InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "The spork is a lie!"

Fred (notdropdeadfred) wrote in resurrectio_rpg,
@ 2008-05-04 18:48:00

Who: Alicia Spinnett, Patricia Stimpson, and Fred Weasley
Where: 93 Diagon Alley (aka Weasleys Wizard Wheezes)
When: Sunday afternoon
What: Ali's training, Fred is flailing, and Patricia is...getting stuck in the midst of it all, poor dear?
Rating: Fred may be foul-mouthed, but he's professional--doubtful it'll reach even a PG-13.
Status: Incomplete

Fred had to admit it. He was starting to wonder if hiring Alicia had been the brightest move on his part. George had seemed okay with it, and they were starting to need extra help. He knew if they ended up opening the Hogsmeade location, they'd need to nearly double the staff, and it wouldn't hurt to have some people already trained.

But how come he could work with George, who he lived with and had been with almost every day of his entire life, and not get snippy, but working with a good friend made him all frustrated? It was nothing wrong on Alicia's part. She was trying to learn most of the products (well, she'd already known some, after all, hadn't she?) and their costs, and how to work their register, and how to care for the little cages of pygmy puffs on top of everything else. Fred just had little patience, especially with a weekend crowd.

"No, the snackboxes are on the back wall," Fred reminded Alicia, forcing himself not to gnaw on his lower lip in frustration. Just because he'd known that since the day the shop had opened didn't mean everyone did. "They were last month's featured item, this month the Halloween items go in the front."

It seemed simple enough, and he knew she'd have it down in no time, but it had been just he, George, and Verity for so long that he wasn't thinking clearly. He nearly jumped backwards when the bell on the door jingled, signaling someone's entrance. It seemed impossible that anyone could come in when he was still explaining the basics, but then, it was getting later in the day. Brilliant, crowds would be picking up in no time.

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alispin
2008-05-04 06:36 pm UTC (link)

Alicia was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to take a job at the twins' shop as well. It was her first day and it already felt as if she'd been there for hours when in all actuality, it had only been a few hours. After those few hours had passed, she expected things to get easier, but it seemed that while she was probably the best in all of London to be able to mix a drink or run a bar on a busy night nearly single-handedly, she couldn't get a grip on how to be a simple assistant at a joke shop. After years of thinking that the creations Fred and George came up with were wonderful, she was getting tired of even looking at them now. And don't even get her started on the Pygmy Puffs...

It had been awhile since she had been around their gags and gadgets and she was positive that there weren't even half as many before as there were now. She was having trouble telling them apart, let alone putting them where they were expected to go in their proper places. Which was Fred's current woe now. Biting back a remark, Alicia groaned under her breath and closed her eyes for a moment. She could have SWORN the snackboxes were in the right place. But alas... With a sigh, she started stacking them in the crook of one of her arms so she could move them to the back where they belonged.

"Of course, Frederick," she said giving him a look as she balanced that teetering stack in her grasp. It wasn't Fred's fault, of course. But she too was frustrated that she couldn't get the hang of things as quickly as she would have liked. When the door sounded, Ali fought the urge to turn around, knowing it would have been a disaster to drop her pile. She only hoped she was expected to be greeting whoever just walked in.

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stimp
2008-05-04 06:52 pm UTC (link)

Patricia thanked the stars that her job only consisted of Monday through Fridays with the occasion weekend emergency. This weekend had been full of nothingness and she planned to fill it with even more of that before it was said and done. She liked being able to lounge around in her skivvies and not have to worry about dealing with people. She would have remained doing such if she hadn’t gotten bored. Most of the time, she’d fill her boredom with a bubble bath, a good book or harassing either her brothers or Cormac to come entertain her. It had been a long time since she’d indulged in a WWW Daydream Charm. The thought crossed her mind and once she found out she was out of her stock she couldn’t quite get it out of her mind.

She’d shoved on clothes and made the trip to the shop hoping that it would be Verity at the registers. The idea of Fred and George ringing her up was appalling at best. It had been so long since she’d visited the shop she wasn’t even aware of new staff. It was the same pattern of things every time she went in. She knew where what she wanted was located and she’d go to it and take it up. She’d pretend it wasn’t for herself when she had every intention of going right home and using it. If it was Verity, she’d usually not say anything embarrassing about it. If it were the twins, there was usually a spectacle made of it. S he hated feeling as if she were on display almost as much as she hated people thinking that she was so pathetic she had to buy smutty, daydream inducing WWW products .

