Alan Ashby | Of Mice and Men
Photo: Casey Mcperry
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Alan Ashby | Of Mice and Men
Photo: Casey Mcperry
Alan Ashby | Of Mice and Men
UNTIL I SEE EVIDENCE THAT AUSTIN DID THESE THINGS, I'M NOT BELIEVING ANY OF IT. (on a lighter note, going to see omam next year, so yay.)
Milkshakes and stuff? - Alan Ashby
Hey can you do an imagine with Alan ashby and you guys have the same job and it’s your first day and you’re super nervous and maybe mess up and he’s your trainer and maybe asks you out and fluff if you do personals my names Ashlynn or ash thankies silly huh an imagine blog asking for an imagine
Sorry I don’t really do personals and if the whole tattooing thing isn’t accurate and the ending isn’t really the ending you wanted probably sorry and sorry if it’s too long idk ok? but yes I can do that hope you enjoy reading c:
Wearily, I step into the tattoo parlour. A bell above the door startles me so I hop into the shop. I look around; but nobody’s here. I scan around the room, looking at various designs posted on the walls. There’s nobody at the desk, so I’m standing here silently, wondering what to do. I’ve applied for a job here - to be a tattoo artist - and the manager, Alan Ashby, wanted to see me today. Interrupting my thoughts is a girly scream coming from a back room.
I wander through an open door by the side, and I assume that I’m walking into the tattoo studio. Peering inside, I see a man laying rather oddly on a tattooing bed with somebody working on the bottom of his leg. The one being tattooed is wearing a beanie, covering what I believe to be ginger hair. I can also see tattoos swirling up the arm that he is resting on. He’s wearing black skinny jeans, the left rolled up slightly from the ankle. The man tattooing him is brunette, and is fully concentrated on the other’s leg. Is he Alan? Should I ask where I can find Alan or will he find me?
However, before I decide what to do, the ginger guy points over to me. “Hey, no hiding.” He says. I widen my eyes - me? “Yes, you. Come here.” He seems to read my mind and answer me. Shuffling in awkwardly, I burn bright red as I come into clear view. “Oh, I didn’t even hear her.” The other man exclaims, looking up at me for a second. “Sorry.” He apologizes, looking back at what he’s tattooing. I just smile; I’m too scared to speak. “Uh - wait. I know you from somewhere.” The ginger states. Before I have the courage to tell him why I am here, he speaks again. “Oh yeah. You’re Y/N. Right? The girl who applied to work here?” He asks, I nod my head with a frightened smile. “I, am Alan Ashby. The manager of this place.” He introduces himself then sticks his tongue out childishly. “That’s Matt, who also works here.” He flicks his head to the man tattooing him. “Sup.” Matt says, not looking up. I half smile for a split second before looking back to Alan. “You don’t talk much, do you?” Alan raises his eyebrows at me. “No.” I answer, in barely a whisper.
For some reason I am an extremely shy girl. Not too sure why; I’m not out of the ordinary. There’s just something about new people which frighten me a little, I’m always scared I’ll embarrass myself in front of them and they’ll laugh at me and think I’m some sort of loser.
Alan’s piercing yell erupts again - that’s what the girly scream was. “Y’ouch!” He squeals. “Don’t be such a wimp, you’ve had more painful tatts than this.” Matt says, ignoring his feminine cries. “Yeah, but by better trained tattoo artists.” Alan rolls his eyes at him jokingly. “Shouldn’t of hired me then, should you?” Matt chuckles, dabbing Alan’s skin with a clean tissue. “You’re done, anyhow.” He shrugs, strapping a bandage over Alan’s leg. “You’re such a girl.” He laughs as he stands up and walks out of the door I entered. “I am not a girl.” Alan says to me, hopping up from the tattooing bed. “Some of us just have lower pain tolerance than others.” He adds, I just smile sheepishly up at him and nod my head to what he says. “No pain, no gain.” He says, shrugging slightly. “How about I take you to my office?” He suggests, walking in the opposite direction of the other door. “Okay.” I answer, trailing behind him like a lost puppy.
