These are notes for both you and me. So there's probably going to be some short hand here and there.
Craig: Went to MSU, BA in Art, Minor in GB. 21 started working at TnT at 20, but previously worked at The Gothic Hollow. 6'1, pretty filled in guy. Not super buff, not super skinny. Eyebrow piercing on the left, tongue piercing, and septum. Left arm is a space sleeve. Right arm unfinished sleeve. Some other tats. Shaggy, slightly curly hair. Generally in a beanie.
Tweek: Going to MSU. 19. 5'7. Undeclared. Canine bites. Stud on the right nostril. Left arm is sleeve of various random things, right arm only has a realistic looking squid on the bicep. Thigh tattoo of an anchor. For story reasons, we're going to say Tweek's birthday is in June. He was 18 before his senior year of high school. Dyd. Shoulder-length hair, generally worn up in a bun.
Token: MSU, BA in Art, Minor in GB. 23, worked at TGH as well. Owns TnT. 6' Two eyebrow piercings on the right eyebrow. Hoop on the left nostril. Shark bites and labret. Scattered tattoos.
Bebe: Munro, septum. Liquor license, piercing license. 22. Worked down in Littleton until called on by Clyde. Various floral tats.
Clyde: MSU, BA in accounting. Piercing license. 22. Handles the money. Cyber bites. Smiley. No tattoos to be seen.
Tattoos and Tonic
Chapter One
Word Count: 2,248
Help Wanted
Tweek Tweak stared at the sign for what felt to be hours. He had been job hunting for months, and he either didn't fit the requirements, or they didn't fit his. He really wasn't sure what made him stop in front of the tattoo shop. Not that he was a stranger to them, he just never thought of working at one. He'd played with a tattoo gun once when he was 17, gave his friend a cute little cactus right on the asscheek. Hell, he was pretty experienced in piercings, too. At first he had been doing them as favors for friends, and then the whole damn town of South Park came knocking at his door. So, on his 18th birthday he went and got a piercing license, and his parents bought him a piercing gun. It was pretty strange when you really thought about it, but it made sense when the closest place to go was Littleton, and that was still about a 45 minute drive from his town. But, it was a drive Tweek made every time he wanted a new piercing.
What, you didn't think Tweek would pierce himself, did you?
Although his parents allowed Tweek his 'Creative Freedom' as they called it, most of his tattoos happened after he moved to Denver for college. He turned 18 before his senior year, so technically he could do what he wanted, but out of respect he kept the tattoos to a minimum before he moved out.
"Hey, kid, you comin' in or are you gonna sit there and stare at us?"
Tweek was thrown from his thoughts, looking up at a tall, dark man standing in the doorway of the shop.
"Oh, uh," Tweek paused, rubbing the back of his neck. He had come a long way since he was a kid. He used to be pretty twitchy and freaked out about every little thing. These days, he just had a lot of internal anxiety that he learned how to control.
"What's the open position?" He asked, clearing his throat.
"Full-time piercing, and odd tattoo here and there. Why don't you come on in and we can talk." The man held open the door further, and Tweek hurried in, ducking under the mans arm.
He was lead through the shop, passing a few tattoo beds, one currently occupied by a blonde, busty woman, and a raven haired man leaning over her arm. They ended up in an office space. The man closed the door.
"I'm Token Black, I own this shop." He told him, holding out his hand to shake.
"Hello, Mr. Black. I'm Tweek Tweak." Tweek responded, shaking the man's hand.
Token plopped down into a russet rolly chair behind the mahogany desk, and gestured for Tweek to sit in the seat opposite.
"Just Token, please. We're not too formal here, just a bunch of friends, really." Token cleared his throat, as Tweek sat down in the chair, keepings his knees together.
"Tweek Tweak, huh? Peculiar name." The man mentioned, rubbing his chin.
"Yeah, my parents are a bit sadistic." They even gave me meth as a child… Not that Tweek would tell him that. Yet, at least. He didn't want his possible employer to think he was a meth head.
"Sounds like it… Well, I'll tell you what. Starting salary is $8.31 an hour, plus 40% of whatever you do that day. We do things pretty differently here than other tattoo shops, pretty much because we're all friends, we all have rent to pay, and I have trust fund money to keep the shop open on slow months. I don't rent out booths. We're all just here to do what we love and make ends meet."
Tweek mulled over the words. It was pretty strange, the way they ran things here. Tweek wasn't sure how artists were usually paid, but he did know that commissions and tips were usually pretty much it. To have an actual salary to sit around was the strange part. The whole situation was just...strange
"You're a trust fund baby?" Tweek blurted, looking the man up and down. He did not look like one at all.
Token laughed, rubbing under his eye to add effect, "Yes, I am. My parents make a lot of money, and just want me to do what I love. I sound spoiled, I know, but if they want to spoil me, who am I to tell them no?" He grinned, leaning forward.
"So, what are your credentials?" He asked, folding his tattooed fingers on the desk.
"Oh!" Tweek pulled his bag off of the ground and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a folder, and slid it over to the man.
"I've had a piercing license since the minute I turned 18. I basically made a lot of teenagers happy, and a lot of adults cringe. Unless the adults were getting their ears pierced, then they were fine with it." Tweek rolled his eyes.
"You have customer service experience, and basically ran your own piercing shop?" Token asked.
"Yes, sir. South Park didn't have anything like that. The closest place was Littleton, and the prices seemed to influx when we were there." Tweek added.
"Well, we'll have to mentor you for tattoo's, and get your license there, but until you've got that down we'd love the help in the piercing stations. Bebe is our only willing piercer here since Pete left." Token told him, shutting the folder and sliding it back.