She did just as she always did moving between the shelves attempting to look inconspicuous. The shop was busy which was a positive. She didn’t see Verity though which concerned her. Just red hair and … fuck! Did everyone from her year have to start working here now? Great, maybe the whole former Quidditch team could throw a parade in reference to her purchase. They could fly banners from their brooms announcing it. She hadn’t come this far to run off and not buy anything though. She grabbed the bright pink box in her hands and made her way upwards toward the registers like a woman on a mission and began to wait in line. She wished she was as confident in her purchase as she might have looked for a fraction of a second.

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notdropdeadfred
2008-05-04 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Fred groaned as the line grew. Ordinarily, a busy shop filled him with money-related glee. Customers meant galleons, customers standing in line definitely meant galleons because it typically meant they were buying and how on earth could Fred turn all that down? But Merlin, he wished he'd thought to get Alicia started on a deserted Tuesday and not a crowded Sunday. But Verity had been wanting a weekend off and he was desperately trying to be both a good businessman and a good boss. But if Ali was resulting in his full name, which pretty much only his mum ever did, it was definitely not a sign of someone you wanted to work for.

He was debating between firing off a snappy remark back at her, consoling her, or just saying 'screw it' and moving the boxes himself, when he realised just how long the line had gotten. "Tell you what," he said, shaking his head desperately. "We'll worry about the display later. Why don't you get started checking these people out and I'll try and move some of this?"

Though he noticed a few familiar faces in the line, Fred was feeling a bit too stressed to settle on any one of them. He only offered a vague smile and a 'just a moment' with one finger as he worked out his new 'game plan' with Alicia.

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alispin
2008-05-04 07:12 pm UTC (link)

Honestly? Didn't these people rest or go to church or something? Sunday's weren't supposed to be busy, hence the reason she was being trained on this particular day -- or at least, she thought so. Apparently, there was no Sabbath day in the world of Weasley Wizard Wheezes and she was completely wrong about Sunday's not being packed full. She froze when she turned around and saw how long the line had gotten. Where did all of those people suddenly appear from? She wondered if perhaps the twins developed something that caused people to multiply all of a sudden.

Fred's voice caught her attention and she nodded. "All right then," she said. Setting the boxes on the ground, she didn't even bother to try and arrange them on the shelves before going to the cashwrap. At least she was more confident behind the register -- she had, after all, worked one that was fairly similar before.

"Oi, Patricia!" she said when she situated herself behind the counter and looked up to see one of her old classmates. "All right then, yeah?" Eying up the merchandise the other girl had collected, Ali's smile broadened. "Well, I'd say you're about to be," she said, nodding to the bright pink box. "Tell me, what do you intend on... daydreaming about?" she asked with a wink as she took the box. It was in Ali's nature to be light-hearted about such issues and she found no embarrassment in having a laugh over it.

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stimp
2008-05-04 07:26 pm UTC (link)

There was a very good reason Patricia Stimpson had ended up hanging out with Cormac McLaggen and a handful of kids from others houses over the little Quidditch clique as she liked to think of them. They seemed to enjoy embarrassing her to the point of no end. She remembered very clearly being in fourth year and telling her dorm mates that she thought Warrington had a nice bum and everyone knowing she’d said it the next day. There were a multitude of times and situations that had made her weary of bonding with them again. She was always polite but she wasn’t ever going to call any of them her best friends. Why should she when they embarrassed her like this all the time?

Her checks flushed red a mixture of disdain and embarrassment filling her head. “Alicia, this isn’t for me!” she said a little too loudly for it to be the truth. She was always so obvious when she was telling a lie. She’d never been good at that sort of thing. Try as she may. “--I was doing quite well until you decided to make everyone in this store think I am sort of pervert – I can see you’ve already been trained appropriately by Fred and George. They’re going to owe you a raise for that.”

She had no intention of telling her what precisely she intended to daydream about. She was flustered just thinking about other people thinking about what she might be daydreaming about. She wondered if all the customers who bought from this line were harassed or if it was just her? She was almost certain it was just her though. Would it kill them to let her get off the hook just once? She doubted that was ever going to really happen though.

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notdropdeadfred
2008-05-04 08:38 pm UTC (link)

Fred had put almost all of the snackboxes back where they belonged. Granted, they probably could have stayed where they'd been. But he had been rather fond of doing a large display meant to inspire Halloween havoc and mayhem. That was, after all, the Weasley way, and the only way he'd feel he'd done his duty to the youngsters of the wizarding world.

