[Samuel x Roman]

s a m u e l​

Samuel felt really bad when he saw Tomas' own mother just interrupt him like that. Samuel assumed it wasn't something that happened especially often, this really was a special occasion after all. But still, this woman was actually managing to behave worse than her husband, and Samuel thought that had to be some kind of achievement. He could give her the benefit of the doubt and think that it was just her being uncomfortable about her husband's past sitting right in front of her, but after the look on her face she had sported after Stella just mentioning two fictional characters it was hard to deny that she just didn't really want her children involved with people like Samuel and Roman.

"Well, it's a little different, but it's still really, really good, I like it a lot," Julia answered Roman carefully, she was clearly more nervous about speaking to Roman than Samuel. Samuel wasn't sure if it was because he was related to her or because Roman was more obviously gay with his sparkly shirt and piercings.

"Mhm, Roman's is a little different than my mum's, and my mum's is a little different from Abuela Antonia's, but they're all good," Samuel wondered if his siblings had had a chance to taste the paella as actually made by their grandmother before she passed. But he was afraid to ask. He knew that his abuela and Tia Carmen would have accepted these children more than himself. And they'd probably like Mónica more than Susan because she was from a Spanish speaking country, despite her clearly being a much worse person than Susan.

"Yeah, exactly! But I like the one my mum makes the best," Julia said and shot her mother a smile, which was very sweet.

"I'm just not going to say which one I prefer while Roman is here," Samuel joked, Stella laughed a little. It wasn't that Roman's paella was far behind Susan's, honestly, it was amazing, but nothing can really beat the exact taste you grew up eating.
 
r o m a n
​
From what Roman had seen of Mónica, she was not a very pleasant person. But when her daughter complimented her food, she genuinely smiled, and when she did she looked truly beautiful. Maybe she wasn't a cold and heartless bitch like Roman had already decided she was.

He still didn't like her, though.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Roman chuckled, giving Samuel's shoulder an affectionate rub as he stood up to take his empty bowl to the sink. "Right. Once everyone finishes their paella we can have some cheesecake, how does that sound?"

Once everyone finished their main course, Roman brought out the cheesecake and served it to all the people seated. It came with a raspberry sauce to cut through the overwhelmingly sweet flavours of the cake itself. They ate it with some more amicable conversation, and then the kids were sent to the living room to watch some TV while the adults talked.

Roman opened his mouth to say something, but Mónica got in first. She turned to Manuel, and said, in Spanish, "I'm not sure if I want the kids around their kids, if they're going to be talking about lesbian characters."
 
s a m u e l​

The rest of dinner actually went fairly decently. The tense atmosphere was still there, Manuel didn't talk much at all really. But Samuel was having a nice time getting to know his half-siblings a little. They all seemed like really sweet kids, Samuel just hoped they stayed sweet and didn't adapt too many of their parent's behaviours. After dinner, the kids were left to their own devices for a moment though, and Samuel didn't mind that because he had a feeling it would be a little easier for them to get to know each other without the adults there. Someone who did seem to mind though, was Mónica, who swapped over to Spanish in an attempt to discretely tell her husband that.

Manuel's gaze flickered over to Samuel, who he knew had heard and understood without issue and looked like he was about to say something, but Samuel interjected.

"That wasn't even what Stella's point was. She was just talking about the fact that the character was one of the bad guys based on who she interacted with." Samuel responded calmly in Spanish. He had no idea if Mónica just asumed neither he or Roman spoke spanish or that just Roman didn't speak it but that Samuel wouldn't say anything. But he would.

