Forums » Sci-Fi Roleplay » Taggers of the Century[Semi-Open]

[Warning: Vandalism is not legal, as is 'Graffiti'. Please don't follow this as an example. ]
Limit: 1 more Person
Players:
-FiraSprite
-Luulu

Fera 7 Station. Built inside a gas planet, it is one of the safest, cleanest and orderly station to be found in the Galaxy. Or so the Government running the place says. In all truth that's just the high class citizens bragging about their nice neighborhoods and how much police protection they have. Unlike the lower class citizens left in the dust. Some years back the station underwent a so called 'cleansing' as directed by the Luminary, the leader of the Government. Racism was a huge problem on the station, Species relations were getting some friction. It all came down to a large gang war, eventually spreading to the upper levels where the high class lived and became a major crisis, some larger gangs even uprising against the Government in full revolution. They did not win. The Government cracked down hard, police forces overpowering most of the gangs, mostly consisting of teenagers and young adults seeking to make a change and as a result were sent to Prison. But now, some odd years later, Gangs are on the rise again and the Government ain't taking any of that shtick.


Hunter walked down the sidewalk platform, high above the city floor. Cars passed by through the air, distant hums coming and going. It was late evening and the lights of all the shops along the sidewalk, steam rising from vents in the walls, fans pushing the steam out, causing the air near the shops to feel warm though not the least bit inviting. Most of the stores, Hunter passed were bars, pawn shops or some other 'low-life' joint. Not that it mattered. Rich people had them too but they're just prettier. Doesn't change how bad the acts done inside are. He shifted slightly as he walked, pushing past people who were likely drunk. Maybe wearing a long sleeve was a bad idea. It made him feel uncomfortable. Or maybe that was because it had been some time since he had been down this end of town. Whatever. He just wanted to get to the place as fast as he could. The place he was thinking off was a small tattoo parlor. Despite it being down in the more beat up side of town, he remembered it being a clean place to get a tat done. Soon enough he saw the familiar blue writing of the neon sign of the shop, stuck between a few random stores ahead.

The outside of "Mindsculptors" fit the rest of the alley way easily enough. Dirt and grime covered every inch of the outer building, taking over even the flickering sign like parasites that kept trees from gaining nourishment. Once the door opened though, the aged bells up-top giving off a weak "tink tank" sound, a completely different world lay inside.

"Pristine" may have been an understatement for a shop like MindSculptors. The floors, walls, and even the countertop were all a uniform light grey marble. Multiple posters hung in racks along the walls, each frame expressing a collection of inked designs and patterns. On the counter in the very center of the small shop perched little Luulu herself. Brown bangs curled just over-top her eyes as if in defiant protest against the shoulder length purple locks that played against the back of her neck. Were she not crouched over the needle that her hands were obsessively checking over, the faded shirt she wore would have revealed the words "No, you may not speak with my manager" in bold print.

"Waddaya want?" She snapped, not looking up from her job at hand. The disassembled tattoo gun was a delicate instrument, a few years outdated but still good. Her fingers expertly traced over each part before she would either click it into place with satisfaction, or set it aside to reach for another.

He had entered the shop his hazel eyes gazing over the place. Hunter almost had to squint a little bit from the sudden brightness of the place. He had expected it to be a bit darker colored. They must've had a new paint job from the last time he had been there. Well that's obvious. It's been years after all. He had taken to strolling over to the posters and ink designs on the rack with interest for a bit until the woman snapped. Glancing up and over to where she was he blinked. He almost hadn't noticed her there.

"Hey. I was looking to get a tat."

Hunter cleared his throat. Seeing the needle she was fiddling with he next saw the disassembled tattoo gun and thought maybe this wasn't a good time for it. She seemed to be busy actually checking over the equipment.

"Uhm... Or is this a bad time?"

"Never a bad time," She grunted, snapping the last bit back into place then looking up at him with a grin.

"Or maybe it's always a bad time. Depends on your artist I guess." Now that her instrument had be reassembled Luulu set it down gingerly then hopped off the counter. It was a short distance, but so were her legs, so the result was a heavy thud of boots hitting marble. She walked the short distance over to hunter and smirked.

