Turtle and Canary, Tuesday

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Frank arrived at the store today only to discover that the entire place was freezing. Upon further investigation, he learned that this was actually a good thing, as there was an enormous pile of ice cream sandwiches somewhere in between office supplies and cosmetics.

And okay, so he had one or two himself... or three... but then he did the responsible thing and hauled them over, one armful at a time, to the frozen section.

And then, you know, made a sign.

BUY SOMETHING, GET FREE ICE CREAM

Comments

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine didn't have anything better to do today, so she figured she'd do the boss thing and check on her employees and everything, which called for tilting her head curiously at the sign with a look of consideration that could probably be interpreted as thoughtful or concerned.

She waited to see what Frank might say to determine which he might think it was.

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Well, however he was interpreting it -- bit of both? Something else entirely? -- Frank still had the decency to blush. "There were, like, two hundred ice cream sandwiches in the middle of the floor over there," he explained, pointing. "I figured getting rid of them might be a good idea?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine squinted her eyes at the sign, and she started shaking her head in dismay. She was definitely channeling Turtle Wexler with that Disappointed Manager approach.

There was far less Turtle Wexler in her arched eyebrow and the question of, "So, if I buy ice cream, then do I get something free?"

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Aww. And here he'd thought he'd been doing so well.

"Sure," Frank said, sounding confident. "An ice cream sandwich."

That sounded fair, right? Maybe?

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine snorted, nodding in approval. "Just make sure you add something about While Supplies Last. Then we'll be set if it turns out there's some sort of ice cream sandwich producing wormhole in the freezer section, but it also covers our butts if someone comes in and buys half the ice cream sandwiches to get the other half free."

She wouldn't put it past anyone. If there was a Turtle-minded kid on the island, they would do that, and then try selling them at a higher price...

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I didn't even think of that," Frank admitted. Because someone didn't have half the mind for business as he thought he did. Yet, anyway. "I'll add that to the sign. Plus maybe also a thing about how there's a maximum of five or six per person?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine considered this, looking like she was doing it a lot more than she actually was, and she nodded. "Much better," she allowed, and then reminded herself that the world really didn't need anyone being goaded to be more shrewd with business, but it amused her too much not to.

"And," she added, because this was the important part, as she plucked up an ice cream sandwich and started unwrapping it, "employees get them free anyway."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Frank grinned. "Well, I wasn't going to put it on the sign, but..."

His gaze went to the ice cream sandwich wrappers on the counter in front of him. Mmm, free ice cream sandwiches.

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine nodded again. "We'll leave that as a given," she agreed, happily digging in with a little bit of a sigh. Ice cream was definitely going to be something she'd miss on Shakespeare, unless she could think of a damn good way to excuse using precious resources to make it so.

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"A trade secret," Frank agreed, plucking up another ice cream sandwich and digging in. Look, he was a teenage boy, okay? "Any idea where these came from, anyway?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

Valentine shook her head and took another bite. "And I don't want to know," she offered. "I know enough about this island to know that you just have to take some things as a gift. Otherwise, you'll just wind up with a great big headache, and I don't mean from eating the ice cream too fast, either."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

"Wackiness-induced brain freeze," Frank summarized thoughtfully. "Sounds terrifying. Have a lot of experience with it?"

[a-demosthenes.livejournal.com]

"Not as much as some," Valentine allowed. "Not by a long shot. I went to school here for a short period of time, you know. And now that I'm back, my older brother is younger than me and as a student. But I guess that's pretty light compared to the fact that my roommate when I was here was the same age as me then, but is now...five years older? Something like that. And she's my younger brother who's actual the right age's boyfriend's younger-than-she-should-be cousin. Or is that older than she should be?"

Yes, she made that intentionally confusing, shrugging her shoulders.

"Doesn't matter. You get the point. After things like that, randomly appearing ice cream is just nice."

[catchmeifyoucan.livejournal.com]

Frank blinked.

"Whoa," he said, actually showing his surprise for once. "That's... definitely weirder than just turning into a pony."

Beat.

"Suddenly I'm kind of glad I don't have siblings."