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“Hey Harper!” Melby greeted them as they walked into the front of Honey Hallow Tattoo. “No Pietr?”
“Pietr has a game today, so he’s training this morning,” Harper explained. “This is my boyfriend Misha.”
Melby blinked for a moment before it clicked. “Oh right! I knew you were polyam. I don’t know why that surprised me. And Helen told me you got married yesterday. Congrats.”
“Thanks. Is Hel—”
“I’m right here.” Helen appeared from one of the back studio rooms, wiping her hands. “Melby, did you sanitize room three?”
“Yep. Did it first thing. Restocked all the supplies and started making next week’s shopping cart too.”
“Excellent. How’s that drawing for Peppa coming?”
“Almost done,” they assured her.
“Good.” Helen turned to her guests, holding out a hand to Misha. “Misha Levin. Nice to meet you. I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure before.”
“You as well. I like the work you did for Pietr and Harper.”
“Thank you. Working on them was an absolute joy.” Helen assured him. “Why don’t you come back to my office for a consult. Harper gave me an overview of what you were thinking. Harper, Melby has some art to show you.”
“I do?” Melby looked confused for a moment. “Oh! I do!” They reached under the counter to pull out an art pad.
Misha gave Harper’s hand a squeeze before following Helen back down the hall. Harper turned their attention to Melby.
“So, I’ve been watching your streams on Play It With Parker,” Melby started. “Helen gave me a challenge to create something that you’d like, based on what I knew about you. So, we both drew something up and now you have to pick which one you like most.”
“I’m just picking the one I like, I’m not actually obligated to get it done, right?”
“I guess not.” Melby looked a little disappointed. “Usually whoever gets picked gets to do theirs.”
“I’ll take it under consideration. Show me the art,” Harper said.
Melby grinned and pulled out two pieces of paper. Each one was Fauna, one of the deer characters from Animal Crossing. One showed Fauna, sitting under a leafy apple tree next to a pile of books. She was wearing her Bohemian Tunic Dress and had a plain cover blue book open. The second, Fauna was in her Sherling Coat, holding a stack of books in a rainbow pattern. It was a little more simple and would be easier to flow other characters into it. With that in mind, she tapped that drawing.
“I like the other one,” Harper stated, “and if I was just getting a Fauna tattoo, it would be that one. But, Helen keeps talking about doing a sleeve and this one would allow for adding the other characters around it. The tree would take up too much room. And, it’s the image as a whole. It doesn’t make sense to have Fauna sitting, without the tree.”
“Damn it,” Melby sighed. “She didn’t tell me about the sleeve idea!” They moped, sinking down onto their stool. “But you really do like the other one?”
Harper looked them both over again. “I do. Actually, you know what? This would be really nice as either a stand-alone shoulder piece, letting the tree fill up the shape of the shoulder, or a hip piece.” They slapped their thigh. “Like a really big one.”
“Really?” Melby perked up.
“Yeah. I like it a lot.”
“But not enough to get it.”
“Not today,” Harper said. “Do you mind if I snap a picture of it and I can think it over?”
Melby nodded. “Go ahead.”
“What else have you been drawing lately?”
“Just some traditional American inspired flash.” Melby flipped open the sketch book. “I tattooed this one on a guy yesterday. He seemed happy with it.” She pointed to a dagger impaled into a skull.
“I’ve always been a fan of traditional sparrows,” Harper said. “I don’t know why. But I’ve heard they have a naval tradition to them?”
“Yeah, but so do nautical stars and every emo kid since nineteen ninety-nine has at least one,” Melby retorted. “I think sparrows are more about new beginnings, if I remember correctly.” They picked up their pencil and started doodling in the corner. “It would actually be super cute to do a series of them in pride colors.”
“It would,” Harper agreed.
“Maybe a tiny one behind your ear?” Melby pressed. “In the colors of the nonbinary flag?”
“Ooh, maybe,” Harper said.
“Here, I think I have one on my tablet that I can mess with the colors a bit.” They pulled the device over from where it had been sitting with its charging cord in. They tapped a few screens and then brought up a file. Harper watched them swapping some colors around until the yellow, purple, white and black stripes were represented throughout the bird.
“What do you think?” Melby asked, spinning the tablet around.
“It’s cute. I bet a whole series would catch people’s eye.”
“Soooo,” Melby pressed, “you want it?”
Harper laughed. “What is it with you and Helen? You’re both relentless.”
“You get a discount if you let me do it,” Melby tried to entice them. “Fifteen percent off since I’m still an apprentice. Helen observes the whole thing to make sure I don’t fuck it up. I swear I haven’t had to have her step in yet either.”
“Yet? Doesn’t sound like you have a whole lot of confidence in yourself.”
“Getting to do little flash pieces is fun and all.” Melby stared down at the sparrow. “But every time Helen throws a challenge, like the Fauna piece at me, I either go too far or not far enough. It’s a little disheartening. I’m starting to wonder if I’m not cut out for this line of work.”
“When you do these challenges, do the customers tell you why they picked Helen’s piece over yours?” Harper asked.
“Sometimes, but not always,” Melby said. “I totally get your feedback though. I might have done something a little different if I’d known about the sleeve idea.”
“Right. Tell me, when Helen throws these challenges at you, do you just take her word for it about what the customer wants?”
Melby looked at her for a moment. “I guess I just expect that she tells me everything I need to know.”
“Never assume that,” Harper declared. “Have you watched Helen do a consult?”
“Sure, lots of times.”
“So, you know what kind of questions she asks to make sure she’s giving the customer exactly what they want, rather than something close to what they want. Try asking Helen more questions about the pieces. She might tell you a location. She didn’t tell you that we were talking about a sleeve. She might not tell you about having to incorporate into something else they already have. She might not tell you some of the colors they like, other work they already have done, whether it’s their first or fiftieth tattoo.”