"Lucky for you, I'm the best shop around." there was a pause, "Okay I'm the only shop around, but when there were more of us I was the best then too."

He almost took her for a grumpy person until she looked to him with a grin. He blinked as he turned towards her. She would probably notice his few distinct features. Specifically the tear drop tattoo or the spider web tattoo. Hunter nodded slowly and chuckled a bit in response a slight smile now on his face.

"Good thing I remembered where this place was. Sucks that they shut down the other ones too though.."

Hunter for some reason looked around the shop curiously before he looked back to Luulu, one brow risen.

"You the only artist in the shop?"

The smirk was still on her face. Normally she didn't much like people, but it had been so long since a customer actually came it that anyone was refreshing. The result was a mix of sweet and sour elements of her personality.

"I'm the best one in this shop!" Luulu said sheepishly, her fingertips resting lightly on the nearest artwork example. "But not the only one. Kron's still here. Just doesn't come out much." Kron was both an old geezer, and the owner of the shop. He might have been remembered from before, as a middle aged man who walked with a slight stoop in his step. But always with a smile. The old man was also covered head to foot in tattos. Luulu didn't have a single one.

"I can duplicate almost everything in here by now though, so that's a plus." She glanced at his own tattoos curiously. "Those made around here?"

Hunter perked up slightly and smiled. He seemed all around nice, maybe even a bit of a joker.

"Kron is still here? Man, I haven't seen him in ages! He finally cover himself completely in tattoos by now or what?"

He seemed to have been here for a while, maybe Kron remembered him from all those years back. Though he almost second-glanced towards his own tattoos and suddenly didn't look as fond to talk about them. He shrugged slightly. If she was at all familiar with the meaning of certain tattoos judging by these ones they were notorious of being prison tattoos.

"Nope. Got them back on Earth. Thought that they might look good."

Well that was half a lie but still it was a lie.

She dipped her head in what could be accepted as a nod. "Or so the stories say. Can't accept em as I've only ever seen 'em in clothes." She noted his change in posture and shuffled uncomfortably. "Not many are willing to speak about Earth these days." Luulu paused, the question dangling from her lips. Was it really the strange place people claimed? A world twisted just for prisoners, a fantasy land of greens and blues, the picture of health and beauty - all except the light poison that filled the air. Sure it made the plans grow bright and fruitfull, but it slowly killed anything with blood. She had only heard stories.

(If this is too far away from the original prison idea you had, feel free to make the rumors fake)

She coughed, then cleared her throat, shoving the question away. He'd probably heard it too many times by now seeing as he was here and not there. "Well they suck. Obviously no one on Earth knows a lick about ink." She eyed his neck tattoo like a hawk. "Could do a good cover up of that, turn it into something that doesn't suck. For the right price."

She was only half lieing, half boasting. People said the same thing about her tattoos, and she'd say it about theirs. Bravado mostly, all part of the buisness. Make the customer think yours is the best.Always.

Hunter shook his head. He knew all too well about the rumors that spread about Earth. Though by now he truly saw how exaggerated it had become. Sure there were radiation hot spots from the nuclear dumps but Earth wasn't a desolate place. There were actually still some pretty havens of these mythical blues and greens the people on the station wouldn't of heard of. Due to the nature of living within a gas planet, vegetation can only be grown indoors around there. Even then, the sun barely penetrates through the orange dust of a planet so plant life can't survive long. A lot of the 'vegetation' on the station he knew to be genetically engineered. Not natural what so ever. There was a breathy laugh from the man.

"Not here anyways. Though I can tell you it's nothing like the rumors say."

He looked a bit taken back by how blunt she was about how bad his tattoos were then he suddenly laughed again though he actually seemed quite amused by that.

"Of course, they suck. Not like they were done by a professional..."

He however seemed sentimental towards them, making it likely that he wouldn't get a cover up.

"Well... Maybe you could improve the one on my neck a bit more. The one on my face, I don't plan on getting it covered. Was also maybe thinking of getting something done on my back?"

He didn't seem like he had any ideas for what he wanted on his back, was probably going to see what she had on the rack. The man seemed faithful in the designs here, he probably knew he was going to find something he liked in what they had.

