fandomtownies | The Emporium is open

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The Emporium is open

Grumbling, Michael flips over the "Closed" to "Open."

"Ma, I am so going to get you for this."

He stares at a greasy, slimy, bloody handprint on his window. Nothing is broken, but plenty is missing. Debbie left a list of what she took, and he's just started a tab for her. The rest of the note about a "zombie emergency" made no sense. Not until the decaying smudge on the window.

"Ben!" he announces as he bounds up the step, "We're going home to Pittsburgh."

Ben looks up from his writing, quizzically.

"This place has fucking zombies. Ma raided the place on Saturday to play Department of Fandom Security. I'm not going to live in a goddamn Night of the Living Dead remake. I heard students talking about werewolves too."

"Michael, be rational."

Michael grabs Ben and hauls him down to look at the handprint and Debbie's note. "Don't tell me about rational. My own mother says there are fucking zombies. You know Ma isn't one for jokes like that."

"Michael, we have our life-savings tied up here. We even sold the house. We can't go home."

Michael nods. He gets the glass cleaner and wipes away the hand print. "But if you turn into a fucking zombie, I'm gonna cut your head off without a seond thought. Then I'm going to move in with Hunter and drive him crazy."

Ben hugs him. "I'd do the same for you. You have a store to run."

Michael sighs and applies himself to straightening up the rifled stock and cleaning up.

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Chihaya pushed in the door, his body not quite as stiff as it had been for the past several days. There was still a hitch in his get-along and he tried not to push it further.

Grinning shyly at Ben and Michael, he slipped around and started to help put things to rights again.

*notices*

You okay?

Were there really zombies or has my mother finally lost her last marble?

"There were really zombies. All over town and on campus!" Chihaya said cheerfully. His shoulders rolled. Luckily his wings weren't visible. If they were, he's be much more sore for sure. "My back is sore from all the zombie fighting I did," and he carefully avoided talking about the amount of flying he did.

Fucking zombies.

All right. No heavy lifting for you today. Tylenol is on the house for employees.

Let me teach you how to do inventory. Ma left a detailed list but sme other stuff seems to be missing too. So, we figure it out so I can bill her.

Dressed all in black leather, hair covered with a lurid scarf, Beka heads into the Emporium and hopes like hell no one but the shop owner sees her or she's SO dead.

Morning, miss.

What can I help you with?

If ever a gunbunny looked miserable, it's Beka Valentine. She sighs.

"I need new black leather, a bunch, to replace what go ruined in the zombie attack, some nice things for my friend Lee, and a... dress." The last word is hardly more than a whisper.

The only leather we have right now is a couple jackets, but I'll be happy to order some in for you. It'll be here day after tomorrow if you aren't a hard size.

What's the dress for? Right now, we only have a few in stock. *gestures to a rak of floral dresses that look like they belong in church*

She strangles despair, straightens, takes the scarf from her head and says, "In my world? No sizes. Measure if you need. I need vests, jackets, pants..." she thinks for a second, then adds, "maybe even a short skirt. All black leather. Sexy. A few colored knit shirts, red and blue, to wear under the jacket. Measure if you need.

As for the dress... Homecoming. I need to impress." She looks him square in the eye. "And not by showing off every inch of skin I can. If that's what I wanted, I could arrange it. Something elegant, sexy, and that's what I am most certainly not. Soft."

*makes notes of everything she requested*

*measures her quite professionally, never ogling or copping a feel*

Isn't that dance like an 80s theme?

*digs through catalogues and produces one*

*looks Beka over*

What about This one (http://cgi.ebay.com/80s-80s-VINTAGE-prom-PUNK-PRINCESS-goth-PARTY-dress_W0QQitemZ8337488022QQcategoryZ48870QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting)? It goes with the whole black theme, but with just a little red. And tea length is traditional for Homecoming. This (http://cgi.ebay.com/80s-80s-VINTAGE-prom-INDIE-PUNK-CUTIE-PARTY-dress-GOTH_W0QQitemZ8337488134QQcategoryZ48870QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting) is similar but with more gold. If you want something longer, maybe this (http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-OFF-SHOULDER-Pleat-Slv-TAILS-formal-long-DRESS_W0QQitemZ8338643638QQcategoryZ48870QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)?

Or you can talk to my mother. She runs the vintage store.

Beka thinks of Jack and knows she could never wear those dresses around him. "Thank you, really. I think I need to talk to Padme or Dr. Carter about the...dress. Those are nice, really, but they're too..." She turns slightly green. "Girly."

"But thank you. Really. I'll stop by your mothers' place when it opens. Maybe she'll be able to help. The leather will be ready when?"

The leather will be in Thursday. I'll need a half-payment up front for an order of this size.

*rings her up*

Don't feel too bad. Girly isn't a good look for everyone, even if 80s designers thought it was.

"Girly is...bad on me."

