Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon [Bobby]

[vasilia abigail fortescue]

@bobby
June 30, 2025

One of Vasilia's first tattoo's was a dragon on her right leg. She'd gotten it on her eighteenth birthday. Since then, she'd obviously added many more to the collection. But your first was always special. Unfortunately, the charm on the dragon tattoo had started to dull a bit. That tattoo's movements along her leg had gotten a little sluggish, and the last week it had been on repeat every few seconds, like a broken record. So, of course she's made a touch up appointment at the local tattoo shop. The owner had done several for her in the past, so she most definitely trusted him to do a touch up job. He hadn't been the one to do the tattoo in the first place, though. Normally it was best to go to the original artist, but the original artist had retired a year ago. 

At the appointed time, Vasilia left the Ice cream parlour, walked down the street, and stepped into the tattoo shop. The receptionist was at the front desk, no surprise. A shop like this required someone to man the front since all the artists were busy. The receptionist greeted her and asked if she was in for an appointment. "Hi! Yes. I have a touch up scheduled with Bobby." The receptionist nodded and stepped away to go let the owner know his next client had arrived. While she waited, Vas started to eye the art on the wall. She was always looking for new tattoo ideas...

[Deleted]

Today one of Bobby's regulars was coming in for a touch up. He hadn't done her original piece but that didn't matter too much. He knew how to do touch ups, although mostly because of his first mentor, who had allowed him to do touch ups on several of his own pieces to ensure nothing would go wrong with paying customers. It had been a muggle joint but that didn't matter in terms of the art. The only problem was that these tattoos could move. Then again, that also was the part where they most regularly needed touch ups. The most amusing one he'd ever had in those terms was a man complaining that his slugs had gone sluggish in their movement. Realising how that sounded he'd clarified quickly that it was 'more than usual'. Bobby had managed to keep a straight face at that, something he was rather proud of and had gone on to correct the sluggishly sluggy slugs into regularly sluggish slugs.

As the receptionist informed him she'd arrived, Bobby put down his pencils and the piece he'd been working on and walked over to the front to greet Vasilia. He grinned at her broadly as he walked up to her. "Welcome back again Vasilia. Which one are we working on today?" He asked politely, knowing she had quite a lot of pieces. He'd already gotten the enchanted inks and his tattoo gun ready but he'd need a good look in order to figure out where it was that the piece had started to fade. If it was in the enchantment a few lines often enough did the trick but if it was in the tattoo it could be a little more work. Not that he minded either way. He'd made a broad appointment, just in case it would take longer. He didn't like being rushed in his work as that rarely gave good results.

vasilia abigail fortescue

[vasilia abigail fortescue]

@bobby
June 30, 2025

Vasilia had been told a number of time that her tattoo artist looked rather intimidating, but Vas didn't see it. Perhaps it was because of working in a shop all her life. She was used to being around a huge diversity of people. She'd never really thought anything of it. Intimidating, not intimidating. Who they were on the inside was what mattered. Plus, he was also an amazing artist. If you trusted someone to basically stab you over and over again (with tiny needles, of course), they had to be a pretty great person. So, when Bobby stepped out and grinned she grinned right back. "Hey! How's your day going? Right, it's the dragon on my right calf." She's specifically worn shorts, so that the culprit was visible, and they wouldn't have to worry about her clothing while he worked. With the dragon clearly visible, it's glitch was easy to spot. It'd move, as if to breath fire or change positions, then it wold just freeze and reset. It wasn't completing it's charmed motions.

"I haven't had it touched up before, so no worries about anyone messing with the enchantment. Whatever is there is the base." Vas knew he would have figured that out himself once he started to work, but it was always better to just tell them up front. Just like how you should always tell your hairdresser about your hair history before doing something drastic, you should always tell your magical tattoo artist of the charm history in case a previous touch up had changed some of the base.

