"Don't sweat the money, it's worth it for good ink," Mark told her. He was used to sweating the money too, and the thing was, it was a lifetime wish for him to get some really high quality ink. He knew that Ren and Cave were paying less for theirs, but they also hadn't held off getting tattoos until they could afford a place like this. The other reality was that Julie would have been shocked how economical the ink really was for her. His was going to run a couple grand, hers was more like a few hundred on top of that. Still a lot of money left over for rent and whatever else came down the road. He did intend to save it, once he got a new phone, but designated a certain amount to go in and spend on really good ink. He'd seen shitty ink, and his pride just wouldn't abide something like that.

And it was already taking shape on his arm, contoured to fit and drawn custom, which raised the cost some, but the Medusa had a life of her own on his arm there, and she wasn't quite the 'naked chick' cliche so many dudes fell into. He was a little surprised at Julie's design and the placement, but it made sense that it was a place where few people were going to see, unless she wore a bikini, which was a social risk in California and perhaps even Miami or the other places he overheard Bryce talking about from time to time.

In any case, the buzzing needle carried on the work, but he didn't mind letting people have a look as John Jr. worked his thing, and there were a few people peeking in at the work, though few people wondered about who was getting it because he was, essentially, just another dude walking in to get some ink. There wouldn't be a lot of filling in here, no real return visits to add to it, though there would be a little red added to the eyes of the hair snakes.  

"And dinner sounds fine. It oughta be good timing anyway, if Mai isn't sleeping off a hangover, she'll be studying." And, for that matter, Bryce probably was going to be a grumpy little bear too -- mostly because the combined strain of drinking at places like the Bolo and watching people he detested suddenly get a moment of success probably had him worn the hell out. Odds were, they'd be on their own. 

Mark, for his part, felt oddly refreshed from the whole thing, even while Julie's tattoo artist went into the instructions for aftercare with Julie.

That was a relatively good day, with pizza and movies afterward, though the next day, Mark had to go to Manny's and put in his resignation. The response he got from Leona, Manny's daughter wasn't the usual harried response of a woman with a lot on her shoulders, but genuine pleasure at the news that the band had gotten signed. 

"But I can still do a part time gig until I find out when we start doing studio work and cutting a record," he told her, even as there was a heartfelt hug out of the whole thing.

Dealing with the neighbors was a little tougher; if he'd been worried over Leona's response to the resignation, he was looking at his mother's little patio party with trepidation -- the San Fernando Valley was more like Bryce's sort of place, a white picket fence suburbia, shopping malls and well-scrubbed people who had respectable white collar jobs. While his mother and Harry Cohen were one thing, Mark often felt, coming back, that he was a little too scruffy for the place. As a result, he dressed as 'up' as he could in comparison to his normal mode of dress, adding a button-down shirt that was still not Bryce respectable -- it was white with blue and black stripes in a check pattern, Western-styled and a little too 'cowboy' for the Valley, but it's how Mark preferred things. He wore the shirt open with a t-shirt beneath, also revealing the jeans that were held up with a belt with a buckle on it and left the sleeves rolled off to show off the snake-tail of medusa coiled down his forearm, itching and shining from an application of moisturizing lotion. 

The whole thing was in his mother's back yard, and there was a hot tub and a lagoon-like pool there that she'd put in sometime after Mark moved out, which implied a degree of 'Anna is having a life of her own now' in the whole thing, but it made a good setting for a grill, manned by Julie's father, and a bar that people could use to simply assemble their drinks.

Dalton was already there, wearing, of course, leather pants that he'd blown his money on as soon as he got the check cut. It was hard to calculate just how much overpriced 'rocker' jewelry he'd gone out and bought, but it made Mark smile in amusement. There was a new nose stud there as well, perhaps in imitation of Lenny Kravitz, which seemed to be the overall look.

And the neighbors that weren't invited were already peering at the strange entourage of people that were showing up -- not in so many numbers, but guys like Mark and Dalton stood right the hell out in a setting of pastels and suburban bliss. All the same, Harry was there, slapping his other shoulder and his mom seemed genuinely happy when they hugged.

"Whoa, did you invite him here?" Of course, Bryce showed. Who the fuck invited him? Well, that was Julie's mom coming over to hug him. Was the dude that concerned about what Julie was gonna do that he had to intrude on every party she was going to be invited to. 

Anna shook her head, subtly, to match his whispered question, "No way," she whispered back. There was a flash of momentary surprise, but his mother was a professional when it came to working with idiots, and she put on her game face; it was similar to his, slightly olive, dark hair, though hers was thinner than his, and dark eyes. Even as she got older, she managed to stay trim and fit, though that might well have been the swimming pool, and also why she kept her hair cut off-the-shoulder. She was ruthlessly conventional in the Valley-sense that she was wearing capri pants and a fairly conservative top with some jewelry, but San Fernando considered fitness freakdom and its fashion accessories to be totally within the bounds.

"Well, I guess he's about to pop the question any day now, so I guess..."

"That he's going to stalk her until she's chained to him in holy matrimony?" Anna's view of marriage was well known after a divorce and, presumably, Mark's father that came before that marriage. Her dry tone reflected that. 

"You got it."