Even though ballet slippers were traded for sneakers as soon as her last class of the day was over, Luisa never really minded getting out of her leotard, sheer ballet skirt and tights combination, she just threw a baggy sweater into the mix and let her head down in an attempt to look somewhat normal. Taking a quick glance at the watch when she rounded the corner and the tattoo parlor came into view, Luisa figured that she should quite possibly take advantage of the free time she had to spend before a hangry teenager arrived home demanded food and quite possibly cuddles. She had been owing a visit to Karina in a while now, maybe some with some food, definitely with some gossip — not that she had anything enticing to share, her life had a wonderful way of almost keeping itself on track.
She didn’t expect to have things shoved in her hand when she made herself known, a small smile spread her lips and she shook her head. “You need to wait for people to agree with your propositions,” she raised an eyebrow and leaned back on the door frame, opposite to where she had put the ladder. It gave her a few moments to inspect the items in her hand. “Bell broke? I like this new one, it’s very pretty.”
Karina shook her head. “No, no, no. You see, if I wait for people to reply to my propositions, they have a chance to say no, and then where am I? Standing halfway up the ladder with no help at all. No, gotta give people the illusion of them having the choice, but create a situation where they don’t really have one and they end up helping me either way. And if they already have a bunch of stuff in their hands, 99% of the time they end up helping anyway, whether they normally would have or not.” She fleshed Luisa a big, somewhat cocky grin.
“And to answer your question, yeah, the last bell broke, and I’m glad you like this one. I was a bit surprised I managed to get one that I liked better than the old, though.” She fished out the hammer from Lu’s hand and with a nail between her fingers as if she was holding a cigarette and climbed up the ladder and started working on getting the nail into its place (very messily and not at all efficiently, but she was working on it.) “You’re coming from the dance school? How did today’s classes go?”
Yes, Cassie was a baker and she baked as often as she could but her motherly instincts kept her in check about overdoing it with the sweets when it came to Julian. She raised her eyebrows and gave Karina a look as she offered him treats, knowing that she was just fulfilling her role as the cool aunt but Cassie was always a little wary since she was the one who had to deal with the consequences after Karina was done. The sugar-free comment eased her mind a bit but she still playfully replied, “It better be, otherwise he’s staying here with you until he comes down from his sugar high.”
Cassandra looked down at the floor sheepishly at Karina’s comment but it was true that she was a big sap for her baby boy. He was the most important thing in her life right now so it only seemed fair to have something so important inked onto her skin forever. “I think I’ll just leave it up to you. You are the artist of the family after all and I trust you.”
Karina let out a chuckle and shook her head. “Yeah, no. The last time was more than enough for me of that sugar high.” She’d probably forget it with time and sooner or later Julian would convince her with those big puppy eyes of his, but for now she was trying to be smart about it. “Honestly sometimes I’m not sure how you do it.”
Karina just hummed and nodded, halfway zoning out on Cassie already. She said she could do anything, so she was going to make the date into something pretty. It ended up being a relatively simple but elegant sketch of the date, with the A in the April made out of Cassie’s favorite flower, and once she was done, she handed the paper over to Cassie. “What do you think? It can just be black, but I can add some color to it if you want that, too, it’s up to you.”
Reyna nodded along as she explained what she was fixing and felt kind of dumb when she didn’t realize it was the bell. She was literally holding it.. Duh. Although it’s not like she was inspecting each piece in her arms. Reyna just tried to remind herself that she was just happy to help. Her mother always taught her to help those in need. Anyone that needed a hand, not just those who are in unfortunate circumstances. Plus Reyna’s just too nice for her own good most times.
“Yeah, no. This one is really nice. We can’t just let in fall like the other one.” She agreed, already on board with being her spare hands. “I’m Reyna by the way. “ She said, realizing she hadn’t introduced herself yet.
“Exactly! Thanks for the help, by the way. It’s nice of you,” Karina said as she started making her way up the ladder. Once she was up, she looked down to look at the girl a little bit closer. Se didn’t seem familiar to her, though knowing the entire town was practically impossible, she knew that. Havenport was small, she knew that, but not so knew everyone would know everyone.
“Pleasure to meet ‘ya, Reyna, I’m Karina. Karina Ohana.” Jesus, when did she start sounding like James Bond? “I don’t think I’ve really seen you around here before, are you new around here? Or did we just not run into each other in town before?”
“Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me to think about it.” Leslie shook his head as if he was still perplexed at the idea of getting himself a tattoo. “Now, you know my momma would kill me if she found out I got a tattoo no matter how small or sentimental it is.” He was also intrigued by the idea, he’d give Karina that much into just pushing him a little bit further on getting one. One big issue? He had no idea what he wouldn’t even think about to get tattooed. “Why you wanna tattoo me anyway?”
