A good distance away from the hideout, Eva had just stepped out of the shower. The blood was no longer pooling from her head, though it had bled quite a bit. The injury was not as severe. After a quick scan of Google, Eva surmised that this was common for head wounds. They bled like it Niagara falls, but it wasn't uncommon for the bleeding to be an inducer of unnecessary drama.
It was then that her stomach relinquished an angry roar. She hadn't eaten since last night, and that had only been appetizers. Looking herself over in the mirror, Eva figured it was best that she stay in for the day, give the bruises and other maladies the chance to calm down. Making her way to the kitchen, Eva started into making some bacon and pancakes. After a few minutes of standing in front of the stove, Eva was forced to grab a chair and drag it into the kitchen. Her body was beginning to come down from the adrenaline high, curtesy of Carl the Nurse. Touching the raw spot at the top of her head, Eva muttered "Asshole."
Her eyes wandered for a second, until they landed on her purse. It was still on the floor, having only been touched when Eva rummaged through it for her phone. Her tablet was peeking out from its confines. Eva grabbed for it, and opened it up. It was still alive and Joker's page was still open. Getting up, Eva set up the tablet and began the process of flipping pancakes and adding to the tattoos.
It wasn't long until Eva was sitting at the counter, fighting to keep the food down despite her throat's protesting. The other hand was the occupied with her work. Despite everything, Eva found that the tattoos and designs were coming easier. More twisted smiles decorated the screen, all in varying sizes, flipping to another page she spelled out his name in large lettering, she didn't fill it in, leaving it has hollow outlines. Next page, she brought the word "damaged" back, shaking her head, she moved on. New page, she started to draw out a knife, simple. The pen froze for a second, it looked like the knife from last night, the one he handed her to get the job done. The drawing itself was a simple replica, to anyone that was uninvolved it just an everyday switch blade. Shaking, Eva scrapped it, tossed it into the small trash can on her desktop.
Licking her lips, she started to draw the Bat insignia. With time it became cracked, like shattered glass, she started to add instructions for the blood effect. More detailed than the others. Hell, if this piece wasn't destined to go on Joker's body, Eva could admit to liking it, it was portfolio worthy.
Just as she was bringing her dishes to the sink, Eva's phone began to buzz. It was a client, they were hopping to schedule a skype consultation. Biting her lip, the tattooist mulled it over, she had already canceled on this client twice this week, another calculation from her end could result in a loss. Against her better judgement, Eva agreed. Within the hour she was skyping, and doing her best to hide the bruises on her face and neck. This was achieved by setting her tablet on the counter and only showing the clean side of her face. She also went the extra mile and threw on a shawl to cover her neck. It all worked out better than expected.
By the time the consultation had ended, it was 3pm. Normally, Eva would still be at work, if she hadn't canceled her one tattoos session today she would have been their till probably 8pm. Taking into account the clean-up and paperwork. Despite working in what most would assume was an incredibly laid back industry, Naughty Needles was still a business and it needed to be a treated as such.
Sighing, Eva sat down on the couch and flipped on the TV. She couldn't go outside looking like this. Absently, she touched the bruises on her neck. After the consultation, she had removed the ice packs. The pain was as raw as ever, and the memory of being so close to death was still running rampant in her mind. Snatching up the remote, Eva began to flip through channels, she needed to distract herself from thinking about him or the events of last night, dwelling on them only made it worse.
Falling back into the upholstered confines of the couch, Eva purged her thoughts with mindless television. There was a special on the Discovery channel about body modifications across the globe. It got her thinking about work and the possibility of bringing in an artist who specialized in Irezumi or scarification. Irezumi could bring in some business from the local Japanese mob. Though Eva was loath to do any work for the criminal side of Gotham, she couldn't resist of the call of the money. It was not a cheap process. Lifting up the left pant leg of her sweats, Eva's fingers traced out the design of the small Irezumi flower she got after she dropped out of school. When she was in the process of realizing her dreams to open her own tattoo parlor, she traveled a bit. One of the places had been Japan.
It was heavily detailed, as most Irezumi were. It also hurt like a mother fucker when it was happening. It was like being shived multiple times, which is exactly what it was. The process involved a long applicator with large needles and they were shoved in quick and fast. Still, the result, an incredibly vivid and highly detailed Chrysanthemum, had made the whole thing worth it. Her thigh healed pretty quickly, and Eva took pride in her pain threshold. Most Tebori (as the Japanese called hand carved tattoos) were said to be excruciating. Eva had also traveled into Alaska and Hawaii to have a look at their methods, though she didn't come home with anything on those trips. Not all tattoos were for everyone and she did not have the genealogical background that opened her to taking on something that was very sacred to the culture.
Tapping the flower, thoughtfully, Eva looked up the television. Only to find that her program was no longer on. Instead, it had switched over to a local news bulletin "The Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum!"
Eva's shoulders slackened "This morning, Arkham doctors were shocked to find that Brandon Hicks (an Asylum orderly) who had been reported missing for the last 2 week, was standing in for Joker in his cell at the Asylum. In an interview, Mr. Hicks explained that the Joker had incapacitated him during rounds the night he went missing. Clearly, the Joker had been planning this for some time and was ready to have Mr. Hicks play as his double. Authorities are still unsure as to how the Joker managed to escape the Asylum undetected, the matter is being investigated. The Police advise that citizens call the hot line listed below if the Joker is sighted and are advised to keep their distance should they see him."
The screen switched back to tattoo special. Before she knew was she was doing, Eva threw the remote across the room. It smashed into the wall and the batteries ricocheted. She couldn't escape him, the bastard was literally everywhere. He wasn't even in the room and even when she had managed to think of other things, he popped right back up. It was like when you stepped on a cockroach, and it would just lay more eggs, making your pest problem a hundred times worse than it was before. Groaning, Eva rolled over and put her back to the TV. Somehow she was still able to cry, only the tears were the product of frustration.
(Author's Note: Well my dearest readers, we are celebrating a great victory this evening. The fic has garnered a little over 200 reviews in its brief existence. I would like to thank the academy, my unofficial Beta reader who puts up the incredibly disturbing excerpts I send her (unannounced) via facebook, and finally I'd like to thank you all for your support and kind words. Have a lovely evening my loves.)