Inkwell

"Then you might want to ask the nymph in your tub to step out here with us." Nikita said thru the door.

Looking into his tub, there was a nymph hiding ineptly behind the clear plastic shower curtain. She was quivering in fear, but watched him intently. He reached and unlocked the door. She hopped out of the tub, scooped up the cake mix, and darted from the room as soon as possible. Her eyes never felt his till she was beyond the doors threshold.

Nikita stood in the hall, she watched the nymph go. "Would you like assistance with your bathing?"

"I can wash myself, thanks. You shouldn't be getting wet anyway. Those are temp tattoos. They would easily wash off with soap and water." He looked over at her. "IS there anyone else here I should know about?"

"Just the sylph and Yerni. I told you, you were heavy." Nikita said.

"Right." He closed the door on her.

He started the water and got into the shower. The water running over him relaxed his muscles but did little to relieve any of the tension or stress. Nikita was tall, gorgeous, and exotic. From what he noticed the nymph was all the fairy tales claimed. If he hadn't already been embarrassed, he probably would have fainted from blood lose as it all ran to his cock. He hadn't seen the sylph, but what little of the dryad he saw put all of them in a 'visions' of sexual fantasy' category. What was a Yerni anyway?

Stepping out of the shower his head slumped, no towels. 'Well fuck it all' he thought. 'If I am going to be surround by women in my own home their just going to have to deal with it.' Pulling the door open, Nikita was standing there holding a towel. He took it and started drying his hair as he continued past her back towards the kitchen.

"Steven!!! What are you doing?" His mothers' voice squeaked.

Pulling the towel over his manhood, he froze. "Mom! What are you doing here?"

"Why are you parading around naked in front of female guests? I know I taught you better manners."

He bolted, closing the door to his room as he took refuge. 'No good deed ah dad.' He spoke inwardly.

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Two hours later he was alone, at least he hoped he was. The ladies had explained to his mother that he didn't know they were here. That they had arrived only five or so minutes before her. They were there to pick up Nikita, who had gone home with me after a bachelor party for her brother. He didn't believe that his mother fell for the story but, wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Of course after the ladies had left, mom did the 'mom thing' and asked dozens of questions. Not a single answer he gave had a lick of truth to them. Save that Nikita was the one that had commissioned him for tattoo work. But for now he was alone. He had time to think, to try to wrap what was left of his mind around what he was into.

Nikita said that she would take on the attributes of the tools she had. How would a tattoo translate in that case? He was feeling a little out of his depth, and having no one to discuss the matter with, he was starting to regret taking this job. Not that he couldn't do it, just the lingering feeling that it might be wrong. He got himself something to eat and grabbed a bottle of soda before heading out to the car.

Getting in he put the key in the ignition, "Well it's about time!" a feminine voice exclaimed from the back seat.

"Whoa! Who the hell are you?" He asked in fright.

"Yerni, I'm with Nikita, where did she go?" she asked.

"I can guess, but I don't know. I was going over there to check. You have horns? You a demon or something?" He sputtered looking at her in the rear view mirror.

"Hey you can see them? How did you rate?" She asked without answering him.

"Yerni shut up." Nikita's voice flowed into the car. "Estephan we are at your parlor. She will behave so please bring her along."

"What the hell is she?" he asked.

"She is a Hind, akin to the satyr. We can make proper introductions when you get to the parlor." Her voice trailed off.

"A what?" he asked.

"I am a Hind. Most just say I'm a deer-girl. You got a problem with that?" Yerni asked. "Well they would if they could see the real me. Most people think I am an uptight redhead with a shit load of money."

"Whatever. This is getting to be a too much." He mumbled as he started the car.

Yerni didn't shut up the entire trip, 7 miles of yapping. He hadn't listened to a word. She could have been rattling of the mysteries of the universe or just bitching, he couldn't tell. Pulling into the parking lot there were 4 cars sitting in front of his shop. Only one he recognized.

He didn't see any of the drivers. The lights in his parlor were on. For a Saturday evening, the rest of the strip mall would be closing or closed already. Getting out of the car he almost closed Yerni in.

"Hey, trying to get out! I'm sure you don't want me living in your car." She said.

