I wish you'd write a fic where Tonic and Shi hang out more <3
The bar still wasn’t quite hers yet, but the wheels were turning on her claim. Things had been busy– lots of paperwork, lots of people still coming by to hear the news and gossip, and always lots of drinks to be made. Tipsy hadn’t realized just how long it’d been since she’d seen Shi until he called her up, asking if he could come by on her cleaning day.
She wasn’t expecting him to bring his truck and a full toolbox along.
“Routine maintenance,” he’d rumbled when she’d fluttered her hands at him in protest. “Not lettin’ ya get outta it, ‘specially with ‘Lije crawlin’ ‘round yer ceiling all day.”
“Is this because I cleaned your garage? Or payback for the thing with my battery?”
Shi had only nodded affirmatively.
Eventually, Tipsy gave up hovering over his shoulder or at the foot of his ladder and got down to her usual cleaning. They worked in amiable silence, volleying the occasional question back and forth. She asked after Gage and Dowel; he did not bring up The Controller. And between the two of them the bar looked damn good at the end of the day.
Packing away his tools, Shi brought out a small, portable television and set it up on the end of the bar. “Si’down, Tonic,” he said, gesturing to the stool next to him. “You heard’a ‘It’s A Wonderful Life?’”
“I think I have,” she said, wringing out a rag to finish wiping down the bar. “A Christmas movie, isn’t it? I guess this is the best time to watch it.”
“It’s cheesy as all get out, so, you’ll like it.”
She slapped his arm with the damp rag. But she did like it. And near the end of the film, she leaned her head against his shoulder, one hand on his elbow.
“Thank you for coming over, Shi,” she said softly. “We’re pretty lucky, all things considered, aren’t we?”
At first, Shi only grunted in response. But then he glanced down at her and around at the bar. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “Yeah, maybe we are.”
The Oil Joint had never been busier, and never so dry. Tonic simply didn’t have time to serve drinks; everyone who walked in the door wanted to talk to her. She felt like she had shaken the hand of almost every robot in the city and the verdict hadn’t even dropped yet. Even The Spider had sent his regards by postcard, much to her surprise.
At least one radio had been brought in and placed on the bar. The verdict was to be broadcast live; public interest had grown too feverish for city hall to dampen. But right now the radio was turned down to a low grumble, the words mostly lost to the chatter of the assembled crowd.
Tipsy was out from behind the bar, talking to a few people, when she saw them blink in surprise and back away. Then a hand slapped her on the back between her shoulders and Hare Becile rounded her side, all grease and smiles.
“Speakin’ to your public, Tonic? Enjoyin’ the limelight?”
“Like well wishes before a guillotine,” she said, placing a hand under her chin. She was honestly surprised; the Beciles, while regulars, generally avoided crowds. “Are you going to be taking bets on my fate?”
“Thought about it. Lotsa bank to be made.” Hare grinned. Then he lifted his shoulders, as if shrugging off part of a persona. “Nah. I got standards. ‘S in poor taste to bet against a pillar a’ the community.” He paused, then his hand moved. “Catch.”
Unbeknownst to Hare, the patrons of Tipsy’s original bar had made a game of throwing coins at her. So when he flipped the little disk into the air, she caught it effortlessly.
“What’s this for?”
“Good luck.”
Tipsy looked at it. It was an Indian penny, dated 1899, predating her by a little more than two decades. There was grime ground into the crevices, but it looked like it had been polished recently.
“I don’t imagine this is to keep.”
“Smart gal.” Hare shrugged again. “Give it back when you got yourself the deed to this place all nice and secure. Consider it my investment in keepin’ this place open.”
“Hefty investment.”
“Luck’s real, Tonic. Even if you gotta push it around a lil’ bit.”
Tipsy’s eyes glowed, and she slipped the coin into her vest pocket. She did not say ‘thank you’—Hare would’ve hated that—but she felt he knew it anyway. “I heard Melissa Etterson’s been having some bad luck today, speaking of which.”
“Yeah, poor thing,” Hare drawled, eyes narrowing meaningfully. “Someone awful went and tore up all her tires. Took the radio and CDs right outta her car, too.”
“What a monster.”
“Well, you need a copy of Cher’s Greatest Hits, you let me know.”
Meanwhile, Elijah was watching the front door. One particular ‘bot had yet to show his face, but she knew he would come. He had to. He wouldn’t leave wishing Ms. T good luck to a phone call. And she was right.
Shi Carlton finally appeared, scowling at the packed bar. He pulled his hat down further and began to push his way in, only for Elijah to rise like a spitting snake between him and his path to Tipsy.
They stared at each other, Shi’s eyes flashing through a few different colors as he sized her up.
“I’m here to talk to Tonic, bug.”
“I know,” she said, antennae stiff and upright. “And ‘m not gonna stop you, but, I gotta talk to you first.”
Shi’s look darkened. “So now we’re back t’ talkin’, are we?”
“I…” Elijah turned her head slightly in the direction of Tonic. “I… I gotta ask you a favor.”
“Oh?”
“Can we go outside?”
