2025-01-31 - Remedying some Regrets

So. Xanthe Thielemann has been employed at this park for juuuuust a lil' over a year now. And not a word of lie: she's waffled about coming into the Quill and Ink ... a lot. As in, multiple-instances-of-cold-feet 'a lot'. It had to have been, what, forty-ish times now that she's passed by this quaint establishment, stopped, waffled, changed her mind. So TODAY... it's 'shit or get off the pot'.

It's time for Xanthe, badass aerialist by night and nervous wreck by day (sounds like the worst premise for a superhero ever) ... to finally enter this parlor to discuss ... a cover up tattoo. The plot thickens! But indeed over a year of looking.. and now, it's time to finally LOOK INSIDE.

Attired in a pair of black yoga pants, over which she has thrown an oversized merino wool sweater, Xanthe has seated herself (no fleeing now!) alongside one of the low tables, carefully leafing through one of the heavy books bearing multitudes of designs. Her hair, 'floating' and fluttering over her shoulders in a white cloud, obscures her profile as she reads. Surely, there could be.. something...

It will be one month since Kairo arrived in the park tomorrow. He's been working at the Quill and Ink pretty steadily since then. He does a lot of morning and afternoon appointments, usually for guests wanting small flash pieces and tattoos of Yarble are by far the most popular. He does, however, have an entire portfolio of his own work in one of the books on the table that Xanthe is looking at, and it's that work that he prefers to do when the opportunity arises.

He is dressed in all black, from his boots to his skinny jeans to the turtleneck that covers him from wrists to neck, ironically hiding most of his own ink save for the bits of the mandala-like patterns that come down from his wrists over the backs of his hands.

"Afternoon," he says to her as he comes out from behind the counter. "Cup of coffee? Tea? Water?" Those are the beverages he has to offer.

Clearly, with how the anxiety has sorta.. eased.. in her body language, the white-haired woman is deeply involved with exploring this portfolio. How befitting that it is, yes, one of Kairo's!

Speaking of... there he is! Little spindrift tendrils of white fluff swirl and tremble at the slightest motion of the aerialist's head; especially when she does a double-take at the artist with his mandalas and how his dark ensemble really makes even that glimpsing of ink just... pop.

"Oh," Blink, "G-good evening." Wait. WAIT. "I mean, afternoon." Bloody hell she did it again. Xanthe does not close the book, but those hawk-yellow eyes remain upon Kairo following his greeting. "Tea would be great... what do you have?" Hers is a mellow, almost-too-quiet timbre, not necessarily an awful thing.

"I have a whole little box. You can choose what you like. I'll get some hot water," Kairo says, lifting the little tea box with quite a selection of options and sets it on the table in front of her. Then, he is going to make her a boiling cup of water to go with whatever she chooses. He heats up the water and then pours a cup, setting it on a saucer with a small spoon and then carries that over, as well. "Let me know if I can help you with anything, but feel free to just relax and browse. It's a pretty quiet day." There are no other customers or artists currently present, so he seems to just be holding down the ship on his own.

"The jasmine green feels right." Xanthe offers by way of an answer, smiling quickly before dropping her head back down to really linger over one particular design. A soft whistle, "These are... a-all quite amazing.." She will eventually murmur, only to peek up from her reverie at the rather welcoming assembly of the prepared cup, teabag steeping in the now-fragrant boiled water. "Thank you, this is very kind. B-"

Well, that abolishes her next concern. The relief that infuses Xan's expression is palpable. "As long as there is nothing that I am interrupting.." That fluffy-haired head dips over the open book. "I am curious about getting something... old ink.. c-covered up, I mean.."

Kairo shakes his head and says, "You're not interrupting anything," reassuringly as he settles down into a chair opposite from her crossing one leg over the other and resting his elbows on the arm of the chair. "What are you looking to cover up?" he asks. "There's usually something we can do. But it depends on what we're working with and what you're hoping for." He smiles a little when he notices that she's looking through his designs in particular. "Glad you like them. I'm Kairo, by the way. Kai, if you like."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kai," Offers the white-haired woman as she peeks up from beneath her lashes, one fingertip marking her spot in the book whilst her opposite hand cradles the spine of the book. "I'm Xanthe, but 'Zen' works well too." Her lips twitch into a subtle smile, before it dissolves quickly into an embarrassed moue. Fwoosh, goes the cloudy hair! Her profile is briefly obscured as she looks down at the book, whilst considering her words.

"It's a bit embarrassing. It's older ink, I had i-it done about eight years ago. The token drunk tattoo." Wait what... this solemn young woman got a DRUNK TATTOO?