"Sorry." He returned absently.

He crossed the lot and went in. Nikita was talking with a tall dark haired man. The nymph had a book of flash in her lap as she sat next to Goth-chic. The 'Betty-Boop' teller girl was talking with the dryad about pay as you go plans. He stood there in total confusion.

"Estephan, this is Mr. Johnson, he is wanting to tattoo his daughters footprint on his chest with a ribbon of her name on it. I showed him a few of the ones on me and he was wondering what it would cost to have it temp to show his wife before he gets it." Nikita said taking his arm.

"Do you have her footprint Mr. Johnson?" He asked feeling work slide the confusion of everything else out of the way. "I can draw a temp onto you and we can make changes as we go. But if it is your daughters' footprint, we need to get that right."

"I can get a copy of it." He replied.

"Ok then here is what I will do. $25 dollars to temp the tattoo. And if you want it permanent I will apply that to the cost to the real one. Sound fare?" He offered.

"Wow really? That would be great. When can we get started?" Mr. Johnson asked.

"We can step over here Mr. Johnson." Nikita said taking him by the arm, "Estephan has others clients waiting." She pointed towards the Nymph and Goth-chic. He turned and looked the nymph was waving him over. 'She looked better naked.' He thought. Then cringed feeling he was going to blush.

"Sir, this is Cindy, she wants a tattoo to hide scars. With the ones you have been doing for Nikita, hiding scars isn't too much of a problem right?" the nymph chimed.

"Cindy hiding scar is possible. Thou it would depend on the type and placement on the body for how well it would work and the cost involved. I am willing to do all that I can to help." He said. "Thou incorporating them into tattoo work usually looks a lot better."

"I don't know what to do. I will be leaving collage in two semesters, and Goth is not a fashion to wear to job interviews." Cindy said. "I don't want my scars to raise uncomfortable questions."

"If you would, she is going to show you to the back, and will have a look at them." He said indicating the nymph beside her. "Take any of these you like and will work from there. I won't charge you anything for the consultation. I won't take any money from you if I can't do what you want."

The teller from the bank shot a look of total disbelief at him. Mr. Johnson gave him a wave and stepped out the door. Nikita was talking to Ducici behind the counter and waved for him to come over. Yerni cut the teller off before she got a chance to say anything to Estephan. He wasn't sure whether to be thankful about that or not.

"Sir, there is a question about your hours." Ducici said.

"Excuse me. My ... Oh." He said putting his hand to his chin. "I hadn't quiet decided on that yet, why do you ask?"

"How are we to help you keep track of things if we don't know when or for how long you are going to be in the parlor, sir.." Nikita said.

"Surely you're not going to hold the same hours as the rest of the shops, are you?" Ducici asked.

"We will be here as needed for the time being. How's that work for everyone?" He said.

"Sounds good, Cindy is waiting for you in the back." Nikita said.

He nodded and walked thru the doors into the clean room. Cindy sat on the articulation table, her coat and shirt sat next to her. He stepped in and met her eyes. She relaxed somewhat, and continued to do so the longer he held her gaze.

"Cindy was telling me these three are the most like what she was hoping for." The nymph said. "I copied them out of the books already. I will leave the two of you to talk and take the books back out front."

He watched the nymph scamper out and then dropped his eyes to the flash art pieces she had handed to him. Two were vined roses, the other was an orchid. They were simpler styles, two tones not too much in the way of shading.

"These are nice, they're not hard to apply. Are you worried about how much they hurt?" He asked.

"Yes, most people I have asked say that shading hurts the most when getting inked." Cindy said.

"That is true, when you are trying to get it all done at one time. Shading would be done last, so you are tattooing over were you already injured the skin. I try not to do that kind of work, I would rather wait and do it right. So where is the scar you want to hide?"

She held both of her arms up in a defensive pose. Both of them had an odd mosaic of 1 to 3 inch scars down them. They weren't uniform but anyone looking at them could jump to the wrong conclusion, attempted suicide.

"Ok, we need to look at these from a different angle. Stand up, let your arms relax, and turn around."

"Ok, why?" she asked.

