Make Your Move

Tattooing had been a lifelong dream for Anna Daniels. After getting her first one at the tender age of sixteen, she’d became hooked; not with getting them, but with the process in general. She was lucky in the sense that she had connections in the tattoo industry, her best friend, Greg was a tattoo artist and he let her sit in one some of his appointments from time to time. It was Greg who gave Anna her first machine for her 18th birthday. She was so over-joyed that she could have kissed him then and there. He had showed her the ropes, told her what to do, made her sit through a year and a bit at college to get her qualifications. On the eve of the 4th of July, she had graduated, top of her class and along with her degree she scored an apprenticeship at Greg’s parlour.

Anna was a natural, her precise finesse and how much attention to detail that she paid really made her a popular tattooist. Of course, Greg boasted about her to any and every one that would listen to him. It was after an off-hand comment was made by one of her clients, that she should start her own parlour, when she started to think why not?

She had voiced her fantasy to Greg who, to her surprise, was behind her 100%. Albeit his sadness to see her go, he did whatever that he could do possible to help; with an immense pressure taken off her back, she was able to save up money so she could rent out a place of her own. It took her a while, but she managed to do so with Greg adding to that bank account every so now and then.

After a few months of minimal business, she slowly started to find her feet. It took her a couple of years before she was running a fully fledged parlour, with three other artists, a manager and a receptionist with high-profile clients waltzing through her door. Her crash course lessons in web design and graphics from her brother paid off in the end and she was left with a flashy, brand new website complete with contact details and a portfolio which people who were internet savvy and wanted a tattoo could check out.

Anna hadn't realised the extent of her popularity - within not only the tattoo community but everywhere else - until she had musicians call her up and book appointments. It was a mere blink of her eye and she found herself booked out for weeks.

With a sigh, Anna leafed through her appointment book, her eyes raked over the multitude of pencil that was hastily scribbled down, trying to find an open slot. Running her free hand through her blonde hair - which needed to be redyed soon - she grinned once finding one. "Okay, so there's a free slot two days from now, after one... is that alright with your schedule, Mr Sanders?" Anna asked, pencil poised between her slim fingers, twirling every so often.

There was brief silence before a groan floated up through the receiver, "Please, call me Matt... And, I think that should be okay... I have a few hours free then in between sound-check and a probable beer run." Matt replied.

"Sound-check?" She murmured, more to her than to the man on the other end of the line, "Are you on tour?"

"Mhm, have you heard of the band Avenged Sevenfold?" Matt questioned his voice unsure. That name seemed vaguely familiar, she was sure that she had heard one of her clients talking about them while they were getting the trademark 'Deathbat' tattooed on his shoulder. Doing a quick search on her phone, she searched up the band in her iTunes to see if she had any on there, and she recognised a few of their songs. "Anna?"

"I have yes, sorry... I was just checking to see what songs I've listened too. I must say, your band is very talented." She complimented, it was the truth, and they were. Granted, she's only listened to a couple of songs off the 'Waking the Fallen' album, from what she's heard, they have potential.

Matt chuckled, "Thank you, Anna. Yeah, we're in the middle of our 'City of Evil' tour." His voice was full of mirth, and Anna was sure that he was subtly flirting with her. "So, I'll see you Thursday afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, absolutely..." She replied after a moment's pause, she was still caught up in her daydreams,

"Is half past one okay with you?"

"It sure is," he confirmed, chuckling once again, and Anna was sure that she could hear the smirk in his voice when he added, "looking forward to seeing you and what you come up with." Before she could even begin to say something in retaliation, the soft 'click' announced that he had promptly hung up on her. Cursing herself for upgrading to an iPhone, she clicked the small button at the top to turn off the screen; just sliding a finger didn't do justice as what angrily slamming a flip phone would.

Shaking her head slowly, she pencilled in the appointment time and his name carefully. Making a reminder to get another book with bigger spaces to fill in, she got up and walked out of her office just as another client came through the door.



Glancing at the clock which hung up next to her station, Anna nodded gently at the time, cleaning up from her last appointment, she changed the needles and replaced the caps on her ink pots, chatting away absent-mindedly with one of the tattooists that she had hired. Her name was Grace; unlike her name suggests, she was far from being graceful. Tattoos littered her body and her hair remained firmly pitch black with pink and purple layers through it. She was a nice person, and an unreal tattooist. Grace's speciality was cartoonish styled tattoos and she had a penchant for detail.

