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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 9, 2020 13:57:29 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 13:57:29 GMT -7
He chuckled and nodded slightly as she mentioned her parents would have wanted a different path for her. It made perfect sense to him. He could see how he'd be protective if he ever ended up having children, although he'd grown up in such a free environment he figured it was less likely to happen to him. His parents had taught him to value freedom to choose your own path. They were proud but he knew they also would have rather had him closer to home. Yet they both understood he had to do what was most likely to make him happy. Not every parents was the same, he knew that. He guessed her parents wanted her safe. She didn't seem like the type to choose safety for herself over the lives of other, something he found very admirable. "I think my parents would also have rather seen me staying in Tennessee than moving to a different continent. It's up to us to make the choices best for our life, even if they might be unconventional or cause our parents concern. I don't think I'd be happy if I hadn't chosen the path I thought would be best for my own life." It was easy to put it like that but a lot harder to actually live it. Most people didn't want to disappoint their parents. It was difficult not to try and please them, especially for those that had a good bond with their parents.
He smiled as she started talking about tattoos as if she was suddenly considering taking one. So many people that toyed with the idea, but many of them never did. He was glad for it, even though he perhaps shouldn't be. He didn't like the idea of anybody ending up with regrets after getting a tattoo. Even though they were a lot easier to remove for the magical community, it was still expensive and never preferable to never haven gotten one if you weren't commited to it properly. "I'd love to give you a tour if you want to see it. I could also show you my little art studio where I do a lot of designing. It also has a fair few regular drawings and paintings, although my heart is with the ink with skin as a canvas. There is no greater honour than somebody saying they love your work enough to carry it on their skin forever. I know it doesn't always end up being forever, but at least in the moment they say that they trust you with such a choice. You can always throw out a painting you don't like. It's not so easy to get rid of a tattoo. It's why I always try to deliver my very best work for everybody. They trust me with something important and I don't want to mess it up for them." He walked a little futher as they talked and motioned to the flowers they passed by in the beautiful garden. To him it was just as inspirational as the company. When he got home again he was certain that he'd be putting up a new canvas to paint. If nothing else the beauty of her flaming locks waving in the breeze against the lush green background was definitively worth a painting.
@alyra
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 9, 2020 15:01:15 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 15:01:15 GMT -7
Lee was glad he seemed to understand exactly what she was meaning without having to go into detail of the craziness of her move right now. The fact that she was the guardian of 2 teenage girls wasn’t something she felt she should mention on a first date, especially since now she was mother to one of them and she was sure that idea would scare away a potential suitor. Though, she kind of felt like Bobby might find it cool, though she still felt like she’d want to get to know him more before she let him into that intimate part of her life. She wanted to protect Chrissy and herself from any negative thoughts on the matter. “Exactly. And they do accept that I make those choices. I think they just like to see me happy and they’re learning that we all have different paths to happiness.” it had been nice growing up as a rich, spoiled, Beverly Hills brat. But she didn’t mind living in her two bedroom flat with her two charges. It was cozy. And it was a home she built herself.
He insisted he’d love to give her a tour of the studio and his art room as well, explaining that there were several paintings and such that he had done and kept, but then he continued saying that he preferred skin and ink and mused that it was the greatest compliment that someone would want to wear his art on them forever. Lee beamed up at him, “You are probably the coolest person I’ve ever spoken with.” she admitted through a smile. “You inspire me. I love the way that you think about it. I had never thought that way about a tattoo...” she hoped that wasn’t weird to say, but it was entirely true either way.
@bobby
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 11, 2020 14:45:36 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2020 14:45:36 GMT -7
It was good that her parents accepted her choices, even if they would have made other ones themselves. It was the nature of parents to feel their life experience could lead the children they had in their life but a good parent was capable of acknowledging that their children were more than capable of making their own choices at some point. They'd take a step back where others might attempt to dictate what their children should or should not be doing. It was good to hear her parents at least seemed to be understanding her path by now. He smiled at that statement, as her parents sounded like good people. They had concern for their daughter but that was only natural. It showed they cared, which was always a good thing. "I'm glad you found your path to happiness." He said in honesty. "And also glad you allow me to walk along the path with you for at least today." It was visible she was happy. It showed in the tiny little ways that took an artists eye to notice. And indeed, notice them he did.
