Wonka's Sweets Shoppe | Monday

[shapethecentury]

Today, there was a sale on lime green jelly beans.

Why?

Because that was all there'd been in the new shipments that had arrived during the night. No chocolates, no marshmallows, no nothing. Just jelly beans. Lime green. And they didn't even taste like lime! They tasted like –– it was a fruit, Bucky could tell you that much, but it wasn't lime. No sir.

He'd already been on hold for 45 minutes now, trying to get in touch with a representative at the company who shipped him these things so he could sort this out.

A HELP WANTED sign hung in the window, and not just because of the jelly bean situation.

Probably.

(open!)

Comments

[imafuturist]

Tony actually passed by the shop on his hunt for coffee. And then doubled back once it registered that it was open and someone was inside.

And then engaged in a little moderately brooding watching through the window before going on in.

"If a candy store had been walking distance from my school growing up, I think it would have been packed. Have you considered expanding to new areas?" he asked cheerfully.

[shapethecentury]

"I've considered abandoning it entirely," Bucky replied, rather emphatically, from behind the counter. Which was stacked with packets of jelly beans, yes. He nodded his greetings – after a vague, frustrated look at the phone. "Hey, Mr. Stark."

[imafuturist]

"Tony," he corrected, looking at all the jelly beans. "Mr. Barnes."

[shapethecentury]

Yeah, no, sorry, you were going to be Mr. Stark until Bucky decided otherwise, Tony.

"Care to buy some jelly beans?"

[imafuturist]

This would end in some sort of horrible passive aggressive contest. It really would. Though it sort of helped the cognitive dissonance of this version of Barnes vs the one he knew. Which... okay, didn't help his guilt issues at all.

"From your surplus of them?"

[shapethecentury]

Bucky sighed.

And shrugged like he didn't even know what to do. "Someone messed up the order. All we got in this week was these things."

[imafuturist]

"Hulk green jelly beans," Tony replied, picking up one of the bags to look at it. "Maybe you can claim they're from the moon we're orbiting now."

If they were, they'd probably explode. Because EXPLOSIONS!!!

[shapethecentury]

"Maybe." He wished he'd been more of a marketing sort of person. Kind of. "It's worth a shot, anyway," he added. "'Cause it ain't looking like anyone's going to be fixing this mistake anytime soon."

Stupid 'please wait, you're on hold' message.

[imafuturist]

"Ah, the joys of business ownership," Tony replied with a grin. "At least it's not random fruit in drawers."

He was still confused by that at the shop.

[shapethecentury]

Bucky scratched the back of his head while his eyes crinkled. Yeah, he wasn't entirely buying that.

Because:

"Well, they weren't in drawers, but there were oranges all around the store that one time."

[imafuturist]

"I blame the previous owners." Who were mostly him. "Sometimes I reach for screwdriver and instead I get a mango."

[shapethecentury]

"... I met Mr. Wonka, once." You know, the one whose name was out front. "Y'know, I think that could explain close to every ridiculous problem I've ever had here."

[imafuturist]

"That and the island being an interdimensional nexus that may have developed some kind of sentience." Thanks, Tony. "And I thought home could be weird."

[shapethecentury]

"Sometimes this place really makes me miss home."

And sometimes he had to admit that, for all that the 'orbiting a moon' thing was exciting for the secret nerd that he was.

[imafuturist]

"Well, technically we have the same home with a few temporal differences." A beat. "And a few universe to the right of center."

[shapethecentury]

"Hey, things are normal back home."

For now. He was aware that that was probably only true for now.

[imafuturist]

"Of course," Tony said earnestly.

[shapethecentury]

"They're normal right now, anyway," Bucky amended, with the kind of shrug that suggested he was not entirely sure. "Normal enough."

[imafuturist]

"Strange isn't that bad," Tony suggested. "Keeps you on your toes."

[smilestopscars]

Ooh, a sign. And here Ezra had been bumming around, uncertain about whether he should commit to Fandom enough for a job. He traipsed in.

"Help wanted?"

No, he wasn't just checking whether his reading skills were doing okay.

[shapethecentury]

Lord help him, Bucky's first thought was, indeed, that he was going to help with the jelly beans.

Sorry, he was a little preoccupied with that. He got his brain in the right gear after a second, though. "Yeah, like for a job? Definitely. Come on in, pal."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra nodded – whether for the invitation, or to confirm that he was here for a job – and wandered further into the store.

"Is it basic customer service? Because I have an excellent track record with that."

[shapethecentury]

"Well..."

Bucky gestured at all the jelly beans. Allll of them.

"Sometimes it's dealing with things like this. Stock errors. Though I guess those'll stay more my problem than yours."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve walked in and smirked. "Problem with the order, Buck?"

No freaking kidding, Rogers.

[shapethecentury]

"Shut up or I'll make you buy half this crap, Steve."

Bucky was glad to see him, but, seriously. Stupid jelly beans.

[heroic_jawline]

"I don't like the green ones," Steve said immediately.

This was...possibly true, but it wasn't like there'd been enough candy in their childhood to really form an opinion.

[shapethecentury]

Yeah, Bucky was kinda giving him a look for that one.

"Come on. Like you know that."

[heroic_jawline]

Steve laughed. "Maybe I've spent years testing candy."

Maybe no.

[shapethecentury]

"Pal, you wouldn't look like that if you had."

He was pretty sure. Preeetty sure.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve burst out laughing. "You saying I'd be looking more like Tommy Murphy, Buck?"

Tommy had been the roundest kid for five blocks.

[shapethecentury]

Dammit, Steve. Bringing up stuff like he wasn't supposed to be able to tell the difference between the you here and the you back home.

Bucky laughed. Almost seemed to surprise himself with it, not that he'd been holding back. (Sometimes this was just weird, y'know.) "Yeah, Stevie, that's exactly what I'm saying."

[heroic_jawline]

"Well, I run now," Steve said with a grin. "For exercise. Not self-defense."

[shapethecentury]

"Yeah, and you're still not eating your weight in candy."

[heroic_jawline]

"Not eating my weight in green jellybeans, that's for sure," Steve teased. "Not sure that's gonna be true for you."

[shapethecentury]

"Hey, I've been managing this place for over a year and I have never eaten my weight in anything, pal," Bucky pointed out. "I sample, I don't overindulge."

[heroic_jawline]

"That's probably because no one's dared you to," Steve mused.

[shapethecentury]

And that was in part because Bucky was uncharacteristically a goddamned hermit on this island.

But never mind that right now.

"Hey, I don't go for dares like that."

Sure.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve snorted. "Then that makes you a lot smarter than the Bucky I know, who once ate a live goldfish for a quarter."

There'd been a girl involved. Of course.

[shapethecentury]

"That was different!"

Because there'd been a girl involved. He really hadn't met many girls here.

"And disgusting, I have to add."

[heroic_jawline]

"Well, yeah," Steve said with a laugh. "It was a live fish, Buck. And didn't she drop you like two days later?"