tandy & holly; the music store
Holly was back at work. Well, back at the store, because he'd been doing the cam stuff, even while convalescing. But, yeah, he was back at the store, and who the fuck knew where Gramps was, but there hadn't been any sign of the old man upstairs. And it was good, being back at the store. Okay, yeah, so he had a stool behind the counter, and he spent a lot of the shift sitting there, laptop open and working the website sales while he waited for disenfranchised youths to amble in. Old people too, because they liked to come in a buy records that reminded them of memories. Their first kiss in a car to Don McLean, or their first high to Floyd, or their first dance to Journey. It was good, being back at the store. It was kinda like being home, and even though Holly's life had totally fucking changed? It was nice to have one familiar thing, you know? Something his, even if he hadn't figured out how to get the place transferred to him, you know, in the event that Gramps never showed his fangs around here again.
Anyway, he was sitting behind the counter now. He had the slim brace on beneath black pants, and his shirt was a mustardy yellow. He kinda smelled like weed, but that was nothing new, and he was listening to an old favorite, the crooning being played at a decent decibel through the store's speakers.
He wasn't thinking about the conversation with Tandy. It wasn't that he wasn't concerned about her or anything, but he just wasn't a hero. Everyone in fucking Repose seemed to think being heroic, self-sacrificing, and kind was the only acceptable way to be, and fuck that. So, nah, he wasn't thinking about Tandy before she walked in. He was budgeting, which maybe sounded boring? But which always made Holly feel better, as if he had the world in some sort of chokehold. Anyway, right. He was working, budgeting, and occasionally sending Noah texts about stupid shit, you know, like low-interest loans and credit card consolidation.
But he did look up when the door opened, ready to pull out his best used-car-salesman grin. But, oh, yeah. "Hey." He didn't need to look around to ensure they were alone. "How are things with the knives?" Because Holly was all about getting to the point.