Chapter Text
It had been a quiet Sunday morning when the bell above the door chimed softly, bringing with it a loud singing that quickly had all the artists at Underground Tattoo Studios jumping in their seats.
“DUUUUUH DUHDUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUH DUH-DIT-DUH DUH-DIT-DUH-DUUUUUUUH-”
“DAD WHY.”
Picani grinned widely, stepping more fully into the shop, “What, I like making an entrance!”
“So many things about Remy make sense now,” Brett chuckled.
Laughing, Picani placed a large tupperware container on the front desk, “Here, I brought cookies for everyone!”
“Hell yeah!! Thanks Remy’s dad!”
The desk was quickly swarmed by artists, devouring cookies and rattling compliments and appreciation. Remy shook her head fondly, making her way over to give her dad a quick hug.
“Thanks for the sweets, pop. What brings you in anyway?”
“What, can’t I just stop by to visit my favorite child and remind them how much I love and care for them and give them homemade baked goods?”
“Gross. Absolutely disgusting. Get out of my shop.”
“It’s not her shop, stay forever!!” Ali chimed in from across the room, mouth full of cookies.
Remy stuck her tongue out at the other woman while Emile laughed, “Alright, to be fair, I do have a reason for coming in,” the counselor admitted.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. You have room in your schedule for a walk-in?”
Remy blinked in surprise, “You want to get a new tatt?”
“Yup!” Emile smiled brightly, “I haven’t gotten a tattoo since the Tigger one you did on my leg when you first got your license!”
“Well, you are running out of room,” Remy raised an eyebrow, smirking.
“I’ve got plenty of room!” Emile pouted. Remy laughed, and her dad continued, “Besides, I just want a small one!” He gestured to the top of his chest, “Just two words, under my collar bones!”
Chuckling lightly, Remy nodded, “Yeah, I think I can squeeze that in. What words?”
Picani told her.
For a moment, the two just stared at each other, Emile smiling softly while Remy looked slightly shocked. However, Picani immediately panicked when he saw tears begin to form in his child’s eyes, his hands flailing slightly.
“Aaaah wait, no, I didn’t-”
“GROSS. GET OUT OF MY SHOP.”
Picani rubbed her shoulder, offering a comforting smile as Remy furiously wiped at her eyes, glaring halfheartedly. Huffing, Remy pulled herself together, “Fine, whatever, come pick out a font for your stupid dumb tattoo.”
“I love you too, Sleepyhead.”
The rest of the artists were nice enough not to make any comments, simply returning to their own tasks once Picani’s tupperware was empty. Remy set up her station while her dad flipped through the book of fonts, eventually settling on a simple cursive, pretty but still legible. Emile talked about how things had been at the school, and some of the programs he was petitioning for the next year, including a few that he hoped to be the supervisor for, and filled her in on some of the punk kids’ shenanigans. Remy chuckled, occasionally throwing in some sass or commentary, but mostly just letting her dad fill the air with soothing chatter.
Eventually, the transfer was placed, Emile approving excitedly with clapping hands, and the counselor laid down on the tattoo chair. For a moment, Remy hesitated, feeling a sense of deja vu as she remembered the last time she had tattooed something significant on someone she loved. It made her stomach churn a little.
Shaking her head to try to clear the thoughts, she smirked at Picani, “Last chance to switch artists. Cass and Rafa are free, and it’s been awhile, you don’t know how shaky my hands might be these days.”
Remy tried to sound sarcastic, but maybe her eyes were a little too honest, because her dad reached out to hold her hand, smiling warmly, “Oh hush now, I’ve read all the yelp reviews and you’re one of the best. Besides, it wouldn’t feel right is someone else did this one.”
“Well, you better leave me four stars,” Remy squeezed his hand quickly before steadying himself, “Alright old man, brace yourself, we’re doing this.”
“Bring it on, punk.”
Huffing out a breath of laughter, Remy shook her head fondly, leaning down to start the tattoo. It was small, so it didn’t take long at all, and within thirty minutes, the elder Picani was standing at the mirror, taking in his newest tattoo.
Everything Stays
Now it was Emile who looked like he was gonna cry, beaming at his child, “It’s perfect.”
“It suits you,” Remy replied softly, hesitantly smiling back.
“So, what do I owe you?”
Remy waved him off, “Nah, this one is on the house.”
Picani frowned, “Now Remy, I really don’t mind-”
“How about,” she interrupted, toying with the bat charm on her necklace nervously, “Um… how about, I come over for dinner after work tomorrow. Feed me and we’ll call it even?”
