Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:16:46 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From: "dymondbolt@earthlink.net" <dymondbolt@earthlink.net>
Subject: Only_Skin_Deep_Part_2

Here the next part to the story, I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: This story has Male to Male sex and love relationships. If you
are under the age of eighteen years, you should not be here. You have been
warned.


Only_Skin_Deep_Part_2


Vince kept telling himself there's nothing strange or unusual about a
customer going to a tattoo parlor with exactly what he wants, already drawn
out. And only having a part of the tattoo done at one sitting is normal.

The hard part is convincing the artist to have seven days in a row open for
the tattoos to be properly applied and in the right order.

The Book had warned that the fourth and sixth days alloted tattoos, were
ones that harmonized the previous days work. If they weren't applied within
24 hours, the previous tattoos would go berserk.

Vox LEO Magi told Vince that his body would start to randomly absorb any
major or minor energy source within range. And with no proper regulator or
storage system in place, it would not take long before Vince would start
resembling a Roman Candle, or Chinese Firecrackers, or simply Melt.

The way The Book had described some of the ways he could die, sounded as if
The Book had witnessed the actual event. Vince didn't press him for more
information along those lines and he sure didn't want to hear names to go
along with the nasty images he now had in his head.

Vince just had to make sure the Tattoo artist could guarantee someone would
be able to complete the tattoos if the first artist missed a day.

And Vince just had to go across the street and walk through the door.

Abe fiance Selah had gotten a small tattoo at this place, and said the
atmosphere was very zen, once you got past the biker clothing and hair
style. She said she couldn't put her finger on it, but it seemed like the
three tattoo artists were in tune somehow.

Vince hoped she was right.

At first glance the two artists that had customers fit the
biker/bodybuilder mold pretty good. Farthest to the left was a six foot two
black haired Vigo Mortensen type young man maybe twenty-five at the
most. He grinned at Vince as he paused to wipe and examine how his work was
going. He seemed to be softly talking to his customer in a stream of barely
heard words that apparently worked at taking the edge off the pain.

The Middle aged redhead lady he was working on was smiling and gazing off
into the distance.

KERN

The second artist was a blond mountain of a man. Six foot five and well
over two hundred and eighty pounds, all of it muscle . A Harley-Davidson
belt buckle on dark blue jeans around a slim waist, with a white tank top
that was just glued to all those muscles. His face said young but his
expression said wise old friend.  He was probably thirty-two,
thirty-three. A golden goatee framed his lips. He was working on a very
skinny very tall young man with a very traditional Japanese style shoulder/
arm piece, a Phoenix. The giant was coloring in the flames and feathers.

GREG

>From behind the counter the owner has been watching Vince watch his
workers. He sees the slim briefcase and gets a good feeling. Customers who
know what they want are the easiest to please.

And If they bring artwork, even better.

Carl starts things off with " Hello. Are you interested in getting a
tattoo?"

Vince jerks a bit, he hadn't heard the owner move behind the counter. Vince
replies " Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there when I walked in."

Carl grins and says " I'm quiet on my feet. It keeps my workers on there
toes, though they hardly need my help with that. I have two of the best
tattoo artists in the area, and they claim I'm the third. My names Carl
Handy the owner of SKIN Gallery. What can we do for you? "

Vince puts out his hand to shake Carls. Just as they make contact Vince
introduces himself " My names Vince Anderson" His talking masked a tiny
static shock that both felt and ignored.

Vince gets closer and asks " Can we talk in private? I have an odd request
and the subject is family related."

Carl says " Family Huh? " He gestures towards a door that leads to his
office and points to a thick chair as he closes the door and asks " would
you like anything to drink/ Water, soda?"

Vince says "No , but thank you."

Carl sits in his chair behind his desk and tells Vince " I have to warn you
that family is important to me , and I think of the two men out there as
family. Anything you tell me will be as if you told them. I don't keep
secrets from my brothers."

Vince smiles now seeing more to trust in this man. He tells Carl " I'm fine
with that. It makes my request a little easier, in fact."  Vince opens the
briefcase and pulls out the large sheet showing himself with all the
tattoos he wanted to get in the next seven days. The copy shows front ,
left side , rear, right side. The briefcase has copies of each separate
tattoo at the actual size.

Carl sees the art work and the amount of work needed to complete the
tattoos and thinks ' I should be thinking this guy's nuts but somehow I
know he is going to get every tattoo on that sheet.'