[Deleted]

It was always good to see some returning costumers and he always considered it quite the honour if somebody trusted him to touch up the work of another artist. It was not something he took lightly as art was personal enough. Tattoos had that even more so than regular art due to them being personal for both the person that got it and the artist that created it. From what he'd heard from Vas the original artist was no longer in business so it made sense to ask somebody else to do the touch up. He was glad to see her, as she was a kind person, to him at the very least. Too many people found him a bit intimidating but she was clever enough to see that he wasn't somebody to be feared just because he looked a little bit intimidating. Covered in tattoos, tall and with a beard, it made sense some people might worry. Still, they had nothing to worry about as Bobby was a huge pacifist, something his appearance didn't exactly suggest.

"My day is going well so far. It's relatively quiet but nothing to worry about. Sometimes slow days are rather nice." He said with a bit of a wink. It meant more time to relax between the more busy days. Each type had their own challenges but all in all business was good enough that he didn't have reason to worry if times were a little bit slow from time to time. He motioned for her to follow him to the back so he could take a better look at the piece he'd be working on touching up. He nodded slightly as he noticed the rather painfully glitching dragon. He refrained from pulling a face, as it wasn't the fault of the original artists. Some charms simply wore off with time and a lot of them were in tattoo designs. Plenty of them featured in his own work. It was just sad to see a majestic piece such as the one she had glitching. He gingerly touched the dragon for a moment to see where the glitches most likely originated from as he passed a wand over the piece to see if he could illuminate it. He nodded slightly as he managed to figure out the kinks and the places the ink would need to be replaced. Nothing too worrisome, luckily.

"I can see where the glitches originate from. It shouldn't be too difficult. I'll mostly focus on the parts that had faded and also reinforce some of the pieces that are in the early stages of wearing off so that you won't need to come back for another touch up in quite a while." He said as he sat down and put on some gloves. He'd managed to get good enough at wandless magic to summon things without needing his wand in order to keep most of his workshop clean enough not to require constantly changing his gloves. It became a drag for both him and the clients. He smiled at Vas. "Thank you for trust me with this. Just let me know when you're ready to get started." He said kindly and patiently as some of the supplies made their way to the table nearby. "How is business on your end? Is the pub doing well?" He asked curiously, mostly as a way to start up a conversation. Most people found it comforting to have small talk while he worked. It helped them relax and made his job a lot easier.

vasilia abigail fortescue

[vasilia abigail fortescue]

@bobby
June 30, 2025

Vasilia shifted, so that He could get a good look at the dragon before staring the touch up. He was a talented tattoo artist, so she knew he'd be able to take care of this little project. There was a reason he'd become her regular artist. His shop was responsible for a good number of her tattoos. She was, in some ways, walking advertisement for them. A lot of people, once they got to know Vasilia, didn't understand why she had so many tattoos. It was hard to explain. She just... liked them. It felt like a way to share with the world things important to her. Things that meant something. Or just things she liked. Plus, the way she thought about it, it made her an individual. Getting tattoos was a way to express herself. Then, with her talent of reading people, she knew appearances were only skin deep. How you looked didn't decide how you were as a person. "Well, in your line of work quiet is probably nice. Gives you plenty of time to do your work!" Vas grinned, holding her leg still as he finished his initial assessment.

After a few moments, Bobby straightened, stating that he knew what was going on and what his plan was. Vas nodded. They'd moved to one of the tattoo stations at some point, and Vas sat on the bed, positioning her leg the way he would need it to work. She'd done this plenty of times and knew what he'd need to work. His thanks was a little surprising, but she grinned back at him. "Please, I should be the one thanking you for being willing to do it. I should have paid for the higher end enchantment when I got it, but I was a cheap 18-year-old. No surprise it started to fade so quickly." She'd just been a kid, barely an adult and wanting a taste of freedom. Only freedom had cost money and she hadn't dished out for a more durable enchantment. Now-a-days though she was much smarter. She'd made sure to pay Bobby's shop in advance for the most resilient enchantment he offered. "Ready when you are." She leaned back a little, resting on her elbows, but keeping her leg completely still for him.

