working is my passion

[makes_it_rain]

Who: Pilouette and Yamamoto
Where: District 3 Candy Shop
When: September 18th, Day
Summary: Working and maybe birthday party planning.
Warnings: TBA

Though the allowance that they were given was pretty generous, Yamamoto wasn't the type who liked to lounge around doing nothing all day. Getting a job had seemed to be an ideal way to both get to know more about the city and pass the time. It was a bit surprising how willing people were to hire a complete novice, but Yamamoto was starting to see that the city was a lot emptier than he had originally thought. It was definitely more apparent working at a candy store in a place where he hadn't seen any little kids the whole time he had been here. Maybe he was just imagining things?

"Where do you think all the little kids are at?" Yamamoto leaned idly against the broom he'd been using to tidy up a bit, but seeing as how they were slow it didn't seem like it could hurt to chat a bit.

Comments

[ribbonbon]

"Aside from the ones who were brought here, I'm not sure there are any," Pilouette replied, thoughtfully tugging on her hair.

At least none that she had seen. Even after getting a chance to hear out that mysterious man on the network the month before, she still had trouble making sense of it all. It all sounded so complicated and so much was said all at once that she had a hard time keeping track of everything. It didn't help that she's never been the brightest crayon in the box. She sighed and leaned forward on to the counter.

"I think it's something to do with the...whatever it is that's messing with the power around here. If there were any kids, we'd be getting like, a ton more business, that's for sure," she said with a sigh. "It's kind of a shame it's not busier, you know? Everything in here is like, super good..."

[makes_it_rain]

"Wow, I wonder what happened..." While the people here seemed pretty forthcoming with information when he had first arrived, they definitely hadn't mentioned that. The novelty of having no school had worn off, and now Yamamoto was just wary, cautious.

Still, he would much rather be talking about their sweets than something dark, so he grinned in agreement with her statement. "I haven't gotten to try much. What's the best thing in here?" He just needed to know purely for business reasons.

[ribbonbon]

Pilouette gladly welcomes the change in subject, not just for the sake of something more cheerful but for the chance to talk about something she actually knows. She scuttles out from behind the counter and looks around for a second before picking up a small box covered with a clear plastic film, showing off the chocolate covered leaf-shaped wafers inside.

"I don't know if they're really the best thing in the store, but they're like, my absolute favorite!" she says. "When I first started working here I used to buy a box almost every week!"

[makes_it_rain]

Yamamoto leaned the broom idly against the wall, peering into the box curiously.

"Haha that's all the endorsement I need. Can I try one?" He was sure they could take it out of his paycheck, but he was still new to this store.

[ribbonbon]

"Sure, sure! Actually..." Pilouette skittered back behind the counter and ducked down for just a moment before reappearing with an already open box of the leaf-shaped sweets and offered them towards him. A good portion of them were already gone.

"I bought one just after I got in today...," She said, with a sheepish little laugh.

[makes_it_rain]

Yamamoto definitely wasn't going to think ill of anyone who would share sweets with him, and he flashed her a grin before he took one.

"Ah, thank you very much!" He took a bite, eyes widening slightly in surprise. "Haha I can see why you'd buy these all the time. They're really good!" He finished it off happily. "Have you tried a lot of sweets in this store?"

[ribbonbon]

"Yeah! I think I've had a chance to try just about everything, like, at least once," she replied with a nod. "I always get super excited when they start selling something new!"

After all, if Pilouette could live on sweets alone, she would. Unfortunately, her stomach is a cavernous pit that sweets can't fill by themselves. Her smile faded just a little.

"I usually try to share the stuff I get here with people, too. I mean, it's all too good for no one to eat it..."

[makes_it_rain]

"Is there anything in here that isn't good?" It seems like she's an expert, and if Yamamoto is going to work here he should be able to come up with suggestions and know at least what is decent and what isn't.

He took up the broom again, leaning against it, hands propping up his chin as he rested it on top. "It does seem like a lot of it would go to waste... Maybe we should start giving out free samples?" Everyone loved free things, and it might drum up more business.

[ribbonbon]

"Well, some stuff is better than others, but as far as I'm concerned everything here is pretty good! I guess it all kind of depends on what you like, though." Pilouette isn't exactly a picky eater, but she's well aware that some people are (regrettably, in her opinion) a little more discerning about the things they eat.

Her expression fell a little when at the mention of giving out free samples. Though she did her best not to show it, her unease was probably a little obvious. "Well, free samples before but...being on sample duty isn't like, the greatest thing."

[makes_it_rain]

"Ah." Yamamoto nodded in understanding as he peered curiously at the shelves, wondering if he should take a page out of her book and buy a box of everything each week just to get him more familiar with the product. What he didn't like he could likely give to someone else.

Noticing the look of discomfort on her face, Yamamoto glanced back at her curiously. "Why not?" It didn't seem that bad, unless customers would regularly come up and knock trays of candy out of his hands, but he was pretty sure his reflexes would keep that from happening.

[ribbonbon]

She crosses her arms, frowning a bit. "I've done it a few times and it's not giving out the samples part that's really all that bad, but...well. Since it's like, kinda dead in here right now I guess I can just show you."

She opens a door leading to a storage room behind the counter and motions for him to come take a look. "Come on."

[makes_it_rain]

It sounds ominous, but if it's part of his job and if it could drum up business, it couldn't be too bad. Pilouette was still around to show him what it was, so he only gave a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure no one looked like they were coming in before following her to the storage room.

"Haha are the trays really heavy? Or do the chocolates melt too fast?" That had to be the worst of it, right?

[ribbonbon]

"When you're on sample duty, you have to wear...that." Switching on a light just inside the door, she pointed to a large, cutesy rabbit costume in the corner, sitting among various boxes and supplies with an empty wide-eyed smile on its face.

