The art of conversation (Blair)

[Deleted]

Bobby was not a very difficult employer. Or at the very least he didn't think he was one. He wasn't too strict on things that didn't matter but he did expect his staff to pay attention and respect the clients (within reasonable boundaries of course). He wasn't one to complain about people coming in a little bit late, as long as they didn't have clients waiting for them. Otherwise a little late didn't bother him that much. Yet Blair was running late to a point he could no longer call it just a little bit late. She was tiptoeing around the line and it wasn't typical for her at all. Had something happened? If she was running late he would have expected a message somehow. An owl, a call, a text, possibly even a patronus.... but nothing.

Now Bobby considered his staff to be like a second family and while he was frustrated as an employer, he was starting to get very concerned as a friend. Or at least, that is how he wanted his workers to see him. He knew that he had to be strict with them at times but he generally was a very relaxed and easy going kind of man. So when he finally saw Blair entering the shop he found himself equal parts relieved and frustrated. He kept his relaxed composure and merely motioned for her to sit with him. "What happened?" He simply asked in a very calm and gentle tone. It would change soon enough if she had no explanation for her possible tardiness but that wasn't what she'd shown so far so she definitively had the benefit of the doubt for now.

@blair

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

Having been in the hospital since the early hours of the morning, Blair was exhausted. She might have been in a much better state physically since she'd been treated and released from St. Mungo's for the injuries she'd suffered the previous night, but she wasn't in the mental state to be tattooing anyone. There were other things that she needed to figure out, like making sure that she had some form of identification on herself and a working wand and phone—never mind having to deal with reporting her backpack and all of the things that had been in it as stolen.

She hoped that word had already reached Bobby that she wouldn't be coming in that day, but she wasn't certain of it, so Mystery Ink Arts was her first stop before going home. At least she could maybe borrow a small amount of money from Bobby in the meantime. She wasn't skilled enough to Apparate without a wand, and she didn't have money on her for so much as a Knight Bus fare, so she'd had to trek through London on foot, go through the Leaky Cauldron, and out the back to the tattoo parlor. That alone had taken her a long while, and it probably made her look the worse for wear, not to mention that she was wearing the same clothes as she had been (though they were certainly more disheveled than they had been) the previous day. At least it was daylight, and it wasn't as though she had anything of value to steal anymore.

Bobby was already waiting for her, and he motioned for her to sit as soon as he saw her enter. "What happened?"

"Yeah, I got mugged last night," Blair answered him, speaking quickly and breathlessly. It felt strange not to be in as much pain as she had been, but she sat down heavily where Bobby had indicated. She was sure that her words were running together, but that wasn't her concern. "Some dude stole my backpack. My phone, wand, money, ID…"

@bobby

[Deleted]

Bobby wasn't the type to judge quickly but Blair did not look good. She was wearing the same clothes as before and looked completely worn out. The speed at which her words came was not quite that amusing to him. He understood she wanted to get it all out and over with but he preferred having time to consider words before being expected to reply to them. That was why he tended to always be calm and deliberate in his words. He'd done that from a young age and while he'd always looked like a rebel his parents had very much supported all his choices, even if they pressed the folly or wisdom upon him. It made it a lot easier to find and chase his passions in the end. It had ended him here, doing well and generally very happy in life.

But he understood, he really did. He merely nodded. "You look tired. Did you sleep at all?" He asked, the concern in his voice very easy to hear. He already had a noteblock summoned and was jotting down a few things. He was a rather pragmatic kind of person when he wasn't immersed in his passions. "I guess you'll need a new backpack, phone and ID at the very least and some money. Do you have a spare wand or any idea on if they are able to retrieve it? Because you can't go running around without a wand." He noted, a mildly stern note in his voice that was far more fatherly than mad. He just didn't want to see her get in trouble again, especially without a wand. These things happened but there was no use in going around unprotected.

