Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Sept 17, 2019 1:49:48 GMT -8
Nikkie knew that if she wanted to drag Nick out on a weekend and not have booze involved, she had to catch him early. She'd set her alarm to her normal weekday morning times, gotten up in a leisurely way, showered, eaten, and gotten ready for the day. It was still a while before Nick would normally be rousing himself, but she figured it was enough past when he'd probably gone to sleep the night before to drag him from his bed.
She let herself downstairs quietly, making her way over to where Nick had fallen asleep. He'd been drinking the night before, she could tell, but that was no surprise. She hoped that someday it would change, but he was her brother, and she knew how stubborn he could be. She sat next to him and shook him in the way that she knew would normally wake him up, talking quietly so as not to disturb her other brother: "Rise and shine Nick, brother mine, we are going out today, I'll get you ice cream."
She knew that she'd probably have to drag him, but if Nick was stubborn, Nikkie was even more so. They'd never let it get them in fights though. She was just the only person allowed to boss him around, and that was partially because she knew exactly where his limits were. It was part of why she was frustrated with how Aly tried to handle Nick. Generally, it just made things worse.
Today though, today she and her brother were going to have a good time, and she wasn't letting booze come along.
Nickolas Freeland
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Sept 22, 2019 14:16:51 GMT -8
Nick stirred from sleep, glaring up at his twin sister. "Why..." He grumbled, curling more under the blankets but also knowing she wouldn't leave him alone until he got up. He rested his eyes a few more seconds before letting out a sigh and tossing the blanket off him, sitting up to give Nikkie another glare. "Did you say ice cream?" He grumbled. He glanced at the time on his phone, giving her a shrug. "I'm down for ice cream." He looked down at his clothes, days old pajama pants and a dirty tank top. "Should probably shower, then?" He asked his sister, still grumbling.
He had a feeling he knew why she had woken him and not waited until he woke up himself, because then he wouldn't have to acknowledge being awake before getting in a drink or two. Didn't make him any less grumpy, especially considering he'd have to deal with a headache until he could get a drink in. Which he knew Nikkie would be relentless about not letting him do that, at least not while they were out. He shuffled his way to the closet, looking for any clothes he could wear, eventually pulling out a t-shirt and jeans. "What's the weather like outside... is it even ice cream weather?" He shook his head, "eh, I don't care, I want ice cream."
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Nikolette Freeland on Sept 24, 2019 3:18:18 GMT -8
Nikkie could tell that Nick had been having a week of not really emerging, and she was glad that she'd decided to come bother him. She was glad that he didn't put up too much of a fuss in the getting up process though. She looked at what he was wearing and noted the waft of old drinks and said, "Yeah, a shower probably wouldn't be a bad idea, a quick one though."
Her tone and look was stern as she said it, though not unkind. She knew that there was a chance of him trying to get a drink in when he went to shower, but he knew the way this went. When she woke him up to take him to do things, there was not drinking. She'd not brought it up with him in a while, not wanting to push him past what he was ready to deal with, especially not with the way some of their other siblings treated him around it. Someday, he'd be ready to deal with it, but it wasn't going to happen from someone forcing him.
When he asked about the weather, she told him, "Warm early fall. It's not likely to rain until evening, so yeah, good ice cream weather. I was thinking of going to the cart down at the beach, since they won't be out there much once it gets actually cold. I checked online though, and they're there today."
She added, "I figured that we could stop somewhere for caffeine and breakfast along the way since I at least would probably do better with something other than ice cream as the first thing that hits my stomach."
She didn't mention that she'd already eaten. Making it not about Nick meant that he'd be more likely to go along with healthy habits as far as she could tell.
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Oct 27, 2019 18:10:54 GMT -8
"Yeah, ok." Nick said in regards to breakfast and the comment about taking a quick shower, shuffling into the bathroom and turning on the shower. He supposed he could be good for his twin, and the shower felt nice after not having had one in at least a few days (or at least, to his memory it had only been a few days). He took just less than ten minutes to shower, even though he was somewhat protesting leaving the warm water, and got dressed, emerging from the bathroom with a bit of a reluctant sigh. He looked to his sister, "Okay, I'm up, I'm dressed, now feed me." He stated bluntly, though it wasn't a command. The shower helped to clear his headache a bit, but he knew he'd be dealing with it the whole day he was out with his sister.
