Pick Your Poison, Thursday

[witchoftheflesh]

Adrian was refamiliarizing himself with the remaining stock in the store. Pam had clearly been going over everything with a fine-toothed comb and tossing out whatever didn't meet her standards for environmental-friendliness. He could only approve, continuing her work - though rather than tossing anything, he was making two separate piles for her to check over whenever she next came in: the ones he thought should be trashed, and the stuff he thought was worthy to be kept. Still, seemed only right that the final decision be hers.

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Comments

[joan_of_bark]

Pam had been busy breathing new life into the lab upstairs. She didn't come down until noon.

"Adrian," she said, with a brisk nod. "You've been busy."

[witchoftheflesh]

"Afternoon Pam," Adrian said with a friendly wave. "And yes. I like to stay busy. Standing behind the counter all day sounds like a new and inventive form of torture. How've you been?"

[joan_of_bark]

"I've decided to stay for a while," Pam commented, glancing at the piles as she took her last step down the stairs. "But it looks like you've caught on to that."

[witchoftheflesh]

"I figured that it wasn't a terrible practice even if you weren't," Adrian admitted. "There's a lot here that's questionable. And, hey, more room for my family's stock, so win/win for me here."

[joan_of_bark]

"Capitalism," Pam said. The contempt was mostly gruff, old, and resigned. "I'm thinking about planting a sweetbay magnolia tree in the garden. Something we can use that's native and kind to the soil."

Should she talk to him about the fungal creatures? It probably wouldn't hurt. They hadn't come all the way onto the island so far, but if she wanted to avoid people getting hurt...

[witchoftheflesh]

"Capitalism," Adrian agreed with a sigh. "Which isn't actually the worst evil in my world, but definitely takes the number two spot."

And yes, please, Pam. He would really like to know about potential dangers before they came to eat him.

[joan_of_bark]

"I'd put it at the top. It's poisoning our planet," Pam said. She strolled up to the little piles, her eyes trailing over the products.

"So. If I am going to stay, there is something we should talk about."

Well. Because she was going to stay, and because he seemed capable.

[witchoftheflesh]

"And the number one poison in my my world comes from a different source," Adrian said. "Which is why I'm marking it number two for mine. But what's up? Is there a problem with the quality of goods I'm delivering?"

NFB from here

[joan_of_bark]

There was a squirrel sitting at the door. Pam waved her hand at it, and it quickly fled.

"How much do you know about fungi?"

Re: NFB from here

[witchoftheflesh]

Well, this didn't seem to be about his products.

"A complicated question," he replied, eyes tracking over the visible growths on her, "considering how little we know about fungi in general. I'm assuming we're talking mushrooms, rather than yeasts or molds? If you're asking me how much I know about specific varieties of mushrooms, I'm very well-educated about mushrooms of North America, particularly in the Northeast, and Europe, less so beyond those borders. If you're asking me how much do I know about how mushrooms grow and operate, then...still a great deal, and, more importantly, I know that what I think I know can be turned on its head tomorrow with a single new discovery." He laughed softly. "And then we get to try to determine whether this new discovery changes our whole paradigm, or if it's unique to that new species - for a Kingdom that is easily 70 percent unique outliers by volume probably.

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia swanned into the store and--froze. "What's happening?" Where was everything?

[witchoftheflesh]

"We're under new management," Adrian said with a smile. "Hello, Miss Bennet. Pam is removing all the stock that isn't environmentally friendly. So we might be at reduced capacity for a bit, but I'm sure it'll build back up."

He'd already made several phone calls to his family to cut back on the cosmetics and load up on bathbombs and the like.

"Are you looking for something specific?"

[mustbeawitch]

"Now?" Lydia asked, her voice rising in both pitch and volume. "You had to do this now? How am I supposed to take Kitty shopping under these conditions?!"

Wouldn't anybody think of her needs?

[witchoftheflesh]

Honestly, Adrian was more prepared for this than one might suppose. "Don't worry, Miss Bennet," he soothed. "I'll be getting a new shipment of my family's supplies tomorrow and I've asked them to send more bathing and beauty supplies than simple cosmetics. It won't rival the store's old supply but it will be something?"

And maybe she could ask Pam if she could buy the stuff in the trash pile at a discount?

[mustbeawitch]

You wanted her to give Kitty trash? When she was pregnant? Honestly, what was wrong with men?

"This is a disaster!" Lydia cried. Oh, dear God, what if it was all the shops? "I--have to go. Right now," she said, and dashed back out more quickly than she had come.

[witchoftheflesh]

It wasn't in the trash yet! Just in a trash pile!

"I, uh--okay? Good luck?" Adrian said with a bewildered wave.

[totalwildcard]

Because Harley basically never listened to the radio, she had no idea the bath stuff place had changed hands. Obviously, since otherwise she wouldn't have shown up at whatever time of day best avoided clashing with Pam omg. But with her week being the way it was, she was really just looking to re-fill her stash of lovely bath things, like maybe soaking in a bath forever would cure all that was making her brain feel itchy.

Seeing the state of the shelves did not make for a great start to that, however.

"Wait, what's happened with all the merch?"

[witchoftheflesh]

Oh no. Was she also going to storm out yelling about a sister?

"Hi," Adrian said, popping up from where he was cleaning out the bottom shelf of one of the displays. "This place is under new management and so we're cleaning out the inventory that doesn't meet the boss's approval." He held out his hand for a shake. "Adrian Blackwood. Not the new boss, but I can't say she's wrong. Were you looking for something in particular?"

[totalwildcard]

"Aw, witch lady quit? Too bad." Harley had met Margo maybe once? So the briefly very rueful expression really was something, even as quickly as it gave way to something much brighter. "Anyway, Harley Quinn, nice to meetcha!" she continued, with much easy cheer, and a much firmer handshake than people tended to expect from her. "Here for bath bombs!"

And because she was processing things he'd said slightly out of order... Now her eyebrows were climbing up.

"Wait, did you say cleaning out? As in... throwing away?"

She saw opportunity here!

[witchoftheflesh]

"I guess so?" Adrian said with a shrug. "I showed up to work one day and Pam said that she was the new owner."

And Adrian had a long history of not arguing with powerful women. His Aunt Lydia would bury him, his mother would curse him, and he had no idea what his Aunt Muriel would do, but it would probably be worse than anything her sisters could do.

"...I think so? I'm not really sure what she's doing with them. I could see if she'd be willing to sell at a discount? Or just hand them over if she plans to trash them?"

[totalwildcard]

See, that last thing was exactly what Harley had been hoping to hear. So... Too bad that she didn't actually hear it, or anything past a real specific earlier part!

Now the eyebrows were up and the eyes were huge. "Did ya just say Pam?"

[witchoftheflesh]

"Yes," Adrian said with a nod. "Uh, if she has a last name, I haven't caught it."

Apparently that was a thing here, Logan.

[totalwildcard]

"Isley," Harley said without even thinking, right before her expression twisted into a grimace of frustration. "Fuck! Seriously, Pam, the bath store?!"

That part was obviously not addressed to Adrian.

[witchoftheflesh]

"Uhhh, you two know each other?" Adrian asked.

Good call, Adrian. Way to show off your witchy perception skills there.

[totalwildcard]

"Yeah," Harley replied, with some feeling. Don't ask what feeling, though. Her gaze darted around for a second, and then-- "I gotta go."

She turned on her heel, abruptly, to head for the door.

Though unlike Lydia, she also perhaps swiped something off the sparsely filled shelves as she was moving. But you couldn't prove anything!