You enter in full blown technicolor [Julian]

Seva had woken up just like it had been every other morning save one thing. She’d taken an extra long shower that day and had used a loufah to scrub up in between her shoulder blades, charming it to clean automatically where she could not reach herself. She made sure to leave several layers of skin however, because today Seva was getting a tattoo. She was beyond excited by the prospect and was going to get something that was very important to her; the symbol of medicine flanked by angel wings. With, of course, some minor variations.

Seva had exchanged letters with the tattoo artist and they had worked together to come up with a sketch. Seva was very proud of it and loved the work that he’d done. She got dressed quickly, hoping to arrive early for her ten o clock appointment with the artist, Julian. Seva wore an olive green cardigan over a cream colored bra camisole and brown corduroy pants. She was sporting brown suede ankle boots on her feet with a three inch heel, making her stand at approximately 5’3” and a quarter. She was very proud of that quarter, mind you.

Grabbing a muffin from the fridge and charming it to heat it up slightly, Seva dashed out of her flat and ran up Diagon Alley. She only stopped to grab a vanilla latte and almost spilled half of it down her front as she bolted out the door. Suffice to say, Seva was excited about the prospect of showcasing her love for her craft, even if she wasn’t going to be spending a lot of time walking around with no shirt on.

Seva skidded to a halt in front of the shop at 12 Diagon and was immediately in love with the storefront. Seva couldn’t draw worth a damn except for stick figures so she was easily impressed by anyone else’s art. The sign was very attractive and she loved how the colors worked together, the purple and the neon green oddly complimented each other. Her eyes were dazzled momentarily, but her excitement spurred her on into the door of the shop. The bell on the door tinkled as she pushed her way in.

Seva’s heels clacked against the floor as she entered and when she first got in, she took a look around the shop. She wandered into the room on the left with the shelving units showcasing the art supplies and she wondered for a moment if Jade would want anything from here. She continued to peruse the offerings for a few minutes before looking down at her watch and realized it was 1:15. Woops.

“Hello,” she called out, her voice ringing like the bell on the door, her accent lilting. “I’m here…”

[OOC: Samm has that the shop doesn’t open until 1pm, not a big deal just letting you know.]

It was oddly weird for Julian to be excited, but he was. He had been practicing the art of tattooing for years now but this would be his first client as a tattoo artist in a tattoo parlor- as opposed to the apprentice job he once obtained and the working from home and traveling around side jobs that he’d been doing up until recently. This for him was more than a profession, it was a genuine opportunity to do better in his young life and this thought gave him peace of mind. It was the stability he needed in order to make a better life for him and his sister, not to mention having more responsibilities that he needed in order to grow up. Maybe even get him more comfortable with being around people. It was a lot of things for the ex Slytherin and for that, Julian would forever be grateful. So he never minded doing things for his boss, especially since Julian found him to be of genuine character.

He had spent his afternoon fulfilling his duties that Gregoire needed from him.  Making sure the shelves were stocked and the store had what was needed. Julian checked his list double time to be sure there was nothing he forgot. Once he stopped obsessing, he checked the time on his watch. She was late which was always a little frustrating but it was nothing the wizard couldn’t handle. Julian had had contact with said client through owls to discuss the tattoo work that would take place today. He took out his finished drawing of what they had discussed and set it to the side in the back room he was in.

The bell sounded about 15 minutes after her appointment was scheduled and Julian placed the rest of his things down before making his way out of the door and down the hallway. He reached the front of the shop and took a few seconds to take in his client’s appearance as he walked up to her. She was short. Really short and brunette. Hopefully this wouldn't pose as a problem for him, seeing as she was his type looks wise. “Seva?” He outstretched his hand and smiled softly as he greeted her professionally, “I wasn’t sure if you were coming but I'm glad you did. I’m Julian.” Once their hands separated he continued to talk, “So, I have your drawing, it’s in the back here.” He pointed behind him to the rooms, “If you want to follow me we can discuss everything and you can tell me if it’s to your liking- I know you’ve already seen it but…better safe than sorry, you know?”

Julian gestured with his head encouragingly for her to follow him and he could hear her heels clacking against the concrete letting him know she was. Julian entered the room and pointed to a seat next to where he stood. “You’re more than welcome to sit.” He waited for her to get comfortable before taking a seat next to her, “For you,” He handed over her drawing, “If you’re still feeling good about it, we can get started whenever you’re ready.” He grinned reassuringly as he watched her face for approval.

Seva turned at the sound of footsteps in the hallway and watched as Julian came into the room. She was not expecting what she saw standing in front of her. For one, he was over a foot taller than her and made her feel impossibly tiny. He was huge and he was very handsome, so handsome and wild looking that Seva almost blushed. Seva eyed him up and down, taking in all of his tattoos and as she did, a wry smile played on her lips. Rawr, she thought to herself, looking him up and down one last quick second before extending her own hand to clasp his. How gentlemanly.