Carl smiles a sly grin and says " The artist in me is jumping up and down
like a little kid in a candy factory, but the businessman has to warn you
that the amount of tattoos I see there represent a lot of time. Then
there's the man in me that makes me proud to meet people like you. To
suffer for arts sake is one of those definitions I have for what it is to
be a man."

Vince is moved to many emotions . the one that wins out is true affection
for this man he hardly knows. He tells Carl " My Uncle Brian would have
said something like that. Here's what I need to happen. In my family one
member is chosen by the previous one to be the soul of the family. I guess
thats the best way to describe it.  And upon their death, the newly chosen
is required to be tattooed within seven days. My uncle Brian died just a
few days ago, and I found out yesterday he had chosen me. For some reason I
knew he was much older than he looked but I thought he had more..." Vince
is upset that he still hasn't got it together yet when it comes to Uncle
Brians death. He continues with " I thought I had my head around it but I
guess I was wrong. I could use some water if that's Ok?"

Carl jumps up and pulls out a bottle from a mini-fridge and hands it to
Vince as he tells him " No problem."

Vince says" Thank you."

Carl continues "My foster mother died three years ago, and I still catch my
self thinking of her, missing her and sobbing.  If they try to tell you
that time will lessen the pain, I advise spitting in their eye and calling
them a liar. For me and many others the pain is just as intense as the
first moment of loss. The only thing time brought me, was the hope that the
times I thought about my step-mom and smiled at the memory would
increase. So far I still have hope ."

Vince tells him " Listening to you Carl, now I really have hope this whole
thing won't blow-up

in my face." Vince reaches in to his briefcase and pulls out the full body
photo of Uncle Brian.

Vince tells Carl " The family tradition is for the newly chosen to receive
the tattoos within seven days from start to finish. This is what Uncle
Brian looked like. "

Carl is curious "Whoa! Big guy. Where's the person that tattooed Uncle
Brian? "

Vince frowns a bit and says " Olaf died eight years ago. He was uncle
Brian's Lover."

Carl gets a weird look on his face and then grins as he asks " Olaf? A
platinum blonde about this tall? sometimes gets a goofy grin when he's
tattooing you?" Carl's hand had gone up above his head indicating someone
six foot five. He gets up and comes around the desk and stands near Vince
as he waits for his answers.

Vince looks puzzled and answers yes to each question. He asks Carl " Did
you know Olaf?"

Carl tells him " Hell yes. " Carl pulls his shirt off to reveal an
intricate tattoo that seems to roll around a carp in a ball of water and
the black celtic runes are what's keeping the ball intact. The runes have
multiplied and flowed off onto Carl's Right Pec and flowed over his
shoulder and wrapped around his arm to the wrist. Carl proudly tells Vince
" Olaf tattooed the best tattoo I have on my body! "

Carl has puffed up his very thick chest and in so doing shown Olafs work to
be very well placed.  Vince can't help himself. His attraction to this man
and Carl's apparent joy in Vinces presence has them both reaching for each
other ; even if it's only with their minds. Vince though, goes
further. With Carl's chest puffed out to show off Olaf's Tattooing
artistry; Vince reaches out and touches the tattoo on the carps head
between eyes.

There is a subsonic thrum that pulses through Carl and Vince when hand
touches chest. Vince can't pull back yet. The images rushing through their
heads are from the others memory. Abandonment. Adoption. Foster homes
finding the best foster mother and father and them Fighting two years to
adopt Carl; Vince getting into fist fights with close school friends over
games they were playing after and during school, learning his so-called
friends were all cheating in stupid little games, Uncle Brian appearing in
the middle of dad grilling Vince for answers he didn't have, like why was
he crying as he beat up his two friends for cheating on a game?, Uncle
Brian convincing dad and mom to allow Vince to skip the last week of school
before summer, and how Uncle Brian and Olaf taught by example; taught how
to be a MAN. Vince had been so grateful for the escape from a long series
of boring class time , what with finals having been given just two days
earlier.

The images give way to shared emotions and each is deeply pleased by the
others growing attraction towards the other. Carl's right hand flys up and
traps Vinces left hand on Carl's chest. All of the emotion and shared
memories of their youth has Vince just a little spooked , and has Carl
apparently ready to fight to keep Vince near. their eyes lock as Vince half
heartedly tries to pull his hand back; but it feels so good just palm flat
over Carl's big pectoral muscle and Olaf's beautiful tattoo work.  Carl
holds Vinces hand tighter and out of the blue tells him " Oh no! You don't
get away so easy. I don't know how but I do know; You like touching me as
much as I like touching you. We are both gay and without any lover in our
lives. ..." Carl starts to loose steam just as Vince gets some extra
courage from what Carl is saying and what Carl's eyes are saying to Vince.

