#ch: mim ambrosius

[majkemaniiia]

You know what? Actually, that's fair, Mim. Majke might not be cute, as it were, but she could definitely be the hottest clerk in a sense. Sure. Deflection successful.

And would you look now. Mim was just playing hard to get. Majke listens as Mim explains her words. It's sort of like talking to Lena, in a way.

"So is it that you feel left behind? Or more aimless? Or is it both?" Majke asks, rather plainly. She doesn't want to be too presumptuous. Sure, Majke had friends who had big aspirations and followed them to a T. Crossed t's, dotted i's, perfect punctuation to their stories. Majke didn't have that.

He wandered Europe, moved to America, worked waitressing jobs and retail and customer care. She never had a career, really. She bullied Martin into her pseudo manager role...

"If you could be paid for anything, no matter how ridiculous it was, what would it be?" Majke asks, genuinely curious. "It doesn't even have to be a realistic job or goal. What do you like, Mim?"

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[dr-drckken]

Frog Heist || F.R.O.G. Squad

@justkeepdancing-nemo @madmagicmim

The scene was this: A man was stood in the middle of the road that led into Swynlake with a car blocking both lanes, grey smoke coming out of the hood like a bonfire. The only light was the one working headlight, a flashlight the man was holding, and the waxing gibbous of a moon that had been witness to all that had caused such a thing. 

Then, a third was added to the list More headlights came down the road, the truck they were attached to having to come to a complete stop before it made contact with anything. It was slightly too big to try pulling around, the treeline too close to the road to fit without the top hitting on something. 

The truck’s back lights flickered, showing that it had gone into park, and then the engine died completely. A door opened and driver hopped out. 

“Hey, mate, you okay?” 

“Oh, thank god!” the man cried, coming around to meet the man in the middle. At the back of his car, at the front of the truck. The driver squinted as the flashlight  shone directly into his eyes, bringing his hand up. Keys jangled with the motion, still held between his fingers. The light beam darted away. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to blind you there.” 

“It’s alright, no harm done,” the driver said, blinking away the spots in his vision now. “Er, what’s going on?” 

“That’s just it, I don’t know! I hit something out here and then my car blew up!” the man replied, turning to watch the smoke still billowing up toward the sky. “It’s the darnedest thing.” 

“Have you called for a tow?” 

“No. My phone- well.” The man pulled something from his pocket and shined his flashlight on it to show a very mangled and cracked thing resembled a phone. “It fell out of my pocket earlier and then I kicked it across the way in the dark, not knowing.” 

Silence passed between them as the driver tried very hard not to say anything rude. He gave a sigh, reaching into his pocket. In went the hand with the keys and out came a hand with a phone instead. “You can use mine.” 

“Could I? Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” the man said, relief palpable. He took the phone once the driver had unlocked it.

[stellabfly]

"Thanks, Mim," she smiled. She didn't know if she would do it, but if it came to breaking in to find answers, she'd do it. Part of her wondered if she should give her mom a chance, but part of her knew she hadn't earned that.

Still though, to jump right to crime... while Stella wasn't opposed she just had that shred of naive hope that wondered if they could just talk about it.

Stella leaned forward and gave Mim a hug. "You're literally the best, you know that?" said Stella. "Thanks for having my back. If I come up with a plan for that, you'll be the first person I tell. Probably the only person, too, since i shouldn't be going around telling people we're breaking and entering."

@madmagicmim

Something has Changed Within Me || Stim

[captainjamesjoneshook]

@madmagicmim

As soon as James sat down he let out a louder than expected, "Ooof." And after he had finished, realizing how loud it had been, said, "Sorry. Guess I needed that one."

He shook his head and pulled his crutches together, propping them up against the wall behind him. He watched them for a moment to see if they were steady, because lord knows how many times he'd set them somewhere only for the fuckers to go tumbling to the ground and being loud as hell on the way down. Such drama they would cause, making him thinking a ghost was messing with him again when it was really just gravity exerting its dominance.

