Inky Cells

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Danae had tried to smile brightly at Chad when he came to speak to her and, genuinely, she was touched that he would care enough to try to cheer her up. It made her feel a little guilty for allowing her feelings to show and she made a mental note to be more peppy, at all times, no matter what she was feeling. It wasn't fair to make Chad feel bad just because she was a complete failure at socializing. In fact, trying to show him that everything was just super was the only reason Danae had shown herself here when in reality, she'd much rather be drawing more designs for her tattoos. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to tattoos she'd like to get herself, but she was jarred back to attention when he announced that the drinks would be on him.

Danae wanted to kick herself a little, and him, but more herself. He was just so generous and there she'd been gearing up too have too many drinks and to while away her time sitting on the bench and hoping that the others would go and dance. Now, it seemed, his kindness was going to make her feel obligated to spend a little time with the others and she couldn't have as much to drink as she had planned with someone else picking up the tab. Resignedly, yet smiling sweetly at them all, Danae tried to create a new plan.

"Thank you so much, Chad" she chirped, deciding that the cheapest option would be beer, but her first drink would be a tiny bit more expensive instead since she was going to try to sip it and retain her wits. She eyed the others apprehensively, yet the cheery smile never left her face.
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Jessica was still in a slight daze, she just got hired on the spot and then to top it she was lucky enough to go out to drinks after only a few hours on the job.
Chad seemed like a nice guy and after seeing him talk to his employee, cheering her up Jessica thought she'd perhaps be able to keep this job.
Arousing from her thoughts to hear Chad's announcement, that the drinks were on him made her smile, he was a general good guy.
Walking over to where the other employees sat she hovered awkwardly near them waiting for an opportunity to talk.
She'd go easy on the drink, not spend much of Chad's money on an employee he had just hired, instead she'd get a Tia Maria and coke and sip a little bit at a time, she doubted she'd get thirsty without dancing.
Looking around at the faces of her new co-workers Jessica thought that each one seemed to have a different style, not like you'd usually get at other tattoo/piercing parlours.
Together they created this unique shop, no one needs to have to dress up to fit in like in her previous job.
Moving closer to the group she sat down on the edge of a chair thinking about how to talk to them all.​
 
Cassie had just finished up with her last customer for the moment when a clearly upset Danae walked past, she wondered what was wrong but didn't have time to ask as she noticed a new girl walk in and apply for the vacant designer job.

She was about to welcome the new girl and then find out what was wrong with Danae when a commotion out front caught her attention, she hurried to the front but smiled when she saw it was only the drunk boasting about his newest tat. She returned Chad's thumbs up laughing as she returned to her station to ink a new customer, as she was preparing her equipment she overheard Chad trying to cheer Danae up.

She smiled to herself as she worked, Chad was a genuinely nice guy and she was grateful to have him as a boss. When she was finally done Chad invited the staff next door for drinks, she was thinking about what she'd get first when Chads announced the drinks were on him.

She grinned and gave him a quick one armed hug "Thanks heaps Chad." She got a cheap drink but it was still nice, she was only going to have one or two drinks from Chad. She didn't want to be greedy but she didn't want to offend him either, sipping her drink she wandered over to the new girl who she'd learnt from Chad was named Jessica.

"Hey im Cassie, its nice to meet you." Quickly glancing around she noticed Danae sitting alone, instantly she realized why she was upset earlier. She must have been feeling left out since Cassie was getting along so well with Lezzy, feeling terribly guilty that she had accidentally isolated her she resolved to inculde her more. She waved her over "hey Danae have you meet Jessica yet?" smiling at both of them.
 
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Lezzy sighed with relief at the realization that the drunk was happily exposing his tattoo, and her eyes went wide and bright when Chad brought them next door for a drinks. Pretty damned nice. She got small glass of wine, not wanting to really drink, but at the same time, wanting to enjoy any poison she picked. Meanwhile she watched the new girl for a moment, unsure of how to deal with her. She'd have to figure it out sooner or later, but she wasn't in the mood to now.

She was about to ask Chad something her eyes darted to the other side of the bar, and in a moment, the smile on her face was wiped aside and she declared that she had to go to the bathroom.

And then she nearly ran to the ladies' room.

Not too long after she left, a group of what appeared to be stereo-typical rocker punks walked by. A faux sense of badassery leaked from them, like they were the only ones in the bar who's shit didn't stink. Five minutes had passed and she eventually came back, imediately jumping back into action, trying to get back into conversations.

