Fitz had come to accept the fact that Annie was gone. He was still working on wrapping his brain around the fact that this made him a business owner
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Gump tilts his head, ears twitching slightly with interest (and those ears are not nearly small enough to entirely fit the tiny screen format). "Why ever would you not be suited? Surely there must be some merit in you, to get the privilege in the first place."
The direct question was a brilliant idea, because Fitz had taken one look at Gump and Words had sprung to mind such as "My, what big ears you have", but the need to honestly answer the question supressed his need to wisecrack. For now.
"My merit was in chatting up a pretty girl who happened to own a pub, and since she's not here anymore I think I need to keep the place going to honor her memory," he replied, then blinked because he hadn't meant to say that. The floodgates had opened, however. "Meanwhile I'm an irresponsible lout with no business experience and a tendency to make a right mess of everything I touch. So you see my problem."
Well, you never know. Fifteen years ago I'd never heard of the concept of currency, and now I'm the kind of American small business owner those political types are always talking about.
"You could leave it to the Extras and see what they do with it. 'Owning' doesn't necessarily have to mean 'running', does it?" Mohinder points out. This is a rather curious development. "How did you get a pub in the first place?"
"...you can do that?" Fitz asked, baffled, then considered the music shop he mooched around in and the fact that it was staffed completely by Extras. "Oh. Right. This is why I try to make friends with people who are smarter than me."
And with that revelation out of the way: "I took it over from Annie. She's vanished, like the Doctor and the Master did."
"I wasn't certain of it, but considering how many shops seem completely Extra-run, I thought it was a pretty good possibility." He smiled about the 'making smarter friends' remark.
Of course, his face falls as he hear how Fitz got the place. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's terribly unfair, the way this place randomly pulls people away like that."
"Yeah, but that's all helping him out," Fitz remarked. "I mena, sure, saving planets is trickier than showing rowdy punters the door, but I've never done much that amounted to anything on my own."
"He'd be simply awful at running a pub, though. He might save the world twice before breakfast, but couldn't necessarily be trusted make a cup of tea without adult supervision..."
She's smiling a little as she says it -- there's not exactly any ill-will here, but it's true enough.
"The same thing I'm supposed to do with a gods-damned tavern, I expect." Nazca sounds tired and raw in a way she almost never does. She's also genuinely frustrated. "Hells if I know."
"Sounds like we're in the same boat," Fitz said with no small amount of sympathy. "I can tend a bar just fine, but I've got no aspirations toward running anything. You?"
"Running it wouldn't be the problem, if there was a proper economy. Instead, it's like they're children, playing at how money is supposed to work. And I've never tended a bar in my life, but this is a minor detail, I feel."
Well, that's concerning. Nazca is never, ever this forthcoming, and she notices.
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"My merit was in chatting up a pretty girl who happened to own a pub, and since she's not here anymore I think I need to keep the place going to honor her memory," he replied, then blinked because he hadn't meant to say that. The floodgates had opened, however. "Meanwhile I'm an irresponsible lout with no business experience and a tendency to make a right mess of everything I touch. So you see my problem."
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[a gasp] Sorry! Sorry, I...I have no clue why I said that. Just - oh, never mind.
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[Paaaause.] I didn't mean to say that either. It's true enough, though.
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And with that revelation out of the way: "I took it over from Annie. She's vanished, like the Doctor and the Master did."
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Of course, his face falls as he hear how Fitz got the place. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's terribly unfair, the way this place randomly pulls people away like that."
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"It can't be that bad, can it? I mean, you've traveled with the Doctor -- you're more than up to the challenge."
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Self-confidence is clearly for other people.
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She's smiling a little as she says it -- there's not exactly any ill-will here, but it's true enough.
"I'm sure you can do it, Fitz."
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Well, that's concerning. Nazca is never, ever this forthcoming, and she notices.
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