"Samuel, this is a matter we are going to disagree on, and we want your opinions to be told to our kids as little as you want our opinions told to yours," Manuel said, his voice was almost as calm as Samuel's maybe a little tense but to someone who didn't speak the language it probably just sounded just like they were having a normal conversation. Samuel was averting his eyes though, focusing his attention on gathering the dishes instead, "It's mutual, as long as no one is encouraging anything it's fine,"

"She wasn't encouraging anything, just stating a fact." Samuel continued, arguing against his dad was still terrifying, but he managed and the not looking at him helped, "I think it'd be too bad if they can't all be friends because they can't even talk about a lesbian couple in a completely neutral manner." Samuel finally turned his gaze up and looked at Mónica, because her she could look at when confronting, "And I would rather we all be upfront with it so we can discuss it properly if that's okay"
 
r o m a n
​
Judging by the surprised look on Mónica's fact she hadn't been expecting Samuel to understand what was being said. Roman thought that that was just ignorant and stupid. It was like she thought Samuel wasn't as Spanish as her or her kids, either because he was half white, or because he was married to a white person. It was just idiotic and it just further made Roman dislike her.

"Samuel, I'm sorry but I can't help but see it as anything but encouraging, considering the context —"

"Oh my God, what are you even talking about?"

Mónica looked at Roman with genuine shock as he just casually responded to what she said in Spanish. Clearly she had not expected him to be able to speak the language. Roman honestly didn't give a fuck.

"Stella was in no way encouraging it, she was just saying that the character Harper liked had a relationship with an evil character. I'm sorry but I really think you're grasping at anything you can find to use as an excuse for our kids not to know yours, and that's really not fair."

Mónica bristled with irritation. "I think we hardly need to reach for anything. Judging by your appearance we can tell what kind of children you're raising."

That was a direct attack, and Roman had promised Manuel he wouldn't say anything unless they were attacked. Well, he was going to fucking use this chance.

"Okay, no, I'm sorry, but if you wore this in front of your kids you wouldn't have a problem with it. It's just because I'm a male and you have your niche gender roles you live in that hardly anyone follows anymore because is the twenty first century. And that's fine. I'm not here to try and change your opinions. But when you come for my daughter and say that she doesn't deserve to be friends with your children because she was mentioning a fact, a fact you can't change because most of the world doesn't have the same prehistoric values you have, then we're going to have a problem. Stella and all our other kids deserve to know their aunt and uncles if they want to. And your children are lovely, you should be proud of them. But they also seemed to be happy to get to know their brother and their nieces and nephews. Why would you want to take that away from them?"
 
s a m u e l​

As Roman spoke Samuel made sure to listen to every word, but he also slowly moved away from his father and stepmother and closer to and even a little behind his husband. He hated that he had to do that, Roman was the one who was at risk if someone, and everyone knew who that someone would be, couldn't control himself. But Samuel just didn't like the idea of standing close to his dad when in the opposing side of an argument.

It was kind of satisfying though, to see the shocked expression on especially Manuel's face as Roman did one of his trademark rants in fluent Spanish. Few people would have the patience to learn your spouse's language, but this was just one of many things that undeniably showed what an amazing person Roman was. When the rant was over, however, that shocked expression turned into a scowl and Samuel turned his eyes away.

"We don't... I don't want to take it away from them," Manuel said, he glanced over at Mónica for a second and Samuel couldn't help but wonder if the entire reason Samuel was getting a chance to meet his siblings was that their father had actually spent a lot of time convincing Mónica, "But they are young and impressionable and if things like that is going to be mentioned the moment they meet you... I just don't want a repeat of the past, Samuel,"

He obviously didn't mean the abuse but the fact that Samuel's opinions had differed from his and it had driven them apart. Which was fucked up because he was the one who held the outdated opinions. Not Samuel. But he obviously believed that he was right in his opinions, so he wouldn't see something wrong with it.

