Ink and Needles

Taylor had the sudden urge to get a new tattoo...it had been well over 300 years since her last one, and she wanted a new one

she had gotten her tattoo inks, needles and some old designs she had drawn up previously

she had gone through various designs of Sparrows, wanting to ink in her nickname that her father had given to her into her skin and make it more permenant

she chose a simple and elegant design of a Sparrow in flight and some fluid scripting of the word 'Sparrow'

she would start on the word first and mapped out what she wanted in washable pen on her fore arm before getting her inked needles

she took a few deep breaths and began piercing her skin with the needle, and began creating her new tattoo

it was a long process as she had wanted to do some speciel effects on the shading in of the words, and there was a lot of swirls to the design as well

she was just greatfulo for her steady arm and remembering to put plastic under her arm on the table she was at...she doubted the elders or vampires would appreciate the blood staining the wood

eventually, after about two hours, she had finished the word and wiped the tattoo clean before working on the sparrow she had drawn on her arm and got some clean needles, dipping them in tehr equired inks and began her work

Gabriel wandered out of his bedroom humming. He stopped abruptly when he smelt blood, and noticed the elf woman sitting in the corner of the room. Gravitating towards the scent, he watched her work, trying to ignore the thirsty dryness at the back of his throat. To him, Taylor tattooing herself in front of him was a little like cooking bacon in front of a human. It smelt good, and it made him hungry. But he could control himself. He wasn't a fledgling any longer, after all.

"That's a beautiful tattoo."

she looked up as she smelt the scent of a vampire...that was oddly familiar.

looking up from her work at the voice, she saw a blond Vampire that she recognised.

heya, and thanks. you're the vampire that was fucking that other one...Jace i think his name was.....in the corner whil playing spin the bottle. and i recgnise your scent on the latest fledgling. you're his sire i'm guessing.

she looked over the vampire and saw that he was thirsty

and well done on your control...but a warning...bit me and it'll be the last thing you do mate. just as a warning.

at that, she went back to working on her tattoo

you want a tattoo?she asked randomly without looking up

The blond giggled. "Gabriel will do the trick." he introduced himself with a grin. "And yes, though I prefer to think of myself as his lover. Sire sounds so cold."

He watched her as she went back to her work, slowly coming to appreciate the scent of the blood without feeling the need to drink.

"Yes, please." The vampire sat down beside her, waiting for her to finish. Sure, he hadn't really thought it through, but then he was a reckless person.

yeah, it does sound cold...but i'm not sure what else to call ya

she chuckled, shaking her head and began the finishing details and touches to her tattoo before looking back up

also, why don't you either draw up what you would like and stuff, or i could design one for you if you want. you'll see it on paper before i ink ya.

she grinned

it had been a while since she inked someone else

"Yes, alright."

He pulled up a piece of paper and a pen and thought, nibbling the end of it delicately in thought. Well, since Jean got his, he kind of thought that he should return the favour, as it were. Putting the nib to the paper, he started to draw the initials, "JC", in elaborate Edwardian manuscript, the letters flowing and swirling, with a train of black roses winding up the stem of the J. Yes, that would do. On his hip, most likely, though his trousers might rub it a bit. Though if Jace was anything to go by, it seemed clothes were pretty much optional here anyway.

"Got it."

advice. i would suggest getting the tattoo on your arm or something first. not somewhere too boney as it'll hurt and no where where clothes rub too much as it'll irritate and fuck up the tattoo. somewhere, say like a hip, foot, ribs, and the likes, isn't a good palce to get a first tattoo. Taylor explained, not looking up from the very final details on her tattoo

when she was done, she wiped the tattoo down carefully, and wrapped the area in clingfilm and tapped it in place to let the tattoo scab over.

looking over at the design that Gabriel made and nodded apprecietivly

would you mind if i added a little more to that...somethin doesn't seem complete about it. don't worry, it'll keep the stuff you drew, i just want to add a little more to it and you can tell me if you don't want it.

