-spread my wings.

-mackenzie kenzie vaisman.

age: 30. birthday: August 10, 1992. pronouns: she/her. birthplace: lockwood springs, CO.  occupation: tattoo apprentice - destination ink. dancer - restricted access. best traits: insightful. brave. adaptable. worst traits: resentful. perfectionist. vindictive. sexuality: bisexual.

-more. tw, mentions of racism, pregnancy.

•

Adam isn’t sure what to make of the little guy barreling into Kenzie. At first, he thinks she’s just some random person. Then, he realizes that it is, in fact, Kenzie hugging the boy. And finally, it clicks, the way she speaks to him, the tears on her face…oh. Right. Cool. He’s more surprised than anything but does his best to school his face into a neutral expression, so he doesn’t look shocked. Of course Kenzie’s lived a life for…sixteen years now? So has he. Though he doesn’t have a kid but that’s not…that’s not the point. He waves off her questions with an awkward laugh and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his Patagonia. “Yeah, he’s alright. Funny kid but uh,” lowering his voice to a dramatic whisper so her son can still hear, “he keeps saying his name is Captain Underpants?” Adam says and hears him giggle while slurping away. 

“It’s fine, Kenzie. Really. Glad I ran into him. Literally. Sorry…he got some dirt on his jacket.” He’d not been expecting a small human to be right by his legs as he turned from a stall, effectively knocking him over. Which is part of the reason he felt responsible for finding his parents…or mom as it now stands. “You okay?” He unconsciously reaches to squeeze her shoulder (turns out years long habits die hard) before realizing what he’s doing and awkwardly retracting his hand again before he can make contact. “I just mean, uh, here.” Adam proffers a crumpled up napkin he’d grabbed earlier and gives a sheepish smile. “Not used, I promise,” he jokes lightly.

★・・・・・・★

                         There was a lot of time between then and now and it was almost unnatural that neither of them were there for one another during it all. A lot had happened that she wished, even at the time, for Adam’s friendship again. Still, Kenzie wasn’t any better at apologies. It was a flaw from the years of resent and bitterness that warped into her personality. She watched Adam with a small smile, flicking her eyes back to Koda who seemed proud of his title. “I think I know who told you the secret, huh? That your dad? He wasn’t supposed to tell you ‘til you were eighteen.” she played into the bit, watching as Koda nodded and she gave a small there you go shrug back at Adam. “You can tell him your real name, say hi properly and thank you.” she encouraged her son with a small wave of their joined hands and Koda’s voice followed, taking her words literally. “My real name is Koda Captain Underpants, thank you properly.” She didn’t correct him and instead just nodded. “He uh...his dad likes cartoons or like...well, anything that’s meant for kids. Guess it...comes in useful every now and again.” she laughed and then frowned slightly. We’re not together though, was on the tip of her tongue but that would be weird and pointless information. Why did Adam need to know?

“Oh don’t even mention it. You should see many shirts he got dirt on when he thought it was a good snack. I was hoping he’d grow out of it but it seems to be...a thing.” she could laugh about it before the squeeze against her shoulder transported her back a decade or more. Without thinking she leaned into the touch, wishing to be able to follow it completely and not feel it fall away. “Yeah, I’m all good now. Thanks. This coulda been a bad day.” she laughed nervously, taking the napkins and waving them in a little thanks motion. “You sure I can’t...do something to say thanks?” It’d be weird to hang out with a mom and her son though, right? A mom that couldn’t even apologize or break the ice in any way, other than Adam witnessing unplanned glimpses into her life. “I don’t know if you were almost done but they got a good coffee cart with a few snacks and stuff?”

closed starter, kenzie’s home with @kenzievaisman​

Having caught up with the past five years, Wolf makes his voyage to Kenzie’s house. It’s a staple for certain Southsiders, yet another place to congregate and share a feeling of home. A large grin is stuck on his face as he enters and sees a familiar scene but this time with an additional little fella. “So I heard you left then came back but with someone else for us to worry about.” he says as his greeting, leaning against the door frame as he reaches the kitchen instead of venturing into it. “I can relate to the first two but lucky for everyone around here, I don’t have the capacity to give birth. Man, I’d be a bad mother.” he smiles before his arms open out. “Well, come on then!? And bring little guy too. I gotta meet this dirt-eater for once and for all. No questioning that he’s Danny’s with that trait.”