As time passed, and people dispersed among the bar, Lezzy would occasionally duck into different places. A little too much to be normal.

This was one of the reasons she didn't frequent any bars anymore, old rings of friends walking around. They looked the same every time she saw them, but she was afraid to be seen. Because she was afraid of being influenced.....

She wasn't really a punk rocker.... she wasn't a goth.... or a prep.... not a jock.... not an A+ Student.... She wasn't employee of the month, or the freaking day. She didn't know what she was.... But each time she tried finding out who she was, it was always a different set of friends, and it was never a clean break when she broke from their path.

All she knew was that there were three constants in her life: Piercing, change and death.

She had always loved piercing, but everything else was constantly changing.... and death was always imminent. Either way, the particular group that had passed by was the reason why she lost Piercing Job # 1.

She could understand that boss, though. What else was a person to do when a bunch of twerps vandalized his shop. And she had nothing to show for it. So she quit before she could get fired and got her things before peeling out.

Lezzy would prefer that to not happen again. Though the last time that group saw her, she had been wearing brown contacts, had green and black hair and was wearing a total of nine piercings above the neck while wearing skinny jeans, band t-shirts and converse shoes.... with the occasional hoodie that read "I HATE YOU ALL EQUALLY".

She got another glass of wine and decided that would be all she had and tried to strike up a conversation with Danae after Cassie had obviously tried to get her involved in the group.

A few moments later Lezzy walked out for a moment, then came back in, looking a little more than pissed.

"I just saw "Tres Elements"- or whatever the hell their name is- come out of another tattoo parlor. Fresh ink, fresh piercings. The one a little-ways down the street." Lezzy snapped. One of the things that got her pissed was when patrons weren't faithful. It had been an issue in her first two jobs. A bad one that she had been trying to work on.

"Whatever.... I'm out of here. Welcome to the job, Jessica." She muttered downed the rest of the wine, hugged Cassie for a moment and then grabbed her bag, gone in less than ten seconds.

The next moment, there was a commotion a little ways down the street. Lezzy had run into Pink Hair on the way home. It would end with Pink Hair yelping as Lezzy exposed the truth on just how sensitive cartilage piercings were.

It was understandable when Lezzy got a black eye for that one.
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Danae had been pondering her choice of drinks when a sudden influx of attention confused her and made her want to hide in a corner. She cursed herself for being so obvious and blushed down to the naturally ash white roots of her hair. She had started stammering replies to Cassie whilst nervously twisting a strand of hair but then she saw Lezzy leave the bar in a huff.

Worried, Danae indicated that she would be just a moment to the others and chased after Lezzy, albeit slowly since she had no intention of ending up on the wrong side of a fight, which for her was really the fight altogether. The dark outside was a stark difference to the lit interior and she had to pause dizzily for a moment to let her eyes adjust but when she did, it was to find Lezzy and Pink Hair in a scrape. One of Pink Hair's companions seemed to be with her and Danae shuffled, looking around for someone to help Lezzy. She felt anxious, obligated, since she saw the whole affair and Lezzy was a coworker. Trying to act bold, Danae glided forward, mumbling placating statements to Lezzy and Pink Hair.

Danae's efforts nearly earned her a black eye of her own. In her haste to duck out of the way, she accidentally tripped Mohawk. To her distress, Shaved Head did not appear to be present. At least were he here, maybe he could have helped calm his friends down while she attempted to soothe Lezzy but as it was, Mohawk seemed to have targeted Danae as an enemy.

"Neh..." Danae squeaked as she ducked lithely from his swinging limbs. She looked around wildly, chirping the entire time statements she hoped would at some point take effect, like "Let's just talk about this" or "Calm down?". Finally, a limb reached around Danae just as she tripped a little walking backwards.

"Dudes, what the hell? I thought you were just getting some ink?" Shaved Head inquired to the hand he had just caught. Pink Hair and Lezzy seemed to have also ceased with his arrival. Danae lost her balance and tripped, trying hard not to cry. As far as she was concerned, this was the worst night ever.
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Cassie sighed silently, trying to befriend Danae was going to be harder than she expected. She allowed her mind to wander as her eyes scanned the bar before coming to rest on Lezzy, who seemed to be hiding every five minutes. She tried to confront her about it but she was gone again, coming back complaining about their customers being disloyal and after giving her a quick hug she left.

Cassie sensed something was wrong when Lezzy left, her suspicions were confirmed when Danae left right behind her obviously noticing what she had.