There's a reason Xanthe wears a one-piece while performing. c.c

"... it's on the small of my back." HOLD THE PHONE. Xanthe has a tramp stamp!!?

Kairo dips his head and says, "Zen, if you prefer that, then." He watches as her hair does it's little floating thing as though she were beneath water. It's kind of fascinating and for a moment he's a little distracted just by watching it. Not that he isn't paying attention to the conversation, still. It's just that his eyes are on her hair. "It's fine," he assures her. "They shouldn't have done it at all if you were drunk. But we can see what we can do to replace it with something that you'll like better." He nods toward the book then and asks, "Did you see anything that caught your fancy? A particular motif that you might be interested in? A story that you might want to tell?"

Hey, totally fair... it's rather distracting hair. A far cry from that which Xanthe boasts... off of the park grounds. But here? Like a great many others who reside here... a weird and wonderful byproduct. Wisps of the stuff continue to quiver and flutter alongside the aerialist's jawline as she rallies... following her admittance. Xanthe has been bothered by this ink for quite some time

"It was... a seedy affair. I am not proud of it." Amber eyes lift again, back to Kai, as she admits next: "The parlor has long since shut down. I do believe they were made to do so about three years ago." Well, karma is a bitch!

"It is..." Xanthe takes a breath. "I do believe any one of these designs could cover it up. Money is no issue.. I desire something that could look presentable while I perform.. and most everything in this book is above and beyond in regards to quality." That is Xan-speak for 'holy shit dood, your work is top notch.'

Kairo nods as he listens. He, himself, has no outward changes that are visible, but he's also not been at the park very long. Perhaps, in time. But for now he seems much as he always does. There's a nod when she mentions that the place has been shut down. "For the best."

Then he leans over to look at some of the designs that she likes and he says, "Okay, so, let's get a look at and a picture of what we're working with. Then I can start making some sketches for you and we can talk about exactly how we're going to go about covering it and what we can realistically do with what we've got."

A warm smile that reaches her eyes, followed by a nod, "For the best." Echoes Xanthe, peeking up from her browsing before turning a page and gazing back down. "Ooh.." A soft exhale, the word barely a whisper. "This is lovely.."

Leaning forth slightly, Xanthe turns the book in her lap to reveal to the artist what appears to be a sort of delicate mandala-style design, with a lotus as a central point. "T-that which is on my back is... I .. believe this, or an augmentation of it.. could cover it up."

Amber eyes, with the pupils dilated, flit back to Kairo's face to gauge his reaction. "What I have now is about... five inches, m-maybe six.. the lines are very broad. I hope it's something that can be fixed.."

"Well, this is very delicate, and if the lines are thick on the other one, we're not going to get something this delicate," Kairo says, wanting to give her a realistic expectation, "But, we can see what we're working with and I can take a photograph of it and I can take this design, and I can see what we can use of the lines that are there. I can't take away what's present. So we can only add on. But, we can see if we can create a pattern that will work with the lines that you already have." He moves to make a note of which design in the book she liked, and then he nods toward the rooms in the back. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a photo of what I'm working with so that I can do some sketches?"

"A-ah yes, of course." OF COURSE thick lines are hard to cover up with such beautiful, fine work. Xanthe, for all of her confidence in the air and regardless of Kairo's chill, amiable way, feels quite silly indeed. It doesn't take very long for color to suffuse her face, "Hence, why I could never cultivate myself into a tattoo artist." Her attempt to rally still doesn't succeed in lessening the pink in her ears.

Turning in the direction of the rooms as indicated by the artist, Xanthe nods gently, "Of course. I'm sorry for what you're about to see.." Is the drunk!tatt really that bad!? Hey, there's a reason (beyond the inking of people who are too pickled to judge) that one parlor shut down.

Standing, with that pile of hair fluttering and swaying in her wake, Xanthe makes for one of the rooms. Once there, she will pull a stool over and seat herself, rolling the back of her sweater up to reveal just enough of her lower back to display...

A five inch, crooked, stark black series of squiggly lines that are TRYING to be a tribal tattoo but failing miserably.

Kairo shakes his head and says, "Like anything, it's a skill that takes practice. But if you wanted to learn, you probably could. It would just take a lot of focused practice and attention to detail." He gives her a little encouraging smile. "Trust me," he says as they walk back to one of the more private rooms so that she can show him what she needs covered up, "I've seen some truly awful tattoos. There's a very narrow window of things that will truly shock me." Not a non-existent window, but a pretty small one.

When she lifts her sweater, he takes out his digital camera and takes a photo that captures just the tattoo and enough of her back to capture the scale of it. He then shows her the photograph that he took. "Are you okay with me keeping this just to use to make a template and work the design from? We can get rid of it after you're happy with the new work." He makes no comment on what he thinks of the travesty of a squiggle that someone gave her. He'll work with it.