★・・・・・・★

                           The deep voice made Kenzie glance up to the kitchen archway, her nose scrunched because she didn’t consider her long runaway trip to Arizona as interesting news any more. Then she saw Wolf and her expression lifted into a bright smile. “Dude! I heard you’d be out some time soon. We basically did the same damn time together, except I got a lot more sunlight.” she laughed with elation, moving over to him and jumping up a bit to give him a hug. “Not true, you’d be a good mom.” Kenzie grinned and then turned to make a grand gesture to Koda. “Uhuh, half Vaisman and half Anderson. What was I thinking, right? Kodes, come and say hi to Wolfy, you’re gonna love him.” she waved a hand and watched as the four year old came running through, pausing when he saw Wolf. “Hunter?” he asked and Kenzie laughed. “Ta-da, there’s three of ‘em, little guy. Worst thing to happen to Southside.”

dusty:

Dusty laughed to the correction, always finding it weird that May had a positive look on things but then again, cockroach wasn’t exactly a bad thing he thought. The offer of food distracted him quickly and his long arm reached across so he could snatch it for himself, taking a bite out of it quickly and condemning the rest of their conversation to be with his muffled mouthful. “It didn’t seem like a cult, that’s how they get you right? They just said they gave out tattoos and do acid and I was like, hey that’s me.” he shrugged, some crumbs falling from his mouth as he ignored the mess he was making. “Picture? I got it in the flesh.” he then said loudly, holding the sandwich with his mouth as he spun around and pulled down his already loose fitting jeans. The boxers came down after and before May even had a chance to see a thing, Dusty delivered a quick and crisp slap onto his pale ass cheek. “You can see why Jesus wanted to brand this ol’ sweetus rumpus, but I ask you to not touch.” he said haughtily and raising his finger.  “Until we’re on the tattoo bed, that classes as sexual harassment.”

•

May supposes he’s right. It’s how a lot of smarter people ended up in cults or starting them. Just look at Tom Cruz. “Well do us both a favor and next time you’re looking for a tattoo, just ask, yeah? Easier to do a new one than fix a shitty one.” She shakes her head and is about to tell him she can probably think of something without seeing it just yet but then he’s pantsing himself and May’s hands fly up to wide eyes, mostly obscuring her gaze. “Oh jeeze, Dusty. You can’t just––” She coughs, not sure how to explain normal decorum to him. “But uh…got it.” It sure does say Jesus loves me.  Right, you can pull your pants up now please. No harassment here, Dusty. Promise.” 

★・・・・・・★

                           Sometimes life made Kenzie feel like she had to be in several places at once, so after running an errand she tried to hurry back and help May close up the studio. She wished she hadn’t bothered, because before she even opened the door she saw a luminous glow belonging to Dusty’s pale ass. She didn’t even know he was back in the city yet...but clearly, he was the exact same as he was when he left. Kenzie could see her cousin’s reaction easily enough to decide she wanted no part in that business. She’d just text her later and say she got caught up, and moved right along.

INSTAGRAM ↳ @kenzievaisman just uploaded a new photo

u got any games in ur phone?

“Noted.” Picasso sucks. There was no way in hell he was going to remember that but maybe he’d be able to pull it out for some future conversation somewhere. Kenzie was right. None of them could be surprised Angel was being, well, Angel. He watched her work for a little while, the whole process relaxing in a way that nothing else was. “I don’t know ‘bout that. I’m startin’ to think she keeps me around out of habit at this point.” Did he truly believe that? Probably not but it had crossed his mind a few times. It had been them against the world for so long maybe she was afraid to change it. Just like he was afraid if he kicked her out or came down on her hard that she would leave and he’d never see her again. The last time she left he almost lost her completely. That was enough to rock him at his core. “Either way it don’t mean I can get through to her anymore than anyone else can. I know, I’ve tried.” All of his attempts had been exhausted so far and he was out of options. Besides turning his back on her altogether which would tear him apart from the inside out. “No, probably not, but I also never had anyone who gave a shit if I was alive or dead or otherwise. Don’t think I’m a good example to go off.” Angel had a lot of people who gave a shit about her. Way more than Finn could ever dream of. He looked over at Kenzie with a frown. “Why does everyone say I’m grumpy all the damn time? I ain’t grumpy I’m just -” angry all the fucking time. “Not social.”

