Verity (jokeshopgirl) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-03-08 21:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, fred weasley, toph bei fong, verity |
You have to tell him you want to feel his face. And then feel it. And not stop.
Who: Verity + Toph Bei Fong, guest appearance by Fred Weasley
When: 2/28 ish
Where: For the Lulz
What: Checking out the shop
Rating: Low
Status: Complete
There was nothing more Toph liked than getting out of her apartment. She hated feeling cooped up -- or more like, she hated feeling like she was. She’d hitched a ride from Mandy to this shop that Verity apparently worked at, upon being invited. For the Lulz. It had a funny sort of name and Toph very much hoped that not everything in the store would be funny in just a visual sense. Because that would be a bummer.
Stepping into the shop, she actually had her cane out today. It’d be a bit of a shame to walk into something and have to buy a bunch of shit she didn’t want. “Verrrrittty?”
Verity was behind the counter helping a customer. She gave them their receipt and bag, and then looked over at the sound of her name. A grin spread across her face. “Toph! You made it!” She said, grinning, then gave her customers a gentle goodbye before turning her attention completely to her friend.
“I did,” Toph agreed, heading to the sound of Verity’s voice. She’d been blind forever, so it wasn’t exactly like she didn’t manage maneuvering places well. Making it to the counter without incident, she leaned against it, smiling brightly. “How’s the day? Working hard?”
“Hardly working,” Verity teased a little. She shrugged one shoulder, though Toph wouldn’t be able to see it. “I have the best job and the best bosses. I do most of my heavy lifting in the first few hours of the day, and then the rest is just... helping customers and restocking.”
“Oh yeah,” Toph said, raising an eyebrow even as she folded up her handly little cane. “That sounds like a greaaat job.” Not that she’d know: Toph had never worked a day in her life. She always imagined she’d be great at supervising, though.
She probably would be, Verity thought. She’d make a really good supervisor, so long as people could see through the sarcasm. Which Verity could. It could never be said about Ms. Ashford that she didn’t have a good sense of humor. “Eh, it’s not like, evaluating male models or taste testing chocolate, but it’s entertaining work for good pay.”
“Now those would be some jobs even I’d take,” Toph said, laughing. “I mean -- evaluating male models, especially.” Since, you know, her idea of evaluating was touching. Keep up, people.
Verity laughed. She knew what Toph’s idea of evaluating was. It was the best way for Toph to um... see. She nodded. “Yeah, if I was you, that’s the job I would take, for sure. I wonder if there are any openings in that field.”
“We’ll have to keep an eye on the postings,” Toph said with an amused snort, before turning to lean against the counter, as if gazing over the rest of the store. Not that she was. “So? What kind of stuff do you sell? Show me.”
She was funny. Verity chuckled softly. “Well, we’ve got the world’s best t-shirts.” She said, coming around the counter. “And uh... other funny things?” She was trying to think of things in the shop that would be amusing for Toph. “We’ve got books, too, and uh.. cds.” She said, then looped her arm through her friend’s, looping around her elbow.
Toph allowed herself to be dragged around, lifting her eyebrows curiously. “What kind of CDs?” She wanted to know. “And if you read some of the t-shirts I might get some.” She liked a funny t-shirt as much as the next snark-filled asshole.
“We’ve got some educational ones... how to do magic tricks and the like. We’ve got some stand-up comedians, too, those are pretty popular.” She nodded. “I’ll read some of the better ones to you.” She had a feeling she understood Toph’s sense of humor and could figure out which ones her friend would like the most. “And if you can think of something funny, I can print it for you.”
“I can always think of something funny,” Toph said, raising an eyebrow even as she ran her hand over one of the nearby shelves. It was kinda hard to tell what things were here, though. “That should be on a shirt.”
Verity laughed. “Okay. That I can do.” She already had ideas about how to print that one on a shirt. She turned to lead the way over to the back wall, and started to read some of the slogans that they put on the shirts, and some of the others they bought already made.
Toph nodded at the things being listed off for a while, and snickered at a few others. In the end, she’d decided on a shirt that advertised “Hedgehogs: Why don’t they just share the hedge?”
Verity told her the shirt was green. Toph was sure that made a difference to someone.
She’d look good in green, Verity thought. That color seemed very... Toph. She grabbed the one in Toph’s size and turned to lead her friend back to the register. “You want to meet my boss? He’s around here somewhere. Well, one of them. I think George is out shopping or something.”
“I do,” Toph said, leaning on the counter and raising her eyebrows. Because she remembered hearing that they were cute, and she was all for that even if she couldn’t tell.
