Chapter Text
Lena sighed and flexed her aching hand, putting down the buzzing tattoo machine which was starting to whine with overuse. She could still feel the remnants of its vibrations tingling around in her nerves as she reached into the cabinet behind her to grab a towel and some antiseptic. The tattoo had turned out great, a large, vicious owl swooping down with it’s talons poised to tear out the first throat it saw. Dark and bloody wasn’t really Lena’s preferred art style but customers were customers and making sure they left the shop satisfied was the number one rule of the job. The customer also let out a sigh as he sat up to take a look at his new piece of artwork.
“Oh man it looks great!” He said, tilting his shin left and right to make sure he could soak up every angle, “It feels like it’s coming right out of my skin.”
“Glad you like it, love.” Lena said as she motioned for him to lay back down, “I just need to put some more cream on it and wrap it up.” She ran through the usual after-care routine as she wound some clear plastic wrap around the tattoo; things like what to expect in the next couple weeks of healing.
“Oh yes, the dreaded two weeks of recovery hell,” The man said with a fierce smile, “What happens if it gets infected?”
“You can come see me and I’ll decide if you need an amputation or not.” Lena joked as she put on the final layer of tape, “I’m kidding. Keep your hands off and you won’t have to worry about that.”
“No touchie, got it.” He said, holding up his hands in a mock surrender, “Not that I would want to, this thing hurts like hell.”
“Also under no, and I mean no, circumstances should you ever scratch it!” Lena warned, “I don’t care how itchy it gets you keep your hands under your bum until it’s healed.”
“Sitting on my hands.” The man swore with a grin, “Roger that, Captain.”
“Right, let me go ring this up and I’ll meet you at the front.” Lena said, getting up from her chair. The man limped over to the front counter and fished around in his pocket for his wallet, dropping an extra $30 into the tip jar before even getting the final price.
“So what’s the damage?” He asked playfully, having insisted earlier that money was no issue.
“Looks like you’re going to be down $350.” Lena said, handing him a printed receipt.
“Wait wait let me see!” Hana, Lena’s young apprentice, called from the back of the shop. She dropped her pen and came jogging up to the counter where she ogled at Lena’s newest work.
“What do you think?”
“Oooh it looks vicious. Good work, Boss.” Hana said in awe, “Winston come look at this one!” Their large financial manager came bustling over as well to study the man’s leg, stroking his beard between his thick fingers.
“I’d say that’s quite satisfactory.” He commented, “Though that species of owl isn’t usually known to be aggressive.”
“It has nothing to do with science, mi amigo.” The man said as he passed Lena his credit card with barely a glance at the receipt, “It’s an old superstition in my culture, but I always enjoyed hearing the stories about it.”
“Ah yes, my apologies.” Winston said awkwardly, pushing his glasses back up his nose.
“That should do it!” Lena said, handing the man back his card. She dug around in the desk and tossed him a bright orange business card, “Call me if anything comes up. And remember, hands off.”
“I’ll make sure I’m handcuffed.” The man said, gripping Lena’s hand in a firm shake, “Thanks again!”
“Anytime, Gabe.” She said with a two-finger salute as he walked out the door.
“Was that the last appointment of the day?” Winston asked as he gathered up a pile of papers and neatly stacked them together.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.” Lena said, sinking into a nearby chair. She could still feel a dull ache in her palm and fingers, “Did we go positive today?”
“I’m checking that now.” Winston said as he rapidly punched numbers into a calculator.
“We definitely should have.” Hana mused, handing over a few more papers, “We tattooed almost twenty people today even without Lucio here!”
“But not all of them tipped.” Lena grumbled, fishing the few measly dollars out of the tip jar. Gabe’s was by far the biggest. They sat in silence except for the sound of Winston’s calculator taps. He hummed in thought.
“Looks like…” He pounded a few more buttons, “It’s a profit day, but just barely.”
“Whew,” Lena let out a large breath, flopping back against the chair, “I was worried we’d gone negative again.” She ran her aching fingers through her spiky hair, taking a moment to relax and enjoy the relief. Money was tighter than ever and any day ending in the positives, even just barely, meant another day the shop could stay open.
“Guess we can pack up then.” Hana said, stowing her sketchbook and pencils into her backpack, “I’ll lock up since you did most of the work today.”