Karina did a small fist bump into the air. “Yes, small steps. We’re taking small steps here.” And then it felt like they took two more backward the moment he brought up his mom. “You’re a grown man, your mom should have no say in whether you get a tattoo or not, you know? But there’s also a good solution for it - don’t tell you. You can get it on a part of your body that normally she wouldn’t see it.”
She gave a small shrug at his question. “I want to tattoo everyone. If you ask me, everyone should get tattoos, or if not more, than at least one. It’s an art form, a way of expressing yourself, a way to make a promise or show something off that you’re passionate about. It can be of a memory or something that you just like and think looks pretty and want it on your body. It can be literally anything you want it to be, basically. And if everyone gets them at my shop? That’s just an added bonus for me.”
Peyton was hoping that she could slide by the tattoo parlour and run down the street to get both Karina and herself some coffee. However, it just so happened that by the time she was about to make her little dash — the door open and she had various objects in hand. “What?” Peyton asked as she peered down at the various items. “That’s a cute ass bell.” She stepped inside and moved aside to let the other set up the ladder where she wanted it.
“So, if you’re going to fall and break your arm — it’ll be a sad day. I’ve been working on another piece. However, I’m also not feeling heroic enough to jump in front of you to break your fall. So you’re on your own, girl.” Pey said as she leaned in the doorway and watched the other. “Can’t you just get a electric one that you can take on the damn door. You’ve got to nail this one in?”
“Hey, that’s just cruel. You are not ready to sacrifice yourself and your bones for me? What kind of a friend are you exactly?” Karina joked, her voice teasing and sarcastic, as she climbed on the ladder and got in a good, steady position. “I thought I could count on you but I guess I have to learn not to expect anything from anyone.” She let out a small laugh, not being able to hold it in anymore. “But really, no worries, I figured you won’t swan dive onto the pavement under me.”
She leaned down and reached her hand for Peyton. “I didn’t realize there were electric ones that I could use, technically. Didn’t even know those were a thing. Though I probably would have still went with the old school. I like that a real bell is hanging over the door. Can you give me the hammer and one of the nails? And while I do this, tell me about your new piece. When can I see it? Where are you thinking about getting it? How much liberty do I get with it?”
Dad. The familiarity of the woman hits her all at once, and Leili raises her brow, mouth gaping open, finger pointed in recognition. “Oh, your dad… he comes in here a lot, right?”
In a town as small as Havenport, the regulars are few and far in between, and the ones that are — well, she got to know them fairly well. “I know exactly what you’re talking about,” she replies, and she steps into the back, carrying out a fairly heavy old clock, set in walnut, with intricate gold detailing. “Um — hang on —” She starts, bending down for her inventory booklet; six years and she still isn’t quite sure how to describe all the little knick-knacks she’d receive. Thank god her father hadn’t done all the authenticating himself, or she would’ve been in straight trouble. “Right. It’s from the 1930′s… made of walnut and gold leaf…” Leili looks up, shutting the book with a tight-lipped smile. “Although, I’m sure you’re not the one that’s interested in all the little details.”
Karina nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he comes in here at least once a week, even if just to look around. He loves everything you guys have here, I’m pretty sure he would buy everything he could. His name is Arjun Ohana, if that help. And I’m Karina. I’m pretty sure we’ve seen each other around but never got a proper introduction until now.”
She watched as the woman went to the back and came back in with what looked like a real heavy clock and really, that is all she saw. An old, heavy clock. It looked pretty, sure, but nothing exciting or major. And yet she knew her dad would lay one eye on it and would turn into a kid who just got some fancy new toy he’s wanted for a while. “Yeah, no, I’m good without all the small details, though I’m sure I will get them all in a flood from dad when he sees that I got it for him.”
She carefully ran two of her fingers along the side of the wood of the clock. “Is there anything interesting or fun about it, though?” she asked, curious. “Maybe some fun story of how it got here? A mystery attached to it? Maybe a pirate involvement? Anything?”
for → @karinaohana
location: the tattoo shop
time: thursday, 9am
He isn’t sure when the shop opens, but Adrian is hardly a man who pays any attention to silly notions such as hours of operation — anything he wants, he demands, and most importantly, gets.
