Fixer-Uppers (formerly Stark Industries), Thursday!!!

[the_merriest]

Today was awesome!! Today was her first regular day working at the store!! She'd been here Sunday, sure, but that was just to have the grand re-opening (even though it wasn't ever closed) and Thursdays, those were going to be her days.

So Rikku bounced into the store, still admiring the sign -- because the sign was awesome, that was why!!! -- and stopped short, because there were ... horse-things? In her store?

"NEIGH! You wear such bright colors!"

Oh! They were nice horse-things? "... Thank you?" she said.

"NEIGH! You're a supportive friend."

Awww! These were the best horse-things ever! That's why she was hugging one of them.

Fixer-Uppers was open. And could possibly give you sugar shock.

Comments

[endsthegame]

Ender had spent a good chunk of his free time in Stark's before - even before Tony took off - and it hadn't changed any now. Though, he had to admit he had a second goal in mind where it came to walking into the store today...

"So I hear you're my new boss."

...greeting his new employer. If he looked a little thrown, the unicorns were definitely getting to him.

[[ ... and with that, my presence is requested downstairs. SP okay? ]]

[the_merriest]

"I am!" Rikku said, waving excitedly at the boy. "You're ... are you Ender?"

He looked familiar, and she was pretty sure that there was an Ender at school here when she was, too.

"Pleased to meetcha! I'm Rikku. I bought the place. Isn't that cool?? Don't worry, everyone still has their jobs!!"

If they could withstand exclamation-mark poisoning!

(totally fine zomg! I have to flee shortly for an appointment, so we will rock the SP like we get paid to do it. <3 )

[endsthegame]

"I'm glad," he said, smiling a little. "I think my roommate's been relying on this place to keep me out of the room."

Though Ben was working here now, too. Details. "You were at school here during my first year."

[the_merriest]

"I thought you looked familiar," she grinned. "Although with the way everyone kind of doubles around here, you can never tell. You might be talking to someone's alternate-timeline cloned evil twin."

Well, they could.

"Neeeeigh! You are creative!"

"Awww, thank you!" Rikku said, reaching over to hug the unicorn again. "Isn't he great?"

[endsthegame]

Ender tried to smile like the unicorns weren't the most terrifying thing he'd seen on the island for most of his time there. "They definitely lift the mood," he said.

"Neighhh! You're so caring!" the unicorn threw in his direction.

Ender was just going to avoid wincing. "But no, I've been holding out for going on three years now," he said. "How've you been?"

[the_merriest]

"I've been good," Rikku smiled. "Kinda bored. Had a lot to deal with back home, but everything's kinda calm right now. How about you? What's new and crazy with the island of weird?"

[endsthegame]

"I'm sure you already heard about the multiversal trouble we had a month or two ago," Ender noted. "We had an invasion of zombie fish a few weeks ago, but otherwise it's been relatively quiet." He shrugged. "And I'm the same I've always been. Unlike my friends, I'm not partial to getting into trouble."

Well, not in the same way they did...

[puppy_fair]

After class, Zack had gone on a merry little walk around town, ignoring the weather, enjoying the fresh air, and... Well, making friends with the newest temporary addition to Fandom's local wildlife.

"Neigh! It's amazing how your hair stays styled, even in the rain!"

It was nice when somebody could find something pleasant to say about his hair, okay?

It was the new sign for what he could have sworn was Stark's that threw him, and he spent what was probably a full ten minutes just standing outside, trying to make heads-or-tails of what it said before he finally shrugged, gave in, and decided to go and ask about it.

"Hiya!" Oh, hey! He'd met this girl before! "Rikku, right? I couldn't help but notice your sign!"

It was really, really colorful.

[the_merriest]

That was certainly one way of putting it! Dead people probably could notice the sign. (And probably hated it. As was only right.)

"Hi!" she grinned, waving at him. "Zack! Welcome to my store! Oooh, you have a horse-thing, too?"

It may not be his horse-thing, but it had followed him in, so maybe it was his new best friend.

Maybe they could have a party!!!

[puppy_fair]

"I do! It's been following me around! He's pretty friendly, too! You have a store in town, now?"

"Neigh!! It is a nice store!"

The unicorn was withholding judgment on the sign, mind.

"I... uh... Kinda feel silly," Zack admitted, taking a step back out the door and looking at the sign kind of confusedly before stepping back in. "I'm not actually sure what the sign says."