"If you need to you can make use of the spare bedroom upstairs. I'm busy here until closing either way and can have people cover and move any vital appointments to a later date. I'll contact law enforcement so you can file a report so you can request a new ID. I'll also get some money ready for you in the administration for at least a new wand and a fare to get home in order to obtain supplies. I think I have a spare backpack somewhere you can use until you get a replacement. As for a phone... I'm afraid you'll have to take care of that one yourself. Get yourself some rest and then I want you to get a new wand before you go home." He gave her a stern look. "That's not optional. I want you to be able to defend yourself. I'll keep the money out of your next pay check so you don't have to worry about owing me anything. Just see it as insurance I don't lose an employee." All of this was clearly not up for discussion. He jotted down a few more things he needed to arrange before looking at Blair. "Is there anything else you need that I can help with?"

@blair

OOC: Stop. I swear to the Gods. *blows kisses*

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

Bobby nodded at her, though Blair anticipated a lecture from him. "You look tired," he told her. "Did you sleep at all?"

She wished that she could have slept, but she hadn't, not even at the hospital. In hindsight, Blair knew that she probably should have tried to sleep while she had the opportunity, but choking down potions and trying to get back to some sort of physical "normal" had been more pressing.

She shook her head, wondering what in the world Bobby was writing down as he spoke to her. He mentioned that she would need a new backpack, phone, and ID, at the least—not to mention her wand.

"Do you have a spare wand or any idea on if they are able to retrieve it? Because you can't go running around without a wand."

That was part of her problem. While Blair hoped that her wand would be found, she couldn't really go without one. "No, I mean, the one I had was a replacement for my wand from Ilvermorny," as had been the case for all of the transfer students from there to Hogwarts. "And I haven't—" she started, only to hear Bobby offer the spare bedroom upstairs and let her know that he would move any appointments and contact law enforcement on her behalf. He even offered her money and a backpack to borrow; the only exception was the phone.

"Get yourself some rest," he continued, "and then I want you to get a new wand before you go home." Aside from Whiskey, Blair wasn't used to having anyone show her that level of concern. Her parents would have just told her that those things were her responsibility—or pushed them onto the other parent, if not.

"That's not optional," added Bobby. He said that he would keep the money from her next paycheck. "Just see it as insurance I don't lose an employee."

Blair was going to counter him. She had money, but it was in the bank, and she needed identification to get to it. She didn't know what to say to Bobby, though. He was her boss, and she was just an apprentice; he didn't need to be so generous to her.

"Is there anything else you need that I can help with?"

"N-No," Blair heard herself stammer in return. "I… Are you sure?"

@bobby

[Deleted]

She seemed a bit overwhelmed but Bobby understood that much. People were not used to the kind of environment where a boss could also be a friend. He considered it normal, or at least normal to his shop. He wouldn't like the idea of people getting a bad piece for all eternity because an employee had their mind elsewhere. A mind that was in the right mental space made the best piece. He'd found some people delivered some of their best work inspired by some level of emotion but too much would always incapacitate. Physically the body had to be calm and the mind had to be able to focus. Any distraction could cause unacceptable mistakes. He had a bit of a policy where he didn't allow his employees to do pieces on clients a certain amount of days after traumatic or otherwise high impact situations. He also knew he could trust his people to let him know if they were not in the right place. It was odd to them, but it worked.

He smiled a fatherly smile and nodded. "You can't do your best work sleep deprived and we're always supposed to deliver our best work. Go get some rest and I'll see you back here when you feel a bit better. You can always do some cleaning or design a few pieces, depending on if you want to keep busy or just put your mind to other things for a while. I know I'm not particularly traditional when it comes to bosses but I believe my people deliver their best work when they are doing well. I don't want my customers to receive anything but the best an artist is capable of on the average day, which means I try to keep all my people satisfied and healthy. Unlike other place you're most valuable to me when you're doing well, not with just coping." He smiled slightly as he chuckled. "Besides, you can't learn if you're falling asleep mentally."

He grabbed pen and paper and without looking at her he spoke again. "Well off you pop. I don't want to see you back in anything less than four hours."