Shi didn’t move for a moment, then he turned and began to shoulder his way back out of the bar. Elijah followed, wiggling her way through the crowd. Outside was far less crowded, though a few robots were standing around.
“I can’t go with Ms. T to the court place,” Elijah said, ducking her head and glaring at the ground. “I wanted to the first time, but she wouldn’t let me go then either. Because someone needs t’ watch the bar and because I might cause a ‘disturbance.’ She added air quotes to the last word. “Like I care if some humans get nervous ‘cuz I’m bigger than them! … But that’s what she wants, an’… I’m gonna respect that.” She lifted her head. She wasn’t standing taller than Shi, though they both know she could if she wanted. Instead, she looked up at him. “But somebody needs to protect her, in case something goes wrong. And… and you…” Elijah turned her head with a small hiss. “You hurt her before, but—but maybe—maybe that was different. “’Cause she told me… she told me she forgave you a long time ago, and if she thinks that it’s okay, then…” Elijah’s head snapped to Shi. “If you make sure she gets there and back safe, I’ll forgive you! You have to prove it to me!”
What Elijah didn’t know was that Tipsy had already asked Shi to come with her. He had accepted, though he was loathe to go anywhere near another courtroom. But he was her friend, he had gone through this before, and she knew she couldn’t go alone again. Especially not if the court decided against her.
Shi stared evenly at Elijah. “I don’t got to prove a damn thing, bug,” he said. “But I’ll tell ya this. Anyone or anything that wants to get to Tonic is gon’ hafta go through me first. This ‘er any other day.”
Elijah looked hard at him, but finally nodded. “Okay. You can… you can come back inside, now,” she said, and then quickly scuttled through the door herself, leaving Shi behind.
“Cheers to our barkeep!” Someone called, inciting a whoop from the crowd as Tipsy returned from the back rooms, holding her parasol and purse. She would have flushed if she were human; instead, her eyes flashed and she held up a hand to her face in embarrassment. Today had been so much already, but… well, it was a lot nicer than the disdain she had expected from her news getting out. Shi stepped forward and she wrapped both her arms on one side around one of his and allowed him to escort her to the door. As she passed, almost everyone had something to say.
“Chin up, Tonic.”
“We’re rooting for you, girl!”
“We’ll take care of the place while you’re out.”
“Cheers, Tipsy.”
She paused at the doorway. Shi looked down at her questioningly, and she turned to look at the crowd.
“This bar is mine!” She called. “It will always be mine! So it better be in one piece when I get back!”
Joy, I just wanted to tell you how elated I am for you that your art is being seen, and how proud I am of you. You're amazing~!
Receiving this message is very special to me. You’ve stuck with me and my blog through a lot of growth, and our interactions always make me smile. Your kind words made my night!
Dude I just remembered my dream from last night. I was at a comic convention, and I was with Leila and we were going and checking out all the stuff around town, and getting Starbucks and ice cream and stuff. But then we go back to the con and are just looking around and considering buying stuff. And we go get ready in our hotel room because there's a ball that night, so we go to the ball and WHO DO WE SEE BUT Neoma and Jeanie ooo: I remember Neoma was in this really gorgeous black dress with a lot of purple accenting, and a little thin sheer trail of purple fabric that came off the back like a cape almost? And I think Jeanie was in green? You both looked beautiful and I hugged you both and it was awesome. A+ huggers. I think there was a big storm though, and we all got stuck in the ballroom because the power was out, and it was actually kinda nice because I think storms are cozy. We all hung out and it was coooool!
Hi there. I was in one of the object head sets from very early on in your postings. I was wondering if you could tell me about your design choices -- the dripping hands especially -- I just found there was so much character in the little graphic, I really love it.
You’re actually very recent - just like 2 months ago? For the most part, I wanted to get some of your mechanic-esque personage into the drawing so dripping hands is just runny oil haha or some sort of other fluid? Also hard hat turtles are cute.
17. My muse drunk and passed out (Oh boy… Golem!verse AU)
Shi was never one for wishful thinking. But the kid had been sober for so long, Shi was willing to hope it was nothing more than fatigue when he heard Gage stubble in late in the night. It was obvious his steps were off, he bumps into something, and then he shuts his door too hard.
Still, Shi lets it go until morning when Gage doesn’t show up at his desk the next morning. The kid forgot to lock his door and Shi does not bother knocking. Gage is half on the bed, half off - dead to the world, but still breathing.
He doesn’t allow himself to be angry yet, willing to believe Gage could still be hurt or even sick… But has he gets closer, the smell of alcohol is clear in the air.
Originally, it had sounded like an emergency. Spoons was supposed to be home alone, no owners and no Samson. She was supposed to check in hours ago, but not only was the call late, Spoons wasn’t answering her cell. What if she had gotten ill? Or lost? What if she had accidentally turned on the stove and left it on? What if she’d been followed and attacked? Samson was in a panic.
And so he carefully typed out a text message and pressed send.
Which all lead to the rather anticlimactic discovery of Spoons passed out on the couch, wrapped up in a crocheted blanket, makeup smeared down one side of her face.
