Spencer's, Thursday Afternoon

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana stared at the building in front of her. This was not her her beautiful storefront. This was not her beautiful shop. And, obviously, she knew that could happen, but it was still a bit shocking to realize that it had happened to her.

Somehow, inside was even more puzzling than the outside. It was still filled near to bursting with things she barely recognized and couldn't imagine wanting anyway, but now it was compounded by being cheap and garish as well.

And the less said about the back of the store (link nsfw), the better.

At this point, she almost wanted one of the creepy TV-heads to come into the store. She just wanted to talk. Honest.

Masks
If they turn out to be cursed, don't say you weren't warned.

The Infinite Consortium Spencer's Gifts is open!

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[chef_chocobro]

While yestersay's respite in helping to watch the little one and celebrate Prompto's birthday had been very welcome and a little bit needed after the horror that had been Long John Silver's (don't even get him started on the offense that the kitchen at this Cheesecake Factory was likely to be, either), he found himself engaged in a bit of stress baking. Which was incredibly helpful, even if it did leave him rather wondering what he was planning on doing if Prompto and Liz's hope that whatever was going on would be quite over by the weekend and almost envied them, a bit, for their plans to head out to calmer waters for the time being.

And now he had incredible cupcakes and no one to really appreciate them, so he had spent some time painstakingly setting up an attempt to take a good picture (the angle and the focus were terrible, really, but the spirit and the effort had been there) to send over to Liliana's phone, with an accompanying voice text.

"Darling, I've made cupcakes, if you're interested."

He had very little doubt that she would be, but he'd be damned if he had to try and navigate through these streets right now if he didn't have to.

[deathsmajesty]

Foolish as it was, as by this time even Liliana couldn't deny that their dalliance was becoming something more, she still got a slight thrill every time he reached out to her. Liliana was no stranger to male attention, but it so often felt like dealing with those grasping TV creeps, even when she'd wanted the attention. Not so with Ignis; it was like he alone had discovered the art of offering without making it a demand.

"My shop has become a collection of cheap knickknacks and garish fashion, with the additional insult of inflatable tits. Cupcakes may be all that stand between peace and the absolute annihilation of this part of the island." He could hear music pounding behind her; something loud with drums and guitars.

[chef_chocobro]

"I would be compelled to make haste to deliver you from such horrors, but, by the sound of it, I might be doing that part of the island a favor if I didn't..."

Ignis was already shifting through his containers to locate the one best for cupcake transportation.

He also tried to time it so that, by the time she finishes listening to his first response, the next one would hit.

"Anything else I should bring?"

[deathsmajesty]

"Don't tease, my darling. If I hadn't just undergone the tribulations of the construction of my ballroom, it might already be too late." There was a complicated knot of emotions underlying her words, one hard to untangle between the music and the recording. "I don't suppose you have a wine that goes well with cupcakes?

Perhaps it was Liliana's turn to get drunk and ramble at Ignis.

[chef_chocobro]

Fair would be fair.

"I should be insulted that you would even have to ask."

And, were it anyone else, Ignis actually might have been, but, with this new aspect to consider, he went through some of the options he had on hand to try and decide if he should attempt to brave that new Whole Foods that Turtle & Canary had become. The markups alone were insulting, and, with Prompto probably just getting settled in New Jersey by now, he doubted he could get away with using that employee discount of his...

"I'll be on my way, though do forgive me if it takes me a bit longer. All these changes have been wreaking havoc on my usual sense of everything around here, I'm afraid."

[deathsmajesty]

It would be an interesting time for sure. A Liliana with her guard down, surely nobody was interested in that.

"I'll be waiting." Normally, that kind of message would sound like a threat, from Liliana particularly, as she had never been a patient woman. Somehow, though, she had made it sound like a promise.

[chef_chocobro]

And at least when Ignis did finally manage to make it over to that side of the island, with far more attempted interruptions about credit cards and rewards programs in which that cane became helpful in ways other than avoiding unexpected new curbs, he had no trouble actually finding Liliana's shop, you could practically hear that music from the street. So that was definitely going to be a very good time for him and made him feel much more confident in his decision to actually bring both a Sauvignon blanc that would actually compliment the cupcakes as well as a Valpolicella that would better compliment Liliana's taste.

As he entered the shop, he thought, not for the first time this week, that he was at least spared the offense of having to actually look at whatever exactly was going on around the island.

He did, however, abandon all hope of actually being able to locate her in all this noise, and called out her name. "Liliana?"

[deathsmajesty]

And that was why she--she appreciated you, Ignis. That thoughtfulness right there.

"Huh? Oh! Ignis! Stay there, I'm coming!" she called from one of the aisles, none of which lined up with where the shelves of the Infinite Consortium had been.

A moment later, he could sense her by his side, the music unable to mask her perfume the way it did her movements, or rob her of her presence the way it had robbed her name of its power in his mouth. "I was trying to see if I could find where this damn cacophony was coming from," she said, twining her arms around his shoulders, mouth close to his ear - all the better for him to hear her, surely, "but as far as I can tell, the answer is the bloody air around us," she finished with a grimace.

[chef_chocobro]

The cacophony of sound and smell of this place felt like an assault to his senses; Ignis was left wondering if it would be even worse with a visual component added to it, or if that would somehow dull the input of the rest of it. No matter; he tensed, slightly, in realizing that he couldn't track her (or anyone's, really) movement in the now unfamiliar, but it melted away at the touch of her hand, her voice in his ear, his hand moving to slide around her hip to better anchor himself to something.

And that was it, clearly, nothing more, just helping to get his grounding in unknown territory. That's all, nothing to see here.

The subsequent kiss that followed might be a bit harder to pass off as just foundational, but he'd likely insist upon that, as well.

"Some sort of sound system, perhaps?" he suggested, more quickly than he'd like, because, gods, that music was obnoxious, wasn't it? "Behind the counter, I'd guess."

[deathsmajesty]

That kiss served as an anchor as well, actually. What he had been able to pick up from her was agitation, but she calmed during their kiss, losing some of that frenetic energy had had her prowling about, metaphorical tail lashing. And when he pulled away, her voice was less strident, body less tense.

So, yes, foundational as well, at least for her.

"It's quieter in the back," she said. "If you don't mind settling in amongst more of this cheap trash, we'll be able to actually have a conversation. And while sitting."

Since apparently Spencer's felt that its employees needed to stand all day to look professional. Because nothing said professionalism like working a cash register behind a shelf of stainless steel nipple rings.

[chef_chocobro]

Tuesday had been a pretty good indication of what Ignis had to think of this alleged perception of 'professionalism' that had been going around lately.

And though he may have pulled away from the kiss, his arm was staying firmly where it was around Liliana, thank you very much.

"Better to enjoy our cupcakes and wine that way, as well."

[deathsmajesty]

There was a brief second when Liliana considered going over and locking the door since she wouldn't be in the front of the it, but then she remembered that she barely cared about the merchandise when it was the proper store, never mind when it was this. If somebody wanted to come in and empty this place out, they'd be doing her a favor.

Fuck off, Loss Prevention, you and your video camera on the cash register only.

Instead, she lead him around to the back, a circuitous route because the aisles had been set up to look 'cool' and 'hip' and 'maximize profits' and with positively no regard for things like 'ease' or 'taste' or 'accessibility.'

"I'm going to burn this entire thing to the ground," she announced once they'd escaped the labyrinth of cheap sex novelty items, closing the door behind them. "Whatever it is that's causing it, I'm going to burn it."

Rotting was too good for it.