Wonka's Sweets Shoppe | Monday

[shapethecentury]

All the remaining Valentine's candy was half-off this week, which meant Bucky was spending most of his day arranging all the heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and lollipops and goodness knew what else on one shelf and surrounding in with signs notifying people of the sale, as if they needed to be notified.

Okay, a dozen (small) heart-shaped little signs with arrows was perhaps a bit much. But Bucky was finding himself very distracted and... other things, these last few days, and he needed something to keep him busy before he went slowly crazy.

And that was how he ended up staring at a bag of candy hearts that weren't like what he was used to back home. Was it just him, or was it pretty warm in here right now?

(open! link is to candy hearts with "adult sayings" so not entirely worksafe)

Comments

[flickofthewrist]

Since Flick had missed Isabelle's birthday and had only gotten her some flowers for Valentine's Day, he was now on the hunt for more presents. Sweets were a good start, right?

Right. Even if he just wanted to go find her and spend the day with her in bed, he knew that wouldn't get his gifts bought any quicker.

So, into the sweet shop he went, head down and hands tucked into his pockets. The urge to just nick something was there but he wasn't in the shop to steal today.

[shapethecentury]

Oh thank God, a customer. That should keep him distracted for a moment, better than the dirty candy hearts.

Bucky looked up and smiled. "Hello, welcome to Wonka's! How can I help you today?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Just looking for some chocolates, I think," Flick said, looking up from his perusal of chocolate truffles towards the sound of the voice. When he caught sight of the owner of said voice, he frowned. "What the hell?"

Well, this was a first. That was his face.

[shapethecentury]

Excuse you, it was Bucky's face. And the one attached to Bucky's head looked really confused right now.

In fact his mouth was hanging open. "Wow."

[flickofthewrist]

It was not Bucky's face, it was Flick's face. He'd been there first.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, glaring now. "Who're you?"

[shapethecentury]

Bucky had been born in 1917. Pretty sure he had dibs.

"James Barnes," he said, frowning. "Who are you?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Flick."

Oh god, they even had the same initials if Flick was going by his actual name.

"That's my face."

Okay, he couldn't hold that back any longer.

[shapethecentury]

"What?"

That was such a ridiculous thing to say. That's what it seemed like Bucky thought, at least.

[flickofthewrist]

"Why do you look like me?" he asked, glaring. "How is that even possible? I don't have a twin."

[shapethecentury]

"Well, I don't have a twi either, pal," Bucky informed him. "It's just coincidence."

[flickofthewrist]

"Yeah, but this doesn't happen," Flick told him, grabbing a box of chocolates off the shelf for lack of anything else to do. "People just don't get stuck with the same face."

[shapethecentury]

"Don't you understand what a coincidence is, kid?" Bucky asked him, not that he was that much older, himself. "It means it's not the same face, it's just similar."

[flickofthewrist]

"Don't call me kid," Flick told him, shaking his head. "I'm not dumb. I'm just taken aback. I came to shop for chocolates for my girlfriend and end up facing someone who looks pretty much identical."

[shapethecentury]

"Not that identical," Bucky argued, but that was mostly because he needed to be less unsettled by this, so he was trying to rationalize some of it. "What does your girlfriend want?"

[flickofthewrist]

"I said pretty much identical." Because that made a difference. "And I don't know, chocolate? Something sweet."

[shapethecentury]

"It's a candy store. Sweet is even in the name." So they were going to have to get more specific than that. But chocolate was a good start. "We have a ton of Velntine's candy for sale?"

[flickofthewrist]

"Okay," Flick said, rubbing his chin. "She's got expensive tastes, though. Won't accept some generic chocolate. Is there anything like that around?"

And if he thought about Isabelle and chocolate, he'd forget about the face thing.

[shapethecentury]

"Fancy chocolates? Yeah, we got those."

He himself wouldn't even dream of buying them, but they certainly had them. He went and picked up a heart-shaped box. "Like this one."