James turned back around and gave Mim a smile, eyebrows raising as he patted out a little beat against the table top with his palms.

"Good to see you, as always," he said with a nod. Then looked down at the cup of chocolate he'd asked for. Different than his usual, since his usual was that he didn't have a usual so, actually, maybe it wasn't different at all. "And it's so good to see you, my friend."

He grabbed the spoon from where it was sticking out of the ice cream and stuffed it in his mouth, pulling it back out slowly as he licked it clean. Not five seconds later he was squeezing his eyes shut, nose wrinkling and hand reaching up to press the heel against his forehead, letting out a noise of pain from behind closed lips– textbook brain freeze.

Comparing Notes || Maim

[dr-drckken]

@madmagicmim

Ironically, Drakken didn't pay this much mind other than to think that Mim was agreeing with him instead of taking a deliberate dig. So he just nodded along, like he was disappointed to have to since that was admitting that people in the world did such things. Tsk tsk.

It sounded all well and good, but a couple of weeks? She really needed that long to get this done? Come on, couldn't she just get it done this afternoon? He'd written 10 different petition drafts in the matter of a single night!

But, ah, whatever. She'd agreed to do it, hadn't she? And that was better than nothing! Which was what he originally thought he was going to have to walk away from this with.

"It sounds like a plan," he said, not wanting to say good until he saw her finished product. Or, better yet, saw it being passed by the Board! "If I don't hear from you by then, I'll be sure to follow up."

At Your Disposal || Drim

[majkemaniiia]

Mim was going to be the death of her, Majke decides. She really doesn't know why she's sharing all of this. Maybe this is one of those rare times the two of them could be considered friends--? No, no. Wrong. WRONG.

Majke didn't want to entertain that idea, that sounded -- no.

(Mim's internal thoughts would have been right. It was the latter. Well, Seamus had done something that felt heinous at the time, but Majke was the one who held that grudge like a prize. Spite was motivating! What could she say?)

"Mmmmmhmmmmm," Majke hums, not believing for a second that Mim wasn't up to something. She practically confirms it. And uses the term bestie, leaving Majke with a mild distaste in her mouth. "You enjoy those, I'm done with them. And we've got stocking to do, haven't we? Probably should start on that before the next wave shows up," she says, changing the subject. Though she does begin mulling on the dream once again the moment she pulls out the shipping manifest. "And do tell Seamus I say hi, if you do go to him with all this information. I could at least be cordial about everything, couldn't I?"

@madmagicmim

We Don't Have Time to Unpack All of That || Fuschia

[captainjamesjoneshook]

@madmagicmim

James was going to kill someone. Yup. That's exactly what was going to happen. The next person who came in through the doors was going to get their bloody head bitten off.

First the new guy, who Mr. Tomlin had hired to take James' position and hadn't had the heart to fire him for some fucking reason after James had returned, had left a whole shit tone of work to be done from closing the day before for James to do. As if he wasn't on crutches and went ten times slower and already had things he needed to do to open. And it was easy stuff! Just putting shit away and taking the trash out!

Then some chuckle fuck had come in asking if they had a splatter version of some band's record that James hadn't been able to find at a cursory internet search so they either must not have existed or were too obscure for even this hole in the wall.

Then he'd realized he left his lunch at home and didn't want to bother Mr. Smee to bring it, and couldn't go out to fetch something since he knew it would take him too long.

So not only was he pissed off, he was pissed off and hungry. And he was staring down the barrel at having to pick up boxes of records that had been dropped off the night before that the new guy had neglected. Luckily they had a cart to take them to the back room, but he didn't have the facilities to even get them on said cart without going about it a certain way. Like sitting down, but dragging the chair over would be a fire hazard in front of the entrance and–

And the little bell above the door charmed. Goody! His voluntary victim was here!

James whipped his head up from the boxes, ready to bark that he would be a minute, but then he saw who it was and his whole person deflated heavily against his crutches.