Without even hesitating, Picani squealed excitedly, “Oh my goodness, yes of course, it’s a deal!!” He clapped his hands together in glee, “Oh, oh, I’ll make a casserole! No, a stew! NO, BREAKFAST FOR DINNER! I’M GONNA MAKE PANCAKES!!”
Laughing, Remy felt the tension leave her body. This wasn’t so bad.
“That sounds perfect, pops,” she replied.
“Well, I suppose I should let you get back to work.”
“Hmmmmm unfortunately,” Remy groaned dramatically, “But… I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yup! Just call or text when you’re on your way, alright?”
“Sounds good.”
They shared a quick hug, careful not to press on the bandages on Emile’s collar bones, before the counselor gathered his tupperware and waved goodbye to the artists.
“I like your dad,” Rafa commented from his station, “He should stop by more often.”
Remy hummed in response as she cleaned and sterilized her station, “Yeah, he should.”
This was okay.
The rest of the day passed peacefully, with the exception of a point in the afternoon where the shop was filled with teenage punks. Virgil had stopped by to drop off some concepts, but the other three punks had been practically fused to his hip recently. It only became a problem on busier days though, so for today the artists merely shook their heads fondly, Remy critiquing a few of Virgil’s designs before giving him another assignment and sending him on his way to make some room in the shop. A few more walk-ins filtered through and Remy completed a consultation and scheduled a few new ones. Soon, the shop was closed and the artists broke down their stations, taking out trash and flipping the lights off.
“We’re gonna grab a few drinks at Starlight Lounge, you wanna come?” Brett offered absentmindedly as he put on his coat, barely paying attention as he began walking out of the shop. Cass, Ali, and Rafa trailed behind him nonchalantly.
Remy paused behind them, fiddling with her sunglasses as she hummed in consideration.
“…Yeah, okay.”
Brett, already halfway out the door, came to a screeching halt, causing a chain reaction as the line of tattoo artists behind him all collided into each other’s backs. By the time they got their barings, the group was scrunched together in the doorway, too stunned to disentangle themselves. All four of them were looking back at Remy in disbelief.
“…Beg your pardon?” Cass finally broke the silence.
“Then beg,” Raising an eyebrow, Remy crossed her arms. Cass stuttered indignantly as Remy grinned, “If you were only asking to be courteous, then jokes on you cause now I’m definitely coming just to spite you.”
“No no no!!” Brett responded immediately, “We were just, uh surprised?”
“It was definitely unexpected-”
“Yeah dude, you’ve never-”
“Okay we’re still inside the building so as your boss I’m telling all of you to shut up right now,” Ali hissed at her employees by the door, desperate to stop their rambling. Even if they didn’t mean to, they were just going to scare Remy off, and she refused to let that happen.
Remy huffed, adjusting her bag on her shoulder, looking two seconds away from playing her acceptance of their offer off as a joke, but Ali didn’t give her a chance, “Finally we’ll have someone as a tiebreaker when Rafa suggests something absurd,” she linked arms with Remy, who blinked in surprise as she was tugged out of the shop with the others, “One week he said we should paint the shop green.”
“There’s nothing wrong with green!”
“Gurl, green is not a creative color,” Remy drawled.
“That’s what we said!!” Brett laughed, falling into step on Remy’s other side as Cass and Rafa hurled profanities at them from a few steps behind.
“Tsk, tsk,” Remy shook her head in mock sympathy, “how have you survived without me?”
“By hassling you extra during work hours?”
“You mean I could have been avoiding that all this time??”
“It’s a trade-off. You either get a little bit of annoyance spread out more, or Annoyance Concentrate during a smaller time slot.”
“I could always just move.”
“Not before you make it through your scheduled appointments you’re not!”
Remy lets out a breath of laughter, out of surprise more than anything.
This was okay.
She was getting a drink with her coworkers. And, initial reactions aside, they had no trouble fitting her into the group seamlessly- inviting her into the conversation, patting her shoulder casually, laughing with her.
A ‘buzz’ sounded in her pocket, and she pulled out her phone to glance at the new message.
DocOct: Hey
DocOct: You wanna come over and watch the new Sabrina series on Netflix??
Her teeth clench and her reply is a knee-jerk reaction. She doesn’t even really think about what she’s typed until she’s pressing send.
Sleepyhead: ‘Netflix and chill’? Really?
Remy exhaled slowly, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. Dammit. Why could she never keep her mouth shut? She should text an apology, right? Fuck, well, they had a good run, lasted longer than she thought it would, maybe she could just move a few towns over before Ali could stop her, should she change just her last name or both-
Another ‘buzz’.