"We're not going to try to turn them against you. We're not bad people. Our children aren't bad people," Samuel said, and this seemed to shut his father up completely, at least for now, "I don't care if you have your opinion. You can think that it's wrong that we're married or even together. But we're not bad people just because we're gay. And our children aren't bad people because they were raised by us. You can't actually believe that right? Or else you wouldn't be here to begin with. Stella literally just said a character was gay, just like she could have said I was gay. She doesn't think that's wrong and she doesn't realize to what extent people like you guy's beliefs extend," Samuel was casually keeping out the fact that Stella was the kind of person who would have probably gotten just as mad as her Daddy if she had heard what Monica said, especially if she did understand the situation better, "She was just talking, she, and the others, has to be able to talk without you threatening to not let them get to know each other. Family is really important to us, and to them, they'd feel terrible if you'd take it away now," Samuel's voice almost sounded pleading, and he hated that, he hated that in a way he was giving them the satisfaction to have the decision, but he had also pushed them into a corner. If his father hadn't been bullshitting them about the love the sinner mentality there was really nothing they could do without revealing themselves to be the terrible people they were by hurting young children.
 
r o m a n
​
Roman hated homophobes. Just talking to these people made him feel so angry his stomach was twisting inside his abdomen. He just couldn't stand knowing that this disgusting man sitting across from him had pushed his son away because of his outdated views, and that he seemed willing to do the same to his three sweet children if they became anything other than heterosexual.

It just made him feel sick to know these things. His jaw was clenched and his hands were balled into fists on his lap. But when he spoke his voice was calm and measured. He wasn't here to make enemies, or change their minds. He was here to defend himself, his husband and his family.

"I'm sorry, Manuel, but I think I need to remind you that you lost out on twenty years of your first son's life because you put your morals above your own child. If that's the past you don't want to repeat, then good, but I get the feeling you're referring to your child actually being gay that you don't want to happen again."

"Of course we don't want that to happen! You can't sit here and honestly say you want your kids to be homosexual, I don't believe that."

"I don't want my kids to be anything but good, kind, happy people." Mónica was silent. Roman glared at her for a moment before turning back to Manuel. "I'd have thought, you know, since you missed out on half your son's life partially because he's gay, you would have changed your mindset on these things. But you haven't and that's just sad. It's also sad because you think filtering what they hear from other people is going to prevent them from being gay — it obviously didn't prevent Samuel from being gay. It's a completely natural thing, Manuel, it's not like he just woke up one day and decided to join the gay agenda and shack up with a man. He didn't choose this. We don't choose how we feel. Hell, I didn't even choose how I felt and and I'm bisexual. I could have married a woman if I wanted, but I didn't. Because I chose your son, because I love him and he loves me. And it's depressing to think that you would shun your own flesh and blood because of who they love."
 
s a m u e l​

For a split second, Manuel looked furious, ready the yell like he would have started to do the moment Roman opened his mouth had this happened twenty years ago. That second was enough to scare Samuel to the core though. He placed the dishes he had long since forgotten to keep stashing back on the table and took a small step back. Samuel wasn't sure if it was his expression of fear or just better self-control that stopped his father from acting like he would have years ago, but the expression disappeared and he spoke in the same tone as before. Stern, serious, not happy but not entirely sure of what he was saying.

"I realise it isn't a choice. I realised that ages ago. I know that if Samuel had had a choice I raised him not to make that choice. I do think it's a choice whether or not you act on it. And I know you're going to disagree with me on that--"

"Dad, I tried not to act on it, I was miserable," Samuel insisted.

"Like I said, we're going to disagree on that part. I know what you say or do won't affect how they turn out, but it might affect the decisions they make regarding it. Just like Roman had a part in you deciding to act on it," Manuel said, ignoring the part about his son being miserable completely, "We are not going to come to an agreement with this. There is no point in any of you trying to convince us otherwise. We already know it is not a choice. We just don't want your lifestyle to affect our household, and before you start talking I am aware that being homosexual isn't a lifestyle choice, but the way you two choose to live so openly with it is. We want you to be able to have a relationship with them, we just want to know that the moment we leave our children alone with yours your boys won't be painting ours' nails and putting them in skirts or for Stella to introduce them to a bunch of gay media, because if the first things she says to them was regarding a gay character there will be more."
 
r o m a n
​
"Harper and Eden don't even wear skirts, but that's beside the point. We told you that the second anything homophobic or sexist was said in our house we would defend ourselves, and that is what we're doing right now. I'm sorry if you don't like it."

