that's the life of a virgo – storm !

"Uh..." she frowned. How did she explain that to someone anyway? "I...know a friend, right?" she started off, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, "like...she looks normal, has a normal kind of face and life and all that, but apparently she can bring her drawings to life? And like, I also know someone who...whenever he touches stuff, he can sort of...scan their memories or something. It's super weird but like, they kind of have superpowers, like those movies you see on TV?"

She shrugged. "The point is they look normal but they aren't and they can do really crazy things."

Frankly, she didn't trust the cops in the city, but she could always say he was a client or something that got knocked out. It'd be weird to explain, but...where else should she put him?

"I mean, I can bring you to the hostel now," she frowned, picking up her phone and sending Jack another text, before glancing at the man still tied up on the floor.

She frowned. "I mean, you look human," she pointed out, tapping her foot, before sighing. There should be some extra shirts or something; they sold a few t-shirts, didn't they? Right. Maybe they'd have one that fits him, and she knew Jack kept some jeans in the back. If they could disguise him long enough...

"How long do you need to recover?" she called out, digging through the storage cabinet for some extra clothes. Was he going to make it? She honestly doubted it, and the hostel...well, sharing a room with strangers in his state didn't seem like a good idea at all.

Regardless, she grabbed the clothes. "Come on, let's get you to the back at least. You can take a nap there and we can get to the hostel later," she sighed. She was definitely not going to carry this dude; there was no way she'd be able to in the first place.

She reached a hand for the man. The back room would be fine; there was a kitchen and a separate tattoo bed, and she was sure that there had to be some old blankets here; the boys had set up their video games in the back for those long nights before, and she knew they were prone to getting cold when the winter came.

Honestly, what a strange guy. What a strange day. Emeline had to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't some sort of fevered dream. Leading the man to the back, she glanced around. There wasn't much but it was as homey as they had made it; the tattoo parlour was practically her second home anyway.

"Here, it's not much but it'll keep you warm," she sighed, tossing the man the blanket on the couch. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do. She rummaged through the shelves, looking for the one pack of cigarettes she had hidden. Emeline wasn't much of a smoker, despite Ash constantly stealing them the office stash in the tattoo parlour, but days like this, she was tempted to get back into the habit. One cigarette wouldn't hurt. He was already asleep, that was no surprise.

Opening the back door, she stepped outside, leaning on the side with her foot in the gap. She quickly lit her cigarette and pulled out her phone.

JACK: wait, what? you actually serious? I'm omw back

She frowned, before typing. [yeah, guy's tied up in the front, called the cops, some dude helped disarm him but there's a hole in the floor now. landlord's gonna kill us lol]

Quickly finishing her cigarette, she tossed it to the ground, crushing it with the heel of her boot before stepping inside, closing the door to the back and heading out to the front again, just to have Jack rush through the door, grabbing Emeline's arms as if to check her over for any injuries.

"Holy shit, what the fuck happened?" his confused expression showed more concern for her than the mess around the shop.

"Uh...some dude came in asking for directions, and like...this asshole over here–" she gestured to the struggling man, "tried to pull a gun on us, but this other guy fought him off and you know, fixed the problem I guess." The man honestly looked a little crazed. She pursed her lips. "He might be on something, no one fucking comes into a tattoo parlour for money, right?"

"Jesus," he whistled, "guess we have to thank whoever that was."

She frowned. "Right...he's in the back. Guy must've tired himself out...I called the cops but I don't really want to talk to them right now. Can you deal with it? The...uh, bullet was there."

She pointed to the floor, still wet with blood.

"Shit," the other man breathed, "you okay? Where did he get you?"

"Not me," she quickly replied, "the other guy got clipped a bit, but I patched him up. It should be fine...just, take care of it okay? He probably got onto the security tape–I just, I think I need a breather."

Jack sighed a breath of relief. "That's fine, take the rest of the day off and tomorrow if you need to; we'll probably be talking to the cops anyway." Emeline nodded at his words. Great, now she could just...wait until the guy woke up and get him to a hostel, and she was going to head home and sleep. This was a weird day, and honestly, she was ready to knock out just the same.

Emeline hadn't known what to do, and after mentioning to Jack about the dude in the back, she had texted Ash to meet up for some food. Of course, by then, her hunger had come back with a force to be reckoned with, and they decided to just grab some pizza and bubble tea instead.

Retelling the story to her flatmate sounded like a fever dream, and he had actually laughed in her face, until he realized that she was actually serious. A hundred percent serious. Oh shit, he had muttered, before they continued on. Oh shit indeed, Emeline thought.

