Troubled

Two

June 13, 20**

General POV

Levi arrives at the tattoo parlor promptly at 8:30 am to get the shop up and running, unlocking the front door and turning on the open sign. As he logs into the front computer, Petra and Mike walk into the shop.

"Good morning Levi," Mike says with a smile.

With a quick nod, Levi responds "good morning Mike, good morning Petra." He looks back down onto the computer and misses Petra's slight blush as she greets him back.

"What do the books look like today?" Mike continues, leaning at the front of the desk.

"Like hell."

"Levi, if you need me to call some clients and move them around for you, I'd be happy to do so," Petra chimes in with a small smile.

"No that's okay, just don't forget to call back the clients who left messages, all of the artists today sure as hell don't have the time for that, we barely have time for a lunch."
He finishes his sentence with a sigh and walks back to turn on the shop lights and prepare his station. Mike and Petra quickly clock in and Erwin enters the shop, with a loud Hanji following suit.

"AND THATS WHY I WOULD TOTALLY HAVE A PET PRAYING MANTIS," the overly joyful Hanji says as the door closes.
Erwin, the owner of the shop, laughs a response and shakes his head.

"The things that come out of your head sometimes."
He smiles as he leans over and clocks into the computer, giving Petra a greeting.

"Hanji what in the world are you talking about so early in the morning?" Petra asks with an amused expression.

Erwin looks straight at the small stawberry blonde girl and quickly says, "trust me you do not want to get into that long conversation," cutting off Hanji before she has he chance to respond. "Hanji, use your energy to make coffee for the rest of these zombies while I clock you in. All of us are going to need as much energy as we can get." As he spoke he looked to Levi and Mike, taking in their expressions. Mike had perked up at the sound of coffee being made, but probably more so because of the smell than the taste. And Levi's expression was neutral like always.

As Erwin walks to his station he sends both other males a greeting nod and sets up his tools at his station which is located towards the front.

"Everyone, be prepared for the oncoming mob," he announced with a chuckle.
And with that, the day began.

Levi's POV

"Thanks so much, I'm so incredibly happy! I hope I can come back soon and get another piece done!"

"No problem, if you refer a friend I'll give you both a discount, so keep that in mind." This client was actually tolerable, a nice refreshment compared to the first client I had this morning.
As Petra greeted the client to check them out, I walked back to my station, passing Erwin and Mike on the way. That client tipped so well, I thought as I put on a new pair of gloves to clean my equipment. As I was spraying my client chair with barbecide, Mike quietly stepped into my station. Looking up at him, I see he looks distressed, not meeting my eyes with his.

"Hey Levi, my next client walked in and I'm still with one of my regulars. I've never had this client before and I think he's new, do you think you can take him in place of me?"

"Tch, I was so happy to see I had a lunch break for once..." Mike's face fell.
"but sure." Who was I to deny Mike, he was too nice and I'm sure he'd do the same for me.