Working for a Living

[Ash Williams]

Characters Appearing: Ash Williams, Clementine
Location (s): Ash's Store
Previous Thread Name.: None
Plot Summary.: Ash and Clem are all set up to have a nice calm day at the store, but an emergency monster call decides otherwise.

[Ash Williams]

A peaceful morning arrived with a stream of sunlight entering an open window. Birds chirped outside and a warm breeze flowed through the room. It was going to be a beautiful morning..until...

"Clem!" A voice yelled as a foot knocked open Clementine's door! "Rise and shine, kiddo!" Ash yelled as he stepped inside her room, taking hold of the end of the bed and picking it up off its back legs! "C'mon, get up! We got a lot to do today! And when I say we, I mean you; you have a lot to do today. Not so much me because I'm an adult and can do whatever the hell I want." Ash smirked as he dropped the bed back on its feet, making her bounce.

"It's the last Saturday of the month! And that means inventory day at the store! All day long, ain't that great? So get up and get movin'. Also, since it was my turn, I got breakfast all ready to go. You're cool with chili from last night right? Course you are! Kids love chili!" He said with a wave of his mechanical hand before heading out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen, leaving the chaos he had just caused behind.

When Ash purchased his store, he was living in his trailer. However, he has since converted the store's upper floor into a comfortable living space for himself and Clementine. It is much, far more spacious than the cramped double-wide trailer that is now parked in the alleyway behind the Delta.

Ash then sat down at the kitchen table, grabbed the pot in the center, and helped himself to a bowl of cold chili left over from the night before. He also poured himself a tall cold glass of orange juice, because breakfast! "Hurry it up, Clem, your chili is gettin' thick!" He yelled before taking a spoonful of chili and a big swig of orange juice that made him wince as his eye twitched.

“….Good..flavor combo…” He said, tilting his head to one side as he chewed....

[Clementine]

A soft sigh left the teen's lips as she curled up underneath her fuzzy comforter, its gentle weight shielding her from the cool atmosphere of her room. Absolutely nothing could ruin such a perfect, peaceful moment of domestic bliss. Until it did. Clem's brow furrowed as familiar footsteps made their way to her door. No, she grumbled as she pulled the pillow over her head. Please. A loud thud echoed through the room as her door was kicked open. "Ugh!" Time had done little to change Ash. On the one hand, she was thankful he was the same as he'd always been. On the other, his increased seniority came with its own. . . challenges.

"Do you have to kick open my door every morningaaaAAAAH!" Clem exclaimed as he lifted the edge of her bed. Her legs flailed as she slid into the headboard with a thud. She gave another yelp as the bed was dropped back down, her form bouncing on the mattress before landing unceremoniously on her back on the floor.

"Wake me up like that again, and this face will be the last one you see!" She threatened as she glared at him from the floor, sitting up on her elbows. With the promises of a long day of inventory and some barbeque chili, Clementine finally willed herself to her feet. Groggily she made her way to the bathroom to get ready.

When she walked into the kitchen, she did so with all the enthusiasm of a man on death row. Her disheveled hair had grown a bit since the fall of Elusion, and the untamed mess was caged in her favorite baseball cap. Dark circles lay underneath her sleep-deprived eyes. Typically, Clem slept like the dead. These days things have changed. Her dreams were plagued with thoughts of her homeworld and Elusion, and lately, something new.

"Do we have any coffee here?" She asked as she grabbed herself a bowl and spooned a generous amount of chili. The combo would prove to be ghastly, but at least this way she'd stay awake all day. "How can you be so spry in the morning? Aren't old people supposed to be the opposite? Relaxing and sleeping in? Writing wills?" She teased as she took a spoonful of chili.

[Ash Williams]

Ash smiled as he watched Clem enter the room like a tranquilized three-toed sloth and take a portion of chili.

“Oh, I really don’t need to kick your door open every time. But it's no trouble…” He said and took another spoon of chili. It was cold and tasted like chili-flavored gravel, but he swallowed it down before taking a few swigs of ice-cold orange juice. The combo was deadly as he grabbed the end of the table with his mechanical hand cracking the wood as his head tilted like a dog hearing a weird noise! The pain behind his ears could have done him in right then and there!