Everything Manuel just said was disgusting. Roman was just going back to hating him after he had tried his best to be amicable and hospitable. He wasn't here to make enemies again. But he would defend his children and his husband until the very end, against anyone, he didn't care who the fuck it was.

"The fact that you think you can choose not to act on your natural urges is revolting. It would be like us telling you you can just choose to stop having sex with your wife at any time." Mónica looked horrified at his blatant language and Roman scoffed. "Oh, I'm sorry, is that not conservative enough for you? It's the same fucking thing. We're literally talking about the same thing. You saying to your son, Manuel, that he could have just chosen not to act on his natural inclinations is like saying you could just choose not to be heterosexual and find women attractive."

Roman leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms stubbornly, defiantly glaring his husband's father down. "And the only thing I ever did regarding Samuel's sexuality was validate the feelings that your bullshit, oppressive, antiquated views told him he should feel bad for feeling. Did you not hear him when he said he was miserable? When I met him he was so fucking adamant to deny his sexuality that he would rather be miserable than reveal to you who he was and how he felt. That's how you made him feel."
 
s a m u e l​

That anger showed up on Manuel's face again. Samuel hated it because it made his heart race in all the wrong ways every time it did. And this time he kept it on.

"Roman. It is not a matter of how he felt, and me being normal has nothing to do with it all. Homosexuality is a sin. A sin we have to resist because the bible says we should not give in to temptation. And that is the point nothing else." Manuel said, anger seeping through his voice now, though not quite yelling.

"Dad, we don't care about the bible. We're not religious," Samuel said despite his fears, "And even so, you can't speak about it. You just pick and choose what you believe in. Like you can't stand there and say you follow anything that book says, like fuck, I know for a fact I was not conceived before you married mum. And logically at least Sebastian wasn't either. There is so much bullshit in that thing that you don't even care about." Slowly his voice got louder, less out of anger and more because he was so overwhelmed, being scared and arguing just wasn't a good combo, "But you know what go a head. If she doesn't want our kids to interact with yours because Stella mentioned a lesbian character, and you want to stand here and tell me that I should have been miserable because of the bible then you go out there and you two tell all of those children that they cannot know each other because you hate us for being ourselves."

"Um..." A small voice sounded. Samuel turned to the doorway where Sebastian was standing, looking really nervous, he turned to his parents, and spoke in English, though it was clear that he had understood everything based on what he said, "You don't want us to be here?"
 
Last edited:
r o m a n
​
Sebastian suddenly arrived and all of Roman's anger was replaced with sadness. He hadn't meant for this to happen, he had genuinely just been trying to make things work. But he wasn't going to just take people's shit. He was absolutely always going to defend his family.

"Sebastian, it's not that, we really do want you here and we want you to be able to get to know your family." Mónica was glaring at him, as if she expected him to suddenly say something that would turn her son against them. But he wasn't going to do that. It was underhanded and shitty and even if he couldn't stand Manuel or Mónica at this point, he wanted their children to love them.

"We were just having a disagreement." Roman turned to Manuel with a serious look on his face. "But we're all going to get over it so you kids can be friends. Isn't that right, Manuel?"
 
s a m u e l​

Manuel was quiet for a moment, and looked at his son, the younger one, with almost sadness. His anger was gone, and as horrible as it was Samuel couldn't help but feel a little shitty that his father now seemed to have a much easier time letting go of his anger. He was jealous, and wished that was how he had been allowed to grow up. At least the answer that came out of Manuel's mouth was one they hoped for, "Yes, Sebastian, you'll get to get to know Samuel's family, don't worry,"

Samuel nodded and walked a little closer to his half-brother, now speaking calmy, it was easier to feel calm about Manuel when Sebastian was there, because he trusted that nothing would happen then, "Listen Sebastian. There are a lot of reasons I haven't talked to dad for years, and it's just hard for us both to suddenly be back to talking with each other. That has nothing to do with you and is for us to sort out by ourselves. And some of those things we just aren't going to be able to sort out." Most of them they wouldn't be able to sort out it seemed, but that was just how things were and there was no point in telling Sebastian that.

