All and Sundries// Quite Late Wednesday Morning

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras was out of breath from running by the time she reached the All and Sundries' doorstep.

What in God's name was THAT? she asked herself.

Gah. How bloody humiliating.

And, now Walter was probably angry with her. And, Pup must hate her for pounding his Walter over the head with a pillow.

She gave a miserable sigh as she unlocked the door....and stepped into what looked like Osaka after one of Godzilla's visits.

Her cursing could probably be heard all the way back a the cabins.

All and Sundries is open.

Comments

OCD Baldrick

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Mod Baldrick if you dare.

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

Edmund stumped downstairs in the late afternoon and glared at the store in general and Seras in particular.

He kicked a box in the middle of an aisle and let loose a very imaginative string of vituperations before going to his knees to peer under a shelf.

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras glared back from where she was standing on tip toe, restacking all the Chekov novels and arranging the vokda alphabetically by brand.

She noticed that beneath his glare, her boss looked a little haggard.

"Are you ill, sir?"

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"I am quite sick of sleeping on the floor. That dolt, Artie found and then lost the key bolt for making my Ikea bed stay in one piece." Edmund managed to convey in his intonation that "Ikea" was likely synonymous with "piece of excrement."

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras? Was less than sympathetic. Serve him right for turning his store into a disaster area for innocent employees to clean up.

Wait a minute...found?

As implying that Edmund had lost it?

"But...I? How did you loose it? I put it right here!"

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

Edmund sat up on his knees and opened his mouth for something that might have been a tirade, or just a barrage of questions.

Then he closed it.

Then he opened it again. "You knew where it was? I called you! What am I paying you for?"

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras felt her stomach sink.

Oooooh shit.

"I didn't get the message, Mr. Blackadder. The schools moved us to the summer cabins for the week."

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"Then you find the bolt!" Edmund stood up and brushed off his trousers before stalking over to Seras. He stared her in the face for a moment before snatching a bottle of vodka off the shelf and grabbing a book at random.

"I want that bolt by the end of the day."

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Horrid little man thought Seras while contemplating how much Mr. Blackadder resembled a constipated weasle.

With Vodka breath.

"Fine," she snapped turning on her heel and stalking over to the till, "I put it in the cash register. I figured that'd be the first place you'd look."

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

Edmund stalked behind her and pushed past to open the register.

"Oh."

Well, then...

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

Walter chose that moment to cautiously open the door and peek inside.

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras was too busy staring over Mr. Blackadder's shoulder into the till. Otherwise, she would've shaken her head and dragged her index finger across her throat in the international gesture of "Run for Your Life."

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

Walter squared his shoulders and came inside. He wasn't afraid of anything, let alone one cranky shopkeeper.

Who, according to the radio, had made Artie cry.

Oh dear.

"Mr. Blackadder?"

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"You!" Edmund stabbed a finger at Walter - actually, he stabbed a bolt toward Walter, a three inch bolt with a lynch pin hole on the bolt end.

"I'm calling the troopers. Where's the other one?"

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras' stomach lurched.

Oh bugger. In all the morning's...weirdness, she'd forgotten that Walter was stopping by today.

She ran around from behind the cash and stood between the two.

"Mr. Blackadder, you know it wasn't really Walter that weekend. Please...I think he's got something to say to you."

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"Just what does he think he's going to say to me?" Edmund pointed the bolt at Walter some more and wished it were a gun instead.

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

"I wanted to apologize," Walter said, drawing himself up. "Nothing else. It wasn't me in control of my body that weekend, but I am very sorry it happened to you."

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras held her breath and crossed her fingers, toes, and eyes, waiting to see what Mr. Blackadder's response would be.

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"You're sorry? Sorry?" Edmund drew himself up to his full, and not particularly tall, height and fixed Walter with a contemptuous stare.

"You and that Longstocking held me captive in my own home, encased me in duct tape without so much as a break for the toilet in a day and a half, and had more carnal relations in my home in those thirty-six hours than I have had since moving to this godforsaken island and you wish to tell you that you are sorry?"

Ah, that felt good.

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

As she listened to Mr. Blackadder's tirade, Seras' cheeks took on a blush of epic proportions.

She found herself staring with fascination at the Vodka display as she couldn't bring herself to meet either of their eyes.

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

Walter's sunburn was faded enough for his blush to show, but he didn't back down. Instead, he straightened his back and looked Edmund in the eye.

"I am very sorry that you were hurt and I am very sorry that Pippi and I destroyed your flat when we were fighting. I would be pleased to come and help with any repairs to the walls and paint," he said stiffly.

"We were not in control of ourselves most of that time. I apologize."

[blackadder-nth.livejournal.com]

"Are you in control of yourself enough to get out?"

[walter-n-wires.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

Walter turned on his heel and stalked out to go to work (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomtownies/859356.html?thread=33948892#t33948892).

[union-jane.livejournal.com]

Seras was feeling a lot of things.

Confusion, shock, embarrassment.

But, at the moment, anger came bubbling up to the surface.

She turned on her heel and glowered at Mr. Blackadder for a moment. Her mouth opened and shut a few times, but no words came.

So, instead, she turned on her heel and chased after Walter, giving the door a resounding slam on her way out.