The first few designs on the racks were the normal samples created to catch a customer's eye. Flowers, fairies, hammers and crosses with little birds and other animals laced all throughout. Small, simple, exact. These Luulu flipped past without batting an eye. He had been here before, even if it were years ago, and purposefully came back. She dismissed these that she considered "rookie" tats.

Further back the posters began to take on names. These were the ones she had boasted about earlier, about being able to duplicate almost all of them. Under each name was a specific set of designs, and she began pointing them out and turning more slowly.

"This one here, with all of the sea animals? He left a few years ago. Jerold. Good guy, but a little twitchy sometimes which wasn't good for business. Specialized in almost anything blue."

Clank, clank, went the plastic poster frames as she scaled through for Hunter to see. Usually she didn't show this much customer service, but the girl was drawn to him. He wasn't like most people down here, probably because he didn't seem to be a lower city dweller.

"Conrad here I never actually met, but he was really big on religious symbols. If you prayed to it, he could draw it." She looked a little sheepish for a moment. "Sorry but, I wont do all of these. Religion kinda creeps me out."

Clank, clank, clank

On through each artist she went, sometimes smiling a little and stopping to explain a bit of the style.

"Jadis, now that was a talented dude. Only knew 'm for a few weeks though." or "Eeehhhhh you really wouldn't want any of these. Carlton was the only guy I ever knew to draw slugs."

Finally, in one of the last sets of posters, came Luulu's own designs. They were mostly abstract shapes, tribal images. A skull, or two, done in a cartoon-like style, and a dog tag. The tag seemed out of place at first, as it was more detailed than the others and modeled after the bits of metal soldiers use to wear for identification. This specific one was separate from the others, almost as if hiding in plain sight. About this sample, Luulu did not brag.Instead she smoothly slid past it.

"And then just a few more down you'll actually get to Kron's stuff. He only comes in for about an hour every other three or four days though and I wont touch 'em. So if you want a Kron original you'll have to be really lucky."

Hunter listened along, glancing towards Luulu as she went through the designs on the rack. He smiled a bit along with her and nodded.Actually he stifled a little laugh at the mention of a slug tattoo. Now that was kinda weird. He didn't remember a lot of the people she mentioned that worked there. Maybe a few rung a bell but he didn't remember their faces. Not a lot of the tattoos really caught his eye either. Nothing he seemed interesting in anyways. Seeing that she did tribal style tattoos his brow rose and waited for her to finish talking. He smirked.

"Extremely lucky, I reckon."

He took a moment then flipped through the rack back to the tribal stuff.

"I was thinking, maybe something in this style on my back. Perhaps down my spine?"

Hell of a place to choose it. Painful but Hunter didn't seem to care either way, he's been through worse pain compared to getting a tattoo.

(By the way, I do draw a tiny bit. I could attempt to design the "tattoo" and send it to you if you would like.)


Down his spine? Luulu's eyebrows shot up into her bangs, and excitement sparkled in her eyes. This would give her the chance to use some of her more delicate needles.

"A design like this could take a little time, depending on your preferences. Do you enjoy color, shading, or just the outline itself?" As she spoke Luulu had already twirled on her heels and marched back to the counter. Contents shuffled around as she opened one drawer after the other from behind said counter. In contrast to her tattoo equipment, the sketching instruments seemed messy and out of place. A yellowed tablet, light blue pencil's, sharpener, and a headlight were all gathered on top of the counter, placed inside of a gray plastic tray. She was still listening to anything he might have to say, though she did pause at one point to look up startled.

"Oh, 'm Luulu by the way. Duno if I introduced myself or not."

(If you'd like ^o^ Otherwise I could google something if you can't xD Also sorry we've been having rolling blackouts here.)

Seeing Luulu suddenly look excited, his own smile widened as she shot back to the counter, watching her for a bit as he thought of how he would like the tattoo, scratching his chin that had a light stubble.

"Well I think the outline should do sufficiently."

Hunter strolled on over to the counter as she pulled out the sketching things. With quite an amused look, he leaned onto the counter nearby, though not enough to be crowding her space as she did her thing.

"Heh, no you didn't. Nice to meet you, I'm Hunter."

