First Impressions

Every single time I see an email saying I got a review it makes me do a happy dance. Seriously, you guys are the best. So I thought that y'all would enjoy this chapter. Sorry it took so late to get up, I have two papers I'm writing for two different classes but that's life.

I do not own the Walking Dead.

Daryl stifled a yawn as he unlocked the shop, he had a shitty night's sleep and on top of that woke up at the crack of dawn. The only good thing about the day so far was he got to open the shop instead of staying until the night manager, Tyreese, came to take over. Just as he opened the door Daryl saw out of the corner of his eye that Harley was walking down the street towards the shop. Her hair was in its usual bun, secured with a pen this time, and he laughed as she carried her largest tumbler mug.

"Hey sis, long night?" Daryl asked. Harley grumbled, it was noon but he could tell by her thrown together appearance that she probably woke up ten minutes ago. Unlike him and Merle, she was not a morning person but more of a night owl.

"I finished my painting for dad, I'm going over to see him next week and wanted it to be done when I gave it to him." Harley's voice still sounded rough from sleep. She often painted these amazing pieces of artwork for their dad who was happy to display them at his home, he was incredibly proud of her talent. He was the reason she went into tattooing, Daryl's reason as well. Both Dixon's looked up to their father, it was him and his wife who had took the two in when they were both young teens on the brink of starvation.

"Well let me know when you go and I'll tag along." Daryl said as he flipped on the shop's lights.

"Always do bro." Harley went over to the counter and turned the register on. As she went around the shop doing the daily start up things, she took sips of her coffee.

Daryl watched his sister move around the shop. In the years he had been gone she had changed some. Harley had more plaid over-shirts in her wardrobe, wore her glasses more, and drank coffee. They were little things but they were things that she never did before. To Daryl they didn't seem like his sister, they seemed like another person's quirks and Daryl had a feeling he knew just who was responsible.

"You always liked tea better." Daryl mentioned. Harley looked up from her sketchbook and Daryl saw her eyebrow quirk up, it was the only thing that gave anything away on her otherwise now emotionless face. Daryl now knew he needed to tread carefully. "You always said that coffee tasted like shit."

"That's because Merle always made shitty coffee." Harley smirked at her brother. Daryl had to agree, their older brother never knew how to make a good cup of coffee.

"What're you working on?" Daryl asked, it would be a while before Amy or any of their clients got their so even though Daryl liked the quiet he knew his sister liked to talk.

"I'm going to try and convince Beth to get a tattoo." Harley had that spark in her eyes that Daryl knew meant trouble.

"Good luck getting princess in here for a tattoo." Daryl chuckled. Harley shook her head in amusement.

The bell rung, which signaled a customer, and Daryl glanced over to see Amy coming into the shop. She waved cheerfully at the siblings and Daryl nodded back at her. Amy was nice enough but she could be way too happy for Daryl, it reminded him of a poodle sometimes. Harley started talking to Amy so Daryl slipped into the hallway where his workroom was. He had a few clients for the day, one that would take him a while to do.

Daryl had been at this for a while and it was something that he really liked doing. It was also something that he and his sister bonded over. They would talk about their favorite pieces or the weirdest tattoos people have wanted them to do. Daryl started to get his books out for the day, his first appointment was at noon and they didn't have a clue what they wanted.

"Daryl, can you get your ass in here!?" Harley yelled. Daryl rushed into the room, Harley and Amy stood behind the counter. They seemed fine, Amy seemed grossed out and Harley disgruntled but the only other thing different was the man in front of them.

"What, is everything okay?" Daryl was instantly weary of what was going on.

"This man wants a dick tattoo." Harley scowled, Daryl laughed at his sister. She was against going anywhere near guy's dicks or asses when doing tattoos.

"Just a small one!" The guy picked up the drawing and showed it to Daryl.

Daryl didn't say anything but pointed to one of the signs that hung in the shop. It said that the tattoo artists had a right to turn away customers if they were not cooperative. Usually Tyreese was the only one who really had to deal with people arguing but it wasn't unusual for them. The guy chuckled as he read the sign. Then he held out his hand, Daryl hesitantly shook it.

"Sorry, I was just messing with y'all. My name's Doug Baker and I'm a writer for Express Ink magazine. I called Dale about wanting to do an article about the shop and his best artists." Doug explained. "He was supposed to tell you ahead of time about it."

Dale had failed to mention this to any of his employees but Daryl didn't care. Daryl looked over at his sister he could tell how excited she was.

"Alright, let's take this over to the couches then." Daryl motioned over to the set of couches they had. Harley sat down next to Daryl while Doug sat across from them.

"So let's start with the basics, what are your names?" Doug got out his recorder and a notepad.

"Daryl and Harley Dixon." Harley answered with a smile. She was excited, they had been interviewed by smaller magazines before but never one as big and well known.

"How'd you guys get into tattoos?" Doug asked, he knew a little about the siblings in front of him. He liked to do some research before going on assignments.

"Our dad was a tattoo artist and when we were younger we'd hang out in his shop after school." Daryl explained. It was one of his favorite memories as a kid, walking home from school with Harley and then heading straight for their pop's tattoo palace. He was still in contact with most of his dad's old employees. "He'd let me and Harley hang out with the employees while we did our school work."

"What did your mom do for work?" Doug asked curiously.

"She owned a bookstore in town, it was small but it did really well." Harley answered. Even though it had been a while since her mom's death, Harley still felt the pain of losing her.

"Nice, now when did you each get your first tattoo?" Doug asked.

"I got mine when I was fourteen, one of the employees at dad's shop did it for me without telling him. The only reason Pop was mad was because he wanted to be the one to give me my first tattoo." Daryl smiled as he told the story.

"Mine was when I was fifteen, I actually let our dad be the first to give me my tattoo. That didn't stop me from drawing all over myself every chance I got. Daryl always tried to scare me by telling me I'd get ink poisoning." Harley laughed and stuck her tongue out at her brother.

It went on like this for the next hour and a half, Doug asked the siblings questions about their tattoo styles and what their favorite tattoos they've done. Harley and Daryl enjoyed talking about something that they were so passionate about. They both thought that Doug was a great person to talk to about this since he seemed to know what he was talking about. Doug asked how it felt to be siblings in the tattoo world and if they ever got compared to one another, Harley and Daryl shook their heads at that question. The interview had been a surprise that day but also something that they looked forward to seeing printed. Daryl looked over at his sister and saw the brightness in her eyes, it was something he loved seeing and never wanted it to go out.

Yay, you guys got to see inside Daryl's head a little! I hope you guys liked it and I'm really sorry it took so long to put up. I promise more to come and as always reviews are appreciated. See you next time!