“My hand thanks you.” Lena said with a tired smile. She quickly cleaned up the used ink and needles around her tattoo station, throwing them in the biohazard container along with the mountain of others. After wiping down everything with disinfectant, she tucked her chair under her desk and waved goodnight to her coworkers.
The night was still chilly this time of year and Lena pulled her scarf up over her nose as she walked out the glass double doors. The shop’s neon sign still glowed, washing her in a striking mixture of pink and blue light.
Slipstream Tattoo Studio.
The name didn’t hold any sort of sentimental meaning to Lena and she wasn’t even really sure what Slipstream meant. It just popped into her head one day and figured it sounded catchy enough. It might be something important in another universe or timeline, but in this one it was just a simple name.
The shop was nearing it’s one year anniversary and it had been a struggle to keep afloat since day one. Money was always tight and customers were sometimes hard to come by even though the studio was located right by a popular shopping center that had everything from shoe stores to flower shops. Many times they considered packing up everything and moving to a different location but, as always, they didn’t have the finances to do so. Lena often found herself frustrated and fed-up with the whole situation, tired of always standing on a tightrope between unemployment and bankruptcy. Sometimes is was enough to make her want to toss her machine right into the garbage and never tattoo again.
But quitting just wasn’t in Lena’s nature, and neither was self-pity.
“We’re going to get our names out there,” She said to herself fiercely as she walked on, “I’ll make sure of it!”
---
The basis of making a business succeed is making sure people know about it and Lena was well aware that Slipstream wasn’t getting the exposure it needed. She spent most of the night designing and printing out flyers so she could pass them out around the shopping center the next day. Hopefully the word would spread around. Hopefully.
Lena walked out of Slipstream the next day (during her lunch break of course) with a stack of her flyers ready to be passed out. She gazed around for a moment, unsure of where to start. She spied a large group of cars parked at the flower shop across the street and figured it would be an easy enough place to get going.
The name of the flower shop was odd to say the least. While Lena didn’t know a good flower shop name from a bad one, she could tell this particular name was definitely out there. When she thought flowers her mind brought up images of all things pink, soft, and sweet-smelling. Definitely not anything sharp and/or dangerous.
So “Talon Florist & Flower Delivery” was not the first name she would consider in the event that she would ever own a flower shop. Even the logo was strange, a barn owl and a black widow next to a vase of roses. Despite all these perplexing design choices, the place looked nice enough. The building was made of white stone with huge windows built in the front that seemed to display every kind of flower imaginable. The sweet smell hit Lena’s nose before she even got across the street.
The front door was left ajar, propped open by a wooden sign displaying the shop’s weekly deal, 2 for $5 white roses. The flower smell intensified as Lena walked inside, discovering even more species of plants than the ones crowding the windows. A multitude of customers hovered around the front aisles, checking prices and giving the plants a few sniffs. She was ready to go on the offensive when she realized that the owners of the shop probably wouldn’t be too happy with her soliciting in their business without permission.
Deciding she didn’t want to be forcefully escorted from the premises, Lena wandered up towards the front counter, looking left and right for an employee. She spied a small bell and gave it a ring.
“Be right with you.” A deep voice called from somewhere in the back. There was some shuffling and clanks before the back door swung open and a man came walking in, arms full of large boxes.
“Welcome to Talon Florist and Flower Delivery, my name is Gabriel- Hey, Lena!” Gabe said excitedly, turning his body so Lena could see his face around the boxes.
“Gabe?” Lena blanched, expecting to wake up from this apparent fever dream any moment. This was the last place she ever expected a man like Gabe to be found, much less working in, “Wh- what? You work here?” Gabe threw down the boxes and dusted his hands on his black apron.
She noted the “Save the Bees” button pinned to the pocket.
“Work here?” He asked incredulously, “I own this joint. Well, co-own but whatever you get the idea.”
“I had no idea.” Lena said, still feeling stunned, “I expected you to be some kind of underground assassin or hitman.”
“Oh stop, you’re flattering me.” Gabe said, “It’s the scars isn’t?” He pointed to the long jagged lines that went from his nose to the bottom of his chin.
“Well you didn’t get those from picking daisies I assume.” Lena said with a laugh.
“That would be correct.” Gabe grabbed a stool from under the counter and took a seat, crossing his arms, “So what brings you here today? Looking for the perfect flower to impress a certain person?” We waggled his eyebrows teasingly.