“Yep, that’s me.” She said smiling apologetically before the corners of her mouth briefly twitched into an embarrassed frown. “Sorry I was late, you know how it is.” You know how it is? Stupid. “Didn’t mean to keep you waiting.”

Seva followed him into the back room and sat down in the chair he offered her, crossed one ankle over the other and stretching out her legs in front of her. She looked down at them and then looked at his and suddenly felt even shorter. Her attention snapped back to him and she took a gander at the sketch they’d discussed. It was exactly what they’d talked about. In the time since they’d exchanged letters, however, she had changed her mind about what she wanted. She hoped that her modifications wouldn't hold anything up.

“That’s perfect, but I just have one change to make.” Normally, she would have paused and frowned, hoping she wasn't offending him but lately she didn’t give a rat’s arse what anyone thought. She was still in a bad mood from her brief encounter with the spawn of hell that was Amaranth and everything seemed to piss her off. “Do you think we could maybe get rid of the cross in the background and maybe add wings to the dragon? I think that would be pretty bad ass.”

Seva didn’t even bother trying to illustrate she was talking about because her wings would just look like two W’s and she wanted to save herself the embarrassment. While she waited for him to answer, she took off her cardigan and draped it over the back of the chair. She wanted the tattoo between her shoulder blades, the wings she wanted unfurled and cascading across her shoulders and down her back. Having never gotten a tattoo before, she probably didn’t grasp how much it would hurt to have it done over the bone. In fact, she didn’t know what it would feel like at all but she was too proud to ask. Instead, she sat there looking more than a little smug, her usual easy smile absent from her face.

Julian listened to her as she listed her modifications. His eyebrows furrowed a bit letting his face show what he was thinking, , “Right, right. Well…that’s doable but it’s probably going to take me a little bit to come up with the wings…” He looked at her watching her body language. Did this girl have any idea what she was getting herself into? She seemed self-assured but from Julian’s knowledge he didn’t think she had any tattoos…boy, was she going to be surprised. A back tattoo wasn’t something to take lightly but he would come to that part of their chat eventually. Julian just smiled through, nodding slowly, “Bad ass, indeed.”

“Okay so….” He pulled out another piece of paper to confirm her ideas, as not to ruin his current sketch, “here’s your back, right? So you want the dragon here and the wings going this way?” He drew a fast sketch of wings going on either side of the dragon and across her shoulder blades and down her back. He wasn’t entirely sure what was exactly going through her head but he was going to trying his best to make it a reality for her.

The former Slytherin thought for a moment, “Seva…I think it might be best if we do this piece in segments…” He placed the pencil he was holding behind his ear as he looked at her, “It’s a rather big piece and I don’t think I’d be able to get everything done today. What I can do for you is get you a decent sketch of these wings being added- get rid of the cross, we can stencil it on you, and I can complete the outline. That in itself will take a few hours. Shading and all that can be scheduled for another day, whenever you are free, no problem, yeah?” He raised an eyebrow, awaiting her response hoping that she wouldn’t prove to be too difficult.

Once she feed him her answer, he started to tweak the current sketch he had. “If you want to look through any magazines or take a look through the store while you wait, be my guest. Or just hang about here with me. …Are you an artist, by chance?” He looked up from what he was doing to peer at her. He was asking because the shop also sold art supplies and hung work for the local artists in the area. He felt he could do the same for her since he hadn’t any clue about her drawing inability.

Seva watched him intently, thinking to herself how adorable he looked when he furrowed his brow. Steam may as well have been shooting out of his ears, he looked so quizzical. Her eyes crinkled with amusement and she felt herself relaxing and the ice melting a little bit. Her body language softened considerably and a smile played on her face. What was this strange feeling she was having? It was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time and while she couldn’t place it – because it had indeed been an eternity – she did notice that she couldn’t stop looking at him. She almost didn’t hear him when he spoke to her next and when she realized he was addressing her, her mouth moved but no words came out at first. Could she already have a crush on him?

“Oh, I totally agree with you.” What was she agreeing to again? Oh yeah, does she mind coming back.  “We can totally do that. I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Seva leaned forward intently, propping up her chin on her hand. She was leaning so far forward she could fall if she moved an inch in the wrong direction. Oh yeah, she was already smitten. That was bound to happen when she hadn’t really interacted with a man one on one in a number of years for a handful of reasons. She was acting like a smitten fourth year all over again, mooning over him like she had over her countless now nameless crushes. There was just something about him and it wasn’t just the fact that he was handsome or that he was covered in tattoos.  Things weren’t all about looks.  He also seemed very sweet so far.

