Author Note: Oh ho ho! Can't believe I actually posted a second chapter. For Day Two of #CloudWeek 2021.
August 12 - Cloud is a little shit
"You hold tight to your umbrella"
"Why does it cost so much?"
"Because you're asking for a lot of detail in your tattoo."
"I know other tattoo artists who will charge me cheaper!"
"And I have clients who will pay me more." Cloud hated Evan. He likely passed on the client to him after he found out how much of a little bitch this client turned out to be. A tanned, muscular jock thinking he owns the world with his gold chains, designer clothes and shoes, and poorly executed half sleeve tattoos, and equally crappy party tattoos across his body. "On top of that, you're asking me for the most basic tattoo you can get."
"But it's a cool tattoo, and the meaning behind it is awesome! A lion and a crown to symbolize power and––"
"Strength and that you're a leader? You go to the gym, so you're the king?" Cloud interrupts, reigning in the absolute urge to roll his eyes and risk popping an eye vessel in his socket. "You and everyone and their mother all say the same thing."
"Why do you have to be such a hardass, bro? It's my tattoo choice, so just do the damn tattoo!"
"I ain't your bro," Cloud flatly states, and he takes in immense satisfaction from how simply bored he sounds and how offended his client looks.
"Fuck this!" Mr. I'm-so-Bad-Ass-With-My-Designer-Tank-Top-and-Basic-Tattoo shrills as he storms out the shop, his minions glaring at Cloud but not saying a word as they stroll out and follow their friend.
Cloud hears a faint chuckle behind him. He whirls, hissing at his mentor and boss because Evan deserves it.
"What a tool," Evan simply says. "And you're on toilet cleaning duty for the week."
"Cause I told him a couple of truths he deserved to hear?"
"Cause you turned away a client."
"Only because you turned him away first before you dumped him on my lap! I had to reschedule a Cetran Female Warrior design for next week!"
"You had a willingly paying client walk out of the shop without a tattoo, Cloud," Evan says as he continues his work on the thigh tattoo of his client. "You give the client what they want within reason. That was within reason."
"He didn't even want to pay the basic starting point."
"Then you should have tried to work with him to negotiate the price."
Cloud rolls his eyes, snapping closed his sketchbook at a half-assed drawing of the most referenced lion on the internet, along with the most referenced crown.
"Those guys weren't the bullies from your childhood, Cloud," Evan continues. "Don't try to prove yourself to people who have nothing to do with your past."
Cloud freezes, focusing on neatly filing away his brush markers and black pens to avoid smashing the mirror. He breathes in a deep breath, silently exhaling as he focuses on the script of his mother's name on his knuckles.
"I'm sorry."
"You're still cleaning toilets this week. And you're going to take on a double appointment to make up for the lost client. So give them what they ask for." No argument or negotiation. Evan was his friend, but he was still his mentor and boss. And Cloud needs to be reminded of this.
"Fine," Cloud mutters with gritted teeth as he heads to the front desk. Yuffie giggles at him as he passes by, attention focused on the backpiece she is working on. "Shut up. You would have turned him away too."
"I would have been slicker about it," she titters, dipping her needle into the rich scarlet red ink. Cloud peers down at the Wutain Snake backpiece. The woman in the chair appears to be half asleep while listening to music through her headphones. She is amazingly taking in all the needle punctures calmly, even though she is likely in a lot of pain. At least she wasn't moaning or making weird animal noises compared to most clients.
"Is this her last session?"
"Yup, six sessions total. Whatcha' think?" It was a downright gorgeous piece. The snake is coiled around several peonies and chrysanthemums, taking up almost the entire expanse of the client's back. The colors are solid and clean, with bold outlines.
"It's amazing. Nice job."
"See? You can be nice."
Cloud rolls his eyes, letting her get back to her work. He slides into the rolling chair at the front desk, opening up their appointment request form to see any potential clients. Evan wants him to take on any tattoo? Fine, he will. Even if the tattoo design idea turns out to be ridiculous.
As always, he's not surprised by the number of people who are requesting the same basic tattoo designs:
Pocket watches. Compasses. Roses. Lion head on the hand. Lion head with a crown. Female portraits with the lion headdress. Micro-tattoos, even though no one in the shop hardly ever does them. Watercolor––Cloud bookmarks one request for a watercolor koi fish Yuffie may be interested in.
He spots a couple of tattoo requests that might take roughly six to eight hours to complete:
A half-figure stonework statue holding the planet Gaia instead of an atlas. The goddess Shiva requested to be tattooed on a calf. Icle Inn Knots in black and grey. Fine-line Cetran constellations on the forearm.
He's excited about doing the half-figure statue, so he emails a confirmation email for a consultation in about three months to the potential client. And, to make it up to Evan, Cloud accepts another lion with a crown. He instantly regrets it.
"Can't we put up a banner on our homepage that says Don't ask for Pocket Watches, Roses, and Lion Heads?"
Evan chuckles, exasperated at Cloud's whining. "Keep asking, and that's all I'll make you do for a full year."
"How are you so patient with him? All he does is whine and piss people off." Yuffie asks, cleaning up the back piece from excess ink.
"Yuffie, I don't want to hear that from you. You two are both equally impossible. So maybe I should just replace you all with new staff."
"Then you would lose the Beautiful Rose Artist of Wutai, known for her bold and unique approach to Wutain Traditional. It will be impossible to replace me, and when I open up my own shop, all of your clientele will come to me!"
"You forget I can also do Wutain Traditional."
"How many requests for Wutain Traditional have you done this year, huh? I've taken on all the dragons, geishas, snakes, koi fish––"
"Cloud, check to see if we got any requests for Wutain. Give one to me. Give a realism piece to Yuffie."
"Roger," Cloud deadpans.
"Oh, ho ho! A little competition, eh?" Cloud tunes out Yuffie's voice, already developing a headache from her loud noise level. He bookmarks a pocket watch and roses request for her and a dragon for Evan. Let them both be challenged since Yuffie isn't known for her realism, and Evan gets annoyed with Wutain's many rules to the art.
Cloud is being a bit of an ass, and he smirks at his childishness. But, unfortunately, he can't bring himself to care.
He's about to send another email to the client asking about the Icle Inn Knots when one request catches his eye. It's a request specifically for Cloud to do realistic battle armor across the shoulder blades in color. The photo references provided in the request are clean for Cloud to gather all the details. The cut of the armor, the wings that he will need to design to fit the shoulder blade, and even the clear-cut jewels of sapphires and rubies embedded into one pauldron.
He takes one look at the client's name, smirks, starts drafting a confirmation email, and reviews his calendar for the next three weeks. It will be roughly another eight months before Cloud will meet his client, but Cloud wants to get this tattoo done as soon as possible.
So he squeezes in a consultation into his already tight schedule to have a consultation in about two weeks, so at least he might start the tattoo in about six months. Potentially, he thinks when he knows his client will say yes to anything.
He's about to send it off when he leaves one last message in his signature:
Thank you for your interest.
Sincerely,
Cloud Strife, Consummate Gentleman.
