Closed Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Johanne has her scars. It is time for Nolan to get his. (Nolan Elwood)

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The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Johanne on December 16th, 2012, 11:12 am

9th Winter, 512AV

Johanne was too thin for this dreadful cold. Even now, a few chimes past the midday bell, when it was the warmest it would be that day, Johanne could feel her bones groaning in protest, begging her to put on more clothes, drink more tea, make more fires, more more more. But Lazuli Ink only had the one fireplace for days like today, and Johanne was already wearing gloves, a scarf, a long sleeve dress, and on top of all that, she was wrapped up in a thick, woollen cloak.

Inecino and Soraya had both left the shop to her for a few bells; they were taking an extended rest for the day, so that Johanne could have the night off. It meant that Johanne could have free-reign of the shop, but a tattoo parlour so out of the way never saw all that much business. It meant a lot of sitting around, and a lot of drinking tea. She could have spent the time writing, or practicing her drawing skills, but she was too cold for that. She simply kept herself warm so that her fingers would be nimble should a customer come in, and she should need to create a piece of art within their skin.

Sitting too long in one attitude froze Johanne's joints in place, however. Reluctantly, her knees protesting, the tall, thin girl stood and paced agitatedly around the waiting room, returning the feeling to her toes. She took stock of the small room, her dark eyes sweeping over the couch, the bookcase, to make sure that everything was in its place. Hurrying over to the opposite wall, Johanne reached out and straightened one of the framed artworks on the wall, an image of a brightly coloured okomo, painted in the colours of a night sky, on a disembodied shoulder. She straightened the image, before looking back to survey her handiwork. She smiled. There: neat and beautiful again. She tucked her hand quickly back inside her cloak, not even the quiet fire roaring in the corner warming her up enough.

She looked wistfully toward the door. If only she had brought her stiletto knife from home, or her papers. Then the long, cold winter's day would not pass so lonesomely.
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Nolan Elwood on December 16th, 2012, 11:50 pm

As the Syna's light shone down from the heavens a young man,Nolan, walked the streets. He was patrolling his normal routes making sure the city was safe on this cold winter's day when he came upon a tattoo shop. It wasn't the first time he had cross paths with it seeing it was on his regular route, but something in his head clicked whenever he looked at it today. He had always wanted to show his dedication to his beliefs but he could never figure out a way, because words only went so far. So what better way that to etch it into your body and with that he took a leap of faith and walked through the door.

As soon as he walked into the shop a heat wave hit him causing his breath to catch for a moment and it was only moments before he was stripping his cloak. It was a nice shop with its glass dome roof being one of the best features about it. After he took in the whole scene he turned hearing the crackling of a fire and that's when he saw her. Sitting there bundled up was one of those rare beauties that most men only see once in a lifetime, but knowing that it was rude to stare he cleared his throat.

"Hello?"
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Johanne on December 17th, 2012, 2:26 am

Johanne's heart leapt when the door creaked open. Standing by the fire, she wanted to reach out, urge him to close the door, with haste - before the warm air escaped! He was tall, younger than Johanne by several years, she guessed. As he quickly stripped off his cloak, she sighed and did the same. She needed to be free to move her hands to help this customer.

She walked across the room, ignoring the protestations of her knees, and affected a simple, elegant smile. Standing up straight, she reached out to take the cloak from him. If the boy gave the cloth to her, she would fold it carefully, and drape it over the warm armchair by the fire.

"Hello," she said warmly. Her voice was smooth, like caramel, and her eyes as warm as summer. She did not usually speak with such warmth, but Inecino had impressed on her the need for good customer service. "Welcome to the Lazuli Ink Tattoo Emporium. Is there any way I can help you?"