DocOct: lol oops, I didn’t even think of that XD
DocOct: Come over for Netflix and Speed eat popcorn before the goddamn cats knock it on the floor and/or straight up sit in the bowl ;P
Blinking, Remy glanced around, half convinced she was about to wake up. But no. Her coworkers were still chatting and laughing around her, she had plans with her dad tomorrow, and Toby still wanted to hang out even after she snapped at him. A smile that was half relief and half wonderment crept onto her face as she tapped out a reply.
Sleepyhead: Oh well in THAT case
Sleepyhead: Can you wait a couple hours? I’m out with The Coworkers.
DocOct: I’ll wait forever ;)
DocOct: Have fun! Text me when you’re on your way
She let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. This was okay. The group arrived at the small, hole-in-the-wall bar, taking up most of the bar stools as they paused their conversations to order drinks, Rafa still pleading with Ali to join in on a game of darts after the first round, only giving up after Brett, Cass, and Remy agreed to a game of pool. This was okay. Remy was inching closer to the people around her and nothing bad had happened.
Yet. There was still a ‘yet’, of course. It still loomed over her, and nearly made her spill her drink when her hands started shaking, but… It felt a little more like an “if” then a “when”. She still drank a little too much a little too fast in an attempt to push it from her mind, but hey, she was here, wasn’t she? So what if she needed a shot to make it through a game of pool. Call it step one.
They didn’t stay too long, what with Brett and Ali having to open the next day. Soon they cleared their tabs and confirmed their schedules for the next day. Ali nudged Remy’s side, leaning in, to speak just to her, “Hey, you’ve got a half day tomorrow.”
Remy frowned in confusion, “Uh, no I don’t?”
“You do now,” Ali declared, “You’ve got overtime out your ass, and only one appointment tomorrow afternoon. Your schedule is now 1 to 6 as decreed by your overlord,” she pointed her thumbs at herself, “Sleep in, come do your shit, and then hang out with your dad.
“I hung out with him today, it’s not a big de-”
“Remy,” Ali cut her off, “Just take the half day. Knowing you you’ll probably still end up with overtime.”
It felt suspicious, and Remy couldn’t help but feel like there was a catch she was missing. But maybe Ali really was just concerned about her overtime, so she nodded slowly, mumbling out a thanks before the two women returned to the others to say their goodbyes, splitting up to go their separate ways.
Walking down the sidewalk, Remy lit up a cigarette, closing her eyes and letting the nicotine and alcohol calm her jittery nerves. This was okay. It was paper thin and fragile. But it was okay.
Sleepyhead: Brace yourself, I’m on my way
DocOct: :D <3 <3 <3
Sleepyhead: calm down
DocOct: no
Remy snorted, pocketing her phone and maybe walking a little faster. When she arrived at Toby’s apartment, she pressed the buzzer for his unit rapidly and repeatedly, grinning when she could hear a soft “fuck!” from the window above her just as the door unlocked. She jogged up the stairs, Toby already at the door when she reached his floor.
“Thanks for ringing the doorbell so much, the cats started screaming at me,” he huffed dramatically.
“You say that like they don’t scream at you all the time for literally any reason.”
“Just because that’s true doesn’t mean you’re right!”
Snickering, Remy slipped past him into the apartment, giving Binx and scratch on the chin as she passed by. “I am making myself at home and you can’t stop me,” she declared as she kicked her shoes off, dropping her bag on the ground before falling onto Toby’s couch, sprawling out and letting her long legs extend over the armrest.
“Hey, you know I support coziness. Although in theory this couch is supposed to fit two people,” he raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the side table.
“You were lied to,” Remy responded immediately, sinking deeper into the couch and throwing her arms out to take up more space, making Toby bark out a laugh.
“Apparently,” he shook his head in amusement, “You have fun with the gang? You don’t seem completely wasted,” he commented.
Remy shrugged, “It was fine. I’m tipsy at most.”
Standing, Toby gestured towards the kitchen, “You want some water? I’m about to throw some popcorn in the microwave.”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
“Suit yourself,” Toby chuckled, wandering into the other room to get their treats ready. Remy sighed, closing her eyes for a minutes.
After a few minutes the smell of popcorn filled the apartment, and Toby poked his head into the living room, “Oh hey, I know you pre-gamed, but wanna take a shot with me before the first episode?”
“Oooh, don’t mind if I do,” Remy grinned, always happy to get some extra liquid courage. She sat up and shifted to lean against the arm rest, legs still stretched out over half the couch.
