Science Experiments: A Tale of Two Antagonists

Edgar:

"Alright." I wandered around a bit, evaluating desks specifically, figuring that a mattress and several file boxes for use as a box spring could be sorted out after that.

I found a roll top desk that was rather nice... good drawers for compartmentalising things... and another larger metal one, for upstairs. For the OS. My knees also fit comfortably under the large metal one... which was a plus. Not very often that I found that that actually worked. "Give me the price for this one... I very much like this one." I requested, while still sitting at the large metal desk in question.

Inque

I approach the desk he was sitting at from the other roll top I paused to inspect as well. "Two hundred and three," I read off for him, sitting upon it to swing my legs bored. "The other one was one hundred eighty eight."

Edgar:

So we were up to... 560 I believe. "Perhaps we should just inquire as to the existence of a mattress to purchase, and sort out how to deal with finding appropriate box springs later date. Because.. if we manage to get out of here under 600, We'll still have a bit left to use on acquisition of plywood and other assorted goods." Ideally we'd get out of here just barely touching 500... but really... it wouldn't do to set that as the standard and then have it become an impossibility.

"Alright. I believe that we can go find whoever we are obliged to throw mass quantities of money at now. And perhaps we can get it talked down to a marginally smaller sum... Also... what time is it? There is homework to deal with yet, as well as foodstuffs... and some kind of science to be conducted yet this evening." I liked to keep busy.

Inque

All the clocks within the area all had some different time, so I pick the one most likely to be right. "Just after four, I believe. There's some guy in the back there," I say, spotting the person. Ugly, short human...perhaps the father of whoever approached us at lunch; they had those two things in common, at least. "And they will be shipping it to us?"

Edgar:

Four. Approximately. That was good. Lots of time to allot to other...more productive things.

"They will have it sent over to whatever address we give them. Indeed." I confirmed as I started towards the man who owned the place. "Good afternoon, I have an interest in purchasing some things."

That awkward moment when you have to wonder if you are going to be told that based on your unfortunate genetic coding you are not allowed to spend money here. I've had it happen before. And not just once. It's... not exactly a pleasant experience.

I typically make a deliberate attempt to appear as non-threatening as possible while interacting with people who I would like something from. It didn't always work... but... It was worth the attempt I thought.

I mean... it's really revolting... how some people with half the courtesy and half of the mental capacity can walk into a place and get service based solely on the fact that they have a complete set of facial features... and meanwhile, I have to watch every word I say even though I surpass most of the idiots in most intellectual pursuits, and have an exponentially better grasp on general etiquette. I could be refused service without even getting a word in edge wise. I could be prepared to spend thousands in whatever store... and it wouldn't matter, because I apparently lack the prerequisite anatomy to qualify for spending money.

Inque

If 'double take' was in the dictionary, this guy would have to be the picture underneath it. Nahnah, a /triple/ take now... WAIT. A quadruple take. Someone call Guinness Book of World Records.
That, coupled with complete speechlessness, equals an awkward moment.
I walk over, hook my arm around Face's and eye the guy, who's yet to notice me. "We'd like to buy stuff," I say, loud and slow for him, which seems to shock him out of his trance, because he looks at me. Yet his eyes just seem to have this permanent glazed look about them.
And if there was ever a face for 'well, he's not eating her face off yet, so I must be safe..', this guy would be the front and center example of it.
"What...What..." Seriously....he's trying, I'll give him that. Stuttering fool though, with a scratchy nasal-y voice... "...What...Stuff...?" He finally spits out, voice cracking at the end to make 'stuff' go up some seven octaves. I'm sure Face's ears are having a ball right now.

Edgar:

Of course she had to make her presence known for anything logical to occur. Not that I resented her for it, because... again, she was helping me... but really? I would say that I couldn't believe some people... but really... living here, it becomes evident very quickly that the most nonsensical behaviour is the behaviour that ought to be believed.

It never polite in conversation to openly seethe as a result of someone accidentally rupturing an eardrum with their... unfortunate set of vocal chords paired with what I can only assume was fear. So I refrained from seething.

"The two desks...that chair..." I pointed over my shoulder at it. I wondered briefly if he would have the mental capacity to question how I knew where things were... because... well, if so... the pointing at things could be a bit unanticipated. Oh well. "The couch... just there,"I pointed a second time, "and I'd like to inquire as to any mattress." I listed off calmly.

This wasn't going... that badly. At the moment. I considered this a good thing. Now all that had to happen was an actual exchange of goods, and... this could be considered a roaring success. Of sorts.

Inque

He follows Face's gestures with his eyes, still staying ridged to the spot. "Ma - Ma - Matress...es... are... Yes, yes, available. Sixty seven rectangles." Stumbling over a few syllables here and there, but a tad more recovered than last time He makes notes of the products we wanted, then says, "Five hundred and sixty two," botching up on his math as well. Face wanted to haggle or whatever, so it wouldn't really matter.

Edgar:

"I'm finding that a little steep, personally. Consider... five hundred for the lot." I stated, hoping that the haggling wouldn't lead him to realise his mathematical error. "And tell me about your delivery policies. Should I expect this today or tomorrow? If I happen to be at home for the delivery, will your people move the items to the locations I'd like them?" I queried in monotone.

Inque

His eyes travel a moment to me and then back to Face, like reassuring himself that I was still alive. So it still must be safe, or something...but he was still freaked out.
"Yes. Delivery. Tomorrow," he says, punctuating every word. "Where ever... Where ever you'd like... if home..." His brain didn't seem to want to process enough information to think about math. I'm sure in his state, he'd accept any amount we gave him right now.

