final setup for the store

who: billy and maddie
where: their house
when: late afternoon

Madigan had finally finished up all the touches in her work room, something that had taken her the better part of a week to get. She still wasn't entirely sure that it was going to work at all, this whole having a business of her own nonsense, but she wanted to give it a try. There wasn't much else she was doing beyond being pregnant, and it would make her feel a whole lot better to be doing something. So, this was her idea. Setting things up so she could have a bit of a white magic shop. God knew the town could use it, if anyone had half a brain. She went in search of her fiance, looking around the house so they could possibly sit down and really discuss this.

Billy was in the room he was kitting out as a den, working with some of the old bits of furniture they'd found in the attic. There was some really good stuff up there and he'd been bringing pieces down one at a time and placing them in various rooms where they seemed to fit. A lot of it was much better quality than they'd be able to afford, though some of it needed work. Like the coffee table he was currently seeing too - one of the legs had come lose and he was sat on the floor, the table upside down on its top, as he worked on replacing the dowling that held it in place, a look of concentration on his face.

Maddie didn't say anything immediately, she stood back, shoulder leaned against the wall as she watched him, arms crossed loosely across her chest. She liked getting to watch him work--it was one thing she missed about being dead. Then she could show up sometimes when he was out on a job, and it really wasn't an issue. Now, there was that whole problem of being physically there, and totally unable to go bother him whenever the whim struck her. Though, she wouldn't trade it. She just took the opportunities to indulge herself now and again. Like now.

Billy had long been used to her simply being there and, as such, he'd never got into the habit of acknowledging her the moment she appeared - in the past, he'd had to do anything but, most times. So, he finished off what he was doing before he turned to her, putting his tools down as he stood, brushing dust off of himself, and crossed to give her a light kiss. "Hi - what's up?" he asked her.

She kissed him back, giving him a soft smile--the kind he only ever really got to see. "I finished up the room." she said, sliding her arms up around his neck. "So, I was thinking we should do the actual discussing of the shop." she finished. "Even got it all nicely spelled up, so there's nothing you'll have to worry about." she added, knowing it was a concern. She'd tried to make sure it was warded heavily against things that wouldn't kick in unless they had to. Like harmful intent, or violence. She didn't want to do anything silly like ward the place against specific types of beings--they could need protection just as much as humanity, after all. So, she'd been careful. But careful enough that she didn't think there was any real chance she and the baby would be in any danger.

"Good," Billy said, trusting her enough to know what she was doing there. She was the expert, after all. He led her over to the sofa he'd put in the room and sat her down, joining her. "Okay - so, you're all ready to go, how did you want to do this? I can call people to run ads, or - would you prefer to, say, start off small, go word of mouth? Ads could be difficult with what you're selling - the wording could be interesting. But flyers in, say, Nevermore or something would probably get you some attention..."

"Fliers around town." Maddie said. "I'd rather keep it away from anything actually..." she made a vague gesture, the correct wording escaping her. "...you know what I mean. I want it small, just for us, if at all possible. No bigger business. And it's not like I want to put up a phone number or anything...wouldn't be able to deal with that if there were a lot of them. People can come or they can not, and I'll deal with things on a case to case basis. I've got a bunch of general odds 'n ends made up already, so they can come in 'n take what they need. If they need anything more complicated, I can work it out with them. I think it's ready to go, though. Start off with modest business hours, maybe mid morning to afternoon...see if I get even a single person wanderin in?"

Billy nodded. "That makes sense - also means for the first few I can be home for your opening hours, just til we see what's what," he added. Not that he would really be that much use, if anything was needed, but he'd prefer to be there. He didn't like the idea of her facing this alone.

She smiled at him, and gave him a light kiss. "Yes, you can be home for that." she said. Which she knew was him being protective, and she found it endearing. Though, not only that but she would like him to be. She wanted him to be a part of it, even if it was really her kind of thing. She wanted him there for if no one showed up, or if a lot of people did. She just wanted him there, period. She didn't know what to expect, and one thing she knew was there was always little things that she missed out on and didn't realize she did, small things that were commonplace now that she wasn't used to. She was getting better, though she still had her hangups. "It'll be...interesting."

"But hopefully not too interesting," Billy agreed with a chuckle. 'Interesting' round here tended to have a very different definition, after all. "You want that I give Sophie a ring, get her to run something up on the computer? I can drop them down to Nevermore first thing?" he suggested to her - Sophie would do a better job of that kind of thing than he would, though they actually had a computer now, since Thia had stayed with them for a while.