Grace had distracted Anna so effectively, that she didn’t hear when the small bell that was above the door ring, and she certainly didn’t notice the man stood at the reception desk. It took Grace poking her in the cheek for Anna to turn around to greet the potential customer. But, when she did turn from her station, the sight that she saw was something else.

Leaning against the desk, his jean-clad legs were crossed at the ankles, the rips at the knees added to the rock-star image that he definitely portrayed. He looked to be slightly over 6 foot, for sure towering well over her. Even the loose-fitting Metallica shirt that he wore left nothing to the imagination, his arms were huge. Holy fuck, they’re like the size of my thighs, she thought. Anna could tell that he was more or less likely sporting a six-pack, if his arms were anything to go by. He was wearing a black print bandana underneath the backwards basketball hat, and for something that looked horrible on most guys, it really suited him.The man smirked once he found that she was checking him out, and Anna just about fainted at the deep dimples which dotted both cheeks.

"Hi, my name's Matt. I'm here for my appointment with Anna," he introduced himself when she walked over, the smirk never leaving his face for a second. Matt shook her outstretched hand. Anna just about melted at the sound of his voice, it was raspy - as to expect when one screamed for at least two albums previously - but, it was a good raspy.

Anna smiled. "That would be me," she replied, feeling her cheeks heating up further as his eyes roamed her own body. Gesturing for him to follow, she led him over to where her station was, ignoring the wiggle of eyebrows that she got from Grace.

Patting the chair for Matt, Anna got set up on her stool, pencil and sketch-book in hand. "Okay, so what were you going for? Or, do you have something in mind?" She asked, smiling softly up at him, trying not to get distracted by Matt in general.

Matt nodded and held out his left arm where there was a lot of free space on the top half, he pointed out whereabouts he'd like the tattoo. "Maybe some bats along here and there, those can be realistic and flying... um, maybe a giant figure that's sitting down at top, he'd be skeletal, sort of like this one," he asserted, pulling out his phone to show Anna the picture that his friend had drawn earlier for him. "Cam drew it for me."

"I may take a while to draw these up... if you'd like you could go for a short walk or something?" Anna suggested, knowing exactly how some customers can get while waiting for her to draw up what they wanted. It was a hassle and she learnt the hard way.

Matt shook his head, a smirk forming on his full lips, the piercing catching the light. "No, it's fine... I'd rather sit here and talk to you," he said, elbows propped up against the armrest as he leant in towards her. Matt's smirk grew just that bit wider at Anna's blush.

Coughing slightly, Anna managed to shake the one thought that she had out of her mind, but the way that Matt's tongue had licked across the metal of his ring brought them all back again. Blinking at the piece of paper sat on her desk in front of her, she willed something to come to mind. With a picture in her head, she started to draw; fully aware that there were two hazel eyes situated firmly on her figure.

An hour had nearly past when she'd finally finished, double-checking the image on Matt's phone to make sure that the skeletal thing was a - just about - exact replica of Cam's one. Turning around on her stool, she smiled softly, holding out her book to Matt. "Something like these? But maybe the cloak could be red and grey... the bats I'm not sure what colour though, maybe grey with flecks of red?" She asked.

"It's exactly what I pictured, holy fuck," Matt grinned at Anna, nodding at all of what she had offered to do. "Yes to all... maybe the background could be tendrils of smoke and shit? I don't really care at this point; I'll leave that up to you since you're the expert on this."

Anna giggled softly and took her book back from him, drawing in the background which was smoke that weaved in between each picture, but it looked natural. Anna traced the designs onto pieces of the copy paper so she could place them on his bicep. "Judging from the tattoos on your right arm, I assume that you sing?" She placed them on, smoothing it down gently so it covered every inch of his arm and so it transferred neatly onto his skin.

Watching what she was doing, Matt nodded, glancing up at her while he spoke, "you assumed correctly. On our first album, I screamed though, I also screamed a few tracks on Waking the Fallen." Getting up, he walked with her over to the full length mirror, twisting and turning his arm to get a better look at his new tattoo. It was all a bunch of blue lines, but from what he could make out, he loved it so far. "It's perfect."