Taking a seat, he slouches on a huge leather chair behind a desk which his laptop rests on. Patiently, I sit on a three seated chair stranding up against a wall. He clicks several times, eyes glued to his laptop screen. “Y/F/M/L/N…” He mutters, clicking a final time. He scans through what I think to be one of the documents I must of sent him, which shows all of my qualifications. “Quite astounding” He raises his eyebrow, a looks over to me. I blush as we meet eye contact, smile shyly and look down to the floor. I feel him smile as he looks over to his screen again, “You’ve done a few apprenticeships at various tattoo parlours.” He remarks. I nod my head as my look still falls upon the floor. “So roughly, you’ve been doing this sort of thing for about 7 years?” He asks me, scrounging for my eyes. “Yes, ever since I left school. Different amount of time in every place.” I say fraill, this is probably the most I’ve said to him. What if he thinks I’m really weird and stupid? Or he doesn’t like the style of my tattoos? I can’t tell what he’s thinking; I can’t see his facial expression. I look up and my eyes meet his. I can’t prevent my cheeks from flustering red as my eyes focus on his. “You know, you don’t have to be so shy, the images you’ve sent me here of your work is very impressive.” He smiles at me warmly. I laugh awkwardly, still feeling my cheeks burn. “C’mon, stop getting so embarrassed. I won’t eat you or anything, yet.” He adds with a chuckle. I relax slightly and suck on my cheek. Now what? “Either way, other than discussing eating people. Should I tell you what you’ll be doing today?” He asks. “Sure.” I answer. “Well, you could call it a trial day or whatever. But you’ll be spending today around the studio, watching people get tatted, learning how to use our computer system and how to use our equipment. Sorry, it’s usually really boring.” He laughs softly to himself. “I don’t mind, seems interesting to me.” I convince him, even though I’ve done the exact same thing at every other place. But I like it here for some reason; the atmosphere seems quite relaxed, it’s set up nicely. Even the manager isn’t that bad looking. I shake my head to myself. No, I scorn myself. No crushes. “What you bobbling your head about?” Alan leans over his desk with a puzzled expression. “Nothing.” I smile, flickering my eyelashes to prevent a long stare. I’m scared I’ll smile really stupidly at him; now I’ve said it, he is quite attractive. “What you battering your eyelashes for then?” He asks with a smirk. “I’m not.” I shake my head like a dogs tail. “Yeah alright. C’mon, up you come.” He grins as he gets up and makes for his office door.
We’re back by the front of the shop, where I first walked in. Matt is typing away on the computer behind the receptionist desk. “What have we got booked for today?” Alan asks him, bending over the desk and peering to the computer screen. Awkwardly, I stand a few feet away from him. I take a sneak peak of his butt as he does so. Damn, those skinny jeans certainly do him justice, think to myself. I accidentally find myself staring, and slap my face subtly. What is wrong with me? “You alright back there?” Alan looks over his shoulder to me. “Mhm.” I nod my head with a pathetic smile. Today is going to end up with me embarrassing myself, I can tell. “So, 10 o’clock, is Mike Fuentes, yes? And that’s just fixing up some writing on his hand. Uhm, 11 is Oli, what is it - Sykes? Which tattoo is that? Oh yeah, re-tatting over his "DROP DEAD" tattoo. That’s it, yeah?” Alan confirms with Matt, who nods his head and focuses back on the screen. “Time is 9:35. So I believe we have some time until the first appointment.” He says after, checking on the clock above the reception desk. Alan wanders into another back room, this time more of a kitchen-like room. It has a fridge, microwave, kettle and a cupboard. “This is where we have snacks. If you haven’t already guessed that.”Alan says, pulling out two mugs from the cupboard. “Tea?” He asks, I shake my head. “Your loss.” He shrugs with a smile.
