CHRIS: When’s that gonna be?
MARCO POLO: I don’t know
If you want
I can pick you up one day this week since we still don’t have rehearsals
CHRIS: True
When is Erik coming back?
MARCO POLO: 29th
But I think we agreed on going in for rehearsal on Oct 2?
CHRIS: Yeah
Then I’d say this week is fine, yeah
Don’t have any plans after work
MARCO POLO: Thursday?
CHRIS: Perfect
18. Raining
September21st,2017
Munich, Germany
One thing Chris lovedabout his job was that he got to make people happy in many different ways.
When he did pre-made designs, it was always encouraging; having someone want a piece of your own personal art and vision on their bodies was a delight. Custom, yet random tattoos with no particular meaning were also fun. But when it was one with a story full of pain; those were the ones he loved the most.
It was a huge time and emotional investment, and he sometimes had to act like a therapist during the sessions. That was why putting ink without getting so involved with his clients now and then was also a great mood balancer, especially if he was having a bad day. Even so, being part of someone’s recovery process was fucking special.
Dark realism wasn’t for everyone, though. While he’d started messing around and trying all kinds of styles, listening to everything Klaus had to teach, this was the one that resonated with him. He still had a lot to learn, but Chris had always had a gift for drawing and learned fast, especially when he got obsessed over something. He would spend hours perfecting his craft, sometimes forgetting to drink water or even eat. And today was a big day.
Scars were tricky. So much so some artists refused to work on them. They had to consider a lot of things when covering up these types of marks. Was it the result of self-harm? Mastectomy? C-section? Keloid? Each one of these could have different textures and depths, which required a different approach. The skin of a scar was thinner than normal, fragile, and extremely stretched. You had to be very cautious to not inflict more damage.
However, over the past decade, he’d tattooed several of these, and it had slowly become one of his favorite things to do. Sometimes people wanted to cover the marks. Other times, they just wanted something to frame and enhance them as a reminder of what they had overcome. Everyone healed from trauma in their own way, and it was a beautiful thing to see.
“Chris!” Klaus called from the entrance.
He gave the Viking queen he was working on one last touch and left the digital pencil beside his drawing pad. “Coming!”
As he walked out to the reception area, which included a tiny waiting room, Jenna was already there.
“Hey!” He smiled at her.
She mirrored his expression. “Hi!”
“Ready?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“You’re in the best hands,” Klaus said while checking something on the computer over the piercer, Anna’s, shoulder.