[flickofthewrist]

"Yeah, I'll take those," Flick decided, nodding. "Chocolate truffles? You got those around?"

[shapethecentury]

"Aside from the ones in this box?" Bucky asked. "Yeah, we got them. We got assortments and single-flavor boxes and all kinds."

[flickofthewrist]

"Just a box of chocolate truffles, then," he decided. "She'll like those too. The richer the better. I've gotta get her some other stuff but the chocolates'll be a good start."

And the hope that she wouldn't come into this store and see an older, handsomer self.

[shapethecentury]

"The ladies love chocolates, it's true," Bucky said, as she sifted through a few more boxes of truffles before he found the one boasting to be the richest of them all. (Really, it was also a convenient reason not to look at Flick for a moment because it was creeping him out.) "This should be good."

[flickofthewrist]

"I'll take them both," he decided, looking down at the chocolates and then the counter and then at his wallet. "And we'll stop there since I don't wanna go overboard and give her a cavity."

Did Shadowhunters have dentists?

[shapethecentury]

"With this quality chocolate, she should be reasonably impressed." And he was going to stop that thought there before it went anywhere inappropiate, because he was pretty sure these people were still in school.

Because he'd spent several hours last week just figuring out the cash register, he rang up the chocolates with minimal fumbling, then rattled off the total.

[flickofthewrist]

"That would be my hope," he said, coughing a few times and looking up at Bucky again. "Impress and enjoy and all that."

Shut up, Flick.

[shapethecentury]

Yes, shut up, Flick. Bucky really didn't need to hear about the girlfriends of people who resembled him enjoying anything.

"Do you want a bag with your purchases?"

[flickofthewrist]

"No," he told Bucky, tossing some cash across the counter and picking up the purchases. "Thanks for the help, Candyman."

[shapethecentury]

"Yeah, pleasure meeting you too, pal," Bucky said. A bit more dryly than he should have, as a customer service person, but see if he cared. "Have a good day and all."

He hit more of the right note with that one.

[flickofthewrist]

Flick just nodded before hurriedly getting out of there and that strange situation.

He totally had the better face.

[shapethecentury]

He did not.

But at least he'd distracted Bucky for a while. Because now? He had to go back to trying to distract himself with re-rpicing the Valentine's candy and re-stocking the shelves.

[nuclear_snide]

Oh, look - the new guy who hadn't believed Bob about things! Bob wondered how he was doing.

He walked in through the door and peered over James's shoulder, then smirked at the hearts. "Oh, I like those. Much better than the usual boring ones."

[shapethecentury]

Bucky jumped, startled. "What –– how the hell did I not hear you come in?"

Yeah, he was going to fixate on that rather than offer any remark in return.

[nuclear_snide]

"I'm light on my feet," Bob answered, giving him a smug grin. "So, how are you settling in?"

[shapethecentury]

"Okay, I suppose," Bucky replied, trying to regain his composure. "Saw some kid who looked eerily like me earlier, but other than that..."

He shrugged.

[nuclear_snide]

"That's to be expected, I suppose, when worlds collide," Bob said overdramatically. "Or at least when they meet. Or are you still not believing that?"

[shapethecentury]

"I still don't know what that means."

Well, no. He had some inklings, some idea, just from everything he'd seen so far. But it'd still take a while for him to fully get there.

[nuclear_snide]

"Have you figured out what year it is yet?" Bob asked.

[shapethecentury]

"Well, I know there's something wrong with it," Bucky admitted, "and that there are production dates on a lot of products here that don't make any sense."

[nuclear_snide]

"I'd say you should pick up a paper, but...well." Bob shrugged dismissively. "Have you seen the internet yet?" Or a computer, even?

[shapethecentury]

"The what net?"

That'd be a no. But he had figured out the cash register!

[nuclear_snide]

That was progress of a sort!

"You should have someone show you," Bob said. "There's usually somebody at the coffee shop with a laptop or tablet." He grinned. "It could be a great ice-breaker. Just go up to anyone with a flat metal or glass thing and ask them to show you the internet."