@blair
we could do a mini time skip maybe? (:

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

Blair felt like a little kid being sent to her room for punishment and almost wanted to sigh and stomp her feet, except it was her employer sending her up to his apartment so that she could rest. Although Bobby hadn't exactly said as much, Blair guessed that part of what he meant was to keep her away from any trouble. She didn't need to be working that day; she knew that. Bobby always placed emphasis on needing to be at one's best mentally in order to do good work, but all Blair wanted to do was dive into her work to forget about everything else… and also sleep.

"Well," he told her decisively, "off you pop. I don't want to see you back in anything less than four hours."

---

Some hours later, Blair had woken up from her nap. Having slept a bit, she did feel better than she had when she had shown up at the tattoo parlor, though it wasn't a full night's sleep. She pulled herself up and attempted to make herself look a little more presentable before heading back downstairs, though it fortunately didn't appear that the shop was busy. It was bad enough that she couldn't do much to help, after she'd shown up hours late with no warning. Bobby probably would have been within his right to dismiss her from her apprenticeship, but he hadn't yet.

"…Hey, Bobby," Blair called to let him know that she was awake again. "Do you need help with anything?"

@bobby

[Deleted]

It had been a relatively uneventful day when one excluded the entire business with Blair. He had taken care of most of the things she needed. Perhaps he meddled a lot more than he should as employer but his staff was like his family. His own family was far away and especially the young ones just had something that made him want to protect them. It was like some sort of instinct. He wasn't quite sure what it was.

When he heard Blair asking if he needed help with anything he first checked his watch to make sure that she'd taken enough rest. After making sure she'd listened he turned around and smiled slightly. "Did you have a good nap?" He asked kindly as he made his way over to the supply closet. He liked being active so he didn't really use his wand all that often, especially not in the shop. A clear mind put better work forward so he always tried to be as organised as possible. Still, he felt like Blair was being tough on herself for having something bad happen to her so he figured he'd allow her to wash the guilt away a bit... literally.

He grabbed a mop and bucket. "If you're up to it I'd like you to mop the floors. We had a client earlier that was... overcome by the pain. We cleaned up the initial mess but let's make sure the work place is perfectly clean again, shall we?" He asked gently. He wasn't doing it to punish her but since she was the apprentice it was pretty much her job to do the unpleasant tasks. That being said, Bobby wasn't very difficult on average and he wanted people to show they wanted to learn. If all he had them do was mop the floors he wasn't going to discover anything about their love for the actual job. Then again, those unwilling to do the dirty work would never make it in his shop, even if they had years of experience. If they wanted the job they had to do all the work.

@blair

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

"Did you have a good nap?"

Any sleep was better than none, at that point, and she wouldn't have been able to function without it. It wasn't the best night's sleep that she had had in her entire life, but Blair couldn't complain. She didn't feel as though she would collapse at any second, so that was an improvement from her state earlier in the day. "Yeah," she nodded, stepping back out into the shop. "Thanks."

Bobby went to the supply closet and got out a mop and bucket. "If you're up to it," he told her, "I'd like you to mop the floors. We had a client earlier that was… overcome by the pain." Blair had never understood how there were actually people who reacted so strongly to being tattooed. It didn't happen very often, but it happened. Elaborating that the initial mess had been cleaned up, which looked to be the case, Bobby said that he wanted to make sure that it was perfectly clean.

"Got it." Blair moved over to where Bobby was standing so that she could take the mop and bucket from him. "Where'd it happen?" she checked with him, just to make sure that she wasn't going to end up mopping anywhere unnecessarily. "Over by your workstation?"

@bobby

[Deleted]

She was up and seemed up for some work so he figured that he'd make good use of it. He already had most of the paperwork ready for her but he first wanted to allow her more mental rest for a moment. Mopping the floor wasn't going to be one of the hardest tasks mentally so it seemed fair. She asked where and he motioned over to one of the stations. "Jane actually got unlucky this time." He said with a half smile. He had once jokingly suggested a tally board where they had bets over how many people they could tattoo before somebody got overwhelmed again. It wasn't fully fair since certain locations were just a lot more painful than others.