“No no none of that.” Lena said quickly. She dropped the stack of flyers onto the counter, “I was wondering if I could pass these out around the shop. Slipstream needs more exposure.” Gabe grabbed a flyer and scanned it. He let out a hmm as he read over it.
“I’ll buy some flowers in exchange?” Lena said tentatively. Winston had a birthday coming up and she could get him some bright girly flowers as a joke. So it technically wouldn’t be a waste?
“Now we’re talking.” Gabe said, taking the flyers, “I can pass these out when people make a purchase if you’d like.”
“That would be perfect, I have to be back at the shop before my lunch break is over.” Lena said with a sigh of relief, “Maybe I’ll actually get to eat this time.”
“You’re using your break to advertise?” Gabe asked, “Your dedication is truly unrivaled my friend, I respect that.”
“So I guess I’ll buy some flowers,” Lena said with a flattered smile, “Uh do you have anything in white?”
“Oh, I’m no help when it comes to the pretty stuff, that’s Amélie’s job.”
“The pretty stuff?”
“Yeah y’know the roses and the daisies that sort of thing.” Gabe said with a casual wave of his hand, “I’m more like the cactus and venus fly trap sorta guy.”
“Venus fly traps? I’ll be back for those later,” Lena grinned, “But I don’t think Winston would appreciate them as much as I would.” That was a lie, Winson would go bananas for a venus fly trap.
“Well then, let me go grab the beauty expert,” Gabe said, getting up from his chair, “I’ll be right back.”
Gabe turned and went back through the door he came in. Lena drummed her fingers on the counter and waited. Several moments passed and Lena wondered just how old this woman was since she seemed to be taking forever getting to the front desk. And she did expect the world’s oldest woman to come teetering through the door.
But this shop was just one surprise after another.
“Bonjour, how may I help you today?”
It wasn’t a decrepit old woman that greeted Lena. She was tall and elegant with the most graceful walk Lena had ever seen as she came striding into the shop. She wiped her hands on the front of her apron and grabbed a pen and paper from a drawer. Lena tried her hardest not to stare but this woman was absolutely stunning and gorgeous and every synonym inbetween.
Even though Amélie’s features were beautiful, Lena couldn’t help but notice she looked rather bored; as if flowers and plants were the most uninteresting thing in the world.
“Uhm, I was told you could help me with the pretty stuff?” Lena said uncertainly, trying to swallow her nerves, “Like the flower bouquets?”
“Oui.” Amélie confirmed in a tone as dry as the look on her face.
“Well it’s my best mate’s birthday next week and I was hoping to get him some flowers as sort of a joke,” Lena said with a nervous giggle as Amélie’s steely gaze did not shift to accommodate the humor, “What do you recommend?”
Amélie raised an eyebrow and Lena had the feeling that she was being judged to the highest degree.
“Chrysanthemums are very popular this time of year.” Amélie finally said, “They are also known for their bright, feminine colors if that’s the tone you’re going for.”
“Bingo! That’s exactly what I’m looking for!” Lena said excitedly, “I’ll take a dozen and one of those please!” Amélie shrugged and went through the backdoor to gather the flowers while Lena bounced in place impatiently. She eventually returned with the flowers rolled up in some bright pink tissue paper with a purple ribbon tied around the middle. She typed a few numbers into the computer and scanned a couple barcodes.
“That’ll be $46.48.” Amélie said. Lena’s mouth dropped open.
“ What ?” She gasped, “They’re plants!”
“ Plants are not cheap to grow, chérie.” Amélie said sourly, “Do you want them or not?”.
“Yeah yeah I’ll take ‘em.” Lena grumbled, “The things I do for friendship.” She fished around in her pocket and handed a wad of cash to the florist who dropped it into the register. Lena looked over the bouquet and found it slightly uneven on the right side. That simply wouldn’t do, Winston was quite the fan of symmetry.
“Um I actually won’t be needing this extra flower,” Lena said, “It looks a bit loopy on one side.”
“D’accord,” Amélie said, face turning back to stone.
“Well why don’t you keep it so it doesn’t go to waste?” Lena offered, putting the extra flower onto the counter, “I already paid for it so it’s technically not a waste.”
“Charmed.” Amélie rolled her eyes, “Have a good rest of the day chérie.” She turned on her heel without another word and disappeared into the shop’s backroom.
“What a strange, beautiful woman.” Lena said under her breath, grabbing her flowers and exiting the shop.