Our guy says all of the right things to talk Xanthe down from the mental cliff, where awkwardness and embarrassment are concerned. As she sits there, straight-backed and a little bit tense, her shoulders eventually relax followed by soft, rolling laughter. "I-I can imagine.. thanks, that makes me feel better about it. The crudeness of that," What's on her currently, "Is an insult to what I saw in those albums." She concurs, meaningfully.

Silence, then, as Kai takes the pictures he needs of the squiggle-travesty... which, in itself, is an absolute horror against alabaster skin. Rolling her sweater back down, Xanthe cranes her neck to look at the photo on the phone. "This is fine, t-thanks.. I trust whatever you opt to do." Amber eyes flit toward Kai's covered arms and wrists; she wonders at the artwork that must surely emblazon his skin, hidden by the top.

Kairo is used to dealing with nervous clients and helping folks through it. He himself has a very chill vibe, patient. "It's not great," he agrees with a little chuckle. "But it's not unsalvageable either. I have an idea for how I can get some symmetry out of those lines to create something new from it."

He offers her a smile and a nod when she says that she trusts whatever he opts to do. "I'll send you some ideas to look over once I get them sketched out." Though he notices her glancing at his covered arms, the end of his left sleeve poking from under.. well.. his left sleeve. "Do you want to see them?" he asks.

"I trust you." Xanthe offers again, meaning it just as much. She does. She barely remembers the yokel who did this to the small of her back, but she recollects enough to recognize that this is night and day here. One more quick, flickering smile to Kairo before she slides off of the stool.

"I--I mean, I am curious. I could see that small bit, there, but I don't w-want to pry. " That is Xanthe-speak for 'gimme a peek!'"

Kairo sets the camera to the side and says, "You're not. I offered." He turns away then and takes a couple of steps away from her to pull his shirt off over his head and let her take a look at the tattoos on his back and along his arms. The left arm is covered in a full sleeve though there is still room on the right arm for a bit more ink. His chest is mostly free of ink, as well. Holding still, he lets her take a look at the artwork. "This was all done by a buddy of mine back in San Diego," he explains.

The white-haired performer politely looks down at her feet as Kairo works to remove his shirt, and once the ink is revealed, Xanthe looks up with a soft little sound in her throat. "Oh, my," She murmurs, "It is one thing to see work on paper... but here.." She leans in, absolutely not touching but definitely looking closely at the detailing. "It is beautiful." She says earnestly, cheekbones pinkening at her candor. Xanthe rights herself, stepping back a touch to respect the artist's space. "It must have taken days.."

Wince. "Whereabouts did it hurt the most, when it was being done? I hear the inner arms can be tender."

Kairo holds still so that she can look, glancing over his shoulder at her as she takes in the design work. "It took several sessions," he says after she's had a chance to take a look. "I had the back piece done first. Then the left sleeve. The right arm is still a work in progress." As for where it hurt the most? "The inner arms were sensitive, yeah. Though it's where it got close to the elbow, really. Anything real close to the joint. It wasn't too bad, though." He then tugs his shirt back on over his head and turns back around, combing his fingers through his hair to get it under some kind of control.

"May I leave my number? There is no rush to create a design, I won't be leaving the islands anytime soon." Xanthe tries to reassure, giving the room a casual lookabout to give Kairo privacy as he sets himself to rights. Assuming this is preferred, she will recite her cellphone digits to be saved, written down, what-have-you. Especially notable, the more comfortable the aerialist becomes, the less words she jumbles up! Huh!

"I guess I'm alright then, as I suspect the lower back isn't quite so sensitive." Does our girl have an aversion to pain!?

"Yeah, I'll need your number in order to send you the design to look at, and then we can work on setting an appointment once you're happy with it," Kairo says as he reaches to grab the camera, not wanting to forget it, and then moves to head back out of the room. "The nearer to your spine, the more it will hurt, but we'll take it easy and if you need breaks, we'll take breaks. Though to be honest, I've had a lot of people just fall asleep in the chair while I'm working. It happens sometimes." He doesn't ask how it was the first time she had it done. She was drunk and possibly doesn't remember.

"I.. don't remember much." Xanthe seems to pluck the thought out of thin air, "The first go. It was absolutely uncharacteristic of me." A gentle smile, "Which is why I no longer drink. I stopped right after that ... situation." Well then. There's a story, but not all tales need to be told. If anything, the bad ink and what it galvanized in Xanthe is tale enough.

Noting the time, Xanthe holds out a hand in an offer to shake, "Thank you for seeing me, without notice. I am.. I look forward to what you come up with."