Angelo, Amanda and Clarice, backdated

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Angelo goes to get his new tattoo. The girls tag along.



As soon as he could, Angelo headed for Clarice's room to get a lift into town and the tattoo place, as they'd discussed. Arriving, he knocked loudly.

"Open!" she called, half trapped behind a skien of yarn. "What's up?"

Angelo grinned wickedly as he walked into the room. "You up for a trip to the tattoo place?"

"Absolutely!" she gathered up the yarn, stuffing it into her stolen beaker. "Sorry, Beakie, your sweater will have to wait," she told the beaker sadly as she searched for her wallet.

Angelo blinked. "You're makin' a sweater... for the beaker?"

"Sure!" Clarice bounced on her bed, listening for her wallet. No luck.Maybe her laundry basket? "I'm
teaching myself to knit."

Angelo grinned. "Fair enough. Does the beaker really need a sweater, though?"

"Nah," Clarice finally found her wallet in the pocket of her dirty pants, "but it's good practice. If I
can make it for a beaker, I can pretty much do anything."

Angelo nodded, seeing the logic. "Good point."

"Ready!" she said, depositing the wallet in her bag. "Anywhere in particular or is the place we went
the other day okay?"

"There's fine", he answered. "Seemed clean enough."

"Woot! Let's get Amanda and get going, then!" Clarice was already excited, unsure though of whether she'd get another tattoo or not. She had the money, but was trying to save some for Christmas.

Angelo grinned at her enthusiasm. "Right behind you."

Loud punk music was coming from Amanda's room as they approached, much to the dismay of her suite mates. Well, except for Monet who was in one of her fugue states and was standing motionless in the kitchenette, hand frozen out-stretched in the action of reaching for a mug. At Angelo's call, the music abruptly snapped off and Amanda half-walked, half-hopped out, in the process of pulling on her other boot and her leather jacket dangling by the one sleeve she'd shoved her arm into. "Be with you in a tick," she said, falling backwards onto the couch so she could finish getting dressed. The boot slid on, finally, and she bent to hurriedly tie the lace - a tricky job, considering the laces of her boots had been broken and tied together so often they were a mass of knots.

Angelo chuckled - it was an amusing sight. "You want to get some new laces while we're out?" he asked lightly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You know, I don't even notice it any more? Had 'em for so long..." Amanda gave her boot an affectionate pat as she finished tying her lace into a rough bow, and stood, shoving her other arm into the jacket. "Right, ready t' go. An' if yer up for food after, 's my treat." She grinned. "This ain't common knowledge, but Dom took us on a job with her an' we even got paid for it. So 'm feelin' all generous."

Angelo grinned back. "Well, how could we say no to that? Shall we go, then?"

"Ohh! Score!" Clarice crowed, noticing Amanda's jacket. "Oh right. Weather!" with that comment she turned around and took off down the hall running back to her room to get a jacket. She didn't go outside that often.

"No catchin' cold, Pixie - the potion I have for that's bloody horrible," Amanda called after her, laughing. She grinned at Angelo. "Forget her own head, that one would." Then, as if that reminded her, she slapped herself lightly on the forehead. "An' that reminds me - got yer present from Istanbul. One second." With that she dashed back into her room, and there was a noise of rummaging and drawers slamming, before she returned with a silver medallion on a chain. "Got this from this tiny little hole in the wall place near the market. Owner was a shaman type, an' once he realised I knew what I was talkin' about, we had a great old natter. 'S a protection charm, a bit like the ones I gave Nate an' Dom. It'll let you know when yer in harm's way, as long as you keep it on you."

Clarice ran back, a long black jacket with rainbowsleeves flying out behind her and her hello-kitty fleece hat on her head. "Now I'm ready. No grody potions for me!"

Angelo grinned, taking the medallion, and put it around his neck immediately. "Hey, thanks! Hope it won't come in too useful, but it'll be good to have around anyway."

"Livin' here? You never know," Amanda said with a wry face. "All right, then Pixie, lets get this show on the road, eh?"

Clarice blinked, opening a large purple portal, "It's for the alleyway next to the tattoo parlor," she told them, as they walked through it before following. Holding the portals for several people was getting easier, but she didn't trust herself with big groups yet.

Angelo grinned. "Good stuff. We goin' straight there, or did you two wanna do anythin' else first?"

"Boot laces?" Amanda joked as she stepped through Clarice's portal and into the alley. She turned to watch as Angelo and Clarice joined her, blinking away the brief dizziness. "Tho' some would say new boots altogether might be a good idea," she went on, looking down at the extremely worn and scuffed Docs. The thought of replacing them was unimaginable, like replacing your best friend.

Angelo shrugged. "Long as they're holdin' together an' they don't let water in, I don't see why you should throw 'em away. They're still doin' what they were made for, right?"

"Um, mostly?" Amanda shrugged. "They ain't exactly waterproof any more. I'll think 'bout it while yer on the table - a tat that big's gunna take a little while."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah, I figured. Might even have to come back another time - hope not, though. An' we can go get somethin' to eat after."

"If you an' yer high pain tolerence are up for it," teased Amanda. She shivered a little in the fall chill and hunched her jacket around her tighter. "Shall we, then? 'M freezin' me tits off here."

He nodded, grinning. "Yeah, let's go."

"Onwards and upwards!" Clarice declared shivering slightly, she should have added tights to her ensemble, "And lots of hot chocolate later."

"You want hot chocolate, pixie? Then we get hot chocolate."

The three made their way to the tattoo parlour, where they had to go through the usual hassle with ID before the guy behind the counter would even let them in. He raised his eyebrow at Angelo as he handed over the piece of paper with the design he wanted sketched on it.

"That's a lot of work, kid, and it's going to be painful. You sure about this?"

Amanda, in the meantime, was considering the piercings, still catching up on the ones that had been removed in Asgard. Eyebrow this time, she decided, the right one - she'd keep it down to just the one this time, though, since there was no using magic to get rid of the pain this time. She glanced across at Clarice, who was looking at the various tattoo designs on the wall and grinned. "Not considerin' another one, are you Pixie?" she asked. "Yer runnin' out of face space."

Angelo nodded with a wry grin. "Absolutely. Been thinkin' about this one for a long time."

"It's your back, kid," the guy said with a shrug. "Off with your shirt and lie down on the table. Make yourself comfortable - this could take a while."

Angelo suddenly found himself wondering what the girls were going to do during the hours this would probably end up taking. He turned to look at them. "You two stayin' here? You don't have to..."

"Um..." Clarice bit her lip. Another slash would be cool, but she just got one. "Amanda? Boots?"

Amanda bit her lip. She _loved_ her boots. They were like her second skin. "Music?" she suggested instead. "Beth showed me this brilliant music store not far. We can go there an' still be back in time for the mockin'."

"Oooh, yeah!" while normally easily distracted, Clarice really didn't care one way or the other, "There's a new Green Day album out!"

"Sounds like a plan t' me." Amanda grinned at Angelo as he followed the man into the 'operating room',
unbuttoning his shirt. "You an' yer pain tolerance have fun, mate," she said.