It was a quiet day at Gatsby's Great Comics, which wasn't too unusual. The next issue of Annie: Girl of the Stars wasn't due for another month, after all. Nope, it was just Gatsby himself manning the register, a few customers playing Annie: The Trading Card Game in the corner lounge, and Rubi Wednesday stocking shelves.
Humming to the tune coming from Gatsby's radio, Rubi lined the shelves with the latest issues of "Beowolf: Trails of the Grey Wolf". The High Schooler enjoyed working at Gatsby. The pay was good, the boss was nice (a bit rough around the edges, but nice), and best of all, she got to read all the latest issues before they hit the shelves. For a geek like her, it was the dream job of dream jobs! Rubi came to work everyday with smile on her face (even on her day-offs) to read, talk, play, and enjoy the nerdier things in life, which helped take her mind off with the things she had to deal with in school. As they say, it wasn't easy being geeky.
Rubi placed the last issue on the rack just as her boss gave her something else to do.
"When you're done 'ere, get those man-gas from the back and put on the shelves back 'ere." He mumbled as he paged through an old comic book.
"Got it, old man." Rubi replied before chuckling to herself. The way he pronounced mangas was always a good laugh. With the empty box in hand, she walked to the back room, waving to the kids sitting in the lounge along the way. Inside, she tossed the cardboard box with the rest of the empty boxes and grabbed one of the recent shipments of manga before heading back out.
Rubi set the box down, whipped out a pair of box cutters, and sliced through its tape binding. She could smell the paper, fresh from the printing press, as soon as she opened cardboard flaps. Not one to waste time, Rubi immediately went to work putting the mangas in their place. As she shelved one book after the other, she heard the faint jingle of the bell that hung over the door. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, it wasn't an unusual time for customers to come in, the dutiful employer didn't give it a second thought. However, she did lend an ear.
"Hello." Greeted a young woman's voice. "Do you sell manga here?"
"Yeah." Rubi's dapper employer muttered before lighting a cigar. "That aisle over 'ere. The young lady can 'elp if you need anything."
"Thank you, sir."
"Rubi, I'm takin' a smoke break. You're in charge."
"Got it, boss."
With a creak of the chair and the ring of the bells, the comic shop was in her delicate hands. Rubi was half way through the first of three boxes now. She was about to place another one on the shelves when a pale hand stopped her.
"Excuse me, miss." Asked the same voice. "May I see that."
"Oh, sure." Rubi turned to find the most peculiar woman standing in front of her. She wore the hood of a nun with her eyes were shut tight and the body of an hourglass. Rubi shook off her initial disbelief and handed her the manga, resisting the urge to look at her reflection in the hourglass's polished surface. As the woman page through the book (a doujinshi of Beowolf and Taliesin, a bard of the local circus), Rubi couldn't help but wonder if she was a cosplayer (of what, she didn't know) or or a foreigner (probably of a country she never heard of), even the thought that she was an alien crossed her mind. Suddenly, the woman's face turned red and she swiftly closed the book.
"I'll take it!" She said, rather flustered.
"Ok."Rubi said with a short giggle before sliding another manga on the shelf. "Anything else?"
The peculiar woman "looked" around the around the little shop. "Ummm. What else do you sell here? Other than comics?"
"Just the usual, really." With the last book on the shelf, Rubi stood up and brushed her hands. "We have tracings cards, a few anime box sets, and some retro games. Oh, and there's some arcade machines in the lounge."
"Do you have anything...collectible?" She said with stars in her eyes. "Anything at all?"
"Comic-wise, sure, but I might to check the back for the anime stuff. I can go look if you want."
"Yes, please."
"Alrighty." Rubi picked up the empty box and went into the back room, tossing it with the rest of the trash before opening another box. The first one just had more manga, but the second box had just what she was looking for. Inside was a plethora of figurines, plushes, and posters, perfect for the collector like the stranger. With a satisfied grin, she lifted took the box and quickly headed out.
As she returned to the aisle of manga and anime, Rubi was surprised to find peculiar woman was now holding a pile of merchandise.
"A little help." She stammered, almost dropping them all. "Please?"
Rubi dropped the box and quickly rushed to the register for a bag. It was in the nick of time that she able to catch it all.
"That was close." Chuckled Rubi as she handed the bag to the hourglass girl.
"Yes, it was." She giggled back. "It appears I let myself go."
"Anyway, I have the rest of the limited edition stuff, so you can-"
"I'll take one of everything." She calmly interrupted with a slight smile. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.
"Wha-What?"
"One of everything." The girl cocked her head to the side, a look of confusion painted on her innocent face."Is something the matter?"
"Ma'am...there's over seven hundred dollars worth of stuff in that box."
"Oh." She giggled. "Money isn't an issue."
"Um...ok. You can pick out what you like while I get you a bag." Rubi took a second glance at the box. "Or two."
"Thank you, but before you leave." The girl offered her pale, delicate hand. "Might I ask for your name."
"It's Rubi." Rubi took her hand. "Rubi Wednesday."
"My name is Aeon." She said with a slight smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Rubi."
"Likewise." Rubi replied before heading to the counter. As she grabbed a few more bags. Gatsby returned from his (rather long) smoke break.
"I'm back." The old man coughed. "Is that costumed cat still here?"
"Yeah Boss, and she just bought herself nine-hundred, twenty dollars worth of merchandise."
"What did you say?" He asked with some skepticism.
"You can look for If you don't believe me." Said Rubi flicking her head In Aeon's direction.
Gatsby grunted dismissively, but when he saw Aeon picking out a plush doll and setting it down beside a pile of stuff, not only did his jaw hit the ground, it pierced the earth and was now heading into deep space. The old man quickly turned to his employee with dollar signs sparkling in his eyes.
"Rubi, you know more about that stuff than I do. You do everything she says." He hastily ordered, excited that someone was being the stuff "Don't worry about everything else. I'll take care of it. Got it?"
"Got it." Rubi said before standing up with two paper bags in hand. "Leave it to me, Boss."
