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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Countdown to Technically Dead, Day 2

I promised you an excerpt and now that the second thunderstorm of the day is gone, I can finally post it!

There's a lot of story to Bran's ivy vine tattoo, and this is from a scene where he goes to get some more ink on it...


The bell jingled above the door when Bran stepped in. It was late, sure, but with vampires wanting tattoos too, the old business hours were history. In fact, Bran couldn’t remember a time when everything wasn’t open all night.
“Hello, Bran. Penny’ll be a minute.” The other regular artist, Penny’s daughter, Rachel, grinned from where she was inking a girl Bran had seen before.
“Sure, I’m in no rush.” He nodded, walking to the wall to look at some of the amazing jobs Penny had done over the years.
Absently, he hung his leather jacket on the coatrack nearby and began to unbutton his shirt; after all, he’d be shirtless in no time, anyway.
“That’s very nice work,” a middle-aged biker-looking guy said as he walked past Bran on his way out and got a peek at the vine crawling around his neck and shoulder.
“Thanks.” Bran nodded, used to getting reactions to it.
The guy seemed to realize Bran didn’t want to chat, or maybe he was just one of those sensible people who understood that sometimes ink was too personal to be discussed with strangers.
“Bran, come on in.” Penny, a robust woman with faded old tattoos all around her body, gestured from the back, where her workspace was set up.
He walked to sit in the chair and sighed contentedly.
“That time of the year again, eh?” Penny smiled as she placed her basket of ink bottles on his lap.
“Oh yes….” Bran began to look through the shades of green and picked a couple. “I trust you with this, just make it your style and…. The idea for this year is a silver lining.”
Penny nodded thoughtfully, then began to squeeze blobs of ink into the small cups that always reminded Bran of the thimble his grandma used to have when he was a little boy, only miniature versions.
“I think I can work with that idea…. Do want me to freehand it?” Penny asked, and Bran nodded. He’d seen her freehand work, and the leaf should form nicely like that and show Penny’s own style. “Where do you want it?”
“Well… since there’s space and I think the theme fits…,” Bran murmured and pointed at his left pec.
The silver lining should be on top of his heart, he reasoned.
“Works for me. Is there a reason for the silver lining, or are you still waiting?” she asked as she picked up a marker and began to sketch.
“Who knows? At least things look good, like about the same as last year this time. It’s a change, having a job and stuff….” Bran let himself sink into the seat.
He had known Penny for a decade, and she was one of the people who knew what the ivy vine was about, and one of those who never judged.


Tomorrow is the last day of our countdown and the day after the book is out! So what should I do for tomorrow? Well, I know what my suggestion is: a little bit from Heath's POV? Sounds good? ^^

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