"Yes, that's fine. Elaborate away. "

Gabriel pushed his trousers lower on his hips, pointing to the bottom of his left side, where his lower back met the very top of the curve of his behind. "How about there? There's more flesh there." he poked it to demonstrate, eager to get the tattoo done somewhere in that area. Getting it done on his arm was just not as... sexy.

"And I can just not wear any trousers, if you absolutely insist." he winked. Yes, he wasn't into women, but that wouldn't stop him from flirting for the hell of it.

she chuckled

hun, you're about as straight as my very gay best mate. don't force yourself to flirt m'dear but fine, i'll do the tattoo there.

as she spoke, she began drawing strong tribal, but still elegant, designs surrounding the JC, framing it almost, the design being all swirls and dots with floral embelishes.

it fit Gabe perfectly

also, my name is Taylor Longwood, just so you know. and here, you like? and what colours do you want it in?

she then uncapped her washable ink pen to prepare to drawing the lines she would soon be tattooing on the vampire, and opened up a set of fresh needles

He pouted, a little annoyed at having been caught out. Did he really seem that gay? "I wasn't forcing myself, flirting's fun."

Resting his head on his arms, he watched the woman draw silently. Yes, that would work. He stripped off his shirt to allow her better access to the skin, and tying his hair up in a bun.

"Red lettering, black flowers and detail, please."

Taylor chuckled

my love, it's easy enough to smell sex on you...and more specifically another man's essense on/in you...you've done it a lot for the scent to be so strong. she laughed teasingly as she dipped the required needles in the inks

bare in mind that this will sting as i have to reach the third layer of skin.

at that, she placed her suprisingly warm hands on the vampire's back to steady herself, and drew out the design with a pern, mapping out the tattoo to the finest detail before beginning with the ink

so who's initials are these? out of curiosity. is it Jean's?

she raised an eyebrow as she worked, beginning on the 'J'

He flushed a little. It wasn't like him to get embarrassed easily, but he hadn't really expected a woman he had only just met to be so direct. "Yes well..." he couldn't really come up with a comeback for that, so he just trailed off meaninglessly.

Nodding at the warning, he glanced over his shoulder to check what she was doing, hissing a little in pain as the needle touched the skin. Truth be told, it wasn't as bad as he had expected. It was a slow, burning pain, but it wasn't the agony that he thought it was going to be.

"Yes. He got my name on him, so I thought I would return the favour, as it were." His cheeks were a little pink, and it was difficult to tell whether it was from the memory of discovering that tattoo, or from the pain. Probably both.

she snickered

sorry, Sugar. probably shouldn't have been so......blunt with ya. aw well. if ya can deal with me, you'll get used to it. she chuckled as she continued with the tattoo

i met him once before. a little depressive and stubborn as hell...you'er gonna have to teach him to accept what he is now...and teach him control. if ya don't, you, and probably Lady Giacanto, will be in the shit. big time. as in, having the Vampire Hunters Assosiation coming here and exterminating you, your Fledgling, and Giacanto if your little fledging cocks up becuase you didn't teach him anything about Vamp ettiquet.

she noticed the slight blush on the man's face, but ignored it. it wasn't her place to know

"I'll do my best." he promised. But he knew that it was easier said than done. Jean was stubborn at the best of times, and he couldn't exactly remember what Aloyssius had done during his time as a fledgeling. Plus he had never really grown up himself, so the "parent-figure" thing wasn't exactly his field of expertise.

He changed the subject. "So how much is done?"

i've got to do the outline first, and once i've done that i can fill in. i've only just done the outline of the 'J'. i'm moving onto the 'C' now. a tattoo takes a long time really. i'm just quick on mine because it was relativly simple...you'res is a bit mroe complicated.

she snickered, shaking her ehad at his impatience.

and for your fledgling...if you need help, i might be able to help out. i don't particularly get called on by the VHA to kill him. it's not unknown to me to be called in to do such jobs. i'm a Bounty Hunter after all

she re-dipped the needles in the ink and continued

If he could have moved a bit more easily, he would have shrugged. It wasn't that painful, he was just a bit bored. He didn't like standing around doing nothing.