"I've had to wear it a few times since they started using it and it's like, totally the worst. It gets all sweaty and gross and stuff," she said, with a frown. "I mean, maybe it'll be more comfortable when it's a little cooler, but still. At least no one can tell who's in there, though, I guess..."

Even if one person figured out she was in it, but that was just because she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

[makes_it_rain]

Of all the things that Yamamoto had been expecting, a brightly colorful and cheerful looking rabbit costume is not one of them. A laugh bursts out of him, and he can't really say whether it's because he's glad that it's nothing too serious or because it's actually kind of cute.

"It can't be too bad." Says the boy who wore a vegetable costume to help a friend to overcome his anxiety in pitching. "It's kind of cute and you don't have to keep it on all day right?"

[ribbonbon]

Pilouette is actually a little surprised at how okay he is with it and it makes her feel a bit silly to hear him laugh about it. Maybe she was just stressing about it too much, but she can't say she's any more fond of that thing. She switches the light off and begins to shut the storage room.

"I guess you have a point, but...Well, if you're okay with it, maybe you can volunteer to be Violet Honeybunny the next time we give out samples," she says. "Still, it's like, nice to have someone else working here! I mean, I'm not complaining about the job or anything, but it's so quiet sometimes that it can get a little boring, you know?" She wonders if the fact that they hired on someone else means that business has picked up a little more than she realized.

[makes_it_rain]

"If you don't like giving out samples, I'd be happy to." It doesn't bother him, but then again he hasn't put on the costume yet. He might change his mind if it gets too hot or humid, but he's not the type to complain.

He grinned, pleased that she's glad he's here. "Thanks for being so welcoming! I'll do my best to keep it from being boring." He headed back to the front of the store, taking a position behind the counter. "How long have you been here?" Both at the store and in the city.

[ribbonbon]

"I started working here after District Three got all recharged and stuff not too long after they started pulling people here last summer, so...a little over a year," she said, fiddling with her hair thoughtfully and leaning on the counter. On the occasion that she gave it some thought, it still felt kind of weird to her. She had expected to be back home a few months after arriving in the city.

"I'm actually kind of surprised that I've had this job for so long since it's like, my first one and all." Really, she had been surprised they had hired her at all, though she was pretty excited that they did.

[makes_it_rain]

"Recharged?" Yamamoto hadn't been here long enough or paid enough attention to really know what to expect around here, though perhaps he should. He had seen a post asking about other districts opening, but he hadn't put too much thought into it.

"You must be a good worker to keep a job for so long. I'm sure you're really friendly with customers." He said with an encouraging smile. Being able to handle customers was the most important part of this kind of business.

[ribbonbon]

"Yeah, recharged. A little less than a month after I got here, they had a bunch of people go and power up some of the generators around here," she replied. "Now that I think about it, they haven't had to do that since then, though. I wonder if that means the power situation is getting better..."

She smiles a bit sheepishly at his praise. She can't say she isn't pleased, but she always gets a little embarrassed at compliments from people she doesn't know well. "Oh uh...no, I'm sure that it just means this job isn't that hard, you know? It actually took me a little while to get better at talking to customers...!"

[makes_it_rain]

That sounded all well and good for the city, but Yamamoto had a few more pressing concerns. "Do you know much about the power situation? All I know was what they told us in that letter when we woke up." That and he was curious if she thought they were going to go home, considering she'd been here for so long. A few months was what Yamamoto had been willing to give these people. But years...

He perked back up when the conversation turned back to her, and he laughed, nudging her teasingly with his shoulder. "You don't have to be so modest! You're talking to me just fine. I'm grateful you're here to show me the ropes."

[ribbonbon]

"W-Well, there aren't like, a lot of ropes to show, you know? Just standard cashier stuff...you're like, totally making it sound like more than it is, you know?" Despite what she said, Pilouette was eating up the kind words. The tiniest bit of pride swells within her.

"But as far as the power situation goes...There are still a few districts that are closed, so they must still need a lot more power. Someone explained some of it last month or so, but so much was said all at once that I couldn't keep track of it all," she said, frowning. She lowered her voice a little; from what little she was able to get, it didn't sound like the people in charge of the city wanted them to know.

"There's like a...a whatchamacallit. Oh! A...miasma or whatever, that's like, causing all of it. I was gonna write a bunch of stuff down, but the stuff on the network about it was like, deleted before I could get it all. That's like, totally weird, right?"

[makes_it_rain]

"Haha it's because you make it seem easy." Yamamoto's doesn't have a head for numbers, or more likely he doesn't have the will to focus. If he was by himself he would probably slack off and nap behind the counter, but since he has to help out, he's more alert.

He listened intently as she started talking about the miasma, leaning forward a bit, frowning at that. "That's really weird." And disconcerting. The people who had brought him here had seemed so forthcoming when he'd first arrived, with that letter and all. But now... "There are different factions fighting it out though right? Maybe they're fighting about how much to tell us." Which seemed silly to Yamamoto. If you wanted someone to help you, shouldn't you at least explain the situation properly?

[ribbonbon]

"Maybe that's it," she said slowly, really putting some thought into it. "It's just so weird to think that they wouldn't tell us everything. Like, they've been totally nice to us so far, so I don't want to think the people in charge are like, lying to us or whatever, but..."

She had to admit, it was a little suspicious. After all, they did kind of just pluck a bunch of people out of their own worlds and homes with no regard about whether they would have wanted to come or not. She sighed quietly and, out of habit, reached up and lightly tugs on her ponytail.

"I bet everyone who ended up here that first day would have wanted to know all this stuff, too. I think only a few of us from the first group are still here..."