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 Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 12:09 pm
Astan flattened the wrinkled piece of paper that had been left in his mailbox against the kitchen counter. It was a smeary printout of a sunny California street taken from above, an address and phone number helpfully highlighted by a Google Maps popup. Along the outer edge of the page, Nick's blocky, barely-legible caps proclaimed, THIS PLACE, while an arrow and a circle around the address further indicated that it was, in fact, the place Nick wanted him to call. Astan hadn't thought his friend had been paying all that much attention when they had been talking tattoos. Nick didn't have any of his own, but he had heard about the place on the printout multiple times from friends and family. Surely that meant it was worth checking out, right? Apparently.
Sacramento. Honestly, Astan wasn't all that enthused about the prospect of leaving the state just for a little ink. Still, Nick was one of the few people close to him who could effortlessly tell when he was lying and actually making the call would mean Astan wouldn't have to. Maybe he would even end up liking the place enough to make an appointment. His stomach did a little uncomfortable flop at the thought and he huffed out a sigh. Stupid nerves.
Astan flipped open his cell and dialed the number, searching through a nearby drawer for a pen so he could take down notes if need be.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 11:50 pm
Now she was scheming. Normally, Ace would spend her free time sketching, but they were all done; singing and dancing, but she found herself worn out. However, there was always time for planning. And right now, she was trying to plan out how she was going to keep being a "secretary" whilst she was getting her own ink done. Especially since it would take a solid several hours to finish.
But the phone rang. A relieving sound, considering Ace hated making "back up plans" for stupid "logical" things, "Vishnu Ink! Ace here; how can I help you?!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:23 pm
"Hey." Astan surely would have said more, especially to a woman, but he continued to be distracted by his pen search. "I heard you guys did the best tattoos, um, anywhere, I guess, and I wanted to make an appointment if you really are as good as you say you are." He reached deeper into his junk drawer, fingers brushing against a thin bit of plastic caught between the drawer's side and its top. Bending at the waist but still unable to see what he had hold of, he pulled, eventually coaxing an old picture out of the drawer's maw. It was creased but otherwise unharmed and it served to awaken memories Astan hadn't predicted he would be dealing with during some comparatively unimportant phone call. He seemed to remember that the only way to destroy a Polaroid was to burn it. Still, he had very nearly forgotten the map even existed until this moment. He didn't want to lose it again.
"Yeah, I'm gonna come a long way, so if you don't think it's worth my while, that's okay too."
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:11 pm
Cocking an eyebrow, Ace leaned against the desk. He had no flare, no passion for this tattoo, clearly. Maybe it wasn't worth his while, but it was her job to sell the shop. They were the best there was, so there was no denying her egotistical response, "Let's put it this way. There is no one better. We've had no negative feedback and are certified by the health and safety board. Also, both Nate and myself have degrees in the arts. We don't take this s**t lightly."
A pause, "Would it be worth your while to come and get inked? You don't seem to have much enthusiasm towards it."
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:31 pm
"Oh, no, no, I didn't mean... Yeah, my friend and I were talking about tattoos the other day and he mentioned you guys and I thought he would forget about it like he was just making conversation or drunk or something, but then he really gave me your number and..." Astan sighed and looked down at the map in the Polaroid again. "Sorry if I demeaned your shop or career or anything else. I wasn't thinking. And I'm kind of," his voice lowered, as if there was some phantom in his apartment that might hear his confession, "afraid of planes? It's like a six hour flight and I wanted to make sure Nick wasn't just making up how good you guys were."
His voice returned to its normal volume and he smiled, hoping his tone helped bolster his apology. "Can I start over? My name is Astan Moore and I'm very interested in visiting you and this Nate guy. I also just figured out what I want done and I really want it and I'm sure I wouldn't have figured out how much if I hadn't called you." Blabber on, Astan. He hung on the line, fully expecting a hangup at this point.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:12 pm
A hang up wasn't what Astan was going to get. Instead, Ace laughed, "Ah, planes ******** suck anyways. I don't blame you." She wrote down his name and the fact he was from out of town; he'd have to come in later in the week, most likely .. if not, the week after.
"It's nice to speak with you Astan. Now, what were you thinking of getting done, exactly?" Ace had brushed off the 30 second conversation from before. She didn't take those types of things to heart and besides, it was hard to understand people's sarcasm, tone or mood from the phone sometimes.
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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:32 pm
He continued smiling. Well, she seemed nice enough. "It's a map," he said, tucking the photo back into the drawer to keep it safe for the time being. "A reminder of someplace I want to go. The picture I have of it's a little faded, but you can still see the path and landmarks and things. I'd be up for any extra stuff you guys wanted to add, so long as it's still clear where the map's going." He had no idea why he felt so strongly about the path remaining intact. It wasn't as if he was likely to find where it led. "It'd be on the back of my neck and not that big. To sort of bring things together." Whatever that meant.
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Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:55 pm
"Ohhh!" Ace tried to find the right word, "Like the .. base of the neck. Not the crown .. ah, I know what you mean." Laughing, she jotted a few notes down and wrote basically what the jist of the map would look like, "I'll be able to sketch up a sample for size, but bring the picture in so I can make it exact."
Grinning, she liked the idea of a map .. a treasure map! Ouuu; child at heart, she always loved a good map. Wonder if it actually led anywhere. Tempted to ask if he ever looked for where it led, she bite her tongue. Not the time, Ace, not the time, "So, would next weekend be good for you, then?" Considering he was traveling and all.
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