★・・・・・・★  

                         If all her clients sat as good as Finn did, Kenzie was sure she’d be a master of her craft by now. He was like a stone, unmovable and not flinching to any of her movements which made for clean and crisp lines into his skin. She took her foot off the pedal at his words though, just so she could give him a stern look. Not as stern as she’d be to anyone else, because while they were close, she wasn’t ever going to rustle those O’Connor feathers. “You did not just say that in my cousin’s shop, Finn.” she angled her wrist to her hip to simulate putting her hand there instead. “She absolutely does not just keep you around, don’t even talk like that.” she quirked a brow, getting back to work soon after. “Whenever I think of Angel, I think of Finn. You’re...a team. It’s just difficult right now. And that’s not because of Angel, it’s because of the...the shit she’s doing.” Kenzie couldn’t say the words outright, it broke her heart. Sure, she was no well behaved kid and a fun time when she was younger was always known to have a few perks but...this was different. “I hate to say it but maybe she needs a shock, a wake up call.” Kenzie suggested but she was no expert at this. “Finn, if anyone’s gonna be able to get through to her, it’ll be you. This is about Angel, though. It’s not about how much she loves you. It’s about her shit, and the best thing you can do is force her to deal with it. I know if anybody else tried, they’d get their heads ripped off.” Kenzie was finally able to laugh at Finn’s apparent not-grumpiness and she nodded slightly. “Alright, Mr. Not Social no friends. I just sit here talking to you because I hate you, right?”

+ KENZIE  FARMER’S MARKET

Adam tells himself he needs to think through his life choices when he ends up holding some kid’s hand who’d lost their parent at the Farmer’s Market. It’s a busy Saturday morning and he doesn’t envy whomever’s losing their mind searching for Captain Underpants. Why Captain Underpants? Because the kid said he can’t give his name to strangers or his mommy will yell at him (honestly, fair), but then he’d mumbled something too fast for Adam understand – something about Captain Underpants and his dad? and Adam decided not to ask too many questions. Instead, the kid is pulling him along, insisting he saw his mom. The height difference between him and the little guy meant that Adam was practically slouched on one side as he walks alongside him before Captain Underpants asks for orange juice at every stall they go looking for his mom before Adam eventually caves. This kid’s got juice in hand and he’s texting Gabe, asking what the hell he’s supposed to do since the market doesn’t exactly have a lost and found for kids. He’s standing by the juice stall when all of a sudden Captain Underpants tears away and Adam looks up, panicked that he’s lost a kid (who’s actually already been lost but that’s neither here nor there) as he yells mommy! at the top of his lungs, running into a familiar figure. @kenzievaisman​

★・・・・・・★

                          There was a time that Kenzie didn’t give a fuck about anything but that changed when she held her son in her arms for the first time. She still maintained a level of relaxed parenting, you could never be too overbearing if you were raising a kid in the Vaisman household. So, when Kenzie noticed Koda wasn’t by her side, she figured he’d be a few paces ahead at the next stall. He wasn’t. Okay, don’t lose your cool. The Anderson and Vaisman genes didn’t mix too good, that kid was always going to do exactly what he wanted. Next stall. Nothing. Soon the worry changed to panic and Kenzie was living a mother’s worst nightmare, only to look stupid by the time she actually saw Koda, chilling with a juice box like it was nothing. “What did I tell you about running off like that!?” she scolded him, crouching to his level as he came running towards her. “People are weird, little dude. You said thanks for the juice box and for him not taking you away!?” Kenzie glanced up then, feeling her words warble. Great so Adam now saw she was a mom, saw her panicked tears, saw her at the club and saw her tits too. This was going fucking amazing. “Koda do you know how lucky you are that I know this guy!?” She was too busy in mom mode to do much else before she looked at Adam again with a nervous smile. “Did he say thanks?” she then stood up, keeping a tighter grip on her child which was slurping the juice box with a casual coolness. “Lemme...get you back for the damn juice box. Thank you, Adam.”

