fandomtownies | The Emporium is Open -- Thursday

The Emporium is Open -- Thursday

Michael was still upset over the events from yesterday. Still, he was glad Tobias was somewhere safe now, and not out in the cold and inclement weather. And glad that Tobias knew he could trust Michael. With a sigh, Michael turned the sign from "closed" to "open" and waited for customers to arrive.

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They were supposed to be in on Tuesday to pick up their order but they got sidetracked. Walking into the store, Yazoo broke off from Kadaj who stayed by the door, and headed towards the over the counter medications were.

Loz went to the counter, as he always did and leaned on it. "Order in?"

Michael nods and hoists a couple of boxes onto the counter. "They're heavy...but I'm sure that's no problem for you guys."

"Not a problem." Sliding them over, Loz stacked one on top of the other. He gestured over to the freezer. "How's it holding up?"

"So far, so good." Michael offered a small smile. "Haven't had any problems with it since you fixed it."

"If you have any problems with it, give us a call," Loz said. Technically, that was poaching Sid's business but since he shortchanged them on the job, Loz wasn't too concerned about it.

Yazoo wandered up to the counter with a handful of cold medicine boxes. He leaned on the counter and looked at Michael. "I have a question."

Michael nods at Loz. "I will. Thanks."

He looks up as Yazoo comes to the counter. The first response that springs to mind is shoot, but he decides a different response would be better with these guys. "Ask away."

"On the backs of these boxes, it says 'not to operate heavy machinery' while using them," Yazoo tilted his head and ran his finger along the phrase. Tapping at the box, "would that include armor?"

Michael furrows his brow. "Armor like medieval stuff, probably no -- except you might fall over in it. Armor like, say, Tex's -- sophisticated stuff -- probably yes." He frowns. "Warnings like that are just so people don't sue the company if they do something stupid. This stuff," he gestures to the medication, "can make you really sleepy, to where you're not able to think clearly. The company doesn't want someone bringing a lawsuit against them if the person goes out and accidentally runs someone over with a bulldozer while they're on the medication."

At the mention of Tex's armor, Yazoo looked intensely at Michael. Listening closely, he tilted his head. "Has she been in to buy any of this lately?"

Michael furrows his brow at Yazoo's suddenly intense expression and shakes his head. "I haven't seen her in...what, a week? Two? She doesn't come in very often. Is she sick?"

Yazoo looked back down at the boxes. "I don't know," he said softly, really more to himself than for Michael, which he just gave a shrug.

"Well if she is, I hope someone's keeping an eye on her. After that gremlin bite...I hate to say it, but I never want to see Tex that perky again."

There was a look of momentary surprise on Yazoo's face before it smoothed out. He shot a look at Loz and licked his lips. Leaning closer, "Do gremlin bites always make people...perky?"

Michael shrugs. "I'm not sure, exactly. I don't have any direct experience -- thank God. But if you listen to the radio enough, if someone's acting strange, it usually turns out to be either a gremlin bite or a magic spell." He looks at Yazoo. "Is Tex acting strange? Is that why you're asking?"

Absently, Yazoo nodded his head. He gathered the boxes and returned them to the shelves. Gremlins or magic. Either could be a possibility as well as something having gone wrong with her armor interface. Frowning, Yazoo stared at the shelves but not really seeing them as he seemed quite lost in thought.

"Was talking about taking over the town," Loz supplied when Yazoo walked away. "That's what Yazoo said she said."

Michael had never seen Yazoo so distracted. It went against the grain of everything he knew about the man, and that disturbed him.

Michael cocks an eyebrow at Loz's words. "That seems a little...extreme, even for Tex." He frowns. "I don't suppose the police could do anything until something bad actually happens, though. There's no way she could take the town over single-handedly, anyway."

"Have you seen her inventory?" Loz asked. "Yazoo said she's got enough arms and ammo to lay siege if she needs to." He watched Yazoo as well. "I wouldn't be surprised if she has enough provisions to dig in for a month."

Michael hadn't really thought about the inventory Tex kept. He knew she sold guns, but it hadn't occurred to him that she'd use them to do something like this. "But she likes this place, at least that's the impression she gave. I thought she even liked some of the townspeople -- as much as she could like people, anyway. Why would she take over the town?" The idea made his stomach turn.

Loz shrugged. "Who know? Yazoo thinks there's something wrong with her."

Hearing his name, Yazoo looked up and gave his brother an exasperated look. "I don't think."

"Fine," Loz said with an eye roll. "He knows."

"And you haven't abandoned this place yet. So you have a plan to stop her?" Michael figured if the brothers were in on the plan to take over, they never would have told him about it in the first place.

"No. Don't know what's wrong with her. But," Loz sighed heavily and picked up both boxes from the counter, "once we do, we'll know then whether to skip town or not."

Yazoo walked over to Loz and took the top box. "You're an asshole," he stated blankly to his brother. Looking at Michael, he shrugged uncomfortably. He didn't have a plan because he had no idea what to do. "She may not even be serious," he said, knowing it sounded lame to his ears.

Was Yazoo...concerned? Now Michael's really worried. "It's not like her to joke about something like that." About anything, actually, he thinks to himself. Michael knows what he's about to say sounds empty, even though he means it. "If there's anything I can do...." Michael can't even imagine what he might be capable of doing to help, and he shakes his head, feeling disappointed with himself.

Nodding, Yazoo pressed his lips together and shot Loz a look before taking the box and heading to the bikes.

Loz nodded to Michael. "Later," he said and followed Yazoo and Kadaj out.

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The Emporium is Open -- Thursday

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