It wasn't that he wasn't scared about the enormity of the situation, he just couldn't quite comprehend it. "Thanks."

He hadn't expected raising a fledgling to be such a... responsibility. He had made Jean in the hope that he might have a companion, and yes, he did. But he had thought it would be a relationship of equals, rather than a parental-type responsibility.

Taylor was silent as she continued the tattoo, swiflty finishing the outline perfectly and was happy with how neat it was. changing the needle over, she began filling in the design, doing the black ink first

at first, you'll find you'll have to play dad, to an extent, over the Fledgling...but that will only take a few months...after that, you can have any relationship you want with the fledgling. like i said, i can help with teaching, such as becoming a Blood Buddy for the boy so he can practice control and not kill anything. i don't die very easily and i can pull away when he's had enough. vampire pleasure thing with their bites don't work on me really. anything else, i can give advice. it'll be up to you to re-enforce it though Sugar

when she was done with the black in the letters, she moved onto the red to do the roses. she do the rest of the black after the red so she wasn't leaning on any part of the tattoo without need and cause hurt or ruin the tattoo

He nodded, unwilling to talk a lot in case his voice squeaked in a very unmanly way from the pain. He wasn't used to the sensation, never having had a tattoo done before. That, and the pain had increased since she had started to fill it in. "I've... managed to get him to take blood from me, but it's more difficult to get him to drink from anyone else, even blood bags." he smirked. "If I wind him up a bit it's quite easy to get him to bite me though."

Jean's temper could really come in useful like that sometimes. Whether it was general annoyance, or winding him up during sex, he could normally get his fledgling to bite him quite easily. Maybe he was just an annoying person.

she snickered as the pain began registering with the vampire, as well as his comment

well, it should be a doddle for me to wind him up. it's a talent of mine. i'll try that next time i see him. also, just so you know, i can't just stop now i'v started the tattoo...it has to be completed in one go for something like this.

she was deeply concentrating on the red ink in the roses, making sure they were perfect, and decided to add a few little hints in the letters as well

this would look stunning when it was done

"It's fine."

He hadn't expected her to stop anyway. Though he was a coward most of the time, he also happened to be incredibly vain and he would not allow his appearance to be damaged by a half-done tattoo.

"I can put up with a little pain."

she snickered

i'm sure you can, Mr. Inccubus. she teased...he really had the scent of one.

when she was done with the roses on the letters, sh set about on the rest of the design, doing blocks of both red and black, making sure everything was immaculate and about as close to perfect as she could get with it

she enjoyed giving and recieving tattoos...there was just tonnes of meaning behind these little permenant pieces of art work

He frowned. "I'm not an incubus, I just like sex."

He kind of wished that he could see what she was doing now. It seemed like it would feel to pay off more if he could see what it looked like. He was starting to become accustomed to the pain now, but he did wish he had a mirror.

she grinned

and the difference is.....

when she was done with the design, sh quickly cleared up her needles and wiped the tattoo down after bagging up the discareded needles

she then made Gabe stand and go over to a mirror for him to take a look

so you like it?

The blond frowned "It's hard to explain."

He sighed with relief as the needle left his skin, but sucked in a slight breath as she wiped it down again. Following her to the mirror, he turned to get a better view, grinning.

"It looks really good, thank you! It was worth the pain."

no worries sugar. i'm glad you like it. i think that's one of my best ones besides my Hunter's Marks.

she admired her latest creation a moment longer before putting some clingfilm over the tattoo and taping it in place.

that keeps it protected while it heals. bandages don't work as fibers can get into the wound.

she then threw his shirt at his face and sat down, looking at her other designs to see if there was any other tattoo she could give herself

despite what she said...the only tattoo seeable was the sparrow and the word sparrow on ehr forearm