He would put out his hand to shake hers. If she took his hand, his hand would've felt very calloused like he has worked quite a bit, warm surprisingly and she could probably feel the odd soft scar tissue in the center of his palm. How odd.

Without taking her full concentration away from the sketch infront of her, Luulu reached out and grabbed his hand lightly in hers. The grip was firm, and she gave a little jolt of a shake; paused at the feel of his scar tissue, then slid her hand out of his to balance the paper.

She hadn't stopped sketching the entire time. She also did not mention his scar tissue. She was curious, but figured some stories were private. I've already pried enough anyway she thought.


(No worries! I don't always have the chance to post much on the weekends as it is.)

The man would lean onto the counter, silently watching the sketching that Luulu did before he turned. Leaning his back now on the white counter, he gazed out the front windows of the shop through the metal bars out into the streets.

People passed by, a lot of them rather shady looking despite nearly being silhouettes outside the window. Hunter chewed on his bottom lip for a little bit, his fingers fiddling with a piece of thread frayed from the ends of his sleeves. The ambiance of the shop filled his ears and he shifted as he could hear a nearby car alarm go off. Good thing he walked. Driving in this station was maniacal sometimes. Not to mention how many thefts took place in this end of town. Nothing changed in this place for the most part. Except for perhaps the people and the galactic laws in place now. Still, a place like this so far away from, they could do the occasional slip up. Hunter cleared his throat a bit though he didn't look impatient.

The car alarm made her palm itch. Luulu hated lout noises, but she didn't allow her drawing hand to flinch.
"I'm not from around here either you know. At least, not originally." She said in an attempt to fill the void that only talking could.

"Was born up there." She pointed upwards, indicating the much cleaner city above. "Didn't end up down here until about three years ago. I like it down here better though. Less corrupt." She gave him a snarky grin, then signed off the finishing touches of the newest design.

It was tribal, like the tattoos he had referenced, full of spiked lines and slanted dots. The outline itself was thin, though noticeable, and would bend with the curving of a spine.

"Anything you want added sir?"

He turned to look to Luulu and smiled some. Hunter couldn't help but make a face like he was resisting laughing before he let out a hearty laugh, almost having to throw his head back. As he calmed down he spoke up.

"Less corrupt, now that's a joke... Though there are quite a few good people who live down here. Still, must have been real funny to hear about all of us down here when you were little, huh?"

His eyes found the design and his smile reached ear to ear.

"Ooooooo! I love that. Especially the spikes. No, no I think it's awesome the way it is! How much for this and touching up this baby here?"

Hunter tapped the spiderweb tattoo on his neck a couple times. Seems he didn't mind sitting around a couple hours for this. Seems he had the money for it too.

(Warning I know almost nooothing about tattoo pricings so I'm going by ear on this one. Also, randomly "made up" money for the wiiiin)


Instead of getting upset or annoyed, Luulu found herself grinning in return. "Alright, just as corrupt but less haughty about it then." She eyed the design on his neck, then glanced back down at what she had placed on the paper. Necks were tricky, and so were spines. She could easily make bank on this guy. But it had been so long since he'd actually had a customer.


"Tell ya what, I'll cut you a deal. Thirteen gold, and five brass for the spine and I'll throw in the neck for a low 10 silver." Her price wasn't exactly....low....but she wasn't high balling him either.

(XDD Tattoos like Hunter is getting would be around maybe 200$-300$ considering the detail he's getting. Around 30-50$ maybe for the touch up.)

Hunter blinked. So she was using the alien currency here. Looking into his pocket, he only had human money currently. Been a while since he had been back to the station and he had forgotten to go get his money exchanged.

"Erhm.. Do you take human cash here?"

He asked really hoping she did. Otherwise he was going to have to make a run for the nearest exchange which he had no idea where that would be in this area.

Luulu bit her lip in thought. Human cash was a real pain to work with, but it would be just as much a pain for him to go exchange it first. She had lost customers before by sending them out to exchange money, and not all of them canceled willingly. Death by stabbing is a hell of a way to go.

She sighed and jerked her shoulders in a non-nonchalant fashion. "Sure. I can do something with it at least." Not her favorite thing to do, but it hadn't been only the tattoo artists that kept disappearing. Sometimes customers did too, so fewer were stopping by for ink lately.