Does that mean I get to spend more time with him? Sign me up. Seva looked from him to the new sketch and back. She was pretty impressed with his talent, he was a hundredfold the artist that she was. Animals that she’d wanted to make realistic always ended up looking cartoony which was why when he asked her if she was an artist, she had to fight back a laughing fit. She completely ignored his offer for her to stay in the back with him, she was so amused. After a few seconds, she couldn’t contain herself and let out a string of lilting giggles. Tee hee.

“I’d love to stay back here with you…” She said, doing her best to pretend as if that had never happened. Perhaps Seva was a little more jaded now, but she would probably always be silly. She couldn’t not be, it was her outlet, and how she got through the day. Everyone loved her for her disposition, even if she was a little batty. Seva beamed at him, doing her best not to scare like   creeper. In the back of her mind she worried if her smile made her look like a lunatic, or worse made her nose look big. Seva quickly dismissed the thought so she wouldn’t be tempted to whip out her compact and stare for a half hour.

“Sorry again if this was too much trouble – I’ll come back as many times as you want me to and pay whatever you ask.”

The overall idea was clever, having a dragon instead of the snake wrapped around the rod like the normal medical symbol. It made the tattoo that much more meaningful, incorporating her practice with her magical background. These were always the best reactions when doing tattoo work, at least from his experience. He enjoyed the outcome of it all with the genuine smiles and thank you’s- tips were always better as well, come to think of it. Not every single person he worked on left happy since there was no way to please everyone but where there was good communication and chemistry, there was great tattoo work. She answered him after a beat and Julian assessed her mood. Something seemed to have changed and he was guessing it was the exchanging of ideas? Maybe that got her to open up a bit but he wasn’t complaining. “I like this idea. It’s creative. I’m assuming you are in the medical field of some kind?”

He smiled hugely, “Good deal. I’ll set up another appointment for you when we’re done here.” He began to work on her sketch taking away and adding the things that she wanted. It was easy for him to loose himself in his work when he was alone but he didn’t want Seva to feel left out. Julian offered her a couple different options on what she could do while she waited. He looked up from his work, awaiting an answer and instead he watched as she let out a fit of laughter. The wizard chuckled, yeah, she was definitely more comfortable now, “I’m guessing that’s a…no?” He shook his head playfully, he was enjoying this side to her and her laugh was familiar somehow… Seva mentioned that she would stay in the room with him a Julian nodded as he put the finishing touches on his sketch, “Good, I could use the company.” He winked at her playfully before turning back down to the sketch. Her silliness was refreshing and he appreciated it and if she was relaxed, then he would be.

“It’s no trouble at all.” He waved her apology to the side lazily, as he placed the pencil behind his ear again and placed the drawing on the table to the side of him for her to look at when she was ready. His attention was turned back to her and he stopped for a moment her face was fairly close to his and he really took in her features this time, “There’s something familiar about you…” He rubbed his chin as he thought and leaned back in his chair; Seva…wasn’t there someone by that name he knew from long ago? “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”  Hogwarts had been years ago for the wizard, true enough, but the between her laugh and smiling, he had to know her from somewhere...

“I’m actually a student at Dilys Derwent,” she said proudly. “I’m in my second year there, actually. In another year I’ll be one on one with an instructor…I can’t wait for that.”

Seva was beaming and nodded enthusiastically, the corners of her eyes crinkling. She was very proud of herself and jumped at the opportunity to discuss her trade even if it wasn’t what she always wanted to do. She was just as curious about him and watched him intently as he sketched and was again impressed by his skill. Then again, she thought anyone who could draw better than her was exemplary. Her eyes flit up to his face and she flashed a grin equal in size to his all the while thinking to herself how nice his smile was. At his comment about her next appointment, she nodded once and smiled again.

“Awesome, I look forward to it, but…” Here, she blushed and lowered her voice considerably as if she thought that the lower the volume, the less embarrassed she’d be when she asked. “By the was…is this going to hurt?”

Seva blushed scarlet. I could use the company, he said and the color in her cheeks increased tenfold. And then he winked and she almost swooned, however playful it might have been. She was finally distracted as her attention was turned back to him to find that he was staring intently at her; their faces quite close. She met his gaze levelly and tilted her head to the side. Her brows furrowed quizzically and she wondered why she was receiving such an intent look. And the chin rubbing, why so pensive? Then came the question which made Seva look at him closer still. Suddenly it dawned on her and she leaned so far forward on her chair that she tumbled half into his lap and  half onto the edge of her chair.

“Julian Greyson!?” Seva chirped, flailing wildly and trying her best to right herself without falling further into his lap. It was utter chaos, but Seva ignored it and continued, “you dated Amara cast, you were two years ahead of me, right?”

The excitement over for the time being, Seva collected herself and deposited her behind back onto her chair, crossing one leg over the other and trying her best to pretend that nothing happened. Looking awkwardly down at her feet she adjusted her cami and pretended to wipe something off her shoe. Awkard, why Merlin must I always have dither fits? Her blush hadn’t subsided one bit, despite several minutes going by without either of them speaking. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mention the whole being-in-his-lap incident. Pleasedon'tpleasedon't.

