"Do you remember that incident last week with the tikbalang getting a wrong tattoo on his back? It's very wrong. Absolutely wrong, wrong, wrong." Makka said as she prepped bottles of ink on the table.

Akali nearly cut herself as she cleaned her shaving blade, hearing Makka's question. How could she forget the loud, disappointed neigh of their customer? "I remember," she said, controlling the shake of her voice.

"He's a client of Morga, one of the best tattoo artists here in Pinta. Yes, yes, yes. He's Morga's."

"One of the best tattoo artists here?" Akali looked up. She'd never heard of Morga before, but then she'd never really heard of any of the best tattoo artists in Pinta. All she knew was that this parlor was where one needed to be to become an artist.

"You've never met her. She's a quiet dalaketnon. Pretty quiet, quiet, quiet. She has a few friends, but she mostly keeps to herself. Yes, all to herself," Makka said.

Now Akali felt worse for what she did. She didn't want to make the tikbalang angry, and she didn't want to ruin anyone's career. "What happened to her?" she dared to ask.

"Oh, she wasn't punished if that's what you think. No, no, no. She didn't do anything wrong. She said that she was delayed with another client in a different room. Someone else created that tattoo. Someone else. Oh, maybe a ghost! A ghost, a visiting anito." Makka exclaimed, shivering at the thought.

Akali sighed. "I'm glad she wasn't punished for something she didn't do."

"It wasn't that bad. In fact, when I saw the tattoo on the tikbalang's back, I thought it was amazing. Yes, amazing! Amazing! Amazing!"

"Really?" Akali tried controlling her grin, which came out as a twisted smile. "You think it's amazing?"

"Yes, yes, yes. Whoever created it was a genius. But maybe they didn't think the design through. A bakunawa on a tikbalang's back. Poor, poor, poor tikbalang." Makka had just finished laying out all the bottles. Then, she took a sheet and read through a list. "Let's see who our next customer is." She scanned the paper. "Oh!" she exclaimed.

"What? Who is it?" Akali looked up at her, curious.

"Our next customer is a regular. Very important. Yes, important, important, important." Makka waved the sheet in the air. "I better get more herbs. I know what he likes." She rushed out of the room without letting Akali say another word.

Now Akali was very curious to know who the next customer was. He was important, so she ensured all her blade was set and clean, inspecting the sharp edge.

"Is my room ready?" Someone spoke at the door, and Akali nearly jumped.

When she turned around, Kayn was standing there almost naked. Only a small piece of green sarong wrapped around his hips. All his tattoos were exposed--his muscled torso and the entire length of his long legs were covered in ink. Patches of design covered his arms, and on his right chest was the eagle she'd seen before. The design around his neck was the sliddering scales of a serpent. His left breast was clear, open for more art to be painted.

Akali's eyes widened. "You," she said.

"For some reason, that seems to be all you can say to me." Kayn chuckled, and his smile lightened the mood of the room.

"Why are you here?" Akali asked.

Kayn opened his palms to her. "I'm your customer for today."

"Oh." Akali felt ashamed for the way she reacted. "I--sorry." She bowed her head.

"Sorry," Kayn repeated. "That's another word you keep saying to me."

"What?" Akali thought of when she'd ever apologized to him, and she blinked. "You heard me that day?"

Kayn nodded.

"But you didn't look at me. You just walked past me."

Kayn shrugged. "Was I supposed to look at you?"

"Yes," Akali said, then retracted. "Well, I was apologizing. You could have let me know that I was forgiven."

"Forgiven for what?"

Akali blinked at him. She wasn't sure. She didn't do anything wrong that day. I was staring, she wanted to admit, but it was too embarrassing, and she was staring again now. She turned around and grunted. "Never mind," she said. "Your chair is ready."

Kayn made his way to the chair and sat down, his eyes never leaving Akali. The way he stared at her made her cheeks heat. The santilmo that floated above them, lighting the room, had only made it worse when it angled to brighten her face. She turned around, wanting to hide.

"What's your name?" Kayn asked coolly.

Akali dared to look at him, baring her face to him. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "Akali," she said.

It took a moment too long before Kayn responded. "Akali," he repeated her name as if testing the sound of it on his tongue. The side of his lips twitched into a slow smile. "You know my name?" he asked.

"It's my responsibility to know my customer's name," Akali said.

"Oh?" Kayn tilted his head, assessing her. "I don't mind you staring," he said.

