fandomtownies | The Emporium is open -- Monday

The Emporium is open -- Monday

Michael opened up the shop and took a broom outside to sweep the sidewalk. There must have been at least a little wind the night before, and fallen leaves littered the ground outside the store. At some point he'd have to stop by the bank and try to exchange the odd coins the invisible person had given him as payment.

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Salmoneus enters the Emporium. He looks rested and happy, though there is a look of puzzlement on his face. With a wave, he steps up to the counter and greets Michael.

"Goooooood morning, Michael. And how was your weekend?"

"It was great, thanks. You certainly look cheerful today. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I've had a few comments over at the bank that it's too quiet. Someone suggested I should have some music there, but a band would take up too much room and be a little too loud. They suggested a 'ray-dee-o'. Do you know what that is?"

"Um, yeah." Michael goes down the electronics aisle, pulls out a couple of different styles of boom boxes and brings them to the front. "I take it you're not familiar with radios, so I'll give you a general idea." Remembering that one of the teachers bought every battery in the store the day before, Michael plugs one of the radios into an outlet. "There are places called radio stations that send out invisible signals that carry sound in them. In order to hear that sound -- it could be music, or talk shows, or whatever they want to broadcast -- you need a special receiver, which is what a radio is. Now this," Michael points to the tuner, "is how you find a specific station. You press this button, and see how those numbers go up? Radio stations send out the signals on a specific level, called a frequency. That's what these numbers represent. That's how you can find a particular station you want to listen to. But you can just go up and down the numbers til you find something you want to hear." Michael pushes the button several times, moving past a hard rock station and finding something a little more calm and adult contemporary-oriented. "That might be calm enough for the bank."

"Now I've got a question for you." Michael pulls out several strange-looking coins (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomtownies/336191.html?thread=13741119#t13741119). "A customer paid with these yesterday. Any idea of what they're worth? I'd like to get them converted and deposited into our account."

Though eager to examine the radios more closely, the banker dutifully looks over the coins Michael shows him. A raised eyebrow shows his sudden interest.

"Well, these are definitely interesting." He takes one into his hand, flipping it over several times and weighing it. Looking at the markings, he tries to remember if he's ever seen them before, but eventually gives up. "You've stumped me, Michael, I've never seen the like of these." But they're almost certainly solid gold, yes indeedy.

He's tempted to bite the coin to test it, but refrains. It might give a clue to Michael as to what he's got, and then the younger man would want more for his small treasure. In his mind, Salmoneus is already counting up the money he could get from reselling it...

With a sigh, and a stab of pain from his greedy side, Salmoneus handed the coin back to Michael. "I'm not going to lie to you, my boy, ~~even though I really want to.~~ If I'm right that's a solid gold coin and worth a heck of a lot even if you don't know where it came from." He hesitates. "Uh, by the way, where DID it come from?"

"A customer paid for some supplies with these." Michael made a face. "This is going to sound weird...no, wait, this is Fandom. Weird is normal. I got these from someone I couldn't see. I could see the stuff they carried, could hear them, but couldn't see them." He peered at the coins again. "The skull and scythe are sort of creepy, aren't they? He -- I think it was a he -- told me I'd done society a great service by selling him the stuff. It was just art supplies, for a letter-writing campaign, he said."

Salmoneus tilted his head back as Michael told him about the person he couldn't see.

Then he thought about it. "You're right. Weird is normal around here. Art supplies? Paid for with gold coins?" He shook his head. "And I expected people to look at me strangely because of the Harpy -- ~~Fluffy~~Anassa. I should start calling her by her right name."

Glancing at the coin in Michael's hand, he sighed. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "You know -- if I was you, I'd put one or two of those away. Contact a collector about the others -- I'll bet the museum could put you in contact with someone." He shrugged. "I could do it for you, but I'd have to charge you, and it probably wouldn't be nearly as much as you could get from someone else." His greedy side stabbed him and he winced.

Picking up a boxed up ray-dee-oh, he turned back to Michael. "But if you do decide you don't want the hassle, come by the bank. I'll weigh them and give you the best price I can."

Mollified, his greed stopped poking.

Michael nodded. "Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it." He looked at the coins, a little more awed...and feeling more than a little guilty at having apparently been vastly overpaid without giving change. But he hadn't known how much they were worth. Pulling himself back to reality, he gestured toward the radio Salmoneus held. "Consider that a trade for the advice, and for your honesty. I really do appreciate it."

He'd thought that he couldn't be surprised anymore, but here he was flummoxed for the second time in this short conversation.

"A trade? For -- my advice?" Salmoneus shook his head. "No, no, Michael. At least let me pay something for this. I mean..." His greed poked him again, but his conscience demanded he ignore it. "Ten dollars?"

"If these coins are worth as much as you're suggesting, then you could have cheated me. But you didn't. And the coins will more than repay what the radio's worth." Michael shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Besides, the bank needs music, right? I'll be helping the community."

That was enough to shut up his conscience, and Salmoneus nodded. "Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate it." He turned towards the door but stopped. "I'll see if I can find anything on those coins for you. And the bank does have safety deposit boxes, so stop in if you want a safe place to lock them up."

He waved. "Have a great day, Michael!"

"Thanks. I'll definitely consider a safety deposit box. You have a great day too."

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The Emporium is open -- Monday

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