Ink Portals

Celebrations are in order

Despite the twins being of the fairer sex the place had a care free, man-cave feel to it. There were shelves lining the wall in the sitting room with rows of outrageously curvy manga figurines. And a motley collection of gaming consoles crowded a coffee table under the television.

"Nice place," Arthur said, walking over to an old PAC-Man arcade machine near the kitchen and twiddling one of the joysticks.

"Thank you," Mei said. "We are gamers at heart, with a love of the older, nostalgic varieties."

"I think eccentric is the word," Abby said, eyeing an eight foot Godzilla statue outside on the balcony.

"I can borrow you a dress if you like?" Mei said, glancing at Abby's figure and concluding they were roughly the same body size.

"Sure," Abby said. "That'd be nice of you."

"I'll wait here," Arthur said, slumping down into a Hello Kitty beanbag in the TV room.

The three girls went upstairs, leaving Arthur by himself. Outside the door Arthur heard a glass breaking, followed by laughter from the hookers outside in the hall. Then someone turned up the music, it sounded like Chong's party was only getting started.

Arthur admired the room full of colorful action figures, all staring back at him in heroic, paused-action-poses. He could hear the murmurs of Abby and the twins talking upstairs. Arthur hadn't felt completely alone in his own head since he became a bearer, and he probably never would again. There was a constant sense of crowded thoughts in his mind. He thought he ought to use the time to meditate; he didn't want the spirits to get restless. Arthur curled up his legs beneath him on the cushy stuffing of the beanbag and closed his eyes. He could hear the twins' voices from upstairs: "Here, try this one," he heard Mei say.

A hint of perfume came from upstairs, probably carried in by a breeze from an open window, and registered in Arthur's nostrils. He breathed in and out steadily, trying to focus on the task at hand, but his mind inevitably began to wonder.

They were prettying themselves up, he thought. Arthur just couldn't help but be curious about seeing them getting dressed.

Maybe I should drop in and see what they're up to, he thought. Nothing creepy, just a quick peek.

Arthur's eyes glinted to black and a single raven hopped out from his collar and onto his shoulder. The bird checked out the sitting room with its beady black eyes, then looked towards the steps leading upstairs. It fluttered up into the air and landed on the second floor hand-rail, then hopped down onto the floor and hobbled in through the half-open doorway.

Arthur was delighted when he saw what the bird was looking at; Abby was pulling on a pretty satin cocktail dress over her hips, and to Arthur's astonishment the twins were also in various stages of undress; their bare skin heavily-tattooed.

The raven crept over to the edge of the bed and hid behind the corner of the mattress, peeking out only ever so slightly. The girls hadn't spotted the spy, waddling into the room with its clunky talons muted by the carpet.

The raven (and Arthur) watched as Hiroko secured the straps of her bra while chatting with Abby about the nightlife back home in Los Angeles. At the other end of the room Mei, who was stark-naked except for her body-art, flicked through the outfits in her closet indecisively.

Arthur noticed that both the twins had full-body tattoos that covered most of their skin. There were large phoenix designs at the center of their backs in brilliant orange and turquoise ink. The artwork also included other embellishments, like pink cherry-blossom petals and white lotus flowers, decorating the further reaches of their arms and legs. The body art neatly faded out after the bends of their elbows and knees, as if they were wearing three-quarter wet suits. The colorful ink made the twins appear to be clothed even while completely naked, only sensitive areas like their breasts and genitals were left unmarked.