Toby came back with two shot glasses filled with clear liquid and handed one to Remy, “Cheers!” they clinked glasses before downing the liquid.
Remy sputtered as she swallowed, half laughing and half appalled, “Wait, was that just water?”
“Not bad right? Want some more? I’ll let you drink straight from the bottle,” Toby winked.
Remy gasped indignantly, “Rude!” she moved to try to kick Toby’s thigh, but he skipped out of the way, laughing.
“That’s what you get for turning down an actual glass of water!”
“Okay fine, you’ve pushed your extremist water agenda. Get me a bottle and let’s watch the damn show,” she tried to look annoyed, huffing and crossing her arms, but it was too obvious how she was fighting a smile.
“Hah! Score!” Toby rushed to the kitchen, returning shortly with a water bottle and a bowl of popcorn with m&ms mixed in. He tossed the bottle into Remy’s hands before casually lifting her legs, sitting on the couch before setting them back down across his lap and placing the popcorn bowl on top of her shins. “Just wait, hydrating is the Gateway Health- soon I’ll have you taking off your makeup before bed and eating a vegetable.”
“Gross. I don’t want the water anymore.”
“Take a fucking sip, babe.”
Laughing, Remy relented, sipping on the water as Toby leaned forward to set the show up on his laptop before pressing play.
They both heckled throughout the show, commenting on everything and everything, Toby occasionally talking about the comics or the old tv show, and both of them fighting off the cats as they tried to walk across the computer or paw at the popcorn bowl.
It wasn’t until halfway through the third episode that Remy realized how much she had wanted this. She thought of all the times in high school when she had just wanted to spend time with someone only to find out that they just wanted to get her alone in their room. But here she was- Toby had invited her over to watch a show and they were watching a show, Toby occasionally tossing popcorn into her mouth or slapping at her legs when something exciting happened on the screen, while Remy nudged his stomach with her foot when she wanted his attention and let two of his cats curl up on her chest. Not all the bad feelings were gone. But there was good now, too. A lot of good.
Smiling, the thoughts left her head, too distracted by Toby ranting about how disappointed he would be if they didn’t do a Riverdale crossover, and both of them exaggerating their offense at Netflix’s “Are you still watching?” message.
“Don’t tell me how to live my life! No Ma’am!”
“‘Are we still watching’? Are you still being a BITCH??”
“What kind of disrespect?”
They both huffed, desperately holding back laughter. Toby reached to start the next episode when he noticed the time, “Oh shit, I didn’t realize how late it was,” he glanced over at Remy, “Thoughts?”
Remy hummed in consideration, “I should probably head home. But…” She sat up, sending the cats scattering, rubbing the back of her head shyly, “…we should definitely finish this soon. I’m hooked.”
“Hell yeah!” Toby replied immediately. “I’m free most evenings this week, so just hit me up!”
“You say that like you won’t conveniently run into me at some point,” Remy teased, pulling her shoes on and gathering her things.
“You don’t know me.”
“You wish.”
Just as she stood to put her jacket on, Toby jumped up to stand on the couch, reaching over to pull Remy into a hug, tugging her head down to rest on his chest.
Remy blinked in surprise, “What is happening?”
“I’m giving you a hug goodbye!”
“No, I got that, I mean why did you have to stand on the couch to do that?”
“Because I’m the big spoon whether you like it or not.”
Remy let out a loud laugh, bringing her arms to return the hug tightly, “Dork.”
“You love meeeee.”
“Unfortunately,” She smiled, pulling away and ruffling Toby’s hair as he jumped back onto the floor, batting her hands away.
“My heart is tall!”
“I can tell.”
Remy made her way to the door, Toby grabbing her hand at the last minute to kiss her knuckles, smirking slyly as she flushed, “Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe?”
“Ew. Stop. No,” she pulled her hand back, trying to glare through her blush. October was a dork but he was a smooth dork and she kind of hated it sometimes.
“Pleeeeeeease?”
“Okay, fine, I’ll let you know I’m not dead,” rolling her eyes, she still smiled as she waved goodbye, stepping into the hallway as Toby closed the door to keep the cats inside.
It’s dark and quiet outside when Remy steps onto the sidewalk. She grinned as she walked down the street, head clear as she made her way home after a long night of laughing and smiling more genuinely than she could remember in a long time. She doesn’t even feel the need to light a cigarette, enjoying the clear air and letting the brisk wind sooth her.
Yeah. This was okay.
Remy repeats that to herself a few more times, smiling wider as she makes her way home.