Hunter and his brother had next to no discipline growing up so when Kenzie corrected Koda’s manners, he made an oops face to the boy. Who knew pussy was a bad word for a four year old to repeat. Hunter had vivid memories of calling his own father the c word at that age. “You got nice things to say about little old me?” he laughed to Kenzie, shoveling more food into his mouth before he shook his head slightly. “They already got that. Jesus, I think they got samples of my ass hair too I’ve been there so much.” Hunter and his brother were also raised without manners. Who knew.

★・・・・・・★

                           “You’re not that bad, Hunter. You and Finn like to seem scarier than you are.” Kenzie laughed but she heard how stupid she sounded when she said it. There was a reason why when she got in a few sticky situations back in the day, she’d name drop the O’Connor and Cross names like it was nothing. The Shamrock Boys as everyone else knew them. “Okay well, you’re not as bad as...” No, she still was looking at it from a place of privlege. “You’re nice to me.” As soon as Koda heard the word asshair, he was off, laughing loudly as Kenzie knew it had been stored away into his brain forever. The four year old repeated it perfectly, with enough punch in his words to prove he knew what it meant. “I take it back, you’re awful.”

Status: closed @kenzievaisman​

Location: Destination Ink 

Angel sits on the tattooing chair with her hands resting lazily in her lap, the residuals of an earlier high still lingering in her. She’s just hanging out with no actual desire to add to the ink that stains her skin, but this is nice, being here with Kenzie. For a second, when there’s a silent gap between her thoughts, it almost feels like old times. Almost. The grudge she held for so long has reduced into near nothingness, but she can’t help the voice at the back of her mind reminding her of the five year void where the woman she considered a sister, the woman she looked up to simply didn’t exist. Who didn’t think enough of her to issue any sort of warning. That was Kenzie’s doing, and though Angel has forgiven her in her own way, it’s not as easy to forget no matter how hard she tries. But she doesn’t dwell on that right now. Now, she clings to the private, slow spreading joy of not only being reunited, but of letting bygones be bygones – almost. “I think I want to get into doing like the whole tattoo apprenticeship thing,” Angel says, a thought she catches herself speaking aloud but makes no effort to stop. “Clearly being a bartender isn’t my fucking calling,” She laughs a little at herself, the corners of her lips settling into a smile.  

★・・・・・・★

                           The fracture Kenzie created all by herself was still healing, but it was no longer a broken bone that needed steel to try and mend it. That was something, at least. Kenzie was grateful that Angel, an unforgiving O’Connor, actually showed something that sembled forgiveness. A few bruises and scratches and tears later and everything felt...almost normal. Kenzie didn’t ever expect it to return to the closeness it used to be, but knowing Angel is still in her life after everything is enough. It’s enough. Even just sitting within each other’s atmosphere is enough. “Yeah?” Kenzie glanced up from the piece she was designing, no takers yet but still needing to practice. She smiled to Angel, laughing slightly. “Well, that’s something to work towards, right? You’ve already tattooed me.” she laughed, remembering the days they’d stow away with a single needle and some ink and dot stupid small designs over themselves. Kenzie never knew how much those dumb moments would end up meaning to her. “You can start practicing a few drawings, figure out your style.” she shrugged, before glancing to the tattoo gun that wasn’t completely dismantled yet. “Orrr...wanna do some right now? I’m feeling brave, are you feeling brave?”

•

Adam blinks at her sudden exclamation and can’t help his amused smile. “Oh yeah? That’s great, Kenzie…” She’d always been good at it too. He can easily recall her customizing her notebooks and, when she ran out of “canvas”, moving on to his. He’d never minded, of course, because she’d been talented for a long time. And even if she hadn’t been, Adam still thinks he’d have let her draw all over his notebooks. “Destination Ink, right?  I didn’t realize she owned it…is it easy working with family?” He’d known her family quite well growing up but all ties were essentially severed when she deemed their friendship done and over with. Adam clears his throat, nodding, “I didn’t…think – you don’t have to uh…explain yourself to me…” Because he’s not judging her but he’s not sure how to say that without sounding like he was doing exactly just that.

