Oleksiy Fong-Prykhodo¶
Role: Tattoo artist; co-owner of Ink & Iron, Ceres
Background: Ethnically Ukrainian father who moved to Ceres and married into the
Fong family; artistry runs strong on both sides
Relationship: 1D — Rin/Lin (her tattoo artist; sometime lover)
Overview¶
Big for a Belter, Oleks — as the shop knows him — has never needed to worry about protecting his business or his loved ones. But should it be required: he is the kind of man who will break someone's fingers, then pick them up bodily while they're screaming, so that he can throw them for distance. A protective bear for the people in his community, and he tends to keep his ear to the ground, just in case. The Fongs remember the last uprising all too well.
His natural talents in drawing and painting were encouraged from childhood, and it shows. At Ink & Iron, the division of labor is simple: Felim draws new customers in, Oleks keeps them coming back. His art is unique, beautiful, and comes from the soul — and he does not tattoo something if it is not Art. He is Not Cheap. Nor does he travel.
Rin¶
Rin knows her tattoos are recognizable even if her face isn't — that's what Oleks's work means. She got them because Felim went to bat for her: my girlfriend wants tattoos, we've been talking about these concepts — check out this canvas, though. That skin, those artistic concepts, the jewelry already present — Oleks took the commission.
Oleks and Felim are the kind of business partners who also live together and sometimes share sex and partners. The first threesome with Rin happened after a "Whoops, sorry... actually, that's super hot. Mind if I join you?" After that, sometimes they were three, sometimes they were two. NBD. Welcome to the Belt.
At the Table¶
Oleks is the shop's gravity: fewer words, more weight. His ear-to-the-ground habit makes him a quiet information source with a protective streak a kilometer wide — if trouble is coming for his community, he likely heard about it yesterday, and his opinion about it will be delivered simply, once, and finally.