Strolling in, his eyes immediately land on a dark-haired woman, and he strides towards her, hands in pockets. “You’ll do,” he comments. “You do cover-ups?” All business, as usual, nothing out of the ordinary to see here…
9am was early in Karina’s book and every single day she opened at that time she cursed herself for setting such opening hours. She knew herself, what was she thinking? After several coffees she could obviously answer that question, but in that moment she was only nursing her second cup of the day, so she wasn’t in her fullest mind yet. She was sitting behind her drawing desk, looking through her schedule for the day when the bell above the door dinged and she looked up to see a man walk through her door, commenting something about how she would do.
She would do. What a kind endorsement.
“Morning to you too,“ she muttered as she chugged the rest of her coffee quickly to make sure she was at least in an acceptable mood before she nodded. “Yes, I do cover-ups. Depending on what needs to be covered up, the size of it and what kind of design would be the end result, the time it takes to do and the price could vary. I’m assuming it would be a cover-up for you, right?” Maybe an ex-partner’s name on the biceps or something along the lines of those. That was the most common cover-up she had to do. “Can you show me what I would have to work with?“
Another day, poring over the books to the shop — despite her many strengths, running an antiques shop isn’t one, and for a fleeting moment, she wishes for her father back. Yet, as always, the thought is silenced, and she refocuses her attention on the bound book in her hand.
Lost in the petty addition and subtraction, she forgets to turn the little plastic sign to CLOSED, and a woman bursts through the door, half out of breath. She’s a bit annoyed (it technically is five-past-eight) but it makes no business sense to turn her away.
“Um — technically, but my fault for not changing the sign,” she says, pointing towards the door. “Are you looking for something in particular?”
Honestly, Karina wasn’t even paying attention to the sign on the door and whether it said open or closed, she just burst in through the door. She looked back over her shoulder now for a moment to see the CLOSED side of the sign facing inward. Well, at least she had that going for her, technically the sign still said open.
“Yeah, dad mentioned that you guys had a new, antique clock that arrived not so long ago? He didn’t have a chance to come in himself so I figured I’d surprise him if you haven’t sold it yet.” He mentioned it a couple of days ago, but it was sure that he himself didn’t buy it yet, he could never stop raving about anything new he buys. It used to drive Karina insane, but since she came back to Havenport, she’s been actively working on making her relationship with her dads better, and little gifs like this definitely help.
“It’s supposed to be dark brown; I think. Not sure how many clocks do you have and if you got a lot of new ones recently.”
Cassandra watched the two of them, and couldn’t help the way her heart melted. She loved her son with all her heart and everything he did made her smile. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the compliment he gave her. “Sounds like someone is trying to butter mommy up so he can get an extra cookie before dinner tonight.” she teased but knowing she would definitely cave in.
She gently patted his head as she walked over, smiling innocently at Karina so that she didn’t think she was up to no good. “It’s not a different design or anything, I didn’t find something better, but I actually wanted to get the date April 11th 2014 on my wrist.” she told her, knowing that Karina knew that was the date Julian was born. She said the date rather than just telling her she wanted his birthday tattooed on her because she knew if he heard the word birthday he would get excited like a dog hearing the word park. “I promise, one day I will totally let you do the design you made so hold onto it! I just thought this would be more special as my first. What do you think?”
“And if you can’t convince mommy to give you some cookies, I have treats somewhere in the back that you might like,” Karina gave a small wink to Julian. She knew Cassie probably didn’t appreciate her showering Julian in anything he wanted, really, but she could never say no to the little guy. He could bat her eyes at her and she would try and go steal the moon. She did learn, though, and the last time Julian had a sugar crush and she actually had to deal with it instead of only causing it, she was a lot more conscious of the results of what she would give him, so as Julian sat down, she quickly whispered to Cassie, “It’s all sugar-free, I swear.”
When Cassie told her what she actually had in mind for her, Karina couldn’t help the smile on her lips, her eyes flicking over to Julian. The little boy was the light and soul of Cassie, she really should have figured that sooner or later Cassie would get to this tattoo idea. “Jesus, you’re such a sap,” she said, but her voice was teasing and she was already moving to get a paper and pen to start sketching an idea that was already forming in her head. ‘Now, do you want anything else specifically or you leave the entire design up to me?’
Reyna had just finished her errands for the day and was about to head home when she passed by the local tattoo shop. She was surprised as the woman dumped her things into her arms. “Oh.. yeah. Okay.” She awkwardly agreed, watching her set up the ladder. Reyna glanced down at the things she was holding, curious what she was helping with. “Fixing the door?”
Karina noticed the awkwardness of the girl, but really, since the objects were already in her hands, there was less of a chance of getting a negative response, which she was correct about She had a small, satisfied smile on her lips as she set the ladder up and then turned back to the girl watching her curiously.