She excused herself from the others intent on following them when she stopped dead in her tracks, noticing a guy leaning against the doorway staring at her. She stared right back dumbfounded, surely her mind was playing tricks on her? No this wasn't happening she had left him behind a long time ago there was no way he could have found her, but here he was standing no more than a few feet away.

He smiled triumphantly as the look of fear
and realization covered her face, feeling dizzy she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again he was running out the door and down the street.

She tried to follow him but she stumbled a little and almost tripped over, it was obvious that she was freaking out. She was aware of Chad and Jessica's eyes on her but she didn't care about that right now, she just knew she had to get out of there.

She hurried out of the bar and didn't stop until she reached the safety of her apartment. After she had calmed down she was instantly angry with herself, getting so freaked out and fleeing a bar in front of her coworkers because of what was clearly a figment of her imagination wasn't it? Shaking her head she cursed herself of course it was hes gone, that didn't stop making sure the door was securely locked however.

As she drifted into a restless sleep plagued by memories of things long since past, she couldn't help but feel like a terrible friend Lezzy was clearly distressed and might have needed her help. She decided she'd approach her tomorrow at work, if she could face Chad and Jessica who had witnessed the humiliation of her freak out over nothing.
 
Chad ordered a Seven and Seven, his current drink of choice. Since his last divorce he hadn't been very inclined to drink, mostly because that entire relationship had been one giant alcohol fuled whirlwind. He had also been to focused on his career at present time, and in all honesty, didn't want the alcohol to cloud his vision. Booze was often times like a thick fog in your field of vision, literally in your vision, but also clouding your judgment. The last thing he needed right now was a cloudy mind. He had a lot invested in Inky Cells, but now was time for celebration. Inky Cells had had a fantastic opening week.

The drinks came. Chad took a sip, relishing the way the stiff drink seemed to warm him from the inside out. He looked around the bar, it seemed like a nice place. Well lit, not one of those dark places that was filled with old alcoholics and bar hags, but rather a hip place filled with twenty-somethings and college kids putting off homework. Chad realized he had a few years on most of the patrons, but that was ok.

He was startled from his thoughts by a one armed hug from Cassie, he gave her a kind of awkward squeeze back and flashed her his award winning smile. Always his best feature, according to his mother.

"Thank you." He replied enthusiastically " Great job tonight, really great. A lot of people couldn't have handled that drunk dude the way you did." He then watched as Cassie introduced herself to Jessica, as well as her to Danae. Chad smiled, what a great bunch they were.

"Yes." Chad added "Welcome Jessica, Tomorrow I'll set you up with a station and put you to work. Danae and Raven draw a lot of their own designs, but there is always a need for special creations. Also I think it's good to have a variety of art for the customer to choose from." Chad nodded matter-of-factly, feeling a nice buzz from his drink.

Chad Noticed as Lezzy left, but thought little of it until she came back looking upset. Before he could ask what was wrong she exclaimed that she had seen the punk rockers "Tres Elements" next door……wait, thought Chad, Next door? He cared less about the fact that they had been there and more about the fact that....... Had he overlooked that a tattoo parlor called Fresh Ink was in the same neighborhood as Inky Cells? He did a mental facepalm. This was NOT a good thing, but then again greatness comes through competition, he thought.

Just as Chad was about to go outside and see what all the excitement was about, he noticed Cassie take off out the door after some strange man. Perfect, he thought, maybe taking everyone out wasn't the best idea he had. He grabbed Jessica by the arm and pulled her with him

"C'mon, lets go" he said "We can't let them have all the fun without us" He said sarcastically.

The first thing Chad saw, against the orange-ish glow of the street lights, was the Trio that had come into the shop. There was mohawk, shaved head and Pink hair, Chad thought that even if he did learn their real names he may think of them as that forever, and they appeared to be in some sort of altercation with his employees, HIS employees! He was not happy about this.

It was dark, he saw Danae fall. From where he was standing it looked like Shaved head had pushed her. Chad ran to her aid, grabbing Shaved head by the throat and swinging at his face with his free hand. Shaved head, whom Chad had liked, went down hard.

"What the hell, man!!" Said Shaved head from the ground.

Just then, to Chad's ultimate dismay, the cops pulled up. The red and blue lights from their cars danced, illuminating the scene at hand. It did not look good.
 
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Lezzy watched Chad approach, her head turned to the side, her attention was disabled, and in that time, Pink Hair jerked in the wrong direction leading to a screech, and in that moment, the new nose piercing that the girl had gotten was bleeding like a stuck pig. Lezzy wasn't apologetic at all as she pulled away from the woman, Pink Hair lunged at her.