He walked over to his own station and grabbed his pad to start on a new design for a client he expected in for some designs in the coming week. He glanced over to Blair. "When you're done with the mopping I have some paperwork at the reception for you. It's mostly all the expected paperwork of course but there's also some money so you can go out and get yourself a new wand. There's a form in the pile that states you accept it as an early payment and won't complain that I am deducting it from your next salary." Even though it wasn't likely to be needed he liked to have a paper trail so that he had insurance in case somebody decided they were unhappy about something and wanted to make him pay for it. He'd seen in happen in one of the shops he'd been an apprentice in his early years and he wanted to make sure he never had that kind of a mess to sort out. It was bad for business.

@blair

[Deleted]

TW/CW: Mentions of vomit

September 13, 2025

Cleaning up somebody else's vomit only a few hours after she had come so close to vomiting, herself, but somebody had to do it. To her slight surprise, Bobby mentioned that one of the other artists had been the unlucky one that time, and Blair nodded her head. "Fun," she replied sarcastically. Between themselves in the shop, they sometimes took bets on things like that, though Blair doubted that anyone had actually made money off of it.

As she went over to begin mopping, Bobby addressed her again. "When you're done with the mopping," he started, "I have some paperwork at the reception for you." Blair, who really wasn't thinking much about paperwork at that moment, gave half a nod and remembered that she would actually have to fill the bucket from the tap, instead of magically pouring water into it with her wand. It was one more step for her to have to remember, but she kept listening as Bobby continued to speak.

He told her that it was mostly just the "expected paperwork", not that she had really had to do paperwork for something like that, but he added that there was also enough money for her to get a replacement for her wand. "There's a form in the pile that states you accept it as an early payment and won't complain that I am deducting it from your next salary," he clarified, though Blair knew that it wasn't anything against her; it was just a legal formality to keep him protected, not that she was going to claim that he had withheld some of what she was owed. For what it was worth, she knew how lucky she was to be in a paid position; sometimes, tattooing apprenticeships carried the implication that the apprentice was only there to work for free.

"Yeah, that's fine," Blair agreed after filling the bucket and slogging it back over to Jane's station so that she could actually mop the floor. "No problem."

@bobby

[Deleted]

Bobby knew she was fairly strong. She didn't start complaining about having to do the dirty work, which many shops would have her do for over a year before she was even allowed near a tattoo gun. He was more lenient, as long as his apprentices didn't complain about doing the dirty work. There were plenty of hopeful artists and he definitively didn't want to have an arrogant one on his payroll. Those usually only ended up creating a very negative mood in the shop. That was the last thing he wanted. Cleaning simply was part of the job.

He went to his own little office where many different designed were spread all over the walls. He looked at some of the more recent designs with a smile. He always kept at least one work of every artist he'd worked with here with their permission as a reminder of what people were capable of when they put their minds to something. He called it the 'honour wall' and also used it as a reminder of why he bothered to do paperwork. He didn't mind the bureocracy a lot but it wasn't exactly his favourite part of the job. He sighed deeply as he dug into it. The artists had their own room in which they could make some designs in their free time and to give them some reason to practise he had promised that with every time they managed to outdo their previous best (in his eyes) in terms of designs or final product they got a bonus of ten galleons on top of their pay that month. When people found themselves improving a lot over a short period of time that could get to quite the expense but he knew there was no nicer way to inspire them to always be improving. He believed in positive reinforcement after all.

He was planning on having Blair create a design when she was done with her cleaning and shopping, mostly because he was curious if she was prone to making more errors in her design when under strain. Some artists delivered some of their best work when in a rough patch and some almost fell apart. It was always good to know what to expect. It also helped him determine their work load and the use of having them work if they were going through hardships. Sometimes people just needed more time to deliver their best work when they were not in the best of minds. If he knew, he could consider that. If he didn't, well it was hard to anticipate.

