Má´ĘĘá´ Ęá´'s á´á´á´ÉŞÉ´É˘Â down with something, a horrible cold or whatever, given the night's waning youth and the fact, which remains obscure much to his annoyance, that he has been restless lately but the white walls of the parlor are blinding now, fucking with his eyes as he cleans the tattoo instruments [ tube, tip, grip ] with warm water. For a moment as fleeting as the neon lights outside, everything reminds him of the hospital â the glaring purity [ as if mocking the tar black souls around the establishment ], the tang of sterility [ a smell he's gotten used to by now, however ] and uneasiness slowly pools in the pit of his stomach. A sigh, soft and trembling, exits his rosy petals while he rinses the items before he allows the cool air to remove the moisture from them thoroughly.
Stripping his pale hands of the gloves and waiting for the equipment to dry with little patience, he takes a seat by the tattoo chair, bouncing his leg â rolling his eyes about the bright, too bright room then fixing his gaze on the translucent partition that separates the body art studio from the nightclub, tracing the glowing lights like a child. He thinks about the malaise that's settled down within, a feeling that gnaws at his bones along with tiredness, then reflects on all the shit he's been dealing with for the past few days without even a proper respite. Finishing tattoos, grabbing the ink supplies, plus other strenuous assignments which mostly involve blood ; a lot of blood. It's not easy to find time for himself as of late, he realizes and feeling sick is hardly a wonder.
A while later, once they are dry, lithe, skeletal digits slip into a new pair of gloves to place each part of the tattoo machine into a sterilization pouch meticulously before sealing them. He dances over to the autoclave then lays the small bags on the trays, making certain that all instruments remain apart before he fills the apparatus with distilled water then turns it on. Licking his slightly chapped lips, he informs his fellow worker [ who is fortunately not busy ] about the sterilization of the equipment just in case he forgets [ he never does, though ] as he skips across the parlor, away from the white walls that are hurting his eyes and out into the soothing blackness of the nightclub to quench his thirst.
He sways into the arms of the dark, letting them guide him further, pulling him through the riotous sea of unknown faces. The loud music makes the walls quiver, he notices, throbbing erratically like a heart pricked by excitement while his own seems to calm down the second the Stygian gloom engulfs him [ taking the sting out of his eyes ]. He wends his way to the bar and orders a little drink then, seeing how crowded it is, he decides to bring the glass along with him to a lonely corner where he slumps onto a sofa â sipping on his icy liquor, deriving comfort from the fiery liquid ripping through his throat. His shift is ending soon and all tasks here have been completed so for now, he rests.