Anahita (fallentennyo) wrote in darkcarnivale, @ 2012-02-08 00:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | anahita, lilith |
WHO: Anahita and Lilith
WHAT: One from hell and one from heaven. Middle ground? Tattoos.
WHERE: Anahita's tent on the Midway
WHEN: During carnival hours
RATING: Tame
Lilith had heard rumors that there was a tattoo artist in the carnival and when she finally had some free time she set off to find this person. Part of her newest tattoo, the skull piece on her stomach, needed some touch ups. And maybe they could even talk through some ideas for art to cover the bit of remaining skin on her body. Maybe a straight razor on her ribs... She'd decide later. She found the tent where the tattoo artist was set up but there was already someone in her chair. Lilith had time to kill anyway, so she just waited.
With her hagoromo restored to her, there was no denying that Anahita was in a better mood. She kept it on her person always. That day, it took the outward form of a leather jacket. But to her it felt like the most impossibly smooth silk ever made. Just the feel made her smile to herself as she went about her work. There weren't a lot of appointments lined up that day, and her last one before the later hours of the evening was in her chair. A young man, early 20's. He was getting a tattoo of his parents names on his chest along with a banner with the dates of their deaths, followed by 'Never Forgotten.' It was simple work, really. Black ink with some shading. It was practically second nature, the way her hand moved. She noticed when someone else entered the tent though she didn't look up from her work. She did, however, give a greeting. "Hello. Just a minute and I'll be finished here." True to her word, she finished the last bit of shading and showed the finished product to the customer. Then came the necessary talk about tattoo care and healing before he paid her and was on his way. Her full attention was returned to the woman who'd been waiting. "I'm Anahita. How can I help you?"
"No rush," Lilith replied when she was greeted. She really wasn't waiting long at all before Anahita approached her after finishing with her last client. "Hey. I'm Lilith. I sell merch here. Just thought I'd drop in and see if you were free for some touch ups. I have some work on my stomach that needs some refreshing. Some of the pigment didn't hold well as it healed." Lilith lifted her shirt and showed Anahita exactly what needed to be touched up, proud to show off her ink. If it had been socially acceptable, she would go around naked all day just to flaunt her work. Sadly, nudity was frowned upon in the general public. Completely ridiculous, in her opinion.
Lilith. The name wasn't familiar to her. Then again, she didn't know everyone in the carnival anyway. People came and went quite often, after all. "Well, I'm free until the later hours, so you're in luck." She looked over the tattoo as Lilith showed it to her. True to what she'd said, some of the ink just hadn't held as well. "That shouldn't be an issue at all." There were very, very few things she'd encountered in the way of tattoos that she wasn't able to work with.
"Perfect." Lilith lowered her shirt again so she didn't look like a fool holding her shirt up as Anahita did whatever preparations were needed to get her station ready. "It's been a while since I've gotten a tattoo. I might just take advantage of having an artist on site," she said with a smirk.
The preparations were more than simple. Organization also became second nature when you'd been doing tattoos for as long as she had. Once she had everything together and had put on a pair of black disposable gloves, she gestured to the open chair which she'd tipped back so Lilith could lay down. "Feel free to take advantage. Most of my usual customers with the carnival have left. And I'm never opposed to a new canvas."
Lilith sat in the chair and pulled her shirt entirely off this time so that there was no chance of an accidental ink spillage onto it. At least she was wearing a bra, though. She lay back on the chair and made herself comfortable. "How long have you been tattooing people? Ever check out any of the conventions across the country?"
It certainly wasn't the first time she'd seen a woman in that state of undress. But even still, everyone was different. No two canvases were the same and she had appreciation for most. She looked over the tattoo again, trying to think of what she'd be doing first to ensure that things came out well. "How long, let's see..." She actually had to think about it for a moment. "Fifty years or so, I believe?" To anyone outside of the carnival, that answer would seem absurd. Her outward appearance didn't really reflect how long she'd been doing her craft, let alone how long she'd been alive. "As for conventions, I've been to a few. Out of curiosity, mostly."
Fifty years? That was quite a long time. And Anahita certainly didn't look anywhere near fifty. "Have you been around much longer than that? Do you know any of the older tattoo techniques?" Lilith had never actually gotten any tattoos before the modern equipment had been developed. She'd been more interested in just causing havoc and ruining lives. You know... typical demon things. "I've been to a couple of conventions and there's a lot of fantastic talent out there."
