[attr="class","text"]

he was too good of a listener. there'd hardly been time to process his wise words when mika had been hit with the realization that she went on for much longer than she should've, delaying the last phase of the tattoo process considerably so. "thank you, aloe. that's very kind of you to say. i hope the same for yourself of course." it seemed that mika still held onto a hopeful shard of the past, while aloe was in a much different place with his past love. that's what made love amazing though, right? it united everyone in its feelings, in the throes of passion, and connected hearts across the globe. [break][break]

if not for love, mika would never have stepped foot in this place to begin with. love had felt like a burden at times, but that burden was always self-imposed. no, for mika, love had set her free and this tattoo was a symbol of that. wherever she'd take wing and soar next, she hoped to do so knowing that endless skies await her. [break][break]

that maybe, not all hope was lost. perhaps their newfound courage was of the liquid kind, but mika didn't mind. these were all just precious moments in time she'd gather in her hands, and hold close to her own heart. [break][break]

the rest of the night with aloe eon, however, went like this: [break][break]

beautiful flames, flickering off the wings' edges, enveloped in the plumage itself — as bright as a fire stone against mika's skin. and when the last of the night gave way into late dusk, early dawn, mika's tattoo was finished, and she thanked aloe a thousand times over for his hard work, throwing in a bigger tip on top of the already paid sum for tonight's session. [break][break]

love having been both her liberator and her connector, crossing her path with another's, leading her home like a guiding light in the dark. [break][break]

her back like a painted mural, a beautiful depiction for all the world to see — the wings of the firebird.[break][break]