“Ah, I see. That’s good news, then. Cheers.” He was smiled genuinely before going back to her drawing; the medical field was a highly respectable career, in his opinion, definitely admirable. “I hated school…I couldn’t go back after finally being done with it. Good thing you stuck it out. I’m sure it will be worth it.” Julian had dropped out of Hogwarts prematurely because of family reasons and he never went back. Sometimes he regretted it, other times he felt as though it was for the best. After all, he wouldn’t have found himself sitting where he was currently and doing something he loved to do. He didn’t look up from what he was doing but he was trying to keep a steady flow of conversation going while he worked so as not to tune her out.

He continued sketching, feeling her eyes watching him create her work. He must have been doing a good job because he heard no complaints so far. When people peered over his shoulder, it use to bother the wizard but Julian quickly learned he would have to get succumb to this kind of attention if he wanted to stay in his line of work. People were curious, it was natural and his antisocial tendencies would have to be shoved somewhere in the back of his brain. Julian looked up once she whispered and shifted his eyes around the room, silently wondering why her voice was low, but he laughed softly at her question mostly because he was planning on executing that part of the tattoo process later, “Um…yes. Honestly.” He didn’t want to lie to her, “But! The good news is it varies from person to person so one area might not be as bad as another.” He was worried that he would talk her out of the whole thing, “I’ll explain further when we get you on the chair and I’ll point out the problem areas. No need to worry yourself just yet, we’ll get to all that.” The wizard tried his best to reassure her but he had to get this sketch done before any of that.

Once he finished and let her know she could take a look, “What do you think?” She had his full attention now and he caught a glimpse of her amber eyes and reminiscence came over him. He leaned in a bit closer to take in her features.  The witch moved closer to him, like she was weighing the same thing he was. The minute his eyes caught hers in full view, he knew that they had indeed went to school together.  He grinned and just before he was about to speak she tumbled onto his lap and his eyes widened. Uhhhhh…Julian’s face broke into a full blown smile with a hard laugh and his hands instinctively held onto her to made sure she didn't fall but he was still chuckling, unable to hide his amusement.

The former Slytherin nodded as she said his name, grinning all the while as they put the pieces together, what a turn of events this was turning out to be. Odd, true enough, but fun, nevertheless. The next thing that came out of her mouth had Julian clear his throat, his smile fell a centimeter at the mentioning of Amara’s name but it was nothing too noticeable.  It was implausible that he was remembered that way to her. Amara was a part of his life from long ago, not allowing himself to be honest to the fact that he had never really gotten over her. He had been looking down at Seva still half spilling onto his lap, grinning, “Yes. It’s me.”

He helped her back in her seat before starting, “Un-fucking-believable. Seva Montressor…wow.” He shook his head in cheerful disbelief, crossing one arm under his armpit and covering the bottom half of his face with his free hand. It was a small world, wasn’t it? Julian relaxed back in his chair once everything had calmed down. She was comical to watch and he laughed inside his own head noting so. They had been sitting in silence for a while, at a loss for words…Julian noted her blush and felt compelled to say something,  ”Well……seems we got reacquainted there, didn’t we?” He let his gaze travel from her face to his lap and back up again. The ex Slytherin smirked then laughed a bit at the comedy of the situation also to let her know it was alright and to hopefully squash the awkwardness that followed that little incident, not thinking it would most likely be the opposite for her. The laughter subdued but his smile never left, “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you…but I knew by the eyes…" He felt the need to explain why he had been looking at her so intently, "But look at you…all…grown up…and a healer, no less.” She looked almost the same but more womanly somehow perhaps with the heals and the way she was dressed, “You look good.” He nodded approvingly, hoping that he wasn’t being too forward. Julian didn’t want to drop his professionalism too much.

What a small world, indeed. So many questions were flowing across her mind that she could't even catch all of them before they disappeared in her stream of consciousness. During their exchange, she'd watched his face intently and saw the barely imperceptible change in his expression, wondering what had caused his face to fall so. Fleetingly, she thought back to them gazing in each others eyes and how he'd reached out to prevent her from falling. So he's a gentleman, too. Seva smirked, if only because this time a chance meeting had turned out more in her favor that she could have expected. Thank you Merlin....reacquainted indeed. She blushed scarlet again at the mention of her eyes and before she could stop herself she batted her eyelashes all too flirtatiously.

"You look completely different, I wouldn't have known you if you ran into my on the streets...but once you said your name and asked me about myself it kind of clicked."

Seva laughed again, feeding off of his amusement and relished in how comfortable she suddenly felt around him. So, this wasn't a meeting with a stranger; a situation she was wary of nowadays, but a reunion with an old school mate. What a chance meeting and it couldn't have happened at a better time. Her body language and facial expression matched his and she couldn't keep the smile off her face. While she couldn't say she'd ever spoken to him more than a few times - since he'd been two years ahead of her - she had always thought he was handsome even if he had been a Slytherin. Then again, houses had never had much bearing on whether Seva liked a person.