He hazards a small laugh at her mumblings. “They’re alright most of the time.” He’d only joined a few months back but it feels like it’s been much longer with everything that’s happened. Truthfully, Adam hadn’t been as intentional about spending time with his colleagues until a few months ago when everything changed. He’s smart enough to know that he needs to built a rapport with them, if only to protect himself in the long run with everything going on. 

Adam laughs awkwardly at her words and clears his throat. “Ah well, guess you forgot to pass that along. Hard to believe though.” Fourteen year old Adam had been tall as a string-bean and as slight as one too. At least now he had some muscle on him. He stops before saying you kind of were and instead waves a hand. “They didn’t know what they were talking about then.” Sure, she’d stood up for him, despite being half his size. What she lacked in stature she made up for in razor sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. Adam glances around them for a beat, trying to think of what to say next. He’s acutely aware that she’s not wearing a shirt still but can’t comment on the fact, though he can tell she’s uncomfortable with him there. “Hey, look – I’ll get going but maybe we can uh…” Can what, Adam? Catch up?  “I just– it was nice seeing you, Kenzie.”

★・・・・・・★

                          She could never tell if his niceness annoyed her or frustrated her. She was so used to explosive arguments for no reason where every comment was twisted into an insult that she forgot how relaxed Adam was. She’d almost forgotten the calm side of herself that he could bring forth too, a side that pretty much vanished when he left. “Yeah...it is great. Thanks...” she nodded softly, humbled by his response which made her question why she was ready for some snarky back and forth. This was Adam, for fucks sake. “Well, we’ve always been like sisters just without the fighting so it’s good. We laugh more than we work, to be honest.” Kenzie answered with a laugh, relaxing into the conversation which at the same time made her on edge. What a weird mix to navigate, all while ensuring her bare chest was covered. Even when she said she didn’t need to explain herself, Kenzie’s hackles didn’t raise like it normally would with somebody else. She nodded again, wondering if Adam had always been the calming force in her life and if that was what she had always been missing. “Er...yeah. I just...didn’t want you to think...you know. There’s a lot of stereotypes and it’s like...not true.” Shut the fuck up Mackenzie. 

Even though she had never met his work mates, she was staring at them from the bar and then realized that if they saw her they’d probably have a lot of questions. Why was Adam talking to a dancer that was covering herself? Was she making it weirder with her hands over her body? Kenzie glanced back at Adam and then to the work friends, back and forth again before she just dropped her arms to her side. She didn’t say anything, deciding to not draw any attention to it because maybe he wouldn’t notice. Since he obviously thought she was fucking hideous anyways, staring at the bottles behind the bar like they were made of gold. At least he wouldn’t get insulted at work for being so bad at picking up women he made a dancer want to get dressed around him. Not on her watch. 

The sudden vulnerability didn’t help the previously relaxed mood she was easing into and she nodded more abruptly. “Yeah well, they were weirdos.” she somewhat snapped, flippant and quick. Adam saying he wanted to leave made her nod even faster, shifting around awkwardly and wanting to cover her chest again. “Sure, yeah. Sounds good...we can...” Their words overlapped and she had no idea what she was even trying to say. “Well not do this again but...” Do what? Talk? “Er...see you around.” 

-

“Sometimes it’s not about how we look, it’s about what we feel.” Odessa shrugged, speaking plainly as sat back down to take the boots off again. She moved to kneel by her case beside Kenzie and put the boots back among the clothes. If she was the same shoe size as the other dancer, she would have let her have them there and then. Odessa made a mental note of the date as she grinned to her. “A little, it’s your fierceness that makes it obvious I think.” said with the utmost respect for that trait, especially in women. “I’m sure, please.” Odessa then insisted, gently ushering the garment towards Kenzie more. “It will look beautiful.”