In the moment that the cops had pulled up, Pink Hair had managed to tackle Lezzy to the ground, and as she pulled herself up without any sound of pain or protest, there was a slight sound, similar to a coin falling to the ground, but what lay there was a 14G captive bead piercing. Sterling silver, with the bead being dark blue, the bead was missing.

From her lip.

Lezzy lifted her head to look up at the cops, with her lip bleeding even worse than Pink Hair, a good size tear in her lip. She then turned away.

She almost didn't even register the cops, turning back to face the girl, meaning to do some damage when the lovely officers of course started calling for everyone to calm down. A bright light from one of the uniform's flashlights alighted upon everyone. Lezzy had her back turned to the light, as did Pink Hair, when they were asked to turn around, it wasn't a pretty sight. Both of them had blood on their faces, and on the front of their clothing.

"We got a call from a citizen who owns that shop right down the street that there was some kind of fight over here." One of the cops said, he was a burly fellow, with a bit of a stomach hanging over his belt. The other cop was still shining the flashlight into everyone's eyes.

Without a moment to spare, a man came barreling out of the parlor, Fresh Ink. He was waving and trying to get the officer's attention like some goddamned maniac. Lezzy looked angry enough to murder and she was already moving towards the man when one of the popos told her to stay where she was. Lezzy noticed that Cassie was gone, and was a little glad. At least she wasn't in this too.

At that point, everyone was split up and one at a time were talked to by one of the two cops. Lezzy and Pink Hair were apart from each other, Lezzy sitting in the backseat of the cop car and Pink hair a little bit away with the bigger cop. After getting Lezzy's and Pink Hair's story, they had next gone to Danae, and then Chad and Jessica and the two other members of Tres Elements.

All the while the owner of Fresh Ink was running his mouth about "hooligans" and that Chad's employee's were constantly getting into fights.

Which of course wasn't true. Lezzy stood up from the back seat of the cop car and hollered that the man was a fucking liar.

Either way, Lezzy was sweating now, with a black eye and a torn lip, she looked like hell as she moved to go have a word with that prick, but was stopped by one of the cops. They told her to sit back in the car, and she slowly complied, though it seemed like something was really bothering her as the man continued his babbling and lying. At some point, even the cops told him to let them handle the matter and to go back to his parlor.

Within the next couple moments, Pink Hair and Lezzy were yelling at each other, one cop keeping them apart. Lezzy's anger was boiling over at that point and she pushed aside the cop and went for Pink Hair.

It didn't last long, she was in handcuffs, in the back seat of the cop car again the door was closed this time again. She fired an apologetic look at Chad and the owner of the other parlor came out again, coming by Chad and commenting on what "a great team of employee's he had and offered if he ever wanted a good ink job, that he was welcome in the other parlor".

It ended fine, Lezzy got off with a warning, and so did Pink Hair, though both ended up getting a quick hospital visit to take care of their piercing-related wounds.

That would be the last time that Tres Elements came near Inky Cells, but it would not be the last time that the owner of Fresh Ink butted into Inky Cell's business.
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Danae was feeling a little overwhelmed as things happened around her, not the least of which involved Chad punching Shaved Head. Danae chirped in protest but Shaved Head's words drowned her out. It was difficult for her, since she knew that Chad was protecting her, that made her feel important, valued, but on the other hand, Shaved Head had suffered and she was considering that she might possibly like Shaved Head, after he had intervened.

Soon, though, and before Danae could sort anything out, sirens were blaring. She was passed over, however, and not given a second glance after they confirmed that she was over eighteen and didn't have a curfew. Shaved Head was almost not so lucky. They saw the developing bruise across his jaw and began to interrogate but Danae offered an explanation that they accepted so that they could leave Chad and Shaved Head alone and focus on Lezzy and Pink Hair, who had erupted into another spat.

Danae took to her feet, lower lip trembling as she struggled not to cry, and dusted off the back of her dress. She wanted to go home and sleep now, but she couldn't shake the thought that perhaps she needed to do a bit of clearing up here. Hesitantly, she looked at Chad and Shaved Head.

"First, thank you Chad. It's really super to know I can depend on you to get my back.... but Shaved Head was the one who kept me from getting harassed by Mohawk and Pink Hair..." she felt silly calling them by these names, but she knew that he would understand what she meant best that way. Afterward, she turned to Shaved HEad, offering only doe-like, wide eyes in apology because she was at a loss for words with him, until she realized that thanking him was in order and she did so.
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