"When people see you, are you sitting in that position?" He asked. "Not likely, you will be walking or standing. I want you to be comfortable enough, when I am done, to wear a short sleeved shirt and a smile. What do you think? Willing to show a little trust in me?"

She tilted her head giving him a 'are you joking' look, but stood and did as he asked. Her scars weren't just on her arms. She had a dozen or so along the left side of her back, and from the look of them, she probably had more on her legs. He wanted to ask.

"These are old scars, hiding them shouldn't be difficult, there is the matter of how many. One or two could disappear under a tattoo, you have a few more than that. You are looking at vining roses, what if I used your scars in the vines, like it is growing in and out of your skin?" He asked. "Sit here and I will show you."

He grabbed a hand full of tattoo pencils. He looped a quick vine around the scars on her left arm, added three orchids and leaves. He put roses and thorns in the vine work of her right arm. She watched as he gently turned her arms into works of art. Even the scars that she had been so embarrassed by for so long became beautiful to her.

"Try those for a day or two, and if you want, we will schedule a longer sitting and mapping for the real tattoos. What do you think? Is this something you can live with, cause the tattoos are like the scars. They won't go away without a lot of money and discomfort. Getting one removed is a pain."

She looked like she was about to cry. He didn't know what to do. She jumped up and threw her arms around him in a huge sobbing hug. He was stunned. He didn't know whether to hug her back or just wait. She let him go.

"Thank you, yes I want to schedule that. I don't need any time to think about it. You changed how I feel about my scars in the fifteen minutes I have been here. Which is far more than anyone has done since I got them. Thank you." She said and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're welcome, I with have Nikita come in and get that set up for you."

He stepped out of the clean room to get someone, anyone, hell he didn't even know the nymphs name. Or did he, he couldn't remember. Ducici waved him over, so he went that way. She had a piece of flash sitting on the counter in front of her, it seemed a bit odd. Then it made sense, it was a color photo copy of a tattoo. Parts of it were wrong, not scaled properly, and the coloring was tacky to put it mildly.

"Jennelle wanted to know if there was anything you could do with something like this?" Ducici asked.

"Jennelle? Which girl was that?" He asked in return.

"The one in the suit type thing." She said moving her hands over herself in a descriptive fashion.

It only took a moment to realize she was talking about the bank teller. Her name was Jennelle? Her name tag said Janet. Looking at the copy; an image of her lying naked over a copy machine danced thru his mind. The tattoo was one of those over the ass bikini types. He had done three of them himself. Not this one, he would have remembered an ass like hers.

"What does she mean do something with it?" he asked.

"FOOD!" Called a tall Amazonian woman as she stepped into the parlor.

Ducici dropped her pen, Yerni bounced out of the chair she was in and Nikita just smiled at him. He gestured over his shoulder back into the clean room where Cindy was. She nodded and he walked into his privet office across the hall from the clean room. Walking around the desk he sat down looking at the unfashionable atrocity of a tattoo. Do some with it; that would be a challenge if ever there was one.

He sat looking at it, she couldn't be older than him. It was hard to tell from the copy, something about this tattoo didn't sit well with him. The colors looked faded, badly. Like the kind you would see on a Vietnam Vet that got painted while he was 'in country'. It shouldn't look like this.

He could hear Cindy still sobbingly talking with the nymph outside his door. Pushing away from the desk he was about to stand but the door opened and Nikita came in. She carried a plate of Chinese in one hand and a craft of sake in the other. His stomach growled audibly.

"I thought you were going to need food." She said.

"Yeah, and answers. I mean what is going on? Friday it was just you, now there are 4 other mythical hot women following you around. Hiding in my bathroom, my car, and where did all the customers come from? I wasn't even going to open till Monday." He blurted out.

"You going to eat and listen?" She asked.

"Yes. I'm hungry and all ears." He said.

She set the plate of Toa's down in front of him. She stepped to the side handed him chop sticks and a ceramic shot glass, for the Sake. The craft made its' way to the desk before she turned to take a seat. He pulled the sticks apart as Ducici and the nymph came in, and hadn't even managed a bite before Yerni and the sylph joined the office gathering.

"Ok, we are all here." Nikita said.

"For now." Ducici added.