While she waited for an answer, she ushered the young man to the seat by the fire, standing a respectful distance away, as she had been taught. Men often had to be wooed into spending their money here. They acted tough, but everyone was afraid of the stinging pain of the needle. Johanne's job was to make sure he overcame that fear, and spent his hard earned kina scarring his flesh.
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Nolan Elwood on December 17th, 2012, 3:31 am

Nolan melted as soon as she spoke. Her words so silky and smooth, it was enough to make any man go weak in the knees; however, Nolan kept his composure and gave up his cloak as they walked to the fire.

"Indeed you might, Ms?" he asked stretching out his hand to greet her.

As he waited for her name he took the chance to gather up his surroundings from the corners of his eyes. Several chairs dotted the floor plan along with the needles used in creating the art that so many people came for. He shivered suddenly as a chill ran up his spin as his fear of needles kicked in. He was suddenly having second thoughts about this whole tattoo business but soon the fear was gone as his iron will began overriding his fear.
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Johanne on December 17th, 2012, 2:20 pm

Johanne hesitated, before taking the young man's hand, clasping it in a gesture of good will. He seemed sweet enough, young though, inexperienced. Johanne was perhaps a few years older than he, but he was a little shorter than she was, and his body was a little slimmer than most the young men in Lhavit. She could not help but smile, gently shaking her head at the young man.

"Please, you need hardly call me 'Miss'. My name is Johanne, Johanne Verkir. I'm a tattoo artist here, and would be glad to help you in any way possible." Now that she was without her gloves and cloak, even with the fire going, the room seemed cold and empty. She struggled to keep her teeth from chattering as she spoke, knowing that it would leave a less than positive impression on the young man. Winter had always been a season she despised.

Standing before him in his place in the armchair beside the fire, Johanne watched his eyes slowly take in the room, his sky blue gaze lightly glancing over the fireplace, the art on the walls, the bookshelf. Talking as she crossed the room to the bookshelf, taking care to keep her voice as open as she could, she continued to let the young man know about the services offered at Lazuli Ink.

"If I am assuming correctly in that you have come here to get a tattoo, you have many options available to you. There are multiple sizes and multiple styles you can get, in different kinds of ink, that Soraya helps to source from local artisans. If you need help looking at images and patterns, there are a wide range available to you in these books here."

If he so asked, Johanne could bring a stack of the thick leather tomes from the wooden bookshelf to the armchair by the fire. Inside the books were images of the tattoos that one could get; showing locations and images that would make for a lovely piece of art. Though often Johanne served people who picked any old image at random, she had always taken a shining to the persons that had an image stained onto their skin because it meant something wonderful to them.

"Unless, of course, you have an image in mind already?" And if the young man could hear it, there was an odd glimmer of hope to her already uplifted voice.

Johanne was a girl who took even the simplest of tasks at work as something very, very personal.
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Nolan Elwood on December 27th, 2012, 1:50 am

"Actually I did have something in mind. I've been trying to find a way to display how faithful I am. Something to show others how far I am willing to go for her. It wasn't until today that I finally realized how I could accomplish this; however, I didn't come here to bore you with my ramblings."

He blushed to himself realizing how silly he must sound and decided to get straight to the point.

"Anyways I was hoping you could draw the trinity on my arm just here." he placed his left hand over his right shoulder. "I worship them all you see, but my heart belongs solely to Zintila. So I wanted a start to be the biggest of the three with a partial moon and partial sun to be within the star. Sorry if my description is, vague. I have tried to describe it as best I could, but I doubt I could ever express such an image with my meager words."
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Johanne on December 28th, 2012, 10:53 am

Johanne felt a grin spread over her face when the young man spoke; an honest grin, an open smile. That he had something in mind was wonderful to Johanne. As a girl who scarred images into her flesh ritually, in order to preserve wonderful and terrible moments, she could not help but feel that art was never something to be taken frivolously, never something to be done on a whim. Especially not art which involved scarring one's flesh forever, whether it be with Johanne's tattooing implements, or with her stiletto knife.