Suddenly, her face fell and she remembered what he'd been saying before she'd ended up in his lap. Um, yes honestly... he'd said in response to her query as to whether the whole process was going to hurt. The corner of her mouth turned down into an awkward half smile, half frown and she looked at him a little forlornly. Was she making  a bad decision? Ultimately, she knew she wasn't but the fact that it was going to hurt did serve to dissuade her a little. She trusted him, however.

"Well, I have a pretty high pain tolerance," she said, not fibbing entirely. "I used to be a beater for Gryffindor so I'm used to a broken bone or pulled muscle here or there. No biggie."

Seva zeroed in on his last comment and the forlorn look was gone from her face. She looked good? Seva felt herself blushing for the umpteenth time and grinned at him, covering her mouth with his hand so he wouldn't see how wide and perhaps a little out of coyness. Her eyes crinkled with amusement over her hand and when she knew she wasn't grinning like a dolt she reached back and raised her arms in a stretch behind her back. She was trying to be as nonchalant as possible and delay her eventual response.

"Pssssh, I haven't changed one bit. Well, I mean, I took out my nose ring but that's honestly about it. Haven't grown a centimeter since school and my hair's the same. Creature of habit I guess." She paused and looked him up and down, grinning all the while. "You, you look fantastic. I love the new look, very...wild"

“All the tattoos.” He rolled his eyes while grinning and waving a dismissive hand in the air as Seva labeled him unrecognizable. It was true, though. The baby faced emo haired Julian in Hogwarts had grown into a mature man at his 23 years of age.  A tattoo covered, devil-may-care, rockabilly looking man but his personality stood the unchanged for the most part. The nice guy, perhaps with a little more knowledge of life now and much more guarded with his emotions than he was at 16.  Seva batted her eyelashes at him and Julian let out a short laugh thinking she acted that way on purpose, “You’re funnier than I remember.”

The ex Slytherin hadn’t spent much time around Seva since he was in fact older than her and in a notorious rival house at that, but he had a few brief encounters with the witch that sat before him. Status or blood didn’t play a big role in Julian’s life during his later years in Hogwarts. The wizard actually grew a bit resentful towards his own house because of their views, and not to mention the bit with Amara during this time, just before he dropped out. High pain tolerance, Julian had heard this a lot in his time but between men and women, women did have the upper hand when it came to resilience from his experiences, “You’ll do fine then. It’s not as bad as a broken bone. It just gets a little…irritating.”

Julian picked up the drawing from the desk beside him and got up from his seat standing next to her as she talked. “Change or no change, you’ve grown up…Still shorter than short, no doubt, but definitely more grown.” He smirked playfully. Julian thought briefly of mentioning piercings to her since they were offered at the shop but Julian hadn’t learned that type of procedure yet. Best to keep his mouth closed, he thought. His mind wandered back to reality as she looked him up and down, he raised a curious eyebrow,  laughing as she finished, “Bad ass, really? Well…thank you. That’s the look I was going for.” He battled his eyelashes, mocking her from earlier in their conversation. He smiled slightly to show that he was only teasing.

“Come on over here with me, Seva.” He gestured with his head as he walked over the tattoo chair in the corner of the room. He noted how nice it was to have all his things ready and in one place. He didn’t have to pull anything out of a book bag or briefcase; it was all ready to go in his own little corner. The convenience and time saving was something to be grateful of and Julian gave a silent thank you for this.

“Alright, so….” He rubbed his paddle hands together readily and looked down at her, “Obviously when I do your tattoo I’m not going to be able to see your face but I would like us to be able to communicate clearly at all times.” He put a finger up as if to prepare her for the next thing he was about to address, “There’s also partial nudity needed for this procedure, you’ll have to remove your blouse and…undergarments for the area we will be applying the tattoo- as I’m sure you already know. You can cover your bits, if you will, with this,” He smiled and smoothly tossed a piece of thick cloth at her, “You put your arms through and the material should cover your chest and neck. It stays open in the back,” He showed her a picture with directions so she would understand. “You can change wherever you’d like. If you want me to leave-let me know but there is also a bathroom just there,” He pointed to the wherever the bathroom was, "Your comfort is of the utmost importance...so if there is anything I can do to help, just say the word."

“When you’re finished, I’ll apply the stencil, have you check it in the mirror to make sure everything looks good, and then we’ll get started. Oh and I’ll point out the problem areas before then too, so you know ahead of time.” When he finished he placed a large hand on her shoulder consolingly, “Sound good, love? Do you have any questions?”

