A Couple of Wild and Crazy Girls (for Daaharu)

Carmen just waved off Lorenza's little insinuation. <"Oh, like you wouldn't want to see that. But no, no, I wouldn't want to ruin such a sultry scene by sitting in on it. It wouldn't kill you to take a picture or two, though.">

She had to agree with Lorenza's taste in women - she was exactly the same. She wouldn't say no to a pretty girl, but she really preferred a woman with some athletic ability, and absolutely desired a girl that could hold her own in a fight. Still, though, Carmen liked to be in control. She liked to be on top. Especially these days - her little tryst with Kurohime gave her a chance to explore a dominant side she never knew she had. The things they'd done with chains...

<"Never a bottom, huh? That's why we'd never worked out. We just end up fighting over the position and never get to do anything."> Fun as this was, she didn't want to waste Lydia's time - the night was still young. "Hey, Lydia, we were just talking - would you like to come out with us? We're hitting the club, more the merrier."

"Sure." She replied fast, like she knew the answer before the question was asked. <"I'd love to go out. And have a 'private session' afterwards."> She spoke in perfect Spanish, her face solid and serious the whole time.

<And you would get a picture or two,> Lorenza would reply, nodding in Carmenâ€s direction, <just as I expect to get a picture or two of you and whatever hot piece of ass you end up getting down with, okay?> She smiled and laid her head back in the chair, looking up at the wall, at all of the tattoo designs that Lydia had. The woman was certainly talented. The fact that she seemed to love Lorenzaâ€s skin told the Mexican boxer that maybe she would make a good date for the evening. Gosh, it had been so long…

When Carmen mentioned how she preferred to be on top, too, and that was why the two of them wouldnâ€t work out, Lorenza sighed and shrugged. <Yeah, too bad. We wouldnâ€t ever get where we wanted to go.> A night together with Carmen would be all fighting and no sex. It would surely be a blast, but things would be ideal for all involved for the two of them to focus on other women.

Carmen switched back to English to ask Lydia to go out to the club with them afterwards. Lydia, in turn, answered in the affirmative in Spanish. Lorenzaâ€s smile grew wide, and she couldnâ€t help but giggle. <Heh heh heh, so you heard about her little fantasy, huh?> Lorenza said to the tattoo artist, gesturing towards Carmen.

Lorenza was throwing down the gauntlet, it seemed, and Carmen was giving her a pretty sizeable handicap. If this was competition - and between them, everything was - Lorenza was start with a real advantage by already bringing Lydia into it. Not only would Carmen have to avoid coming home alone, but she'd have to find a truly beautiful lass to match Lydia, not just some run-of-the-mill barbunny. The best. Only the best would do.

She was up to the challenge.

Her attention was drawn with Lydia responded - of course she knew Spanish. She seemed American, as near as Carmen could tell, with a slight Southern twang in her voice. It wasn't all that odd, especially if she was from around the lower states, like Florida. She blushed, rubbing her hair and flattening it out. "Sorry about that, didn't mean to get that wild."

"Oh, you did." She kept her trademark stoicism, only allowed a small smirk to creep Lorenza's way. "Though I've heard worse ideas. Let me think about it while I work."

Lorenza found it hilarious the way Carmenâ€s attempt at secrecy was blown apart like that. Of course, she herself hadnâ€t exactly been tactful while speaking in Spanish, and probably had plenty to be embarrassed about, as well. All the same, she was going to focus on Carmenâ€s snafu in her head.

When Lydia smirked at her, Lorenza would smirk back, happy to share this fun little moment with the tattoo artist who Carmen seemed to think was just perfect for her. Lydia was, without a doubt, a hottie. Lorenza would be happy to have her along, and, though the artist merely said that she would think about it while she worked, Lorenza was fairly confident that she already knew what Lydiaâ€s answer would be.

“Ah, yeah,” Lorenza said, leaning back in the chair and pushing out her lime green bra-covered chest a little. “We should do my tattoo now, eh? Same as hers, except black and red instead of green and white.”

"Understood." Lydia gave a sage nod and refocused, giving Lorenza the same attention and detail that she'd laid on Carmen, bringing her focus in like a laser. She seemed to have an easier time with Lorenza, probably because the canvas was far less jumpy than the last Latina she'd worked with. She was as solemn and taciturn as the last time, too, though Carmen could sworn - maybe, just maybe - that she heard Lydia hum a few times. Couldn't just been the buzzing, though.

When it was finished, Lorenza had an almost perfect representation of Carmen's glove. She even managed to get the blood specks looking just right, which couldn't have been easy with the black color behind them. The size and proportion was just perfect, and Lydia seemed genuinely proud of her work, if that hint of a smile was any indication.

"Oh, Carmen likes." She gave Lorenza's side a little tap. "Okay, newbie question - bruising doesn't fuck them up, does it? Skin stretching?" She bit her lip and dipped down, giving it a closer look. "Because my weight's been jumping around ever since I stopped worrying about weigh-ins, don't want to bulk up and screw the look up."