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Nov 4, 2019 21:59:20 GMT -8
Nikkie grinned at her twin when he emerged ready to go. He'd actually gotten ready remarkably fast, and she hooked her arm through his and said, "Alright, let's go."
She waited until they'd gotten out the front door to say, "It's nice out, so unless you strenuously object, we're walking today. We can start at the coffee shop just down at the corner, and we are definitely walking to that."
She started leading the way, not really towing Nick by the arm that she'd hooked through his, but applying just a little bit of pressure. Knowing that he'd probably appreciate their existence, she plonked a pair of her sparkly blue sunglasses that she'd snagged on the way out the door onto his face and told him, "There, now you're even very stylish."
Once they had a bit of momentum, she asked, "How's the drawing been going?"
She tried not to bring the topic of Nick's art up in the house much, since she didn't want their siblings to focus on the idea of it too much, but she did want to gently keep asking him about it. It seemed like a positive step that he was interested in art again at least some. It was something that had always really been Nick's too. She wasn't particularly artistic in that direction, but she'd always loved Nick's art from when they were little kids, even before he actually started practicing it properly.
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Nov 18, 2019 16:33:12 GMT -8
"Even if I did strenuously object, I think maybe you wouldn't listen." Nick grumbled, wincing at the bright sun. He didn't really mind Nikkie dragging him along to places, even if it was sometimes literally drag him along, because oftentimes she would lets the worries of the house fall away and he could see a glimmer of what it could have been like. Or maybe one day would be like. It wasn't in his plans now, but maybe sometime in the future. He snickered as he pulled off the sunglasses for a moment to look at them, and then re-applied them and raised an eyebrow, "Is this really what's in fashion these days? I'm disinclined to believe that." He joked, while secretly plotting a way to make them his for good. He wondered for a moment if these were even Nikkie's sunglasses, or if they belonged to another sibling originally. He grinned as she asked him about his art. "I sold another piece!" He told her, a little bounce in his step as he said, like a child excited to show their parents their good grades. He pulled out his phone, opening it to a picture of his artwork. "It was commissioned, I guess the person's fiance loves sea creatures, or something, so they asked if I could draw it. I wasn't sure since I'd never drawn sea life before but I said I'd try it and I just sent the finished product to them the other day and they said they loved it!" He took a breath, like he was both exhilarated and shocked, "I even got a tip from them." He said breathlessly. |
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Nov 18, 2019 23:12:23 GMT -8
Nikkie laughed at him and told him, "I'd definitely listen to your strenuous objections, if you had them, but I might still veto them. I don't really feel like driving, and it's a nice day."
When he asked her if the sunglasses were actually fashionable, she laughed and said, "I have no idea if they're fashionable with anyone other than middle schoolers, but I promise you that my students think that they're awesome. If you like them though, you can keep them. They suit you, and I've got several similar pairs."
She grinned when he started getting excited about the art that he sold, and she looked closely at the picture that he held up for her. She told him, "That's really cool. You know, that's also the sort of thing that I see people looking for in tattoo designs. Have you been looking into that as a route for commissions?"
She figured that when she eventually figured what she wanted as a tattoo design, she'd talk Nick into doing it for her. She'd even give him money for it or some sort of trade, though she figured that she might have to talk him into that. Sometimes she thought that all this would be simpler if she just lived with her twin. There were moments like this where she saw the hope of him getting better, and they never seemed to show around any of their other siblings.
She told him, "I'm really glad you got good recognition for your work too."
She grinned a little bit more as she had a thought, "If we're up for it on the way back from the beach, do you want to swing into the arts supplies store in the mall? I'll get you some supplies if you want."
