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False walked into the tattoo parlour. It’s amber accented black walls felt no more reassuring then they had yesterday. The dotted semi-sheer curtain between the welcome area and workspace was pulled closed, giving False no idea where the seemingly absent receptionist might have gone to. If it wasn’t for the distant sounds of laughter False would have assumed everyone flaked for her “appointment”, but even still this was quite unprofessional in her eyes.
She did hope the place was as good as the website showed. It’d be a shame if she went all this way and got stuck with something shit after the job ended. Some random tattooist was hardly worth that in her eyes.
Eventually though the chatter died down and was quickly followed by the clack of heels on the wooden floorboards. Their owner was draped in a pink jumper which flowed off the owner’s olive-toned skin enough to show the black pixelated heart on her shoulder. False made note of her bubbly but confident air as she walked over to her.
“Sorry about that, our Piercer—” The women spoke, hesitating slightly as she locked eyes with False.
To anyone less trained then False they wouldn’t have noticed her now gaured expression as she effortlessly glided back into conversation, “—needed help with something. Anyway, I assume your Ms. Sym, no?”
“Correct.” False responded, trying to keep her voice casual under the clipped shield she could feel creeping farther into her.
False highly doubted it was working, she had never been good at that kind of thing, but she continued on anyway, “And you are…?”
“Ms. June Waldo.” She responded, her hand out for False to shake.
False hesitantly took it as she continued, “But most people just call me Jumper!”
False was impressed with how composed Jumper could keep herself. It was obvious she knew something about False, but there was no sign of that in the casual air she carried, nothing to give up whatever secret about False she was holding close.
“Right… So are you who will be doing my tattoo?” She questioned.
Jumper laughed a little, waving her hands around as she responded, “Oh no. Your still with Pentar, but since he’s an apprentice I’ll be supervising.”
“Right, Right.” False absentmindedly nodded along to her response. That was going to make her task much harder, though still well within the realm of jobs she’s completed before.
The air stilled awkwardly around the duos collective distrust, before Jumper seemingly clapped it away; letting what False could only assume was instinct carry her next words, “Right! If you don’t have any questions, then why don’t we head on back?”
False forced her shoulders to drop into a relaxed position and nodded, following Jumper as she turned and walked back through the semi-sheer curtain into the workspace.
It looked same as any other one False had frequented, if you ignored the clearly amateur hand-drawn paintings on the off-grey walls.
“Ms. Sym! It’s lovely to see you again!” Her target, a man named Pentar, called out from where he was finishing prepping the supplies he would need. He gave an almost idolistic nod to Jumper as she walked over to inspect his work.
“Actually, Pentar, I think we might need more of the teal; that bottle is looking low. Can you go grab that?” Jumper asked in the same bubbly tone False was starting to get sick of.
“Oh— uhh… yeah, yeah of course.” Pentar hesitantly said, confusion painting his face as he dutifully got up and rounded the half-wall to where False assumed they kept the extra supplies.
Jumper’s smile didn’t leave her face as they watched him go off. It wasn’t until False could assume he was out of earshot that her face went stone cold as she turned back towards her.
It was chilling, even to a trained assassin like her.
“If you so much as lay a hand on him,” Jumper threatened, “I will hunt you down and make you beg for your death to be quick.”
False was stun-locked. She hadn’t said anything nor done nothing to indicate she had an ultietarive motive. How Jumper knew even a fraction of her plan was beyond her.
It was downright terrifying. She didn’t mess up. Ever. But she must’ve if Jumper was being so ruthless to a customer.
“Okay…” False let out with a slight chuckle, hoping to mask her concern with the confusion she assumed any normal person would have at such a statement, “I have no clue why you would say that, seems unprofessional in all honestly, but sure.”
“The dried blood under your nails would say otherwise.” Jumper countered, as she used alcohol wipes to prep False’s arm.
She didn’t give False even a second to try to counter before she continued, “Plus, not everyone can take down Hermitpire Inc.‘s head assassin while prending to be her. Though being her twin would have helped, right ‘False’?”
False kept her expression guarded as she watched Jumper’s every small movement. No one knows that about her, about her departed sister. No one she kept alive at least, so where Jumper had gotten that information she didn’t know.
For now though she was more worried about her clearly blown cover. Her employer was going to give her a migraine over this...
“Right, sorry about that!” Pentar’s voice cut through their pseudo-staring contest as he walked back over to the pair, the ink in hand. He somehow seemed completely none-the-wiser to the lingering tension as Jumper effortlessly switched back to appearing “cordial” with her.
“It’s fine.” False dismissed, matching Jumper’s energy. It would do no good if her target also caught on after all.
The rest of the appointment went on in the same monotonous routine False had come to expect; interrupted only by the occasional pointers from Jumper which she quickly followed with pointed glares towards False.
She was honestly shocked Pentar never caught onto them. At least she could be assured her target was unobservant enough it wasn’t completely hopeless; if only she could remove Jumper from the equation.
As Pentar finished shading the last cog, False could feel her nerves kick into overdrive. She was running out of time. She would not let this be a complete failure either. She needed to slip the poison in his system now or at least find an opening in the future.
“Yo Pentar, Jumper! Are you ready fo—” A man with light curly brown hair and a face scaringly similar to Pentar’s yelled out as he crossed uncaringly into the workroom, stopping his train of thought only when he met False’s wary gaze.
“Rek…” Jumper scolded with a surprisingly light tone, dragging this “Rek” person’s attention away from False and towards the pair of tattooists.
He chuckled awkwardly, clearly taken off guard as he continued in a now apologetic tone, “Shoot, I didn’t know you guys were open today.”
Rek turns towards False, sparing her an apologetic glance as he walked slowly back out of the room, “So sorry ma’am for interrupting, I'll uhh… I'll just wait in the break-room, sorry about that guys.”
She wasn’t blind to how Jumper took the distraction to sneak a very obvious tracker onto False’s phone either, the alert for “payment” being so obviously tampered with, at least from what fWhip had taught her.
She was quite frankly shocked Jumper thought that would work, she knew of False’s position and past, so subtly couldn’t be the play Jumper was going for here; not unless she really was that naive and lucky enough to stumble upon the unfindable.
“Ahem, Well now that that is all taken care of—” Jumper started as she shot Pentar a glare; he returned with a look of guilt.
The air of danger in her voice became somehow even more pointed as she went back to addressing False, “It was lovely to get to work with you, Ms. Sym. I trust you will remember not to aggravate the tattoo any time soon.”
False nodded, shooting her own cold glare towards Jumper, “Of course not. Not all of us are that naive.”
Jumper let out a deep laugh. Pentar jumped, his own expression gaining a weary confusion to it; no doubt he too could spot the venom hiding under Jumper’s mask. Maybe he was more observent that False first gavehim credit for. She’d have to remember that.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t think so little of our customers, after all.” Jumper replied, her voice coated in a sickly honey.
Pentar mirrored her words with his own hesitant hum as he opened the front door for False. He was clearly still unaware of what was going on between the two, but ready to back Jumper up nonetheless.
She wouldn’t have expected anything else from her target, as much as it irritated False to be outplayed. But, if it was a game of Cat and Mouse Jumper wanted, then False was more then happy to oblige.