"Far longer than that. Last estimate was two thousand years...though I'm not exactly sure." And she most definitely didn't look anywhere near two thousand years old either. "I do know some older techniques, yes. Some are crude, and others are less." She only used the modern equipment now, for obvious reasons. But she knew of other ways that weren't nearly as quick or efficient. "Quite a bit of talent, yes. It's always interesting to see what others do." As she spoke she prepared Lilith's skin before choosing the right ink to get started.
"Well, you're aging very gracefully," Lilith said with a chuckle. She had to move from body to body to keep a youthful appearance. Although, that was her choice. She could have inhabited a dead body but that just didn't sit right with her. She wanted her hosts to experience what she was doing to them and she wanted them to have to pick up the pieces once she moved on. "New York has a pretty great convention. They even have a couple of performers that would be right at home in a freakshow."
"So I've been told," she said with a bit of a smirk. "I'll never change, so far as I know. Certainly nothing to complain about." As for death...well, it was an ambiguous thing for her. Considering she originally came from heaven, it wasn't likely that she could die. Or if she could, it really would only be like starting over. "I wouldn't doubt it. New York has always been quite interesting." She started in with the touch-up, the familiar buzzing of the needle filling the air. "Speaking of freakshows...what exactly brought you here?" It was an innocent enough question, so far as she could tell.
The buzz of the equipment was a wonderful sound. Almost hypnotic. And the familiar scratch of the needle across her skin was wonderful. "Security. For a long time I would live in the same city going by the names of my hosts and it was tedious. I ruined relationships and lives all the same, but there was always the risk of being found out and exorcised. Of course, the symptoms of possession and very much like the symptoms of depression, so nobody would really catch on. Except those crack-pot street corner preachers that yelled about the coming apocalypse. I met a band shortly after I found my latest host and touring with them offered a measure of security. Travelling from city to city. But I still had to go by another name and hide what I am. Then I found this carnival. I can just exist here. I don't need to hide."
Hosts. Ruining lives. Risk of exorcism. Possession. Even without the slight inkling she'd been getting, Anahita wouldn't have found it difficult to ascertain that Lilith was a demon. And it made her wonder...was she that Lilith, or simply one of the same name? "That's the funny thing about this place. You never have to hide. Except from the marks...though with them it's more like hiding in plain sight." Her eyes didn't stray from her work. And because she felt so at ease, the natural glow and luster of the blue green came back.
"Hiding in plain sight is the easiest way to hide." Lilith could feel something different about Anahita. She just had this... aura. There was power there and the dark part of Lilith wanted to devour it, but her rational (is there such a thing with demons?) side told her not to. If she was to harm Anahita then she wouldn't have a tattoo artist to visit whenever the desire struck. It was just plain logic. She watched the artist as she worked and saw that she was taking on a sort of glow. It was really quite beautiful.
"Very easy, yes. And sometimes I wonder if the humans really know. Because some of the things here are just too realistic." Her hands worked with practiced diligence. Bit by bit the touch-up was coming together. Rather nicely, if she could say so herself. Her eyes were still glowing, and if you paid attention, there was a bit of luster to her skin as well. In an uninhibited state, she would shine like something otherworldly. But it wasn't so simple, even if she didn't have to hide. "So I have to ask...and feel free to not answer...but are you that Lilith in particular? Besides what you've already mentioned. I feel a sort of opposition from you. And seeing as I hail from heaven, I have to assume that you're a demon."
Lilith was proud of who she was. She may not go around telling every single person she met, but if someone asked she would tell. She smiled at Anahita's question. "I am." Even though they were at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, Lilith didn't believe that they couldn't still get along. As long as the other woman was strong and didn't let any stupid man push her around, she wouldn't have an issue with her.
"Just curious." She didn't judge. Not really, anyway. Unless someone disturbed the peace, then she really didn't have an issue with them. "There haven't been too many demons here. The last caused quite a disturbance." She paused a moment, surveying her work a bit. "This is an interesting piece. Just a whim or something you thought out?"
"Disturbence, huh? That's too bad. At least it was dealt with?" Lilith brought an arm up to rest behind her head, being careful not to move too much and cause Anahita to make a mistake. "It's a cover up, actually. There was a diamond and text on my stomach just under my boobs. I got bored of it. Had it lasered to get rid most of the pigment then had it done over with the skull and flowers and stuff. The diamond looked out of place... like it was just stuck in the middle of this big open canvas. This at least as a nice flow to it."