“Almost. My bell above the door got loose, fell and broke yesterday so I had to replace it.” She nodded towards the new one that was in the girl’s hands already, a relatively basic bell with small, small opaque blue and purple stones hanging around the bell. “I was kind of bummed first because the previous one looked really good, but I managed to find one that I like even better, so now the last step is making sure this one doesn’t fall, too, right?”
From the distance, Sean could see that Karina working on something and he was curious as to what she was up to now. “Uh,” he took the things in his hands and furrowed his brows. “Do I get anything out of it or just a ‘thank you’? Not that Sean would do things for something in return. He was already the type of guy to lend a hand. “Just don’t fall, I don’t want you blaming me for that.”
“Huh, I didn’t get that far in my thought process,” she said as she climbed the ladder. She was focusing on making sure she wouldn’t fall off as she got herself a good and steady position before she actually gave a thought to what she could potentially offer up for the help. “I have some water I could offer?” She really wasn’t reaching too far. “Oh, wait, I think I have some chocolate one of my clients left behind yesterday, I can happily offer that up.” She couldn’t eat it anyway since it was milk chocolate, at least it wouldn’t end up in the crash.
“Trust me, I have no plans of falling, that’s painful and I could break my hands, I’m definitely not interested,” she reassured him jokingly before she looked down and extended her hand. “Now can you give me one of those tiny things and the hammer?”
The bell over the door of the shop fell and broke the previous day, which resulted in the clients and potential customers scaring a hunched over, drawing Karina all day long since it didn’t even register for her that people came in, so there was no question that she would need to put up a new one. She found a pretty purple and blue one in the morning and now that she had a little bit of free time in between two appointments, she grabbed the small ladder she had in her shop, the hammer, and a box of screws she got from pops and the bell.
She maneuvered the door open with her hands full and grinned when she saw a person coming down the street, passing her just at the right time to push the hammer, the box and the bell into the person’s hands. “Hey, come help me and hold these for me, okay? Thanks!” And she was already setting down the ladder from her other hand, setting the ladder to the right place as if the person actually agreed to help.
Karina was running late, she knew that, so she quickened her pace and hoped she would make it to the shop in time. She heard her dad mention that he saw a new antique clock come into the Antique store and she figured she’d surprise him with it, if only she could make it to the shop on time, of course.
She practically burst in through the front door probably only moments away from closing time and after she let out a couple of heavy breathes, she looked around to see if there was anyone still here. “Hey, sorry, are you guys already closing or do I still get to come in?”
Karina had been trying to convince Cassie to get a tattoo for years. It had always crossed her mind, especially when they were rebellious teenagers but she never really felt like wasting the money or the time to get something done. It wasn’t until Karina showed her a beautiful floral design that she made for her that Cassie decided that she would allow her to give her her very first tattoo.
She, of course, brought Julian along with her since he really wanted to see his auntie Karina draw art on mommy. He excitedly ran to give her a hug when they arrived while Cassie hung back for a moment just to happily watch them. “Hey! So, I know you made that really pretty design and I absolutely loved it but will you hate me if I tell you I had another idea in mind?”
Karina was getting ready as if Cassie was coming here for the first time, which was far from the truth. Both she and Julian have been here countless times since she opened up her own shop, so seemingly nothing was different. Except she finally managed to convince Cassie to let her give her a tattoo. She had the floral drawing that became the winner ready as a pattern already and now she was just pointlessly putting equipment from one place to the next. She was never this excited and nervous over clients, but she really wanted her sister to like the experience.
When the two of them arrived, Julian burst in and ran right towards her and she picked the little guy up and spun him around like she always did. “Hey buddy! How’s my favorite little guy doing today?”
Super-duper! Prince and I played catch all morning!”
“And now you’re gonna see something really cool! Are you excited?”
“Yes! Are you going to make mommy look even prettier?“
“Yeah, definitely. Look,” she said and she gave the original drawing she did for Cassie to Julian, “this is going to be on mommy by the end of it.”
While Julian was checking out the drawing, Karina finally turned her attention towards Cassie, who had a glint in her eyes that suggested something was about to happen. And when Cassie asked her if she was okay with changing up the plan, she raised her brows and tilted her head curiously. “That depends, what did you have in mind exactly?”
“Since I’m already here…might as well come by and say hello.”
Karina frowned when she looked up and it was Oscar who walked in. She definitely did not expect him of all people to walk into her tattoo shop. “Are you sure you’re in the right place? I don’t think I’ve see you around here, like, ever.”
