[Indigo]

When they'd drawn up the schedule at the beginning of the month, the one which determined who ran the store when, today had been designated one of Russell's days off. He'd been looking forward to it, too, because even if he didn't have anything specific to do he could at least revel in the freedom; not that he minded the job, of course, but he spent so much of his time working. But something had come up, Helix had a date or a party or who knew what, and after all it wasn't so bad for Russell to have to fill in, really. So here he was behind the counter, holding a small sample spoon and looking down at one of the children who for some reason liked to come in here. Maybe they'd been expecting Helix.

"I can't actually give you a sample that's a full scoop," he explained, or tried to. "That's not a sample, it's a full serving. Where are your parents?"

"They said I could come by myself," the small girl said. "Please? The other Mr Mews lets me."

Oh, yes, Helix had said something about that, hadn't he? Russell just hadn't thought he was being serious. Too easily swayed by children, that was his problem, for some reason. Russell had never understood them himself. "I am not the other Mr Mews," he said as patiently as he could, which was not very. "The answer is no. Unless you have some money and are willing to use it, please get out of my store."

The girl did so, but gave him a dirty look, and he sighed. It was a slow day--she'd been the first person to come in since the woman right after they opened who always got the same thing--and it was a small store, and there wasn't much in it besides the gelato counter and two small tables near the window. There was a shelf of candy behind him that most people weren't interested in, which he found somewhat gratifying since he made the gelato and not the candy, but Helix had insisted they put it in and said the occasional customer who noticed it was reason enough to keep it. He needed more employees, that was the thing. Then he wouldn't have to spend all day staring into space because Helix had a scheduling conflict.

But it wasn't too bad for him to have to fill in, he supposed. He hadn't had any plans anyway.

[Thessur]

All was quiet in the town of Nabias.  Quiet that is, except for the odd thudding noises coming from the rooftops.  The thudding sounds approached the gelato shop with alarming rapidity.  Suddenly, the thudding stopped, leaving almost dead silence in its wake.  The silence lasted a handful of heartbeats before it was shattered as a golden-yellow and flame orange blur crashed to the sidewalk in front of the shop’s door.  The door swung open as the dust cloud from the impact dispersed, revealing the hulking head and shoulders of a brightly colored, extremely toothy, many-eyed monster.

The beast had to crouch a bit to get through the door, but managed to enter the shop with surprisingly little damage done to anything but the now pulverized sidewalk. The beast moved with the fluidity of a serpent, almost slithering up to the counter.  It lowered its hindquarters to the floor, raising its front claws up into what looked like a striking position.  It turned its head from side to side, then let out a very strange sound.  Was that a squeal of delight?

“Oh!  Is that cioccolato con pepperoncini?!”
The beast clapped its claws together happily, and then delicately extracted some money from the cunningly crafted pouch strapped to its foreleg.
“I’ll take as much of that as you’ll sell me.”
The beast grinned, or at least seemed to.  Actually, its mouth might have just been stuck in a permanent grin just to make room for all the teeth.

[Indigo]

He wasn't alarmed by the appearance of the monster so much as by the mess it had made of the sidewalk, and even that only manifested as a slight twitch of his hand on the counter. That kind of thing put customers off, unless they were really determined about their gelato, and the city would probably put off fixing it for as long as possible and he certainly didn't know anyone who could take care of it. And, of course, the presence of the...whatever he or she was would probably turn away any customers for the next few hours at least.

But Russell did find himself suppressing a smile when the creature seemed so excited about his gelato. The cioccolato con peperoncini was one of the newer flavors he had, something that had been suggested to him by a customer when he mentioned rotating the flavors every month or so, and it was nice to see that the experiment had been worthwhile; several people had been pleased with its addition, in fact. He scooped out a generous helping into a paper container--he didn't know whether the creature would be staying, but it seemed unlikely since the place was so small, and it was good to give the option at least--and held it out over the counter. "Here," he said, and named a price. As an afterthought, he got out a spoon, though looking at the creature's front claws he wasn't sure how well he or she would be able to hold it. "Will there be anything else?"

[Thessur]

The gelato and spoon floated through the air towards the creature.  With delicate precision, the spoon scooped into the treat and floated up to the orange and white beast’s black-toothed maw.  Its tongue slithered out and wrapped around the spoon, licking every bit of the gelato off before withdrawing back into its mouth.  The beast let out a satisfied sigh.

“I, Smaug the Golden, have traveled far and eaten many things, but this is the best gelato I have ever had the pleasure of consuming.  If I could have the pleasure of your name sir I will be sure to pass along word of your delightful treats as I travel.”

((ooc: Sorry for the lateness on this.))

[Indigo]

Russell blinked a few times, as surprised by the creature's--that was to say, Smaug's--mode of speech as his praise. It was oddly archaic, he might even say overly dramatic, like a stage actor who hadn't quite managed to get back out of character. Still, nice to get a good reference, which he supposed was what was being suggested, even if he thought Smaug's appearance might be a little off-putting in this particular scenario.

Right. His name. "I, ah...my name is Russell Mews. And, ah, thank you." Oddly intimidating to talk to someone other than a child, although even they were difficult since they all seemed so very judgmental, but this was harder considering that it was outside the bounds of normal business transactions, if only slightly. He wasn't sure whether to hope the creature would leave quickly or not.