"But I..." Sebastian said, and trailed off, looking down on the ground. His expression was clearly disappointed.

"But that isn't going to stop us from getting to now each other okay. I still want to get to know you and Julia and Tomas, and Harper, Stella, Eden and Letha still wants to get to know you as well. It's just that me and dad and your mum might not be able to really be on friendly terms. I'm sorry if that's what not you wanted, and maybe things will be different later, but for now, we'll just focus on getting to know each other, okay?"

"... okay," Sebastian said, he gave Samuel a small smile but it didn't seem entirely happy. He was a good kid, and Samuel suspected he had wanted them all to just be one big happy family, sadly too much had happened in the past to prevent that.

"If your parents are fine with it, that is," Samuel turned to both his dad and Mónica.

"We just want you to be happy Sebastian," Manuel said with a small nod, as if all the things he had said before didn't contradict that statement at least in some ways. Sebastian then turned to his mother waiting for her to confirm as well.
 
r o m a n
​
Roman almost expected Mónica to refuse to allow her children to see them ever again. He just had no faith in the woman whatsoever. But she surprised him by bowing her head to her son in a nod and saying, "If it's what you want, darling."

Roman still couldn't stand either of these bigoted morons, but he was glad that they were truly putting the happiness of their children before their own stupid beliefs. Roman wished that they didn't now have to go and tell their own kids not to mention anything remotely gay in their presence, and tell Harper and Eden that they would need to refrain from trying to engage Sebastian or Tomas in anything remotely feminine. But he was glad that they were all going to get the chance to get to know each other.

Roman would never forgive Manuel for what he had done to Samuel, and it seemed like Manuel thought the same thing about him. But he would always put the happiness of his children before his own. And if his children wanted to get to know their aunt and uncles, then he would facilitate that as much as he humanly could.
 
"It is... Thank you," Sebastian said to his parents, sounding seriously relieved.

"you know what, I think I wanna go an hang out with you guys for a bit, if that's alright?" Samuel asked Sebastian, he shone up at the suggestion, not realizing it was Samuel more just not wanting to talk with their father again than it was about wanting to get to know each other. The latter wasn't untrue of course, and it was something he wanted, he just wanted to avoid his dad more at that moment.

"Of course it is!" Sebastian confirmed, he shot his parents an almost nervous glance, Samuel shot Roman one and motioned with his head to join him, they could clean up after dinner later, Samuel didn't want Roman to have to be alone with the other two adults.

They joined the kids in the living room. All of them glancing with wary eyes as they entered, Samuel had risen his voice by the end of the conversation so it was possible that they had heard parts of it. But Samuel smiled at them, which made his own kids relax a little and continue the conversations they were having. Julia seemed to be having a conversation about soccer with Harper, and Stella was talking to Tomas about comics.

The rest of the evening went by without any arguing, Samuel and Roman sat with the kids and talked with them some more, just getting t know Sebastian, Julia and Tomas. Manuel and Mónica joined them after a little while, which made things a little more tense but since they had promised Sebastian they would let this happen there wasn't much they could do. They did cut things a little shorter than they had to though, but honestly, Samuel was pretty tired so he didn't mind too much.

Before leaving Sebastian made sure to give all the Hemlock-Ortegas a hug goodbye, It was weird because it was the first time Samuel really touched his brother properly, hadn't consciously been avoiding ut, but most likely subconciously. It wasn't so bad though and Samuel happily told him that they'd keep in touch and plan a time where they could meet again. Manuel and Mónica were forced to agree.