She put the pencil down. She was designing what would hopefully be a pretty big tiger tattoo on a client’s side but she could humor him. She leaned on the desk, trying to feel out what he was doing here. “Did you finally realize how amazing I am and came to apologize? Because I’m all ears for that,” she flashed him one of her most charming smiles. She was playing nice, just in case he was actually considering getting a tattoo from her. A customer is a customer after all.
[INBAR LAVI] — you see [KARINA OHANA] there? yeah, they’re [DYSFUNCTIONAL] and they’ve lived in Havenport for [MOST OF HER LIFE]. [SHE] is [CREATIVE] & [DETERMINED], even though most people think they’re [JUDGEMENTAL] & [BLUNT].
BULLET POINT BIOGRAPHIES
Karina was adopted a little after she turned one. She has two dads, one of them is a school teacher, the other one is a firefighter. They grew up in a house on the beach, spending a lot of time outside and living a normal life.
When she was 14, her dads came home with a girl her own age, telling her that she would be staying a while. Karina already entered her teenage rebelling years, and she could see was her dads bringing this other girl in to replace her. So naturally, she was as mean to her as she possibly could be. It took some time for Karina to hear and truly understand that she was in fact not to be replaced, but that her dads were trying to help Cassie in a really horrible situation and that she gained a sister through this instead of an enemy. She got there, eventually, and once she apologized, the two of them slowly started building their bond and later Cassie got adopted into their family as well.
Around the time she turned 16, she started questioning who her birth parents could be and why she was put up for adoption. She had questions but her parents didn’t have answers, which she misunderstood as them not wanting to give her answers. She wanted to find them and she never realized just how much she was hurting her dads with that.
Around the same time, she also started to feel like she was being locked into this town and like she wanted to get out. She kept pushing and breaking the boundaries while her dads tried everything to stop it, which she understood as them not understanding her and wanting to punish her constantly, even when she didn’t do anything wrong. (Nothing was ever her fault, she never did anything wrong in her opinion.) So when she finished high school, she headed to the college on the other side of the country to get away from everything and she and her dads barely talked - or more like she barely talked with them despite them trying.
She was studying business because she was good at it, she understood and because she knew she could get into college with that, but she never liked it. She also couldn’t tell what would be something she would like to do, so business it was.
She managed to track down and find her birth mother in her second semester of college. She had such high hopes, but she got disappointed way too soon. She was a drug addict who kept going in and out of jail and the only reason she wanted anything from Karina when she realized who she was, was because she needed money. Money that she ended up giving her birth mother and vowed never to see her again. It didn’t work. The woman still occasionally called her and even though she tried not answering, after the third or fourth call her guilt won and she picked it up - just to tell the woman off, she told herself. Which she always did, and then eneded up giving her money anyway. The only good thing that came out of it was that she realized how lucky she was with her dads and started talking to them more again.
She also had to realize just how good of a place Havenport was while being away at college and then trying to find work once she graduated, and she started missing the place more and more, which resulted in her moving back home to her dads’ place and into her own room when she was 25.
She fell in love with tattoos during her college years, but even before that she really loved them and found them intriguing, she just didn’t have the guts to get them herself. She got her first tattoo in her first semester but didn’t think about becoming a tattoo artist until she was 23, doing a horrible temp job, trying to make ends meet and she was dating a tattoo artist at the time. The girl was the one who suggested it when she saw her doodles that meant escape and happiness go Karina for such a long time. First, it was just a weekend thing, trying to learn a trick here and there, and then it quickly became something Karina finally felt passionate about. When she came back to Havenport, she got a job on the outskirts of town as a tattoo artist and started making a name for herself in the business. She started thinking about making her own business out of it about 1-1,5 years ago and eventually opened her own tattoo shop three months ago. Currently she’s renting the place, but she hopes that once the business really kicks in, she could potentially buy the place for herself.
HEADCANONS
she’s demisexual
she has a black cat named addison
she has a milk allergy, thus has a really strict diet
she is learning how to play the guitar (she is really bad so far)
she hates getting up early, often times she is up well into the night
coffee is what fuels her, no coffee makes her rude and snappy and not fun to be around
she wears way too much plaid, at least 80% of her closet is that
she constantly wears a bunch of different rings on her fingers and has several earrings in at the same time, also has a belly button piercing
she loves butterflies and in elementary school she got into a fight with a boy who had a butterfly collection
there’s a huge rainbow constantly in the window of her tattoo shop
she calls one of her dads ‘dad’ and the other ‘pops’, but during her teenage years she started calling them ‘dad #1’ and ‘dad #2’ based on who she liked more at any given time. sometimes it changed five times a day, sometimes it stuck for a whole week, but it never really stuck for longer than that