All the tattoos…. Seva nodded enthusiastically, wondering why he rolled his eyes at that. They were like his trademarks and made him unique; moreover they did make him look pretty bad ass. Seva was sitting there, looking him over and trying to count the ones that were visible. She had to stop several times and start over again as he moved about the shop but she was determined to at least get to twelve or fifteen before she stopped counting. One…two...three. No! One…. Her eyes were zeroing in on them one by one, taking in their details and wondering what their meaning was. Then, she puzzled over why someone would get a tattoo if it didn’t mean a great deal to them. Perhaps wizards wouldn’t have the same problem as muggles but it was still a bit of a pain to get off either way. To Seva, hers was hidden yet visible and let whoever saw it know who and what she was. Seva was snapped back to reality by Julian’s comment and she blushed yet again.

“Thanks…I try. Not too hard, though.” Seva bit back a laugh, not wanting to appear to be too much of a clown and stood when he stood. “I hope so”, she said with a bit of apprehension in her voice. “Well, a broken bone is something skelegrow can fix, this is skin that’s a bit different. There’s a reason burns are so painful…”

Seva trailed off then because when they were both standing he towered over her by about a foot and two inches and she found herself craning her neck to see him properly. She smirked equally playfully at him and reached out a hand to gently boff him in the stomach. Mercifully, her ears were the only part of her that got red that time and they were covered by her tangle of hair. She had to hit him again, a little less gently this time when her batted his eyelashes at her. “It was a reflex!” She chirped, her voice rising in pitch from embarrassment. In a huff, she followed him dutifully and nodded as he pointed out the chair. Her eye flit from the drawing to the chair and she nodded her understanding again. Her head stopped mid nod however, her chin almost down to her chest and she froze there momentarily. Partial nudity…well of course that would be necessary…

Seva didn’t blush at this, instead she fought the urge to rip off her lacy camisole right then and there but realized that wouldn’t be lady like. Still listening to him, Seva took the piece of cloth from him and slid into the open bathroom. Flicking the light on but not bothering to close the door, she slipped her shirt off over her head. Seva glanced at the drawing for a moment before slipping her arms through the holes and carrying the directions and her shirt out of the bathroom. The material was thick and the cape too big for her, but she was fully covered nonetheless. Seva tossed her shirt to hang on the chair with her cardigan and then turned back to him. She perched on the edge of the tattoo chair and looked up at him, swinging her legs slowly.

“Shall we, then?” She said with a silly grin and mock saluted him, the material of the reverse cape slipping down her arms. The opening in the back became wider and she had to grab at the front to keep it from slipping down further and revealing her meager chest. That would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it? Seva blushed and readjusted herself, keeping her left hand behind her back to hold the two sides of the cloth together. That’s all she needed was to flash him and that would make the whole experience awkward, which was something she didn’t want. Seva raised her eyes to his and shrugged slightly, the material sliding down a little bit again. “I guess they want to see you,”she offered with a sly grin,“ I won’t let them, though, don’t worry.”

Seva looked up at the drawing in his hands and looked around for the mirror then, curious as to how this was all going to work. She went back over his instructions in her mind and nodded briefly as she understood them. She took a look at the chair then and figured out how she was s supposed to lay. So, adjusting herself, she lay down on her stomach and got comfortable. She looked coyly over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow up at him, gesturing at her small, curved back. It was small and muscular, her shoulder blades sticking out only slightly as she was skinny but not emaciated. They looked like delicate wings in themselves and thinking this, Seva wished she had taken one last look at her back before deciding to do this.

“Ready when you are, boss.” Seva said, grinning again. “My comfort, nay life are in your hands.”

Julian looked down at her coolly as she tried to decipher the pain she would be dealing with shortly, “True enough. Tattoos can be a bit like burning in a sense, I suppose. Depends, but it won’t be anything you can’t handle, honestly,” Julian shrugged; he wasn’t quite sure if the witch was looking for an answer or just speaking her mind but he decided to reply anyway. Julian laughed at Seva’s reaction to his short comment as she hit him playfully. He just nodded his head and egged her on, “Suuuure. Just a reflex, I’m sure,” His sarcasm would be comically notable to anyone in the room as he patted the top of her head twice. This was all in light humor of course. She followed Julian over to the chair along with the instructions he had gave to her.

Once she came back from changing, Julian nodded for her to have a seat. Shall we then…and  just as he was about to gesture for her to turn around, her cloth fell a tad, nearly giving him a sneak peek at her goods. Julian averted his gaze quickly but he couldn’t hide the grin on his face. The wizard looked back to make sure she was situated and their eyes met as she shrugged, making the material slip down a fraction once more. Julian looked down again trying not to laugh before he raised his gaze hesitantly as she spoke. Julian let out a short laugh and shook his head, grinning when he saw her face, “Tell your girls…just not during shop hours, yeah?” He smiled boyishly, his eyes wrinkling around the corners, as he let out another lighthearted laugh, “Turn around for me, will you? …Before we have some type of situation on our hands.”