"It is wonderful that you have something in mind. We have many customers who come here on a whim, on their birthday, or when they are inebriated. But very few have something meaningful in mind when they come to us." She smiled softly at the man. She was trying to reach out. She was trying to show that she was glad he had something that had moved him so as to carve it into his skin forever.

Faith was a meaningless concept to Johanne, who had never been touched by the Gods, nor felt their presence in her life, but if it meant something to this young man, then who was she to judge? "Something for the Gods, for Zintila, for Leth, for Syna," she nodded thoughtfully, imagining the shapes and images that the young man put to her. "Sir, if you would follow me...?" Johanne trailed off, striding with her long, smooth legs towards the door at the back of the waiting room. Picking up the coat of the young man on the way, he propped the door open, and waited for the young man to walk in first. Once he had entered into the tattooing parlour proper, she closed the door behind her, wisping into the parlour with an unintended grace.

The room he entered was white and clean, the walls painted cream, and the wood polished smooth underfoot. There was a large comfortable reclining chair in the centre of the room, where the young man would soon be lying, and surrounding it were cupboards and trays, each with strange instruments and dyes that would soon be plunged into his flesh. There were needles, and knives, and scalpels, and strange plier-like mechanisms designed to spread the flesh. On a compartment by the wall, there were lines and lines of colourful inks, all the colours that anyone could imagine: and by the bottom corner, the inks seemed to glow.

Johanne gestured to the reclining chair. "If you would take a seat, sir?" Politely waiting for him to make himself comfortable, Johanne moved over to the desk, and picked up a chair and the small writing desk that lay against one of the walls. She brought them over to just beside the chair where the young man sat, and made herself comfortable. Before she could ink the young man, there were a few essential questions she must ask first.

"Sir, there are just a few things I would like to make sure of, before we begin the tattooing process. You say you would like a partial sun and moon to be within a star, on your right shoulder. Would you like the inking to be on the front or back of your shoulder? How large would you like it to be? Bear in mind that if you would like a larger tattoo, it will cost you more." She took a breath, allowing him to answer these questions, before she moved onto the other ones.

"Sir, the next question I need to ask you is regarding colours: would you like it to be monochrome, in just black, or would you like colours? If you would like colours, it will again take longer and likely hurt more, and they will fade much quicker than a black tattoo. Another offer that we, only at Lazuli Ink, offer is this: the Lapis Ink. It is an Ink that is created by our very own Soraya that glows lightly in the dark, much like our skyglass here in Lhavit. Would you prefer this? It is, again, more expensive." Waiting for him to answer these questions, she took out a piece of parchment and a graphite stick that lay within the writing desk, before nestling it comfortably across her knees.

"I will sketch the image for you, but bear in mind, I am not the best at drawing: however, do not lose heart! I am far more skilled at tattooing, more than able, than I am at drawing. I am more comfortable with ink and skin than I am with lead and parchment, and I have been tattooing since I was thirteen winters young." Smiling at the young man, she began to work, quickly. Pressing the graphite to the parchment, she made long, sweeping strokes, which curved. Biting her bottom lip, she carefully made the image of a star, and drew a partial crescent moon which blending into the shining sun next to it. The star was large and seemed to glow, or at least that is what Johanne intended by the lines she drew exclaiming from the body of the scar. She cringed, showing the crude sketch to the man. She knew her drawing skills were poor. But she hoped he had faith in her to carry out the tattooing nonetheless.
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”
Vincent Van Gogh
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Perfectly Aligned, Like The Stars.

Postby Elysium on January 27th, 2013, 5:37 pm

Image

Johanne
XP:
Drawing +1
Observation +2
Negotiation +1

Lores:
How to Keep Warm at Work
How to Provide Excellent Customer Service
How to Sketch a Tattoo

Nolan
XP:
Rhetoric +1
Observation +2

Lores:
How to Maintain Composure Infront of a Beautiful Woman

Other: This is a wonderful little read and I would have loved to see it concluded. If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to PM me.


and so, the journey continues...
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