fandomtownies | Turtle & Canary; Monday [12/11].

Today was, apparently, National Stretching Day, and, to celebrate, Apu had decided that, on the hour, everyone would take a five minute stretching break to really get their limbs limber and their joints loosened. And, at first, Summer thought that was a stupid idea, she worked out, she was plenty limber and loose these days, but as the day progressed, she sort of gave it a try a few times and....okay, it was nice to stop and stretch for a few minutes, especially after hunching over a clipboard or her laptop as she worked on her usual weekly inventory, ordering, and payroll stuff.

But if Apu was nearby when she was stretching, she was going to pretend she wasn't, that she was just reaching for something or that she dropped something, or whatever excuse she could think of to prove that she was not condoning this or participating.

But honestly? This one wasn't such a bad idea, and when more latkes showed up, she nudged them off to the side a little so if she wanted one, she'd have to stretch for it.

Today's Squishy Flavors
Bagel
Noodle Rings
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

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"Summer, darling," Liliana said, sauntering into the store with a smile, "I need decorations for this upcoming festival, but I've no idea what half of them are for. Might I entrust myself to your hands to get a rundown?"

There was, admittedly, a part of Summer that wanted to remind Liliana of just how google worked, but, yeah, okay, she'd be actually helpful today, why not? She gave a glance over to the very clear and almost obnoxiously aggressive holiday sections of the store right near the front and then looked back over to Liliana.

"Sure," she said. "Anywhere in particular we should start, or should I just hit you with a wall of text?"

She didn't even know what half of them were called, Summer, and using Google was a skill that she had not yet entirely mastered. (Why were all the top answers always trying to sell her things, most of it trash?)

She held up a box of Christmas ornaments on hooks. "Whyever would anyone wear earrings this size? They can't be comfortable. How did that even become a custom?"

Another reason Google was hard: you needed to know the right questions to ask.

All the more reason to just google it, because how did Liliana expect to get any kind of savvy in it by relying on other people to answer all her questions for her?

And then Liliana pretty much answer that question for Summer.

"Ohmygod," she said, "I love that interpretation, but, yeah, no, do not wear those as earrings, at least not with those hooks, like, I'm sure that would be the fast track to all sorts of nasty infections. But, no, good question, those are ornaments for a Christmas tree."

And the nice thing about having a store that was definitely all decked out for the holidays although it wasn't always explicitly mentioned because there was some significant real life trauma tied in with retail and the holidays that had no place in pretendy fun time games was that Summer could easily sweep a hand over to several boxes of fake trees, or the tree set up by the Squishy machine, or the many things with trees just on them, to further explain.

"It's an old pagan ritual stolen by Christians because they were a big fan of doing that way back when where you go and you get a tree and you deck it out with lights and ornaments and other things, and under the tree is where all the presents go for Christmas morning."

And lo, the inherent conflict within Liliana at basically all times when dealing with new things on this plane: not wanting to appear ignorant in front of others versus not knowing which sources were trustworthy. She had already discovered some factual errors on Google (ChatGP was a plague).

"Oh!" she exclaimed and here was another reason to ask in person, because now Summer got to see Liliana light up like the proverbial Christmas tree and even if she didn't find it the enchanting prospect others might, it was nice to have made someone happy with a simple answer, wasn't it? "You decorate trees to make them bright and colorful and then put them in your houses?"

"That's right," said Summer, with a nod, and, yeah, okay, she had to admit, the response out of Liliana did seem to pull a pleased little smirk out of her, because Summer did actually really like being helpful and useful, like, way too much and Liliana made it actually kind of hard to be mad at her about the whole 'sucking half the life out of the guy she was sleeping with, albeit very justifiably' thing. "And you usually put it in your window so that people passing by can be all impressed with your holiday cheer, unless you're like me and you have a cat that will try to eat literally any plant you try to have in your apartment, even plastic ones, and you know what?"

Summer's phone seemed to appear out of no where.

"I wonder if I can download some kind of holographic Christmas tree projection, because, yeah, good fucking luck trying to send that crashing down all over my living room in the middle of the night, Pancakes...."

She hadn't caused any lasting damage! Call it all water under the bridge. ~~Sure, Liliana never would were their positions reversed, but Liliana was a hypocrite. Be a better person than Liliana was, Summer!~~

"The rooms in my house are generally enclosed," Liliana said, since it had been built long before the phrased 'open floor plan' had been invented and therefore had lots of beautiful doors that could be closed whenever they weren't occupied by someone willing to keep an eye on Josu so he didn't end up attacking the tree. She also had a steward she could task with that easily enough, but he did tend to have other duties ~~as much as Ignis would be happy to usurp some~~.

She looked at the fake trees in the boxes and some of her excitement did dim a little. "Do you all use fake trees, then?" she asked. They seemed useful, of course, and tidy, but one couldn't beat the scent of fresh pine and spruce...

~~No promises.~~

Summer shrugged a little. "It really depends how much of a traditionalist you are, I guess," she said. "Most people these days probably like the convenience of a plastic tree, because it's quick, it's easy, bada-bing, bada-boom, you're not sweeping up needles all winter. But a lot of people will swear by the real stuff, that it's just not the same unless it's a real tree. My dad's kind of a stickler like that, actually, but he gets really weird about Christmas, it's a whole thing. It's really a matter of preference. And, I mean, you definitely read as a 'real or nothing' type."

That, or a real Halloween-Doesn't-Have-to-End-In-October, Tim Burton-adjacent, Gothic-Christmas type, but Summer chose her targeted flattery wisely.

Indeed she had!

And there was another reason to demand only a real tree, of course. The sensory experience was important and some canned 'pine scent spray' was certainly no competition for a real thing. It also helped that it would be someone else sweeping up the pine needles and keeping it watered.

"So there are places where one could find a real tree," she said with a nod, making a note to Google where one such place was because, see, she did do that for herself on occasion. "And these things hang on the boughs? Are there other things that go on as well? I have nothing so I'll have to buy everything, of course."

And, see? Another reason to not just Google 'Christmas tree decorations.' Think of the sale, Summer.

Turtle & Canary; Monday [12/11].

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