@blair

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

Blair had known that she had been taking a huge risk when she had applied to become an apprentice at Mystery Ink Arts, but she honestly hadn't had anything else lined up. In hindsight, she supposed, applying to shops on the No-Maj side of London might have worked, because there certainly were more of them, but that would have come with its own challenges beyond just the grunt work of an apprenticeship. At least with Bobby Blishwick, Blair knew that she didn't have to keep an element of her identity concealed for the sake of maintaining wizarding secrecy. Something like what she had just been through—the sudden attack and the brief hospitalization—probably would have been enough to get her fired in the No-Maj world. Maybe it wouldn't have been because of some tyrannical boss, necessarily, but claiming that she had been mugged without any of the No-Maj documents to support her story would have been a challenge. Plus, if she were a No-Maj, Blair didn't think that there was any way that she would have been functional. Injuries like the ones that she had received didn't heal themselves, even for someone magical, but potions and spells sped up the process exponentially. Without St. Mungo's, she guessed that she would have been in a No-Maj hospital for a long time. No one would have believed that she could have been injured so severely not even twenty-four hours before, lived to tell about it, and then come back to her place of work to beg her boss for forgiveness because she hadn't shown up the instant that she should have been expected in to work.

It didn't make as much of a difference if she were in the No-Maj world or the magical one without a wand at that moment in time, though. Things still had to be cleaned regardless. While Blair supposed that Bobby just as easily could have cleaned up the floor for himself in a few seconds, she was the one with the task. It was a little inconvenient, but what was she really supposed to do about that? She was lucky that she still had her apprenticeship, and she wasn't some prissy little girl who balked at the thought of doing something without magic on occasion. No, she just had to suck it up and do it, which wasn't even that bad. Besides, what else did she have to occupy her time?

She was careful to do a relatively thorough job of cleaning up the place. In fact, she was probably going above and beyond what Bobby had asked of her to ensure that every last inch of the vicinity around Jane's station was spick-and-span, but it was probably better that things were left overly clean than too dirty. They had to maintain certain standards of hygiene in the shop, and it wasn't just to ensure that the place looked visually appealing; it also had potential health implications, in the event that anyone screwed up. Blair did take that seriously, and half-assing the job of mopping the floor wasn't going to do anything to make amends with Bobby after not having held up some of her other responsibilities for the day.

Make no mistake, mopping was physical work, and Blair was glad when she was able to take a step back from Jane's station and look at it with the knowledge that it was clean. She had even been careful to watch how dirty the mop water was getting as she went along, going and dumping it out in favor of fresh water when it started to get just a little cloudy. Was it maybe overkill when it was just the floor that she was cleaning? Possibly, but Blair wasn't going to get caught up in it. She had done what felt like the only really productive task that she had been able to do all day long—which included her having walked there.

Once she knew that she was finally finished, Blair cleaned up after herself and put the supplies away. She then walked back to Bobby's office, where she gave a little knock on the door. "Jane's station should be good now, Bobby," she informed him.

@bobby

[Deleted]

Bobby had realised that the job of mopping the floor was going to be harder without her wand but well, he knew that letting her off too easy wasn't going to help her in the long run. If she could take responsibility in doing a horrible job even after everything she'd been through he'd be able to write her up a shining letter of recommendation if she didn't want to work in his shop after she was done being an apprentice. Even more so, if he ever had to retire or open a second shop the effort she was putting in now was definitively part of the tally to see who would be good to manage a second location or be promoted to head artists. He always had plans to expand, he just needed to know that he had the people. Business was good enough to at the very least consider the investment. Blair was scoring points for that without even realising that she was up for the job. He expected it to take several years for him to actually have saved up the funds for it and by that time she would likely be a full fledged artist but he was always keen on preparing ahead of time. It kept business running a lot smoother to be prepared rather than chase the facts.

Bobby looked up as she knocked and nodded approvingly when she said the work was done. She'd taken a while but he figured she just wanted to do a good job. He got up and joined her towards the station, which was meticulously cleaned, much as expected. "Good work Blair. You should head off soon to buy a wand before the shops close. I'd just like you to make a single design before you head off. It can be whatever you feel like but I expect a design on my desk in an hour. After that you can be off to buy your wand." He checked his watch for a moment. "It should give you plenty of time. Just don't deliver sloppy work. Do the best you can with the time you've been given." He gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "I'm quite proud of how you've held up with everything that happened." With that he walked back to his station, there was plenty of paperwork left to sort out and he figured Blair could use the time to think up a design. An hour wasn't a lot of time but it was enough to create a masterpiece, in theory. Just not a very big one, although the outline of a big one would also do. He needed an estimation of her work on her worst days and no better time to get that than right now.