We leave the room and go back out to the reception. “Made you tea.” Alan says, placing it on the coaster on the desk by Matt. “Thanks, love.” Matt laughs at him. “It’s fine, sweetheart. Believe me.” Alan replies sarcastically. For some reason, this is what makes me feel slightly more comfortable: the fact that they can be all jokey yet still, (hopefully), be a good place to work. Alan leans against the counter and sips from his mug, which has a huge ginger cat on it. He notices me smiling strangely at his mug. “I like cats.” He half smiles. “I gathered.” I say, still standing plainly. “You can sit behind the desk if you want, there.” Matt offers, pointing to a seat next to him. “Won’t I get in the way?” I ask. “Nah, Alan’s the only person that gets in my way.” He rolls his eyes with a smile. “Thanks.” I shuffle past Alan and slip behind the counter and into the seat next to Matt. Because I’m so short, I can barely see over the counter. Alan realizes and chuckles. “Jeez, and I thought I was short.” He takes a another swing from his mug and smirks. “Shut up.” I whine. “It’s not my fault.” I say, more quietly. “It’s cute.” Alan remarks, then exchanges some odd eye contact with Matt, “It is not.” I humph. “Is too.” He teases, extending the “o” on the end. I squint my eyes at him jokingly. “What you gonna do about it?” He asks. I shove his arm which he rests on and he slips clumsily on the desk. I giggle. “You know, you could’ve made me spill my tea, or, break my mug, I would not of been a happy kitty.” He says. “Worth it.” I answer, feeling more relaxed around the two. “Are you guys the only people who work here?” I ask. “Well, one guy never shows up, typical. And the other two guys just quit recently. Hence why we were looking for more artists.” Alan answers me. “Don’t you have a cleaner or anything?” I then ask. “Or any other members of staff?” I add, “What is this, 20 questions?” Alan chuckles. “But no, don’t really need one. We clean up after ourselves.” He shrugs. “Coming to think of it, you’re going to be the first girl to actually work here.” Alan says. “Oh?” I say. “Why’s that?” I ask. “Dunno. Haven’t been much that have applied here, the one’s that have haven’t really caught my eye.” He sighs. “Unlike you, of course.” He adds, smiling down at me, making me blush, “And what do you mean by ‘caught your eye’?” Matt chuckles. “I mean, their work. Not what they look like, asshole.” Alan laughs back. “Yet again, you’re quite sweet to the eye too, if you know what I mean.” He looks me up and down and winks at me. For a moment, I’ve frozen, by pure embarrassment, of course. “Look, you’ve scared her now, there goes another potential artist.” Matt exclaims grinning. I snap back into life before laughing. “Mhm,” I hum, agreeing with Matt, looking up to Alan. “Gonna learn to love it.” He whispers, winking again. I look down and flush bright red.
Disturbing the few second silence was the bell above the door ringing. I look over the front desk to see quite a tall man walking in. He wears a vest shirt with tight fitting jeans. I see that his arms are covered in tattoos too. His hair style is very distinctive. The sides appear to be shaved, with a small pony tail at the back, but I can’t really tell as there’s a hat balanced on his head. “Mike. 10 o’clock already?” Matt says, turning to look up. “About ten minutes early, but there’s nothing wrong with that, right?” Says who-I-believe-to-be Mike. Walking up to the desk, he spots me. “Who’s the little chick.” He asks, pointing down to me. “Y/N.” Alan says. I sit up, attempting to be a little taller. He smells quite strongly of weed, so I sniffle a little. “She’s quite hot, y’know.” He says to Matt as if I’m not here. “She can hear you.” Alan rolls his eyes. “Good on her.” Mike replies, walking on after Matt into the studio. “Want to watch?” Alan asks me, I nod my head and we trot behind the other two. Mike is sitting up on one of the tattoo beds, holding his hand out. I imagine Matt has already sterilized what he needs to. Alan walks me over next to Matt, so I have a good view to watch. After giving Mike a heads up, he begins to re-draw his tattoo. I make the words out to be “Victor”. “Who’s Victor?” I ask him, I usually found it much easier to make conversation with people when they’re being tattooed. “My older brother, he’s amazing. My inspiration.” Mike answers, almost proudly. I smile down and look at Matt’s facial expression. He’s so concentrated on what he’s doing, his mind must be full of focus. I know he can see me staring at him in the corner of his eye, but he can clearly cope well under pressure. Soon enough, he’s done. “Victor” is now printed exquisitely over Mike’s hand. The font looks unique too.
After Mike leaves, we’re left alone again with another hour left until the next appointment is due. In that hour we don’t really do anything, there’s some casual conversation about just normal everyday things. We have a couple of drinks and some biscuits, just chatting away about pointless things. I decide to wander around the front room, analysing everything, admiring the designs on the wall. Alan is sitting on the main counter, fiddling with his phone. Typing away is Matt on the computer; I have no idea what he’s doing on there though. I’m standing by the doors, fiddling with the leaves on a plant, I’m not too sure why.