When he mentioned the pub she gaped a moment. "You heard about that?" She was, of course, more than a little surprise. But... should she? He was a shop owner in the alley after all. Word probably got around that the original owner of the Violet Hound Pub was retiring. Likewise, he'd probably heard that the pub had been offered too Vas. "To be honest.... I haven't told my family yet... I don't really know how to tell them. Burt is still running it for another week or so... But he wants me to take over in July." No doubt it would be a trick conversation. Vasilia had been covering a lot of the Ice Cream Parlour's duties in place of her parents. With her father's illness, her parents hadn't been able to run the shop like they used to. Leaving the parlor (at least cutting down her hours) to run the pub would definitely be a bit of a.... complicated subject with her parents.

(Just gunna say Burt is the current owner that's giving her the pub hehe. IC she takes over the pub in July.)

[Deleted]

She was right about quiet moments. He knew some places in the industry dealt with a lot of drama in the shops when the customers were not around but he personally didn't tolerate any of that mess or negativity. Things happened, that much was certain, but they either got fixed or people dealt with them outside work hours. On that point he was extremely picky on whom he hired. If somebody was the best artist in the world he would just as easily reject them if they were keen on starting drama. He wanted a calm and peaceful work environment and he knew that there were plenty of artists out there that didn't run around causing trouble just for the sake of stirring things up. Those were the kinds of people he aimed to hire, as long as they had enough talent and skill of course. The rare exceptions were the apprentices, they only needed the right personality and talent. He'd teach them the skills as they worked. "I prefer quiet any moment of the day. I never complain about a good chat with a customer but I hate people that start screaming without good reason. It's not usually worth the hassle to hear them out so I try to avoid inviting those in." He said with a slight chuckle as he prepared his things.

He chuckled as she admitted to having been on a budget. It happened more frequently but he always did warn people that it could result in lesser quality. He never gave out less than perfect quality so those that wanted cheaper at his shop only got art from the least experienced artists, although it usually meant the apprentices got a job. They needed the practise and were more likely to make mistakes, which made the fares lower. He never stocked anything but the best quality in terms of ink and equipment so on that point people were out of luck if they wanted something cheap. He smiled a fatherly smile and shrugged slightly. "Tattoos can be intoxicating that way. I was very impatient to get my first big piece done but my parents both impressed the importance of quality on me. Since my parents both are in the art business they luckily know what they're talking about. Even so I barely managed to contain myself." He chuckled slightly. "I was quite the wild kid in my youth." It was hard to imagine by now, even for him. He was nearly always calm and quiet these days but in his youth he'd been far more energetic and wild and impulsive. He'd matured a lot and it had mostly changed him in those ways. He realised he had more time and started behaving like it.

Bobby had heard gossip at best but he had more meant in general terms of how her job was doing. She managed to confirm the rumours in a couple of seconds, bringing a smile to his face. She was a good kid after all and definitively deserved the job she'd been offered. The fact she knew better by now than to get a cheap but lower quality tattoo showed her business insights also were better than they had been when she'd gotten the piece he was to work on done. He put his gloves on and nodded to her. "Word travels. I wasn't sure if it was just rumour but it seems not. Congratulations." He was fully sincere in his congratulations of course. He started on the piece at hand, first setting his hand to reinforcing some of the lines that had faded. They had pretty much been the structure that the charm had been clinging to and it could use just a little touch up. "I hope your familly will be as proud as most of the gossip mill around the alley is. I personally will frequent the pub a bit more often in support. I like Burt though, he's a fine man." He paused for a moment, working in silence as he figured how best to say. "Do you worry about your parents in regards to their shop? I know some parents can be quite set in wanting the children to take over the business. Your father was always kind to me when I stopped by though. I hope they take the news better than you might expect or fear." He didn't really want to pry or worm himself into her life though. He just wasn't too sure how to let her know that there was a pretty large support network amongst the shop owners in the area. They all knew how painful business could be and not all of them had a rosy past.

vasilia abigail fortescue