"Uh oh, what're you here for?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "Don't tell me The Slits re-released some version of Cut. I can't handle the phone calls we'll get about putting that on display."

Between Rock And A High Place || Maim

[majkemaniiia]

Well, okay then, Mimzy. The alps are fun.

Okay, actually, Majke would not do the alps again. Sounded like torture now with her general tiredness settled into her bones and joints and whatnot, but if she were in her twenties again? Maybe she would backpack.

Anyways, that's not the point.

"Okay, well I took the manual route on the distancing from family," Majke says with a shrug. That doesn't bother you? Majke wonders. But it's not exactly a fully voiced thought. Majke didn't mind being distanced, but her parents were still trying to talk to her. Mim's didn't.

"Yea, that's it? Sorry, Mim, but I am the cutest clerk here so you don't even have that going for you," Majke says with a slightly quirked smile. "So either you're going to have to get one of those jobs or I'm going to have to quit. Promoted to customer, solely to bother you."

She frowns then after a moment. "Okay, keep your secrets then. Tell me about something you want to talk about, yea? How are your studies going? I have to use this useless aunt energy somewhere, Lena's grown tired of it."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

(Re: being Helpful, Mim. Majke wasn't! Often. She wasn't often. But, hey, this is what you get for not even letting her understand the concern. Consequences of your reasonable actions.)

"See. Constructing stories," Majke says with a nod. Martin and Majke had their now-and-again disagreements about, say, how things might be organized in the store. But that's, like, different than what Majke had implied.

(Re: Elsa's love life. Girl, stop fumbling, we all see the heart eyes. He's into you!!! Elsa.)

"Sure, yea. Well, when I was a kiddo, I decided I didn't want anything to do with my family and travelled Europe. Quarter life crisis or whatnot. I don't see you backpacking across the alps so."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

"So I'm not saying that you're off today," Magica says, as she hands over the till to Mim, their shift change underway, "but I will say you've been off for weeks."

This is the part where Magica goes home, isn't it? Nope. Not happening. She and Mim have been dodging each other on shifts or are busy on shifts and that's not exactly the right time to talk about whatever big, personal things Mim is going through. No need to air that out to customers.

However. The store was empty + Mim on Shift = Perfect opportunity!

"So, as your friend and store aunt, I am here to offer an ear. And chocolates, if you want some. Because I bought more as an offering. Or a bribe. Whichever suits you best."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

Majke gives Mim an uneven grin. Okay, Mim, be that way. "I'll just keep probing you," Majke says. "Or guessing. And then I could construct stories about what's wrong and you'll never know what meddling I'll do to fix a problem that's not there."

Which is another half-threat. It's pretty empty, but the idea of it was actually sort of fun.

"Okay, you.... you're homesick. You're.... having a fight with Martin. You're.... worried about graduating. You're having trouble at your other job. You've got a magic issue you need help solving... come on. Be a little merciful. Twenty questions will continue."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

Oh, careful Mimzy. Majke tilts her head. Is it teasing or playful? Or is it knowing? Majke had her own crises in her 20s, the look of someone coming undone was not novel to Majke.

"Oh, is it? I could be more direct about it," Majke offers. "I could be meaner about it, Mim. You know I have an older brother, I could be the most annoying instead of sappy?"

But Majke annoying Poe wasn't standard familial fare, according to their parents. It was outright hellish or whatnot. Eh, sorry.

"Well, I'm a board member too. Maybe my image also includes being kind and caring towards members of the town. You are a member of the town, my dear, if you haven't forgotten? I'll resort to bribery if I must but I'm appealing to your sense of mercy first."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

Majke gives a wry eyeroll. "Mim Ambrosius, we are associates. Perhaps friends on the days I've lost my sanity. Never besties," Majke says.

Which is a little harsh. They did talk. Just rarely in a personal manner. And half their conversations were about inventory and new Sorcery stock. So that limited Majke's conversations.

