fandomtownies | 'Dite's Decadent Delights, Friday afternoon

"Kenzi?" Karla stuck her head in the doorway of 'Dite's, looking around. "You here?"

She should be, what with it being her shift and all, but Karla had missed enough shifts of her own not to be pushy on that point.

"Okay, so I'm thinking: veils, plus chainmail. Thoughts?"

Oh, she was definitely here.

"Are the veils likely to get caught in the chainmail?" It seemed a good question to ask right off the bat!

"See, I'm experimenting. The good silk, it seems okay with the tiny links, the nylon, not so much. Also, putting it under the chainmail will probably help out some of our less adventurous customers who haven't shaved recently."

You're welcome for that mental image, Karla.

Karla's expression hopefully conveyed her appreciation for them, thanks Kenzi.

"Sounds like you're keeping busy, then," she noted wryly.

"You know me, always thinking of others," Kenzi chirped. She hopped off her stepladder and grabbed a few more scarves to tie up the mannequins. "So, special for the newbies tomorrow, maybe? Yes? No?"

Karla laughed. "Of course! How else are we going to benefit from the new customers if we don't lure them in first?" She paused, then added casually, "Of course, you're going to have to take point on that, you know."

"I what now?" Kenzi gave her a disturbed look. "And why is that, exactly?"

"Because I'm going home for the summer," Karla explained, giving Kenzi a sheepish smile. "Don't worry though, I'll be back time to time to check in. And I trust your ability to handle or terrify the newbies as the case may warrant."

"Dude! I would've had special chocolates for you if I'd known," Kenzi said, dismayed. "What's home like? Maybe you should take back some samples so people will mail order."

What? She just said she trusted Kenzi to be terrifying, right?

"Home is like a fairy tale, I think," Karla said with a laugh. "Magic and talking animals and dragons and unicorns. You should come and visit sometime."

With a big 'No Stealing' rule in effect. Obviously.

"You won't be alone here, though. My friend Emma is going to pick up a shift for the summer. And, like I said, I'll be back from time to time, too. So don't think I'm sticking you with all the paperwork or anything while I'm gone."

But conning was okay, right? Right? You wouldn't make Kenzi forsake her *entire* religion, would you, Karla?

"Oh, okay," Kenzi said, somewhat relieved. Even if it would've been fun to have a free hand, all that responsibility.... eeeeek. "What's Emma like?"

It all depended on who you were planning to con, Kenzi.

"Tall, gorgeous, brilliant, and kind of cold, at least until you get to know her," Karla answered. "Crisp, professional, and doesn't suffer fools lightly." Or at all, really.

"She's formidable, but she's one of my dearest friends. I'm sure you two..." She was already putting bets on the two of them not getting along, to be honest. "...Will have fun laughing at customers together."

That, at least, was a possibility.

"Henh." Hmmm. Sounded kind of bitchy? But then, Karla did too, and she was basically okay. Once you left a horse-head in her bed and then apologized.

...maybe she wouldn't start there with this Emma, though.

"Well, I'm good at this job." And she was, ha. "So I won't give her any reasons to complain if she doesn't mess with me for fun."

Oh, Emma was toooootally bitchy. And so was Karla when you came down to it. But they both had good sides that you could get on that mitigated the bitchiness some.

Emma's was just harder to find and her bitchiness more cutting. She had a lot more practice, after all.

"Yeah..." Karla said. "About that..."

She knew Emma wasn't one to hide her telepathy--but she'd also been to enough mutant unfriendly worlds to know that you didn't just announce someone's powers to strangers without their permission. Still, Kenzi deserved a head's up. "Do you know how to keep your thoughts quiet?"

Kenzi blinked, then her eyebrows went up. "Yeah, I..." Wait, did Karla know about Toby? "I've had some practice. For good reasons," she said, cautious. "Aaaand sometimes I think in Russian, since I'm bilingual. Why?"

"Might be helpful," Karla said, giving Kenzi an innocent smile. "All these newbies showing up. You never know who might show up. And you have free reign to try to hire some, if anyone is interested."

Laaaaa.

"Cool. And good point." And that was most definitely a hint; Kenzi was going to be ready to switch to brain-Russian with this Emma. "And woo! New persons to hire! That's gonna be awesome. We could use someone else, since Raven quit a while back."

"Hmm, with all this extra responsibility I'm handing you, I suppose I should probably think about giving you some sort of raise, huh?"

"It would help keep me off the streets!" No, it wouldn't. But it might mean she'll give some of the wallets back?

No, it wouldn't.

"Maybe I should wait and see if the store's still standing the next time I get back," Karla teased. "And make sure you and Emma haven't murdered one another by then."

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!

"Awww, c'mon. I could use a raise! Mama needs a new pair of combat boots!"

"Order them through the store and use your discount," Karla suggested dryly.

Kenzi stuck out her tongue and said, "You owe me a trip to your Fantasy Land. Have fun there this summer, though. And you better e-mail or write." She pouted. "Bad enough Wes is gone, and Seifer's leaving, and Peter took off..."

"You're more than welcome to come to Fantasy Land," Karla said, chuckling a bit. "Though you'll have to be nice to the talking tigers or they'll eat you."

Okay, they wouldn't eat her. But they were still damn intimidating.

"And I'll email and call. Promise. How else am I going to get footage of the entire island acting like giant chickens or whatever?"

'Dite's Decadent Delights, Friday afternoon

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