Well, Ash had plans for the evening, so whatever. Emeline yawned, making her way back to the tattoo parlour. She wanted to get back to the apartment, if she was to be honest, but she didn't feel right leaving the guy on his own. Not to mention, Jack didn't know the dude and he had already handled the cops and everything, she didn't want to put another job onto her boss. That was just embarrassing.

Entering the tattoo parlour, she was met with a sticky note from Jack, saying he was off earlier tonight, and that he'd see her the day after, with a 'don't stress too much and get some rest x' and a weird octopus he drew. Rolling her eyes, a faint smile appeared on her face as she set her bag down on the couch again, plugging in her phone just to see the man come out into the tattoo parlour, looking rather dazed from his sleep.

"You feeling okay?" she asked with a frown, "you knocked out for a couple of hours earlier."

Emeline watched him grab his stuff, before remembering. Right, she was going to offer him the spare clothes. She wasn't going to leave some guy out in the middle of cutthroat New York with nothing but his backpack, especially after all the help he had been.

"Wait," she spoke, before walking to the chair where she left the spare change of clothes, just a tee shirt with one of their tattoo designs and a pair of jeans. She tossed it towards the man. "Here, you'll blend in better if you wear this. It's a spare, so you can keep it."

As much as Emeline seemed aloof and disinterested in things, she did worry about the guy, and she owed it to him to at least help him get on his feet. "Come on," she gestured to the door. He could change later, when he had showered or something at the hostel, "let me get you some food and bring you to a hostel and we'll call it even, okay?"

She grabbed her wallet and her jacket, shoving it into her purse before heading out the door, waiting for him to exit before looking the store up. "Also, I asked a friend when you were knocked out," she replied, already walking down the street, not waiting for him to catch up, "he said he might know a place that's hiring a bouncer if you're interested."

She had already eaten, so finding a place for the man to eat was a bit of a head scratcher. She didn't know what he was used to eating, or if he had any preferences. Hey, maybe he had allergies, or some religious thing where they couldn't eat certain meats...she wasn't sure but at this point, she didn't know whether to ask or not. There was a pizza place, a cheap pasta restaurant–hm, maybe not, they'd draw too much attention–and a deli selling bagels and salt beef. Well, that one wasn't too bad, though she rarely went for that option.

Glancing over to the man, he seemed to be breathing in the scent of the roasted meats, and Emeline couldn't help the small laugh that almost left her mouth. He almost looked like a puppy, sniffing around the table for scraps. Was that mean? She bit her lip, before gesturing towards the shop.

"Hey, pretty tattoo lady! You're back!" one of the vendors greeted, and Emeline rolled her eyes before giving him a wave.

"Yeah, you win this time," she snorted, before gesturing to Lycari, "my uh, friend here's hungry. My treat, I guess."

"Isn't the boyfriend supposed to be paying?" the old man laughed, a belly kind of laugh that made Emeline snort.

"One, he's not my boyfriend," she scowled, "and two, I owe him a favor."

She turned to Lycari with a shrug. "Pick anything, I can pay, but...I think their best thing is the shwarma wrap honestly. Or the salt beef bagel...it seems pretty popular at least."

Emeline wasn't sure; she didn't come here often and most of the time, she didn't eat much meat anyway. "I'll get some fries I guess," she told the man over the counter, already pulling out her card, "and he'll be having..." She gave him a curious look.

Emeline shook her head, already ready to pay, tapping her card to the machine before saying a quick thank you to the man. "It's fine; you're new to the city, and my parents raised me right anyway," she laughed quietly. It was custom, after all, that if visitors came to your city, you paid for the first meal, and despite her somewhat uneasy relationship with her family, she didn't forget her manners. Mama young had raised her with a near iron-fist; it wasn't her fault that she turned out to be a little wilder than her brother.

She glanced towards the group of teenagers with a distaste in her mouth. The lot of them were always so annoying; she had been catcalled enough times by stupid teenagers trying to get her number, and they were always just so loud, as if no one else was there. When they silently stopped to stare at the man, Emeline turned away. "Don't worry about them," she snorted, "teenage boys are all idiots anyway."

It really did seem quite popular, huh? "Yeah, I guess people get their afternoon snack here a lot; it's pretty cheap and it's like, decent food, you know? Not to mention the owners are really nice so everyone's usually here to support them I guess. Their morning bagels and coffee are pretty good; they're our usual breakfast choice."

As the got their food, Emeline gestured to the seats nearby. "Okay, so...the hostel shouldn't be too far, maybe one or two blocks away, so we can eat first and maybe talk about the job I heard about?"