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Portalocity Office | 13 Griffin Way | Thursday

Sam wasn't intially sure why a gaggle of elementary-school-aged boys showed up at the shop today. She would have thought that children of that age would be content to hang out at the pizza place or the ice cream store, rather than a travel office. Bemused and somewhat charmed by the way they whispered amongst themselves rather than talk to her directly, she looked up from her omni-tool and pleasantly asked if there was anything she could do to be of help.

After some more quick whispering, the boldest of the group asked Sam if there might be any portals to Venus available for a week's allowance or less. It seemed that they'd heard some kind of... rhyme.

Sam did an excellent job of concealing her amusement and made a show of consulting her omni-tool before regretfully concluding that the portals were out of their price range. She did, however, promise to let them know if anything changed.

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Then no, April, I am not busy.

Éponine was more or less fine after the incident of a couple of nights ago, and as it happened, she didn't feel like just lurking outside today.

"Oh, hello," she said as she came in, her mailbag over one shoulder and a slightly damp (from the iced coffee cups) cardboard drink carrier from the Perk in hand. "Would you care for a drink? It's only fair, I thought, since you brought me one once."

"I'd love one," Sam said graciously, reaching across the desk for a cup. "Thank you. I think I just had an experience that was not unlike parenting, so I rather needed something caffeinated."

Children. Gah.

"How are you? I've been so busy lately I haven't stuck my head out much, I'm afraid."

"What, that bunch of kids who left not so long ago?" Okay, maybe she'd lurked outside for a little while first. Éponine feigned an exaggerated shudder. "No, thank you, that's a problem I'll happily leave to other people myself."

"I've been busy as well, except I haven't had to deal with any kids," she added after a moment. "Everyone in the world's got something to post lately, it seems, isn't that something? I hardly have time to think, some days, only go home and fall asleep, I'm so tired, but that isn't so bad."

"Just wait until the holidays get nearer," Sam said with a sympathetic wince. "I expect we'll both be swamped with demanding customers around then, posting their gifts and booking their travel plans."

...Actually, that was a very real concern.

"We may have to organize some kind of drinking nights around then, come to think of it."

Éponine muttered a fairly potent-sounding look I don't know argot curse half under her breath. "I hadn't even thought of that." Christmas in particular not exactly being something her family'd had occasion to celebrate in years. "D'you think they'll be even more unreasonable than they can be most of the time?"

One way or the other, she'd definitely be drinking to deal with it.

"I'm almost sure of it," Sam admitted apologetically. "I'm not sure what the holidays were like in your era, but they've got a way of bringing out people's entitled sides where I come from. And if my history is right, that's even more amplified around now. Have you heard of those late November sales?"

Oh god, that was a sure way to disgust Éponine.

She had issues about one stupid doll on one stupid Christmas eve years ago as it was.

". . . no," Éponine said cautiously, with an expression that said she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "We'd leave our shoes out on Christmas eve, Azelma and I, and find a little coin there in the morning, but that was only when we were little."

And then there was the man in the ugly yellow jacket and the stupid five-louis gold piece he left in Cosette's horrible shoe and the doll he gave her when they left, and it had all been downhill from there and this narrative was starting to sound like Éponine when she got rambly.

"What on earth have sales got to do with it?"

You're going to regret asking that, 'Ponine.

"As it's been explained to me," Sam began, looking like she found this whole ritual bizarre and a little revolting, "after Thanksgiving in November, which is an American holiday that celebrates, well, imperialism, for the most part--" look, this was the abridged version-- "the stores put on these rather radical sales starting the following day at ridiculous hours of the morning. And people camp out and pile in before sunrise to purchase, oh, eighty-percent-off televisions and mobile phones and the like. The crowds get rather rowdy, and sometimes there are injuries and tramplings and general awfulness."

It most certainly was not Commander Shepard's favorite holiday on the Citadel.

"It's... really just sort of startlingly appalling."

Edited 2013-09-13 07:07 (UTC)

. . . yes, Éponine looked suitably appalled. And admittedly fairly derisive.

"Good lord! All of that for fancy toys? That's stupid, it's ridiculous, it makes no sense at all! It's clever of the stores to do it, though, since I'm sure it works quite nicely for them." So she couldn't really blame them for taking advantage of people. Still, she looked annoyed by the whole thing.

After another sip of coffee and a thoughtful frown, she went on, "And then I suppose, if --" and that was a heavily sarcastic 'if,' given her cynicism -- "they walk away from all the mess with things for other people, they'll have parcels to send and people to visit, won't they?"

"Precisely," Sam agreed, taking a long sip of her coffee. "Mind, I know what's good for me, and I certainly won't be offering any of those massive discounts at Portalocity. They can pay full-price, or something close to it, for their holiday plans."

There would be no one getting trampled in her shop, thank you.

"Don't fancy them breaking down your door, hmm?" Éponine asked with a small smile. "That's good, you're smart, I like that. Well, it doesn't matter what they'll have to pay for postage, they'll have to wait to be helped anyhow. The lines are going to be dreadful."

She winced. "Pity I don't think I can get away with not working until it's all over."

"No," Sam conceded, "but that's when you can justify taking two-hour lunch breaks spent at the local bar." She gave a sage, knowing nod, adding with certainty, "I'll show you the ropes."

Sam, don't encourage her.

"Seeing as we'll both need it," said Éponine, with a melodramatic sigh, "I'll be happy to let you show me. Lucky thing we've some time to prepare before then, though."

She was probably going to hate people by the time the holiday season was over.

"A month and a half, at the very least," Sam agreed. "Shouldn't be too much to worry about until then."

Hopefully, anyway.

She set both elbows down on the desk, leaning forward slightly.

"How've you been lately?"

"All right," said Éponine, pleased as always when anyone asked. "I had a bit of a scare the other day but it's fine now, really, and the most I've got to worry about is whether I can get hold of a computer and take some of those classes Allie told me about."

"It's nice, not having to worry about anything more serious than that," she added after a moment, brightly.

"Oh, you're taking online classes?" Sam said, perking up in interest. Sam's own nerdiness aside, that sounded like an excellent outlet for Éponine. "And -- what sort of scare?"

"I'd like to start, yes. The library's likely to be sick of me after a while, though, since I don't have a computer of my own." And she was mildly concerned Kenzi might actually talk her into trying to steal one, not to mention that she didn't think it was such a bad idea. In a rush she went on, almost tripping over the words in her enthusiasm, "But I want to, I want to learn things. I used to think it was silly, studying things like what old bearded fellows from hundreds of years ago thought, or the different parts of plants and animals, but I didn't know how much one could do with so many lessons."

She shook her head. "It was nothing, really, only that I accidentally had a brush with a gentleman who's only got to look at you to take your strength away."

So, no big deal. Really.

Sorry, that new plan to get educated sounded awesome, and Sam's eyes lit up happily as Éponine described it, but then that other part sounded... way less awesome.

"A what?" she blurted out, quite visibly appalled. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Éponine assured her. "It was only for a moment, and he didn't mean to do it. He was quite sorry about it afterward." Yes, that made it so much better.

"Oh, he just drains strength accidentally, then?" Sam clarified, still sounding pretty appalled. "Are you sure you're fine? If you aren't, the... health care system here is quite a step up from your time, so I'm sure you could..."

Edited 2013-09-14 21:05 (UTC)

"He goes out of his way not to do it, as a rule," Éponine said, and if she seemed impressed by that, she was. She burst out laughing after a moment, though. "Good lord, yes, I'm all right! There's no need to be worried, but it's nice that you are."

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Portalocity Office | 13 Griffin Way | Thursday

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