Turtle & Canary; Monday [11/09].

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer's first order of business when she got into the store that day was to make sure the whole candy situation had managed to balance itself out, which it had, which was good, at least until December when she was pretty sure something similar would happen, but probably with candy canes and chocolate Santas rather than candy corn and chocolate bars.

Her second order of business was to figure out whatever shenanigans Apu was going to dedicate himself to that day and put a stop to them, or at least rein them in a little, but there actually weren't any, and he was mostly just giving the store a good sweep for the day, so that was nice and easy.

Her third order of business was to check her emails and confirm with delight that some suppliers had gotten back to her and, why, yes, she was interested in beginning to stock their dairy products, which meant they would soon be adding purple and green milks to their shelves. Was there a demand for such colored milks? No. But thanks to a conversation she'd had, she now felt like she was being very proactive toward the moment when there might eventually be one.

All in all, a pretty good day, as she set to the fourth order of business which was...actual orders. The Squishy flavors weren't even weird, which was always just a nice little extra on a decent day.

Today's Squishy Flavors
Cherry Cola
Blue Raspberry
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

Comments

[my_own_advocate]

Right. Apologies where apologies were due.

Lucifer had a large gift basket under one arm, filled with a host of jello-related items and a rather large quantity of pink peonies.

He cleared his throat at the entrance to the store, then... went in.

"Miss Smith," he called. "I'd like to speak to you."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Well, that definitely took what was seeming like an almost worryingly normal kind of day on a dramatic turn toward the unexpected, didn't it? Summer emerged from whatever handwavy aisle she was currently taking stock, stopped to blink a moment at the basket and the abundance of peonies, and then....just blinked again.

Considering he hadn't exactly liked to speak to her since pretty much the Umbrella Analogy (and, she felt, probably well before that, even...), and she hadn't exactly made any designs to speak to him since he got back...

"Mr. Morningstar," she managed at least a greeting back, not sure where she planned to take it after that, but wound up with just a basic, unobjectional truth: "This is a surprise."

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer hoisted the massive basket up with a grin that was, if you looked very closely, maybe a little bit sheepish. "I realize it has been some time," he said, "But we got into an argument several thousand years ago and I felt some redress was in order."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer wasn't really sure argument was quite the word for it--she couldn't remember anything being thrown or blown up, but, then again, she realized her measure for this sort of thing was a little skewed--but she wasn't about to look a gift basket in the mouth by nitpicking.

Especially when this actually did seem pretty nice, and it was hard to not really melt at least a little at it.

"You know a 'sorry I got all pissy at you' would have worked fine, too, right?" she offered, reaching out to relieve him of the basket, since she couldn't help feeling that the sooner he was freed from the mere idea of the manual labor involved in holding it, the better. "But this is...this is great. I will...happily take this, too..."

[my_own_advocate]

"Oh, nonsense," said Lucifer, who had no sense of proportion whatsoever, Summer, sorry, and let her take it. "Turns out I was in denial about hating myself at the time and I may have left a trail of misery and destruction in my wake as a result. Clearly my comments were unwarranted."

To be fair, he barely remembered it, but it definitely felt like a self-hatred kind of thing...

[somethingwithturquoise]

The basket was even more unweildy than Summer had expected, so she made quick work out of getting it to the counter so she could set it down, and that also gave her a chance to scope out the contents a little closer, briefly, before her attention shifted back to Lucifer with a somewhat withering look.

She opened her mouth to say something along the lines of Denial? About hating yourself? YOU?!?! Never!, got as far as taking the breath required to fuel it with the right amount of sarcasm, but then it faltered, she closed her mouth again, and the breath could only be used a small sigh and considered the flowers.

"Well," she said instead, and sincerely, too, "thank you. This is actually...really nice, Lucifer."

She didn't know what the hell to do with it (emotionally, that is; she totally already had plans for the rest of it, obviously), but it was nice.

[my_own_advocate]

"I'm glad you like it," Lucifer said, sincerely, and grinned. "I mean, I didn't want to type-cast you as merely a lover of jello, but on the other hand, I have missed your creativity in the field."

Beat.

"Either way, I'm sorry."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Me, too," Summer offered, although she didn't really mean it for the so-called argument as she did sort of just...everything, and just as much for herself as for him, but, y'know. Whatever.

She grinned now, too, though, taking a moment lean in and enjoy the scent of one of the peonies. "Good to know that not even LA can hold a candle to my jello genius, too."

[my_own_advocate]

"It's rather a lot of hype-chasing in the LA jello scene," Lucifer assured her. "They lack your willingness to innovate recklessly."

[somethingwithturquoise]

And that definitely knocked the grin off-kilter into a smirk.

"Which I something I try to carry over into all aspects of life," she mused. "Maybe that's the real different. It's more than just jello; it's a whole state of being.

"Of course," she added, which she felt was pretty in line with the whole recklessness, "you know this now means you're going to have to stop by this Wednesday and have some."

[my_own_advocate]

"I will," Lucifer assured her. "I would have done so earlier, but I've been dealing with a bit of a groove situation recently, and it hasn't been great for my clarity of mind."

Until he'd accidentally wound up platonically dating his best friend's boyfriend, but he was making a point not to think about that. At all. On any level.

"But! It's time for a new leaf."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer couldn't help wondering how long that might last, but...good on him for trying!

"One that includes elaborate gift basket apologies, apparently," she observed.

"Not a complaint, by the way," she added, her smile encouraging as well as amused. "That's a good leaf."

[my_own_advocate]

"Thank you," Lucifer said. "Frankly I'm glad this worked out. The last time I tried to give a woman a gift it ended spectacularly awfully."

He waved at the basket. "Hopefully this is a sign my inadvertent wrecking spree is at an end."

[somethingwithturquoise]

Summer gave a little nod, as if she was glad to do her part in tying a knot on that, no matter how doubtful she was that it would actually hold.

Look, she just really didn't have a good track record with devils really holding their own on the whole reconcilliation thing, so any optimism about any of this would be cautious at best.

And then:

"You don't honestly expect to say something like 'it ended spectacularly awfully' and not have it result in me dying to know details, do you? Or at least a general summary."

[my_own_advocate]

"Well, I was dating a woman who was sexually voracious," Lucifer said, "While working with the detective, who is very buttoned-up, so to speak. I ordered one a printer with an apology note and the other a sex doll to play with, and well, the orders may have gotten a bit... switched up..."

[somethingwithturquoise]

"That is...surprisingly tamer than what I was expecting," Summer admitted, "although I'll be honest, I don't know exactly what I was expecting."

She did have some pretty high bars to meet for what could be considered 'spectcularly awful,' though.

"Bet that must have been fun to smooth over, though."

And there was one detail that kind of stuck out.

"Why a printer? Like, a computer printer?"

[my_own_advocate]

"It's practical, office-oriented, which the detective enjoys, and I felt it made a statement...?" Lucifer offered.

[somethingwithturquoise]

"So," Summer ventured, "you didn't even, like, destroy her printer or ruin it in a way that would have necessitated it being replaced? I mean, it was probably a really nice printer, too, there's no way you'd give a sub-par printer. The kind of printer almost anyone would be glad to have. So then that just makes me wonder if she ever even got the printer, or was the woman you were dating all like 'hey, now, here's something I didn't realize I even needed in my life right now, a nice upgrade to my home office' and, like, kept it for herself?"

These were the kinds of details Summer found compelling in a good story, shhhh.

[my_own_advocate]

"I don't think Eve really knows what to do with a printer," Lucifer ventured, "She does hail from the dawn of your species. She only returned recently."