"Yes, it was dealt with. Our ringmaster handled it to protect us." Finished with checking her work, she continued on. "Ah, I see. Well, the other tattoo sounds quite plain. This is much better. A piece with flow to it is far better than something surrounded by so much empty space." She'd taken care with her own pieces to make sure there was flow. Everything complemented everything else.
"Disturbence, huh? That's too bad. At least it was dealt with?" Lilith brought an arm up to rest behind her head, being careful not to move too much and cause Anahita to make a mistake. "It's a cover up, actually. There was a diamond and text on my stomach just under my boobs. I got bored of it. Had it lasered to get rid most of the pigment then had it done over with the skull and flowers and stuff. The diamond looked out of place... like it was just stuck in the middle of this big open canvas. This at least as a nice flow to it."
"Yes, it was dealt with. Our ringmaster handled it to protect us." Finished with checking her work, she continued on. "Ah, I see. Well, the other tattoo sounds quite plain. This is much better. A piece with flow to it is far better than something surrounded by so much empty space." She'd taken care with her own pieces to make sure there was flow. Everything complemented everything else.
Lilith thought it was pretty funny that the human race still hadn't figured out how to cure cancer but had managed to figure out how to use lasers to get rid of unwanted tattoos. There was lots of money to be made in catering to a person's vanity. "I think I'd like to eventually have an entire bodysuit. Maybe by the end of the year. I don't think I'll be sticking around in this body for much longer than that. Then I can move on to a new canvas."
"An entire bodysuit, interesting. I can't say I've seen too many of those. But the ones I've seen have been intriguing." One in particular came to mind. Charlie, from the haunted house. That tattoo work was intricate and most certainly intriguing. "That must be convenient. Being able to change out the canvas and obtain a new look."
"It's fun for me. I get to alter new bodies every so many years. The girls whose bodies I borrow don't really like what I'm doing. They're the ones who have to live with it until they die. Like, this girl... Kait. She was a beauty queen until I stepped in. She was basically a show pony. Walk when told, pose, turn, pose, smile, repeat. Completely degrading. She never would have considered piercing anything but her ears let alone get a tattoo or gauge her ears. She relied so heavily on her pristine appearance and she let people just parade her around. It was disgusting. When she gets her body back, she's going to have to deal with the fact that she won't fit in with what the mainstream considers beautiful. She's never going to win another crown. The Miss America title is no longer within her reach. She's going to have to pick up the pieces and rely more on herself and become a stronger person."
Changing the body of a host without their knowledge and then leaving them to live with the changes. That was certainly one sort of entertainment. "I see." Anahita had never had to possess a body. She had one of her own, though it translated different on earth than it had in heaven. It was solid, corporeal. And she had to live with the changes she made to it. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be that girl who'd wake up one day with her appearance completely changed. But she was also no one to judge. "So do you consider what you do constructive or do you simply enjoy it?"
"No woman should let anyone tell them what to do. The girls like Kait are the reason there are stereotypes about dumb blondes. The girls too stupid and weak to do anything for themselves. The ones who settle down and become perfect little suburban housewives and do whatever their husband says without question. She needed to be taught a lesson." Lilith frowned a little at the thought of Kait's past. "I'm helping her, but having a good time in the process."
"Subservience of women is not ideal to see, I agree. I've seen more than enough of that in my life. Two thousand years back in standard Japanese culture and somewhat recently in the geisha houses." But it seemed like a never-ending cycle in her mind. There would always be women who let themselves be bossed around. You couldn't possibly teach lessons to them all. "Regardless, it's an interesting way to look at things. Teaching a lesson and having fun at the same time."
Lilith knew she could only teach her lesson one girl at a time, but as long as she made her point it was worth it. She had all eternity to spend possessing girls and tearing apart the world they knew. "Women should never feel they have to serve a man. And a woman should never be made to feel inferior to a man. Men are easy to manipulate. A woman should never be manipulated. I have until the end of time to do this. If I don't have fun with it I'll just go crazy."
"Men are easy to manipulate should you know how to manipulate them." Even as she spoke she was still paying intent attention to her work to ensure that she didn't make a mistake. Not that she commonly made mistakes regardless. "Eternal life is funny that way. You have to keep it fun or it would drive you insane."