Akali's ears burned, and her face turned even hotter, but she didn't turn away this time. She held his gaze as if daring. She took a deep breath and walked to the table beside him, picking up a shaving blade. "Where will you get your tattoo?" she asked.

Kayn gently raised the already too-short sarong from his right leg, revealing the muscled thigh painted with a burning sun. He stopped when Akali gasped. "This one needs a touch-up," he tapped the center of the sun with a finger.

Akali swallowed. He looked down at his thighs and then back up at his face.

Kayn grinned. "You don't need to shave that, though." He folded the edge of the green sarong over the sun, covering his upper legs. "I'm also getting another tattoo here. Not sure what to get yet. I'm thinking maybe a little rabbit or a dog." He pointed at a patch of untainted skin under his left rib cage. "You don't need to shave this one, too."

"If you don't need shaving, then I should go. Your artist is going to be with you momentarily," she'd said the last sentence so many times that she didn't catch herself saying it automatically.

"Wait," Kayn said, straightening in his seat, almost reaching for her to stop her from leaving, but Akali only stood beside the table, blade still in hand. The conceited grin left his face, exchanged with a frown. "Why did you do it?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"That tattoo on the back of the tikbalang. Why did you do it?" Kayn said.

Akali averted her gaze, looking down at the table. She placed the blade back down, and her shoulders rose before looking back at him. "I just--" Her lips parted, closed, and parted again. "I want to be a tattoo artist."

"So you wanted to prove yourself."

"Yes, I mean, no." Akali looked down at her hands. "At that moment, I just wanted to create that tattoo." She stared at her palm, remembering the feel of the bamboo stick.

"Why a bakunawa?" Kayn asked.

Akali hadn't thought about why she'd given the tikbalang a bakunawa tattoo. "I guess I was thinking about the owner of the parlor," she pointed up, indicating the top of the acacia tree.

Kayn looked up at the ceiling. He couldn't see what she was truly pointing out, but a realization formed in his eyes when he blinked. "Oh," he chuckled. "The bakunawa, huh?"

Akali nodded.

"It is a beautiful creature." He tapped two fingers on the tattoo on his neck. "This one is the scales of legendary bakunawa." The inks were dark with blue and green tints.

"It's beautiful," she said and stared at his neck.

"Your tattoo was also beautiful," he said, and she perked up. "But you shouldn't have done what you did."

He was right. It wasn't the right way for her to get recognition. She was still ashamed, but talking to Kayn about it made her feel at ease. She looked at his eyes, and he held her gaze.

The door to the tattoo room burst open, and Akali became aware that she and Kayn were staring at each other. She stepped back and turned away, looking everywhere and pretending to do something else. Kayn chuckled out a laugh.

"Akali!" Makka barged in. "Come! Come! Come!" She waved for Akali. "Ma'am Nyan is announcing something important!"

Akali rushed to the door and heard Ma'am Nyan in the middle of her speech as she floated at the center of the hollowed tree.

"--the Yanale were very impressed." Ma'am Nyan was all grin, teeth showing from ear to ear. "The tattoo will be displayed during the blue moon at the offering for Idiyanale."

"What's is she talking about?" Akali asked, standing at the doorway.

"The tattoo on the tikbalang's back. Yes, the tattoo! The Tattoo! The Tattoo!" Makka said with excitement.

They were talking about Akali's tattoo, but no one knew it was hers, and it would be displayed in public to be admired and praised.

"The power of the tattoo had given our client the magic of speed and luck." Ma'am Nyan continued. "He had never won a race before, but after getting it, he'd won twice already."

Akali gaped. Tattoos had certain powers. She knew hers could amplify a person's desires, leading them and guiding them to succeed. Her mangkukulam blood was to thank for that. And she had never done a tattoo with sarimanok manure before. The magic in her art would have been amplified.

"And because of this news," ma'am Nyan continued to speak, turning around in the air so that her voice echoed in every corner of Pinta. "We are fully booked for the next two weeks. Customers are coming in. Letters of requests are filling our office desk."

The crowd cheered. All the dwende chanted, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

"Open up ten barrels of tapuy!" Ma'am Nyan ordered. "Tonight, we will be celebrating!"

The crowd cheered again.

"Now get back to work!" Ma'am Nyan said as she floated down to the ground level.

Akali looked back to Kayn, still sitting in the tattoo room. He watched her, and he smiled when their eyes met.