★・・・・・・★

                          “Yeah that’s the problem. I always feel like a warped potato and a starving artist, so I’m kinda fucked Odie.” she laughed but she knew the outside world didn’t see the insecurities she had. Maybe they became more obvious the more she talked but Kenzie thought she did a good job at hiding them. So long as you bark at the world, no one needs to figure out if you can bite or not. “Fierceness? Oh I like that.” she chuckled, bringing the dress up to her frame. It might’ve need shortening but luckily for them they had the seamstress herself as a friend, Bowie. “Y’know, we need some time together not at this club. You met River right? You’ll love them. Actually, I think they’d love you.”

.

“Woman the only I court I go to willingly is the court of O’Connor and I ain’t bringin’ you there over some ink.” He wouldn’t say he’d never take anyone out, but it would be very unlikely. Finn looked at her a bit confused while she explained and then nodded vaguely like he was following alone. “Is that some famous tattoo artist or somethin’?” He droned like he didn’t know what she was talking about. Even though he understood why she would think he wouldn’t know. “I’m just playin’ with ye I know who Picasso is. The art place in Chicago had some shit by him, I used to go there to hide out sometimes. I didn’t pay much attention though.” Finn liked all the history shit and napping in the quiet spots.

“Even if they did, Angel would prove that shit wrong. I think it’s just in the O’Connor blood.” Every single one he’d ever met was a shithead and a troublemaker. Maybe there was some ones out there he didn’t know that were upstanding citizens or some shit. It was hard for him to find that rebellion in himself anymore. All he felt anymore was tired. He wondered if Kenzie was just as tired running after her little hellion and navigating Danny’s bullshit. “That’s nasty as fuck, I would’ve knocked his ass out.” Finn breathed a quick laugh. “Fuck, y'all are probably closer than we are. She’s gone so far away from me I think that bitch is on another planet.” He really hoped Kenzie and her could get their shit worked out though. Things seemed easier when she was there with some balance. “Nah that’s hard, I was already not with her which is the reason she got into all this shit to begin with. But if I find more shit in the house or she’s running with that Nixon piece of shit again, I will lose it.” He didn’t want to turn her away but, fuck, he was out of options. “Think she’d compromise and do check-ins with me or give me her location access on her phone?” The calming sting of the tattoo machine and buzz it made had him closing his eyes while they spoke.

★・・・・・・★  

                         Kenzie laughed a little happier, giving him a quick smile as she worked on his skin. “I appreciate that, especially if the jury is Angel and Hunter then I’m set for life.”  She also laughed about Picasso, glancing up from the design to show she was listening. That was the thing with Finn, no one could ever guess what was going on in his head. When she first knew him, Kenzie just thought it was clouds of red mist rolling through his brain but over time she learned he had more depth to him than people would guess. So long as you didn’t piss him off which was the tricky part. “You didn’t miss much, I’d rather use Picasso work as a toilet than an art reference.” she spoke passionately, always wondering why he was glorified. 

“I guess in a way, none of us can be surprised, right?” she shrugged because if anything, Angel was the epitome of what you see is what you get. Wiping away the ink and blood again, Kenzie let out a nostalgic chuckle. Angel sure had an O’Connor stubbornness to her or maybe it was spite. That’s why she was like a little sister to Kenzie in many ways, and why she wished she could turn back time and tell her she was leaving. Maybe there’s a timeline somewhere where Angel came with her for a while, got away from Southside too. A timeline with a lot of laughter in her shitty apartment kitchen, Angel playing her favorite songs to Kenzie’s growing stomach and Koda popping out with the best music taste in Arizona. “She loves you more than anyone Finn, even if she doesn’t show it half the time.” Kenzie said with a warm tone, smiling again because it wasn’t an insult to the girl they both loved. “She’s like family to me and always will be but it’s different, you know? You get her on a level no one else can, even if you don’t think you do.” she shrugged, sitting up to angle her head and see if she could envision the finished product on Finn’s skin with crisper lines. “Would you wanna do check-ins and share a location?” Kenzie then asked him, arching a brow. “Because I think you need to be wondering what would get you acting right if you were Angel, ‘cause you’re basically her.” she chuckled despite the sadness creeping in again. “Just grumpier.”