He'd returned to the register, intending to bail Alicia out if she needed help, but he beamed when it seemed she had things under control. As that was definitely his least favourite part, he rather liked the idea of her taking care of all of the customers. He slipped up beside her to watch her work before catching sight of who she was talking to. And the tail end of Patricia Stimpson's spiel.

"Owe her a raise?" Fred said casually, giving Alicia a playful bump with his hip. For all their bickering that day, he'd still take Ali over Stimpson. "On her first day of work? What do I look like, some sort of saint?" He grinned cheekily and gave Patricia a nod. "How are you, Patricia?" Almost as if he cared. And he did. Sort of.

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alispin
2008-05-05 09:00 am UTC (link)

Alicia was completely taken aback by Patricia's reaction. Well then. Her hand had frozen mid-ring up and she looked at the other girl with a mixture of shock, disdain, and amusement. "I wasn't making you out to be some sort of pervert," she said defensively. "I was commending you on your purchases!" Shaking her head, she shrugged and started to count out the girl's change as Fred approached.

When he bumped her hip, she scoffed at him and playfully swatted at him arm. "You made me lose count, sod," she said, before picking out the coins once again. She moved her mouth as she counted out the correct amount and slid it over the counter at Patricia before speaking again. "And at least she's right about one thing," she said to Fred. "I wouldn't at all be opposed to a raise." Putting the daydreaming box in a small bag marked with the triple 'W' logo on the front, she handed it to her former classmate.

"Trust me though, you'll consider me for a raise again once our dear customer here is so pleased with her results," she said with a cheeky grin. Patricia may or may not have liked it, but it was in Ali's nature to tease and have a laugh. It was never meant to offend... Well, most of the time it wasn't.

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stimp
2008-05-05 10:08 am UTC (link)

Patricia couldn’t help but laugh. She might have wanted to go drown herself in a Portable Swamp but she could laugh at the complete irony of Fred Weasley ever being some sort of Saint. That wasn’t going to ever happen. The concept of people literally praying to him for wisdom and guidance was obscene really. What would they pray for guidance in stirring up trouble and bringing teenage girls to tears? Actually it wasn’t just teenage girls anymore. She was laughing so hard at the prospect she was about to cry. “That would be the day,” she managed out in the middle of the childish giggles. “Saint Weasley Patron Saint of Trouble Making and Misery! I’m doing much better now that I’ve had a laugh.”

There was nothing offensive about that at all though. She didn’t dislike the boy. She just feared him a little. Just like she feared most of his friends. They made her break out in hives just thinking about the horrible things they’d done to her back when they were in school. She didn’t really think he was ever going to outgrow any of those behaviors either. It was scary that Alicia was the one making a mockery of her purchase and not him though. She took her bag and hid it in purse. No need to advertise the fact she actually shopped her and give people a reason to ask what she’d bought once she’d actually left. If only her money could be counted and returned already.

“I told you it’s not for me,” she lied again as she waited. She looked good natured and all but really she wasn’t quite sure what her logic behind all of this was. She was just waiting for something to blow up on her or her skin to turn some sort of strange colour just because she was in the shop. “I lived with them for seven years, do you think I trust them enough to actually put one of their products in my body? I think it’s safe to say I’ve learned my lesson.” Only she hated and the product was actually for her. The twins had gotten something right though and she rather did enjoy these things. What was a single witch supposed to do with her free time anyways?

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notdropdeadfred
2008-05-06 02:41 pm UTC (link)

If Fred knew that Patricia actually feared him, he might've laughed himself. Sure, he could be a right prat sometimes, but he never really set out to hurt people. Well, unless they deserved it. Montague had deserved it. Most of the time, Smith had, too, though now Fred had a sick fear that the comments he'd received from him had been flirtation. But a bit of teasing? It was Fred's way, much like it was George's, and Alicia's, and several other people just in their class alone. As a middle brother, he'd learned to take and to dish out.

Still, Fred didn't argue with Patricia when it came to laughing at the idea of him as a Saint. Of course, he knew Alicia was only kidding. But if Patricia didn't, he wasn't about to put up a fight. The girl had obviously gone a bit loopy, though he wouldn't point that out. Instead, he pushed the WWW bag over the counter, giving his customer-smile, the only half real one. Until he himself caught a glimpse of the box.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, tilting his head to look at Patricia curiously. "I mean, sure, I can see not wanting to stuff yourself with canary creams, though you could always buy those to use on someone else, but the Daydream Charm?" That part was puzzling. It was a perfectly pleasant little trick, not meant to harm anyone. Even Hermione Granger had complimented the two of them on the magic they required, and if they'd been at all harmful, he couldn't see her doing so. Fred glanced at Alicia with a quizzical look. One thing he did appreciate, at least, was Stimpson breaking the ice that had formed between him and his friend. An angry Alicia was the last thing he needed.