"Alright, calm down. To answer your question Estephan, you are going on. They are here because of you." Nikita said as she gestured around the room. "As we talked about what tools I would need, two or three times you asked me why I had to do all of this myself. This is the mystical realms answer to those questions. Your tattoos have granted me help at doing the tasks given to me. Instead of tools to go it alone, I have friends to share the responsibilities with. As for the customers, mythical beings draw people to them, those that need their help."

"So I drew on you and the rest of you just kinda showed up?"

"Not quiet ink-man." Yerni said before Nikita had a chance to answer. "We were called on or awaked by Nikita as she needed us, right?"

Nikita looked at her sternly and Yerni sat down. "Well she is right, I didn't really mean to call so many, and I could have called even more. You have found a way for me to do so much good for the world. The trouble is, how do I keep them here once the temp tattoos wear off?"

"With our true names." Said the nymph. "If we told him our true names he could work them into the real tattoos that won't wash off."

"That might work for some of you but some of us are not as immortal as the rest of you." Ducici said.

"I would have to agree, and what of others you call. You willing to bind all of us to you forever?" Yerni added making a point to nod in the direction of the sylph.

"That would not be up to me, it would be up to Estephan and the individual in question. A true name is a powerful thing." Nikita said. "We don't know what it would do to all of us if we did it to start with."

"I would be more worried about what the Fates would have to say about it." The sylph said.

He let a chuck of chicken fall from his chop sticks as all eyes seemed to be on him. He wasn't sure which part of this needed his input. From where he sat, Nikita was in charge, the rest were just here as long as she let them be. End of story. If they wanted to stay longer they needed to pony up with some kind of promise or contract, and some way of sending them packing if they didn't keep to their end of the bargain

"What's everyone looking at me for?" He asked.

"Well as the only true mortal in this room, what is your opinion on this?" Ducici asked.

"I don't know, if any of you want to stay, you need to prove to Nikita she is better with your help then not. I am a bit interested in how many more you could call. What another five or six?" He said and stuffed chicken into his mouth.

"Fifteen, why would that matter?" Nikita asked.

He eyes went wide and he nearly choked on his food. He hadn't even finished putting the temps on yet. She could already call 19 mythical beings to aid her. This thought was cut off by a loud banging coming from the front door of the shop. Nikita put a hand up and went to find out what had someone causing such a racket at the door.

When she opened his office door again, she was gesturing someone inside ahead of her. No mistaking a police officer. He stepped in eyes going wide at the number of lovely women in the office. The guy shook his head.

"Mr. Prizton is that your two door in the lot?" He asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong officer?" Estephan asked in return.

"Some teen just slammed into it, sir. I have a wrecker on the way if you have any idea where you want it taken. Thou you might want to talk to your agent before that. It is really bad."

"And the kid? How is the kid?" He asked the Officer.

"Sir?" The officer asked.

He was out of the chair and half way across the room. "If the damage to my car is that bad. What about the other car and its' driver?"

"Well she is flipping out. Her mother is a basket case as well." He said trying to keep up with him.

He flew out to the parking lot. A green SUV was wearing his two-door like a taco shell. The thing had t-boned his car tearing it almost in two. He walked over to the car shaking his head. He pulled his keys out and popped the trunk. He grabbed a few of the cases he kept in there. He handed them to one of the women with Nikita and took the last one himself.

"Officer I doubt anyone will be able to fix that thing. Do whatever you want with it. I will need to get in the glove box, but after that its' all yours. I want copies of all the reports if you would be so kind." He said. "When the girl and her mother have calmed down I would like to talk to them if possible."

"I will see what I can do Mr. Prizton." The officer said.

As he stepped back into the tattoo parlor, an older woman was standing in the middle of the room. Nikita and the other women were giving the woman plenty of space. He could feel this could get really bad in a hurry. Stepping thru the door he closed and locked it, turning the 'back in twenty minute' sign.

"From the look of you, ma'am, you are someone of importance. Was it something I did or said that has brought you here?" He asked.

She smiled at him. "You are such an observant boy. I am here to ask a question and give an answer to one. Is this a bad time? I can come back later." The woman said.

"The Lady Atropos is one of the Fates. We are humbled by your presence." Nikita said, mostly for Estephan's benefit.