When she complimented him he chuckled a bit uncomfortably, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't quite used to compliments like that. "I doubt that, although I really appreciate the compliment." He then looked at her, his eyes drinking in all the details on her face. "It almost feels strange I never seem to have noticed you in school." He mused, softly, almost as if to himself. Perhaps it wasn't that strange considering the size of the school. Apart from that it seemed very likely that they'd had a very different circle of friends back then. It was probably for the better, as a past between them might have made this encounter different and possibly less good. Right now it seemed to him that they were making a genuine connection and he loved that. "If you find this inspiring then I'd really love for you to see what I can do with the right tools. After all, a picture is worth more than a thousand words." He said with a playful wink. "Besides, if you want I could easily make a painting of you, if you're willing to stand or sit still long enough for me to make it." He said, not quite joking but definitively with a playful undertone in his voice. She was beautiful enough to grace the surface of any canvas after all.
@alyra
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 12, 2020 8:42:32 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2020 8:42:32 GMT -7
So this blind date was going way better than Lee had imagined it would go. She had imagined she’d be stressed and weirded out and awkward. And she was still a little awkward just because of who she was fundamentally as a person, but she was also enjoying herself and enjoying their conversation. He mentioned he was glad that she was happy on her path, and added that he was glad she let him walk with her on the path for today. “Can I ask why you decided to sign up for blind dating?” Lee asked, feeling a little braver. She wasn’t sure what kind of answer she was looking for, but he just wanted to know. He didn’t seem like someone who would have trouble finding friends, or more, if that was what he was looking for.
He thanked her for the compliment but didn’t seem entirely convinced. He added it was weird that he never noticed her in school and she shrugged. “I don’t think we would have got on as well back then. I was a different person.” her work had shaped her and taken some of the extreme girly-girl out of her. Back then she never would have been caught dead in something without a designer label. He then went on to suggest that if she just found their conversation inspiring, she should see what he could do with the right tools. She nodded, perhaps she should. But before she could agree, he added that he could make a painting of her if she could stand still long enough. She nearly burst out laughing, but tried to tone it down given the formality of the event they were at. “I’d be a horrible subject for a painting.” she insisted. “Honestly, I’m probably too fidgety anyway…” she had to admit, the thought both intrigued her and flattered her, but she wasn’t lying about being fidgety. Lee wasn’t someone who liked to just lounge around. She liked to be busy and moving.
@bobby
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 12, 2020 9:50:57 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2020 9:50:57 GMT -7
Bobby found her question to be very meaningful. She wanted to know why, and it wasn't always a simple answer to people. Blind dating was an interesting endavour that certainly didn't come without at least some risks. Why should he be risking it when there were still other options available. He found himself smiling at the question, rather disarmed by it for a moment. "I never really considered you might ask." He admitted honestly as he chuckled softly. "I'm not very much of going out. I guess I tend to be a bit of a hermit. No matter how much I enjoy social things I prefer to be home with my art over out in the pub. My dreams for the future don't neccesarily align with the people I'd encounter there. I'd love to start a family one day, but I'd need to find somebody with the same goal in mind for starters. I find it highly inappropriate to flirt with any customers and am generally satisfied being on my own. I don't so much need anybody as I would like somebody to share things with. Since my cousin was setting this up I figured it'd be an amusing experiment, if nothing else. He's great at his job and if nothing else it would give me a try at dating. In the best case he'd find somebody I could connect with, or so I figured when I signed up." He glanced at her for a moment, taking in all of her beauty in a heartbeat. She was gorgeous and at least seemed to be the kind of person he could get along with easily, although that clearly wouldn't mean she wanted the same things in life. "So far it's better than I hoped." He stated, although a simple statement from her that she never planned to start a family would be reason enough for him to not consider her as a long term partner and he'd easily be honest now that the subject came up. He knew he didn't look it, but he did have hopes and dreams of being a father one day.