Once they finally left Samuel once again felt able to properly breathe again, which was no one but Manuel's fault. Samuel wondered if his father and step-mother would ever allow them to see the kids without them there, that would probably be the optimal solution to their problems, but it depended on if the conservative couple trusted them not to throw the 'gay agenda' in the kids' faces. That was a matter for another day though, and for now, Samuel was just glad the dinner had gone as well as it probably could have, despite the disagreement that had occurred. And he was glad he had gotten a chance to get to know his siblings and was looking forward to meeting them again.
 
r o m a n
​
Today was possibly one of the biggest days in Roman's life. Definitely the biggest day of his career. Today, he was opening his own tattoo parlour.

He had been saving and saving and preparing and talking to people and building up his contacts and now, it was finally time. He had purchased an older building in St Kilda, one of the innermost suburbs of Melbourne. It was two storeys, was made of bricks and had a distinctly vintage aesthetic. In the past, it was probably something like a corner store or a tailor's or a grocer. The outside still had its vintage feel, but the indoors had been done up nicely.

The floors were wooden and polished. Roman had kept the vintage, light blue floral wallpaper in the lobby and waiting rooms but each individual studio had been personalised by the artists he had hired. Of course the place had been equipped with high-end tattooing equipment, electrical wiring and plumbing. Everything was ready.

The place was called Hemlock Sip. It was a nod to his name, obviously, but hemlock was also a highly toxic plant and a hemlock sip was an ancient poison. This was a reference to the edginess of the tattoo world. Roman loved it.

Currently only Roman and Samuel were there. Roman was standing in the middle of his new parlour and he was probably about to cry. "I can't believe this is happening."
 
s a m u e l​

Samuel let his gaze wander around the gorgeous building. The building that was finally completed and ready for opening. Roman's tattoo parlour that he had been working hard on acquiring and fixing up the past year. Samuel had seen it before of course, when he had had the time he had visited to see the process to let Roman show him how it was going. But it was different to stand there and know it was actually done.

It was so perfectly him, from the edgy exterior to the vintage looking interior. He had done such a good job just getting the feeling of his aesthetic put into one building, which normally when opening a business wasn't the main goal, but this was Roman's parlour, he was the brand he was marketing, as well as the other artists of course. And people would come here for him and their tattoos, so naturally, the building had to suit it.

"It is really happening," Samuel said gently, he could honestly barely believe it himself. Roman had come so for, from drawing on Samuel's arm and not knowing if pursuing a career in tattoos would even be an option for him to having his own shop. And not a single part of Samuel doubted he would continue to succeed, not a single part of him was scared that Roman's business would fail or that he would make less profit than he had before. Sure for some time now money had been a little tighter, and it probably would be for a while too. But Samuel had faith in Roman. And even so, money wasn't the most important part. As parents, they always had to make sure they had enough, but it was also important for the both of them to be happy and this would be worth it.

"I'm so proud of you, Roman," Samuel said, softly, "Really, you can't even imagine how proud I am. And Happy, for you. This is going to be amazing."
 
r o m a n
​
"Thank you, baby," Roman said to Samuel with a big smile. He went over to his husband and gave him a kiss to the lips, but it was only brief. "Right. We should be setting things up."

Tonight Roman was having a party to celebrate the grand opening of his store. He had already pulled out some collapsible tables and had decorated the place with black and purple streamers, balloons and banners. Catering had also been organising — as Roman spoke, they came into the parlour with trays of food he had ordered. Now all Roman needed to do was set up the stereo.

Soon, guests started arriving, the first being London, Evan and Allison, and then more and more started coming. All their friends were there but they weren't alone — Roman's old colleagues from his previous parlour had shown up, too, as well as those from the first place he had ever worked at. And of course the artists he had hired for his own store. Adam had arrived with Oksana, and the five other artists who now had positions at Hemlock Sip had shown up too.