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alispin
2008-05-06 03:33 pm UTC (link)

No, Fred was certainly no saint. But neither was Alicia. She didn't know much about the saints, but she was pretty sure they didn't usually have laughs at the expense of old classmates. Though still in her defense, she really was being serious when she said she didn't find anything from with the Daydream charms. "Well either way, Tricia - call I call you Tricia? Either way, feel free to write up a review of the product. Maybe next time you'll even get a discount if it's a good one!" she said with a chipper smile. Quickly though she added, "Or you know... whoever they're for," she said with another quick wink.

She wondered if all of her classmates were this uptight. It was true that Ali never hung out with all that many, at least, who didn't play Quidditch. And the Twins of course were the dual kings of pranking and so it wasn't likely that her closest friends were stiff and incapable of having a laugh. Oliver had been fun when he wasn't making them run dawn drills to be the perfect team. And she and Katie joked all the time of course, most recently about each other's habits they noticed since living together.

"I'm sure we'll see you in again soon," she said with a customer smile of her own. Her's was unrefined, but far too cheeky and showed too many teeth to be entirely genuine. Perhaps that was something she would have to work on.

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stimp
2008-05-08 09:05 pm UTC (link)

Patricia did not like that nickname. She kept her mouth shut though. Her face said it all though. Some people called her Patty and she tolerated that. She did not like Trixie though. It sounded like something that belonged to some sort of adult-oriented career person. She wasn’t some lady of the night though. She definitely wasn’t that. Alicia and Fred weren’t ever going to change and that was for damn sure. She wasn’t the life of the party but she wasn’t a complete boring person. She had laughs. She had them in their own time and place though. She was more cautious about things.

"I’ll have to tell the friend I’m buying for to submit their review then," she told them. She might be going to be the one to use it but there was no reason why she couldn’t submit and anonymous review of the products. She might just do it. “These are the only things that aren’t likely to kill you. You never know when it might say Daydream Charm and be something else though.” That was precisely was she was always cautious around the twins products or even around them. It was the truth.

She smiled again and nodded. “Thanks you for fantastic service,” she said. “I suppose I should be moving on to other errands and letting you both assist other people. It has been a real pleasure.” Whether she was being sarcastic or truthful was unsure. Maybe she was being a little of both.

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notdropdeadfred
2008-05-08 09:26 pm UTC (link)

Fred wasn't stupid enough to think that her words were genuine. Not to mention he was more than a bit offended by her comment. Nothing in that store would kill someone. The worst that could happen--and Fred knew, as he and George has personally tested each one--was that you could overdose on some product or another, but it'd have to be in incredibly high doses to cause permanent damage. And then it would therefore have to be intentional, at which point Fred figured it wasn't his product doing the harm, but the person using it. After all, even too much wine could kill someone, but they weren't going to ban that anywhere, were they?

Lifting his chin with a bit of pride, Fred only smirked. "Right, then. Your friend can feel free to submit a review. If we print it on the box the next go round, we'll give them two free boxes. Of course, they need to include their name and a way for us to reach them, but we're always happy to pay for great publicity." Beaming brightly, Fred nudged Alicia's knee behind the counter with his own, trying not to burst out laughing. If that charm wasn't for Stimpson, he'd make the next daydream charm one of him snogging Smith.

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alispin
2008-05-09 07:39 pm UTC (link)

Alicia took Patricia's words as sarcasm and it only made her smile again. Ali wasn't the type of girl to get easily offended by anything, and she figured that if 'Tricia' was being snarky with her commentary however subtly, it was just because of the fact that Ali herself had made the other girl feel uncomfortable with the painfully obvious idea that the Daydream Charms were for her own use. It didn't help though, that Fred's won commentary was making her laugh and she nudge to the knee only sealed the deal. She turned away for a moment and stifled her giggles on the sleeve of her new robes, which coincidentally were a bit too big. A couple of trick tailoring charms would fix that little problem, but Ali wasn't about to try herself. Merlin knew she was pants at wandwork.

Waving at Patricia when she turned back around, she took the items that the next customer had been holding and started to ring them up. Glancing over at Fred, she directed her conversation at him. "So? How am I doing so far?" she asked, followed by a look that told him he'd better say she was doing at least all right or she was liable to give him a nudge with her knee as well. Only higher and more strategically placed. She really was such a delicate little flower, wasn't she?

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