fandomtownies | Inks & Holes, Thursday night

Topher tugged on Kenzi's sleeve. "I wanna go in here! I wanna go in here! I wanna wanna wanna wanna go in here!"

Sometime in the middle of that, he'd managed to stumble inside.

"Nuqneh," he said loudly to the room. Or ~~meta for~~ Klingon for "Hello."

"Are you gonna hurl?" Kenzi asked, thinking he was having a seizure moment. "Don't do that. They'll throw us out." She pulled herself up on the counter and looked around. "Ooooooo. Shiny."

A very big, laidback guy came out from the side room and raised an eyebrow. "Hey. You kids want a tatt? Or a piercing?"

Topher shook his head adamantly.

"Not gonna!" he announced. Then he darted forward to peer up at the guy's eyebrow ring. Yes, Topher. Do that. That seemed safe.

"SHINY."

"See, that's what I said!" Buzzed Kenzi was still sounding pretty copacetic. "Forgive him, he's got a social dysfunctional thing going."

Ohhh. Oh hey. Bad idea. And yet ... "Topher? Do you want an earring maybe? A shiny geek earring to show off how smart you are?"

Topher shook his head adamantly. "Dunwant. Metal! Like a magnet! I gotta gotta not be magnetic if I'm gonna go to med-- med-- medical school! Yeah!"

What!?

"Kenziiiiiiiiiiii? You know what Nuqneh means?" Topher asked, tugging on her sleeve some more.

"I do not, my brilliant med-school friend," Kenzi said very soberly. "What does it mean?" She poked at a picture of an anatomically correct heart. "Look! You could get one of those!"

"It means Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii." He giggled. "In ~~meta for~~ Klingon! From ~~meta for~~ Star Trek!" Giggleeeeee! "'s my faaaaavorite. Favorite EVER!"

"What is ~~meta for~~ Klingon for geeeek?" Kenzi asked, grinning. "I am glad you have a favorite. I am!"

Actually... "I should get another ear-hole. Yes. Because I can always use another place to hang earrings." She gave Topher a sly glance. "Bet you won't do any-thing, hunh? Poor Topher."

"Don't know that one." Topher would have to look it up in his phrasebook when he got home! And send Kenzi the etymology, of course. "IIIIIIIIIII can do something! I'm TOUGH!" As he had just told Quinn on the phone. "I wanna..." He looked up at Big Scary Guy and grinned enormously. "Can you make me a rocket ship?"

Then before he could answer, Topher jumped in the air. "No! Don't want a rocket ship! I waaaaaaaaaaanna this!"

He looked up, obviously suppressing a giggle, and inquired pleasantly, "May I borrow a pen, Kind Sir?"

When it was handed to him, he scribbled ~~not sure if should meta~~ NCC-1701 on a napkin. "That! I want! On me!"

"Wheeere do you want it?" Kenzi asked, would-be-craftily. She looked up at the big dude and grinned. "I'll pay for it, and get my ears done, good sir. Kind Sir! Please?"

Good friends talk you out of these things, but. Well.

"You are the starship that flllieees, Topher."

"I am! I am a soaring roaring starship!" Topher exclaimed. "I waaaaaaaaaaant it... um. Face! No! Not face!" No, Topher. Not face. "Ooooh!" And now he was taking off his shoes. "See? Seeeeee?" he asked, hopping on one foot and attempting to brandish the back of his left ankle in Kenzi's face. Somehow he was still managing not to fall over. "Grey! Grey bubbly gross! From bein' a monster that time! Want it THERE!"

Kenzi leaned over to peer down and said admiringly, "Naaasty. Good idea, getting it tattooed. It'll completely look like you meant to do that!" She clapped Topher on the shoulder, and beamed up at the tattoo artist. "Can you do it?"

The big guy examined Topher's ankle, measuring it out with the space between his fingers, and said, "Shouldn't be a problem. Might hurt more, I can't be sure, with the gray skin there. You okay with that, little guy?" he checked.

Topher pouted. "I'm not little," he insisted. "I'm a soaring starship."

Oh god, Topher.

"There," he insisted again. "Now, please."

...at least he'd said please?

"Get up on the chair, and I'll make a stencil of the tattoo," the guy said, patting the arm of the tattoo chair, with large footrests. He grinned. "You can fly the chair for a bit."

Kenzi beamed at Topher. "I am so proud of you, man. This. Is badass."

This. Was a bad idea. Different.

"'Kaaaaay." Topher hopped into the chair, bouncing slightly until the guy gave him a look that seemed to suggest he should stop. "Probably can't ice-skate after, though," he told Kenzi sadly. "'Cause. Ankle."

And what a shame that would be.

"We all gotta make choices," Kenzi said cheerfully. "Someday we'll ice-skate." Some day when they were sober, maybe. "Hey, you can hang onto my hand if it hurts. Just remember: badass ~~meta-for~~ Klingon!" And hopefully he was drunk enough not to feel it much anyway.

The guy came back with the stencil, and lifted up Topher's leg to carefully trace it on, then got out the needle-gun. "You ready?"

Topher nodded bravely.

"Not gonna hold your hand," he said haughtily. Then giggled. "I sound like Pet--"

And then the needle-gun touched his skin and he shrieked and clutched her hand for support.

"You do!" Kenzi said, raising her voice a little, knowing exactly who he meant. The autoneedle wasn't that loud, but it was persistent. "Just think how impressed he's gonna be!" Ow, ow, ow....