He nodded as she mentioned having been a different person. "So I was I, I suppose. Although I think I mostly got a lot calmer when I accepted some people just find my father a lot more interesting than me. He worked hard for it, so it's only right." He said, a smile on his face. He'd lost a few girlfriends because they felt too strongly about his father, whether in the positive or negative sense. He would be fine with a woman that didn't really like the music but one girl had hated it so intently he just had been repulsed by her repulsion and others had liked his father more than him, which also was a huge no to him. Fame did strange things to people. By now he just saw the situation with his father in a far more neutral light. It wasn't the fault of his father people changed their behaviour around him, such was their choice. It did affect him, but more by showing a certain type of clarity about people that he otherwise might have missed out on.
He laughed gently at her words. "You don't have to be motionless. I'm used to working with people that keep moving after all, remember? It's usually the one getting the tattoo rather than the artwork itself but the two kind of have an overlap. If you move, so does your skin. It makes it a lot easier to see a picture you wish to create even when the canvas is in motion." He found it a fun challenge to see if he could possibly convince her to pose for a work of art. Even if it was more of a line art than a realistic painting it would look splended with her used as inspiration. That much was certain to him. There were some very clear advantages in these moments in being a tattoo artist. How tempted he was to offer to do a quick sketch of her between the many flowers around. It just didn't quite feel like the right moment. Perhaps in the future.
@alyra
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 12, 2020 12:20:02 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2020 12:20:02 GMT -7
Bobby seemed a little thrown off by her question and he admitted that he never really thought that she would ask. She never really expected to ask. But he answered anyway, saying that he didn’t really go out and socialize very often and didn’t really flirt with his clients. She nodded, that made a lot of sense. He admitted he wanted to start a family someday with someone who had a similar mindset and that made a lot of sense as well. Lee had never considered the possibility of having children until she moved back to England. She was all about work. But now she had Chrissy and the idea of having more was slowly starting to creep into her mind. But a teenager was hard enough on her own, she couldn’t imagine having a baby until or unless she was stable and secure with a partner. “That makes a lot of sense. I kind of felt the same, there’s not really any harm in getting to know someone new at the very least.” he looked over at her and said that it was going better than he had hoped so far. She blushed a little and nodded. “Definitely better than t had hoped.” though the fancy party was still strange to her.
He agreed saying that he was also a different person now then he was in school. At least they were both able to recognize and appreciate their transformations. She’d be lying if she said that everyone changed and grew. Some people stayed exactly the same. He then insisted that she didn’t have to be motionless, and added that he worked with people moving all the time. She could imagine when someone got a tattoo they wouldn’t be motionless. She could imagine they’d be fairly squirmy, actually. “Maybe then.” she gave in. “Though i’m not sure how a painting of me would look.” she shrugged. She saw herself as fairly rugged. This dress was not a good interpretation of how she normally dressed.
@bobby
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 12, 2020 13:06:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2020 13:06:17 GMT -7
It seemed as though they at the very least agreed on this being a good date so far. Even if Bobby would never have chosen this location for himself he liked the nature aspects of it. It was not his venue though, which showed in the fact he had refused to wear a shirt with sleeves, even to a place like this. He hated anything that had sleeves on it, unless it was getting really cold. Then it usually ended up being worn out leather jackets. Fancy just wasn't quite his thing. He knew he could be extremely intimidating with his height and looks combined. It scared off plenty of people. He was pretty much the typical case of wide circle to get around him. His punk look, length and beard all seemed to give him the very intimidating physique that made plenty of people nervous. She didn't seem to be very intimidated, which definitively helped to make him feel more comfortable. "If nothing else we have a possibility for a new friendship right here, although I would love to explore what else might be possible before we decide friendship is our best option." He said kindly. He didn't want to come on too strong but well, he realised that certain dreams of his were still connected to time. It wasn't that he was on the clock in the way woman felt they were but starting a family at age 60 was simply far too late. While he could live without easily enough he hadn't given up on the possibility just yet.