“Woo!” He coughed before looking up at her and nodded, gesturing to the stove. “…Just …rrr….made a fresh batch of coffee. Sure, you don’t want orange juice, though? Kids need juice for....growing or something..” Ash winced as the pain ebbed away. Leaning back into his chair, he took another spoonful of cold chili.

“Har har..I will have you know, little Miss Smarty-Pants, that I've always been an early riser. Of course, it helps that I black out every so often...uh for a power nap, but that’s beyond the point. And I ain't that old! Fifty-seven is the new forty-five…” He huffed. Chewing with his mouth open, he shook a spoon at her, noticing her groggy condition.

“You know what your problem is kiddo? Lack of sleep. You need to have what..like..eight, ten hours or something in order to function properly. You didn’t have that problem before. Is something up?” He asked, taking another swig of orange juice, forgetting the lesson from three minutes ago as he gagged again!

"Wooo!"

[Clementine]

Clementine eyed the chili hungrily. It wasn't the best thing she had ever eaten, but it was far from the worst. Besides, she had never been terribly picky anyway. Making her way over to the cabinet she grabbed her usual mug, a nice clay mug she had eyed at a shop window a few weeks prior. Grabbing the coffee pot she poured herself a cup. To her delight, the coffee was still nice and warm. Taking a small test sip she licked her lips and sighed at the bitter, rich taste.

The teen glanced at Ash and let out a dry chuckle as he drank the no-doubt radioactive concoction of juice and chili. "I think I'm good with my coffee, which I will down before I eat my chili as I enjoy not torturing my taste buds." She teased as she sat across from him at the table, taking a few more calming sips.

It never ceased to amaze her that no matter how much time had passed Ash never seemed to change. "Power naps? Is that what senior citizens are calling it now? I thought they were alcohol-induced comas." She said as she lifted the mug to her lips and chugged the remainder of the bitter brew, the contents nearly burning her throat.

Clem closed her eyes as she thought for a moment, a pensive expression coming over her face as she tried to recall her last few dreams. They always started the same way. She was fourteen again and desperately searching for AJ at the ranch Dr. Lingard had told her about it. The place was overrun with walkers and fire seemed to blaze all around her. When she did stumble upon AJ, still a toddler, something (or perhaps someone) would snatch him away. Sharp knife-like fingers tearing the boy into ribbons as it did so.

"I keep dreaming about the night I found AJ after we got separated. I used to have the dream a lot, but now when I dream about something from the dark takes him away. Something with long. . . claws? Maybe finger-knives? I don't know. I know it doesn't make sense, but it makes me wake up in the middle of the night every time without fail. And it makes it hard to back to sleep to boot."

[Ash Williams]

"Hey, my alcohol-induced power naps are what keep me moving throughout the day. When you get to be my age, you'll understand.." He was smirking before he noticed Clem's silence. Ash stopped chewing and looked at her, feeling concerned. He began to worry that all the stress of being taken from one world to another and having to deal with all these new settings with unfamiliar beings was affecting her. When his dad was young, he moved everywhere, and he never made any real friends because he kept changing schools. Clem came from a world full of zombies only to end up in Elusion, which they lost to that freaky diamond in the sky, and now they are here. It's been tough on her. But when Clem talked about her dreams, Ash was intrigued and raised his eyebrows.

"Heh. Finger knives? Like a guy with letter openers for hands? Sounds gimmicky…" He said, trying to make light of it. But Ash knew dreams were not to be taken for granted. Lord knows he has had his share of doozies over the years. Looking down at his chili Ash smirked.

"Hey, how about we skip inventory for today and take the day off? It can wait till tomorrow. Don't you need some new school supplies or clothes or something? Let's go for a jog around the block and do some shopping." He said as he got up and put his dish in the sink along with several others from previous times. However, he had another motive. Ash wanted to inquire about a person named AJ and see if any of the other shop owners had seen him. If they were brought there, maybe this kid was too.