Beka counts her cash, sees she's still flush from the last score, and asks, "I need to get a few things - men's clothes, cologne, hair styling products (7 of them) - for a friend who lost everything in the zombie attacks. Do you have anything?"

Toiletries and cologne are over there. We've got some basic clothes on the racks: khakis, jeans, polos oxford. Nothing fancy.

Please, feel free to look.

*comes back with an armload of clothing in Lee's sizes, a clean and sexy cologne, and a heap load of hair products*

Now how much?

*rings it all up and gives her the total, while making a mental note to order more hair products*

[[ooc: sorry for the delay. Mun is sick and nipped out for a nap]]

*counts carefully and pays*

Thank you.

[ooc: no problem, really. Feel better!]

Thank you, and come again.

The moment Shane stepped into the place, she could feel the upset in the room - it wasn't as though she'd been born with the ability to pick up on people's moods and the energy that surrounded them so much as she had taught herself to do that. It had been a survival skill that had come in handy very early on in her life and one that still came in useful, even if it was just knowing when to handle another person delicately because they were in a rotten mood.

Off in the corner, she could see a tall, sandy-haired man wearing glasses. He was seated at a small desk with a notebook and a pencil, scribbling away.

Glancing over at the counter, she could see that the clerk - Michael? was that Deb's Michael? - was already busy with a customer.

Well, she was here... she might as well shop... she'd talk to him when he wasn't busy...

Moning.

What can I help you with today?

"Hi," Shane says with a smile as she slowly approaches the counter. The place looks quite a bit different than it did during the weekend - but then the town isn't being attacked by zombies, anymore. "Umm, are you Michael?"

I'm Michael. *smiles back* What can I do for you today?

"Oh, good, umm... hi, I'm Shane. I work over at the diner with your mom and ... I just wanted to come in and say thank you," she says sincerely. She glances around for a moment at the store. Nothing seems out of place, but still. "She sent me over on Saturday to pick up stuff for the diner. I hope I didn't break anything."

*scowls*
Nothing was broken, but you sure didn't worry about putting things bacK where they go.

*can't maintain glower*

But, zombie attacks get a pass. Do you still have my spare key or does Ma?

Thanks for leaving the list. It was a big help.

"Sorry," she says quietly, face pinched with an apologetic look. "I took some cough medicine, too, but I made sure to leave the money for it on the counter where you'd see it, since it wasn't part of the list Deb gave me. You found that, right?"

Giving Michael a befuddled look, she reaches down and pats her pockets, trying to remember what happened to the key Deb had given her. "Ummm, yeah, I just gave it back to your mom when I dropped the stuff off."

It's okay. Really.

I found the money. Thanks for letting me know what it was for. Oh. *opens till* Your change.

So you work for Ma? How's she treating you? She can be a slave driver when she wants.

"Oh, no, no... no, man, that's cool. I grabbed some clothes, too, while I was at it," she says, waving her hand. "Just a t-shirt and some pants since mine got ruined. That's what the extra was for."

Shane rests her hands on the counter and leans against it, smiling. "Your mom is... awesome. Really. I love working at the diner."

I thought I was missing some pants.
*sporfles*
That didn't come out right at all.

I'm glad to hear it. I love her, but she can be a handful.

Ma and Carl came through all right, I guess. But they had you looking out for them, too.

Shane laughs as he sputters. "Don't worry, I totally get what you're saying," she says, still chuckling. "I'd offer to bring 'em back, but... they wound up getting ruined, too. So, yeah, just keep the change."

"Yeah, well, it seems like your mom would have done just fine even without me there. She's one hell of a lady," she murmurs, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

That she is.

It musta been quite the weekend.

Anything you need today?

"You were out of town... you had the right idea," she says, grinning. Straightening up from the counter, she looks around. "I thought I might look around a little and pick up some food and stuff for my place. Sound cool? I can lend a hand putting stuff back the way it was. Sorry I didn't do it on Sunday, it's just... things were a little crazy." She stuffs her hands in her pockets and gives him a slightly sheepish smile.

It's okay, really

*bad mood is evaporating, smiles back*

Tidying up is what I have a clerk for.

Whatever you need. If we don't have it, we can order it.

*as she goes to look, he walks over to where Ben is writing. "Fucking zombies, Ben. That's the kind of town we're in."*

Shane returns several minutes later with a basket of groceries, including white grapes, cherries and strawberries from produce, a loaf of wheat bread and a jar of peanut butter, half a pint of skim milk, a box of cereal, a six pack of beer and other assorted items. She places the basket up on the counter and starts unloading everything so that Michael doesn't have to. As Michael heads back up to the counter, Ben looks up at her and their eyes meet. She offers him a friendly smile, holding up her hand in greeting.

*rings up and makes change*

There you go. You come by and see us any time, Shane.

"I will. Take it easy, Mike," she says as she takes her change. She picks up her bag of groceries and offers him and Ben both a quick smile as she heads out.

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