He chuckled and grabbed his small drawing pad and pencil from his pocket, holding it up for a moment. "I never leave home without at least something to draw on." He explained as he flipped through the pages, looking for an opening to quickly draw an outline. "I hate being without the option to at least do a quick outline if I see something that inspires me." He said as he grabbed the pencil and put it to paper for a quick outline, focussing more on composition than detail in the sketch. "I didn't want to be rude and leave you waiting so I didn't do an outline earlier but this is about...." He paused for a moment and his nimble fingers swiftly sketched more of an outline of what she'd looked like to him while waiting for him to show up. "... what I'd be likely to go for based on when I first saw you. It's not that good but well, I didn't really take that much time for the outline with you watching. People don't usually want to spend a lot of time watching something be created. They normally are only interested in the end result in my experience." He kept adding tiny little details as he spoke but stopped sketching when he stopped talking, handing her the sketch pad. "Feel free to leaf through it if you want. It's not really secret." It was personal and somewhat private. He didn't share it if he felt the other side wouldn't appreciate it at all but she seemed as though she'd at least appreciate his sketches enough not to be rude about it. Otherwise he'd had a really bad lapse in judgement.
@alyra
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 13, 2020 17:12:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2020 17:12:17 GMT -7
Bobby suggested that he liked the idea of exploring anything that might exist between them other than just friendship but he decided at the very least they had a new friendship. Lee nodded. She appreciated that he was at least willing to befriend her, but she couldn’t help but feel a little flip in her stomach when he said he wanted to explore other possibilities first. “I agree.” she decided. She wasn’t sure yet exactly how she felt, but she certainly was enjoying their time together today.
He pulled out a small pad and a pencil from his pocket and flipped through it looking for an open spot. Lee watched him with her eyes wide, he was really going to sketch her right now, wasn’t he? He did, quickly and then showed her the outline, explaining that he didn;t want to keep her waiting for too long so it was just a quick one. He added that a lot of people didn’t like waiting for something to be done. Lee couldn’t say she was ever more impressed on a first date. She loved seeing how passionate he was about his work. “I cannot believe you just made this that quickly.” she admitted, taking the sketch book when he offered for her to flip through it. She hoped she wasn’t overstepping, but since he offered it, she felt comfortable looking through. And she honestly found herself in awe of most if not all of them “I mean I could already see that you were talented but these are really impressive.” she insisted.
@bobby
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Nov 15, 2020 9:08:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2020 9:08:04 GMT -7
It was nice to see it when people were impressed with his work. Not all the works on his skin were his own but everything in the sketchbook was. It was small and he didn't have a lot of space to work on but for just drawing a little on the fly it was more than good enough. It was good to have something to get his ideas in so that he could always recreate them in far greater detail at a later date. It was part of how the walls of his tattoo shop had come to be. He'd purposefully made them all resemble various colours of skin so that people could see he understood the art well enough to work on any colour or type of skin. He'd had years to learn his skills and had always worked hard to get where he was. It wasn't without bumps in the road and some personal sacrifices along the way but to him it all was worth it. It was part of why he wasn't actually in a relationship. Maybe not because he couldn't be but far more because he hadn't given it a high priority so far. Now that he was sure of his work he felt far better to explore other fascets of his life he had previously only shown a mild interest in. There was plenty of life yet to live and things often were better shared.
He chuckled slightly as she commented that she couldn't believe he'd made it at the speed that he had. "I have had over thirty years of experience. I'm pretty sure I was at least trying to draw before I very well knew how to. My mom got me finger paint when I was little and I supposedly was so delighted with making art by smashing my hands on a canvas covered in pain that my mom even saved a few of my first creative masterpieces." He chuckled again, partially in self mockery. He'd been imitating his mother from a young age, until he started to be aware his father had art on his body. His mind had been blown and he had been almost impossible to draw away from his pencils and paper after that. He looked with her at the drawings, smiling slightly. "I'm glad you think so." He said and then pointed at one as she was flipping through it. "I made that about three months ago. A young kid came into the shop because he wanted to look at the pretty pictures. I asked him what he liked and he said centipedes so I drew that. His father came for a tattoo in honour of the kid and ended up getting the centipede. It was quite endearing." He'd perfected the sketch after the tattoo but the sketch had certainly helped shape the idea. People all had their own little things they loved and some just loved tattoos. He was one of them but also loved creating them.