Settling back into the overly comfortable chair, he held out his arm and rested it against the arm rest. His eyes followed every movement that she made, watching her open the ink pots of all the shades of black, some greys and reds. Matt was already used to the pain that came with getting a tattoo so - unlike his sister - he didn't flinch when he heard the buzz of the tattoo machine.

"I've seen some of your work on my band-mates, you're really fucking talented," Matt complimented, smiling despite the needle itching closer to the bone of his shoulder. Her eyes flickered up to his face, blushing again when she saw no trace of a lie.

"Thank you, Matt. I really take time in delivering the best for my clients, y'know... we've all been victim to a shitty tattoo once in our lives and I try not let that happen to anyone that walks through my door." Anna murmured, dipping the needle into the pot of ink. Matt smirked, thinking to Brian's tattoo on his back.

"Oh don't I know it, thankfully I can't say that I have had that happen to me... but for Brian... he wasn't as lucky," Matt chuckled, crossing his legs at his ankles. "Across his shoulder blades is his last name, written in some sort of rip off, horror font. But it's all faded and shit. I actually don't know why he hasn't got a tattoo over the top of it."

Anna smirked, wiping the cloth across Matt's arm to get rid of the excess ink before she continued shading in the wing for one of the few bats. "My friend made sure that when I did get a tattoo, it was from himself. He didn't exactly trust most of the shops in our home-town."

"I couldn't imagine you having a shit tattoo; you're too pretty for one of those."

With that comment, Anna smiled softly. It was often that she'd get her clients complimenting her, some were good-looking, but none measured up to Matt. She mentally slapped herself for thinking that, it was only an hour into the appointment. "You caught me," She replied with a smirk, knowing that Matt hadn't expected for her to say anything other than to deny his flirting.

The pair subdued to silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was more comfortable; something that would be experienced between two friends. Apart from the occasional comment from Matt that had subtle undertones of flirting, all that could be heard was the buzz from the tattoo machine. Anna worked meticulously, making sure that every aspect of the tattoo was perfect, all while having Matt's eyes focused solely on her, not at what she was doing, but on her face.

To Matt, it was like staring at something out of an art gallery; he hadn't seen anyone like her before. Her long dyed red hair which framed her face fell down past her shoulders in soft, barely there waves. Anna's face was screwed up in concentration, a look which to Matt suited her. He wanted to get to know her better.



After wiping down Matt's arm, Anna pulled off her gloves and chucked them into the trash can that was located underneath the desk, the biggest grin plastered on her face. Patting Matt's leg, she murmured softly, "You can go over to the mirror to check it out if you'd like."

Eagerly, Matt stood and walked over to where the mirror was propped up against the wall, holding his arm out for him to look at. A grin slowly morphed onto his face until he was smirking, glancing up at her, "It's just what I wanted, thank you."

"Don't thank me, Matt. It was your idea, initially; I just put it on your skin."

"But, you're the one who made it looked far more awesome than what I made it in my mind," Matt replied, a billion ideas running through his head at how he could repay her with. As he let her clean up his tattoo properly and dress it accordingly, he allowed her to go through the processes of looking after it, despite the pair knowing that he was more than capable of doing so.

Wallet in hand, Anna was shocked that Matt didn't even bat an eye at the price, which was $350; most people would have twitched a little, or gasped, but not him. Handing him the slip of paper to sign for his credit card, Anna listened to him talk, already loving the way that his voice sounded. "So what do you think?" Matt asked, bringing Anna out of her head.

"Uh, sorry... I completely missed that... What did you say?" She said apologetically.
Matt just chuckled softly, leaning against his elbows on the counter. "I said... How would you like to go to dinner with me?" He asked gently, a little unsure of what she may say in response - whether she would or not.

"I'd love too," Anna murmured, handing over her phone when he asked for it, watching him type out his number into a new contact before calling his own phone.

"I'll call you sometime tomorrow, okay?" She couldn't say something back due to his lips pressed up against her cheek gently; all she could do was blush shyly and push back a strand of hair behind her ear. Smirking, Matt winked before walking out of the parlour, leaving Anna to think about what just happened.