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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2017 11:22:07 GMT -5
July 1st, 2017. Seattle, Washington PERMANENT RECORD the signage above the door read. Walking in, you would quickly find this little shop in the heart of downtown Seattle to be a tattoo shop. The place is very cleanly designed inside. The walls are covered in galleries of art work done by the various artists that work here. A young woman stand behind the front desk, dressed in ripped jeans, a sleeveless and heavily modified shirt that shows off her numerous tattoos that cover her arms, neck and even the part of stomach that is seen. Venturing back further, we find Noah Reigner relaxed, reclining back on the tattoo table with his arm out stretched, allowing the artist to poke the needle in repeatedly. Slowly pacing in front of the table is his brother, Ethan Reigner. Ethan stopped, standing over and watching his little brother being tattooed. Since the last time we saw Noah, he’s altered himself. His hair, for instance, was a different style. Instead of the traditional, shirt-ish style he had before - now he had a full shave around the sides and back of his head, probably a level Zero on the blade. And the top was still long in length, but slicked back. Today also wasn’t the first time he’s been under the needle in the past three weeks. Granted, the one he’s getting at this moment is on the opposite arm from his other, but with the sleeves of his shirt removed we see that the other is still in the healing process. His traditionally clean shaven face was unkempt. He hadn’t seen a razor in an extended period of time, and honestly, it tied the look together. The So-Cal athlete wore fitted black jeans with rips and tears in various positions on the fabric, the ends of the legs tucked into boots that were (very) loosely tied, and as mentioned before, a sleeveless shirt. Ethan had his hands shoved into the pockets of the unzipped grey sweater he wore. The sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, showing the ends of tattoos on his forearms. He watched closely as the tattoo began to take shape on his brother’s arm. There was only a few moments of silence, other than the buzzing of the needle, before Ethan spoke. “So, Chloe tells me you're working with her down at her Cafe.”. Noah’s eyes quickly opened from the closed, relaxed state he was in previously. Those brown eyes of his found his brothers, and he studied him for a second before answering. “Yeah, well .. not really by choice. But, yeah.” That didn’t sit too well with Ethan. Ethan closed his eyes, letting a frustrated groan escape his lips. “What the fuck, Noah?” His eyes ripped open, and the tone of his voice was full of bass. Noah’s eyes remain on his brother, waiting for him to continue his thought because, right now, Noah didn’t know why Ethan was so aggravated by that answer. “You come back - for what - to lick your wounds? Dick Devereaux beat your ass, and you’re going to sit around in Seattle - working in a fucking muffin shop?” The artist working on the tattoo stopped what he was doing. Normally this would be the time that he and other artists asked Ethan to leave, but Ethan was a regular here. They know him all too well. “This is complete bullshit. I don’t know what the fuck got into your head, but you need to get over it.” His tone was calmer than before, but you could still feel the anger with each word that he spit. “E, I’m just taking ti--” Ethan threw up his hand, cutting Noah off. By now the tattoo artist pushed his rolling chair back, snapping the latex gloves off of his hands after putting his needles down. Time for a break for him, I guess. Noah leaned forward, swinging his legs off of the elevated chair and planting them onto the floor. Ethan stopped the pacing he started just seconds ago and looked his brother directly in the eyes. “You’re taking time off because you were attacked? Oh, boo woo. Let me ask you something. -- What happened to the Noah Reigner who was supposed to be the last beacon of hope in wrestling? What happened to that guy who targeted vets in the game because it was his time, not theirs? That guy latched himself to some sluts tits and became soft.” Ethan let every thought he had, out. Noah listened, and as his brother went on, Noah became more and more detached from this conversation. He lowered and shook his head, placing his hands on the tattoo chair and beginning to push himself off - but Ethan reached out, placing a hard hand on Noah’s shoulder, stopping him. “If you think I’m going to let you waste all of the potential you have, by working at a fucking cafe - you have another thing coming.” Noah, by now, raised his head and looked up to his brother with narrowed eyes. After Ethan was through, Noah brought his opposite arm up and smacked Ethan’s hand off of him. He pushed himself off of the chair and now stood face to face with his brother. Noah was just a few centimeters taller than him, but for the most part, they were eye to eye. “And what about you, Captain fuckin’ America?” Ethan remained silent, but the look in his eyes was pure rage. “What? You go out for one tour in the Military and come back a fuckin’ hero? Now what are you doing? Oh yeah, a whole lot of nothing. At least Chloe has a business. At least I have a job that I can go back to. What do you have? Stories. Stories about some lackluster time you served and did a whole lot of fuckin’ nothing. Why haven’t you gone back if you’re so high and mighty? -- What, Ethan Reigner can run home and sit on his ass, but no one else can? Fuck you.” Noah pushed past his brother and marched through the tattoo shop. Forcefully he pushed the door open, almost hard enough that it hit the spring and came swinging right back on him as he walked out. He reached into the pocket of his pants, withdrawing a pack of cigarettes which he promptly opens, removing one and placing the butt of it between his lips. After placing the pack back into his pocket, he withdrew a lighter next and proceeded to light the cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he found himself looking out into the streets of Seattle. He had a point, though - Noah thought. He exhaled a cloud of smoke, flicking the ashes off of the end of the cigarette before repeating those steps. His cell phone that was conveniently tucked into his back left pocket, buzzed. Vibrating indicating a text message. Shifting his weight around to take the phone from his back pocket, he saw “Unknown Number” as a text message indication. He opened it,
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TEXT MESSAGE Unknown Number: Hey Noah it’s Ciara. Chloe gave me ur number hope that’s ok. Thx for helping out at work it’s been cool seeing you around!
------- Noah didn’t think much of it. Replying with a simple, “No problem. Just helping out”. He took another drag from his cigarette, and that was when the door to the tattoo shop opened and Ethan emerged again. “Look.” Ethan said, but Noah didn’t move a muscle. “I just don’t want you giving up on something because of what happened. You trusted the wrong people and it backfired on you. That’s no reason to take time off and come home.” -- “Don’t worry, Ethan. I’ll be gone soon, and Dick will regret attacking me.” Noah said strongly as he flicked the cigarette away. He turned around, eyes locking onto his brother. “Julian, Dick .. all of them. You asked what happened to the Noah Reigner from before? You asked what happened to that guy who was out to make a name for himself?! .. I’m right here.” Ethan smirked, reaching out and grabbing his brother’s shoulder, pulling him into a hug. “That’s what I want to hear.” The brotherly embrace lasted only a second before Ethan pulled away. “I’m going to tell Chloe that you’re done with that Cafe crap.” Ethan removed his phone from his pocket, and proceeded to make a call as he walked away. Noah watched his brother walk down the street before turning and beginning to walk back into the tattoo shop to finish his appointment. He hesitated, though, when his cell phone vibrated in his hand. Taking a second to look down to see that the Unknown Number - now known to be Ciara Vincente - had texted back.
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TEXT MESSAGE Ciara Vincente: Would you like to get a drink or something sometime?
------- Noah smirked, replying “Yeah, sure. What are you doing tonight?”. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, and entered the tattoo shop once again. Ethan succeeded in doing what he set out to do. Lighting a fire under Noah. Now Noah’s head was filled with the idea of returning and seeking out his vengeance … But who would it be on?
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