Who: Nate + Fred and George When: 3/29 Where: For the Lulz What: Meeting, shopping, bouncing Rating: Low Status: Complete
Nate had wanted to go to the joke shop for awhile and this seemed a good time. With music faintly in his headphones, one on an ear, one off, he wandered into the store, smiling softly. He was curious what he might find. After an encounter with one salesperson, he was grinning. He wandered, wondering if he would meet the proprietors, the strange twins named George and Fred, or something like that. He wondered what it would be like to be a twin. He wasn’t really sure, even, if he could imagine what it would be like to have a sibling. The future had been different. It didn’t count, he thought.
Oh, he’d meet the twins. Beside their one employee, Verity, the place was completely staffed by them. They worked a lot. If owning the most fun store in Huntington Beach was work, anyway. Fred was sitting on the counter by the register - his very favorite spot to be, as he could do random paperwork there, or just watch customers -- he was doing the latter, currently. It wasn’t rare for kids to come into their shop, though, so he didn’t immediately pay the boy much mind.
George, on the other hand, always seemed to be wandering about the aisles of the place -- although it was possibly only because his twin was taking up the best seating around.
“Hello,” he greeted Nate with a sly sort of grin (the only kind he knew). “Wotcher?”
“Wotcher. How’s the day treatin’ you, sir?” Nate, when he spoke, spoke in a completely matching accent, his mind drinking i the surface details of it in delight. Wow!
Goodness, but wasn’t that impressive? Of course, the twins could only assume the little lad was from the UK, so they weren’t terribly impressed. Because so were they and all. Still, Fred tittered a little from the register, and George grinned. “Oh, y’know. Can’t complain. Workin’.” A pause. “Looking for something in particular?”
‘Just something to make a bit of a bang, and liven up some days, and maybe a few things to bring some smiles. I need something spiffy, nifty, and bloody brilliant.” He nodded.
“You came to the right place,” Fred called from the register area, even as he hopped down to make three a crowd in the little aisle.
George was glancing around the shelves as if looking for something in particular. Coke flavored pop rocks? No. Fire crackers that whizzed perfectly? Maybe. Hmm...
“I don’t know what I’m looking for, but something what will make people laugh, so nothing too obnoxious.” He nodded. Looking from one to the other, he grinned. “Cool! Being twins must be fun!”
“It is,” the both of them agreed at once. It was a not-actual trick they did, talking in unison. It wasn’t hard, considering they thought so alike, anyway. Most people just assumed them two parts of one whole. And they agreed, generally.
“Better than normal brothers,” Fred grinned, because he knew that for fact.
Nate grinned. “I wouldn’t know. I never had any brothers.” As far as he knew, anyway. He glanced between them both. “What’s your favorite part of being twins?”
“Confusing people,” Fred said, with a sly sort of smile.
George only laughed, and nodded a vague agreement. It wasn’t necessarily the truth, but it was easier than trying to explain to a small boy that the best part of it was really never having to feel lonely or alone. Plus they ran a joke shop -- they were contractually obligated to be funny and mischievous.
Nate chuckled. “So, what’re your favorites items here?” He was curious now. these guys were interesting.
“All of them,” said George, because you weren’t meant to play favorites with your own merchandise.
But Fred ruined it by smiling and gesturing to the t-shirts. They were kind of his pride and joy. They were funny, and well designed. “We screen print ourselves. It’s aces.”
Nate moved to the shirts and grinned. “They are pretty cool. Do you do custom jobs? Or just joke ones?”
“We can do custom,” George said -- because while Fred might have been the more dominant of the two in terms of humor and plain aggressiveness, he was more the businessman. Not many people could tell, but there were some few differences to the two redheads.
“Anything you like. Why? Have something in mind?”
“Something funny, but nice, for a few people. Some people have been really awesome to me. And I think they need awesome shirts! I can pay! I started selling milkshakes!” He nodded.
“You sell milkshakes?” Fred rose an eyebrow, clearly amused by this kid. He was -- different - than most the other kids who came in. And yet oddly the same. Children with energy all had something in common, after all.
“Where? On the street?” George tittered out a giggle. Because repetition.
“I do, yes. And no, at The Den, the finest bar in town.” He nodded.
“Where’s that?” the both of the twins echoed at once -- because they did that sometimes. It would have been a neat trick, except for the fact that it wasn’t really a trick; just something they did.
He chuckled. That was cool! “It’s around mid-town.” He rattled off the address. It was a good place, run by a friend.
“Run by a member of Valarnet.”
“Isn’t that basically everyone in the OC?” Fred asked, raising a brow.
“Which one, we mean,” George clarified, because he was smooth like that.
“Not everyone. No.” And Nate grinned. “The Den. And which one? Neena Thurman. Kickass superhero in the dreams.” He eyed them. “What are you like in your dreams?”
At that question, George was oddly silent, and Fred had the grace to look -- well. A little uncomfortable. Here, it was probably a little bit obvious that the two of them were lacking in alikeness. It was something that bothered them, somewhat.