Lorenza would lay back, take a deep breath, then let it out, relaxing her body as Lydia went to work.

Of course, the process was still painful for her. As the needle first pierced her side, Lorenza would wince and flinch. It had been almost three years now since her last tattoo, and one could never fully get accustomed to the pain. This was easier than the last time, though. Her kanji tattoo had been on her belly. This tattoo was going to be on her side, and getting a tattoo there was much less painful. While she would still give the occasional grunt or groan, Lorenza held up fairly well under the pain.

She might have been trying to show off a little bit, remaining stone-faced as the ink was injected underneath her skin. While Carmen had done well—especially for a first-timer—Lorenza wanted to show that she could endure it just a little better. Everything was a competition between the two of them, and Lorenza wouldnâ€t have it any other way.

When it was done, Lorenza looked down and smiled. It was perfect. She looked up at Lydia and squeezed the tattoo artistâ€s forearm. “Gracias, chica,” she trilled, giving the woman a wink.

Carmen quickly came over and started touching it. She evidently liked it, too. “Oh, are you planning to get fat and lazy and want to know if itâ€ll still look good?” Lorenza asked. “Well, little changes shouldnâ€t hurt it at all. Obviously, if you gain a hundred or two hundred pounds that might be different,” she would explain. “I donâ€t think you need to worry, hermana.”

Damn, Lorenza was taking it well. Too well. Being downright smug about it, with her stubborn refusal to not show pain. If Carmen didn't know better, she would swear the azure assassin was doing it on purpose, just to get a rise out of her.

...actually, screw that, she didn't know better. That was exactly what she was doing. Aside from a little flinch at the beginning, her face was statue-solid throughout. Lorenza was one tough bitch, but unless she had her nerves burnt off down there, she should have reacted to [i]some[i] of it. It got so bad that Carmen was tempted to get another tattoo, just to show her she could take it even better, but that would've probably resulted in a night long contest that wouldn't have stopped until they were out of skin to work on, and Carmen was hoping to reach the nightclub at some point.

She'd concede this round. This time. Just this time.

"You never know. Now that I don't have to be in your class to fight you, maybe I start packing on the muscle. Go up a few classes, show up to our next fight with some added iron." She flexed her right arm and gave the bicep a slap, nice and crisp. She was joking, but it wasn't that bad of an idea, really...

The look on Carmenâ€s face told Lorenza that her rival was sufficiently impressed and intimidated by her show of fortitude. Good. It had taken a massive effort from Lorenza to keep her face completely stonelike during the procedure, but it was worth it to see Carmen fidget the way she did, knowing that, in this one small way, she had been beaten.

“Heh heh,” Lorenza chuckled, as she ran a hand over her newest tattoo. It was a nice addition to her collection. Lydia was quite masterful with the needle, as every wrinkle in the leather glove was visible, and the specks of blood looked so real that Lorenza wondered if some of them were. Now, her close, almost sisterly connection with Carmen was permanently a part of her flesh.

“It sounds like I should be bulking up, too, then,” Lorenza replied, standing up out of the chair and stretching her arms above her head. “Next time we meet in the ring, maybe Iâ€ll knock you out with the very first punch.”

So that was that then - from now until the skin rotted off her flesh, she'd be connected to Lorenza Saldano. Something of a pleasant thought, it almost made Carmen wish she would have children to share the history with, someday. Almost.

Carmen poked her toe into Lorenza's stomach, giving her one last little prod before she stood up and did a little stretching herself. There were far worse places to be than in a tattoo parlor with a friend and a hot little lady, but she was starting to get cramped and her body was aching to move. The sun was down, the lights were rising, it was time to hit the street. "You keep on dreaming that little dream, tigress. You'll knock me out, one of these days. And the Angels will win the Pennant."

She turned on her heel, looking Lydia's way as she put up her equipment. "So, you in or out? We're heading to the Downward Spiral, nice little club a few blocks down."

She nodded. "Heard of the place." She started to pop her lenses back in, going back to the creepy look, Queen of the Damned. "Give me thirty minutes to close up, and I'll meet you there." She reached over and gave Lorenza a little pinch on her butt, before swiveling around and starting to walk off.

Connected from now until death. It was almost like being married to Carmen, but without the sex and the cohabitation. The thought made Lorenza chuckle as she got up out of the chair and stretched out her arms. “I am going to knock you out one of these days, Rodriguez, and the look of total surprise on your face as the lights go out will be priceless. You just wait.”

She laughed, and grabbed her shirt from Carmenâ€s hands, looking down at her new tattoo one more time before covering it up with the Chivas Tijuana jersey. A small part of the glove was still visible on the thin strip of skin between her shirt and her shorts.

Lydia seemed to be pretty excited to go clubbing with them. She agreed to meet them there after closing the place up, and that was fine with Lorenza. She laughed as Lydia pinched her butt, walking away. “See you there, amiga!” Lorenza called out after her date, before turning to Carmen and gesturing towards the door. “Shall we go?”