Hunter nodded, agreeing quickly with Kenzie. Danny did have a track record for running and he preferred his own method of dealing with anger. At least everyone knew when Hunter was pissed off, but with the Anderson’s, it appeared out of nowhere. “Oh yeah, he’s the boy who cried pussy.” Hunter mumbled, not too loud. He wasn’t a complete animal to start teaching Koda that language. Laughing, Hunter nodded a thanks for the food and starting eating it and grinned widely to Kenzie. “Well, I never asked you to do that. In fact, what do I always say? Believe everything you hear about me, but don’t tell anyone what you know about me.” 

★・・・・・・★  

                          It didn’t matter even if Hunter spelled the word, Koda had super sonic hearing and repeated it with perfect enunciation and a loud laugh. Kenzie just closed her eyes and took a breath before she addressed it. “Little dude, bad people say that word so how about we not say that at the dinner table, huh? Or anywhere.” she said gently, wiping the corner of his mouth and giving a look to Hunter. She laughed at the quote which was true. If cops asked, she’d never met either of the Cross boys or the O’Connors. Never even heard of an Anderson, or a Young. “Even if I got nice things to say? What if the cops wanna know your bracelet size?” she said jokingly, going back to enjoying her food. 

•

Adam holds up his hands at her words, shaking his head vehemently. “I’m not – you shouldn’t be ashamed,” he agrees before realizing that sounds like he’s telling her not to be…when she’s just said she’s not. “I mean. That’s good. I’m uh…glad you’re not. A job is a job…” Even if he’s never regretted running into someone at their job more than he does right now. “Good. I’m…that’s good.” He all but stammers and fuck…this isn’t going so well is it? Adam scratches the back of his neck, nervous tick coming out in full force as he tries to meet her gaze without his own slipping too far down. Sure, he’d seen it all before but that was different and years ago and it hadn’t ended so well for him back then either, had it? 

“Are they? Oh…no they’re not. I mean. Kinda? Not really. I’m the new guy though so…” It’s clear they were taking the piss and probably sticking Adam with the bill. It’s fine. He needs to ingratiate himself more than he has. The past few months had been stressful to say the least, and he’d dived headfirst into work to avoid the reality of the situation he’d found himself in as a cleaner for the Mafia. But that’s quite honestly the furthest thing from his mind when she offers to help him out and he thinks his ears might be burning. Still, he gives a soft laugh, clearing his throat now, feeling all kinds of awkward. “Believe it or not, I’m actually capable of uh…handling that on my own. Thanks for the offer, though.” Just because he doesn’t prefer to gain attention at a strip club doesn’t mean he’s incapable of gaining it at all. “They’re just dicks. New guy and all,” he shrugs, trying to change the subject. He doesn’t want her to think he’s gone off and gotten himself a bunch of dancers before because he hasn’t. He wouldn’t even know what to do if they came over, hands dangling by his side now. 

★・・・・・・★    

                         “Okay...good.” Kenzie shuffled awkwardly, wondering what she could do with her hands. She was stuck now so could only gesture when she spoke using a flap of her elbows. “Because I still do art!” she didn’t mean to yell but it blurted out before she could volume control her tone, shutting her mouth quickly after and...flapping her elbows again. “At the studio...May has it now. I’m tattooing for real not like.. at house parties.” Why she wanted to justify that to Adam she had no idea, because there was a lot more that needed to be said first. An apology maybe? Maybe a normal catch up conversation instead of being topless in front of him? That would have been nice. “And I don’t do extras.” Kenzie stated, in case that thought crossed his mind. “Just dance.” 

Kenzie nodded, feeling the same protective streak she did over him back in high school. She was the loud mouth who shoved people into lockers when they even tried to give Adam a hard time, and it felt almost natural to fall back into that. “Assholes.” she frowned, glaring at them from afar. She didn’t break the stare until she heard Adam mention his own capabilities and she looked up at him with a sheepish grin. This would be where she made a joke, or challenged to see it with her own eyes but the way he had changed since all that time ago, she actually believed it now. “I mean, you never really had problems with it. A whole bunch of girls told me you were cute when we were like fourteen.” she admitted, shrugging it off as she laughed. Kenzie almost forgot her hand placement and then squeezed her arms tighter. “They thought I was your keeper or something.” Kenzie added, aware that they had glued themselves together when they were younger.