“The same,” Fred replied after a short moment, glancing at his twin, but smiling anyway. “But with magic.” He’d had the dreams. His twin had not.
Nate glanced between them, then nodded slowly. “He doesn’t dream yet, huh?” He looked to Fred, then glanced at George. “I’m sorry. that must be rough. My mom didn’t dream, either.”
George could only give a shrug that came off as perfectly nonchalant. He wasn’t worried about it, that shrug said. Really.
“All in good time,” he said, because that’s what he had to believe, right?
Nate grinned, and went to the man and hugged him. “It’ll happen. You’re on Valarnet.” He nodded.
Then he hmmed. “I think i need something bright, something bouncy, and something sneaky. Any ideas?”
They had seen that correlation a bit, themselves and so only nodded to Nate and then to each other.
And then they considered his question. “We have smoke balls,” one said.
“That are designed to look like bouncing balls,” supplied the other. Which was basically exactly what Nate was asking for.
Nate gasped, and then grinned. “Yes, please?” He bounced, a little, just because. “Show me?”
“Of course,” agreed Fred, even as George hop skip jumped into their back supply room in order to grab the items in question. Sure, there were some packaged on the shelf, but you break it you buy it, buddy. The twins liked demonstrating more than one could probably imagine.
“You’ll have to do it outside,” Fred said, amused. “Or else Verity will have at us for the smell and smoke.”
“Okay! Who’s Verity?” He was already heading for the front door. “Ooo, do they work like the old superhero stuff, where you make a puff of smoke and step out of it and then wallah, you appear as if from nowhere?” Then he snapped his fingers, stopping in the door. “You should make ones that create darkness!”
“Our employee,” George supplied even as he reentered the room, little neon balls in hand. “She makes us clean sometimes. It’s all very tiring.” They spoke to Nate as if he were just as adult as they were -- they did that to all the kids, and it was probably one of the reasons they were so well liked.
“It’s a bit like that, yeah,” Fred went on, ignoring George in a customary sort of way. “Darkness, eh? We’re not quite there yet. here, try it out.” And then they were ushering him outside toward the sidewalk.
“Makes sense. Hmmm. Everyone needs a proxy mom around, so they don’t miss their mom too much.” He paused. “IS she hot?” He grinned at the two.
Then he peered at the balls as they went outside. “How do I make them work?”
“Oi, you!” said Fred, chiddingly, although it was clear he thought it was funny.
“She’s like a little sister!” George said, pulling a face. Or was she older? They never remembered.
“Anyway. Just-- bounce it a few times. Like a ball. It’ll crack about third bounce. You’ll get the results you want.” Because, clearly, these two were genius.
“Okay!” Nate took the ball and bounced it, once, twice, three times, and it cracked and smoke billowed out and he cheered. Then he ran through it a couple of times. “That’s perfect! I’ll take twenty!”
He nodded. He had plans!
“You got it, kid,” Fred was clearly amused. Then again, that was sort of his natural state of being. George only gave a smile, because that was how it worked out, really. “Thirty bucks.” Businessmen at heart, they were.
Nate pulled out the money readily. “Could I place a pre-order for more? He nodded. “I have a feeling these are going to be popular!” He had an idea for fun!
“Sure,” said both of the boys in unison, even as they re-entered the store, leaving the dwindling smoke of their little false-bombs to the sidewalk. “How many?”
George went to the back room to get more -- properly packaged this time -- and Fred moved to the register to ring it up. “What’re you going to do with them?”
“I have the money for these now.” He hmmed. To fill the space he needed and really get the effect... “Okay. I’ll need to pay in installments for the larger order, but I won't need them for a few months. But I will need about 300.”
He rubbed his hands. “A birthday party, a really awesome one.”
Fred rose his eyebrows, a gleam to his eye that said he only understood completely the need for a bit too much in the way of theatrics, particularly around birthday times. “Sounds like,” he said.
George, on the other hand, grinned and handed over the bag of the now-purchase. “We’ll work out a plan for you. Something wholesale, yeah? Save some money.”
“That would be cool. I make and sell milkshakes for now, but might try to see if I can finagle a job somehow despite my age to make more money. So I might be able to pay faster. We’ll see.” He bounced to them. He paid for the now purchase, and tipped both of them. “Do you have a subscription newsletter, or something, saying like, what new products or sales are going on?”
“Sure,” said George.
“Take a card,” said Fred -- and he handed one over. It was glossy and shiny and bright -- basically everything you’d want in a business card for a jokeshop. “Or we’re on the ‘Net a lot. Easy enough to find if you’ve got questions.” They were clearly amused by the boy who sold milkshakes.
“Yay! Cool!” He took the card, then nodded. “You two are awesome!” He hmmed. “I’ll make sure everyone knows you are awesome.”
“Of course you will,” they said at once, smiling and standing shoulder to shoulder. “Email us. We’ll work out a deal, yeah?”
"Sounds like a plan. See you later!" Nate waved, grinned, and headed out.