Roman, who was wearing a simple black T-shirt and skinny jeans but with a full face of makeup (gold and purple eyeshadow, black lipstick), was overwhelmed. All these people were here to celebrate him and his successes. It was unbelievable.

He turned to his husband with an expression of disbelief. "I think I'm going to cry."
 
s a m u e l​

The guests arrived and the mood was high. Everyone believed in Roman just like like Samuel. And that just added to how amazing this all was.

"Well I don't think anyone would blame you," Samuel chuckled as he sneaked his arm around Roman's hip and leaned his head a little against his shoulder, "as long as they are happy tears and it isn't that you have decided the wallpaper is all wrong or something," he gave Roman a little squeeze, he knew his husband was happy, there was no way he wasn't happy in that moment, surrounded by friends, family and people who supported him, in his parlour that was his own.

"But don't smudge your makeup up before I've gotten some pictures for your Instagram," Samuel added with a small chuckle, he had brought his camera and taken it out when people started to arrive so he could document the occasion, both for the family phot albums and as he had said, Roman's Instagram because marketing was especially important right now.

As he had mentioned it anyways Samuel let go of Roman and but the camera to his face, he wanted to capture the moment with his tears eyed husband, "smile?"
 
r o m a n
​
Roman giggled, but he stood still and smiled so his adorable husband could take his photo. He had a feeling he would be posing for a lot of photos that night.

After Samuel took the shot, he decided he had to actually go and mingle with his guests. He was congratulated by just about everyone — his mentors from his TAFE course and his first employers all told him how much of a talent he was and that he should be incredibly proud of himself. He assured them that he was.

The first of his new employees he came across was Adam, who of course was standing with Oksana. Oksana looked very pretty in a pink cocktail dress, with her hair curled and her arm linked with Adam's. "Hey, Roman!"

"Hey, Oksana," Roman said happily. He then turned to Adam. "So it's happening, huh? I hope it lives up to your standard, I'd hate to lose you so soon."
 
s a m u e l​

They approached Adam and Oksana. Adam, dressed in his normal edgy attire of black ripped jeans and a band tee, had a big grin on his face. When addressed he looked around the area as if seriously considering what it looked like though he probably already had done so, all the people who would be working there had obviously had a say in what things would look like to a certain degree, though Roman had the final say.

"Oh I don't know... it's nice and all but the floor boards could have had a matte finish, I might have to find another place to work," he let out a small laugh to indicate that he was joking, "nah, man this is going to be great, the whole place just looks awesome,"

"Even the floor boards?" Samuel added jokingly.

"Especially the floor boards," Adam laughed, "really, I'm looking forward to get to just, work, you know. Not everyone can say that,"
 
r o m a n
​
Roman smiled. It made him happy to know that at least one of his new employees was genuinely excited to start work at his store. Of course, working at Hemlock Sip wasn't going to be that much different than working at any other tattoo parlour. But still, this was a project he had put so much time, money and effort into, so he was glad to know that his employees were happy with the finished product. He wanted Adam and the other workers to look forward to coming into work rather than dread it. It seemed he was succeeding so far.

They chatted for a little while longer before Roman excused himself and his husband to go mingle with some more people. He spoke to each of his other new employees. When he had hired them, not only had he considered their personal talents and experience, but he had also tried to get a variety of people who could bring a lot of different talent to Hemlock Sip.

Ross was a white dude with a Mohawk in his early sixties who specialised realistic portraits of people, landscapes and animals. Kiyoko was a young Japanese girl who was a natural at traditional Asian works. Natalia was an African woman in her late twenties and specialised in tattoos for darker skin. Jesse was fresh out of TAFE and did cartoons. And Wyatt was in his mid thirties and, like Roman, did just about everything.

Roman spoke to each of them individually for a while, and then his eyes landed on his sister, standing with Evan. He went up to them but before he could say anything London wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I am so proud of you."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back