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Dec 3, 2019 12:11:12 GMT -8
"Knew it." Nick replied simply. He raised an eyebrow, "I was planning to keep them anyway, so you just made my job a lot easier." He said honestly, though he ended his sentence with a laugh.
He paused as she mentioned it was the kind of art people did for tattoos. "Commissions for... tattoos? I hadn't even thought of that." He continued walking, but seemed in a daze. Although he had some himself, he had never considered his art as good enough to become immortalized on someone. "I was under the impression most tattoo artists didn't like doing art from other artists... But what if I became a tattoo artist?" He mused aloud. Of course, there was a lot of ifs in that, and to begin with he had no idea how to even begin the process of becoming a tattoo artist. To his understanding, it involved starting by giving family members and friends bad-looking tattoos. At least that was how it seemed to be as he was growing up. And then, there was the whole other matter of people probably didn't want to get tattooed by a drunk, so he would probably have to stop drinking.
He was a bit calmer by the time he responded to his sister's offer, though the wheels were starting to churn in his head, and he just gave her a smile and stated, "I'd really like that."
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Dec 9, 2019 23:51:38 GMT -8
She smiled when Nick seemed enthusiastic about the idea, and she said, "It varies. A lot of tattoo artists do generally prefer to do their own artwork, but some of them will work with other people's art, if they're good, with permission only for something like that."
She thought about her research into tattoos that she was sort of considering for a bit and said, "I know that a lot of tattoo artists have apprenticeship programs. If you were really interested in looking into that, we could do some research into what that looks like. There'd probably be some entry requirements, but I think that a lot of tattoo artists would be pretty pleased with seeing designs like that from a potential apprentice. You already have an art style that would transfer pretty well."
She didn't bring up that one of them would probably be being able to be consistently sober for work. She knew that Nick was aware that that was a thing, and that he'd figure out what he needed if he had enough motivation. She'd toyed with the idea of seeing if getting him away from the rest of their siblings would help on that front. She knew that he didn't respond well to Aly's way of trying to help. Moving in together had been the right decision when they'd made it, but Luna was doing way better now, and Nick wasn't, plus he was her responsibility the most now that they were all adults.
She pointed to the coffee shop and said, "We're here, start thinking about what you want."
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Feb 17, 2020 20:15:48 GMT -8
Nick looked at the menu to decide on a drink before looking at the food options, muttering under his breath to his sister, "do you mind if I get a breakfast sandwich?" There was one with bacon that looked like it would particularly greasy enough to help ease the hangover, but he also didn't want to use up too much of his sister's money.
He was hoping he could keep the mental note to look into tattoo artist apprenticeship programs long enough to at least save the search as a tab on his phone, but since the line wasn't particularly long, didn't want to get distracted before they had ordered. He knew what she meant by entry requirements, and aside from being consistently sober, he assumed other ones would be having a portfolio of artwork and one's own tattooing kit, which probably wasn't cheap if he wanted a proper one. But he could agree his art style translated pretty well into tattoo design, and he also had a few different types of art styles that would probably be popular among people that liked tattoos, though he was less sure about that, and some of the styles he wasn't as confident in. "You really think I could do it?" He asked, adding as an afterthought, "become a tattoo artist?"
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Mar 15, 2020 12:36:04 GMT -8
Nikki nodded and told him, "Get whatever sounds good to you."
When they got to the front of the line, she ordered a chai tea latte and a cranberry orange scone for herself and looked at Nick to give his order.
She nodded to his question about if she thought that becoming a tattoo artist was something she thought he could actually do and said, "I think that you could, though it would be hard work. You'd have to find someone whose style you liked who was taking an apprentice. We'd have to figure out what requirements you needed to fill. From what I've heard, most programs have apprentices work with the machines at their mentors shops, but that a lot of the time they are just doing art for a while to start with, and then using machines on not people at first to just practice."
She found tattoos interesting enough, and there were some people she followed online who'd posted about the process. She grinned and told him, "You know, if you go through with it, and actually get to the point where you're a tattoo artist, maybe I'll get my first tattoo from you."