Vince finishes the sentence that was already formed in Carl's mind with
"and we should give this love we feel, the best chance we can."

Whereupon they closed the gap between them and started to Kiss. The heat
from that kiss vaporized any other thought in their minds. Under the power
of such a Kiss, Time didn't exist.

Moments , hours , days . Getting to the bottom of the mystery of that Kiss
was the important thing. After that day, neither one could ever say how
long that Kiss lasted.

Alas, all things must end., even THE KISS. A medium Bass voice clears it's
throat and sort of chuckles. Greg says from just inside the door " Sorry
Boss. This guys credit card worked last time he was here, but now the
machine is acting weird.  It doesn't reject or deny, it just flashes a
question mark." Vince and Carl partially separate and both grin like their
sort of proud being found like that. Before Carl turns to walk out to the
front their eyes are still involved with that kiss. Carl has to look at
Greg to let him know he's heard what he's talking about.

And when Greg finishes Carl tells him " I've run into that before. I'll be
out in just a second to fix it. " This brings a big grin to Greg's face but
then he tips his head down while still looking at them both, as if he
questions how fast Carl will come out. Carl understands the silent question
and asks him " Have I ever left a customer waiting? "

Greg searches his memory and gets a goofy grin on his face as he tells Carl
" No you haven't!" Greg leaves with the same goofy grin and a swelling in
his leather pants.

Carl breaks the embrace but puts up his right index finger and wags it at
Vince as he says " I'll be right back! You don't go anywhere! OK? " He
waits for a response with his finger still pointing at Vince. Vince grabs
the finger in his right hand which surprises Carl for a second. Vince says
" OK " and kisses the tip of Carl's finger then lets go. Carl is so taken
in with what Vince just did he smiles and taps his finger onto Vinces nose
as he says " Good ". Vince only blinked when his nose got tapped but his
smile alone tells Carl 'hurry back'.

As Carl leaves Vince is filled with an energy that just wants to lift him
off the ground. It's coming from his innermost being. It's saying THANK
YOU, THANK YOU. over and over and he wants to really tell GOD , Thank
You. How do you really tell God thank you?

You start by thanking the messenger. Vince pulls out his cell phone and
calls Selah.

Selah answers her phone and hears " Selah, you are an angel! Thank You,
thank you, thank you! This is the best Tattoo Parlor in the world! Thank
you for sending me here." She smiles because she remembers how she thanked
her friend after she introduced her to Abraham.

Selah tells him " You're welcome Vince. The owner's cute isn't he? And
so... Solid!" She had felt so safe when Carl had put her tattoo on.

Vince looks up to see Carl come back in as he's agreeing with Selah " Yes
he's very cute, and very solid." Carl reacts to the compliment with a smile
at first. When he hears the word solid he frowns, looks at his belly,
pushes it out and grabs it then points a questioning look at Vince.

Vince shakes his head no closes his right hand and knocks on his own chest
above his heart, (meaning he has a solid heart). Carl understands but jokes
around by sucking in his stomach and throwing out his chest then pounding
on it like a gorilla. Vince shakes his head no as he gets a little smirk on
his face and tells Selah " And he's got a good sense of humor. I'll tell
you more later. Thanks again for telling me about this place. Bye." He
hangs up and puts the phone away.

Carl sits on the desk across from Vince and says with a grin " So, where
were we?"

Vince smiles back and says " If we get back to that , we won't get anything
done today."

Carl gets up and looks at the prints of what Vince wants done that are
lying on the desk.

He tells Vince " You're probably right." he looks into Vince's eyes as he
asks " But we will be getting back to that, right?"

Vince gets up and puts his right hand on Carl's left shoulder as he says "
Very right, very very right. And I think you are very right for me. " He
hugs Carl as Carl returns the warm embrace.

Carl tells Vince as they part " Ok then. " He turns back to the prints and
chuckles as he says "Seven days Huh? That's pushing it"

Vince misunderstands and asks " Would it be easier if two artists did it at
the same time? "

Carl sees the miscommunication and says " Oh no, it's not that. Seven days
gives more than enough time to do this. Eight hours a day, seven days , or
fifty-six hours of work; no problem. It's your body that's the
problem. Your skin can only take so much abrasion; which , in effect is
what happens with the tattooing process. If you've seen anybody right
aftter they've gotten a tattoo; you'd see the actual tattoo line is raised
with swelling. I just don't know if your body could tolerate that much
tattooing in that short amount of time."