She turned and Julian stood up, making sure to inform her with every next step he took. The former Slytherin securely snapped his gloves on and gently moved any material lying on her back out of his way. Seva threw Julian a look over her shoulder just then and the wizard returned the raised eyebrow but instead his facial expression was a combination of curiosity and amusement. Julian wasn’t completely thick, he was pretty certain that the former schoolmate was flirting with him in a not so oblivious way but Julian was a bit guarded. It took a while for him to open up even with something as simple as careless flirting the girl was throwing at him. She was familiar enough but he still felt as though she was somewhat of a stranger. Not to mention he was at work and trying to be studious…he took note to how often he had to remind himself of this fact when there were half naked women in his chair.

“Ha, Boss? That's charming.” After using a cleaner to wash her back he then shaved the area with a new razor.  He was careful as he moved around, making her small back into his own personal blank canvas. “Your life…well then…no pressure,” He replied sarcastically to her last comment, smirking calmly as he did so. The first few steps went swiftly, his hands where on autopilot; the wizard could practically do this in his sleep. The tattooed man made a few mental notes, taking her bone structure into consideration, as he mapped out exactly where he would put the stencil in his mind. He rubbed an ointment on her that allowed the tattoo transfer to stick to her skin, “I’m going to apply it between here and here.” He used his hands to measure on her back, hoping she could feel where he was talking about. If he placed it like the image he had in his brain, whenever she would stretch or move her shoulder blades, the tattoo wings would give the illusion that it was moving. He applied the stencil and waited a few minutes for it to dry.

He set up his ink cups and made sure his machine was tuned properly, the distinct buzzing sounded around the room for a few seconds on and off then stopped, “Alright so…” He rolled his seat closer to where she was laying, “From my experience, you’ll most likely feel the most discomfort within the areas of your spine, shoulder blades, and ribs.” He pointed to each different spot as he named them off, “But it will all be worth it, I assure you. You'll look bad ass.” He smiled, purposefully using the words she used for him earlier, before backing up a little to make room for her to get up, he continued, “Why don’t you go check the stencil out in the mirror and tell me if you think the placement is right…then we’ll get started.”

After Seva checked, Julian applied more ointment over the stencil and quickly assembled the remaining steps to beginning the process. He held his machine in one hand and his napkins for wiping in the other as he stretched his neck and shoulders one last time, “Okay, Seva, try to be a still as you can be and stay calm…Here we go…” There was no sign of decline and the buzzing started, he began from the top, working his way to the bottom, streching, wiping, streching wiping. “So…it's obvious that your profession means a lot to you by this piece...so tell me about your school, what made you get into that line of work?” Every client was different, some liked conversation, others liked silence, and he had to test her out to see what kind of person she would be whilst in the moment so he could go from there.

“I think you give me more credit than I deserve, I actually think that once you start I’ll be crying like a baby – we’ll see, though. And it was a reflex, I had –errr  - dust in my eyes. You need to clean in here, sir.”

Seva teased, giggling away on her stomach with her arms crossed underneath the tattoo chair. His sarcasm was definitely noticeable and it didn’t faze her one bit, in fact she appreciated that he felt he could be as open with her as to tease her like that and not think he was being a jerk. He grinned when he patted her on the head and wished he had ruffled her hair, too since that would have been cute. She chortled when he averted his gaze from her chest nearly being exposed and thought it was sweet that he’d be so embarrassed if her breasts were to have made an appearance. Granted, she had been very forward in her comment about them wanting to come out and see him and he was glad that he hadn’t made any kind of criticism about that; his comment had been teasing in nature.

“Hey, why so serious?” Seva asked, pondering over his seemingly bemused expression. “Do you come to work and are Mr. Business-As-Usual?”

Seva jerked slightly when he began shaving her back, making sure she didn’t do so when the razor was against her skin. The hairs on her back were miniscule, but she understood why they had to be removed. She buried her head in the opening in the chair, trying not to laugh because the shaving tickled quite a bit. The ointment that followed was soothing and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands massaging it into her back. Seva nodded when he pointed out where her new tattoo would go, judging where exactly it would be placed and wondering what it would look like on the canvas of her back. She tried to not move an inch as he applied the stencil, not wanting anything to happen to its delicate form. She was beginning to get very excited and couldn’t wait to see what it would look like.

“Well, you are in charge. Wherever you want to put it, I have faith in your judgment. Just, don’t make it crooked,” she teased. “Nah, I believe in you.”

Seva grinned wickedly when he told her she’d look bad ass and couldn’t help but wink at no one in particular considering she still had her back to him. She slid off the chair and got up to check in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. She moved her shoulders and saw that the movements made it look as if the wings were flapping on her shoulders. Sick, she thought, moving her shoulders again just to make her look like she was flying once again. Then, she got back into the chair and rolled over, her back to him once more. She looked around at him and nodded to him letting him know that she was ready. When he began she had to momentarily bite down on her tongue out of the sheer surprise at how it felt. He was starting right between her shoulder blades which was luckily just muscle. When he went over one of her scapulas, though, she had to wince several times before she got used to the feeling.

