Author:
askingxalice Title: Dark Side
Summary: Sarah isn’t very happy when she finds out about Andy’s more prominent customers.
Story:
PhaseTimeline: October 2008 - Andy is 24, Sarah is 19.
Challenge: FOTD (casuistry), Star Fruit #21 (do as I say, not as I do), Molasses #12 (devil’s advocate)
Word Count: 634
Rating: PG-13
casuistry \KAZH-oo-uh-stree\, noun:
1. Specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, esp. in questions of morality.
Really, Andy should have known that something potentially disastrous was going to happen when he left Sarah to run the front while the rest of his more experienced employees were busy with jobs. But he had a payroll to look over and schedules to make, and somebody needed to watch the rest of the parlor for the hour or so it would take to finish that. So, that tentatively left the job to... Sarah.
He should have just done everything at home, and saved himself the trouble that popped up. With the door open, it wasn’t difficult to know when somebody had come into the shop; voices could easily be heard, even if the words weren’t distinguishable. Andy knew when someone walked in, thanks to the bell over the door, and turned an ear towards the door on instinct more than the need to hear anything. For a moment, there were murmurs, a conversation he couldn’t make out. Then, footsteps towards the back and Sarah appeared in the doorway, looking a little more than frazzled.
“Andy, why is the Mafia in our shop?”
Immediately, he was out of his seat. He pulled Sarah into the room with one hand and shut the door with the other, hissing at her to be quiet. “Never call them the Mafia. Ever. Some people might be able to get away with calling them the mob, but they do not appreciate the word ‘Mafia’ being associated with the Corlioni name. Understand?”
Sarah scowled and yanked her arm out of Andy’s grasp, but didn’t argue with him. “Fine, fine. Why are some of the Corlionis in our shop?”
He didn’t immediately answer. Instead, he gathered up the half-finished paperwork and tucked them away. “Because I do tattoo work for some of them. I have for a few years now.” Andy finally admitted, expression and voice carefully blank.
“You-“ Sarah yelped, before she glanced towards the closed door and lowered her voice. “You tattoo them? But they - They're’- Well, they aren’t really the nicest people in New York City, are they?”
“They don’t cause trouble in my shop, unless someone does something stupid to offend them. Even then, they just send them running.” There was a pause. “Usually. But they tip good, and it’s nice to have regulars that can recommend me to the rest of one of the largest families in New York City.”
She fell into a chair, head resting her hands. “I’m not sure I feel comfortable with this, Andy...” She groaned. “I mean - They’re the Corlionis. Does Oz know about this? Adri?”
“Yes, they do and no, they aren’t really pleased with it. But they accept it. I’m not going to ask you to work on anyone you don’t want to, if they’d ever request you, but I’d appreciate if you... tolerated them.” Andy crossed him arms over his chest, and leaned back against the desk. He watched her carefully, looking for any hint that this might drive her to quit - as annoying as she could be at times, she was good at her job and he’d hate to lose her.
There was a long silence, before Sarah let out a muffled whine. “Fine. I guess. As long as they don’t - give me concrete shoes, or whatever the fuck.”
“Or you could just not piss them off.” Andy nonchalantly offered as he headed for the door. It wasn’t best to keep them waiting. “Since that’s worked great for me, so far.”
Sarah only sighed, shaking her head as he left the room. “What’d you do today, Sarah? Oh, not much. Found out my boss tattoos the Corlionis, had some sushi for lunch, nearly wet myself in fear... The usual."
Author:
askingxalice Title: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Summary: Oz just doesn’t want to give his car up.
Story:
Second GenesisTimeline: February 2032 - Oz is 46.
Challenge: Star Fruit #18 (you can’t take it with you), Cookies n Cream #14 (scream), Molasses #5 (bad seed)
Toppings/Extras: Sprinkles, Pocky
Word Count: 100
Rating: PG-13
It’s not that Oz didn’t want her to have a car. He just didn’t want her to have that particular car. So when Chloe started not so subtly hinting at being passed down the Firebird, he did what he could to disincline the notion. He changed the subject, offered to buy her a car of her own, and even tried saying no, but nothing seemed to work.
Eventually, he got the idea to tell her that she wouldn’t want it at all, since he and Andy had sex all over the car. Multiple times. Unsurprisingly, she quit asking after that.
Author:
askingxalice Title: Hello, I Love You
Summary: Sunset always said that Zach was about as social as a lampshade.
Story:
PhaseTimeline: February 2017 - Adrianna is 27, Zach is 35.
Challenge: Star Fruit #5 (it takes one to know one), Cookies n Cream #21 (offer)
Extras/Toppings: Malt (Summer Challenge - There's a first time for everything.), Sprinkles
Word Count: 493
Rating: PG
Adrianna completely confused him, and Zachery Miller didn’t like being confused. He knew people in their mid-twenties, and most of them were annoying little pissants, really. But she was different. It was odd. She was surprisingly smart, and didn’t seem at all inclined to do things that most of the people in her age group did. He can’t recall, in all the times he’s talked to her, her ever mentioning the words ‘drinking’, ‘bars’, or ‘drunk’ in relation to herself.
It had been little surprise when she had admitted that she was in medical school. With a mind like hers, where else would she go? So, he had pulled some strings and got the hospital he worked at to offer her a job as soon as she was allowed to take job offers in her fourth year. Sunset had given him the oddest smile when he told her that, but hadn’t said anything on the subject.
That was enough to worry him, and he wondered if he had made a mistake with that. But no, she had flourished at her job, and the future of her career looked promising after only a few months. Eventually, Adrianna had taken to visiting him during quiet moments in her shift, which was odd enough in itself. Not many people wanted to visit the morgue, much less visit him. Zachery hadn’t complained though, since it was nice to have someone to talk to, other than the corpses. At least she could carry on a decent conversation.
One day, she asked about his cane. He had surprised himself by telling her about how the bones in his legs had never quite developed correctly, and she only heightened his surprise by not pitying him. Instead, they had gone into a lengthy conversation about braces, and the advances medicine had made when it came to bone development in children. He was far too old for such surgeries now, but he had appreciated her suggestions that things might advance enough to help him someday.
It was Damian that had pushed him to where he was now. Zachery didn’t even know what had brought it up; he had only been telling her something that Adrianna had done that day when she interrupted him. “Would you ask her out already, before she comes to her senses and stops liking you? Or at least go and blab about her to Sunset.”
That had been preposterous, of course. She might have been a charming individual, but he most certainly did not want to ask her on a date. But maybe... to lunch. As a friend. And one day when she visited him, and he wasn’t talking about the latest autopsy he had performed, he brought the possibility up.
“So. Er. You require sustenance to live!” He blurted out. “So do I. Coincidentally. And I was just wondering if you’d want to go get some, sometime, maybe. Sustenance, I mean.”
Adrianna’s answering smile nearly blinded him.