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Kaithala frowned at the phone book. She couldn't really be going through with this...

She'd wrestled with the idea for a week now, a tattoo. Well on one hand she'd always wanted a tattoo, but this, this was taking it a bit far no? It's not like she was ashamed of the idea of having a tattoo based on Metallica songs but... how far did fangirl-ism go?

No, no, she'd weighed all this out and this was what she wanted. It wasn't as if she was actually getting a tattoo of Metallica, that'd just be silly, but taking inspiration from their songs was okay wasn't it? And there was the hat tip to her grandfather as well. A man she'd never met but he had her respect from all the stories her grandmother had shared.

Okay okay, this was happening.

Looking down she found the number for Vishnu Ink, a place that had been getting good reviews so far. Well, here went nothing.

Carefully she dialed in the out of town number.

...and waited.

Kai was a little surprised at the energy behind the greeting. Not that it was a bad thing, but more often than not you get the downer receptionists who really didn't want to be there. This girl had spunk, immediately Kai felt a liking toward her and the parlor.

"Hi, I'm looking to get a tattoo." Wow queen of the lame. "I mean, obviously I'm thinking of getting a tattoo, I was wondering how to get the ball rolling I guess. I'm from Seattle, but I've heard good things about Vishnu Ink so I'm willing to try and make an out of town appointment." Damn right, if she was going to let someone put a permanent mark on her, she was damn well going to get the best! "Do you guys do those?"

For as long as she could, Kai would avoid saying what it was, wouldn't want to be laughed at unless it was absolutely necessary.

Kai grinned as the girl caught her language. Because she didn't say ******** all the time at all... Ace's easy personality was making it a bit easier to deal with the appointment making. A blessing Kai was thankful for.

"What? ********, sorry that was rude of me, my name's Kaithala Pak. You can call me Kai though." Normally Kai probably would have censored herself but well she started it... "That's great though, that you do appointments. Ummm..." She quickly took a peek at her calender. The bookstore wasn't particularly busy at the moment and she did have some "vacation" time she could use. Of course she was the boss, she could take vacation whenever she damn well pleased! "Maybe the end of next week? I've got some time off that I can make it down there."

Kai nearly blushed as she was about to admit her fangirl-ism to a complete stranger. "As for what I need done... well... ummm... you know those guys who get band names tattooed across their a**? Well I'm not one of them, but I'm a pretty close second." She laughed nervously. "What I'm thinking of is, a full back tattoo. It's uh, well... it's um, Metallica inspired..." She winced waiting for the laughter.

Ho s**t, the gods were looking out for her on this one. What were the odds that she'd end up talking to someone just as strange as she? It's like one in a ******** million. Kai inwardly exhaled and smiled. This wasn't so bad at all! And obviously if Ace was getting a Journey tattoo well, they were meant to be friends.

"Seriously? Journey ******** rocks my world! That is awesome!" Kai sat back on her couch, nearly all her nerves gone. "What song are you using?!" It took Kai a second to realize that was the same thing that was asked of her. Laughing she answered, "Ah I'm thinking, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', 'Disposable Heroes', and 'Master of Puppets'. With a bit of an homage to my grandfather in there too."

Hell, maybe it wouldn't be so scary or difficult to actually go through with it and get the damn tattoo.

Okay, if Vishnu Ink hadn't already been well recommended to her, this would have earned it, a million rep points. A receptionist who knew her Metallica and was a rock band fangirl. Yes yes, this place would do nicely. Very nicely.

"Damn, that's gonna be one epic tattoo, 'Don't Stop Believing' has got one hell of a story to tell!" Of course the girl knew that, but Kai couldn't help but express her enthusiasm. She winced herself at the mention of the pain though. Well it was something that she'd prepared herself for, still that didn't mean she had to dwell on it.

"Alright alright, I guess a quick version of it is. I want the full back tattoo to kind of be a tattered German World War II coat. Um, my grandfather served and was killed in battle, never met him obviously but my grandmother's romanticized him enough for me. Anyhow that's the base of it all, but falling out of the shoulders and back I was thinking, you know those crosses that puppeteers use to control marionettes, having some partially snapped strings come out of the back and the cross dangling. Everything should be kind of beat up, if you catch my drift, like it's on someone who's died. Which ties into the words I'd like." God she was rambling... "Along the top I wanted the line "Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see..." and across the bottom, near the a**, "I was born for dying..." And then, as if that wasn't enough. Down the back of my arms I wanted "Obey your" on one and "Master" on the other. So I guess it's more than just a back tattoo. Sorry sorry, if that didn't make sense, I tend to get caught up and then just roll with that s**t."

Geez someone really needed to tell her how to shut up.

"Oh god, don't get me started, you'll never shut me up! Hah hah hah, but yeah that's one of the best lines too! Ah who the hell am I kidding, I like nearly all the lines. These ones just help to establish my own world view." But she wouldn't get into that right now. Didn't need to add another layer to this already complicated tattoo. "Damn, I'm more psyched now than I was when I first thought of it. I've heard these things are like drugs, you get one and your hooked." Ehhhhh, probably not the best analogy to use to the girl who worked ********, I want to see this Journey tatt! Do you guys have a website or some s**t where you can put up pictures of the finished product? Cause holy s**t, I'll die if I don't see how that b***h turns out!" Kai was feeling fairly buddy buddy with this Ace and that was either because they'd found each other as soul mates or... she'd had a bit too much JD earlier in the day. Could go either way.

Well holy s**t! This girl had tattoos coming out of her a**, well not quite, but ******** it, you got the picture. It was close enough. "Holy hell's bells! That's a s**t ton of tatts! Sweet!" Kai could barely imagine herself with the back tatt, let alone having sleeves done. But damned if she wasn't thinking of that s**t now.

"You are speaking my language woman! They are all ******** rock gods! Man, if they're as addictive as everyone says I'll have a piece from all my favorite bands! Hah hah hah. I'm doomed." Man, Kai had a hard time believe that she'd been so ******** nervous about it and then this happened. What the hell? It was awesome in a strange sort of way.

"Well I guess I do have quite a bit of vacation time. Perhaps a vacation in Cali would be nice. And ******** if I don't want to see that tattoo! Damn, yeah, I'll have to do it. I can sight see and call it a real trip." Kai shook her head, this was almost too easy.

"Holy crap, that would be epic! I can just see how ******** awesome that could look!" But she'd probably never be able to go through with it. Even if the damn things were addictive as hell, Kai needed a deeper reason to get inked on. "Damn, yeah, if this tatt turns out as sweet as I think it will than I'll probably have to get another one down the road." As if her addiction to men wasn't enough.

And hey, speaking of men, Ace happened to be. "********, did we know each other in a past life?! I mean we must have! We share the same superior taste in music and then you hit me with a great bar to pick up so fine fine specimens of the male variety? That's about my perfect weekend!" If she hand't been so excited by the prospect of having someone to hit the bars with Kai would have found the whole situation really ******** eerie. "Well s**t yeah I'm down for that!" And hell, maybe guys down in Cali had some new moves, some of the Seattle ones were getting old, not that they still didn't work.