Topher had to snort a laugh at that. "He's gonna be like -- be like -- "

He sat up straight and assumed his best (and eerily accurate!) impression of Peter's voice. "Topher, now that you have that on your ankle, build me a robot spaceship! With a camera! Hmph!"

Kenzi cracked up, trying not to mind the grip on her hand, and said in return, "Kenzi! Who's that over there? Tell me about them!" Her impression wasn't as good, but hey. "Hey, you can make yourself deflector shields!"

"I caaaaan! I should! I WILL!" He wouldn't. "And and and and and laserses for Toooooooony. 'Cause Tony can't make a laser. And he's bad in bed!

...Address whatever part of that statement you felt like, Kenzi.

"Do you... actually remember that?" Kenzi asked, brain half-drunk and all-curious. "I thought you forgot all that. The sexybits."

Apparently booze brought it up again! A fact for which Topher would be so thankful in the morning. Not.

"I thought so too!" Topher said, tilting his head. "Nuh! 'member now."

Bounce bounce bounce bounce! Peer down at the tattoo guy, and...

"Oooh! Text!" He shoved his phone up at her. "Whazzit say?"

"It's Tony! Hi Tony!" Yes, Kenzi knew he couldn't hear her. She was just in that kind of mood. "He wants you to drink water."

And shut off his cellphone. No, Kenzi wasn't going to mention that. "So you don't get sick. Aww, he's a good friend."

"Drank a lot already," Topher pointed out. "Kinda have to pee."

He glanced down at the tattoo guy. His ankle didn't hurt so much now once he'd gotten used to the initial pain of it.

"Are you almost done?" he asked loudly. There was his obnoxious voice! Good to have you back!

"Two-thirds there, dude. Hang in there," the tattoo artist said in an abstracted voice.

Kenzi poked him. "Don't bug the guy with the giant electric needle. You want him to put other symbols on your foot too?"

Topher's eyes bulged.

"Check! Check check check!" he insisted, attempting to poke her repeatedly. And missing twice. His coordination had been better.

Kenzi tilted her head to check, then pulled back, giving Topher a thumb's up. Then poking him back.

"Chill, dude. Chill. It will look awesome! Yes!"

"Whew." Biiiiig sigh of relief. "Thanks."

Aww, that sounded genuine! Until he swallowed and his face took on a look of, shall we say, discontent.

"I feel sick," he announced queasily.

Thaaaaat would be Kenzi scooting back. And sliding over a trash can. "Dude. Here. And breathe through your mouth. It might help."

Biiiig gulp of air, and then --

"Okay. We're good!"

Tattoo Guy was clearly very, very relieved.

"And we're done," Tattoo Guy said, scooting out of the way as well, and cleaning up the equipment, then coming back to put a padded bandage on Topher's ankle. He handed over an information sheet to Kenzi, probably guessing she'd follow it better, for whatever reason. "Keep it clean. It'll scab over, that's normal. And it should look permanent and normal in about a week or so. Call if you have any problems." He cocked his head at Kenzi. "Earholes?"

"Earholes," she confirmed, then wandered over to pick out the new earrings. Hmm. Shiny sparkly fake diamonds, why not. "Those!"

Then she turned back to Topher. "Are you sure you're good?" she asked.

"Yep! I am suuuuper-good! The best!" He leaned over to the earring display, squinting at the choices.

"You should get tho--"

And then he threw up.

...Sorry, Kenzi.

"TOPHER." GRRRRRRR. Even if Kenzi knew that feeding him every kind of booze ever had risked this. STILL.

"... you remember when I said you had to learn how to duck?"

"I think so!"

...

"I dunfeel so goooood..."

Kenzi dragged the garbage can back over, and dunked Topher's head toward it, stripping off her vomit-splattered jacket and glaring down at her skirt. "Make it quick, dude," she told the Inks & Holes proprietor. "And if you could call us a pedi-cab, that would be great."

Punch! Punch! And Kenzi had new ear-holes. While glaring at Topher.

Kenzi was so smart and resourceful sometimes.

"There's gum in here," he announced, his voice echoing from inside the trash can. Sniff, then a nose-wrinkle. "It smells grooooooss. Like laundry."

...It was possible Topher wasn't clear on what laundry smelled like.

"You never do laundry, do you?" Kenzi asked, still highly irritated. She gave the guy another two bucks on top of their pay for the tattoo and piercings. "We're taking the can with us. Topher? You're getting hit tomorrow. Consider this your warning."

"Good luck, girl," the tattoo artist said, highly amused as Kenzi grabbed the back of Topher's collar and yanked.

"C'mon, dude. Back home to spacedock. You can call other people and tell them how awesome you are. And I can take a shower."

"'Kaaaaay," Topher said. Though he was still a little queasy.

Except the second he took one step?

"OW!"

Yep. His ankle hurt.

Shocker. And Kenzi was smiling again. Pretty much back to sober now.

"Hang onto that can. TAXI!" She yelled as soon as they got out the door. A pedi-cab slowed to a stop. "The dorms... Toooopher? Just remember. It was your idea."

Really! Really really!

"Noooo! It was yours!" he insisted, but even as he said that, he yawned and moved to try to lean his head on Kenzi's shoulder. "You said... no... ice-skating..."

And then he was asleep.

Yeah, tomorrow was going to suck.

Inks & Holes, Thursday night

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