How Green Becomes Wood

"That would be gorgeous," Alec agreed. He shook his head. "Some of my dad's tattoos are truly amazing, and Xander's talked about getting one, but I just can't settle down with one. I hear that when some people get tattoos, they start like me, needing to think of something deep and meaningful, and then, after a bit, they're like, 'I'm going to get a paperclip because paperclips are cool.' I don't think I'd ever get to that point!"
 
"Yeah, I've heard they're like potato chips, like... Once you get one, you want to keep getting them. I figure it's maybe because before you get one, you don't know how badly they hurt, so you want to really make it count, and then you learn it's something you can handle so it's not scary anymore so you can just go, I'd like an astronaut octopus on my forearm."
 
"That's a fun idea," Sloan agreed, "especially if you were a nanny or babysitter or something... I think I'd like an actual tattoo, one day. Something delicate, but I'm not sure what, and I'm not sure where. My mom would die, and so would my extended family, but if they wanted to bury me with them I think all they'd need to do is cut that bit of skin off first, so it's not actually a big deal."
 
"I guess it depends on how much you wanted to cover up," Alec mused. "If you wanted to hide it, a bit of makeup does the job pretty easily once you get the hang of it, so if you didn't mind doing that, you could put it anywhere. If you didn't want to do that, you could stick it somewhere like your shoulder area, or maybe your back."
 
"You do have good shoulders," Alec agreed. "I guess that's the other problem: being able to see it. I know if I got one, I'd want it somewhere I could see it, otherwise, what's the point?"
 
"You could try drawing a basic shape where you think you might like one and experiment for a while before making a final decision," Alec suggested. "It could be fun to experiment before making a final decision."
 
"Yeah maybe. I'm not in a rush though, anyway. I think if I get an eyebrow scar and then a tattoo back-to-back, people will be worried about me," She laughed, "They'll think I went and joined a gang."
 
"You would be a highly valued member of the gang with your... particular set of skills," Alec said, wiggling his brows. "Xander could teach you to undo a lock, and you'd be unstoppable!"
 
"Oh yeah, think of the heists we'd pull off," Sloan laughed, "Xander would be the get-away driver, you'd distract the guards, I'd get through the lasers... and Peter would hire us lawyers."
 
"And he's got a sleeper build, so he'd be good," Sloan nodded, "not good for intimidation, but we've got Xander. I bet Peter could also hack into security systems." She gasped, "Milo could scope out the place!"
 
Alec copied her gasp. "You're right! Milo could absolutely be the one to stake it out!" He grinned. "It's good to know that if the whole college and upstanding citizen thing doesn't work out, we'll have a backup plan!"
 
"And meanwhile, your dad, who actually gets accused of gang activity, is a fine upstanding citizen, while we're all in the gang," Sloan snorted, "It's the perfect cover, because we all look innocent."
 
"This is very true. You have a good point! Milo and Peter, especially, have wonderfully innocent faces. I think I could pull of innocent, and I know you could because adults love you." Alec pulled his absolute best "innocent" face.
 
"Adults do love me, that's true, and really who in their right minds would suspect the student athlete and student council member of participating in heists? Nobody!" Sloan replied, "What sort of places are we heisting?"
 
Alec thought about that for a moment. "What if we did a half Robin Hood thing? We rob specific collectors who are either hoarding things that should go in a museum, or people rich enough to buy and then destroy precious, one-of-a-kind things like clothes that shouldn't be worn or super old paintings and things, and we give some stuff back to whoever should have them, but also take some stuff for ourselves?"
 
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