"Willing?" Tweek asked, shoving his folder back into his bag.
"We have one other certified person, but he prefers to just do the accounting." Token rolled his eyes playfully.
"Ain't nothing wrong with that. Someone's got to do it." Tweek grinned.
"So, you in?" Token asked him.
Tweek flinched in his seat. Already? It was that easy?
"I-...yes, but I am also in college." Tweek told him, shuffling his feet a bit against the carpet.
"Okay. So just come in after classes, work weekends, and study for your finals. Feel free to do projects and other work here in between clients. We have wifi. It's doable, trust me. Craig and I both did it while working at The Gothic Hollow, and graduated in four years. Craig actually graduated last year. He'll be happy that he's not the baby of the group anymore." Token grinned, standing from his chair.
"Well, let's introduce you to everyone. You can hang around here today to get to know them, and start tomorrow, if you want. You will have to find time to get a tattoo license as well." He said, as he lead Tweek out of the room.
He took him up a spiral staircase which opened up into a large area. A man sat in the corner at a desk, glasses hanging precariously off of his nose, one hand on a calculator, the other hand clutching a pencil.
The rest of the room had a small kitchen with an island, fridge, and stove. A couple of couches, a large tv, and a futon in a the back corner. There was also a door that Tweek assumed lead into a bathroom area.
"Clyde! This is Tweek. He's going to help Bebe with her workload since you wont." Token teased, a hand on Tweek's shoulder.
Clyde spared a glance at the blond, before turning back to his numbers.
"He jailbait?" Came a slightly nasally response.
"Nope, he's in college." Token grinned.
"Nice." Clyde stopped working, and stood, holding his hand out to the slightly offended blond boy.
"Hello, Tweek. I'm Clyde. Clyde Donovan." The brown haired male slinked around his desk, coming dangerously close to the much shorter boy.
"Hi." Tweek mumbled, scrunching his nose a bit. He didn't particularly enjoy being flirted with on the regular. He always felt...strange afterwards. Like he was being eyefucked or something.
Clyde kissed the boy's hand, and shot him a wink.
"Alright, Donovan. Hands off. I'd like this one to stick around for a while." Token scowled, slapping Clyde's hands away from Tweek.
"Mm..alright. I'll keep my hands off. No promises he will though." Clyde grinned, moving back around to his desk to continue on his numbers.
"Fuckboy." Token muttered, as the two of them climbed back down the stairs.
"He always like that?" Tweek asked.
"Yeah, you'll get used to it. It's all harmless, really. He and Bebe have been together for about a year now, even if his flirting has no bounds." Token rolled his eyes.
They hit the landing and were back in the shop. Token lead him over to the busty blonde, and the raven haired male.
"Bebe, Craig, this is Tweek. He's going to be working in the piercing stations and you," Token paused, giving Craig a pointed look, "and I are going to train him to be a tattoo artist on the side."
"He jailbait?" The busty blonde asked, scarlet lips spread in a wide smile.
Tweek couldn't contain his chuckle. He could definitely see how Bebe would be able to handle Clyde now.
"Nope, just in college." Token grinned.
"Nice to meet ya. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to work with you." She grinned, reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"Alright, B. You're all set." A deeper nasally voice came, spreading a clear wrap over what looked to be a gentle rose right on the girl's wrist.
"Thanks, Craig. I'll grab your favorite for tonight." She sat up, placed a kiss to the male's cheek, and hopped off the table.
"Nice meeting you, Tweek." She twinkled, waving her fingers at him as she skipped off.
"Craig Tucker. Glad to finally have someone new on the team."
A very large hand came towards Tweek, and it took his whole being to not flinch as the calloused hand swallowed his own whole.
"Thanks..I think." Tweek grinned, rubbing the back of his neck once more.
"So, college, huh? Where do you go?" Craig asked, as he began cleaning his station up.
"He goes to our alma mater!...Sorry, saw it in your creds." Token grinned sheepishly.
"Oh, cool. What're you majoring in?" Craig stood, taking off his gloves.
"I'm undeclared at the moment. Just gen ed...though I should probably get on it." Tweek confessed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It's no big. Most people switch majors a few times before they graduate. Better to just experience. Maybe you'll figure it out." Craig cleared his throat.
"Maybe." Tweek shrugged, tugging at the sleeves of his sweater.
"COD tonight, right?" Token asked the noriette, who nodded in turn.
"Yeah, dude."
"Cool. We got anything scheduled for the rest of the day?" Token crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly looking much more intimidating than a moment ago.
"Nah, man. All cleared." Craig answered, as he wheeled his supplies over to the back wall.
"Awesome. Let's close early." Token grinned, then turned to look at Tweek, "We've got a newbie to induct into our family."
Tweek gulped.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
It turns out, that these guys weren't that bad. After closing up the shop and helping clean up, they all made it up the stairs where Clyde was still typing on the calculator, and writing out numbers.
"How's it?" Token asked, as they made it to the landing.
"Profit, so far." Clyde looked up from the numbers once more. "We done for the day?"
"Yeah. Bebe went to go raid the liquor cabinet." Craig piped up, as he plopped himself down onto one of the couches.
"Tequila and Smirnoff?" Clyde asked, as he grabbed a sticky note.
"Usual." Token nodded, as he stood at the flat screen to turn both it on, and the XBOX console.
Clyde scribbled down something onto the sticky note, and dropped his glasses onto the desk. At that moment, he realized Tweek was still there.
"Good to see you again, gorgeous." Clyde purred, as he slid up to the blond.
"Mm.." Tweek grimaced, trying his best to not push the male away from him.
"Well? Let's get this party started!"