@blair

[Deleted]

September 13, 2025

Blair knew how lucky she was to have found a boss like Bobby, inside or outside the world of tattooing. He hadn't fired her on the spot for her tardiness, which was the first big indicator that she wasn't totally screwed, and he'd understood her dilemma without questioning her relentlessly. Plus, he'd let her sleep. And what was she to him? She was his apprentice, nothing more than that. He wasn't paying her Galleons upon Galleons for what she was doing. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, even after being put on janitorial duties. Her own parents wouldn't have been so generous.

No, Bobby praised her job of cleaning up instead, and he mentioned that she should go ahead and go purchase a wand for herself before the shops closed for the night. "I'd just like you to make a single design before you head off," he told her. It was sort of an odd request, given the time, but she also hadn't done much for him all day; she'd been asleep instead. Drawing was also sort of her job—more than putting ink into people's skin, most of the time—so that part of it was hardly abnormal.

Neither were Bobby's parameters for whatever she had to create for him. She had one hour as a time limit, just as long as her work wasn't "sloppy" at the end of it. Bobby patted her on the shoulder and added that he was proud of how she was holding up, at which Blair nodded her head a little bit but didn't actually say anything other than, "Thanks."

Getting back to her work a few minutes later with time already ticking from the hour that Bobby had indicated wasn't as stressful for Blair as it might have sounded. It put things back into focus for her, if anything, and she began to sketch out a general outline based on what came to mind. Was it her greatest work? Not in her opinion, but it was something that gradually came together: an outline of a rhombus or a diamond, with a detailed Remembrall in its center. It was the sort of tattoo that would have been suited for most placements, and she was pretty happy with how it looked. Most of her remaining time was spent making sure that all of the little elements of it looked right and that nothing would look weird if it had to be scaled up or down.

Once it was finished, Blair got up and went over to Bobby's desk, setting down the design for his approval. She wasn't in a rush to leave, but she did want to know what he thought of it. "And…done."

@bobby

[Deleted]

For Bobby this day hadn't been too different from most, although he was glad it was nearing an end. He was ready to just have a good big cup of coffee and read a little for the rest of the evening. Naturally the entire situation with Blair was exceptional but he was used to having to cover for people that fell sick and cancelling appointments for that reason. He was used to how those days went by now and didn't really mind taking care of most of it. That and he had a fair amount of other people on staff to help out. He ran the business on his own for a large part but he was perfectly fine with letting others step in when things got busy. He'd learned that years ago, mostly because his own mentors had always pressed that a tired artist made too many mistakes, especially when bogged down with more than they could realistically expect to handle. He'd been lucky that his aspirations had been recognised and that he'd been given the proper tools to deal with it when they finally started to come together.

He was glad to see that Blair took his request seriously and set herself to work. He'd been busy and allowed her to work without checking up on her or even watching the time. He'd see if she'd held to the time frame by the time she was done. He couldn't micromanage all of his employees all the time and it was part of their job to estimate how long they would take on certain pieces or to see what was a realistic expectation of the work they could get done in a certain time frame. People would always demand more but a good artist could make a proper estimate of their skill and the time something would take to create. So when Blair showed up an hour later he naturally looked at the drawing with a critical eye, although at first sight he had no negative comments on it. It was at least a good enough design and definitively up to her skill level. It seemed like she was the type that could use art to clear her mind, which was a good thing. He nodded. "Thank you Blair." He said and gave her a smile. "Take it easy tonight. You're done for the day at least. I'm pleased with the work you managed and it's a good piece. It's not your finest but it lives up to the expectations I have of you. Well done." He said and put the design aside to be able to continue his work. "Is there anything else I can help with? If not, have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow."

@blair
[end Bobby?]