@alyra
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Dec 1, 2020 20:59:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2020 20:59:17 GMT -7
Bobby explained that he had been making art since he really knew what art was and that made complete sense given the fact that children were creative by nature and liked to be challenged. She was never really into art when she was a child besides the typical coloring books. She didn’t have the talent for it or the eye to figure out what colors looked the best together or the knowledge of how to make the images she saw in her head come out on the screen. She was coordinated enough in that way. She had been much more physical and tactile. She was good at “practical” things as her dad always said. And after she started her training, she was also decent at hand-to-hand combat, though she had rarely gotten to use it in the field since most preferred wands to fists.
Then he stopped at one of the drawings of a bug and explained the story behind it, saying that a little boy had come in and Bobby had drawn it for him and then the boy's father had come back in a few days later and had it tattooed on himself. That story nearly melted her heart. “That’s an amazing story.” she insisted. “that’s the mark of an amazing father.” she added. She loved her father, but he would never have tattooed anything for him on his body, and she couldn’t really say she wanted him to. But tattoos were forever and now that father had a piece of his son with him forever. “Maybe the boy will come back and get it when he’s older too. You should hold on to that.” she smiled. What if she got a tattoo for Chrissy - that would probably be weird since Chrissy didn’t even call her mom or anything, and Lee didn’t really feel like a mom even though she legally was.
@bobby
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Dec 9, 2020 14:08:09 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2020 14:08:09 GMT -7
She understood exactly what it meant, the piece. A father looking to have a piece of his son that could never be taken away from him. There was no turning back, which meant the love this father had for his kid had to be unconditional. It was things like that, to Bobby at least, that made for the most rewarding pieces to tattoo. If he ever had kids he'd definitively get tributes to them on his skin. He'd reserved a few spots just in case. He knew he wanted to be a dad so to him it made perfect sense. It that was not in his future he knew he'd fill up the space with something else eventually but he wasn't too old to give up on the idea yet. Not by a long shot. She mentioned he should keep the design around in case the kid ever wanted to get it for himself. Bobby smiled slightly. "I suppose I'm overly sentimental but I've got quite the archive full of all the pieces that I did and another one for every single one done in the shop. I also have a fair amount of designs from my artists that they made but didn't tattoo and wanted to save regardless. You'd be surprised what I've managed to hide underneath the little shop in terms of archives." He said, smiling. He was quite proud of everything that had passed through his shop and he was a bit of a melancholic person in that sense. He hated throwing away art and would rather archive it than allow it disappear. Sometimes it was useful to be able to dig up the original piece but he knew it was usually his nostalgia far more than use that kept the archives going. There were so many designs that hadn't made the final cut and yet he liked saving them. Time and effort had gone into every single design, even if people didn't choose them. "If the boy ever comes back to get the same one I'm sure we'll still have it around somewhere, though it might take some time to find." @alyra ((Maybe round this one off and do a new one? Second date? ))
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last online May 8, 2024 13:09:25 GMT -7
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Dec 31, 2020 10:25:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2020 10:25:56 GMT -7
Lee was certainly intrigued by this man. She had been so skeptical of going on one of these blind dates, but now here she was, genuinely enjoying herself and enjoying the company of the man that she had been matched up with. A total stranger. Yet they had so much in common and were getting on like this wasn’t the first time they had ever spoken to one another. He explained that he kept every tattoo he ever did as a sketch and added that if the boy ever came back wanting the same tattoo one day, he’d be able to find it for him, even if it took him some time. Lee smiled endearingly at the comment. It was so kind, so gentle. So… surprising coming from this big, bearded man covered in tattoos. She found it very attractive. “I would love to see that someday.” she agreed in reference to his shop and his collection of sketches and doodles of tattoos past.
They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the gardens, continuing their conversations and getting to know one another better, finally at the end of the date, they agreed to proceed onto a second.
The End @bobby
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