.

“Why the feck wouldn’t I trust ye? It’s just touch ups.” Finn looked her over for a moment. “Are ye that bad?” He knew she wasn’t he’d seen her drawings and some of her small work already. She was definitely improving, he knew she’d be fine to do the simple shit. Half of his tattoos were simple so that meant he could give her some practice too. If she could find space that wasn’t reserved yet. “Yeah, we ain’t caught up in a minute, huh?” Finn let out a quiet laugh at her comment about becoming an adult. “Childhood and teenager-hood wasn’t shit for me either. This adult shit ain’t the worst,” the worst was back in Chicago and he’d take Colorado or prison over that anyways. “I will say the whole being responsible for someone thing is starting to get tiring. I mean fuck, Kenz, I’m not her dad obviously.” Even if he strangely looked like the piece of shit and he hated that. “But it’s gettin’ worse again and I ain’t got no more moves. I don’t know what the feck I’m supposed to do next.” He realized he’d just let all that out on her randomly. “My bad, you didn’t need all that. I’m just feckin’ tired is all.” 

★・・・・・・★    

                          Kenzie laughed, getting the needle in the gun ready and pouring the ink to the little cup. “We’ll see, but you can’t take me to court if they suck.” she grinned at him, teasing. “Nah, lines are my favorite. It’s portraits I suck at, unless people suddenly want a bunch of Picasso faces of their loved ones I need to step my game up.” she realized Finn might not know of the work and she paused before she began the tattooing. “Oh he did like...disjointed, kinda shapey...abstract...” she waved her free hand around near her face. “He sucked at normal faces, basically.” Kenzie finalized before finally getting to work on Finn’s skin. 

It was good to be able to see him, even though she knew he had a lot on his shoulders. He always did, she could remember before she ever left Finn seemed to carry the weight of the world. “Oh yeah, being responsible for someone is the hardest. Problem is, they don’t really make handbooks for that sort of thing. It’s all different people’s opinions everywhere you look.” she spoke above the buzz of the gun, before pausing when he mentioned Angel. Starting back up again, Kenzie smiled up at him briefly. “Don’t be sorry, it’s what I’m here for. Plus you’d be surprised how many people treat that chair like a therapy couch. Nothing you could say would be worse than the dude who told me about his ingrown toenail for an hour.” she laughed, wiping away some of the ink and blood from his hand before continuing. “Angel and me are still...getting there.” Kenzie added with a sadder tone. “I thought about what I’d do if Koda struggled the same when he’s older, and I couldn’t think one thing that seemed like it’d hurt less than the other. Maybe scaring her?” It sounded awful to say, but she had thought long and hard about it. “Like make her think it’s a real thing but it’s not, you’ll still be there but she doesn’t know that. Pains me to even suggest it, but I think that’s what I’d do...or try.”

Hunter didn’t know why he was sometimes the Southside therapist. Not when his idea of solving problems was punching them ‘til they went away and if they weren’t the punch-able kind of problems, then a bottle of whiskey was just as good. Or punch the next person that reminded you about the problem, that worked too. “Just tell him to come here.” Hunter shrugged, it sounded like a smart way to resolve it. “There’s the couch right? So, he can stop over. Last I heard he was barely at his own house anyways.” he added. Hunter gave Koda an impressed smile before he burst out laughing. “Octopus is good, means you got more arms to punch people with.” he teased, ruffling the boys hair. “He ain’t that funny, which is how you know he’s Danny’s.”

★・・・・・・★  

                           She could offer Danny to sleep on the couch but then what? DJ and Dusty too? There wasn’t enough space for all three of them, nor enough patience. “I guess...have to think about it.” she answered, sighing. “He always does this, though. Kinda hard to tell when it’s serious or not, right?” Kenzie fixed two plates for her and Koda, bringing them to the table before she let Hunter take hers and went back for another. She squinted to him when he made the joke, and while Koda found it hilarious she tried to not laugh and encourage it. “I swear to God, I try and tell people that you’re not as bad of an influence as they make out but I’m starting to think you might be.”