But the door swings open as smacks into my face. “Ow!” I squeal, holding my nose where the door hit me. Alan bursts into laughter and rolls of the counter. “Y/N, oh my god.” He manages to say in between his cackles trying to make his way over to me. He stops in the centre of the room, holding his hand over his mouth trying to hush out his laughter. “Alan what are you lau- Fuck. Oh. Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Do you want help?” The bastard says who swung the door into me. I look up, about to shout but then I see his face…Wow. He flicks his long brunette hair out of his face, revealing his soft brown eyes. “I’m fine.” I say to the man. Regardless of this, he takes my hand and holds me up. Alan is still laughing as he reaches us. “Y/N, I couldn’t help it-” He starts but I slap his arm jokingly. “You’re so horrible, that wasn’t funny.” I whine but giggle. “I honestly didn’t see you there.” The guy says. “Don’t worry, Oli.” Alan says to him, walking off to the counter. “You sure?” Oli checks with me, I just nod and walk behind Alan. “So, you’re getting your “DROP DEAD” tattoo fixed up, aren’t you?” Alan double checks, Oli just nods at him. “Alright, c’mon. You too Y/N.” Alan says, walking off in the direction of the tattooing studio. “Y/N? That’s a really nice name.” Oli compliments. I blush shyly and hide behind Alan, who sits him down on the chair. Alan begins to clean up and sterilize Oli’s fingers. He has “DROP DEAD” across his hand, letter per finger. I have to say, it looks pretty cool, but some of it has worn away. “Ready?” Alan asks. “Yep.” Oli answers. The tatting gun darts over his finger, Alan in full control of it. I stand next to him so I can look at his face. For some reason I love the look on people’s faces when they tattoo people; they look really admiring. Usually you can see their passion for what they do, and it’s inspiring. I focus on Alan’s face, his hazel eyes locked on Oli’s fingers, freckles patter across his cheeks. His ginger hair flicks over his forehead. He looks so… perfect. Oh no, not this again. I try to shake my dumb thoughts away. This is not going to work if I develop a certain liking for Alan. Thankfully, Oli’s willing to keep me occupied. “So, how long have you been here?” He asks, looking up to me. “Alan called me in for today, just for a trial sort of thing.” I shrug. “You like it?” He says, I nod. “It’s pretty cool actually, it’s a nice place. Despite this horrible dude.” I giggle jokingly pointing at Alan. “Hoping to get the job?” Oli proceeds. “Yes, well, obviously.” I smile down at him. “I hope you do too, it’d be nice having a girl tatt me.” He licks over his lips with a cheeky grin. “Why’s that?” I ask, just trying to keep up conversation. “I could always show you.” He winks, causing me to flush red. “Mhm. I would like that.” I answer, not being able to hide my grin. Alan coughs, disrupting our conversation. “One minute.” He says, standing up, pulling my wrist so I follow him. We walk into his office. “Yes?” I ask curiously. “You know, you’re not supposed and try to hook up with the people that you tatt.” He scorns, but smiling. “I wasn’t.” I whine. “Pft, sure.” Alan folds his arms over. “Wasn’t.” I say to him. “Just, don’t. Yeah?” He taps his foot on the floor, so I just nod. But I still wasn’t doing anything. And coming to think of it, Alan looks pretty attractive doing the whole ‘telling off’ thing. For fuck sake, I need to stop thinking shit like this. “How about, no staring or flirting with the customers.” He says to me, raising his eyebrows. I wasn’t… but I’m not prepared to argue with a manager. “On the other hand, you always can with me.” He winks at me, my cheeks shine a carmine red. “I’d prefer not to.” I say shyly, not being able to hide the playful smile I have. “Mhm, really?” He replies, taking a step towards me. He’s awfully close to me, which makes me really nervous. “Such a shame.” He whispers over my lips. He is dead square in front of me, about a centimetre away from my face. My eyes flicker between his eyes and his lips, and I feel as if we’re about to…
Matt barges in through Alan’s office door. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything?” He asks as I almost hop away a foot from Alan. “Of course not.” Alan says, his eyes still glued to mine. “Matt, how about you show Y/N how to use our computer software?” He suggests. “Sure thing, c’mon.” Matt says, exiting the office and holding the door for me. I look at Alan suspiciously, what on earth is he playing at? Again he winks, causing my cheeks to burn. I swear, by the time today has finished, my cheeks are going to be ashes. I follow Matt through the studio, and Oli gives me a small wave. I smile and continue to walk. “You clearly like Alan.” Matt says to me, as we take our seats. “What?” I’m taken quite aback – how would he know? “You. You clearly have a small thing for him.” He repeats himself. “And how would you know that?” I ask, cocking my eyebrow. “You make it extremely obvious.” He smirks at me. “How?” I frown a little. “Well, you blush around him a lot. Slap his arm pathetically, knowing it won’t hurt him. You’ve giggled, pulled the totally adorable girly face at him. In his office, right there, you was about to kiss him. Don’t even bother denying it. And what else… oh yeah. I saw you staring at his ass when he bent over the counter earlier.” He chuckles. My eyes widen. “I was not…” I kick the floor. “Sure, sure.” He nods his head dopily. “It’s alright. He likes you a little too. Don’t even bother asking how I know that.” He adds, looking back to his computer screen. Does he receive telepathic signals or some shit? Either way, I highly doubt Alan would like me. Even if his mastermind work partner says so. “Gonna show me the computer system stuff or not?” I ask, trying to kill the other conversation.