Edgar:

"Tomorrow would be fantastic." I said calmly. Part of me wanted to see if I could get away paying him any less... but that would be... inconsiderate of me... and dishonest.

I pulled a wad of bills out of my pocket, quickly rifled through them, counting- and put the appropriate amount down in front of him. "If you could provide him with an address that would be fantastic." I pulled a scrap of paper out of a pocket for her.

Inque

I take the slip, jotting down the address and offering it to the fugly one, though he doesn't take it, so I just put it down atop the money. "Alright then..." Looking up at Face and giving a look without much else to do here. "Plywood next?"

Edgar:

"Plywood. Indeed."I concurred, turning on my heel and leaving the building. "And then homework, followed by science." I added, speaking over my shoulder to her.

Inque

I follow, amusing myself with large steps like his. "And groceries," I add in. "And figuring out cheap refrigeration." We go out into the drizzle again, and I continue reading signs. I guess this was the practice he suggested I do. We had those instruction booklets for whatever science he was going to get, after all.

Edgar:

"I once read that a very cheap refrigeration technique is to fill a metal box with liquid nitrogen." I recalled as we walked in the rain. I am uncertain as to my feelings regarding rain. It's unusual.

Inque read of several more names of places, and after another turn off we finally happened across a place that seemed as though it may carry plywood. "...We're probably going to have to deal with people much sooner in this instance... I do not know that we can just... pick out sheets of plywood." I commented as I entered the place, holding the door open for her.

Inque

I smile, walking under his arm to enter where ever you got plywood. "D'you want me to talk to whoever?" I ask, looking around. "Just give me the dimensions."

Edgar:

"The room was 10x12. We don't want any overlapping boards." I informed her. "It would probably be best if you did the talking...considering... the profound lack of general decency that tends to run rampant around here..." I added, allowing the door to fall shut behind us.

I vaguely wondered whether the owner of this place would be as...Linguistically impaired as the previous one. Only one way to find out, I suppouse.

Inque

Not so hard. "Be back then." Traveling through the store until I spot some dude, approaching him promptly and repeating the order. "Enough plywood to cover a 10x12 room without overlapping." I pause before adding, "And a little extra for the end of a bed."

Edgar:

I followed her through the store, hanging back a bit so as to hopefully not contribute further to any unintelligible dialogue that bordered on complete incoherency. "Alright... let's see... that will work out to..." He hadn't turned around from whatever large chunk of material that he was cutting down to a manageable size yet... so I think that everything was proceeding routinely.

"How much is a little extra?" I heard his feet move, unsettling some sawdust that had fallen to the floor in the course of his work, no doubt. That was slightly crunchy and muffled. His weight changed slightly. I I could hear the fabric of his shirt rub against the counter as he turned. And then whatever instrument he happened to be holding clattered to the desktop. "Oh... uhm..."

It was at this point that I kind of wished I could make out precise facial features... because I imagined that his eyes were going between me and Inque, but I had no way of knowing this to be true. At any rate he took a good long pause and addressed her again. "There is something creepy following you, you know... ...just... a few feet... behind you... uhm..." He rubbed a hand against his pants uncertainly. Denim. Denim made interesting noises when friction was applied to it, and so it was easily identifiable in that way.

Apparently I would have been better off waiting outside. Perhaps... in the future, I won't even bother to go places when I needed to spend money. I'd just pay someone else to do it for me. If it was going to always be all... ridiculous like this. I mean, really. This was one of the most frustrating things.

I continued to stand there, and in effort to diffuse the whole... stalker thing, casually ran a hand over some wood... pretending to look at it. Really... I didn't know if this would accomplish a single thing. but it was hopefully worth the effort to appear somewhat nonthreatening.

Inque

"Just a figment of your imagination, I'm sure. Just ignore it and he'll go away soon," I say quickly, waving it off and smiling kindly. "Probably a four foot square, to give maximum area." I was assuming the bed he would be getting to be five foot by four foot. So then a foot under the mattress would give a three foot extension to it, giving him an extra foot to grow since he was seven, currently. He was taller in the future, if I remembered right. "So how much plywood would that be? And how much would it cost?"

Edgar:

...Was that a subtle invitation for me to just... I don't know leave the shop? ...Alright then. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that.

"It would work out to be...140 square feet of..."He paused again, I think, staring at me. "Of..." I figured that this wouldn't be going anywhere while I was still inside and finally just turned and left the shop, ducking under the door as I left. I waited outside, leaning against the building. "...140 square feet of plywood... would work out to... about 350. I think..." I heard him finish up distantly through the wood of the door.

...I realised that I was the one carrying the money.

Well. This was extrordinarily convenient.

Inque

"Okay. Would that be delivered to my address, or do I have to pick it up?" I ask him "And if delivered, would it be today or tomorrow?" I copy his questions from the last store owner, still smiling like nothing ever happened. There was no faceless guy in the background... Meanwhile, I get out.../my/ money... counting it out with what I observed from Face to be one unit of 'rectangle'.

Edgar:

I continued eavesdropping, quite aware that while standing here in the street random passers-by were carefully leaving a three foot radius around me. " We can deliver, but we don't do installation. Tomorrow works... I'll send someone over."

There was silence for a minute.

"And really, if you're in any kind of trouble... You can call the government or something... I'm sure they'd... do... something..." He added. Sure I was a figment of someone's imagination.

Inque

"No danger at all." I pay the guy, putting what little remained back in my pocket. "Thank you and such. See you tomorrow then." I turn on my heel, skipping out and joining Face in the drizzle. "So groceries?" I ask him, smile widening.

Edgar:

She joined me outside. "... How did you pay for that?" I asked immediately, ignoring the question regarding groceries.

I mean, yes groceries would have to happen inevitably, but... Where did she get the money?