Shop 'Til You Drop

Tzesira tighten her lips when the lich made its appearance. She'd met Yanoch the day before, and she did want the best.... but it was going to be harder to sit still for so long with those cold bony hands on her. The undead were just.... wrong. She wasn't stupid enough to say anything though, and it wold probably make a better story when all was said and done. And, she'd have the pain to distract her - she was looking forward to it now, and bounced a little on the balls of her feet in excitement."

"Yeah, we're ready. You saw the designs I left, right? Kallisha still needs to pick somethin' out."

The lich approached them and gestured to a nearby padded table.

"Of coursssse. The sssstencils are all ready. Please, make youssself comfortable."

The pretty Shadar Kai artist nodded.

"I'll take care of... Kallsta was it?"

Kallista smiled and nodded.

"I'm Tenkora. Nice to meet you. What kind of designs were you interested in?"

Kallista thought for a moment, her eyes scanning the designs on the walls of the shop. Suddenly her yellow eyes opened wide and she pointed.

"Oooooooh, something like that one!" she said, eying a jagged, abstract picture of a dragon, "That would look really cool right above my tail."

"Great. I'm probably just gonna bliss out on you, hope that's okay." She hopped up on the table and laid down on her back. "Just put me where ya need me."

She glanced over and repressed a sigh as Kalista pointed excitedly at one of the generic wall designs. Maybe she should have explained things a little better? But Tenkora was smiling at her already, and pulling out another binder from behind the desk, and she figured the Tiefling was in capable hands. "Kali, I'm gonna take a lot longer to do that you, you don't need to stay if you get too fuckin' bored when you're done. Prolly somehere 'round here can fix your hair too."

"I'd wondered if there was some new style outside the city I hadn't heard," Tenkora smiled wryly, glancing between the two bald women and running a hand through his own long locks. "There are definitely some places around. But for now..." He pushed the binder towards Kallista, his fingers lingering on its cover. "I've got some other designs you might like to look at, if its dragons you're after. These ones are my own creations."

Kallista took the binder and started flipping through it while Tenkora watched over her shoulder. She "Hmmmmed and "Oooohed" a few times as Tenkora pointed out a few things that she might like.

Meanwhile, The lich set to work prepping his needles and inks and then took down a box from a shelf and opened it, pulling out an old-worn out pair of gloves.

"Ssssssome people are unnerved by my touch." he explained as he slipped the gloves on. They immediately shrank to fit his skeletal hands, and when he took Tzesira's arm to position her his touch felt as warm as any living creature's. He quickly and expertly set about applying the stencils to her skin.

Meanwhile, Kallista had finally found a design that she liked and Tenkora smiled.

"Allright, then. Go ahead and lay down and I'll get set up."

Kallista lay on her stomach on the table and looked over at Tzesira.

"It's ok, T" she said, "I'll stick around when mine's done. I kinda want to watch. Besides, the hair doesn't really mean anything if it's not really mine. Magicking it back seems like cheating."

She relaxed, not realizing she'd been tense, when the lich touched her with gloved hands. That was going to be easier, though she had been a little curious whether she could manage.

"Well, whatever, its your hair. you just seemed pretty pissed about it." She didn't shrug, as Yanoch had her am stretched out so that he could check the alignment on long strip that would run from her finger tips and around the curve of her shoulder to end in a small set of wings, and make sure they were symmetrical. Tzesira didn't understand the attachment, but her friend was more vain.

The lich hissed in satisfaction, pressing a bony finger into the muscle of her shoulder. "At which end would you prefer I sssshould ssstart?"

The monk hesitated, thinking. The shoulders would be the easiest, so clearly she should start at the other end. But she didn't want to scare her friend either. "uhh... may as well start with one hand and work out to the other. But wait 'til Kali's set up, or she might piss off." She grinned over at her friend excitedly. "Yours'll be okay, but this is gonna fuckin' *hurt!"

Kallista grew ever so slightly paler at Tzesira's words. Tenkora began applying the design tracing to her skin and she jumped slightly.

"It's ok, sweety." he said with a laugh, "I'm just drawing the outline on. I'll tell you when we get to the stabby part."

Kallista laughed nervously, but Tenkora's easy smile calmed her a bit and she tried to relax.

"Avandra help me..." she said with a sigh, "You'd think after some of the things we've fought a few needle pricks wouldn't be a big deal."

Tenkora just laughed as he continued drawing.

"Honey, you'd be amazed. We had a minotaur barbarian in here a few weeks ago who bawled like a baby when we pierced his nose. Don't worry about it. You'll do fine." he said, patting her arm reassuringly.

Yanoch laughed a dry, hollow cackle.

"I had to ussssse a ssssssilence ssssspell jussst to keep him from upsssssetting the other patronssssss."

He picked up a thin stick with a small, sharp needle imbedded in the tip and looked down at Tzesira.

"Ready to begin?" he asked.

"Oh what the hells," she said, closing her eyes and stretching out her arm. "Fucking bring it."

her black eyes flickered open the moment he started working on the edge of her middle finger - it was a lot more painful than her neck, to be sure, but she stilled herself from flinching, taking slow deep breaths to keep herself from tensing and remembering her training. Pain, she thought as the sensation intensified, beating itself against the wall of her will, was at least a wave you could ride. She let it build, looking over to where Tenkora was finalizing his preparations to start Kallista's design, black eyes glossy.

"Everything's going to be fucking fiiiiiiiine," she drawled out in an attempt to be reassuring. Yanoch gave another hissing laugh, patting her shoulder in support, or approval. The look Tenkora gave her was harder to judge, but she let her eyes fluttered closed again in any case, a smile dancing at the edges of her lips.

"Alright..." Tenkora said, only slightly unnerved by Yanoch's customer. He put down the stencil and picked up his own needle.

"You ready?"

Kallista took a deep breath and looked over at the blissful smile on Tzesira's face. At least she seemed to be enjoying herself. She let the breath out and nodded her assent.

Tenkora lightly tapped the needle against her skin a few times and Kally inhaled sharply, closing her eyes in a way that scrunched her face up adorably. Tenkora chuckled.

"How was that?" he asked.

"That... that wasn't so bad." she said, opening one eye cautiously, "Is it done?"

Tenkora laughed and patted her arm.

"Not by a longshot, sweety. You've got about an hour of that to go."

Kallista groaned and dropped her head back onto the table.

"Alright" she said, "Let's do it then."

She squeaked once when Tenkora began tapping the needle against her skin again, but it only hurt for a few minutes. Soon her muscles relaxed and the steady rhythm of Tenkora's needle soothed her. It almost felt... good.

She looked briefly at Tzesira, smiling lazily in her trance, before closing her eyes and letting the sensations take over. A few moments later, she was smiling as well.