For about twenty minutes, Matt explains the whole computer databases, spreadsheets etc. to me. It’s the same as the other tattoo places that I’ve worked at, only a few changes. So basically, I can use them already; it shouldn’t be a problem for me if I get to work here.
Soon enough, Oli and Alan walk out from the studio doors. “All done?” Matt asks. “Yep.” Alan answers, hauling himself on the counter where I’m sitting. Oli pays for his work before turning around to leave. “See you guys later. You too Y/N.” He says before exiting out the door. Then the three of us are left alone again. “Guess I can go then, considering there’s nothing else for the day. Can I?” Matt sighs, standing up. “Sure.” Alan shrugs. “Y/N, you can come with me. Got some things to talk about.” He gestures for me follow him, so I do so. “Have fun.” Matt whispers to me as I pass him. I squint at him as I push through the studio doors after Alan. We walk into his office and we both take a seat on the three seated leather chair I sat on earlier this morning.
"So." He begins, looking at me. "So." I repeat quietly. "Enjoyed your first-ish day?" He asks, I nod my head. "Yeah, you’re not that bad." I say sarcastically. "That?" He raises his eyebrows jokingly. "What’s bad about it?" He asks, half grinning. "The manager." I sigh, trying my hardest not to laugh. "Oh, don’t you like him? Is he weird?" He peeps his head into my view. "Yeah, really weird. But a really, really, good weird.” I accidentally bite my lip as I stare at his mouth. What a moron. Why did I even do that? He’s going to think I have some creepy obsession with him. “Can I just do one thing?” He asks me. “Go for it.” I say, nodding my head. For a moment, he looks at me longingly, his hazel eyes setting the perfect gaze. Involuntarily, I blush, so I try to look down. But he props my chin up with his hand so we can still look into each others eyes. Subtly, he leans in closer towards me. Again, like before, he pauses one centimeter away from my face.I begin to feel nervous again, so I breath unsteadily against his lips. I find myself staring at his lips, so I flash my eyes up to him, which are looking straight back at me. I feel the tip of his lip touching mine before I don’t feel like I could take this uncertainty any longer. I bob my head forwards, my lips pressing to his. It seems to boost his confidence; he leans his body onto mine, pushing me to lay down on the chair. Our heads move in sync as we eagerly pull at the other’s lip. Interlocking my hands behind his neck, I pull him closer to me. Short breaths escape from my excitement of my lips binding with his. Softly, he grinds his body up mine, synchronizing with our kiss. I twine my fingers in his hair, pulling gently. I scruff his hair up with my hands as I accidentally nibble on his lip. I pause for a split second, to see how he’s react, and he carefully tugs on my lip back. Benevolently, he draws his lips away from mine. He rests both of his elbows either side of me, resting on my body. We lay in an awkward silence for a few seconds. As I look at his face, I see that he’s gone red too. I giggle. “What?” He asks. “Nothing.” I smile up at him, it’s really cute seeing a guy like Alan stammer like this. “Maybe, we should, um… go get lunch and have, uh… Milkshakes and stuff.” He suggests awkwardly.
Alan Ashby




