“So how many was that this week?” Ryan asked as he dumped the remainder of his unused ink, as he was the one who had stayed late with you that night.

“I think that falls under over a hundred for me, and god knows how many I pushed onto you guys,” you replied as you sunk into your chair and spun in lazy circles.

It was the end of the week, you were back to your cramming schedule, still trying to make it possible to go on tour with the guys regardless of your blow out with Zacky earlier in the week. You had always been busy, it just came with the territory, and then when you got good and started getting known it just got worse. But cramming like this was driving you insane and you welcomed the relief of touring. No matter how hectic it might turn out to be, it couldn’t be any worse than this.

“I don’t know how you do it Kales, I really don’t,” Ryan said as he chucked his plastic gloves and tied up his trash bag.

“Do what?” you asked, not opening your eyes as you swished your chair back and forth slowly.

“This, this pace. This job,” he said as dumped his little trash bag into the bigger one by the back.

“You do it,” you replied, thinking the question was silly as you both did the same thing, worked the same type of job.

“But not like you. I’d break under the pressure of being known like you are, the demand for your time, the hype that’s placed on your hand, your needle, and your skill,” he said sitting down in his own chair and spinning.

“I don’t know how I don’t, I just do it I suppose. It’s why I have such a respect for what my brother and Jimmy do, and the other guys as well. It’s why I don’t harp on them about not getting a lot of time with them,” you said as you put your feet solid on the ground and stopped swaying.

“Agreed. Have you ever thought about setting up your own shop? Getting your own apprentices, your own employees?” Ryan asked as he stopped his own spinning to stare at you, waiting for your answer.

You paused for a moment and thought. Had you ever really thought about opening shop? No, not really. Not in a serious manner at least. It was just easier working here, for Zarin at his shop and not having to worry about the details, the paperwork, the phone calls, all that shit. But there was some sense in it. Taking up root in your own place, taking what fame you had and placing it behind your name and your very own shop. Letting some other artist come into Zarin’s and make a name for themselves.

“You know you could always hire somebody to do all the annoying paperwork type shit so you wouldn’t have to deal with it. And then you could just concentrate on what you do best,” Ryan said as he had read your mind.

“You and Zarin with the mind reading is getting a little creepy,” you teased, still mulling over his aforementioned idea.

“Nah, your thoughts are just written all over your face to those who know you well enough,” Ryan teased back.

“I’ll have to think about it, the idea’s not half bad. But not now. Now we need to get the hell out of here before we become rooted to the spot and never leave this shop. It’s what like almost ten o’clock?” you asked as you got up and grabbed your shit from out back, making sure you had the shop keys on you.

“Yeah I’ll agree with you on that. I’m glad we switch on and off with you or I’d die,” he said as he walked out the door first so you could lock up the last of it.

You paused as bit as you turned the key in the second lock on the back door, shop keys dangling against your hand as you thought. Maybe it wouldn’t be half bad to be the owner to the keys to a shop that you had to lock up every night.

“You know a few of us wouldn’t leave Zarin, but a few others of us would follow you to where ever you set up shop and be your starting crew,” Ryan said as you slowly turned the last lock and pulled the handle once just to make sure it was all secure.

“I think Zarin might kill me then,” you teased as you draped an arm around Ryan’s shoulder and walked out of the back alley towards your parked cars.
-xXx-
On the drive home you mulled the idea over more and more in your head, liking the idea of having your own shop somewhere. Not far, but far enough that you didn’t kill Zarin’s business.

“Like that’d happen,” you thought to yourself as you made your way finally to your door and found it unlocked and music coming from within.

Opening the door warily you found Jeph once again whistling some aimless tune and he bobbed around the kitchen.

“You didn’t cook again did you?” you asked loudly from the front entrance as you placed your keys down loudly.

“Ahh!” Jeph sort of screeched as he jumped in the air to your loud question.

“What the hell?” he gasped as he caught his breath and tried gathering the last remaining bits of his shredded dignity.

“That’s what you get for leaving my front door open and humming loudly to music in another room, you get scared. Like a three year old if I might add. Now back to this whole are you cooking again thing,” you asked as you shut your door and threw your bag and shit onto your couch.

“And what if I was? Hmmm? Someone gone and decided that they don’t like having someone trained as chef cooking for them all of a sudden?” Jeph asked, still moving around the kitchen.

“No, not complaining here. I just don’t know how up I am for a five star multiple course meal tonight. I’m pooped,” you replied as you approached the kitchen and the mini table Jeph was blocking with his body.