“Yow, you weren’t kidding. Ooof. I’m okay, I’m okay.” Seva paused for a minute then considered his question. “I’ve always wanted to help people, you know? It has always been an instinct for me, ever since I was a little girl. What about you, have you always been the artsy type? I don’t remember from school.”

"I'm telling you, it's not that bad. And...nice try but I cleaned before you came." Julian laughed lightly at her next question, “Well yes…it is my job so…seriousness is required at times,” He continued prepping her, unable to wipe the smile from his face, “You wouldn’t want to walk out of here with a crooked tattoo, would you? I care about your experience, Seva.” She couldn’t see him smile but he was sure she would know he was teasing in return. He shook his head toward the silliness of her comments as finished placing the stencil, “You’re faith in me will make this the greatest tattoo piece anyone has ever seen.”

"You're in good hands, love." He winked to express his joking manner as Seva got up to check herself in the mirror. She was comical and in turn made Julian feel that much more comfortable around her. It was refreshing. He watched her as gave herself a look in the mirror before giving Julian a nod of approval; he returned a nod smiling towards her consent. The wizard gathered his things and started on her back, biting his lip in order not to chuckle. She made the weirdest noises and she was corky, this amused him greatly, “Yeah, it’s a little rough, I know but you are doing really well.”

The artist listened to her, “Yes, definitely. I can appreciate what you do…so you were always taking care of other people, huh?” He confirmed when she was finished. “Me? Yeah, I scribbled you can say. I never really took my art that seriously though. I mostly did it when I was in class and didn’t like the subject, you know?” He continued with the outline, “I didn’t really recognize my ‘talents’ until after school though, to be honest.” The former snake wiped, stretched, and continued on her skin. He needed something really good to keep her mind off of the process since he was getting closer to more vulnerable spots, “So, are you married with 5 children yet? Any blokes worth mentioning?” He could really see her as the type to get married anytime soon but he was hoping for an opening to a long conversation.

“And what if I did want a crooked tattoo? I’d say it would give it more character! And I have complete trust in you – I will forever walk around with backless shirts in all weather, just to show off your remarkable art work.”

Seva giggled at that, her shoulders shaking so much that she was glad that he wasn’t tattooing her, otherwise she would end up with a crooked tattoo after all. She covered her face in her hands and shook her head at her own ridiculousness, not able to see his face she didn’t know that he was wearing an equally wide smile and for the same reason. She had noticed his sly wink when she was heading back to the chair and the blush hadn’t faded from her cheeks yet. She was happy once again that he couldn’t see her face from his angle. He was so cute and they were getting on so well so that only added to how comfortable and free she felt. Feeling free meant silliness and laughing with reckless abandon, both of which she was engaging in at the moment. She was always very silly, even after becoming a little jaded of late, her free spirited nature couldn’t be stamped out.

“I’m trying…” She took a few cleansing breaths, trying to make the exhalation quiet but still soothing enough. “I’m a trooper, I am a trooper.” She told herself, trying not to laugh at herself. “I’ve always taken care of people, yeah…I would bring soup to sick neighbors, cutesy things like that…when I got a little older I looked at kids books about the body and then graduated to more complicated texts and books about magical medicine. But yes, I’ve always taken care of people, especially my adoptive mother, Eileen.” She quirked an eyebrow then and smiled, listening as he told her about his art. “I’m glad you found what you love to do, that’s really awesome. It took me about a year to figure out that I really wanted to be a healer – even though it was a natural instinct for me.”

Seva rolled her neck from side to side, hoping that changing position ever so slightly might be enough of a distraction to keep her mind off of the needling pain in her back. She could feel him starting to move off to the right side, coming closer and closer to her right shoulder blade which she knew would hurt a lot more than it did then. Seva kept breathing, letting her eyes flutter closed while the pen slid over her skin. She was starting to relax more and it hurt a little less as a result, but she couldn’t completely get over the discomfort. Oh well, I knew what I was signing up for. She heaved a quiet sigh and turned her neck as far as she could reach it without lifting her right shoulder and causing him to fudge the design.

“I’m sorry, did you just ask if I had five little ones?” Seva snorted and guffawed at the same time, the noise strange and guttural. Then she broke into peals of laughter, her shoulders shaking hard. “No! Of, bloody, course not. I don’t want kids yet! I haven’t found the right man to be a good da yet…nah.” She shook her head. “And no, no laddy yet either. He’ll come around soon enough, I’m sure…again, I’m in no rush! What about you, any lassies that you’d like to mention? Don’t be shy, I won’t get jealous.” She winked then. “Or at least, I’ll try not to.”