Vince looks at Carl and reflects on his uncles last words. Yes he can trust
Carl. He tells Carl "My uncle told me the Light of Love would shine on me,
but don't let it take my breath away."

Vince has Carl's full attention when he says " This is an old photo of my
uncle and some of his friends at a pond they used to swim at." The photo he
hands to Carl shows three young men. From left to right the men are
average, tall and very short .

Carl says " your uncle is in the middle right? " He looks to Vince to say
yes.

Vince shakes his head and says "That's Olaf, Uncle Brian is to the right"
Carl is confused and he flips it over. There in the upper left corner is
old faded ink .

Carl read the legend " Maerk Brown, Olaf Carpenter, Brian
Anderson. nineteen-thiry-eight.

The old swimming hole , Stigler , Oklahoma."

Vince tells him " Carl I trust you and I suppose through you I can trust
your two men outside."

Vince pulls The Book from his briefcase and sets it on the desk,

places his right hand over his heart and left hand on The Book and says

" In the Name of the Light, I bid thee Open! Vox LEO Magi"

The lock on the book pops open and The Book opens as it says "In the Name
of the Light , I reveal myself. Only those whose name appears upon the Page
of Guardians may share the wisdom of this Tome and view the Secrets of the
Light!" Carl moves closer and sees Vinces full name right below Brian's and
Olafs signature.

Carl says "Vincent Brian Anderson.  Nobody's ever trusted me this much
before."

Vince says " Nobody's ever loved you this much before." and kisses Carl

The kiss progresses as the first one had when a contented voice intones "
Beautiful"

They stop kissing but remain in an embrace and Vince asks "What was that?"

The Book says "You Two Shine your own light. It is beautiful to see."

Vince and Carl smile at each other and then look at the book.

Carl says "I can't say I haven't thought about this, but this is a little
sudden."

Vince looks into Carls eyes and says "Me too. But ..I do."

Carl still smiling replies " I do too" and reaches for a pen and writes
Carl Handy next to Vinces signature.

The Book says " Carl Handy, I bid you Welcome, In the Name of the Light."
the book then closed itself as the door opens to Kern peeking in.

Kern says " Lunch time boss. I locked the front door and changed the sign
to back after lunch." He's close enough now to be able to say " Hi my
name's Kern. And Greg says it looks like you kiss pretty good." Vince and
Kern shake hands

Vince says " Vince Anderson. Thanks"

Carl throws his chest out and looks proud and a bit gooofy at the same
time.

He tells Kern " We just got married!" Vince snorts out a chuckle but looks
proud and smiles too.

Kern says "Yeah right! so who's the witness?" just then a gap appears on
the books bottom pages and light streams out.

The Book mumbles out " I Am" and the gap and light disappears.

Kern's eyes get large as he says " Ok now I'm getting creeped out."

Vince says " I didn't know he could talk with the cover still closed "

The gap reappeared as The Book says "I don't usually" and then disappeared
again.

Vince says " I suppose introductions are in order." He places his left hand
on The Book and his right hand over his heart and says

" In the Name of the Light, I bid thee Open Vox LEO Magi"

The Book opens itself and light pours forth as he says " IN the Name of the
Light, I reveal myself.  Only those whose name appears upon the Page of
Guardians may share the wisdom of this Tome and view the Secrets of the
Light!"

Kern has gotten closer and closer as The Book spoke and can read the names
on the Guardian Page.

He says " So I just sign right here?"

The Book says " That is the general idea "

Kern seems happy and excited with the reply and says " Ok ! A lippy Magic
Book!" As he write his name under Abrahams.

The Book Says " Kern Anthony Preston, I bid you Welcome, In the Name of the
Light."  after a short pause he continues " I am not lippy. I don't know
what came over me, I usually wait for someone to talk to me before I
speak. "

Kern speaks first and says " Ohh , It's ok. I'm sorry , I didn't mean
anything by it." he's patting and stroking the pages and then jus lays his
hand on the book. He continues with " It's all Our fault. We're just very
open people here and I guess it's contagious. I think you're a very good
Magic Book."

The Book says " How many magic Books have you known? "

Kern squirms a bit and says " Um. Well you're the first, but I've imagined
a few."