"Flash a man your chest and he'll do anything you want," Lilith said with a chuckle. "The last thing I want to be is one of those insane loose cannons. It's far to easy to be found out and exorcised that way. At least with my approach it just looks like my hosts become depressed then rebel against the life they knew."
"Unless he's gay, in which case I don't believe that would work." Sad, but true. "Oh, so you don't have anything planned like that movie...what was it...The Devil Inside?" An attempt at a joke. She clearly didn't know how a demon's mind worked. "A more conventional route. At least, in comparison to other sorts of possessions."
"The gay guys are just as easy to manipulate. But they're all harmless. They'd never demand a woman to be subservient." Lilith chuckled again at the mention of the movie. "That was a very entertaining movie. There are demons that are completely batshit crazy and possess with the sole intention of destroying. There are a lot of demons that completely loathe the human race and there are others that are just fascinated. Most of us were humans once."
Movies like that one only demonstrated that humans didn't know everything about what creatures lived among them. Their idea of demonic possession was dark and twisted. Meanwhile, Anahita was working on a possessed body right then. And she wasn't folding herself in half or speaking tongues. "That's how it is with creatures of heaven and hell, correct? Most were human at some point or another...I really don't even know if I was ever human. I just remember opening my eyes for the first time to heaven's light." Of course, it was something that she'd neer see again.
A successful film needed action and suspence and lots of opportunity for quick jumps and cheap scares. A Hollywood producer wouldn't be interested in the type of low-key possession Lilith had mastered. The movie would be a flop. Of course, there were cases of more violent possessions. Just like how the human race had their psychos and deranged personalities, demons had those, too. "I remember being human," Lilith said softly. "It was painful."
She was quiet after the comment about being human, taking a few long moments to concentrate on her work. She was just about finished. "Humans are fragile. Life for them is painful in some way or another." She'd seen more than enough of that in her lifetime, that was for sure. With another pause and a bit of silence, she finished her task, examining her finished work to ensure that things had been done correctly. "Alright...I think that does it." She gestured to the full-length mirror so that Lilith could see.
"I left paradise to get away from a controlling asshole and he had the angels kill my children. I would have killed him if I could." Lilith's eyes became a little unfocused as she thought but she quickly blinked out of it. She couldn't let that get to her at that moment. There was a time and a place for everything and that was neither the time nor the place to get angry. When Anahita finished up and gestured to the mirror, Lilith stood and took a look at her refreshed tattoo. "It looks as good as new. Thank you."
She knew the story of Lilith. Though the Christian religion was different from what she knew, it never hurt to learn things outside of what you knew. Most especially when some of the creatures you lived around came from that theology. Still, she also knew that the story was not a pleasant one and she didn't want to push about it. The focus was much better placed on the tattoo. "You're more than welcome. I'm glad you're pleased with the job." She gave a bit of a smile.
"I have a few ideas for a new piece on my side. I'll get some rough sketches done then maybe we can sit down and plan it out?" Lilith continued to look over her work, examining it closely and admiring how that little bit of new ink just brought the whole piece back to life. Maybe a neck tattoo would be in her near future as well. "What do I owe you for this?"
"That sounds perfectly fine. Feel free to come and find me whenever you wish." She started cleaning of up a bit, though not with her hands. Telekinesis came in handy for many, many things. As for what was owed... "Consider it on the house." She didn't truly need the money that she earned from her work. After all, she'd been working and saving for so long. "A belated welcome to our freakshow, if you will."
Lilith smiled when Anahita told her not to worry about payment. "Thanks. I've never felt more at home anywhere before. Most of the people I've met have been great. Odd, but great." It felt a little weird to Lilith to not pay for a service she had recieved. She was so used to doing favors for others and collecting her fee plus interest whenever she wanted to that it was strange that someone just wanted to do something for her for free.
"You're welcome." As she continued to speak her attention was split between cleaning up her workspace and keeping up with conversation. "The carnival is home to us all now. We're family. Perhaps the strangest family anyone has ever had, but a family nonetheless."
"We put the fun back in dysfunctional," Lilith said then laughed. It was a little strange to think of being a part of a family after so many years of considering the people she surrounded herself with as merely minions, but she was open to the concept. More so just for the security than for the mushy emotions that usually came with the whole family gig.