Verity leaned across the counter. “...you have to do something for me,” she said, grinning conspiratorially. “You have to tell him you want to feel his face. And then feel it. And not stop. See how long he’ll let you massage his face.” Verity said, unable to wipe the smirk from her lips. “Prank the prankster.”
Toph’s eyebrows rose up nearly into her hairline, and she couldn’t help but just give a wild cackle at that. “Y-you. Verity,” she said, tone going serious. “You’ve gotten much funnier in the past year.” Clearly, that meant she’d do it.
Clearly. Verity was absolutely thrilled. “Fred?” She called out toward the back. “Come on out here, there’s someone I want you to meet!” She was grinning. It was obvious in her voice.
“What?” Fred called back, his voice muffled from the back room, up until the point where he clearly had walked out into the front. Toph had good hearing, after all. “Oh,” he said, sounding friendly and cheerfully cautious all at the same time. “Who’s your friend?”
“Toph,” the little asian girl interjected, very intentionally looking in the opposite direction that he was in and holding her hand out for a shake.
“Toph,” Verity said, grinning. “We practically grew up together. Almost every summer my family came to visit her neighbors down here in So Cal, and she was always following along after me like a puppy dog,” Verity teased.
Toph laughed at that, because she hardly believed that was the truth -- although she supposed she had once been young and a little silly.
Fred, on the other hand, seemed both amused and delighted by the story. “Adorable,” he teased, intentionally moving so that he was standing in front of Toph, so he could shake her hand. The girl was obviously blind. “Nice to meet you,” he said, glib.
“You too,” said Toph, and she made her voice a little shy, innocent. “Fred? I’ve heard about you. Verity says you’re cute -- would you. Would you mind terribly if I--?” She held a hand up, hesitant and awkward near his face.
“Er-- uh.” said Fred, glancing at Verity with a bemused, if not a little lost expression.
Well, and Verity was older and much cooler than Toph was herself. So, hero worship was frankly unavoidable. When Fred looked over at Verity, she nodded, encouraging him. “It’s okay. It’s how she sees.” Verity said, her voice sounding sage-like and without a hint of sarcasm or teasing in it.
This was a pretty damn good trick, Toph reflected, even as she reached up (Fred, she noticed, was kind of tall) and felt at his face -- taking in forehead, cheekbones, nose, lips -- and then doing it all over again. And again.
It was rare, of course, for Fred to be bested by anyone -- but he had to admit really not seeing this one coming. He’d sat through a minute of his face being touched, but now it was going on more than a minute, and he was pretty sure he was blushing. And Fred Weasley wasn’t meant to blush. “Er..”
“SHH.” said Toph, who continued with their awful plot.
Verity was barely holding it in. She was succeeding in not giving away their tricky plan, but just barely. She had to look away, pretending to straighten some knick knacks by the register.
That was really what did it. Fred stepped back from Toph’s touchy feely hands and gave an outraged little noise -- that bordered on amused. “Oh, god.” he said, “You two set me up.”
And only then, did Toph let out a terrible cackle of joy.
Verity joined in on the cackle. The mirth was palpable. She shook her head, turning her full attention to Fred, and noting the pink along his cheekbones. “Sorry,” she said, laughing. “Couldn’t help it. It was just so... easy.”
“You’re awful,” Fred said, but he was grinning. It wasn’t every day that someone managed to trick him. Toph, he could tell, was a clever girl who used exactly what she didn’t have to her own advantage. Shame he didn’t need more help, he probably would have hired her on the spot.
“Yes,” Toph agreed. “We are.”
“You love it,” Verity said to Fred, while leaning forward against the counter. She lifted her fist for a fist-bump with Toph, giving her friend’s shoulder a little tap with her thumb. Their old signal for high fives that turned into a signal for fist bumps. They hadn’t done it in years, though. Let’s see if Toph remembered.
She totally fucking did. Toph rose her fist for the bump, looking amused about it. She was having a pretty good time here, and could see herself hanging out here every now and then just to have a good laugh about it.
Fred, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and gave Verity a wave. “ANYWAY,” he said, in all caps. “Some of us were working.” A pause. “Good to meetcha, Toph!”
Verity would love it if her friend came around more. She grin bed brightly at the first bump, then gave Fred a laugh. "Back to work. Yes, sir!" She saluted then turned to ring up Toph's shirt.
“Good times,” Toph said, amusedly, when she was sure Fred had left. “...And he did seem. You know. Cute.”
Verity chuckled softly as she clicked buttons on the cash register. “He is. I mean... he’s like my brother, so thinking that seems incestuous, but...” She shrugged. “He’s cute. And I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re awesome.”
“Well,” said Toph, sounding smug and pleased all at once. “That’s because I am.”