“Well good then, then you’ll not be bummed that all I did was just order Chinese take out,” he said as he stepped aside and revealed white and red chinese take out boxes.

“Oh thank god, and you even left them in the take out containers. Good god you’re amazing,” you said as you walked with heavy feet over towards the appealing smelling cardboard containers.

“Chopsticks m’dear?” Jeph asked as he handed you a pair of the cheap wooden chopsticks from the restaurant, not bothering to get your personal ones from the drawer.

“Who ever invented the fork was a wuss bag,” you exclaimed as you crabbed the chopsticks and broke them apart and grabbed a few containers and headed towards the couch and television.

A few empty chinese take out containers, empty beer bottles, loud belches and movies later you were snuggled up against Jeph on the couch, feeling your eyelids drop slowly.

“I missed you this week,” Jeph said softly as he kissed the top of your head.

“I know, sorry for not really being any fun. I’ve just been trying to get all this shit done so I can go when the tour starts,” you replied, shifting position a bit against him.

“Oh I know, I know. You’re just doing what you do best, just at a faster than normal and slightly more hectic pace. But it’s what you were born to do baby,” he said as he pulled his arm around you tighter.

For a few moments you just sat there enjoying the feeling of his warm muscled body pressed against yours, just thinking things over. Mainly the last thing he had said and how it had pertained to your earlier conversation with Ryan at work.

“Hun?” you asked after a bit of silence.

“Hmm?” he asked back.

You shifted a bit so you could look up and face him and be able to look into his face when he answered your upcoming question.

“Do you think I could ever open my own shop? Like my own tattoo parlor?” you asked, a bit unsure but knowing he would give sound advice.

“Of course hun. I believe you could do anything you put your mind to, anything. Especially that,” he said as he leaned in and kissed you softly, placing his hands gently on the sides of your face, cupping them between their tattooed selves.
-xXx-
“Oh god I gotta run guys, I totally forgot I have another client coming in tonight to get their hair done,” you said as you ran around your station.

It was already the middle of the next week, well more than a week since the amusement park incident. You hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Zacky, or any of the other guys for that matter. But they had been up to their eyeballs in the studio, putting the pressure on themselves even more than their own manager was to get this album done and perfected in time to do the tour. It bummed you out a little bit, you missed Jimmy, but you knew that you were in the same boat. You had hardly had any time for even Jeph and he was spending most of the nights at your place. So you weren’t exactly in any place at the moment to complain, but that was the life you had picked.

“Who is it this time?” Cares asked as looked up from her burly Harley biker dude.

It made you pause and smile a bit at the comparison for a moment. Little ol’ Cares and then this giant burly biker dude, it was quite a sight. But if Cares ever had to open her mouth and take control of a situation the sight wouldn’t be as odd as before. That’s being from a military family for ya.

“It’s Jared Leto again, that boys hair grows uncannily fast,” you said as you dumped the last of your exposed unused ink and tied your trash.

“I’ll agree there, he seems to always be on your list,” Greg said from a spare chair as his next person was running a tad late.

“Whenever he’s in the area. Bye guys, see you tomorrow,” you said as you grabbed your purse and army jacket and sped out the front door to your near by parked car.

“I don’t know how she does it. The tattooing, the hair cutting, the fame centered around her, and the fame that makes up a good portion of her cliental,” Lexi said shaking her head as the door slammed shut after your sprinting form.

“She does what she does,” Ryan said from his station where a blonde girl in a tennis outfit of all things was batting her eyelashes at him and he was returning the favor with fervor.
-xXx-
Once home you dashed about without even bothering to take off your army jacket, which oddly enough had been the theme for your outfit today. It had been one of the few and far between mornings since this circus had begun that you had time to actually plan out an outfit for the day. You had on real army fatigues that you had modified into long capris that you had tucked into your tall lace up combat boots and had them stick out a bit over the tops of them. You even had a black tank top on with a white beater over it that had an army green star down in the bottom left corner. Add your army jacket and boot camp hat and it topped off the outfit. Which made the sight of you rushing around fixing your hair cutting stuff up all the more comical and made you glad no one else was around to witness it. You just managed to get everything in place, more or less when you heard your door bell go off. You walked over and opened the door on a familiar looking grinning face.

“Hello Leto,” you said with an equally big grin on your face.

“Hello yourself Kales Mae,” Jared Leto said as he walked in after your silent offer.

“Let the fun begin,” you said as you closed the door and followed him to the back.

Notes

Crazy hecticness like WHOA!
Filler chapter I know, but hey they have to happen on occasion!