She nodded. "Please." she said. She trusted Sophie would come up with something far better than she would. She wouldn't even know where to start on something like that. And Sophie was good with things like color, and aesthetics. Maddie was a lot less geared towards that sort of thing, but Sophie seemed a whiz to her. So yes! Besides, the girl probably needed something to do lately than try to not let herself be driven batty by the wolf, who when he was by tended to even make Maddie want to send him outside to pace off his excess nervous energy. That and with the kids gone, she was sure there was a lot of hours in the day to fill up, as well as worry. She knew she did, though she kept getting assured everything was fine. Which reminded her... "You going to check on the kids tonight?"

Billy nodded. "That's the plan - so I might not be going to work tomorrow anyhow," he warned her. Depending on how tonight went, and how long he was gone, he might not be in any fit state for it, after all. "Which - maybe I'll ask Sophie if she could just drop the flyers down to Nevermore herself." He knew she wouldn't have a problem with that - not when the reasoning for it was because he was sleeping off having checked in on her cousin.

"Right. Doubt she'd mind." Maddie said, figuring the same Billy did. "Don't be gone too long there. I mean, definitely check on them and make sure they're alright, but don't exhaust yourself too much." she said. She always tended to fret over him when he did it, just because. She knew where all of his scars were, after all, and if he never got another new one, she'd be perfectly happy with that. Plus, it was the one place she couldn't protect him, so she was never happy with that situation. "Tell them they're missed. Make sure you check in on the boy, I'm sure he's having trouble." she said, as if Billy didn't already know what he was doing, which she knew he did, but that never stopped her from voicing things.

Billy moved closer and put his arm around her, cuddling her up to him a little more. She was the only person he did that with, the only person he voluntarily came into close physical contact with. "I'll be fine, like always - I know what I'm doing," he reasssured her, softly. He knew she worried, and he knew why. But it had been a long time since he had been worried about walking in a normal dream and he doubted he'd find any trouble in either Dean or Thia's. Even a nightmare, he was confident he could handle.

"I know." she said, hugging her arms around his neck tighter. "You know I just hate not being able to watch your back properly." she said, nuzzling at his ear lightly, before she kissed his cheek. "I like you right where I can see you, where I can watch you and smack you upside the head when you need it." she added, lightly teasing tone to her voice. She did. She was a control freak, she didn't like situations that were beyond it. And that was about as beyond her reach as one could get. She never slept well if at all when he walked, either, just in case.

"Yeah, but this is the one thing I don't need a smack upside the head for," Billy pointed out, unabashed. "So, don't worry - it'll be fine, and I'll make sure I'm not gone long," he promised her. "But, I said I'd look in, and I want to know how things are going - phonecalls just don't do it for me, I'm afraid."

She smiled at that. Yes, she knew that. She knew Billy tended to drop into the wolf's dreams rather than call him half the time. Little things. And with this, she had to agree with him as well. A phonecall wouldn't tell him nearly as much as dropping by in a dream. It was simply on an entirely different level. "I know, I know. I'll fret, you'll go check, we'll both feel better about it and it'll be fine." she told him. Because she said so.

"Right, then tomorrow we'll get everything up and running, and maybe you'll have your first customer," Billy agreed, giving her another little squeeze, though he knew from his own experience in starting up your own business that it was mostly a waiting game at first.

Maddie scoffed a touch. "Somehow I doubt it." she said. "But nice thinking." she added. Then she gave him a proper kiss. "Since you're going to be tuckering yourself out tonight," she said. "What say we go to bed early?" Her tone was slightly impish. Playful. It wasn't like he couldn't finish the table later, right? "Besides, isn't the time difference significant? You'll want to be sure you catch them, so the sooner you go to sleep, the more likely you'll be able to...."

Billy raised an eyebrow, giving her a look. "Right, because you're purely interested in me getting some sleepy time, right?" he said, his tone definitely one of amusement, but he stood, offering her his hand to pull her up. "Okay, just let me go call Sophie and then I'm all yours..."

"Of course! Just lookin out for your best interests." Maddie said firmly, grinning at him. And she was. Right after there were other interests taken care of to the best of their abilities. She thought it was a good idea, anyhow. "You do that. I'll be upstairs." she told him, giving him one more kiss before she headed up.