Her shadow magic was still a secret, of course. She thinks of the people in town who knew.... Seamus, for one. But after the light incident on the street... She was a sorcerer. That was known. So she could talk about reagents and such with Mim. Just not everything else.

"You look faaaaar too gleeful for me to believe you're not up to something," Majke says, looking at Mim with a skeptical expression. "Whatever you hear, it's probably wrong. Besides, I'm a different person now. He met me before Lena was even born, so that should give you an indicator -- don't do the math, I don't want to hear it."

@madmagicmim

We Don't Have Time to Unpack All of That || Fuschia

[majkemaniiia]

"Normal stuff?" Majke asks, head slightly tilted. "Normal like... things with university? Or things with friends? Or more than friends?" Because those were very normal, everyday things, sure.

"Or things with magic or work or family or--?" Because those were also everyday things but sort of more specific.

Mim had a point, Majke could just go home and not care. It's what she'd done for a few weeks now, honestly. Tried not to care about how off Mim could be, hoping the girl would figure it out.

"Unfortunately for you, Mim, I'm invested. And do care about you, at least to a degree." And then she shrugs as well. "I don't really have anything better to do. Caring about people is pretty close to the top, so there's not much that beats that."

@madmagicmim

Shift Change Conversations || Fuchsia

[majkemaniiia]

"So he's a loner hermit in this world as well," Majke asks, a dry smile taking over. Seamus MacTunnag, you are wretched. "Doesn't surprise me. He's always seemed very... self-directed."

Read: Selfish, arrogant, annoying, patronizing, annoying... Whatever, Majke was petty. And would be even pettier if she heard any of those absurd ideas in Mim's head. But she didn't. So. Mim was safe. Relatively. For now.

"No? I would've thought he wasn't super close with anybody," Majke says, debating if she should try to search Seamus on the internet at this point to see what he was up to. Maybe she'd figure out where he'd been. It wasn't like Seamus was exactly going to tell Majke of his own free will. "He's never struck me as the charismatic sort to make friends easily."

She shrugs.

"Fair enough. I probably would hate being called a bestie," she says, like the killjoy she is -- Or maybe it was because she couldn't actually imagine being anyone's bestie, but that was totally besides the point, Majke didn't need anyone, Majke was totally fine being hot and alone and aloof and mysterious. -- "or do you mean because they don't think they're that close?"

Majke is in a mood. Just her luck that Mim knows Seamus and was likely to be a pest about all of this. Actually, it was a pain because Majke usually was very good about controlling her image. If Mim had knowledge of another person who could fill in some gaps--

"Whatever he says about me, it's probably a lie, just so you know," Majke says, leaning back. "I mean, it doesn't have to be. Just, I'd be careful. Burned bridges tend to scorch bystanders, sometimes."

@madmagicmim

We Don't Have Time to Unpack All of That || Fuschia

[majkemaniiia]

A mistake was made. A MISTAKE. WAS MADE. Damn, of course Mim would know who Seamus was. Had he already won over the whole town? Majke would just start over and move and change her name if not for the fact that she's done that before and it gets old real quick, especially with signing leases and transferring banks and--- damnit.

"Oh, so you know Seamus?" Majke asks, treading lightly on the subject. "That's interesting, I didn't know he was so... popular."

Majke had no idea if he was popular or not but Mim sounded like she liked the prospect and that was bad enough news for Majke.

"Erm, a falling out in America a number of years ago," Majke says, giving Mim very little information but a lot of ideas to work with. Go ahead Mim, figure out whatever you like. Majke crosses her arms and takes another truffle. This chocolate was the only consolation from Valentine's Day. Everything else, including her dateless night, sucked.

"So what's your relationship with him, before I spill my secrets and you bring them back to him..." An eyebrow raise. Is she joking? Is it a petty aside? Who knows! But Majke was not going to let Seamus, even in a distant relationship, ruin her days. Or her grudge-holding.

@madmagicmim

We Don't Have Time to Unpack All of That || Fuschia