girly but there was the same hard edge to her that Aria had. Maybe it was the way she dressed. He was curious how they knew each other, but said nothing to interrupt their talk.


Edited by Lucas, Aug 28 2014, 03:13 PM.

[Thalia]

"You shooting for something with all these compliments?"
She shoved Sergei playfully in the ribs as she followed him over, grinning. Her satchel she left at the foot of her chair without thought to its security (not much of value in it anyway) and the sketchbooks she carried over, with only a pause as they reached the table. She spent a moment inspecting the piece he'd been working on, hovering her fingers over the cleanness of the lines, the harshness of the vision. The tongue was red as blood, its hue caressing a memory that sparked and died without creasing her features. "Nice."
The compliment was sincere. Careful not to disrupt his workspace, at least too much, she began arranging the designs. There were a couple of options, but each had two things in common: the ouroboros and the violets.

"It's for the inner forearm -"
she demonstrated on herself, over the sleeve of her cardigan "-and that's non-negotiable, sadly. Such a small space! The snake and violets were in the spec. And she wanted lots of colour. But it's really the detail that concerns me. How much can fit without losing integrity, or wrapping around her arm and losing the composition? So I figured you guys could chat, and then Rune can finalise the design she wants."


The door dinged, and Thalia shifted in the seat to lean past Sergei and see who it was. A blink of surprise was replaced by a habitual smile. "Hey Rune."
Gone was the pink, and gone was the rainbow, though the serious sombre black of her attire remained. Still, she looked remarkably changed without it. Thalia made a vague gesture to beckon the woman over once she was done greeting Aria, meanwhile studying the spread of her own work with a critical eye. Oh, and: "Sergei, Rune; Rune, Sergei."

[Rune]

"Yah I can't wait to get mine!"
Rune said. She caught the eye of the guy Aria was with in order to wink at him. He was pretty. Like a rainbow.

But she was soon drawn off toward Thalia. If she was gonna get the tattoo today, there'd be plenty of time to chat it up with the good looking fellas around here. And wow. That one with Aria. Whoa.

Thal looked pretty much exactly the same as ever. Her hair was just as wild and unkempt. It reminded Rune of grass blowing in the Great Plains. Rune was quickly distracted by the drawings laid out on the table. They were so, so, so beautiful. "Oh Thal. These are fantastic! Even better than the last ones! I so owe you!"


"So, Serg, what do you think? You're the one gonna do it, eh?"

[Aria]

"You know, one of these days you're gonna have to tell me why a pretty girl like you needs to carry around a gun and sword all the time. Not much call for a ninja-girl around here. But in the meantime, they need to come off. Got it girlie?"


Aria complied with a grin. She took her belt off and wrapped the gun and the sword with the belt so on one would trip when she laid it under the chair.

"Your shirt too."


Aria cocked her head to the side and shook her head. "My arm is under my shirt huh?"
Aria stuck her tongue out at him. "I think you need some lessons in anatomy."


Aria grinned at him, and fought back everything that wanted to creep up. Rune's feeling's mimicked her own. It stung a little but Aria pushed it away. But she went on her way to meet with Lucas' partner. Aria couldn't help but wonder if Thal's snowmen comment had been overheard by Rune when she walked in. A date? That wasn't something she had even thought about. Sure she liked Lucas, but a date? A real one?

Aria sat down and waited for Lucas to start she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to do this now. The pain, the memories. Fear welled up inside her and Aria wanted to let it flow freely but she fought the urge, fought the desire and just focused what Lucas was do. Rune said she couldn't wait to get hers. Aria grinned at her. Aria wondered if that was something she truly understood. To be marked forever as one of them. Forever.

[Lucas]

Lucas laughed at Aria's response. But then she sat down in the chair and put her feet up. She seemed to be breathing deeply, as if nervous. It was a common feeling when you first went under the needle. And hers was old so unless she had tattoos where he hadn't seen them, this was nearly her first time.

So he did what he always did to first timers. He began to talk and ask questions to take her mind off it. And he moved methodically, as if in ritual. It was a ritual, in a way. Gently he took her forearm and positioned it so that it was firm on the chair. Frequently, he looked up at her and smiled reassuringly. He use a cold-wipe to clean the arm as well as to numb the skin somewhat. Then he got his design sheet and carefully transferred it to her arm, positioned so that both dragons were on either side of her original tattoo. He had her look at it. "All good? You happy with the placement?"
She looked at it for a moment and then nodded, saying little. That was ok.

He lowered his voice so that it was a more soothing tone and continued talking and asking questions, trying to help her unfocus. In the meantime, he'd gotten a new needle and added black to his gun. He took in a deep breath, centering himself. This was for Aria. It was her struggle, her fight. And she wanted him to help her. He looked into her eyes and put all his support and concern for her there. He'd started the gun but the buzz of it became background noise. He looked at her a moment more and then nodded to her. "So I want you to count backward from 100 by 3's, ok?"
At her look, he smiled. "Trust me."
It took more concentration then people realized. He waited until she got to 82 before he started the tattoo. She gasped. "Keep counting,"
he said as he wiped along where he drew. She needed to get used to the pain.

Slowly he fell into his place as time slowed down. He was immersed in inking Aria's struggle. He felt that peace come over him as he was let into yet another person's private place.