fandomtownies | Turtle & Canary; Sunday [09/09].

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Turtle & Canary; Sunday [09/09].

Summer was feeling a bit in a funk when she came into the shop that day, and when she tried to think about why, she realized that she'd probably just been working too much. She hadn't really had the chance to do anything really fun since she got back. Just work, work, work. Teach, teach, teach. Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes. Well, the pancakes were obviously fun, but it was all part of a routine and she'd gotten mired into one and she needed to shake it up a little.

Obviously, she needed to have a party.

But not, like, one of her crack-open-a-keg, whip-up-some-jello-shots, try-to-flirt-with-the-cutest-boy parties of old. That was High School Summer. And that Summer was gone, replaced by Grown-Ass Woman who Owned Her Own Store Summer. So that meant a grown-ass woman party, so, like, she didn't know, a fancy dinner party or something.

The idea took traction when she got to the store and, in her downtime, started Googling ideas (in between Googling 'How to soundproof apartment walls,' something she didn't realize she'd need to worry about until Tuesday night), and putting together an idea. She briefly considered a theme based around the awful, terrible, amazing Twitter feed Captain Rogers told her about, but she want to make friends, not drive them away (though she was pretty sure BDG and Hera would eat some of that shit right up). Maybe she could decide on a theme later, sort out the guest list for now. BDG and Hera, obviously, Dr. Lecter and Jono, Cap and Mr. Stark, but those were all couples (shut up, they were), she didn't want to be a seventh wheel at her own party, so some floaters she could think of: that Kaidan guy, the Pastor and Fjord maybe, probably Amaya...

Looking over the list she'd compiled so far, Summer frowned. She really needed to make more lady friends, too.

Eventually she just kind of got frustrated or depressed for one reason or another and then remembered that, oh, yeah, she was at work, and actually had, like, a job to do. So it was back to it, with the occasional dip into Pinterest for inspiration.

~~Now Under New Management!~~
Now Hiring!

Ask us about our special orders!

Today's Squishy Flavors
Cucumber Sandwich
Filet Mignon
Red

Today's Jello Flavor
Creamy Triple Citrus

Turtle & Canary is open!

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Carter arrived sometime in the afternoon, taking a break from his work at the church to come and visit. With him, he carried a smallish box.

"Hello, Summer," he said, smiling. "Has it been a busy day?"

"Oh, hey, Pastor! Not really, no," Summer said ~~ironically, because IRL was swamped!~~, shrugging a little and offering a smile back. She had to admit, him coming into the store was a sight she did not at all mind. "How's it going? Nothing scared you off yet, huh?"

And him totally unaware of his good looks!

"Nothing has happened to scare me off yet," he said, his smile widening. "Though now I must admit to being curious as to what might do so."

Carter set the box he carried on the counter.

"I owe you an apology, as well, for missing your class this week."

And that, like, literally made it even worse.

"Now that's a 'be careful what you wish for' kind of statement if I've ever heard one," said Summer, who really had heard (and said) far too many of those kinds of statements if she were honest about it. Her eyes did drift down to the box a little curiously, and she shrugged again. "No need to apologize, though. Community center classes are supposed to be casual; it's not like anyone's grading you or anything. We just went over Twitter, and I'd be happy to show you about that if you're still interested in learning it."

"Am I right that you're not talking about the noise that birds make?" Carter asked, chuckling. "As that is what comes to mind for me."

He gently pushed the box in her direction.

"For you," he said, "no matter if you do not need an apology."

Carter had felt he had to give one and, in the box, were two dozen homemade peanut butter cookies.

"Not the noise that birds back," Summer confirmed, "though I'm sure some people would find Twitter just as obnoxious, and you definitely didn't have to do that!"

But the pleased expression coloring her face a little pink made it clear that she still appreciated it.

"Thank you, Pastor. That's...incredibly thoughtful of you. Completely unnecessary," she hastened to add to make sure that was clear, "but...still thoughtful."

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to open it here or not, though, but she did pick the box up, giving it the gentlest of shakes. "What is it?"

"Cookies," he said, smiling. "I thought it appropriate, given how you first helped me."

And it was one of the few things he actually knew she liked, rather than just guessing.

"Awww!" Summer had to laugh a little. "That's so great! Thank you! Again! And also again you really shouldn't have, but I appreciate the thought and I will definitely enjoy these cookies."

She hoped. She had no idea if they were any good, but, hey, no students had died from his other cookies that she'd heard of yet, so it was probably a pretty safe bet they were palatable.

"Did you class like them, then? Did I steer you right?"

Carter was not a chef, not the way that Hannibal was, but he was very good at the things he did make.

Palatable was faint praise.

"You're welcome," he said easily, "and yes, they did enjoy them. I did as you suggested and asked for allergy information as well, but other than one lad saying he really liked Oreos, no one seemed to have any."

"Now I just kind of wonder who the Oreo freak is," Summer admitted with a laugh. "I mean, he's not wrong, Oreos are pretty great, but I like that he included that information when you brought up allergies."

"I assume that they're some sort of cookie, but I've never actually heard of them before."

Maybe he'd buy a box, just to try them out.

"He's one of the, ah, newer students," Carter said, "though I could be wrong about that. Everyone is new to me."

"We've got 'em," Summer offered, "in about fifty different unnecessary varieties, but if you wanted to try them, I'd recommend only the double-stuffed. Or start with the classic, so you don't spoil yourself on the good stuff first."

She tilted her head a little thoughtfully. "Have you had a chance to get out there and meet many people yet?"

"I... haven't," Carter admitted. "I've been busy with my work at the church."

And he was also a bit shy, and hated to impose, and... well... a lot of that.