The Book accepts this and says " I believe you. Thank you."

Kern says " You're welcome. And thank you for speaking up when you did. I
wouldn't miss this for the world."

The Book says " You're welcome. Does anyone wish to look through my pages?"

Vince looks at Carl and Kern, who shake their heads no and tells The Book "
Not at this time but thank you"

The Book says " You're welcome. Call when I am needed" and The Book closes
and the lock snaps shut.

Kern looks at Vince and then Carl and says " Married ?! Well
congratulations! About time!" He hugs Carl and says " Greg and I have been
worried about you." they break the embrace and Kern turns to Vince. He
tells Vince " Carl hasn't seen anybody for over a year and a half"

Vince takes this in. Then Kern smiles and says " Welcome to the family!"
and hugs Vince so hard he knocks some wind out of him.

Vince gets his wind back in time to say " Thanks."

Carl asks Kern " Where'd Greg go?"

Kern turns and tells him " Oh, we ordered two Pizzas a little while ago and
he went to pick them up."

Carl just smiles and says " My boys , I love em!"

Kern goes out and in back to the private kitchen area and rusrles up some
plates and some glasses and then thinks of something more important and
pulls down four champagne glasses instead and goes into the back of the
fridge and pulls out a bottle of champagne and says " I knew you were
there"

He pulls off the foil and grabs a clean rag as he slowly pulls the cork
off. there's a little pop but no gush and he smiles after a job well
done. He pours the champagne in the four glasses just as Greg returns.

Greg doesn't see what's in the glasses and shouts out to the front of the
shop " Carl, Pizza's here, and we got enough for your friend too."  He puts
the two pizzas on the stove top and looks at Kern, then notices xhampagne
and the type of glasses. He asks " What's the champagne for ?"

Kern gets a silly grin on his face and says " Boss just got married!"

Greg frowns and says "What? " Kern just nods yes real fast and Greg asks "
To the guy he was kissing in his office? ' Kern blinks and nods a little
slower.

Greg smiles and looks down at the table before he looks back at Kern and
says " Cool. That Kiss looked serious. I hated to interupt them. What's his
name?"

Just then Vince walks in followed by Carl and says " Vincent but you can
call me Vince, That's what friends and family call me." He holds out his
hand to shake Gregs hand.

Greg just looks at him for a second and smiles and pulls him with that hand
into a bear hug as he tells Vince " Welcome to the family!"

Greg releases Vince to find the same goofy grin on his face too. Vince says
" Thanks " after he gets his breath back.

Greg tells Carl " This is the sort of thing that keeps us on our toes"

Carl walks up to the right of Vince and puts his left hand on Vinces left
shoulder as Vince puts his right hand on Carls right hip. They pull in and
touch hips as Carl says " Oh, so you were listening. At times I wonder."

Kern cuts in and says " Boss we always listen. WE just act like we don't
sometimes to keep you on your toes."

By now Greg has put two pieces of pizza on each plate and put them on the
table. Kern picks up a glass and says " A Toast" and waits until they all
have a glass. " To the happy couple. Protect love where ever you find it."
they clink glasses and all four say " LOVE " at the same time before they
drink half of what's in their glasses.

The glasses come down and Vince and Carl just gravitate to each other and
start that Kiss again and Greg and Kern just smile and look at each
other. Greg opens his arms silently and tips his head to the side. Kern
moves into the embrace and start a kiss of their own. But after a few
moments they break for air and look at Vince and Carl and Carl giggles and
says " Bigger lungs." this causes the new couple to come down to earth.

Carl speaks first " Oh yeah lunch"

They all sit down and Vince says " and then back to work. Well at least for
you" Telling Carl at the end.

Carl corrects him with " Oh No. This is your first tattoo. Getting a Tattoo
is work too."

Vince says " I'll take your word for it. " and starts to eat.

Greg is already on his second piece as he says " First tattoo? What size is
he getting Boss? "

Carl grins at Vince and says " Seven days worth"

Greg swallows and says " HuH!"

Kern cuts in and says "Don't worry about it. You missed a few things while
you were gone."

Greg gets up to get another few pieces and says " I guess!" He looks at the
table in general and asks "More Pizza? " All three hold up one finger. Greg
smiles and holds the box over for all three to get another piece. He tells
Vince " you're gonna fit in just fine around here."

The_End_Part_2

Next the actual tattoo. I hope you like the story so far. Let me know
either way.  And thanks for reading this story.