She had been thinking about tattoos for a while, but she hadn't decided on anything. She figured that she liked Nick's art though, and Nick actually being in recovery from everything would be a pretty good reason to finally make a decision.
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Apr 6, 2020 20:54:28 GMT -8
"Yes," Nick said under his breath, accompanied by a fist pump, and then continued to debate if he actually wanted the drink he had chosen or not. When they got to the front of the line, he ordered the bacon breakfast sandwich and then paused a moment before deciding on getting a chai latte as well, but with two shots of espresso in it. "Sounds good." he told his sister simply, giving her a playful shrug. He got out of the way of the cash register and waited for his sister to finish paying, listening to what she had to say. "That... makes a lot of sense, actually. And if that's the case, that would save me some time before I had to buy my own tattoo... stuff. Kit. Tattoo kit. So I could save up for one." He grinned, "For you, that would be an honor." He said, giving his sister a playful bow. He stroked his chin for a moment, looking off into the distance with a glare, "Would finding out about apprenticeships be something I could do online or would I have to talk to people on the phone? I really hope it's not the latter."
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Nikolette Freeland on Apr 23, 2020 6:04:55 GMT -8
Nikkie thought about his question for a moment, taking her food and drink as they came out. Finally, she replied, "You know, it probably varies from shop to shop and person to person how they handle the process. Maybe the first step would be figuring out who's close enough to us that it would be reasonable, and looking into their styles and their shops."
She spotted a table in the corner, pointed it out, and led the way over before continuing, "You, or possibly we, would probably want to go visit some of the shops that you liked the work of in person and see what the atmosphere was like before even necessarily committing to asking about apprenticeships. But it might be the sort of thing where you'd want to send them an email or a message on one of their online platforms to see if they were even considering taking on apprentices right now first."
She thought for a moment again and said, "If you aren't going to be comfortable doing the whole process by phone, a place that only wants you to use phones for the process wouldn't be a good fit anyhow, and there are a lot of tattoo places in the greater Seattle metro, and a lot within pretty easy bus radius of here. Most of them have facebook or instagram or twitter and some way of setting up appointments online. I figure that they can handle online contact at least some."
She added as an afterthought almost, "It's probably going to help to keep working on your art portfolio too, maybe see if there are online communities about getting into this sort of stuff. I can help you look for that if you want."
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Apprentice Tattoo Artist.
Homosexual.
Single.
06/17/1990.
33.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Redeim.
Offline.
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Post by Nickolas Freeland on Jul 13, 2020 12:25:59 GMT -8
Nick nodded, "That is... a good idea. I will do that." He said, looking thoughtfully into the distance. He continued thinking about how he should start the process. He followed a couple tattoo artists on a couple social media platforms, and some of the were nearby, so maybe he could start there. Or maybe he should start with working on his drinking. He supposed today could be a good start to that, considering Nikkie caught him before he had a chance to drink anything. He realized belatedly Nikkie was still talking to him, and he snapped out of his daze. "What?" He said instinctively before her words caught up with him, "Oh yeah, that would probably be good. Online communities is a good idea, too." He agreed.
Their drinks and food came out before he had even fully decided to pull out his phone to do a quick google search for any online communities that got into how to begin tattoo apprenticeships, and he thanked the barista that dropped off their items and took his food and drink. "Thanks." He told his sister, holding up the items in his hands.
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Middle School English Teacher.
Lesbian.
Single.
06/17/1990.
32.
Horse (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Nikolette Freeland on Jul 17, 2020 21:06:41 GMT -8
Nikkie smiled at Nick fondly. It was good to see him focusing on something positive that gave him a chance of moving forward. Nikkie settled at the table and watched her twin thoughtfully. She didn't want to push, but she did want to reach for this opportunity. She asked cautiously, "Have you ever thought about moving back out just the two of us?"
It was tangential, she knew, but she wondered if Nick would be able to grasp this motivation more easily without the pressures of their siblings around him.
She said, "Other than ice cream and the beach, is there anything that you want to do today?"
She focused on eating and sipping her drink, waiting to see how Nick reacted.
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