"I'll try the Oreos, though, since they come so highly recommended."

"And on the house," Summer offered, because she could do that. And she sort of felt bad that he felt he should bring her cookies just for skipping class, which, honestly, she'd done plenty of times herself.

"What all do you do over there, anyway?" she had to ask. This place didn't exactly seem...uh...religious.

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly," he said, softening his refusal with a smile. "And there's plenty to do at the church. It has been neglected for quite some time, so I've been putting the building to rights, making sure everything is clean and in good repair, as well as looking after the graveyard."

Yeah, Summer should have figured he'd have refused the offer. She thought about insisting, but...well, she could give him this one.

"At least a discount, then," she offered. Compromise! "Since even you still consider yourself so new. And it...does seem like a beautiful building..."

She was starting to regret asking, really. This was a little out of her element, considering probably her most religious experiences involved working for the literal devil and being the high-priestess of a cult that worship giant planet-destroying heads in another dimensions...

"A discount," he allowed, and then smiled.

"Do not worry," Carter said, a teasing note entering his voice. "I will not ask how long it has been since you attended a service there."

Oh, good, so she didn't have to answer never. Summer's grin looked more than a little sheepish as she said, "In m defense, I have been back home for the last three months anyway."

"That is a pretty good defense," he allowed, still amused by both her expression and her words. "It would be silly to come here just to attend a service."

But certainly not silly to come back from random Wednesday events in a vague attempt to win a singing fish that would try to kill everyone later...or something. She got to at least miss that last part.

"Exactly," she said. "But maybe I'll have to swing by some time and come see what you've done with the place."

Why? Why did you say that, Summer??

Ino was on a mission from Sparkle!

She... she was still going to pause at the specials, though, because... yeah.

"Do you think a cucumber sandwich squishy would taste okay if had alongside the Jello?"

Summer took a moment to consider it, narrowing her eyes, then tilting her head, then rubbing her chin a little.

"You know..." she slowly concluded, "I think that yes. Yes, they would, especially if you're in the mood for something light...and slightly fancy. You've got the delicate refreshment of the cucumber with the bright sweet-sour of the citrus. That sounds," like she'd completely made it up, "like a winning combination, if you ask me."

Which she had.

Edited 2018-09-09 19:58 (UTC)

"Then I'll try that out," Ino said cheerfully, since at worst it would mean she'd have to stick the Jello in the fridge to eat it later, or give it to Zack. "After I get what I'm looking for."

She cast a glance at the aisles.

"You got anything to hang neon signs up with?"

"Hmmm."

Summer narrowed her eyes for another bout of careful thinking. She'd never needed anything like that, and the stock at this place was in.sane, so she didn't really know off hand, but she eventually just shrugged. "Probably, over in the hardware section. We can go have a look, and if it's not there, we can bug Apu. Are they, like, big signs? Because I think you might need to have to special order those if they are."

"It's just one sign," she said, rocking back on her feet. "About, oh... a meter and a half across and half that wide?"

"Oh, that's not too big," Summer reasoned, after figuring she was getting her attempts to convert to metric in her head....decently enough. "We should definitely have something for that. Come on." She waved her hand a little, moving around the counter to lead the way, though she looked over her shoulder. "Can I ask what the sign's for?"

She shrugged a bit, grinning as she followed.

"For a sign that I stole for Sparkle," Ino admitted shamelessly. "Couldn't figure out how to steal the wall mounts it was attached to in the time I had."

Stealing neon signs from malls was not exactly an easy task.

"Well," Summer snorted, "that's just poor planning."

And, since it always took exactly as long as the narrative dictated to get to any given section of Turtle & Canary, she then swept her arm toward a shelf filled with various offerings of hardware fixtures. "Here we are! Anything here look like it might work?"

Ino laughed.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," she said, looking closely at the fixtures. "I didn't exactly have a lot of time to plan it out!"

"And now I have to ask," said Summer, "what exactly that moment was when the first thing to pop into your head was, 'ooh, yeah, that's the one. I gots to have that sign'?"

"It was... maybe when the mall was already closed and I weren't supposed to be there anyway," Ino admitted, grinning at Summer. "Ain't much point in being good at sneaky if you don't practice, right?"

"I'm not sure the people who originally had the sign would necessarily agree," said Summer, "but at least now I know if any of my signs go missing, where to start looking."

That, or she could just follow the trail of glitter guaranteed to fall off in transit.

"So what does the sign say? That's what I really want to know."

"I wouldn't steal from here," Ino said, fishing her phone out with her hair, while she plucked a few fixtures off the wall, since they looked like they might work. "Bad business, stealing where you live."

She glanced at her phone, as her hair dangled it in front of her face, before it then offered it to Summer.

"See? I had to get it for Sparkle."

Did..did she just...?

Come on, Summer, prehensile hair was like a 2 on your weirdness scale, calm down. She just hadn't been expecting it, okay?

She may have done a little testing flick of her own ponytail before leaning in for a better look.

"Well, okay, I can see what you mean with that one."

Ino had spent literal years working on her hair to get it to do what she wanted with chakra, it was okay, Summer, your hair was fine.

There was a reason Ino's hair was longer than she was tall these days, though, and that was to increase the usefulness of her hair.

"Like, seriously, right? I couldn't resist. And he loves it."

"I still don't think I can be entirely gung-ho about supporting blatant theft," Summer had to admit, though it seemed like quite a hot topic around here lately, "but I do have to give you some props for at least being thoughtful and charitable about it."

Ino tucked her phone away.

"No worries," she said easily. "I ain't inclined to steal often, and if people don't like theft, well, that's not unreasonable. I wouldn't like my things being stolen either."

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Turtle & Canary; Sunday [09/09].

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