“I get it.” Melby nodded. “That’s good advice. Ugh, I’ve been so dumb!” They slapped their palm to their forehead.
“I really am going to think about this.” Harper tapped the Fauna Under a Tree idea. “I don’t even know if I want a sleeve, but both of these have great vibes.”
“Thanks Harper. I appreciate that. If you do decide you want to get it, I’m happy to do it for you. Or to let Helen do it for you. Whichever you’re more comfortable with.”
“Melby, I promise, if I like your work, I’ll let you tattoo me,” Harper declared.
Melby grinned. “Glad to hear it.”
“Hey, Harper,” Misha appeared from the hallway, “Helen is some kind of savant. She whipped something up that I absolutely love. Do you mind if we’re here for another hour or so?”
“I’m fine,” Harper said. “You’re sure you want it?”
“It’s perfect, yes.”
“Go for it then. I’ll keep talking to Melby and coming up with queer flash ideas.”
Misha chuckled. “Okay. Think about where you want to go for lunch.”
Over the next hour, Harper and Melby continued talking out other queerified traditional art. Melby answered a few phone calls, taking notes for Helen to return later. One they had to outright tell the caller, “Sorry, Helen doesn’t take on new clients without an introduction.”
“How does Helen stay in business if she turns down work?” Harper asked.
“Helen has a huge client list,” Melby told them. “Lots of athletes, musicians, theater folks. Regular people too, but they usually know her in some way, or were introduced through someone. She used to be less picky of course, but when she started doing competition tattooing, she got popular fast. She told me some producers were trying to get her to do her own TV show, but they basically wanted her to do like sob story tattoos and get people to talk about the meanings and whatever. Helen isn’t into that. Sure, it’s cool when someone gets a tattoo that means a lot to them. It’s an honor to be trusted for art like that, but it’s a personal experience. It’s not something you put on TV.”
“Valid.”
“It might seem like she’s really picky about what she does, but she mostly turns down stuff that she doesn’t think she’ll do justice. Like, horror inspired work. She’s just not into zombies and Cthulhu or whatever. She can afford to turn away the work, with what Kirk brings home, after all.”
“True.”
Melby chattered on for a little longer. They shifted between doodling on their drawing pad and getting up to clean or straighten something around the room. Harper could hear the tattoo machine buzzing in one of the rooms down the hall. Misha’s laugh sounded a couple of times and Harper knew that Helen was being her usual charming self.
“He’s all done,” Helen declared not quite an hour later. She was drying her hands on a piece of paper towel. “Sorry it took so long. It’s not even a very big piece, but I had to resize it once. Printed way too big the first time somehow. Then the stencil went wonky. Just not my day.”
“No worries,” Harper said. “Melby and I chatted for a while.”
“Which did you pick?”
“I liked them both,” Harper told her. “I’d go with Melby’s for a single piece, maybe on the shoulder. Yours for a sleeve.”
“Good job, Padawan!” Helen clapped Melby on the shoulder. “See? I told you they’d like yours.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me about possibly being part of a sleeve.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Yeah, yeah, I learned a lesson,” Melby chirped. “They aren’t getting either one of them though.”
“Not any time soon,” Harper corrected. “I want to think about it.”
Helen sighed. “Fine. You ready for the damage, Misha?”
“Sure.” Misha was shrugging back into his shirt, buttoning it up over his ribbed tank.
Helen gave him a total and he handed her several hundred dollar bills.
“This is way too much.” She tried to hand the extra bills back to him.
“Nice tip for you. Since you were so sweet to fit me in,” Misha assured her.
“That’s very kind of you.” Helen looked at the bills for a moment, an unexpected blush rising her cheeks. Then she brightened, turning to her apprentice. “Melby, we can get sushi for lunch.”
“Sweet,” Melby groaned. “I’ve been craving a TNT roll for days.”
“In all honesty, we were having sushi anyway.” Helen leaned in conspiratorially. “It makes them very happy.” She grinned. “Harper! You had a card for me?”
“Yes.” Harper reached into their bag where they’d stuck Darlene’s card. “Here you go.”
Helen looked it over. “Darlene Fisk. You weren’t kidding about the porn, huh?”
“Do I look like the type of person who would joke about that?”
“True enough. I’ll give her a call. My interest is piqued for sure.” Helen smiled. “And you think about that sleeve. Or start a Pinterest with ideas. I’m open minded.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“After care instruction time!” Helen pulled out one of the printed sheets from their rack under the desk. She went over it in detail, then added, “Harper probably still has most of this stuff on hand, but you might want to stop at a pharmacy and pick up your own before you’re on the road again. Remember, absolutely NO soaking above the elbow until that’s completely healed! It’ll be about two weeks. Try not to get hurt.”
“I’ll take very good care of it,” Misha promised.
“You bet your ass you will,” Helen retorted. “If you have any issues, or decide you want more, give me a call. Number and e-mail are on the aftercare sheet.”
Harper and Misha said their goodbyes as they pulled their coats back on. Then they stepped back out onto the sidewalk.
“Are you ready for lunch?” Misha asked, lacing his fingers between hers. “It’s still early, but it takes a bit out of a person to get tattooed.”
“I remember,” Harper said. “There’s a good bistro just around the corner, or we could go up a block to the Greasy Spoon. It’s a classic diner with good fries. And pie.”
“I better not on the pie, but I’ll be bad. A burger sounds amazing.”
“I feel like I’m a bad influence.” Harper laughed.
“Maybe you are.” He grinned. “But if being around you means I eat more red meat and fried foods, then so be it.” He squeezed her hand. “So, this sleeve tattoo that Helen wants to do for you...”
“Oh god, not you too.”