[the_merriest]

It made sense. Unicorns probably weren't color-blind, after all.

"Oh, that!" Rikku laughed, stepping around the counter to lead him outside. She gestured to the sign. "I used the Spiran alphabet up top because it kind of reads like this one, if you squint? Here, look. The curvy bit is a capital F, and the squiggle is an I. These are just X-E-R. And then the next big curve is a U, and those tall squiggles with the loops on them are Ps. E-R again, and S at the end! So that makes this ..."

She was looking at him expectantly.

[puppy_fair]

And here was where Zack demonstrated his inadequacy when it came to reading. Please pardon him for a moment while he stands about awkwardly and tries as best as he can to sound it all out in his head...

"Fixer... Uppers?"

"NEIGH! You did very good!"

[the_merriest]

"You did!" Rikku announced, clapping her hands. That was kind of adorable, okay? "And this bit at the bottom you can't read because it's in a different language and a different alphabet, so don't worry about it. It says vegan ibbanc which means Fixer-Uppers, too. That's what I changed the store name to!"

[puppy_fair]

"Hey, I like that!" Zack gave a good little bounce on his toes, encouraged by the clapping and the happy unicorn and all. "Fixer uppers! It has a good ring to it!" And then, all smiles, he couldn't help but ask, "So, what sort of stuff do you do here, now?"

Because, you know, the sign said plenty, but that involved actually reading the legible words, too. And for some reason, all of the pretty colors kinda gave him a headache.

[the_merriest]

"We fix things!" Rikku announced. Because -- that part was obvious, right? "It's a repair shop, but we also do R&D -- which is just a fancy way to say that I tinker in the back and try to make things that work -- and ooh, I'm doing weapon and armor upgrades, too, if people want those. No one's asked yet, but it is my first day. Sort of."

[puppy_fair]

"Upgrades?" See the kid with the massive sword on his back in the armor? Yeah. He was interested. The Buster Sword... well, he wouldn't tinker around with that if his life depended on it. But he was SOLDIER 1st. All uniform alterations were totally fair game, now. "You mean, if I were to hand you a piece of armor, you could..."

He pursed his lips a little, waiting for the blanks to be filled in. Because, wow, he was interested.

[heromaniac]

Momoko bounced into the store backwards!

"Rikku's awesome, but I totally don't want you to get into trouble if there's a rule against animals being inside, so wait here, okay?"

"*NEIGH* You're so considerate!"

Momoko squeezed the unicorn's neck and then shut the door, turning to look for her big sib.

[the_merriest]

"Momo!" There were totally unicorns already inside -- in fact, one of them was trying to nonchalantly chew on a stack of papers near the counter. "Hey! Guess what! I bought a store!"

Stating the Obvious 101.

[heromaniac]

Well, some places were 'weird' about rules against mythical animals inside.

"Rikku!! You did! And it's got a sparkly sign and unicorns and everything!" She beamed. "Does this mean you're back forever? Where are you living? Are you allowed to get hugs during business hours?"

[the_merriest]

"I don't know about forever," Rikku laughed. "But I'm staying at MHA number one. This one Turk guy was really sweet about letting me move in."

Momo could guess the one! Red hair, suit?

"And in this store, hugs are encouraged." She held her arms out.

[heromaniac]

She flew the rest of the way and squeezed Rikku hard. She'd missed her, darn it!

"Ah! With Reno? AWESOME! That is so romantic! I am totally visiting you all the time now! I'm glad you're back; does this mean things are better at home?"

[the_merriest]

It was nice being missed! And hugged! And squeed at!

"Come visit!" she agreed. "You can play with Petey and Mako. And the duck. Did you know he has a duck now?"

She rolled her eyes at the other question. "Kind of a standstill," she said. "Nothing's going on. I guess that's better than it could be, right?"

[heromaniac]

"Petey!!" Momoko's jaw dropped. "Eh, Reno has a duck? That is so cute!"

"And what do you mean standstill? Like, everyone's nice to each other but not really? No one's fighting, right? At least not with weapons?"

[the_merriest]

"Basically that," she said. "Everyone's getting along, but acting like they wish they didn't have to. It's better than not getting along, so I'll take it, you know?"

[heromaniac]

"I totally understand! And I'm glad! It was totally stressing you out too much." Momoko grinned at her. "But now you're here and you have a store, and you can fix things! Oh, does your family mind that you moved away?"